Blues Music Magazine #1

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NUMBER ONEwww.bluesmusicmagazine.com

RUTHIEFOSTER

The Phenomenal

HADDEN SAYERSBreaking Free

ANSON FUNDERBURGHIs Back

COLIN LINDENFrom Canada To Nashville

BLUE NOTESFrom The Publisher

RIFFS & GROOVESFrom The Editor-In-Chief

DELTA JOURNEYS“Rock Stars”

AROUND THE WORLD“Good Night, Ann Rabson”

Q&Awith Michael Hill

BLUES ALIVE!Damon FowlerRonnie Earl

REVIEWSNew Releases and Box Sets

LEGACIES

DOWN THE ROAD

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PHONE TOLL-FREE 866-702-7778 EMAIL [email protected] WEB bluesmusicmagazine.com

RUTHIE FOSTERTimeless Voice

by Tim Parsons

HADDEN SAYERSBack To The Blues

by Phil Reser

The Many Facets OfANSON FUNDERBURGH

by Grant Britt

COLIN LINDENGuitar Master

by Larry Nager

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COVER PHOTOGRAPHY © SCOTT ALLEN / VIVIDPIX

NUMBER ONE

4 Blues Music Magazine

So here we go, our inaugural issue of Blues Music Magazine.This was not my original plan as my sixtieth birthday approaches.It was to slow down, travel the world, and playa little poker. Sometimes the path resets itself,and we are thrown headlong into a newadventure. So why continue on this path?

It is because of the incredible bluescommunity we have become a part of – oursubscribers, advertisers, musicians, and themusic itself – that we have accepted this respon-sibility. That being said, we have assembled animpressive team of professionals to assist in thisnew venture of publishing an exciting magazineabout this music we all love so much.

With the digital age in printing upon us,we believe a publisher who continues to printtoday must offer more to subscribers andadvertisers to increase our value. At BluesMusic Magazine we are working to create aunique blues experience for our fans.

When you visit our website you will seethe many ways Blues Music Magazine is strivingto enhance your enjoyment of the blues. Youcan now listen to our new radio stationMojoWax Radio at Live365 absolutely free.MojoWax Radio will showcase artists andadvertisers from around the world. Downloadthe FREE Live365 Radio App for your iPhoneor Android and take us with you on the road.

You can sign-up to receive our weeklynewsletters via e-mail from Blues Music Maga-zine and Blues Music Magazine Festival Guide.These newsletters are very timely and includenews items about artists, blues shows, festivals, and new releases.

You can visit the Artist Showcase which was designed toconnect artist with fans and features downloads from artists wefeel you'll want to know about. A Digital Sampler for download is

available in this issue and in each issue of themagazine going forward. And our DigitalEdition can be viewed on all mobile devices.

In addition, you can participate on ourFaceBook page or Twitter and share some ofyour favorite blues experiences. And our BluesSociety Network website is live and wasdesigned to support and connect fans withBlues Societies around the world.

All of these will keep Blues Music Magazinemoving forward. We hope that our vast varietyof contemporary methods will enhance yourblues experiences.

As we travel from show to show andfestival to festival, it is clear to our staff that amagazine with a modern vision to expand thismusical genre is vital.

Our goal is to be a portal connecting fanswith blues music, musicians, and the commu-nity through the multiple outlets of print, digi-tal, radio, internet, social media, and in person.

As you read through the pages of ourpremier issue, we encourage you to share onFaceBook, Twitter, and E-mail your favoriteCDs that we reviewed, and if you enjoyed ourfeature, stories please comment on our web-site about the artists featured.

The blues community is an extended familythat honors those who came before us andwhose music will continue on after us. We at

Blues Music Magazine will do our part to share the blues with you.For joining us on this journey, we sincerely say, “Thank You!”

Jack “Sully” Sullivan, President, MojoWax Media, Inc.

Issue Number One

Blues Music Magazine 5

PUBLISHER: MojoWax Media, Inc.PRESIDENT: Jack Sullivan

CONTRIBUTING EDITORSDavid Barrett / Michael Cote / Thomas J. Cullen III

Bill Dahl / Hal Horowitz / Tom HyslopLarry Nager / Bill Wasserzieher / Don Wilcock

COLUMNISTSBob Margolin / Roger Stolle

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERSScott Allen / Robert Barclay / Mark Goodman

Les Gruseck / Aigars Lapsa / Doug RichardJoseph A. Rosen / Dusty Scott / Marilyn Stringer

Jen Taylor / Susan Thorsen

Blues Music Magazine © 2013 MojoWax Media, Inc.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Art TipaldiCUSTOMER SERVICE: Kyle MorrisGRAPHIC DESIGN: Andrew Miller

Blues Music Magazine welcomes articles, photos, and any materialabout the blues suitable for publication. Please direct queries [email protected]. Blues Music Magazine assumes no

responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, orillustrations. Material may be edited at the discretion of the editors.

To be credited and reimbursed, all submissions, including photographs,must be properly marked with name, address, telephone number,

e-mail of author/artist/photographer. Payment for unsolicitedmaterials is at the full discretion of the publisher. All material

becomes the property of Blues Music Magazine.

CONTRIBUTING WRITERSVincent Abbate / Grant Britt / Michael CalaTom Clarke / Kay Cordtz / Ted Drozdowski

Robert Feuer / Rev. Keith Gordon / Tim HolekBrian D. Holland / Stacy Jeffress / Chris KerslakeMichael Kinsman / Brian Owens / Tim Parsons

Bob Putignano / Tony Del Ray / Phil ReserNick DeRiso / Richard Skelly / Eric ThomM.E. Travaglini / Bill Vitka / Eric Wrisley

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Blues Music Magazine is published bimonthly by MojoWax Media,Inc., 1001 11th Avenue West, Bradenton, FL 34205. Periodicals postage is paidat Bradenton,FL and at additional mailing offices. Subscription rates (for 6 issues) are: U.S.— $35/year, Canada & Mexico — $40/year, Overseas — $50/year.

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It is with joy and promise that I welcome blues fans to the premier issue of an excitingnew music publication, Blues Music Magazine, a bi-monthly publication devoted to allaspects of the music you love, the blues. Though the name is different, it is run andstaffed by the writers and photographers you have trusted for decades. MojoWaxMedia Inc., headed by Jack Sullivan, has contracted a staff of editors, designers, writ-ers, and photographers who previously worked for multiple publications to cover themusic. Our vision and mission statement is to provide very much the same coverageyou have become accustomed to, just with a new, fresh identity.

This begs the question, “Why start a magazine?” in an age when print media is onthe decline. We say this is exactly the perfect time. Our vision will use print media, amedium we know our readers love, to augment all the digital options available. Thusour subscription options offer you the ability to receive Blues Music Magazine on anyof your mobile devices, so that you can instantaneously enjoy our coverage of theblues wherever you are. Our website, www.bluesmusicmagazine.com, also offers avariety of ways you can enjoy the blues through news and articles, downloadablemusic, streaming radio, and, in the future, in-studio video of current blues musicians.

Blues Music Magazine will continue to cover legends of the past, shed a light onexciting newcomers, sit one to one with timely interviews, bring our readers front rowseats for shows and festivals around the world, and offer insightful reviews of CDs,books, and DVDs. As with any new enterprise, there will be growing pains, and weask you be patient and supportive. In the future, there will also be design and contentchanges as we integrate our print publication with the online expansions. In short,everything that blues fans around the world crave and loved will be available in ourBlues Music Magazine.

In this premier issue, we have traveled from Austin, Texas, to central Canada toillustrate the power and reach of this music. These four guitarists we have profiledeach has deep roots that personally connect back to originators of the blues. Yet at thesame time, each has distinguished a modern career based on thoughtful interpretationof traditional blues songs, personal songwriting, and, in some cases, being the produc-tion hand in the studio.

Box sets. There was a time when a record label’s release of an artist’s career was anevent fans and collectors looked forward to. Thankfully, there are record companiestoday still releasing these indispensible sets. In this issue, we are reviewing threerecent and vital box set releases.

Most notable of the three is Germany’s Bear Family Records, which has, amongthe many sets in its catalogue, recently released two box sets, totaling 12 CDs, collect-ing nearly everything recorded by Freddie King.

Today, Bear Family’s Electric Blues Definitive Collection is a 12 CD, history ofelectric blues from 1939-2005. At the same time, the company has released The SunBlues Box, a 10-CD set that assembles all Sun Records blues, R&B, and gospel record-ings from 1959-1958. At the same time, and in this digital economy, Rounder Recordshas released its beautifully produced Skydog, The Duane Allman Retrospective.

With today’s generation’s obsession over downloading its music as quickly aspossible, music fans like myself are clearly appreciative of these record companies’efforts that seemingly go against that current tide.

“Let the music keep our spirits high.”

Art Tipaldi, Editor-In-Chief

“The party said ‘Muddy Waters,another mule’s kickin’ in your stall .’”


“Big Mama,” and“Papa Mali” knew Ruthie Foster was special. So does everyoneelse who seen her soul put her head back and listened to hersing. Foster, a gospel and soul singer, said she felt validationwhen she asked George Porter Jr., the funk bass pioneer fromthe Meters, to contribute to her latest studio album, Let It Burn.

“I had no idea he knew who I was, let along somebody Icould ask to play on any one of my projects,” Foster said.“For me, I got a kick out of just knowing his e-mail address.”

A native of the tiny Texas town Gause, Foster said she wasonce a shy, 10-year-old girl with a stuttering problem. The lastthing she wanted to do was sing in front of an audience, whichhas become a gift so authentic her peers are awed. “Ruthie iscarrying on a wide and deep tradition,” country bluesman EricBibb said by telephone from his home in Finland. Foster callsBibb her “Spirit Brother.”

“She is the perfect incarnation of all of those wonderfulvoices that have become iconic in the African-American rootstradition,” Bibb said. “I’m talking about Mahalia Jackson. I’m

talking about Mavis Staples. I’m talking about Rosetta Tharpe.I’m talking about Memphis Minnie and Bessie Smith. I’m talkingabout all of those great voices that just seem to embody thesoul of a people, if you will. Ruthie’s got all of that. I know thesesound like big words, but her voice and her soul really matchthat mission.”

Soul-based blues guitarist Tommy Castro said, “When I firstsaw her on stage, I hadn’t been moved by a performer like that ina very long time. Maybe the last time I saw Ray Charles manyyears ago. I’d like to get her on the (Legendary Rhythm andBlues) Revue but she’s gotten too big for us.”

Foster’s church and her grandmother, who she calls “BigMama,” helped her as a girl overcome stuttering and shyness.The church once a month has a youth day in which children puttogether all of the music and poetry and Bible readings. “BigMama” helped her grand-daughter overcome her nervousnesswith enunciation practice and by speaking in front of a smallcrowd, which included a group of women in the “Amen Corner.”She sang in the choir where she sat directly behind preachers,

“SPIRIT BROTHER,”

PHOTOGRAPHY © AIGARS LAPSA


and she acquired the visceral cadence and rhythm of thePentecostal Holiness church.

“The church is such a beautiful and nurturing environmentto be in when you’re not sure of yourself,” Foster said. “Thesewomen, especially in the Amen Corner – you get stuck, you’re notsure where your headed and (you are so scared) you can’t evenfeel your legs – they had a way of just bringing me right backdown and letting me know, ‘It’s okay, baby, take your time. You’reall right. Amen. Hallelujah. Amen.’ They’d sit and smile and nodtheir heads and let me know I was okay, and I would go on.”

Foster’s involvement with church led to a friendship with“Papa Mali,” a Louisiana artist who first became known as a reg-gae player. (Malcolm “Papa Mali” Welbourne” was given his stagename by the Winston Rodney, better known as “Burning Spear.”)

“He (“Papa Mali”) was part of a gospel brunch group thatI kind of came in and out of when I was living out of town,”Foster said. “He was my introduction into Austin. We just keptin touch and called each other when on the road. He wasalways checking in on me.”

“Papa Mali” knew Foster was special, too special to be thesmall-town folk singer he knew her as. “I was very aggressive inencouraging her to make a soul record, kind of a retro soulrecord,” “Papa Mali” said. “I really thought that’s where she wascoming from. She was clearly influenced by people like ArethaFranklin and Chaka Kahn and Donny Hathaway and that sort ofthing. And she, of course, as soon as I started talking to herabout it, I could see the light came on inside of her.

“Talk about somebody who’s the real deal. She grew up in asmall little town in Texas. She was the musical director of herchurch choir. Her mother sang. You talk about natural God-givensoul and talent, Ruthie Foster is it. And here she was like singingto a small kind of folk crowd. When I convinced her that sheneeded to make a soul record, it didn’t take a lot of convincingon her part. It was hard to convince her to get away from thekind of people pulling her tiny little career at the time. Once shedid, it was like suddenly the doors just opened up for her. Sheimmediately got signed with good management and a goodagency and everything just took off.”

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Timeless Voiceby Tim Parsons

RUTHIEFOSTER

“Papa Mali” produced the breakout 2007 Blue Corn Musicalbum, The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster, helping her move beyonda coffeehouse mind-set. In the studio he encouraged Foster totake a new approach to an acoustic guitar song.

“Little things like that that he did as a producer reallystretched me,” Foster said. “We did a lot of listening before goinginto the studio for Phenomenal, and he has this incredible recordcollection. I guess he saw that I really clicked with Donny Hath-away, Mavis Staples, even Bobby Gentry, some of the old schoolsoul that I hadn’t had my ear next to in a while.

“I grew up with that sound, and I guess he dialed in on thatand helped me bring a lot of thatout. A lot of the songs we did inthe studio were stripped down towhat I call the richness, the soul-ness of the songs.”

Even the album title was athrowback to vinyl offerings suchas 1960’s The Wonderful World OfSam Cooke and 1962’s The Ten-der, The Moving, The SwingingAretha Franklin. The PhenomenalRuthie Foster introduced her to awide audience.

“It’s funny,” Foster said, “Irecorded it in Austin, but it got meout of Austin. Not to say that inany derogatory way. I love mytown. But that record really intro-duced me into the realm of main-stream. It was another level. Itwas a way to get to another levelwith my musicianship, my song-writing and even the songs that Ichose to do on stage and in thestudio.

“It really catapulted me to aplace where I knew I was readyfor. Or maybe I didn’t know I wasready for, but ‘Papa Mali’ wasreally instrumental in letting mefeel confident and comfortablewith getting to that place which isjust putting that jacket on.”

The jacket is highlighted with blues. “I think Ruthie is thefemale blues singer from Texas right now,” said fellow Austin artistMarcia Ball. “That voice is an amazing gift, and she knows how touse it. She’s just got that tone and that place she comes from thatis so real and evangelical in terms of being able to carry youalong. She’s amazing, and she’s a great gal.”

Austin ex-pat Angela Strehli, a Northern Californian now, said,“I only got to see Ruth once for an Antone’s anniversary. Andsome friends of ours, the Paul Thorn Band, did some gigs with herout here because she wasn’t very well established. They said,‘Well, she’s gonna be now because it was such a great show.’”

Thorn and Foster quickly bonded. “I was very impressed withher ability on stage but beyond that actually became friendsbecause she’s a nice person and her whole organization is madeup of real nice people,” Thorn said. “My father was a Pentecostal

minister, and I grew up in holiness churches, speaking in tonguesand all that. She and I could certainly relate in our upbringing inthe church.

“She’s one of the best singers I’ve ever heard,” he said. “Shecould stand against anybody in the world and hold her own. Shehas got pipes very few people are blessed with. She’s a very gen-uine person and very soulful. She’s a friendly person and that’s aquality you can’t say many things that’s better than that as a person.Nice people are few and far between these days, I am sad to say.”

Bibb met Foster, whom he calls his “Soul Sister,” more than adecade ago at Alberta’s Canmore Folk Festival when they shared a

workshop stage. “I was so takenwith her voice, that I basically,in a kind of gentlemanly way,accosted her after the workshop,”Bibb said. “I kind of justambushed her. I said, ‘Ruthie,listen, if I can set up a studiosession later today would youplease join me and sing a songthat I wrote a long time ago that’sbeen waiting for your voice?’And it’s a song called ‘For You.’

“I wrote it in 1988. I’d per-formed it and recorded it, butalways felt it needed anothervoice and that voice was RuthieFoster. We set up a portable stu-dio in the festival director’s livingroom and, with his dogs lockedup in the basement; we recordedand put it on my Friends album.It’s a duet I felt had been waitingfor her.”

Empathy is a characteristicBibb said makes Foster a greatsinger. Foster said she bringsgospel into secular songs, citingadjusting a lyric: “I woke up thismorning with my mind set onJesus” to “I woke up this morningwith my mind set on freedom.”

“It was my way to bringgospel into anything,” she said.

“Just by the sound and the feel, but not necessarily to bring reli-gion into where I’m at. I’ve always known how to bring that withme without preaching. To me, it just wasn’t necessary. I fell lovewith how gospel made me feel. And I think that’s with any genre ofmusic that moves you.”

Gospel is undeniably the root of blues music, and Foster hastaken it to modern times.

“She’s not a museum piece,” Bibb said. “She’s not a tradition-alist even though she’s a great torchbearer for a great tradition.She’s that and more. She’s a very funny, witty, contemporary soulwho will surprise you with all kinds of quirky things about her, likeher love of cowboy boots, for example. She doesn’t fit any mold.Ruthie has broken all the molds, but she also has this amazingability to bring back to life a sound that really is from another time.It’s alive and well with us in a modern gal named Ruthie Foster.”

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And this is someone who once was a stuttering little girl afraidto sing in public. But it turns out, it is her calling.

“That’s when I’m most open, and I’m most comfortable andreally feeling I am doing what I came here to do,” Foster said. “It’swhen I just got my head back and am really taking in the moment.When I’m really present is when I’m onstage.”

REGARDLESS if it is considered blues,gospel, folk, or soul, the music of the RuthieFoster Band, more than anything, is asauthentic its members’ friendship.

Drummer Samantha Banks, five-stringbassist Tanya Richardson, and Foster play withthree hearts beating as one. “They make eyecontact with one another, and they enjoy oneanother on stage,” said artist Paul Thorn, whohas toured with the group. “And if the band’senjoying itself on stage, it willperpetuate into the crowdbecause the crowd’s going to feelwhatever is on the stage. Theysend off a really good vibe fromthe stage.”

Success came quickly afterFoster decided to have a bandinstead of performing solo or ina duo. “We were just playing any-where that we basically could forlittle or no money,” Banks said ofthe early days. “I think that oneof our first gigs as a band, we dida biker bar, and it was cool. Theywere a great audience. Bikershave hearts, too.”

Months later, the band wasgetting gigs in Japan and all overthe world. The trio had no plan to coalesce intoan all-women band. It had more to do withchemistry than gender. “I knew Samanthawhen she played with Big Otis in Houston,”Foster said. “Willie Bennett, who was the man-ager for Third Floor Cantina in Brian CollegeStation area, called me up one night and said,‘You’ve got to check out this chick drummer.’It’s been at least 15 years. I just kept in touch.

“She had her own jazz fusion band thatplayed around Houston. She knew Tanya andbrought Tanya into the fold just a few yearsafter I met her. Eventually we just droppedwhat we were doing with other people, and wedecided we needed do this together. Now we

are just traveling sisters, as far as I’mconcerned. We were friends first, and the restjust fell into our laps. We just figured out.”

So the trio hit the road with Foster as the“VP of Transportation” and Banks the “VP ofCuisine.” Like Foster, Banks leaned aboutmusic in church. Early on, she played key-boards, but after the family moved to a differ-ent church, Banks was exposed to drums,bass, and guitar.

“I started playing violin, then I tookpiano lessons,” Banks said. “I took guitarlessons, but drums just stuck out for me. Itwas more my personality. It was just more me.I just loved it.”

Her love of music led Banks to Chicago,where she studied at the American Conserva-tory of Music. Then there was night schoolwhere the classroom was a Northside bluesclub, the Kingston Mines, and a regal profes-sor was named Koko Taylor, the Queen ofthe Blues.

“That was actually more important thangoing to school,” Banks said about the noctur-nal tutoring. “(Koko) was full voice at twoo’clock in the morning, just belting out theblues like it was nobody’s business. I neverknew what a shuffle was until I moved toChicago. Some of the best of the best live there.They not only live there, they live the music,

not only play it, but live the music. It was agreat place to learn and experience their blues.”

After moving back to Texas, Banks metRichardson at an all-women’s performancebenefit arranged by Travis Peoples and theHouston Blues Society. “She was playing withJoe “Guitar” Hughes, and he called me to playa few gigs and we ended up going to Europewith him,” Richardson said. “That’s how westarted playing more on a regular basis.”

Richardson joined Banks’ fusion jazz andR&B group. Her background was R&B, blues,and soul, and she grew to learn music of bandssuch as Spyro Gyra and Weather Report. “Itjust stepped up my playing game,” she said.

Richardson’s first instrumentalso was the violin, but some-thing else came along. She wasmoved upon hearing Stevie Won-der’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered”and Booker T and the MGs’“Melting Pot.”

“The bass – it picked mewhen I was a little kid,” she said.“In the ‘60s I heard, ‘girls don’tplay basses.’ But I was just soattracted to it. I played it 15 yearsbefore I picked up an actual bass,because I was playing the bassparts on my guitars. My parentskept giving me guitars, notbasses. But I’d been playing thebass line all my life.”

Three years ago at a funeral,a relative who studied her genealogy toldFoster and Richardson they were cousins.That might help explain why some folks whohaven’t seen them play live get them confused.“People are always calling me Ruthie andsometimes Ruthie’s there and I’ll just kind ofgo with it,” Richardson laughed.

So what happens when they request anautograph?

“When they get to that part, I’ll intro-duce her.”

Another chance for the traveling sistersto share a laugh as they tour the world, mov-ing listeners with their music.– Tim Parsons

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HADDEN SAYERS, FOSTER, BANKS, AND RICHARDSON

BANKSRICHARDSON


HaddenSayers

BACK TO THE BLUESby Phil Reser

Hadden Sayers is back inthe blues business again.

As a child, hisparents encouraged himto take up the guitar. They

bought him a Yamaha acoustic, and hestarted taking lessons, but he put it aside.In high school, he became engrossed in4-H type endeavors, wearing a cowboyhat, boots and driving a pickup truck.

“I was involved in Future Farmers ofAmerica. I lived in a rural area in Texasthat was soon to be entirely engulfed bythe Houston suburbs. It was fascinatingto me because we had lived in thesuburbs of Dallas and they didn’t reallyhave the agricultural stuff that SugarLand had. It was still like a country town,so I just jumped into the idea of farmingand ranching. I had a heifer that I raised,and I went to all the livestock shows.”

Sayers would become immersed inmusic, only after he enrolled as a studentat Texas A&M University. Recalling thatcollege time, he says, “I’d hole up in mydorm room and try to emulate what Iheard on the radio,” acknowledging inparticular the influence of Austin pickerslike Chris Duarte and David Grissom.

“I really had no idea what I wanted todo. I never felt like agriculture was goingto be my future, it was just somethingthat I had grown up around as a culturalexperience. I got a small scholarship tostudy the field, so that’s the main reasonI decided to work on an AgriculturalJournalism degree. However, halfwaythrough my freshman year, I begansearching out local bands to play witharound College Station.”

PHOTOGRAPHY © MARILYN STRINGER Blues Music Magazine 11

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Studying took a back seat to attendingall-night jam sessions and performancesby blues and Texas music legends like“Gatemouth” Brown, Joe Ely, Omar and theHowlers, and Eric Johnson.

It wasn’t long before, Sayers wasplaying with different bands at a popularwatering hole, a funky little burger jointcalled the Cow Hop. Soon he graduated toa larger venue called the East-gate Live,which regularly brought top-notch localand national acts to town.

“I started working in this band with aguy named Dru Wilson, who was a greatsongwriter. He was a few years older thanme and was constantly saying, ‘there’s nopoint in going out there and playing otherpeople’s songs.’

“He wanted us to get good at writingour own songs and base our band on that.I understood that point and I took it to heart.I never felt any other way about it, and I’vealways written my own songs. Not to saythat the first songs I put together were thebest, but about my third or fourth album, itsank into me, that a song really needs abridge. For years, I had accidentally putbridges in them without totally understand-ing that process. In my younger days, I wasafraid to buy a book that explained some ofthose fundamental things because I didn’twant my songs to sound like they werecoming out of a book.”

After graduating from college, Sayersmoved to Austin, where he began his “bluesinternship” with the legendary B.B. Kingrhythm section of Tony Coleman and Rus-sell Jackson in a band called Silent Partners.

“It turned out to be the perfect bluesindoctrination and finishing school for me,getting out there with these real blues pro-fessionals.” He later joined bluesmanLucky Peterson’s touring band and spenttime learning the finer points of keeping ajuke joint band on the road.

After his stint with Peterson, Sayersreturned to Houston to begin his three-year association with regional sensationMiss Molly and the Whips (with vocalistMolly Elswick, bassist Charlie Knight,drummer Tony Braunagel, and guitaristsSayers, Keith Blair, Bert Wills, StephenBruton), making his recording and song-writing debut on their first two recordings.

“Miss Molly was a well-knownregional act then,” says Sayers. “That wasmy first experience working with a femaleartist. It was surprisingly easy and com-fortable working with that band. I wrote

songs for Molly, I did as much as I could,in support of her music.”

Next, he put together The HaddenSayers Band, eventually releasing inde-pendently five of his own records, whilelugging his battered Stratocaster guitar allover the world and performing 200 showsannually.

After a strong decade of performingand independently producing, troublestarted. Sayers’ momentum was sappedby “a haze of bad business deals,excuses, and rip-offs,” one record com-pany disappearing literally the day after ahandshake deal.

He relocated to Ohio, where his wifehad taken a job.

“I did my music for many years as atrio based out of Texas. During that time,my wife was getting her PhD and workingon a Post-Doc. We knew, she was going tobecome a university professor eventually,and we were going to go wherever herwork took us, and it ended up beingColumbus, Ohio.”

Next, his uncle and drummer RickFrye collapsed after a gig and died shortlythereafter. Then one of his best friendsdied of a drug overdose. “My career was atits lowest, and while I was still workingdates, I hadn’t produced a record in abouttwo years. I was tired, and things hadturned rather bleak.”

So Sayers decided to retreat to adilapidated fishing shack in Southern Ohio.He turned his back on music, left his guitarat home, and focused on making thedecrepit structure habitable. An old man inbattered work boots and a fishing hatarrived to rebuild a stone chimney. In thecoming days, retired stonemason ConardMcCorkle and bluesman Hadden Sayers,two men of completely different ages andbackgrounds, forged an unlikely friendship.

The goal of simply patching the shackevolved into a full-fledged rebuild. Wallscame down. New ones were built. Thesmall chimney project grew into a two-yearrehab for both the shack and the soul.McCorkle’s silent strength, patience, andfriendship revived Sayers’ resolve.

He began humming tunes andmelodies on the drive to the shack. Hehauled in recording gear and began work-ing through songs, sometimes recordinglyrics as voice memos on a cell phone untilhe could reach the studio.

Just as the stonemason and thebluesman shared a beer and a handshake


celebrating the completion of the new cot-tage, Grammy-nominated vocalist RuthieFoster called in search of a guitarist.

She had built her career in the BrazosValley area of Central Texas, Sayers’ oldstomping grounds, and they share a lovefor the Brazos Valley hybrid of blues,Tejano, country, soul, gospel, and reggae.

“I started really focusing from theinside out. It just created all this new energyin me. Ruthie’s a star and non-stoppable,when it comes to her music goals anddirections. To be a part of her music and tosee the way audiences would respond toher performances was the biggest singlekick start in my own career.”

Sayers immediately began writingsongs with Foster in mind and their duet“Back To The Blues” became the corner-stone of Sayers’ recent album Hard Dollaralong with being nominated for the BluesMusic Award for Song of the Year, his firstBMA nomination.

