Ahhh, Beale St. It was Sunday night, we had about 12 hours left before we had to head to the airport and board our return flight, but for now, it was party time. So off we headed, in search of that aformentioned party. Unfortunately, we got a pretty late start and Beale was pretty deserted by the time we arrived. Never to be disuaded by a lite crowd, we knew this was just a bonus waiting to be awarded. We checked out a couple of places we had been Thurs, but there were no bands. So after a quick look in the door at Coyote Ugly ( I just don't get it, pretty girls but I just don't get it, maybe its a country thing), we headed back towards BB's place.We never made it that far. First we happened onto the Memphis Jazz Orchestra at Alfreds on Beale....WoW. If you ever get a chance and you like swing jazz, these guys just smoke. But, we only got see the last part of the last set, because they too were done. A couple of doors down we poked our head in the door of The Superior Bar. The duo there was on break, we looked up and down the street, decided it was time for a drink, and bellied up to the bar. First thing was a warm welcome from one of the guys in the band, then the other. Soon we were deep in conversation about Memphis, music, and the crossroads. Little did we know, these guys were the real deal in so many ways. Eric Hughes http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=68115554

is by far the most versatile, talented musician we saw while on the quest, and we saw some very talented players. We helped them close out the night, Eric was kind enough to sell Dave 2 autographed cds (both absolutely killer), drew us a map to Furry Lewis' grave, and provided us with some history about Beale we would not have heard otherwise. It seems back during prohibition, booze would be unloaded off boats at the river and would be brought to the speakeasys on Beale by way of a tunnel under all the bars. This is also how they disposed of any "bodies" of evidence if the need arose. The tunnel still exists and many of the buildings can still be reached by that route.
Well its really late, the only place pumping music is Rum Boogie just accross the street so we walked that way, not really wanting to see Dr Feelgood Potts again at the Blues Hall(next door to Rum Boogie,connected by a door), but there he was, outside calling us over. Since it was his last set too, we knew from Thurs., the set would be mostly a song he likes to call, Tip The Band! We were pleasantly surprised when 2 very attractive young ladies from Nashville made our aquantance, and we closed out the Beale St experience talking with them.

Monday we shipped the guitars, boarded a plane, and returned to where we began. Things were different, things were the same. I found a new drive, and maybe a clarity of vision about music. We spent a bunch of time talking about dreams and hopes, even though I know it sometimes takes to much energy to keep a dream alive. We can only try, because another crossroad awaits tommorrow.

The next post will be a summary of all the GPS settings. Again, thanks for reading, thanks to all the good folks of Memphis and the Mississippi Delta, we had a great time.

Peace jc