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"He's like a bluesy Paul Simon, but taller"

Newsletter

Newsletter

Coming up -

Blues Songwriting Workshop 

 

I am facilitating a blues songwriting workshop at Java Joe’s from 4:00 to 5:30 pm on Sunday afternoon, January 11th, prior to my gig there in the evening. The workshop is free and open to anyone interested in blues songwriting.

 This is part of a project called “2015 – Year of the Blues Songwriter”. The 100th anniversary of Willie Dixon’s birth happens on July 1st, 2015. I am trying to fire up a grass-roots movement to commemorate Willie Dixon’s contribution to the blues and encourage musicians to write better blues songs.

 In my view, nobody is more responsible than Willie Dixon for the surge in popularity of blues music in the 1970s and 1980s. Prior to his work as a songwriter, blues songs had mostly developed in the oral tradition where musicians recombined phrases and verses from existing songs to make their own versions. This formulaic approach remains common.

By the time Dixon was a staff musician at Chess Records in the 1950s, blues music had given rise to jazz, Broadway tunes and pop music. Dixon took musical elements such as bridges and choruses and resorbed them into the blues, creating what has become the modern blues tradition. In contrast with the formulaic approach, he wrote about novel subjects and used contemporary language to sing about city life. 

 I believe blues would see another surge in popularity if we wrote songs that dealt with our modern day-to-day life, using contemporary language and giving more weight to the basic craft of songwriting.

 Bob Kieser, the editor of Blues Blast magazine told me recently, “I think few people listen to the words in Blues much anymore”. True. And when you consider that young people listen to word-intensive music (hip hop and rap) these days, it’s no wonder they don’t pay much attention to Blues.

 Workshop Topics.

Historical perspectives.

  • The oral tradition era of blues songs – examples of how blues songs developed as community projects, with each performer adding his or her nuances and twists on a familiar theme.
  • Blues on the radio - the Willie Dixon era of blues songwriting.
  • The modern era where, for the most part, lyrics and melody are a distant second to instrumental prowess and invention.

What makes a good blues song?

  • What do the top ten most recorded blues songs have in common?
  • Listening to blues songwriters who are writing and performing 21st-century blues songs.
  • From the examples we listen to, identify simple songwriting principles that a good blues song should incorporate.

Critique session.

  • Attendees can play (live or recorded) their original songs and receive feedback from the group.

 My background.

I am a singer-songwriter who loves blues music, writes a ton of blues songs, volunteers as a Blues for Kids instructor for the Minnesota Blues Society, plays blues harp and guitar, but does not consider himself a “blues guy”. Doug MacLeod is a blues guy. Joe Price is a blues guy. I am first and foremost a songwriter, I go where the song takes me.

My most recent album, The Blues Is Personal, was released in July 2014 and has 12 songs that are all blues, as far as structure goes. But to many blues fans, it doesn’t come across as blues music because it sounds different to what we are used to hearing. Lots of words, for example.

 Nigel Egg web site music page

Contact

nigel@nigelegg.com

(612) 747-0199

 

From Guv'ner to Governor 

I’ve been called Guv’ner in England for years. “Here you are Guv’ner!” as they hand a pint across the bar. It would be a natural transition for me to assume the official title of Governor here in Minnesota. After you watch this YouTube video “If I Were the Governor of Minnesota” I think you will agree that I have a compelling legislative agenda! After all, who wouldn’t prefer a corn dog instead of a new Yellow Pages??  

    I don’t have many music gigs lined up, so it seemed like a good time to run a write-in campaign. I’m not doing it for the salary ($123,912 in 2015) – I just want the power and the media coverage.   

  I was visiting my family in England when Jesse Ventura won the election in 1998. I distinctly remember how proud I was that my fellow Minnesotans had shown the courage to do something different. I’m all about different!

  I just ask that you watch the video and give careful consideration to my positions! Thank you.

 Nigel Egg

 www.nigelegg.com

Who Would Have Thunk It? 

Well, I’ve had time to sort out my paperwork, checks, receipts, etc. this past week and I’m happy to discover that I almost broke even on my Pacific-Northwest tour in August! It reminds me of the singer-songwriter who won $10,000,000 in the lottery.  When a reporter asked him what he was going to do next, he said, “Oh, I’ll just keep on gigging until the money runs out.” Yup.      

 I’m not a fan of cold weather but it did feel good to wear a jacket today, just to have all those extra pockets. When I was a smoker I always wore some kind of jacket so I wouldn’t crush my cigarettes by stuffing the pack in my jeans. These days it means I can take my iPhone AND my iPod.
 
 Meanwhile, I have two gigs coming up that should be quite completely different. 

On Saturday September 13th at Dusty’s Bar in NE Minneapolis, it’s the Nigel Egg Family of Brands, featuring David Stenshoel, Tom Lewis and Bobby E – all established brands in their own right, and who helped me make the new album. I didn’t have a proper CD release party in July; this will be the make-up and I’ll sell the new CD at my cost price ($10). Loud fun and jams starting promptly at 9:30 or so!  

