Summer is Shuffling Along

Terry "Harmonica" Bean from
Mississippi

In my neck of the woods, the signal that summer is pretty much over is, for music fans, the Southside Shuffle. Held in Port Credit, Ontario, this awesome 3-day music festival is celebrating it's 15th anniversary, and it gets bigger every year. It's usually my last chance to get out there with my camera and get some photos to work with over the winter (there is lots of live music here over the winter, but outside shots turn out better with my crappy point and shoot camera). I got out all 3 days this year... and the lineup was awesome. Highlights included acoustic sets from Suzie Vinnick and Steve Strongman, and a great group of performers from Mississippi, most of whom I had never heard of but now have a little collection of their CDs.

As usual, I took a load of pictures. There are a few I'm going to work up right away... I've been focusing on painting these miniatures and the last few days I've been itching to work on something big enough that I can really get my hands dirty (this is not just a figure of speech... i usually end up covered in paint up to my elbows). This morning I started a 24x36 canvas for my New York busker in the rain, and I've got two more lined up for a couple of Shuffle photos.

D'Mar...  by far the most entertaining drummer I've ever had the pleasure of seeing perform. He had so much energy... kinda made me wonder what he was like as a kid....

This bass player was with the Mississippi guys...
he so LOOKS the part of a blues man that he
is surely going to be in a painting at some point

Steve Strongman... I've seen him live
many times, and it's always a great set.