Egon arrives in Buenos Aires with the expectation of being greeted at Ezeiza by thousands of screaming would-be Bluesberry Jam fans. He is not. While eating a choripan and drinking beer in the Costanera Sur he and Herny decide to form the band. The first official jam session of the proto Bluesberry Jam is held at the Martinez & Son Factory for Spare Bus Parts in Lanús with Herny playing bass Rocky Aguirre on keyboards and Marcelo Martinez and Egon playing guitar. The drums were played poorly by all.

Egon and Herny start the band with El Chino on drums. Rehearsals are held at Pao's house in Saavedra. A few weeks later Bluesberry Jam has their first show with the extremely talented Alex Lencina as singer and front man. Alex brings in Nicola from Broadway to sing back-up at the second show which is held at a strange coffee shop on Córdoba. It later vanished (the coffee shop not Córdoba) but probably for the better given that the acoustics were terrible. Due to previous commitments (he already had a major label deal for a different project) Alex is unable to keep working full-time with the band though he continued to participate as a special guest until he decided to steal money and leave the country. Nicola from Broadway becomes the featured vocalist. A brief experiment with a jazz saxophonist named Guillermo is initiated and concluded. End of the year BBJ formation: Nicola singing El Chino on drums Herny on bass and Egon on guitar (a 4 piece band).

A weird harmonica-playing acquaintance of Dr. Hour joins for a time. BBJ plays their first show of the year at Museo Rock in San Telmo with a guy from Miami singing back-up after which the management of the bar decides not to pay the band (Museo Rock later went out of business). The back-up-singer-guy-from-Miami leaves the country and a few weeks later the weird harmonica player is fired on live radio due to irreconcilable artistic differences. Robert Fury starts singing back-up as Nicola falls in love with a shifty but smart taxi driver who later convinces her to take him back to the US so that she will be able to support him in the style to which he hopes to soon become accustomed. Nicola leaves for New York (with the shifty but smart taxi driver) and Robert immediately becomes the front man. El Chino also decides to leave in order to concentrate on his solo career (?) but this turns out to be fortunate in that it opens the door for Rubén to take over on drums. A mediocre but greedy harmonica player named Adrián lasts two weeks after which he is invited to take his mercenary ways elsewhere. Ten-year-old Sara Hillyard and her lovely mother Sue see an ad in the Buenos Aires Herald requesting a singing and harmonica playing Englishman. This was obviously a sign from god and leads to Fat Mick joining band favorably impressing the other members at the first rehearsal by already knowing all the words to all of the songs on the set list. Mr. Jimmy (the sax playing genius) joins the band just in time for BBJ's first steady job - a once a week gig at The Shamrock sponsored by Smirnoff Vodka and the good will of the Irish Syndicate (Murphy & Moore). The Shamrock gig lasts for about five months until the cops finally say NO MORE LIVE MUSIC. One dinner show is played at a place in Recolecta during which the band realizes that they don't do dinner music. End of the year formation: Robert Fury singing Fat Mick singing back-up and playing harmonica Rubén on drums Jimmy on sax Herny on bass and Egon on guitar (a 6 piece band).

The band starts playing regularly at the Samovar de Rasputín in La Boca a fun place to visit but not such a great place to have to park your car. They record a demo during which they meet Fito the Wild-Armenian-Sound-Guy who would continue to work with the band on a semi-regular basis for the next couple of years until the lovely Alejandra convinced him he would be better of joining her in the South. During one of the Samovar shows BBJ is spotted by a Promoter from The Provinces who starts working with the band arranging shows in La Plata (at the Cafetál which later went out of business) Quilmes Adrogué and Almirante Brown and various other exotic destinations. This gives the band opportunity of playing with JAF Fabiana Cantilo and the Mississippi Blues Band amongst various others. Two months are spent playing for a nice but rather elderly crowd at Park Lane as well as some random gigs including one at a restaurant / bar called Texas (the band passed the audition but the place went out of business the next day) a couple of dates at an artsy place downtown with a sexy flame throwing waitress (also went out of business) a few embassies (still in business) and the Snoopy Day School (not sure but quite possibly still there). The band is interviewed by Nappo of La Napolitana on Radio Horizonte (also out of business) after which Robert Fury decides that it is time to start his solo career. Mick immediately takes over as front man. Vicky La Diva Moretti is discovered in a taxi and starts singing backup. Alex helps out a bit. End of the year formation: Fat Mick singing and playing harmonica La Diva Moretti singing back-up Rubén on drums Jimmy on sax Herny on bass and Egon on guitar (still a 6 piece band).