Hard Dollar is the first album Sayershas released with a record label, Blue CornMusic, a Houston-based Sony subsidiary,that works and promotes, Foster, SteveForbert, Caroline Herring, The AustinLounge Lizards, and others. (In early 2013,Sayers released Rolling Soul, a collection of12 stunning originals reviewed in this issue.)

In his words, “The challenge for menow, is identifying and creating a way todraw attention to my music. I think the bestway is to continue to release records on a12 to 18 month interval. Of course, thesehave to be the best products I can pro-duce. My path will be to enjoy the ride, tospend my time writing, recording, and per-forming my songs year after year. I’m notgoing to hit every dive bar like I used to.I’m not up for that anymore, but I’m defi-nitely going to be out there in the biggervenues and festivals.”

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THE MANY FACETS OF

ANSONFUNDERBURGH

by Grant Britt

Anson Funderburgh’s guitar is the sound of Texas. When he plucks one of his vintage ‘50s Strats,Memphis, Mississippi, and Alabama are heard from on occasion as well. But even though youcan track Funderburgh’s guitar geography, his style is not so easy to pin down.

Growing up in Plano, Texas, Buck Owens, Porter Wagoner, and the Wilburn Brotherswere on the TV every Saturday night. But Funderburgh’s musical horizon was broadenedwhen he got his first guitar. “The woman that my mom and dad bought the guitar from gaveme a box of 45s,” the guitarist remembers. Included in that stash was Freddie King’s“Hideaway,” Albert Collins’ “Snow Cone, Pts. 1 and 2,” Bill Doggett’s “Honky Tonk,”Wilbert Harrison’s “Kansas City,” and a bunch of Jimmy Reed records.

At that time, there was also a popular dance called The Push. “You had to play‘Hideaway’ and ‘Honky Tonk’ and those staple songs all those Push dancers liked to

dance for,” Funderburgh says of the tunes any working guitarist had to play in ‘60s-era Texas clubs. It wasa lesson in pleasing an audience that has stayed with the guitarist to this day. “To be honest with you, ifpeople ain’t up dancing, I don’t guess I’m doing a very good job.”

But Funderburgh had bigger ears for tunes not in the box. “Man, I loved Barney Kessel and I lovedBilly Butler.” (Kessel was known for his beautifully articulated, mellow jazz style, working with artists fromSonny Rollins to the Beach Boys’ “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.” Butler is considered one of the founders of acidjazz, playing with everyone from Rhaasan Roland Kirk to B.B. King to James Brown on “Outta Sight.”)

“I love all that music Kenny Burrell did with Jimmy Smith. Some of the music of those guys I like themost are blues-oriented, but they’re jazz, they’re more complicated,” Funderburgh says.

It shows in his playing. The guitarist has the phrasing of a jazzman, as well as a highly developedsense of when to lay out. Blues legend Sam Myers once said of Funderburgh’s playing that it’s what hedoesn’t play that impressed him the most.

Funderburgh and Myers’ 20-year relationship began in 1985. Previously, Funderburgh had appearedon the Fabulous Thunderbirds’ ‘81 release Butt Rockin’ and that same year released his debut, Talk To YouBy Hand, with his band The Rockets. Myers replaced original Rockets harpist/singer Darryl Nulisch whenhe left four years later.

Funderburgh speaks of Myers with a reverence most people have when reminiscing about closefamily members who have passed. Myers was a force of nature, a man prone to making everything hesaid in interviews seem like a proclamation you didn’t dare contradict. But even though he could beself-aggrandizing at times, Funderburgh just shrugged it off. “Well,” Funderburgh says, in his slow Texasdrawl, “Sam once told me, ‘I don’t mean to pin no bouquets on anybody, but if you smell the roses, it’sprobably me.’”

Even though Myers’ proclamations were entertaining, it makes it difficult to pin down some of Myers’musical background. Funderburgh is sure Myers played on Elmore James’ 1961 release, “Look OnYonder’s Wall,” the flip side of “Shake Your Money Maker,” and on some cuts on ‘94’s Fire Fury EnjoyRecordings, Elmore James: King Of The Slide Guitar.

“He also says he plays drums on some of that stuff, and there’s other people who say that’s KingMose playing drums,” the guitarist says. “I tried to tell him, ‘Sam, tell people what you did. Tell the truth.You’ve made those beautiful records like, ‘Sad, Sad Lonesome Day’ and ‘My Love Is Here to Stay.’ And on‘Poor Little Angel Child,’ he sang and Elmore played guitar. So that’s true, some of it, but what he playedon and what he didn’t play on, I’m not absolutely accurate on that and I don’t think he was either.”

At times in live performance, Funderburgh and Myers could be seen going back and forth like apitcher and a catcher, with Funderburgh calling a tune, and Myers shaking off the sign and calling one ofhis own. “Sometimes that happened and sometimes it was the other way around,” Funderburgh acknowl-edges. “I ain’t saying he wasn’t like that. Sometimes he didn’t want to go in the direction I wanted to, andhe’d just kind of stumble through something else, but Sam pretty much did what we asked him to do.”


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Even though Myers mostlywent along with the program, hestill let his presence be felt. “WhenI met Sam and took him with me itwas blessing for him and it wasalso a blessing for me,” Funder-burgh says. “We were really ableto achieve a lot together. Sam wasa great guy. He wanted people tolove him and need him so bad hewas always threatening to quit.

“But in two months of movingto Dallas from that one roomshack where he had absolutelynothing, he was always threatening to quit, and for a minute Ifell into that trap, where you just say ‘Oh shit! Really? You’regonna leave? What the hell? No, you don’t wanna do that!’

“But then, after a while, the big line was (drops down into ahusky baritone) ‘Well, what are you boys gonna do when I leavethis outfit?’ He’d never tell me that, he would tell the new guy, orsomeone else in the band and they’d go, ‘Oh shit!’ and comeand talk to me about it. But his big line was, ‘What are you boysgonna do when I leave this outfit?’ And I’d say to him, ‘You’releavin’? And he‘d say, ‘Yeah, I’ll be walking on softer sand.’”Funderburgh pauses to compose himself, and then repeats in asoft whisper, “I’ll be walking on softer sand.”

It’s obvious from Funderburgh’s tone when discussingMyers that the bond between the two was much more than just abusiness relationship. “He was a dear friend,” the guitarist says.“Sometimes we argued just like family, but you know, he couldtalk about me and I could talk about him, but don’t ever let any-body else talk about either one of us. It was one of those kindsof relationships. I never worked with anybody who had a biggervoice than him. Or that was any more unique on harmonica.The little things that he did, they were his, man. Nobodysounded like him.”

Myers passing in July of ‘06 left a giant hole inFunderburgh’s personal and professional life. “In 2005, he gotsick. I tried to take care of him, I tried toget all the medical help, we tried to doeverything we could do to make every-thing ok,” Funderburgh says. “We buriedhim, we took care of him, we even boughta headstone for him and for his mom,who didn’t’ have one. That was some-thing he wanted to do, and we did it. Hewanted to be buried in Jackson, Missis-sippi, and we did that, we buried him byhim mom and his dad.”

Funderburgh had more to get overthan just the death of his longtime partner.“In ‘07, I found out I had prostate cancer,”he admits. “And while I was home, (wife)Renee became pregnant with my son. Soit did seem like a good time not to be onthe road playing, so I just didn’t feel likegetting out for awhile.”

Funderburgh fulfilled his remainingdates by replacing Myers with Idaho

harpist/singer John Nemeth andalso played on and producedNemeth’s 2007 release, MagicTouch. With the soul of LittleWillie John, Nemeth has thevoice of a ‘50 s crooner andplays harp like Little Walter. “I’mhere to testify man, I think JohnNemeth is an unbelievablesinger,” Funderburgh says.“Jimmie Vaughan was in thestudio with us one day when wewere redoing things and Jimmiesaid if he could sing like that he

could rule the world, and it’s probably right,” he chuckles.Recently Funderburgh’s getting back into the scene. He

made some appearances with New Orleans-based singer/guitarist Eric Lindell whom he met a year ago on one of DelbertMcClinton’s cruises and is at work on a record with him featur-ing older country songs. “Eric is a special cat,” Funderburghsays. “To me, he doesn’t sound like Delbert, but like Delberthe’s got a little bit of soul in him, he’s got a little bit of blues inhim, and he’s got a little bit of country in him. His way of singingjust does something for me. Any time he can figure out how hecan use me, I’ll be there, because I enjoy it that much.”

Within these two years, 2011-2013, he also produced arecord for Nashville’s Andy T and Nick Nixon Blues Band forDelta Groove Records, produced and played on Ellersoulrecords’ Four Jacks release with Big Joe Maher and KevinMcKendree, and is a producing a record for Texas-based gui-tarist Holland K. Smith. He toured Europe with Mark Hummel,Little Charlie, Wes Starr, and Richard Grigsby as the Lone StarGolden State Blues Review, will play the King Biscuit BluesFestival in Helena, Arkansas, for the 28th time in October2013, and, two weeks later, will sail on the Legendary Rhythm& Blues Cruise partnered with Lindell.

Despite the large body of work behind him and more tocome, Funderburgh says he wants his legacy to be more about

him than his music. “I want people toremember me as a guy that somebodycould always come up and talk to, shakeyou hand and look you in the eye andsay “Glad to see ya,” the guitarist says.“I’m always gonna be the same guy. I’mmore interested in being nice to people.Seems like that’s a more important thingin life.”

Funderburgh says he realizes thatthe way he plays is a gift from some-where. “When people give you a gift,you’re supposed to use your gift, but I’mnot sure you’re supposed to brag aboutit,” he chuckles. “Somebody asked me along time ago, when I decided I wasgonna be a musician? I don’t think I everdid. I always had my head down won-derin’ when the dream was gonna beover, and I had to do something else tomake a living.”

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DEEP ROOTSGuitar Master

Journey fromHowlin’Wolf toHollywood

COLIN LINDEN’S

Colin Linden is depends on which sideof the border you call home. In his nativeCanada, he’s long been known as oneof the world’s premier blues and rootsguitarists and producers, lending hisdistinctive guitar lines and studio skills torecordings by such North Country iconsas Bruce Cockburn, Blackie & The RodeoKings, and blues-rocker Colin James.

In the States, where he’s livedin Nashville for the past dozen years,Linden, 53, is relatively unknown, a

sideman deluxe flying under the radarin his trademark black hat and shades.Specializing in the bluesier side ofAmericana, he can be heard onwide-ranging, high profile projectsincluding the O Brother Where Art Thou?soundtrack, where he brought his passion

for pre-war blues to his eerie recreationof Skip James’ “Hard Time Killing Floor.”

He toured arenas with the O Brotherspinoff tour Down From The Mountainand put in a year backing Country MusicHall of Famer Emmylou Harris. Mostrecently, he’s been an important partof ABC-TV’s glossy nighttime soap,Nashville, playing on the soundtrack andregularly appearing onscreen. That’s himplaying guitar for tortured heartthrob(Nashville has lots of those) “DeaconClaybourne” (played by Charles Esten).

WHO YOU THINK

by Larry Nager

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But Linden still finds time to hit theroad, both as a solo artist with a new CD,Still Live (Yellow Dog), his twelfth solo disc,and fronting his longtime Canadian band,Blackie & The Rodeo Kings. That covers alot of ground, musically and geographi-cally, but Linden says it all started with hismom and Howlin’ Wolf.

He was just an 11-year-old kid feelinghis way around a guitar when his mothertook him to see the blues great at Toronto’sColonial Tavern. “You talk about the life-changing moment, well, that was it,” Lindensays. “There was a bunch of them, butnone of them was bigger than that one.”

You might think that a 61-year-oldMississippi/Chicago bluesman and a littleCanadian kid wouldn’t have much in com-mon, but the venerable cliché is true, theblues really is a universal language.

“The Wolf was a very deep guy. I thinkhe understood that my heart was honest inthat I truly loved the music and I sincerelywanted to know what he had to say, to findout about him,” explains Linden. “Thecloseness that you feel for the music iscompletely connected with the closenessthat you feel with the people. And the wayWolf treated me, how sweet he was to meand how encouraging and interesting and

interested in helping me along and passingit along. I think that’s something that con-nects people from seemingly different cul-tures and different generations.”

He also gave the youngster somepractical advice on learning the blues.“Wolf told me the first time I met him, ‘Ifyou really want to learn this stuff, listen tothe people that I listened to.’ And he toldme about Charley Patton, which of coursewas like giving me the key to the kingdomin terms of what to listen for and what tolearn.” (Editor’s note: Linden still sharesthat timeless photo on his iPhone.)

He took that advice to heart andthough he’d been playing since he turnedeight, he began to dig a lot deeper. “Ibecame kind of obsessed by it and by thetime I was 13 I was really practicing hard.”He bought reissues of first-generationcountry blues masters and made thatrepertoire his own. You can hear it on hisearly albums, in deeply felt covers of BoCarter’s “Go Back Old Devil” (SouthernJumbo) and, on Easin’ Back To Tennessee,Charley Jordan’s “Keep It Clean,” and BlindWillie McTell’s “Broke Down Engine.”

“In a lot of ways, I’m still obsessed bythat music. When I listen to the 100th birth-day re-masterings of Robert Johnson, I’ll

hear some new nuance of what he wasdoing, some little bit of meaning or differentemotion in his voice. It’s an endless well.Those guys, really, that generation, Robertand the generations slightly earlier thanhim, gave us an unbelievable body of art.”

Even as he broadened into moreelectric, rocking music, he incorporatedthat early country blues feel in his use offinger picking and a seamless ability toswitch from fluid slide to blazing frettedplaying. He also developed his singingand songwriting and soon made a namein the Canadian blues and roots scene.

Then in 1987, another musical mentorchanged his direction again. “I got to meetRick Danko (of The Band), who would singon my album, When The Spirit Comes. TheBand was always my favorite group fromthe time I was a kid. Even when I got intothe blues in a big way, to me, they embod-ied everything that was great about blues,that was great about country, that wasgreat about folk and all different kinds ofroots music, all that was great about rock.And I never stopped loving them. Evenwhen I got into country blues, they werealways in my mind and in my heart.”

Linden started occasionally playingwith Danko. When The Band reunited

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Colin Linden and Colin James, Ottawa Bluesfest, 2001


without lead guitarist Robbie Robertson,Danko invited him down to Woodstock.There, Linden met Band backup musiciansJim Weider (guitar) and Richard Bell (key-boards). He and Weider wrote “Remedy” forthe reunited Band, and the song remains inLinden’s setlist. Linden calls Bell “the great-est musician I’ve ever played with.” Theyformed a close personal and professionalbond that lasted until Bell’s death in 2007.“My wife and I basically adopted him, andwe played together for 18 years.”

After Bell died, Linden wrote a couplesongs about his friend, but they were prettymournful. On a drive from Nashville toToronto with his wife, Janice Powers,Linden decided to write one more. “I said,‘I want to write a song about Richard thatjust celebrates how great he is.’ He lovedJames Booker, that was his favorite of allthe New Orleans piano players. And Iwanted to make up something like that thatwould let me play guitar kind of like the wayhe played piano. My wife and I wrote ittogether, which was right because hewasn't just a gigantic part of my life, he wasa gigantic part of all of our lives.”

The result, “Smoke ‘em All” remainsLinden’s signature solo tune, a guitar tourde force that he recorded for Still Live (thetitle, by the way, is a joking reference to his1980 debut, Colin Linden Live). His experi-ence with The Band raised his profile inthe States, and he remained friends withthe group, including the late Levon Helmand his daughter Amy, of Ollabelle fame,who has recently been touring withLinden’s Rodeo Kings. The younger Helmalso sang on the Rodeo Kings’ albumKings And Queens, which featured adizzying, genre-busting array of femalevocalists, from Lucinda Williams to ExeneCervenka to Cassandra Wilson to PattyLoveless to Janiva Magness. Their touracross Canada featured guest spots bythe women of Kings And Queens, alongwith Keb’ Mo’ and Ron Sexsmith.

At home in Nashville, Linden remainsa first-call session guitarist (he’s played onmore than 300 albums and producedaround 100). He’s a favorite of producerT Bone Burnett, who has called on him toplay on such diverse projects as TheHunger Games soundtrack and albumsby Gregg Allman, Diana Krall, CassandraWilson, and the Chieftains, as well as theaborted second album by Robert Plantand Alison Krauss.

He’s also slated for the soundtrack tothe next Coen Brothers film, Inside Llewyn

Davis (Linden’s experience on the bigscreen includes playing a singing priest inthe George Clooney-Catherine ZetaJones-Billy Bob Thornton dark comedyIntolerable Cruelty). And of course, there’shis role in TV’s Nashville, on which Burnettis executive music producer.

Linden continues producing artists,including Big Bill Morganfield’s currentCD, as well as longtime Canadian palsBruce Cockburn and Colin James. He’llalso be touring behind Still Live in 2013with longtime drummer Gary Craig andbassist Johnny Dymond. But as he fin-ished Blackie & The Rodeo Kings’ 2012tour, he was mostly looking forward to get-ting away with Janice early in 2013 for theDelbert McClinton Sandy Beaches Cruise,where Linden’s cheerful, easy-going per-sonality and merciless guitar chops makehim an MVP in any of the diverse musicalscenarios onboard.

It’s been a long road for ColinLinden, but no matter what he’s playingor where he’s playing it, whether it’s a

snow-bound Ontario club, a Hollywoodsoundstage, or a luxury cruise ship undertropical skies, it all springs from the musicand the men he learned from as a blues-besotted Canadian kid.

“When I first traveled through theSouth, I stayed with Sam Chatmon andPeg Leg Sam. I visited Robert PeteWilliams, Henry Townsend, Buddy Moss,Little Brother Montgomery, Son House,Willie Trice, and spent time with TampaRed in a nursing home in Chicago. I got toknow these people a little bit, be aroundthem and get a feel for them. They tookme in like I was family. They treated mewith affection and love and positivity. Theywere so good to me, it felt like home.These people were my home and myhome was around music, and that’s howit’s always been. That’s where I feel I’msupposed to be.”

And no matter which side of theborder you’re on, anyone who has everheard Colin Linden play and sing knowsthat exact same feeling.

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I did some more blues travelingrecently with a few of my favorite “they broke themold” Mississippi blues characters. Never a dullmoment, I can assure you. Philadelphia, Pennsyl-vania’s WXPN public radio station has bookedseveral of our Delta blues guys over the past yearfor their super cool Mississippi Blues Project. Mybuddy Jeff Konkel (Broke & Hungry Records) andI have sent or brought them Big George Brock,Jimmy “Duck” Holmes, Terry “Harmonica” Bean,and others as well as our most recent blues filmWe Juke Up In Here.

Last February, WXPN asked me to bringsome guys to Philly to appear on World CafeLive, a syndicated radio/concert series. Robert“Wolfman” Belfour, 73, represented the vanish-ing North Mississippi Hill Country blues tradition.Anthony “Big A” Sherrod, 28, represented thefuture of Clarksdale, Mississippi, blues. And 76-year-old Robert“Bilbo” Walker represented...well...some old-school juke jointchaos! (To round out the bill, blues harmonica player/drummerStan Street came along as a voice of reason.)

To be completely factual about it, I actually bookedMr. Belfour and Big A, originally. Unfortunately, as is often thecase with the real-deal blues stuff here in the Delta, things quicklygot a bit more complicated than that. Long story short: Big Amarried Bilbo’s daughter and left out for Bakersfield, California,to hang with Bilbo & family through the Christmas holidays.Not having a job, Big A’s money soon ran out, as did theminutes on his cell phone.

So, with no working phone and no personal transportation,Big A’s February booking in Philly was looking pretty debatable bylate January. Fortunately, there’s always “Plan B.” Bilbo’s phonewas also not working, but I managed to track him down inBakersfield via a mutual friend. Since I couldn’t get a hold ofBig A, I instead booked his now father-in-law Bilbo with Big A,thereby providing transportation for Big A and motivation for hisdriver – Bilbo.

Of course, even that wasn’t so simple. Three days beforewe were scheduled to board a Memphis plane to Philly, Bilbo andBig A drove up in front of my Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Artstore here in Clarksdale. I could have hugged them both.

Turns out that:A. They had driven straight through from

California since there was no money to spare fora hotel.

B. Bilbo’s wife had done most of the drivingbecause no one else in the car had a validdriver’s license.

C. They’d been pulled over twice by theHighway State Patrol for an expired car tag.

Yet, somehow, they made it! Amazing.That Thursday morning, I drove our rag-tag

team up to Memphis to meet Mr. Belfour at theairport. Bilbo was wearing his crazy puffy-wig,and Big A was carrying his electric guitar withno case. On the drive to Memphis, we’d seenhundreds of migrating geese in some of thefields running alongside Highway 61. It got Bilbothinking. During our layover in Atlanta, he told usa hilarious story that went something like this:

“I was driving on Delta Avenue one day, justout from downtown Clarksdale. I looked out to

Rock Stars

– Roger Stolle

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my right, and said to myself, ‘I’ll be darned. Look at all thosegeeses. I’m gonna get me some of those and cook ‘em up.’ So,I drove my pickup into this park where they were and noticed theyweren’t afraid of me, so I drove right up to ‘em. I got out, real slowlike, and they just let me walk right out into the whole pack. So, I’mlooking for some big ones and thinking about how I’m going to[acts out twisting their necks] like this, you see. I got way out intothem. Boy, there was a whole bunch of geeses. Suddenly, one ofthe geese signals the others. He yells, ‘Eeeeh!’, and they allstarted attacking me! They came from everywhere, jumping onme, biting me and trying to pull me down into the pack. I wasfighting them off, and I’ll tell you the truth, now. Lord, I thoughtthey were going to kill me! I fought my way back to my truck withthem hanging on me, tearing up my paints, bloodying up my suit.I finally got back in, and they’d hurt me, now. Pull meat off me! Idrove straight down to the police station and reported them. Anddo you know what those policemen did? They laughed at me![Bilbo laughs.] They laughed. And then the game warden camedown and told me I shouldn’t have been messing with them, tobegin with. Now today whenever I see some geeses, I just shootat them to get revenge for the ones that attacked me. They allknow each other, you know.”

That night at the hotel in Philly, Bilbo attempted to usechopsticks at dinner. That elicited almost as much laughter ashis story about the day he got goosed. The next morning, thegigs went amazingly. (You can hear the radio broadcasts atwww.mississippibluesproject.org. on the “Listen” page.)Mr. Belfour’s amplified, open-tuned acoustic guitar sounded

massive, Big A had the crowd up on their feet from minute one,and Bilbo’s one-handed guitar playing had everyone’s cellphone cameras flashing.

After the Friday shows, we headed (late, of course) to thePhilly airport. Belfour, Big A, and Stan made the flight. Bilbo andI missed the plane. After Bilbo verbally-assaulted some folksvaguely associated with the airline, I managed (with WXPN’sfabulous assistance by phone) to get us onto a different flight.It was on a different airline, however, which meant it was damnnear in a different airport.

Picture yours truly (a 45-year-old, clean cut white guy carryingmy luggage and Bilbo’s guitar case) running through the airportwith a 76-year-old African-American bluesman wearing a puffy wig,pale blue zoot suit, and black-and-white Stacy Adams shoes. Westopped more than a little traffic, and I fully expected TSA to per-manently add us to their Watch List.

To this day, Bilbo randomly blames our buddy Stan Street forabandoning us at the boarding gate. (Works for me.) When it wasall said and done, the trip was a riot, the music was amazing, andthe bluesmen...well, they were as they started – absolute rockstars in my book.

UPCOMING JOURNEYS

For live blues happenings in Mississippi, check out the calendarsat www.mississippibluesproject.org and www.cathead.biz. Also,please check out a brand-new blues reality show coming this fallto www.moonshineandmojohands.com.


Only one thing could stopAnn Rabson from playing her blues for us.She passed on January 30, 2013, at the ageof 67. Nobody I ever knew craved to playblues for music lovers more than she did. Hergift inspired both the musicians she workedwith and the audiences she thrilled.

Ann began playing and singing profes-sionally in 1962, a soulful acoustic guitarist,singer, and songwriter. She took up pianowhen she was thirty-five years old. She fea-tured both guitar and piano in her shows. Shenever over-played, but delivered an assertiveaccompaniment, melodic solos, and rhythmicgroove. She chose her chord voicings deliber-ately to reflect the mood of her song. Herspeaking and singing voice were contralto,the lowest female register. She conveyedwomanly warmth and authority withoutsinging loudly. Her full-bodied tone of voicewas one of her trademarks. Indeed, she wasone of those special musicians you can name after hearing onlya few seconds of her music.

Ann was a founding member of Saffire – The Uppity BluesWomen, a very popular and successful band for 25 years. Theyparted amiably in 2009, after thousands of shows and eightalbums on Alligator Records after their self-released debut. GayeAdegbalola, one of Ann’s partners in Saffire along with Andra Faye,observes, “In all 25 years, we never had a money fight. (The clos-est we came was whether to include mileage to rehearsals as indi-vidual or group expenses.) And, we still loved each other, but aswe aged, our individual agendas changed and we went separateways. The ride, literally and figuratively, pure magic. We had thehonor of making a living doing what we loved and,at the same time, we had the joy of deep and abid-ing friendships.” Andra Faye adds, “She was alwaysso strong, until she just couldn't be. I nicknamed herthe Timex woman probably on my first tour, cuz shejust kept on keeping on.”

During and after Saffire, Ann also gave us aninstructional piano DVD, Blues And BarrelhousePiano (distributed by Hal Leonard), and four albumsthat featured her as a solo artist: Music Makin’ Mama,Struttin’ My Stuff, In A Family Way (a collaborationwith her family), and finally most recently Not Alone,with me. As I take compliments that her fans wouldlike to give to Ann, I answer, “I’m the frame aroundher latest masterpiece.”

The story of Not Alone, a phrase about bluesin the liner notes Ann wrote, reveals the musicianand the person. She had faced and prevailed over

serious health issues since 2007, but by theend of 2011, she was running out of hopefulmedical options. We played a New Year's Eve2011-12 show together in Fredericksburg, Vir-ginia, where she lived. Ann was worried thatshe might not be strong enough to play herbest or for very long, but she did great andenjoyed it.

On this night, Ann also transitioned frombeing managed by her dear friend BonnieTallman, who had also managed Saffire.Bonnie was retiring and Pat Morgan, who hadbrilliantly managed Pinetop Perkins and Willie“Big Eyes” Smith, would manage Ann. In2012, Pat did not get much chance to helpAnn, but Bonnie and I and Ann’s family,friends, and neighbors spent that wonderfulNew Year's Eve together. Bonnie took thisphoto of the good time we had playing:

Ann and I have been close friends since1987, and over the years, we performed many

shows together. We always intended to record an album together.When she was feeling relatively well in the spring of 2012, wesprang. I drove to Fredericksburg. We ate a big Southern breakfastin a ‘50s-style diner. Kind friends lent us their quiet house to use asa studio. Ann had already made demo recordings herself of thesongs she wanted to record. Actually, I think those would havemade a pretty good Ann Rabson solo record.

It would have taken many days for Ann and me to developarrangements, rehearse them, and then record them as our besteffort. We found another way that worked, perhaps ultimately better.In a day and a half, Ann recorded almost all of her piano andvocal parts for the whole CD. I just tracked her at high resolution

– Bob Margolin

Good Night, Ann Rabson

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Ann Rabson at Papa Mojo’sin Durham, N.C., 2010

Ann Rabson and Bob Margolin, New Years Eve, 2012


on my laptop. After plugging her piano and a vocal mic in, all Idid was click to record, listen carefully, and click to stop. Ann,by contrast, put every bit of herself into those recordings, withthe natural talent and the authority of 40 years of being amusic makin’ mama. Very few young musicians in great healthwould be capable or working and playing as hard as Ann didonly a year ago. Gaye Adegbalola says, “Ann is the strongestperson I know.”

Though Death sat silently and impatiently in the room withus as Ann recorded, she snubbed him. She might have givenDeath the finger if she hadn't been using all of them to playpiano. When we were finished, Ann told me that she wasexhilarated from her effort.

