Had the opportunity to listen to your seminar at the Seawalk Hotel in Jacksonville Beach. I was the one that told Annie she should come to my place for Lobster Rolls or REAL Fried Clams. Let me say that the seminar was highly sophisticated with all the background that was presented: a very well done job.I have known of Annie's harmonica virtuoso since the Susan T days and of course growing up in the Boston area. It was wonderful talking with both of you and , Paul, I was the one that tried to play piano with you after the seminar. If you ever need and old school keyboard player please look me up. chefrog52@hotmail.com
Thanks again for a wonderful program
Chef Roger F. Plouff

I was at the Springing the Blues. My buddy and I came out to the beach to play our guitars as street musicians and be like those little fish that swim next to sharks and feast upon the little morsels which escape the sharks mouth.
You guys were the sharks, Larry and I were the little fish, playing in front of a closed business just down the street; "Tears in Heaven," by Eric Clapton..over and over and...over (If it aint broke why fix it?) We made about 60 bucks in two hours.
The next morning, after missing the last bus out and only getting 3 hours of sleep, disturbed by seagulls, we sat in front of Freebirds while you began to play.
"I wonder what that girl looks like?" I asked Larry. "Sounds like a skinny black girl to me"
"I don't know," said Larry. "Let me go see"
Larry didn't come back for a while, which meant something.
"No, a white girl"
"A fat one with blonde hair in a black rhinestone dress, standing with her legs two feet apart and belting it out?" I said.
"No, one with dark, kind of frizzy hair," said Larry.
"Kind of Cuban looking?" I asked. This was during the second number.
"No, kind of frizzy in a Polish or Russian way....well, why don't you come check it out...that's her playing the harp"
"That's HER, playing the harp??"
That was the best advice Larry has ever given me.
We "checked it out" and I had tears coming from my eyes when you did that song where Annie holds the one note for 2 minutes and 37 seconds. I think it was lack of sleep because a real man doesn't cry.
I wanted to find the CD tent so bad and buy CD's for a bunch of my friends and give you both 5,000 dollars, so you would never again have to eat at an establishment run by a Captain, or a Clown, or a King...but, we never found the tent; didn't have 10,000 bucks and maybe you like lard, I don't know. I am going to go and tell all my friends how cool you were. When Paul started stomping his foot is when I finally understood the whole history of the Blues (I'm 44)
And I am glad Annie turned sideways before shaking her hips during a solo, presumably for the benefit of someone off to the side-stage, like a husband or something...because by the end of the set, she had become the most beautiful creature that this ol' eye ever did spy; frizzy hair notwithstanding!

P.S. I grew up in Mass, played once at some college that began with a "b" in Newton (Brandiese?) and, when I wound up living in Charlottesville, I worked in Orange, Va and was locked up in the Culpeper jail once, (for having a false address on my licence)
small world sometimes...
and, it never occured to me to not take Annie seriously because she's a woman...
of course if she was fat and blonde and in a black dress, well.....