Hampton house blues is a story that is part of an anthology of different stories about people in lonely jobs. I would like to tell this story in more depth but I decided to put pen to paper and challenge myself to an 8 panel concertina that I then risograph printed.
The story is set in the South of the USA in the 60s. It is set in a time where African Americans would usually purchase their own transport as soon as financially possible to avoid racism on the streets and public transport. This culture inspired the writing of a book called the Green Book: it was a guide to safe motels around the Deep South where one would be safe from judgment or worse. Within the concertina are a few references to the green book and the motel that it is set was a registered motel in the book itself: Hampton House.
The story follows a blues pianist, who works in resturants and bars. He is the kind of pianist who plays the background music, people seldom pay him much attention and night after night he hits the road to get to his gig for the next day. This is a life of travelling and solitary living in strange places whilst at the same time being ignored by an ever changning evening crowd.
After finishing his job on this particular night, the man arrives at his motel for the evening and is noticed by a cat. Whilst taking his shoes off the cat rubs against his leg and shows him some affection. He continues with his evening and the next morning wakes up to the cat asleep cradling his shoe. He leaves for his next job with a sense of warmth wearing only one shoe.