In April and May, I recorded my guitar parts around Ann’ssongs and added some vocals. I always checked my parts withAnn for her approval or advice. She had a clear idea of whatshe wanted to hear. Sometimes I pleased her right away, butwhen I didn’t, I reworked my parts until she was pleased. Whenwe deemed the tracking to be finished, I drove to Charlotte,North Carolina, a few times to have the music mixed by MarkWilliams at his East Oak Studios and mastered by Dave Harrisat Studio B. The CD was released by the VizzTone LabelGroup, in which I’m a partner, at the end of last summer. NotAlone won the 2013 Blues Music Award for Acoustic Album ofthe Year.

The last gig I did with Ann was at the Mockingbird inStaunton, Virginia, on November 10, 2012. We had NorthCarolina’s finest with us: Chuck Cotton on drums and Tad Walterson guitar and harp. Ann’s illness was progressing, and the showwas set up so Ann could do as much or little as she was able.Ann’s husband, George, did everything with love, grace, andstrength to make it as easy as possible for Ann to play her blues.Ann surprised us all by sitting out only three songs of a 90-minuteset. That last live gig, she played at full power.

On December 8, 2012, Gaye put together a show inFredericksburg with a lot of Ann’s friends, and Andra Faye flewin from Indianapolis, hoping to reunite Saffire onstage for at leasta song. George drove Ann to the show but Ann had just starteda last-chance new chemo treatment, and she was too ill to stay;she left before the show started. Her friends hugged each otherand cried, very worried we had just seen her for the last time.And so it was. We all played blues the music and blues thefeeling that night.

The memory of Ann and her immortal recordings keep herwith us, as does her family. Ann’s daughter Liz says it sweetly,“I got lucky in the Mom department. I hope that I can pass on tomy daughter the ability to live life, do what you love and be real.”

Ann Rabson, the musician and the woman, was a force ofnature for her ability to touch our hearts. I should end thishomage by saying that she also loved to make us laugh, both incasual conversation and in her music. Her wit was razor-sharp,but she never used it to hurt anyone. She had a highly developedappreciation for the ironies and absurdities of life. Her sense ofhumor was bawdy but not vulgar. Well, maybe sometimes.

Personally, Ann Rabson was a big sister to me. Now I'mgoing to do what she would want, play some blues for her andcelebrate her life and hold her in my heart forever. If you seeme on a bandstand, and half-close your eyes, you'll see hernext to me.


inger/songwriter/guitarist andBlues Mob boss Michael Hill hasbuilt a satisfying existence for

himself, centered on his wife Katy Hilland their son Seth, now 15. For years, Hillhas grappled with the difficulties inherentin integrating family and business consid-erations into an artist’s life. Hill still gigswith the Blues Mob at festivals and withthe T Blues Band at Terra Blues in NYCand is about to re-release his 2005Michael Hill CD Black Gold AndGoddesses Bold. On Goddesses and GoldRedux, Hill is joined by the Blues Mob,Bill McClellan on drums, Mike Griot onbass, and David Barnes on harmonica.

During the school year, Hill worksdays as a crisis educational paraprofes-sional at Humanities PreparatoryAcademy in Brooklyn. He has written achildren’s book, Big Top And The Blues,about keeping a family connected whenone member is on the road. It is currentlybeing sold through Bailey’s Café, aBedford-Stuyvesant arts and servicesorganization. We sat down one summerafternoon at the Brooklyn BotanicalGardens near his home to talk aboutwork, family and the blues.

Blues Music Magazine: What has beenkeeping you busy lately?

Michael Hill: The Blues Mob was just inBrazil a few weeks ago at the Rio dasOstras festival. We had played thereseveral times before and for their 10thanniversary, they invited back thefavorite acts. There’s a festival I host inKaiserslautern, Germany, every October– it will be six years now – that’s been apleasure. I emcee and create a vibe and alot of artists from the road come throughand that’s been fun. And I get called to

play with the T Blues Band a couple timesa month. But around 2006, I put touringon the back burner because I was unhappybeing away from my son, and I realizedthat family was more important than a

career in music. If you’re not going to tour,you have to have a day job, and since itseemed that I might be doing this for aslong as it took Seth to get through highschool, I wanted a job that I could actuallycare about.

BMM: Tell me about your day job.

Hill: Humanities Prep is small progres-sive high school. I work with one studentat a time in all of his or her classes to helpthat student succeed. The student mayhave behavioral issues, emotional issues,learning issues – it can vary. It has its ownintensity because you’re up close and per-sonal and there’s a reason why they getthat service. But I enjoy it, education isreally important to me.

BMM: Tell me about the new record.

&Michael Hill

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Hill: In 2005, I did a project for JSPRecords, Black Gold And Goddesses Bold,with just guitar and drums, a sort ofHound Dog Taylor thing. It was a lot offun, but once we started playing thosesongs with the Blues Mob they took on adifferent life. Last summer my family tooka vacation in London where I met withthe head of JSP, and he suggested reissu-ing Black Gold in 2012. I thought if we’regonna reissue that album, let’s put the basson there! So we put Mike Griot on all thetracks, and then recorded three newsongs.

I wrote five of the 10 original songsaddressing what was going on in our coun-try in 2003 and 2004 like the run-up to warand all that. It really captures the feelings Iand a lot of other people had at that time.Adding the new songs kind of shifts thebalance towards hope. “Audacity Of TheBlues” was inspired by President Obama’sbook, and I rewrote lyrics to “U.S. BluesAgain” to reflect my feelings about his elec-tion. Because whatever one’s perspective ison his politics, just the fact that a blackman could be elected President of theUnited States is cosmic.

BMM: Although much has changed since2005, making a living in music has many ofthe same challenges.

Hill: It’s hard for artists to support being onthe road because of the dearth of clubs,venues closing, and the blues, along withjazz, not having the exposure that othermusic has. So if you’re out there Mondaythrough Thursday with no place to play, it’sreally hard. In New York City too, therewere all sorts of restrictions placed on clubsthat did not facilitate growth or give peoplea sense of freedom to enjoy the music. Noiseordinances, dancing – there was a wholething where people couldn’t dance unlessthe club had some particular kind of license.

But also the economic climate in NYChasn’t been conducive to clubs thriving oreven surviving. Terra Blues opened in 2000,and we first played there in 2001 but at thattime Chicago Blues was there, Manny’s Car-wash, and Tramps were booking blues. Allthese clubs are no longer there.

When I first started gigging in the late70s, it was like $50 a night, which was cool.But now you can play clubs 40 years laterand still be offered $50. It doesn’t speak to

allowing people to thrive. But an artist’s lothas always been marginal for the most partand dependent on the kindness of angels.And art is something that people are goingto do regardless of the financial reward.Music – blues, jazz – has something that’selemental and primal and healing, so therewill always be people playing it eventhough the conditions are not thrilling.

BMM: How do you integrate things thatyou’re concerned about into your songs?

Hill: Anything that shows up in someone’sart is going to reflect something thatthey’re concerned about, whether it’sromance or social issues. I grew up withparents who were cognizant of the civilrights movement and made us aware ofthat, and later on the Black Power move-ment and the Vietnam War movement.

I was drawn to artists who talkedabout more than romance, whether it wasJames Baldwin or Nikki Giovanni or CurtisMayfield, Bob Marley, or Country Joe andthe Fish. Particularly as a blues artist, play-ing a music that comes out of slavery andwas a voice for people who had no voice in


society, I would feel like I was a counterfeitblues artist if I didn’t address social justicein a serious way.

I try to write with a sense of hopebecause that’s what I believe, that thingswill get better and the essential humandrive is towards things being better foreveryone. One thing that I anticipate writ-ing about is education. I feel that there’s amove in the United States to privatize edu-cation and disempower teachers, commu-nities, and families so people can make alot of money on education.

BMM: What’s new with your approach toguitar playing?

Hill: The biggest thing is I’ve switchedback to a Stratocaster. I started playingwith a ‘75 Strat and in 1988 I got a Stein-berger, a little guitar with no headstock.Ten years later I realized that while tour-ing, no one would have parts if anythingwent wrong so I went to a Les Paul, and Iplayed those for about 10 years. But a fewyears ago, I started hearing the call of thatStrat, those five distinctive, clean tones andthe way they still ring through even when

you overdrive them. So I’ve been playing aStrat again for the last three years and itfeels like going back home.

BMM: You actually got Hubert Sumlin toplay on “Mr. Hubert Sumlin” on the newrecord!

Hill: Yeah! I first met Hubert at the BergenBlues Festival in 1998, but he was alwaysone of my heroes. The solo he did on“Killing Floor” is a stroke of genius – thepercussive, rhythmic thing he does and thejoie de vivre that always comes out withhis glisses – you listen to that solo andthink there’s only one guy in the universewho could have played it, it’s just so per-fect. He was just an amazingly huge spiritand it showed in his playing. And whenyou meet him, it has an impact on you forthe rest of your life. We backed him up at anumber of shows over the years, and it wasalways a huge treat and an honor.

After he became ill, we did a radioshow together on WFDU in New Jersey.We were interviewed and we jammed andI improvised a lyric about Hubert. Sowhen it came time to do Black Gold And

Goddesses Bold, I thought I’d polish thelyrics up to tell the story I really wantedto tell. And that became “Mr. HubertSumlin.” We had Hubert come in andplay on that song and he played my LesPaul gold top. That’s one of proudestmoments in my life – to write that lyricand have Hubert play on the song. Likethe lyrics say, “Lots of people play guitar/and you can’t believe everything you hear/But when you hear Hubert Sumlin/The truth gets in your ears.”

BMM: Anything else you’d like to talk abouttoday?

Hill: A lot of what I do is possible becauseof my wife, Katy Hill. She has been incred-ibly supportive for a long time. Before wehad Seth, she used to be my guitar tech.She’s an educator and one of the foundersof the NY League for Early Learning. She’sincredibly creative in many different waysand one of the foundational supports foranything I do. And I love seeing my sonevery day, watching him grow into ayoung gentleman, which is what I hope.– Kay Cordtz


February 15 was a good night for the blues in New York City. My old friend Ronnie Earl and his band, The Broadcasters, tore it upat B.B. King’s. I’ve known Ronnie for over 30 years – as a friend, a fan, and a follower. In recent years, he has been playing mostlylocally in Massachusetts, so his appearance in the Big Apple was much anticipated and most welcome. It was great to see himagain and hear his incredible playing in person. He’s a guitar player’s guitar player at the top of his game. There are very fewmusicians who can keep an audience engaged, must less thrilled, for over two hours solely with instrumentals, but Ronnie did itwith seeming ease (and superb support from the Broadcasters). He walkedthe large room without the aid of a wireless rig as audiencemembers willingly and happily managed the cordbetween his guitar and amp. He stood on histoes and dropped to his knees. He playedloud, soft, harsh, and sweet, all the timeinforming the music with taste, emotion,and intelligence. Toward the end ofthe night, Ronnie called up a fewfriends, including NYC’s ownBobby Radcliff. It was a raretreat to hear two players ofthis caliber, complimenting,supporting, pushing, andenjoying the music togetherand sharing it with anecstatic audience. It wasdefinitely a nightto remember.– Joe Rosen

RONNIE EARLB.B.King’sNew York CityFebruary 15, 2013

PHOTOGRAPHY © JOSEPH A. ROSEN


“I’ll have a Cabernet,” Damon Fowler said.Nice choice for a wine connoisseur, butsomewhat of an odd one for a hardcorebluesman just before stepping onstage forhis Winston Salem tour opener. Fowler andhis rhythm section looked like seasonedcircuit vets, more familiar with a bottle oflow rent spirits than a glass of vino.

When the band ordered Cabernet aswell, and Fowler stuck his nose in hissnifter like the cognoscenti fruit drinkers dobefore imbibing, one wondered what sortof blues was gonna transpire at this unex-pected wine-tasting soiree. But after Fowlertook a healthy glub, picked up his big redLes Paul, and started cranking out theslinky, funky, Little Feat licks of “Fruit StandLady,” the high tone veneer was sandedright off for an evening of mighty satisfying,down and dirty blues.

“We’ll start a little mellow and workourselves up into a frenzy,” the guitaristsaid after revealing he, bassist Chuck Riley,and drummer Scott Key had just travelednine hours in a van ride up from his Floridahome. Fowler unlimbered the mellow andstarted the mild frenzy part of the evening’sprogram with “Wrong Side Of The Road,”with a Buck Owens meets Willie Nelsonfeel, from his debut ‘08’s Sugar Shack.

Fowler’s guitar work doesn’t followconventional patterns, often lagging just asecond behind the beat like Stones’ drum-mer Charlie Watts, giving it a laid-back,funky feel. Fowler has a soulful rasp to hisvoice, sounding a lot like Tab Benoit withsome Solomon Burke in there as well. Theguitarist never introduced any of his songsby name, merely mentioning that it’s anoriginal or naming the artist if it’s a cover.

A few more glasses of wine, and theband was slinging out blues by the bucketload, and showing off their road dawg cre-dentials by discussing their familiarity withthe merits of the Waffle House menu theyplanned to sample when the wine wore offlater in the evening. “Devil Got His Ways”featured Fowler slinking along on lap steel,squeezing out some serious Waffle Housegrease and bassist Riley laying down someominous, lumbering funk behind him.

“See what a few glasses of wine doesfor the band?” Fowler asked the crowd,and was immediately rewarded by a table

of fans yelling out orders for more roundsfor the band. You’re gonna get ushammered and we’re gonna forget allof our songs,” Fowler said.

“That’s the only way I remembersongs,” Riley quiped.

“Don’t Call Me” sounds like anextremely funked up Dave Matthews banddoing Delbert McClinton’s “Giving It UpFor Your Love” with a Duane Allman-stylesolo in the middle. “Gonna do on oldRobert Johnson tune,” Fowler said. “Not‘Crossroads,’ but a Piedmont blues typesong,” which got a rowdy reaction fromlocal blues society members familiar withthe locally raised genre. He performed“They’re Red Hot” a little slower thanJohnson’s breakneck, ‘36 version, but justas lively with some jazzy licks missing fromJohnson’s mostly rhythm-based original.Then, Tom Waits’ “Get Behind The Mule”got a slippery slide workout on Fowler’s‘50’s vintage Harmony H44 Stratotone.

The wine merchants were calling forLeon Russell’s “Tightrope” throughout theset, and Fowler finally caved. “It’s been sixmonths since we played it, and we’redrunk now,” Fowler said. “If we screw it up,we’ll start over.” Sure enough, it took threetries and restarts for Fowler to be satisfiedwith the elephant walk/shambling lopeintro dropdown into the main melody. Butonce he locked onto it, he tore it up, mix-ing up a Willie Nelson flamenco type introtossed in with a bunch of wiggly flourishes,like Jeff Beck sitting in with Russell, andfinishing it off in Willie Nelson territory withsome Nelson-inspired chord clanging.

“We made it,” Fowler said after thesweaty finale, but it was obvious he had noplans for leaving right away. “Let’s do somesongs about Jesus,” he said, “in the key ofJesus.” Mississippi John Hurt’s “I Shall NotBe Moved” was a countrified version withFowler playing some fine finger pickingguitar on his big Red Les Paul classic. Heclosed with B.B. King’s “It’s My Own Fault,Baby,” bringing up local pianist Clark Sternto sit at the white baby Grand for a fittingfinale. As Stern added Jerry Lee Lewisflourishes, Fowler came to the front ofstage to sing off mike. Fowler brought theproceeding to a halt with a big, stringbending, B.B. King-worthy climax.

This evening was a trip though winecountry you won’t find on any vintners’ tours,but as rewarding a one as you’ll ever comeacross if you like your fermented fruit hang-ing close to the roots, lowdown and dirty.– Grant Britt

DAMON FOWLERCommunity Arts CafeWinston Salem, North CarolinaFebruary 7, 2013


THE FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDSOn The VergeSevern

The latest edition of the Fabulous Thunderbirds– founding singer and harmonica player KimWilson, guitarists Johnny Moeller and MikeKeller, bassist Randy Bermudes, and drummerJason Moeller – did a hell of a job living up tothe brand on a self-titled album in 2009, avail-able only briefly at shows and online. Highlyrecommended, it captures the spirit of the old,dented-fender Texas T-Birds, but with a freshcoat of paint.

Four years later, On The Verge finds thesame crew and a slate of guests stripping off theRoadhouse grime, and applying several coats of polish to thatpaint, resulting in a full-fledged feast of soul. Of the four numbersdusted off and spit-shined from the previous record, “Runnin’From The Blues” retains the darting tenacity of the original, but theamped-up soul meter surely enhances it. “Do You Know Who IAm?” still pleads for an end to social callousness and inequity, butwith its new washes of horns and organ, funky guitar, and a chorus

of backing voices, the conviction shines more profoundly. At 62years of age, Kim Wilson remains an emotional rip on harp, andsomehow sings in a voice further burnished and warm. In fact,he’s at his all-time best. Burning the reeds as he does in the dark

“Lonely Highway” surely cements his reputationas one of the blues harp greats.

The songs, all written by the band membersand associates, are for the most part superb.“Lovin’ Time” could be the soundtrack to a1950’s black and white film reel, the soul glidingand Wilson beaming. Even better and in a simi-lar vein, “Diamonds Won’t Kiss You Back” findsWilson in terrific sprit about what really mattersin relationships among all the superficiality thesedays. The T-Birds are in serious lock step andwonderful, no matter the groove. Only “I WantTo Believe” suffers slightly by its worn-out riff

and message, although ultimately its tough R&B does sink in. Richproduction mixes the old school and the contemporary to perfec-tion, and the cover painting depicts the mythological Thunderbirdin the guise of a Phoenix rising. The implication it seems, is thatthis is a band ascending from its own ashes and producing thun-der. In actuality, there’s no question about it.– Tom Clarke

Through its decades of personnel changes, the Fabulous Thunderbirds continue to be on thecutting edge of American music. In the ‘80s, they rocked the world with “Wrap It Up,” todaythey tackle economic plight in one of the year’s best songs, “Do You Know Who I Am?”

BOBBY RUSHDown In LouisianaDeep Rush

Underneath Bobby Rush’s good timing,groove-slinging persona is a canny musi-cian who traverses musical styles withsuch a broad, contagious smile that hemakes it all look deceptively easy. DownIn Louisiana, featuring nine originals overits 11-song length, makes it clear all overagain just how much true talent, and veryreal emotion, lies beneath Rush’s outsizedpersona –honed after decades along theDeep South’s chitlin’ circuit.

In keeping with the album’s title,Rush begins with a series of expectedBayou State textures and themes. Thetitle track rumbles with an accordion-lacedsense of fun, right down to his note-perfectpronunciation of “looz-ee-ana.” But check

out “I Ain’t The One,” with its tough,barking vocal and classic swamp-popvibe. Later, the anathematic “Tight Money”traces a family’s departure from Louisianatoward the promise of a job elsewhere.You might have expected a trip to the bot-tom of a brown bottle with a track called“Raining In My Heart,” but instead Rushsings amid a rough-hewn, Crescent Citycadence – made complete by

producer Paul Brown’s rollicking ProfessorLonghair-ish piano solo.

Interspersed throughout Down InLouisiana are a series of new, classic addi-tions to the Rush legacy. He tells off a loverwith a wandering eye on the thunderouslygroovy “You Just Like A Dresser,” refer-ences the classic “It Hurts Me Too” on hisharp-driven, deep-blues lament “Don’t YouCry,” then sizzles through the lean, ChuckBerry-inspired “Boogie In The Dark.”“Rock This House” and “BowleggedWoman” feature these coiled, greasy riffsthat would make James Brown proud,while “What Is The Blues” finds Rushdownshifting into a frank rumination onhard times and lost love. He closes thingsout on Down In Louisiana with a gospel-infused rumination called “Swing Low” –one more example of Bobby Rush’s easy,underrated ability to blend genres, texturesand moods.


Of course, he does it with so muchaffable style, you might never notice; inparticular during one of Rush’s raucouslive performances. This album gives youthat chance.– Nick DeRiso

JAMES COTTONCotton Mouth ManAlligator

I’ve known James Cotton for over 40years, produced half a dozen shows withhim, am familiar with his solo recordingsand his extensive work as a sideman, andhave seen him live countless times; how-ever, this is the first time I’ve reviewed anew album by him. I can say without hesi-tation that this is his best album in years;the two main reasons are the 12 well-crafted originals co-written by renownedproducer/drummer Tom Hambridge(seven with Cotton) and, most importantly,the 78-year old Cotton’s masterful har-monica, fierce-toned and lyrically raucous,similar to his visceral playing on mid-Six-ties albums like Johnny Young And HisChicago Blues Band (Arhoolie), OtisSpann’s Chicago Blues (Testament), andthe three Verve releases that auspiciouslylaunched his solo career.

Cotton’s regular vocalist, the alwayssoulful Darrell Nulisch, is heard on sixsongs, Keb’ Mo’ on two, and Gregg All-man, Delbert McClinton, Ruthie Foster,and Warren Haynes (also guitar) on oneeach. Cotton’s long life in the blues is cel-ebrated in the title track boogie (featuringJoe Bonamassa on lead guitar), theassertive Muddyesque stop-time shuffle,“He Was There,” the plaintive tale of child-hood, “Mississippi Mud,” the leisurelysatori gently propelled by Glenn Worf’sthrobbing bass, “Wasn’t My Time To Go,”the slinky swamp-grinder whose title saysit all, “The Blues Is Good For You,” andthe bristling “Midnight Train,” which startswith train effects from Cotton’s wailingharp and then bursts into a frenetic blendof blues and funk. Muddy Waters’ “Bird

Nest On The Ground,” nascent soul-bluesfrom 1967, is the lone cover (oddlyenough, there was no harmonica on theoriginal). The set concludes with “BonnieBlue,” a harmonica and resonator guitarduet with Colin Linden that features Cot-ton’s talk-singing raspy whisper. As I wasextolling Cotton’s playing to my wife Mau-reen when we first listened to this Albumof the Year contender, she turned to meand said, “It’s like he’s defying time.”– Thomas J. Cullen III

DOUG MacLEODThere’s A TimeReference Recordings

Doug MacLeod continues to breathefresh ideas into his music. MacLeod’swarm, almost conversational, vocals cou-pled with his pinpoint finger picking havebeen the center of his art for decades.On every stage, live or recorded,MacLeod regularly sings and plays withdeep reverence for this art form andthose originators whom he has learnedfrom. If you see him live, songs areaccompanied by stories of gentle bluessouls like Ernest Banks, George “Har-monica” Smith, and many other legends.Those stories are here, but imbeddedwith the lyrics of his stories.

To that end, MacLeod introduceseach song in the sleeve notes with its his-tory. For example, he honors Banks’ sageadvice in “Run With The Devil.” Played onhis National Style O, MacLeod modernizes

the advice to fit the many ways we “runwith the devil.” He explains that the ideabehind “The Entitled Few” came fromthose who erroneously own a blue handi-cap card and park in those entitled spaces.Then he ends with Memphis Slim’s classic“mother earth” reference to those posers.On “I’ll Be Walking On,” MacLeod takes anidea from a B.B. King verse and turns it intoa better way to end a relationship. Hedescribes his six-minute “Black Nights” as“the lonely feeling when you can’t under-stand what’s going on with the one youlove.” With its heavy acoustic bass underMacLeod’s vintage Gibson, this preciselypicked, middle of the night hurt accuratelyaddresses those tore up times.

Sometimes, you can put the notesaside and let the song tell the story.“Dubb’s Talkin’ Religion Blues” harkensback to an era in folk music when everyartist, Guthrie, Seeger, Dylan, recordedsome version of “Talkin’ Blues.” Thisbouncy, six-minutes illustrates a conversa-tion where Dubb (George Smith’s nick-name for MacLeod) debunks religiousabsolutes with a street corner zealot.(These ironies remind me of Dylan’s,“whether Judas Iscariot had God on hisside.”) Other highlights includeMacLeod’s hilarious “My Inlaws Are Out-laws,” the picturesque “St. Elmo’s RoomsAnd Pool,” and the grave vision on “TheNight Of The Devil’s Road.”

On this effort, MacLeod, bassistDenny Croy, and drummer Jimi Botttraveled to George Lucas’s sound studiosat Skywalker Sound and spent days holedup in this spacious, state of the art edificeand lovingly recorded these 13 MacLeodoriginals. This studio is the sound produc-tion and recording division of the Lucas’


films. Vast orchestras come her to recordthe music of his films. Bott told me duringthese sessions this high tech studio“tuned” the room to fit the exquisite soundof this trio.

Decades ago, Doug MacLeodlearned that a bluesman reaches peopleand makes them feel something thathelps them get through our world easier.Every song he plays touches the world inthat way.– Art Tipaldi

OTIS TAYLORMy World Is GoneTelarc

There are two things Otis Taylor is knownfor: his patented “trance blues” style andhis socially conscious songwriting. OnMy World Is Gone, Taylor delivers both instyle. Inspired by a conversation with hiscollaborator Mato Nanji, the record is a

departure from much of his previouswork, which focused on the African Ameri-can experience, and slavery in particular.Thematically he returns to the same over-arching meta-narrative of displacement,identity crises, and culture clash in a sup-posedly egalitarian society. The harshmessage is a little easier to hear when it’scouched in the kind of deep soulful, bluesthat Taylor brings.

Nanji fronts the band Indigenous,with a style that is all American blues androck. On the surface, his style is informedby Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan,but goes much deeper. There is an ethe-real quality to his electric and acoustic

leads, a perfect complement to Taylor’sheavy, rhythm-dominated approach.Channeling John Lee Hooker, Taylor laysdown droning bass lines that put thefocus on the stories of these songs. If youhaven’t heard Taylor’s work, “tranceblues” isn’t just a catch phrase. The throb-bing drone of banjo, guitar, bass, and per-cussion truly seems to change yourmental state.

The standout track for me is the mel-low groove of “Blue Rain In Africa,” writtenfrom the perspective of a Native Americanwho sees a sacred white buffalo. Andhere Taylor plays with anachronicity – thenatural and woody strumming of anacoustic guitar, Nanji’s electric leads areclean and modern, the vocal harmoniesare spot on. The much grittier “Huckle-berry Blues” is the best of the “tranceblues” sound on the disc, with the percus-sive banjo anchoring the tune. A differentkind of banjo keeps “Girl Friend’s House”fun and bouncy, and the band is joined bybrass that lends an almost-Mariachi feel tothis number. It’s a song about a man whodiscovers his wife is cheating on him withher girl friend, so it needs that bounce.


Straying from the blues motif, “Jae JaeWaltz” is a pure dance number that’sgoing on my next party playlist.

As with most of Taylor’s catalog, MyWorld Is Gone deals with weighty sub-jects, but like a true bluesman, the bounc-ing and driving rhythms supply levity.There are nuggets of humor hidden in anumber of the tunes here, too. The bluesis meant to lift you up, not bring youdown. Taylor is a master at using themusic to do just that.– Eric Wrisley

AL BASILEAt Home Next DoorSweetspot

Might as well call this a Duke Robillardrelease. Though it features Al Basile’svocals throughout, producer Robillardsets the tone with his guitar on every oneof the double CD’s 27 tracks, as he didwhen he was Basile’s boss in the RoomfulOf Blues band. The first CD, At Home, isdedicated to reviewing Basile’s bluesmaterial for his own Sweetspot label. Thesecond one, Next Door, takes off in aslightly different direction, bringing in souland gospel influences with a new collec-tion of tunes.

Robillard gives a chicken pickin’,string bendin’ tutorial on “Picked To Click.”“There’s a lot of work goin’ on downthere,” Basile announces on “Termites InMy Basement,” and he ain’t kidding. SugarRay Norica lays down some back porch,Delta drenched harp graced with somefunky key work from Delbert McClinton/Gregg Allman keyboardist Bruce Katz.Legendary Blues Band harpist JerryPortnoy steps up for some low key, soulful

fills on the barnyard struttin’ “Just AHeartache.” “Annie Get Your Thing On” isa funky update on the Hank Ballard“Annie” series, with Portnoy’s raw Deltaharp under Robillard’s slinky guitaraccompaniment.

