Little G Weevil had himself a fantastic farewell party a Darwin’s Saturday afternoon, and many of his fans came out to see him off. We are sad to have him leave us, but Memphis is not so far so we know he will be back to play for us. And, in the meantime, Gee, as he is affectionately known, had many of his musical friends out to play with him, and these are people that many of us in the blues community love and respect.

I am just going to say here because I don’t remember when it happened, but at some point, George Klein, President of the Atlanta Blues Society, came to the stage with board members Barb Hilke and Deb Pruett and presented Little G Weevil with an honorary lifetime membership. George said they had planned to do this even before hey knew he was leaving, and a very appropriate gesture it was!

Little G Weevil started off with Daniel Harper, who travels with him as his drummer even when he goes home to Hungary and to play around Europe. Then he added Jacob Holliday, also known as Jake, on bass. He said that Jake was one of the first musicians he played with in Atlanta.

Next, Mudcat came up to play with his friend, Little Joe Hoegger and they did a great acoustic set.

Then, Gee returned with Danny Vinson on guitar and local legend Aaron Trubic on bass. He brought Rebekah Easton Ellis (Rae) up to sing. She sings with Danny in Rae and the Royal Peacocks” when Danny is not busy being one of THe Cazanovas, and she is a fabulous singer in the tradition of Etta James, which she proved with a stellar version of “I’d Rather Go Blind.”( Rebekah also sang background vocals on the fantastic new Litle G Weevil album, Something  Poppin’, which certainly is that.)

After Rebekah, Gee took the stage again with two of Atlanta’s favorite young musicians, Truett Lollis, who is generally just known as just Truett these days, and Cody Matlock. Jake Holliday joined them on bass for a while and then Rocky Buldo took that role for a bit  What a lineup that was! Most of us have been watching Truett and Cody since they were teens and now Cody is rising through the ranks of Atlanta musicians and Truett is touring and recording nationally. They are great musicians, and when they played with Danny and Gee, it was magic, as good as live music can get.

It was a wonderful day and a fitting way to say goodbye for now to our Hungarian friend, who traveled from Budapest to Memphis to Atlanta, where for 8 years he has been a part of our blues community. He even won the 2013 International Blues Award for solo and for guitarist while representing Atlanta. Now he is going back to Memphis, Goodbye, Gee, and thanks for the party. You come back soon now, you hear?