Blues Matters 130

THE ACE OF BLUES

SHAKING THE BLUES TO FIT THE CINELLI BROTHERS IS A DEAD MAN WALKING JIM KIRKPATRICK REBECCA DOWNES

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CONTENTS

FEATURES & REGULARS

06: PHENOMENAL BLUES WOMEN

08: RECORD REVIEW ROUND UP

10: LEONARD COHEN

12: READING BLUES FEST IN PICTURES

14: ILLUSTRATED BLUES

16: BUTLINS FESTIVAL REVIEW

20: RECORDING WITH REDFISH

50: UK BLUES AWARDS 2023

INTERVIEWS

24: JARED JAMES NICHOLS

26: REBECCA DOWNED

28: JIM KIRKPATRICK

30: THE CINELLI BROTHERS

34: KAZ HAWKINS

38: JOE LOUIS WALKER

40: ANGELA STREHLI

46: LAURENCE JONES

52: GERRY JABLONSKI

Joy Watts

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PHENOMENAL BLUES WOMEN :MS. BOBBYE HALL

by Dani Wilde

You may not have heard of Bobbye Hall, but you absolutely will have HEARD her. Bobbye Hall is one of the great American percussionists. Her rhythm playing can be heard on some of the greatest popular records by artists including The Temptations, Janis Joplin, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, The Doors, Stevie Wonder, Bill Withers, Marvin Gaye, Pink Floyd and Carole King, to name just a few.

Having started her professional career with Motown as their youngest ever session player,Hall’s versatile percussive drumming would span many genres from her roots in Rhythm and Blues, to Soul, Jazz, Latin, Folk, Country, Rock and Pop. Hall has succeeded beyond measure as female drummer and percussionist in a man’s world, always in demand, using her huge talent to contribute to hit after hit!

Bobbye Hall was born in 1950 in Detroit, USA. As a child, she loved music, and especially she loved to bang out grooves on her mother’s pots and pans.

“Beating on my mom’s pots and pans — when I’d sit at the kitchen table to eat, I would rock my feet back and forth,” Hall reminisced as she recalled her earliest memories in an interview with NPR Music. “And my mother would go, ‘Baby, baby, baby, stop rocking. Be still. Hold still!”

As it became clear this was far more than a childhood phase, her family bought her a set of bongos from their local music store:

“Once I got the bongos, the drums were my voice.”

Hall was a rhythmical prodigy. At just 11 years of age, she was discovered performing at a local teen-hop by Motown producer Paul Riser, who invited her to play on a Motown session.

“He said, ‘Bobbye, would you like to make a session?’ And I said, ‘Sure, what’s a session?’” Hall would later laugh at her innocence.

“It was really funny because he’d have to come pick me up because (being a kid) I didn’t drive!” Hall told Tom Tom Magazine... “And my mother would kiss me in front of everyone!”

Despite her young age, she impressed her fellow musicians with her natural feel, tempo, and creative ability.

Hall contributed a range of percussion instruments including tambourine, triangle, congas and bongos to a succession of Motown hits for groups including The Temptations, The Miracles, Marvin Gaye and The Supremes. Even though the other session musicians were old enough to be her father, Hall enjoyed herself and soon became a regular at Motown. She was also, other than the lady who sat on the front desk, the only female at the sessions. What a phenomenal achievement! “I very seldom get to work with women,” Bobbye Hall would express to Tom Tom Magazine. Sadly, because of her young age she was not acknowledged on any of Motown’s credits.

“They became — every one of them was my dad,” Hall told NPR. “I said nothing. I sat there very proper and all-ears and very quiet...and I would listen to them talk. They would talk about how the music was going down. They would pop their fingers, clap their hands; some of them would do it with their feet — you know, just, ‘One [snaps], two.’ I can remember it right now today. I felt so much at home.”

In 1971, Hall was invited to play percussion on Marvin Gaye’s Inner City Blues. Her percussion is prominent on the track. There is no drumkit as one would perhaps expect; instead, Hall builds the dynamic of the track with triangle and bongos. The result is an earthy and intimate feel that matches the deep sincerity of Gaye’s socially conscious lyrics that talk about the bleak financial situation in the ghetto, and the Vietnam war. Whist underpinning the lyric with feel and emotion, her drumming equally makes you want to nod your head and tap your foot as you listen.

Marvin Gaye was also the first to take Hall out of the studio and into the concert halls. At her first live gig with Marvin Gaye, young Bobbye Hall was over the moon with excitement. On the break she telephoned her Mother and told her “Mom, you’re not going to believe this. They’re dancing to the music that we’re making onstage. They’re wearing heels and mink coats — Mom, it’s so great.”

That same year, Janis Joplin’s Me and Bobby McGee, featuring Bobbye Hall’s percussion, reached the Number 1 slot on the billboard charts. Hall had recorded for Janis Joplin in 1970 at Sunset Sound studios. She described Joplin as a “very vibrant, alive woman and she wore costume jewellery like a gypsy.”

At Alfold Festival with the incredible Zac Schulze. What a fantastic band.

Aboard a Blues Cruise, with Jonny Dyke, keyboard player with King King. He’s a superbly talented musician.

Photographer Arnie Goodman caught Larry McCray backstage reading his copy of Blues Matters.

Hall was booked to come back the following day to lay down more percussion on Pearl, an album that would be released posthumously because 27 year old Joplin died of an accidental heroin overdose that very night.

“I played [my part] later and I asked the producer if he would dim the lights,” Hall recalled to NPR; “And I did it alone.”

In 1972, Hall was working alongside Bill Withers. She provided percussion on his gospel infused Number 1 Hit lean on Me, and also played the most beautiful percussion on Wither’s Live At Carnagie Hall Album. I love that record. It is raw and real; Wither’s connects with his audience on an intimate and spiritual level that Hall instinctively understands and elevates through her playing. She knows when to play, and when not to play – The music has groove and it has space, and the balance and the creativity and communication between all the musicians is just magical.

Around this time Hall played on two of Carole King’s studio songs that charted in the Billboard Hot 100; Sweet Seasons which reached number 9 in 1971 and Been to Canaan which reached number 24 the following year. By 1973, Hall was touring with Carole King, the lady who gave Hall her professional name ‘Ms. Bobby Hall’: “Carole King gave me that, because they would introduce me as ‘Little Bobbye’ from Detroit.’ And I said to her, ‘Carole, do me a favour, would you please? Please don’t introduce me as Little Bobbye from Motown?’... So she would introduce me and she said, ‘Ms. Bobbye Hall,’ and I just loved her for it. I still wear it very happily.” NPR Interview 2015.

That same year she would record with James Taylor and Stevie Wonder. Stevie Wonder’s song Bird of Beauty from his album Fulfillingness perhaps best showcases Hall’s huge talent; here she plays a cuíca, a Brazilian friction drum with an impressive pitch range, produced by changing the tension on the head of the drum.

I want that instrument to like me,” Hall would explain as she described how she felt about experimenting with new instruments; “I want it to embrace me and take me where it needs to go. It’s a relationship, yes.”

Hall used the cuíca to evoke the feel and mood of a Brazilian Carnival. Fulfillingness would earn Stevie Wonder three Grammy Awards!

Throughout the 1970’s Bobbye Hall’s reputation as a session player continued to grow.

In 1977 she released her only solo album entitled Body Language For Lovers. The album was a soul/jazz instrumental work that she had co-written with her husband, record producer Joe Porter. The album did not chart, however it does further showcase Hall’s creativity and musicianship.

The following year she was back on the road, this time with Bob Dylan. Hall would recall Dylan’s appreciation for Black culture, including soul food. She would sometimes join him for dinner, where he would entertain her with card tricks. As the tour progressed though, Dylan began to call meetings where he would criticize his band for playing too formulaic. Hall reflected of these times “when he spoke to us, he was not the poet!”

Ready to move on, the following year she was back in the studio, contributing her rhythmic talents to a progressive rock opera – none other than Pink Floyd’s The Wall. The Wall would initially receive quite mixed reviews from critics, some calling it ‘pretentious’. Today of course it is celebrated as one of the greatest rock albums of all time.

Throughout the 1980s, Hall spent a lot of time working alongside Stevie Nicks on her studio album Bella Donna and the tours that followed. She would also work with Rod Stewart, Tom Petty, Dolly Parton, Marc Bolan, Jeff Healey, Tracy Chapman and Aretha Franklin.

When asked what words of wisdom she would give to aspiring session musicians, Bobbye Hall told Tom Tom Magazine that you really have to be “over the top driven! Because it’s not easy, it really isn’t — but it’s a beautiful life. On your down time you really have to be centered, and you have to know and think about the next gig. ‘Cause I’m the most hired and the most fired. Carnegie Hall today, unemployment tomorrow. When I go on a job, on a gig, on a session, I am working my way out of that job when I leave there. It no longer exists. It’s a life-long dedication.”

As a next-level talented and driven female, Bobbye Hall is hugely inspirational.

“At one time I represented five minorities.” she told Tom Tom Magazine. “I was just being me: a black American woman, single mom, female drummer.. I was a self-employed contractor, and a property owner.”

Today, 72 year old Bobbye Hall resides in her Los Angeles home; a house that is decorated with gold and silver discs – a celebration of the many hits that she contributed to - her legacy.

This magazine was originally called Blues Matters - Shades of Savoy Brown.

Inspired by the one and only Kim Simmonds. Kim was a huge inspiration for us all. Ironically both Kim and Editor/ Publisher/Fan/Founder Alan Pearce passed in 2022, indeed a sad year for the blues...

My introduction to Savoy Brown was in February 1969 at the Fillmore East. They were supporting Chuck Berry and boasted the classic lineup of Kim, Chris Youlden, Lonesome Dave, Tone Stevens and Roger Earl. They played Louisiana Blues which to me became one of Kim’s signature songs. Savoy Brown would soldier on through many lineups but Kim was the one constant.

He was Savoy Brown and Savoy Brown was him. I was fortunate enough to manage Savoy Brown for a period in the 1980s and during that time Kim really taught me what the blues was all about, culminating in the Kings of Boogie LP. Youlden, Lonesome Dave, Dave Walker, Nathaniel Peterson all fronted Savoy Brown until Kim himself took the lead vocal chair and did it himself.

A master of re-invention was he.... a quote from my friend Eugene Skuratowicz, John Lee Hookers manager: “Kim continued performing til his aging body died just like my client JLH and many other blues greats”. Yes 56 years of Kim and Savoy Brown but it’s never really enough now is it? A great man, musician, bandleader and friend, right now “All I Can Do Is Cry”.

Rest easy Kim!

Peace, Arnie Goodman

Bobbye Hall is hugely inspirational

RECORD ROUND-UP

THE ROLLING STONES EXILE ON MAIN STREET

ROLLING STONES RECORDS

In 1972, this album was released, and to let’s be fair, very mixed reactions. The 10th album from the Stones to be released in England, and the 12th in America, Exile was the album nobody thought would happen, some didn’t want it to happen, and a few journalists at the time panned it for happening at all. Following a tumultuous few years for the Stones, Altamont, drug busts, and tax burdens, many thought that the band would go away and not be heard of again. But this is The Rolling Stones we are talking about. In a rented villa, Nellcote, the band set up camp in the South Of France. Out of all the chaos, Exile On Main Street has since been ranked the best Stones album of all time by various polls. I must admit, I wholeheartedly agree. Not only was this a haven for the band, but it was also an opportunity to invite some very

THE ROLLING STONES

EL MOCAMBO

ROLLING STONES RECORDS

Whenever The Rolling Stones reissue an album, especially a live album, you can bet your bottom dollar that it is going to be a phenomenal release. Well, that is most certainly true with EL Mocambo 1977. In 1977, it could be said that The Rolling Stones were in turmoil. Actually, that is a massive understatement. The Stones were looking at a possible lay-off of around five years because of Keith’s brush with the Canadian drug authorities. If Keith were sentenced to a prison term, who knows if the Stones would have survived? But this is The Rolling Stones that we are talking about. Keith was sentenced but it was suspended for a year, and it was also dependent on his undergoing treatment. This led him to his meeting with as Keith describes her, my blind angel. He agreed to help and play some benefit gigs to help the blind association, as well as undergoing drug rehabilitation. On top of all that, Mick Taylor had left the band, and Ronnie Wood joined as a temporary guitarist,

THE ROLLING STONES CHECKERBOARD LOUNGE

LIVE IN CHICAGO-1981

Eagle Vision

This album was originally released in 2012, up until then it had just been something that you could find if you searched on YouTube.

The Rolling Stones were partway through a grueling North American tour and had stopped off in Chicago to go and see Muddy Waters perform at The Checkerboard Loung which was owned by Buddy Guy. The Checkerboard Lounge was a typical Chicago blues club, small, and intimate, but with an amazing atmosphere. It actually only held 200 people, so you can understand the intimacy. Muddy Waters and his

talented musicians along to the proceedings. A veritable who’s who of great musicians. Exile kicks off with, Rocks Off, this has become somewhat of a standard at live gigs. The double-album consists of some of the finest Stone’s work in my opinion. It’s not just an album that has been thrown together because they were marooned in a foreign country, this album brought out the best writing for Mick & Keith, allowing them to express themselves even more. With the introduction of so many other friends and musicians, the recording and writing gave way to more and more ideas, instead of just Mick & Keith bearing the brunt. Hip Shake and Casino Boogie show another side of the band, with Ian Stewart on piano, and Keith taking over bass duties, something that he began to do early in the Stones’ career. Tumbling Dice, with Sweet Black Angel as the B-side, and Happy, with All Down The line as the B-side, both charted in England, Europe, and America. Sweet Virginia sees the band take another musical path, that of a country path. Both Mick & Keith had long

been fans of country music, especially Hank Williams. Sweet Virginia starts deep in country mode, then towards the end of the song, it ushers in a boogie which gives it a country/blues boogie jig to the proceedings. Ventilator Blues and Shine A Light remains two of my favourite Rolling Stones tunes to this day. Both tunes signify what the Stones are all about. A blues band, a rock’n’roll band, and a blues-orientated rock band. Exile On Main Street is the bluesiest album, the most complete album that the Stones ever recorded, it’s official in many polls around the world. Don’t just take my word for it.

the Stones sold out Knebworth in 1976, then it was off to North America for Ronnies first tour with the band. As is the usual protocol for the Stones, when they start a big tour, they quite often arrange a couple of very low-key small club gigs, just to get their road chops up to speed. Hence, EL Mocambo in Toronto. This reissue on vinyl is pressed in bright neon colours, over five sides. EL Mocambo is a small

band are already into their set when Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, and Ian Stewart walk into the club. What follows is, in my opinion, the greatest blues line-up that has ever assembled on a stage. The gig kicks off with Sweet Little Angel, by B.B. King, the Muddy Waters band in full swing as The Stones take their seats at a table right in front of the stage. It’s not long before Muddy calls for Mick Jagger to join him on stage during Baby Please Don’t Go, a Muddy Waters classic. This sets the tempo for the evening, Mick joins The Muddy Waters Band on stage, quickly followed by Ronnie and Ian Stewart. It is the sheer unexpectedness and the intimacy of the surroundings that go to make this album as good as it is. Whoever thought about recording this on video and audio back in 1981 deserves a medal the size

club with a capacity of 300, the perfect setting for the boys to test out the new live set. The opening riffs of Honky Tonk Woman get the ball rolling in an inimitable style, Keith blasting out the chords, Charlie, Ronnie, and Bill bringing up the rear leaving Mick to command this small club stage just like he does with every stage he ever walks on to. You could almost be forgiven for thinking that this is just another run-of-themill, poor-quality live mishmash. That could not be further from the truth. This is one of the best live albums I’ve had the pleasure of listening to in a very long time. Among the tunes, there are obviously the tracks no Stones gig can be without, Brown Sugar, Tumbling Dice, Let’s Spend The Night Together, Fool To Cry, one of my all-time favourite Stones tracks. Then you get the ones that maybe you weren’t expecting, Route 66, Mannish Boy, Worried Life Blues, and Little Red Rooster. I can’t use enough superlatives to explain just how good, and well-put-together this box set is. See for yourself, have a treat, you’ll be so glad that you did. PS. The wife of the then-Canadian Prime Minister, Margaret Trudeau was in the 300-strong audience. How’s that for a nice approval?

of a dustbin lid. Because it is recorded live, with no dubs or overdubs, you get the vibe, the feel of the club as if you were right there on the night. Not many live albums have that in their makeup. As the evening progresses, Buddy Guy and his band join the proceedings to take the gig to yet another level. The Rolling Stones, Muddy Waters Band, and Buddy Guy and his band on a tiny stage in a small Chicago blues club banging out tunes such as Hoochie Coochie Man, Got My Mojo Workin’, and One Eyed Woman. This ranks alongside live albums such as Muddy Waters Live At Newport, and B.B. King Live At The Regal. Checkerboard Loung-Live In Chicago, deserves the same accolades as the aforementioned live albums. This double live album on red and white vinyl deserves pride of place in any blues collection.

LEONARD COHEN AND HIS PLAN TO LIVE FOREVER...

“I plan to live forever”, Leonard Cohen declared in October 2016, at a press conference just weeks before his death. But he was right, he’s still pretty much everywhere: a posthumous new album, two posthumous new books, no end of tribute festivals, concerts and cover albums and, at last count, three documentary films. The latest of these, Hallelujah Leonard Cohen: A Journey, A Song, focuses on the holy and horny side of Cohen through the prism of his best-known song. Certainly, there was plenty of both in his life, literature and lyrics.

As for his melodies - which Dylan called ‘Cohen’s greatest genius”’- there was a lot more going on. One of the most important and overlooked of these things was Cohen’s relationship with American country music, folk and blues. Were it not for country music it’s unlikely he would have ever made a album. And when, after completing his debut, he said he’d never make a second one, it was Nashville and country music that changed his mind.

Leonard’s first band, as a student in his hometown Montreal, was a country and western trio that specialised in square dances. The Buckskin Boys - “We all found out we had buckskin jackets”, said Cohen, “I had inherited mine from my father” - played the same kind of old country traditionals that inspired the various Americana movements, songs like Red River Valley and Turkey In The Straw. When Cohen bought his first guitar at age 15, he learned to play via The People’s Song Book and its collection of old folk songs: work songs, union songs and spirituals. He would go on to learn some of his trademark licks from a young Spanish flamenco guitar. But when he decided, in his early thirties, to make a move into the music business, his idea was not to become a singer-songwriter-guitarist and recording artist but to write songs - country songs - for other people to sing.

It was 1966 and he was living on the Greek island of Hydra, writing a second novel. In Canada he had been an acclaimed poet for ten years - there was even a documentary movie made about him, ‘Ladies And Gentlemen.... Mr Leonard Cohen.’ But poetry books

didn’t pay the bills, hence trying his luck with music. When I asked him why country music, he said “I didn’t know what was going on in America. Elvis Presley was the only guy that I was listening to, and The Shirelles, and the very early murmurings of Motown. I had a few records [on Hydra]: Ray Charles, Edith Piaf, Charlie and Inez Fox, Nina Simone and Sylvie Vartan - she did a Nashville record in French, a great record. I listened to those and to the Armed Forces radio that came out of Athens. It had a lot of good country music on it.”

As fate would have it, on the way to Nashville Cohen stopped off in New York. A friend suggested he meet Mary Martin, a Canadian music businesswoman who’d worked her way up from hostess at the Bitter End folk club to executive assistant of Albert Grossman, Bob Dylan’s manager, and now had her own management company. Martin introduced Cohen to Judy Collins, an aristocrat of the Greenwich Village scene. Cohen sang Collins three songs he’d written - Suzanne, Dress Rehearsal Rag and The Stranger Song - and Collins, who was close to finishing her new album, included covers of the first two songs. Collins also introduced him to her live audience at a major New York concert. When he ran offstage mid-song, stricken with stage fright, she persuaded him back on, where together they sang Suzanne.

“I stopped off in New York and bumped into the so-called folk song renaissance which included Joan Baez and Dylan and Phil Ochs, Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell,” Cohen said.

“It was the first time I’d heard their songs.” But now he had a manager who was deeply connected with that scene, a hit song, Suzanne, covered by one of its most successful artists, and before long a recording contract with Columbia Records - the label that had Dylan - as a singer-songwriter. Cohen stayed in New York and started work on his first album. Nashville and country music were put on hold.

Songs Of Leonard Cohen was a stunning debut, but Cohen hated recording it. One big problem was knowing how he wanted it to sound but not having the language or experience to express it to the musicians.

Halfway through, his producer John Hammond (who had also signed him to the label) had to leave. The new producer, John Simon, added polished, pop-friendly arrangements that drove Cohen to beg the engineer to take some of them off and let him replace them with an acoustic band he’d seen playing in a New York club. The whole business of the music business weighed on him terribly.

His record contract required a swift follow-up album; Cohen’s way of working was to give his words and songs whatever time they needed. Joni Mitchell, his fellow-Canadian and sometime lover - they met when Judy Collins got them both slots on the Newport Folk Festival - suggested that he fly to L.A and record it with her then-partner David Crosby, who would produce. So, he did, but neither he nor Crosby liked what they came up with. For Cohen it was the final nail in the coffin; he’d had it with making records.

Then in L.A. he bumped into Bob Johnston. The legendary producer of many of Dylan’s greatest records, as well as Marty Robbins, Flatt & Scruggs, and Johnny Cash’s prison albums, was also the head of the Nashville division of Cohen’s record label, Columbia. Johnston told Cohen he had just rented a farmhouse with 2000 acres of land in Tennessee, 35 miles from Nashville. Its owners were Boudleaux Bryant and his wife Felice, highly successful country songwriters whose songs include All I Have To Do Is Dream and Love Hurts. Said Johnston, “I told Leonard about it and he said, ‘Some day I’ll have a farm like this and I’ll write a couple of albums.’ I said, ‘Here, do it now.’ I gave him the key. And he moved in for two years.”

Leonard finally landed in Nashville. At the airport to pick him up was Charlie Daniels, not yet the Opry-inducted, Stetson-wearing country star but a session musician - fiddle, guitar, bass and mandolin - whom his close friend Johnston kept in regular work. Daniels drove Cohen into the middle-of-nowhere, Tennessee, to the small log cabin at Leiper’s Fork that would become his home. Cohen loved the place. There were horses and cattle, chickens, peafowl, a creek, and a rented Jeep. The nearest neighbour, half

 Sylvie Simmons  Courtesy of: I’m Your Man:The Life of Leonard Cohen by Sylvie Simmons.

a mile away in a ramshackle house, had an illegal still for making moonshine, which he was happy to share. At an Army Surplus Store Cohen bought pistols and a rifle - he knew how to shoot. From a former rodeo champion he bought a horse - he also knew how to ride. But more importantly, three days after his arrival, he drove to Nashville to start work on the album he had previously abandoned.

Johnston, who produced and played keyboards, had put together a small band of topnotch musicians, friends of his who weren’t entrenched in mainstream Nashville country, and the sessions were by all accounts pretty relaxed. Cohen would tour with Johnston and the band he dubbed The Army, starting with the infamous, acid-fuelled 1970 Eurpopean tour which included their appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival. By that time Songs From A Room, Cohen’s second album, was at No.2 in the UK charts.

Hank Williams - one of Cohen’s favourite artists; in Tower Of Song he placed Hank a hundred floors above him - called country music ‘the white man’s blues.’ By that definition the stark and largely unadorned Songs From a Room, was Cohen’s country album, or as close to one as he’d get. There was the raw acoustic blues song The Butcher, and a crazed-drunk bar-room singalong Tonight Will Be Fine. But the song that got the biggest country music seal of approval was Bird On The Wire. Kris Kristofferson compared it to Lefty Frizell’s Mom & Dad’s Waltz, and Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash covered it.

His Nashville period would be very fruitful. Before handing the keys of the cabin back to Johnston, Cohen would make two more albums: the masterful Songs of Love And Hate and his first live album Live Songs.

OBITUARY: CHRISTINE MCVIE

Christine McVie has been part of the British Blues scene for the best part of sixty years. She started her career performing with the likes of Spencer Davies before meeting and joining Stan Webb in his band Chicken Shack. She was on two albums with Chicken Shack, the debut release, It’s Ok With Me Baby being the first.

