crazy and crazier

The Examiner column has sort of eaten my brain all week. I've put up two posts, and have been networking incessantly, mostly on Facebook, all of the time I haven't been researching or writing the posts. Plus I'm reading a book of blues-oriented short stories that I'm reviewing for Blues Revue. I wish there had been something like Examiner in the mid-90s, when I first wrote for Blues Revue. There was a huge local blues scene, some half a dozen bars that had only blues bands, every night of the week, and low or no covers. These places mostly presented local bands, though some, like Manny's Car Wash, had a mix of local and national. There were other places like The Bottom Line and Tramps that had some national blues acts for a slightly higher price, but still nothing insane. Those clubs also hosted high-end folk and acoustic acts (Bottom Line) and funk and New Orleans (Tramps). I wrote for Blues Revue, but that wasn't really an outlet for deep local New York coverage, which was really my strong suit. About 85% of what I wrote for them was either CD reviews or reviews of live shows (or profiles) of national musicians who came through New York. I got in a few local notes and profiles of local musicians. But I think Examiner is going to be a lot of fun.