This past Christmas I received the most awesome present in the historical record of awesome presents!

My awesome wife did an amazing thing. My gift from her consisted of two tickets to see none other than Buddy Guy. The caveat of course was that the second ticket was for her.

I had no problem with this, however my 9 year old son was up in arms as he wanted to go. He is a fan of Buddy’s and in blues music. He even asked her why she wanted to go, because she probably couldn’t name a single song.

He asked and she could not, then he proceeded to rattle off several. Of course there was no animosity in his jest as he proceeded to give her a jokingly hard time about it. He wanted to make sure next time that he got a ticket too.

The venue was “The Factory” in Chesterfield, MO, and it is very nice. I had never been there, however I feel I have been missing out. The place is spectacular!

Eric Gales went on before Buddy and put on an excellent set of fiery fretwork laden blues numbers. I have listened to some of his work in the past and considered him an extremely competent guitarist, but I did not really become a fan until seeing him live.

Mr. Buddy Guy, what does one say that has not already been said. The man is almost 87 years old and kicked ass! He even did his usual walk through the audience stopping to say hello to fans and shredding blues licks in front of them. Spectacular performance!

He ripped it up!

Buddy is one of the last of the great blues men, no affront to the ladies. BB King, Muddy Waters, Albert King, John Lee Hooker, and other giants are no longer with us.

Buddy Guy is, and always has been, one of my all time favorites, definitely an influence, so needless to say my awesome wonderful wife succeeded in getting me the best Christmas present ever!

I like many genres, however the raw emotion of blues music has always bent my ear and garnered my attention. The raw free form improvisational expression of emotion and feeling combine in a musical vehicle that is both simple yet complex.

The blues don’t lie…