She was of course Christine Perfect at this time as she was yet to make the move that would shape the rest of her life. During this brief, but hugely successful part of her career, she performed one the most iconic versions of a blues classic, I’d Rather Go Blind. It was billed as a Christine Perfect piece, but it was with Chicken Shack that the song was recorded, which led to some difficult moments within the band, and not surprisingly. 1969 was the year that everything would change for Christine, she joined Fleetwood Mac, partly because she and Fleetwood Mac were signed to the same record label, Blue Horizon. Previously Christine had played piano on a couple of Peter Green tunes, which led him to ask her to join Fleetwood Mac as a permanent member. A little-known fact about Christine, who by 1970 had married bass player, John McVie, the album Kiln House, the cover was painted

OBITUARY: JEFF BECK

“Best guitarist in the world”, “one of a kind”, “guitarist’s guitarist”… Jeff Beck has died. No equivalent of “Long live the King” is being exclaimed by anybody, anywhere - there is simply no one who can take his place. Yet these truths don’t begin to describe the collective mourning of all lovers of guitar-based music across the globe. Weeks on from his sudden and shocking departure, new social media postings appear by the minute, a perpetual outpouring of tribute, reverence and heartbreak. It is said that there are some losses which you never get over and that learning to live with the absence is the best that can be hoped for… it feels like we are all simply beside ourselves with grief at living in a world without Jeff Back in it… although if you are a guitarist, it is rather more like ‘this is Jeff Beck’s world, and what are we going to do now that he’s gone’?

An art school student who served the seemingly ubiquitous early 60’s young, aspiring British musician’s apprenticeship in Rhythm and Blues, he told me that his first trip to America with The Yardbirds was accompanied by a constant, nagging guilt that they had “taken their music”. He remained a self-effacing, personable everyman (with a mischievous and hilarious razor-sharp sense of humour) long after his peers had ascended to the lofty heights of untouchable-superstar status, repeatedly (and sincerely) dropping “never made it” into conversation, apparently comparing his achievements to the likes of friend from teenage years Jimmy Page (introduced by Beck’s sister), Eric Clapton and Ronnie Wood. But none of these guitarists continued to explore musical frontiers throughout their careers with anything like the fervent drive that Jeff Beck did (redrawing musical boundaries along the way), not because he felt a sense of being ‘less than’ in comparison to his six-string compatriots, but because he never rested on his laurels nor wanted to be a mere guitar hero: instead, he always focused on bettering himself as a guitarist and musician. We are all the better for it… what riches he imagined he didn’t accumulate during his life have now become our riches, such is the stunning breadth, depth and scale of his musical legacy. Blues Jeff, Gene Vincent/Rockabilly Jeff, Stax/

by Christine McVie.The album, Future games saw Christine being joined by Bob Welch and Jeremy Spencer. In 1974 she and the rest of Fleetwood Mac up sticks and moved to America permanently. Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks soon joined the band and the world of Fleetwood Mac changed forever. Of course, everyone will always remember the album Rumours, one of the biggest-selling albums of all time. Every track on the album is a musical gem but on a personal note, one song will remain in my memory forever. It was in 1980, Fleetwood Mac was on a world tour, The Tusk Tour, a sell-out tour, as was the norm for the band. They played Stafford Bingley Hall, or Stafford cow shed as we used to call it, as it was part of the agricultural showground. I digress. The gig was amazing, with two encores, then the band left the stage, and Christine McVie came back on stage alone, sat at the piano, and performed ‘Songbird’. It was simply jaw-dropping - a musical moment that will stay with me forever. Christine McVie will be remembered as a blues singer, songwriter, and musician, and as a very important piece of British Blues history. Sadly, we will not see the likes again.

Motown Jeff, Garage Rock Jeff, Jazz/Mahavishnu Jeff, Pop Jeff, Rock Jeff, Indian/Eastern Music Jeff and even Classical Jeff… these are just for starters. What they all have in common is a penchant for vocalising every note of melody, and startling his listeners with an unexpected musical caress… or slap.

Enthusiastically encouraged by The Yardbird’s manager Giorgio Gomelsky to be sonically provocative, incendiary and explosive from the off (“he was like Malcolm McClaren”) his ‘stunt guitar’ sensibilities stayed with him throughout his entire career: a musical mesmeriser and conjuror to the end. Jimmy Page - who tagged along to more than a couple of the cities on the itinerary of the early 1968 US tour of the original incarnation of the The Jeff Beck group (Rod Stewart/ Ronnie Wood) and based his nascent Led Zeppelin, aka initially as “The New Yardbirds”, on the template that most observers consider to have given birth to ‘hard rock’ - said to Ronnie Wood and me that “There is Jeff Beck, and then there are all the other guitarists on the planet”. Always generous in crediting his influences and inspirers, JB name-checked Les Paul, Cliff Gallup, Scotty Moore, James Burton, Paul Burlison, John McLaughlin, Roy Buchanan and Buddy Guy along the way, with Jimi Hendrix’s late-’66 arrival on the British music scene taking pride of place in the pantheon: after seeing Hendrix perform in a London club, Beck remarked that he’d “better find another job”. An early and eager champion of Bones UK and garage rock revivalists The White Stripes, he also found musical sustenance ‘working out the second violin on Mahler symphonies’ with the same enthusiasm and fervour he once learned and practised Cliff Gallup licks. Dubbed ‘the Mozart of the guitar’ by manager-at-the-time Harvey Goldsmith after Beck’s legendary week-long residency at London’s Ronnie Scott’s Club in 2007, I have only mere words to attempt to honour the man and his legacy. Better now that you put on some Jeff Beck music, and should you feel the urge to cry whilst listening, don’t fight it. The sky is crying, as the song goes, but now it’s crying with you.

STEPHEN DALE PETIT

STEPHEN HARRISON

READING BLUES FESTIVAL, USA

When people think of Reading, Pennsylvania, they might remember that it is known for having the first outlet store in the United States, or that its nickname is “Pretzel City,” since it produces 80% of the country’s pretzels.

But culture and the arts are also very important to Reading residents, particularly all varieties of music. Reading’s commitment to music can be seen in the fact that they proudly support their symphony orchestra, two choral societies, a chamber musical ensemble and a civic opera company. Reading is also home to both an annual 10-day jazz festival in March, and an annual blues festival in November, both known for consistently providing stellar lineups.

Those who fear the temperature in November in Pennsylvania would be comforted to know that the Reading Blues Fest is held entirely within one hotel, offering both morning sessions in the amphitheater and major evening concerts in the hotel’s Grand Ballroom.

The 2022 Reading Blues Fest, which was held this past November, lived up to its reputation for excellence, as it featured some of most sought-after artists covering the traditional, contemporary, blues-rock and soulblues sub-genres. Those “in-the-know” tend to arrive a day early for the kickoff concert, and the early birds that attended this past November’s sold-out kickoff concert had the fortunate opportunity to hear Clarence Spady & the Electric City Band.

All artists performing at the festival were extremely talented, and the schedule included an opening night celebration concert. This was begun by The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, who often describe their style as “musical gumbo,” since they combine be-bop jazz with funk, blues, and R&B/Soul. Hill Country Blues artist, Lightnin’ Malcolm, played next.

Then crowd favorite, Tab Benoit, followed with his passionate interpretation of Cajun-influenced blues. Attendees were treated the next day to such performers as the captivating singer/saxophonist Vanessa Collier and Grammy nominee Sugaray Rayford, whose release entitled In Too Deep won the Blues Blast Award for best soul blues album. And the day ended with performances by the extremely versatile singer from Canada, Dawn Tyler Watson, (who has won too many awards to mention), and Eric Gales, who has earned his reputation of being blues-rock royalty.

A particularly memorable moment occurred when Sugaray Rayford joined Dawn Tyler Watson onstage for a humorous rendition of “Don’t Answer the Door”. It was a rare opportunity to hear two vocal powerhouses who clearly have tremendous respect for each other. Those who were not too tired from such a full day enjoyed an intimate party with the Dave Keller Trio in the Bistro inside the hotel.

The grand finale of the festival featured he latest collaboration between Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia, appearing as “The Blood Brothers”. Both have huge fan-bases as individual artists, but all seem to agree that the chemistry between the two best friends adds an extra special element to their show.

It’s not surprising that many attendees of the Reading Blues Fest have already pre-booked for next year’s festival, knowing the lineup will never disappoint.

That festival is scheduled for November 16-19, 2023, and details can be found at www.readingbluesfest.com (The BERKS jazz festival is scheduled for March 24 – April 2, 2023 and details can be found at www. berksjazzfest.com)

 Anita Schlank  Laura Carbone

If you know anything about acoustic Blues, about resonator guitars, about bottleneck slide, about mandolin, you certainly know who Steve James is. He was a legend.

I was fortunate to meet Steve through Eric Bibb when we were on tour together in 1999. We were all on the same bill opening up for Jeff Healey in Canada.

We wound up in the same hotel together, on the same floor and there was a moment during the day we crossed paths and had the time to hang for a bit. Quickly the guitars came out for a sweet hotel room jam. Eric sang a few and I was just mesmerized by

Steve James

Steve’s playing. We got to talking about resonators and materials that go into making functional instruments, which he declared dense plywood was better than tone woods for projection and

20 years later in 2019 Steve got in touch with me through a mutual friend as he was touring around Scandinavia and wanted to include a return to Stockholm. He hadn´t been there to perform in many years. We completely connected and I arranged a show at my main residency; Club Engelen as well as a workshop with about a dozen of my students to be held the next day.

resonance. He was extremely articulate and focused when talking about these instruments.

I stated “Well, you would know...” and without hesitation and authority he replied “yes I would!”.

It was a triple bill with Steve James and a trio of his friends, Eric and myself And Jeff Healey in a large venue.

The spacious artist green room area was set up nicely; sofas and a separate room in sight filled with platters of food, cold cuts, cheeses, delicacies and snacks, which I looked forward to get to a bit later.

Jeff Healey had his big tour bus parked right outside the load in entrance in the alley.

We had time to relax and Steve started to engage us with stories and accounts of playing with various greats, when I started to notice from the corner of my eye, various members of Healey’s road crew wander in to the buffet room and then ease out the back door with a tray in hand.

Steve is a brilliant story teller, endless anecdotes and had us all engaged and unmoved, then I noticed it once again, a tray slipped by and out the back door, then another.

After about half hour, 40 minutes it was time to grab something small to eat before we set up to perform and when I entered the room, it was stripped almost bare. Maybe a bowl of cheese doodles was left along with some condiments. Healey’s crew had systematically cleared all the food out and loaded on his tour bus.

I thought this was completely wacky and went back to tell the others and they just chuckled about it.

Swedish acoustic fingerstyle guitar wiz and old friend Lasse Johansson was invited by Steve to sit-in and we also opened the show with a short set. Steve then invited us all up to join him for a great jam at the end of his brilliant set.

I got to spend some quality time with Steve for the couple of days he was there, which was big success and we immediately made plans to do it again the next year.

Then the pandemic madness hit and everything was off the table for a few years, but we stayed in touch via email and loosely planned and talked about guitars and restorations he was banging out and I sent him some of my Blues art as it was developing, which he was very supportive of.

I entered the room, it was stripped almost bare”

It’s the morning after I found out Steve passed away on January 6th and I’m feeling the weight of his loss. It’s about that time in the new year I would have been getting a happy, informed email from him and I would have been ready to make plans for his return over.

All I could do to channel this sense of grief was to delve into creating this illustration, which I sure wish I could have given to him personally.

“when

BONDED IN BLUES

FRIDAY:

A review of The Great British Rock & Blues Festival

Butlins, Skegness

Jan 13th-15th 2023

Well, it was the final, final Skegness blues spectacle... and what a weekend!. I saw loads of bands and the calibre of acts was brilliant. Situated predominantly in Hot Shots with the Blues matters stage, I still had time to at least catch other bands on the various other stages, namely Centre Stage and Reds.

So, this will be an overview, not in-depth concert reviews of each act. Attendees I talked to overall thought that Hot Shots was the best stage, it was more intimate and sound balance was better in a smaller room especially compared to the massive main stage. A full house for this year’s Festival something you can’t say for many recently but hopefully people will return in their numbers to support live music wherever this may be. Anyway, onto the music…..

Opening act on Blues Matters stage was Yorkshire band DC Blues (apparently full name is Dirty Cat Blues band, but jury is out on that one.) a hard hitting 5 piece band led by the mercurial frontman Paul Winn on harmonica, his vocal delivery throughout this set was very good and rhythm section of Ben Darwin and drummer Paul Thompson really shone through. Add to this the guitar artistry of Lloyd Massingham and the chemistry flows in this blues intoxicated laboratory. Steve Brandon on keys was the icing on this slick and enjoyable performance, mixing blues styles and reinterpreting such standards as Who Do You Love, Somebody Loan Me A Dime with a funky slow sexy feel. Tight band as opener this was a memorable performance.

A mad dash along to Centre Stage to see Rebecca Downes and her band alas only caught one number such are the tight schedules involved with stage times at this Festival, a full house, this was enjoyed by most but overall, the sound balance could have been better.

Next on Blues Matters stage was The Mighty Bosscats who gave a more relaxed and mellow performance, mixing blues with an Americana aftertaste. Another top-quality band, led by lead singer songwriter and guitarist the multi-talented Richard Townend,

Matt Gillam bass guitar, on keyboard Tony Sales and Mark Hall on drums. They played mostly originals with an eclectic mix of styles with a rocking drive from their vast back catalogue but also new songs. Got To Pay Your Dues started things off. Little Stevie, a tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan was a wonderful Texas shuffle, great rhythm through this tune and the tone of Richard’s guitar suited his vocal delivery. How’s It All Come To This, had a Beatles feel to it. Well-crafted songs lapped up by an appreciative audience. Unfortunately, the Bonham Bullick Band had to pull out of the line-up due to ill health in the band. This saw all other bands add time to their sets and make Redfish Blues Band headline act on Blues Matters stage on first night, no mean feat and a great accolade to this band’s growing CV. Their set was absolutely amazing, mixing blues, soul, jazzy tones, and funk, this is not your average blues band they offer more intricately balanced tunes to their repertoire. Led by vocalist and guitarist extraordinaire, Christian Sharp with a rhythm section of drummer Steve Gibson and bass man Rod McKay they stunned the rapt audience. Addition of Hammond organ with Steve McGuckin just accentuates a big sound. They opened with a new instrumental a funky Hammond sound that introduced the talented band. Their version of Soulshine just gets the spine tingling and guitar solos throughout set were

+ Colin (3 trains) Campbell

Eddy Smith

amazing, no more so than the tribute to Jeff Beck ‘Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers and the quirky ending of Layla. Money Don’t Make It Right another new tune is a stunning piece of work a modern ballad with punchy lyrics and superb keyboard work. Together Is Better saw audience members dancing and enjoying the feelgood tune. A brilliant set worthy of headline status, catch them when you can, superb.

SATURDAY:

Wanted to get to the Hot Shots blues jam but first it was time to go to centre stage to see the winners of the Introductory Stage for 2022, Brave Rival, who put on a wonderfully professional performance. Two lead female singers took turns in singing: Chloe Josephine (Birthday girl) and Lindsey Bonnick bringing soul, rock, and blues through opening number What’s Your Name Again to an adoring fan base. The set was peppered with guitar solos from Ed Clarke especially noted on Run & Hide. Rhythm section, Billy Dedman on bass looking ultra-cool and drummer Donna Peter were the glue in this rocky entertaining band, their stage image really was spectacular, and they finished with Heart attack which was classy. Definitely another band on the rise. Parts of this performance were recorded live apparently. Maybe another album in the pipeline.

It was back to Blues Matters stage for some interesting collaborations with the Blues Jam, introduced by John Angus. Some great musicians onstage here with a litany of blues classics played to an appreciative audience. Always a good afternoon, it gives other musicians a chance to shine.

Another dash and another band. This time back to Centre Stage to catch the talented Kyla Brox and her band also a very special guest star, her father Victor Brox who at the time was just starting to sing Another man done Gone acapella style. The vast audience was silenced in awe, his vocals filled the auditorium, sweet emotional tones, just amazing. He followed this with an acoustic version of Motherless Child, a real honour to hear him. Kyla sang with him and her band, it was her time to shine. She is just an amazing singer and bubbly personality abounds. In The Morning was fabulous and she got to play her flute. But it is her version of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah that is always the highlight of any of her shows. She puts all her soul into this and with the band behind her they ramp this to a unique crescendo. Another outstanding performance.

Anticipation mounted before going to the Blues Matters stage again to see the North East England band Alex Fawcett Band. They comprise; Alex Fawcett on lead vocals and guitar, Ronnie Semple on harmonica, Jack

Watson on keyboards, John Dawson on bass and Martin Bell on drums. Together they put on one of the best performances of the weekend high octane rhythm and blues as it should be but with their unique take. An original, Thrill Of The Chase set the tone for this pacy, full on no holds barred performance, great rhythm to this groove peppered with harmonica tones from the wonderful Ronnie Semple. Another highlight was Hangover Blues with a bass tone that shook the building, keyboards particularly goo here also. Vocals delivery also great, a solid performance. They slowed tempo with Eric Clapton’s Old Love and reinterpreted the classic Hoochie Coochie Man. They finished with an original, Devil On Your Back with a backbeat and infectious groove punctuated with guitar and harmonica tones just playing off each other, outstanding band.

John Angus Blues Band took to the Blues Matters stage now. Six-piece band played a wonderful set to an appreciative audience. They blended blues rock tunes with traditional blues classics. They are; John Angus on lead vocals and bass guitar, Bram Duckworth on lead guitar, Adam Hutchins on keyboards, Andy Hurley on drums, Tim Hopkins on bass and harmonica player, Stewart Speirs. These boys know how to work an audience and have fun, the connection is palpable throughout the set. They did their version of Hoochie Coochie Man with female vocalist

Rogers Primer Branch

from the Blues Jam session earlier. Torture My Soul was a particular favourite, great tune, peppered with harmonica tones and groove laden sound. Mama’s Blues was also exceptionally good, stomping slide notes. Great band, the real deal, mixing styles in a rocky groove.

The energy level in Hot Shots rose when The Terraplanes Blues Band took to the stage. Energy, electricity, and power were full on from start from this four-piece old school R&B band comprising, Nick Scrase on lead vocals and guitar, Eduardo Allen on harmonica, Tom Turner on drums and Pete Tyler on bass guitar. They played most songs from their much acclaimed debut Stepping Stones including the title track. This band is just a joy to watch, entertainment is their priority and you get this with the two front men. Nick’s vocal delivery is sharp and toned and Eduardo, well when he went walkabout in the crowd it was just a joy to behold. Highway 61 was well received full on groove and rhythm was tight. Also, Midnight Train chugged along very well to the delight of the audience. Another superb choice for this intimate venue, go see them these boys are phenomenal, great characters and consummate musicians.

Just so much talent on show, the night got even better when Emma Wilson and her band took to the stage. What a performance she gave, great singer sings with passion and meaning and quite a lot of humour from this North East English lass and her band. Suppose that’s why she got an award, Emerging

Blues Artist at UK Blues Awards. This indeed was an award-winning performance. The band was awesome, and they played nearly all songs from their latest album, Wish Her Well. Title track was especially poignant, also Hoochie Coochie Woman, Not Paying and St Louis Woman. She flits from heart wrenching soul lyrics to powerful blues. Special mention to the rhythm section and lead guitarist, Dave Dryden. Mary Lou also a favourite song full of passion and swagger. Headline act time! The amazing Dana Gillespie and her band, put on the performance of the night. Mixing styles and songs from her long repertoire of releases she matures in blues and some call her the British Bessie Smith, she is just unique. From the opening bars of Experienced she wowed the crowd with her sharp vocal delivery, introducing each song as she went along with a grin and double entered set, King Size Pack being a case in point. Jazzy beats meet blues with soul, a great set. The Empty Bed Blues slowed the tempo, then Funk Me It’s Hot had the band going freestyle including wonderful piano from Dino Baptiste. This was entertainment of the highest quality no doubts. So many good songs and well-crafted tones from this first-rate band, Dana is the British Blues Queen, she has it all.

SUNDAY:

Another afternoon set, so where else but Hot Shots Blues Matters stage to see Ritchie Dave Porter and Debra Susan. A very relax-

ing duo for a third day’s music, they mixed their own blend of tunes, Ritchie on electric and acoustic guitar and Debra singing. They play all originals and certainly entertained. Especially the track Sugar and Spice. A sparser than usual crowd were there to hear and watch this excellent performance bluesy tones throughout the set, very accomplished duo.

Next stop was Reds Stage where it was purse blues all the way. Starting with Giles Robson and Dino Baptiste, they were joined by, bass player, and drummer. Giles just has a great charisma and is a brilliant harmonica player, his vocals are pretty tight as well on tunes like, Your Dirty Look. Particular favourite was Sara Lee, he was melancholic through this tune and relayed a story about his partner being in the pub and he was playing. Great crowd participation, brilliant atmosphere. He has been doing small intimate gigs of this Candlelight and Blues Show. In Reds there was a huge crowd but there was still an ambience. Butlins Boogie went down well. Then the trio was left to its own devices Don hitting the keys on Dust My Broom then Sea Cruise. A great performance, an aperitif to the next band onstage Chicago Blues Legends featuring Jemiah Rogers, Billy Branch and John Primer who each did a set of songs culminating in them all doing a jam session at the finale. Jemiah is part of the new generation of young blues guitarists reinterpreting the Chicago style and he has such charisma, his guitar playing is sensational, a large audience were rapt during this

Blues Jam

performance, many tricks and chord styles, shredding also and showboating at times but done in the best bluesman’s fashion on opener Baby Please Don’t Go.

Then he had the confidence to cover The Rolling Stones, Miss You, taking a funky vibe on this one lapping up the crowd’s reaction. John Primer played with Giles Robson in a very upbeat performance full of passion and indeed the real deal. His slide guitar playing was mesmerising and that Chicago blues rhythm noted throughout the set. He did a wonderful rendition of I Need You So Bad. Next it was the turn of harmonica ace Billy Branch to do his set of Chicago infused tunes, My Babe being a standout tune. His stage presence is immense and vocals superb. All three headliners were on stage thoroughly enjoying themselves. They did a tribute to Little Walter with a stunning version of Blues With A Feeling. Those not at this event missed out big time but with so many bands on other stages priorities are difficult, astounding musicians keeping the blues genre alive and handing its legacy to younger players like Jemiah. (Interview in next edition of Blues Matters).

After a very emotional time it was back to Blues matters to catch Rowland Jones in action. He had been the MC on stage, now it was time to introduce him. Playing solo with an acoustic guitar is a daunting prospect but listening to the timbre of his vocals and gui-

tar picking was just a joy. A smaller audience but a listening one enjoyed a full set of original songs and some covers, there’s blues, Americana even jazzy tones to his palette of music. The opener Never Been To Memphis is particularly poignant. His version of John Hiatt’s It Feels Like Rain was delivered with full emotion and feel for the song. Loved the laid-back notes to Squeeze Me Right and It’s Still The Blues. Well crafted songs, this man can tell a story, a varied set of songs with his own stamp on them, exceptional talent. Next was The Ash Wilson Band. Ash Wilson on lead guitar and vocals, Phil Wilson on drums and Roger Innis on bass guitar. They put on a superb show to a packed room mixing various genres based in blues, mostly originals and a poignant tribute to Jeff Beck.

Penultimate act was Jim Kirkpatrick who played solo and put on a blistering set he really is a gifted guitar player; he included a sector of songs that should not be played on an acoustic guitar. These included Fleetwood Mac’s Oh Well Parts 1 and 2! Also, Rocky Mountain Way. Energy level was palpable audience really connecting with the great sound!

Last act on Blues Matters stage and the entire Festival for the last time, was Dom Martin. Even when not feeling well he put on the best performance of the night. Again, solo acoustic and some of his playing is just mes-

Ten Years After

merising. Have seen him a few times, mere words to describe his presence and musicality seem very difficult to write. This Belfast boy has it all in one emotional stripped back feel. This is what live music is about. Introduction, then medley of tunes, including, Easy Way Out, Belfast and Echoes. They all segued into one. So many highlights; mercy was sung with passion and finesse. One of his influences is John Martyn and his version of May You Never just had the crowd stunned. As other stages were closing Hot Shots got very crowded and the audience was split between a listening one and those coming in for a look, but this did not in anyway detract from Dom’s professional approach to his performance. He has been likened to another of his Irish roots, Rory Gallagher and he reinterpreted As The Crow Flies. Encore time, and not a dry eye in the house so to speak. Parting Glass was delivered with a passion rarely felt onstage, a very cathartic experience. Dom just seems to get better as he evolves his style, wonderful set.

Well after a closing speech from organiser Stephen Harrison that was the end of the Festival at Blues Matters stage and so too, the Festival itself. The future of this Festival is shrouded in doubt but hopefully something will be laid on. Oh there were rumours of moving this to a Greek island. Anyway, a brilliant weekend of music enjoyed by a full house at Butlins!

IN THE STUDIO WITH

Recently Blues Matters had access to what goes on behind the scenes of a blues band putting together an album release. The admirably generous Redfish Blues Band offered this chance!

