In the month of November in the United States we celebrate Thanksgiving. We have much for which we can be thankful. For many it is the fact that our current President is as inept and incompetent as can be imagined.

He also is the embodiment of pure evil on an epic scale and it is only his complete lack of understanding on how our government operates, his profound laziness, lack of vision and remedial intellect that keeps him and his gang of criminals from achieving their goals. For this, I’m thankful.

It has been noted that the two worst days in American history are 9/11 and 11/9. This month we observe the latter and I’m thankful that our country has repudiated the Trump agenda.  

On Tuesday, 11/7/17, America went to the polls and rejected racism. It rejected homophobia. It rejected xenophobia, misogyny and everything that Trump stands for. I’m thankful that the seemingly irretrievable people who still support this man have lost control of the electorate…for the moment anyway.

I am thankful for the America that I know and love. I am also thankful for the values of hope, struggle and redemption that are deeply embedded in our national psyche and reside at the heart of our quintessential American music…the blues. They are packaged in the grooves that give the rhythms of this music it’s irresistible charm. I’m also thankful that so many musicians continue to make this music with verve and style despite the fact that it has never achieved the type of popularity that other more mainstream commercial music has enjoyed.

The very best of these new recordings can be found in our November monthly Recommended Listening feature. One of these new recordings is by one of the perennial favorites around here, Jimmie Vaughan. His new album under the banner of Jimmie Vaughan Trio featuring Mike Flanigin is entitled Live at C-Boys. That brand new release is the subject of our Monthly Album Spotlight feature. 

Last month BLUES JUNCTION attended the 2nd Annual West Coast Blues Festival. We hope this event continues to grow and prosper. Enjoy my commentary on this festival as well as a photo essay by Brad Elligood.

This month I've also left an editorial up which received a lot of attention on social media.  Check out my thoughts on the current state of  live music performances by reading Talkachella.

We also enjoyed last month what was, by all accounts, a true fall classic, the 2017 installment of baseball’s World Series. The games (except the last one) were all competitive and exciting. The series was marred by one small incident that was made worse by baseball’s commissioner. Read my thoughts on this in an editorial entitled A First Baseman Makes an Error and the Commissioner Strikes Out.

One of the things that I am particularly thankful for is that I live in a world that is also inhabited by Charlie Lange. Several years ago, Charlie and I sat down for an interview that covered four distinct areas of discussion. I broke these four topics into four separate interviews which ran in concurrent months. I thought after all this time and with the Christmas holiday right around the corner, I would re-publish those interviews, so that our readers can revisit this discussion with one of the most important men in the blues field, the one and only Charlie Lange.

What I’m most thankful for is our readers. It is very gratifying to know that BLUES JUNCTION is simply not a very nice billboard sitting on a deserted highway. As I have mentioned before, despite my feeble marketing attempts that I suppose stem from my loathing of self-promotion, you have found us anyway. A global word of mouth campaign has linked this tight knit community that Charlie Lange calls the alternative blues universe. Thanks so much for all the kind words, letters to the editor and having an overall understanding as to what we are all about.

Let’s celebrate Thanksgiving together, as well as enjoy the one sure thing that we can all agree, that truly makes America great…our music.

Be well and be in touch.

- David Mac  



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