The Tao of Walking Ridge

Friday had been a very long day.  I started work at 6:00 am sharp, and was working on little sleep.  But having dinner at the Raven, I discovered that David Whitaker was going to play and was told I had to stick around a listen to at least one set.

It was worth the wait.  David plays different styles, but these days most of the sound is Piedmont Blues.  It was a fingerpicking acoustic style of blues that I was unfamiliar with.  Accompanied by great stories, the acoustic fingerpicking completed the ensemble.  Groove, music, story.  Many of his songs were originals.

David was gracious enough to invite me up to play a couple of tunes with him, and I had the opportunity to dust off some old blues harp chops.  You can check out David’s music at his website www.davidwhitakerblues.com.

OK, technically “Phantom’s Don’t Kill” is a short story. But I like the ring of “Blog Novel”. It is the term that popped into my head for the writing process that resulted in “Phantom’s Don’t Kill”.
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I returned to the truck and drove to my place without looking in the back.  Everything around my place looked normal, so I parked in the driveway.  I stepped to the back of the truck, dropped the tailgate and took a seat.
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I was expecting the sleeping arrangements to be at least a bit awkward.  But we were both so exhausted that we fell asleep immediately.  I awoke to find Kate still sound asleep with her arm draped across my chest.  Her hair was a yellow mop.
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Inspired by the great crew at the Raven, this song is dedicated to Jerry, Natalie, Alana, John, Nick, and Nate.

Raven Coffeehouse Blues, - © 2009 Brian Kelly

The hook for this song was inspired by a comment made by my good buddy ‘Topher.  Performed for the first time at the Raven.
 

“It sounds like you jumped into the middle of the story, how about going back to the beginning?” I asked.
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Inspired by blublu.org I finally took some in progress pictures of my latest painting.  This painting started with a rough sketch. My main objective was to enjoy the process of painting, so not all the details were worked out before I started.  I wasn’t sure what colors I was going to use, and I adapted as I painted.  One lesson I learned was to not be judgemental while the painting is in progress.  I did not like the painting half way through.  However, I kept adding and modifying and like the end result better than I thought I would. 

Escape - Brian Kelly, 2009 - acrylic on canvas board, 11″ x 14″

Escape painting video

I dropped Kate off at a launch a few dozen yards from Tex’s.  Since I had rented the boat solo, I figured it would attract less attention to return solo.  It also gave me a chance to assess Kate’s loyalty.  If she had any doubts, she’d run for it.  If she trusted me, we’d be walking side by side in a few minutes.
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I thanked Scott, finished sipping my scotch (no ice), told him my alias (Art) in case anyone asked and returned home. Time to slip off the grid for a bit and go fishing.
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