Hey everybody g-man here; just walked in the door from Memphis. I had a great time.

Wonderful place Memphis is. Good bar-b-q, brews, and blues. Its a place to lay down some style between the downcast Mississippi Delta, and the smoky Chicago bars that I love so much. The heart and sole of Memphis is Beale Street--there are no words to describe Beale--youve got to play it like a tune. Thats what I did; I played there in a place called Dan McGuinness--it was way cool.

Beale Street is a world unto itself; Bourbon Street has nothing on Beale. Nothing. (Ok there are those chicks who've earned their beads but that's it...Ok, Ok, and there's those 190 proof slushy drinks too--but that's it.). Theres every bit as much creativity, craziness, public boozing, and street artisans running tourist scams as Bourbon Street, but Bourbon cant touch Beales Blues. Beale Street even has its own (self proclaimed..) Mayor: Rudy Williams--he plays a hellofa horn at that.

Well you know, I went down there looking for the root of blues, but was amazed to find the birth of rock and roll (and I thought it came from those frail guys from across the big pond). Very cool. Born in the USA--we got Jazz, we got Blues, we got Motown, we got Country, and we got ROCKslam dunk baby! We got game. Who's got the BEST music on the planet? Who's your daddy?

Sun Studio Memphis 1951; a place put on the map by Elvis asserts sole heir to the claim that rock music indeed started in that very spot- - Im not kidding, there is an electrical tape X on floor where rock started right THERE ROCK STARTED RIGHT THERE!

Rock 'n Roll's ground zero.

Upstairs at Sun, behind a hand heel smudged glass case is a faded vinyl record by the fictitious band "Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats". A 1951 tune called "Rocket 88" recorded at Sun. This is the very platter that started rock rolling. The rock history book cites that "In 1991, after a great deal of debate, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame recognized this as the first Rock and Roll song ever recorded." Right there on that freakin' X! Can you believe it?

My tour guide at Sun (a guy named Eldorado) posed an interesting question: "What makes rock, rock? - - I mean why isnt this song considered blues?

Its attitude and feel. This song was about a car--the Oldsmobile "Rocket 88" just came out and was the fastest car on the road at the time. It was advertised as having a V-8 "Rocket" engine. Fast cars used for chasin fast chicks. Thats Rock in a nutshell.

Or perhaps it might help to think of it this way:

The Blues is Depression- - the past.

Rock is anxiety- - the future.

Take a valium and you have Pop Music. It's that simple.

Different sides of the same coin--you flip. It's my turn to call it.

Gary Wesselhoff

BIO "g-man Blues" is Gary Wesselhoff, a solo acoustic rocker with a genuine dedication to Chicago Style Blues. Hailing from the Chicago suburbs, he began his musical career in the mid-sixties during the Folk Rock movement. Playing Chicago coffeehouse scene in the early ?70?s, he hit it off with a couple of other folk rockers and began playing under the name Woodlind. Woodlind wrote and performed their own material exclusively?one point boasting a song list of over seventy-five original songs. At the end of his high school years, g-man and Woodlind recorded but never released a double album of songs at Chicagolands famous "Pumpkin Recording Studio" with producer Gary Loizzo (star of the group "The American Breed" who later became renowned for his production of several Styx albums). Over the years the band members eventually drifted apart.

In college g-man met and began playing with two outstanding performers, Bob May, and Ken Zemanek. The three began playing once again under the name of Woodlind. The band grew in size and following. Ken would later progress on to join American English; other band members Scott Bonshire would join Heartsfield, and Jim Williams hooked up with a country band called Crossfyre. Joey Drada currently plays with contemporary Chicago Blues Royalty.

In the interim, g-man dropped out of the business to raise a family.

In 2003 g-man sat in with some friends and immediately decided to return to music. Quotes g-man "When I returned, I discovered something forceful about myself; I found that I had new abilities that were not present when I was a kid?it?s much more than the synergy of practice and focus. I discovered that I could sing more dynamically, play more powerfully, and write better than ever". He began to chase the blues, and worked a blues harp into his act.

In 2005 he launched his Website: gmanblues.com is a successful Website often with hits from countries around the world. It?s at this site that you can sample some of g-man?s music offerings, and see photos of him in action. Currently g-man Blues is writing an album of original songs that has the working title "g-Force", and he is playing around the city. More information can be found at his website.