If there’s one thing Bobble Tiki likes, it’s a good sales pitch.

Scratch that. If there’s one thing Bobble Tiki likes, it’s free Scotch. If there are two things Bobble Tiki likes, they are free scotch and a sales pitch. 

Upon visiting the official Duke Robillard Band Web site — www.dukerobillard.com — all that was missing was the Scotch.

Duke Robillard will play the Capitol Theater in Olympia Wednesday, Aug. 29. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, check out a list of 2006 Grammy nominees.

Robillard’s name will be there under Best Traditional Blues Album. Of course, Ike Turner beat him out, but still. His name is there.

Bobble Tiki will get back to Robillard’s salesmanship in a moment. First, perhaps some of Bobble Tiki’s readers could use a crash course on who Duke Robillard is and why on earth they should care?

Duke Robillard is a guitarist — in the truest sense. Over the course of a career that has spanned four decades, and probably twice as many styles, Robillard has again and again proven he’s one of the best pure guitarists to ever step on stage or set foot in the studio. His career began in 1967 when he co-founded the jump blues band Roomful of Blues with pianist Al Copley, and he’s still touring and teaching guitar to this day (obviously, since he’ll be at the Capitol Theater.)

“Here’s a quick quiz: What do Bob Dylan, Jay McShann, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, John Hammond, the late Jimmy Witherspoon, Dr. John, Maria Muldaur, Roomful of Blues, and the Canadian band The Rockin’ Highliners all have in common?” asks www.dukerobillard.com.

“Answer: Duke Robillard.

“Guitarist. Bandleader. Songwriter. Singer. Producer. Session musician. And a one-man cheering section for the blues in all its forms and permutations. And every one of those names has shared recording studio space or stage time with a man who is a legend in the blues community. The W.C. Handy Awards named Robillard “Best Blues Guitarist” two years in a row (2000 and 2001), B.B. King says Duke’s “one of the great players,” and the Houston Post called him “one of God’s guitarists.” And the New York Times says Robillard is “a soloist of stunning force and originality.”

Bobble Tiki didn’t realize God had a troupe of guitarists, but if the Houston Post says Robillard is one of them, Bobble Tiki is inclined to believe it. Why would the Houston Post lie about such a thing?

For all of Bobble Tiki’s readers who weren’t intrigued by Robillard going into this, what more do you want? Robillard is one of “God’s guitarists.”

He was also a Fabulous Thunderbird. And he played with Robert Gordon. And the Legendary Blues Band. And played with Bob Dylan on the Time Out of Mind sessions.

And he’s big in Canada.

All of this according to www.duke robillard.com — pumped into Bobble Tiki’s mind via the World Wide Web.

Salesmanship. See what I mean? Robillard has as many nice things to say about himself as he has amazing accomplishments on his resume. Bobble Tiki loves a man not afraid to talk himself up a little, not afraid to look you straight in the eye and say “I’m a Grammy nominated blues guitarist, beooooootch!”

Bobble Tiki isn’t implying Robillard is that person. No. That would be ignorant and assumptive. It’s probably the exact opposite. Robillard is probably more humble than pie. What Bobble Tiki is suggesting, rather, is that whoever Robillard has putting together his bio material is a master of promotion, and his career accomplishments, taken as a whole, make for quite a sales pitch.

And, as www.dukerobillard.com notes toward the end of the page, Robillard is available for “concerts, club dates, and a limited number of private and corporate functions.”
Bobble Tiki smells a Weekly Volcano office party featuring Robillard.

Bobble Tiki has five on it.

Guess what? Bobble Tiki doesn’t care what you do this week because he doesn’t even know you. Surprised? Hopefully, by this point, you’ve come to expect it. If not, something tells Bobble Tiki you’re a wee bit on the delusional side. On the other hand, some people eat mushrooms for the same effect. Check out www.weeklyvolcanospew. com for Breakfast with Bobble Tiki, now every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, and consider yourself lucky. 

[Capitol Theater, Wednesday, Aug. 29, 7:30 p.m., all ages, 10-$15, 206 E. Fifth Ave., Olympia, www.buyolympia.com]

Bobble Tiki is going out of his head via e-mail and MySpace.