Meeting John Hammond

Last weekend Lisa Swarbrick and Louis Rosano of Louis Electric Amplifiers took me to one of my favorite places - the Beacon Theater in NYC. We went for Jorma Kaukonen's 75th birthday bash. Louis was supplying his gorgeous amps onstage, and Lisa is Beacon "family" because she was married to Warren Haynes's beloved guitar tech, the late Brian Farmer. Lisa is a solid guitarist and tech in her own right, too. 

Backstage, Louis gave a copy of my book The Language of the Blues to Jorma for his birthday and Lisa gave one to John Hammond for me (I'm a huge fan of his and felt too shy to approach him).

I was thrilled when John sat down and became instantly absorbed in it, as he's always been a favorite blues legend of mine. Turns out John and his wife live right here in Jersey City! 

When you're slaving at your desk for hours writing a book, wondering if anyone will ever read it, these are the moments you dream of...I feel pretty lucky.