Over a weekend in their hideaway studio (A Music Room converted to a recording studio) somewhere in Cumbria, belonging to Hammond organ player extraordinaire Steve McGuckin and his wife Louise, the host and PR person for the band, the scene was set for a most insightful discovery. Firstly, I met the band comprising Steve on keyboards, Christian Sharpe on lead guitar and vocals, Rod McKay on bass guitar and Steve Gibson on drums. Also in attendance later was the organiser of Carlisle Rock and Blues Festival, Nick Westgarth (Louise, Nick and myself were named the Focus Group later in proceedings, and even later out-of-focus group).

Steve M showed me round the studio and how things were going to be over the weekend, he was the expert mixer, he is also co-writer of many songs with Christian. Over the weekend they reckoned they had laid six tracks down for the new album, no mean feat as they changed one altogether, in fact making it into two, despite Christian writing it, all members had their say on everything. It was amazing to see a song come from just two notes, then melody on top of that then lyrics, this seems their style although the

process of song writing is very organic. As an opening exercise and to flow ideas between the band they just started to jam along wearing isolating headphones that could pick up everything the other musicians were playing. Steve the drummer had a Perspex screen in front of him and a mixing programme on his computer. Initial teething problems with people not being able to pick up noise levels soon desisted. So, it was time to concentrate on an instrumental tune for the album, this was started with a groove laden by rhythm section and developed over a major part of the day and into the next one.

on Together Is Better, but they wanted to put their own unique stamp on this tune for the new release and for their upcoming show at Skegness, The Great British Rock and Blues Festival, where they also wanted to showcase other new songs. Christian” Trying out songs live is a test to see if the song works, and it is a bonus if people like it.” They listened to the original collaboration, but this had a horn section that could not be replicated, but the Hammond organ would be the focus of that part. So, they all donned their headphones and then played back the recording. A few takes were made with some tweaking of instruments, but all agreed this indeed sounded what they wanted it to turn out like and make it their own. It was particularly interesting to note the relationships

 &  Colin Campbell

in the band, rhythm section tightening things up as they kept playing. Although Christian is lead singer, he is not the leader it really is a collaborative working band who bounced lots of ideas off each other, no tantrums, this band is as cohesive as they are on a live stage. In the studio they exchanged ideas of stage presence and how the songs would develop. It was interesting listening back to all the different instruments when isolated through the mixing desk. Money Don’t Make It Right was the next tune they worked on for some time, starting with a pre-chorus that changed the tune totally, each part meticulously arranged then listened to then rearranged again, time was not a problem over the weekend.

Christian added his guitar solo then it all seemed to gel into place after a few recordings. Next tune, the band tried to look at assorted styles to it but wanting to put a Latino style arrangement. Initially this seemed a strange phenomenon but after noodling and experimenting, also taking a Santana approach, the tune gestated into a whole. From this they managed to make two rough demos of two tunes, a feat in itself on listening back to the track. Much hilarity and comments like “Well it is only two fuckin’ chords….” This band is a total unit, no room for overruling characters. After Steve M trying to show me how his Hammond organ worked through a Lesley amp, it was time for supper then a late jam into early hours of Sunday morning, the “party” was stopped at 4,45 by Louise subtly letting us know where our beds were….

Sunday after a superb breakfast it was time to go back to the studio where again the band started with a jam. Then they got their groove together, Rod this time starting things off with syncopating tracking apparently. Then onto another new tune. They

started with a blank canvas and listened over and over to the resultant recording. They wanted to make it simple and effective, Steve G chatting about length of hi hats. This was the Latino tune and sounded good for a rough recording. It was an honour to be involved in the process, seeing how lyrics become a song which has a groove, solos, and organ, so many layers. It was nearly time to go so took opportunity to have a reflective chat with the band.

Christian,” It has been a fabulous weekend. We took ideas we had that were scratch recordings and opened up and tried to be more objective. That is something on which we can work. We had the time, space, and knowledge to say, well there is a song as it evolves from the first demo to putting together ideas and taking it away. This has been a great benefit not many get a chance to do that. We have had the chance to take these songs away and listen as all good musicians should do. We share ideas and bring these back to the table. We’ve rediscovered parts to a song and made it two. This happened after picking this apart. Best thing is that I can be objective, and not just say that is my song, you have to be open to objective critique if you like. We all have to recall our experiences with other bands and say this is what I do collectively now. We want to impact people with new material, we’ll be playing a few original new songs at Skeggy. Playing live you must entertain it’s not a blues jam and what the band is about.”

Steve M “It is stricter doing it this way here than playing onstage. Over past fifteen years I’ve played in a few bands but joining Redfish and using the real Hammond is a gift. Meeting other musicians that like the sound is great also.”

Rod “Every note is under scrutiny to make sure everyone works together. For me it’s been very useful having other critical friends around us to give that extra layer, The Focus Group sitting on the couch! Regarding redoing Together Is Better, I had reservations about not making this a second-rate version of the song. It’s about honing it for this band. We developed and will keep doing so. It will make it a Redfish Blues Band song as a four piece. There will be nothing on the recorded version that we can’t do onstage. When you work together like this, you’re all playing off each other. You’re all listening to each other. You want to get the rhythmic section right in this band. Image of a band is important, but with this one it’s about four competent people who are good at what they do together.”

Steve G, “It’s been really good. This has been a new process for everybody especially me as I’ve come to the band late in the day. We’ve got used to each other’s playing at live gigs. Rod and I focus on what we do, and it’s given these new songs a strong foundation. I’m sure Christian and Steve have been writing for a long time, but it’s brought out some excellent songwriters in the band. Everyone pitches in, no one laughs if you say something stupid.”

Thank you, Redfish Blues band, for a great weekend this has been an amazing insight into the recording process, putting a band together and seeing how the relations are in a collaborative environment. All the best for future success and cannot wait to hear the finished product. The band are hoping for a Spring release.

For more information: redfishrnb.bandcamp.com

CHRIS ANTONIK

FACEBOOK.COM/CHRISANTONIKOFFICIAL

On his newest single, “Learning to Love You,” Canadian blues-rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, and 3x-Maple Blues Award-nominee Chris Antonik. Known as the Canadian Gary Clark Jr., Antonik wrote the song as a love letter to his partner, Juno award-nominated jazz musician Alison Young, with a nod to Derek and the Dominos’ classic album, Layla. “Learning to Love You” is a ballad about healing your heart and learning to accept love again after some challenging years rooted in the heartbreak of divorce. “Learning to Love You” fits well among the other songs of hope, rebuilding, community, and new beginnings on his fourth studio album.

Over this past Summer, Antonik released Morningstar, an expansive collection of musical experiences reminiscent of the legendary albums of the 1970s that feature guest appearances by award-winning guitarists Jarekus Singleton and Paul Deslauriers. His most personal album to date, Morning Star tells a cohesive story

of his experiences as he enters mid-life. The last few years’ worth of life, love, loss, and growth are synthesized into an epic collection of songs about new beginnings, building community, mindfulness, self-compassion, and the power of home.

Co-produced by JUNO Award-winning producer Derek Downham, the album’s 14 songs take you on a sonic journey rooted in blues rock, soul, future-funk, and psychedelia and take experimental turns into modern rock and hip-hop territories. After the blistering lead single, “Waves of Stone,” Clapton influenced blues-rock of “Pilgrim,” and “Back to Good” featuring Tedeschi-Trucks Band vocalist Mike Mattison, “Learning to Love” is a worthy addition to the heavy hitting singles from the new album. Morning Star is an album built on nuanced songwriting, an amazing assemblage of guest musicians, and Chris’s mesmerizing guitar work complimented by stellar vocals.

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Dwight Anthony Davis spent his early years in rural Kellits, Clarendon. Beyond the chirping crickets, the only night sounds flowed from his grandfather’s radio - international stars like the Bee Gees, Stevie Wonder, Cat Stevens, and Frampton, and local Jamaican artistes including Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, John Holt, Peter Tosh, and Bob Andy. These early years of late-night radio spurred Dwight’s love of music and informed his later development into a songwriter and musician.

On Dwight’s return to Kingston in 1978, he was introduced to the guitar by his friend Moses Black McGee, a piano player whose brother’s guitar was gathering dust. Together they learned to play simple songs and arrangements, eventually transitioning to writing their own material. With friends and fellow songwriters Chris and Sherlock, they formed “The Sardonyx” in 1983. Among their original songs were “Patience”, “Stand In Love”, “Always Waiting” and “Music Galore”. “Music Galore” showcased the talents of “The Riddim Twins, Sly and Robbie” on drums and bass.

The Jamaican music scene at the time was saturated with dance hall music, and while there was some interest, “The Sardonyx” did not receive tangible support among local pro-

ducers and radio stations. However, their love of music kept them playing and writing songs. In addition to pursuing a music career, Dwight studied at Mico Teachers College and taught high school art in Jamaica for six years. Dwight migrated to the United States in 1991 to study commercial illustration at Columbia College Chicago. Dwight still teaches in Chicago today but has never lost touch with Moses or with his musical roots. Now with a new EP/ album launching, ‘Hurry,’ he is making waves with nothing less than a musical smorgasbord.

Born and bred in Oklahoma, Carter Sampson is an award-winning singer, songwriter and performer who shares the essential sounds and heartfelt feelings that have always resonated fully and completely from America’s heartland. Her confidence and credibility reside in each of her previous albums, but never more so than in her new offering, the aptly-titled Gold. A set of songs that reflect her continuing passion and purpose for making music that can leave an indelible impression, it finds her once again conveying her inspiration through both the music and its messaging.

Co-produced by Carter and her longtime collaborator Kyle Reid, who also engineered and mixed the recording which was then mastered by Garrett Haines at Treelady Studios, Gold is due for release on April 7, 2023 via Horton Records. As always, it’s another sterling example of Carter’s ability to combine poignancy and perspective within a varied template, one that incorporates an assured brand of Americana in the form of country, folk and rootsy rock and roll.

That dedication and determination are evident on each of the new album’s ten tracks, which run the gamut from a sway and saunter to a decidedly driving delivery. The emphatic urgency expressed in the title track was inspired by a conversation with her mother. “I wrote this one after breaking down and having a good cry to my mom,” Carter explains. “She’s always a source of comfort, and afterward, I felt bad for causing her to worry about me. After all, she’s certainly done plenty of that. But, ultimately, I just wanted her to know I’m okay and always will be because I have her support.” So, Mama, don’t you worry about me. I’ll be fine, Carter sings. I won’t be bought; I won’t be sold ‘cause you made me out of Gold.

Sampson has reaped any number of prestigious honors — among them, a first-place win in the general category of the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest at Merlefest for her song “Wild Bird” (which was subsequently given a wide release by Pinecastle Records), a fourth place win at the Telluride Troubadour Contest at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, a Top 10 Finalist standing at the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival’s Songwriters Showcase, and her ranking as a Top 12 Finalist in the 2012 Mountain Stage NewSong Contest, which resulted in a performance at New York’s Lincoln Center.

Looking back on all she’s accomplished and all she aims to achieve in the future, Carter remains hopeful yet humble.

GAYE ADEGBALOLA (pronounced AH - DEG - BALOLA), a Blues Music Award (BMA) winner and a founding member of Saffire -The UppityBlues Women (19842009), is a multi-instrumentalist and composer. Having penned many blues chestnuts, her songs are known for biting social commentary often cloaked in humor.

‘Big Ovaries, Baby’ is the first song from GAYE ADEGBALOLA’s Freedom Song Trilogy, Vol II. Release date, January 17, 2023, on Vizztone Records. Gaye is a warrior, and Big Ovaries, Baby is the ultimate feminist anthem. Whether one’s ovaries are literal or figurative, they are major weapons to be used in the fights for one’s rights.

Saffire recorded exclusively for Alligator Records. Gaye has 6 CDs on her own label, Hot Toddy Music (Todd being her maiden name) — 3 of those in partnership with the VizzTone Label Group. Her CD about LGBTQ issues, “Gaye Without Shame” was nominated for a BMA and her children’s CD, “Blues in All Flavors” won the Parents’ Choice Gold Award. Her 2019 release, “The Griot” (pronounced GREE - OH) chronicles topical blues for topical times. In the summer of 2021, Gaye Adegbalola’s Freedom Songs were released as three singles; January 2023 marks the first single from Gaye’s “Freedom Song Trilogy Vol. II.”

Gaye has received the Kristen Lems “Social Change Through Music” Award at the National Women’s Music Festival in 2018 and, in 2019 the “Koko Taylor Queen of the Blues Award” for preserving traditional blues from the Jus’ Blues Foundation. Along with her music recognitions she is a former Virginia State Teacher of the Year (8th grade science) and has been honored as an OUTstanding Virginian by Equality Virginia. The Library of Virginia has recognized her as one of the 2018 Virginia Women in History Honorees (along with Barbara Kingsolver, Rita Dove and others).

Mother of son, Juno Lumumba Kahlil, Gaye is a long-time activist, who continues to provide a voice for those who have been marginalized by society. By definition of her life’s work, she is indeed a griot.

 Adam Kennedy  David McClister & Jim Donnelly

Jared James Nichols starts the new year with the release of his third full-length album. The blues rocker’s forthcoming release showcases every side of the Nashville-based artist’s repertoire and the various genres he grew up listening to which have influenced his authentic sound.

With time on his hands due to the global pandemic, the US-based artist got to work on his upcoming release. “I was writing songs. I was in my headspace of, although I can’t be out, I’m going to do as much as possible,” explains Nichols.

“It was a very big period of growth for me. I never thought I would have as much time as I did. Obviously, none of us did. But for me, as a guitar player, I feel like I got to the next level. As a singer and as a songwriter, especially. I would say every weekday during the pandemic, when I was home, I was in a Zoom songwriting session, which was something I never thought I would do. I wrote the whole record.” Having time off the road gave the guitarist extraordinaire time to perfect his craft. “I never thought I would be able to sit at home in silence and practice guitar and all these things. So, for that, I’m grateful,” said Jared.

However, for a performer playing live is what it’s all about. For Jared, returning to the stage was “exhilarating”. “I forgot that this was the piece of my life that I was missing,” he says. “I forgot what that felt like to be on stage, to be in the moment and to be connecting with people in real life. Because you sit there and play guitar and post on social media and do all this stuff from your house, and it’s great. But the real thing of playing a show, of being there in the room, being on stage and then coming off I was like, there it is. That’s exactly what I needed. I was thrilled to be back on.”

Since his return to the live stage, Jared James Nichols has played alongside some of the heavyweights of the music industry. “I did a tour with Zakk Wylde again with Black Label Society. I did some festivals and was finally playing back in clubs doing headline shows. It feels good, and I’m more grateful,” said Nichols. “I feel like I’m finally back playing music and genuinely seeing people enjoy it.”

Touring alongside Zakk Wylde and Black Label Society is something which Jared enjoyed a lot. “I know people say this all the time, but they’re like road family. So, Zakk and his band and the crew they’re all such great people. I’ve done tours where there have been great people, but this is another level,” he says. “They’re so encouraging, and always showed me love and gave me time to get on stage and do a soundcheck or this that or the other thing.” Nichols adds: “It always

feels really good because Zakk is a hero and a really great friend, and for that I’m super grateful. I look up to him because his career is longer than I’ve been alive, and he’s still crushing it. So, touring with them is a total blast. Every time I get to go out with Zakk or I go to shows, or I’m able to see him, it’s like catching up with family.”

One of the first songs released from Jared’s upcoming eponymous album was Down The Drain. “That was a total sleeper song that

exceptional. “With that solo, I remember we were in the studio. I am always a fan of the least amount of takes. I don’t try and do anything to the point where it becomes sterile, or it becomes too forced because then I start to feel like I’m not being true to myself,” said Jared. “I want to keep this solo memorable. I wanted to keep it simple, with a little bit of flash, but something that when you heard it, you’re like, dude – yes,” explains Jared.

Speaking about his approach to guitar solos, Jared explains: “You think of your solos as a voice. Melodically that solo I can sing it back. I can hear it right now in my head, and it’s pretty cool. I’ve never written a solo. I’ve always had key points in solos where I’m like, I’ll start here and then it’s going to go here. But as far as writing one - never.”

A further song which Jared released recently was the track “Hard Wired”. I wrote that with two friends of mine, who you might have heard of Tyler Bryant and Graham Whitford, who plays guitar with Tyler. We wrote that a few years back for fun, and I remember I really liked it. We wrote it in Nashville here at Tyler’s house, and we tracked it out, and it was awesome. I always thought to myself, next record, I’d love to have that song on it,” said Jared. “Lyrically, the message of that song, that’s another one that’s like, hardwired to love you no matter what you do. It’s just another bad love song.”

Having toured the UK extensively, the artist is itching to return to our British shores. “They’re already speaking about the trajectory to announce some stuff here in the spring and then go out in the summer. I miss the UK. I miss going over to you guys. It’s not like I took it for granted. We were actually in Switzerland, and then we had to fly out of London City when everything went down. I was like, oh, we’ll be back in a few weeks –that was three years ago,” explains Jared.

I wrote with two friends of mine. We were in the same room. But I’d had this line in my head, and I was basically saying, won’t you follow me down the drain,” explains Jared. The message behind the song is something that many people could relate to. “I think a lot of people go through this, where you’re in love with someone, but it’s not good. Maybe you could say it’s a physically abusive relationship, or mentally it’s a struggle, but you love this person. You’re like, whatever you do, I still love you. So, the whole song was this vibe lyrically of, I know this is bad, but I’m still doing it,” said Jared.

The fiery solo featured on Down The Drain is

The artist has a strong idea of how 2023 will map out. “I’m really excited because apart from the album, I haven’t stopped writing songs. But I have a tonne more to share on the song front. Musically speaking, I have some really cool stuff happening with Gibson that I can’t wait to share with everyone,” said Jared. “There’s other guitar-related stuff that’s coming out - products that I have coming out that are really cool.” Jared concludes: “Man, it’s just going to be great. I feel that every year has been getting better. So now, to have more stuff coming out with Gibson and all these other companies and have the record coming out, I feel like I’m going into 2023 pretty strong. I feel like it’s going to go fast. So hopefully, I can come back to the UK.”

The eponymous new album from Jared James Nichols will be released via Black Hill Records on January 13th.

“I feel that every year has been getting better”

THE SPACE BETWEEN US

I recently got the chance to chat with singer songwriter and guitarist Rebecca Downes, a Birmingham based independent artist and band leader of The Rebecca Downes Band. Born and raised in Wolverhampton she has played in various bands and was influenced by legendary singers like Ella Fitzgerald and Etta James. Here we chatted about her background, influences on her musical career and her newest release The Space Between Us co-written with guitarist Steve Birkett.

“Performing-wise, I had just turned thirteen and I had always been singing at school and in random shows. A band in school asked me to audition for them. I went to the music room and sung Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton and Run To You by Bryan Adams, both not in my key. I remember this was the best feeling in the world, I had never felt anything like it. From then I was in bands, this was what I wanted to do. I have musical links in my family. My Grandmother was into Opera. Her sister’s son wrote Cavatina, the Theme to the film The Deer Hunter. It was always me leading my musical obsession. I remember at nursery begging my mum to buy albums for me. Growing up my parents listened to swinging jazz, Ella Fitzgerald, and Frank Sinatra, all those people. I ended up listening to all music styles and ultimately Blues based bands, early Quireboys songs, that kind of stuff. Everything guitar based. My mum said if you want to sing properly, you have to sing like Ella. That led me to progress to listen to blues music, then to rock music from there. There was no plan, people encouraged me to sing blues. I always came back to music with a bluesy tone but keeping an open mind, I guess.”

 Colin Campbell  Mark Roberts

“I studied music and got all my grades for vocals. I am now a vocal coach on a degree course. I wanted to learn to play guitar, but only wanted to write songs. I learned guitar primarily for that reason. I became obsessed with vocals, how the voice works, I love it. The voice is an amazing instrument. People ask how I hold onto notes at end of songs. My phonation threshold when singing, because I sing so much and look after my voice, is better than most singers. Best way to keep your vocals in shape is not to drink or smoke, which I always tell my students. I steam a lot and keep healthy and try and not be susceptible to infections. All our songs are written at the key level for me. You either accept the lifestyle choice or not. When your vocal chords get dry then that is your career over or at least you need an operation and change lifestyle to suit. Alan Nimmo, one of my pupils had this problem recently, we are big friends now, I call him my big brother. I do a full vocal warm up before going on stage and steam.”

IMAGE AND STAGECRAFT?

“I learned this in my room as a kid in front of the mirror! Pretending to be a lead singer and guitarist. Stagecraft comes when you find out you can finally be yourself and not try to be someone else. This makes you a better entertainer as such. My stage presence has to do with my personality. Music should be fun; you should not look like you take things too seriously all the time. I am just myself, nobody else. I have influ ences, Ella is number one, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Ruby Turner, incredible vocalists. Freddie Mercury is number one for both image and presence. I am humbled by people watching me and I want to give everything I have on stage. I think it is a pull and push with an audience, you go for it hell for leather! I enjoy touring but it can be problematic, especially when you do not get a soundcheck, this happens sometimes at festivals. You must leave this behind but when an audience is not getting the best, I get a bit fraught. I love performing. It is a hard life. The ninety minutes are easy, every time. I could not live without it. It is a needed addiction!”

HOW TOUGH IS IT BEING AN INDEPENDENT ARTIST?:

“I teach a lot of people who have been signed by big artist labels and they are controlled on every single level. Before they know what, they have got into they have no say on anything. If you have a big label behind you, you can pay for all the Press. But you have to sacrifice something for that, and they want their money back! We’ve had offers but none worth sacrificing what we

have. We’re a tiny unit, a Cottage Industry. We have amazing supporters, but I prefer putting music out there that we like rather than the flip side of this. If you are an adult and known songwriter that would be a hard thing to give up just to be manipulated. I’m happy, the position we’re in. It’s taken me a long time to know I can be me, even as a female artist, there is a lot of pressure. I can walk on stage wearing what I want to. In the rock scene it’s more about women looking like uber-sex objects, I would rather let the music do the talking a bit more. Marketing is also an ever-changing thing. With the new album we’ve done a lot of social media advertising and pre-orders, but this style of marketing will constantly change. We have not access to a lot of money, we do everything in house. In this generation, a lot of artists get social media burnout! To trigger algorithms on streaming services you have to bring out tracks first as singles and videos to accompany them. I always engage, sending comments to people, that’s who I am! It’s a lot of work.”

SONG WRITING TECHNIQUES?

“It’s usually me who starts the process with verse, chorus, or Steve then we work on this together. The difference with the album that’s out now we were more together, even in lockdown we were doing video chats batting ideas around. Steve demos everything

our version of Mama We’re All Crazee Now. He wanted to work with us, it was mind blowing, he’s awesome.”

BEST MUSICAL ADVICE?

“It was probably from Chris Kimsey, the Rolling stones Producer, who we worked with on the last album. He said ‘Rebecca, you’re Rebecca Downes, write your music put it out there. It’ll have you singing on it, that’s it!’ At the end of the day, if you’re not pleasing yourself, you’re not pleasing anyone.”

WHAT SUCCESS MEANS?

Rebecca is very forthright about this: “I don’t measure this by how many musical streams you have or album sales or by social media. I would measure success by people coming to the gigs who have come from the other end of the country and stay and wait to speak to me, give them a hug or sign a CD; that to me is everything. Doesn’t matter whether that’s thirty or thirty thousand people.”

Rebecca is a positive person and her philosophy in life is “Don’t look down on other people. I hold doors open for people and want to be kind. You’re not in competition with anyone, try and keep happy.”

2022 has been an eventful year for everyone connected with the blues and blues/ rock scene. After the pandemic, Brexit, and everything else in between, life is slowly getting back to some sort of normality. However, when you are a member of three bands, one being your own band, things do have a habit of behaving like buses, nothing for a while, then they all come at once. Welcome to the world of singer/songwriter, guitarist, and producer, Jim Kirkpatrick.

“It feels like I’ve been on the road constantly over the last twelve months. It sort of crept up on me really, in July 2021. I was asked to join Band of Friends (Rory Gallagher Tribute Band) not quite knowing just how intense it was going to be,” He axplains. Alongside Band Of Friends, Jim is also an integral part of the rock band, FM, as well as fronting his own band, The Jim Kirkpatrick Band.

“The work just came piling in. Post-pandemic, everything had almost ground to a halt, so I started from scratch really. Financially it came at exactly the right time. I was looking at a pretty empty diary, then turning the corner into 2022, the diary suddenly went bananas.”

In between a return-to-live gigs, Jim had already started writing and recording the follow-up to his hugely successful album, Ballad of A Prodigal Son, so juggling the live gigs and recording, flying to and fro, backward and forwards around Europe, has reignited the musical juices to such an extent that the new album, Dead Man Walking, is not far from the finished item.

