Show Report · Franklin County
The Blues, at Slack Water
Two Stinky Fingers hold Tuesday nights in a tin building by the river in Apalachicola. About forty came. The windows were open. Nobody left.
APALACHICOLA, Fla. — There is a tin building near the water in Apalachicola where four musicians play the blues on Tuesday nights, and if you are in Franklin County on a Tuesday it is worth the drive down Water Street to hear them.
The band is called Two Stinky Fingers. They have been at it since 1978. They have a record out, called Two. Two hundred were pressed. The bait shop sells it from beside the register for the price marked on it.
Curtis Ladner sings and plays harmonica and guitar. Roy Thibodaux plays slide. Eugene Fontenot, who goes by Fish, plays a bass he will tell you he found and fixed himself. The drummer comes over from Carrabelle and goes by Damp. We asked about the name. We were told it came before the band.
The slide guitar sounds like the river at slack water. It is not going anywhere. It is not still either.
The music is slow. It is slower than the blues you hear on the radio out of New Orleans, and it is wetter, if a sound can be wet. Mr. Ladner holds a harmonica note longer than seems possible and then a little longer. The slide guitar sounds like the river at slack water. It is not going anywhere. It is not still either.
About forty people came. The windows were propped open for the breeze. There was no breeze. The ceiling fans did what they could, and nobody minded.
Between songs a man near the door asked the band why the name. Mr. Ladner said, “You know why.” The man said he did not. Mr. Ladner said that was all right, and counted off the next song.
We will say this. The oysters in Apalachicola this summer are as good as we have had them. The band is better than it has any reason to be in a building that hot. And the drive home on 98 after midnight, windows down, the Gulf on your left, is a fine way to end a Tuesday.
Two Stinky Fingers play again next Tuesday. Bring a fan.