Blues Matters 72

JUNE

9SOUTHEND CLIFFS PAVILION

11BIRMINGHAM SYMPHONY HALL

13MANCHESTER O2 APOLLO

14CARDIFF MOTORPOINT ARENA

21GLASGOW CLYDE AUDITORIUM

22LIVERPOOL EMPIRE

24NEWCASTLE CITY HALL

25NOTTINGHAM

ROYAL CONCERT HALL

27LONDON ROYAL ALBERT HALL

Buy online at Ticketmaster.co.uk

Livenation.co.uk

www.bonnieraitt.com

A Live Nation, Kennedy Street & Regular Music presentation

SLIPSTREAM AVAILABLE NOW

Welcome to your new issue of another packed to the brim edition and what a selection we have for you once again. This is even more exciting than getting a surprise box of chocolates only where they do not tell you what flavour is what. Our newly-launched App seems to be going well and we even had our first member in The Philippines as a result of the launch, so now we travel even further!

Festival season is almost up us so there are some great places to go and acts to see so do enjoy yourselves and tell us about some of what you’ve experienced. A veritable feast awaits you once again within these pages!

After the sad news on Alvin Lee in the last issue we now have a report on the Tribute concert held in France featuring Johnny Winter and a star cast. A nice feature on Jeff Healey – we talk to his wife, Christie and look at his House On Fire unreleased rarities CD. Our second KitChat covers the ‘mighty’ Hammond B3 Organ and we catch up with George Thorogood prior to his UK tour. Slide maestro Sterling Koch talks and... Oh... Geno! Yes that Mr. Washington! Mark Robinson brings you Blues out of Nashville, Danny Bryant talks about his new release and the legend that is Ron Levy begins an in-depth, two part feature on his life and work.

Rising Blues star Valerie June graces our pages this time around, she’s really is in ascendance. Deitra Farr; journalist, and painter opens up on 40 years of singing the Blues.

Sadly we missed out on our interview with Roscoe Levee as although it is done and recorded our writer is injured and unable to transcribe it for this issue, so we’ll get that in the next one.

We send our ‘team’ best wishes to Pete, Nic and Mike for speedy recoveries from their various injuries (it seems writing for Blues Matters is a dangerous occupation!)

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hAppEnIn’

LEGENDARy ENGINEER DIES

The widely acclaimed engineer behind the Rolling Stones’ masterpiece Exile on Main Street and Led Zeppelin’s IV, Andy Johns, has passed away. He was 61. Johns spent the majority of his life in the studio, first as the younger brother to Olympic Studio’s Glyn in the mid ’60s. While still in his teens, Johns was second producer for Jimi Hendrix, then worked with Rod Stewart, Jethro Tull and Humble Pie. Johns worked with The Rolling Stones at Keith Richards’ villa in France, Nellcôte producing one of the absolute quintessential rock n roll albums of all time, Exile On Main Street. Johns engineered dozens of albums, including Zeppelin’s, II, III and IV and Free’s Highway. He also produced albums, including those from Van Halen, Bon Jovi, Chickenfoot, and more. He is survived by son Will.

DEREhAm bLuEs

There’s a musical first for Dereham in Norfolk this year. The Dereham Blues Festival runs from the12th to the14th July.

Norfolk Blues society (nofolkbluessociety.org.uk) is organising a three day blues festival first for Norfolk, with bands playing simultaneously at eight venues in the centre of Dereham, all within walking distance of each other. A chance to see a whole ‘mess o blues’ from Mississippi swamp through R&B, Chicago blues of Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters to Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan right up to funky, verging on jazz. This is a not to be missed event of 2013 for all live blues fans as most venues other than for the headline artists are free to enter. Why Dereham? Blues

is a broad based music genre rooted deep in the social fabric of today’s society. It has given rise to some of the most popular forms of music and so the festival will have something for everyone. Dereham is geographically the dead centre of Norfolk bridging the A47 between Norwich and Kings Lynn and within an hours’ drive of some of the most popular tourist centres in the UK. Check out www. derehambluesfestival.org.uk for more info.

muDcATs buRn!

The Mudcats blues trio release Their Second Album Burn Down The City

At the Harlequin (Nursery Street, Sheffield) March 22nd. To celebrate the release of Burn Down The City award winning brewery,

heAding For derehAm –ron sAyer Jnr.

The Brew Company along with the Mudcats have created a Special Edition Stout called Mudcats Blues Trio’s “Muddy Waters”, which will be available throughout the UK. Burn Down the City features 13 tracks, one of which features Hey Sholay’s Laurie Leigh Allport on Lap Steel Guitar. The Album was recorded at Sheffield’s Tesla Studios. The Album will be released on Tesla Records and will be available on iTunes,Spotify and Amazon. The Mudcats Blues Trio have been together for 2 years, and in that time have played on the Main Stage at Britains Biggest Blues Festival (Colne Great British Rhythm and Blues Festival 2012) and played for the last 2 years on the Blues Stage at Sheffield’s Tramlines Festival. Chris the Mudcats’ Guitarist was lucky enough to be invited as a guest of Ric Jaz’s on (Blues Legend) Buddy Guys Uk Tour 2010. Ric who has not only played guitar for Buddy Guy but also Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones and B B king gave Chris lessons in this time, after this He realised he needed to form a Blues band to try and capture the energy he had witnessed watching Buddy. The Mudcats are a High Energy Chicago Power Blues Trio who even use Buddy Guy’s actual Guitar Amplifier to capture that authentic Blues Sound. The Mudcats are also nominated for Best Live Sheffield Band and Best Sheffield Album in this year’s Sheffield Scenester Awards. They are also playing the CADS Blues Festival March 30th – www.youtube.com/ watch?v=wS1lK9jLBwE

jImmy DAwkIns DIEs

Jimmy Dawkins, The Chicago Blues Guitarist And Singer Famous For Being An Integral Part Of The “West Side” Chicago Sound, Has Passed Away.

Delmark Records, the blues guitarist’s long-time label,

BETH AND JOE RETURN

LA-based singer-songwriter

Beth Hart, known for her raw and powerful blues-rock sound, wraps her vocals around classic soul covers on her latest collaboration with Joe Bonamassa, Seesaw.

The second album that grew out of her musical ties with the acclaimed blues guitarist. The album is released on Deluxe CD+DVD and Double Vinyl in the UK/Europe on Monday 20th May by Provogue Records. After their first successful collaboration on Don’t Explain this highly talented duo is back with Seesaw. As with Don’t Explain, the Seesaw album is produced by Kevin Shirley (Black Crowes, John Hiatt, Joe Bonamassa). “Beth’s got a pretty heady voice, very reminiscent of Janis Joplin,” says Shirley. “She’s also got a lot of Etta James in her. With this material, there’s gentleness to the way she delivers the most heartfelt tunes. She’s done a fantastic job.” Bonamassa and Hart crossed paths numerous times whilst playing the same festivals in Europe.

In early 2010, Bonamassa attended one of her concerts in London. “It was killer.” Joe suggested they do a project together sometime. Don’t Explain took shape that summer. Now, two years later, the follow-up album, Seesaw, captures 11 new blistering tracks, including covers from Billie Holiday (Them There Eyes), Melody Gardot (If I Tell You I Love You), Etta James (A Sunday Kind Of Love) and the title track Seesaw, made popular by Aretha Franklin. Hart and Bonamassa will perform a special UK concert at the Hampton Court Festival on Monday 24th June.

announced the news via Facebook on April 10th. Hailing from the Mississippi Delta, Jimmy moved to Chicago when he was nineteen. In Chicago, he was befriended by Billy Boy Arnold, Magic Sam, and Luther Allison, and while working in a box factory, carved out his own niche and developed a reputation as one of Chicago’s premiere guitarists. He began playing session work and area blues clubs. He released his first album, Fast Fingers , on Delmark Records in

1969. Two years later, Delmark released Dawkins’ All For Business , featuring Otis Rush on the Guitar. The bluesman released 21 albums total over five decades, with his final album being 2004’s Tell Me Baby. Dawkins toured overseas extensively, particluarly in France, greater europe and Japan. While his nickname was “Fast Fingers”, it was something of a misnomer. “Dawkins’ West Side-styled guitar

COntinues On page 11...

bLuEs yOu cAn usE!

mark HaGen Has taKeN Over FrOm Paul lONG as esteemeD PrODuCer OF tHe Paul JONes blues sHOW ON bbC raDIO 2. He talKs tO bm! abOut lIFe IN tHe ‘HOt seat’

bM!: welcome Mark to our pages. Tell us about your background in music, your previous position and what led you to this role?

Well, my musical background is wide & varied! The first band I ever saw was Mott The Hoople (supported by Queen) in 1973 and it’s gone on from there.

Professionally it started in the late 70s when I was booking bands for the University of Stirling – a

notable success was the 2-Tone package of The Specials, Madness & The Selecter the day after they’d all been on Top of the Pops – as well as DJing on the university radio station & playing gigs around Central Scotland with , my punk band. After that I worked in a record shop & for a small independent label in Edinburgh before joining Radio Forth as a presenter & producer in 1982. I worked mostly in television for the next 15 years

– at the BBC in Glasgow & then for Sky, BSB & GMTV in London – before joining VH1 as Head of Programming & then rejoining the BBC in 1998. I produced TOTP2 for 12 years, as well as making programmes with Ray Charles, Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Dolly Parton, U2, Tina Turner, Jerry Lee Lewis, and many others, including Jools Holland’s history of the piano. At the same time I also

“i’D like To be able To reacH THe auDience wHo Don’T THink THey like blueS”

wrote regularly for Mojo & several American magazines including Crawdaddy, kept an occasional hand in radio & was the presenter of VH1’s country programme for several years; I was also on the board of directors of the Country Music Association in Nashville and worked with Springsteen directly on the Grammy award winning package around the 30th anniversary of the Born To Run album.

A couple of years ago I moved across the Radio 2 full-time & now produce Paul obviously, alongside Bob Harris Country, Jools’ programme & anything that Suzi Quatro does for the network. In addition to that I seem to end up working with what might politely be called the older demographic of acts when they come around – most recently the Stones at the tail end of last year. I also make documentaries – if you’ve heard ones on the Memphis Horns, Chris Barber, Otis Redding, the Doors, Pink Floyd, Emmylou Harris, Jim Morrison, Patsy Cline, Patti Smith, Led Zeppelin, The Smiths, Leonard Cohen or Elvis recently then they’re probably mine. Oh, and then there’s the other presenters I’ve worked with – Elton John, Imelda May, Mick Jones, Charles Hazlewood, Malcolm McLaren, Vanessa Feltz… the list is practically endless. And at the moment I’m working with Hugh Laurie & his band on a blues related series that will transmit in the autumn. what do you look forward to

most in this new challenge? Really it’s the opportunity to be able to throw myself wholeheartedly into an exploration of the blues, both old & new. The obvious challenge, of course, is to keep up in the incredibly high standards that Paul Long established during his time on the show.

what excites you that we have to look forward to on our airwaves from the show? I’m particularly excited about the younger bands that are springing up. The Strypes are clearly going to be a pretty big noise in the fairly new future, but then there’s people like Red Butler who are still running a little bit under the radar.

any guest you would particularly like to see on the show and why?

For years I’ve been quietly muttering to anybody that would listen that Mick Jagger & Keith Richards should do a country blues thing, but I don’t think that realistically that’s ever going to happen! Perhaps if I get Gary Clark to put a word in for us... an acheiveable ambition would be to get the Mike Eldred Trio in, but they’d have to tour the UK. Or a straight blues session from Jack White. Or Billy Gibbons. Or Phil Alvin. Maybe the Mike Henderson band back again. Don’t start me talking!

i noted that you worked on/ produced a show with Suzi Quatro on her visit to elvis’ grave broadcast on radio 2 in January 2013 (a long awaited journey for her). can we look forward to anything like this on blues icons? That would be in the hands of the Radio 2 Commissioning Gods

what do you hope to achieve for the blues and the listeners during your encumbrance?

I’d like to be able to reach the audience who don’t think they like the blues. It’s such a varied music that everybody should be able to find something that they love in it, but I also think it’s quite an intimidating thing to approach if you don’t have those years of history at your fingertips. I want us to be inclusive & explanatory as well as serving the people who already love the programme

Finally – your message to our readers?

Monday night 19.00 – the blues you can use!

meet the new boss: mArK greets bruce

Lucky Peterson

Peterson

Mud Morganfield

Jo Harman & Company

Grainne Duffy

The Nightporters

Marcus Bonfanti

Mick Pini

Henry’s Funeral Shoe

Vincent Flatts

+ local blues talent 12pm – 2pm Saturday

featuring Tamara

slashes and surges,” wrote Bill Dahl in the liner notes for the reissue of his album Fast Fingers, “but seldom burns with incendiary speed.” “Dawkin’s blues reflected his dramatic guitar style,” wrote Gerard Herzhaft in Encyclopedia of the Blues, “an economical use of notes with tremolo, interspersed with full chords, often in the minor scale — a singing apparently detached but in reality, rich in emotion”.

pEnDLE cELEbRATE

This August Pendle Leisure Trust is celebrating a whopping 24 years of bringing rhythm and blues to Colne!

With more than 600 artistes performing at nine official venues over four days, Colne’s annual Great British Rhythm and Blues Festival is now a firm favourite with locals and visitors as the place to be over the Bank Holiday weekend. Following last year’s resounding success, there will be another afternoon of Jazz on the Sunday. Colne Tacklers Club will again be part of the Festival to make a total of six official roadhouses, joining The Crown Hotel, Colne Legion, The Dressers, The Admiral Lord Rodney and Colne and Nelson Rugby Club.

As usual we will have some popular, well-known names gracing the Muni’s International Stage, including Rolling Stones legend Bill Wyman and his Rhythm Kings, former Cream musician Ginger Baker, Blues Music Awards nominee Joe Louis Walker, Chris Farlowe, Nine Below Zero and Paul Lamb and The King Snakes, plus some more big names still to be confirmed. And there’ll be some popular favourites and new faces keeping the music going on the British Stage and the Acoustic Stage, as well as the official roadhouses. Radio Lancashire will once again be broadcasting live from the British

SUNDERLAND EXCHANGE

An American Blues singer, from Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA, is recording a cover version of a track by a Mackem musician. Wildcat O’Halloran heard Hate Me For a Reason on a Blues radio show and tracked down its creator Trevor Sewell via Facebook. He even asked Trevor, who lives in Millfield, to guest appear on the track. The song, which is about intolerance, has been making waves on both sides of the pond after receiving a recent nomination in the British Blues Awards, as well as Trevor winning Best Blues Artist award in this year’s Artists in Music Awards in Hollywood.

Trevor said: “Wildcat first heard the song on Les Young’s Wall to Wall Blues programme where we were both were featured artists. “I was really pleased when Cat contacted

Stage at certain times over the weekend. The Jessica Foxley Stage returns again, giving young, local musicians a rare opportunity to perform in front of the hundreds of fans on the British Stage through the four day event. And The Great British Rhythm and Blues Festival will this year play host to the British Blues Awards.

Festival organiser, Alison Goode, said: “The Festival is now in its 24th year and continues to pull in the crowds, which is a fantastic achievement. We look forward to welcoming back loyal supporters who return year after year to enjoy four whole days of live music, as well as those visiting for the first time. “Every year we try to cater for all musical tastes and again, we are really excited by the line-up we have already secured.

me, as I had been listening to the show and thought his music was great.“The coincidence with us both in Sunderland, albeit a few thousand miles apart, is really strange.

When Wildcat tours in the UK we will definitely set up a date in Sunderland together.”

Wildcat has opened for just about every major Blues artist to visit the state of Massachusetts, in New England, Including Gregg Allman, John Mayall, John Lee Hooker, The Stray Cats, Albert Collins, James Cotton and Bo Diddley. Wildcat said: “I just really loved the song as soon as I heard it and was able to track Trevor down through Facebook. “I think it would be really cool to gig with Trevor in Sunderland next time I tour in the UK and over here too when Trevor comes to play the East Coast.”

“And let’s hope 13 will be a lucky number for us and we get some good weather to add to the terrific line-up and create the fantastic buzz and atmosphere this Festival is known for.”

gEORgE jAcksOn DIEs

Songwriter George Jackson, co-author of Old Time Rock and Roll and hundreds of other soul, rock and rhythm and blues tunes, has died. He was 68. Jackson died Sunday morning at his home in Ridgeland, a suburb of Jackson, said Thomas Couch Sr., board chairman of Malaco Records. Jackson had been sick with cancer for about a year. “It was not unexpected, but it’s always

too soon,” Couch said. Born in Indianola, Mississippi, Jackson was writing songs by the time he was in his teens. It was Ike Turner who brought Jackson to New Orleans R&B pioneer Cosimo Matassa’s studio in 1963, where he recorded his first song. Jackson recorded dozens of singles in the 1960s and worked in Memphis, Tenn., but made his mark as a

writer, beginning with FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

He later was a songwriter for crosstown rival Muscle Shoals Sound Studios before returning to Memphis. When Malaco bought Muscle Shoals Sound, it hired Jackson to write songs, said Wolf Stephenson, Malaco’s vice president and chief engineer. “George had hooks coming out of his ears,” Stephenson said. “They weren’t all hits, but I never heard him write a bad song. He never really got the recognition that’s normally due a writer of his stature.” The Osmonds recorded Jackson’s One Bad Apple in 1970, taking it to No. 1. Jackson and Thomas Jones III wrote Old Time Rock and Roll, which Bob Seger recorded in 1978. Stephenson said Old Time Rock and Roll

is truly Jackson’s song, and he has the tapes to prove it, despite Seger’s claims that he altered it. “Bob had pretty much finished his recording at Muscle Shoals and he asked them if they had any other songs he could listen to for the future,” Stephenson said. Besides Seger, the Osmonds and Ike and Tina Turner, Jackson’s songs were also recorded by James Brown, Wilson Pickett and Clarence Carter. Later, he wrote Down Home Blues for Z.Z. Hill, a song which was a keystone for Malaco. The Mississippi label is a storehouse of soul, rhythm and blues and gospel music. “He had a way of seeing things about life and saying them in a way that a lot of other people could relate to,” Couch said. Jackson’s own vocal performances were mainly scattered over singles, although COntinues

george JAcKson

MIGDEN HEADS WEST

Following the announcement of David Migden and The Dirty Words as this year’s Harvest UK Battle of the Blues winners they will be appearing on the Festival stage in 2013.

The massive success of the UK–New Brunswick Battle of the Blues has led to the 3rd year of this competition that sees emerging blues artists from the United Kingdom compete for the chance to play at the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival. Last year’s winners, The Groove-a-Matics, received an outstanding audience response when they took the Harvest stage in 2012. “Once again, the UK-NB Battle of the Blues has been an overwhelming success” said David Seabrook, Festival Communications Director. “This innovative partnership between New Brunswick Tourism, Fredericton Tourism and the Festival is an opportunity to both build awareness in the UK market about what New Brunswick has to offer, and for Harvest to gain a profile with blues fans, artists and agents in the UK. We’re tremendously lucky and thankful

to be a part of it”. This year saw the most entries to date, with more than 100 talented unsigned blues artists from across the UK vying for a spot in the finals. This list was then cut down to 36 semi-finalists who competed in regional heats across England and Scotland throughout January and February.

The winner of each heat—plus one overall runner-up chosen by the judges panel—performed at the final in London, where Kent’s David Migden and the Dirty Words came out on top, winning an all-expenses paid trip to New Brunswick to play on one of the main stages at the Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival in September.

The Festival will announce additional headliners leading up to the launch of the full line-up on Tuesday, May 7th. Tickets and passes to the 2013 Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival will go on sale Saturday, May 11th at 9 am, available online at www. ticketpro.ca, through Ticketpro call centre at 1-888-311-9090, or at Harvest Central, 81 Regent Street, Fredericton, New Brunswick.

some have been collected into albums, including a 2011 reissue of his FAME recordings, Don’t Count Me Out , which won critical acclaim. That and other compilations were aimed at part at fans in the United Kingdom, where Stephenson said Jackson had a strong following. Funeral arrangements were still being made.

hmv bOuncE bAck

HMV Are Officially Out Of Administration And Under New Ownership.

They are working hard behind the scenes to bring the new and improved HMV. A new website and digital services, a rebooted Pure rewards scheme, and a fresh approach to their stores are all in the works. For now, their site will keep you up to date on what’s going on – the latest releases and what’s coming up – while they get everything ready to come back with a bit of a bang later in the year. There are over 140 stores in the HMV group, all offering all the latest releases and a huge selection of your favourite music, film, games and technology.

IDLE hAnDs TOuR

Hotly tipped Blues rockers The Idle Hands continue with their 2013 Spring/Summer tour dates.

Promoting the highly praised Ready for Business album whilst showcasing a selection of new tracks from their as yet untitled follow up album proposed for release later this year. Tour dates, which can be found in this issue of BM! include main stage appearances on several major events including Colne Festival British Stage and the Linton Festival as the bands reputation for dynamic and passionate live performances continues to gain them a recognised position on the top flight UK circuit.

Got sometHinG to say? tHeN

WrIte tO us at: PO bOx 18, brIDGeND, CF33 6YW. uK.

Feedback had to be held over from the last issue due to amount of quality content but here it is, plus some comments on our new-look:

Just received my copy of Issue 70 of Blues Matters! and had to write to compliment you and your team on the makeover. While continuing the quality of blues coverage the new look is magnificent and will I hope help you attract many new subscribers. Many thanks

Martin Hunter, aberdeen

I wanted especially to congratulate you all at Blues Matters! for your work over these recent couple of years and on noting the handover of Design responsibilities you have yet another dramatic improvement.

The layout has been good all along, but now you’ve stepped up again. The magazine is a joy and a tonic to so many I am sure who enjoy it and are absorbed by your content and selections as much as I am. Long may you reign as the

leading light for the Blues. Trevor Signott, leicester

Great new magazine layout, looks and reads great full of good things, you know it just keeps on getting better, and this new layout is a huge step in presentation and quality. Always has been the best blues mag around by far in Europe, and other that Living Blues is the best in the world, certainly an equal with that one as well, so many congratulations, to you and the team there at Blues Mansions. I saw Ian Parker and his band on Monday put on a fantastic set in Oxford, so great to see this amazing guy back with an electric band, proving still one of the greatest talents we have as a writer, singer, guitarist and performer. But again many thanks and I look forward to the next edition of the magazine. pete clack, oxford

Dear Blues lovers at BM!, They say that being copied is a sign of flattery so you should be so pleased about Classic Rock Presents the Blues , to the point of blatantly using Bluesbreakers to copy your long running Blue Blood section. You guys steal the show when it comes to quality of content let alone value for money and your latest design work really stands out. I’ll say no more for now but I do know that you are also shy of praise when you should be shouting out loud for all to hear.

Simon Fellows, liverpool

“I just wanted to congratulate the magazine on a great issue 70. The magazine looks great with the new layout, and I think it’s a big improvement.”

“Just got the latest issue, really like the new layout, it somehow gives the whole thing a kick up into the Big league, making the mag look like a really pro piece of work, and not just an enthusiast’s mag. Well done.”

“And now Blues Matters! not only gives great content but a great look to match, well done to you all, you are the best!”

“Trying to play in the big boys league no longer needs effort, you guys made it. You’ve always been good since I’ve known the mag but now you’ve gone beyond being just damn good”

“I hope you get some new subscribers as I’ve shown off my copy of No 70 and people were really impressed”

“Your magazine has a great new look and I really enjoy the read. The quality of everything within it keeps on improving but I really really would like to see more on harp players, piano players and drummers, etc. KitChat, Blue Blood and Blues DJs are all good.”

hAmmOnD Eggs, AnyOnE?

HeY everYbODY, H ere We are WItH KItCHat NO 2

aND I tHOuGHt tHat tHIs tI me We WOulD taKe a lOOK at aN INstrume Nt tHat Has I m PaCte D H uG elY IN tH e b lues aND Jazz G e N res Over tH e Years

es indeedee, as a famous Bard once wrote “To B3 or not to B3!”– talkin ‘ bout the mighty Hammond Organ so popularised by the likes of Jimmy Smith , Booker T, Georgie Fame , Zoot Money and a list of ivory tinklers long enough to fill a four pack of Andrex Supersoft (other brands of toilet tissue are available!).

The Hammond B3 coupled with the mighty Leslie 122 rotating speaker/amplifier cabinet set the benchmark for mean, moody and melodic tones since its invention by Mr Laurens (Larry) Hammond in 1935. Hammond was born in 1895 in Evanston Illinois and died only back in 1973 – so a true 20th century innovator. The Hammond tone wheel organ was introduced to provide an alternative ( and rather more portable ) option to the familiar pipe organ as seen in churches around the globe. I believe the very first example was the B1 then B2 (the Leslie 122 amplified speaker cab came along in 1939) and is ever linked to the B3. There is also a Hammond C3 model which is really a B3 internals spread around a large piece of furniture and totally not a portable / giggable piece of

b3 legend, the lAte grAhAm bond

In BM71 on page 16 last column David commented that he had two pictures to show what he was telling you about and we missed them so here they are with the relevant para:

‘Bearing in mind the above facts – it is still possible to play slide on your regular guitar either in standard or open tuning – but compromises are necessary in string gauge and action height – this is why you will often see guitarist having more than one instrument on stage – avoiding both the pain of retuning and / or the ‘Octopus Finger’ technique requirements of playing slide in standard tuning. Having a second guitar for slide is a good idea in many respects (apart from your bank balance of course! ).You can pick up a second hand decent instrument for very reasonable money these days and by restringing it with heavier gauge strings and raising the action a tad – put yourself in position to give Duane Allman , Derek Trucks or our good friend Mr Michael Messer a run ( maybe that should be “slide” ) for their money. I attach a picture of my own slide machine which was self built from a body and neck kit obtained from USA and second hand pickup and some hardware sourced locally. It is a replica of a 1958 Gibson Les Paul Junior and I based it on a model favoured by Doyle Bramall II and Lesley West – both slide players of no mean repute. It plays really great and cost a fraction of acquiring a vintage 1958 Jnr – if you could find one that is. Pictured alongside is my treasured National Resophonic Delphi model resonator which I also use mainly for slide.’

kit – although you might be able to wedge it into the organ loft of St Paul’s Cathedral if you had a friendly local crane driver living nearby!