“2023 is more than likely to be a bit of all three projects. To be honest, a lot will depend on how the new album is received; if the reaction is really good, I may have to re-evaluate things as far as live stuff with the other two bands is concerned. What happened with the last album, (Ballad of A Prodigal Son) - it came out at the height of the pandemic, so I didn’t get a true sense of what the real reaction was because people were sitting at home listening to it instead of me being able to tour the album as I would have in normal circumstances, That may have led to more copies being sold, we’ll never know, unfortunately.”

The pandemic hit artists all over the world as regards live performances, and it’s only now we are beginning to see venues opening up again to pre-pandemic levels. This, of course, has a knock-on effect as far as album sales are concerned - so 2023 is a

slightly more curious year as regards where artists might find themselves.

“ In an ideal world, any artist would like to think that their own project with their name on it would take precedence over other stuff that might arise, but we are all at the mercy of economics, so we’ll just see where this next year takes us,” Jim adds. Being part of two other successful bands is bound to have an impact on how an artist would approach recording and producing a new album. Jim Kirkpatrick is no exception to this rule, although on Dead Man Walking there is just one cover, a largely overlooked, but fantastic Rory Gallagher tune, I Fall Apart, which was originally released in 1971. This came to light as Jim was playing with Band of Friends, although the version on Dead Man Walking, is quite different from the previous versions.

“I’d largely forgotten about this song, so when I was reminded of it, I immediately wanted to record it, but my version is very different from the original by Rory. I’m very pleased with how it sounds. The new album is virtually the touring band, Jem Davies, Leon Cave, and Ollie Collins, with a couple of guests, but not as guest-heavy as the last record, a lot less collaborative. I have done a lot more on my own this time, writing and producing, which was partly due to lockdown because I initially started to gather the ideas towards the end of lockdown. But strangely, it helped me because it allowed me more time to do the prep work in the studio. The title track I co-wrote with Bernie Marsden, but the rest of the album is just me.”

As well as writing, recording, and producing the new album, Jim has also been called upon to produce many songs for an agent friend of his for a plethora of well-known artists - an all-star charity project for want of a better phrase. Musicians such as Iain Paice Neil Murray, and Francis Rossi, all for the good cause of raising money for Alderhay Hospital. Originally planned for twelve songs, the album took on a life of its own ending up at forty-four songs in total.

“ it took six-nine months out of my life just at the time when I was trying to get my new album up and running, it ended up with over a hundred artists in total!”

Jim Kirkpatrick is a very well-respected guitarist, singer/songwriter, and producer who has produced some of the finest blues/rock tunes over the last decade or so. I was intrigued about his light-bulb moment. What was the spark that ignited him to follow a career in music:

“Growing up as a kid in the 80s, it was just general pop music really, Queen, and

Michael Jackson. As a band, Queen were the first ones that I got deeply into, then I heard Jimi Hendrix. Purple Haze was the one that made me go, what the hell is this? That led me down the path of discovering Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, and B.B. King, which inevitably led me to the door of Robert Johnson. I love all music, not just blues or blues/rock, but when I pick up the guitar that’s what will always get me. I couldn’t pick up the guitar and play anything else, I’m always drawn to the blues. I’m also a huge Beatles fan, Brian Wilson, I adore The Beach Boys, the harmonies are something else, Jazz, Nirvana, I love it all. Music, no matter what your preference is, will always produce something that can touch everyone.”

As we continue our chat we both almost let slip just how much we love and admire, Paul McCartney. As Jim has said, many different genres of music have taken him down the path to being a musician, but for me personally, Paul McCartney is one of the musicians that can transcend any musical barrier.

“Some people may say he’s written some rubbish songs. I’d agree, but when you have written well over fifteen hundred songs, you can be forgiven for writing the odd bum tune. I think his solo work is far better than John Lennon’s stuff, as good as Lennon’s was. From a McCartney point of view, Ram is probably my favourite album of all time.”

As well as the new album, producing an all-star cast of musicians for a charity album, working with Band of Friends, FM, and Rhinos Revenge (John Edwards-Status Quo), Jim is also on the verge of releasing a live album that he recorded in 2022 at Eleven Club, Stoke-OnTrent. I was lucky enough to be at the gig, so can say with hand-on-heart, this is going to be a magnificent live album allowing a glimpse into the world of Jim Kirkpatrick playing where he belongs, in front of an audience.

“I’ve released a couple of the songs before, so It’s not going to be the complete show, I’m afraid. But having said that, I’m a bit of a completest myself, and part of me thinks that maybe I should have released the whole thing, but then that pushes it to another production price budget, so I’m a bit torn really. On the other hand, I could do a digital full gig release to keep costs down. I’m not going to release this on vinyl, at least not straight away, I’ll see how things pan out. Releasing an album on vinyl is extremely expensive nowadays”

JIM

So, over the last few years, I doubt that there has been anyone as busy or as in demand as Jim Kirkpatrick. Throw into that, Brexit and everything that has done to the music industry on both sides of the Channel, but I’m not going to waste my energy on that debacle. At long last, the live music industry in England is getting back to normal. Artists are releasing albums, and two of the most eagerly awaited releases come from Jim Kirkpatrick. A studio album, and a live album. I think 2023 is going to be a pivotal year for Jim. With the amount of work he’s put in, nobody will begrudge his success.

ALWAYS DRAWN TO THE BLUES

THE CINELLI BROTHERS TOGETHER IS BETTER

Firstly, we discuss their hectic touring schedule, they have just returned from Europe:

connects with you. This is a wonderful thing to do.”

The Cinelli Brothers fame is on the rise, a diligent blues outfit comprising brothers, Marco, and Alessandro, they also have Tom Julian-Jones and Stephen Giry. They have taken the blues genre and shaken it to their requirements whilst keeping to traditional approach of the genre.

However, they mix other styles in good measure, R&B, soul, and even some psychedelia to their repertoire of organically styled productions. Multi instrumentalists and great singers they never play the same set list twice live. Their performances are entertaining and the joy on stage is only matched by the connection from the audience. No surprise they have been chosen to represent United Kingdom at The Blues Awards in May 2023 in Memphis and Keeping The Blues Alive At Sea Cruise 2023.

To discuss that and other topics, Marco and Alessandro talk to Blues Matters.

Marco: “We love touring. It’s what keeps the band alive when we keep gigging. James Oliver said to us if he stopped gigging, he would die. We have that similar outlook. The momentum of the band means we need to continue with this.”

Alessandro: “I like playing with my brother, he’s a great musician and producer. When you work with someone a long time of course you’re going to disagree on some things, but very little. We share a similar vision for the band. We push in the same direction all the time. At Festivals we try to organise the set to whoever is playing before or after us. If previous band is up tempo, we may change the mood of the set to suit.”

We talk about venues and stagecraft:

Marco: “We’ve been in various musical projects. To deliver a good show you have to do something to keep the crowd focussed from the first number and then the crowd

Alessandro: Every gig is different; you get a lot of energy from a large crowd. I like to play on a big” stage, but the sound has to be right. Intimate small clubs, you need this too. Our recent gig at Edinburgh Voodoo Rooms, that’s an example where the sound was great and an intimate setting. There was a real connection with the crowd. Under The Bridge in London was also a great venue.”

Marco: “As long as our music is good the venue will be good. At Leamington Spa we were a bit nervous. But when you see the reaction of the audience and speak to everyone afterwards and how they reacted it’s a great feeling. The organ is loud and I’m not a loud guitar player so no problems there. We’re not a loud band. If the room is loud, that’s from the front P.A. The drums, set the volume onstage. If I can’t hear my brother playing when on stage we change the setting on the amp, usually it’s ok at 4! “

Alessandro: “If your ears are not ringing

 Colin Campbell  Ania Marie Polewiak

that’s always a good sign the stage sound is good. I practice playing drums every day, so my ears ring a lot!”

Musical roots of Cinelli Brothers:

Alessandro: “Dad played a huge role in that. Before school time, we listened to all sorts of music. You were having breakfast and Stevie Ray Vaughan was blasting from the speakers. He was a music lover. Then you become a teenager and you get more music.”

Marco: “We grew up listening to the blues and had some conception what it was. I remember when I was ten or eleven, I went to hear my dad’s band rehearse. The guitar player was very good, he bent the strings, and I was very impressed. I thought, yes, live music is kind of cool. My Aunt bought me an acoustic guitar at this time. She said you have to get lessons. My dad enrolled me into Music School and the first moment I went there I understood everything, this is what I wanted to do. I told my dad after the first lesson that I wanted to be a musician!”

Alessandro: “I remember waiting for dad and Marco in the School. I was passing a classroom and there was a drum kit there. I started playing it, it was loud, and I loved it. It made sense to play the drums. There was a drum tutor in the same Academy, a very good jazz player and he started to give me lessons, I was seven years old.”

Marco: “We had a power trio and played in the Netherlands the first time with Alessandro, I was twenty-three or four. I had a huge passion for blues music, more than my dad. I listened to Stevie Ray Vaughan first but then I went into the history and listened to Muddy Waters and Delta Blues. After I left Italy to go to the Netherlands, Alessandro kept on the same path of passion for the blues.”

Alessandro: “We had two friends who were into blues music and got me into Little Walter. I got a hard drive full of music. I love the sound of drums when it comes to playing blues, so good! The first drummers that influenced me without knowing were the Beatles, Rolling Stones, the Eagles. Then I had different teachers who got me to listen and found out drummer’s names. The likes of Steve Jordan, Max Roach. My top three at the moment are, Ringo Starr, Max Roach for jazz and Don Brewer (Grand Funk Railroad).”

“Grand Funk Railroad were a huge influence on the band, their father liked them, as Marco explains; “They play American music the way British bands used to, a real power trio. Soul mixes with rock. They influenced Alessandro’s drum style. I grew up loving Robben Ford and Stevie Ray Vaughan, then Jimi Hendrix. Keyboards wise, Jack McDuff is my favourite organist also Santana’s Gregg Rolie is great. I only learned to play Hammond organ during the pandemic. Ray Charles is a favourite piano player, more jazz than blues. Also, Professor Longhair and Dr John piano

wise. We now try to be a band mixing styles of music.”

Marco: “We’re a blues band with the groove of Chicago, Chess Records with a bit of Stax. We have the elements of 60s & 70s rockblues in there.”

Alessandro: “There’s a lot of pop as well. We’re a jam band. On the vocal side, Marco was the push for me, I also got some training but was never that confident a singer. We all sing in the band, there’s no lead singer as such.”

Marco: “There’s no lead singer: John Nemeth he’s a singer, so is Alice Armstrong; you know what I mean. I’m a very adaptive singer, I sing jazz, pop. I’ve been working with music producers who need added vocals on their tracks. I’m good at changing shapes and accents. My range is between baritone and tenor.”

Reasons for moving to the UK:

Alessandro: “I moved here ten years ago. I was looking to get a place in a music school in New York but that was frigging expensive! I did a record with an Italian songwriter who moved to London before me. He ‘phoned me to come over, he had a spare room. I took the flight, I only planned to stay a month, it was very impromptu. I started doing gigs soon after I moved. Then I got Marco to come over later.”

Marco: “I always wanted to leave Italy. My teacher said now ‘You know how to play; you need to leave to play American music! You will struggle in Italy; you’ll be frustrated if you stay.’ He was my mentor, as were my parents. I wanted to write my own songs and perform in the style I love! We travelled a lot, when we came to London or the States, we were amazed at how people sang and the pronunciation. Being in Italy, we start a step behind you guys. Nothing comes from the Government to help arts and culture, so we have to work harder! There are a lot of good musicians in Italy but there isn’t the infrastructure or venues to play. First live gig was seeing Eric Clapton with my dad, I was eighteen, it was in a stadium. You don’t see local bands playing, there’s no buzz around it. Don’t get me wrong, we love playing in Italy and we have a young following. It’s just not cultural, no bands at weddings in Italy! We just played in the Czech Republic it was good!”

Musical advice:

Marco: “Relating to guitar playing; when you play live, play with middle frequency. This helped me advance my own guitar playing. As a singer, listen to your inner voice when singing. I’ve had some good vocal coaches. We always sang in English since we were young. Now we can speak a bit of English, this helps us sing better.”

The newest collaborative release ‘No Country for Bluesmen’ and the process of finding a bass player: Alessandro/Marco: “It started randomly then we asked different artists. We didn’t have a budget to invest in the business. We wanted to ask as many people as possible.

We are the only two constant musicians on the record and Alessandro is the only drummer. JJ and Stephen are on a couple of tracks. Enzo the bass player had left the band and we needed continuity to the whole thing. In January we did auditions to find a bass player. We got down to the last three who could play, sing and were young enough and able to play abroad. Steve came in, Marco had known him professionally for some time in France. We wanted to move forward and have stability. He was stalking us to do the job. He’s a guitarist and we thought he would not want to be the bass player. He came and played a gig and wanted to play in Spain the next month with us. There’s no better test than on the road, so we went to Spain and the crowd loved him. He just got into the role easily and played a few numbers.” “The new release was recorded in three stages; some using open mics in a room, some in studio like Make You Mine and the rest in a cool studio in London called The Fish Factory, we recorded Together Is Better there with Redfish Blues Band. This record is more valuable artistically, more than we thought. We did it in three months from nothing. We had a bunch of appointments with the singers. The feature of each track is the composer. Connor Selby had to be the opening artist on the album, we kept it raw. We gathered round the screen and did something like Connor would never do, a song with aggressive tone. Then we wrote the lyrics. We had two days to record Better Together with Redfish. Christian Sharpe had this idea of a Prince style melody. We eventually made this into a shuffle, then got the lyrics. If you’re generous with the lyrics, you’ll gain the audience! We wanted repetition in it and that’s how that was made. Everything was live in the song apart from backing vocals. It was fun and sounds great. We involved Dana Gillespie as well

she wrote the song Careful What You Wish For on a notepad having listened to Marco’s guitar melody. She sent us the song next day in full.”

The Cinelli Brothers have been voted best band at the UK Blues Awards, so inevitably we discuss this and representing UK in Memphis at the Blues Awards. Alessandro is clear to point out there were no horses placed in any of the judges’ beds! Oh, they also have a cruise to go on in August with Joe Bonamassa, can life be any better?: Marco/ Alessandro: “It was very emotional. We went with the idea to win. We wanted to catch people’s attention and build up our own audience but didn’t think we would win. One of the judges talked to me and said, ‘I voted for you because you give hope to the UK music scene. You have all the elements to be an iconic band. I love the fact that you dress great, swap instruments, and know your role in the band.’ When we heard this, we were very pleased because that’s how we set ourselves up as the Cinelli Brothers. We are happy we are wanted, that’s success for us. We’re working on something special for Memphis. This is our time to be noticed in the States. We’re improving everything, our mindset. We play a lot; we don’t want to burn ourselves out though. The mind-set is to deliver the show and have a winning mentality. Play the show like it was your last show! We were asked to play on the cruise with Joe Bonamassa! We checked the email in detail but, yes, it’s true! Future wise, we will be adding another member. We have dreams for 2024, it’s demanding we want to tour Asia, and we want to play the Albert Hall and Glastonbury – why not!”

For further information see website: www.cinellibrothers.com

Multi-award-winning Kaz Hawkins is a singer, songwriter, actress, radio presenter and mental health campaigner. The Belfast born singer-songwriter now lives in France and is fast becoming a performing icon using her music in her own personal mental health awareness campaign.

Kaz embodies true grit and honesty and is the ultimate survivor. Until recently, Kaz was running different projects. My Life & I (Duo), Kaz Hawkins & Her Band of Men (Quintet), and her Memories of Etta show, celebrating the life of Etta James. Now, however, she is focused on her new French life and band.

We initially talk about the move to France, she has her management team there and all her gigs are there. “The stars aligned and everything fell into place, we stayed in England with friends for eight months, and then drove in the motorhome looking to stay in France. We got an offer of a holiday retreat and fell in love with this place. We moved in as soon as lockdown finished on 1st June 2020. I need to be in the culture to learn the language; David my husband has been getting us by! ”All my shows are in France, I’ll have to learn to be able to speak to the fans”.

Kaz like other musicians recently had her tours cancelled due to Covid-19 on the last show everything changed. Initially finding it hard to cope and feeling depressed. The “old habits” returned but she gave herself a talking to and a kick up the arse, she “Pulled her big girl panties up” and started to play more piano and is currently writing an autobiography.

When the pandemic hit she shelved this option as she needed to perform. It has brought her to better wellbeing living in France. “I’m good; shows are coming back on the road next month. The French are surprisingly obedient to the new rules post lockdown. Ashwyn Smythe from Digital Blues lives close here. The area where she lives seems a rural idyll and a chance to maybe get into gardening on their two-acre “forest”.

It seems a different life from Ireland. “France supports the Arts. It’s a big country to explore musically. The French have taken me into their hearts, I’m loving it”

A breakthrough moment recently was play-

ing the Cognac Blues Passions Festival in July 2019. The year before she had played a duo show on a smaller stage at this festival. “The French pick certain artists they love, that was us. The organiser said, he would love Kaz to come back again, is there a special project she would like to do? They gave me carte blanche to do whatever I wanted, we headlined the Saturday night.”

This was the Memories of Etta James show. “It wasn’t just a bunch of musicians covering songs. I had a special corset made. bookings started coming in. Now it’s a condensed touring show. You can’t take twelve musicians on the road, it’s seven now!”. “We streamlined it; you can’t get more than that number into a touring bus!”

“Etta James shaped my vocals. Everybody knows my back story. I’ve been very open about the traumas I have suffered. It was the female divas I discovered then the blues. When I heard her sing St Louis Blues which is on the new album, I didn’t hear Betty Smith or WC Handy, I heard Etta James.

My skin froze in time the moment I heard her voice.

Whilst she’s not the most refined vocalist, her rawness and honesty and didn’t give a shit attitude, and having her own struggles too, the more I fell in love with her. Twenty years on the cover scene doing weddings,

she has been my idol. You don’t understand a performance like that until you start writing your own music, then you perform your own music. I could not have done this show ten years ago. As long as people book the show I’ll do it. My original music is my first choice. For me, it’s a way to say thank you.”

A lot of people don’t know who Etta James is, who listen to my music and I find that strange. My fans have said it’s been amazing discovering blues artists like her. I wanted to pay tribute to her and her life and times. I didn’t want it to be a cabaret show; it had to represent what it meant to me. In the middle of the show I send most of the musicians off and we do my songs as a duo. I explain it was Etta who shared my pain to let me play my own music. I changed my name in honour of her, so it couldn’t have been anyone other than Etta James I could do a concert about.”

More recently, last summer in July 2022, Kaz was the Godmother, the leading lady, at France’s oldest Blues Festival, Cahors in the south-west of the country. Her performances were electrifying, and she closed the festival alongside another Irish blues-rocker, Johnny Gallagher. The crowd absolutely loved it!

So, is Kaz’s persona on stage similar to offstage? “Now I’ve dropped the boots and rockabilly style, I’m more respectful to the music. My days jumping about on stage like a madwoman are gone. Once I put the corset on it is what I’ve become. I still get nerves before going on stage.”

“Yes, you’ve got to be truthful and honest and with your back story, on some of the songs you sing it is really noticeable it strikes a chord with your audience and increases your connection with them,” she explains.

“I sat with my husband David about talking about my past and wanting to share this with people. I didn’t want people to think I was dishonest. His words were ‘Do it, give everything out you want, nobody can come back and hurt you with it.’ It was the best decision, now it is relevant and present. I’m overwhelmed at the response to such songs as ‘Lipstick And Cocaine’ or ‘Surviving’. I cry on stage, especially in the third verse when my mum comes to rescue me from the dead. Letting people into your heart is a sign of a good artist, you have to be. If I hit a note in a song that gives people goose-bumps in the

 Colin Campbell & Iain Patience  Philip Ducap

My skin froze in time the moment I heard her voice

“ ”

arm, that is not a lie, you can’t fake that. You can’t do what I do and not be affected by people’s stories.”

Kaz makes herself accessible to her fans but sometimes this can be overpowering emotionally, especially when people are phoning her up and feeling suicidal, she has had to learn to stand back now but is still a great ambassador for mental health matters.

So what makes a good song?

From a technical point, a good “hook” will always turn it into an earworm. Truth in the story. You have to understand the art of storytelling. When I write first, it is as a poem. If you do honest music be true to the message. Music is escapism.

As a singer I want people to get the message. I came out of the womb in tune! It was never supported. Singing was an escape for me from the abuses going on. I had no faith in my early writing. I got kicked out of music class because I was too loud, I was louder than the trumpets. On tour as long as you get plenty of rest and hydrate properly but I don’t class myself as a musician, I’m a singer. Learning music theory took away the passion I had, so I stick to my three-chord tricks!

The best advice musically from Kaz is, “Don’t listen to trolls, the negativity. When I first came onto the blues scene, I was attacked. You’re not British, voice too loud, she’s a shouter. I remember wanting to give it up. This was my original music, it was very personal. Dave Raven supported me a lot and became a big part of my life. Dave said ‘you have come through so much, don’t dim your lights just because people say they don’t like you, it’s their issues, not yours. You shine, don’t stop, for anybody.’ I realised he’s right. It frees your mind when you don’t acknowledge the trolls.”

In relation to being a woman in the music business: “I’ve done my twenty years, going to blues jams for ten years without an invite on stage. Now I have educated myself on how to deal with these situations. As an empowered woman, I would not let this happen. God help them if it does! There are women in the industry who have the monopoly; you can get hit from both ends.

For me, it’s about educating. If someone said who’s paying me now, I would say what do you do for a living, oh you’re a bricklayer. Well, would you let somebody else get

paid for your work? I’ve earned the right not to be judged on my sex, it shouldn’t be an issue. I get asked about the #MeToo movement. At the end of the day, there are still women not in production. We have to explain with love and patience now. I need energy for many things.”

What does blues mean to Kaz? “It’s a feeling, a passion, an essence of life. It’s the most truthful of all musical genres. Some of the Etta songs, I wonder if I should be singing them in this day and age! It was said in those days. It’s telling a story. I like the risqué blues, that’s true blues. There is more than just pinpointing the blues. Everything has the blues in it. Look at ‘St Louis Blues’, it’s still fresh, I try to honour the truth.”

Regarding the production of the new album: “Wayne Proctor has given his dedication to this timeless era. In first discussions, Wayne said he thought we could put a hot studio album together. I had covered ‘I Just Wanna Make Love To You‘ and singing ‘At Last‘ for about twenty years so how do you reinvent yourself singing another person’s song.

But Wayne said listen to the originals by Etta. Listen to the musicianship that happened then and we rediscovered the songs again. ‘I’d Rather Go Blind‘ must be the most covered. I didn’t want to do it like we did in the show. So we found that she released ‘Blind Girl’ and we renamed it the way she did it. Its Wayne’s baby, he built it up from the ground. But, it gives an idea of what the show is like. The album was made through people’s demand. We recorded the album to support the show.

Kaz Hawkins Band of Men, the duo, or Etta James style show, the preference for Kaz is “I love the space I have as a singer with the duo. I couldn’t tour that because it’s so emotionally draining. I can depend on me, whereas in a band I am the leader and that brings on a lot of responsibility. I think in intimate concerts I like to see the whites of the eyes of the audience and at festivals, I love being with the band and entertaining people. It’s for the fans!

If you do blues in the UK it has to be twelvebar. Anything outside this, you get the big bad blues stick, thrown at you. Here in Europe, they feel blues music has contributed so much. If I do ‘Lipstick And Cocaine‘ and I do a growl in the middle, that’s blues to people in Europe. People back home don’t class that song as blues. In the UK people want to ‘pigeon hole you’ like there is only one blues.””

“You only have to look at The Blues Foundation in Memphis; they are trying to keep that art form alive. So they have moved into the modern era by doing live broadcasts and they are not stuck in the sixties or forties, sitting on a porch, they are trying to move the genre forward but stay true to the blues genre. Just try to be a little more open because all who love the blues want to share it.

“People should just wise up and enjoy the music. You don’t like something don’t listen to it. It just pisses me off sometimes, the quarrelling. I just want to perform and sing! Fans reactions are a measure of success. Getting awards, shoot you into places, you get noticed. Money doesn’t define my success; I lost my home, making my first album! It was a massive lesson. I didn’t know how things worked from an original song-writers point of view. It was a painful process, I ended living in a van, but I won’t disrespect the album though. If you want to make money, the blues isn’t for you!”

Now signed to leading France-based, international blues label, Dixie Frog, Kaz has a new French band backing her and an appetite to conquer the global blues world and stage, as she says: “Dixie Frog has been a great career move for me. It’s a cool label, run by people who love and understand the music. They also understand an artist’s needs, something that all too often can be a rare thing, believe me! My last album, My Life & I, was great and I loved making it but I’ve just been in the studio in Paris and have a new one coming down the line soon. It should also be available in vinyl – Dixie Frog has recently opened a vinyl production plant. So, the future looks great and I’m just so happy with the new band. These are guys who know exactly what I want (and need) and can sure deliver it all.”

