BLUES HAIKU by Phil Garrett

  

Hello Art people.

I’ve been working on a project over the last few months that combines printmaking and music making( two of my favorite things) . Specifically a print portfolio about seven Piedmont Blues artists consisting of seven linoleum cut images each  with a letterpress verse that correspond to  songs either by or associated with those Blues Artists. The folio is called BLUES HAIKU.

Letterpress and drying prints

I made the prints in the letterpress studio at The Penland School of Craft  in February, thats a great facility by the way. I rented the studio for a week, which can be done in the downtime between fall and spring sessions, cut the lino blocks, proofed and printed the photopolymer plates and then did the final run with the lino blocks on a sweet running Vandercook press. Each of the seven prints and Colophon  are in an edition of 20 on Hahnemuhle Copperplate paper. 

Sixteen of the sets are going to be in a clothbound custom folio that includes a CD of the seven songs performed by myself, David McCurry, Russ Morin (Blue Studio Band) and Bob Buckingham. The recording was produced by J.Michael King at his home studio in Greenville SC. The Piedmont Blues artists featured range from Blind Blake to Pink Anderson. The publication will correspond to a House Concert in Asheville NC at Working Girls Studio. 30 Battery Park Ave 7:30 pm on May 25 2012 . 

                                                                                               

This has been labor of love in all aspects, love the music, love to play and love to make images. 

                                                                                        
                                                       -Phil Garrett April 23 2012

                                                  
                                                                             Blues Haiku Proofs/Penland

      
                                                                                      Blues Haiku Detail 1

Blues Haiku Detail 2

                                                                                          Blues Haiku Detail 3

B LUES  HAIKU

1. MOSQUITO MOAN   BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON

   A GREAT AND IDIOSYNCRATIC BLUESMAN FROM TEXAS

2. POLICE DOG BLUES  BLIND ARTHUR BLAKE

   REV GARY DAVIS SAID THAT BLAKE HAD A SPORTIN

    RIGHT HAND . ONE OF THE PIEDMONT’S FINEST PLAYERS

    AND SONGWRITERS, AND A HUGE INFLUENCE ON MANY 

    FINGERSTYLE GUITARISTS  WORLDWIDE

3. SOUTH CAROLINA RAG   WILLIE WALKER

    JOSH WHITE SAID THAT  GREENVILLE SOUTH CAROLINA’S

         

     WILLIE WALKER WAS THE BEST GUITARIST HE EVER

     HEARD . UNFORTUNATELY HE ONLY RECORDED A FEW 

     SONGS . 

4. HESITATION BLUES  REV GARY DAVIS

    BORN IN GRAY COURT SC ,REV GARY DAVIS   

     INFLUENCED  NUMEROUS GREAT GUITARISTS 

     AND SINGERS INCLUDING JORMA KAUKENEN , PAUL

     SIMON,JOHN SEBASTION,ERNIE HAWKINS AND ON AND ON

5. RISING RIVER BLUES    GEORGE CARTER

    ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND POIGNIENT SLOW

      BLUES EVER . RECORDED IN THE 1930’S BY THIS

      GEORGIA TWELVE STRING GUITAR PLAYER

6. ONE MEAT BALL        JOSH WHITE

     WRITTEN BY HY ZARET AND LOU SINGER THIS SONG

     WAS RECORDED BY AND BECAME A HIT FOR 

     GREENVILLE SC NATIVE JOSH WHITE

7. GREASY GREENS       PINK ANDERSON

   PINK ANDERSON PLAYED MEDICINE SHOWS THROUGH

    OUT THE SOUTH IN THE TEENS .TWENTIES AND THIRTIES

    AND LIVED AND PERFORMED IN THE UPSTATE OF SOUTH

    CAROLINA UNTIL HIS PASSING IN 1974

THIS FOLIO OF PRINTS AND THE CD ARE A TRIBUTE TO THE

MUSIC AND MUSICIANS THAT HAVE INSPIRED AND INFLUENCED

MY OWN MUSIC MAKING . I HOPE YOU ENJOY MY ART AND THEIR MUSIC

ALL PRINTS ARE LINOCUTS ON HAHNEMUHLE COPPERPLATE PAPER EDITION OF 24