OCTOBER 2008:
It's been quiet on the Mitrenko front for a suspiciously long time, I was wondering if he'd been permanently closed down, if you know what I mean.
The circles this guy moves in, you got to have eyes in the back of your head and I was seriously thinking of closing the case.
I was doing my usual weekly pump on Jimmy, the shoeshine guy down on Madison and 5th when he comes up with this;
Mitrenko has re-organized his operation. "Yeah, sure" I said "And he came down here to tell you all about it"
"I ain't tellin' how, but I know and It's gonna cost you" says Jimmy.
A 50 spot got me this:
Mitrenko has got himself a new crew, to wit one Paul Turner (Ex Mighty House Rockers) and Phil Brittle (who has enough previous to fill a couple of pages).
What's more, he hasn't closed the old firm down and will be working blags with both teams.
I'm not sure if this is good or bad for my investigation.
Sure, it'll be harder keeping track of two operations, but it also means there'll be twice the chance of Mitrenko slipping up and twice the witnesses.
Looks like the case is staying open after all.

JULY 2008:
Finally caught Sneaky Pete dodging out of the back door of the State Street Bookies. I knew he'd been avoiding me since the Eddies studio debacle and he was not pleased to see me.
Despite a little light persuasion, (ie my .38 pointing up his nostril), he swore he'd just passed on the date he'd been told and had since heard the job had been postponed to July 20th, same time.
I told him he'd better be right, else next time I caught up with him, I'd let my piece do the talking.
This time, I staked out Eddies on my own and, whadd,y know?, another no-show.
Just as I thought, Mitrenko must be on to me and feeding these damn red herrings into the grapevine. Now I gotta stop, think and figure out my next move.

MAY 2008:
Mitrenko's getting mighty hard to keep track of. He pops up for two or 3 quick local jobs then lies low for a week or two. Of course, he's long gone before I can get myself or one of my ops on the scene.
Word came through via the usual sources that a "special job" was on the cards at Eddie Morton's studio. I figured this could be the recording of the much anticipated 2nd CD.
That would mean all the main players, (Mitrenko and his two chief enforcers, Newey and Tandy) would be in the same place at the same time; a real opportunity to bust the case wide open.

I made sure me and a few of my best guys were in position around Eddies a good 24 hours before the reported time of 10.00 am May 4th. It was a no-show and a big waste of my hard earned greenbacks. Question was, did Mitrenko get tipped off? or was the original information lousy?


APRIL 2008:
Well it looks like my US info sources have been blown big time.
Phones has sent another transcript and it seems Mitrenko has pulled off another American blag.
And I didn't hear a sniff about it 'till it was all over.

The perp spent 10 days in Nashville (not even moving around this time!!) with Adrian Styles.; Styles, you'll remember, runs the "Alias" outfit and operates in the Stratford area. Our boy did a few jobs with the Alias crew a year or two back.
Of course, they hooked up with Doug Jones (Aka "Blind Willie") as Nashville is his back yard.
It seems the trio took in some local bar gigs, then teamed up with another local, one Johnny Neel, for a bigger caper.
Now Mitrenko's CV includes a recording with Johnny Neel and his gang.
It's anybody's guess when the pay off will be, but I'd put money on it being on the next Mitrenko gang CD as an "extra" or somesuch.
I did some background on Neel and found he was part of the "Allman Brothers" set up awhile back.
Working with guys like this must mean big kudos for Mitrenko.
I just can't believe he pulled it off right under my nose without me finding out!!

Meanwhile, I'll be laying some heat on my USA operators, I don't like mistakes!!

FEBRUARY 2008:
The UK end of Mitrenkos' operation has gone suspiciously quiet. No further word on the solo acoustic project (although one source claims ten tracks were partially recorded then scrapped, well maybe, but so what?)
Mitrenko has his fingers in so many pies, I can't see how he would have time for everything.
On the other hand some or all of this information may be a smokescreen for something big.
I'm staying on the case.

