Hey guys - if you have a trip coming anywhere near this part of the country again, I'd like to suggest a venue for you to visit and jam at for the next time you're passing through Phoenix - not because I think you'll make any money there but because the place just has a special vibe to it. The place is a country bar called 'Handlebar J's." You can probably google it and get some history about the place - it was inducted into the Arizona Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame a year or two ago and it has a lot of musical history associated with it.

Better still a lot of top music names drop by after or around their normal performances either to hang out and listen or jam with the house band, The Herndon Brothers. Ray, one of said Herndon's whose mother owns the joint, has had his own solo career in Nashville and played for Orbison and a variety of others in their bands at various times. He still comes back home and sings with his brother Ron and their three long-time bandmates in his mom's bar/steakhouse for weeks at a time. Jesse Coulter often shows up and jams with them, and she and her late husband Waylon Jennings were regular patrons there, and I guess she is still. I don't know that their food is necessarily edible (hit and miss) but the music scene there is really something else.

Even if you don't get to visit HBJ's, I'd still love to see you visit Phoenix, and preferrably when it's not 1 billion degrees outside (Or 60+ degrees Celsius in Canadian degrees. Was I supposed to carry the 1? Oh well...)

If you need a tour guide while in the area I know I and my family would be thrilled to give you a wholesome maritime welcome (Mom's from NS.)

Cheers,

GBG