For the second CD, the production isa little harder and more soulful. “Miss Dis-satisfied” sounds like Roomful Of Blues inits heyday, brassy, funkin’ soul withBasile’s cornet barking like a junkyarddawg. “The Streak” seems cut out of theFunky Meters playbook. “I’m a Closer/I’llbe the last to go,” Basile announces onthe last track. If he continues to turn in thiskind of performance, that’s a self-fulfillingprophecy.– Grant Britt

VARIOUS ARTISTSRemembering Little WalterBlind Pig

Little Walter’s Checker canon is sacredscripture to musicians and fans alike. Thisexuberant tribute album was recorded livein 2012 at San Diego’s Anthology andproduced by Mark Hummel as part of hisHarmonica Blowout events. Here, Hummelis joined by Billy Boy Arnold, JamesHarman, Charlie Musselwhite, and SugarRay Norcia. The band is comprised ofguitarists Little Charlie Baty and NathanJames, bassist R.W. Grigsby (of Hummel’sBlues Survivors), and current Musselwhiteand former Nightcats drummer June Core,one of the best in the business.

Readers of this magazine know LittleWalter changed everything or as Hum-mel states in the liner notes, “Walterchanged all the rules and raised the barso high that nobody has yet surpassedhim either in innovation or technicalprowess.” Each man performs two songswith characteristic swagger and soul.Overall, their versions are fairly faithfulrecreations of the originals with someslight variances in tempo. Except forcharted singles “Mean Old World” (Nor-cia), “You’re So Fine” (Arnold), and “MyBabe” (the boisterous jam finale with sixharp solos including one by Little Char-lie), the tunes are slightly lesser known(but certainly not to hardcore Little Walter

devotees). Every tune is enjoyable,recording engineer Kid Andersen does afine job in capturing the energy, and thealbum serves its purpose well. If I had topick a favorite it would be Musselwhite’sstompin’ version of “One Of These Morn-ings.” Musselwhite and Arnold werefriends with Little Walter; I imagine theirfriend would be most pleased.– Thomas J. Cullen III

ANN RABSONwith BOB MARGOLINNot AloneVizzTone

When an artist’s last recording is releasednear their death, some fans seek to findthe messages they may have left for us.Some artists address their imminentdemise directly. For example, WarrenZevon did it with the song “Keep Me InYour Heart” on the last studio album hecreated while dying of lung cancer. OnAnn Rabson’s last studio album Not Aloneshe chose a different route, although, asshe described in her own liner notes,“This recording contains some songs Iwanted to set down for the future.” Andshe added that, “There are happy, nasty,good-time blues that make you feel good,and sad blues that make you feel likeyou’re not alone.”

Not Alone has a very intimate vibeto it. There are no vocal or instrumentalhistrionics here; just two veteran musi-cians and good friends who know whento cut loose, when to complement eachother, and when to let space help inter-pret the song. Some full bands couldlearn from songs like “Caledonia,” where


Rabson drives the rhythm with her force-ful left hand, doles out perfect fills withher right, and Margolin plays superbrhythm figures to complement the song’sdrive, giving it all the dynamics it needswithout added instrumentation and a fullrhythm section.

Highlights are the leadoff track, “I’mGoing To Live The Life I Sing About In MySong,” where her piano and Margolin’selectric guitar perfectly complement hervoice and the song’s melody. You knowRabson is really feeling the song’s mes-sage and makes it her own. The Ashford& Simpson song “Let’s Go Get Stoned”gets a great interpretation; making it seemlike a far older classic than the 1966 initialversion by Ray Charles. The New Orleansflavored “Let It Go,” penned and sungsolo by Margolin, features some fine Cres-cent City piano playing by Rabson andacoustic rhythm and lead work by Mar-golin. Louis Jordan’s “Is You Is Or Is YouAin’t My Baby” showcases Rabson’ssmoky, swinging vocals. Another song onthis set also has a connection to RayCharles. It is the dark “River’s Invitation”written in 1953 by Percy Mayfield, whoalso wrote “Hit The Road Jack” and otherhits for Charles in the ‘60s. Here, Rab-son’s subtle, jazzy piano and Margolin’smoody slide work enhance the song’ssomber feel.

Some may search for a final mes-sage on Not Alone. Does the album titlehave a deeper meaning? Is “I’m GonnaLive The Life I Sing About In My Song” areflection on her own life as a blues musi-cian? Is Margolin’s song “Let It Go” withthe lines “Find your pleasure while youcan, Take a breath and let go” alluding towhat she was facing? Only the two oldfriends knew. What we know is that, overher long musical career and with this finalalbum, Rabson gave us a lot of importantmusic that will always make us feel goodand not alone.– Mark Caron

COREY HARRISFulton BluesNjumba

In 1619, the first 20 African were sold intoslavery in Jamestown, Va. From that darkdate, the James River and Richmondports like Fulton became well-known forslave markets. Once known as the FultonBottom, this east Richmond area, afteremancipation, was where African-Ameri-cans lived and worked. Then in the middleof the 20th century, it fell into shabby dis-repair and was demolished as part ofurban renewal.

Corey Harris has chosen to capturethe African-American experience throughFulton’s history then and now. Throughoriginals and covers of blues classics,Harris has recorded a set of short, poeticstories, which, though sometimes rootedin the blues of a bygone era, still haverelevance in today’s world. Harris smartlygrabs classic floating blues phrases andcobbles them together with his ownmodern stories. Don’t be surprised tohear references to “brownskin women,”“don’t let dark catch you here,” “lying ona pallet,” or the singer as “your daddy,”all archaic by today’s standards, yet pre-sent in the earliest Delta blues that Harrisreveres.

The themes are, however, much thesame – loneliness, wandering, irony, fear,companionship – today as in last century’searliest blues. Harris opens the record withhis big band take on “Crying Blues.” Gor-don Jones’s horn arrangement makes anotherwise lonely, Delta song into a moreuptown offering – think Delta meets BealeStreet, circa 1948. When Harris delivers“Underground,” an ominous warningabout wandering roads alone, he utilizes aWest African guitar style that Harris has

familiarized himself with through his tripsto Mali. Later, “Black Rag” features Harris’sbanjo picking and Jones’s soprano saxworking together to recreate musical part-nership from another time.

Supported by only Harris’s guitarand Hook Herrera’s harmonica, the titlecut is a traditional Piedmont style reminis-cent of the blues Cephus and Wigginsplayed. It’s a musical story about the lifeof these Fulton residents, then and now.His follow-up, Skip James’s “Devil Got MyWoman,” showcases Harris and Herrerarecreating the mournful Bentonia soundJames fathered. Two other covers includeBlind Blake’s bouncy, ragtime “That WillNever Happen No More” and the fullband treatment of Robert Petway’s“Catfish Blues.”

Some of Harris’s originals addressdarker aspects of African-American his-tory. “Tallahatchie” tells about the river inMississippi where Emmitt Till’s body wasfound after his murder; “House NegroBlues,” makes known the often tragic andquiet lives of the “house Negro;” “MaggieWalker Blues” celebrates the life of forgot-ten inside help, and “Lynch Blues” contin-ues the “strange fruit” image as Harrisremembers the thousands of namelessvictims of this unspeakable horror inAmerican racial history.

His lyrics are the stuff of poeticimagery, short descriptive phrases that,when stitched together, reveal distant sto-ries. Like the poems of GwendolynBrooks or Langston Hughes, Harris’s col-lection is essential reading.– Art Tipaldi

BIG BILL MORGANFIELDBlues With A MoodBlack Shuck

Mud Morganfield is getting a lot of inkthese days – and deservedly so – to goalong with multiple Blues Music Awardnominations for his 2012 debut Son OfThe Seventh Son. But Muddy Waters’other blues-singing son has been quietlybuilding a legacy of his own for betterthan a decade and a half. Since the 1999release of Big Bill Morganfield’s RisingSon album (which won him a BMA forBest New Blues Artist), the singer,


songwriter, and guitarist has become apopular live performer and perennialfestival attraction.

For his fifth album, Morganfield goesindie all the way; Blues With A Mood isreleased on the artist’s own Black ShuckRecords imprint. Recorded in Nashvillewith producer Colin Linden and an all-starcast that includes guitar greats EddieTaylor Jr. and Bob Margolin, as well askeyboardist Augie Meyers (Sir DouglasQuintet, Texas Tornadoes) and harpplayer Richard “Doc” Malone, Morgan-field scatters a few well-chosen coversacross Blues With A Mood, surroundingthem with solid original tunes written inan undeniably retro style.

Morganfield’s stated intent for BluesWith A Mood was to deliver a moody setof performances that would evoke memo-ries of old-school John Lee Hooker,Howlin’ Wolf, and Muddy Waters, and I’dsay that he’s accomplished his goal. Onlythe original “Money’s Getting’ Cheaper”evinces any sort of contemporary lyricalinfluence – then again, poverty hasalways been a part of the blues land-scape – socially-conscious lyrics accom-panied by a raging vocal performance,Jim Horn’s icy blasts of sax, and Meyers’fleet-fingered honky-tonk piano. “NoButter For My Grits” is a humorous, butstarkly realistic talking blues with aChicago blues swagger and a swamp-rock vibe that showcases the hypnoticguitar interplay between Taylor andLinden.

Altogether, Blues With A Mood is athrowback to the Chicago blues and R&Bof the 1950s and early 1960s when giantsroamed the streets of the West side.Morganfield has this stuff hard-wired tohis DNA, and Blues With A Mood isn’t somuch an attempt to recreate those goldendays as it is an inspired tribute to the era’slong-lasting influence, lovingly deliveredwith no little style and energy.– Rev. Keith A. Gordon

ANA POPOVICCan You Stand The HeatArtisteXclusive

A Warner-Reprise executive told meseveral decades ago that Bonnie Raittwas a sure-fire bet for his label. After all,he said, “She plays great guitar and isshaped like one too.” Nowadays no labelmogul would dare say something sosexist in public, but truth be told attractivewomen wielding guitars remain a sexymarketing combination. At the moment,Ms Raitt’s Slipstream is in its 56th week onthe Billboard blues chart, lodged in theNo. 8 slot. Right behind her is AnaPopovic’s Can You Stand The Heat in itsfirst week of release. Popovic’s disc has acover shot of her stroking a Stratocasterand wearing a micro-mini.

Popovic, like Raitt, is a terrific gui-tarist. She plays faster, shreds more, andisn’t inclined toward the poignant materialthat Raitt favors, but her discs for Ruf,Eclecto Groove, and now ArtisteXclusiveshow a remarkable talent, one whichevolves with each new release. It’s toosoon for a career retrospective, but ifthere were one it might be titled FromBelgrade To Memphis, for the Serbiannative has indeed come a long way in ashort time, and not just by moving fromCentral Europe to Staxville.

She opens with the title track, one of11 originals in this 14-track collection. It’sa fast five minutes of scorching guitar andvocal, with prestige backing from JohnWilliams of Al Green’s combo on bass,Harold Smith from B.B. King’s All-StarBand on rhythm guitar, the Bo-Keys onhorns, and heavy-hitter Tony Coleman ondrums. The track serves as a template forwhat follows in the 60-minute collection,tempos varying from fast to sort-of-fast to

very fast. The peak is arguably the disc’slone instrumental, “Tribe,” which Popoviccould easily end by nicking that line fromThe Beatles’ “Helter-Skelter” about having“blisters on me fingers.”

But it’s not all Popovic. Lucky Peter-son and Tommy Sims individually join herfor duets, and she draws from high-endsources for her few covers – the Stones’Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for “RainFall Down,” Andy Fraser of Free for “EveryKind Of People,” Albert King’s “Can’t YouSee What You’re Doing To Me,” and BuddyGuy’s “Leave My Girl Alone,” which gets agender switch to “boy” and is linked toPopovic’s own “Blues For Mrs. Pauline.”

Whether Can You Stand The Heat willstay on the Billboard chart as long asRaitt’s Slipstream remains to be seen. Andwhether sexy cover art is a factor can bedebated elsewhere, but Popovic’s nakedappearance on the preceding release,Unconditional in 2011, probably didn’t hurtsales. As blues fans tend to be male, prettywomen still have a leg up, so to speak.– Bill Wasserzieher

HADDEN SAYERSRolling SoulBlue Corn

For this outing, sounds like Houston-based singer guitarist Hadden Sayers hashad an Al Greene transfusion. His previ-ous effort, Hard Dollar, was more Texastwang, but this one is rooted deep in soul.“Don’t Take Your Love Out On Me” hasthe Green footprints all over it, from thefunky Al sound-alike vocal to the wigglyPhilly soul wah-wah guitar treatment.Once again, “Something Wrong In TheWorld Tonight” sounds like a WillieMitchell production on an Al Green ses-sion, but with Bill Withers behind the mic.As an extra-added attraction, this Al canplay a hellacious guitar as well. Themelody could be related to Green’s “LoveAnd Happiness” with Albert Collins layingon some chilly frosting.

The soul groove gets even deeperwith “Lay Down On Your Worries” as Say-ers works his hoarse, Withers growl withRuthie Foster adding some gospel funkpunctuation and churchy harmony to themix. Sayers gets back to Texas on


“Unlucky,” featuring a reverb saturatedvocal with a ‘50s honky-tonk feel. He dipsdeep into Bobby Bland territory with“Insomniac Blues,” his guitar work remi-niscent of former Bland guitarist Pat Hare.

“Can’t Get You Off My Mind” has afunky, Little Feat shamble with some greatgreasy Lowell George-flavored slide,some Billy Payne-style juke joint pianoand a New Orleans second line RichieHayward-inspired undercurrent suitablefor struttin’ and hanky waving.

Sayers comes up with an interestingtwist on the crazy woman theme shufflingalong on “Crazy Enough.” Turns out thatthis crazy woman is that way becauseshe’s crazy about him and even thoughshe’s inclined to tell him specifically whereto go when the occasion arises, “she’s mybaby /and I’m just crazy in love.”

Rolling Soul is a perfect descriptionof what Sayers does. Fluid, flexible, andfunky, this release is the perfect travelingcompanion for wherever your journeymight take you.– Grant Britt

JIMBO MATHUS andTHE TRI-STATECOALITIONWhite BuffaloFat Possum

Back in the 1990s, Fat Possum did aspectacular job of reminding listeners thatnot every Mississippi bluesman hadcaught the train north. Thanks to the label,R.L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, CedellDavis, Robert Belfour, and others finallyfound audiences and made money frommusic. They have passed, and Fat Pos-sum these days concentrates on suchalternative acts as the Black Keys and the

Felice Brothers, but the label still has itsroots in Mississippi soil.

Now Fat Possum has now hookedup with Jimbo Mathus, who has doneyeoman work, along with his friends inthe North Mississippi Allstars, in keepingthe bedrock blues of the region alive.Mathus, since making his mark with theSquirrel Nut Zippers, has put out animpressive string of solo and bandalbums, recorded with Buddy Guy,worked with Luther Dickinson and AlvinYoungblood Hart in the South MemphisString Band, and serves as the proprietorat the Delta Recording Service in Como,Mississippi.

For his new White Buffalo with theTri-State Coalition on Fat Possum, Mathusenlisted Eric Ambel (Steve Earle, NilsLofgren, the Bottle Rockets) as producer,perhaps under the theory that a “lawyerwho defends himself has a fool for aclient.” It seems an affable pairing, thoughthere was little to fault with Mathus’ ownefforts as self-producer on his previousConfederate Buddha (2011) and JimmyThe Kid (2009).

White Buffalo opens with him singingplaintively, “In the garden there wassomething wicked,” over strummedmandolin. The rest of the Tri-Staters, MattPierce on Telecaster, Ryan Rogers drums,Eric Carlton keyboards, and TerrenceBishop drums, then make a loud entranceafter a few seconds, shifting the songfrom Hank Williams country to roadhouserock. That turn-on-a-dime ability runsthrough all ten tracks. Songs shift fromthe heartfelt folk of “Hatchie Bottoms”(about trying to get a drink in a dry countyafter a funeral) to the spooky, organ-driven alternative called “Run Devil Run,”to a tune called “Poor Lost Souls” thatcould easily segue into any of The Band’sbest songs. The title song, “White Buffalo,is almost an odd-man-out basher.Throughout, Mathus proves himself a,expressive and versatile singer.

Back in the day, Fat Possum put outa series of sampler discs called Not TheSame Old Blues Crap. With Mathus’sWhite Buffalo, that slogan’s back in place.– Bill Wasserzieher

ALBERT CASTIGLIALiving The DreamBlue Leaf

Albert Castiglia’s creamy and crunchyguitar tones, hearty vocals, and originalsongs and covers always make for inter-esting listening. These features continueon his latest CD, Living The Dream. With aguitar talent that reaches back to 1996,when he got his big break to play along-side Junior Wells, Castiglia is still living thedream. And he’s showing enormousrespect for the Chicago blues backgroundthat he and Wells were all about. However,it doesn’t stop there.

Living The Dream is a diverse andwell-rounded display of Castiglia’s musi-cal being that stretches the blues to themax and enters it into potent areas. In thelyrics to the title song, he says he’s, “Play-ing the blues everywhere I can.” And inmentioning the craziness of constantlybeing out on the road, he sings, “All of myheroes have done it this way.” Those twolines undoubtedly say it all. In the midst ofinfluences that molded him into the musi-cian he is today, the veteran performerhas come full circle into his own, in style,sound, and tone.

The title song gets right into the highlevel of raw energy and enthusiasm Cas-tiglia is known for. The guitar solo midwaytakes it even higher. Energy soars again in“Freddie’s Boogie,” where he pays instru-mental homage to Freddie King’s “BoogieFunk” in a way that stays true to the bluesicon. In the funky “Lovin’ Cup,” SandyMack’s harp work complements Paul But-terfield nicely. Though the riff still exists inLittle Richard’s slow blues “Directly FromMy Heart To You,” Castiglia takes out thepiano and inserts some raw guitar dyna-mite and a powerful pace. The funkyChicago drive is augmented by pianistJohn Ginty, who performs a sweet solomidway through. Following the next verse,Castiglia wails electric blues. The sologrows in intensity all the way to the end.


Castiglia’s voice is impressive. It’spowerful, and it often complements the gritand emotion the lyrics call for. This isprominent in “Sometimes You Win,” writtenby longtime collaborator Graham WoodDrout. Castiglia’s acoustic guitar prowessis highlighted in this folk song, and rawpassion surfaces in the haunting lyrics. Hestays on acoustic and heads down a blue-sier road in “I Want Her For Myself,”wherein the atmosphere is augmented byMack’s harmonica. The album ends with asundry version of Mose Allison’s “Parch-man Farm” which begins as an acousticblues and then electrifies, making it theideal display of everything Castiglia.

Castiglia is undeniably one oftoday’s proficient guitar slingers whopush the buttons of genre limitations. Buthe also has an incredible knack for stay-ing within blues boundaries, no matterhow electrified and intense it gets. Themusic herein is an unambiguous displayof the blues from the mind, voice, andfingers of Albert Castiglia.– Brian D. Holland

CASH BOX KINGSBlack Toppin’Blind Pig

For their second outing on Blind Pig, theCash Box Kings (CBK) widen their musi-cal horizons a bit from the country bluesinterpretations on 2011’s BP debut,Holler And Stomp. This time out, they’rerocking a little harder, delving into musicfrom the swamp to the Delta with a fewstops in Chicago before heading west

where their bluesabilly takes onrockabilly.

Even though the CBK say that they’retrespassing on Stones territory with a cou-ple of tunes, “Blues Fallin’ Down On Me”and “My Tinai,” the only crime they’reguilty of is making the Stones wish theysounded this raw. On the Jimmy Reedextrapolation “My Tinai,” featuring a harpsolo by Joe Nosek that’s dead on JerryPortnoy, the Kings sound more LegendaryBlues Band than ‘70s era Stones. TheLegendary Blues Band influence pops uponce again on “Hot Biscuit Baby,” withOscar Wilson’s vocals resembling LBBbassist/vocalist Calvin Jones. The other


Legendary connection is with formerMuddy Waters and LBB drummer Willie“Big Eyes” Smith’s son Kenny “BeedyEyes” Smith anchoring this group.

Harpist/vocalist Nosek captures theessence of Lou Reed’s voice on “Run RunRun,” but their version of the tune hasmore in common with ZZ Top than theVelvet Underground. On this one andthroughout the disc, Nosek’s harp slicesinto the mix like a straight razor, rippingopen passages that bleed blues bloodfrom ‘50s vintage Chicago veins. “Oscar’sJump” recalls the big band, jump bluessounds of Big Joe Turner and WynonieHarris, honkin’, fast paced boogie-woogiethat slaps you upside the head and com-mands you to move your feet. Nosek’s“Gimme Some Of That” exemplifies theKings’ bluesabilly hybrid, mixing rockabillywith ‘40s jump blues sliced up and servedwith tasty chunks of ‘50s Windy City harp.

Like its predecessor, this one’s got allthe right stuff, all wound up and ready torumble. Put it on, stand back and get down.– Grant Britt

EDDIE MARTINLooking Forward ToLooking BackBlueblood

For this outing, British guitarist/harpistEddie Martin doesn’t play by conventionalblues rules. The music may be straight-upblues, but the subject matter isn’t the typeusually associated with this genre. InMartin’s world, zombies attack, “ZombieAttack,” genders bend, “She’s A He,” lackof headspace makes him homicidal,“Headspace,” and rivals for his prospectivenew girlfriend’s affection get locked in acar, “I Want That Girl.” Aided here by his

Big Blues Band and the stellar honking offormer James Brown saxman Pee WeeEllis, Martin and company honk and stomptheir way through a Texas guitar flavoredlandscape filled with Martin originals.

But the only gimmickry here is thelyrics. The music is serious business.Martin often appears as a one-man bandand here shows off his dexterity by con-tributing guitar, vocals, harp, and piano,taking the listener on a tour of genresspanning 50 years of musical history.

Johnny “Guitar” Watson gets a nodon the title cut, with Martin doing a slowburn on guitar backed by a buttery smoothhorn arrangement. Like Freddie Kingfronting the JB’s, “Funky One Too,” fea-tures a funky, wiggly Ellis solo slitheringand sliding around Martin’s nasty stringpulling twang fest. “Second ChanceRomance” resurrects Elmore James chan-neled through George Thorogood withMartin wrenching vicious, down and dirtyslide licks from his National Steel. Martincites influences from Cole Porter to ElmoreJames and is not afraid to mix those styles,often on the same tunes as he demon-strates on “Tough Times,” laying a ChuckBerry guitar riff on top of a big bandarrangement worthy of Glenn Miller. Thebig band shuffle “Frog In The Long Grass,”overlaid with some clanking Freddie Kinglicks, was written for his six year old sonand is cool without being cutesy.

Martin doesn’t just pay lip service tothe blues. His latest offering hopes toexpose a new generation to the work ofthe early electric blues pioneers (he oftenruns harp workshops for young players).With this level of dedication and talent,Eddie Martin is poised to join the ranks ofthe bluesmen he pays such heartfelthomage to.– Grant Britt

DEVON ALLMANTurquoiseRuf

Things are going pretty well for RufRecords right now. Not only do they haveRoyal Southern Brotherhood, surely oneof the best new bands to have emergedfor some time, and recent BMA winnerSamantha Fish leading the charge, but

they have now added RSB’s DevonAllman to a roster that is setting the stan-dard for quality modern blues. Turquoise,Allman’s first solo release, is a mature,thoughtful, and soulful collection of songsthat should receive plenty of radio playsway beyond the specialist blues and rockstations.

In RSB, Allman is a featured gui-tarist, but don’t expect this to be analbum of lengthy guitar workouts orjams. This is all about the words andmusic as Allman’s gritty vocals deliversongs that are about or influenced by hislife and twenty year career to date. All-man is responsible in whole or in part forall but one of the songs on the album,collaborating with RSB band mate MikeZito on the rocky “Don’t Set Me Free”and the groovy “Strategy,” and with ex-neighbor Tyler Stokes on the Latin influ-enced “There’s No Time.” The singlecover on the album, Tom Petty’s “StopDraggin’ My Heart Around,” features asultry Samantha Fish playing StevieNicks to Allman’s Petty.

While these songwriting collabora-tions dominate the first half of the album,it is the second half that is most absorbingas Allman’s songs become more personaland heartfelt. Songs about and for familyand friends dominate, culminating in “TurnOff The World,” Allman’s song aboutreconnecting with nature and a perfectchilled out album closer.

This is a deeply satisfying album tolisten to. It’s not blues, it’s not Southernrock, and it’s not soul, but you can hearthe influence of all of these throughout.Don’t just throw it in the car CD player asbackground music. Don’t download itonto your MP3 player and let the tracksturn up randomly. Sit quietly and listenfrom start to finish and you will find your-self become immersed in a recording thatsignals the emergence of Devon Allmanas a very good solo artist and songwriter.– Chris Kerslake


MARK ROBINSONHave Axe – Will GrooveBlind Chihuahua

When most people think of Nashville, theirfirst thought is probably something aboutcountry music. What many don’t know isthat the city has also hosted a thrivingrock ‘n’ roll community that dates back tothe late 1970s, as well as significant rap,metal, and other music scenes. Longbefore folks like the Black Keys, JackWhite, Jason Ricci, Colin Linden, andKeb’ Mo’ decided to make Nashvillehome, blues music reigned supreme onthe streets of the Music City, and legendslike Etta James, Jimi Hendrix, CharlesWalker, and Johnny Jones once hauntedthe smoky clubs of Jefferson Street on theNorth side of town.

Thanks to contemporary artists likeMark Robinson, the long-smolderingNashville blues scene is staking a claim forstatus as a world-class blues city on parwith New Orleans or Austin. Robinson’s2010 debut Quit Your Job, Play Guitar wasone of the year’s best records, but the gui-tarist’s sophomore effort, Have Axe – WillGroove, surpasses all expectations, deliv-ering a high-wattage jolt of blues, rock,soul, and Southern-fried funk thatenhances Robinson’s reputation as agifted songwriter and guitarist with a fluidtechnique that he applies effortlessly to amyriad of styles.

In Have Axe – Will Groove, Robinsonhas delivered an entertaining, intelligentset of songs. His original “Drive Real Fast”is a high-speed Hooker ‘n’ Heat styled infi-nite boogie-rocker with slash and burnfretwork, T.J. Klay’s howling harmonicalicks, and a deep, funky groove. A cover ofobscure Americana artist Michael ConnerRogers’ “Baby’s Gone To Memphis” mixes

swampy blues, rockabilly, and twang,driving it home with wildfire guitar andlocomotive rhythms while the swinging“Cool Rockin’ Daddy” is a magnificentslab o’ West Coast styled jump blues.

Robinson’s cover of the Doc Pomusclassic “Lonely Avenue” is brilliantly spot-on, delivering both the tears and theanger with a blues-hued ambiance. It’sthe perfect lead-in to his original “BlueMoon Howl,” a Delta blues dirge withhaunting guitar play, hypnotic vocals, anda claustrophobic instrumental vibe.Robinson proves with Have Axe – WillGroove that he’s a talent to be reckonedwith, and you can climb on the band-wagon now or wait until he’s a festivalheadliner, it’s your choice!– Rev. Keith A. Gordon

HABIB KOITÉ & ERIC BIBBBrothers In BamakoStony Plain

Collaborations involving American artistsand world music players serve two goodpurposes: They allow the artists to bendthe boundaries of whatever genre definestheir careers, and they bring in additionallisteners looking for something new. RyCooder is the crossover king, havingrecorded with Ali Farka Toure (Timbuktu),V.M. Bhatt (India), the Chieftains (Ireland)and the Buena Vista Social Club (Cuba),as well as the Pahinui brothers fromHawaii and Tex-Mex legend FlacoJimenez. Taj Mahal, Cooder’s long-agopartner in the Rising Sons, has recordedalmost as many collaborations. Eric Bibb,who has worked with Taj, is the latest tomerge musical cultures with Brothers InBamako, which pairs him with WestAfrican string player Habib Koité.