Finally, is there anything Kaz could let Blues Matters know about herself that she may not think people know? “I’m getting into gardening. Also, I do a lot of meditating. I believe in karma, what you give you shall receive maybe people don’t know that about me. There are crystals hanging in my house. For me, I use it for overcoming trauma. I meditate before going on stage. It’s a crutch for me. Hope, belief, and love are important philosophies for me. I wake up now looking forward to the next day and feel ok with me. I have accepted my deeds and forgiven myself. I want to live the way I want. I am recreating a childhood I should have had, always laugh as well!”

JOE LOUIS WALKER

Joe Louis Walker is a six-time Blues Music award winner, has been inducted into the Blues hall Of Fame, a consummate guitarist, and singer songwriter.

He is also a musician’s musician, a go to musician for electric blues influenced music. Definitely one of the best bluesmen on the scene today and for many decades. He’s opened shows for Muddy Waters, duetted with BB King and was a close friend of Mike Bloomfield.

Now Walker has released Weight Of The World, recorded, and produced by Eric Corne. This and other subjects were discussed in a very upbeat chat for Blues Matters, via what he called “Tricknology”!

“The new album is the focus, it is a milestone for me. This was an album of all new songs. I wrote some. Eric wrote some, and we wrote some together. I’m proud of this album,” he explains.

Hello, It’s The Blues reminds me of you going full circle from The Gift album, I say, which leads to a chat about his background: “I’m fortunate I started off in the Fillmore district of San Francisco. My dad was from Mississippi, my mom from the South. I was a trickle-down kid. All my cousins played instruments so when we moved to Fillmore I was in heaven. I didn’t join a band; I just joined my family. One thing that pleased my dad was the fact we all joined a union; I was fourteen then. There were all types of music going on; psychedelic, funk, blues, and this was my education. I tried some gospel music but always came back to the blues. We had the Thelonious Monk Institute. The path I chose was the right one I feel. In those styles of music, I have many influences; for Soul I like Bobby Womack, including his guitar playing. I’m not going to say I like Curtis Mayfield any more than Magic Sam. There’s nothing wrong in being called a blues guy, but I defy anyone who can find a Gatemouth Brown or Dr John and say they just play blues. Blues is the ultimate credibility, that’s where everybody goes to be credible! When a rock star is not playing rock anymore, he makes a blues record. When a jazz man stops playing, he makes a blues record. It shows how influential the blues is in a social context. Blues and gospel music came out of suffering, this music was a way of expressing these feelings.

In many ways this is the catalyst to making life feel better. But you had no idea that in 1958 a scruffy bunch of people from England would do the same thing! It has nothing to do with race, money, or sex. It has to do with the connection between one person’s soul and another, that’s what I think!”

He attributes his style of music to something Willie Dixon said - ‘Joe, I’ve been listening and watching you and I’ve figured it out. Your style is all over the place, but it works for you. Don’t try to be BB King. You doing a bad version of you is better than you are doing a good version of anybody else.’

Joe is back touring recently, doing acoustic sets but has also opened for his friend George Thorogood. He does a lot of Benefit events and tour of Midwest America and Canada. Also going to Mustique, and a European tour. He may be coming to UK depping with Supersonic Blues Machine, so plenty touring. Walker also talks about doing something with Giles Robson as well.

“You know what’s funny Colin; I noticed BB King through his career. I’m getting to a point where I want to put shows on that show my soulful side. The tour promoting the new record, of course we’ve been rehearsing four or five songs from it. I see me playing with more people, which is what I like to do. I could do a psychedelic tour; well, it is San Francisco! I’ve lived long enough that I’ve carried out what I dreamed of doing. People know my music and I’m going to have more fun with it the older I get. I’m a fan first. When I was younger, I got to be around so many good artists, like Earl Hooker and Muddy Waters. I bugged him so much he had to give me a gig some time! I’ve learned a lot from Albert Collins. I learned this from Chuck Berry; when you break a string and restring it, he used to tell a poem during that time. It’s a Christmas one but he told it anytime of the year, it ends, but nothing ever happened that Christmas!”

Advice wise, Joe says: “Surround yourself with good people. When you don’t, that’s when times are going to get shaky. Bo Diddley told me that thirty years ago.”

Walker reflects on his career: “My first instrument I played was a violin, then a trumpet. I also played piano but didn’t get

far with that. Back then you checked out instruments like you do books from a library. But your parents had to sign the card for the instrument coming home. I never got a guitar at school. My mum dipped into the savings and got me a Chinese guitar. I learned rudimentary stuff on it. I was told if you want to learn you’ll have to sacrifice Saturdays when the rest of your friends and cousins are going partying and stuff and go to the music teacher. I did and it paid off because I learned how to read music, this was good for a fourteen-year-old. I taught my cousins to read music. It was a smart move on my mum’s part. When I got a guitar, I first played bass with my cousins. I was a roadie and had lots of fun. I have had vocal training. Hey, being in a gospel group was awesome! The timbre has to be right; you learn your range. I always called the gospel group a young man’s training ground. That is where you learned about connecting with the song you’re singing about and what that’s making you feel. I quit playing blues music in 1974. I went to play with a band called The Spirit of Corinthians until 1985, I also backed a lot of gospel singers, especially females. When you’re young you want to show what you can do, when you’re older you’ve got to know! The originators of blues and rock and roll knew how to put on a show. Everything was mostly done by accident. I feel sorry for younger artists, now things are calculated, back then it was immediate and raw. I was young. I had a young audience. Now a lot of people who listen to my music are older! I’m not competing with younger people!”

“Looking back, when I was fourteen, I would have taken advantage of the opportunities that are ahead. When I left my cousins at age sixteen, I did not do this when I left home. At nineteen I did a demo record and didn’t cultivate it. In the generation I was in, if I became famous, I would be dead. A lot of people who came to the Matrix Club were stars and ended up dying because of their success. Mike Bloomfield, Jimi Hendrix. Success was too much. The slow decline was just as worse. It doesn’t corelate when you’re forty-seven in a doctor’s office, still doing the same gigs, looking in the mirror, and saying am I a failure or success. I like playing and I do have a legacy. I want to do different things. I like pushing myself and I like it. What the future holds, who knows?”

 Colin Campbell  Mickey Deneher

I want to do different things. I like pushing myself

“He would just come in often, even in the daytime, hoping maybe a hero of his would show up early for a soundcheck or something like that. Which did happen. Albert King was the perfect example of that. Albert was kind of a gruff person who would make people timid in his presence, but he knew that Stevie was serious, and he got him up there with him and that was the beginning of their professional relationship. It was just thrilling for Stevie, and we were all so proud of him because we knew he could pull it off. He could really stand his own ground on stage with even somebody that was as wonderful as Albert King,” declares blues matriarch Angela Strehli in her deep Texan drawl undimmed by decades living in Northern California and running an old roadhouse/restaurant Rancho Nicasio. And as co-founder of the famous Antone’s blues club in Austin, Texas SHE should know.

Her instant recall about how a young Stevie Ray Vaughan got his early break at Antone’s and many other established, legendary artists who graced its legendary stage is remarkable. Now a blues veteran in her own right, Strehli has witnessed a golden bedrock of blues greats performing first-hand as a fan and booking them in at Antone’s. Her current album, Ace of Blues, is a homage to her blues idols as she seductively covers songs originally written and recorded by Bobby Bland, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Otis Rush...she even makes a return to her own composition, SRV, a heartfelt tribute to the muchmissed musician who started his musical career at Antone’s.

The Vaughan connection with Angela Strehli and Antone’s goes even deeper with The Fabulous Thunderbirds, featuring Jimmie Vaughan and Kim Wilson, starting off as the house band at this club for all the visiting artists. Says Strehli: “That was a very smart thing that Clifford Antone did. He knew that we couldn’t afford to have artists come from Chicago and bring their bands. It just wasn’t going to happen. So, he thought, well, if we have a band that’s good enough and willing to study the material and back people up properly, then we can pull this off. And that’s what happened. I mean, that’s why we all benefited because we got to participate. And like The Fabulous Thunderbirds who went on to be a wonderful beacon of people still interested in playing the blues. And, of course, Stevie, you know, is another example.” Angela’s fondness for the Vaughan brothers is as profound as the music they all shared, and it all started in this little ‘ole club in Austin, Texas.

Ace Of Blues reveals Angela’s strong voice and dulcet tones weathering beautifully across its dozen tracks. Her reason for the title of her first album in seventeen years is as straightforward as this engaging lady’s demeanour suggests: “Ace is a nickname for me. Angela has a lot of syllables if you’re yelling across the room or something,” reveals Angela. “Everyone who ended up coming to town could just call me Ace, so they didn’t have to get three syllables out. So that became my nickname. Bob thought that was just fine. So, we ended up calling the album title that, too.” Bob Brown is Angela’s husband who co-produced Ace Of Blues with his wife. The album opens with Angela’s divine version of Bobby Bland’s Two Steps From The Blues. Angela’s mid-70s band, Southern Feeling, opened for Bobby Bland as she tells me: “He was also a Texan and Duke Records was out of Houston, Texas. So that was a thrill. And we met again over the years at a venue or two. But that original record, Two Steps From The Blues, was so beautiful. The whole arrangement was just wonderful, so we tried to stay true to that.” With so many songs by so many of the artists she has met to choose from, I ask ‘Ace’ how she approached the final selection of these twelve tracks: “Well, part of it was what I could actually pull off and that was not a real challenge for me to sing. But it’s

 Paul Davies  Paul Moore and others

ANGELA STREHLI Another

Ace in Hand

good to have a challenge, I think, and so that’s how I saw myself in that position. But I think it was a good thing to do. It might seem odd to start a record with something subtle, but I thought that it was also good to make some songs harder.” Angela elaborates further on her approach as I commend her on her vocals: “You’re saying my voice seems strong on the record? I’m glad to hear that! It really was a sort of surprise recording for me. My husband sort of tricked me into that one. He just told me ‘look, it’s been several years since your fans have heard from you. Don’t you think they’d like that’? So, you know, my excuse was that I had not been writing any originals. I felt that I had written enough about my life. So, he had a good idea even if I didn’t have a bunch of originals.”

Rewinding the storied tape of Angela ‘Ace’ Strehli’s amazing life and times, she tells me how she became besotted with the blues from seeing Muddy Waters at a Chicago club when she was a student –her version of Muddy’s I Love The Life I Live does full justice to his legacy and some - and witnessing Chester Burnett, Howlin’ Wolf, up close and personal: “I went to his club, Silvio’s, and I didn’t expect to meet him. But I did because he was right there at the door with his partner. It was New Year’s Eve, and I had an excuse to be in Chicago, but I didn’t have any proper clothes to wear to a nightclub. I was just a hippie with good intentions,” she chuckles at this innocent memory. “Anyway, I thought I could just sort of slip in there and not be noticed. I passed the test and got to go in. And it blew my mind to see Howlin’ Wolf in his own place, in his own club, because I always heard he would sit down and just do his thing and it wasn’t that way at all. He was completely animated. He was crawling, laying down around the stage and climbing up the curtains and it just blew my mind.”

Ace covers Howlin’ For My Darling and you can hear her channelling this memory with her ‘Wolf’ like howls and moans. Memories come to Angela like a Texas flood as she recalls Jimmy Reed: “I remember Jimmy Reed and his recording partner Eddie Taylor for all his real hits. Eddie is a minor figure only because nobody knew who he was on those records. He was the heart of those records because he played that beat behind Jimmy that everybody, I know in Texas danced to. It was amazing that kids danced to Jimmy Reed because it had that groove. And that groove was Eddie Taylor. And that style was just so important for that kind of music as it made it fun and danceable.” Angela’s take on Reed’s Take Out Some Insurance is one of her favourites. In a lovely twist of fate Ace of Blues is released via Antone’s/New West Records. Says Strehli: “That pleases me so much because I founded the original Antone’s Records. I knew that if somehow we could start a little company, then all of us would have a chance to at least have a record out. That was important because in those days Austin was not a known entity. It was not a major market for anything. It was the capital of Texas, but that didn’t mean anything. It had no cachet. Houston was different, and other places, but not Austin.” Well, both Clifford Antone and Angela Strehli certainly changed the power play as they put Austin firmly on the musical map.

Angela further explains the significance of the Antone label: “We ended up having all kinds of other artists on it. We have a wonderful anthology of the artists who played at our 10th anniversary; one of our first anniversary shows. I mean, everybody from Buddy Guy to Otis Rush are real heroes of mine. Back at that time, they were not doing very well, they didn’t have a lot of work. It was interesting. You would not think so, but they were better supported in Britain, in Japan, and so forth. Somehow those people had been exposed to a lot of music that a lot of us kids and in the South were not hearing, for whatever reason, some bad reasons, I think. That was why I was so tickled because I had a shortwave radio when I was young and I could get these channels from Shreveport, Louisiana, and Del Rio,

ALBERT KING 1978

Texas, and Nashville, and they had blues shows. I didn’t know what you called that music, but I got to hear it. I got the bug and had to find out what all about it. What’s the deal? What do you call this music? And who plays it? And how can I find it?”

From her birthplace in Lubbock, Texas, to her current happy existence in Northern California, Angela ‘Ace’ Strehli is playing some live dates to promote this passion play recording. She’s played dates at her roadhouse/restaurant Rancho Nicasio and at Antone’s bringing this cherished music all the way back home. Music is in her (blue) blood, and the sky is surely crying for an autobiography of almost unparalleled first-hand stories to be told by this Ace Of Blues one day.

WITH JAMES POLK & THE BROTHERS, 1971

STEVIE, 1977

MUDDY WATERS AND JUNIOR WELLS, 1975

LIVE MUSIC

EMMA WILSON

WHEN RIVERS MEET

DAN PATLANSKY

BETH HART

KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD

KIM CHURCHILL

KING KING

THE CINELLI BROTHERS

ELLES BAILEY

BONNIE RAITT

JOOLS HOLLAND

LAURENCE JONES

WILLE AND THE BANDITS

WALTER TROUT

HENRIK FREISCHLADER

ROOTS MUSIC REPORT’S BLUES ALBUM CHART

Twang more than james 0liver

Speaking with rising UK blues star James Oliver, it’s hard to contain surprise at his truly deserved success in recent years. And the guy is barely thirty, so clearly has a helluva future ahead of him.

At home in Wales, Oliver explains that his current band is not entirely composed of fellow Welshmen, - “The band-members line-up can vary” - but is happy to confirm honored citizenship on the Bristolian assistant while expressing an evident national pride on the number of great players his country of birth has delivered.

“Andy Fairweather Low is such a great guitarist,” he agrees, when I mention the name. “And Mickey G, such a giant really. People don’t always know who he is but what a fantastic player, just amazing. Of course, most people will have heard him play without knowing it was him, when he was with Shakin’ Stevens band,” he adds with a

laugh and an acknowledgment to the guy’s remarkable history.

But, of course, these guys are both internationally recognized pickers, each with an at times enormous legion of fans, guys who have often graced international stages with hugely revered modern music names. Oliver himself, concedes that point but looking at his own past, is already pushing ahead in a similar vein. The legendary US Telecaster master Bill Kirchen is quoted as saying –‘James Oliver is the real deal, a passionate roots rocker loaded with guitar firepower’ ; while recent stage encounters have included working alongside the likes of legendary picker Albert Lee, and Greg Koch.

Against this enviable background, it comes as no surprise to learn that Oliver has a wide range of interests and musical influences:

“I’m a record collector, so touring is great because I get to all these towns and can get

out and look for more albums. But my first influences were probably Rory Gallagher. I remember hearing him for the first time and just being blown away really. The three Kings, BB King, Freddie King and Albert King. Then there is Albert Collins, Hendrix and Muddy Waters. Hubert Sumlin, Bill Kirchen, Danny Gatton. Just so many. I love most kinds of music and listen to everything from blues and country, swing and jazz to soul and rock. They all offer something different and all help me develop my own likes and interests and style of playing.”

Pressed on the blues end a bit further, Oliver quickly adds a few more greats to his bunch of personal favourites: “Jeremy Spencer, I’ve always loved him too; and then there’s always Peter Green. The earlier Fleetwood Mac stuff he played on is fabulous; He had that special tone, and if you think of him, you just have to add bandmate Danny Kirwain. Then there’s Elmore James…”

 Iain Patience  Supplied

“The thing is, I started playing guitar with one of those electric guitar starter kit kind of things. Back then, most of these names were unknown to me, so it was a case of finding albums, listening then following up, searching for more of their stuff. It’s still something I love doing. There’s just so much out there… waiting!” he adds with a shrug and a laugh.

A former UK Blues Emerging Artist Award winner, Oliver is also known for his enjoyable stage-banter and asides, together with a clear love of Rock-a -Billy music, a genre often overlooked or positively ignored by blues players generally. In 2020, he released an album succinctly entitled ‘Twang’ that gave more than a passing nod to the style and which also went on to top the Amazon Blues Chart while helping cement his own place in the UK and international music world.

“It is one of those albums I’m still particularly proud of,” he says. “It reflects my own approach and love of all kinds of music generally.

That thought leads in turn to an exploration of his love of Telecaster guitars: “I do love Strats, too, but it has always been the Telecaster for me. There’s just something about the feel and the sound that makes them special,” he laughs. “I have a few now. I have guitars, basically Telecasters, made by the great Welsh maker, Dave Dearnely in Car-

diff. He makes them the old school way from a few blocks of wood, the body, the neck, each from blocks, hand-crafted. Amazing really and such great guitars.

When asked how he describes his own style, Oliver becomes a tad more reserved but soon warms to the theme: “It’s a mix of rock ‘n’ roll, rockabilly, blues and country. Straight-up roots guitar music. Always roots; it’s always got to be roots music for me. … Loads of twangy guitar! I want to aim to sound like those wonderful old, 1950s Sun recordings. That’s pretty much the sound I have in my head. If you look at Rory Gallagher’s records, he plays things like Pistol Slapper Blues, a Blind Boy Fuller song, fabulous stuff. When I found that, I went backwards from there, digested what I could find, practiced a lot, then came forward again and at the end of it, that got me into rockabilly.”

Oliver says he loves the USA and always looks forward to touring there: “I love the States, have had a great time playing out there. I’ve also been able to actually play Danny Gatton’s old guitar – another famous Telecaster, once owned by a truly astonishingly talented guitarist often rated one of the best that ever lived by his musical peers.

“It was amazing to be able to hold it and play it thanks to Glenn Holley and Danny Bryant. It’s great that it’s not just some untouched

museum piece and it’s possible to actually play it still.”

Recent years have seen Oliver return to tour in Scandinavia. 2023 is no exception; Despite the hassle of Covid with its inevitable gig cancellations and travel and touring interruptions, this year is hopefully again opening up musically: “Yea, I love Sweden and will be off again soon on tour. I love the feel of the place and they seem to like what I do. That’s always good,” he jokes. “In 2021, I worked with a band The Refreshments, a Swedish outfit and it was great. We did an album together, ‘Less is More.’ This time, I’m with the Swedish Tornadoes. Really looking forward to getting back up there and playing. I’ve no real preference about venues. They can be small, house-gigs, big festivals, it’s really all the same to me. I just love getting out there. As long as I’m playing, I’m happy!”

And Oliver’s personal love of gigging is evident when he explains that despite Covid restrictions and limitations last year he still managed to notch up an impressive number of live gigs with his band: “I did 301 gigs last year,” he says with a smile. “Of course, some were because I could do, say, two or even three gigs in one day. But I’m happiest when I’m out gigging, playing live for people. It’s what I want to keep doing!”

The UK Blues Federation believes that Blues music in the United Kingdom (UK) needs to be better represented and coordinated in order to achieve the respect and prosperity that it deserves.

Consequently in 2015, we established a pan-UK Federation to promote and support Blues in and from the UK in all its forms and styles. It is our aim to achieve the maximum recognition for UK Blues music, past, present, and future and thereby to boost the profile and prosperity of all involved with the genre in the UK, bringing those involved together to achieve this vision.

Since 2018 The UK Blues Federation has been hosting The UK Blues Awards. Our aim being to allow the industry and the public to nominate and vote for those they believe, through their work in the previous year, deserve the recognition an Award will give them.

The 2023 Awards

The voting opens for the 2023 Awards on January 28th, so make sure you get over to the website and make your votes count: www.ukblues.org

THE UK BLUES AWARDS 2023

and the nominees are...

UK BLUES ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Sponsored by Blues In The South

• ALICE ARMSTRONG

• CONNOR SELBY

• DOM MARTIN

• ELLES BAILEY

• MATT LONG

UK BLUES ACOUSTIC ACT OF THE YEAR

Sponsored by Goin’ Up The Country Blues Club

• DAVE ARCARI

• MARK HARRISON

• MARTIN HARLEY

• SEAN TAYLOR

• TREVOR BABAJACK STEGER

UK BLUES INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR

Sponsored by Sarah’s Sussex Blues

• DOM MARTIN

• ED CLARKE

• MATT LONG

• STEVIE WATTS

• WILL WILDE

UK BLUES VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

Sponsored by Carlisle Blues & Rock Festival

• ALICE ARMSTRONG

• DOM MARTIN

• ELLES BAILEY

• EMMA WILSON

• KYLA BROX

JULES FOTHERGILL YOUNG

UK BLUES ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Sponsored by Terry & Lesley Marshall

• JOE ANDERTON

• MARCUS PRAESTGAARD-STEVENS

• TOBY LEE

• TOM WATERS

• ZAC SCHULZE

UK BLUES EMERGING

ACT OF THE YEAR

Sponsored by Outlaw Music

• BLUE NATION

• GREG BRICE

• JANA VARGA

• THE TERRAPLANES BLUES BAND

• ZAC SCHULZE GANG

UK BLUES BAND OF THE YEAR

Sponsored by Valentine Music Promotions in memory of John Short

• BIG WOLF BAND

• BRAVE RIVAL

• CATFISH

• THE CINELLI BROTHERS

• WHEN RIVERS MEET

INTERNATIONAL ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Sponsored by Blues Matters!

• BUDDY GUY

• IAN SIEGAL

• LARKIN POE

• SARI SCHORR

• TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND

Image from the 2022 UK Blues Awards by John Bull (Rockrpix)

Image spread by Tony Cole of 2022 Awards

This must be one of the most bizarre interviews. I manage to catch Gerry Jablonski’s set at Callander Jazz and Blues Festival earlier in the year. Oh, we will just go to the café and do an interview there,I thought. So we met up. All was going well, until people came in ordering food and chatting. Oh, the perils of tracking down artists!

The band comprise of Gerry Jablonski, lead singer and guitarist, Peter Narojczyk on harmonica, Lewis Fraser on drums and vocals, and Grigor Leslie on bass guitar. Together they are a phenomenal band whose style is blues-based but cannot be pigeonholed to one style. They must be seen live to get the full-on band effect and that feeling of connection with the audience, their stage performances are so entertaining, and the band’s chemistry makes them a must-see band. We talked about various subjects including their newest release entitled 105.

We reflect on how they felt the set had been the previous night. I thought it was good. (It brought back memories of the Dundee Blues Bonanza vibe, good audience, Sound Engineer.)

Lewis chipped in: “Good to see a live audience coming for the music and not just going to the pub.” As to getting back playing post-pandemic, Peter shared “There was a difference when we first got back on the road but now it is not a problem. There is a problem financially stopping people going out to gigs though! Covid is old news now and people don’t see this as a priority. In Europe, like here, price of fuel is rising…”.

Gerry: “There’s a whole new blues concept album right there!”

This brought-up the subject of differing audiences in Europe and UK. Peter continues: “There are differences in culture. Before and after the show, but during, I see no differences.”

Next was the topic of recording their newest release, 501.

Gerry: “There was no prerecording we just went into the studio and did it.”

Lewis adds: “We went to the studio knowing we had to record all the tunes in the time allocated. Mark Morrow who helped produce this commented he had never put an album together so quickly! We went in for four or five days to record tunes and ended up doing the whole album plus a live album. We still had a day and a half left; we did some extra tracks for a later release.”

Grigor: “We did it in such a hurry, we didn’t even get time to listen to it all.”

Peter: “Doing the whole album as one, was an interesting experience. When we walked into the studio that was when Russia had

 Colin Campbell  Maeve O’Connor & Rob Blackham

invaded Ukraine. Obviously, this feels different now because we’ve been living with this for some time. But it was scary to begin with and think this is the vibe when we recorded the album. It was all new we didn’t know what was happening. It was an experience for sure!”

