Blues pilgrimage – The Boneyard

Dearest Chad,
Ok you win again. Let’s keep to the OG plan. Strictly blues hotspots for this trip. I don’t know what I was thinking. I must have just thought in my small-town brain that it would be easy to squeeze in a trip to Tulsa to see Dylan play.

But then I quickly realised the logistics, and that it’s USA, not Ireland! Tulsa is a spanner in the works and I never should have mentioned it. The holy sites of the blues.

This is our goal. Let’s forget about Bob. I’m sure he’s forgotten about us. Now. Most importantly. How many hot dogs do you want me to bring? I’ve discovered I can fit more in my suitcase if I take them out of the jars. I can get close to a thousand if I pack wisely.

My only concern is when jarless, they might not maintain their freshness very long. Specially in the Southern heat. This only means we will have to eat them quicker. Double up on our meals.

I’ve sampled a few of said hotdogs by the way, and I must say, they aren’t half bad, after the puking stops. And if you smother them with hot sauce to cloak the taste of rubber. But don’t just take my word for it. Nina has been having them for breakfast all week and she prefers them over her porridge.

They get the thumbs up from her, and also the neighbour’s dog, whom I’ve also been feeding regularly.

In other news, I got talking to a record collector in the shop the other day.

He is a big fan of the blues and I told him about the upcoming trip.

He has a few books he is going to throw my way for research before I fly.

He also gave me a record, Bo Carter’s greatest hits, on the Yazoo Label.

He also told me he has John Fahey’s autograph, from when he played in Belfast at a festival in the 80s or 90s.

Did you say you saw him in Galway? Perhaps it was the same tour.

I think he’s yanking my chain, but he says he will bring it along for my perusal. Anyway, gotta run. Nina wants a hot dog. Thoughts?

Marco Van Deer

Illustration by Chris Coll

Words by Mark McCausland