Ric Patton

 I was out walking today. It was a beautiful day.

 I noticed a popping sound. I thought it was my shoe string popping on the ground. So I looked down and it wasn't my shoe strings. So I walked on a little farther, and I heard the sound again. I thought it was my shoe. So when I checked my shoe, the sound wasn't coming from my shoe. So I walked on further and realized that a popping sound was coming from my knee.

   It wasn't hurting, but it was popping just above the knee on my left leg. So I just kept walking. I didn't stop. I just kept on walking and listening to the pop. So I put my finger on my knee and pressed the spot where the popping noise seemed as if it was coming from. I could feel the muscles inside my leg popping. That was amazing. I walked on that way for a while. And eventually the popping stopped.

   I went on and completed my walk. By the time I got back home, it started popping again. It wasn't hurting, but there's something popping inside my thigh. I thought that was amazing. Kind of funny. I don't know if it's something that comes from getting older ?  I don't know.

    Have you ever known your body to make popping sounds before ?

I got involved with Amazon several years ago hoping they could help me distribute T-shirts and my merchandise across the world.. 

  I only wanted to do a handful of designs. Then they stepped me up to more. Looks like I'm growing to do more designs on Amazon. 

  I love going to Blues Festivals. The people who attend the festivals are such a colorful bunch. The T-shirts they wear and their blues hats and outfits tell a story of their own. Just like the music.   

Sometimes people come in styling their blues wear from different festivals in the past. And of course they always purchase some the day of the show .    

 I started to design more blues wear with them in mind. It's just the place that I started. Music and blues ideas. Sometimes I think a little outside of the box and design for other categories or other interests, but my primary focus has been blues music and Blues Festivals and things that surround the music .

 I started doing t-shirt designs in the first place to display my merchandise at shows and maybe be able to help other artists display some of their merchandise. So the idea is growing on me and Amazon is forcing me to grow to do more.

   Lately, Amazon has introduced other countries and different languages to the distribution. It has really opened my eyes to a global possibility.

  So my focus is having to shift. Amazon has introduced throw pillows, which are really cool. decorative gift ideas. I think everyone could use a pillow for something if just to have it in the car or maybe to lounge around in the house. They introduced cell phone cases which you know nowadays most people have one of some kind. All those merch possibilities open up when you think about it. 

  Nowadays any way that an artist can earn a few extra dollars is cool . So here I go. Check out some of my new product ideas.

I had a ghetto dream last night . I was walking through the project last night carrying my guitar case. I was a little nervous because people were watching me in the project. As I walked down the street a lady in the alley called me to the side. She was a very pretty lady. Her hair was short, black and silver streaks. She had a very pretty face. I could tell she wore lipstick, but that day she didn't have any on. She was fidgeting with her hair.

   She said,” I was afraid  you would leave before you played me a song or two. I need you to play a couple songs for me. I was a stunned because I knew she was a hood queen and she had a boyfriend or husband or something.

   I looked around and as I turned to my right I saw a man leaving. He turned his back and walked away. He had all white pants and saggy pants and red on. He turned his back and hurried away. She said he's leaving to give you room to play me a couple of songs. She said,” he knows I need to hear a few songs”. She said, “ come up to my house and play me a few songs”

  I asked her are you sure you have enough power or extension cords at your house? She said yes. She had plenty of extension cords. She started asking me questions about my amplifier. She turned out to be knowledgeable about amplifiers as if she worked with an amplifier company or was a technician when we got to her house, she helped me get plugged up.

  Some of her friends were coming in. I didn't have a guitar cord. But then I heard that humming sound, you know the hum you get when there's a cord laying loose or touching something. I looked down and there was a cord in my hand. Dreams are amazing aren't they ?

  So I plugged the cord into the guitar and I had the urge to play an old Bobby Womack song. No matter how high I get. I played it the way Bobby Womack played it. Then I went on and played Harry Hippy, another song by Womack that became popular and another Womack song. 

   By the time I finished she had a small crowd of 6 or 8 of her friends in the room. They were all excited. They helped me pack up to leave. They were saying  Mr. That was great. We loved it. They said do you play anywhere or do you play for other people? I told them sometimes I do. But I released one new record each month.

   I put out one new record each month. I told them sometimes it's a fast song, sometimes it's a slow song. Some months it's a happy song, some months it's a sad song. I said but at the end of the year. They have a whole album of my music and I also do bonus songs. At the end of the year. I told them I charged them 99 cents each month. $1 a month and they can collect my music each month .