How is it? Pleasant, which is either asolid endorsement or a mild damnation,depending on the individual listener’sinclinations. The songs, mostly originals,some drawn from traditional sources, aswell as a Dylan cover, are mellow and lilt-ing. There aren’t fireworks, but thenmaybe there needn’t be. Bibb has alwaysseemed a more reserved player thanother African-American acoustic blues-men (Keb’ Mo’, Guy Davis, Diamond JimGreene, etc.), with whom he is rightly or

wrongly lumped, and Koité is a kindredsoul.

The disc opens with an up-temponumber from Bibb about being on his wayto Bamako, the capital of Mali, to meetKoité and his family. Then Koité counterswith a song about going to Los Angelesand drinking too much tequila, sung inseveral languages (tequila being a drinkthat tends to make a man speak in multi-ple tongues). From there the tracksbounce back and forth between the artistsin a harmonious mesh of acoustic guitar,banjo, and eight-string ukulele. The Maliinfluence, with subtle percussion fromMamadou Kone, offers variation and colorto most of the material. Bibb’s “With MyMaker I Am One,” in particular, gets extratexture from West African rhythm, just asKoité’s “Foro Bana” benefits from a slowtraditional blues framing.

They wrap their 13-song, 53-minuteset with a stately, almost funeral-paced“Blowin’ In The Wind,” followed by thealbum-closing “Goin’ Down The RoadFeelin’ Bad,” which presumably is untruefor either artist or for most listeners.– Bill Wasserzieher

BEX MARSHALLThe House Of MercyHouse Of Mercy

There are some mighty weighty accoladesin her on-site biography, but they’re vindi-cated in song after song in The House OfMercy. Britain’s Bex Marshall does it allbecause she has it all, and did it all. Letme explain. The album bubbles over therim with gospel-infused blues and more,wicked straight and slide guitar, ingeniousphrases, and songs that constantly spell-bind. So, on the surface Miss Marshall is


wildly talented. But check her story; she’slived it, too. When she was a child her fam-ily would prop her on a table and urge herto sing as novelty. At 11, she had her gui-tar. When she took off at 18 dealing cardson cruise ships and in shadowy backroom games around the world, she carriedthat trusty guitar with her all the way. Shemade up her stories while living them.Imagine the unlikeliness of an ancientSouthern blues man and a mountain folkgeezer rocking together on a porchthinkin’ about Led Zeppelin. That’s oneway to picture the implausibly great musicof Bex Marshall.

In her abraded but oh so very soulfulvoice, Marshall fosters the idea of a“Love” of everything that can comfort andhurt, while her guitar rumbles and purrslike an automobile engine. “House OfMercy” itself ends in a hillbilly space afterbeginning life as a clipped soul-rocker.The similes in “Gone Fishin’” are pushedand pulled on a slippery bed of sassyfunk, and yet “Big Man” tackles bluegrassas straight as an arrow, and “Rent MyRoom” could have come out of MuscleShoals circa 1968. “Rattlesnake” slinkswith jazzy style and spooky ooh ooh’sand ultimately strikes and inoculates withthe heady venom of slide guitar. This ladystands out in a Southern field all her own,an amazing feat for a Brit.– Tom Clarke

ANDY T and NICK NIXONDrink Drank DrunkDelta Groove

It’s easy to see why Anson Funderburghwanted to produce this record. The soundis very similar to his own, from the fullthroated bass roar of singer Nick Nixon,

reminiscent of former Rockets vocalist/harpist Sam Myers, to the Texas-flavoredguitar of ex-Guitar Shorty guitarist Andy T(Talamantez). Longtime Rockets’ drummerWes Starr and pianist Gentleman JohnStreet are also onboard for this project, asare recent collaborators keyboardist KevinMcKendree and bassist Steve Mackey,both of whom were a part of Funderburgh’srecent release with Big Joe Maher, 4 Jacks.

Johnny “Guitar” Watson’s fifties clas-sic “Don’t Touch Me (I’m Gonna Hit TheHighway)” is old school soul, with Nixon’sgravel gargling screams putting big dentsin the melody while Andy T props him upwith some juicy barbequed blues licks.The title cut gets poked sharply by AndyT’s barbed wire riffs as Nixon plods alongdoggedly on this heavy-footed ode toexcess. “No Use Knockin’” sounds like arattly Little Richard cut from the ‘50s with aLee Allen-style sax burbling throughoutbehind rather restrained Nixon baritone.

Funderburgh steps up on “High HeelSneakers” with some laid-back stinginglicks exquisitely phrased for maximumtwang and burn which burrows under theskin and keeps on heatin’ up, elicitinggospel whoops of praise from Nixon at theend. Nixon sounds so much like SamMyers on “You Look So Good,” it’s eerie.Funderburgh’s guitar comes in slightlybehind the beat for maximum soulfultwang. Add in Brian “Hash Brown” Cal-way’s mournful harp, and this one has allthe makings of a Rockets’ classic. Nixonhandles Ray Charles’ “I’ve Got A Woman”masterfully with pianist Christian Dozzler’saccordion adding some Cajun spice to themix. “On My Way To Texas” has a Tex-Mexfeel courtesy of some Augie Myers-styleorgan backing Andy T’s Jimmie Vaughan-inspired guitar work.

This is a great record from a tightensemble cast that would kill knockingthis stuff out in a live setting. More please,and soon.– Grant Britt

STEVE STRONGMANA Natural FactIndependent

There are so many new acoustic bluesreleases each year, many of them dedi-cated to kick-starting the careers of long-lost masters and most of them attemptingto replicate what will never be again. Fewof these have the power to pick me upout of my chair and throw me to theground like this one does. Like all goodbluesmen, Canadian bluesman SteveStrongman has been struggling awayquietly perfecting his craft with little sup-port or recognition for years. Winning lastyear’s Maple Blues Award for Guitarist OfThe Year (think Canadian Grammy – butcolder) signaled some momentum, butnothing says success like money in thepocket. And now comes Strongman’s(largely) single-handed assault on thecategory of acoustic blues, a twelve-trackdisc of originals (self-penned or co-writes). The album starts off slow andunassuming – if you could ever describeStrongman’s aggressive style of guitarplaying as “unassuming.” Yet he confi-dently strums and picks his way throughthe first song, solo, drawing attention tomore than his harp and substantialguitar skills, but to his abilities as askilled singer.

He adds a band for “The Mood,”adding more muscle to his sound, yet it’shis vocals that rise to the occasion andshine on their own. Everything reallycomes together with “Can’t Go Back,” assolid a blues song as exists, as heinjects it with raw energy. One of thedisc’s brightest lights, “Secret,” is a songbridging rock, folk, and blues, addinghandclaps (a percussive stroke of geniusrecalling Led Zeppelin’s “Gallow’sPole“). An upbeat duet on “Leaving” withCanadian blues woman Suzie Vinnick,and a full band, features some tastypiano from Jesse O’Brien and serves todemonstrate his ability to work magic inall scenarios, holding his own with thetalented songstress. “Coming HomeTonight” is another highlight revealing asofter, more sensitive Strongman setagainst minimal accompaniment andlush, heavenly harmonies. We move tothe back porch for “Rockin’ Chair Blues”


a slinky, down-home blues number off-setting the mind-boggling nimbleness ofStrongman’s guitar on “I Got Trouble.”He injects the quiet song with more lifethan usually belongs in the category,eclipsed only by his tender vocal. Evenan a capella “Just One Thing,” accompa-nying himself on harp, refuses to soundanything but fresh and invigorated. Thisis a bold new Strongman fronting thebest album of his career as it sets up thefact that, at his age, he’s only just begun.Do your acoustic blues collection a favorand pick this up. Then go and seek outhis electric self.– Eric Thom

FOUR JACKSDeal With ItEllersoul

They may not win you the big pot in agame of Texas Hold ‘Em, but if you’reholdin’ these four jacks, you’re a winner.Anson Funderburgh, Big Joe Maher,Kevin McKendree, and Steve Mackey arethe face cards for this group debut on theEllersoul label. Mackey and McKendreeare both Delbert McClinton vets, andMackey has worked with Leroy Parnell aswell. With his jump blues band theDynaflows, Big Joe has been crooningsmooth, vintage big band blues frombehind his drum kit up and down the EastCoast for three decades as well as per-forming as a duo with Anson on Delbert’sLegendary Rhythm And Blues Cruises.Funderburgh is making a strong come-back after losing harpist /singer SamMyers, his partner of 20 years, and surviv-ing prostate cancer.

This record is a rich gumbo thatreflects the styles and influences of all fourplayers. The title cut is funky, organ-driven, ‘60s era Jimmy Smith, one of Fun-derburgh’s influences, covered here byMcKendree. “Painkiller” sounds like aMeters cut, an instrumental featuring aGeorge Porter bassline with Art Neville’ssassy organ funk burbling on the side anda Leo Nocentelli-style guitar riff on topwith a Texas twist courtesy of Mr. Funder-burgh. “Your Turn To Cry” is a nice retry ofJames “Thunderbird” Davis’s magnificentrendering of that tune, first in ‘64 thenagain in ‘88 on Black Top Records’ CheckOut Time featuring Funderburgh on guitar.


Although nobody could outdo Davis’sheartrending vocal on the original or the‘88 retake, Maher does a good job here ofnot chewing on the scenery with Funder-burgh giving a tutorial on what not to play,exquisitely phrased guitar sprinkled taste-fully over the top.

From the first note of this shuffle, it’sobvious that “Have Ourselves A Time” isnestled snugly in Big Joe Maher’s comfortzone, a ‘40s big band, late-night cabaretfeel with Funderburgh adding some Bar-ney Kessel-style guitar on top. The FourJacks’ version of “I Don’t Want To BePresident” is slower and funkier thanPercy Mayfield’s ‘74 original, with Funder-burgh showing off some frosty AlbertCollins string pulling.

It’s an impressive collection of vintagetunes superbly performed by a greatlineup of veteran interpreters. Whethercruisin’ on the high seas or on the backroads of your hometown, this is the sound-track you want for a smooth, satisfyin’ ride.– Grant Britt

JJ GREY and MOFROThis RiverAlligator

Combining the heartfelt dynamism ofOtis Redding and the scuzzy grooves theAllman Brothers, JJ Grey and Mofro arereanimating a memorably greasy turn-of-the-1970s Deep South vibe for a newgeneration. Taking its name from theSt. John’s River, a defining element ofJJ Grey’s childhood home in Jacksonville,Fla., this sixth studio effort drills evendeeper into their backwoods influences.This River was played live, with everyonein a single room, and put to tape innearby St. Augustine. What producer

Dan Prothero captures is a band at thepeak of its powers, fully in command of itstowering influences, and ready to put itsunique stamp on them.

For instance, “Somebody Else” hasthe bawdy horns (courtesy of Art Edmais-ton and Dennis Marion), and the visceralpain, of every great Stax side, but Grey’sapproach is all his own – though it’s pow-ered to these very different places byadding the junkie danger of Exile-eraStones, a throwback rockabilly guitar fromAndrew Trube, and a rangy vocal fromGrey that is by turns clinched and thenhowling in pain.

“The Ballad Of Larry Webb” plugsinto the sad stoicism that seemed to runjust beneath the surface of Duane All-man’s best sides, while “Tame A WildOne” has a fizzy cadence from drummerAnthony Cole that likely brings a twinkle tothe eye of any Booker T. and the MGs fan.Still, in both cases, Grey and Co. are toorestless to settle for simple mimicry. Theymake these sounds their own throughsheer emotional commitment. “StandingOn The Edge” rattles out like a rusted-through old Cadillac, before making asharp left turn into this anathematic R&Bshouter. “This River,” powered as it is byone of Grey’s most unguarded turns atthe mic, underscores his lasting connec-tion to Florida’s threatened environment.Even randy rockers like “Your Lady, She’sShady” and “Florabama” turn on the kindof every-day moments that make up a life.

Mofro’s layered triumph on This Riveronly gets better, more engaging, andmore completely their own, throughrepeated listens.– Nick DeRiso

JIMMY VIVINO& THE BLACK ITALIANS13 LiveBlind Pig

Jimmy Vivino, band leader and musicdirector for Conan O’Brien’s TBS show,assembled his old band mates, The BlackItalians, to host a public rehearsal onNovember 30, 2012 followed by a liverecorded concert the next evening at thelate Levon Helm’s Grammy winning barnstudio in Woodstock, N.Y. The result is a


rousing assemblage of thirteen songsthat feature four well-penned Vivino origi-nals as well as cuts from well knownsongwriters like Bob Dylan (“From ABuick 6” & “Maggie’s Farm”), JohnnyWinter (“Fast Life Rider”), Jim Capaldi(“Light Up Or Leave Me Alone”), JamesBrown (“What Do I Have To Do To ProveMy Love To You”), and Robbie Robertson(“Shape I’m In”).

The Black Italians were originallyformed 20 years ago around a residencyat the Downtime Music Bar on W. 30thStreet in New York City. Vivino, bassistMike Merritt and drummer James Worm-worth had been acting as the backingband for revered piano player JohnnieJohnson when they started attractingworld-class players to join in on theimpromptu jams that Vivino describes as“Third world blues with New Orleansswagger.” Vivino would dub the collectionof musicians from various ethnicities as“The Black Italians.”

For 13 Live, Vivino brought togetherMike Merritt and James Wormworth alongwith singer Catherine Russell, singer-har-monica player Felix Cabrera,keyboardist/trombonist Danny Louis, per-cussionist Mike Jacobson, timbale playerFred Walcott, and percussionist JustinGuip for the historic event. And althoughthe group had only performed togetheroccasionally over the years, Vivino andcompany proceeded to set fire to thebarn’s performance stage with their redhot playing. Vivino’s voice is sterlingthroughout and equally matched in inten-sity and soul by Russell. In the meantime,the band is spot-on from song to songdisplaying blazing chops and world-classprecision.

Tracks of note include the stirringRussell-led “Soulful Dress,” the ‘50sinspired “Heaven In A Pontiac,” the topshelf funk of “Animalism,” the band’s faith-ful rendition of Traffic’s “Light Up Or LeaveMe Alone,” Russell’s sizzling rave up of

James Brown’s “What Do I Have To Do ToProve My Love To You,” Vivino’s Ameri-cana infused “Miss Mona,” the beautifullyheartfelt remembrance of Levon Helm in“Song For Levon,” and the meticulousrendition of The Band’s, “Shape I’m In.”– Brian M. Owens

JOSH SMITHDon’t Give Up On MeCrossCut

Back in the olden days of the blues, the1990s, there was no shortage of blueswunderkind. Seemed like every night somenews broadcaster was open-mouthedgasping at the 16-year-old guitar kid play-ing the blues. Guitarist Josh Smith is oneof those who has survived the early crushof the press and has emerged today as amature musician stepped in the blues. Cur-rently, Smith has signed with Germany’sCrossCut Records and released a gor-geous collection of American music.

Smith’s eleven original songs touchevery area of the blues. The opening tune,“Bad Side,” is a smooth, five-minute R&Bgroove where Smith’s B.B. King guitarpunches are accented with flute, trumpet,and strings. “Made For Me” is a joyous, upbeat song about the redemptive powers oflove in today’s world. Here Smith’s satisfy-ing tenor plays with a call and responsehorn and vocal chorus. Since 2006, Smithhas been immersed in soul bands, specifi-cally Idol winner Taylor Hicks touring band.Those years are evident in his big time soulapproach to tunes like “Sneaky Jo Turner,”“Letting You Go,” and the title cut, wherehe displays the perfect guitar for soulmusic. Throughout the disc, CalvinTurner’s horn arrangements offer the per-fect background for Smith’s thick toned,

B.B. King jabs. Kim Wilson’s harmonicajoins Smith on the funky, ‘70’s soul of “I’veAlways Been.”

The CD closes with a double shot ofemotional release. First, there’s seven min-utes of “The Middle,” a minor key balladwhere long time listeners can appreciateSmith’s growth as both guitar player andsinger. The closing tune, “That Ain’t Love,”takes Smith back to his first love, the powertrio as bassist Calvin Turner and drummerCarl Lemar Carter hold the pulsatinggroove while Smith frenetically solos upand down the fretboard with some of themost inspired guitar blues on the record. – Art Tipaldi

LIZ MANDEVILLEClarksdaleBlue Kitty

Blues radio programmers [often times,men] sometimes complain, “there justaren’t enough good women blues singer-songwriters out there.” Clarksdale, thenew album from guitarist, singer, andsongwriter Liz Mandeville, is somethingfor programmers to latch onto, as sheoffers up 11 spry original songs that breaknew thematic and musical ground in con-temporary blues. And for those who saythe most compelling blues these days arecoming out of Boston, Austin, and NewYork City, consider that Mandeville hasbeen based in Chicago for at least the lasttwo decades, and her earlier recordedefforts were released on the highlyregarded Earwig Records.

Mandeville is in fine voice and offersup solid guitar playing throughout herdebut for her own Blue Kitty Music label,and she’s accompanied by some Chicagoicons, including saxophonist Eddie Shawand sadly, the late drummer Willie “BigEyes” Smith. If “Roadside ProduceStand,” her opening track doesn’t grabyour ears, then surely “Mama & DaddyBlues” will. With so many blues hounds inthe thirties to fifties demographic dealingwith what we all must, parents who’vepassed on but whose advice about lifekeeps ringing in our ears. Standout tracksinclude “Clarksdale/Riverside HotelBlues,” “Bye Bye,” “A Soldier’s Wife,” and“Sweet Potato Pie.” She’s also not afraid


to be topical and political, somethingcontemporary blues needs more of, asdemonstrated on “4:20 Blues.” – Richard J. Skelly

CATHY PONTON KINGThe CruxLong Gone

Cathy Ponton King, a female vocalistand guitarist and 40-year veteran of the

blues and bar scene in and aroundWashington, D.C. and Baltimore, hasteamed with long-time musician friendsto create a fresh slate of compositionsthat affectionately embrace the bluesand balladry.

“Sugarface,” the earthy, punchyinitial track on The Crux, has a nicemelody; solid instrumental parts, guitar,horns, rhythm section. Contrast that withthe graceful “Cerulean Blues,” whichpossesses a literary quality and imagerynot often achieved by those who strivefor it.

The Crux’s ambitious tableaudeserves a complimentary frame; that’swhat King has wisely constructed for ushere. Ronnie Earl plays guitar for her onseveral tracks, and Jimmy Thackery (afriend since grade school) mans the fretsfor most of the others. Dan Hovey andDave Chappell — celebrated in thisregion, if not beyond, offer their guitarartistry to the effort as well. Saxmanextraordinaire Ron Holloway, who’sworked with Dizzy Gillespie, SusanTedeschi, Darryl Trucks, Root Boy Slim,and of late, Sweet Leda, elevates the dis-

course just that much more. A nice littleCajun-style two-step called “I Want YouTo Be Happy” finds Tom “Little Red”Corradino stitching the song togetherwith his piano accordion. Supplying thebottom are two of the finest bassistsavailable in this or any region, JohnPreviti (who worked with the departed‘Master of the Telecaster’ Danny Gattonand the late songstress Eva Cassidy).Then there’s The renowned bassistButch Warren. He’s recorded with jazzpiano colossi Tommy Flanagan, HerbieHancock, and Joe Henderson; trum-peters Donald Byrd and the mystic MilesDavis; and reedmen Dexter Gordon,


Jackie McLean, Stanley Turrentine andJoe Henderson. Namedropping? Well,yes. But these names are of a heft that,when dropped, like E.F. Hutton, the musi-cal conversation stops.

Oddly, King has no instrumental parton The Crux. Nor did she on at least oneearlier recording (1992’s Lovin’ You Right).She is in fact and in performance a fineguitarist who’s quite capable of cutting onand with all those on this disc, andbeyond.

I do have one slight grouse, not ofKing’s doing. Too often she’s been por-trayed as another Bonnie Raitt (presum-ably because she sings and also plays aguitar. Duh!) That’s not an apt compari-son. Her voice lacks Raitt’s range andsonority (which can be said of many avocalist). King knows her comfort zone,however, and she stays within it; her sensi-bilities and presentation achieve a bluesystyle worthy of a far larger footprint thanshe already enjoys. She (along with hus-band Jimmy King) writes sophisticatedblues music; she delivers it honestly,proudly, and gracefully.– M.E. Travaglini

CRAIG CHAQUICOFire Red MoonBlind Pig

Fire Red Moon is neither the arena rock ofCraig Chaquico’s days with JeffersonStarship, nor the chart-topping smoothjazz that he initially turned to as a soloartist. It’s something grittier, more primor-dial – and utterly surprising.

Yet, there he is, chugging and jukingwith vocalist Noah Hunt (Kenny WayneShepherd Band) through “Lie To Me,” thefirst of seven originals on Fire Red Moon.Chaquico also tears into tracks from thelikes of Muddy Waters and Robert John-son, and brilliantly reworks the Albert Kingclassic “Born Under A Bad Sign” as ascalding instrumental.

There’s none of the brawny crunchassociated with his mainstream Starshiphits, and none of the satiny ruminations ofAcoustic Planet, nominated for a new ageGrammy in 1995. Chaquico, often along-

side touring vocalist Rolf Hartley, insteadsettles into a dusty-booted groove on“Devil’s Daughter,” then goes to the bot-tom of a brown bottle with singer Eric E.Golbach on “Bad Woman.” “Little RedShoes,” as with “Devil’s Daughter,” occa-sionally betrays just a hint of his pop-chart-topping penchant for a hook, while“Blue On Blue” almost gets quiet enoughto recall his more recent smooth jazz past,but Fire Red Moon never strays too farfrom its central roots-rocking, occasionallySantana-esque theme.

Meanwhile, instrumentals like thefire-kissed title track, the groove-laden“Fogtown Stroll,” and of course the


Booker T. Jones/William Bell-penned “BadSign,” give the guitarist the chance to usemuscles he hasn’t in ages. Finally, there’s“Crossroads,” which Chaquico, in a nod tohis classic-rock beginnings, performs withthe double-time virtuosity of Eric Clapton’sCream. As with his take on Muddy’s“Rollin’ And Tumblin’,” there’s little chanceto do something definitive here, soingrained are these musical memories. Butgive Chaquico credit for this: Here, aselsewhere, he flings himself into bothtunes with a furious abandon.

A central figure in Jefferson Starshipfrom 1973-1990, Chaquico wrote or co-wrote hits like “Find Your Way Back,”“Laying It On The Line” and “Jane,” whileadding signature guitar elements to“Miracles,” “Count on Me,” “We Built ThisCity,” “Sara,” and others. Many weresurprised when he spent much of thenext period downshifting into quieterinstrumental efforts. In some ways,Chaquico’s new turn toward blues androotsier music on Fire Red Moon is justas unexpected.

But Chaquico, who came of age inthe polyglot-rock atmosphere of turn-of-the-1970s San Francisco, clearly has adeep affinity for this, as well. As he tearsthrough the familiar mid-century triumphsincluded here, even while adding similarlyconstructed originals that both celebrateand amplify those earlier influences.Along the way, Chaquico stakes his claimin yet another musical genre – and, eventhough he just arrived, already soundsright at home.– Nick DeRiso

DAVE FIELDSDetonationField Of Roses

Upon receiving a copy of guitar wun-derkind Dave Fields’ new release, Detona-tion, two thoughts come immediately tomind. First, how much did that sweet axehe’s wielding on the cover set him back?And secondly, what kind of high roller isthis cat? Printing a complete set of lyricsfor each of his dozen self-penned trackson the album’s gatefold as cringe-inducing as some of it reads.

While Fields’ stab at clever wordplaymay not endear him to a blues audienceper se, his winning ways with a guitar andstomp box might buy him some house-room. And with portions of Detonation’smaterial having been built on, in oraround the skeletal remains of some eas-ily recognizable riffs of the classic rockvariety, Fields proposes to indulge bothblues fan and rocker alike.

Yet despite the familiar ring of guitargod riffs baked into their DNA, the resultanttunes themselves sound like a syntheticversion of their exemplars, with none of thevisceral effect. The album opener,“Addicted To Your Fire,” resembles Hen-drix’ “Foxy Lady” only at a quicker tempo,while “Better Be Good,” runs Stevie RayVaughan’s “Cold Shot” a very close sec-ond. More similar still is Detonation’s key-stone piece, “Pocketful Of Dust,” a trackthat so closely parallels Led Zeppelin’sepic blues odyssey, “Since I Been Lovin’You,” that it probably does so intentionally.

In what appears to be a never-endingquest to find a sound, Fields assigns a dif-ferent guitar texture to nearly every track:Wah-wah for both the ‘80s-inspired powerpop of “In The Night” and the reggae-fla-vored, “Bad Hair Day.” The funky, “Dr.Ron” receives heavy distortion treatment,while the Beatle-inspired ‘60s groove,“Prophet In Disguise” relies on the phase-shifter for inspiration. The more toys thebetter, it seems.

In addition to all the accessorizingwith gadgetry and effects, Fields hasbrought in renowned hit-maker David Z(Prince, Billy Idol, Fine Young Cannibals)to produce the disc, making it obviousthat no expense has been spared in themaking of this album. The only questionthat remains is whether Detonation is ofsufficient musical quality to warrant suchextravagance in the first place. Don’t betthe farm on it.– Tony del Rey

BUTCH THOMPSON& PAT DONOHUEVicksburg BluesRed House

Before RCA fell into an urban sinkhole aspart of the Sony and BMG merger, the“His Master’s Voice” label let producerJosh Sherman run loose in its old vaults,resulting in a superb multi-disc seriescalled When The Sun Goes Down. Theserecordings, drawn from the dusty Victorand Bluebird archives, stretch from 1926through Little Richard’s first single and area reminder that there is more to bluesthan just electric guitar and a bit of harp(though a fast check of recent releasesmight make it seem otherwise).

With this preamble in mind, considera new disc on the Red House label calledVicksburg Blues by veteran musiciansButch Thompson and Pat Donohue. Bothartists turn up regularly on National PublicRadio’s A Prairie Home Companion, andlike that show each is a throwback toanother time. Thompson plays what jazzcritics call pre-bop piano and NewOrleans-style clarinet, and Donohue issuch a fine acoustic guitar player that thelate Chet Atkins pronounced him “one ofthe greatest fingerpickers in the world.”

For Vicksburg Blues, Thompson andDonohue did their own deep vault dig,unearthing wonderful old tunes by suchpast masters as Leroy Carr, Blind Blake,Eurreal “Little Brother” Montgomery, JellyRoll Morton, and King Oliver. The duo alsocame up with five equally worthy originalsfor this 19-song, 59-minute collection.

I suspect When The Sun Goes Downproducer Sherman will approve of Vicks-burg Blues, especially the tracks whereThompson steps out on either the keys or


clarinet. The takes on Jelly Roll Morton’s“213 Blues” and James P. Johnson’s “YouCan’t Lose A Broken Heart” are enough tomake a listener think that electric currentisn’t all that necessary for good blues.This disc is just two old-school musiciansplaying away on preferred instruments asthey have done for decades, combiningthe past with present.– Bill Wasserzieher

CASSIE TAYLOROut Of My MindYellow Dog

For anyone who remembers the shy,pouty teenager Otis Taylor introduced tohis fans as his new bass player a decadeago, watching Cassie Taylor emerge inher mid-20s as an artist with her own sin-gular vision is a cause for celebration. Onher second solo album, Taylor takes afterher trance-blues dad, asserting the levelof creative and commercial control thatensures she can convey her creativevision unfettered. Out Of My Mind showsher growing stronger as an artist in everyway, from the depth of her songwriting tothe expressiveness of her singing, whichhas never sounded more self-assured.

