Purple Rain: Cross Bones in Africa

Africa is smiling at me. It's been raining hard on the tin roofs, and the dust has settled for a while. It's springtime, and the jacaronda trees are weeping purple tears. At night: twenty rounds in the distance. And someone else might be weeping. The steady crackle of the electric fencing. Morning brings the roosters, and then the rude cry of the ha-de-dah. Sunrise: impossibly early: the beggars already haunting the robots, a hungry world already on the move. But Africa is smiling at me. After a warm welcome at the Canadian High Commission of South Africa, I'm out to the bushvelt to play OppiKoppi- one of the world's great festivals.

OppiKoppi is set on a massive, and sprawling site. A tent city with street names and districts. I've got a wristband that seems to let me go anywhere. And I do. My friends, Black Cat Bone, turn in one of the most exciting rock performances I've witnessed in years. Next year's tour partner, guitar god Albert Frost, defends and proves his title as the King of OppiKoppi with a blistering performance. And my own turn: solo, in a sea of bands. What will happen here, I wondered? Well, Africa is smiling. And so am I. Later I learn that I've been voted one of the "Top Twenty" sets of OppiKoppi. I'll join this great festival again next year, perhaps with a band. Now: on to Cape Town and into the Great Karoo.

The Canadian High Commission of South Africa, at Pretoria. I'd like to say it's my home away from home. That's not quite true, but they do make me very welcome every year- and have played a much welcomed sponsorship role in this year's tour. Under purple trees: a fantastic staff, headed up by Madam High Commissioner Sandra McCardell, are doing valuable work here for Canada and the world. I believe that South Africa is destined to be one of the great nations of the next century- and that it may well lead the African continent into a much brighter, more productive future. Canada's social, political, cultural and economic ties to South Africa are important- and the benefits of this relationship serve both nations well. My South African friends and associates were in awe of Madam High Commissioner "call me Sandra" McCardell. I am blessed to be part of an arts and culture friendly nation... Especially one that runs a cool little joint- the Maple Bar- in the heart of diplomatic Pretoria!

Building bridges. This year I featured a very special, South African guest artist at my Reception/Tour Launch event. Albert Frost performed a solo set, as well as accompanying me in our CanAfrika Blues duo. Having been exposed to so many fine South African artists- and having had so many of them help me on my tours- I've become determined to help them export what they do. To this end I will be developing a little manual for South African artists to help explain the visa process, and to encourage them to tour Canada. Albert's appearance was intended to showcase and formally introduce South African performing artists to the Canadian High Commission- something he did superbly. The diplomatic community were captured by his professionalism, charm, and over the top performance.

Music critic Marinus Mans has become a good friend, and he constantly reminds me of the power of sheer determination. Like the majority of my media interviewers in South Africa, he has challenged me with deep, insightful questions about the blues, the first world, the third world, and my role as an artist and storyteller. Marinus was part of the media contingent that covered my Reception at the Canadian High Commission.

A nice, Canadian couple in Cape Town run Jack Black Brewing- one of the larger, and best, craft breweries in South Africa. By chance I hooked them up to the High Commission, and they now supply the Maple Bar inside the Canadian compound. Their support for me is also much appreciated! I only wish I could buy their beer in Canada... Now here's an export opportunity...

Jack Black does not make this beer. The iconic, punk-rock-pop band, Fokofpolisikar, has nurtured their own label across the land... Free cd with every 6 pack! Who was it that said "happy songs sell records, sad songs sell beer?"

Purple trees in Pretoria. A sure sign of spring. I'm not on the wrong side of the road- this is a one way street!

Nice to spend some time with Charles Bothner, of Paul Bothner Music. This is a nation wide, family run business which has sponsored my production gear for two years in a row. I very much like their stores and staff. Paul Bothner Music reminds me very much of the Canadian company, Long & McQuade- right down to their stock and their involvement in the local communities. Good people, and I'm very pleased to be associated with them. You'll see their banners behind me in many photos, I'm sure!

My publicist, Warren Gibson, of Plug Music, is doing an exceptional job of keeping me busy. I'm often up before the sun in order to do one of the big city drive shows, or I'm doing it on the way to sound check. Television, radio, print, web media- he's got me out there, somewhere, nearly every day. There's quite a bit of interest in this second, African tour.