The B2 and later B3 originally had roots in the jazz music of the late 30’s/early 40’s when luminaries such as Fats Waller, Count Basie and a wonderful keys man called Wild Bill Davies pioneered the jazz trio image of the Hammond – this despite it not often being a true ‘trio’. This was because of the organ’s built in pedals synced to the lower octaves allowing the nimble of foot to play some simultaneous bass notes and the remaining “third “ musician “often being a guitar or

used to go to the local greasy spoon after school to play the juke box and drink dreadful milky coffee in see through cups! One day a record came on with the most wild grinding sound of a Texas style slow shuffle played on what I now know to have been a B3 with Leslie – it was an instrumental called Honky Tonk Part 2 by Bill Dogget (who incidentally turned out to be Wild Bill Davies’ replacement in the Louis Jordan Quintet ).

brass instrument player. Charlie Mingus’ acolytes cannot have been impressed - with large numbers of bass players presumably contributing to the lines outside the dole offices in the roaring 40’s ( did they have The Dole in USA then ??)

However as is well known amongst the Hammond cognoscenti – the daddy of them all has always been and always will be Mr Jimmy Smith. Whatever your musical tastes you will never erase the tone of the B3 from your memory banks once you have listened to ‘The Master’. My first introduction to the Hammond sound was in the late 50’s whilst still in grammar school when we

This was a totally new sound – then accurately described as ‘Rhythm and Blues’ and we played that record white on that jukebox ! Doggett was – like Jimmy Smith – a Philadelphian where much of the black musicians jazz scene of the day was centred. Quite a bit of Doggetts music is available through You Tube – he died in New York in 1996 at the age of 80.

Having said that – the absolute prime example of neck hair stiffening B3 ‘ism is embodied in one simple song. Released in 1962 by Booker T and the MG’s for Stax records, it is the gut churning riff known and loved worldwide as ‘Green Onions’. It wasn’t only the Hammond which turned me on to this epiphany of musical delight but the huge bonus of the guitar work of one Mr Steve Cropper whose Telecaster riffage seemed to shatter plate glass windows. All fans of the late Mick Green of The Pirates fame will understand where I’m coming from here. The number of films which feature Green Onions is endless but some brighter examples were Quadrophenia sound track, Get Shorty , American Graffiti , Happy Gilmore , etc etc. The song even features in the computer game Grand Theft Auto!

I just love this piece of music and rushed out to buy the album of the same name – this opened the door to the M.G’s guitarist Steve Cropper’s world of Tele mayhem

and, although the man is ever connected with Stax Records – a Motown/Soul genre icon – the blues, country and jazz all live beneath.

I think there can be no greater compliment ever paid to that song than that of Georgie Fame who is quoted as saying Green Onions was the main contributing factor in him switching from piano to The Hammond. Popularisation of the instrument continued apace with strip down versions of the B2 and B3 being built into road friendly flight cases with separate bass pedal boards – this of course long before the days of having more roadies than band members available to hump the gear around. My own duo experience consists of my co conspirator Eddie on keyboards – one of which is the Hammond Suzuki XB2 portable version with Leslie foot pedal (believed to have been the previous

property of the late great John Lord of Deep Purple fame – pictures of same available!) It really is pretty roadworthy and portable and also has that breathy Hammond tone with all the swirly tone wheel/ drawbar sounds associated with its monolithic parent. Eddie thought when he bought it “if it, good enough for old Lordy then it’s good enough for Druids on Fluids” (slipped in a quick name check for us there Ed!)

If you are not yet familiar with the sounds we are bangin’ on about here – the a suggested discography which may well convert those unbelievers out there could – and should – include the following:

Jimi Mc Griff – The Countdown

Jimmy Smith – Anything recorded by The Guvnor!

James Taylor Quartet –Live at St Paul

Otis Spann – Cryin Time

Ronnie Earl and The Broadcasters – Still River

Stevie Winwood – Blind Faith

Jimi Hendrix – Electric Ladyland

The Peddlers (a UK based trio featuring the great Roy Phillips –check out YouTube). Also anything by Georgie Fame with Bill Wyman’s Blues Band. Zoot Money, Graham Bond Organization, Billy Preston, Ray Charles – my apologies to any maestros I have missed out. Finally – the best?

Reginald Dixon and The Mighty Wurlitzer – ‘Oh I do like to be beside the Seaside’ (only joking!),

For the utmost in Hammond Geekery – check out ‘The Hammond Page’: www. jessedeanefreeman.com/ hammondstuff.html

That’s it for this KitChat folks –tune in next issue for some more tales from the ‘Tec side’ Y’all come back now.

REGINA BONELLI

r eGINa bON ellI’s musICal Career Is IN FIN e tu N e D FOrm as H er CD

mYstICal lOve HIts tH e aI rWaves aND lIve Per FOrmaNCe ve N ues

egina started performing at the tender age of six, giving piano recitals at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in NYC. Influenced by her father, who was also a musician, she began playing guitar and writing songs. As a teenager, she formed a band. Regina was seen at the Bottom Line in Manhattan and offered a chance to appear on the television show Starsearch. She won the competition three times, including International Starsearch while performing her original material.

Regina has shared the stage with Martha Reeves, Phoebe Snow and the Temptations, among others. She has recorded with Paul Simon, and with Gary Tallent of Bruce Springsteen’s EStreet Band.

Regina has been steadily writing, recording and performing her original blues music, and has put together a band of world-class blues musicians to back up her soulful and sensuous style. The band includes international recording artists and ‘Blues Hall of Fame’ members Michael Hill and the Blues Mob. Regina’s scorching vocals and keyboards, and Michael Hill’s

masterful guitar work bring an intense show wherever they perform.

Regina’s new tracks can be heard at www. reverbnation.com/reginabonelli and are currently in rotation worldwide on various radio programs, including ‘Blues On The Marsh’ on Channel Radio and ‘The Blues Show’ on BishopFM Radio 105.9FM in the UK, ‘Jukejoint’ on KCOR Kansas City, ‘Breakfast With the Blues’ on Oregon’s KRVM 91.9, ‘Gold Radio’ Pennsylvania, ‘WAER’ New York, ‘WFDU’ 89.1 New Jersey, Canada’s ‘CJIM’ Montreal, ‘Drivin’ Home With the Blues’ on Cairns FM 89.1 Australia, and on stations in Italy, Germany, Denmark and Spain, to name but a few.

Reviewed by americanbluesblog.com, BMan says ‘Regina is putting it down out there. This would be a dead place without the blues and the fans. I’m glad there are artists out there bringing it.’ Soundroxradio. com writes in American Blues Scene Magazine ‘That was awesome Regina’, and names her their artist of the month! She has also been recently named the Long Island Blues Society’s featured artist of the month.

Regina’s Blues arise from deep inside her heart and draw intently from her life experiences, including raising her children as a single parent, and the ups and downs we all have to face day-to-day. She likes to refer to her music as ‘Blues from the Soul of a Woman’, knowing that the struggles, highs and lows she so eloquently sings of, resonate with women and men alike.

Regina and her band are gearing up to tour this Spring in support of her CD, bringing her own brand of the Blues to the people.

for the latest news on regina bonelli, check out www.myspace.com/reginabonelli

SHARON COLGAN

sHarON beGaN sINGING FrOm aN earlY aGe lOvING musICal

tHeatre aND Jazz. Her sINGING tOOK a Halt tO raIse Her FamIlY, tHeN IN 1999 FallING uPON tHe blues bar IN HarrOGate

Sharon and her husband Simon became the owners of the Blues bar in 2002 giving her opportunities to sing with many great bands, and guesting with the likes of John Popple, Derrin Neuendorf, Sam Hare, and Paul Middleton. Sharon was then asked to join a band named Bluesville. After a few years of performing she gained confidence And decided it was time to form her own band.

As with all good bands it has taken time and changes before it has gelled into the polished outfit, which truly gives a great platform for Sharon’s excellent vocals and receives great feedback wherever they play.

Knowing exactly what sound she has been looking for, it has taken time for the right personnel to be put together to achieve this. After supporting Marcus Malone Sherman Robertson Chantel Mcgregor and Hazel O’connor , Sharon was very keen to get right into the heart of the Blues scene. Now in place and with residencies in Harrogate and Leeds to polish the act, She is now keen to play the festival scene and build up her repertoire.

She is also going down an acoustic road and is due to perform at the Great British Blues festival at Colne on the acoustic stage along with her full band on the British stage.

Her band consisting 2 peice brass section, piano, lead guitar, bass And drums produce a trully massive sound.

Sharon, along with her band, have recently started writing their own material, they are hoping to show case late summer.

Having heard them take well-known covers, and spruce them into their own soulful big sound renditions. The new material is something to watch out for!

Rarely do you see such a powerful band and vocalist paired, a band for the future not to be missed.

for more information on the sharon colgan blues band, check out www.sharoncolganband.co.uk

Visuals: sHarOn COlgan

JAMIE WILLIAMS & THE ROOTS COLLECTIVE

Verbals: JaMie WilliaMs

lIsteNING tO JamIe’s musIC, ONe Gets a seNse tHat musIC Is HIs meDICatION, a FOrCe FOr GOOD tHat lIberates HIm tO exPress tHe FeelINGs WHICH IN turN tOuCH lIves OF OtHers alONG tHe WaY

is music is as honest as it is infectious. Over the years Jamie developed his voice into an iconic sound. Difficult to categorise, his voice has been described as ‘alt blues’. Blues with a hint of country, a dash of soul with a trace of rock thrown in for good measure.

Jamie started out singing in covers bands and then progressed to blues via heavy rock. There have been a few bands in different styles over the years but there was something wrong. In truth Jamie never felt completely comfortable only playing other peoples music: he was driven to play his own & now with the Roots Collective, he has the band he always dreamed of; an exciting, good time band who just love to play together. Leaving behind the safety of covers bands, they now play mainly originals featuring Jamie’s unique, sometime gritty outlook on life. His love of Blues, Americana, Soul & Country are evident in his music. He has been described as a musical mirror reflecting a range of cultural influences and repurposing them in his own poetic and sonic creations.

In 2009, not having a band, but wanting to record a new album, Jamie asked some good friends to join him in a musical collaboration, which they all enjoyed so much that they decided to become a band & so the ‘Roots Collective’ was born. With Jamie as the constant, the Roots Collective began as a very loose collection of musicians with a different line-up at practically every gig. These days Jamie has assembled the core band bringing a wealth of experience with

Lizzie B adding her luscious vocals and her own songs to the mix showing her to be the very talented lady that she is; Kev ‘The Rock’ Warner on bass keeping it driving, Chris Found playing his wonderfully soulful lead guitar and the court jester of the pack Nick Garner ever versatile on harmonica. The spirit of the collective still exists with various friends called upon when necessary or to add a little extra to the band’s recordings.

The band’s new album Good Time was released in April and is gathering rave reviews from as far afield as the States & Germany. Not resting on their laurels though, the band are in the final stages of recording their next album.

for the latest news on jw&therc, please visit: www.jamiewilliamsandtherootscollective.co.uk

JOHNNy O BAND

COlOraDO’s blues-Fu NK sCe N e Is DOm INate D bY bOulDers leG e NDarY JOHNNY O baND

Whether playing to a rowdy biker bar, a mountain music festival, an apre’s ski BBQ and beer joint or sold out opera house the band keeps the dance floor jumping with a blend of original tunes sprinkled with their versions of standards like Sweet Lil’ Angel.

Colorado born, guitarist Johnny Ohnmacht backed by Marion “Mario” Edwards on drums and Ian Anderson on bass, have a large following of friends and fans in the state’s high altitude music scene and were honored by winning Colorado Blues Society 2009 International Blues Challenge.

Drummer, Marion Edwards’ career spans over four decades working with names like, Allen Toussaint, Guitar Shorty, Irma Thomas and Gatemouth Brown. Ian Anderson hails from Kingston, Jamaica and has toured internationally with several Reggae bands including Dennis Brown, and is right at home on the bass guitar with blues and funk. Both add tight harmonies to Johnny’s lead vocals and combined they have over one hundred years of musical experience delivering to the

audience a performance that they can get up and get down with.

The band has four albums under their belt and a DVD in the works for release this year. Their first, a self titled CD in 1997 set the tempo for a fall 2000 release of River in the Sky followed four years later by Time for the Turnaround. Last year the Johnny O Band released Life’s Tough recorded live at Longmont’s, Dickins Opera House and engineered by three time Grammy winner, Tom Wasinger.

Dedicated to and included on Life’s Tough are five songs written by a Colorado via Chicago blues man, the late Howard Berkman who was Johnny’s close friend and mentor. Also featured on the album is a rollicking version of Crescent City People that Johnny wrote following Hurricane Katrina that laid waste to New Orleans in 2005. Additional artists on the CD include Chicago blues diva, Shay Jones as well as Bruce Delaplain on piano and organ.

c heck out the johnny o band at www.johnnyoband.com and view them at: www.youtube.com/user/joband66

RABBIT FOOT

Verbals: rabbit f OO t Visuals: an D re W H uyt O n

rabbIt FOOt Was bOrN Out OF PaIN aND suFFerING? Ha Ha, It’s true!

Occipital Neuralgia was causing me severe shooting pains in the head and affecting my eyesight, back troubles were making it impossible to keep working as a performer/ workshop leader, carrying drums and percussion all over the UK to light up parties and celebrations, conferences and assemblies was just not gonna happen for a while, or ever again.

Carla Viegas (singer extraordinaire!) had been on at me for months to come out of the closet and be a guitarist again, the little noodles she heard blew her away, the intro to Howlin’ Wolf and Stevie Ray blew her away even more – this was whilst working on an African drumming event in Belfast, you may begin to see a link here.

Putting 2 and 2 together and getting a 22, of course, led to me playing more guitar (and spending £££s!). It became the only painkiller that worked – it also led to several weeks worth of nights spent drawing the blues from the sophisticated Jazz of Carlas’ vocals ... to quite spectacular effect. Don’t even get me started on the pain and suffering involved in getting me to sing again, ask Carla, she knows!

The drums just fell into line, they were lying around, waiting to be played, after 12yrs immersed in the diversity and power of West African Rhythms, standard

drum kit was NOT gonna cut it for now ... taking influence from mainstream Blues artists was NOT gonna cut it, Carla’s drumming evolved bit by bit, don’t even get me started on the pain and suffering involved in getting Carla to keep at it, ask Jamie, he knows! but what a sound she brings!

At the beginning there were only two muses really –Howling Wolf and his Band – the songs of Willie Dixon! Hubert Sumlin! THAT sound – and the fact that without this music that was emerging, there was only sickness.

I dreamt of the blues being superimposed on the wild and ecstatic drumming parties I’d been involved with for many years. I saw parallels in the writings about the early days of the blues, wall to wall sweating, heaving, dancing bodies... music as sexual and wild expression, without inhibition, a link between audience and musicians that is symbiotic and undeniable; shamanic, if you like. I’ll leave you to decide whether this refers to the (old?) blues or my experiences. OK then, it’s both!

Forget about the unique tag, we are going for something OLD, if our own idiosyncrasy comes across, all the better, we love Jazz, Blues, Classic Rock, World Music and more, it’s all good when it’s real.

for the latest news on rabbit foot: www.rabbitfootmusic.com

DaViD miGDen & tHe Dirty worDs are aN exCItING eleCtr IC FIve PI eCe, Per FOrm ING u NIque Or IGINal mater Ial

CrOssOver OF rOCK, blues aND tWIste D amer ICaN rOOts

avid Migden was raised in Little Rock Arkansas and moved to the UK as a teenager. After playing and touring around London and Europe, initially in the Lee Sankey Group with Matt Schofield and Ian Siegal, he then teamed up with ‘The Dirty Words’ and released Second Hand Tattoo to a fantastic response from critics and fans alike. Gigs across London and the Southeast followed at venues such as The Jazz Cafe, Dean Street Pizza Express, Ronnie Scott’s, the Borderline, and the American Embassy. The band members have played with many other internationally renowned artists including Robert Plant, James Brown, Corinne Bailey Rae, Snowboy, Ian Shaw, Matt Berry, Hamish Stuart (Average White

Band), Andy Newmark (Sly & the Family Stone, Roxy Music, John Lennon, Bowie), and have gained a reputation for putting on fantastic shows that focus on David’s incredible songs.

Here are ten classic that influenced David’s music...

01

blinD willie JoHnSon

Dark Is The NIghT

This is one of those songs that transcends the notes and becomes a type of smoke that fills the room. It has a strong atmosphere of yearning sadness and isolation as well as demonstrating some magical slide guitar playing and amazing vocals.

This song is also covered by such geniuses as Ry Cooder and Marc Ribot.

02

Howling wolF

WaNg DaNg DooDle

I could pick any Howling Wolf song as he is probably the best Blues singer (if I had to pick one). This song is a raw and viscous party full of dangerous notes and people.

Love all of the lyrics and has been a big influence on and covered by some of my favourite musicians. If it wasn’t for Howling Wolf we wouldn’t have Captain Beefheart, which means we wouldn’t have evolved as a human race.

03 b.b. king

hoW Blue CaN You geT

My favourite version of this is live at Cook County Jail. I suppose these prisoners really were the ‘target audience’ of the blues.

This song is so powerful and yet has a lot of humour in it. His voice is a big inspiration to me as well as his guitar playing. If it wasn’t for him we wouldn’t have Jimi Hendrix which would be... aaaahhhhhhh!

04

MuDDy waTerS

I’m a maN

It’s time for a testosterone overload. Sounds to me like the royal fanfare of a blues King. This was probably the first ‘boast rap’. record. I really Love the sound of the screaming female audience in the background.

05

STevie ray vaugHn

Texas FlooD

I am of course referring to the Live At El Mocambo version, which I must have watched about a trillion times along with every other ‘blues enthusiast’ in the world.

He was truly a one-off and a really tragic loss to the music world.

06 JiMi HenDrix

VooDoo ChIle (slIghT reTurN)

Is this blues? I think so as it is a direct riff lift from Muddy Waters Catfish Blues . I don’t really care as this is one of the most potent pieces of music on the planet. It sounds like giant man machine. Probably one my top five favourite songs. This really makes me want to kill. In a good way.

07

liTTle MilTon

Blues IN The NIghT

This was a song off of a tape that Joe Gibson had and I think that is an unbelievable vocal performance. Such range, control, power and musicality. This song was a big eye and ear opener for me in my teenage years.

08 ToM waiTS

sIxTeeN shells From a 30.6

Again I could have picked any Tom Waits songs and been happy as pie but this one has the most awesome solo from Marc Ribot. Tom Waits is a magic man and has given me my life Moto which is “when you’re feeling blue and you’ve lost all your dreams, there’s nothing like a campfire and a can of beans”

09 nina SiMone

Blues For mama

This lady has a voice that can sing any song and make it sound like she wrote it. She is probably one of my top female vocalists. Nina Simone has also done so many different genres and even though it is not the blues, may I slip My Mans Gone and Pirate Jenny in? Too late... I’ve allready done it!

10 MileS DaviS all Blues

This song is beautiful and is the definition of cool. Miles Davis is of course one the geniuses of modern music. I love jazz and blues and the place where one drifts into the other and back again. That is one of the things that people like Jon Schofield and Robben Ford do so well. I hate it when people say “I hate jazz”, it’s like saying “I hate America”. How can you hate a country that has 52 completely different social and cultural states within it and how can you hate a genre that has a plethora of styles, sounds and approaches?

f or the latest news on dm&tdw, check out www.davidmigdenandthedirtywords.comco.uk

Geor G e Thoro G ood is abouT To embark on a uk and e uropean Tour on whaT is effecTively The 40Th year of his band, The d esTroyers, bein G in exisTence. iT s eemed like The ideal Time To caTch up wiTh Geor G e and look back on some of his career

BM: George, thanks for giving the time to talk to us ahead of your U.K. tour coming up in June. As ever your fans here are looking forward to seeing you. You first formed the Destroyers in 1973 so this is in effect a 40th Anniversary tour. You must have seen many changes over that time, what is most different today? And does it seem like 40 years ago when you started out?

GT: It seems like 130 years ago, there have been so many changes since then. Changes in the music business? Well, since then there has been the creation and demise of FM radio, the creation of M-TV, and the creation of rock classic radio, which I don’t know if that means anything in Europe, but was a big factor in, you know, getting the Destroyers a new lease on life when we were played on there. There have been a million changes. In the United States and Canada, for instance, the boom of the casino industry, we’ve tapped into that, which has kept us going. So, you know, plus the difference to the equipment is better, travel is better, I mean just multiple changes in the world alone, not just changes in the music business.

BM: Your last album, 2120 South Michigan Avenue, was a tribute to Chess Records, and down the years you’ve reclaimed many of the songs from that era by putting your own spin on them. I believe you became close friends with Bo Diddley, how big an influence did he become?

GT: The biggest… when I first started playing the guitar he and John Lee Hooker inspired me because I was pretty much just

playing one chord and making it sound like something, kind of like James Brown can do without the guitar. Bo Diddley was the highest level of rock guitar with a very primitive style and reached a very high rock level, so I thought I could achieve the same.

BM: There are some amazing special guests on that record. It must have been an exciting time recording it, what were the best moments for you?

GT: The most memorable moment for me, it was ‘2120 South Michigan Avenue’ by the Rolling Stones. That was a song we did when I was in high school. We did Battle of the Bands. It was one of the very first songs I did. Recording that was the high point for me.

BM: I think there was an early connection with Hound Dog Taylor? Is it true you roadied for him at one stage? He was another high energy performer. GT: No, I never roadied for him, I never roadied for anybody. I wanted to roadie for The Beatles but they broke up. Hound Dog was a big influence for me because they were a three piece band, and they were putting out a lot of music for a three pieces. That really inspired me to put a band together because I knew I could pull that off as a trio. Plus he was a slide guitar player like me. He was really highly powerful, high energy, almost a rock kind of slide guitar player more than blues. I play slide, so that was the strong influence on me.

V E rb A ls: Steve Yourglivch

BM: It’s well documented that you are something of a baseball fanatic. You played to high standard yourself, how difficult was it to choose a music career over the chance to be a pro-sportsman?

GT: I’m a better guitar player than I am a baseball player so it was pretty easy.

BM: Jeff Simon, who I believe you met through baseball, and Billy Blough have been with you almost from the beginning. How important are they to the Destroyers sound? Do they have a major influence on the song writing side of things?

GT: For song writing yes, they encourage me. They have a strong influence on me to write music.

They are the backbone of the band, the back beat of it. I noticed that when John Fogarty lost most of his rhythm section in Credence Clearwater there was something missing there, that meant that when he put it together solo, it was still great stuff but it wasn’t quite the same. We’ve tried to sustain the sound over the years.

BM: Jim Suhlar has been part of the line up for a while now and is a top class guitarist in his own right. It must be very liberating to have him alongside you to allow you more space to play with? It’s not liberating, it’s lifesaving!

GT: You’re playing seven shows in eight days in the U.K. before embarking on a fairly gruelling European leg of the tour. You guys have a reputation for heavy touring, is it true you once played fifty US states in 50 consecutive nights?

GT: It is true. I guess we really did 51 because we did Washington D.C. and Baltimore on the same day.

BM: It’s 16 studio albums plus live and compilations. Is there a new album in the works for us to look forward to?

GT: Yeah, coming out in May there is a record that’s called George Thorogood, The Iconic Series put out by Universal.

BM: Looking back over what has been a very successful career, what for you have been the highs and lows (if any)? Supporting the Rolling Stones must have been quite an experience.

GT: That’s correct to say, it was quite an experience! Highs and lows, of course there has, but you know you have to carry on. I mean once all my equipment was stolen. I had an injury with my shoulder that meant I had to put my work on hold for a while. I had a finger injury years back where I didn’t know whether I was going to be able to come back and play at all, let alone play at the same level that people had been accustomed to. So plenty of highs and lows.

BM: A lot of your most famous and popular songs are rooted in rock’n’roll. Do you consider yourself a rock ’n’ roller or at heart are you a bluesman?

GT: I’m just the opposite. Eric Clapton is a rock star who is at heart a bluesman, and I’m a bluesman who at heart is a rock star.

BM: Any advice for aspiring musicians on how to sustain a level of success that lasts for more than forty years?

GT: Tell them to get plenty of rest!

BM: Anything else you want to add George?

GT: Most of what I said is true!

f or The laTesT news on G eor G e Thoro G ood, includin G his forThcomin G uk Tour, check ouT www.G eor G e Thoro G ood.com

alerie’s new album ‘Pushin’ Against A Stone’ is due soon and is produced with the help of Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys and Kevin Auganas who has worked on Florence And The Machines albums.

BM: Hi Valerie, thank you so much for taking some time to talk to BluesMatters. I know there is a real buzz about your forthcoming album and our readers will want to learn a bit more about you. The album is called ‘Pushin’AgainstAStone’. What more can you tell us?

VJ: Hi, yeah, the track ‘Workin’ Woman Blues’ was produced by Peter Sabak in Budapest, Hungary. It definatelyhas a different vibe than the rest of the record. Overall the record brings together my favourite corners of the world. I love Tennessee. I love Hungary and I’ve never minded the sunshine of California. This record was recorded in places I love.

The first time I became aware of you was seeing the video for your single, ‘Workin’WomanBlues’, which I love, and that led to you appearing on Jools Holland and supporting Jake Bugg on tour. You seem to have a very natural ability to blend traditional southern roots with a cutting edge sensibility. Is just a natural style for you or has it taken time to develop?

I am constantly writing songs, growing as a artist. It’s taken me a long time to be able to do the simplest thing musically like clap my hands to a beat. It’s funny, but rhythm was

learned for me. I’ve never had natural rhythm.

You have a wonderful vocal style that is quite unique with most modern singers, it reminds me a lot of Memphis Minnie. I know you’re from Tennessee, have you listened to a lot of those older recordings and are they a conscious influence?

I live and breathe old recordings. The old teaches us so much about the new. A voice like Memphis Minnie’s is only a conscious influence to me in the way of giving me the confidence to believe in my voice with all of its edge, dust and rust. Her voice was strange to me when I first listened to her music, I had never heard singers like her. When I did hear her for the first time, it was almost like looking in a mirror.

You’ve also worked with Booker T. Jones, that must be a brilliant experience. The track with him, ’Somebody To Love’ is uplifting, will we get to hear any new collaborations on the album?

Booker and I wrote a song called ‘On My Way’ together. It’s the final track. It’s just as uplifting as ‘Somebody To Love’. He just has a great spirit and upbeat energy to him that brings light to a song!

You describe your music as ‘organic moonshine roots music’. For anyone who haven’t heard you yet what do you mean by that?

