The Blues Barn and the 80 acre farm it sits on is a special place. Maybe it’s the proximity to the flowing river as it bends and wraps around the mountain bluffs; or the spirits of the Native Americans whose music and footsteps covered these same paths centuries ago. Whatever it is, there seems some energy and allure that can touch your soul. I’ve felt it for 60 years roaming these hills. Mikey felt it too over 15 years ago, as did so many of my friends. Always pulling you back, always drawing you in. Mikey would call…. “Hey Gene, we’re doing a show near you, can we come by the barn for a little after party?” We’d ride the trails on golf carts by moonlight, party and jam till the wee wee hours. Many nights we would end up hoot’n and holler’n in the silo marveling at the echo and natural reverb. I’d tell Mikey, “Someday we’ll set up a recording booth in this area between the silo and the stage”; Mikey replied “Yeah brother, that would be amazing”. The years rolled by, lots of jams, lots of parties and I’d tell my buddies…yeah “someday”…..But we needed some Blues Power to find a “Guy”… a studio recording engineer type guy, cause I wouldn’t know where to start. So the call went out….not by social media, call or text but through unconscious vibrations amplified by the magic of the mountain. Lo and behold into my barn and life walks Andy Kravitz; renowned producer and recording engineer extraordinaire, who proclaims “Wow; what a great spot to record….the silo sounds like a natural echo/reverb chamber!”… “Would you consider letting me set up this nook as a recording studio?” asked Andy. We bonded instantly, Andy took up residency on the farm and set to work. And so we were off to the races; Andy in the control room conducting a silo symphony, Mikey Junior and his band; smoking hot, tapping into the barnyard blues vibe and all the blues power the mountain can muster. The feel is real, the band is tight and with the silo touch, it sounds just right! I hope you all enjoy this longtime dream brought to reality!

-Gene Stickel (Blues Barn Owner)

Mikey Junior
Blues in the Barn, Volume 2 Second Harvest
8^th Train Records ©™

The songs on Second Harvest were recorded during the same sessions as Volume One. Although six tunes come from traditional old school sources like Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Junior Wells, and Robert Johnson, Second Harvest is distinguished from Volume One by the two more modern blues of Stevie Ray Vaughan's “Dirty Pool” and by the Atlanta-based Shadows “Kill the Ice Cream Man.” Other musical curve balls are the band's funky spin on Junior Parker's “Mystery Train” which was further popularized by Elvis Presley and by Paul Butterfield and the moody jazz-tinged slow blues of “Evening” recorded by guitar great T-Bone Walker in 1945. The lone original is the guitar instrumental “Rooster Strut,”penned by Mikey Junior and Matt Daniels, featuring the formidable tandem of Matt and Filthy Rich's deft pin-pricking picking.

Thomas J. Cullen III, Bucks County Blues Society and Blues Music Magazine