Since the New Year google analytics reports a big rise in new readers checking out my site. I wanted to welcome you and say thanks for stopping by The Blues Blogger’s home in the blogosphere.

I thought with this post I would briefly summarize the progression of this site since Oct/ Nov 2007 … As current readers of this blog are aware, I had a heart attack and I was recovering in that time period last year … I must say … It scared the crap out of me! I took this as a positive sign and made some physical and mental changes.

This blog then became a therapeutic way for me to mix my love of music and writing. Feeling very reflective and thinking about my past during my recuperation, I went back into my memory banks; recalling the times and capturing the music that played a part in my life.

ELECTRIC BLUES MASTERS

 is a 3 part series I came up with as an introduction. I thought about my early childhood and what songs I was listening to at the time. You can click on the link above to get to that article. This is where I recall my very first audible memory of the John Mayall and The Blues Breakers song, “Hideaway.”

I continue Part 2 with reflections on Paul Butterfield, Mike Bloomfield and some of the television shows I was watching. In Part 3, Hendrix is more the focus as I try and weave Part 1 and 3 together…

The Electric Blues Masters Series represents the first time in over 20 years I have written anything … Sometime in the future I will tweak it up a bit in a new post.

After the above article series, I struggled a bit … I reminisced about some of the music I listened to and made it less personal … You can go through my site where you will find brief bios on several influential artists such as Ma Rainey, Gary Moore, Joe Zawinul, Jeff Healey and Sade.

BEALE STREET…THE TRUE HOME OF THE BLUES

is a piece that I dedicated to my wife … Joni Mitchell is one of her favorite artists and I recalled a story I heard about Joni and Furry Lewis … I have to give my wife credit for listening to me ramble on during my recovery period with my far fetched ideas about how I was going to write again.

I knew I wanted to further develop my blog and get some traffic, but was unsure how to begin. I started reading many articles on blog development by Yaro Starak. In his writings and teaching, he discusses how a blog should be personal. “Write what you’re passionate about and draw from within your own unique experiences.” I also stumbled upon a terrific blog post by Brian Clark on his Copyblogger site called Jazz and the Art of Improvisational Blogging. This inspired my next two posts:

THE JEWISH INFLUENCE IN BLUES AND JAZZ  &  REMEMBERING LITTLE WALTER

This time time I got personal and said,

“Hey I’ve had a heart attack. This is how I feel, what I remember and why I’m writing this.”

I owe a lot of the popularity of these articles to Yaro and Brian. Those articles have been everywhere and is one of the more popular pieces on my site.

Ironically several weeks after I wrote about Little Walter, it was announced that he was inducted into The Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame and then into The Grammy Hall of Fame. As a result of this, the article has received lots of views.

Afterwards I did a post that drifted through the career of the legendary Dion. In From The Wanderer to Son of Skip James, I went through my early personal thoughts and discussed Dion’s career, his love of the blues, and his current album.

When I wrote about Dion DiMucci I couldn’t help but think of the time I spent in New York; incredible moments in my life I have never really thought of or discussed for many years…

I found the album Briefcase Full of Blues in my closet. I often refer to this record as the theme to my aspirations of moving to New York … Doing a bit of research, I discovered that it was Matt Guitar Murphy’s (One of The Blues Brothers guitar players) 80th birthday in Dec 2007, and I recalled our brief meeting. You can click on the link Thinking about Matt Guitar Murphy to check out that article.

I received a tremendous amount of email regarding the Murphy article. Readers wanted to hear more about my life in the music industry in New York. In order to do that I needed to shift tempo and move into a jazz direction. When I muse over my music daze, I really need to consider how heavy I was into jazz. I love both genres, but jazz played a greater influence to me as time progressed more than anything else… Eventually I would end up lucking into a musical situation that I never thought was possible considering my age and experience at the time.

Tony Williams and Elvin Jones were two heavy weight figures in the world of jazz. I recall two jazz legends that played a part of my appreciation for live jazz and music in general.

So there you have it. The brief synopsis of what this site is about and how it came to be. I have some ideas of what I would like to do to further enhance this blog’s presence. I will do my best to take it in a direction that continues to maintain and gain new readership.

During my road to recovery, I’ve been involved in many creative endeavors that include this blog. Unfortunately due to time restraints I am posting on a weekly basis for now. In the near future I hope to increase the frequency as time permits.

In the exercise and diet department, I have lost 23 pounds with another 32 to go. I have never eaten better and I’m feeling good.

Thanks once again for all your continued support. Please leave any comments and suggestions you have for the site. I love when I hear from you!

The Blues Blogger