Joe Murphy at Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival, Fredericton (photo Stephen Pate)

Halifax blues man put on free lunchtime concert on cold windy day in Fredericton

It was 11 Celsius and windy on King Street in Fredericton when Joe Murphy started his lunch time gig.

The crowd huddled together against the wind as Murphy and The Water Street Blues Band worked through their standard repertoire of gritty blues songs.

The organizers tried to cut the band off at the one hour mark. Joe asked for one more tune and played three.

This is one of three gigs the band has at the 21st Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival in Fredericton. They are also playing at the James Joyce Stage at the Fredericton Crowne Plaza Friday and Saturday evening this week during the Festival.

No one left early, despite the cold, simply because Murphy is one of the best blues men in Atlantic Canada.

Murphy’s years of playing bars pays off. He knows how to both entertain the audience and hold onto them.

Joe can play lead guitar, slide, harmonica and Cajun accordion. Part blues and part Zydeco, Murphy harks back to his Acadian roots and Cajun relatives.

I first saw him in 1996 playing on Thursday nights at Bearly’s Ribs on Barrington Street in Halifax I couldn’t believe we had an accomplished Zydeco musician in the region.

Murphy gave up that gig but still puts on a show every Saturday afternoon at Your Father’s Moustache on Spring Garden Road in Halifax.

The Water Street Blues Band is as solid a blues band as you can get.

What’s with Fredericton? Is this a disability dead zone? The Kings Place Mall has no automatic door openers. Yes, a public mall has no way for a person in a wheelchair to get in or out except by the generosity of others.

First the Festival is sadly lacking in accessibility. Now the City of Fredericton itself seems to be locked in some kind of time warp from the past.

I wonder if the people in wheelchairs in Fredericton are still kept in the closets and attics.

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