While her songs should find strongappeal with listeners her own age – suchas the leadoff single “That’s My Man” orthe would-be wedding bells plea “No RingBlues,” Taylor chose to kick off the albumwith the two-part “Ol’ Mama Dean,” asong about a woman who kills an abusivespouse. It’s the kind of dark subject moreakin to her father’s rough sketches,though Cassie Taylor’s approach is morestraightforward and the lyrics are set to atraditional rock blues structure, fueled byguitarist Steve Mignano’s screaming slidesolos and drummer Larry Thompson’sdriving beat.

In contrast to her 2011 debut, whichlargely was produced for Taylor while shewas on tour for the Girls With Guitars pro-ject, Out Of My Mind has her full creativestamp. She produced and arranged the13 originals on her own. In addition to hertrademark bass, she plays keyboards ona couple of tracks. Taylor and her newly-wed husband, executive producer Charleshave a good handle on the A&R. Out Of

My Mind is well-paced and diverse withtouches of Stax-style soul (the title track),an acoustic-guitar ballad (“Lay My HeadOn Your Pillow”), second-line rhythm(“New Orleans”), horn-laced gospel (“For-giveness”), and blues rock (“No No”). It’sa richness that will make Cassie Taylorhard to pigeonhole, and that’s exactlywhat she wants.– Michael Cote

ANDY POXONTomorrowEllerSoul

Andy Poxon is at that awkward age.Awkward, in that he’s of an age (18) wherethere’s a tendency to be somewhat dismis-sive of his abilities with a backhandedcompliment along the lines of “He’s prettygood, for a youngster.” Yet his sophistica-tion – with guitar, with voice, and with pen –belies that. Not experienced enough tohave already had the kinds of heartbreakshe describes in, say, “Too Bad,” “YouLied,” and “All By Myself,” three cuts on hisbrand new recording, Tomorrow, they stillsmack of authenticity. And they’re his origi-nals, as are all but one other on this 14-song offering. (One was co-written by hisproducer, Duke Robillard) How does the

boy do it? Was he in an AP class in highschool, one devoted to life’s vicissitudes?

Oh, yeah. He also plays the guitarquite nicely, with elements of rockabilly,swing, and R&B infused into the blues heperforms. Tasty licks; tidy phrases. Hisproducer Robillard brings his savoir-faireto the project, a not inconsequentialalliance that might account for its maturesound. Poxon may resemble a wooly-headed red matchstick; but when hestrikes up his band, the music burns with aserious, blue flame.

As I wrote in reviewing Poxon’s initialrelease, Red Roots, about this time twoyears ago, this Maryland phenom isheaded somewhere special. Tomorrow isa long, confident step in that direction.Definitely, check this one out.– M.E. Travaglini

SUNNY CROWNOVERRight Here, Right NowBlue Duchess/Shining Stone

Texas-raised, Boston-based vocalist SunnyCrownover takes contemporary blues innew directions on Right Here, Right Now,her debut for Shining Stone Records. Tobe sure, she’s a force to be reckoned with,and her domineering, headstrong personais given free rein on nearly every track onthis album, from the opening tune, “Oh,Yes I Will!” to “Love Me Right,” to “I MightJust Change My Mind.” Her bossy manner,in the women’s blues tradition, extends totracks like “Hi Heels And Home Cooking.”

She’s expertly accompanied by agroup of Boston-based musicians hand-picked by guitarist, bandleader, song-writer, producer, and impresario DukeRobillard. Crownover began singing bluesin the Dallas/Fort Worth area, then movedto Austin in her high school years beforefinally settling in the Boston area. There,she began singing with 2120 South Michi-gan Avenue, a Boston-area blues bandled by Harvard University professorCharles Sawyer. Robillard heardCrownover singing with Sawyer and wasimmediately smitten with her on-stageswagger and vocal stylings.

Crownover proves herself to be amajor new force in the world of womenblues vocalists, and this is a good thing,


because there aren’t enough ladiesaround singing real blues. Though shewrote none of the songs on this collec-tion, I suspect she’s got them tuckedaway for a forthcoming release.

She’s accompanied by a short who’swho of nationally-known musicians, mostof them contemporaries of Robillard’s, allof them based in the Boston-Rhode Islandcorridor: saxophonist Doug James, har-monica wizard Sugar Ray Norcia, drummerMark Teixeira, bassist Brad Hallen, andkeyboardist Bruce Bears, among others.

The end result is an extremely finerecord from a woman who has clearlypaid her dues in the blues clubs of

Fort Worth, Dallas, Austin, and Boston.Right Here, Right Now, is a thoroughlyentertaining first effort from Crownover.No doubt, we’ll be hearing more from her.– Richard J. Skelly

LI’L RONNIE& THE GRAND DUKESGotta Strange Feelin’EllerSoul

Li’l Ronnie Owens doesn’t cover LittleWalter on his latest outing, but there’s stillplenty of homage going on throughOwens’ harp work. That’s not meant as acriticism, and it’s certainly not all-inclusive.“Can’t Buy My Love” shuffles along thecorridors of the Slim Harpo school of laid-backness, and “Cold Hard Cash” has aLittle Feat feel, backed by some seriouslyslinky second line backthumpery.

Owens obviously has some swamppop in his veins as well. “Love Never Dies”

would be at home on a Bobby Charlesrecord. But when the harpist gets down tosome serious Chicago blueswork on“Sweet Sue,” an Owens original, he’s gotWalter’s ghost walking around in the solo.“Late Nite Blues” also has Walter’s mourn-ful howl as well, with a throbbing, penetrat-ing quaver that chills down to the bone.

But this isn’t all about Owens. GrandDuke guitarist Ivan Appelrouth co-wrote tenof the originals on the record with Owensand adds a unique, but vintage guitarsound to all of the cuts. The Grand Dukestackle Louis Jordan’s “Buzz Me,” with gui-tarist Appelrouth replacing the horn lines ofthe original with some appropriately funky,


mellow jazz licks. Chuck Berry’s “C’est LaVie” is a note for note cover, but still rockshard, with John Fralin doing a great jobcovering Johnnie Johnson’s exquisite tin-kling on the original. “I Won’t Take It Any-more” sounds like Buck Owens sitting inwith Chuck Berry with Kim Wilson step-ping in on harp. Later, Owens goes on areed-bending spree on “Fat City,” blastinghis away around Chicago with a JamesCotton feel.

Although his roots are in his nativeVirginia, Li’l Ronnie obviously speaksChicago as well. As a major part of theEllerSoul Revue, his label’s traveling R&Bcaravan, a Li’l Ronnie live show never failsto rattle the windows with a diverse selec-tion of city and country style blues, R&B,jump blues, jazz, swamp pop, and what-ever else Owens might have on his mindthat evening. Until you can bear witness inperson to that, this’ll have to do.– Grant Britt

LISA MANNSatisfiedSelf-release

Lisa Mann is from Portland, Ore., and hasbeen a mainstay of the Northwest musicscene for several years. She was inductedinto the Cascade Blues Association’s Hallof Fame in 2011. In 2011 she and herReally Good Band represented the CBA atthe International Blues Challenge in Mem-phis where they were semi finalists. Mannplays bass, sings, writes nine tracks, andalso produced this fine (and diverse) disc.Her solid band is made up with Jeff Knud-son’s guitar, Michael Ballash’s drumming,and Brian Harris’ keys. Lloyd Jones alsomakes an appearance adding his distinc-tive voice and guitar.

“See You Next Tuesday” starts thisalbum in good-natured high-gear fashionfeaturing Mann’s hard-hitting vocals and apowerhouse performance by the entireband. More high-paced antics ensue onLittle Milton and Oliver Sain’s “Satisfied”that finds Mann and company flying lowto the ground with solid keys from Harris,heady guitar from Knudson, and Mann’spowerful vocals. “Always Nobody” addsJones’s guitar and vocal; it’s a short and

sweet tune where they blend welltogether. The mood shifts on Mann’s“Have I Told You I Love You Today,” withacoustic guitar, bass, and drums shining alight on Mann’s diverse vocal styles andher keen and heartfelt songwriting skills.This tune might start softly, but concludeswith a rush courtesy of Knudson’s soaringelectric guitar. Mann shows off her vocalrange covering the moody and gentle“Alone.” Mann’s voice soars on MaxwellDavis and Johnny “Guitar” Watson’s“Don’t Touch Me,” where it’s blues time inhigh style especially with the addition ofhorns. Mann’s “Doin’ Alright” takes ushome funky with gospel undertones andexciting vocals by Mann and guest BrianFoxworth who sings background andplays drums.

For the moment, Mann is mostly aNorthwest regional secret, but I suspectthat brighter days are within range forMann, as she’s a talent to be reckonedwith. With music that deserves to appearon North American radio charts, sheshould begin to receive an abundance ofstrong press reviews, and thus be in posi-tion to garner fans from coast to coast.– Bob Putignano

BONNIE BISHOPFreeBe Squared

Bonnie Bishop sings like she’s got a bonestuck in her throat and has screamedherself bloody raw trying to hawk it up.Bishop’s music has a country flavor, buther hoarse, raspy vocals make it easilyadaptable to blues rock as well.

Her sound here is a big departurefrom her former work. Twangy, Texas-

accented, sweet-voiced, country-styleofferings had been her style since hereponymous ‘02 debut. The Texas nativemoved to Nashville in ‘08 to concentrateon her songwriting. That paid off whenBonnie Raitt took “Not ‘Cause I WantedTo,” a song Bishop co-wrote with AlAnderson, to put on her latest, Slipstream.

Free came after Bishop’s marriageand divorce, which obviously took a tollon her voice and her attitude. “Keep OnUsin’ Me” sounds like Bonnie Bramlettbustin’ loose on a Leon Russell cut fromthe ‘70s. Her delivery is as subtle as asledgehammer on “Shrinkin’ Violet,” asBishop proves she’s anything but, sound-ing like Tina after going a coupla roundswith Ike; bloody, a little the worse forwear, but still willing to keep punchin’. Forthe title cut, she comes across a littlesofter, her voice creaking like old leatheras she tells of her broken heart comingback to life.

Bishop goes all out country for thehonky-tonk flavored “Bad Seed,” about apolitician’s daughter caught smokin’ pot,her scratchy-voiced narration soundinglike she’s been up all night engaging insimilar activities. Bishop cuts her no slack:“Whatever comes to her/ she’s only gotherself to blame,” she informs her con-stituents in the chorus. She does show offa softer vocal side for “World Like This,”but there’s still a world-weary flavor to it,like a female Rod Stewart.

Bishop closes out the set with “RightWhere You Are,” voice crackling like she’splugged into a 220 socket as she pulls offa perfect Maggie Bell impersonation.Hopefully, this is just a temporary phaseshe’s going through. It’d be a shame totoss away her softer, more melodic vocalstyle for a lifetime of leather-lungedproclamations. The variety is interesting,but a little sweetening tossed in once inawhile wouldn’t hurt in the future.– Grant Britt


MIKE WHEELERSelf Made ManDelmark

Chicago bluesman Mike Wheeler has been on the scene for nearsto 30 years sharing stages with the likes of blues legends KokoTaylor, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Son Seals, and Willie Kent, amongothers. Over that time, he’s plied his trade as a member of CadillacDave & The Redhots, Sam Cockrell & The Groove, Nellie TigerTravis, Big Ray & Chicago’s Most Wanted, The Grooveshakers,and finally hittin’ the top of the Chicago heap with Big James & TheChicago Playboys. Now it’s time for Wheeler to shine on his

Delmark debut, Self MadeMan, and shine he does.With a tight backing bandthat features keyboardistBrian James, bassist LarryWilliams, drummer Cleo Colealong with a guest appear-ance from rising hot shotharmonica player OmarColeman, Mike Wheeler tearsit up track after track.

Fans of Larry McCray andJohn Primer will really dig

Wheeler’s deep, masculine vocals and stinging electric guitar work.His upbeat delivery and street savvy lyrics bring Chicago blues roar-ing into a new era. Best tracks featuring Wheeler’s bold vocals anddexterous soloing include the take charge call of “Here I Am,” thesnarling blues-rock swagger of the album’s title track, “Self MadeMan,” the funky Curtis Mayfield inspired “Join Hands,” the JohnPrimer infused “Walkin’ Out The Door,” the soulful tip of the hat tothe blues, “Chicago Blues,” and the groovin’ “I’m Working,”featuring the impressive harp of Omar Coleman.– Brian M. Owens

TOMMY TALTONLet’s Get Outta HereHittin’ The Note

Capricorn Records cornered the market in the heyday of Southernrock, but offered so much more than what a bad tag suggested.Case in point: Cowboy, led by Tommy Talton and Scott Boyer outof Jacksonville, Fla. Fine lyrical shrewdness and melodies thatcombined Southern rhythm and blues with California country-rockmakes many of the songs on their four 1970’s albums stand out inthat crowd, and still hold up. The new Talton solo album Let’s GetOutta Here finds him and a bunch of his cohorts from back then insimilar territory but in time-fortified much better shape.

A soulful guitarist, and still a member of the CapricornRhythm Section that nearly rivaled the Muscle Shoals session

guys, Talton plays his heartout in a variety of settingshere. He rips in “Sunk DownIn Mississippi,” which makesfor a sort of perfect universalblues song. Talton describesthe foibles of Robert John-son in a context Johnsonmay have used writing aboutsomeone. He sings lines like“You’re six feet deep andburied; you knew the girl

was married.” Hear that and unfortunately you recognize theheavy-duty shit that went down as commonplace now. For everyrocker there’s something like the ethereal “Dream Last Night” andthe tender ballad “Make It Through The Rain.” Confederate vetJoe Cain is feted in the honkin’ “Slacabamorinico,” titled for theChickasaw Indian chief character he paraded as during MardiGras in New Orleans and before that, Alabama. Chuck Leavellhelps pump that story with his completely one-of-a-kind piano.Picture Miss nose-up hot stuff, slinkin’ past a saloon. Hear a big,guitar and horn-fueled funky groove titled “If Your Attitude Is Funky(Nobody Wants Your Monkey).” That all makes for one great song.This album as a whole requires a whole bunch of plays, andluckily compels that anyway.– Tom Clarke

DARREN JAYDrink My WineSelf-release

Darren Jay Fallas won’t be touring right away in support of hislatest release. He has a previous engagement in Kuwait with theU.S. Navy Reserves. But on his return in December, based on thequality of Drink My Wine, the Memphis Blues Society Presidentshould have a nice groundswell to help re-launch his career.

Although the Florida native has only been based in Memphisfor a couple of years, he’s soaked up the soul and sound of thecity. And like the gumbo of blues, soul, rockabilly, and country thatmakes that city’s music so eclectic and vibrant, Fallas, as his alterego Darren Jay, serves up an eclectic musical stew as well.

Surviving Memphis Horns’ trumpeter Wayne Jackson puts afat Memphis imprint on “Workday Blues,” sounding like it was

recorded in Stax studiosby Booker T and the MGs.“Baby Don’t You Lose MyNumber” is jangly ‘50s-style rockabilly featuring aJerry Lee Lewis stylepiano break and someboiling Memphis guitar.Starting off with a Profes-sor Longhair feel, an infec-tious second line overlaidwith Jay’s clanging guitar,

“Lovin’ Man” changes to a shuffle about halfway through,changing the venue from swamp pop to a urban, hard edgedChicago sound.

Jay injects a B.B. King guitar feel into “Too Late Baby,” but,thanks to the brassy backstop provided by Jackson and company,the throbbing background is pure Memphis. Willie Dixon’s“Hootchie Coochie Man” isn’t quite as mud stained as the mostfamous version, but Jay tosses in a creepy hoodoo vibe singing achorus through what sounds like a harp mike for a creature from thebayou feel. The instrumental “Zilla” reeks of ZZ Top, with Jay crank-ing out bucket loads of greasy, Texas style bar-b-qued licks. “River”sounds like it might have slipped out of a Marshall Tucker session.

With his blend of ingredients, Darren Jay’s recipe for a bluesyMemphis soul stew is as tasty as anything King Curtis and theMemphis Horns served up from the Stax vaults. Get you a bigspoon and dig in.– Grant Britt

PAULA HARRISTurning On The NaughtySelf-release

Big, bold, and brassy, Paula Harris comes out roaring on herdebut album, Turning On The Naughty. The classically trainedHarris fronted symphonies in her native South Carolina beforerelocating to Georgia in ‘95, signing with legendary R&B per-former William Bell (‘61’s “You Don’t Miss Your Water”), butsomewhere along the line she picked up an affinity for back alleyblues. Now based in San Francisco, Harris and her band aredestroying the competition, winning last year’s Monterey BluesFestival’s Battle of the Bands, then backed by her band The

Beasts of Blues and herhorn section placing third inthe 2102 IBC Challenge inMemphis, and adding a2013 nomination for a BluesMusic Award as Best NewArtist Debut.

Harris’s original, “JustDon’t Look Good NakedAnymore” is a rollickinglament on aging from awoman who just can’t get norespect for appearing in her

birthday suit. When she takes it all off for a sunbathing session ata nudist beach, one sun worshiper shouts out “I think a whale justwashed up on the shore.”

Covering an Etta James classic is risky business, but Harrishas no problem recreating “Damn Your Eyes,” making it sound asfresh as when Etta first recorded it in ‘88 for Seven Year Itch. “I’min complete control,” Harris assures us through Etta’s lyrics, andshe’s not kidding. It’s a damn near perfect copy of Etta’s grittyrendition, Harris becoming James down to her mama bear growl.Channeling her best Etta on “Nick Of Too Damn Late,” Harris beltsout an original lovesick ballad with guts and soul.


Robert Johnson’s “Dust My Broom” gets reinvented as atorch song, unrecognizable as the tune that Elmore Jamesshrieked and slid his way to female freedom on. Harris has aDiane Schuur thing working here backed by a funky bassline fromJoey Fabian and Simon Russell’s Fender Rhodes strut. For “Mr.Right For A Night,” Harris walks around in Shemekia Copeland’sshoes, spreading sass around with a trowel, taking care of herbusiness one man and one night at a time.

This is one hell of a debut, well worth a trip to the Left Coastto get a shot of. But a sound like this ain’t gonna be contained inone area for long. Look for a Harris infection coming soon to a citynear you.– Grant Britt

JESSE DEEOn My Mind/In My HeartAlligator

Although the J. Geils Band covered a variety of soul tunes on theiralbums by artists like Dyke & the Blazers, the Contours, the Show-stoppers, the Supremes, Eddie Floyd, Bobby Womack, DonCovay, and Harvey Scales, as well as composed soul-inspiredoriginals (check out their under-the-radar album Ladies Invitedfrom 1973), Boston, great music town that it is, is not known forsoul artists.

But now here is 33-year old soul crooner/songwriter/guitaristJesse Dee with a collection 11 tasteful originals inspired by the clas-sic soul of the Sixties and the pre-disco Seventies. Dee had his soul

music epiphany as ateenager and becamehooked on masters like OtisRedding, Solomon Burke,Smokey Robinson, et al. He’sperformed regularly in the lastdecade with several bandsand having seen him recentlyI can attest that he is anearnest, affable, and hard-working performer. Backed byhorns, keyboards, Latin per-cussion, vibraphone, and

plenty of shimmering guitar, he generally sings of the vicissitudes ofromance from the sunny side of the street on tunes like the san-guine title track, an ebullient shuffle-bump; “I Won’t Forget AboutYou,” a strutting call to the dance floor; “Sweet Tooth,” a blend ofswirling cheesy organ, crunching guitar, and pulsating horns (thinkSir Douglas Quintet at Stax); and the duet with Rachel Price, “TellMe (Before It’s Too Late),” a pop-tinged ballad. His tough but tenderstyle is a mix of Al Green and Sam Cooke with hardly a trace ofmore tortured deep soul singers like James Carr and O.V. Wright.As far as contemporary artists go, he is comparable to RaphaelSaadiq minus Saadiq’s eclecticism and more mature songwriting.Fans of Mayer Hawthorne and Nick Waterhouse will also find muchto enjoy on this solid debut of sincere and timeless soul music.– Thomas J. Cullen III

MAGIC SLIM & THE TEARDROPSBad BoyBlind Pig

Magic Slim’s larger-than-life personality showed through in everynote he sang, whether gruff or tender; his guitar playing was force-ful, dynamic, and instantly recognizable; and, as a bandleader, heimprinted a trademark sound on every musician who passedthrough his Teardrops from the 1970s onward. On Bad Boy, hisninth album for Blind Pig, Slim showed again why he was longrated among the most admired artists on the scene, and one ofthe last real Chicago bluesmen.

Magic Slim recorded extensively in Austria, the U.S., andFrance, and had previously cut a handful of these songs for other

labels. He invests DetroitJunior’s high-powered “I GotMoney” with a crisp rhythmand all the humor the lyricdemands; burns through hisown stormy “GamblingBlues.” From the Teardrops’good-time backing vocals toSlim’s distinctive lead guitar,Eddie Taylor’s classic “BadBoy” is distilled to Chicagoblues perfection. Others arefamiliar from live shows but

new to CD: the pumping, infectious groover “Girl What You WantMe To Do,” perhaps the album’s strongest cut; and Lil’ Ed’s “OlderWoman,” a gritty shuffle driven by Jones, with stinging guitar and aknowing vocal from Slim.

On what would prove to be the last album released during hislifetime, Slim contributed two new gems to the canon. On the instru-mental “Country Joyride,” he lays twangy, major-scale guitar lines àla “Hideaway” over an energetic boogie shuffle. “Sunrise Blues”nods to Jimmy Reed, but the punishing groove is pure Teardrops,and the stinging guitar can belong to no one other than Magic Slim.Always good for a surprise, Slim here dipped into his legendarilybottomless repertoire for other songs he rarely, if ever, performed:Albert King’s churning “Matchbox Blues,” the funky grind of “Some-one Else Is Steppin’ In,” and Muddy Waters’s “Champagne AndReefer,” an ode to the high life that Slim loved. Like everythingMagic Slim played, Bad Boy is blues of the highest order.– Tom Hyslop

IGOR PRADO BANDBlues & Soul SessionsChicago Blues

Brilliant Brazilian guitarist Igor Prado leads his band (brother Yuri ondrums and bassist Rodrigo Manotvani), three different keyboardists,


a horn section (including SaxGordon on five cuts), andassorted guest vocalists (Cur-tis Salgado, Tia Carroll, J.J.Jackson, and Greg Wilson)through this robust homageto the Memphis triumvirate ofStax/Hi/Goldwax. The ram-paging instrumental “Prado’sSpecial” opens the albumand sets the tone: imagine aviscerally assertive Albert

Collins with the Hi Rhythm Section or Booker T. & the MG’s sea-soned with the Memphis Horns. Even though the focus is on theMemphis sound, only three lesser known soul songs are directlyattributed to the Bluff City’s Golden Age of Soul: Al Green’s “It Ain’tNo Fun to Me,” Sam & Dave’s “Don’t Turn Your Heater On” (bothsung by Igor Prado), and James Carr’s “Lucky Loser (sung by Cur-tis Salgado); the remaining covers come from a variety of sources(Little Richard, Little Willie John, Isley Brothers, Lowell Fulson, EttaJames & Harvey Fuqua, Little Milton, and the Meters). There arealso two more showcase Prado instrumentals, “Funky Screwdriver”and “One for Duck Dunn.” I can’t praise the virtuoso Prado highlyenough. His encyclopedic knowledge, dazzling technique, andtasteful, intelligent, uncluttered solos make him one of the mostexciting guitarists on the scene – and he’s not yet 30 years old. It isclear from first note to last that Prado and his versatile band lovesoul and R&B. They know they are not reinventing classic soul

music, but that’s not the point. It’s about passion and being true tothe spirit of the music, and this album abounds with both. (There isalso an accompanying DVD of the recording session.)– Thomas J. Cullen III

STEVIE RAY VAUGHANAND DOUBLE TROUBLETexas FloodEpic/Legacy

To commemorate the 30th anniversary of SRV’s beloved debut,this “expanded” re-release contains the previously issued bonustrack “Tin Pan Alley” which also appears on the previously unis-sued second disc: Live At Ripley’s Music Hall. Live was recordedfor a WMMR-FM broadcast at the short-lived South Street venue(early to mid-Eighties) in Center City Philadelphia on October 20,1983, several months after Texas Flood’s release to universalacclaim.

Most readers of this magazine are familiar with (and most likelyown) Texas Flood. It’s filled with signature originals like “Pride andJoy” and “Love Struck Baby” and gritty homages to his influenceslike Buddy Guy (“Mary Had A Little Lamb”), Howlin’ Wolf (“Tell Me”),and the lesser known Lone Star guitarist Larry Davis who originated


the title track. The above-mentioned tunes (excluding“Tell Me”) as well as theGeorge Clinton-penned Par-liament soul strut “Testify” areperformed on disc two. Theremaining live tracks are hisoriginal “So Excited” andHendrix’s “Voodoo Child(Slight Return)” and “LittleWing/Third Stone FromThe Sun.”

I was fortunate to see SRV twice, and he always played someHendrix, so their inclusion is hardly surprising. This hour set maynot be the most polished at times, perhaps the band may havebeen a bit road weary, but SRV is playing with the unbridled gustohe would become known for. SRV’s joy in playing radiatesthroughout. His incendiary playing on the Hendrix’s tracks, mus-cular wah-wah with some snarling licks at times like Albert King on“Voodoo Child,” and dreamy and lyrical on “Little Wing” is jaw-dropping. There is strong audience response throughout, but thepeople seemed particularly pumped on the Hendrix tunes. Kudos,of course, to Tommy Shannon (bass) and Chris “Whipper” Layton(drums) for their supple and sinewy support. This collection alsoincludes informative and extensive liner notes about Texas Floodby music historian Ashley Kahn. The new edition of Texas Flood isa winner on every level.– Thomas J. Cullen III

RONNIE EARL AND THE BROADCASTERSJust For TodayStony Plain

It’s an involuntary reaction to heap praise on Ronnie Earl. Hundredsof magnificent guitarists of every blues-oriented stripe dot the U.S.map from coast to coast. Earl towers over many in the Northeastcorner. Earl witnessed a Muddy Waters concert while at Boston Uni-versity in 1973, picked up the guitar, and six years later, at 26, joinedRoomful Of Blues, a gig that enabled him to absorb the qualities ofmany of his heroes firsthand, experiences he’s put to practice prettydamn nicely.

From the time he formed the first version of the Broadcastersin 1983, Earl has continually become a more intensely focusedblues guitarist in his own way, burning always, but lyrical from tan-talizing to fierce. Of the handful of shows the Broadcasters playeach year, three were carefully picked over to comprise Just ForToday, which may as well have been done in the studio, the soundis so pristine. But an added level of strength from playing in frontof a live crowd is definitely there; clear from the start in the quickwarm-up romp through “The Big Train,” one of several collabora-tions by all four band members.

For some time now, the Broadcasters have been Lorne Entresson drums, Dave Limina on piano and B3, and Jim Mouradian on


bass. Entress is the kind ofdrummer that while keep-ing strict time, can soundlike a lead player, in evi-dence wonderfully duringthe gentle, but ultimatelyglorious “Blues for Celie.”The spotlight switches toLimina at the piano for hisown “Vernice’s Boogie,”an interlude of rockingexcitement.

But there’s no mistaking the leader. “Miracle” feels bold andhappy, like lovers holding tight. Reminiscent of recent Santana,Earl creates a memorable hook in it, and surrounds that with anupwelling of liquid gold. During “Heart Of Glass,” he engages theband in a bold, fluent conversation on top of their fragile, jazzyblues groove. In “Blues For Hubert Sumlin,” the Chicago bluesgreat’s tough essence shines through without a lick of note-for-note imitation. John Coltrane’s “Equinox” makes for an epicexcursion by these players, perfectly melding the qualities of anawakening and a nighttime romp. Earl customarily employs awell-known singer – or one that’s sure-to-be – for a song or two.Towards the end of this set, Diane Blue, from his Boston home-town, sings “I’d Rather Go Blind,” and despite the song’soveruse, makes you take notice with her soulfulness.– Tom Clarke

BETH HARTBang Bang Boom BoomProvogue

She’s a dynamic singer – bits of Billie building into Etta reachingfor Robert Plant; she’s an emotive piano player who deftlycaresses a wide range of moods; she’s a poignant songwriter whowalks the world like a raw nerve which twitches at every stimuli;and she’s battled demons to get herself healthy. Beth Hart turned

the heads of the nationwhen she delivered “I’dRather Go Blind” with JeffBack at the Kennedy Centerin December 2012 honoringBuddy Guy. Though wildlypopular throughout Europefor almost a decade, she’sbeen under the radar in herhomeland. But all that ischanging. On the heels ofher critically acclaimed CDwith Joe Bonamassa, Hart

signed with the Mascot Label and released what could be herbreakout CD 17 years after she released her original breakout CDon Atlantic Records.

