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"The Sauce" Kickstarter just launched and I need your help in the kitchen!

This new album has been a labor of love, and serendipity. Being engineer and musician was some of the hardest work I've ever done, and then…it just fell into my lap. Ruthie and I recorded most of the tracks at my Swampside Studio. George Harris mixed most of the record at Creative World Recording in St Petersburg. His massive ears are connected right to his heart. He listens with both. We have finished recording and mixing and now we need your help to take it to the streets.

Here is the link to our KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN. We have a bunch of cool rewards to thank you for helping. Autographed CDs, vinyl, Mega MP3 Anthology on a flash drive with over 150 tunes, new t-shirts and more. Get them now and help me with the production costs. Check it out at Kickstarter. We only have until May 11th to raise the funds. You know how Kickstarter works. It's an all or nothing crowd funding platform. So please help us reach our goal. Thanks so much! And I hope to see you on our tours this Spring and Summer!

"The Sauce" is a ride from the heights of blues rock to the most intimate of acoustic whisperings. The disc begins with a set of one man band tunes, each of which is a prescription for a better life. "Little Rhythm and Blues" is testament to the medicinal properties of the genre. My take on The Beatles' "The Word" lays it back into a smooth and funky plea for showing some love instead of all this hate that seems to be all around us." Delta 9 Blues," an atmospheric slow blues, touts the benefits of another kind of medicine. The three tunes set the theme of healing with music in the genre-bending "The Sauce". It's what I do. I cook a pot of gumbo and I feed the audience, while splooging my hot sauce into the pot. I blur definitions. I ignore boundaries. I make The Sauce. "Down By the Sea" is solo, Hawaiian-style, on my 1933 National Steel Guitar. Do the math. Along with my solo/one man band thing, I've lately been hanging in a trio format. (two guitars and drums).The rest of the album is mostly a trio. I'm joined by Neal Goree and Brett Crook for a few tunes. Also Damon Fowler joins me and Brett on a few tunes. Having Swampside Studios right next to my house has made it so that I could take my time, relax into the groove, and create a space where you have never been before. Twelve tunes. The panacea for what ails ya. Heal thyself with "The Sauce".

Bill Wharton Guitar, Vocal & One Man Band
Damon Fowler Guitar & Lap Steel
Neal Goree Guitar
Brett Crook Drums

Produced by Bill Wharton
Engineers Bill and Ruth Wharton, George Harris, Doug Oady, Rick Ott
Words and music by Bill Wharton (BMI) except:
“The Word” by Lennon / McCartney, “Stop Breaking Down” by Robert Johnson,
“I Will Play For Gumbo” by Jimmy Buffett, “Gloria” by Van Morrison

New album. Soon Come!

New album. Soon Come! Looks like a good 2024 is happening, and I can't wait to show all y'all what's up. Schedule Here. St Augustine (Sold out), Palm Bay, Ft. Pierce, Tarpon Springs, Charlotte, Bradenton, Valdosta, Tallahassee to name a few. This Spring/Summer we are going out west and up north, so get in touch. (Booking)

I am about to emerge from my cave after a very intense recording process. By far the biggest learning curve I have ever attempted, but after a couple of years of learning, it's finally paying off. For the past six months, I went deep, and I'm happy to say, the writing and the tracking are done, and I am almost finished mixing it. The album is called The Sauce. It has some solo tracks, and a few one man band tunes. It also has a few tunes with Neal Goree (guitar) and Brett Crook (Drums) joining me. We've been playing out a bit with the two guitars and a drummer thing, and it has been a blast.

AND… there's a few tunes with my good friend Damon Fowler

George Harris and Damon Fowler layin it down. George is doing the mix at his Creative World Recording Studio in Largo. This album will take you where you have never been before. I'm pretty stoked.

Cocktail Sauce
Whether it's shrimp or oysters, this cocktail sauce will knock you out!

1 cup of ketchup
Juice of a lemon
2 tbsp horseradish
Fresh basil chopped
2 tbls Liquid Summer Hot Sauce (or more)…(lots more)
OR…You could just use it straight out of the bottle on yer oyster. Man, that’s gooood.

Speaking of “The Sauce”…Get yours here!

The Light House Restaurant
7600 U.S. Hwy 19, Fanning Springs, Florida (352) 463-7771

Lately I have been missing the good old days around Tallahassee when you could make a 30/40 minute drive south to the coast and get some great fresh broiled mullet. There was Spring Creek (gone), The Oaks (long gone), the St Marks Cafe (long gone), and Angelo's. Since Angelo sold his place the food has gone downhill. Fathoms in Carrabelle has good seafood, but they don't have mullet. Mullet is considered trash fish by some, but not by me. Super fresh mullet is one of my favorites. These days I don't eat much fried food, so I'm out of luck. But two hours southeast of Tallahassee is The Light House; Freshly remodeled and doing a roaring biz on the Sunday when we went . A decent salad bar and a good array of steak and seafood. They even have grilled quail. AND… we had a mullet dinner that brought back so many memories. Well worth taking Highway 19 when yer headed south.