Track Talk:

Gerry: “I wrote all the songs, and I gave the guys the lyrics and get them to make them into something they can destroy! There is a song writing process of sorts. I don’t go all Geek with this and record every detail. Usually if I have a verse or chorus I’m halfway there. I have a basic idea for a riff and follow that chord structure. Then I go and dig some holes at my work (A grave digger) and return and play through my new amp until I get what’s happening in my head to come out! If I remember it the next day, it’s a goer. If I forget about it, it must have been crap anyway!”

“Hard Road came about when I was thinking about my past. I started greeting and wondered why I was doing all this and feeling sorry for myself, it was time to grow up, fucks sake your sixty-two years old. But then I thought I’d make a song about it because everyone feels like that some time. Also, it conjures up all kind of things. It’s a basic chord progression. Bob Dylan has always been an influence. If you don’t get into him, you’re not going to be able to write a song anyway! The key to that song is getting the repetitive line, One way ticket to a hard road, that’s the hook. Once you have that, you’re in the clear. Guitar wise, I wanted an Eric Gales, Stevie Ray Vaughan thing. It’s a tough solo.”

From this point, more people came to eat, and Gerry quipped about cosiness and fruit scones.

“Goddamn! That was me trying to write a crap tune!” He jokes.

Lewis butts in stating, “ Aye, that was Gerry’s throw away one, we’ll put this old shite together for the album. I listened to it, it’s a banger. People seem to love it.”

Peter: “The album version has been remixed to make it sound like the rest of the recording. It was the first single. There’s a mix of tunes, not so many downers. There are heavy hitting songs like Hard Road and Breaking the Stones.”

Heavy Water was a rerecorded song, as Lewis explains: “We did the recording as a single in 2017. We didn’t think the recording did the song justice. We made it into a bigger song than it was originally, the album version. The recording and production on this album is massive. “

Peter continues: “Normally, when you finish

an album you think, this and that should be changed. I don’t feel that way with this album. I like the way it starts with two muscular toned songs, then the hard rock comes in. The song selection and the timing of the recording is paramount. Okay when Gerry wrote Hard Road, he didn’t mean it as the Ukraine situation. But every good song has a universal meaning. It doesn’t matter what century it was written in. The whole dark atmosphere of the recording I feel influenced the way we executed the playing in the studio. The song structure has so many layers. Every album is the best you’ve done at the time. It’s dark and heavy but times we are living in are the same. That’s the reality of it! What is really impressive is what Gerry came up with lyrically, is different to our other albums. It’s very rare. I compare it to Shakespeare, not Gerry is however the meaning is universal, the subject of the lyrics is different, it actually means something if I’m totally honest. “

that matter to people who are listening. It’s about what is happening now that matters to us. Blues is never going away; it’s the root of all musical styles and roots music is never out of fashion. You should not have to imitate a Black musician from the 20s if you’re a white middle class boy from Sussex. You’re either something or you’re not. If you’re wearing a mask folk will soon see through it.”

Grigor: “Good blues in the 30s and 40s has a message that is relevant to you now. They speak about their fucked-up lives, not having any money, it’s still relevant now to people. Gil Scott Heron put it succinctly. You’ve got the ain’t got no money blues; I got no woman blues, ain’t got no money or no woman blues, that’s relevant to all generations. It’s never been in fashion, always on the edge.”

Gerry: “To me it’s all the same, I don’t see the difference between Beyonce and Aretha Franklin and BB King. It’s either good or bad and we’re in about the middle! My situation was weird when I was young. When music came to me it came all in the one go. My half-brother gave me full reign to his record collection. Everything from Frank Zappa to BB King via Richard Thompson. I see our music as eclectic, it’s not just the one style.”

Grigor: “Gerry’s trying to explore his own persona on this album with every track through his music and that’s what art is all about.”

Lewis: “We listened to the album in the van travelling down, without even saying a word to each other. It finished and there was a universal nod! “

Lewis/ Grigor; “This has always been the way. We simplify it so we can play it!. It’s a sub-conscious thing, we bump off each other. We have been lucky!”

Gerry: “It’s a Keith Moon, Thunder fingers vibe going on.”

Peter: “The band’s chemistry is natural to us. A bit like the cross talk from these ladies in the café!”

So, I ask, does blues music matter these days?:

Peter: “It needs to appeal to younger generation. It has to be about current events and mean something in their lives. It should speak about reality and touching subjects

Lewis: “In a literal sense, yes, blues music is always going to matter. It has shaped so many genres from the past forty odd years. These days of modern music masks that but blues music will always be there. We’re not really a blues band as such. It’s blues influenced rock music if that makes since. What we come out with; we’re not trying to sound like anyone else.”

Asked about future plans, the guys say:

Peter: “We’ll play more shows and maybe record another album. We are free agents, no one tells us what to do. We have our own rehearsal space, Independence and art is particularly important. We’ll keep doing what we do. Video promotions, always projects, a European tour is on the cards. Also doing UK tour. No mysteries! Music is the most important thing. I express myself in this lifestyle. I book the band’s shows, I get great satisfaction from playing live music.”

Lewis: “It comes down to the band’s chemistry, you get a natural buzz about playing music together. Sometimes when you hit the road, you’re not even thinking about the show. You’re thinking about hanging about with your mates and having a laugh.”

Grigor: “Believe it or not, this is what keeps me happy. It’s good for your mental health, possibly not your physical health. Being on the road is one of the best laughs ever. You sacrifice other things to do what we do!”

“we’re not trying to sound like anyone else”

BIG BLUES REVIEWS

   

YATES MCKENDREE

BUCHANAN LANE

QUALIFIED RECORDS

Yates is the son of keyboard player and producer Kevin McKendree, and, on the evidence of this debut album, he is a multi-talented young man, playing guitar, piano and vocals (he can also play drums, by the way). Produced and recorded by his father, Yates wrote four tunes here and covers a host of great blues artists, backed by an ace studio team of musicians, including Big Joe Maher on drums, Steve Mackey on bass and a three-man horn section on most of the tunes. Yates opens proceedings with Out Crowd which definitely references Ramsey Lewis’ hit of similar title way back in the 60’s, a piano/organ/drums trio. Even better is Wise, a fine original with good lyrics: “I am young, but I’m wise, I am hip to your lies. Now you play me for a fool, your cheating game was never cool. Now I’m gone, don’t be

THE CINELLI BROTHERS AND THE BRITISH BLUES SUMMIT NO COUNTRY FOR BLUESMEN

Independent

The Cinelli Brothers have smashed it again with a collaborative thirteen track odyssey of blues, soul and rock and roll tunes. Here, lead singer, guitarist Marco and drummer Alessandro, harmonica player Tom Julian Jones and new bass player Stephen Giry mix it with the cream of British blues musicians. This is an extraordinarily brilliant collection. Opener, Make You Mine includes Connor Selby on vocals on this catchy upbeat tune. High Time We Run sees the Cinelli’s doing a west coast shuffle, Artie Zaitz organ playing phenomenal. Alice Armstrong joins Marco on Deep Down Devil, sassy vocals meet voodoo rhythm. Together Is Better is another highlight, Christian Sharpe on lead vocals Rod McKay bass from Redfish Blues Band join the brothers on this upbeat rocky blues tune. Big Joe Louis plays guitar and sings on the hard driving bluesy, So Far So Good. Tommy Hare brings soul to the party on Dish It Out. Ian Siegal joins the brothers on the Hill Country style No Place For Me, raw and those harmonies, superb. Laid back instrumental, Dillon next. Dana Gillespie warns vocally, Careful What You Wish For, a funky number. Zac Schulze vocals and lead guitar add spice to the up tempo Leave It All Behind. Stuart Maxwell joins the brothers on the quirky Much Too Much. Gotta Find My Bay features Dexter Shaw, authentic rhythm, and blues here. Final song Blues Worldwide with Giles Robson on harmonica and lead vocals is a rousing Chicago style house rocker. Highly recommended, five-star performances throughout.

surprised, I am young, but I’m wise”. No Justice is just Yates, apart from Kevin’s piano, and album closer Voodoo has a suitably funky feel. On the covers Yates spreads his interests far and wide: from jump jive with Brand New Neighbourhood to New Orleans stalwarts Earl King (Always A First Time) and Dr John (Qualified), on which The McCrary Sisters add B/V’s. He also sounds good on songs from the guitar greats where he nails Guitar Slim’s style on It Hurts To Love Someone and T-Bone Walker’s on Papa Ain’t Salty, plus a great run through BB King’s Ruby Lee on which he does an excellent impression of the great man over a jagged horn arrangement. Yates seems equally comfortable with older style blues with hints of jazz like No Reason which swings gently with the double bass and Wine Wine Wine, another piano trio piece, or on Tampa Red’s Please Mr Doctor which is given a spare reading without the horns. At just 21 years of age, Yates’ vocals perhaps

need some development to expand his range, but this is a thoroughly enjoyable debut from a young man of many talents.

JOHN MITCHELL

TREVOR BABAJACK NOT FAR TO GO INDEPENDENT

Trevor Steger is fondly remembered as half of the hugely successful roots band Babajack and has forged a highly respected career as one of the best roots musicians in the country. He has recently added a violinist and a percussionist to his line up and it’s wonderful hearing this new fuller sound. The album kicks off with Rambling Man, with nods to traditional train blues songs on harp, while Trevor ramps up the energy levels on guitar, and the unexpected fills of violin courtesy of Jo Chambers add an unexpected but exciting extra. Little Bird starts a little slower but

COLIN CAMPBELL

REBECCA DOWNES

THE SPACE

BETWEEN US

Independent

Having seen Rebecca play her stripped down set at Orkney and full band at Hartlepool, it was amazing to see her playing live with these two different approaches to her music. On her new release, this live and raw tinge is palpable on these eleven tracks, including a reinterpretation of Free’s A Little Bit Of Love and ten penned songs with guitarist Steve Birkett. Her distinctive vocals are peppered throughout these songs, bold and rocky at times but very honest and heart-warming. Opening with a beautifully stripped-down acoustic vibe to Beccs Blues this segues into the heavy blues rock anthemic tune, Hold On. This Is How It Feels; has a more mellow tempo but with some underlying angry lyrics, a song for the way we are living these days. Terrorise has a dreamy almost hypnotic feel, great arrangement to this, capturing the feel of a consuming relationship, great rhythm here.

cially when played with such feel. This is a song of sad lament and highlights what a good singer Trevor is as well as being an outstanding instrumentalist, we feel the aching lose in his vocal delivery. Black Water explores similar subject matter but talks about having bad blood in my veins, the vocal and guitar hinting just enough at menace to raise goosebumps. The intricately played instrumental On Y Va is a breathing space before we head into Mary Oh Mary, a gospel tinged feel permeating throughout with some beautiful harp and percussion interplay. Wedding Song is a love song pure and simple from the backwoods and its simplicity is its charm, love the violin on this, it never over plays or intrudes, rather adding an air of ethereal magic. A wonderful solo harmonica intros Ambler Gambler before Trevor starts to tell his tale of drift-

ANNIE LAURIE THE ANNIE LAURIE COLLECTION 1945-62

ACROBAT MUSIC

With a double album comprising of 51 tracks this was a joy to review… Engaged to band leader and songwriter Paul Gayten this lady has a prolific back catalogue and this double CD treasure takes us through the decades, so relevant to the Jazz/Blues scene. Working with upwards of 8 recording labels through her career she survived the rock n roll era and that is a testament to the talent of the voice, the personality, the musicians she worked with and the songwriters who gifted their songs. A highly versatile vocal stylist

JOE LOUIS WALKER

WEIGHT OF THE WORLD

Forty Below Records

Annie Laurie died aged 82 in Titusville, Florida in 2006 leaving a massive back catalogue, leaving the music industry in the mid 60’s, this album takes you on a nostalgic ride with most of CD 1 a raw production collective, scratching n all. CD 2 continues this time journey with a smother production, different timbre to Annie’s voice but always, always with the big band feel. The nod to changes in genre such as rock n roll, is there but the love feels like its big band all the way. St Louis Blues takes you to a dance hall, somewhere hot and dusty, in my mind’s eye moonshine and well-dressed individuals dancing and foot taping to her 1940’s swag. The old Joanna prevalent through every track, if you like your blues with the big band feel

Joe Louis Walker just continues to improve his musicianship and styles as the years have gone by. You can never second guess what he will release next. This release certainly confirms his status as an iconic bluesman. Here he lays ten tracks of the finest vintage, co-written with producer Eric Corne and backed by a sensational band including Scott Milici on keyboards, John Medeiros Junior on drums and Geoff Murfitt on bass guitar. They are backed up by fine brass section and a wonderfully arranged string section on the amazing Hello, It’s The Blues, a highlight on this release, vocals by Gia Ciambotti take a Gospel feel. There’s a poignant message to the title track which addresses issues relating to climate change, this song is full of soul. Similar soul style is drenched through, Is It A Matter Of Time has a Stax vibe and the pleading notes to Don’t Walk Out That Door are sublime.

Count Your Chickens has a funky beat with some wah-wah pedal tones. Waking Up The Dead was Eric’s idea, with second line beat doffing a cap to Bo Diddley, the slide guitar tones represent the main character, apparently a conman. Blue Mirror is a tribute to The Blue Mirror Club in Fillmore, the band rock out on this dancefloor track. The final tune sees him bringing some jazzy tones very mellow and Joe gets to stretch the notes soloing on guitar. His best to date, just get the album and hear this stunning release, rich sweet vocals, wonderfully solid release, highly recommended.

COLIN CAMPBELL

bold and rocky at times but very honest and heart-warming

His best to date, just get the album and hear this stunning release

THOMAS HEPPELL “BE MY HOME” NEW E.P. OUT NOW

GEB RING AND BILL THORNDYCRAFT

A & E AND BIG C

Eel Pie Records

One does not normally receive or indeed record a blues album about the NHS or long-term illness. But that is exactly what this bunch of musicians has done. Geb Ring was recovering from bowel cancer, the country was trying to get over Covid, whereas Bill needed a new challenge. These two old friends contacted mutual friends and musicians and began the slow process of working on the album. The album itself is a mixture of blues classics, original tunes, and a couple of not so well known songs. The opening song, Hoochie Coochie man needs no introduction whatsoever. Given the events that have brought these musicians together, you could be forgiven that the album would be dowdy and dull, and not much sunshine on the horizon. Well, that is just not the case, the sun has risen in the form of this wonderful album. Nine tracks in all, five covers, and three banging original songs.

this is one for the nostalgists. Even the production changes through the songs of CD 2 with the scratching gone and the smooth sound of Annie’s voice and the musicians, good musicians! Whatever the vibe, the influence of the era, the catalogue of songs, one after another is superb in style, vocal, musicianship, production and quality of song writing. With so many songs to review, suffice to say Annie’s debut single in 1947, a great success by the way, Since I Fell For You, was a sign of things to come for the next two decades, no wonder this lady and her bands stood the test of times

JEAN KNAPPITT

TOMISLAV GOLUBAN 20 YEARS ON THE ROAD

BLUE HEART RECORDS

blues music is explored as Ryan Donohue spreads his buttery baritone across the big-band swing number No Means No. From top to tail, The Tobacco Road Blues Band return to assist in an unfiltered joyful blowout on Sonny Terry’s, I Love You Baby to stub out a heady run-through of Tomislav Goluban’s tale of the tape career. So far, so good.

PAUL DAVIES

ANNIKA CHAMBERS & PAUL DESLAURIERS GOOD TROUBLE VIZZTONE

want to lift your soul and be convinced how potent great songs can be in the right hands, treat yourself to Good Trouble, turn up the volume and rejoice.

ROY BAINTON

TOMISLAV GOLUBAN 20 YEARS ON THE ROAD BLUE HEART RECORDS

Now many scenarios and stories can go into making a great blues tune, but I don’t think I’ve heard one about an actual pill. Prozac is one of the original tunes on the album, it makes for a great composition, not least because this pill is widely used to treat depression, and that can come in many forms and can tell so many tales. Throw in King Bee (Slim Harpo) Nadine (Chuck Berry), and Dark Dark Dark (Thorndycraft-Ring-Hamilton), and what you have is a brilliant, uncomplicated blues album. Shame Shame Shame (Jimmy Reed) concludes the album. To say that I have enjoyed it immensely would be a massive understatement. It’s a great blues album. End of story.

The Blues crosses borders with a passion play stamp of approval from aficionados and the newly initiated into this art from the heart music. As proof, Croatian blues maestro Tomislav Goluban once again practices what he passionately preaches on his 20 Years On The Road album. As a blues singer, harmonica player and band leader he has revisited choice cuts from his substantial back catalogue, a new instrumental plus a personal favourite cover song on his fourteenth album release. Recorded live in the studio utilising three different sets of musicians in Croatia and Austria and eight international guest vocalists, this record clearly reinforces the message of music knowing no boundaries. A smokin’ hot instrumental, Express Ride, with The Tobacco Road Blues Band, rolls along with a high-octane energy to burn to showcase Goluban’s heavy-duty harmonica wail. Britain’s very own blues queen Malaya Blue demonstrates her sassy vocal range on the meditative Delta Blues. Elsewhere, the full scope of

What a terrific record to end this sad year on, a year when we lost our Founder, Alan, a year of widespread social and political turmoil. One thing’s for certain, though, listening to Good Trouble will assure you that the blues is alive and kicking as ever. As vocalist Annika suggests of Good Trouble, “Think Mavis Staples meets the Rolling Stones”. She’s spot on. The production on this CD, which was cut in drummer Chris Peet’s Florida studio, is exemplary. The opening track, You’ve Got to Believe, leaps out at you like a panther. Annika Chambers is one hell of a vocalist. She soars at points, and interprets this selection of songs, some originals and others by Joe South, George Harrison’s Isn’t It A Pity, and an atomic delivery of Mountain’s classic, Mississippi Queen, with unbridled power and confidence. Canadian Paul Deslauriers is a versatile guitar stylist who has won the Entertainer of The Year award (his soloing on Need Your Love so Bad is thrilling) and unsurprisingly Annika is the 2-time winner of the Soul Blues Female of The Year Blues Music Award. Every one of these eleven tracks pulses with soul power and conviction, and with a powerful vocalist such as Annika Chambers one only has to ask why we’ve never heard more of her. Let’s hope that’s remedied in this New Year. So, if you

The Blues crosses borders with a passion play stamp of approval from aficionados and the newly initiated into this art from the heart music. As proof, Croatian blues maestro Tomislav Goluban once again practices what he passionately preaches on his 20 Years On The Road album. As a blues singer, harmonica player and band leader he has revisited choice cuts from his substantial back catalogue, a new instrumental plus a personal favourite cover song on his fourteenth album release. Recorded live in the studio utilising three different sets of musicians in Croatia and Austria and eight international guest vocalists, this record clearly reinforces the message of music knowing no boundaries. A smokin’ hot instrumental, Express Ride, with The Tobacco Road Blues Band, rolls along with a high-octane energy to burn to showcase Goluban’s heavy-duty harmonica wail. Britain’s very own blues queen Malaya Blue demonstrates her sassy vocal range on the meditative Delta Blues. Elsewhere, the scope of blues music is explored as Ryan Donohue spreads his buttery baritone across the big-band swing number No Means No. From top to tail, The Tobacco Road Blues Band return to assist in an unfiltered joyful blowout on Sonny Terry’s I l Love You Baby to stub out a heady run-through of Tomislav Goluban’s tale of the tape career. So far, So good.

PAUL DAVIES

STEPHEN HARRISON

To say that I have enjoyed it immensely would be a massive understatement

LINKTR.EE/THOMASHEPPELLMUSIC

JULES REASON & THE FIRE LOVE LOST IN BLOOD

Independent

This UK band from Somerset would not be out of place in the 1970’s playing alongside the likes of Free and Bad Company. Their sound is classic rock with hints of blues, and they do an excellent job on this their debut album. The playing and song writing is excellent, there is enough diversity in their material to get your full attention and the ten songs fly by. The only song with reference to “Blues” is Church of The Blues which has some fine interplay between guitarists Jules and some great Keyboard work from George Cooper. Behind them is some thumping bass and drums provided by Alan Bray and Craig Connect respectively. Not an overtly a blues song but it does highlight the bands strength and the exceptional vocals by Jules. There is a stronger blues feeling on the song Blink Of An Eye which benefits from some soaring fluent lead guitar, which prompts the question why is Jules Reason an unknown musician to me?

The whole album is crammed full of excellent guitar-oriented blues rock sounds, even incorporating a ZZ Top inspired song called Wild Horses. Besides this there are a couple of “foot off the pedal” songs which have a funkier edge particularly on Renaissance Man but they still rock. For a debut album this is very impressive, while it has some rawness in the recording (I am listening to a master release not the full released album) it oozes real class and is a winner from my perspective albeit I may be biased as my musical tastes were very much rooted in the late 1960’s/ early 1970’s Blues Rock era. Five-star debut album.

ADRIAN BLACKLEE

AYNSLEY LISTER ALONG FOR THE RIDE

STRAIGHT TALKIN’ RECORDS

Aynsley has long been one of the UKs outstanding blues guitarists and songwriters so there was already an air of anticipation around this release, add into the mix Scott McKeon as producer and additional guitar contributor and you have a sure-fire winner. The opening track Amazing carries more authentic blues feel in the first few bars then many so-called blues players find in their whole career. Aynsley also shows he’s an excellent singer and writes well-crafted songs. Rhythm section Russ Parker and Stuart Ross also lay down an early marker of sheer quality. Bide My Time

he’s travelled from. World Is Falling is rocking from the off, lyrically inspired by the pandemic. Lovely drum intro to Invincible leading into another perfectly paced quality soft rock song, littered with sparkling guitar. Made Up My Mind is rockier, with Scott adding fuzz guitar. Aynsley adds guitar solos alongside his biting vocals, this might be my favourite track. Masquerade is a breakup song but a positive one. Less guitar driven but highlighting the song writing that is strong throughout the album. No One Else But You is a slow blues love song, brilliantly controlled and totally authentic. The album closes with Eve Part 2, again focusing on the two leads but with more tension in the playing and lyrics. A good end of album choice. The overall quality of this album is stunning, Aynsley Lister is a first-class musician, a fine songwriter and an authentic artist. He stands head and shoulders over most British blues performers around today.

STEVE YOURGLIVCH

THE LUCKY LOSERS STANDIN’ PAT VIZZTONE

is a little less blues, a little more singer songwriter but none the worse for that. Super keys and guitar intro takes us into Wait For Me, a cool relationship song that has a lovely fade out guitar.

Is This Really Happening Now, observational lyrics, with a Kossoff-like guitar motif, in fact the track could have been prime Free. Next up is Eve Part 1, one of two Eve tracks that were inspired by the TV show Killing Eve, in particular the relationship between the two main characters. It’s a laid back almost dreamy piece of music that has a soundtrack feel to it. Cast A Light is another observational sing songwriter tune superbly executed by the whole band. The title track has a very retrospective feel as Aynsley accesses where he’s at and where

Standin’ Pat is a joyful album, with eleven tracks that blend rock, blues, soul, gritty Americana and funk into a unique blend. The Lucky Losers are led by singer-songwriters Cathy Lemons, and Phil Berkowitz, whose harmonica playing is also an important element in their sound. With a full band of guitar, keyboards, bass, drums and percussion, and several guest players, including Kid Anderson on guitar, banjo and organ, and brass players to fill out the sound, there is plenty here for fans of upbeat blues and funk to enjoy. The whole album is also immaculately recorded, and the tracks are well-sequenced. The clavinet sound that is featured on many of the tracks gives a soundscape like early Stevie Wonder, and the swooping, duelling vocals

KIRA MAC CHAOS IS CALLING Independent

One Way Ticket kicks off this albums journey and without knowing anything about Kira, I soon learn this is going to be an epic rock/blues album. All the right moves, all the right grooves with bundles of attitude and a voice that takes you into the stratosphere, this is an album that once you’ve played it, you will play it again and again. Then you’re going to want to see this girl and her band live because this album gets the blood pumping through your veins like a shot of adrenaline, when songs have titles like, Hit Me Again, Hell Fire and Holy Water, Dead Man Walking and Chaos is Calling, you know, you’re in for a rocket speed ride. There’s screaming guitar licks, thumping bumping drums, vocals so high you’re flying above the clouds, there’s no time to stop and pause, one after another these songs come at you like a steam train, smashing through the barriers that we call eardrums. If this album doesn’t get your heart racing, you need to see your doctor. As we get to the fifth song, Imagine What We Could Have Been, I’m taking deep deep breaths because we’re only halfway through and there’s still five more tracks to come.

The fourth track on this album is called Back For More, my answer is yes Kira, yes, I will!