The opening tune, “Baddest Blues,” encompasses the bestof Hart. It begins with only her voice and piano, then jumps the


track with her full studio band exploding around her elastic voiceand truths that “love is the baddest blues.” Love has more thenone side, and Hart later sings endless praises of her “Better Man,”perhaps dedicated to her husband who’s been lovingly guidingher recovery for over a decade. Ditto “With You Everyday,” whichcould easily become this year’s first dance song at any wedding.

For me, Hart is never better then when she delivers a vocal,front and center ballad. There are two performances of note here.“There In Your Heart” showcases Hart’s vocal caress building tothunderous finish giving the listener time to appreciate the life jour-ney her soul has traveled. Don’t miss the fiery guitar solo by friendBonamassa. Hart’s touching restraint delivers another tour deforce performance on “Everything Must Change,” with its BeatlesWhite Album/Let It Be aura,

But there’s one more stunner; Mascot has licensed her force-ful/impressive Kennedy Center performance. If you saw it, youremember the audience collectively asking, “Who is that!” WithBeck’s creative guitar as her foil, Hart’s interpretation was a thingof beauty. If you are an old friend of Hart’s, this CD is a welcomeaddition to your collection. If you are new to her, I envy your back-ward search to collect her catalogue.– Art Tipaldi

ALAN WILSONThe Blind OwlSevern

Just as most people of a certain age can recall their whereaboutswhen JFK was assassinated, they can also remember – on a muchbrighter note – where they were when they first bore witness to thehauntingly distinctive high tenor vocals and simpatico harp skills ofAlan “Blind Owl” Wilson. All it takes is the opening strains of “OnThe Road Again” for the feeling of an entire generation to floodback into consciousness. Such is the power of Wilson’s distinctivevoice and the impact made by a ragtag band from Los Angeleswho would forever transform the face of the blues. How the soundsof this pale, thin, white man’s blues came to represent an entiregeneration in the summer of ‘68 is the impetus behind this20-track collection.

Wilson’s sound legitimately blurred the lines between white andblack as these young turks redefined electric blues with theironslaught of four albums during Wilson’s all-too-brief reign. Theshy, Boston-born music major – so nicknamed by friend JohnFahey for the heavy glasses worn to combat poor eyesight – Wilsonwas the least likely counterpart to fellow Canned Heat co-founder,Bob “The Bear” Hite. Yet, the two music historians, joined by aneclectic cast of distinctive players – Larry Taylor, Henry “Sunflower”Vestine, Frank Cook who was shortly replaced by the still-standingAdolfo “Fido” de la Parra – and armed with some of the era’sstrongest original songs, plus covers by Jimmy Rogers, CharleyPatton, Robert Johnson, Howlin’ Wolf, and Elmore James.

Credited as modernists, hipping a new generation to the bluesof the past by grafting it to rock and roll and the notion of the end-less boogie, Wilson’s specific contribution was also realized throughhis writing and guitar playing. His “Going Up The Country,” used in


the Woodstock documentaryand included on the sound-track, is equally timelesswhile the sadly prophetic“My Time Ain’t Long”matched only “Time Was” forits ability to come to fruitionas the band, and Alan’s life,began to fall apart. Avidly‘green’ long before the termhad cachet, Wilson wrote ofa troubled world in which

man would pollute beyond its borders and out into space, thetheme of ‘70’s Future Blues and tracks like “Poor Moon” that wouldfollow. Depression, loneliness and dark thoughts merged with thedrug use that would ultimately take his life in September of 1970.Yet one spin of his impressively upbeat, ad lib/jazz scat singing on“Skat” (to Dr. John’s luminous piano) serves as a reminder of a gen-tle, giving character deserving of our remembrance for his distin-guished talent and our respect for his still-breathing contribution.– Eric Thom

ROBERT RANDOLPH PRESENTSThe Slide BrothersConcord

Robert Randolph has been the secular face of the Sacred Steeltradition for the last decade. As co-producer, he recruited CalvinCooke, (pedal steel/vocals), Aubrey Ghent (pedal steel/vocals),and the Campbell brothers, Chuck (pedal steel), Darick (lap steel),and Phil (guitar) from the top ranks of Sacred Steel for this roaringand soaring set of blues, gospel, and rock that blurs the thin linethat separates these genres.

Upon first hearing the Campbell Brothers 15 years ago, Iexclaimed to friends (and in print) that it was the most excitingmusic I heard in years. That same exhilaration is present through-out the 11 tracks. The blues is represented by Elmore James’ “ItHurts Me Too” and the show stopping “The Sky Is Crying” (withRandolph, one of the three tracks he plays on), Eric Clapton’s ver-sion of “Motherless Children,” and two major surprises: “Help MeThrough The Night,” an original boogie by Calvin Cooke, whichcould be about God or a lost love, and the Allman Brothers’ “Don’tKeep Me Wonderin’,” an attention-grabbing opener that scintillates

with the nimble interplay ofall three Campbell Brotherscushioned by Marty Sam-mon’s swirling organ. Theremaining tunes fall in thegospel camp: two upliftingAndrew Ramsey tunes,“Catch That Train” (a com-mon Sacred Steel theme)and “No Cheap Seats InHeaven”; CamilleYarbrough’s churning “Praise

You” with guest vocalist Shemekia Copeland; funk-try gospel withMylon LeFevere’s “Sunday School Blues”; the lone instrumental,performed by the Campbell Brothers, a rousing “Wade In TheWater”; and another big surprise with George Harrison’s “MySweet Lord.”

Whether you came to love slide guitar from the blues, coun-try, Sacred Steel, or any combination thereof, this joyful album hassomething for everybody. I recently saw the Slide Brothers (withRobert Randolph) open for George Thorogood; I didn’t want theirtruncated set to end. Catch them when you can.– Thomas J. Cullen III

SOUTHERN HOSPITALITYEasy Livin’Blind Pig

This is a new band, put together just last year, and this is their firstouting, and it is in many respects stellar. Of course, the personnel– Damon Fowler, Victor Wainwright, JP Soars, Chuck Riley, andChris Peet – have been around for a long time, honing their blues,R&B and rock chops – and this first-time recording, produced byLouisiana guitar legend Tab Benoit, is different and varied enoughto merit purchase and repeat plays.

Easy Livin’ is not a blues CD but it has plenty of blues feelingas the band makes the rounds of various genres of American rootsand pop. Ultimately, however, it defines itself ultimately as a hot

Southern rock band with thepotential of taking its placewith southern rock icons theAllman Brothers, LynyrdSkynyrd, and the MarshallTucker Band.

The opening track,“Southern Living” features arootsy vocal by guitaristDamon Fowler, whose timbreand phrasing on this trackrecall Taj Mahal’s “Fishin’Blues,” while the band sup-

ports him with a Skynyrd-like instrumental. The rhythm section,Riley and Peet, operates as one, and provides ample support tothe string and piano work heard throughout. Later on, vocalist andkeyboard man Wainwright serves up a classic jump boogie, whilesome fine contrapuntal guitar work by Fowler and JP Soars takesit away on “Shoestring Budget.”

Classic country is served masterfully by a cover of Jerry LeeLewis’s “Don’t Boogie Woogie” – only this version features muchmore prominent guitar work than the original, coupled with Wain-wright’s exciting paean to Jerry Lee’s banging piano style – multiplefrenetic arpeggios and all. More than a hint of Stax R&B comesthrough on “Certified Lover,” a tune with an arrangement and vocalsthat conjure a Stax recording – say, Otis Redding’s circa his 1965 hit,“I’ve Been Loving You Too Long,” written with Jerry Butler. The song-writing on “Certified Lover” is a match in sensibility and feel to any-thing coming out of Macon or Atlanta in the heyday of southern R&B.


Some reviewers have projected this band as the next hotnew Southern rock/R&B band. Given the talent on this CD,and the masterful work on multiple genres, that would not be asurprise. Recommended.– Michael Cala

AUSTIN YOUNG & NO DIFFERENCEBlue As Can BeVizzTone

It takes nearly the entire disk to get to a real down-and-dirty bluestune on 18-year-old Austin Young’s debut record, but the range ofguitar styles – some blistering, some soft and gentle – and hiscreative songwriting makes it worth the wait.

The 13 tracks are all-in-the-family originals by Young andband mates Tim Young (his dad) and drummer Noah Mast,along with Steven Mast, one of Noah’s four musical brothers.The songs run the gamut from hard-hitting blues-rock to coun-try-like ballads to jump jazz a la Ray Charles. In fact, Young, a

Colorado native, makes apoint of paying homage andoffering tributes to legendssuch as Gary Moore andMuddy Waters.

The Muddy love, on thesecond, title track, is proba-bly attributable to Young’senviable status as Bob Mar-golin’s protégé. Young wasan interim instructor withMargolin, whom everyoneknows was once Waters’

band, at a Pinetop Perkins master guitar workshop last year inClarksdale. Margolin has nothing but accolades, describingYoung as a “magnetic new force of nature.”

But Young’s musical influences sound more akin toHendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Moore, and Clapton than traditionalor Chicago blues musicians. Young definitely proves himself onelectrifying guitar. Some of the songs demand turning the volumeup real high, especially the hard rocking opener, “Thunderhead,”which is a double entendre dedicated to the unfortunate towns-people of Joplin, Missouri, many of whom lost everything in afierce tornado two years ago. Now fast forward to “Give Me OneGood Reason,” for seven minutes of pure and basic slow blues,saturated with feeling about love gone wrong, and just the rightamount of guitar delay. Described as quite the entertainer,Young’s shows draw big crowds and he has an increasing follow-ing. The winner of five awards, best guitar, best slide guitar, bestblues band, best young artist, and best ‘live moment’ from theColorado Blues Society, he was also invited last year to performat the King Biscuit Festival in Helena, Arkansas, so his buzz isspreading. It stands to reason this young musician has abright future.– Karen Nugent

TINSLEY ELLISGet It!Heartfixer

Clearly a labor of love, Get It! finds Tinsley Ellis working in adazzling variety of instrumental, blues-based settings. The great,Atlanta-based guitarist does not blow aimlessly over genericgrooves. Instead, he writes good old-fashioned songs, with headsmemorable enough to hum.

Ellis takes on Freddie King’s sweet “Freddie’s MidnightDream” and Bo Diddley’s wild “Detour,” replete with cheesy organand the swirl of a guitar through a Leslie cabinet. Everything elseis original, from the regal “Anthem For A Fallen Hero,” which Elliswrote for Roy Buchanan but whose piercing tone he sensibly

opted not to recreate, to theslamming wah-wah rocker“Fuzzbuster,” with its echoesof “Going Down.” “BerryTossin’,” a shuffle teemingwith ringing double-stops,vividly captures the essenceof Chuck Berry’s loose style.

Leslie tone and a hipdrum breakdown ice the funky“Front Street Freeze,” withEllis nailing Albert Collins’ssignature smears, glides, and

stinging lines. Kevin McKendree’s clavinet brings “Sassy Strat” toWonder-ful life behind Elllis’s glassy tones, melodic string-bending,and flashy runs. The title track, a swinging backwards shuffle thatcould have come from a mid-‘60s B.B. King album, pays tribute tothe Texas style in general, SRV and Billy Gibbons in particular. Thebass-string figure with harmonics at 3:10 is a thing of wonder.

Far mellower, “The Milky Way” twangs, yet its stately, calmprogression has an almost classical feel. There is a lot of the origi-nal Fleetwood Mac in the delicate closer, “Catalunya,” from itsGreen-like phrasing and careful exploration of variations on atheme to its supernatural feedback.

With expressive playing and luscious tones, Ellis communi-cates more effectively through his guitar than many singers do withwords. He has certainly “got it” when it comes to playing the blues.His advice holds for you when it comes to his latest release: Get It!– Tom Hyslop

JOHN PRIMER & BOB CORRITOREKnockin’ Around These BluesDelta Groove

John Primer and Bob Corritore are both seasoned veterans withmore years playing the blues falling behind them than either would


probably care to admit.Both are deeply influ-enced by the Chicagoblues style, Primer first-hand as guitarist in thebands of greats likeMuddy Waters and MagicSlim before launching hisown acclaimed solocareer, Corritore as a fre-quent club patron beforehe moved to Phoenix and

stirred up a reputation of his own. That the two would make analbum together was inevitable, perhaps, and Knockin’ AroundThese Blues is a solid collaboration that won’t disappoint old-school blues fans, the pair backed by folks like Barrelhouse Chuck,Bob Stroger, and Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith, among others.

Little Walter’s “Blue And Lonesome” is offered in tribute inpretty much the same shape that Primer and Corritore found thesong – slow-paced, mournful, smothering ambiance – the two spic-ing it up a bit with smokin’ fretwork and slow-burning harp notes.Primer’s “When I Get Lonely” is a bit more up-tempo, Corritore’sspirited harp blasts perfectly melding with Primer’s soulful vocalsand emotional string play, both instruments rising above Barrel-house Chuck’s lively piano rhythms. Corritore’s instrumental “Har-monica Joyride” is strongly reminiscent of Junior Wells’s late-1960srecordings, the band falling in behind his manic notes with Stroger’swalking bass line and Smith’s busy, albeit jazz-flecked percussion.

The highlight of Knockin’ Around These Blues, however, isthe raucous cover of Willie Dixon’s “Just Like I Treat You.”Primer’s vocals dance fleetly above guitarist Chris James’ rollingrhythms and B-Chuck’s honky-tonk piano-pounding, the songpeppered with Corritore’s spry harmonica notes. The albumcloses with Lightnin’ Hopkins’ “Going Back Home,” a potentbrew of wailing harp, mournful vocals, slow-walking rhythms,and Primer’s elegant fretwork. Fans looking for a contemporarytake on the classic Chicago blues sound should look no furtherthan Knockin’ Around These Blues, an entertaining collectionfrom two masters.– Rev. Keith A. Gordon

CHRIS BELLEAUKnee Deep In The BluesSelf-release

Chris Belleau is not just knee deep in the blues. He’s at least thatfar in on traditional Cajun, and up to his ankles in country. He’seven got a toe in classic mid-1960s rock. The self-released KneeDeep In The Blues, recorded and mixed primarily in Louisiana,skips like a flat rock across a still bayou through these many gen-res, mirroring the state’s own bubbling gumbo of musical styles.


The best of Belleau’soriginals include the simmer-ing “Let It Go,” which findsthe multi-instrumentalistswitching with a cool-rock-ing ease between lead guitarand trombone; the country-fried “Hole in My Heart,” andthe bawdy title track,sparked by a scorching turnby Belleau on the harp.Louisiana native David Egan

is Belleau’s secret weapon on Knee Deep In The Blues, as thedeeply underrated keyboardist contributes two highlights with theco-written “Dance To The Blues With Me” (a slinky call to fun) and“Angels In The Swamp” (a loping groover, in the style of 1970s-era B.B. King). Belleau also offers a deep blues take on the Cajunstandards “Jolie Blonde,” with a key assist from Bryan Basco inthe fiddle and Michael Garner on rubboard, and “Mamou Two-Step,” both of which find Belleau making a seamless switch toaccordion. His rollicking take on the Sir Douglas Quintet’s “She’sAbout A Mover” is stamped with a rowdy salaciousness – with akey assist from SDQ co-founder Augie Meyers. Belleau evenadds a little swamp spice to Sam the Sham’s “Wooly Bully.”– Nick DeRiso

33rd BLUES MUSIC AWARDSThe Blues Foundation

The Blues Foundation has done it again, only better. In addition tothe annual release of the Blues Music Award DVD, the Foundationhas also included a 13-song CD of full-length performances fromthe DVD. The 33rd Award show was an evening of exciting musicalhighlights, and this two hour, 30 minute DVD accurately captures25 of the night’s best.

Each May, the Blues Foundation hosts the Blues MusicAwards in Memphis. For the 1,500 attendees, is it the blues partyof the year. With many nominees given a 10-minute performance,the show, which starts with a pre-party for all at 5:30 p.m. and

ends well after one a.m.,offers every blues fan’smusical fantasy, unlimitedmusic. For those who havenever attended thismarathon night of bluesawards and performances,this DVD and accompanyingCD are the next best way toexperience these unprece-dented showstoppers.

The DVD menu offersthree choices, Award show,other performances, and alisting of Award nominationsand winners. The Awardshow features 13 one of a

kind performances interwoven with Award presentations. Eachperformance collects nominees together in true all-star pairings.

So for example, nominees Otis Clay and Charlie Musselwhitebegan the night backed by the Bo Keys. Other noteworthy pair-ings included the Chicago Living Blues band with Billy BoyArnold, John Primer, and others; Jumpin’ Johnny Sansone joinedby Tab Benoit and Mike Zito performing an over the top version ofSansone’s Song of the Year, “The Lord Is Waiting The Devil IsToo;” Benoit, Zito, and Sansone celebrating Tab’s three Awards(entertainer, Contemporary Male, and Contemporary Album) withnearly 10 minutes of “Medicine;” Joe Louis Walker’s last minuteaddition to Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne and Biscuit Miller’s song;Samantha Fish, winner of Best New Artist Debut and resplendentin her purple gown, joining her K.C. pals Trampled Under Foot foran outta control “Runaway;” and Koko Taylor Traditional BluesWoman Ruthie Foster joined with Song of the Year nominee Had-den Sayers to perform his nominated song “Back To The Blues”and then Foster’s self-help advice, “Heal Yourself.”

At the same time, don’t miss the outstanding down hometunes of Doug MacLeod, Eric Bibb, and David Maxwell, whileSusan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, winners of multiple awards,treated the crowd to a back porch inspired “Back Where IStarted.” The Awards section closes with Band of the Year nomi-nee Trampled Under Foot’s Danielle Schnebelen’s devastating,aching blues ballad, “Goodbye,” which could be a Song of theYear nominee in any year.

The other performance section includes a dozen perfor-mances by non-winning nominees. Backed by an all-star bandof Bob Margolin, Jonn Del Toro Richardson, and Patrick Rynn,Diunna Greenleaf belted out “Tryin’ To Hold Out.” Later in theprogram, Richardson joined his musical partner Rich Del Grossofor a guitar/mandolin performance of “Time Slips By.” Sugar RayNorcia and his Bluetones, with a total of five nominations,delighted the crowd with traditional, Chicago-styled blues asNorcia and Monster Mike Welch, one a 1990’s blues guitarwunderkind, now a seasoned thirty something veteran guitarist,expertly traded musical ideas.

Tracy Nelson called upon the voices of friends Nick Nixon,Maria Muldaur, and Reba Russell, and the musical expertise ofWayne Russell, Josh Roberts, Robert Tooms, Dave Keyes,Jimi Bott, and Terry Hanck, winner of Instrumentalist of the Year– Horn, for a soulful “Lead A Horse To Water.” And 2010 IBCwinner Grady Champion, nominated for two Awards, showcasedhis Mississippi roots as he performed his Song of the Yearnominated, “Thank You For Giving Me The Blues.” The twosongs performed by Victor Wainwright and JP Soars offer aninteresting preview of their current trio, Southern Hospitality,sans Damon Fowler.

After Otis Clay nailed “Got To Get Back,” Curtis Salgadodelivered the night’s best acceptance speech for Soul Blues MaleArtist when he quipped, “Thank you, but I voted for Otis Clay.”Ending with, “I’d like to saw the foot off and take that and give therest to Otis.”

Though the Blues Foundation releases a DVD each year,there are only three years available on the website. If you are afan of the music, or are married to a fan, these stunning DVDsoffer performances that only happen on this Memphis stage. Withover two and a half hours of unprecedented music and pairings,the 33rd BMA DVD, like the others, is highly recommended.– Art Tipaldi


THE SUN BLUES BOXBlues, R&B And GospelMusic In Memphis 1950-1958Bear Family

Sam Phillips’ Memphis-based SunRecords has been lauded endlessly for itsgroundbreaking 1950s rockabilly contin-gent, Elvis, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis,Johnny Cash. Rightly so, since Sun’s con-tribution to the history of rock and roll wasand remains vast and eternally enduring.But the label’s foundation was laid atop abedrock of deep Southern blues.

Sun’s blues catalog has been com-piled on LP and CD more than once, butnever has there been a collection of themagnitude of Bear Family’s The Sun BluesBox. Ten jam-packed CDs contain 306recordings that cover nearly everythingPhillips put out on his label of a bluesnature (not to mention R&B, gospel, andeven a smattering of doo-wop). There’s alsoa generous overview of Phillips’ produc-tions for other R&B indies at his MemphisRecording Service prior to Sun’s officialinception in 1952, and there’s a ton of trea-sures that were buried in his vaults until dis-covered by the first wave of erstwhile bluesresearchers during the ‘70s and ‘80s.

Colin Escott, Martin Hawkins, andHank Davis, the box’s producers, havechronicled Sun’s blues history in anincredible album-sized 184-page hard-bound book that accompanies the music;it’s full of vintage photos, incisive com-mentary, and complete track-by-track info.All Sun blues collections preceding this –vinyl, digital, whatever – instantly pale bycomparison.

“We believe it is the ultimate Sunblues collection, of course,” says Hawkins.“For many years, the original LP box fromthe mid-‘80s was the ultimate. But then tomark Sun’s 60th anniversary, Bear Familydecided that the classic 1980s LP sets ofSun country, blues, and rock and rollshould all be reissued. It was suggested to

us that we could update them and reissuethem pretty much as they were since theyhad become iconic releases. But once wegot into it, we realized how much moreimportant it was to take time to find outwhat else there was to know. We decidedwe needed to produce a significantupgrade–more information, more photos,more music.”

Each member of the trio brought theirown strengths to the project, which took afull year to complete. “A lot of people havetaken a lot of interest in Sun for manyyears, and the level of knowledge andinterest out there is very high,” saysHawkins. “So we are wary about usingwords like ‘unmatched’. But I guess youcould say that the amount of originalresearch we have done, and the tenacitywith which we’ve pieced together the storyof the label and its artists over the years isunrivaled. The three of us work welltogether. Hank brings a musician’s ear, awriter’s pen, and a fan’s enthusiasm; Colinhas a real ability to get to the nub of anissue, and the ability to describe things in astyle that has pace and clarity way beyondthe normal; and I think my own desire tounderstand and co-ordinate the overviewwhile also including as much detailed infor-mation as we can possibly get away with isimportant too.”

Obviously, all the Sun blues land-marks are proudly on board, bristling withspiky, electrifying energy: Rufus Thomas’“Bear Cat” and “Tiger Man,” Little Junior

(Parker)’s Blue Flames’ “Feelin’Good” and “Mystery Train,” LittleMilton’s raw-edged 1953 debutsides, Doctor Ross’ romping“Chicago Breakdown,” Billy “TheKid” Emerson’s sassy “Red Hot,” BigWalter Horton’s astonishing harmon-ica tour de force with guitarist JimmyDeBerry, “Easy” (pushed to the boil-ing point by Sam’s echo overload).

Jackie Brenston’s epochal“Rocket ‘88’” and its equally stratos-pheric follow-up “My Real GoneRocket,” and Howlin’ Wolf’s perpet-

ually intimidating “How Many MoreYears,” all out on Chess, are here too, asare Rosco Gordon’s “Booted,” a nationalsmash on the Modern label, andB.B. King’s hard-driving “She’s Dynamite,”also from Modern’s archives, but not a hit.An avalanche of now-revered classics byEarl Hooker, Pat Hare, James Cotton, IkeTurner, Joe Hill Louis (including his incredi-bly rare 1950 single for Sam’s one-release-only imprint with deejay Dewey Phillips, It’sThe Phillips Records), Billy “Red” Love,Willie Nix, Eddie Snow, Sammy Lewis andWillie Johnson, Woodrow Adams, CharleyBooker, Elven Parr & the In The GrooveBoys, Honeyboy Edwards, HoustonStokes, Johnny O’Neal, Tot Randolph, Ray-mond Hill, and Boyd Gilmore, many ofthem unreleased at the time, constitute thebulk of the box.

Locating copies of the truly obscuresides was no walk in Handy Park, but theproducers had a little help along the way.“Most of the Sun-era (post-1952) music isfrom tape, but a lot of the early recordingsSam Phillips made for Chess and Modernand Trumpet had to come from the best 78rpm copies we could find. We asked liter-ally every big collector we could, and peo-ple like Victor Pearlin and John Teftellercame up trumps, and so did many others.

“The rarest items here are the acetatesSteve LaVere collected in Memphis around1970. I think that started when I was e-mail-ing with him about Billy Love for a BearFamily CD. Steve produced an unseen

In an age when all music seems to be digitally compressed into MP3 files, two record companieshave gone against that rising tide. They have assembled indispensible three box sets totaling 29 CDs,enormous historical reading, and archival photos. Efforts like these are to be lauded.


photo of Love and then when the bluesbox work restarted, I decided to ask himwhat else he had. He had a lot of acetatesand photos, and I arranged for him to letBear Family use them. He became inter-ested enough to write a little piece abouthis tape and artist research in Memphis.

“All the members of the ‘blues frater-nity’ we approached were really helpful,and a lot of people produced illustrationsand information they’d held onto for sometime. I hope the quality and importance ofwhat we were doing persuaded them thatlife is short and the information needed toget out there.”

Phillips’ savvy ears weren’t limitedduring those primordial days to a strict dietof blues recording (as Bear Family’s six-CDcollection The Sun Records Box – CountryMusic Recorded By Sam Phillips 1950-1959, also new to the shelves, makesabundantly clear). Disc eight covers Sun’shandful of R&B vocal groups, most notablythe Prisonaires (whose lovely ballad “JustWalking In The Rain” is complemented byfive more of their titles) but also includingthree tracks by the jumping Five Tinos, fourfrom the oddly monikered Hunky Dory,and Sunday morning rousers by severalrafter-rattling gospel aggregations. The lasttwo discs are reserved for rarities – andyes, those bottomless Sun vaults havecoughed up some previously unissueditems, including “Play The Game Baby”from Lost John Hunter & the Blind Bats’1950 4-Star session, four lowdown num-bers by the unknown J.C. Cole, and even aradio spot featuring the dulcet tones ofyoung announcer Sam Phillips pushing anelixir called Tree of Life.

Serious collectors of the Sun blueslegacy simply won’t be able to resist thisspectacularly rendered compilation, easilythe most complete celebration of thelabel’s early commitment to the genre everassembled. “This is certainly the best setBear family has done in the area of blues,”notes Hawkins. “It’s right up there withtheir great sets on the Carter Family andpre-war calypso, and the best of their sin-gle-artist boxes.”

No argument there – The Sun BluesBox is a legitimate tour de force.– Bill Dahl

DUANE ALLMANSkydog, The Duane AllmanRetrospectiveRounder

Walk through any art museum exhibitfeaturing a well-known artist and you’llwitness how sketches become still lifesand landscapes and themes imitatethose who came before. Eventually youget to a point in the room where theartist’s unique vision and individualitybegins to emerge on canvas. Shapesand colors become distinct; instead ofimitation, subjects break new ground;and even the mundane has a daringfreshness.

This beautifully packaged and lov-ingly assembled seven-disc retrospectiveof Duane Allman offers that same walkthrough his musical life. These 129 songsgracefully move from his budding days ingarage bands that merely imitated themusic of the day – Cream, the Yardbirds,soul classics – to his emerging slide gui-tar and ultimately his stunning virtuosity.And all that within a short, meteoric risefrom his first recordings in 1965 to hisuntimely death six years later. A career soimportant that forty years later, in 2009,Rolling Stone magazine honored Allmanas the ninth most influential guitarist.