JANUARY 2008:
My US contact has been through on the secure line and it looks like things will be kicking off in Nashville in early April.
Remember, in July last year, Mitrenko hooked up with Doug Jones (aka "Blind Willie") and Russell Gully for a heist at the Hopson plantation in Clarkesdale.
Word is he's going back out there to record one of his tunes for a "Truckers Tracks" CD being put together by Jones.
Also, the Alabama grapevine is twitching with the rumour that Mitrenko will also be visiting Fort Payne for an unspecified job alongside Gulley. More on this as it comes through.

AUGUST 2007:
Good news and bad news here.
Unlikely as it seems none of my US contacts managed to intercept Mitrenko during his American operation, well, you pay peanuts, you get monkeys I suppose.
The good news is my info tech man, 'phones Mcguire managed to grab an email out of the ether. You can check it out on the next page.
It's obviously Mitrenko's report back to whoever's hiring him at the moment.
I'm gonna be real busy for a good while, checking out the stuff in there
Time I put in for a raise.

JUNE 2007:
I now have the full story on the US operation.
One of Mitrenko's junior ops was bragging down at Moe's so I got Sneaky Pete to drop a pentathol in his next drink. Talk about striking it lucky, ..he sang like a canary!
Here's the full SP:
Mitrenko lands in NY on Wednesday 11th July and the following places will be hit.
Thur. 12th-The Waterwheel cafe, Milford, Pennsylvania (jam with house band).
Sat. 14th-The Radisson Hotel, Scranton, Pennsylvania (jam with Ukrainian band "Fata Morgana").
Thur. 19th-Neil's bar, Memphis, Tennessee (jam with the "Memphis blues society" gang).
Sun. 22nd-Boozenblues Festival, Indianola, Mississippi (jam with house band).
Tue. 24th-Cragnacker's bar, Nashville, Tennessee (jam with "Music City Blues" crew).
I wish info was always this easy to come by.
I'll be getting my US contacts working on this so stay tuned.

MARCH 2007:
Got an anonymous tipoff that Mitrenko has been invited to the "Boozenblues" festival in Mississippi.
Found out it's in July so that ties in nicely with the US trip info, jeez I love it when the pieces start to fit together.

FEBRUARY 2007:
Moe's bartender, Sneaky Pete says Mitrenko is hitting the big five-oh this year and for a celebration, he's repeating his US trip of ten years ago.
He'll be heading south out of Chicago on or about the 16th of August bound for St Louis, Memphis, Nashville and eventually The Delta and he's looking to jam or gig all along the way.
I'm gonna try and arrange a tail, but it'll be tough.

JANUARY 2007:
Met up with Joe the Squealer at Moe's bar last night and pumped him for info.
He's heard Mitrenko is currently in the studio on his own, recording a long awaited solo acoustic CD.
Many of the punters who've seen him doing his country blues lap slide live say it's about time.

DECEMBER 2006:
OK so now I know the story behing this new merchandise that these guys are peddling.
What I'm hearin' is that the title is gonna be 'Passing thru' and the deal is that this little product is gonna be hittin' the streets sometime before the Christmas holidays.

NOVEMBER 2006:
The rumour mill was grinding out stories about some new album that Mitrenko and his gang were involved in cutting but my sources were pretty thin on details.
Looks like I'm gonna have to lean on a few of my contacts.

SEPTEMBER 2006:
The trail had grown cold on this case until I had the word that Mitrenko and his buddies had started some more capers and tearing up a few joints in the process.

JULY 2006:
The word on the street is that Mitrenko and his crew are going to ground in August. Their cover story is that they are lying low to write and record material.

JUNE 2006:
A west side contact tells me Mitrenko has been moonlighting with another band of late.
They're called (guess what?) "Alias" and info about their operation can be found at www.aliasmusic.net
It isn't the blues but our man seems to be of many talents.