The band has now evolved beyond its strictly blues-based roots and the sound has gotten both funkier and more soulful. Old material makes way for new and the playlist changes drastically. Due to the extremely good musical taste of Mr. Louie Montes the band is contracted to play on a weekly basis at Zilos in Puerto Madero. Unfortunately the nice weather ends just as the shows begin but the crowds pick up as the band keeps playing (and keeps drinking). Several more shows are played at the Samovar but it is clearly time for BBJ to move on as they get their first gig at the Hard Rock Café (where they continued to play on a semi-regular basis for several years). This leads to the band meeting Mr. Aquiles Sojo of AKE Music a specialist in the promotion of international rock shows who continues to play an important role in the band's on-going development. The Amazing but modest Mr. Pampi (our hero - we are not worthy!) joins and things are never the same again. BBJ keeps playing at both Zilos and the Hard Rock as they get ready to start recording the first official Bluesberry Jam CD at Tonica Studios with Guille Zuloaga working as recording engineer and spiritual advisor. Just as they are about to head into the studio Herny gets a great opportunity and leaves for the Basque Country. Leandro "The Man" Kizman fills in on bass. End of the year formation: Fat Mick singing and playing harmonica La Diva Moretti singing back-up Rubén on drums Jimmy on sax Leandro on bass Mr. Pampi and Egon both playing guitar (now a 7 piece band).

As the year begins Mr. Jimmy decides to head off to seek is fortune in the jungles of Central America and Rolfi (now the musical director of Diego Torres' recording and touring band) takes his place occasionally playing keyboards as well (if I only had a Hammond B3 with two Leslies and four roadies......). Just arrived from Memphis Tennessee and with the cool boots and country licks to prove it Mr. Charly takes over on bass. The band starts playing every other week at the Kilkenny as well as continuing to play regularly at both Zilos and the Hard Rock Café. Egon decides that it is high time he start contributing to the band's growing success and (much to everyone's dismay) insists upon singing Hot Rod Lincoln at almost every show. BBJ plays its 100th gig in September and amazingly end up in December with the same line-up that they started with in January: End of the year formation: Fat Mick singing and playing harmonica La Diva Moretti singing back-up Rubén on drums Rolfi on sax and keys Mr. Charly on bass Mr. Pampi and Egon both playing guitar (still a 7 piece band).

This is by far BBJ's busiest year yet and though their success started to put a strain on their personal lives the show definitely went on! The BBJ CD is finally released (on the Z Records label) with national distribution in coordination with Musimundo and Radio Nostalgie. BBJ plays for over ten thousand people at the Kilkenny Saint Patrick's day bash (congratulations Roberto and Ricardo!) with regular gigs booked at the Kilkenny Hard Rock Buenos Aires News Henry J. Bean's and The Spot. The only constant in BBJ however is change. After playing dozens of shows with the band Rolfi is once again reclaimed by Diego Torres and his new obligations make it impossible for him to continue with Bluesberry Jam. A sharp replacement is found however in Ariel "Coltrane" a Buenos Aires jazzman with a great ear and a natural feel for the blues. Ariel picks up right where Rolfi left off and the band definitely ended the millennium on a high note as they kept playing and kept drinking. End of the year formation: Fat Mick singing and playing harmonica La Diva Moretti singing back-up Rubén on drums Ariel on sax Mr. Charly on bass Mr. Pampi and Egon both playing guitar (still a 7 piece band).

