October 31, 2015 – On Halloween night, I sat in with my friend T.J. Hogarty’s combo at Cassidy’s, a friendly Irish Pub on 55th Street in Midtown. In contrast to the hijinks that take place in New York City during this spooky and celebratory holiday, the scene was casual, with a small but supportive crowd on hand digging some blues, American songbook and rock and roll numbers. On hand that night were T.J., above left, Spring Brooks, center, and Mike Burman on bass, right.
T.J. is an excellent guitarist who runs various jam sessions, plays a lot of gigs around town and also does sound for clubs on occasion. He actually influenced me in a big way a number of years ago, and it’s an interesting story.
I was playing a gig at Desmond’s with my band, and T.J. appeared on the bill with the Fountain of Blues. Eventually he left that group, and I came in to play guitar for them when they couldn’t find someone good enough or dedicated enough to replace him. One of the first things they asked me was if I could play “The Stumble,” by Freddy King, a demanding instrumental that had showcased T.J. I picked it up but had to keep working on it for over a year before I was really comfortable with it. I guess I have to thank T.J. for that because I consider it both an accomplishment and something that I will be shedding and enjoying for a long time to come.
Hopefully I’ll get to sit in again at Cassidy’s sometime soon because it was a really nice hit. I got to sing “Sad To Be Lonesome,” by Sonny Boy Williamson, “Going Down To Mainstreet,” by Muddy, and my own “Door To Door Blues,” which got a big hand. How cool is that? Thanks T.J.!