Austin Blues Party 2 began last night, and I'm already tired. I got to the Syndicate's weekly dance at the Fed at about 9:15 last night, and left Kick Butt Blues shortly after 3:00 this morning. I'm running on five and a half hours of sleep and an enormous quantity of caffeine and motrin, and it's just day one. One day I'm going to have to admit that I'm almost forty and my body can't take this kind of abuse any more, but I don't plan for it to be today.

In honor of this weekend's four-day celebration of the blues, I've put a new blues program up on the Shack.

1. Skip James - Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues (3:27)
2. Watermelon Slim - Cynical Old Bastard (2:36)
3. Alvin Youngblood Hart - Joe Friday (2:42)
4. Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee - Rock Island Line (3:18)
5. Dr. John - Milneburg Joys (2:39)
6. John Hammond, Jr. - I'm Tore Down (4:10)
7. Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble - Willie the Wimp [Live] (4:34)
8. Gary Moore - That's Why I Play the Blues (4:05)
9. Eddie Boyd, Buddy Guy, Lonesome Jimmy Lee, & Freddie Below - Five Long Years (3:18)
10. Eric Clapton - Sinner's Prayer (3:20)
11. Randy Newman - Blue Monday (2:22)
12. Big Bill Morganfield - Dead Ass Broke (2:46)
13. Watermelon Slim - Smokestack Lightning (4:25)
14. Guy Forsyth - This is Hip (5:47)
15. James Cotton/Johnny Winter/Muddy Waters - Black Cat Bone/Dust My Broom [#] (5:53)
16. B.B. King - The Thrill Is Gone (5:26)
17. James Cotton - Call It Stormy Monday (6:46)
18. Skip James - Skip's Worried Blues (4:22)
19. Sonny Terry And Brownie McGhee - Midnight Special (5:23)
20. Blind Willie Johnson - God Moves on the Water (3:01)
21. Guy Forsyth - Crossroads (2:38)
22. John Hammond, Jr. - You Know That's Cold (3:52)
23. Gary Clark, Jr - Sick Feelin' Blues (5:31)
24. Chris Thomas King - St. James Infirmary (4:38)
25. Etta James - Miss You (5:59)
26. Deborah Coleman - Jesus Just Left Chicago (4:40)
27. Johnny Winter - Murdering Blues (5:01)
28. Luther Johnson - Crawlin' King Snake (4:05)
29. Bob Margolin - Ice or Fire (3:46)
30. Freddie King - I'd Rather Be Blind (3:45)
31. Otis Rush - Mean Old World (7:01)
32. Buddy Guy - Stone Crazy (7:10)
33. Jethro Tull - Stormy Monday Blues (4:07)
34. Chicken Shack - When My Left Eye Jumps (6:30)
35. Memphis Slim - Pigalle Love [Live] (4:04)
36. Chris Thomas King - John Law Burned Down the Liquor Sto' (3:50)
37. Asylum Street Spankers - Blade of Grass (3:35)
38. Keb' Mo' - Stack O Lee (2:02)
39. Taj Mahal - Down Home Girl (3:41)
40. Jon Cleary - Port Street Blues (Live) (6:14)
41. Marcia Ball - Just Kiss Me (6:41)
42. Delbert McClinton - Old Weakness (Comin' on Strong) (3:09)
43. Omar Kent Dykes & Jimmy Vaughn - Hush, Hush (3:01)
44. Alvin Youngblood Hart - How Long Before I Change My Clothes (5:55)