 

The following Saturday (September 20th at 8pm)  I’m performing in the Patrick’s CabaretSinger-Songwriter Series along with James “Cornbread” Harris, Carter Kuehn and Zachary Scot Johnson. Patrick’s has great acoustics and the theater setting makes it a more intense performing and listening experience.  I’m especially looking forward to hearing Cornbread play his original tunes – the guy is 86 years old and has a long and splendid musical history.  These things usually sell out - you can order advance tickets ($8.00) by emailing or calling me and pick them up at will-call. Here is the Facebook event page.

 

 I’m not booking many gigs this fall. I’m working on a project for 2015 to be celebrated internationally as “The Year of The Blues Song”. July 1st, 2015 will be the 100th anniversary of Willie Dixon’s birthday. He reinvented the blues by writing songs that pushed the envelope of what people considered to be blues. It became the new blues tradition, and I believe we need young musicians to come in, juice things up and bring the genre into the 21st century. I’ll also be taking time to work on my own new tunes and set up a couple of tours - winter in the Gulf States and Europe for late spring/early summer. And checking my lottery tickets!

 

September Eggtivities 

I just got back from a very fun four-week tour out to Seattle, Portland and points in between. I was extremely fortunate to get a lot of radio play for my new album – stations are very receptive to playing your stuff when you tour through their towns.

And my first gig back in town is a radio event! 

Tune into KFAI 90.3 FM on Wednesday, Sep 3 at 5:30pm to hear the Nigel Egg Family of Brands* play live on Harold’s House Party. Then we hustle over to the 331 Club to play from 7 to 9.

On Thursday I am a willing participant in The Mad Ripple British Invasion Hootenanny at Harriet Brewing with Jim Walsh. Six Brit songwriters from the TC area, all of whom are obviously crazy because hey, why would you live here if you’re from Britain? Starts at 5:30.

On Saturday I’m playing for the first time at Zeke’s Unchained Animal. A very nice spot across from Merlin’s on Lake Street – they have at least 20 craft beers on tap and a nice food menu. 8:00 to 10:00.

You’ll hear about this again {name}, but I’m having a belated CD Party at Dusty’s on Saturday Sep 13. The new album will be on sale at my cost price and we’ll have the Nigel Egg Family of Brands* playing from the banquette. And the following Saturday I am honored to have been invited to be in the Songwriter Showcase at Patrick’s Cabaret. 

 Hope to see you!

*The Family of Brands is a polyglot group of musicians and artists who agree to be seen and heard in public with me. The personnel changes (sometimes right during the gig) but everyone involved has their own thing going on and is worth hearing on their own account.

So, where was I? 

Newsletter July 2014

It has been one year and five days since I sent out a Nigel Egg newsletter. I usually just ramble on and try to be funny but this time I have some actual news!
I’ve been working on a new album “The Blues Is Personal” and it has an official release tomorrow, July 1st. I don’t know why Tuesday has become the day to release new music and movies but that’s the way it is. Tomorrow is also the 99th anniversary of Willie Dixon’s birthday, so that’s why I picked the date. Willie Dixon is the greatest blues songwriter ever!
The music sounds pretty good actually – I had phenomenal musicians working with me and a great studio and mix engineer, Greg Schutte. It is available Tuesday on iTunes, Amazon and all the streaming services worldwide, and you can listen for free on my website if you click here.  
I shall be touring through August out to Seattle and back, and then playing in town most of September. It feels great to be a full-time musician again!
The first single off the album is a song called “Imagining You Naked” – here is a link to the official SFW video. Check out the great Zack Lozier horn arrangement that ends the song. Please share the video on social media – that would really help me a lot! It's the main way to get ahead in the music biz these days.
Hope to see you soon!
Nigel.

October Newsletter 

I like to surround myself with people who make me look normal and I’m so glad Steve Kimmel agreed to come play with me at Dusty’s this Saturday (October 15th, 9:30pm). He’ll bring marimbas, ukulele, musical saw, percussion, vox, spontaneity and mmmmuchmore. Steve has been a jazz incubator and player for many years in the Twin Cities, for those of you who don’t know him. We played together in a Country-And-Western band in the 80’s; he is versatile.

I’m heading to the woodshed after this gig to put together my next album, so it would be great to see you Test if you don’t have something else planned for Saturday night (like Bill Smith’s birthday party). I have a couple dozen almost-finished new songs and I’ve learned I have to focus on writing (as opposed to performing) if I am going to get them in recordable shape.

Dusty’s is at 1319 Marshall St NE in Minneapolis. If you’d like to help me out, click here to access a Facebook Public Event for the gig, click I’m Attending, and then Select Friends to Invite. I learned the power of this on my last road trip and enjoyed meeting a bunch of new people that my Wisconsin and Illinois friends invited to the show. What a tour! The chicks were climbing all over the limo! I was lucky to escape with my virginity intact.

Thank you so much for sticking with me this far - it would be so hard to keep going without your support and encouragement!

Nigel.

