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THE HOOTER NEWS

February 21, 2006, I received the following from Anders Lillsunde after he sent copies of the Jefferson blues magazine to the Czechian President:

Dear Mr Lillsunde,

Thank you very much for the two copies of the Jefferson magazine that you kindly sent us. President Klaus has the best memories of his visit to Stampen and I was pleased to hand one copy of the magazine over to him. It was a really nice gig. Slam Allen & The Hooter's Blues were great and the atmosphere at Stampen is something to remember.

All best wishes

Jiri B.


Jiøí Brodský
Deputy Director
Foreign Affairs Department
Office of the President of the Czech Republic
119 08 Praha 1 - Hrad
Czech Republic
Tel.: +420 224 37 3582
Fax: +420 224 31 0484
http://www.hrad.cz

Courtesy of Anders Lillsunde

July 2005 - There is a BIG article about me in the June/July issue of the Jefferson blues magazine.  However, it is written in Swedish, so if you want to read it, you will have to bone up on your Swedish. :0)

Recently, while I was touring in Finland, Ville Haatanen, the webmaster for my Finnish language site kept a "Road Diary."  If you would like to read this diary, please click on the link below.

Road Diary of Ville Haatanen

Just thought everyone might enjoy seeing the poster from the Torin Blues (left) and me displaying some of my many tattoos (right).

SEPT. 1, 2004:

It's been a fantastic year both professionally and personally since the last edition back in February. I've met the love of my life, Denvers' own Connie Jane Stultz aka Connie Girl, and am now living with her in a beautiful picturesque little town alongside the Oslofjord called Drøbak.

We're going to be married next summer in Connie Girls' hometown of Denver when we go back to the US for my 50th(ouch:0) birthday on July 20. I've also become the proud stepfather to two 8 year old twin Norwegian/American boys named Brandon and Garrett. Already have them listening to Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, The Allman Bros, etc. and will take them for their first tattoo on their 18 birthdays in '14:0). Have a funny feeling you might see them tending bar sometime shortly after that at Blues, Booze, Cigars and Tattoos (BBC&T) on the Costa Del Sol in Spain!

We had a great tour with Johnnie Marshall thru the beginning of June which included festivals in Germany and Prague (with a Czech death metal band that was so loud my ears are still ringing!?:0) Lil' Dave Thompson came in late June and we immediately did a week long tour of the UK, including 2 festivals plus a gig at Londons' prestigious 100 Club (thanks on that one to our good friend and colleague JSP Records' chief John Stedman), and we're finishing up our tour with Dave in Germany, Belgium and Holland from Sept 9-19.

After that it's on to Finland/Sweden with Lonnie Shields from Sept 22 to Oct 5, Johnny Rawls in Norway/Sweden from Oct 8 to Nov 14, Ike Cosse in Poland/Finland/Sweden from Nov 17 to Dec 13 and an as yet undetermined guitarist from Dec 14 to 30.  I'll be taking a long needed vacation after that with Connie and will be scouting locations for BBC&T in Spain from Dec 31-Jan 6 before starting off '05 with some Norwegian gigs for the month of January with a great Norwegian guitar player named Kurt Slevigan.  Will then be bringing over some new and old friends from the US like Johnnie Marshall, Ike Cosse again, and others.

We're continuing to play throughout Scandinavia, in addition to Central Europe, and want to thank all the clubs and festivals where we play for their support.  Also, thanks to all our friends including Stockholm Blues Society VP Anders Linnartsson, my webmaster Patty Scott,  the blues travel agent Venke "Dahlink" Rudjord, and longtime colleague Bruce Feiner, plus many others too numerous to mention! Check our monthly gig listings to see where we're playing and stay tuned for the brand new upcoming Hooter History (past and present) section which will include pictures of a 7 year old Hooter (yes I was young once despite my haggard, weathered appearance nowadays:0) as well as other band photos and pictures of some of the beautiful castles, churches and scenery I've seen in my 30+ year career.

Lastly don't forget the BBC&T motto: No Thinkin' Just Drinkin, and the 5 Hooter's Ways To Know You're Still Alive and Well (after decades in the music business/life for all you old musicians/future patrons of BBC&T) which are the ability to:

1. Think
2. Drink
3. Smoke
4. Play
5. F**k!:0)

FEB. 1, 2004:

Hi Everyone!  Sorry to have taken so long to get up this second edition of The Hooter News, but it's been a hectic though great five months since #1.

Click on image for clearer, larger view.

Click on image for clearer,
larger view.