Tennessee born v alerie June is one of The new breed of blues arTisTs emer G in G, a counTerpoinT To Gary c lark Jr. They are boTh embracin G The rooTs of The music, whilsT wrappin G iT in some very modern musical references and sTill re Tainin G iT’s deep blue hearT

It’s an amalgamation of Southern American music, folk, country, gospel and blues.

You’re signed to the Sunday Best label which is a very boutique, trendy label with lots of young talent, but you seem to be the only blues roots artist on the roster. What made you choose them and were other more traditional blues labels aware of you?

Why do you want to call me a blues artist?

Willie Nelson has sung blues tunes, Johnny Cash has sung blues tunes and God knows we’ve all felt the blues at some point in our lives. Blues is just a touch of who I am and what I’m doing as an artist. Sunday Best is greatly eclectic. As a magical fairy being in a human body I feel quite comfortable in eclectic surroundings!

I know life hasn’t always been easy for you. I believe the family lost everything in a fire when you were young and you’ve held down a number of jobs whilst striving to get to where you are now. What can you share about that journey?

Losing everything was a great blessing for my family. I have a very strong and successful family. We are all great dreamers. We look at the world as we want it to be, not as it

is. There are many colours and kinds in my family. I can share the importance of family or a tribe of sorts in this world. Your tribe finds you. If you surround yourself with good and animated people the journey can’t help but be exciting.

I’ve read that your father loved R&B and Soul music, and that he used to be a promoter locally as well as holding down a job in construction. Was he a big influence on you becoming a musician?

My father still owns a construction company in Tennessee. We try to tell him to take it easy and not work so hard, but I guess working keeps him alive. My parents worked together in both businesses. I learned so much from dinner table talk and watching them daily growing up. They taught the five of us how to survive, they taught us how to be entrepreneurs. Most of all they taught us to be fearless and take risks. We saw them come from nothing and make something, so we all have great visions and just enough crazy to believe we can make them happen.

You’ve previously recorded with The Old Crow Medicine Show who are top bluegrass performers. What was that experience like?

Valerie June & The Tennessee Express is the EP record I made with Ketch Secor and Gill Landry of the Old Crow Medicine Show. It was honestly a dream come true for me to work with them. They are lovely. I opened for them at Rhodes College in Memphis, and that’s how the whole affair got started.

The new single ‘YouCan’tBeTold’is another great example of timeless country blues. I really enjoyed the promo video for this. Who are the other musicians on that and are they your touring band?

The European touring band is all UK based musicians. The promo video has Mississippi musicians Jimbo Mathus and eric Deaton and Oregon based Richard Swift. Booker T. Jones is on there as well.

When this tour ends whats next for Valerie June. Any other plans to promote the album or is it time to write more or just take time out?

I’m always writing, so recording is a high priority!

The new valerie June album ‘pushin’ aGainsT a sTone’ will be released on may 6Th. for more informaTion, check ouT www.valerieJune.com

sTerlin G k och has been performin G as a professional musician for some 35 years in various G uises, and since 2004, due To inJ ury, as a lap sTeel G uiTarisT. by his own admission 2011’s album slide ruler was make-or-break

V E rb A ls: Steve Yourglivch Visu A ls: Jacqueline Dormer

uckily the album has successfully made Sterling a well known name not only in his native U.S.A. but internationally. The follow up album has just been released so what better time to catch up with him?

BM; Hi Sterling, many thanks for finding time to talk to Blues Matters, we really appreciate it.

SK; Thank you Steve, I’m a big fan of Blues Matters! and it will be an honour to be on the pages of the magazine.

You’ve just released a new album, Let It Slide and it’s a great collection of high energy blues played on slide guitar, much of it on lap steel guitar. You must be very pleased with the way its turned out?

Yes I am. There was quite a bit of pressure, some of it self inflicted, to follow up my last album Slide Ruler, but I think we’ve done a good job of that.

Self inflicted pressure in what way?

Slide Ruler opened up a lot of opportunities, both at home and internationally, so there was pressure to produce a follow up that delivered and didn’t let people down that had enjoyed that album. That album was in my mind a make or break album, recorded using first class musicians, I knew if it didn’t achieve success it was down to me and that might have been time to call it quits.

I’ve been enjoying listening to the album, I love the blend of covers and original compositions, but in particular the way you put your own stamp on all of it. How do you go about deciding what tunes are the right ones to cover?

Well, I’ve got to make a personal connection with a song. I think that’s how I’m able to put my stamp on a song. I won’t just cover a song for the sake of covering it. There has to be something in the lyric that has meaning to me and by making that connection hopefully I can make the song my own.

There are slightly fewer covers on the new album than the previous one though. Yes, again this was a conscious decision to record more original songs this time. I had managed to hook up with professional song writer Freida Gantt and co-wrote a couple of songs with her.

Your previous album, ‘SlideRuler’came out in 2011 and was a real corker too. I love playing them back to

back. On that one your band was the famous Tommy Shannon (bass) and Chet McCracken of Doobie Bros fame on drums. How did that come about ? That was very interesting. My wife, who is my partner in my music business, and my producer Bret Alexander, who is the guitarist in a successful U.S. roots/ Americana band called Badlees, and I got together and made a sort of ‘bucket list’, an ‘if you could work with anyone who would it be?’ kind of thing. The original list was Tommy on bass and Chris Layton on drums but at the time we recorded ‘Slide Ruler’, Chris had become Kenny Wayne Shepherds full time drummer. As it was I had to delay my work on that album as I waited two weeks for Tommy to finish up tracking bass on the same Kenny Wayne Shepherd album. So that eliminated using Chris on drums. Chet I came across on the internet and he proved to be quite the find as a blues drummer. We basically did the album by file sharing across the internet. It turned out really well, considering none of us was ever in the same room to record. Anyone would be hard-pressed to know if I hadn’t told them.

To me, it seems as if on this release the vocals are stronger and more confident. Do you sense that, and is it an area you work on?

Yes, and if you go back one album further to my Steel Guitar Blues album you will notice a real progressive improvement on my vocals from album to album to album. I have worked very hard in this area. I had always considered myself a guitarist first and a vocalist second. I sent a demo to Bruce Iglauer at Alligator Records several years ago and he said I needed to spend more time with my vocals so I’ve really spent time in that area. I’m glad it comes across that way to you. It was time well spent and I will continue to work on that.

Also I think now vocally I’ve found the right key for my voice. We play for two or three hours a night and singing in the wrong key was taking its toll.

How long have you played lap steel guitar and what attracted you to it in the first instance?

I’ve actually only played lap steel since 2004. It is not my natural instrument and I only came to play it through an injury I suffered to my neck which prevents me from playing the conventional electric guitar while standing

up anymore. I now have some pretty serious arthritis in my left hand so I think it was a blessing to be able to switch to lap steel when I did.

Can you tell us a bit about the injury?

I suffered a hernia to a disc in my neck. After about 40 years of playing a guitar to no longer be able to have the weight of the strap on my shoulder was pretty daunting. I was determined to find a way to keep playing and around the time Robert Randolph was first getting public recognition so that seemed a good way to try.

Its not an easy instrument to master is it? Interestingly enough I came to it pretty naturally as I had begun to be pretty proficient as a slide guitarist on the conventional six string guitar before I suffered my injury.

I suppose its fair to say that in the UK the most famous lap steel player is Robert Randolph. How would you compare yourself to him and are there other players fans should seek out?

I could not and would not compare myself

to him. I think it’s two different approaches to two slightly different instruments with Robert playing a 13 string pedal steel and me playing an 8 string lap steel. Ironically, Robert’s mentor Calvin Cooke, ‘the B.B. King of the steel guitar’ was quite instrumental in helping me get started on lap steel and over the years I’ve come to be friends with several of the Sacred Steel guitarists including Darick Campbell and Aubrey Ghent. I would strongly recommend checking out both of them and Calvin on their individual releases and their collective Slide Brothers album as well as another acquaintance of mine from San Francisco named Freddie Roulette.

I’ve also been delving back and listening to your previous band, Victory In Heaven. As the name suggests many of the songs carry a strong religious message and your beliefs are clearly a very important part of who you are. There has always been links between blues and gospel, do you feel your beliefs reflect in your feeling of the blues?

There has always been that link between the blues and Gospel music from Blind Willie Johnson to Reverend Gary Davis to Son House and others. The simple answer to that is the blues talks about troubles and Gospel talks about how to get over your troubles. I think my beliefs make me more aware and maybe more compassionate to the blues. I don’t let them directly influence my music per se and I do not try to cram my beliefs down anyone’s throat, as it were, especially in my music. My music and my personal religious beliefs are two separate areas. My beliefs are something I use in a personal way to hopefully make me a better person.

You are now recognised as a top class exponent of what you do and you’ve played with many top names at festivals and famous venues. What stands out as career highlights to date?

I think meeting some of the Sacred Steel guys and talking steel guitar with them would be a highlight for me. To know them and to have them accept me as their peer is amazing to me. I’m hoping there are more highlights to come. I always think the best is yet to come.

What is the plan for the rest of 2013 Sterling, are you someone who tours a lot? Any chance of a UK visit in the near future?

Yes I am constantly working, whether it’s doing solo gigs or gigs with my band I am very busy here in the U.S. and there are a lot of new venues and opportunities opening up for me with the release of Let It Slide. As for a visit to the U.K., I would love to come back again, as I was over in 1984 to record an album. If the logistics and of it all could be worked out, I’d love to.

I have a confession to make, I know that album. Way back in 1984 when it first came out I bought Full Forceby the Sterling Cooke Force on the specialist New Wave of British Heavy Metal label Ebony. It took me a long time to realise that was you. I think it’s a good album and still enjoy it now, what do you remember about those times?

Well it’s been a learning process even though musically that might have been as far away from where I am now as possible I was

still learning about the business and received an eye opening education from that experience!

Any regrets ?

None really. I think your life and learning experiences, if you use them wisely, make you the person that you become. The person I am today. Hopefully a better person, musician and better businessman in the music business.

Sterling, what is the most important advice you would give to young up and coming musicians based on your experiences?

Never give up. It took me from 1984’s Full Force vinyl release to get to this point and I certainly don’t think I’m finished. If the music is in you, never give up. You can’t lose the game as long you’re still playing.

for The laTesT news on sTerlinG, check ouT www. sTerlinGkoch.com

STERLING KOCH

The follow-up to his successful “Slide R uler” release from 2011

“His smooth, slightly echoed vocals glide over the snarling and searing slide work” Blues Matters

“Let It Slide” available from: CdBaby.com, iTunes, Amazon

a merican sin G er, son G wriTer and G uiTarisT b rooks w illiams has a very hecTic Tourin G schedule as he commuTes be T ween The usa and his home in c ambrid G e, e n G land. blues maTTers! cau G hT up wiTh b rooks in The hearT of n orThumberland aT one of his favouriTe venues – The le G endary Queen’s h ead h oTel in r oThbury

BM: You were performing at Rothbury Roots a few months ago with State Of The Union. What do you think about this area of the UK and of Rothbury Roots?

BW:Rothbury is in a gorgeous part of the country. Quite different to where I grew up in Georgia! There’s a great musical tradition in this part of the world as well. What makes Rothbury Roots so great, besides its obvious love of live music, is that its audience is knowledgeable and switched on not just about English folk music but also singer/ song writer music and the blues.

Tell me about your guitar workshops and other musical education activities?

I run quite a few workshops in the UK and France as well as in the US. They traditionally focus on a specific aspect of guitar playing, like slide guitar or classic country blues chords. They are aimed at people who want to learn how to achieve a specific sound on their guitar but are a bit frustrated by the progress they make on their own. Even with all the stuff available on YouTube and the internet, small group tuition is often a better way to achieve this. The groups in my workshops, between 6 and 15 participants, are small enough so that everyone gets a lot of personal attention but big enough so that the players also get to enjoy playing together, though last year I had 50 who attended a workshop at Shrewsbury Folk Festival and that was a real challenge. I’ve learned most of what I know from other players and that is how this music lives. It gets passed on so I guess I’m carrying on that tradition with these workshops.

What advice would you give to aspiring guitarists?

My main advice to aspiring guitarists is that it is really important to understand the roots of what you are doing. You need to understand what came before and that paves the way towards innovation. It’s also the best way to develop one’s chops!

Give us some idea of your life as a musician?

It is a fantastic life, to do what you love, and I am very lucky to be doing this work. It’s been twenty-eight years and counting! There are also challenges to this life. The most obvious one being the travel involved and the number of nights I am away from home. I’ve

been trying to get a handle on this in recent years, to balance the time I’m away and the time I’m home. This is important because in the last couple of years I got married to a woman from Cambridge called Jo. We met six or seven years ago and we tried to live on both sides of the Atlantic, but that was a logistical nightmare. So all things being equal with work and family, it made sense in our situation that I should move here to the UK. But we also go back to America regularly for tours and to visit family.

What were your early influences?

My mum was a classical singer and ensured that there was always music around the house, but it was all classical music or Broadway musicals. I discovered rock and roll listening to late night radio and as I got older the rock and roll began to win out. Not giving up on her hope that I would play classical music, when I was ten years old, she enrolled me in a summer music programme to learn classical violin. It was a good way to keep a bored kid off the streets during summer holidays I think! Lucky for me, though, while I was at this summer camp I was befriended by a guy called Alan who worked in the kitchen. He was much older than us kids, probably all of 17!, and he played the guitar. I was mesmerised by this and begged him to teach me something. He taught me how to play the chords to Hey Jude and the opening riff to Purple Haze. That was it. I was hooked! I begged my mother to buy me a guitar and, bless her, she took a chance and bought that guitar for me, a nylon-string little number like the kind Jose Feliciano played.

My older brothers also influenced the music I listened to because they were so switched on to what was popular at the time, Beatles, Elvis, Chuck Berry, Beach Boys, Eric Clapton, Allman Brothers. They had a record player in their room and played their music at full volume. There was no way not to hear it! I just took it all onboard and got really excited about it all. Later I began to choose my own music, Hot Tuna, Bonnie Raitt, TajMahal, RyCooder, MarkKnopfler. About this time most of my peers started switching to the electric guitar but I really loved the acoustic guitar, by then I had a steel-string,

and I found my way into the acoustic side of roots and blues music.

Having been born in Statesboro Georgia, were you aware as a youngster of Blind Willie McTell and his southern roots?

Funnily enough in my childhood no one really talked about the blues legends. We have the British Invasion to thank for that!

Last year when I was on tour in the southern US states, Jo and I were amazed by the number of memorials there are to the old blues guys, like Lightning Hopkins and Blind Willie McTell. But when I was young no-one acknowledged these blues masters.

It took people like Eric Clapton doing Crossroad Blues to teach me who Robert Johnson is. I thought that the Allman Brothers had written Statesboro Blues because they are who I heard singing it. I didn’t even know the name Blind Willie McTell at that time!

It was later that I figured out the

connections between it all: that the music I enjoyed listening to and was trying to play was the music of the blues masters. It was a long, slow road because no-one in my family played this music. I was really on my own in listening to blues/roots music. I did a lot of self-educating.

I'd go into record shops and I’d buy records blindly, based on what label released it, or whether it had a cool guitar pictured on the cover! So it was a slow process building up a repertoire of songs that influenced me. What changed my whole experience was when I moved to Boston when I was 17. Boston had an incredible live music scene, mainly coffee houses and tiny little clubs, and it is where I first saw solo roots performers. People like Chris Smither, John Hiatt, T-Bone Burnett, Rory Block, David Brombery and TajMahal. It was like a university course in solo acoustic roots performing and writing.

We are sad to have lost one of our greatest guitarists, Alvin Lee. Do you have any memories of him?

Alvin Lee was incredible! One summer, when I’d been playing guitar for a couple of years, my mother insisted my brother take me along to a drive-in movie where he had a date with this girl. I’m sure he was thrilled! The movie that evening, as luck would have it, was Woodstock. So there’s me, sitting in the back seat of the family car, digging the music but feeling like a third wheel. Soon I forgot all that, especially when I saw Alvin Lee playing that cherry red Gibson on I’m Going Home. I had never seen anything like that before.

What process do you go through to write songs and instrumentals?

Many blues artists cover songs from an existing repertoire but I prefer to find the inspiration to write my own material using the song structure of blues. I feel strongly that it is not only important to pass on the guitar tradition of the blues, but also the songwriting part of it. We need to have writers in the blues world. The blues/roots scene can honour its classics by recording and performing the old songs but we also need new songs. These new songs could become the traditional songs of the future. I’m trying to do that: keep one eye on the past and one on the future, song-wise. I look toward real life situations for song inspiration but work toward making it something that hopefully resonates with a lot of people. In other words, I try to take something specific and make it universal.

The blues, fundamentally, does that already. It talks essentially about the human condition. For example, I cannot personally relate to working in a lumber mill or to picking cotton but I can relate to working hard long hours for little reward. Many people can as they have jobs that don’t earn them much money compared to how hard they work. So in that way something specific becomes universal. In terms of instrumentals, the only difference is you don’t have words to rely on to tell the story.

You have to do it with melodies and rhythms, like creating a film score. My slide guitar instrumental Goodbye Walker Percy is a good example of this. It is a tribute to the late New Orleans novelist and I wanted the slow slide guitar melody to reflect the languid, humid feel of that city, a city that inspired his novels.

Who do you rate on the current music scene? I recently discovered Paul Carrack. Where’s he been hiding? Mumford and Sons are really great too and so is Tom Jones’ recent blues and gospel recordings. I rate Susan Tedeschi, Eric Bibb and Chris Smither. Great singers and storytellers. I also rate Martin Simpson, a brilliant folk singer and slide guitarist. Martin played on my new solo CD, New Everything. He and I do a resonator duet of the Doc Watson classic Deep River Blues. It’s brilliant to have recorded with thet guy!

What is your ultimate musical goal?

I hope that I will be doing this music for a long, long time! I feel like I’m just getting started for real and it’s just getting good! I love touring. Playing live music is where it’s at in my book. I’m way more interested in performing than sitting in a studio for endless hours. Recordings are a means to getting on the road. That’s what I feel, anyway!

My role model in this regard is John Lee Hooker who kept on playing until the end of his life. I’m looking forward to the release of my new solo album, New Everything, which will hit the streets in late summer. I am also looking forward to playing on the main stage at the Cropredy Festival as well as the Birmingham Jazz & Blues Festival. I also have several American festivals lined up and interest from European festivals and venues. I want to continue to please the loyal fan base I have built up over the years by continuing to push myself to find new ways to play and write and to make my concerts entertaining, something people look forward to being a part of.

f or The laTesT news on brooks williams, check ouT www.brookswilliams.com

like a souped-up c ream, wiTh elemenTs of early ZZ Top and Joe b onamassa Thrown in for G ood measure, welcome To The world of absoluTion

BM: See you’ve been together for three years, how did that come about and were you with bands before?

Joe Fawcett: We formed completely by accident actually, I needed to find a group to back Dr Feelgood at a local gig for 40 minutes! I knew Ben through Guitarist magazine’s Robbie Gladwell (Dr Robert) who knew Doug. We hooked up, rehearsed a few covers. The gig went really well so we figured that we’d carry it on!

Doug Lang: I’d retired from performance a few years previously having spent years touring all over Europe with many bands and only planned on this being a one off.

Ben Gardner: But you had so much fun with us.

DL: Yeah, that’s right! The next gig we got was a local festival that needed us to do 20 minutes of original material but we didn’t have any, so we wrote some.

JF: The songs Broken Man, Temperature, Got The Money, Blind Man Crying, Don’t You Love Me and Absolution were written in this period and seemed to go pretty well. We’d gone from not being a band, to being a covers band to being an original Blues Trio in about three months, completely by accident!

Have any of you had any formal musical education?

BG: Yes, but not in the instrument I play. If you look closely at my bass, you’ll notice the alternate frets are painted black and white to help me!

DL:Yes…Lots...My parents started me on the piano when I was six. I hated it, so now I hit things.

JF: Me too. I suppose the most relevant qualification is Grade 8 vocals. I was classically trained, which is why I have quite a unique sounding voice. Doug and I teach.

What inspired you to take up your respective instruments? Can you expand on what you use/are your favourites?

BG: At school, everyone else picked up guitars so I went for Bass. You got to play more often that way. I use a pair of Fender Jazz Basses and a highly modified Ibanez. I use an assortment of pedals – favourite being a Fishman Fusion FX. For amplification I use an Ampeg SVT 6 Pro with Ampeg classic series cabs.

DL: It was a no-brainer, I thought drums were cool – everyone wants to play drums … don’t they? ! I play a 5 piece 1980s Premier APK kit with custom finish. The snare is a one off hand built … snare, made by the late, great Clive Adams. Cymbal wise, a mix of Sabian, Paiste and Zildjan. I also use Pearl hardware with DW pedals and my own signature series sticks (available to buy at gigs).

JF: I started off playing bass when my brother gave me his old bass one Christmas. I did that for a while, then switched to guitar about ten years ago ‘cos it looked cool. It

Featuring: Ian Seigal Cat sh Keith Half Deaf Clatch and much much more!

18-20th

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seemed to go ok, so I stuck with it. Live, I use PRS and Gibson guitars, an SG for slide with a Les Paul Standard and PRS Swamp Ash Special as the main instruments. I use two amps on stage, a Bogner Shiva from the US as the main base of my drive sound, with a Fender Deville set for clean. Pedal wise, a lot of different sounds, including Boss DE-7 for short delays, Suhr Shiba Drive, Hermida Zendrive and a couple of other pedals that change a lot. I also use Rotosound Yellows 10-46.

You describe yourselves as a ‘blues/rock power trio’ what are your influences?

JF: Well, we wouldn’t dream of comparing ourselves to other musicians and bands that have gone before

BG: For fear of offending them.

JF:Exactly. We’ve tried not to follow templates and clichés but you can’t always avoid it. Personally, my playing stems from other players such as the obvious Hendrix, Clapton, Billy Gibbons etc. I also like some country players like Vince Gill, Danny Gatton and Brad Paisley for their fantastic ability!

Vocally, I love people like Paul Rodgers, Glenn Hughes and Jack Bruce, but I’d never dream of saying I come close to their ability.

Have you always seen yourselves as blues/rockers?

DL: Not really, I come from a Jazz background.

BG: Well, Joe was blues, I was rock and Doug was the slash in the middle.

JF: Take from that what you will.

There’s a lot of competition in that genre, what makes Absolution stand out from the crowd, do you bring anything new to the table?

DL: Well, it’s hard to be original in music these days, but we have such an eclectic mix of playing styles between us, our music doesn’t always lie in the pure blues category.

JF: We also put a lot of time and thought into arranging the songs so we hope they don’t sound too formulaic and predictable.

BG: We hope.

I see, commendably, that your CD Issues is all

original material, based on personal experiences?

JF: Each song’s different. A number of the lyrics I wrote were from personal experiences, but then a song like Train Ride, for example, tried to capture a particular mood without having any personal connection at all.

DL: I have to follow a story line for the lyrics that I write. I always sketch out a story first, then flesh the lyrics out after.

I think everyone who has ever written a song, must have had something to say, even subconsciously otherwise they wouldn’t have started the song.

What’s the time-span between writing and committing to CD?

BG: The album was written very quickly, but when it came to recording, it was an even quicker process. We recorded and mixed the album in six days.

JF: My brother, Jon, has a studio down in London so we were able to go and cut the album in a relaxed, stress-free environment.

We also wanted the first album to be recorded ‘as live’ with very few overdubs so people who heard it would know our sound and not be disappointed if, when hearing us live, a lot of what was on record was missing. Even most of the solos are live in the rhythm track.

DL: 90% of the songs were recorded on the first or second take. It helps give a raw, live edge to them hopefully. Which tracks stand out for you live more than others?

JF: For me personally, I love playing Broken Man as it gives my fingers a work out every time. I love the Country Blues hybrid style of playing that I try to use in that piece. I hope it works and comes across.

DL: I love a lot of the songs on the first album, but we’ve started to put a few songs in the set that will go onto a second album. It’s great to see an audience react so well to songs that have only been in existence for a few weeks and there is no chance they’d have heard.

BG: The album has actually been recorded for about two years, it just took a while to release it so the songs have had a chance to

grow and are still as fun and exciting to play as they were when they were first written.

Being a ‘mug’ for a bit of slow blues, Slipping Away is a stand-out for me.

JF: Thank you very much, that is a personal favourite as it gives me a chance to let rip!

We’ve just done a gig in Reading at the South Street Arts Centre (which is an amazing venue) It’s great to play this live and just hear the silence from an audience that listen intently to what you do. It’s very humbling.

Do you worry that you might be ‘typecast’, that you might not be heard by a wider audience?

DL: I think if the music is good, it will get to people. It’s very hard not to be typecast.

BG:We just play the music and hopefully people will make up their own minds as to where we sit stylistically.

You played the Rock and Blues Festival at Skegness in January, how did that go?

JF: Really well, we had a blast playing and the audience reaction was great. It was a privilege to play on BluesMatters!’ Jaks stage and would go back in a heartbeat.

DL: It was great to talk to everyone afterwards, people were very generous with their praise and kindly bought a lot of merchandise.

BG: The venue was rammed and it really was an honour to play such a big festival!

Where do you hope to be in, say, five years?

DL: I think to be able to be writing and playing music to audiences across the country would be great. If we were able to have started playing to European audiences too, that would be a bonus.

JF: A couple of albums under the belt would be great. We’re so pleased with how our first run of dates is going. People are coming out, seeing the gigs and having a great time even not having heard of us before. It’s a great advert for the live music scene in the UK I think. If we can build on the audiences we’re getting and build a fanbase that way, then we’ll be happy. We’re already getting asked back to the venues we’ve played, so something must be working.

DL: We made a conscious decision last year that we would aim to break onto the UK circuit ourselves and aim at playing arts centres and theatres. It was quite a big move and could have backfired spectacularly. To have it going as well as it is, is fantastic and gives us confidence for the future.

The festival season will soon be upon us (weather permitting), have you any lined up?

JF: We haven’t really sought out festival dates this year. We’re new to the touring circuit, we wanted to use this year to get established by playing arts centres, clubs etc., and develop a fanbase. Next year, hopefully, we will get onto the festival circuit and get to more people. We’re trying to put together some support dates too, and have a few possibilities lined up. Although we wouldn’t turn down festivals if offered.

Presumably readers can follow you on your website?

BG: Yep, there are gig dates, video, news, an online shop etc. on our site, we can be also be followed on Facebook.We have a Twitter page too and Youtube. In fact, you can download two tracks for FREE on the Facebook page.

