[Harp-L] My Personal Paul DeLay Story

[icemanle@xxxxxxx]

In the early 90's, I was bored with blues and the predictable blues harmonica licks. I mentioned this to the owner of a used record store one day. He walked me back to the "D" section, pulled out "Burnin" by Paul DeLay and said, "You need to listen to this".
 
It blew me away. Harmonica lines that were fresh and surprising. Great singing, song lyrics, the whole package. I had to learn more.
 
I discovered Paul was in the Federal Prison, doing time for a drug bust. Somehow I got his prison address and wrote him a letter telling him what I thought of his music. I figured that he probably got a lot of mail from friends and fans. 
 
Well, it turns out that he hardly ever got any mail, so he wrote me back right away and told me how much the letter meant. We continued writing 'till he got out of jail. That year he played at the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland. I flew out just to walk up to him and introduce myself in the flesh. Was he ever surprised, he shook my hand with that big grin of his, called me "Bubba", and we kept in touch ever since.
 
Paul, you were truly one of the original voices.
 
Larry
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