Before you know it, I’m nodding my head to Mississippi Winging and can picture it being an anthem at gigs with everybody waving their arms in the air, especially on the superb guitar solo, this is rocking blues at its finest. I just can’t catch my breath between tracks as soon as one finishes the next one starts and grabs you right by the ears and has me thinking here’s another anthem, Hell Fire and Holy Water with a chorus that the crowds will be singing, this is a girl and band we all need to see live, this is energy, this is rock, this is good. The fourth track on this album is called Back For More, my answer is yes Kira, yes, I will.

BARRY BLUESBARN HOPWOOD

For a debut album this is very impressive

ERJA LYYTINEN WAITING FOR DAYLIGHT

Ruf Records

Perhaps we can all relate to the title of the new album from Erja Lyytinen. Waiting For The Daylight feels pertinent coming out of a period of lockdown and restrictions brought about by a global pandemic. I guess we have all been waiting for the return of some semblance of normality during this time. Although the album may sound like it’s about life during the lockdown when you dig deeper into the release you will find themes and subjects that were present in the artist’s last two releases Stolen Hearts and Another World respectively. Lyytinen continues to write about personal subjects such as love and loss. Whilst the guitarist extraordinaire brings many burning topics to the forefront such as bullying in Last Girl and sexual harassment by way of You Talk Dirty. However, it’s not just the guitarist’s song writing that is fiery but also her blistering fretwork. Channelling the rock greats of the 70s Lyytinen and her very capable band continues to push beyond their traditional blues origins into a more rock orientated sound to great effect. As fans of Lyytinen’s playing would want and expect there are guitar solos a plenty accompanied by lashings of incendiary slide guitar. What’s more with her latest offering Lyytinen has pushed herself further both creatively and artistically. Much like her last full length release Another World, this album was once again self-produced, showcasing a skill which the artist has become incredibly competent

throughout add some pedigree to the album. The opening Pack Up The Bags is a bluesy New Orleans funk workout, with Kid Anderson’s slide guitar, and Phil Berkowitz’s harmonica, as well as the brass section doing much of the musical heavy lifting behind Cathy Lemon’s spirited vocal work. Somewhere In The Middle is a funk blues workout, bringing the spirit of 1970s disco blues to mind. Rich Strikes starts with crowd noise, giving it the feel of a live performance, with a spirited JJ Cale-like groove, and the keyboards and harmonicas giving the song a sense of forward momentum, complete with a lively banjo solo. You Can’t Lose With A Winning Hand is another New Orleans stomp, with plenty of Alan Toussaint and Dr John like piano to the fore, and High

DAVE ARCARI DEVIL MAY CARE

Buzz Records

This is Dave’s seventh album, following on from his acclaimed live release Live At Memorial Hall. It is in a live arena where Dave excels and these eleven original songs have that rawness and connection, especially noted on his take of Loch Lomond which he interprets from the East side of the loch where his home is, on that tune he has a choir of local people singing and has a warm feel to it, a bit like the whole release. The opener, Devil May Care has a great tempo and guesting on drums is Chris McMullen, a tale of local landscape and history. 1923 is a poignant song relating to his father, vocal delivery melancholic at times, and his guitar playing is special on his signature National Reso-Phonic guitar. Time Will Come is a song he wrote during lockdown and about Brexit and sorting out facts, acoustic raw feel. Givers And Takers has quirky yet dark lyrics to a strumming acoustic beat. Stick To Your Guns features Jim Harcus on harmonica, lots of slide on this one, an ode to a local whisky distillery. Meet Me In The City is a reinterpretation of a Junior Kimbrough tune, simply perfect.

stomping stonking

release

On Whisky Trail he plays banjo on this upbeat feelgood tune, just joyful. Gospel comes in the shape of (Looks Like You’re) Walkin’ On Water about paddleboarding on. Nine Pound Hammer, a traditional tune is a highlight, his fingerpicking and vocal delivery lift this tune. Last song Walk The Walk doffs a cap to John Lee Hooker and other influences, stomping stonking blues as it should be on this exceptional release.

COLIN CAMPBELL

BILLY PRICE 50+ YEARS OF SOUL

GET HIP RECORDINGS

A huge, 3 CD retrospective of Billy Price’s music offers a welcome opportunity to appreciate the dedication that he has shown to keeping the flame of soul music alive. Based in Pittsburgh, Billy started performing in 1971 and first came to the attention of international audiences when he was invited to sing with Roy Buchanan, appearing on two of Roy’s albums. This collection assembles material from the first Billy Price Band album in 1979, through to 2018. Blending studio and live performances, the collection features a host of Billy’s great vocals and horn-heavy arrangements, impressive, as are Billy’s detailed notes which add to the value of the set.

One example of Billy’s self-deprecating style: “Weary from the road and discouraged by the failure of the Buchanan collaboration to make me as famous and wealthy as Billy Joel, I went back to college to get another degree”! For lovers of soulful music this collection contains lots of essential music, but for the purposes of this review, here are a few selected highlights. On CD1 check out Frenchman Fred Chapellier’s guitar work on When The Lights Come On (from 2009 collaboration Night Work), the superb horn charts on This Magic Hour (from 1999’s Change My Mind) and the classic soul cut Soul Sailin’ (from 2006’s East End Avenue); CD2 opens with a bang with the joyous Real Time (from 1988 album Free At Last) and contains several great slabs of soul music like the title track of 1979’s

blues as it should be on this exceptional

photo by Ville_Juurikkala

Is It Over?; CD3 includes the most recent recording here, Love Ballad, from 2018’s Reckoning and the intensely catchy Let’s Go For A Ride, from 2010 release Strong. Live tracks are liberally sprinkled throughout, giving Billy the opportunity to pay tribute to influences like Bobby Bland, Otis Clay, Tyrone Davis, Little Milton and OV Wright, as well as the closest we get to straight blues, I Can’t Lose The Blues, and the perfect title for blues and soul fans, It Ain’t A Juke Joint Without The Blues. Billy Price is a wonderful vocalist whose talents are well displayed on this extensive collection which comes highly recommended to all lovers of soul music.

JOHN MITCHELL

THE CHANTELS

THE COMPLETE SINGLES & ALBUMS

1957 - 1962

ACROBAT

This music harks back to a time when the charts consisted of bluesy music, whether it was called Rock and Roll, R&B, or just pop. My first reaction was that this is doo-wop, the vocal group music popular in the 50s that shared space in the R&B Charts with the blues, particularly the blues-ballad style, and proto-soul. Many of these songs are dramatic ballads, with occasional rockers, but the backings certainly contain plenty of blues-styled playing, whether it is the piano triplets or the occasional gutsy sax solo, as The Chantel’s sing so beautifully, a girl group, as the notes describe them, from The Bronx. The thirty-five tracks of this double CD originally appeared on the End, Gone and Carlton labels, as singles or on LPs. The highly talented lead vocalist Arlene Smith helped write much of the material, and The Chantel’s had plenty of hits after they were “discovered” by Richard Barrett, lead singer of The Valentines, who also recorded material with the group, included

here, though by this time, Annette Smith, no relation to Arlene but vocally very similar, was in the lead role. Musically, the group helped create the “girl group” sound of the early 60s and influenced the R’n’B sound of the time (think people like Sam Cooke, Solomon Burke, Ben E. King), feeding into soul music. ‘Walking Through Dreamland’ is Fats Domino-flavoured and ‘Well I Told You ‘Is an answer to Ray Charles’

‘Hit The Road Jack’. This is a very fine reminder of a time when “R’n’B” covered a whole range of styles.

NORMAN DARWEN

DAVE KEYES

RHYTHM BLUES & BOOGIE

BLUE HEART RECORDS

Sixth album from veteran New York pianist & vocalist Dave Keyes who cites his heroes as Fats Domino, Dr. John, Johnny Johnson and Professor Longhair. This album of nine original tracks and one cover honours that legacy. Opener Shake, Shake, Shake bursts out of the speakers with a finger snappin’, foot stompin’ invitation to take to the dance floor. Keyes’ sturdy piano and vocals are powered by Bernard “Pretty” Purdie’s shuffle and sharp horns from Chris Eminizer on sax and Tim Ouimette on trumpet. The horns are present again on the driving That’s What The Blues Are For along with rollicking piano and great guitar from John Putnam. Blues and Boogie sizzles from the off with the band enjoying themselves and Keyes inviting us to “have a real good time” and we surely need that in these difficult times. Next up is Willie Nelson’s classic ballad Funny How Time Slips Away featuring just Keyes emotional vocal and his classy piano playing. Purdie’s funky N’awlins beat introduces Ain’t Doing That No More a hot Cajun feast of rolling piano, slide guitar, punchy horns and a singalong chorus. If boogie-woogie piano is your thing, you’ll love the superb mastery of the 88’s

on WBGO Boogie. Poppa Chubby adds his guitar licks to the Latin flavoured Not Fighting Anymore and Doug MacLeod adds tasty acoustic guitar to the hilarious duet Invisible Man. The album closes with 7 O’clock Somewhere a joyous romp celebrating all those people who have carried us through the recent hard times. Dave Keyes and his wonderful band cover all the bases in superb style on this hugely enjoyable album. Catch it while it’s hot!

DAVE DRURY

SUZIE VINNICK FALL BACK HOME INDEPENDENT

Seventh solo album from award winning Canadian multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter with

THOMAS

HEPPELL BE MY HOME

Independent

a mix of folk, roots and Americana and a sprinkling of blues and gospel.

Opener Lift You Up is an uplifting gospel-tinged anthem set to a relaxed Bo Diddley beat featuring Vinnick’s sweetly positive vocals and superb soaring guitar from Colin Linden. Matt Andersen joins for a

A debut release from a young musician based in Berkshire, this solo acoustic EP contains four originals and two covers from very different sources. Do What’s Right For Me is a jaunty blues shuffle, Thomas playing some nice slide as he recounts how he had to get out of a foundering relationship. A familiar title, Time After Time is not the Cyndi Lauper tune but a country-inflected song with wistful lyrics before the first cover, Dylan’s Make You Feel My Love which is well played and sung by Thomas; the song also suits the mood created by the first two numbers. What Should I Do asks the girl what she sees in the singer, while he wants to believe in what he sees in her, a sensitive and romantic song played in a quiet, almost folk style. In contrast, Trouble In Mind is classic blues, a song recorded by Nina Simone, Dinah Washington and Big Bill Broonzy, though Thomas references Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s version, adding some gospel touches to his impassioned vocals.

duet on the gentle folky ballad Talk To Me a seductive plea for understanding from a lover. The temperature rises for the romping bluesy Salt & Pepper but falls for an emotional cover of Chilliwack’s ballad Raino featuring Bill Henderson on guitar. It Doesn’t Feel Like Spring Anymore is a showstopping ballad featuring beautiful vocals and pretty resonator guitar from Kevin Breit. The Pie That My Baby Makes is a humorous ditty featuring Vinnick’s sassy vocals backed only by double bass from Russ Boswell. Rory Platt’s jazzy harmonica lights up the swinging Secret and then Steve Dawson’s pedal steel guitar adds a pleasing country feel to the ballad City & Skies. There is a latenight jazz feel to Let Me Make It Up To You Tonight featuring seductive vocals and superb harmonica from Carlos Del Junco.

The EP closes with the title track Be My Home on which Thomas plays some more delicate slide guitar as he bears his soul in tribute to the person who may be able to save him: “while my world falls apart, you’re the only thing I need. When the light has retired be there by my side, please be my home”. A short introduction to a young man from whom we can expect to hear more in the near future, I suspect.

Big Train (From Memphis) rattles along the tracks like a rockabilly express complete with twangy guitar and keening pedal steel. The album closes with Hurt By Luck a Tex-Mex styled weepie featuring heartfelt vocals from Vinnick and accordion from Mark Lalama. Suzie Vinnick’s song writing, and vocals are masterful and the excellent band effortlessly match her all the way.

JOHN MITCHELL

A short introduction to a young man from whom we can expect to hear more in the near future

SAM HUBER UP/DOWN

True Groove Records

You may not be familiar with the name, Sam Huber. Not yet anyway. Listen to this album, you’ll wish you had heard of him a long time ago. Soulful, bluesy, full of funk, from Brooklyn, New York right? Wrong, from Helsinki, Finland. Now I know that there is a large following of the blues around Scandanavia, many blues festivals that attract a lot of attention, and big crowds. So, where does Sam fit in, well he fits in with The True Groove All-Stars, based in Brooklyn, New York. I was lucky enough to see these guys perform live a short while ago, to say I was blown away, is something of an understatement. The album Up/Down is a double album crammed full of soul, blues, and funk tunes, co-written by Tomas Doncker and Sam Huber, except for two songs. Basically, this album introduces Sam Huber to a wider audience with the help and expert backing of The True Groove AllStars. The opening track, I Won’t Let You Go, is full-on horns, soul vocals, groovy bass, and blues guitar. This whole album is a gumbo, everything in the pot, stir it up and let it ride. Hot Summer Burning was one of the tracks that these guys played live when I saw them, it’s certainly a hot burning, shake-your-ass tune. The sheer energy of Sam Huber, not just vocally, but with his overall presence, is so good. This is Helsinki/ Brooklyn in perfect harmony. Add to all this musical magic, James Delatacoma, bass player, producer, and guitarist, the world has not seen the likes of this before. One of the two covers on the album, It’s A Shame, written by Stevie Wonder & Syreeta Wright, has been covered by many artists, this version feels even more soul bound than the original, maybe that is because the horns play such a central role. If this album had been played in Studio 54 in the early seventies, it would have rivaled Saturday Night Fever for popularity. This album is that good. Blues, soul, funk, and everything in between, I predict big things for this album and this bunch of outstanding musicians. Imagine James Brown fronting The Rolling Stones, yes, you read that correctly. Buy the album, and if you get the chance to see these guys live, grab it as though your life depends on it.

STEPHEN HARRISON

DC BLUES LIVE AT SEDGEFIELD ROCK AND BLUES CLUB INDEPENDENT

DC Blues Band are a fivepiece hailing from Yorkshire. They are fronted by the effervescent Paul Winn, vocalist, and harmonica player. He is accompanied by Lloyd Massingham on lead guitar, Ben Darwin on bass guitar, Paul Thompson on drums and on keyboards Stephen Brandon. Playing live, they are a joy to behold, they are a tight band who really enjoy playing to a crowd. Various quips and banter are not unknown at their many events. This atmosphere has been caught in the moment on this newest release. Nine tracks, two self-penned, slow mellow blues tune Bitter Man and final track, the catchy rocky tones of Nervous Fella offering their own style of blues and the band’s chemistry seems well gelled. The opening bars to Back To You are punctuated by harmonica tones and then the band comes in with punchy rhythm. Fine vocals from Paul throughout and enjoyed by a rapt audience. Rollin’ And Tumblin’ next has a swagger of its own, especially like the organ tones, while the backbeat is rocky then guitars take the fore and a jam like feel ensues, superb. Two JJ Grey numbers, Georgia Warhorse and Mississippi were given a different tone exhibiting what a talented band this is, harmonica tones filled the Hall, and that rhythm section are great. Steady Rollin’ Man was given a full-on powerful approach. Bo Diddley’s Who Do You Love sounded excellent and their interpretation was upbeat. Loan Me A Dime was astounding, full of mellow notation and wonderful musicianship. Highly recommended, go and see this band when you can.

STEAMHAMMER WAILING AGAIN

MIG MUSIC

Half a century after their fourth and last long-player, Speech, Steamhammer are back with a new album! The title track ‘Wailing Again’ refers to their early days when ‘Junior’s Wailing’ (1969) scored rather well in mainland Europe. Following the advice of their German record company, Steamhammer revisited their stage anthem for this release. As it happens, they equally reworked ‘Wouldn’t Have Thought’ (LP ‘Mountains’, 1970) and Eddie Boyd’s ‘24 Hours’ (first LP, 1969). The anno 2022 Steamhammer know what they are talking about: the line-up consists of original members Martin Pugh (guitar), Pete Sears (bass, keys) and John Lingwood (drums), with singer and harmonica player Phil Colombatto being the only new member. The concept is recognizable: starting from blues patters and adding psychedelic, jazzy and folky touches, the Steamhammer songs have also kept their complex structure with variations in speed, tone and key. New track ‘Wailing Again’ may be the best example: apart from aptly rubbing shoulders with 1969’s ‘Junior’s Wailing’, the song kicks off in a pumping fifth gear stressing the introspective lyrics, pushes the hold button for a second, dashes off again, next turning down both volume and speed for a long instrumental section that nevertheless echoes the anxiety, doubt and fear of the lyrics. ‘Man in The Blue Suede Shoes / Megan’s Song’ is a different matter altogether: dedicated to his late daughter Megan, Pugh here introduces a subtle and melodic instrumental tune - but does not really abandon the blues pattern. The 09:36 take on ’24 Hours reflects Sears mastering the keyboard, whereas ‘Fool for You’ once again rocks the blues. In 1974 Steamhammer became the experimental Armageddon, but this disc is

clearly in the bluesy mold of their earliest work.

EDDY BONTE DE WOLFF LOVE, DEATH & IN BETWEEN MASCOT RECORDS/MASCOT LABEL GROUP

This is the band’s fifth album release in four years, and they just keep getting better. Their style can range from soul to blues, Psychedelia to classic rock, they are a band on the rise and in these twelve songs they make another musical odyssey. No overdubs, this was recorded live to taping in Kerwax Analogue Recording studio in Brittany. Pablo on guitar and vocals and his brother Luka Van De Poel on drums and vocals, Robin Piso on keys and some more friends helped on this. The opener, Night Train sets the tone on this eclectic release, with soul, rhythm and blues and just pulsating power. Heart Stopping Kinda Show is a roller coaster of a tune mixing styles, horns and guitars. Will O’ The Wisp has dark tones throughout this bluesy tune with superb harmonies. Jackie Go To Sleep is also full of harmony and a softness very mellow with jazzy tones. Rosita is a sixteen-minute tune a story, bursting with energy and changing moods, horns make this tune. Counterfeit Love has an instant hook and catchy chorus, then keys take this to a progressive rock level, superb tune. Message For My Baby is just a floor packing tune inspired by singers like Ray Charles, then the band just goes for it, wonderful. Wontcha Wontcha has that live feel and the tones ebb and flow, and the vocal delivery is outstanding. Last song, Queen Of Space And Time has ethereal bluesy notes that packs a punch. An outstanding release, something for any music lover.

COLIN CAMPBELL

COLIN CAMPBELL

JOOST DE LANGE BAND HYPNOTIZED

Independent

Listening to this new release by Antwerp based Joost guitar and vocals, Mitchell Goor bass alongside Ramses Donvil drums in a sense takes you back to the excitement experienced either watching or listening to some of the great power trios of the past. These guys certainly know how to rock the Blues. I really liked this album. It jumped out of my speakers, grabbed me and shook the hell out of me. Loads of pounding rhythms overlaid by compelling guitar solos with power and the unmistakable influences of rock, grunge and blues. The ten cuts in true guitar trio fashion come at you thick and fast and there is nothing under 4:42 so plenty of time to flail around the house air guitar flying. Go on crank it up, you know you want to and do give the neighbours something to complain about. Of course it is not all full on driving rhythms as displayed on cut four Love Fear And Uncertainty or the medium paced Walk The Line.

double CD and does well to give a flavour of his early work but also to listen to for its own sake.

ANDY SNIPPER

DOCTOR DELTA STEREO SLOW DOG RECORDS

No mistake though the other eight would be great motoring songs. I Won’t Follow opens things up and Rush closes out this collection at a breakneck pace the latter a little reminiscent of early Deep Purple’s Speed King. Yes it is a good comparison to draw. If you like howling guitars then this is a must for you. An excellent album which should raise their profile with serious rock aficionados.

GRAEME SCOTT

SNOOKS EAGLIN THE FIRST DECADE 1953-62

ACROBAT

Snooks Eaglin, blind from about age 1 and hospitalised until around 5 years old when he was given a guitar by his father and taught himself to play by listening to as many other guitarists as he could. Because he had so many influences in his playing, his style strayed from blues to rock & roll and often into folk. As a professional guitarist he worked under the titles Blind Guitar Ferd, Snooks Eaglin and Ford Eaglin, depending on the label he was working for. This collection covers the first ten years of the 50 or so that he was active, so, from about 20 years old to thirty. The album features music that

shows his abilities in playing classic blues covers as well as traditional folk songs but always as an entertainer and, in the main, as a solo artist. A lot of the songs that people know him for are included here, Down By The Riverside, Travelllin’ Mood, That’s Alright, Death Valley Blues, as well as New Orleans flavoured classics such as Veal Chop And Pork Chop and Mardi Gras Mambo, generally in very early versions and simply recorded with few accompaniments. You get enough from this collection to understand why he was highly regarded by his peers but also to get why he never made it to the first rank of artists. He was, at this time at least, predominantly a musician working as a ‘Human Jukebox’, playing songs to order and only a few of the songs here are his own. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable

If you ever imagined a KT Tunstall album that mixed in the theremin, full brass sections, atonal guitar solos, off-kilter funk rhythms, then Stereo by Doctor Delta could be the album you were waiting for. The group, fronted by Giorgio Casadei on electric guitar, synth, piano, and other stringed instruments, and lead singer Alice Miala on electric guitar, theremin, and other stringed instruments features a strong rhythm section, as well as various guest musicians adding saxophones, vibraphone, trumpet, violin, trombone, marimba and cello to the sound world. This is not music that should be listened to once, the various layers need replaying to get the full meaning, with ethnic instruments such as balalaika, baglama, and banjo adding as much to the mix as the guitars, bass, and drums do. They tackle various genres, from the indie folk Balene Alla Luna to the neo-classicism that opens The Chair, and the punk-funk sounds that 557 (Feel Like Dancing) opens the album with. This Song is You is a slow reverential piece, with a lop-sided rhythm guitar part and softly played slide guitar. Hell’s Kitchen Blues starts off slow, but soon builds to a screaming vocal crescendo, and Surf Surf Surf blends a less abrasive Dick Dale guitar line to a light pop confection. BBBB is another soundscape that changes genre three or four times. So Long is a slow song for vocals, marimba and vibraphone, owing as much to whale song as it does to the human voice and western music. When Monk Went To China is a brass-heavy song, with a lazy lead guitar part, and some atonal sax, whilst the closing track, Nocturne live up to its title, and is a slow

HENRIK FRIESCHLADER RECORDED BY MARTIN MEINSCHAFER II

Cable Car Records

This album is the second installment in the Recorded By albums. But Henrik’s back catologue goes way back, over twenty albums so far. All the songs on the album are written by Henrik, he also plays all the instruments apart from the Hammond Organ and Fender Rhodes which are played by Moritz Fuhrhup. The album opens with, Free, a soulful, blues lament with great vocals by Henrik. Over in Germany, he is a very well-known blues artist, but over in the UK, he is somewhat of a relative newcomer. Germany is not normally a country where you would expect to find a blues musician, especially one of this caliber. I’m happy to say, that the UK will be hearing a lot more of this guy, he has a short UK tour in 2023. After listening to the opening track, I’m already in love with this album, a tad premature you may think, well no, as a matter of fact, it’s not. Every track is filled with soul, blues, a bit of funk, and a nod to reggae. Raspy raw vocals are what makes Henrik so appealing, along with his great lyrics and brilliant guitar work. Lost Souls is as delicate a song as the title suggests, the guitar almost moans its way through the song until towards the end when it bursts into a blues crescendo. A late-night single malt would be the perfect companion for this tune. As I attested to earlier, Henrik is not a name that trips off the tongue, In fact, this is my first encounter with him, but I can say with a hand on my heart, it will not be the last I’ll hear of him. The Question ends this remarkable album, with raw blues, and a hint of Gary Moore. It was listening to Gary Moore that inspired Henrik to pick up a guitar, I’m sure he would approve of what he helped to create. If you want to know the esteem in which Henrik is held, he’s shared a stage with, Joe Bonamassa, B.B. King, Peter Green, and Tedeschi Trucks. How’s that for a CV?

STEPHEN HARRISON

An excellent album which should raise their profile with serious rock aficionados

KIRA MAC “CHAOS IS CALLING”

and meditative piece, with brooding bass, marimba and vibraphone adding much to the soundscape. There is little music on here to get a party started, but it is an album full of interesting, arresting sounds that pushes past the usual three-chords, four minutes, four-piece band format that so many blues albums have.

BEN MACNAIR

SETH ROSENBLOOM AS THE CROW FLIES

of its own and then the piano sets the song alight. Gotta Roll is an up-tempo shuffle of a tune. Last song, Give Me The Ring Back is exquisite in its delivery with passion, great musicianship throughout. An unforgettable release, buy it and find out why.

COLIN CAMPBELL

DR. FEELGOOD DAMN RIGHT!

