'Nuther good book ...

Just finished (from a public library source) Barbara Dane's new autobiography, This Bell Still Rings: My Life of Defiance and Song. Now 96 years old, Dane is still active, and shares her amazing musical and social activism history in her book.

Quite a few blues connections in her life, including:

Promoting Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee in the SF Bay area early in their partnership.

Working with blues greats like Lightnin' Hopkins.

Recording great blues, including work with Willie Dixon.

Dane's son Pablo (Paul), for decades now a world famous Cuba-based bandleader, got his musical start playing blues harmonica while growing up in Berkeley CA.

Dane's daughter Nina Menendez is spearheading a drive to archive all of Dane's material, and to realease a documentary film that's been in the works for some time, through the Dane Legacy Project. The Advisory Board for the Project includes Mark Hummel.

And while you're searching for the book, check out Mark's Dec. 24, 2021, podcast interview with Dane on his "Mark Hummel's Harmonica Party" podcast channel. Available wherever fine podcasts are found, and if you're not already a subscriber, find it and subscribe today!