2024. Come and Get It!

Happy New Year!

We are now booking 2024
For the past 30 years, we have done our own booking. I play all kinds of venues: festivals, club dates, special events, and house concerts. We are now starting to zero in on a mid-summer tour to Montreal and back. If you'd like to bring Sauce Boss to your place, get in touch HERE.

Here's the skinny on the tour schedule

Miami Beach. Early 1980's. Photo by Jeff Weil

You can hear this guitar on my upcoming album. It was made 90 years ago. Here’s the story of my 1933 O Model National Steel Guitar from my memoir/songbook/cookbook, The Life and Times of Blind Boy Billy. (Get the book here)

“One morning in the ‘70s, I walked out in my front yard, and leaning up against my daughter’s bicycle was a National Steel Guitar. I saw it there, and I looked around. There was nobody. Then I took a good look at it and realized how old it was. Hawaiian scene with volcanos and palm trees and the moon and stars, and a little man in a boat is etched on the back. Whoa! Turns out it was made in 1933. Was this the guitar from God? Did the devil put it there so I could play his blues? What's goin on? Well any guitar player worth his salt, will tell you that a guitar will speak to you; whisper musical stories in your ear. Some will scream bloody murder or sooth your soul. I listened to that guitar for a decade or more. Then one day, Herb Williams dropped by the house. Herb was a conceptual artist, a pilot, and an adventurer. He invented screen windows for his old Chevrolet for travel in bug ridden areas. He had traveled to South America to get in on the gold rush. He had adventures that I can not repeat. He got around. Well, after a long conversation, he asked, “Did you ever figure out who left that guitar in your yard?” It was him. He was leaving town and had to lighten his load. “I bet Bill could use this.” I had long since resigned myself to the fact that the National was a loaner. When I leave this world, I’ll lend it to someone else to play for a while.”

The album has some of the trademark high energy blues that the Sauce Boss is famous for, but it also has a good bit of a more laid back approach to some of the tunes. My studio has given me a deep appreciation for the sonorous, and I can already tell from the response to this music when I'm out and about, that this is gonna be a good one. A standing ovation at the Ottawa Blues Fest, and plenty of love at all the gigs has got me buzzing for a rousing 2024. Thanks to all who came and saw, and listened, and gave me the time of day.

Y'all Cold?
Try some of this. The hot sauce for the new millennium. The road to culinary Nirvana. LIQUID SUMMER DATIL PEPPER HOT SAUCE.
Also available in habanero flavor. My hot sauce biz took a leap in 2023. Let's keep it rolling. Buy yours HERE!

Lena's Pierogi House
20 N. Main St. Hubbard, OH 234-254-9532
Here's another way to warm yourself up from the inside out. If you live anywhere close to Hubbard and you've never eaten at Lena's, you are missing out!. I'm talkin to you, Max. Or if yer passin through on I-80, do NOT miss this opportunity. Lena serves Hungarian and Polish food, cooked the “real deal” way. Comfort food to the Max! (obtuse pun intended). She has a few tables, and an abbreviated menu with take out available to load your freezer full of pierogi for a right now dinner at a later date. Here's a photo of stuffed cabbage dinner for $15. Also a bunch of pierogie. (Potato, mushroom and dill, and onion) with haluski, caramelized onions, and Cole slaw on the side. I believe the pierogi are $6 a serving. So what's up Max?!?!?!?!?!?!?

The kitchen in the Little House
Actually, I repurposed a lumber shed with salvaged materials to make this charming little shack. The screened in kitchen was an add on. Ruthie made the floor with bricks I pulled from a motel in Tallahassee. she laid em on the ground, poured dry concrete between em, and hosed em down.The wall siding in the kitchen was flooring from said motel. The framing and tin roof were from a tobacco barn. I'm talkin bout full 2x4 inch rough cut boards. For the door, I used the slats for hanging the tobacco for drying, to make the sunburst and reinforcement on the bottom. In the winter, we covered the screen with plastic. We cooked some dynamite meals on that cook stove. The convection made them biscuits gorgeous, and the smoke flavored everything to perfection. My favorite way to cook. We also had an Ashley wood stove for heat inside the cabin that got that little shack so hot, we'd be opening the windows on a freezing night. One winter in the 70s, my main job was cutting wood to keep us warm and providing fuel for this little stove. The sink emptied into a home made 55 gallon drum greywater tank. The bathtub emptied into the yard, and we had a privy. I had $1800 total in this little house, including electric and pluming. Plus the blood, sweat, and tears from my “salvation” business. I look back at this time with warm fondness. A simpler time. A beautiful time when we foraged for rabbit eye blueberries in the yard and made everything ourselves.