My signature question... what’s your favourite biscuit?

DL: One that I haven’t eaten yet.

JF: I prefer cake.

BG: Whatever it is, dunk it in tea.

DL: Philistine!

absoluTion are online aT www.absoluTionband.co.uk, you can also visiT Them aT Their facebook pa G e www.facebook.com/ absoluTionbluesband

V E rb A ls: Darren Weale Visu A ls: an DY F or D/ B lue S image S .co.u K d eiTra farr is a superb sin G er, a facebook addicT, and, poTenTially, an inTerviewer’s ni G hTmare. The firsT indicaTion of The poTenTial inTerviewers ni G hTmare came in her firsT response To our G e TTin G in Touch

y Facebook, of course, she told us “I do not want to be asked the same old questions… because my career is almost 40 years long.” The second indication came during our research, for Deitra is herself an interviewer, a columnist for eight years in the magazine “Living Blues” and she has a degree in journalism. As she says, “I haven’t skipped a beat, in every issue of Living Blues for eight years. I write about things others might not discuss. The magazine writes just about African-Americans, that might change.” So it should have been no surprise to have been told that recording an interview is superior to taking frantic notes (ahem), for the sake of accuracy. Also that a contraption from Chicago store Radio Shack would do the trick, if the store were a lot of miles closer. In fact, the main benefit of recording would be to capture Deitra’s chocolate and velvet speaking voice and, at times, her joyous chuckles, for she is a Blues singer with a strong sense of humour.

BM: So, how did Deitra start out on her lengthy Blues journey?

DF: I was working at University of Chicago and Buddy Guy’s brother Phil came with his band to play on campus for the students. I was already a singer, but a student dared me to go up and sing with the band, Phil liked my singing and he invited me to come to hear him at the Checkerboard Lounge, which Buddy owned. Then I went on to sing the Blues.

Deitra has sung the Blues in the company of many big names, and also through two solo album releases of her own. Her instrument is her voice, a voice of apparently effortless power and grace. How has she looked after it?

I don’t do anything particularly. I do not abuse it. I don’t smoke or drink. I drink water. I don’t do anything special. I studied vocal music at High School and I went to the American Conservatory of Music for two years. I learned classical singing, it wasn’t affecting what I was trying to do, and I was into Soul. The type of music I do, I just have to do it. I have a good time everywhere I have played in over forty countries. My essential tour items? Nothing special! I’ve lived in Rome, Italy, for a year, and for three years in Norway. I easily adapt to foreign places; I’m

low maintenance! I take my normal cosmetics, my CD’s; I used to take books, not now, they’re too heavy. I have to have my laptop or I’ll lose my mind.

What do you do on the laptop? How about MySpace and Facebook?

They started messing with MySpace. It used to be really nice and easy to listen to my friend’s music, but now it’s too complicated. Facebook is much better. I’m addicted. When I wake up, first, I pray. Then I login to Facebook and I check my emails. Then, third, I call my dad, that’s my routine. A few weeks ago I was near the Arctic Circle in Sweden, and a few days later I was in Tel Aviv, Israel, I did the same, called my dad in Chicago. I like checking on the news, what’s going on in the world and what my friends are doing. I’m a news freak. The news doesn’t get into my songs; they’re personal, not about the news. They’re not necessarily about me, possibly someone I know. They’re about love and stuff like that. On the next CD, there will possibly be no love songs. I told a friend, he said “What! You can’t do that!” That’s the way I feel, not writing about love for others. I’m thinking more about love for yourself, not really other people. That is the direction, in that bag. It started when Whitney Houston passed away. I was thinking ‘How the hell did that happen? That voice, that gift and that beauty, how did it happen?’ I think about it all the time. Billie Holiday, I’m obsessed with her, I think the same about her. What makes people self-destruct and have self-hatred that must be there? Amy Winehouse too, what a great talent she was. Something was wrong. A lot of this will be addressed. I really want to know why it happens, the self-examination, the bad choices, me too, the choices I made. Songs like ‘Oh, I love him so’? I’m not feeling that right now. If there’s a love song on the album, it will be a miracle. ‘My turn, my time’ was the last song on my last album. I was there. I’m still there; it’s exactly the way I feel. The next one will be exactly the way I feel.

Another outlet for Deitra Farr – journalist, Blues singer – is her art. She is a painter, though she has had a bit of a pause.

I haven’t picked up a brush for three years. I’m still unpacking and in transition since

returning from Norway. My painting is along the same lines as my writing songs. How I feel. My father’s sister is also a painter. ‘Taking my joy back’ was my first painting and is on the wall behind me now. My cousin, Melvin King, is a well-known painter in Chicago. His style is about the black community in Chicago –street scenes. He sells a lot where people say ‘Oh my God, that’s just like my church, with people falling out!’ I was no painter till he challenged me. I loved it and did it and I’ll get back to it, as I love it very much. I’m pretty good with colours and abstracts, not with drawing, and I use them to express emotions. I love a female artist, Frida Kahlo. I’ve been in love with her art for over thirty years. Four or five years ago I had gigs in Mexico City. I said to the man who set it up, I’d come if I was taken to her house, it’s a museum, where she was born and died. His wife took me, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven, I never thought I’d enter her house, I went in every room. I was crying. She’s on my mouse pad. She inspired me. She was into selfexamination too; most of her great portraits are of herself. Her husband was a famous Mexican artist, Diego Rivera, but she’s become more famous. I’m also inspired by Georgia O’Keefe. On my forty-ninth birthday I took a very long train journey from Chicago to her museum in Santa Fé, New Mexico. Lots of my girlfriends are painters. My almost exhusband is also a painter.

When I’m in England, Wales and Scotland I have a wonderful time, people know what I’m saying when I crack a joke. I have to think about crossing the street! I hope to come back, my record company is in London. My friend Johnny Rawls introduced me to John Stedman of JSP Records who was producing for him. Johnny asked if John would like to do a project with me, in 1996. John wasn’t interested in women singers, but he gave in and gave it a shot. The first CD The Search Is Over did very well and continues to. John and I see eye to eye. He understands me – and doesn’t get in my way!

I’ve got into a habit of recording a CD of my own every eight years, not because

someone else wants me to, but when I’m inspired. I can be slow to be inspired! I’m working on my third solo CD, but I’m not stressing about it, because that doesn’t work. I’m keeping up the eight years, so it should be out in 2013. I’m recording all the time – I’m on the 20th anniversary CD of Mississippi Heat on Delmark on three tracks. I have backing vocals to Sharon Lewis on her The Real Deal CD and have vocals on an Austrian CD – Soul Gift, with Raphael Wressnig and Alex Schultz, including a duet with Tad Robinson. My own favourite CD would be the two that were just me, the most personal, especially Let It Go as I wrote all twelve songs. Deitra being a control freak! That CD is important, so is ‘Search’ in another way, as my first solo album. I’ve toured with Mississippi Heat three years, they have another singer now, but I did some gigs with them last year. They have a different line up now to the one I used to tour with, only Pierre is left.

Clearly, Deitra gets around as a singer. That is also true of her as a listener to music. I listen to everything, not just the Blues. Because I do. I never know where ideas and inspiration are going to come from. Blues is the root of all American music, but listen to its offshoots – jazz, R’n’B, Soul. Be yourself – everybody else has been taken already. Do your best; don’t rest on your laurels. You can do better, be a student. I’m listening to young people.

There are a lot of Blues police who think the Blues stopped in 1959. That’s stupid, they’re stuck, music should evolve. In some ways it’s a black-white issue, we like to change, we’re innovators, we move on. When Muddy Waters came to Chicago, he didn’t play exactly what he’d heard back in Mississippi. The music has always evolved, can’t get stuck in a rut. I love the old stuff, but we must listen to new stuff. I will always be a Soul singer too. I grew up listening to Motown, Stax and Al Green, my dad played Blues. Chicago Soul and Detroit Soul, they’re not far apart. They were my soundtrack. Blues wasn’t my generation, but I listened to it and liked it.

I like classical music. I like music, period. I prefer to express myself through Blues, Gospel and Soul.

My grandfather, my mother’s father I absolutely adored, my blood runs right to him, he’s the person in my family most like me and I him. I have his teeth! He used to sing Gospel and read poetry. Though he wasn’t well educated, he was very smart, intellectual, self-taught. He passed away aged eighty-five in 1985. I named my son after him, Daniel Ross, a Scottish name. My first CD is dedicated to him. He was a very good man.

If you look at images of Deitra, you see a smart dresser, and some lovely, wide-brimmed hats. So we asked her about them.

Hats! I’ve not worn any for a while, I’m going through the menopause and they’re too hot! Originally I didn’t want to wear any, but one Halloween night I dressed as a witch and a Chicago Blues club owner, Gino Battaglia, said “You look nice.” I said, “I look good as a witch?” He still told me I should wear a hat and he harassed me until I bought one.

Deitra, of course, mentioned singing Gospel and praying twice daily, so we asked her about her faith in God.

Everything I have is a gift from Him. I came

into the world without anything and I’m going to leave the same way. I thank Him when I wake up and when I go to bed. I pray for my friends. My favourite gospel song is The Lord Will Make A Way Somehow by Thomas A Dorsey. I had the pleasure of watching him work and conduct a choir at the Pilgrim Church in Chicago. He was originally a Blues man, played piano with Ma Rainey. He is the Father of Gospel music, who took the Blues sound into Spiritual music. I will cover the song eventually. Things happen when they’re supposed to and opportunities arise and will do somehow. I love the music.

Finally, who is Deitra excited by in the Chicago Blues scene out of the up and coming artists?

My favourite of the younger female Chicago singers is Demetria Taylor, daughter of Eddie Taylor. It’s in her DNA to be a great Blues singer, I think she’s got it. I knew her father and mother, just about her whole family is musical. She’s got the voice, is hungry to do this and is serious. She has talent – she has the package, wants to do this. I expect her to be very successful. Definitely my favourite of the young girls coming up.

w e look forward To d eiTra’s nex T album, whe Ther or noT iT conTains a love son G. www.deiTrafarr.com

a lasT drink on a sunny Terrace in b arcelona.iT’s J usT anoTher mild, bri G hT day in July for me, buT noT so for s panish bluesman Zayas. h e’s abouT To leave for The us and c anada wiTh The firm inTenTion To build his musical career furTher over There. ‘i’ve G oT To do This, i’m ready for iT’, he says

XXXXXX

ayas, formerly known as Alex TNT (Barcelona, 1978), formed his first band at the age of sixteen. He has released four albums and carried his blues all over Spain, playing residencies at the most famous clubs in the country, such as La Boîte and the Jamboree in Barcelona, or Café Central in Madrid. Says Zayas: ‘I don’t see how I can make any more progress as a musician over here, so I’m going to the US and Canada to develop my career and my artistry’. He’s not travelling entirely alone, since he’s joined by his friend and guitarist Albert ‘Greenlight’ Cariteu de la Iglesia. Nor is it his first crossing of the Atlantic. Zayas: ‘I played Buddy Guy’s Legends in Chicago, I opened for B.B. King, and I did a number of gigs in Canada. Most of the time I was supporting, like in Larry McCray’s band. I was someone else’s guitarist, but this time I’m striking out on my own as Zayas, with my band, playing my sound’.

stubborn texan crowd

August and September find Zayas in Austin and San Antonio, Texas. A bold move, because if there’s one thing that Austin and San Antonio don’t lack, it’s blues musicians in general and blues guitarists in particular. Zayas: ‘True, but a friend of mine from Barcelona is married to BrannenTemple, a

local drummer. People know Brannen, so we were able to secure some gigs. We played two nights at Sam’s Burger Joint Music Hall in San Antonio, where we opened for Omar and the Howlers. In Austin, we did some oneoffs at restaurants that have live music, like Saxon’s Pub and Kenny Durham’s Backyard, plus we played a residency at Vince Young’s every Friday for two months. I got a very warm welcome from the venue owners and the audience. Apart from my friend Albert, the musicians I play with are well-known locally, that helps. Texas may be big, but the music community is small in that everyone knows everyone. It’s true that the players in Austin are good, but they will play all styles and are very similar. Not me. I play one style and I do it well: it’s funk and blues with a Spanish flavour to it, like when I play ‘Chan Chan’ (a Latin tune made famous by the Buena Vista Social Club - ed.). People liked it, especially the black people in the audience who got up and danced to the funk’.

Keith Howerton of the San Antonio Blues Society and owner of Sam’s Burger Joint Music, is happy to confirm: ‘Alex Zayas was able to win over a stubborn Texas blues crowd with his Euro-SpanishGroovy blues that is smooth and stylish. The local blues fanshad never heard of him, but now they know just how good and different

he is. He won over the toughest blues and music fans in the world with his shows in Texas’.

canada calling

October sees Alex Zayas and Albert arrive in Canada for a long series of dates in Edmonton, Regina, Red Deer, Canmore, Banff, Regina, and especially Calgary.

money. The distances are grueling, though. I remember it took sixteen hours on the road to get from Edmonton to Winnipeg, or nine hours to Saskatchewan and another two-anda-half- in a small, crowded bus to Regina. In comparison, Barcelona is nothing!

At any rate, Zayas seems to have made a most favourable impression on the local musicians he worked with – a strategic step in gaining respect.

Zayas: ‘I was in Canada before, so I could call on the help of a booking agent and recruit musicians I’d met before, drummer Theo Brown for instance. Theo is really somebody, he played with the likes of Sonny Rhodes, Johnny Copeland and Kenny Neal. Still, you have to win over the audience and before that you have to convince the club owners. I’m rather self-confident, so that helps. In Calgary, I very much wanted to play The Blues Can, one of the best blues venues in Canada. Lucky Peterson had just played there. The owner gave me one night, but that didn’t satisfy me so I participated in the weekly jam session and that won me three more nights, a replacement for a cancelled date and a number of gigs for May of this year! Now, it felt great to have won over someone because of my qualities and skills as an artist only. We really had a blast, the dance-floor was packed. I remember a beautiful girl in a wheelchair... dancing all night long. I was looking at her all the time, really playing and singing for her. I was thinking to myself : ‘What a spirit this girl’s got, we all should learn from her’. At the end of the set I switched the guitar to wireless, got down the stage and started dancing around her, holding and kissing her hand. That was a real funky moment and I hope to see her again when we’re back in May!’

Passion man

Zayas: ‘Canada is an entirely different experience. In Spain, clubs are closing because of the crisis, but in Canada there’s work to be found everywhere. You get a contract, pay taxes on the spot and the owners put you up in a decent hotel. The audience is different as well. Like in The Blues on Whyte, Edmonton, people arrive in groups in the late afternoon and stay till past midnight, drinking, having dinner, listening to the music, dancing and spending good

Drummer Theo Brown is ready to get on stage with Zayas again: ‘The thing I dig about Alex Zayas is his drive, his passion, his desire to be authentic and do Alex Zayas. To not sell your soul and be true to yourself is an honorable trait in the music business, but a dying one as well. Alex is the real deal. The music and the emotional feeling his music projects is a powerful force within. Alex is a complete package. The more time I have spent with Alex, he has become like family

and we are in this soulful, funky musical journey to the high heavens’.

BrannenTemple, Zayas’s regular drummer in Texas, shares this experience: ‘Being from Austin, Texas, let’s say I hear a fair share of blues guitar. I first met Alex when I playing Barcelona with my own band in 2003 and I thought ‘Nice!’. He had checked out all the right cats to head in the right direction, musically. All he needed to do was to get out and play on the world stage. So he’s doing that now. He’s turned his sound and show into something tasteful and formidable. For me, he was kickin’ the asses of some of these local cats who get the attention! And it wasn’t just my opinion. Folks around here dug what he and Albert Greenlight were bringing! A tight classic sound with groove. All the clubs have asked me to make sure to let them know when he returns so they can rebook him’.

accePt no bullshit

Can Zayas summarize his experience and learning process?

Zayas: ‘Musically, I learnt from everyone, but I especially developed my acoustic and country blues side. Being on the road as such teaches you a lot about life and being a musician. People think you can get rich in Austin, because it’s a famous place. It’s a fab place for sure, something’s going on every night of the week and it’s chockfull of great players. There’s a downside to that, because you need a lot of money in the US. People are continually consuming, I found that amazing. Too much, really. Plus I’m a vegetarian and since travelling Americans will stop for some fast food at Wendy’s or some Mexican joint, I’d have to find myself some fruit to eat on the bus. I’ve met many excellent musicians who play every night of the week or even twice a night, all styles, often for tips only - all that just to pay the rent! Austin is like a party town, you can see the best blues musicians there. I attended two killer shows, one with Jimmy Vaughan and one with Hammond B3 organist Bobby Sparks, who plays with Marcus Miller. These guys perform for, say, sixty people, amazing. To me, these shows are more than music, it’s like heaven. I now realize better the music business is a very tough one. You know, being on stage is the easiest part. You have to deal with tons of bullshit before you can actually get on stage.

But if you have a name in the US, you’re on. I once played Buddy Guy’s Legends with Larry McCray just to get noticed. Any band I’ve seen in Chicago is better than the best bands in Spain, they’re all playing A-level, so no-one’s afraid of one Zayas walking into their club. In the US neither the club owners nor the audience accept bullshit. You have to be good from the first minute to the last. You have to be self-confident and play with full intensity. You need to suffer every note you play, every word you sing. And you have to communicate with the crowd, entertain them, get them involved. I make people dance. The American artists and spectators are into entertainment, another reason why I enjoy playing there. In Spain, many musicians hardly speak to the audience, they don’t even say ‘Hello’ or ‘Goodnight’. I don’t get that. People buy a ticket, spend time and money to come and see me play, I have to respect that’.

get the best

Zayas: ‘You see, most great players are rather humble, not aggressive or arrogant. Why should they be? Real good players don’t compete with each other, but if I have to compete, I prefer to compete with the best. I’m keen to show Europe and the UK what Zayas is about. Apart from Albert, I can form a band with Julian Vaughn on drums and Russell Jackson on bass. Julian handled the sticks with B.B. King, Albert King and a series of top jazz musicians. We’ve played together very often. As for Russell, he played bass with B.B. King for a decade. We spoke on the phone and he said he’d heard about my music and that we could play together any time’.

Meanwhile, after a short break in his hometown to attend personal business, the next months will see Zayas back in America. With a one-week residency at the Blues on Whyte club, Edmonton, in his pocket for the month of May. He’s excited already: ‘It’ll be a five-piece band, adding Rick Perkins from Chicago on keys. It’s gonna be a blast, I love the combination of two guitars and a keyboard because it gives a fuller sound. And Rick’s a great singer, those are going to be real funky times’.

f or The laTesT news on alex Z ayas check ouT www.Z ayasmusic.com

BM: How are you doing ?

DB: Yeah I’m good, you?

Yeah, playing, singing, writing. I was talking about you with your people and I said I would really like to do a new piece because you’ve got the new album coming out... but you’re off to Switzerland soon aren’t you?

We leave Thursday morning.

I assume that you’ll be promoting the album. Is it out there yet?

It’s not officially released yet. But they’re the first shows we’ll be playing the new songs. It comes out on the 19th April in Europe and 6th May in the UK.

Tell me about Jazzhaus?

They’re a good label. It ties in well because they are a European booking agency and they book Walter Trout, Popa Chubby and Eric Sardinas so they started booking me in Germany and Austria. They’ve got a label as well. It’s good they’re quite forward thinking and quite open to new ideas. They’re a pleasure to work with really. This label still seem to have a belief that this type of music can sell. I mean we’re not talking 200,000 units or something like that. They still believe that Blues, Blues Rock and Americana sell.

This is a good place for you at this stage in your career. I mean when we first met you were an amazing young guitar player who was bursting with energy and I think I said ‘blues rock delivered with passion’. I still think that holds good really. What do you think?

Funnily enough, you were the first interview I ever did and that was at The Worcester Park Club. Yeah I mean I sort of just used to play and play. I think I’ve slowed down a bit. Just sort of naturally as you get a bit older and more experienced. So I tend to think more about the song now and I’m more interested in songs. I mean I used to just want to blast away with anything, now I’m more interested in how the solo works within in the song

I mean taking that path didn’t do anything wrong for Rory Gallagher did it? (Laughs) (Laughs) No.

I mean Rory’s later songs were diamond I thought. He just seemed to come up with more and more great songs and the playing wasn’t a bonus but it was kind of an enhancement.

I think so. I think you’d agree that if you haven’t got a good song then the solo is a bit bloody pointless really.

Let’s talk about the songs on this album. It was recorded in Cornwall wasn’t it ?

Yeah it was recorded in a place called Gaderry Farm and Jon Amor recommended it. We wanted somewhere residential and we wanted to get away from it all. But it was away from it all as the internet wasn’t working, you couldn’t get a phone reception and it was about eight miles to the nearest pub (Laughs).

ThePrisoner, the lead track has a very ominous sound. It reminded me of a guy I like Eric Gales. I’ve got a couple of his albums. He’s an awesome guitarist. With ‘The Prisoner’ I wanted it to have a dark sound. I kinda wanted it to sound like ‘Going Down’.

What struck my ears is that it has real electricity; it has a real crackle about it that you can hear in the break in the middle. It’s like a machine that’s ready to go. The guitar solo on the coda flows really well. You couldn’t resist the wah-wah could you? (Laughs). I tried to hold off on it ! I’ve only used the wah-wah twice on the album. The whole thing with the wah-wah I mean I mentioned ‘Going Down’, I did want to make this album different stuff. The solos are trying to go for that ‘White Room’ type thing.

The song’s soaked in by then so the dynamic working for you there. Greenwood31has got this little harp intro and then this is where your Delta influence is, which you cannot and will not ever shake off – R L Burnside, slightly rickety sound. Tell me about this guitar you’re using because it has some very good double tracking on that. You’re using this Strat type guitar but who makes it?

Trevor Wilkinson. They’re fine guitars. I have been using them for a few years and they’re great. They just sort of take a Strat and smooth a lot of things out and as you say that song does sort of has a R L Burnside type thing, I love hill country blues and I was lucky to sit in with T Model Ford.. I’ve actually played with Cedric Burnside in the summer. The song is about Hubert Sumlin.

He was from there wasn’t he?

Yeah. Greenwood was the town he was born

With a ne W album ‘h urricane’ about to be released, this seemed a good time to catch up W ith db and get the lo W do W n on his ne W opus and everything else in b ryantWorld. We have been friends a long time and W hilst he has alW ays been a great musician, it’s his song W riting that is really blossoming

in. Basically, when I was writing this album I was working with the producer just sending demos backwards and forwards and asking where it worked and where it didn’t. And I sort of came up with this old intro like R L Burnside and I needed to write some lyrics. Years ago I played a festival and I got to meet Hubert. I spent an hour with him and he was just lovely and I took this picture of him. He’s looking really smart in a suit and I’ve got it in my guitar room. I was just looking at it and I thought I’d make it about him.

Good for you. There is a very cool sound on Can’tHold On, it’s got that very solemn piano and the dragonfly guitar for one of a better phrase, buzzing over it, but the lyric is straight into paranoia

I mean I have a busy touring schedule and things and one thing that’s never plagued me that I’ve never talked about is that I get quite bad anxiety and depression sometimes. For no apparent reason, really. And with this album just sort of thought I’m going to write more about things I know and things that affect me. So that’s basically what it is a desperation type song, really.

OK. It’s a great chorus sound on the guitar that suits that song no end. I have to say Danny, that’s the best vocal on the set for me And the funniest thing about that whole thing was that i sent that as a demo to Richard the producer and I tried every bloody key on that song I just couldn’t sing it. I sent it in its original acoustic demo and I couldn’t sing it. So in the end the song really lost something. Richard said don’t worry about it, there is nothing wrong with its original key and we will worry about it when we get into the studio. But it needs to stay in that key. But actually the vocal was second take through.

My ears are still working then. You threw a curveball one me because I thought, looking at he titles, you did an album of originals but had covered Bob Dylan’s Hurricane.

No I haven’t. I didn’t actually think about the ‘Hurricane’ Dylan song which is a song I love. But there is a Neil Young song called ‘Hurricane’. No, I’m a big Bruce Springsteen fan so that’s me trying to get into

‘Springsteen mode’. It is different and,dare I say, ‘poppy’. I suppose it’s only one song in the set, but I’m really pleased with it.

That is the track that quite likely Planet Rock would play it because it sounds quite contemporary. Pop only means popular. Now, ‘Devil’s Got A Hold On Me’ I mean you sound at your most natural here. I’m imagining that’s a live favourite or intended to be. You’ve totally hit the nail on the head there. I always used to sort of come up with that groove live and I thought ‘we need to put this into a song’. Your right, it’s live and sort of my natural habitat as it were. What we do. Also, on the album we wanted to balance it right and I totally agree with you about pop and I feel the same way about it. But it’s kind of like well let’s put this at track five and steer it back and still let people know this is still a Blues Rock album.

Nice Hammond on there too. Yeah, that’s the producer actually.

Each of the tracks has a different flavour to it which is what makes a great album. I’m Brokengoes straight into this very desolate mood. It’s saved from being a rotten bitch song but there is a light touch in the production so it doesn’t get to miserable. That’s quite a nice ballad. Hard balance to strike though, Dan. Yeah, again it’s down to Richard. Very clever. He changed the drum sound, a very old sounding drum sound. And a less lively room sound. Very flat you know I sort of wanted the song to sound like it had had the air sucked out of it if you know what I mean. Very dry.

I would say this is the best song on the album because it just goes home

My wife will be pleased because it’s her favourite. She said no one has picked up on that yet!

It’s got the strong song construction and it’s a good number. LosingYouis the slowest moment here, you’ve got these legato lines for the melody. Then the vocal comes in and Danny it doesn’t sound anything like you!

That is me trying to write a 50s sounding ballad, really. That’s the one song we started playing live even before we went in to record.

The guitar hook is kind of like Parisian Walkways where you’ve got a repeated theme on the guitar.

French films do use strong melody lines and they set them against strings. It does stick in your head. I wondered if you’d written it for a female to sing? What ‘Losing You’? No it’s a good point actually. I haven’t thought about it. It would probably sound good with a female singing it. I just wanted a ballad… like you know ‘Can’t Hold on’ is what I would call a ‘bigger’ ballad with the big chorus. I’m a big fan of these laid back 50s type songs.

Right. ‘Painkiller’, that’s a Mandolin isn’t it? Yeah that’s my wife playing the Mandolin.

There is a lot more to you then what you get on the records. In a way, your records might give a limited view of what you are about as an all-rounder. The last album we recorded live in Holland was a bit jollier, but I like depressing songs. This is the problem with me – I like dark subject matter!