Like every garage band from thesixties, Duane and brother Gregg playedthe music that was gaining popularity on

start-up FM, underground, radio. Fromtheir first band, The Escorts, in 1965, wehear fledgling examples of Duane’spromising lead guitar. When he andGregg turn The Escorts into The AllmanJoys a year later, one can begin to hearthe start of the search for his tone,attack, and phrasing. Still rooted in thecommon covers of the day, Allman’s gui-tar on “Shapes Of Things,” “Spoonful,”“Mister, You’re A Better Man Than I,” and“Crossroads” never become a total imi-tation of Beck and Clapton’s styles. Youcan hear the envelope being pushed.

What you’ll never hear, however,are the endless sessions Allman spentwoodsheddin’ in his room over recordsor the hours of unnamed bandrehearsals before these first recordings.That’s the true artist’s necessary prepa-ration phase essential for creative dis-covery. Though the next band, HourGlass, seems to fall prey to the over-produced pseudo-psychedelia andneo-soul that came wearing Edwardianruffled shirts and stripped bell bottoms,Gregg’s vocals and Duane’s guitardelivery of the band’s seven minuteB.B. King medley continues to be astandout of these sessions. Follow thatwith Gregg’s “Been Gone Too Long,”and brother Duane is emerging as amusical visionary capable of providingthe right guitar coloring for whatever asong’s canvas demands.

And don’t miss the 1968 recordingof Gregg’s “Melissa,” with Butch Trucks’

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31st of February band. Here,the music world can appreci-ate Duane’s first recordedslide guitar adding a gor-geous sustain to his notesbehind Gregg’s vocals. Andlike a true originator, there isno hesitation or caution inhis musical brushstrokes;rather there is a confidencedeveloping.

On Disc Two, it’s alsoimportant to follow Duane’spath to Muscle Shoals. On these 26songs, the listener can begin to appreci-ate the development of Duane’s under-standing of his musical voice. BackingClarence Carter, Wilson Pickett, ArthurConley, Aretha Franklin, King Curtis, andothers established the distinct relation-ship between a singer’s voice and theanswering, emotional voice of Allman’sslide guitar. From Carter’s 1968 “TheRoad Of Love” to Aretha’s “The Weight,”recorded a year later, Duane is forging adistinct direction for the rock music slideguitar. Compare this to his slide gooeyslide guitar a month later on King Curtis’

cover of the same song. Listen hard andyou can hear some of the darting up anddown the neck that occasionally surfacesin Derek Trucks. And that just the firsttwo CDs!

With 129 songs, everyone will findmusical paintings to linger over. Here aresome of my early favorites. Duane’s slideand dobro on Boz Scaggs’ cover ofFenton Robinson’s “Loan Me A Dime.”At 13 minutes, it continues to thrill me asit did when I first heard this in 1969. Hisslide guitar with Eddie Hinton and theMemphis Horns on the instrumental“Going Up The Country,” and his work

with Otis Rush on threesongs in 1969.

Then there are the firstsongs from the 1969 birthof the Allman BrothersBand. Each musical pieceis anchored by a poundingpercussion section, congas,and organ, which providesDuane’s slide guitar andBetts’ country-tinged leadguitar freedom to splashacross a canvas in a new

and exciting swirl. Allman and Betts’ har-monic guitars (Allman’s Coricidin glasson steel, Betts’ flat picked) archetypalsurge into Gregg’s “It’s Not My Cross ToBear” from their 1969 Capricorn albumcontinues to evoke delight.

In total, there are 21 songs collectedfrom Duane’s ABB recordings, eight ofthose are live, jam-infused excursions.Like the music of the Band and theGrateful Dead, those harmonic guitarsand extended jams of the AllmanBrothers Band represent a style of musicthat could have only emerged fromAmerican musical roots.


VARIOUS ARTISTSPlug It In! Turn It Up!Electric Blues: 1939-2005The Definitive CollectionBear Family

Presenting any historical survey of amusical style is a perilous undertaking.Fortunately for listeners, Electric Blues1939-2005, the new set issued byGermany’s Bear Family Records (whoseplace among the royalty of historical reis-sue labels is indisputable), neatly evadesany tiger traps. The deluxe presentation– 12 compact discs in four packages com-prise the set – provides a comfortablelength, and its producer Bill Dahl is asconversant with the subject as one couldhope to find. His thoughtful selections andengaging annotations support a collectionthat more than lives up to the challenge ofcondensing seven decades’ worth ofAmerica’s richest musical invention.

The first volume begins with 1939’spioneering “Floyd’s Guitar Blues” by AndyKirk and His Twelve Clouds Of Joy; windsthrough house-rocking numbers by SisterRosetta Tharpe, John Lee (Sonny Boy)Williamson, and Stick McGhee; andincludes offerings by T-Bone Walker andhis disciples. For every elegant side fromJimmy Witherspoon or Charles Brown,there is a lowdown counterpart from

John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, orDetroit bluesman Baby Boy Warren.

Such vitally important but some-times overlooked artists as LowellFulson, Roy Brown, and RobertNighthawk are appropriately represented.Disc Two offers great but lesser-knownsides by Cecil Gant, Johnny Otis’s gui-tarist Pete Lewis, Floyd Dixon, JohnnyShines, and Boyd Gilmore along withselections by immortals like Little Walter,Fats Domino, Howlin’ Wolf, ElmoreJames, and B.B. King.

Sonny Boy Williamson II’s incredible“Pontiac Blues” is matched in intensity bySunny Blair’s pulse-pounding, take on“Please Send My Baby Back To Me.” DiscThree unearths Danny Overbea’s jaunty“Forty Cups Of Coffee,” reminds us of theraunchy greatness of Papa Lightfoot andJoe Hill Louis, presents the down-homeLil’ Son Jackson, and ensures that listen-ers appreciate the incredible guitar players

Floyd Murphy (on JuniorParker’s “Feelin’ Good”),Pat Hare, and Lafayette“Thing” Thomas, all along-side unbeatable sides bymore familiar artists: RayCharles, Guitar Slim,Jimmy Reed, JimmyRogers, and the fantasticWynonie Harris.

Part Two concentrateson the 1950s heyday of

electric blues. Crucial talents representedhere include Ike Turner, Robert LockwoodJr., Eddie Taylor, Big Walter Horton, J.B.Lenoir, George Smith, Hank Ballard, andJohnny “Guitar” Watson, not to mentionChuck Berry, Billy Boy Arnold, Bo Diddley,and Little Willie John, all on the first disc.

Disc Two introduces Bobby “Blue”Bland and Little Milton; features Excello’sswamp blues masters; covers Texas bluesfrom artists as diverse as Frankie LeeSims and Fenton Robinson; and includessmashes “Kansas City” by Wilbert Harri-son, and “Honky Tonk” by Bill Doggett.The final CD in this volume is the hippestin the entire set, collecting 29 essentialblues instrumentals. From Memphis Slim,Tiny Grimes, and Bill Jennings to JodyWilliams and Jimmy Nolen, and fromMickey Baker, Ike Turner, and Wild JimmySpruill to Freddie King, Lightnin’ Hopkins,and Albert Collins, every track is a realgem. Such revered recordings as

From the band’s studio output,there are ABB classics like “WhippingPost,” “Dreams,” “Midnight Rider,” BlueSky,” “Trouble No More,” and Don’tKeep Me Wonderin’.” Live songs include“Blue Sky,” Dreams,” In Memory OfElizabeth Reed,” “You Don’t LoveMe/Soul Serenade,” “One Way Out,” andblues classics, “Dimples,” HoochieCoochie Man,” “I’m Gonna Move To TheOutskirts Of Town,” and “StatesboroBlues.”

Need more? How about Allman’sunique work with Eric Clapton on fivesongs including his iconic work on“Layla” and their acoustic “Mean OldWorld?” Or his four tunes with JohnHammond? Or his seven songs, three liveacoustic, with Delaney & Bonnie andFriends? Or lest we forget, his three tunesfrom 1971 backing flutist Herbie Mann or

his live “Sugar Magnolia” from a 1971Dead show, or his work with Lulu, LauraNyro, Ronnie Hawkins, Johnny Jenkins,and on and on. And don’t forget toname check every band member for onesurprise after another.

Finally, there is the packaging. Thecover is Allman’s battered, road worn gui-tar case, the case that was displayedbefore his casket. Open the box and youare staring at Skydog’s Gold Top Les Paulsurrounded by a golden velvet, an exactreplica of the tool he took to his on-stagejob every night. And each CD is in apaper sleeve, replicating the packaging ofguitar strings. In addition to a wellresearched history of Allman and theband and over 40 timeless photos, thereis a from the heart, nine-page perspectiveof Allman written by his daughter,Galadrielle Allman, who was only two

when Duane died and has spent her lifechasing her father’s musical vision.

One only needs to compare Allman’sguitar from the set’s second song, the1965 Escorts’ instrumental, with the finaltune, his picturesque “Little Martha” record-ed with Betts six years later, to appreciatethe breath of Duane Allman’s artistry.

Duane Allman is near the root of thetree of the modern American slide guitar.He imaginatively built on a bottleneck gui-tar style that others before him had pio-neered. Today, over 40 years since hisdeath, it’s hard to find a current slide gui-tarist who has not studied Allman’s soundand style. And like Allman, today’s truevisionaries are searching for their ownglass on steel voice that will glide thegenre into the future in the same wayDuane Allman did.– Art Tipaldi


Earl Hooker’s influential cover of “TheHucklebuck,” Horton’s impossibly great“Easy,” Magic Sam’s matchless update of“Looking Good,” and Watson’s improba-bly wild “Space Guitar” are here, as arerarely-heard sides like Guitar Gable’s cool“Congo Mambo,” Johnny Heartsman’s“House Party,” and the unbelievablyobscure “Royal Earl Shuffle” (by RoyalEarl, don’tcha know?).

Part Three zeroes in on the 1960s.Opening with the spine-tingling one-twopunch of Otis Rush (“So Many Roads”)and Buddy Guy (“First Time I Met TheBlues”), Disc One presents Freddie King,Frank Frost, Bobby Parker, and BobbyBland. Kid Thomas’s insanely wild“Rockin’ This Joint To-Nite” will be new tomany, whereas “You Don’t Love Me,”“Come On,” “Messin’ With The Kid,” and“Cut You A-Loose” (not to mention theWolf, Elmore James, Bo Diddley, andJimmy Reed sides included here) res-onate to this day.

Disc Two presents huge hits(Tommy Tucker’s “Hi-Heel Sneakers”)and rarities (Frankie Lee’s “Full TimeLover”); introduces Albert King and

Koko Taylor; and points to the increasinginfluence of soul music on the blues, withcontributions from Aretha Franklin,Tyrone Davis, Wilson Pickett, ClarenceCarter, Mabel John, Johnnie Taylor, andEtta James.

Disc Three covers the blues rockmovement, with recordings ranging fromRonnie Hawkins’s cover of “Who Do YouLove,” featuring a young Robbie Robert-son’s blistering guitar, through The JeffBeck Group’s “I Ain’t Superstitious.”Johnny Winter, The Butterfield BluesBand, Canned Heat, Fleetwood Mac,Charlie Musselwhite, The Animals, and arare recording from Michael Bloomfieldare here, though perhaps outside thescope of a blues history.

Part Four covers the years from 1970to 2005. Disc One extends the look atsoul blues, with classics by O.V. Wright,Latimore, Bobby Rush, Little Johnny Tay-lor, Z.Z. Hill, Ann Peebles, Syl Johnson,Tyrone Davis, Albert King, Little Milton,and Al Green; outstanding, but less oftenheard, contributions from Artie White, Lit-tle Sonny, Bill Coday, and Little Beaver. Ofparticular note are Bettye LaVette’s spell-

binding “Your Turn To Cry” and IsraelTolbert’s original recording of “Big LegWoman.”

Discs Two and Three offer a solidoverview of the evolution of various bluesstyles over the last four decades. Thecontinued relevance of first- and second-generation bluesmen is heard in latter-day sides by Wells, Rush, Guy, B.B. King,and Gatemouth Brown, while their influ-ence is represented in the music of rock-ers ZZ Top, Bonnie Raitt, Rory Gallagher,and George Thorogood. Revivalists TheHollywood Fats Band, Roomful of Blues,and The Fabulous Thunderbirds appear,as do Chicago- and Mississippi-basedhard blues artists (Son Seals and R.L.Burnside among them) and a newer gen-eration of stars like Joe Louis Walker andRobert Cray.

It is a rare pleasure to be able to puta disc in the tray, press play, and knowthat every track will be enjoyable as wellas significant. Blues aficionados as muchas newcomers will derive this sort of plea-sure from Plug It In! Turn It Up! Count it atowering archival achievement.– Tom Hyslop

Shaun Murphy – “Mighty Long Road” from the album Ask For The Moon on Sound Ventures Music.Shaun Murphy is one of the best singers of her generation, whether she is belting out a rocking tune or tearing your heart out on a soulful ballad.

www.shaunmurphyband.com

Billy Seward with his Memphis Brothers – “Better Place” from the album Better Place.Recorded at the famous Ardent Studios in Memphis, “Better Place” shows Seward’s love of soul and blues music on a disc that captures

his expressive singing and outstanding original songs.www.soulfonic.com/the-band/billy-seward-2/

Long Tall Deb – “Married to the Blues” from the album Raise Your Hands on the VizzTone Label Group.Raised in El Paso, Long Tall Deb Landolt uses her powerful voice to breathe life into original songs featuring her sharp lyrics.

Her new release features numerous musical friends, including Jimmy Thackery on guitar on this track.www.longtalldeb.com

Jeff Strahan – “River’s Gonna Rise” from the album Blue ‘Til I Die.Texan Jeff Strahan is steadily building a fan base and once you hear his biting guitar and tough vocals, you will be looking forward

to catching one of his exciting live shows.www.jeffstrahan.com

Andy Poxon – “Fooling Around” from the album Tomorrow on Ellersoul Records.Still a teenager, guitarist Andy Poxon has been playing live for five years. His second release for Ellersoul shows off

his rich vocal style and outstanding guitar playing.www.andypoxon.com

Teeny Tucker – “Shoes” from the album Voodoo To Do You on TeBo Records.The sassy Teeny Tucker can take you down in the alley or charm you with her impressive vocal skills.

You’re going to love this song about her fascination with footwear!www.teenytucker.com

Doug MacLeod – “Dubb’s Talking Religion Blues” from the album There’s A Time on Reference Recordings.Take your pick – singer, guitar player, songwriter, storyteller, writer, radio DJ – Doug MacLeod excels at all of them.He has received a dozen nominations for Blues Music Awards and this cut shows why he is held in such high regard.

www.doug-macleod.com

Brandon Santini – “Got Good Lovin’” from the album This Time Another Year on Swing Suit Records.One of the new generation of harp players, Brandon Santini’s latest is full of great original tunes plus plenty of hard blowin’ on the harp.

With Jeff Jensen on guitar and guest appearance by Victor Wainwright on three cuts.www.brandonsantini.com

Otis Grand – “Rumba Conga Twist” from the self-released album Blues ’65.Guitarist Otis Grand rocks the house with his latest featuring plenty of past and present members of Roomful of Blues, including Sugar Ray Norcia on vocals.

www.otisgrand.com

Austin Young & No Difference – “Thunderhead” from the album Blue As Can Be on the VizzTone Label Group.While he might be young in age, Austin Young sounds like a road-tested veteran. You will be hearing plenty

from this electrifying guitarist and singer in the years ahead.www.austinyoungband.com

Selwyn Birchwood – “FL Boy” from the album FL Boy.The winner of the 2013 International Blues Challenge and the recipient of the Gibson Most Promising Guitarist Award,

Selwyn Birchwood celebrates his Florida roots on the title cut from his debut recording.www.selwynbirchwood.com

Lisa Mann – “Til the Wheels Come Off” from the album Satisfied.Winner of three Muddy Waters awards from the Cascade Blues Society, including Female Vocalist, Bass Player and Contemporary Blues Band,

Lisa will be touring hard this summer, so be on the lookout for this multi-talented performer.www.lisamannmusic.com

If you are not already a subscriber,you can join the Blues Music Magazine

community by either going to the websitewww.bluesmusicmagazine.com

or call toll-free 866-702-7778.

Blues Music Magazine is featuring a Digital Sampler for download in every issue.Please go to www.bluesmusicmagazine.com/BMM1 to download this Digital Samplerand visit the artist websites. Enjoy!


BOBBY “BLUE” BLANDJanuary 27, 1930 – June 20, 2013

Bobby “Blue” Bland, the elegant voice of the blues, passed awayon June 20, 2013 in Memphis. If Bobby Bland’s salad days seemedfar behind him to you, listen to the album Two Steps From TheBlues today, the day after his death at age 83. It is a timeless essayin the nuances of love, devotion and heartache, as alive withpassion as when it was released in 1961. Bland, who was born inrural Rosemark, Tennessee, on January 27, 1930 and began singingwith local gospel groups as a youth, roseto fame with the turn of the 1950s layingthe foundation for soul music as a popu-lar style and making that genre one ofthe artistic legacies that Tennessee hastaken to the world. He has resided inMemphis since moving there at age 17with his mother, and his presence was anintegral part of Memphis’ ignition andongoing reputation as a music Mecca.

From his 1952 debut on DukeRecords, Bland set the standard bywhich soul music was defined. Amongthe timeless songs from those sessionsare “I Pity The Fool” (a title that later slipped into the world’svernacular after it was adopted as a tag line by the TV celebrityMr. T), “Farther On Up The Road” (recorded by Eric Claptonand many others), “Lead Me On,” “I’ll Take Care Of You,” “Cry,Cry, Cry,” “Turn On Your Love Light,” “Don’t Cry No More,”“Little Boy Blue,” “Stormy Monday Blues,” and “Two Steps FromThe Blues.” The latter is also the title of Bland’s classic 1961 Dukealbum, which is considered one of the finest long-playing record-ings in American popular music. It was inducted in the BluesFoundation Hall of Fame in 1987, and Rolling Stone gives thealbum its highest rating: five stars.

Memphis’ legendary Stax and Hi Records labels, creativepowerhouses of the 1960s and 1970s that put hundreds of singleson the charts and made “soul” the sound of racially evolvingAmerica, would not have existed without the blueprint of Bland’searly Memphis-made recordings such as “Crying All Night Long”and “Dry Up Baby,” which were released by the legendary ChessRecords in 1951, or the many other massive Bobby Bland hits that

have influenced thousands of other artists and are todayconsidered standards in the realms of soul, blues and pop music.

According to Joel Whitburn’s Top R&B Singles 1942-1988, thedefinitive volume on traditional R&B record sales, Bland is tied withNew Orleans’ early rock architect Fats Domino for seventh place on

the list of “most charted artists,” with 63singles. His ranking among “top artists ofthe ‘60s” – an era that embraced therecordings of Aretha Franklin, OtisRedding, James Brown and others – is aneven more impressive number four.

His compassionate life in musicbecame recognized starting with his 1981induction into the Blues Foundation Hallof Fame. A year later he was awarded theFoundation’s Male Vocalist and Enter-tainer of the Year. He was inducted in theRock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1992,received the Blues Foundation’s Lifetime

Achievement in 1997, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement in 1998,and many, many more.

There’s more to Bland’s story and his artistry than a list ofhits. His fight to overcome poverty and illiteracy is part of theshared experience of many African-Americans who grew upunder the iron hand of Jim Crow. But there’s never been a hint ofbitterness in his music or his warm and openhearted demeanoroff- or onstage. And onstage and on record is where Bland trulyopens up his heart via his warm, expressive and unremittinglysoulful baritone voice. Listening to Bland’s vocal performancesprovides a tour of the entire perspective of human emotions andideals: love, joy, pain, spiritual transcendence, aspiration. It’s all inthe grooves or on stage with the man. And historic sales statisticsbear out that many, many listeners share this feeling. Up to hisdeath, he still played more than 80 dates a year with his big band,reeling back the decades to rekindle the sound and the spirit ofAmerica’s most artistically and socially important post-War-era.– Ted Drozdowski

MORRIS HOLT, aka MAGIC SLIMAugust 7, 1937 – February 21, 2013

After weeks of hospitalization, Magic Slim, akaMorris Holt, died on February 21, 2013 of com-plications from a breathing disorder. Born inMississippi in 1937, Slim witnessed the horrors ofsharecropping firsthand and also understood thepower music has in soothing one’s troubles.

He took an early interest in music, singingin the church choir. His first love was piano but,having lost a finger on his right hand in a cottongin accident, he found it difficult to play prop-erly and switched to guitar. He worked in the

fields during the week and played the blues athouse parties on the weekends. “I got my handhurt when I was 13 and I switched to guitar. Ipicked it up by ear off the radio. I never went toschool for music. I can’t read music. I wouldn’tknow what it is if I see it. But I know whatsounds good and makes people dance,” Slimtold me.

When Slim made his first trip to Chicagoin 1955, his childhood friend and guitar giantMagic Sam hired him to play bass in his band.

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OTHER PASSINGS

Micky Baker – November 15, 1925 – November 27, 2012

Johnnie Billington – 1935 to April 1, 2013

Texas Johnny Brown – February 22, 1928 – July 1, 2013

Eddie Burns – February 8, 1928 – December 12, 2012

Precious Bryant – January 4, 1942 – January 13, 2013

Rosco Chenier – November 6, 1941 – February 7, 2013

Nick Curran – September 30, 1977 – October 6, 2012

Jimmy Dawkins – October 24, 1936 – April 10, 2013

T-Model Ford – 1923 – July 16, 2013

Alvin Lee – December 19, 1944 – March 6, 2013

Shirley Lewis – February 25, 1937 – May 5, 2013

Willie Littlefield – September 16, 1931 – June 23, 2013

Jimmy McCracklin – August 13, 1921 – December 20, 2012

Kathi McDonald – September 25, 1948 – October 3, 2012

Ann Rabson – April 12, 1945 – January 30, 2013

Cleotha Staples – April 11, 1934 – February 21, 2013

Artie “Blues Boy” White – April 16, 1937 – April 20, 2013

Slim returned to Mississippi for five more years, perfecting hiscraft before he again returned to Chicago.

“When I first started in Chicago, nobody wanted to let meplay. They said I couldn’t play and wouldn’t let me sit in with them.But I broke through because I kept on playing. Magic Sam waswho I got my name from. He gave me the name because I was slimand tall and I’d go around with him.”

In addition to the nickname, Magic Sam’s advice was alsowith Slim throughout his musical life. “When I first started play-ing, he told me, ‘Don’t try and play like me, or nobody else. Tryand find a style of your own.’ It took me a long time working onit, but I finally got it. My style is a hard punching blues. It can befast and people can dance, or it can be slow and people can think.”

Throughout the mid-1970s, Slim and his tough band workedthe South and North side clubs every night of the week, gaining ahuge following and getting the attention of promoters and recordlabels. Slim’s recording career began with a series of singles in1966; 12 years later, in 1977, he recorded his first album forMarcelle Morgantini’s French MCM label. He also recorded forAlligator, Wolf, Rooster, Evidence, Delmark, Storyville, Black &Blue, and many others before finding a home in 1990 at Blind PigRecords, which issued ten albums and a live DVD over that span.His last release, 2012’s Bad Boy, proved that Slim could still deliverthe goods.

Slim and his group, the Teardrops, have won six Blues MusicAwards, including the coveted Blues Band of the Year in 2003.Since the first Blues Music Awards in 1980, Slim and his bandhave been nominated 44 times, a testament to Slim’s appeal toboth critics and fans alike. Three months after his death, Slimwon the 2013 Traditional Blues Male Artist. The music worldwill miss this true original.– Art Tipaldi


21 Alligator57 Amelia Island Blues FestivalCOVER Ana Popovic46 BlueStar Connection71 Blues Foundation68 Bob Margolin53, 72 Brad Vickers25 CSP23 Concord Music63 Delta Groove Records37 HART Fund42 Hi-Sound Audio58 Heritage Music Blues Fest46 Homemade Jamz

50 Jackson Rhythm& Blues Festival

29 Joe BonamassaCOVER Kitchener Blues Fest10 Legendary Rhythm

& Blues Cruise41 Mascot Provogue12 Mississippi & Mojo Hands55 Mississippi Heat4 MC Records72 Music Maker49 NorthernBlues Music2 Otis Grand66 Pennsylvania Blues Festival

72 Paul Benjamin28 Reference Recordings37 Reverend Freakchild61 Riverside BluesFest45 Shining StoneCOVER Sin City68 Sterling Koch26 Sweetspot32 Telarc56 Tweed Funk13 Wild Roots Records43 Yellow Dog72 Zeroglide

Statement of Ownership

As required by the United States Postal Standards, below is theStatement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation of Blues MusicMagazine USPS 1091-7543. Blues Music Magazine is published sixtimes a year with a $35.00 annual subscription price.

The known office of publication and general business officesare located at 1001 11th Ave West, Bradenton, FL 34205. Exclusivelicensee MojoWax Media, Inc., managing editor, Art Tipaldi, P.O. Box1446, Bradenton, FL 34206. Blues Music Magazine is owned byMojoWax Media, Inc. whose president and chief executive officeris John Sullivan, P.O. Box 1446, Bradenton, FL 34206. Knownbondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders: NONE.

The average number of copies of each issue during the preced-ing 12 months are: (A) Total Number of Copies Printed: 20,000; (B1)Mailed Outside-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541:11,500; (B2) Mailed In-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form3541: 0; (B3) Paid Distribution Outside the Mails Including SalesThrough Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales, andOther Paid Distribution Outside USPS: 7500; (B4) Paid Distribution byOther Classes Mailed Through the USPS: 0 (C) Total Paid Circulation:19,500; (D1) Free or Nominal Rate Outside-County Copies Included onPS Form 3541: 0; (D2) Free or Nominal Rate In-County Copies Includedon PS Form 3541: 0; (D3) Free or Nominal Rate Copies Mailed at OtherClasses Through the USPS: 0; (D4) Free or Nominal Rate DistributionOutside the Mail (Carriers or Other Means): 500; (E) Total Free orNominal Rate Distribution: 500; (F) Total Distribution: 20,000;(G) Copiesnot Distributed: 0; (H) Total: 20,000; Percent Paid: 98%.

The actual number of copies of single issue nearest to filing date(Oct/Nov Issue) are: Total Number of Copies Printed: 20,000; (B1)Mailed Outside-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541:11,515; (B2) Mailed In-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form3541: 0;(B3) Paid Distribution Outside the Mails Including SalesThrough Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales, andOther Paid Distribution Outside USPS: 7245; (B4) Paid Distribution byOther Classes Mailed Through the USPS: 790 (C) Total Paid Circulation:19550; (D1) Free or Nominal Rate Outside-County Copies Included onPS Form 3541: 0; (D2) Free or Nominal Rate In-County Copies Includedon PS Form 3541: 0; (D3) Free or Nominal Rate Copies Mailed at OtherClasses Through the USPS: 0; (D4) Free or Nominal Rate DistributionOutside the Mail (Carriers or Other Means): 450; (E) Total Free orNominal Rate Distribution: 450; (F) Total Distribution: 20,000; (G) Copiesnot Distributed: 0; (H) Total: 20,000; (I) Percent Paid: 98%.

I certify that the statements above are correct and complete.Signed John Sullivan President MojoWax Media, Inc.

Blues Music Magazine celebrates the student teacher relationship in theblues as we feature the exquisite pairing between Charlie Musselwhite and

Ben Harper. We cover the recording of their record, Get Up!, and review their live show. In addition, we’ve profiled piano masterMarcia Ball, talked with Don Bennett, her bass player for more then 30 years, talked blues roots with Corey Harris, and sat withOtis Taylor, his daughter Cassie, and violinist Annie Harris. We’ll take you on the road with snapshots of exciting shows andtell you about the best of the summer’s current crop of blues.

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