Afterword...

A brief conclusion to a remarkable tour. With Covid lockdown I was eight months in Africa. For the first time in my adult life I didn't know where I was going to be in three, six, twelve months time. As lockdown persisted my North American and Australian tours vanished, and I settled in for a long stay in the cane fields of KwaZulu-Natal. When I did get my travel permits to go to Cape Town, I'd had plenty of time to consider my next moves: back into Sharp Street Studios to work on tracks and figure out the shape of the next album.

By the time I had to fly out in August, I'd completed scratch tracks for the album, and moved ahead with a finished track. Yeah, a single! I haven't released a single since I used to make 7 inch, 45 rpm records in the 1980s. This one is called "Africa Blues," and it's going to drop in late September of this year- in just a few weeks time. No, it won't be vinyl! Digital release.

Hanging out in Muizenburg- a surf suburb of Cape Town- I had time to catch up with my pal Robin Auld. It’s official. I’ve joined Shoreline Songs. Robin's Cape Town, South Africa based company features a raster of high achieving, well established African singer-songwriters, and is best known for it’s international film and television placements. With Shoreline, I’ll have increased opportunity to reach broader global audiences and markets.

Photo credit: Olga Calligé captured the moment with Robin Auld at one of my shows in Kalk Bay. There are a handful of photographers that work hard to document the South African music scene, and she's one of the very best.

I wrote and produced “Africa Blues” during the N'ganga Blues Tour. Recorded at Sharp Street Studios, Cape Town. Willem Moller, engineer. Mixed at Pinhead Studios, Nashville, by one of my dearest friends and longest musical associates- Grammy winning co-producer and mix engineer, Colin Linden. Mastered at Zen Studios, Nashville, by another pal, Grammy winning mastering engineer, Ray Kennedy.

"Africa Blues" returns American, delta blues to it's traditional, west African roots, and speaks to a continued common heritage in these times of change, challenge and struggle. Rising, South African star Lungiswa “Lulu” Plaatjies guests on the track. I'm working to deliver the full album, “Streamline,” by year end. Here’s a solo acoustic, teaser of "Streamline" we shot at Red Hill, on the Cape of Good Hope….

Count Down: Blues Highway

The Blues. And the Blues Highway. If guitars were lovers, I'd be pretty true. If the miles were dollars, I'd buy this joint. As it is, I'll park outside and take my chances under the neon lights. It's a dark ride under a bloody moon, sometimes. Sometimes: the smoke and the dust part beneath the glare, and I can see straight ahead through these drifting dreams.

My N'ganga Blues Tour launches in Cape Town in early January. Sixty shows, self driving across Africa. All but a couple dates now sold. Faithful Toyota: fuelled and waiting. Bitter streets forgotten to the sweetness of the air. I'm tossing the bones, I'm floating as the notes and stories carry me. Soon. Soon. The Blues Highway, rippling in the heat. Cheap wine. Blue Mandelas.

N'ganga Blues Dates Moving Quickly: Half Sold

Well, here we are. N'ganga Blues. A few weeks into booking. Just over half the shows now sold. Thirty-five shows. That's enough to start the motor. The Western Cape is all but sold out. And there's some hustle-back now that I'm all but local. One of the things I like about playing Africa is that to me it remains very "old school" in terms of the music business- the dance around the edges. I was going to tell you some stories about the hustle, but I won't. Let's just say sometimes I swallow it- and sometimes I just walk away. The cool thing about working a territory with so many venues is that you can do that. Especially when you are putting bums in seats. It's a big street. And mostly it's a pleasure to play. I can't wait to strike the first note of the first show of the Tour!

Behind the scenes I've been busy looking up ground transportation, getting sound gear organized, and trying to set aside some time to write and record with some of my South African friends. The plan is to do a "made in Africa" project. I've been scouting some studios, and getting some ideas laid out. It's a big talent pool to draw from. South African's may guess who is likely to be working with me!

So, you buyers, three dates left for the Western Cape... And I'm going to charge into KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape in short order! Let's fill all these dates so Plug Music can get to work!

Back in North America: for upcoming spring and summer 2020 bookings I'll be working with Bruce Morel, of Music Marketing International (MMI). I've known Bruce for over thirty years, and I'm very excited to join his raster of Artists. For the first time since 1979 I won't need to send a statement of availability to the Winnipeg Folk Festival!

N'ganga Blues: Biggest South African Tour Announced

Believe it. The National Steel Blues Tour is back. Back to Africa. Bigger, and badder than ever. In January, 2020 I'll launch N'ganga Blues, almost certainly the Biggest little tour to take southern Africa. No place too large, too small, too grand, or too humble. From time to time I'll have some of South Africa's top blues, rock and folk royalty joining me for some pop-up events.N'ganga. The healer. This thing we call Blues. I've rolled the bones all over the map. Sixty throws. Sixty mostly solo shows: they shadow South Africa. When you roll the bones you could come up snake eyes. Or you could score big. That's what the Old Man used to say.Dust in my blood, I can't escape. Solo, I'm pushing back out into the desert. The Great Karoo is calling: and then the rest of it. This map shows places with names I can't pronounce. Yeah, yeah, if I can put my finger on it- I'm going there. It's in the sidebar. When we stop for drinks, I'll get it sorted.When I was young I met them in the American rural south, at the festivals, in the juke joints. Men like Son House, Sam Chatmon, Robert Pete Williams. As an older man, it should of been no surprise to meet them again- or rather, others like them- here in Africa. A full circle. An unbroken chain. Tellers and healers. And now I'm back, surfing the summer heat, buying cheap red and diesel. Life leaking out around the edges. Death wandering aimlessly. At night: it's cool neon and electric wire, both humming in B flat. To Have and Have Not. To breathe in and out.It's healing music, these Blues. But the Blues is also this journey: close to the wire. The hot wire. A journey through life. This place where all things are possible. Or should be. Where stories hang like dust in the air: drawn to the heart by the rattle of the Bones. N'ganga.