The year starts off with the Diva Moretti announcing her decision that it is time to formalize her ongoing side project with multi-talented Gaston Brey and they get married! This leaves difficult shoes (should we say heels?) to fill but a new star is born from within the talented Hillyard household: Sarita takes the microphone at the tender age of 17 (remember when she was 10?) and shows that she is more than ready to step in and get the job done. When the subject is raised regarding her natural feel for the stage and kinetic chemistry with Fat Mick her response is simple: I have (literally) had to dance with this guy since I was born! At least he finally stopped stepping on my toes! One more change is still in the works however and as Ariel is just starting to feel at home and Sarita is getting comfortable Mr. Pampi decides that it is time for a break. This leads to Mr. Charly moving from bass to guitar and Leandro Kizman returning to action for the first time since recording the CD. Moving onwards through the Stax Hi and Motown sounds of soul the band starts emphasizing a stronger roots rock feel. This in turn lead to not replacing the sax player when Ariel decides that it was time to have is horn blown in Madrid (best of luck!) The new sound is definitely a strong one heavily influenced by Mr. Charly's eclectic tastes Sarita's soaring harmonies and Leandro's rock solid groove. Highpoints for 2001 include playing a great Rolling Stone's set with Juanse (de los Ratones Paranoicos) and another St. Patrick's day bash this time with even more people and more uncontrolled craziness! Shows become a bit more difficult to come by as the live music scene in Buenos Aires begins to deteriorate along with the rest of the country: the Kilkenny has to suspend live music due to Municipal Mishandling of their live music permit situation the Hard Rock falls upon Hard Times and Buenos Aires News has nothing good to report. Still a lot of great music gets played and a very good time is had by all! End of the year formation: Fat Mick singing and playing harmonica Sarita Hillyard singing back-up Rubén on drums Leandro "The Man" Kizman on bass Mr. Charly and Egon both playing guitar (back to being a 6 piece band).

As the years roll by and bring their changes BBJ continues to roll right along with them. After only one season with the band Sarita is offered a starring role in a traveling musical revue that not only takes her all over Latin America but pays dollars while the rest of us keep earning pesos if we're lucky and patacons if we're not! Lovely Miss Uschi is "re-discovered" by the band and quickly makes her presence both known and loved. However the fact of the matter is that Argentina has self-destructed in both and monetary terms (a special thanks to Eddy D. & Cheech!) and the crisis is felt by all including Ruben our faithful (and timeless) drummer who announces his unwillingness to accept the country's national economic decline and the new Argentine Musician's pay scale. This once again leads to changes in personnel and a new drummer in the band for the first time since 1995 (good luck Ruben!) with Mr. "Marvelous" Mariano taking over on the stool. This year we mark our 200th show (thank god The English keeps records!) with a wild night at John John's in Saint Isidore shortly after which we are struck by the hand of fate once again: Mr. Charly is summoned to chase his personal rainbow on the beaches of Brazil and in a simultaneous move into both the future and past Mr. Pampi returns to grace the stage with his unique and wondrous style (best of luck to Mr. Charly / welcome back Mr. Pampi!). The other big news is that the Kilkenny has finally resolved their issues with The Buenos Aires City (mis)Government and live music is back better than ever! Bluesberry Jam has returned as the houseband and once again you can see them on stage once a week at the corner of Reconquista and Marcelo T. Alvear (a special Thank You to Robert Richard Hernan and the rest of the team - we are really glad to be back! And here's to the new Whiskey Club!) Once again rumors are circulating about a new CD project that is in the final phase of production and will hopefully be available by the end of the year and as always we look forward to seeing you at the shows! Keep drinking! And keep breathing! Current formation: Fat Mick singing and playing harmonica Uschi singing back-up "Marvelous" Mariano on drums Leandro "The Man" Kizman on bass Mr. Pampi and Egon both playing guitar (still a 6 piece band).