You and me both! This is why with my trio I can’t play too much Blues stuff. You must listen to this album and think – this is doing me and my band justice. I think so. It genuinely is my favourite but I resist saying because everyone says that. I hope people do like it and it genuinely matters to me if they do. But if they don’t it’s the best I could’ve done it. I’m pleased with it and I was happy to leave it where it was left.

To me that’s a good attitude because you don’t want to be what Captain Beefheart called the mirror man and just reflect what is fashionable. Your soul evaporates and you’ve got to be who you are. I think what you’ve evolved to is a jazz player’s attitude : here we are, here’s what we do, hope you like it, if don’t there’s other choices.

Exactly. Well that’s the thing I just feel lucky to be able to do this for a living and I think the thing is if you’re famous and with a big label you’re probably more tied in with what you’ve gotta do. Whereas I just sort of go out to do the music I want to do and I’m not on a big label so I pretty much am allowed to go in and make an album the way I want to make it. Whereas, if I was one of these big famous guys with a big label I know I would be told what I have to play. Yeah I just try to play what we do the way we can.

I think this album when I listen to it, it feels like you’re comfortably stretching yourself without turning into somebody else. You’re actually ‘pushing the boundaries’.

I’m really glad you picked up on that because I didn’t want people to think that I was deliberately going for something different. I was pushing myself because I wanted to. This is the sort of music I wanted to make. I could have gone into the studio and made ten 12 bar Blues and make that more of what people expect. I was pushing myself just because I have a lot of interest in other genres of music.

I like to hear people progressing. There’s stuff on here that would not have been on your first or second album. Definitely not.

hurricane is out on Jazzhaus r ecords. more info on WWW.dannybryant.com

g eno Washington became legendary on the b ritish soul scene of the sixties, his band the r am Jam b and J ust about the most exciting, entertaining and hard W orking on the circuit. b ut Washington, W ho came to e ngland from a merica in the early sixties, no W sees himself as a blues man

got a new band now called Yo Yo Blues and I’m very proud of them,’ he declares. ‘It’s mostly blues and R‘n’B and I’m getting a great reaction when we play. And actually, I was a blues singer when I started out. It was the Ram Jam Band turned me on to soul.’

Primarily an interpreter in his soul heyday, of classics by the likes of Otis Redding, Washington is now writing more of his own material. ‘I can write bluesy-type tunes much better than soul tunes so I’m going in that direction,’ he says. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t concentrate more when I was younger on writing songs but I write now, to try to develop my talents.’

Blues was the music that Washington listened to, growing up in Evansville, Indiana. ‘Yeah, man, all day, every day,’ he chuckles. ‘My family owned the number one bootlegging joint in Evansville, where you could eat and gamble and the music people was listening to was blues. The local blues musicians and the blues musicians who was passing through the city would come down to my family’s bootlegging joint to enjoy themselves after concerts, so I grew up with it.’

At one point in his childhood Washington was packed off to an orphanage. He virtually collapses in side-splitting laughter at the memory. ‘Yeah, man,’ he splutters. ‘It was segregation at the time and my mother and father had gone into this bar and some rednecks jumped on them. But they jumped on the wrong two because my father pulled a gun and my mother pulled a knife and there was shooting and cutting. They got an eight year jail sentence and done five years for good behaviour. I had to go into a home until they came out.’

hAND clAppiN’

Washington denies that this was a sad or damaging experience. ‘Orphanages are different in America,’ he asserts delightedly. ‘In America you get Class A treatment. There are no cockroaches. It’s luxury, man. We went to all the top football and basketball games, circus, wrestling... It was an honour to be there!’

‘In fact,’ he says, guffawing extravagantly, ‘when my father come to collect me I asked

him could he choose another kid because I was quite happy!’ And here, Washington unleashes another guffaw so uncontrollably wheezy that I’m unsure whether to laugh along or to ring for an ambulance.

Later, Washington joined the US Air Force. ‘The Vietnam War was going on and I didn’t want to go into the army because that’s front line duty,’ he chortled. ‘The war was very scary to me, so I joined the air force, hopefully to be stationed on the other side of the world [to Vietnam]. I decided very early on I wanted to be in the rear with the gear! And fortunately I got stationed in England.’ Washington’s memories of life as a serviceman are mixed. ‘I really did enjoy it and wanted to do about thirty years,’ he says. ‘But I found a lot of prejudice there so I had to find something else to do because you can’t be around people with prejudice. So I started going down to the local ballrooms and hanging out with English people and musicians.’

The English bands of the day impressed Washington. ‘Definitely,’ he agrees. ‘I’d seen Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis and all those guys, but I didn’t know anything about British musicians, so I found it very exciting. At that time the blues was in and you had the Rolling Stones and the Pretty Things and the Downliners Sect and it was all happening. Blues was my thing and I was excited enough to try to sing and be involved in this new movement.’

fooT sTompiN’

The Ram Jam Band discovered Washington and the band quickly made their name. Washington’s most successful albums were recorded live, like Hand Clappin’ Foot Stompin’ Funky-Butt… Live! and Hipsters, Flipsters, Finger-Poppin’ Daddies, which were top ten hits in 1966 and 1967 respectively. He explains why: ‘I was still learning my trade to be a singer and I feed off the audience and in the studio there’s no audience to feed off and I was getting nervous and losing my confidence. It didn’t work out well so we had to find another way

so we said, “Let’s do it live.” And it paid off.’

By the end of the 60s, however, soul had become unfashionable. ‘It was a nightmare,’ says Washington, laughing fit to burst. ‘It was very difficult for all soul bands. Things got so bad I was thinking of going back to my old job, mugging.’ And here he dissolves in near-hysterical laughter at his own jolly joke.

In fact, Washington did go home to the States in the early seventies. ‘Yeah, to develop myself,’ he explains. ‘At that time I needed more confidence so when I was living in Los Angeles for three years I became a hypnotist and hypnotherapist. My teacher was Pat Collins, one of the world’s greatest hypnotherapists, and I became her protégé and got my hypnotherapy degree. And then I said, ‘Wait, time to go back to singing.’

In the late seventies Washington recorded albums like Geno’s Back and Life. ‘It was a creative time,’ he says, ‘and I had a hit in Canada with That’s Why Hollywood Loves Me and that helped my confidence.’

In 1980, Dexys Midnight Runners had a U.K. Number One hit with Geno, their tribute to him. ‘It made me laugh’ declares Washington, almost choking with irrepressible laughter. ‘I took it as fun and jest, and it was nice to be remembered. And it gave me a lot of confidence again.’

Washington returned to England. ‘Younger people got to know me through Dexys, but I tried to avoid that, and I didn’t come over till a year later,’ he says. ‘And [then] I came over with a hard rock band, so people could see I wasn’t treading on Dexys’ fame.’

Weirdly, Washington had a hand in the formation of the Stone Roses, crucially inspiring the band’s then-unknown singer Ian Brown. ‘We was at a party and I seen how girls was attracted to him and I told him, “Man, you ought to be in the singing thing,”’ he recalls. ‘And he say he don’t sing. And I say, “Can you dance?” And he say he don’t dance. And I say, “You write poetry?” and he say, “I wrote a little bit in school.” So

I said, “Well writing poetry you’re just one inch away from writing songs. All you have to do is learn how to sing and get a band with a guitarist to help you put your poetry to music. Change your thoughts and you can change your life.” And the rest is history.’

fuNkY-BuTT... live!

Washington published a novel, The Blood Brothers, about a Vietnam veteran, in 1998. ‘My teacher Pat Collins says, “What are your worst fears?” And I says, “Writing a book.” So she says, “Do that. Face your fears.” As a hypnotist I was able to programme myself so I wrote it under hypnosis. That made it fun and the idea just rushed to me like a waterfall.’ Washington has continued to release records prolifically, including The Return Of The G (2003) and It’s a Street Soul & R’n’B Party! (2011). ‘Yeah, man,’ he cackles. ‘You got to keep your hand in. I still enjoy it and it’s still fun.’

In 2009 Washington released a single, I’m Doing 99 Years and gave the proceeds to victims of crime. ‘People using knives

and guns has got out of hand,’ he argues. ‘It’s having a very bad effect on society here. When I got over here in the sixties policemen didn’t even have guns and you didn’t hear about these knife crimes and muggings. So I wanted to help in putting people off crime.’

The live It’s Geno Time, released in 2011, has all of the same tracks, in the same order, as Hand Clappin’, Foot Stompin’, FunkyButt… Live! “A record company asked me to do it so I done it, just to relive the memories,” explains Washington. ‘And I’m over the moon about it. People love it.’

Washington has also acted in Midsomer Murders on television and in the film A Bit Of Tom Jones. ‘But I’m just totally concentrating on music now, with Yo Yo Blues,’ he says. ‘The blues and R’n’B we do is houserocking. It’s not that tired out, put-you-to-sleep type blues. This is the blues black people listen to across the railroad track, you know what I mean? People are going crazy over the show, man.

f or the latest ne W s on geno W ashington check out WWW.geno W ashington.com

m ark r obinson may not yet be the biggest a merican blues-based artist you’ve read about. h o W ever, he is one W ho’s garnered critical acclaim and is reaching for W ider recognition

raised as a ‘songwriter of calibre’ in our last issue, Have Axe Will Groove was recognised for both its diversity and strong original material. BluesMatters! conversed with Mark about his experiences in Chicago and Nashville and how they have shaped his own musical development.

DB: Thanks for doing the interview, Mark. Let’s start at the beginning, how and when you first got into blues music?

I got an electric guitar in 1970, when I was 13. I was listening to, and learning to play, rock and roll – James Gang, Rolling Stones, Steppenwolf. An older friend who was a musician turned me onto the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, their first album. Soon after that I started listening to the Allman Brothers. They were a big influence. Then I started to listen to the Chicago bluesmen that influenced Butterfield and the Allman Brothers – Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, James Cotton. Beyond that, I began to search out the Delta blues guitarists like Son House, Robert Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt, Fred McDowell, Charlie Patton. I tried to listen to everything I could – not just blues; rock, soul, jazz. I was soaking it all up, trying to learn about music.

Your bio mentions that after you graduated you were ‘playing with a Top 40 Band and hating it’. Can you tell me about that experience? We were travelling around the US playing the popular radio songs of the early ‘80s –some of it was OK, but most of it was not music with any soul. I wasn’t excited about learning songs and playing them the same way every night. I wanted to interact with the other musicians, take chances and the music someplace. I couldn’t do that gig for very long, it just wasn’t what I wanted to do with music. But it was part of my musical education, playing lots of songs and lots of different kinds of music.

Not long after, you moved to Chicago. As a blues enthusiast, that must have been very exciting. How daunting was it to get up and perform in a city which is so renowned for its blues musicians?

There were a lot of great guitar players in the Chicago scene. It was daunting, of course, because I had been listening to a lot of these guys on records. But the Chicago community

was surprisingly welcoming. I ended up working a lot, after getting to know enough people in the blues scene there. The main thing I learned there, being around so many great guitar players, you have to bring your own unique style and identity to the stage. So many of the great Chicago guitarists had their own original way of playing, you could hear two or three notes, and know who the guitar player was.

It caught my eye that you performed with Jimmy Johnson on the Chicago blues scene. He seems under-rated. Can you tell the readers about working with him?

Jimmy is one of my favourite guitar players and singers. His tone, his phrasing, he’s a very soulful player and singer. He has a beautiful singing voice, very expressive – and his guitar playing is the same – sweet and full of emotion. Listening to Jimmy taught me about phrasing and soul. Also about knowing when to lay back or when to burn. He’s a very powerful musical force, and not as well known as he deserves to be. Fans of Chicago blues should listen to Jimmy – check out his CD Bar Room Preacher, released by Alligator Records in 1985. I think it’s one of the best blues albums to come out of Chicago during that time.

Tell me about your decision to go full time as a musician on your relocation to Nashville. Was that something you had been thinking about for some time?

I moved to Nashville because my wife, Sue, got a job there. I had played a lot of traditional country music and outlaw country as a young man – but didn’t relate to the modern country on the radio. All I knew about Nashville was the music on the country radio and the burning fast Tele pickers playing the clubs on Broadway. I didn’t fit into either of those camps – so I didn’t know what I would do in Nashville.

Nashville has a very diverse music scene, but the blues didn’t seem to have a very high profile when I first arrived. But I decided to jump off the Music City cliff and form a blues band and record a blues album. It turned out to be a great decision. And the blues scene in Nashville has become much more active in the past few years, thanks to a couple of

new clubs that feature the blues and sponsor jams, a new blues society, crossover radio play for blues artists on roots and Americana programs. It’s a great time to play the blues in Nashville - Shaun Murphy, Andy T & Nick Nixon, Marion James, Bart Walker, Shawn Starski, Ted Drozdowski and Scissormen, Johnny Neel, The McCrary Sisters, Ricky Godfrey, Tracy Nelson and many more are charting and making waves.

Nashville is another city with a huge musical history. How did you settle into the melting pot of musical styles in the city?

One of the first things I learned is that Nashville is a songwriter’s town, it’s driven by songs. Many of the artists performing in town are songwriters. Songwriters want musicians who know how to accompany a singer, who know how to play to fit the song. I had played with some great songwriters over the years and I felt really comfortable backing up songwriters. That’s where I started out in Nashville – playing with songwriters, sometimes just me with the writer, sometimes with a band. I met a lot of great players doing this; Dave Roe, Pat MacInerney, Dave Pomeroy, Kenny Vaughan, Kevin McKendree, Paul Griffith,Daniel Seymour, Johnny Neel. The list goes on...

My broad background, playing all kinds of music – blues, jazz, rock, country, folk – really paid off in Nashville. I have a big vocabulary of guitar ideas in different styles, which has served me well playing with a lot of different artists in Music City. But I have had my own style of playing and eventually people started calling me to play my style, to bring my own way of playing to the table. It wasn’t too long before I was working full time as a musician.

QuitYourJob–PlayGuitar, your debut album came out in 2010, described by BluesMatters! as ‘almost a brilliant album’. How did it come together, and the song-writing collaborations the album featured? I had never considered myself a singer or a songwriter when I moved to Nashville. I would sing a few songs to fill in for a tired lead singer, and I had written a few songs –but I never put much energy into singing or

writing. In Nashville I started playing guitar with some great songwriters. I started to write songs with these guys in a very organic way. You’re on the road, in the car, in a hotel room with somebody – you kick around ideas and pretty soon you have a song.

I realized that I had quite a few songs I wanted to record. I had been producing CDs for other artists already, and I was working with some of the best musicians in the world every week. So I decided to make an album. Quit Your Job includes songs I wrote with Davis Raines, Randy Handley and Mike Cullison – all guys I had been playing gigs with. Same for the musicians on the CD, these were guys I had been working with, amazing players – Paul Griffith, Dave Roe, Randy Handley, Dennis Taylor, Johnny Neel. In the course of working on the album, I got in touch with legendary singer Tracy Nelson (nominated for the Koko Taylor – Traditional Blues Female – 2013 BMA Award) who sang on a song with me, and she brought the fabulous Vickie Carrico to the project. Such a group of extremely talented people could only have come together in Nashville.

You’re not simply a blues artist. How would describe your music?

I have a lot of different musical influences. I love the blues, but I love all kinds of music. I have a deep connection with Memphis R&B, the grooves of New Orleans, jazz, rock and roll – so many different kinds of music. I’d say that my music is blues and roots – wider than just the blues. Anything that’s got soul and a groove is fair game for me. The people on the dance floor are not thinking “this is not a blues song” while they shake it to the music. I’m interested in music that is emotionally honest and connects, moves people. I think it’s important to move the blues forward, to push the boundaries and keep blues alive.

Your new album “HaveAxe–WillGroove” has been released to some very highly complementary reviews. Would you say you’ve found your true voice with this?

After releasing Quit Your Job – Play Guitar in 2010, I played a lot of gigs as a front-man and artist for the first time in my life. I began to find my strengths and hone in on them

and improve my performances. I’m not a natural songwriter. I get a lot of ideas, some of which turn into songs. When I started to concentrate on writing songs I realized it’s like playing guitar, you have to practice in order to get better. So I wrote a lot of songs – most of which I ended up throwing away. When writing the songs for Have Axe – Will Groove, I had a much better idea of which songs I could put across effectively – what fit my voice and guitar playing. These songs were written or chosen for the way I play and sing. I wrote or co-wrote a lot of the songs on this album. I co-wrote with Mike Cullison, and Dave Duncan (nominated for 2013 BMA song of the year with Curtis Salgado). A couple of the songs were written by good friends of mine – Davis Raines and Slats Klug. I found my true voice through the songs I decided to record and the way I performed them in the studio.

Could you give a mention to the excellent group of musicians who appear on Have Axe – Will Groove? I brought in players that I had been performing with and that I am really comfortable playing with. Bass player and Associate Producer Daniel Seymour and I have played a lot of gigs in the past several years, and we have worked on a number of studio projects together. Dan and Paul Griffith and I have played together a lot in the past couple of years. The three of us

laid down the rhythm tracks for the CD live in two days. Paul and Dan developed the arrangements, feel and groove of each song with me as we recorded. Justin Amaral also plays drums on the CD – I’ve played a lot of gigs with Justin, too. The rhythm section players on this project are top notch, worldclass players. I’m so lucky to be able to work with these guys!

The other musicians on the CD are also people I have played with a lot – Ben Graves on saxophone. Ben plays sax, guitar and harmonica in my band. Randy Handley on piano – we’ve played music and written songs together for a number of years. Michael Webb on the Hammond B-3 is another player I’ve worked with a lot. Vickie Carrico is my go-to backup singer. We’ve worked together on several different projects and done gigs together. She and Jonell Mosser are amazing. The two harmonica players – Roguie Ray LaMontagne and TJ Klay are both fantastic players. I have not worked with either of them all that much, but I hope we get to work together more in the future.

I’m a band player, and my band is an extremely important part of my music. The interaction between the players – what each person brings to the mix, is very important to the way I write, record and perform.

Your guitar playing has received recognition of late with roots-music magazine The Alternate Root naming you along with guitar players such as Derek Trucks in their list of Top 20 Roots Guitar Players, one ahead of Devon Allman. This came as a complete surprise to me. I’m humbled and honoured to be included on this list of fantastic guitar players. I’m glad to be considered part of this group of legendary and amazing guitarists. I love playing guitar, I’m glad people enjoy my playing.

You’ve previously been to Dublin. Do you plan to return to Europe?

Absolutely, I am hoping to put a tour together later this year – hopefully something will be in place for the Fall. I plan to get to Europe every year, at least once a year. I love travelling and playing for people in different countries, different cultures –connecting with them is rewarding.

f or the latest ne W s on m ark r obinson check out WWW.markrobinsonguitar.com

blues matters!, in its endeavours to be a continuous source of interest to our readers, likes to take in the broad spectrum not

ust of styles of b lues, but the people, ho W ever connected. W ith

evin Nutt is a Blues foot soldier of passion that is preserving the music we love while enjoying those treasures himself. Montgomery, Alabama has come a long way since its civil rights days, and embraces its entire diverse cultural heritage. Perhaps the past has a future?

BM: What brought you to what you do today?

Kevin Nutt: I did not take a direct route to all this. I spent a lot of time during my early life sort of aimlessly drifting around, but I did work in bookstores and I was always reading and listening to music. When I finally finished college in Montgomery, Alabama, I became interested in folklore. The Alabama Folklife Association (AFA) and the Alabama Centre for Traditional Culture (ACTC) were doing all kinds of really cool fieldwork and publications dealing with different areas, including music, that I had always been interested in. I started hanging out with these folk and participating as I could with their projects.

Inspired by their work and my interest in black gospel music, I started my own label, CaseQuarter Records in 2003. In 2001 I had been able to pitch a radio show idea to WFMU in Jersey City and I have been producing Sinner’s Crossroad’s weekly since June 2001. In 2009 I was hired as the folklife archivist at the newly created Archive of Alabama Folk Culture in Montgomery. I was hired largely because of my experience working with sound media for the radio show and the label and they needed someone right away to begin working with a bunch of DAT tapes and cassettes. So here I am.

What is the tier of bodies you work for or with, i.e., Alabama Folklife Association and Archive of Alabama Folk Culture?

From October 2009 I have officially been an employee of the AFA, but my office is housed at the Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH). There is a friendly and fruitful relationship between these organizations.

I glean from the official website that you are acting as a smaller Smithsonian Institute. Is that right? Perhaps a better comparison on that scale would be the Archive of Folk Culture at the Library of Congress. The Archive of Alabama Folk Culture (AAFC) has been an entity only four years and is concerned almost exclusively with Alabama culture.

Are you totally dependant on political funding through various grant associations?

At the moment, yes. There are efforts to make the folklife archivist position at the AAFC a permanent state funded position.

What does your particular job entail?

I have been cataloguing, processing, and preserving the corpus of field work conducted by the AFA, the ACTC and also items from private collections. This includes all manner of sound media, audio-visual media, photographs and all manner of paper ephemera.

What is the difference between how you clean records and simply using soapy water?

You do the best with what you have. I know several fine and reliable collectors, dealers

and sound restoration professionals who use dishwashing detergent and paper towels to clean the records they are working on. Any cleaning method is only going to remove dirt anyway; it will not remove scratches, needle drop holes, or magically repair other damage to the disc itself. I usually use the Disc Doctor cleaning fluid, soft towels and a modest vinyl record vacuuming device to remove excess water and not allow dislodged particles to resettle on the record. Every sound restorer and archivist has his or her own methods, solutions and theories. A great place to delve further into this is the Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) website. www.arsc-audio.org/index.php

There seems to be a growing trend to accessibility to national treasures lately. Has this come about from an administration who says that, in order to obtain funding in the future, we have to give Joe Public something back? What blues-wise gems can we hear for the first time, and how?

Definitely, but it is not put forth in those terms. To receive grants you have always had to justify the project in terms of the accessibility to the community. It has been the dream of archivists and librarians to have such a mode of access as the internet. Some serious questions must be dealt with in opening access to such a level, but remember, you and I and the people reading this are also Joe Q. Public, and I regularly explore and haunt online resources with great gusto and interest. The Alan Lomax streaming field recordings, the Chris Strachwitz Frontera Collection at UCLA and the Florida Memory website have all posted thousands of mp3s of partial or complete performances and songs and I love browsing those collections from my personal computer.

The most significant discs to come to the AAFC were several unique Presto lacquers of previously unknown vocal performances by Vera Hall and Annie Grace Dodson, possible recorded by Ruby Pickens Tartt herself. You can listen to two of the Vera Hall excerpts here: www.alabamafolklife.org/content/ archive-alabama-folk-culture

Are there any documentary interviews with or by the great-unsung Alabama folk music researcher Ruby Pickens Tartt?

ELEANOR MCEVOY’S TENTH STUDIO ALBUM

INSPIRED BY BRIAN JONES FEATURE IN MOJO

Delta Swamp Rock Nashville Delta Blues

These last two years The Delta Saints have been embraced by enthusiastic and growing audiences in the USA as well as in Europe.

Former university students from Nashville, the young musicians pump out a unique and fierce fusion of blues, traditional southern soul and bayou funk, once again raising the banner of southern blues/rock illustrated in the past by The Allman Brothers Band and The Black Crowes.

Front cover by Tim Staffell

Vocals Eleanor McEvoy

Guitars Jimmy Smyth, Eleanor McEvoy

Hammond organ and piano James Delaney

Bass Eoghan O’Neill, Paul Moore

Drums and percussion Des Lacey

Special guests:

Brian Connor piano on God Only Knows and Lift The Wings

David Agnew oboe on True Colors

On Secret Of Living: Accordion Sharon Shannon

Vocals Mary Coughlan, Gemma Hayes, Hermione Hennessy and Eleanor

“If you Leave… is a very fine record.” 8/10

—Colm O’Hare Hot Press

“If You Leave… very much follows the pattern of Eleanor’s previous releases in focusing on matters of the heart, albeit with a twist that ‘neo-retro’ sums up nicely.”

—Pete Whalley Get Ready to Rock

SEE ELEANOR PLAY:

Sun 23 June:

Folk at the House, Colchester

Sat 17 Aug:

Forever Sun Festival, Dorchester

www.eleanormcevoy.com

Not here at the AAFC, but the Centre for the Study of the Black Belt in Livingston, Alabama houses the Ruby Pickens Tartt papers. www.centerforblackbelt.org

Does your department offer a conversion paid service to the public on various recorded formats? I have heard it does.

Yes we do. We can’t do it free; we have to charge comparable market prices.

Do you believe in electronic expanding sonic range equipment, or is it a purer sound with less manipulation?

For archiving, you never manipulate the original file in any way. For other purposes, it depends on the situation. For my radio show, I often tweak the sound of a 78 in a way I would never do otherwise, but on projects for CaseQuarter I want to have as little manipulation as possible. 78s played on a turntable at home sound so different from commercial reissues. That’s because in order to make an entire LP or CD mastered from shellac 78s sound sonically uniform to the supposedly finicky consumer “the book” dictates that you compress the overall sound and EQ out much of the lower end rumble, but we’ve seen recent releases leave more and more of that sound in.

The recent Robert Johnson set is interesting. There’s a lot of resonance left in that is missing from earlier remastered versions. Sound manipulation and noise reduction equipment is getting better, more elegant and precise. Perhaps one day we will have equipment that will allow the playback of all the music and none of the noise without compromising the integrity of the music in any way, which is what we all ultimately want.

What are your thoughts on altering the inaccurate 78’s recording speeds?

If you are digitizing a 78 for archiving you do not adjust the speed, otherwise it depends on the record and all that. Many sound guys and collectors have done research where they know specifically which records are too fast and they adjust accordingly; other guys can zero in on the pitch of a particular instrument in the recoding and adjust things that way. When I listen to 78s at home, especially prewar black gospel records, I always find myself slowing things down a bit.

What are your thoughts on the biggest 78 collectors who hold the majority of rare copies – the Teftellers, and Bussards, etc?

If only all collectors were like John and Joe. Joe has given his entire life to his collection. We owe it to collectors because they have done so much of the collecting—preserving— and research for so much of the commercially recorded vernacular music of the world. Both of these guys have always made their collections available to just about anyone at minimum cost. Up until recently, you could just call (Joe) Bussard on the phone and tell him what you wanted and he would make a custom cassette just for you. (John) Tefteller couldn’t wait to post on his website for anyone to download the Blind Joe Reynolds and King Solomon Hill discs that had turned up.

Is there any form of copyright within your field of which to be aware?