High in the Clouds to Deep in the Shed

Thanks to all the venues and folks who came out on this rippin run. From beginning to end, the trip was charmed. And what an ending it was.Two shows at the Ottawa Blues Festival, I'm still vibrating. I sooo love where I'm at these days. We did have some fun. Saw my peeps. I missed y'all. I love to travel, and… it's great to be home.

Friday, August 25 at the American Legion Hall in Tallahassee. I'm bringin Extra Sauce with me (Neal Goree and Brett Crook) so between the Sauce and the gumbo and my little trio, We'll light it up.

September is a month totally devoted to puttin it down. I'm doin a deep dive into the "stuff".

Nalan Cuisine 829 State St. Lemoyne, PA 717-737-7436
On our way back home we found this place. This is, hands down, the tastiest Indian food I've ever had. They play videos of badass indigenous funky jazz. If you're near Harrisburg, this menu is required reading.

The food in Ottawa is fantastic. Being the capital of Canada, the fare from around the world is plentiful. The best meal we had though, was the one we fixed in our hotel room after shopping for seafood and cheese in the ByWard Market. Here it is, lit by the setting sun.

The Director of the Ottawa Bluesfest, Mark Monahan.
The presentation of a letter of gratitude from the mayor of Ottawa. When I began playing at homeless shelters, I was thinking of returning some of the love that I get from the places where I play. A random act of kindness thing. 20 years later I'm still at it. I did have to take a break last year because of a shoulder injury I suffered loading the van. When I was feeding the survivors of Hurricane Ian in Ft Myers. I ripped my rotator cuff, and for a while It was all I could do to make it to my gigs. Well, I'm back at it. This little run proved that I'm ready for you. And I hope you're ready for me.

I love Ottawa. The city, the festival, the food, the love from the people who have come to my shows for decades. So while I was there, I figured I better return the favor. I played and cooked at The Mission, one of the coolest homeless shelters where I have cooked. It was the first shelter to have a hospice center. They are truly there to help, not to just process human beings. So the next day, we did the festival and we took up a little collection in the Planet Gumbo pot, and on our way out of town, we stopped by the Mission with a bag of loonies ($548.70). I realize that what I do is literally a drop in the bucket, but for sure, I know what drop goes into what bucket. If you haven't checked out planetgumbo.org ICYMI…

Yup. This old man is havin some fun. The Sirius Stage was Serious

For those outside the tent. Luv me some SVT!

The Theater gig. At the end of the show, those people just stood there, clappin their hands. THANK YOU, OTTAWA! Photo by Barry McIntyre

Walking around after the show, we encountered this churchyard critter in his habitat. Right in the middle of downtown Ottawa. Another reason to love this town. There, OK. I've done it. I posted a picture of a bunny rabbit on my blog. I feel better now. What's up Doc?!? EH!

Canada, Yeeehaaaa!

Back for the 7th time!
The photo is from 2001 where they put us on a special stage in the round, right in the middle of the main stage crowd. I’m stoked to see my friends in Canada this summer. It’s a biggie. The Ottawa Blues Fest welcomes 250,000 music fans over a period of ten days in July and I have two shows there on July 14. I will also make a stop at the local homeless shelter on the 13th. This and more in June and July. Here’s the Schedule. For details and ticket links sauceboss.com/tour

6/16/2023 Leesburg, VA – Macdowell’s Beach
6/18/2023 Franklin PA – Franklin Blues and BBQ Festival
6/21/2023 Sharon PA – The Keg
6/23/2023 Pittsburgh PA – Steamworks Creative
6/25/2023 Lorain OH – Beaver House
6/28/2023 Buffalo NY – Sportsmens Tavern
6/30/2023 Syracuse NY – 443 Social Club and Listening Room
7/8/2023 Durham NH – Private Event
7/9/2023 Tamworth NH – The Barn at Farmstand
7/13/2023 Ottawa Ontario – Ottawa Mission (private show for clients)
7/14/2023 Ottawa Ontario – Ottawa Blues Festival
7/27/2023 St Augustine, FL – Plaza de la Constitucion

Live at the BBC!
Check out our latest on Youtube.
February 11th was our last gig at the Bradfordville Blues Club a few weeks before the iconic club closed its doors. I brought Extra Sauce, (Brett Crook and Neal Goree) and we got pretty wild, evidenced by this video shot by Ian Weir, and edited by Mary Wharton. The audio was recorded by Walter Potter and mixed by Doug Oade.

That’s why… “I Can’t Sit Down.”

