I just got home from 5 days in Mississippi where I was hanging out with 2 old pals and seeing a lot of the Blues Trail. Larry "Lawrence Of Philadelphia" Hambrecht is a blues harmonica player, singer, lawyer and author; and Rafael "Mr. Baltimore" and "Ralphie" Alvarez is a journalist, screenwriter, and author. They are producing my new Gospel record which will hopefully be released this year.
It was Rafael's idea to make the trip to Mississippi and invited Larry & I. You see, Ralphie was hired by the Village Voice to cover the aftermath of the tornado strike in Rolling Fork MS, the town that McKinley Morganfield (aka: Muddy Waters) was born in. I will send you all a link when the article is posted online. There  was a lot of destruction, but the people of Rolling Fork are resilient, strong, and determined to "build back better".
We also met up with Adam Gussow, the great harmonica player in Clarksdale who has also written a few books about the Blues and teaches English Lit at Oxford MS. Adam and I have done quite a few gigs over the years and it was good catching up with him. We all had a long talk about the legend of Robert Johnson, The Devil, and The Crossroads. Adam wrote a book about the subject and I am sure you can find that onine.
I just wrote a new lyric based on Robert Johnson's tune Crossroads about the legend. I played it once for Ralphie and Larry in the car as we traveled around Mississippi. We hit Jackson, Leland (Johnny Winter's birthplace), to Clarksdale (the Capital of the Blues Delta), Cleveland, and back to Jackson. The loved it. I hope to post a version of it soon.
We also met up with Deak Harp who has a music shop in Clarksdale. He's a heckuva nice cat who customizes harmonicas. He fixed Larry's chromatic harp, and talked to us about how he tunes and customizes diatonic harps. Later that night we heard him rip it up at a cool blues club called Red's Juke Joint. Me and Larry got to do a few songs for the crowd on a Sunday night with Deak's drummer Quicksand sitting in with us.

Lately I have been listening to a few old original songs that were recorded quite a while ago. Here's a link to the Robert Ross Band version of IF I HAD KNOWN recorded in 1991 and released on my own Blue Planet Records, then released again on Fountain Bleu in 2002. The song is one of my originals. It was inspired by a line credited to both Mickey Mantle and to Hubie Blake which goes, "If I had known that I would live this long I would have taken better care of myself." The trio features the late great George Morales on drums; Charlie Torres on bass & back up vocals; and me on guitars & vocals. This tune is more of a pop tune with shades of both country and blues but the trio was known to be pretty damn explosive live. We played some vicious blues and blues rock mainly. What do you think about this recording? I would be curious to know. Did you ever hear the three of us guys play live? What do you think of the song, the vocals, guitar, rhythm section, etc.?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJ3QmT0W6p8

I will perform at Stringers Tavern in Sewall's Point on Tuesday, May 16; and Hurricane Dockside Grill in Boynton on Saturday, May 20. Hope to see ya there!!

HAVING A PRIVATE PARTY OR WEDDING? HIRE THE ROBERT ROSS BAND!
Having a birthday or anniversary bash? Maybe a small dinner party? A large corporate party? Whatever event you are planning consider The Robert Ross Band, Robert Ross & The Jazz-Manian Devils. Or maybe you want something a little more “showbizzy” like Jiggles Giggles & Blues. We can put a package together to suit your entertainment needs. Let's talk. Send us an email reply with “PARTY” in the subject line. We'll get back to you.

GUITAR / BASS / HARMONICA LESSONS
From award winning recording artist & seasoned educator Robert Ross

EMAIL: Bluesman@PROTECTED

I will be taking on a limited number of dedicated guitar, bass, and harmonica students regardless of age or current level of expertise.

Robert is a two time New York Music Award winner and a New York Blues Hall of Fame inductee. Robert is known for a wide variety of blues, jazz, soul, country, rock ‘n’ roll, folk, and other roots music. Robert worked and recorded with Big Joe Turner and also worked with Lightnin’ Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, Otis Rush, Big Mama Thornton, Brownie McGhee, Memphis Slim, and other legends. One of Robert’s songs was recorded by Johnny Winter, and two other songs appeared on the soap opera “All My Children”. The Robert Ross Band has released 7 internationally distributed CDs and toured two continents. Robert has been teaching guitar for more then 25 years privately, and 13 years in NYC public schools. Robert’s work in the schools has been cited by the NY State Council of the Arts (NYSCA) for “best practices in arts in education programming”.

Lessons are $40 per half hour, and $60 per hour.
http://www.robertrossband.com/guitar-lessons