Parker Crook
Morning Star Staff
It isnât about the money, itâs about the music.
Thatâs the mantra of bluesman Harpdog Brown, whoâs playing with the Travelinâ Blues Show featuring Sugar Brown at the Prestige Inn Ballroom Saturday.
The dynamic duo met last fall while Harpdog was on tour in Ontario.
âThis man has truly given me hope that there is a chance that classic blues is alive here in Canada,â said Harpdog, the Maple Blues Award winner for Harmonica Player of the Year in 2014, 2015, and 2016.
âGuys like me and Sugar are keeping the torch alive.â
After meeting, the two bonded over their love of classic blues: music straight from early â50s Chicago.
âThat was wicked. It was the most natural love affair,â said Harpdog. âIt was encouraging, (and) weâre pretty excited about the blues marriage.â
Sugar, born in Ohio in 1971, is a professor of East Asian Studies at the University of Toronto who grew up playing the blues with the likes of Taildragger, responsible for giving Ken Kawashima his stage name; Dave Myers; and Willie âBig Eyesâ Smith, the late-drummer of Muddy Waters band.
âSugar Brownâs blues were shaped by playing the small clubs and venues along the west side of Chicago,â said Harpdog. âHeâs paid his dues and heâs paid his time.
âHeâs educated, but not too educated. If you get too over educated, it becomes jazz.â
Classic blues comes from passion and emotion, said Harpdog, not about technical prowess.
âMusic has become a sport â itâs all tricks, but itâs lost its language.â
So when the two bluesmen played together, it was a natural connection.
âItâs like having the right guy on your stage,â said Harpdog. âIâm amazed and overwhelmed by the talent.â
But, because of its focus on passion, Harpdog said blues will never be popular to the degree of top 40.
âI donât think anyone gets into the blues to be rich and famous,â he said. âItâs never going to be the flavour of the week. Itâs not a sprint, itâs a marathon. Blues is a lifelong experience.â
Harpdog stumbled into the world of blues after already being involved in music. He didnât go searching for the blues, it found him.
âI can kind of see how I was designed for the circus, and blues was my circus,â he said.
âBlues is the thing (where) I really felt like I truly belonged. The blues gave me a purpose in life.â
Growing up as a foster-child in Edmonton, Harpdog always felt out of place. He was named three times by people he never knew, but only once did the name feel right.
In 1989, when Harpdog was in his late-20s, he played a gig at the famous Mama Goldâs in Kitsilano, Vancouver. In the crowd was a group of well-dressed men.
âAt the end of the night, they were chanting âharp dog, harp dog.â
He thought about it a few days later, and decided he liked it.
âI truly connected to the name. I never felt like I belonged as anything but Harpdog.â
And after a divorce four years ago, he legally changed his name to Harpdog, known as âDogâ for short, because as he says in Whatâs your real name, âAfter all, I am the dog of the harp, not the harp of the dog.â
Harpdog played the Prestige Inn Ballroom last year, loved it, and decided to make it an annual show.
âIt was pretty damn successful,â he said.
Despite his love for the blues, itâs still a job, and sometimes he has trouble getting out of bed in the afternoon, but he doesnât quit.
âI never regret going to work on my way home.
âPlaying live is what itâs all about. Like a priest without a congregation, if thereâs no audience, thereâs no point.â
Through playing the blues to live audiences, Harpdog has affected their lives. Hearing about other peoplesâ struggles helps them realize their situations arenât so bad, he said.
âBlues is a practice. Itâs not something to listen to. Itâs something to live and to share. Itâs music that can change a personâs life.â
And thatâs what keeps Harpdog going.
âThose moments are more valuable than money in the bank.
âItâs about the funny, not about the money.â
Tickets to Harpdog Brown and the Travelinâ Blues Show featuring Sugar Brown are available for $20 at Bourbon St. Bar and Grill, 4411-32nd St., and East Side Liquor Company, 4209-27th St. Doors at 7 p.m. Show at 8 p.m. For more information, visit .