As the country supposedly recovers so does the nightlife in Buenos Aires. Once again 2003 turned out to be the band's biggest year ever playing over 70 shows. Our regular weekly gigs at the Kilkenny turns into a major event packing the house every Wednesday complemented by frequent weekend shows at Henry J. Beans. While actual personnel changes didn't occur this year there is a lot of substitution as the Bluesberry Jam family grows by leaps and bounds. Gaston Brey fills in on both bass and guitar as does Charly (recently returned from Paratí Brazil with a major publishing deal signed for his new book on samba/bossa-nova guitar. Good job Charly!). El Chino becomes a regular presence on stage with his talented voice as does Pisu with some fine guitar work. The songlist experienced (suffered?) major upheaval as a lot of old standbys are left by the wayside a few old songs revived and a number of new tunes including a couple of original compositions entering into regular circulation. Perhaps one of the most significant events of the year is the discovery of the New Bar during a St. Valentines night that Budweiser sponsored us to play two gigs in two different places. We convince the owner to try opening on Wednesday nights and the rest is history - a fully packed house with all seven bar stools occupied till closing time! The discovery of the New Bar is particuarly significant given the fact that the sale of beer and alcohol by kiosks is now prohibited and the band was in dire need of a new place to relax before between and after sets. The New Bar (at that time still called New Brunch) fits the bill perfectly and that is where you can still find us (for the time being!) every Wednesday when it is getting close to showtime. A final note of significance - Sarita Hillyard ended her engagment with the theatre troup after living out of a suitcase for two years and just as the year ended she began to add another important element to the BBJ sound. End of the year lineup: Fat Mick singing and playing harmonica Uschi and Sarita singing back-up "Marvelous" Mariano on drums Leandro "The Man" Kizman on bass Mr. Pampi and Egon both playing guitar (still a 6 piece band but with one more voice making itself heard).

2004 was easily the band's busiest year with over 140 shows. Wednesday night at the Kilkenny continued non stop, and also continued to grow as the word spread that it was the place to be! The band also added two more weekly shows at the Sahara, the famous disco/bar/restaurant in the Recoleta which is decorated as if it were right out of the Middle East and is staffed by waitresses that seem to have fallen right out of heaven. Shows where also played at a several other places including the well known Newport Bar, where we several of the musicians decided that they wanted to stay forever (has anyone seen Charlie lately.....), and as always, with so many shows also came a number of changes. Uschi officially left the band in order to continue with her successful singing career (and we wish her all the best!) leaving Sarita as the principal harmony voice (at least until Francesca decides whether she wants to live in California or Buenos Aires....). Meanwhile, Charlie and Leandro began taking turns on bass so that each could also maintain a semblence of a personal life. While this might have been difficult for other bands to have managed, for Bluesberry Jam it was par for the course, and the different sounds from the different arrangements were thoroughly enjoyed by all. We also had the opportunity to play with lots of special guests, including tons of drummers (pablito, drywall, ricky, pablo the sound guy/musician) a couple of bass players (¨El Chino¨ Casas and Matías ¨Monster¨ Demarchi), and the usual suspects (Tonga, el Chino Marengo, las Chicas, etc.). Thus the year ended with the following lineup: Fat Mick singing and playing harmonica, Sarita singing back-up "Marvelous" Mariano on drums, Charlie Arana and Leandro "The Man" Kizman both on bass Mr. Pampi and Egon both playing guitar.

Just as 2004 was easily the band’s busiest year ever with close to 150 shows, 2005 was easily one of the most difficult to survive, with less than 30. On December 30th, 2004, a Buenos Aires concert venue known as the Cromagnon caught fire during a show by “Los Callejeros”, and over 200 fans died. It was a tragedy for those who lost their loved ones (most of whom were under 25 years of age). The response of the municipal government was to immediately place a ban on all live music in the Buenos Aires city area – which is where all of Bluesberry Jam’s shows at the time were located.There are certain realities to living in places like Buenos Aires, and along with the charm and the fun there is a darker side as well, which occasionally exposes itself at very unexpected moments. This was clearly one of them. So the pendulum clearly swung the other direction this time, and it was clear that we were going to have to endure quite a rough patch. The way the band responded was to both start playing more events AND looking for venues outside of the city area – perhaps easier said than done, but we clearly managed to get by and are quite possibly stronger for it. So while 2005 was definitely not one of our most memorable years in terms of the number of shows we were able to play, the shows themselves were generally quite good, and John John San Isidro became the band’s new official “home” for most of 2005, 2006, and 2007, introducing the Bluesberry Jam sound to a whole new group of people, and at the same time developing quite a solid fan base in the Northern Suburbs of the city. Sarita, now back full time with the band, became a rising force, and clearly demonstrated that her place on stage had been well earned. All of the rest of the Usual Suspects, both official and guest, continued to be involved as well, and the year-end formation was : Fat Mick singing and playing harmonica, Sarita singing back-up, “Marvelous” Mariano on drums, Charlie Arana and Leandro “The Man” Kizman both on bass, with Mr. Pampi and Egon both playing guitar.