Musician, writer, broadcaster, producer, promoter, blues woman, Charlie King (left) has been my guiding light in Johannesburg for a couple of years now. One of a handful of people who initially made it possible for me to make this leap into Africa. It's always about community, and I'm always thankful. Tours like mine involve a lot of people, and I could not do what I do on my own. Behind every successful touring artist there is a network of unsung heros. Charlie is one of those people. One of my first stops was her MIX-FM radio show!

KAYA-FM was probably the heavy hitter in the Johannesburg media appearances this year. Definitely the big one. The World Music show I appeared on had a fabulous playlist, too. I may see if I can stream this one... And now, really, I must get the rental car back to Tambo Airport, and board a cheap flight for Cape Town. Hopefully there will be enough juice on my credit card to pick up my main tour vehicle when I get there...

Art Imitating Life, Wood Cut to the Bone

When one of the world's great printmakers offered to make a poster for the upcoming tour, I didn't know what to expect. George A. Walker, who is probably best known for classic "Woodcut Artist's Handbook," his Alice in Wonderland illustrations, his limited edition books on Tom Thompson, Conrad Black, Trudeau... his books and broadsides made in partnership with Neil Gaiman... A highly collectable artist whose books and prints reside in important places would have me sit for a design session!

I brought my National up to his summer quarters in northern Ontario. After a couple of days and the better part of a case of red wine, Walker said he thought he had it figured out. He showed me a drawing I had to look at in a mirror. I told him I was glad we'd done it like this, because when I'm touring in South Africa I have to drive on the opposite side of the road from North America anyway. I didn't say the wrong side of the road– I can drive on both sides. And you could argue that it's not which side of the road I've driven on that's right or wrong, but rather the overall direction which I've taken in life upon that road. Not down the safety strip, that's for sure. My moral compass is probably spinning in it's case. Where ever that is.

We drank some more wine, and I told him about Charlie Patton and the Blues Highway and how it's not just Highway 61 running through Mississippi. South Africa's got a Highway 61, too. And I've driven that road from KwaZulu-Natal right across into the Great Karoo– but the lines on the highway are different there. So we had to go back and fix the road. Well, I told him he could change the lines of it, but the blues highway is like a snake: it will twist and turn away, it will bite you if you are not careful, and by the time you figure out you've been swallowed by it, you no longer care. And just when you think that it might be more a construct of the mind, you wake up in a flooded hotel room, with somebody pounding on your door...

Walker asked me if I really believed that the moon was a "hole in the sky." I answered that I'd heard a lot of things about the moon, but that an old man had once told me the story. In the morning, I found Walker hard at work. Leaving him to his business, I made my way back to the city.

Working from a backwards ink drawing on a large block of wood, the image springs to life under Walker's practised hand. This a labour intensive carving process.

Some weeks later we meet up at Walker's Toronto studio. The block is inked and ready to go. The press sits, gleaming, as ready as we are...

A short time later we've pulled some proofs on a selection of fine papers. This first lot will be "artist proofs," marked A/P. They look good. Walker carves a couple of minor corrections into the block. It looks really good, now. On fine paper, this is very, very cool. I want one!

Over the next couple of weeks we'll decide on paper, and then do a run of these special posters for sale at the Cross Bones shows. We'll pick a good paper, hand made, archival, but something that will enable a relatively modest sale price. The prints will be numbered and signed by both the Artist and the Performer. We'll also be scanning the poster image, for promotional use by the presenting venues.

Cross Bones Count Down

A long Canadian summer comes to an end. You can smell the apples, the harvest, and in some places the smoke. It's a changing world as I settle into what has become a global tour. Cross Bones Blues, some fifty shows across South Africa. In little over a month I'll be back in one of my favourite places. Counting down, counting down...

OppiKoppi: Me Now (the mango picker)

I'm very pleased to announce that I'll be appearing at OppiKoppi this year. It is probably Africa's largest and best loved festival. I've played a lot of festivals across North America and Britain, but never one quite like this. With a tent hotel- that looks like it came out of a Harry Potter movie- as my headquarters, I'll be playing on a massive, red dust filled set in the high desert. Many of my African friends are also on the bill, so I'm sure it will also be a social time with some musical collaboration!

For those on the inside of the inside of all this, I'll also be playing the Kreef Hotel after party...