In the US, pre-1972 sound recordings are not under federal but state law, which means that there are huge obstacles for preservation and public access and absolutely none for public domain of the oldest recordings. Many entities and archivists will not make available any recordings because of copyright concerns. The Historical Recording Coalition for Access and Preservation has been working with Congress to get this issue addressed.

Kevin, you have done some valuable research into the great early Alabama Bluesman Ed Bell. Is this to remain in research paper form or do you intend to produce a book? What interesting leads can you tell us at present?

It will probably be an article somewhere. We know where Bell was buried in Montgomery, churches he pastored, where he lived here in Montgomery. A research colleague of mine, Christopher Cobb, located Bell’s daughter here in Alabama. Unfortunately, there have been some awkward issues, which we have had to deal with. I hope that we will be able to mention those in the article.

I was surprised to learn you are a 78-rpm DJ. I ask myself, ‘Why would someone do such a thing when it surely can be played via CD or mp3, and the fragile nature of 78’s regardless of their non replaceable value’? What would be your answer? The sound of 78s kick ass!

Wondering W hat the W orld W ill think of you is not a good enough reason, to stop you from finding out

e were about to head off to Europe after many months of chasing up Festivals, trying to contact venues and making calls to the other side of the world at the wrong time of day. It was now time to fly over and meet people on their home turf to secure Finns 2013 European tour.

G’day! My name is Jim Finn and amongst other things I run an Aussie roots rhythm and blues band called Finn. The band has been going for 13 years and we are just completing our 6th studio CD. I play drums and am the lead singer, Paul Surany is the guitarist and George Rigatos holds down the bass parts. At home, the band is constantly on the road notching up over 150 gigs per year and travelling some 45,000 kms (about 27,000 miles); it’s a big country but a bigger world.

I did my first professional gig at 11 and earned a whopping $30 for the night which was almost a week’s wages at the time and I was hooked, ‘this is easy’ my 11 year old self said to himself, why not do this for a living?! Luckily I can say 40 years later that I’m still doing it but in a much different situation.

The pubs that were everywhere, (every local pub had bands most nights of the week) have turned in to mini casinos and have forgotten about the hospitable part of the ‘hospitality industry’. Pubs that do have live music, are hedging their bets and keeping the TV on while bands are playing, to keep the sports people happy. When I do see a live venue run correctly they invariably do well and we are lucky enough to have formed liaisons with many of them around Australia.

Sad to say tho’ live music venues are decreasing and musos must look to a larger audience to survive, so in 2005 we headed off to the US, home of the blues, and made a mark in Memphis, but America seemed to be heading the way of Australia, that is diminishing live venues. What about Europe? Many times we had been told by visitors to Australia that we would go well in the UK and Europe, so why not take a look? 7 years later our kids had grown up, we had done 2 years of research, networking and lining up meetings and contacts, and now it was time to take a

leap of faith and fly over to meet people face to face. Sydney to London via Singapore 24 hours of airports and planes about as long as it takes to drive from Sydney to Townsville, at least in the car you can stop for a smoke when you want. London was just a transfer point, we were heading to Dublin and back to the UK in a weeks’ time. I thought the Americans had tight airport security but the English leave them for dead!, finger prints, iris scan and Police at the Airport with sub machine guns, of course our timing was impeccable as the Olympics were in full swing so were weren’t staying just passing thru. Getting Cell phone to work was a nightmare the whole trip. Every new country needed a new sim so good old Skype was the saving grace. Our phones became our GPS units. When you’re trying to find your way and contact people in a foreign city you’ll understand just how dependant we have become on modern technology.

Dublin has a very healthy music scene, particularly blues. The Dublin blues Club run by John Kavanagh, is one of the most vibrant and proactive blues societies I had the pleasure to encounter. Every week there are 10 plus blues events taking place with many festivals thru the summer months. A personal favourite of mine was the “Greystanes Blues Festival” held just outside of Dublin. This festival featured indoor and outdoor venues around the town, and incorporated a variety of acoustic and electric blues acts.

The musos in Dublin are a very friendly bunch and very helpful with info and introductions. Our only performance in Eire was in a pub called “Kings Court” (affectionately called the Block by the locals). At the end of the festival weekend, it was a madhouse; the floor was packed, the pub was packed and we had some weird stuff going on instrument wise. I had to play a left handed drum kit and the only guitars where acoustic guitars, plus we had to use the “house band” bass player who had very little idea of what we were doing but batted on regardless. The trials and tribulations! However, it went off and everyone was happy except for Paul who

had “ripped shit” out of his fingers trying to make an acoustic sound like an electric. In Dublin we made a good Agency contact who also proved to be a very helpful man. From him we learned that a good quality video is the strongest marketing tool in promoting music visually. He further advised that it’s the first 30 seconds of a video that will either catch someone’s attention or lose their interest.

Although we made lot appointments to meet Festival organisers and agents all over Europe prior to leaving, a great deal of them did not bother to keep the arrangements or kept putting us off until we had to leave (seems like Australia hasn’t cornered the market with that strategy). We did however meet with some event organisers who were genuine people with great festivals and venues and we managed to secure performance dates for Finn during July and August 2013 Are next port of call was Glasgow and more appointments with agents. We also got to do some jamming in a Brazilian club in Trongate Rd, (which according to Google is no longer there!). Then over to Edinburgh Fringe Festival, one of the best festivals I have attended anywhere in the world; so many people and so much going on, we just got to play there! Eventually we wound our way on to London by way of Harrogate in Yorkshire. We stopped overnight in Harrogate and caught a local band, playing funk covers, very good act but very little in the way of original material anywhere so far.

Highlights of London: ‘Nothing but the Blues’ in Soho. We were there for the Monday night jam and people had to line up to get in. We managed to get up and have a play; I could not believe the enthusiasm of the crowd, even applause for solos. Ronnie Scott’s was also a buzz, didn’t get to play there this time but we are hoping for a spot there next year. London, Denmark St., Soho, Kings Cross, and Piccadilly Circus, Soho. What a place! Live music every night of the week, to people who are there for the music! We also played at the Ally Cat bar in Denmark St Spice of Life and Round Midnight great little venues with healthy crowds in all, and were very voluble in their appreciation of the acts, We ended up

doing full sets not just a couple of songs, it’s nice to be appreciated and get the respect from fellow musicians. We met some great venue owners and made some lifelong friends who are still in contact and helping us to get back. London will be on the cards for future visits.

Paul is a complete Hendrix buff he owns in excess of 350 Hendrix albums, so Denmark Street was like a Mecca for him especially with all those wonderful guitar shops everywhere. London is a vibrant city and a great place to be, from a musos point of view, but it’s expensive as most big cities are. What I found incredible, from an Aussie view point, was how many people could be packed into such a small country, and yet there is still a lot of greenery around. I think the entire UK (203,008 sq ml) fits into Australia (2,967,124 sq mi) 15 times and we don’t always get a lot of rain, as a result we all live mainly on the coast areas, with only about 20% who venture from it.

It’s a long way between drinks.

From Sydney to Melbourne (the two largest cities on the east coast) is a distance of 800 miles and will take you about 10 hours to drive without stopping (and obeying the road rules). Brisbane is about the same distance to the north, so overall distance from Melbourne - Sydney - Brisbane will take a full 24 hours to traverse and you are only half way to Cairns from there. Big country small population. From Australia the rest of the world is a long way off, as with musicians everywhere we need to get our music out, the world is shrinking. The internet has brought us all a lot more together and we can control our product from start to finish, which is a great boon for us but in the end you must get out there and let people hear you play, that’s the best marketing tool of all. We’ve been back now for nearly 4 months and the CD is finished, we have three songs videoed and a 90 second trailer. Probably much more I could say about the whole affair, but the most important thing for me and the band is we can’t wait to get back to Europe, what more can I say!

See you all soon and… Catch ya round the traps!

f or the latest ne W s on finn check out WWW.J finn.net

tH e legendary r O n leV y – Part O ne

V E rb A ls: nO rman d arwen Visu A ls: alyce l O

nnell PHO t O

PH y ron levy should be a familiar name to anyone W ho has follo W ed the blues over the last fe W decades. h e's J ust published an e-book... W ell, it’s actually far more than that, entitled tales of a road dog. bm! gets the lo W do W n

BM: Why did you decide to write the book now?

RL: I’ve been recounting many of these stories for years amongst my enemies, friends and family. Seriously, I’ve always enjoyed sharing stories and jokes ever since I can remember, even as a child. Over the years and a few drinks, many people have remarked, ‘You should write a book!’ Three years ago, an old friend named Frank Chimi was staying at my place while he worked during the week, then went home to his family (in another state) on the weekends. Often, when we shared meals together, various subjects would come up that reminded me of my “road dog” stories. After ‘suffering’ these tales many times, he advised me to write them down before I forgot them. I also believe Frank figured I’d be so busy writing, I wouldn’t have time to tell him my stories. Well, I fixed that. I made him read or listen to my first drafts too!

I also did some gigs with Mike Clark (Herbie Hancock) and Fred Wesley (JBs) about this same time. Fred and I were reminiscing about the good ol’ days one night, and he told me I should write a book, given my unique involvement and perspective during this time in musical history, with many of the Hall of Fame all-time greats. I thought about it. Put a concept together, then got to it.

Today’s technology afforded me a new way to share my stories, utilizing a ‘never thought of before’ format I came up with. My webbook is interactive with a direct email link at the end of each chapter. I’ve always wanted to ask various questions and make comments to various authors myself, so I figured, why not? The 250+ video/music links let folks actually hear the music I’m describing, right there and then. The links add up to 5-6 box sets of great music that many have never been privy to before, all in one place. The reader can also either activate each song separately as it appears within the text, in context; or activate a continuous “Lev-mix” of 250+ songs as background while reading. That’s a great deal! The gallery of 1,500+ rare photographs is unprecedented in any book I’ve ever seen. Finally, ‘Tales’ is accessible on any internet connecting device known now or in the future without using any memory. I also plan to add more content to each of these features and new chapters, as time rolls on. It will only be finished when I am! Anyway, despite all that, I thought it’d be a good idea.

OK, that sounds pretty amazing! How did you get started in the blues?

I saw Ray Charles live in 1965. His whole show blew my mind. I began to try learning piano the very next day by bringing the radio from our kitchen and perching it atop our parlor piano. I started with one finger at a time pecking along with the Soul and Blues sounds coming from Boston’s black station, WILD. Later, I met the great Otis Spann and we became friends. He would have me place my hands on his, while he played. After a few times, he’d then tell me to do it all by myself. I saw many of the greats (Muddy, Wolf, Buddy & Junior, Otis Rush, Butterfield, Freddie King etc.) up close at a small coffee house. Club 47 held 50-60 people max, so every seat was ‘right there’ where you could see and feel the music intimately. I also saw B.B. King at a ghetto nightclub in Roxbury when I was 16. Jimmy Smith, Brother Jack McDuff, Booker T, Art Neville, Sly Stone and Billy Preston were among my B-3 heroes, and still are. Also, all the amazing unknown and unnamed Gospel organists that have graced so many Sundays and my favorite Black Gospel recordings.

How did you team up with Albert King – do you have any memories of coming to Britain with him?

My local band opened up for Albert at a jazz club, just outside of Boston. We regularly backed up Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Big Mama Thornton and John Lee Hooker etc. whenever they came to town. We were all still in High School. That night, Albert fired his band right before his set was to begin and hired us to back him up for his show, unrehearsed. After the show, he asked our drummer and I to join his ‘new’ band. That first tour of England was great! (see attachment) I was already friends with Otis and John Lee. Meeting and touring with Champion Jack Dupree made it all the better. He was a lot of fun. England was especially very, very British back then, not as much to me today. My only pause in saying my experience was perfect, was the fact that I couldn’t understand any Brits whenever they spoke to me. They didn’t have anywhere near the perfect accent while speaking English I expected. I’ve always contended that Bostonian English is just that, perfect, for the simple reason no one can mimic it. Anyone

can imitate any of the other ‘foreign’ English accents quite convincingly. But not even the world’s greatest actors can speak Bostonian (perfect English) even passably, despite trying to. Ever see a movie about the Kennedys? I rest my case.

When did you begin recording?

Besides band practice tapes we made as kids (which cost me plenty to have destroyed), my first ‘real’ recording was with B.B. King, “Live at Cook County Jail”. It won B.B. his first Grammy.

So then you went to BB King?

Yes, B.B. and Sonny Freeman saw me playing with Albert and ‘stole’ me from him. That’s something Albert always reminded me of and teased me incessantly about throughout our long friendship. (see: img157-4_92)

Did you ever work with Luther Snake Boy Johnson and Chicago Bob?

Yes indeed! I met Luther when he was with Muddy as a teenager. He ended up living and gigging here in Boston until his untimely

death. Several of his band members joined my band years later. He was quite the character. Despite having the same given name as the other Luther Johnson (Guitar Jr.), he was definitely one of a kind. That could apply to both Luthers!

Chicago Bob recently passed. He was a fine gentleman. Both he and Snake/Georgia Boy were deep, indelible influences and teachers to many of the aspiring Blues musicians in the Boston area at the time. They were both the ‘real deal’. I met Bob through Luther Guitar Jr. Johnson when we worked together in the early ‘80s.

OK - and how did Roomful Of Blues get together?

Roomful started in the late 60s in Rhode Island. Duke Robillard (guitar/vocals) and Al Copley (piano) were the so-called founders. At first, they were a quartet, then they added horns. All of us became friends, and had worked and played together many times before I joined the band when Albie left in

Ron and albeRt King

1983. Roomful is celebrating their 45th Anniversary this year! All of its alumni were inducted into the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame last summer. Some of us are ‘gone’, but saxophonist Rich Latille never left. Everyone who was ever in that band shares a strong common bond today, even if we never played together – different decades apart. Their current lead singer Philip Pemberton, is one of my closest friends. I left the band 26 years ago, he joined 3-4 years ago. I used a couple of Roomful’s horn players on my current album Funky Fiesta! who weren’t in the band during my tenure.

Any special memories of Eddie Cleanhead Vinson, or Big Joe Turner?

XXXXXX

Both of these GIANTS recorded with Roomful right before I joined the band. However, I had backed them both up at various times at a club called Sandy’s Jazz Revival in Beverly, Massachusetts, up on the Northshore. Gray Sargent, who went on to become Tony Bennett’s guitarist for the last 25 years, and I put a rhythm section together for these dates. I had also backed up Big Joe as a teenager. He spoke in the key of C. He also sang all his songs in that key. I guess it just came naturally to him? He was THE iconic Blues Shouter that everybody since has tried to emulate. Back in the day, Big Joe didn’t need a microphone. He didn’t need one when I played with him either.

Eddie was a brilliant saxophonist and one hell of a singer and songwriter as well. I had met him first while I was with B.B. We did a week at the Blue Note in New York City with Eddie when I was with Roomful. He was the real deal, from the old school.

Any particular memories of Black Top/Rounder/ Bullseye Blues?

It was during that time, I transformed from a touring sideman musician working for others to a session player and arranger, an Associate Producer, Producer and A&R man, and eventually a co-founder and part owner of a record company. I was party to many great projects garnering nine Grammy nominations and numerous W.C Handy Awards and others. I became a leader and helped re-invigorate

the careers of some of the legends in Blues, Jazz and Soul music, as well as discover and launch many new talents. I’m proud of the many projects we did, which all still hold up pretty well today. I devoted four chapters in “Tales” with many humorous and inspirational stories.

You worked a lot around that time. When/why did you start Ron Levy’s Wild Kingdom? What was your inspiration...?

While I was touring with Roomful in the mid-80s, I signed a record contract with New Orleans’ Blacktop Records. The personnel on my first solo album was comprised of some fellow members in Roomful and our friends, The Fabulous Thunderbirds. It turned out to be quite a success and even a cult classic. It gave me a wonderful opportunity to showcase my compositions, arrangements, singing and playing with the best support one could’ve hoped for. We had a ball recording it, but then I had to come up with a title for the record. While watching one of my favorite TV shows ‘Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom with Marlin Perkins,’ a gang of tigers and lions were ‘playing’ with some zebras and chasing some gazelles, and I had an epiphany. It’s been Ron Levy’s Wild Kingdom ever since.

Tell me about Levtron Productions. After Roomful and Blacktop, I became a Producer and A&R man for Rounder Records and subsequently, Bullseye Blues and Cannonball Blues and Jazz Records. I needed a name for my production company. Because so many mis-pronounce my name as “LeeVee” (my name rhymes with Chevy not Ford), I figured it would be impossible for people to say, “Ron LeeVee of Levtron Productions”. I was dead wrong. In fact, I had to correct a DJ during a live on air interview three times, recently. I also figured the names Levtron and Levtronic (my publishing company) gave the impression of being a pseudo-scientific, electronic, stylish and retro-modern endeavor. Most would agree with that and they pronounce them both perfectly.

this in-depth intervie W W ill continue in issue 73. don’t miss it! you can buy ‘tales from a road dog’ from WWW.levtron.com

SY: In recent years you have become involved in quite a lot of production work. In fact, as well as playing on HereIAmyou were the producer too. How did you first get interested in that side of things and become involved?

WP: I just naturally gravitated towards production. When I was a teenager I was always trying to work out which song would be the single on an album, I always liked albums that were sonically more pleasing and interesting. Good sounds from all the musicians, great arrangements, great lyrics and melodies. Also, drums were my 2nd instrument, I started guitar when I was eight years old and played very seriously for nearly ten years. So I feel I never just heard songs from just a drummer’s perspective, I was hearing the whole puzzle and how it could fit together. I produced my first album nearly ten years ago now, that was Sean Webster’s If Only, we had seven days to record, mix and master ten songs.

Crazy schedule really, but we had a lot of fun and I learnt so much from it. I read a lot of books on sound engineering, picked up tips from producers and studios I was working with. I peered over the shoulder of the studio engineer and watched what they would do, what mic position and pre amp they would choose, and how that would work on different instruments. And listened to as much music as I could. When I start a new production project I like to sound out an artist and find out their influences, and get versed in what they are listening to and referencing, break down the structures, instrumentation, type of mix. Like anything, you dip your toe in and see how it goes, if it goes well you try again and you keep going. If it gets well received, new doors open and the next project will present itself. My career these days is pretty much split 50/50 Drummer/Producer.

Indeed as we speak you are providing the production skills to record Oli’s latest tour for a live CD to be released in 2013. It must be challenge to produce a live album. Is this a first for you Wayne? Yeah, we have been recording a bunch of shows off this latest tour of the UK to put together for a live album. A live album is really

about being the best documentarian you can be, not at all like a studio album where you craft and sculpt. Live albums need me to capture the sounds and feel of the band and do my best to immerse the listener in the sensation of feeling they are at the gig. You just have to cover the bases really, Drums, Bass Guitar, Rhythm and Lead Guitars, Keys, Vocals, Audience. And then present that excitement. I produced Ian Parker’s Official Bootleg live album a few years ago. Ian’s band at the time really were top notch musicians; it was Steve Amadeo on Bass who now works with Aynsley Lister and Morg Morgan on keys. Those guys made it really easy to press record on those gigs, and knew we would get something that would be cool for an album. We recorded four nights but used stuff from two nights. The last night was at Ian’s hometown gig, The Robin two in Wolverhampton, and the audience were fantastically rowdy, they just spurred us on. We got 8 songs from that night and played stuff on that gig that was totally made up on the spot and improvised, stuff we had never played before. I should have mentioned that in my ‘highlights of my career’ actually; I can remember the buzz we had when we got off stage, and to have that captured on CD is wonderful.

How different is it being a producer? Do you get a different sense of job satisfaction hearing the final product?

It’s different but the same, it’s all being creative, so it’s all good to me. I never approach any two projects the same as a drummer or producer, so it is always new and fresh and a voyage of discovery. This week I have been in the studio with King King, and every day the songs have changed direction as we have tried different arrangements, drum parts and sounds, guitar parts, guitar sounds. It all really does start off with a lump of clay and you sculpt the songs bit by bit. Your instincts guide you at every turn, that’s why it is so important to have listened to plenty of music, so you have a wide palette to paint from and reference. The satisfaction is larger as the

the aW ard W inning drummer and master producer concludes his intervie W

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producer, as you are there from start to finish, as opposed to just doing some drums one day and not hearing the product till the day of release. I did some drums nearly two years ago for a wonderful Janis Joplin styled singer called Alex Hepburn, and I have just been told the single had been released this week, first time I had heard the final mix. Lovely to hear it, but a little weird after all this time when you have kinda forgot you played on a track or album. When I am the producer I cherish the journey from the first idea through it’s gestation into a fully-fledged song. It becomes especially satisfying when you get twelve songs into play and can hear how the album is going to sound and feel overall.

Tell us a bit about your drum loop CD, KingTone Grooves. How did that come about?

King Tone Grooves was a project put together by The Davey Brothers. I had met Jess Davey at a Hoax gig and I was with Aynsley supporting them in Holland. Jess ended up producing Aynsley’s Everything I Need album. We were in the studio, and on the down time Jess would ask me to play a bunch of different grooves and he would record them for his own use. That morphed into a full drum loop CD.

We took two days and recorded a lot of drums! Ha! Our favourite grooves, fills and sounds, lots of John Bonham and Stevie Wonder styled stuff. Jess and Rob then went through it all and collated something like 1000 grooves each with fill options. It’s a songwriters tool, to have something more real than a drum machine when they don’t have a drummer. We got some amazing reviews for that CD, they worked super hard. A classic example of those guys putting their minds to something and doing it. They just said ‘Let’s make a drum loop CD’, they didn’t have a label for it, so we did it anyway and sure enough it got picked up by AMG, one of the biggest Sample CD companies in the world, very cool really. I’ve been told it’s been used by U2 and Glen Ballard, Glen produced Alanis Morrisettes’s Jagged Little Pill, Jess told me he met him one time and that he said KTG was one of his favourite drum loop CDs.

Years ago, when I was a lad, there were drummers who were huge stars with global recognition. I’m thinking of people like Ginger Baker, Bonzo, Keith Moon, Ian Paice and Mitch Mitchell. Do you think

nowadays people’s perceptions of what makes a great drummer have changed?

Yeah maybe, but I think you could show anyone Bonham today and they will still think he is a monster drummer. In fact he still tops greatest drummer in the World polls to this day in leading drumming magazines or Rolling Stone. It’s just you don’t see players like that in bands as much. I think we have maybe lost the bands that those types of drummers were in. Dave Grohl is probably your last great famous drummer on the world stage, with Nirvana, Foo Fighters and Queens Of The Stone Age. There are plenty of new drumming stars coming through, but not as many who are known for the affiliation with one band like Bonham or Moon were with Led Zeppelin and The Who. They will be well known in musician and drumming circles, but it seems to stop there rather than break through into the general public consciousness.

Who were the drummers that first inspired you to take up the sticks and who have been the greatest influences?

This is where I totally destroy any cool factor I might have had! Ha! One of the first concerts I was influenced by was Eric Clapton and Friends at the NEC – Phil Collins was on drums, at this point I was still a fully-fledged

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guitarist. I was 11 years old, all my friends had this video, and we all just tried to copy what Eric, Phil, and Nathan East were doing. When I made the leap to full time drummer, Phil’s style just stuck in my head as something very musical, very song-orientated and tremendously exciting. Phil played for the songs, had a cool drum sound and had some epic signature fills! Seeing and hearing Phil play definitely took me down the route of learning how to play for the song. I went all the way to the beginning of Phil’s career and just loved how versatile he was with Genesis, Brand X and Clapton. What’s more, seeing Phil in his production capacity definitely inspired my move into a production capacity later on in my career. It just showed me you can be more than just a drummer if you want..

After Phil Collins, Jeff Porcaro was my next major influence. Jeff was just the man for playing the song. Jeff had feel, touch, and a great sense of chops that always served the song. I always loved his drum sound. You could always hear him; he had a real identity on the drums, but it was never overbearing. Jeff was a drummer that Toni Cannelli brought my attention to on one of his lesson tapes.

Steve Jordan and John Bonham are other major influences. Chad Smith, Matt Chamberlain, Manu Katche, and Vinnie Colaiuta. These guys have a common thread, drummers who have a strong identity, but whose playing always serves the song. It doesn’t mean playing simple as such, it means reacting to the song with the appropriate response and give it the right energy. That took a while to understand the difference, playing simply and playing appropriately.

More recently I have loved listening to guys like Stanton Moore and Keith Carlock. They just sound like they have fun when they play the drums, and that is really important. That joy you feel should come through. It is infectious to an audience, be it when they watch you or when they listen to you on record. That energy does translate.

Who are the ones to watch in the drum world among the younger players in your opinion?

I don’t get to see as many young bands as I

would like so I am not totally aware of every great young drummer out there at the moment I am afraid. There is a great young drummer called Phil Wilson from Skegness who is a monster player, incredible groove, fantastic ideas. Phil played on Scott Mckeon’s last album Trouble, it is a Masterclass in drum sounds, feel and pocket playing and he is only 23 years old! The guy has some serious potential. Phil also just played on Jesse Davey’s new album.

For any drum enthusiasts out there, talk us through your favoured set up. These days I’m favouring Vintage drums and older styled cymbals. I have a couple of 60s Ludwigs, A 1967 Ludwig Superclassic in Red Sparkle 22”, 13”, 16” Mahogany/ Poplar/Mahogany shells and 1969 Ludwig Superclassic in Blue Oyster Pearl with Maple/ Poplar/Maple shells. Both are beautiful sounding drum sets, and very different from each other. The Mahogany set sounding fatter and bigger and the Maple being very punchy and a little tighter sounding. Cymbal wise I keep it to just Hi Hat, Crash and a Ride cymbal. All big, dark sounding cymbals, more like old Turkish cymbals. I have 17” Hi hats, a 20” Crash and 22’’ Ride. I am endorsed with Paiste, they are a wonderful company and really do offer up some fantastic instruments. I have a collection of snares, some vintage, some modern. A 1960 Chrome Over Brass Ludwig 400 14” x 5”, A 1958 Ludwig Downbeat 14” x 4” a Dunnett Titanium 14” x 6.5” which has the Bonham sound down to a tea and a Brady Wandoo Block Shell 13” x 7”. I am also endorsed with Vic Firth sticks and use a Wood tipped 5A model. There is a lot of great gear out there, but for me the Vintage stuff works best, especially the Ludwigs. Nothing is quite like it, I’ve noticed it more in the studio, it works.