September 14 Newsletter 

OK, I’m playing there, obviously, at 9pm, but for some people that might not be quite enough because if you’ve never been to a place before, there’s probably a good reason.  From your perspective it might be too far away or maybe you’ve heard about the alien abductions that happen there regularly and you’d really prefer to stay on this planet thank you very much.

If you’re already a Dusty’s person, the extra reasons aren’t really “extra”, they’re  just why you go there, and let’s hope that I don’t spoil it for you this weekend.

First, the food – not ordinary. Here is a “foodie” review from Heavy Table. Then the bartenders, also not ordinary, but don’t tell them, it might hurt their feelings. The beer and cocktails? Quite ordinary, probably a good thing. But mostly it’s the people and the comfortable atmosphere; it doesn’t take long to feel at home here.  Unless the aliens drop by. Again.

Coming up later this month – Wednesday Sept 28th at The Coffee Grounds, I am honored to be part of Lonny Knight’s Songwriter Showcase.  The next day I start a six-day tour through Wisconsin and Illinois, beginning at the Acoustic Café in Eau Claire. More about that in the next newsletter, or check my website calendar here.

Hope to see you soon!  If you didn’t see my triumphant appearance on KARE 11 news, live from the State Fair with the New Minnesota State Song, here is a link to the Facebook page. My web site has information about all my gigs, directions, etc. just click here.

 

Does Minnesota need a new State Song? 

Well I hope so because I've written it.

Background. A few years ago, State Rep Dean Urdahl (District 18B) proposed that we put the official state song Hail Minnesota in mothballs and call it the State Anthem. This would leave room for a new State Song which, according to Rep. Urdahl, should “have a catchy tune to make it easy to learn.” He hoped it would be performed at the 2008 State Fair, to celebrate 150 years of statehood for the 32nd state.

News. OK, I’m three years late, but I’ve been refining and testing my contender for Minnesota State Song. It is called Why Minnesota My Minnesota and I shall be performing it at the 2011 State Fair – on Sunday August 28th, 5pm at the Farmer’s Union on Dan Patch. Many of you have sung along at venues this summer – if you are at the fair on Sunday, show up and sing for the TV cameras! I’m going to milk this opportunity and try to get on some live-from-the-fair news broadcasts.

This will open the Minnesota Songwriters State Fair showcase, one of two songwriter showcase gigs I have in the next week.  If you’d like to hear the song, here is a link to a silly video I put on YouTube

On  Monday August 22nd I’m one of five MAS performers outdoors at the Nicollet Island Amphitheater, beginning at 7pm.

 For details, directions, etc. please click the underlined links.

Will it ever be safe to go outside? 

(Newsletter August 2nd 2011)

Well, depends what you’re scared about. Bugs? Short answer is No, not safe. Heat index? Probably not safe. Stepping on a beetle and hearing it crunch under your shoe? Possibly safe if you are wearing headphones. Having an alien cut out your pineal gland to squeeze on her taco salad? Actually, quite safe!

But I probably shouldn’t expect too many people to show up at my gig on Thursday evening at Minnehaha Falls Bandshell because it is outside and of course there is that extra danger of being carried down the waterfall and dashed to the rocks below. Like Hiawatha.

Is this going to stop a daredevil like you  or will you thumb your nose at fate and nonchalantly crunch beetles as you clamber over the rocks, swatting away the bugs and succumbing to heat exhaustion as you climb up the stone steps from Minnehaha Creek to the Bandshell? 

If you do, I pledge you the honor and respect you deserve! And a coupon for Dairy Queen.

The details – 7:00pm to 8:30pm at Minnehaha Falls Park. Rain or shine – the concert moves inside the big pavilion if the weather is bad. The sound crew does a great job, and I’ll be performing the same show I did at Lake Harriet last month.

Click here for directions and information. The concert is free, courtesy of the Minneapolis Parks Department, but you’ll need to pay a couple dollars for parking if you don’t arrive by canoe.

 It would be great to see you! Please feel free to forward this email to your friends – the more the merrier! I have created an event on Facebook where you can Invite Friends by clicking on the button on the left side. 

June 2011 newsletter 

My vacation from performing is over. I got a bunch of new songs finished, caught up on my to-do list at home, took a couple of trips, including 10 days at the Kerrville Folk Festival (inspiring!). But I miss the showing off, I mean sharing my music and I’m revving things up again.

June 26th - Monday evening from 7:00 to 8:30 pm, I’m playing at the Nicollet Island Amphitheater.

July 7th – Thursday evening from 7:30 to 9:00 pm – Lake Harriet Bandshell.

These are part of the Minneapolis Parks Outdoor Concert series. The sun WILL be shining and I have some lovely new pink and gold clothes to wear in celebration.

 The Nicollet Island Amphitheater is just east from the Nicollet Island Inn, tucked behind the Pavilion. The Mississippi river is spectacular right now from all the rain we’ve been enjoying (you can see the upper falls from the amphitheater) but I am glad the rain stops tomorrow morning. Bring something to sit on – the grass may still be damp.

 We’ll sing the new State Song together - Why Minnesota My Minnesota. You can preview it by clicking this link to YouTube.

 Thanks!