Some years mark major transitions, while others are more a continuation of that which came immediately before it – and 2006 was far more of the latter than the former. The band continues to focus on shows in San Isidro, specifically at John John, as well as at events and private functions. Meanwhile, the ban on live music in Buenos Aires City continues, and the night-life in general continues to suffer right along with it. Not an easy time for anyone who is involved with music on a professional level, but the band definitely makes the most of the opportunities that are available, and continues expanding both the repertoire and the fan base. The shows at John John move from being “nicely attended” to being “standing room only” to being “jam packed” over the first half of the year, much to the appreciation of both the musicians (who always enjoy the energy generated by packed houses and responsive crowds) and our “co-workers” at John John – who clearly understand the universal equation of more patrons/more tips, as well as the management, who kindly respond by significantly improving the band’s wages. Some new songs are brought in while others are archived for the time being in a kind of natural evolution that keeps the song list interesting for both the players and the listeners. Yes, a few favorites are always lost along the way, but at the same time this allows new ideas to come forward, and new tunes to earn their place on the set lists. This year was also marked by an unusual stability in terms of the official lineup, and no changes occurred in relation to the year before: Fat Mick, Sarita, Pampi, Leandro, Egon, and Mariano all doing the same thing (more or less) as they had in 2005 – just a bit more of it. The only significant new name to appear was that of our good friend/family member Guillermo “Big Willy” Sznajder, who begins to join us on stage at the gigs as well as at the Hillyard House dinner table….

Fully two years have now passed since the Cromagnon disaster, yet things are just beginning to open up a bit in the Buenos Aires city area in terms of live music. The band continues to play on a semi-weekly basis in San Isidro, but the other John John’s location in the downtown area also starts to offer live shows once again as well, and we are quite happy to play them! The layout of the bar isn’t exactly ideal – we play on a large balcony about ten feet in the air, overlooking the area where the audience sits/stands, which in turn means they have to look upwards the whole time if they want to pay attention to what we are up to (at least those of us at the front of the stage – the drummer is in a position to only be heard and not seen, which may not be the worst thing that ever happened…). There is also the problem that anyone who wants to go to the rest room has to basically walk through the musicians while we are playing – but this clearly has both good and bad points, as some rather lovely miniskirts are often sighted weaving through the amps on their way to and from the loo…(we won’t mention the smell of the men’s room – but if you can’t hold your drinks, please feel free to just buy them for us rather than waste them). The fact that we are playing downtown on a fairly regular basis means that a lot of our fans in the city can come to see us once again, as most of them do. It also means that other venues are going to begin to get licensed for live music once again, including the Druid In just down the street, where we sign on to play a series of shows in June/July. Of course, the one we are all waiting for, the one and only Kilkenny, still has not yet made the move, and while there are encouraging signs of things to come, we all must be patient just a bit longer. Still, the fact that the band is back to playing once or twice per week is definitely a sign that the scene is recovering and things are looking up, and what the shows lack perhaps in quantity is more than compensated for with quality (or at least we like to think so!). One significant change does take place this year in terms of the lineup, as Mariano and Groovy Julius officially switch roles while keeping the whole thing rocking. Our friend Fede (Freddy) King – one of “new lions” on the Buenos Aires jazz scene – fills in periodically on bass as well. The end of the year formation is: Mick (holding his own), Sarita (looking even lovelier and singing even better!), Pampi (hard to sound any better than he always has, but he still looks OK), Leandro (playing great and with a sharp new hair cut), Egon (well, maybe the less said the better), and Groovy Julius (breaking both hearts and drum sticks each time he steps on stage).