Big news at our end. The past year was a bit of a roller coaster for most people - for us it included buying a new(er) Roadtrek that we are in love with as well as signing a book deal with the wonderful Canadian publisher, Quarry Press.

The people at Quarry were intrigued with our first big road trip - the one that delved deep into the roots of American music. After a little bit of back and forth with ideas, we inked a deal to write a travel guidebook about exploring the roots of a unique style of American-born music, the blues (publication date: April 2018).

So, we are back on the road for a month this winter, tidying up the bits and pieces of research for the book. Our travels will take us through Memphis, zig-zagging all across Mississippi, into Louisiana and ending at Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

While we’re gone, we’ll be blogging from the road - just for the fun of it - because there are some very cool stops we’ll be making, including . . .

• The birthplace of Robert Johnson and the church where he sang in the choir.
• Interviews with David Hood (one of the original Swampers in Muscle Shoals), Clarksdale author and blues enthusiast Roger Stolle, blues players including Jimmy “Duck” Holmes and King Edward, Rick Hall (founder of Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals) and Jerry Phillips (son of the late Sam Phillips, the man who discovered Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis).
• If there’s a blues museum in Mississippi, we’re stopping in.
• Touring the recently-opened 3614 Jackson Highway in Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. The last time we were there it was still boarded up and the revived studio space was just an idea.

So, we’re packing up the van, washing the dog, unfolding our maps (and plugging in the GPS) and soon we’ll be off. If you have any ideas for what sorts of things you’d like to learn about the blues please let us know!