We did Augusti Bluus in Haapsalu, Estonia with the great Phil Guy, brother of the legendary Buddy Guy, along with the equally legendary former lead singer for Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant, at the coolest place I've ever played, which was in the ruins of a 12th Century Medieval castle complete with uneven turrets, all kinds of crazy stairs going to nowhere, mismatched brickwork, you name it.  And, of course, the perfect setting  for a music festival!

Mississippi's Lil' Dave Thompson (www.davethompson.info) did a tour with the band for the last few weeks of '03 throughout Norway and Finland.  There will be another visit coming later this summer with possible gigs in England, The Netherlands, Austria, The Czech Republic, Poland, Switzerland (and who knows where else), and of course Scandinavia including The Tykki Blues and Roots n' River Festivals in Finland in August.

A great Norwegian West Side Chicago style guitarist named  Kurt Slevigan has been playing with us for all of January including The Troll Blues Festival in Andalsnes for The Isfjorden Bluesklubb on 31 January. Georgias' Johnnie Marshall (www.jsprecords.com) is coming next, starting on 13 Febuary,  and traveling throughout Scandinavia until sometime this spring.

Want to thank all the bluesklubbs, festivals, hotels and other venues we've played for their support and, of course, all you fans who come to see us. Check out our monthly gig list for all the details of who, what and where and keep on Bluesin! Best, Hooter

P.S.  I'm giving all my friends and fans in the blues business plenty of advance notice about my retirement club (can you ever really retire from this business?:0) A few years down the road, somewhere along an as yet undetermined Mediterranean beachfront location, I'm going to open Blues, Booze, Cigars and Tatoos! Everyone who knows me will understand instantly why I chose that name and if not, come on out and meet me to find out why. Serious investors only:0) Our motto: No Thinkin' Just Drinkin'!
 

SEPT. 1, 2003:

Hi Everyone! Thanks for looking at my website. This is the first edition of  The Hooter News :0)  I'll try and update it every month but bear with me as I'm very busy as you can tell by our gig calendar, in addition to doing all the booking, business and paperwork etc.

This is the first time in my 26+ year career that I've used my nickname (no my mother didn't name me Hooter) in the band name, and I can tell you it's really a treat to be in the spotlight and definitely the right time to do it. As those who know me and a little about my career, I, along with the countless other musicians who have dedicated their life to the blues, can tell you, this business has just a few ups and downs to put it mildly, but there's nothing I'd rather be doing! As I always tell people, it's either this or "Would you like fries with that shake sir or ma'am?" :0)  I'm a lifer and proud of it.

For you young musicians out there who are thinking about a life in the music/blues business, think long and hard as it's a VERY hard, exhausting, and lonely life despite the popular conception of musicians having a woman in every town. The part you see on stage is the "easy" part, so to speak. The real job is the loading in and out, the setting up and tearing down of the equipment, and not least of all, the long and boring drives we have to make just to get to the gigs. In the past when I was with Big Jack Johnson we would average 300 gigs and 100,000 miles a year (US miles for my Scandinavian friends).  Now I do about 200 gigs and 80,000 kilometers a year (50,000 US for my non Scandinavian friends)  which is still quite a bit as we're primarily playing in Scandinavia which, of course, is a much smaller market and area than the US, not to mention the fact that I'm getting older and more tired as the years go passing by to quote Albert King:0)

August has been a VERY exciting month, the highlight of which was our gig on the 9th at The Augusti Bluus (that's August Blues to most of us) Festival in Haapsalu, Estonia. We did our own show as well as backing the great Phil Guy, brother of the legendary Buddy Guy. It was the first time I've played with another American since I moved here and it was quite a treat. I'll be bringing other American blues artists here such as JSP Records' Lil Dave Thompson, all the way from Greenville, Mississippi, for a 6 week tour from the middle of November to New Years Eve, and another great guitar player from Beaumont, Texas (home of Johnny Winter) by the name of Tom "Bluesman" Hunter, brother of Alligator Records' Long John Hunter, for the month of March.

Hope to see and meet some of you out there in cyberland and please come up and say hello at our gigs. It's really nice for us to meet the people in the audience and make new friends so it's not so lonely the next time we play in your town on that Blues highway.

Good Blues to everyone! Hooter

Here's what happens when you're totally exhausted at the end of a 2 week road trip and can't find any matching clean socks in your suitcase (nor do you care at that point!:0) ROAD SOCKS or lack thereof! Young musicians beware! This will happen to you someday, guaranteed!