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Glass Onion Folk Club

With John Gardiner

Glass Onion presents outstanding roots blues show

Wednesday, October 9, 2002

Michael Pickett on his 1931 National guitar Michael Jerome Brown with his gourd banjo Pickett and Brown are outstanding roots blues talents

Patrons of the Glass Onion Folk Club in Wallaceburg were in for a rare treat this past Sunday evening, as two of Canada's top roots blues performers paid a visit to the Jeanne Gordon Theatre and wowed a small but appreciative audience with a wonderful array of traditional blues music.
Michael Pickett, one of Canada's top rack harmonica players and an outstanding slide guitarist, and Michael Jerome Brown, one of the best traditional blues instrumentalists in Canada, delighted those who attended by performing a variety of blues standards, from Leadbelly to Robert Johnson, then adding original roots blues tunes from their extensive repertoirs.
Pickett has been a regular on the Toronto blues scene since the early 1970's when he fronted an outstanding blues outfit called Whiskey Howl. He has gone on to lead the Michael Pickett Band and has only recently begun to concentrate more fully on a roots blues solo career.
It was obvious from the passion he poured into the music and the emotion that poured from the stage that he has made the right choice. Roots blues enthusiasts won't find a performer with a better feel for the music. Outstanding harmonica and solid guitar work, at times on his 1931 National rhesophonic guitar, accompanied by rough-edged vocals ideally suited for the blues make him a must-see for blues fans.
Michael Jerome Brown looked somewhat like an accountant when he made his entrance onto the Jeanne Gordon stage, only the brightly-coloured tie giving him away as someone with a different purpose. But he worked magic on guitar and gourd banjo, adding a vocal line that seemed to exactly suit his musical style.
Brown is a walking blues encyclopedia, so between songs there was a most interesting dialogue that really tuned the audience into the performance. He plays a wide variety of traditional blues-styled music, from Robert Johnson to Jimi Hendrix (his version of Hendrix' Manic Depression left younger members of the audience amazed). Check him out if you get the chance.
One of the highlites of the show and saved 'til the end was when Pickett and Brown took to the stage together, at one point playing a pair of 1930's vintage National guitars. It was sheer blues magic of a kind not often seen in this part of the world – gutsy and pronounced, emotional and passionate.
Although numbers were down for the show, organizer John Gardiner of the Wallaceburg and District Council for the Arts was upbeat. "Everyone who attended the show had an excellent evening," he said. "We created the ultimate roots blues experience for our members, and they really appreciated it. Anyone who wasn't there, missed a real treat."
The Glass Onion has added a special performance to its lineup this fall. Harry Manx, winner of Best Blues Album at the Canadian Independent Music Awards earlier this year, will be coming on Tuesday, October 22 at 8:00. Tickets are $15 and can be obtained by calling 519-627-5978 or e-mailing to: gardiner@kent.net. Manx was in town last year for a house concert and earned rave reviews. The show is expected to sell-out.



John Gardiner is a 25-year-veteran of the community newspaper business, but he is also a prolific writer of moralistic short fiction he refers to as "emotional thoughtscapes" or "adult fables". Samples of his fiction can be found at:

He has also produced a noteworthy piece of humanist philosophy which can be found at: http://www.xs4all.nl/~aboiten/ad502.htm He welcomes comments on his work.