Terrapin Tim Volem's Page

Hey, Blues-ists- The lovely Karen Lovely- been getting some satellite radio airplay from Bill Wax on XM-Sirius's Bluesvilles station (exit 74, you know, on the blues highway), seriously. A sign that her time is nigh. So here's my tribute to Ms. Karen, who has gigged right here here in River City- that's Blue-gene, Oregon- twice in the last couple months. Listen up!

Entitled

The straight stuff - those roadhouse blues-
filling the heart of a Friday night
and Karen Lovely commanding the room
as e… Continue

I b'lieve this one speaks for itself:

Floating Verses

"If the river was whiskey
and I was a diving duck"-
one of those speculations
that surfaces within the work
of the I and the IV and V chords,
that medicinal blue pattern
as familiar as breath.

"Rather drink muddy water
and sleep in a hollow log"-
a definitive declaration
of active rejection
from the music Handy first heard
in an open tuning
with a table knife slide
beside a railroad station.

"Let me be your sidetrack
until your mainline c… Continue

Some of you Seattle-ites may have caught up with Ms. Debbie Davies at the Highway 99 club last Friday, the night following her performance down here in Eugene, Ore. What follows is my tribute to the musician who mentored with John My'all in Los Angeles and then later played with Albert Collins, and won the Best Contemporary Female Blues Artist (Blues Foundation) back in '97...

Song for Debbie Davies

The heat of Texas and Chicago's South Side
right here in your town
on a cold spring night
at a… Continue

While this month prevails, I thot I'd add this paean to Johnny Winter, that insouciant tattooed wildman. Mr. Winter performed at the WOW (Woodsmen of the World) Hall, down there on Charnelton and 8th, in Eugene, Oregon in March '08.

A Winter Evening

He performs from a chair now,
like Bo Diddley did and B.B. King still does,
but all that's lost is a sight line
from the dance floor.
Guitar still sings and stings,
understated vocals still complement the tunes,
while the histrionic drums and bass… Continue

I read this poem at blues camp last summer to acknowledge and honor John Cephas and Phil Wiggins and I shared it with some of you in a hard copy/broadside format. The latter is still available or will be so at camp this summer, if you'd like one. It seems appropriate at this point to post it here.

What They Call the Piedmont
- for John and Phil

Consider the Blue Ridge Parkway
dipping and climbing,
rolling through the old soft velvet
of the Appalachians,
and the trickle and flow
of clear mounta… Continue