GRAND RECORDS

RAY CHARLES THE SINGLES COLLECTION. 1949-1962

ACROBAT MUSIC

JANKY C.B.G. THROWDOWN

Reverb Unit Records

Hailing from Austin Texas Scott Lindsey is a creative badass, at least that is one his professions relating to being a photographer. Here on his fourth release under the name of Janky he concentrates on producing bad ass guitar work, by way of Cigar Box Guitars, four at least used on this nine-song compendium, soaked in the Hill Country blues style of genre. These are stomping tracks, eight written by Janky to make the listener feelgood and the music transports you to another place in time. He is a great singer also and his Texan drawl delivered with vengeance on these tracks, it is the guitar playing that’s the starring role with him playing Cigar Box and bass.

INDEPENDENT

It starts with 71118, an upbeat rousing tune, with Cody Cotton adding harmonica and Cole Koenning on drums, a phenomenal tune with catchy chorus and hooks throughout. My Mississippi Lady keeps the tone going with a chugging beat, and dextrous guitar work. You Must Be The Devil’s Favourite has a heavy bass tone and rhythm throughout with visceral lyrics. Kiss Yo’self has a rockier feel, the band cranking up the tempo here, a song about keeping a positive mental attitude, mellow harmonica tones mix well with driving bass. Sweet Disposition keeps the rocky rhythm going. Shake It On Down is a superb laid back Texan blues feelgood tune. The Love Reflector again is full of groove and tone, a real highlight. Last song, You Gotta Have That True Religion is heart-warming gospel. An intoxicating and infectious release full of hypnotic blues tones throughout.

On Seth’s newest release, he decided to produce this himself. Having honed his craft with Josh Smith on his last release this seems a natural progression and evolution of his musical talents. This was recorded at Rear Window Studios in Brookline Massachusetts in four days. The nine tunes are mixes of covers and originals, but all stamped with his consummate guitar style and tenor vocals. With him are Mark Teixeira on drums, Jesse Williams on bass guitar, Ryan Taylor on guitar and Bruce Bears on organ and piano. Rory Gallagher’s As The Crow Flies starts things off with wonderful slide introduction to a backbeat a great version. Did You Try To Break My Heart is full on blues heartache a theme through the release about a previous failed relationship, rhythm, and tempo the key to this tune. Set Me Free is a highlight, some funky grooves here and vocal delivery is superb, backing vocal add to the quality of this. Can’t Trust Your Neighbour is mellow blues, his father played violin on this and arranged the strings, subtle guitar tones from Seth on this, just sublime. I Wish You Could See Me Now, the Ronnie Earl reinterpretation is given a dust down with some fine snappy guitar licks. Ain’t Nothing Wrong is pure Texan blues with a swagger. Blind Eye is a multi-layered blues tune with a strut and swagger

The legendary British rhythm and blues band Dr Feelgood return with Damn Right! their first album of all original material. Up until now, the group have nearly always mixed covers with self-penned songs but for their latest release guitarist Gordon Russell and singer Robert Kane have come up with eleven original tracks. Joined by Phil Mitchell on bass and vocals and Kevin Morris on drums and percussion, the album kicks of with the grooving Don’t Pull Your Punches, with its infectious Dick Dale riff that soon as the dance floor beckoning. This is followed by the more bluesy Put The Blame On Me, another catchy track driven by a dirty slide guitar riff and blistering harmonica work. Take A Second Look, is a good old stomping rhythm and blues track, a tight rhythm section and vocals are accentuated by some tasty guitar and harmonica breaks. I Need A Doctor, the rhythmic beat delivers another catchy toe-tapper with some bursts of guitar and harmonica adding a delta vibe to the proceedings. The band close out the album with a great little swinging instrumental played swinging instrumental Last Call. It might be their first album for some years, but they show here that they have still got it, really enjoying this album highly recommended. SHIRL

Ray Charles was, and still is, one of the greatest performers of all time. As a blues artist, country artist, and jazz artist, he could fall into any genre with consummate ease. This 5 CD collection contains 125 tracks, highlighting the genius that is, Ray Charles. Now you may be forgiven for thinking that this is just another bunch of tired songs that have been gathering dust in a vault somewhere, wrong. This is a collection of musical gems that will adorn any record collector’s library. The first track, Confession Blues (1949) a song that I’ve not heard for a very long time, just goes to show the sheer talent that this guy has. As a blues artist, he delivers each song with an understanding and heartfelt belief of how a song should be. From this first tune, you can feel the way that this box set is going, sorrow, hurt, desperation, and profound love. What Ray Charles brings to the table is a musician who understands everything from another bunch of musician’s mentality. That is not a common thing, even amongst the most celebrated of people. The album is fully-laden with so many great, but sometimes forgotten blues tracks such as Rockin’ Chair Blues, Guitar Blues, and How Long Blues. These are the ones that immediately caught my eyes and ears, and blues writers’ attention. Messin’ Around is one of my all-time favourite Ray Charles tunes, I remember vividly the scene in Planes, Trains, And Automobiles, where John Candy pretends to play the piano on the dashboard of the car as the radio blasts it out, with an oblivious Steve Martin asleep. Every time I hear the song, I become John Candy, and why not. Sinners Prayer meanwhile is a dark brooding song, Beth Hart and Joe Bonamassa recorded a version on an album

CONNOR SELBY

Provogue/Mascot

The British blues scene is blessed with a recent intake of young blues artists establishing themselves and quickly maturing into this everlasting genre. Enter triple-winning Young Blues Artist of the Year blues singer-guitarist Connor Selby who has his self-titled 2021 album re-issued on the prestigious Provogue/Mascot label with four deeply engaging bonus tracks that make this album well worth buying again. Hailing from the county of Essex, following his peripatetic former years in Connecticut and Dubai, it’s Selby’s remarkably mature vocals that grab attention initially. There’s a hint of Ray Charles, and Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland even, in his deep timbre delivery that will serve him extremely well as he undeniably progresses in his career. Then there’s the exquisite lead guitar phrasing that reminds me of primetime Eric Clapton and BB King. However, this would mean little without a strong grip on the full range of blues stylings and Selby has these firmly in hand. There’s the slow-burn horn-powered feel of I Can’t Let Go and Falling In Love Again with warm washes of Hammond Organ and cool-as-blue-ice musicianship from the Masterlink house band. Selby’s judicious selection of hot guitar licks proves he isn’t no copycat as this blues cat seems to have it all and top producer Stefan Redtenbacher deftly mixes these musical ingredients without overcooking them. Standout track, Emily, exudes dramatic blues-rock class as does the balladlike precision of The Man I Ought To Be and the gospel tinged Hear My Prayer. Although his lyrics err towards the tropes of documenting broken relation ships and sorrowful ruminations, his songwriting and musical execution are joyously superb. It’s no surprise that he is supporting Beth Hart on her Spring UK tour. Connor Selby is already a superstar in all but name and I’d wager my collection of original blues records that Selby will join this pantheon of blues artists before his time is done. Connor Selby is the real deal.

and performed a magnificent version on the Live In Amsterdam gig. That will always be very close to my heart, but the Ray Charles rendition is every bit as dark. Black Jack is a tale of woe regarding a gambling addiction. As with most blues stories, whiskey, women trouble, and addiction go hand-in-hand. A sad tale, all too often rearing their collective heads. Thow in Hit The Road Jack, Worried Life Blues, and Take These Chains From My Heart, and you have one of the greatest collections of tunes you are ever likely to need. A trip down memory lane is well worth the walk.

STEPHEN HARRISON

backbeat, then his vocals howl the impassioned lyrics.

Yella Alligator is a swampy almost psychedelic tune, the notation and chord formation is superb, a floor filler. Tempo change on the funky soul number, Bout to Make Me leave Home.

The blues ballad, Are We Through is stunning, a perfect tune, his vocals are just sublime, and the band takes this tune to another level, then the backing vocals hit the listener like a train. How Long has a mellow soul tone with fantastic organ backing. It’s Going Down having a juke joint blues flavour some great slide underpins this personal song. His song writing on Tryin’ To Get By is phenomenal, also superb horns. Down Along the Cove, has a New Orleans upbeat tone. Then, the Gospel singing on Mary Don’t you Weep is peppered with rhythm, great arrangement. Missouri is a slow tempo tune a self-reflective ballad multi layered musicianship throughout this. Last tune, I’m Lonely epitomises

JARED JAMES NICHOLS SELF TITLED

Black Hill Records

Jared James Nichols gets the New Year underway with the release of his brand-new full-length studio album. The self-titled long player perfectly encapsulates Nichols’ virtuoso guitar playing across the broad spectrum of sounds in his repertoire. Jared’s eponymous release features a carefully crafted classic sound throughout. The release opens with the foot-stomping infectious blues rock number My Delusion. And at just 2 mins 26 seconds in duration, it certainly whets the listener’s appetite at the top of the album. Jared’s scorching guitar riffs are set against a backdrop of a hard-hitting beat. Easy Come, Easy Go is the kind of staple track we’ve come to know and love from the US guitar slinger. It’s a thunderous number that highlights Jared’s wonderful guitar tone.

Jared dishes out a smorgasbord of tasty riffs

The song is very raw and comes shunting towards the listener like a freight train hurtling down the tracks. Highlights on the album include recent singles Down the Drain and Hard Wired. The latter truly showcases

PAUL DAVIES

EDDIE 9V CAPRICORN

RUF RECORDS

Brooks Mason is the band leader, singer songwriter and guitarist of Eddie 9V. His musical style is evolving on this eleven-track release, his music is soul drenched blues mixed with Gospel, groove, pace, and energy. It was recorded at Capricorn Studios in Macon, Georgia where Otis Redding and The Allman Brothers used to record, and just oozes quality production with guest musicians adding to the raw, live feel on every track. Beg Borrow And Steal is the opener has a Muscle Shoals feel, horns meet a

NICKY RUBIN ELSEWHERE

UGLY MOTHER RECORDS

Nick Rubin could best be described as a true musical troubadour. His meanderings have taken him to Afghanistan, The Indian Subcontinent, and Tehran. On top of all that, he’s covered all four corners, and Many miles in between of our capital city, London. This four-track EP allows you to see behind the traveller, gaze at his many influences, and enjoy the fruits of his labour. The opening track, Don’t Recognise (This Feeling) immediately puts me in mind of the mid-70s soul explosion that came out of places like Philly and Los Angeles. It also highlights the vocal talents of Nick Rubin, a man, who I’m sure can adapt his vocals to raw blues, and folk music just as easily. In the background, you get a horn section accompanied by brilliant backing vocals. This is as soulful and laidback as you can possibly imagine. The title track, Elsewhere brings a reggae feel to the fold, mixed with a great soul, and some lazy funk. The guitar work, along with the horns is magnificent. The thing that strikes me most of all, he makes it sound so easy, not many have that ability. Wherever I Go, and Yin Yang, continue the soul story, soul is the main ingredient in this gumbo, peppered with hints of blues guitar and funky reggae. This is by no means a blues album, what it is, is a mix, a pot roast of genres that sit side by side easily. I’ve enjoyed this EP immensely, I’m sure that you will come to the same conclusion.

STEPHEN HARRISON JABO BLUES SELF-TITLED INDEPENDENT

Occasionally, an album comes along that you didn’t quite expect, heard nothing about them, blah, blah. Well, this is exactly what has happened this past week to me. This is one of

those moments where you realize that there is so much untapped talent out there. Ten songs, one cover, this is as blues as you can get. The opening track, Down Home Blues, originally performed by Z.Z.Hill, sets the tone for the whole album. Wonderful vocals from James “Jabo” Houston, raspy, dirty blues emanate so easily from him. Add to that, great guitar work courtesy of Jack Edery, Bobby Terrell on Sax, and Billy Cummings on trumpet, who also plays mean keys, and what a way to start an album. From there, things just get better and better, every tune fills the room with wonderful blues tones. As if that was not enough, Nico Leophante, and Eric Prygocki are in the engine room (rhythm section) and are as good as any I’ve heard in along time. If ever there was a title of a blues song that sums up the history of blues tunes since time began, Woke Up This Morning must be it. Originally done by B.B King, Roy Crawford’s vocals are sublime. This blues band are indeed blessed with two amazing vocalists. It oozes blues in all its majesty, and mystery. I’m totally in love with this album after just three tracks. Down In Louisiana, and Night Time Is The Right Time, continue the plethora of gold nugget blues tunes. Change My Mind, however, takes a slightly different turn, more toward the calypso and funk side of town. Don’t think for a moment that it is any lesser of a song, it most certainly is not. The one cover on the album is a soul standard, Stand By Me. Now, this has been covered by many artists over the years, I’m not going to say that this is any better than any other version, but it’s a damned fine version that’s for sure. If I had to choose a standout track from the album, believe me, it’s a very difficult choice, I would go with Twenty Room House. Just three minutes long, it encapsulates blues, boogie, and everything that you need to help you shake what your mamma gave you. Horns, keys, boogie guitar, what more do you

need? This is an obscure Bobby Blue Bland track, I’m sure he’s listening with such pride and admiration. This album is magnificent, a blues album that you will never get tired of listening to.

STEPHEN HARRISON

LIZ JONES BOUNTY INDEPENDENT

Liz is one of the hardest working musicians in Scotland at present. Best known as the lead singer and guitarist for her band The Broken Windows who play regularly in Edinburgh and beyond, this is her debut as a solo artist. She is joined by a lot of musical friends on this. Thirteen tracks co-produced by Liz and Jennifer Clark who plays bass and double bass on most songs including the astounding track, Accused. Temple, she co-wrote with guitarist John Bruce who also features heavily through this release, a song inspired by the Orkney Islands. As does Suzy Cargill on percussion and other special guests, Gary Martin harmonica and Jon Mackenzie on pedal steel guitar. Title track Bounty is the opener where Liz sings this with passion and feeling with raspy and smoky vocals, an upbeat vibe hides the intensity of the lyrics, Mike Park and John Bruce adding sweet guitar licks, astounding. Green, is sung so sweetly on this ethereal toned tune and is balanced by glorious backing vocals and a steady beat. This and other tracks like Little Song and Mother Earth show what a great singer songwriter she is. Mixed melodic music styles, effortless beats this is a superb album. Magnet is hauntingly beautiful, Liz sings this so well on this unplugged tune raw and impassioned. Eyes Of A Liar has intense lyrics, so well crafted. She says this is not a blues album, but she has the feeling on every song and pours emotion into the machinations of the song. Last tune, Lady Grey is a slow ballad a tremendous final tune, stunning

arrangements, wonderful musicianship, a masterpiece.

COLIN CAMPBELL

LITTLE FREDDIE KING BLUES MEDICINE

MADE WRIGHT RECORDS

Little Freddie King has led an eventful life, having been involved in stabbings, shootings, a near fatal bike accident, a serious stomach ulcer and the 2005 hurricane. Despite all that, he remains one of the last New Orleans bluesmen and, at 82 years of age, delivers a new album for which he wrote eight new songs in collaboration with drummer and producer ‘Wacko’ Wade Wright. Freddie plays guitar and sings, accompanied by drums, bass and harp, plus occasional keys, sax and slide guitar. Opener Crazy Woman sets out the stall for the disc with relaxed keys, harp and guitar before Freddie enters with his world-weary vocals, a classic blues shuffle. Two Timer is a similarly relaxed tune with nice, rolling piano and harp work and sax makes its sole appearance on the instrumental Coke No Ice; a second instrumental, Two Wheel Cadillac, closes the album with some excellent fretwork from Freddie. Some of the songs seem to be autobiographical, like Fatherless, Vasti Jackson’s slide work the perfect accompaniment for such a sad tale, and Canal St Corner Bar, a slice of life in New Orleans, described by Freddie as “just another night in paradise”, a somewhat ironic comment given the drunken revelries described! The two covers are Jimmy Reed’s Caress Me Baby and, perhaps more surprisingly, Hank Williams’ Dust On The Bible, Freddie’s down-home version of the two songs simply demonstrating that blues and country are never as far apart as we might think. This is a classic blues album without any shredding or rock influences.

JOHN MITCHELL

JED POTTS & THE HILLMAN HUNTERS SWASHBUCKLIN’ WASTED STATE MUSIC

One of the most hard-working Scottish blues musicians Jed Potts who is in a plethora of bands of assorted music styles in Edinburgh, here concentrates his undoubted musical talent with his trio. Jed is lead singer and guitarist, Charlie Wild is on bass guitar and Jonny Christie plays percussion on this second full release. Together they produce an eclectic sound all blues based but scrape deeper and there’s Southern Rock, even county on this outstanding release. Swashbucklin’ opens the release with a quality song that has a swagger, well delivered vocals with a strutting beat. It Won’t Be Long has a tempo change and some well punctuated guitar playing then the rhythm gets to the listener, an earworm of a song. The Fastest Outlaw sees Jed howling and getting his point over on this slide driven tune full of surprise. Splash Down is an amazing instrumental which changes tones throughout. To The Mountains has a Southern Rock tinge, showing off Jed’s singer song writing credentials. The bass introduction to Where’s Your Man sets the tone for a rollicking enjoyable foot stomper, the lyrics are wonderful. How’Mi’Mentuh is a steady rolling tune with wonderful hooks and riffs, a floor filler. Won’t Be No Use has dark tones set to a guitar slide, the chord structure is effective as are Jed’s vocals. Last tune is Take What You Want, this has a crunchy guitar sound, tempo is superb, this trio really work hard at getting perfect notation and backbeat. No fillers, this is a well-crafted piece of work by a band everyone should get to know, see them live they are superb.

COLIN CAMPBELL

LIL’ RED & THE ROOSTER KEEP ON!

BLUE HEART

Lil’ Red is American guitarist Jennifer Milligan, The Rooster is French guitarist Pascal Fouquet, and the duo have split their time between the States and Europe since coming together in 2010. They are backed here by a crack Chicago rhythm section of drummer Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith, and bass player Felton Crews, and there are several guests including Billy Branch who duets with Red on Keep On Lovin’ You and supplies some tasty harp there too. All of which I only state to show what a classy set this actually is. The repertoire encompasses many forms of blues, from the vaudeville styled approach of Love The Hell Right Out Of Ya to the hip-hop-inflected American Made. Similarly, the song contents vary wildly, from Love The Hell… to the inspirational Back Of The Bus, referring to Rosa Parks of course. Also included are a very fine version of Nobody’s Fault But Mine, and a couple of instrumentals, Shakin’ Em Up, with some notable work on the whammy bar by The Rooster and lovely baritone sax playing by Jean-Marc Labbé, and the closing ‘Step It Up’, a straight-forward but very impressive shuffle with echoes of Freddie King. The result is a confident and assured release, guaranteed to please any blues lover. I certainly enjoyed this album a lot. I look forward to hearing more from this rather talented outfit in the future, but this is certainly one to enjoy right now.

NORMAN DARWEN

JOSH WHITE

THE EARLY YEARS COLLECTION 1929-36

ACROBAT MUSIC

Here’s a fun fact question for you. What is the connection between Josh, Ovation guitars and Super Glue?

Stay tuned for the answer. It is entirely appropriate that the opening cut, Scandalous And A Shame, on this 48 track double CD collection is indeed the very first recording Josh made and credited in part to him. In keeping with so many Blues artists his upbringing was, by today’s standards, less than acceptable. Having left home aged seven for the next eight years he travelled the roads of the south playing countless shows as a dancer and guitar musician with a couple troubadours Blind Man Arnold and Blind Joe Taggart. As a soloist he recorded initially mainly religious cuts before being persuaded to try Blues. So these CDs reflect, not only those two genres throughout, but also the various pseudonyms he used throughout his career. As you might expect from sessions of this age the sound quality is certainly varied. However so many just feature voice and guitar that it is easy to concentrate on such wonderful cuts such as his original Motherless Children, Lay Some Flowers On My Grave, Gone Dry Blues or Double Crossing Woman. As a dip into Blues history this is a very good trip however, as a listening at one time it is a bit harder going. Dipping in and out is certainly the way to experience this collection. Now the answer. At the end of his career Josh suffered badly from cracking nails. Ovation guitars, whose first release was named Josh White, made him a set of replacements and created a new glue substance to keep them in place. You got it! Now that recipe is marketed as Super Glue.

GRAEME SCOTT

KAI STRAUSS NIGHT SHIFT BLUES CONTINENTAL RECORD SERVICES

Kai returns with an explosive new release of eleven blues crafted songs. Here his band include an international line up; Paul Jobson on keyboards, Sax Gordon on saxophone and

fellow German guitarist Ali Neander as well as other members of his own Electric Blues All Star band on this his seventh release. His vocals are sweet and smoky throughout and his guitar playing is melodic and not overpowering. Starting with the funky souled, Stand Strong Together, this gives a taste of what is to come. His guitar phrasing is unique and emotive on every song, just a classy blues guitarist. The Future And The Past keeps the funky rhythm going, that horn section adds to the soaring tones. His vocals on I Done Got Over You are evocative of any broken relationship; he sings with a feel for the lyrics. Bottom Of The Barrel has luscious guitar tones. These are ramped up on Storming In Chicago, where he shares guitar licks with Toronzo Cannon and takes the listener on a blues journey. Bad Loser is full of soulful lyrics again accentuating a fine horn section. Ride With Me is a feelgood blues tune and changes the tone. Icebound, is a tribute to one of his influences, Albert Collins, with some great toning and saxophone playing on this instrumental. Hard Bargain keeps this mellow tone going with pleading vocal tones mixing with soaring guitar notes. Final tune is Night Shift Blues, another searing instrumental exhibiting the band’s full potential, just divine.

COLIN CAMPBELL

JD SIMOTRIO SONGS FROM THE HOUSE OF GREASE

CROWS FEET RECORDS

Singer songwriter and guitarist JD Simo residing in Nashville has brought out a five-track mini album. On this he features his trio, other musicians being, Adam Abrashoff on drums and Todd Bolden on bass guitar. He blends music styles in such a unique way that is so refreshing. On these tunes his artistry is amazing, roots-based blues at its finest. The guitar structure to the opener, Mortgage On My Soul is a

tribute to Mississippi Fred McDowell with a superb arrangement, rhythm section in harmony, growling vocal from JD makes this stomping tune a highlight, slide guitar exquisite and hypnotic. Next track, Afro Blue totally changes the musical canvas to that of jazzy tones and feeling on this John Coltrane tune, again some exquisite guitar tones and intricate craftsmanship and loving the high-hat drum structure, an instrumental to savour that has so many layers of musicianship, then flows into a jamming free mode, intense and enjoyable. Funky bass arrangement reigns on the third tune Missy’s Strut, which is bold and when the rhythm section is let loose, hold on and enjoy the ride, staccato guitar structure then freestyle, this is an exceptional instrumental with style. Slow blues is the thing on How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live, mellow, raw and passionate lyrics, JD just feels every note, again some great slide guitar on this Blind Alfred Reed tune. Final tune, Higher Plane parts 1 and 2, brings swampy blues rock to the fore, a long experimental track, there are also traces of free style jazz vibes,hypnotic notes that sound challenging to play but in this band’s hands seem effortless. Something for any music lover on this one, it is infectious and powerful, highly recommended.

COLIN CAMPBELL

ANDY FAIRWEATHER LOW FLANG DANG

LAST RECORDS

Andy Fairweather Low is

a guy who needs little or no introduction. From a career that kicked-off in the 1960s with pop band, Amen Corner, the guy moved through the decades until surprising everyone with his unexpected 1970s hit, Wide Eyed and Legless, a song loved by many even now. More recent excursions have seen him play as guitarist of choice with Eric Clapton’s band for around twenty years while also working with almost everyone of note in the modern music world from Pink Floyd, Van Morrison and Jeff Beck to Albert Lee and Beatle George Harrison. Usually supported by his own band, the Low Riders, here he delivers an album that is typically Fairweather Low, save for the fact that he plays virtually every instrument himself. There’s a strong rhythmic, harmonic blush throughout, always tinged with a ‘poppish’ undercurrent and a rocky undertone that keeps the toe tapping along. Like his last offering a few years ago, Zone-o-Tone, Flang Dang romps across genres with absolute ease and a guitar mastery that belies the seeming simplicity of the recording at times. There’s blues, rock and, always central to Fairweather Low’s thinking and musical output, soul a-plenty, with some ricocheting Ska rolling around in the 11-track mix. Overall, this cannot be classed a blues release but nevertheless it will please most blues lovers due to its central figurehead and the sheer quality and power of the fabulous tracks inside the packaging.

INDEPENDENT BLUES BROADCASTERS ASSOCIATION

PICKS OF THE MONTH DAVE ARCARI DEVIL MAY CARE

ANGELA STREHLI

ACE OF BLUES

“TOUGH, SOULFUL, AND SEXY - MY KIND OF BLUES!”

“ALWAYS A FAN, I’M SO GLAD ANGELA’S BACK!”

BUDDY GUY BONNIE RAITT