  I handed all of them one of my cards as I left. When I  woke up I had a good feeling. I woke up thinking that  made so much sense. released one song a month to my fans who want to collect it. It's just $1 a month they can stop anytime they want. Let's do this

  When I say $6 Million Man, I'm referring to a TV show that ran when I was in high school. My dad loved the show. We would watch it together. It was a show about a man who had been injured in some type of NASA experiment. He received bionic eyes and bionic legs and arms. You might have seen the show.

   It ran for several years. My dad and I used to love watching it. He could run 60 miles an hour. And he had bionic eyes that he could see like a zoom lens. He could zoom in on things. It was a cool storyline and lots of fun. 

  But the reason I call myself the $6 million Blues man is for a different reason. It's because I wish I had bionic vision. So I could zoom in on some things.. 

  One day while playing music on the street a man approached me and asked me to play a house party for him in Memphis, Tennessee. He offered me good pay in crypto dollars. I wasn't interested. This was back in 2009. I thought the whole thing was a joke. Like an Okey doke skam. I was afraid of the guy. But we began to talk. We became friends . I found his conversation interesting. He was also a musician.

       He told me about his mother and father being millionaires living on a yacht. He told me about how they got him involved in crypto. He had lots of different coins. He would name all the different coins that he owned. And he offered to pay me in crypto to do a party for him. $600 crypto dollars . I wasn't interested. I told him Homie don't play that shit. Give me some big head hundreds. Don't bring me no game. I told him if the cryto are good, take them to the bank and cash it out. Bring me the Big Head hundreds back. 

 That's what he did. He paid me well. I went ahead and played the party. It's the best house concert I've ever played. I walked out of his house with close to $1,200 including my tips and merch. I learned a lot from dealing with him. 

   But the biggest thing I learned from dealing with him was that having a closed mind is expensive. As the years went past, I began to hear people talking about that crypto. And how those coins had gone up in value. Some of them had gone up to $50- $100 but when he offered them to me, they were just $1 or $2 .

  They'd gotten up to $100 now 1000s of dollars over the years. So one day I heard they were up to $5,000. I was shocked. I was like, You mean each one? Yes, each one was worth $5000 Then it went higher. But it still hadn't hit me what was happening.

  Then one day, I sat back with pen and paper and figured out what had happened. I had lost a $6 million opportunity. 

  He actually tried to get me involved. He tried several times to get me to take the crypto and to learn about it. But my mind was closed. I couldn't see it. I didn't have bionic eyes. I wasn't able to look to the future and because of that, I turned down one hell of an opportunity. 

  Sometimes I think about the difference that would have made for my life. The difference that just owning something worth $6 million could have made for me, But I can't miss what I can't measure. 

  But it did open my eyes to the fact that a closed mind can be expensive .Needless to say the next time I saw a crypto opportunity I looked at it in a different light. 

  The next time I heard a crypto opportunity it was in reference to fan tokens. I overheard some men online have a discussion about how social tokens would take the power back from web2 and move into web3. How social tokens would bridge the gap between a fan and creators over the internet, how it can bridge the relationship and put the value back between the artist creators and their fans. 

   I've been live streaming online for several years, and I have met thousands of people over that time. I would love to have had a deeper relationship with my fans. Social tokens are one way to bring that relationship closer. So of course, I was interested, especially after passing on that first crypto opportunity.

  I contacted three different companies. Before I could find one to accept me. At that time I had over 100,000 followers on social media. Finally I found a company called Try Roll who was willing to administer a coin for me. My token is named BVIP tokens.

  They minted 10 million coins. Those coins are not worth anything. I laugh every time someone asks me how much are the coins worth? I'll tell them they're not worth the shit. And I smile. Imagine getting them when they are fresh with no value ! That's the beautiful thing.

   I can offer some to you right now. If you've read this far you deserve some . You are a fan of mine . If you're ready to get involved in crypto. Setting up an account is easy and FREE right now .Thank you for being a fan and friend . Claim some tokens here .You got bionic eyes ?

 That really depends on your own personal goals and ambitions . No one knows that but yourself. 

If your goal is to become a professional musician, you might want to practice for several hours a day. But if you just want to learn as a hobby, you might only need an hour or two a day. 