Thanks for giving us your time Wayne, its been very interesting to get a perspective from a drummer’s and producer’s point of view. It’s been a pleasure.

f or the latest ne W s on W ayne proctor check out WWW.W ayneproctormusic.co.uk

Jeff h ealey is arguably the greatest ever blues musician to have emerged from c anada. h is passing a W ay at the far too young age of 41 from a rare form of cancer in 2008 robbed the W orld of perhaps the best of his W ork yet to come

he German label Inakustik and the family led Estate of Jeff Healey have joined forces to release a wonderful five disc CD/DVD commemorative box set. This all live, previously unreleased edition covers three concerts, all recorded in Germany from 1989, 1995 and 2000, giving us the opportunity to see the growth and maturity of Jeff and his band taking place before our eyes.

One of the driving forces behind this release is Jeff’s wife Cristie, who along with Jeff’s lifelong friend Roger Costa protect the legacy of the man and his work. I spoke to Cristie by telephone at her Toronto home just a couple of days after the fifth anniversary of Jeff’s passing.

BM: I started by commenting on how impressed I was with the way the set had been put together including the great packaging and the booklet sleeve notes. CH: We’re very happy with the whole package. The Inakustik people have been brilliant, they wanted us involved in every aspect, the packaging, choosing the photos used, the sleeve notes, everything. We’re very proud of it. As well as people who are familiar with Jeff’s music we hope also it might introduce new people to become fans.’

Was the process an emotionally difficult one? It can be difficult at times, often very mixed emotions. It was hard to look at some moments but it’s to make a better product. I’d rather go through the emotion than have something lacking honesty or respect. We

wanted to be sure about being accurate and showing respect to Jeff’s hard work and talent, he was a perfectionist by nature, so we had to reflect that double checking everything like the credits etc. We are so happy how it turned out, in fact we only received the finished product two days ago and yesterday we celebrated our sons birthday and Jeffs father was here so we all watched it together.

Most people will be aware that Jeff had lost his sight from an early age due to rare cancer and that he had overcome his handicap to scale the heights he did with a unique style of playing. Until I read the sleeve notes I had no idea that his son Derek had inherited similar problems. Yes, Derek was born with Retinoblastoma but thanks to the research and progress made by Daisy’s Eye Cancer Fund his eyes have been cancer free since 2006 and he has perfect vision, he doesn’t even need glasses.

The Daisy charity is given good publicity in the sleeve notes and is something Jeff always actively supported, but it was wasn’t the only one. Jeff was very interested in teaching and promoting literacy. He did a huge amount of fund raising including playing in golf tournaments and helped a charity called Word On The Street, teaching people to read braille. He could famously read books faster with braille than sighted people could read.

We all know Jeff as a great blues player, perhaps whats not so well known is that he was also a gifted jazz performer. In fact first and foremost Jeff was

a jazz fan, he had a world famous collection of over 30,000 traditional jazz ‘78s that he painstakingly catalogued. Long time bass guitarist Joe Rockman has said that his love of jazz can be clearly heard in his playing.

I asked Cristie if she still had the collection: He wished it to be broken up and go to different collectors who would understand and appreciate it. He didn’t want it to sit on shelves and be a museum piece. He started the collection as a ten year old, it was a huge influence and inspiration to him.’ We talked a bit about Jeff’s musical background, ‘Jeff was bought his first guitar when he was a three year old. He also played piano, bass and drums. People always said that Jeff played drums backwards because he never crossed his arms over. He couldn’t see why he should.

I knew Jeff had recorded some jazz records and played trumpet on those: He loved playing trumpet and had learned it in high school. He had an unconventional style of playing, he would hold it to the side of his mouth and only puff out one cheek. To him it felt and sounded better.’ So Jeffs unique musical style wasn’t restricted to his guitar playing.

One of the great things about this package is the way you can experience the band at different levels of their and Jeffs development. The first show from 1989 showcases a young trio, Jeff with Jim Rockman and Tom Stephen just beginning to enjoy a level of success bursting with energy and power. If you’ve only read about Jeff’s style of playing guitar across his lap and not witnessed him live before you might be shocked when this young blind man stands up and walks around on stage playing the guitar in all kinds of manner including behind his head. The energy is palpable, as Jim Rockman says in the notes: ‘Making senseofitwasachallenge.Withaconventional guitarplayerIcanwatchthelefthandandknow wherehe’sgoingmusically.ButwithJeffitwas upsidedownandbackwards,soIwouldplaybyear, notbyeye.’

Jeff also excels on Jackson 12-string and 6-string double neck guitar, quite a feat. By the time of the 1995 recording the band had been joined by Pat Rush on second guitar. He was vastly experienced having played with Johnny Winter among others. Jeff had been a long time admirer and used to listen to Pat playing in the bars and clubs around Toronto as a young teenager. On this recording

Jeff showcases some of his quality acoustic playing too, especially on MeAndMyCrazySelf.

Pat Rush had moved on by the 2000 show and the band are joined by prodigious young talent Philip Sayce, who has gone on to release some wonderful recordings in his own right. The presence of Philip on stage seemed to push Jeff to even further depths within himself to find some truly unique sounds and tones. As Cristie said:

On the first show you can sense the energy of the music leading them through but by the later shows they had gained more control and it’s the band leading the music.

The esteem Jeff continues to be held in is reflected in the fact that in 2011 the city of Toronto renamed the Woodford Park in honour of Jeff. He had huge drive and determination to overcome his disability and become a world famous musician but remained a loving family man and supporter of other less fortunate people. Cristie remembers his attitude was: Don’t guide me, let me find out for myself, his advice to others was, ‘don’t let people convince you, you aren’t capable of anything.’

as the years go passing by - live in germany is available from WWW.in-akustik.com

On the air : keviN BeAle

V E rb A ls: d arren w eale

KEVin ‘thE mArshmAn’ bEAlE is one of those b lues radio presenters with multiple identities. on the one hand, he is a u K radio presenter with Channel radio

n the other, his regular ‘Blues on the Marsh’ shows go out on stations in North America, for example with Rock station CJIM Montreal, and of course across the internet. We asked Kevin about his show.

“My show, Blues on the Marsh, was born approximately three years ago following an intensive radio training course on our local community radio, Romney Marsh FM. After a further two name changes the show has now settled down in great new, state of the art studios run by Channel Radio situated in converted farm buildings at Haguelands Farm, Dymchurch. I am very lucky that I am able to

play pretty much what I like and just love what I play, whether new, unknown or established bands and artists. I do like to try and vary the show by playing Blues from as many far flung areas of the Globe as I can find.”

“I have my dear old father to thank for my love and passion for the Blues, having been brought up on Mayall, Fleetwood Mac, Sonny Boy Williamson, Muddy Waters, etc etc, in the late 60’s. I now really enjoy the wonders of technology enabling us to reach out to the World. I did my bit to keep Music live in the late 70’s and 80’s by visiting a lot of the great festivals abundant at the time, seeing such greats as Jethro Tull, John Mayall, and in 1979 Led Zeppelin’s last live concert at Knebworth.”

“Why not join me every Friday on Blues on the Marsh and hear what you are missing?! Keep on Bluesin’!!!”

And just a few words about Channel Radio. Channel Radio is a community station broadcasting 24 hour day, 7 days a week. They host a selection of original programming with music genres catering to every taste and age group, plus special interest talk shows and original dramas. Their shows are broadcast in HD – High Definition Super Clear CD Stereo.

sAmple plAYlisT

(a bit of history from 2011)

Bob Hall, I Can’t get my ass in gear, demo disc Big Boy Bloater and The Southside Stompers, Jump for joy, Great Big Hunk Of Man 2003

Beige Fish, Crashing, WildCat Cafe 2011

Michael Terry, Blame It On My Day Job, Too Bad 2011

Tim Hain & Alan Glen, Eel Pie Special, Sampler from Note Records

Brownstone Blues Band, Bad Credit Blues 2011

Jim Dead and The Doubters, Bone Blue Moon, Ten Fires 2011

Hip Shakin’ Mamma and The Legman, Funkalicious Sugar Blue, Reclaim Your Land 2011

Mud Dog, These Bones Are Bare, Sun 2011

Pappa Dawg, Croc Talking, Same Dog New Suit 2005

The Black Sheep, Slaughterhouse Blues 2011

Colin J Tozer, Pictorial Review Jackson 2011

MoneyMaker, Thrill Is Gone, Open For Business 2010

Beige Fish, Faliing Twins, WildCat Cafe 2011

Craig Hughes, Everybody’s Fault But Mine, Pissed Off , Bitter and Willing To Share 2009

Brian Chevalier, Rocky Mountain Raven, Heavy Chevy 2011

Jenny Jane, Sugar In My Bowl

Becca Langsford, You’re In For A Big Surprise, Big Surprise 2011

Michael Terry, Why You Wanna Scream On Me, Too Bad 2011

Mud Dog, Gonna Make You Howl, Devils Ride 2003

Pappa Dawg, 1-2 Gone, Same Dog, New Suit 2005

Hip Shakin’ Mamma and The Leg Men, Rooster Stew, Reclaim Your Land 2011

Trevor Sewell, Where The Wild Ones Go, Calling Your Name 2011

Tim Hain & Sunnyside Up, An Old Bluesman Never Dies, Bleggae 2007

how To heAR The mARshmAN:

Show: BLUES ON THE MARSH

Website: www.channelradio.co.uk

Times: Friday 7pm – 9pm

Station: channelradio.co.uk

Times: Sunday 8pm Eastern Time

Station: CJIM Montreal www.cjim.ca

Times: Tuesday 6pm Eastern Time

Station: Gold Radio Pennsylvania www.goldoldies.com

Times: Thursday 12 noon Central Time

Station: Kansas City Online Radio www.kconlineradio.com

Podcast : http://themarshman.podomatic.com

All shows only available online.

Contact: thebluesmarshman@gmail.com

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ALAN WILSON

The Blind Owl

severn records

this issue’s selection of the very best blues

It is very hard to sum up a double album celebrating Alan Wilson, the short-sighted, pivotal figure in Canned Heat, a band that sounded like no other. Very happily, the album has an excellent booklet, with an introduction by Skip Taylor, former manager to the Heat, plus insightful track notes. The music is a fascinating mix of Blues or the Blues-ish. The classics On The Road Again and Going Up The Country are present and correct along

LUCY ZIRINS

ChaSing ClOCkS

Ginger music

with a raft of other hits, all tied together by Wilson’s characteristically fluting vocals. There is always a sense of “I wonder what on earth the next one will be like?” Yet that is pleasurable anticipation, as tracks like My Mistake scud along happily. Musically, there is some wonderful guitar (notably on Shake It and Break It) and organ and harmonica. The Ennio Morricone-like twang of Nebulosity is one of the album’s several ventures into the far out, but is followed by Rollin’ & Tumblin , a more traditional harmonica led stomp. That leads me nicely back to the summing up of the album: sometimes weird, frequently wonderful, and a

Chasing Clocks, is a skilful début album from the award winning Lucy Zirins from Burnley, having been recognised in the Blues Matters’ Writers’ Poll, winning ‘Best Newcomer’ and runner-up in Best Solo Artist Category during 2012 as well as being recognised in The British Blues Award ‘British Newcomer’ section. This 12-track album is fully of beautiful, thoughtful and often wistful lyrics penned by Lucy, that makes her stand out from the crowd especially when teamed up with her guitar sitting on the stage she is a complete package. The album was recorded at the famous analogue Toe Rag Studios, London. Each track links back to the title and you can go round the clock with all the emotions ever sung about. Separate Ways has a mournful, soulful opening of cellos, and then the star of the show Lucy’s voice kicks in, full of emotion of regret of love lost; and later on in the CD the theme is returned to with The Last One with its definite country feel, in which she lays her emotions bear with the relevant use once again of time and this time she could be the one forever. Followed by Songs Of Dreams and Wishes Home in which reflections are articulated by the words, with the tone of Lucy’s voice deeper and soulful with superb accompaniment from the phalanx of musicians used to add texture. This is not traditional blues, but should not characterised as Americana – it is a great British music weaving great musical traditions together creating a modern fresh sound and Lucy’s song-writing skills are awesome. liz aiken

well-presented insight into the creative force that was Alan Wilson.

Darren Weale

SAVOY BROWN

SOngS FrOm The rOad ruf cD/DvD

This 112 minute dual CD and DVD will be a joy to all the many Savoy fans out there who have been waiting so long for something visual. There are 12 tracks to the CD with an extra two on the DVD. The line-up of rhythm section Pat De Salvo (bass) and (the stand out named) Garnett Grimm (drums) are as solid a back line as you’d expect. The vocals are handled by Joe Whiting, a fine singer (who I first heard back in 1994 with Backbone Slip out of New York on Blue Wave Records). Joe provides not only a good voice but also some fine sax playing.

Top these guys off with a splendid performance by Kim Simmonds and you have a damn good show. The sound is good, the songs are good, the crowd is ‘intimate’ (but almost as if someone has told them to be quiet). Kim often takes off to wandering the small stage and seems a bit couped up at times but the playing is real fine and will delight all fans. There are old favourites and new songs well mixed including a super Hellbound Train featuring Joe on sax and Kim takes it right down (literally on his knees) to bring it right back up of course on this classic SB number. Pat takes to upright bass on the DVD bonus track Little Red Rooster before reverting back for the closing Louisiana Blues with a solo from Pat then Garnett before this closes the set. Filmed in Dortmund on 5/5/12 there is also

JO

HARMAN

dirT On my TOngue independent

Only coming to prominence over the last year, Jo has been treading the musical boards for considerably longer. After 2011’s Live At The Hideaway and last year’s Worthy of Love EP we now have the long-awaited and much-vaunted Dirt on My Tongue. Predominantly calling on the same band as on Hideaway with the notable addition of guitarist, co-songwriter Mike Davies, all the eleven tracks on here are originals, although three of them did appear on the aforementioned live CD. Apart from the class musicians on here though, the real star is Jo herself, her vocal versatility allows her to sound soulful and reflective in equal measure, a rare gift nowadays. Consisting mainly of ballads, the music and lyrics are first rate. I Shall Not Be Moved, Sweet Man Moses (a ballad Jo wrote for her brothers after the premature death of their father) and Cold Heart would not be out of place in a soul/gospel environment. In the main, the songs on here are of a melancholy, thoughtful mood; the lyrics show an honesty we can all associate with, such as on (This Is My) Amnesty with its epic production and What You Did For Me, which deals with a relationship break-up. The new take on Worthy Of Love reminds me of the good old days of vocal harmonies. Davies shows his blues prowess on the co-written Underneath the River and Better Woman. Then again, all the musicians are a welcome break from the crash bang wallop I often listen to! A very definite thumbs-up from me.

Clive raWlingS

an interview with Kim in the bonus section of the DVD. To all fans this is highly recommended.

Frank leigh

SAM SALLON

One FOr The rOad independent

Don’t let the fact that this is definitely not a blues album put you off. I would have liked to know more about this talented singer/songwriter, but although his web site is a pretty smart, stylish affair, there’s no biography, and his blog, though interesting, tells me little. Then again, the music can speak for itself, and this music has a sweet, satisfying and sonorous voice. The musicianship from the eight players here, as well as the skilled arrangements, including cellos, violins, piano, harpsichord and dobro, plus Sam’s own superb guitar playing, is exemplary. To my old ears this all took me back to Tim Buckley, Nick Drake and Roy Harper. The songs such as It’s Not Hard to Lose

Your Way are all exquisitely lyrical. This is a collection tailor-made for contemplation. There is the occasional shift in tempo, such as the Latin-esque War and the bouncy No No No , but whichever of these 13 tracks you settle upon, you’ll be rewarded with fine writing, meticulous production and something special from an artist I think we may well hear much more from in the future, and the stand-out track for me, Long Way Down , is a finely-honed piece of emotional craftsmanship.

roy Bainton

KHALIF WAILIN’ WALTER

She PuT The VOOdOO On me Damnyalljamn

Youngish Chicago bluesman Khalif details his approach and his roots on I Got My Own Kinda Groove , but that is track six, and by that time most listeners should have a fair idea of what he is about. Backed by an international band including names I

recognised such as bassist Erkan Özdemir (Memo Gonzalez), trumpeter Boney Fields (James Brown, Luther Allison) and saxman Tommy Schneller (Henrik Freischlader) and recorded over two days in Osnabrück, Germany, this CD is a fine modern effort, with tough boogies such as Ghost Train , powerful slowish groovers like I’m Your Love Doctor and moody mid-tempo Stax flavoured blues of the high calibre of Let Em In . The second half of the album is funkier and adds influences such as Prince, Stevie Wonder, and Michael Jackson to the earlier ones of Otis Rush, Alberts King and Collins, Khalif’s former employer Lonnie Brooks, and his uncle Carl Weathersby. It says a lot about the current blues business that a talented artist such as Khalif has to fund his own releases, and although it would be good to see him back in the UK soon, this CD will plug the gap very nicely until he comes around again. norman DarWen

HARRY MANX

Om SuiTe Ohm

Dog my cat

Harry Manx’s ninth solo album perhaps encapsulates his Electric Bollywood sound more strongly than his entire critically acclaimed back catalogue. The album was recorded in Australia with producer Hans Christian. Manx’s Eastern sound slide playing come through strongly on opener Further Shore , an impressive song which is a strong indication of the high standard of the artist’s compositions. A spoken dialogue by Gujurra Waitarie commences Way Out Back . With lyrical reference to Kamara, Australia, it features noted Didjeridoo player Ganga Giri, who has previously played with Peter Gabriel. Taking the melody from John Coltrane, Manx adds lyrics to a memorable interpretation of A Love Supreme . Both this song and Reuben’s Train features prominently the Indian phasing on the electric side; the latter also boasting a notable blues

DANA AND SUSAN ROBINSON

ameriCan hOrnPiPe

OK let’s get this out of the way and then we can move on – American folk / country, Appalachian, boondocks wailing, is the white man’s blues – being poor, out-of-work, in despair and on the bones of your arse don’t belong exclusively to anyone. So, having agreed that, we at BM are delighted to unreservedly recommend American Hornpipe, where even the song titles are inspiring and intriguing – and that’s before the music starts. Overall, it’s an invigorating mix of reconstituted traditional standards and simpatico originals. Hard as it might be to believe, the 17th century ballad Who Killed Cock Robin flies again here, a funk-folk re-jived acoustic jig, and The Invitation is skilfully beguilingly modern but just a slight, fluffy heart-beat away from the ultra-traditional stuff that Archie Fisher played for us at Aberdeen’s YMCA and Music Hall in the late ‘60s, proving the validity of my mantra these recent years, that old is the new new. ‘Roscoe’ puts me in mind of We’ll Mak’ The Keel Row, a coal-ship shanty I heard when I was a kid, and Susan Robinson’s unaccompanied vocal on Fair and Tender

Ladies is a fragile delight. Po’ Dunk Rogue tells of an itinerant musician (a fiddler in this case) rambling from town to town, playing for sustenance at pubs, sleeping in haylofts. When This Old Hat Was New sees Dana Robinson crafting a perfectly-formed country blues around a lyric by Florida cowboy punk poet Hank Mattson. Based on Geoff Bartley’s arrangement, Elizabeth 1st’s heroic sea-dogs are remembered on ‘Raleigh and Spencer’. So all in all, a different vista of the Blues, with a harmonic, uplifting lightness throughout that makes this a rewarding listen.

Pete inneS

vocal from Manx. Amongst the mix of East and West is Carry My Tears a song written for a recently departed friend. One of the more conventional recordings on the album and featuring with some Hammond B3 playing by Clayton Doley; the song saw Manx receive some much deserved recognition with a nomination for Songwriter of the Year at the Western Canadian Music Awards. In summary, this album is an absorbing listen.

DunCan Beattie

PEARL HANDLED REVOLVER

ThiS mOunTain waiTS

King mojo

As well as being a new name to me, this accomplished group of musicians who originate from Bedford are very hard to pigeon hole. With Bluesrock at their core, Pearl Handled Revolver play it their own way and demonstrate

many other influences from prog as in Honeycomb, Germanic styled rhythms a la Faust, Neu and Can in Hello Mary and a Dictators style punk resonates through Johnny’s In The Basement The Doors trance-like sound percolates through Rattle Your Bones and Lee Vernon’s vocals recall Jim Morrison as well as Simon Rinaldo’s keyboards sounding very much like Ray Manzarek. PHR seem to like to create an aura of music which absorbs the listener into the myriad of sounds emanating from the speaker. Blind is a simple but effective repetition that could easily become a chant as it builds, but is always anchored by the solid bass of Oli Carter and the flitting drums of Chris Thatcher. The vocals are not really delivered in a normal singing way, coming over more often as whispers or shouts and screams, at times coming from a smoky throat and at times seeming quite angelic. Nothing on this album replicates or copies any of the previous tracks, and in a world where originality is

becoming more and more difficult to find, Pearl Handled Revolver have handed us a glimpse of their melting pot of sounds with variety throughout. merv oSBorne

DAVE ARCARI & THE HELSINKI HELLRAISERS

whiSky in my BlOOd blue north records

Scot Dave Arcari has been endorsed by Seasick Steve, and it is not hard to see why. This primitive style of music fits squarely within the alt-Blues category. Part punk attitude, part country Blues and part rockabilly, its antecedents are clear and the songs are all played without compromise or deviation to an orthodox formula, not straying one iota from the form. This is Arcari’s sixth full length album, and the first that credits the Helsinki Hellraisers in the artiste’s title: they comprise Juuso Haapasalo on upright and electric bass and Honey Aaltonen on minimalist percussion of snare drum, cymbal and rub-board. Loch Lomond resident Arcari chose to record this album mostly in his band mates’ native Finland. Apart from a couple of nods to Robert Johnson, (Travelling Riverside Blues and Preachin’ Blues) and one to Bukka White (Jitterbug Swing) these are all Arcari compositions. I would imagine that these tunes come over best in a live pub setting, but for the living room listener this lacks sufficient variety to hold one’s attention. The vocals are gruff and without much expression, and competent as the playing is on a variety of acoustic instruments, again it is too repetitive for most tastes. noggin

SWAMP DOGG

raT On! independent

Swamp Dogg, aka Jerry Williams has been around a long time, making his first recording in 1954 under that name. He

became Swamp Dogg in 1970, and his career has mostly been as a soul artist and producer. Rat On! is his 1971 album the cover of which, featuring Williams on the back of an oversized white rat, was ranked as one of the ten worst album covers of all time, an achievement that Swamp Dogg is proud of, and reproduced here on this reissue CD in all its tacky splendour. Oddly, he uses the sleeve notes to rail against people who have upset him in the past; a sound engineer he claims stole his tracks, and bootleggers who sold millions of his records allegedly. None of this is anything to do with this CD, and just appears petty, a bad rap. Perhaps musicians shouldn’t write their own sleeve notes, but as his ego was clearly in charge on this one – he claims ‘Produced, arranged, piano, vocal background, and everything else of any importance - Jerry Williams (aka Swamp Dogg) – probably normal.

He has stated that he was raised on country music and is quoted as saying ‘If you strip my tracks, take away all the horns and guitar licks, what you have is a country song’. This is more southern soul than country, with a funk edge that adds strangeness to an already strange album that’s out of its time. There’s even a Bee Gees track, and others with a brassy soulful punk sound that doubtless has a cult following by now. And a lot of the weirdness is because way back then no one else was dealing with the same issues in this genre – described as a ‘soul genius that time forgot’, and ‘a strange combination of Sly Stone’s progressive funk with Frank Zappa’s lyrical absurdism’, he was ahead of his time, in his own words writing about such subjects as ‘sex, niggers, love, rednecks, war, peace, dead flies, home wreckers, Sly Stone, my daughters, politics, revolution and blood transfusions’. Tracks are: Do you believe , Predicment #2 , Remember I said tomorrow , Creeping away , Got to get a message to you , God bless America , I kissed your face, That ain’t my wife , She even woke me up to say goodbye and Do our thing together .

Peter SimmonS

SWAMP DOGG

TOTal deSTruCTiOn TO yOur mind

What’s in a name? Hailing from Portsmouth, Virginia, Jerry Williams has been around a long time - he’s in his 70s and as Little Jerry, made his first recording in 1954. In 1963 he re-named himself again as Little Jerry Williams, recording with Loma Records, and by 1966 he had dropped the Little to record as Jerry Williams. Confused? Never mind. In 1970 he took on a new name, Swamp Dogg and released his first LP record, Total Destruction to Your Mind . He’s a composer, record producer (surprisingly, in country music) and a flamboyant vocalist with a distinctive soul style and although this album was, like much of his material, overlooked at the time, he’s never been short of work or accolades. The 12 tracks here rip along from the stirring roll of the title track through to the oddly-titled, Otis Redding flavoured Dust Your Head Colour Red and the rocking Redneck +with its great punchy brass riffs, ballads such as The World Beyond and culminating in the gritty urban blues of Mama’s Baby, Daddy’s Maybe – a classic of its kind. It’s all very listenable stuff from a man who ought to be a household name, timeless, tasty bluesy soul with a dash of funk.

roy Bainton

CHICKEN SHACK

imaginaTiOn lady esoteric recordings

It’s 1972 and Stan Webb, the UK’s most under-rated Blues guitarist, is on fire. Amidst label move Blue Horizon (I even love the SMELL of their vinyl!) to Deram, Stan is seeking “a line-up to play heavy rock blues the way I wanted it to develop” and he sure as hell gets that with John Glascock

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BILY BOY ARNOLD WITH THE GROUNDHOGS

ChiCagO BlueS FrOm

iSlingTOn mewS 1977 angel air

It’s hard to believe this album is 36 years old.

Chicago’s Billy Boy Arnold, Harmonica ace, guitarist and straight-ahead vocalist, aged 42 in ’77, was at his peak when outrageous and adventurous R&B entrepreneur Peter Shertser, catching Arnold in London, suggested he make a high-energy, punky blues album by teaming him up with Tony McPhee’s gritty and experienced Groundhogs (by ‘77 actually trading under the name Terraplane).

The 12 pages of liner notes tell the full story (and it’s of its times and makes you smile). Shertser’s wife had given him a clout round the ear during an argument just before he was due in the studio to oversee the recording. Bleeding from his shell-like with a burst eardrum, he had no other choice other than to crank the studio volume right up, and this is the exhilarating result.

There’s 15 cracking tracks here, and the pairing of Arnold with the hard-driving Groundhogs works a treat, and just listen to the Master giving McPhee’s boys instructions!

