Some Great Guitar Pickin'

A quiet day spent trying to keep cool...It was 95 yesterday until some rain storms blew in..Sparky briefly contemplated a trip to Alaska in our future, but hey, it's in the nineties in Alaska, too!

"All-time highs were recorded elsewhere, including 96 degrees on Monday 80 miles to the north in the small community of Talkeetna, purported to be the inspiration for the town in the TV series, "Northern Exposure" and the last stop for climbers heading to Mount McKinley, North America's tallest mountain. One unofficial reading taken at a lodge near Talkeetna even measured 98 degrees, which would tie the highest undisputed temperature recorded in Alaska.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2013/06/19/unusual-record-setting-heat-wave-baking-alaska/#ixzz2WlpjnO6r

We stopped off at Ocean Blues supper club last night to hear George Worthmore....he's a fantastic guitar picker and acoustical guitar player. Sparky likes the hats he wears. This one makes Sparky think of "Charley Weaver" who was really Cliff Arquette, comedian/actor, that short guy with the mustache on Hollywood Squares...Here's Charlie...

And here's George....George is funny, too, and can he play guitar!

One thing we like about Sarasota, is the high quality and variety of music offered in the city...You can go to many, many places to hear all kinds of music--blues, rock and roll, funk, and classical.

George has played backup guitar for Bo Diddley, Lou Christie, and The Platters. He's also an interesting guy. He lived in South Africa for 12 years and operated the world famous Blues Room, the country's award winning, number one live music venue. He's also an actor, having performed with Ron Perlman, William H. Macy, and Robert Vaughn. 

So we were delighted to be able to see him this evening at one of our favorite music venues, Ocean Blues.

George plays everything from classical pieces, ragtime, to raunchy Delta blues songs. He's a storyteller, too. We learned a lot about him this evening, that he got hit by a car which almost derailed his career and how he basically did his own therapy to recover the use of his hands so he could keep playing. In and around some fantastic picking, and a guest guitar artist doing a duet with George, (sorry we didn't catch his name), George talked a bit about how important music is in our lives and how our souls need music....Amen!

We thoroughly enjoyed hearing him this evening!

A big announcement coming soon........Stay tuned....  :-)

The Blue Rooster, NOT So Boring!

Sarasota, FL        High:   85      Low:   68

The last couple of days have been kinda slow, but not this evening! We are starting to follow our friend Steve Arvey, the talented blues guitarist around town at various venues...He and his significant other, Rebecca Bird, are an awesome vocal duo as well, and they perform together and/or separately all over the place! Tonight they were at the Blue Rooster...The Blue Rooster is another awesome venue/bar/club to hear great musical talent of all kinds in Sarasota. It's as cool outside as it is inside. Here Eldy is checking out a sculpture of horns just outside the big doors...He's looking to see if any of the horns were made by his instrument company, Blessings Music. Unfortunately, he didn't see one in the bunch.

Sparky liked the Coke tailed rooster out front of the club, too.

And Steve's red shoes that were cool like wingtips and red shirt....Here he's taking a phone call before coming in and playing.

It's AMAZING to us the number of places you can go to hear wonderful jazz, the symphony, blues and rock and roll bands here in Sarasota...Many older musicians have retired here, and they continue to play which means Sarasota is loaded with musical talent and there's something going on every single night of the week! It's really hard to decide where you want to go hear some great music! Tonight, George Worthmore, a terrific guitar picker, ragtime and blues player was doing a recording session at the Blue Rooster, and Steve and Rebecca were there, too to perform with him.....There were a couple of gals who sang with George that were just awesome and had some serious vocal chops....We didn't catch their names, sorry to say....

We had a wonderful time listening to George and friends.....George's guitar picking reminded Sparky of Chet Atkins.....He was GOOD!

It was fun to see how live recording sessions go. When we first got there, they had the crowd practice clapping and cheering, while testing out the mikes. The inside of the club is very cool.....

The food is wonderful, too! Eldy had some CHICKEN biscuit sliders with red pepper jam and sorghum butter....

Sparky had a wedge salad with marinated shallots....Delish!

And of course, Sparky had to try some dessert as the food was wonderful. Here's a strawberry something with strawberry mousse, fresh strawberries, sauce, and pound cake....It had some kind of little strawberry crunchies on it that were almost like Fruit Loops!

The singers that performed with George were fantastic!

George's guitar pickin' was fantastic, too! Did we say we heard some fantastic music tonight! Yep, we sure did! It was great to see Steve play with George.....

We will DEFINITELY be back to the Blue Rooster another time!