  I think a lot can be done in 30 minutes with focused practice . It's important to find a balance between challenging yourself and punishing yourself. Some guys say they practice 4 or 5 hours a day. That seems crazy as hell to me . But if you are enjoying the process. Good luck! Do what feels good to ya, But do it often and with a practice plan .

 The future of Blues music looks promising. More and more young musicians are influenced by the Blues and are incorporating it into their own musical styles. Check out the King Biscuit Blues Festival lineup from 2022. This has helped to keep the genre relevant, vibrant and alive.  

Technology is helping the Blues to reach new and younger audiences. With streaming services and social media, more people than ever are exposed to the music and its rich history. 

   As long as we musicians continue to create and innovate, the Blues will be a vital part of music for generations to come. 2023 is the year of the Blues.

 Good morning Blues people . I woke up looking forward to going to play on Bridge Street. It is so much fun being outside playing with the kids. It looks like the rain has stopped for now. I got rained out yesterday.  

  Strange times we live in. People are trying so hard to get past the pandemic. But it's not easy. We don't shake hands as much as we used to. Don't get as close as we used to. times are rather different. I call them strange times.  

  The tip jar is looking good though. But I still sanitize the money before putting my hands in it. I know that seemed crazy. But I actually sprayed those dollars and let them sit overnight before I counted them.  My daughter works at a hospital and she recommended that I do that. “Take care of yourself Daddy “. Sanitized those tips’. she says  

  The Christmas tree is going up on Bridge street. See they're constructing this giant Christmas tree behind me in a few weeks. I guess the mall will launch into the Christmas season. Maybe I'll get to play some during the Christmas holidays so it's good to see the joy on everyone's face during the holidays. Lots of fun playing on the Bridge street again. 

Good Morning Blues world . I woke up with this on my mind .  I've heard Pro Tools recording and I've also heard Reaper recordings. I can't tell the difference. 

I was volunteering my services as an artist at the Calhoun community college and the students there are taught to use both. Most of the instruction is on Pro Tools. But many of the students recommend and already use Reaper.  

I was just a volunteer for them to learn their recording skills, and at the same time occasionally they got a good recording for me. Here's a link to a recording that was done over at the college.  

  I asked the instructor and some of the students what was a good starting point for a person like me to start learning audio engineering DAW and recording myself. They recommended Reaper. Many of the Reaper reviews are saying that it is complicated. My experience with it once you get the basics it's pretty straightforward. And the basics is really what I need the type of music that I do.  

  Blues, Southern Soul and occasionally some light jazz is not that complicated. I really don't need a lot of plugins. I don't see why I would use them. I don't think I lose much by getting with Reaper. Right now I'm not shipping my songs out for collaboration or other mixing and things like that. I'm doing it all by myself at home. So I can't see how running Pro Tools would benefit me. And plus it's more expensive. Reaper was only like $60. As far as I know this for lifetime or longtime Pro Tools can be hundreds of dollars if not 1000s.  

  I've had Reaper now for a while. And I'm still learning. I don't use it regularly but I'm pulling it out now. I've got some projects in mind and I believe I can do most of the work myself rather than going out to be recorded. So let's get busy with Reaper. What do you think ?

 I looked all over for the little cats. “Here kitty kitty. Here kitty kitty”  I was calling everywhere. Then I said “Maybe it's gone over to the neighbor's house. Or maybe it's gotten hurt somewhere and can't get back”. I was calling out to the neighbors . I'm so used to them coming running when I call but there was only one this morning. The other one I couldn't find anywhere. So finally I gave up looking.  

   I wound up going to my car and I opened the car door and.. Wow, look. He came jumping out of my car. I guess it got in the car when I got home last night and I didn't know it.  I hope it didn't made a mess in my car . I'm glad he's alright. Lil Car jacking azz cat !

 These cats feel like I do. Lazy. They just want to chill and lay around all day. I know that feeling today. The rain coming down makes today feel so laid back. The cats went out in the rain and they came back. And this is as far as they made it today .  

  The weather is changing here in Alabama. I guess it's changing everywhere. Seasons change. We got rain and tornado watches today. Crazy shit but it's that time of year again. 

  The rain sounds good on this old tin roof. So I’ll kick back and enjoy it with the cats. Taking notes on next week and what the plan is . There's plenty of thangs  to do, but you know that. Sometimes I'll just sit down and make notes. You know the story. Just chilling. Yep, fire it up. 

  T