ANDY COHEN    BLUES and RAGTIME GUITAR CONCERT    Roeder Home, 2600 Sunset (& Broadway), Bellingham, WA   Friday, November 11, 2005    7:30pm, Suggested Donation $8-$12    BLUES GUITAR WORKSHOP    Thursday, November 10, 7pm and other times TBA    Contact Flip Breskin for reservations and Workshop location    360-671-4511 or at flip@breskin.com

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Andy Cohen Blues Concert in Bellingham, November 11

c.2005 blueslamp.com

by Flip Breskin

I haven't laid eyes on Andy Cohen since 1973, but we've kinda kept track of each other through the years. He's a stunning blues and ragtime guitarist, and sweet enough to charm the warts off a toad. Last time I saw him, I handed him my beloved Twangoleum (a harp-guitar built in 1895) on permanent loan, extracting only a promise that he'd get it back to me if he was ever done with it. He toured all over the country, playing it on the streets as The Twangoleum King. He figured there was only one of it, so he might as well be the king of it. Years  (and several moves) later, I got a dead-of-the-night phone call that started, "I'm done with it, and I found it a ride!" Huh? It took a few minutes to sort that one out, but it did get safely home to me. And now that very same Tangoleum has just been restored, and just in time for Andy to play it for us.      In the intervening years, Andy has dedicated his life to the Blues. He saw to it that the old players got heard, and got paid. He spent years traveling the country with fabulous Blues geezers -- hanging out, hanging in, and soaking up their knowledge so their music wouldn't die with them. Plus he spent endless hours listening to cracky old records, figuring out answers to the age-old musical question, "How did they DO that?"      When he heard Andy was coming to town, local Blues banjo and 12-string guitar player Mike Marker looked like he was ready to get up and dance. He declared, "Andy is one of the world's foremost authorities on the Reverand Gary Davis, and his playing shows the deepest understanding of how the Blues and the deep religious spirit of Black American music are seamlessly woven together." Mike's a university professor, and he'll be glad to know that Andy is working right now on research and interviews for a biography of Reverand Davis. Of course, Mike is not the only local blues player who is ecstatic that Andy will be teaching a workshop (maybe two) while he's in town. You might want to sign up early.      Andy is also a hot-shot on the Dolceola, a weird old Victorian musical contraption that sort of sounds like a ragtime harp on speed. I believe this will be Andy's first trip ever to Bellingham, WA. This looks to be one of those concerts that, years later, folks who attend will find themselves bragging to their friends, "I Was There!"

Andy Cohen

Andy Cohen is available on numerous releases, both widely available and rare. For an illustrated recording discography, please visit the web page below: http://www.wirz.de/music/cohen.htm For further background information on Andy Cohen, please visit the web page below: http://www.meandthee.org/AndyCohen.html

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Flip Breskin is a leader in the Northwest folk music community. She wove the fabric of folk events like the Homemade Music Society Concerts, Mama Sundays and the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop. Breskin is a veteran performer at the Northwest Folklife Festival, a gifted guitar instructor, a collector of odd instruments and a folk historian. Her relaxed humor has delighted audiences of all ages in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.Far to humble to say much about herself, this information on Flip Breskin was added by the BLUESLAMP editor.

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