Andy J Forest and MonkeyJunk; Two shows to remember

Thursday evening and Sunday afternoon witnessed the combination of Ottawa Blues juggernauts Monkeyjunk and the seasoned and flamboyant performance of New Orleans Bluesman Andy J Forest. With the highest of expectations buzzing around the community (Sunday sold out 2 months in advance), the pairing did no less than come in and blow them away.

Monkeyjunk is well known on the stage; Steve's musical abilities on almost every instrument and his fabulous blues voice (he even took a short turn on the piano in the side room), Tony D's incredible solos and Matt Sobb keeping the gang together are eagerly awaited and appreciated. To be succinct, they were on.

Andy J was a wild card. One wonderful musical and theatrical performance later and everyone was in awe. His voice just oozes New Orleans and his songs reflect the area's hardships and appeal. The performance, his Harp, his washboard, and his jukin' and jivin' on stage pushed the show into the sublime. His Crazy Legs performance Sunday was hard to believe.

There are a few videos on youtube now, if you're a fan of Harmonica, Harris' Harmonica Humdinger is a thing to behold; Andy and Steve handing solos back and forth. For a guitar player, as Tony mentioned; there's nothing more frightening then TWO harmonica players.

Two big shows and two glorious standing ovations, quite a time. Welcome backm anytime!