Thanks so much for your support of the Music Maker Listener’s Circle.

Ardie Dean — who helped us curate this release — is a drummer extraordinaire from Huntsville, Alabama. He plays an old style of Chicago shuffle that is almost forgotten and is a leading authority on vintage drums. Many of the old drum sets you see in Hollywood movies are rented from Ardie’s massive collection.

In 1989, a friend of mine told me about Ardie’s band coming through High Point, North Carolina, for a gig at a little hole-in-the-wall club. Ardie and I knew of each other through a mutual friend, but that night was the first time we’d met in person. At the club that night, Ardie twisted the arm of his band leader to let me sit in. I was just learning the blues, and Ardie’s kindness meant the world to me. I was stunned to learn how far each band member had traveled to make that gig. “Scratch,” the guitar player, drove from Little Rock, Arkansas. Chicago Charlie, the bandleader, singer, and harmonica ace, drove from Nashville. Tennessee. Michael Parrish, the pianist, drove from Chicago, Illinois. The band played hard-driving blues and tore down the house, making sure that all 12 folks in the audience got their money’s worth.

Two years later, I got a call from Ardie. He said he had heard about me playing with Guitar Gabriel. I told him we had a gig at a pizza parlor in Boone, North Carolina, that Friday night. He told me he would be in the area and asked if it was okay if he came and sat in. I said, “Of course,” and thought nothing of it. That Friday night Ardie brought in a beautiful set of Slingerland drums from the 1940s, and we had a ball. Guitar Gabriel just loved his sound. We had no bass player, but Ardie somehow created a bass line with his huge bass drum. The small audience had the time of their lives. Late that evening as Ardie packed up, I handed him a meager sum and asked where he was going. “I’m heading back to Huntsville,” he said. I said, “That’s a seven-hour trip. I thought you were on tour.”

“No, I just had to play with Guitar Gabriel,” Ardie replied. “Thanks for the gig.” And he headed off into the night, toward Alabama. Thankfully. he has never missed a Music Maker tour ever since. He has taken months combing our recorded archive to help us put together all of this year’s Listener’s Circle albums.

Traveling is a touring musician’s life. The hours, days, weeks, and even decades melt away while they pursue their sound. Music is a calling to them, a vocation. Nothing means more to them than a stage, an audience, and music to perform.

There are so many songs of traveling, of movement, in the blues canon. I hope you enjoy this set of Music Maker artists exploring the theme of traveling.

Thanks for all your support,
Tim Duffy