Liquid Summer Hot Sauce will do it to it.

Sockeye Papillote with Herbes de Provence

Sounds highfalutin, uptown, top shelf, out of reach, $$$$, and downright French! Au contraire, mon ami. Yes it’s French; no, it’s not unattainable. This 30 minute, easy and fun recipe is hearty and healthy…and different than the normal pescatarian bill of fare. Instead of fat from frying, or piquant from hot peppers it offers flavors from fresh herbs seeping into the fish.

Parchment paper
Filet of fish
Asparagus
Zucchini
Carrot cut into ribbons
Green onions
Tomato slices
Lemon slices
Salt
Pepper
Rosemary
Marjoram
Savory
Thyme

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
If you don’t have fresh herbs, you can use the dried Herbes de Provence mix .
I used asparagus, purple carrot ribbons, zucchini, green onions, and yellow tomatoes in layers on a sheet of parchment.

Place the fish on top, spray with olive oil, and shake some salt and pepper.
Add sprigs of the fresh herbs, pressing them into the fish.

Place lemon slices on top.

Seal the parchment paper, crimping the paper all around the salmon.

Cook for 15 minutes, or when the thermometer says it’s done.
Voila!

I served it with brown rice.
Bon Appetit!

“Live” Is Here! Free Download of “The Goog”, and Cafe Acadiana

Schedule
Tampa, Orlando, Leesburg, Orange Beach, Mobile,
Ashland, VA, D.C., and North Carolina.
Album release parties as we go. Please join us.

Aw right! Live is HERE! Get it NOW!

Today–April 24–is the official release date of “Live at the Green Parrot”. Now available for your listening pleasure, you can hear it and order it on CDBaby and I-Tunes. You can also buy it at the Sauce Boss Store. The early buzz have been great, beyond all expectations. It already made #8 in the Roots Music Charts in Florida. This one is over the top, out the box, down the street, and completely gonzo. I hope y’all enjoy it. Here are a few reviews:

http://www.muzikreviews.com/reviews.php?ID=2115
http://midwestrecord.com/MWR461.html
http://www.newsreview.com/chico/live-at-the-green-parrot/content?oid=576156

And from the German magazine, Jazz Jazz:
“…` he plays somewhere between JB Hutto, ZZ Top and Led Zeppelin. In combination, this is completely nuts unique and wonderful. So far one of the most remarkable live albums of 2012”

After a lifetime of music, travel, and food, over a million miles on the road, over 180,000 bowls of gumbo served for free, thousands of gigs, tons of hot sauce, over a hundred original songs on thirteen albums, scores of free concerts at homeless shelters and soup kitchens, after all this . . . it’s time for a live album. Recorded in November 2011 in Key West, Florida, “Live at the Green Parrot” is definitive Sauce Boss. It’s edgy, slide guitar, rockin blues grooves, with a large serving of fun in the Sauce Boss tradition. These songs come straight out of the life of a true character, adventurer, raconteur, and poet. Come and get it.
Sauce Boss- Guitar & Vocals
John Hart – Guitar
Jassen Wilber – Bass
Justin Headley – Drums

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE: call your favorite Blues DJ and request a cut from “Live at the Green Parrot”. Time’s a wasting’! Betcha ya they have a copy already. We just sent out over 600 CDs to radio stations all over the US and in Europe and South America.

THE GOOG IS OUT TO GETCHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That’s right, Brother. That’s right, Sister. Google knows what yer thinkin at this very moment. Just the fact that you’re reading this message could very well lead to a monstrous inconvenience. When the “powers that be” find out that you ….well…I’m just sayin…just because I’m paranoid…What I mean is…When the Goog finds out what you are doing, yer liable to end up in hot water.
What are you doing, and why are you here?
What are you doing, and why are you here?
What are you doing, and why are you here?
What are you doing, and why are you here?

…

Free Download “The Goog” (Explicit)

Share this song with everyone you know

Buy the CD

CAFÉ ACADIA 337-942-7645 732 SOUTH UNION, OPELOUSAS, LA

You ride three or four hundred miles on two wheels, ya get hongry for some real food that will hang with ya for a good long while. Lucky me, I just happened to be passin through Opelousas round about dinner time and so I stopped for fuel for me and machine. For the real deal Acadian cuisine, this is the place. I tried the Catfish Gerald – grilled catfish covered in etoufee. Lunch specials are from around six to nine dollars. There’s plenty to choose from on the menu. Steak, all manner of seafood, po-boys, burgers, salads, and the typical Cajun Creole bill of fare. Etoufee on top of a ribeye will keep you going all afternoon, and into the evening. Hey Laba’!

Machine thirsty, stomach growling. Had to take a break from the road on a 700 mile ride. Recharge with some authentic Cajun cookin. SWEEEET!