I’ve been on vacation this past week. Took my wife and daughter to Boston to visit my youngest son and revisit some of our old haunts from when we lived there. Tuesday would have been my daughter’s third wedding anniversary had her husband Matt survived the cancer. But we had a great time in spite of it being a date that could’ve conjured up the blues. But speaking of the blues, I recommend we slide into the weekend with one of my favorite lap-steel slide guitarists. Andrew Winton is a twenty-nine year old blues playing and singing Australian demon. He grew up listening to Deep Purple, Frank Zappa, and Johnny Cash, quite the eclectic mix. He started out as a drummer, but moved to electric guitar in his late teens and completed a degree in jazz at the Conservatorium of Music in Perth, Australia. In 2002, he began playing dobro and other lap style guitars and started a solo song writing and performing career. Mostly self taught, he is now recognized as one of Australia’s and dare I say the world’s, most talented slide guitar players.
In 2006, he took first place in the Folk/Acoustic category of the Australian Songwriters Association awards for his song, Lucky Boy. He also got an award for best live performance of the night. He’s been a featured artist on several Australian radio shows and has collected nominations for best Blues/Roots Artist (2008/2009) and best guitarist (2008/2009) in the West Australian Music Industry Awards.
His stage style mixes humor, storytelling, and a dynamic voice with virtuoso slide guitar. He reminds me a little of Kelly Joe Phelps or Ben Harper. He currently lives in Perth with his wife Karen, who also serves as his manager and percussionist, and their three children. I hope you like him.
While visiting the Museum of Fine Arts to view a spectacular exhibit of Degas’s pastels, we stopped in the wine bar for a breather and I discovered a marvelous white wine. The 2010 Colome Torrontes is an incredible white from Argentina and may become my favorite wine for just sipping while I work. I did a bit of research on it and found that the Torrontes grape is unique to Argentina and expresses itself to the fullest in the Calchaqui Valley in the province of Salta, near the Northern Argentinian Andes. This particular wine was made from Torrontes grapes selected from vineyards that are 50 to 120 years old and grew at an altitude between 1600 and 2300 meters (5250 to 7546 feet) above sea level.
The wine is a brilliant, pale-gold in color, with aromas of roses, apricots, and peaches. The flavors are rich with peach, lime, guava, papaya, hints of honey, and orange peel followed by a fresh, crisp, and long finish. The wine costs about $12.00 so it’s a tremendous value. Even more important is the fact that it’s a white and won’t stain the carpet as you groove around the room to the music of Andrew Winton. Have a great weekend. Enjoy!
Cheers!