The performances on Ah’W Baby, Eldorado Cadillac, Just a Dream and Catfish not only exemplify a true Chicago great at his best – they also give you a warm, nostalgic taste of an exciting time in British blues, as it punched through the tail-end of punk hell bent on survival.

Buy it, turn it up, (right up) and you’ll dance – I guarantee it.

roy Bainton

ARETHA FRANKLIN

areTha: wiTh The ray BryanT COmBO

soul Jam records 600807

The content of the recently reissued of Aretha Franklins’ nineteen sixty-one Columbia debut album is a crosssection of musical styles, ranging from; show tunes, Jazz and standards. The set is bolstered by a collection of eight rare numbers that were previously only available on the Checker, JVB AND Columbia labels. The eighteen year old singer was mentored in the studio by Ray Bryant who also played the piano. There was no ‘combo’ as such in the studio, simply a collection of crack musicians who were also conducted by Ray Bryant. From the set list we find Aretha tackling numbers as diverse as the standard Over The Rainbow, to which Aretha adds some serious electric crackle, to Billie Holliday’s fine rolling piano led Who Needs You. The one singular and inescapable fact is that despite Columbia’s inherent lack of any idea of which direction that this young talent should be going towards, was that her voice was more than capable of mastering any musical direction she chose to take. The power and range is amply displayed on the lively, saxophone led bluesy Maybe I’m A Fool and then is delicately caressing the contours of the very (Blue) By Myself. Apart from enjoying and luxuriating in the young prodigy that Aretha was, the jewels in the crown here, are without a shadow of a doubt the bonus numbers which capture a fourteen year old Aretha powerfully soloing in church with renditions of Precious Lord parts one and two also, there is the highly emotive and stirring Never Grow Old; and You Grow Closer, these four gospel numbers are purely and simply spine-tinglingly mesmerising. I Suppose, that if you want to hear what might have been or are simply historically curious, this album is well worth buying. Fascinating and memorable!

Brian harman

(bass guitar) and Paul Hancox (drums), recorded at Olympic Studios in leafy, Thames-side Barnes. Paced not a million miles distant from Cream’s take on Crossroads , Crying Won’t Help You Now is an exemplary power-trio amalgam of propulsive bass, on-the-case, perfectly judged drumming, motoring wah-wah electric guitar and, a constant throughout, Stan’s distinctive, plaintive high-end blues vocal. There’s something ominous in Daughter of the Hillside , blessed with a riff and a solo that could only have been created then, a snapshot evocative of that bluesy, experimentally arty time. A smoky, scrunched-eyes re-evaluation of Tim Hardin’s If I Were A Carpenter (play at top volume or not at all – y’hear?) is a heavy tour-de-force shit-storm to turn Blue Cheer a whiter shade of pale. Going Down (you can maybe guess by title, huh?) is a blue-black thixotropic, bludgeoning, descending

blues, illuminated by Stan’s staccato, wailing guitar sending shards at the stars. Poor Boy , maybe his best-known calling card after I’d Rather Go Blind is here too, articulated, meandering, and intense. If I’m stating the bleeding obvious, please excuse me, but there’s electricity about this, immediacy, vibrancy and despite the absence of that intoxicating Blue Horizon smell, this album is maybe Chicken Shack’s finest album. This, my friends, is why Blues matters.

Pete inneS

HOLLIS BROWN ride On The Train alive natural sound records

What a fine debut album this is! Hailing from New York City this four piece band effortlessly give song and performance equal status and straddle

the borders between unashamed pop melodies and occasional rock grit. One minute picking up on typical Smiths’ melancholy in Nothing & The Famous No One , next an instantly recognisable Fleetwood Mac percussive groove in Doghouse Blues, and then quasi-Southern rock in Gypsy Black Cat . Never far from this eclectic mix is a strong sense of Beatles melodic impressionism, and a song-is-king attention to melodies, hooks and overall song construction, no better displayed than in the gentle ballad If It Ain’t Me . That song is followed by a complete contrast, the rock powerhouse track Walk On Water , with a more raucous vocal from Mike Montali and some explosive fuzz guitar from Jon Bonilla. The main songwriters are lead vocalist Montali and lead guitarist Bonilla. They clearly have the talent to continue to excel in this neglected and timeless genre, where a rock group actually plays tunes.

noggin

PAUL ROSE

dOuBle liFe

mita records

North-easterner

Paul Rose has been around a bit and has more than a couple of albums to his name (it’s of the order of a dozen) yet he isn’t a household name of the blues fraternity in the UK. He should become better known with his latest entry, a barnstormer of electric blues recorded in fifteen days at The Steakhouse in Hollywood. Rose is the guitarist on the selection of well-known covers as he duly hands over the vocal duties to a trio of exceptional vocalists; Sweet Pea Atkinson, Terry Evans and Bernard Fowler. With creditable alumni in support and cracking blues standards on offer, (Honey Hush , Stormy Monday), it’s a sharp and bright album that could be seen as a trifle indulgent, yet it works. Tracks such as Cold Sweat and Drowning In The Sea Of Love may gather groans of familiarity

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Albums reviews from reading the sleeve but are very much worth the listen. Laying down the tracks in such a short time gives it a fresh and live feel. It is co-produced by Rose and John Wooler of Gary Moore notation, and it is that latter connection that may guide newcomers to investigate further.

gareth hayeS

TOMMY EMMANUEL AND MARTIN TAYLOR

The COlOnel and The gOVernOr

messa blue moon recordings

Have to confess from the outset I am not a great fan of Django Reinhardt style jazz guitar. Having said that, I found myself listening avidly to Aussie Emmanuel and Brit Taylor (M.B.E) on this CD, due for release in March. It’s a collection of songs both men like and will tour soon. Aficionados of the style will love it. Sounding a lot like the late John Fahey, the guitar work is mesmerising. Personally, I like a little more grit and a bit less swing. Stand out for me has got to be track 10, Down At Cocomo’s , a calypso that sounds like it has steel drums, but

BEN E. KING

hasn’t, it’s guitar. Another has to be track eight, Lullaby of Birdland . Not a lot more to say really – a straight forward CD to review. If you are a Djangoist and like acoustic jazz guitar, this ticks all the boxes.

Clive raWlingS

DUKE ROBILLARD

indePendenTly Blue

Dixie frog

This album is a complete joy. It gets off to a fine start, romping along with I wouldn’t-a Done

That. Below Zero is worth listening to simply for Duke’s refrain of the words ‘Below Zero’ delivered in his distinctive low growl. Stapled to the Chicken Shack is a good old Rocker very much in a Chuck Berry vein. There are tracks of different pace and style throughout, but the consistent elements are Duke’s gruff but pleasing voice, and great musicianship, including from guitarist Monster Mike Welch. All of the tracks are of a quality that demands attention. Moongate is slow and sinister and, quite literally, drips with water. The stand out track may just be one of the finest tracks you’ll

For an old geezer such as yours truly, this is a sheer delight. However, this is a long, long way from being anything to do with the blues, so be warned. Ben E. King had the true golden tonsils of the 50s and 60s, and as the lead vocalist with the legendary Drifters, has appeared on some of the most iconic recordings of the past 60 years. But this is a collection of ballads, nicely arranged, many with a Latin feel. (e.g., Pefidia, Besame Mucho, Amor) Blues they ain’t. There’s 12 tracks from King’s golden age, which peaked in the early 60s, plus no less than 10 bonus cuts. There’s an excellent, informative 16 pages of liner notes by Gary Kramer to set the scene. If you’re looking for anything bluesy, then you need to go straight to the bonus tracks, where Young Boy Blues is the closest you’ll get. Apart from that, this re-mastered package offers King classics such as the haunting Stand By Me, On The Horizon, the romantic, haunting Spanish Harlem and the joyous Save The Last Dance for Me. This is a luxurious soundtrack for a late night by the fire, a box of Belgian chocolates and some chilled Chardonnay. As I say – top music, epic even, but not really the blues!

roy Bainton

ever hear: Patrol Wagon Blues . The song blends Duke’s New Orleans infused Blues with some outstanding Bix Beiderbecke-like trumpet. It begins like the Dixieland funeral march from the Bond film ‘Live and Let Die’, then it absolutely springs into life with some intricate, light as air piano. Finally, and at length, the horn section toots and tweets in support of a long guitar instrumental which is enough to make the funereal corpse smile. Another diamond track that leads off with that beautiful trumpet is You won’t ever , a flowing song that I can imagine in another Bond movie. This album left me shaken and stirred.

Darren Weale

TITTY BAR TIM BLUES BAND

milk Shaka blue north

Now if you’re going to perform in an establishment like that mentioned in the title of this album then you sure as hell need to shout pretty loudly just to get some attention with all the other delights on offer. This mob do that and then some with their energetic, raw and raucous take on Chicago blues. Opener Milk Shaka sets the tone as it boogies fiercely with rough vocals, blues wailing harp and an extraordinary distorted guitar sound. It’s horrible and I love it. Having announced their presence the band keep up the intensity with Second Hand Snuff which rocks along in fine style with growled vocals, fierce harp riffing and the band joining in on the shouted vocal chorus. The material is all self-penned, authentic sounding and well written and although nothing particularly new these guys have obviously learnt their lessons well. High On The Night Train features a rocking train rhythm and some frenetic slide guitar licks. Weed Smokin’ Man rides on a funky electric piano riff and female backing vocals. The slow blues I Pity The Horse allows the band to stretch out a little with some more considered guitar and piano solos. A touch of rockabilly

SPaniSh harlem

soul Jam records cD

is introduced with T. K and then we get three tracks recorded live at House Of Rock in Kouvola, Finland. Yes this five piece band come from Finland although you cannot tell from the playing or vocals. Titty Bar Tim does his best Kim Wilson impression on vocals and harp to warn us of the dangers of the Evil Weed and then we get a long Slim Harpo style instrumental workout on Mike’s Boogie. The album closes with the even longer Helsinki Bound a slow blues featuring a guest sax player and also a guest mobile phone tinkler in the audience. I enjoyed this unpretentious, rough and ready album and the next time I’m in downtown Helsinki on a wet Monday night in February I shall keep my eyes open for the Titty Bar and I expect a rollicking good night out.

Dave Drury

MR H

The BOurBOn STreeT BlueS eP independent

Having previously reviewed Mr H, I was interested to hear his latest recorded project. Over the course of five new songs, he explores many genres, from blues/jazz to a Pink Floyd style song. With a fine technique on Nylon String guitar, and his growling vocals, he has employed a good group to put the flesh on the bones of his songs. Nik Turner adds some fine Alto Saxophone, whilst bassist JD Williams, drummer Basher Jarret and John David on Keyboards provide more colour.

They start with the upbeat story song of Bourbon Street Blues whilst Can’t Help You Now is a different propostion, a duet from Mr H and Nik Turner, with some keyboard providing an effective bedding for the song. Old Soldier is a slow ballad, with a jazz back-beat, Paint The Rocks is more of a tone poem, employing all members, with some fine soloing on the guitar and saxophone, whilst EP closer Walking Through The Wind has the same mood, and languid feel of Pink Floyd’s better known

work, with Mr H providing some fine guitar counterpoint, and a gritty vocal that is not far removed from David Gilmour’s performances. In all, this is a fine collection of songs, and well worth a listen if you are looking out for something a little bit different. For more information about Mr H, visit www.themusicofmrh.com

Ben maCnair

THE BLACK DIAMOND EXPRESS

BrimSTOne FOr hell

independent

A regular on the Edinburgh scene for the last five or so years, this is the first album from The Black Diamond Express. Recorded at The Caves, an underground city venue, it showcases why this nine piece band are gaining an ever increasing reputation. Reflective of their live set, the recording features the strong influences of Celtic and folk music as well as traditional blues styles. The blue moody Every Night About This Time opens the recording, with prominent harmonica from Tom ‘Harpo’ McClelland. ‘Nemo Saltat Sobrious ’ reveals the band’s folk roots, a song with a particularly commanding vocal by their frontman: ‘Jack O’ Diamonds’. One of the albums most impressive tracks is Never Was A Lass So Fair, an expansive and intricate performed song, with a Celtic feel.

Elsewhere two pre-war blues songs are given radical reworkings; Blind Willie McTell’s Dyin’ Crapshooters Blues has a deceptively sedate spoken introduction before exploding into life with weaving guitar, harmonica and fiddle. Preachin’ Blues is equally powerful, making for another distinctive interpretation. The Latin feel of Draw The Lightning contrasts to the deep blues of Double Trouble, while Live Free Or Die is irresistible folk rock. R L Burnside’s Going Down South with its stop start rhythm is another

CONTINUES OVER...

RUSS TIPPINS ELECTRIC BAND COmBuSTiOn arty music

This is the Russ Tippins Electric Band’s follow up to 2010’a well received Electrickery album, and carries on where it’s predecessor left off. It would be easy to call this band a power trio but there is more to their armoury than that.

Kicking off with the title track the band are soon flexing their collective muscles but guitarist Russ leaves plenty of space for Ian Halford and John Dawson to show their chops on drums and bass respectively. This is true throughout the album as the band avoid any over indulgence in needless frippery, no tracks outstay their welcome and that includes the seven minute plus Poncho.

There’s a nice balance of the rockier tracks with some more bluesy pieces. Too Cool To Sweat even has something of a swing vibe going on. J. Edwards is superb as guest vocalist on the slow blues tale of lost love, Tear Down The Sky. As well as being a superb guitarist Russ handles all of the vocal duties well, rock or the bluesier sounding Better Times Coming and Misty Blue that closes the album with an unexpected but classy sax solo.

Some of the tracks reminded me of the best of the NWOBHM bands, but that’s probably me showing my age.This is a positive step on from Electrickery, it sounds as if Russ is more comfortable with his vocals and the song writing is very narrative, telling a story and catching and keeping the listeners attention. Hopefully this will go some way to giving the band some more deserved wider recognition.

Steve yourglivCh

BEN REEL darkneSS & The lighT

b

reel records

With a very strong opening title track, I was expecting great things from an artist of whom I knew nothing. The sound of scraping steel opens into a dark and hypnotic beat of the title track, like a menacing electric sound from the underworld. Things changed by track two, River Of Time with an acoustic opening , yet this developed into a driving beat amid thick slurries of electric keyboards and full accompaniment.

Still good but from here things start to slip in my opinion. Watershed is an upbeat song with more than a nod to a country feel. But then Heart Just Won’t Heal opens and to me it was Roy Orbison singing a version of Sorrow by the McCoys, made into a hit by Bowie on his Pinups album. Ben is from Co. Armagh, Ireland, and his Irish roots show through often.

Before Your Time is a song of hurt about growing old and lost youth. Counting Down The Days is another song that sounds full of hurt and regret as he anxiously waits to see his loved one again. However, things never seem to pick up after. What Is Done is elevated by an interesting harmonica intro and some tasty guitar work in a mid tempo stamp, but even the country beat of Could’ve Been fails to rouse interest. Whilst Ben Reel has been described as an artist touching on rock, soul and Blues, there is little if any of that here, alternative folk and Americana seems to be the order of the day. A disappointing finish from what was a tremendous opening track.

merv oSBorne

highlight on an album that defies categorisation. It concludes on a flourish complete with percussion, mandolin and fiddle on the extended Deeper Than Thee

DunCan Beattie

THE REV JIMMIE BRATCHER

SeCreTly FamOuS independent

Now this CD shouldn’t be a secret, and it certainly deserves to be famousamongst readers of this magazine at least. On this, his seventh album, Reverend Jimmie –yes, he really is a preacher – leads his own rhythm section, keyboards player Rick Steff and a few backing vocalist guests through an album that has a sound ranging across many styles, all blues-influenced. He goes from the hard-rocking Starting All Over Again, a Hendrix- tinged Nowhere To Go But Down and the soulful, 60s pop flavoured ballad of Never My Love (from The Association and/or The 5th Dimension) to the Americana of It Just Feels Right, the funk of I Can’t Shake That Thing - this track might just cure that aliment - and the scratchy, lurching boogie of the opening Jupiter & Mars

Jimmie also turns in a radical, almost John Lee Hooker-esque boogie-blues reworking of the old standard Tobacco Road. Produced at Blue Belle Studio in southern Tennessee by Jim Gaines – often a recommendation in itself these days – this is a joyous, rocking album of blues, blues-rock and Americana norman DarWen

DAVE KELLY –FAMILY & FRIENDS

we had iT all hypertension

Stalwart of the British blues scene

Dave Kelly has compiled 18 tracks recorded over a 43 year period with

various artists. Many are live recordings from festivals and radio sessions plus a few newly recorded songs. There is, of course, much blues here but also touches of rock, country, gospel and folk.

Opener New Stockyard Blues comes from a jazz festival in Sweden and features the twin guitars of Kelly and Pete Emery on this classic Robert Wilkins song. Eric Bibb adds his honeyed vocals and guitar on the lovely old spiritual Needed Time which also features Kelly on dobro. Back in 1969 Kelly and The John Dummer Blues Band toured with Howlin Wolf and here we get a storming performance of Dust My Blues with Wolf giving his all on vocals and harmonica and Kelly excelling on slide guitar. Kelly’s sister Jo-Anne sings and plays 12 string on an adaption of Hank Williams’ Ramblin Gal ,backed up by brother Dave on lap steel.

Passing Through is a country rock song of Kelly’s from 1971 featuring Keith Nelson on electric banjo and Cedric Thorose on violin. Nanci Griffith’s beautiful Gulf Coast Highway features great Scottish troubador Maggie Bell on vocals alongside Kelly’s lap steel and shared vocals. In recent years Kelly toured with Christine Collister and she adds her emotional vocals to a superb version of Tom Waits’ Way Down In The Hole. That other stalwart of the British Jazz and Blues Scene Chris Barber pops up with his trombone on the splendid Mr Estes Said with Kelly on vocals and guitar. Paul Jones had to figure somewhere on this album and sure enough he puts in a great performance with harp and vocals on Muddy’s Too Young To Know.

A real blast from the past comes on the traditional folk song Take This Hammer with Long John Baldry on vocals and 12 string backed by Kelly on slide guitar. Sonny Black jams with Kelly on Slide Guitar Rag and the album closes in fine style with the lovely We Had It All featuring a beautiful harmonica solo from Julian Dawson. Good to hear these previously unreleased tracks.

Dave Drury

NAVACROSS

all The way hOme

ni4head records

Essex based band Navacross have been together for several years, undertaking plenty of touring in the South East of England during which time they have started to be noticed, this their second album is a very strong release and enhances their growing reputation further. The band have versatility in abundance and deliver an eclectic mix of Blues and Country rock sounds, all the material is original and there are some well-constructed songs here that allow the band’s vocalist Dean Baker to demonstrate his full vocal range, which at times is very reminiscent of a young Van Morrison; pick of the bunch is the atmospheric Steer which is interspersed with some cracking lead guitar work. The album has a nice feel to it with fine musicianship and intelligent song writing, the lead guitar work sits comfortably with acoustic segments and while the band on this album did not include a full time bassist, guest John Culleton does a fine job on the double bass. Definitely one to watch for 2013.

aDrian BlaCklee

IKE TURNER

TrOuBle uP The rOad: The reCOrdingS 1961 secret records

Ike Turner, despite attracting considerable notoriety, was a talented musician, innovator, band leader, assiduous follower/leader of trend and astute business man. He is best known for his collaborations with ex-wife Tina, half of this CD is devoted to their work, including the major hit I Idolize You . The b-side Letter From Tina must make her cringe now, with its utter devotion and submission to her man. Tina’s vocals are often raucous, and her best was to come.

As this compilation testifies, Ike cast his net further afield; ten different

artistes are featured here. The recording quality is not great, but the sheer variety of music including pop and early soul, and even Blues makes is interesting. Ike played piano and guitar, and is credited with writing most of the material on this compilation, loosely based around 1961 single releases, although much of the recording predates that year. The Ikettes, part of Ike’s Kings Of Rhythm revue, were something of a revolving door. With Tina they were famous for their amazingly energetic and sexy dancing, but were also accomplished vocalists in their own right. Former Ikette Eloise Carter is featured on two strong tracks, My Man Rock Head and single b-side I Need You . Other artists include Jackie Brenston with the title track, and Albert King, whose Don’t Throw Your Love On Me So Strong is the outstanding cut. noggin

4 JACKS deal wiTh iT ellersoul records

This CD has a pair of dynamic instrumentals Deal with It and Painkiller acting as book ends on a recording that

MATT WOOSEY BAND

On The waggOn independent

is pure quality musicianship and vocals bought to your speakers by a quartet of delight; Texas based Anson Funderbrugh (guitar), Washington

D.C.’s Big Joe Maher (drums, vocals), Grammy nominated Kevin McKendrea (keyboard) and the multi-talented Steve Mackey (bass). Deal With It may be retro but the sound is relevant today with its great mix of covers and self-penned numbers. The whole CD is blues with interest combining a smidgen of Jazz and nods its head at Rock n’ Roll with a blending of instruments that provide a little bit of swing a twist of funky keyboard playing and guitar riffs that soar through to your soul. I Don’t Want To President has clever lyrics and the playing is cut back to the bare minimum and works so well. This is not a one chord, key or tempo fits all; each track is given its place with thoughtful production that fits with the groove. Ansonmypants with its great little interplay sets the scene, many say ‘...I really don’t want to dance...’ for me hear this and you would be tapping your feet and definitely on the dance floor’! This is twelve tracks that work so well together with the emphasise on the music combined CONTINUES

Securing more evidence that there is a fantastic hub of musical talent in the West Country, (flitting between Malvern and Germany and recorded in Weston-SuperMare), Matt Woosey lifts any perception of regional isolation by giving us an album of worldly impressions and genre-bending virtuoso guitar playing.

The opener Black Smoke Risin’ attempts to set the tone, as a footstomping acoustic blues, before the rest of the album mellows towards folk and folk-blues. This is okay as it is a very competent collection of heartfelt tunes that comfortably caress, and then every now and then dig a little deeper. Best of the blues focused numbers are Woke Up This Morning (of course) and the thrusting Dopey Mick (a genuine off-kilter blues celebration). Woosey plays his acoustic guitar hard, and sometimes as slide, so it is difficult not to be impressed by the delivery. This may still be early days for the determined Matt Woosey but he and his band are certainly ones to watch, and with tours across the globe planned in addition to the UK, it could be a case of catch him while you can.

gareth hayeS

with lyrics that just draw you into the moment. When the sound percolates through the bloodstream, and warms the heart and fires up your soul, is why this sound of the sixties is still fresh today.

liz aiken

BLUE TOUCH

This mature five piece band have just released their fourth album, which is a cracking release delivering some strong blues rock music that has ‘quality’ stamped all the way through it. The band switch effortlessly between guitar driven rocking blues to more melodic sounds, the catalyst for this is the chosen vocalist, for the laid back material the vocals are handled by Andrea Maria, the other tracks have vocals from both Neil Sadler and Alan Cleaves. The material is a mix of covers and self-written material, which all sits well together, especially when you consider that pop favourite Tie a Yellow Ribbon follows the Aerosmith chant song Hangman Jury

The musicianship throughout the album is superb, special mention should go to the dual guitar work by Neil and Alan, who between them deliver searing lead guitar, slide guitar and the occasional acoustic foray, guest musician Keith Jones adds some sweet harmonica on a couple of tracks. This album should win some honours as it delivers timeless blues music that makes for a really enjoyable fifty five minutes of listening pleasure.

aDrian BlaCklee

MARY WELLS

Bye Bye BaBy i dOn’T wanT TO Take a ChanCe soul Jam

This is yet another cash-in by Tamla of an artist that was one of the first to bring consistent sales and recognition to the label in the early

sixties. As the first singer to score a number one single and Top Ten pop hit, her name is well known, but this release, which consists of the original ten tracks on the album plus an additional nine, does little to further enhance her standing.

Known in the UK predominantly for her 1964 hit My Guy, which is absent from this collection, It is of interest to note that she had songwriters of the calibre of Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson, Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier as well as Marvin Gaye writing material for her, yet her first hit single was the self-penned Bye Bye Baby which she had written for Jackie Wilson. It’s difficult to quantify this CD other than to say it will be of interest to those with either a particular love of Mary Wells or to those who are making a study of the early sixties Tamla sound.

merv oSBorne

THE NEW GROOVE

QuiT BiTChin’` independent

CHUCK JACKSON’S BIG BAD BLUES BAND

a CuP OF JOe linus entertainment

If good time, old time powerful swing-blues floats your boat then jump in – and if it don’t, dip your pretty little toes, the chances are you will take to it like a fish to water. This tribute to Kansas City Blues shouter Big Joe Turner, arranged by Pat Carey and recorded in Ontario, does exactly what is says on the tin. Chuck’s weathered vocal and the musicians’ (the album mixes full band and smaller combo formats) irresistible boogie-woogie swing grab you by the cojones from the opening Lipstick, Powder and Paint (“is you is or is you ain’t” – sadly, they don’t write ‘em like that anymore) – and they also don’t tend to play anymore brushed drums, geese-honk

Well that’s just lovely that is. I mean how are you supposed to be mean spirited and bitchin’ about something, when you find out that the band and this record only exist because three days before Christmas 2011, Ben Curtis (lead vocals and harmonica) was sitting in front of a urologist hearing the words “I’m sorry to tell you Mr Curtis but you have prostate cancer”, which turned out to be advanced, aggressive and inoperable, with the chances of a cure next to nil. I mean talk about bloody emotional blackmail. A couple of months later, he got together with an old writing and gigging buddy Steve French and they started recording some songs, about life and good times, about our mortality and loss.

With the cancer slowed down due to radiotherapy treatment, they both decided that they wanted to record the songs, and got together with Steve ‘Rodders’ Rodford (drums and percussion), Henrik Irgens (bass) and Carrie Haber (keys and backing vocals) to make this record. Fortunately for all concerned it’s a mighty fine record. I love harmonica driven blues, and when The New Groove are in full flow, they’re very reminiscent of Dr Feelgood. Which is officially, a good thing. The whole thing sounds great, probably due in no small measure to Grammy award-winning sound engineer Steve Orchard and Rockfield Studios, but it would be nothing without the songs and the performances, which are, generally, sparkling. Ben Curtis has a raw and gritty voice which suits the material perfectly, and when all the stars align, as they do on the title track, If I Have To Leave and Give It Time, it’s a righteous noise. Granted, not all the songs are out of the top drawer, but if you’re looking for an album of raucous, seventies, harmonica driven British blues, then this is the one for you.

Stuart a hamilton

saxophones (Pat Carey excels) or bouncing horns either.

There ain’t much I can say about Corrine Corrina other than it rolls like a runaway train – and they don’t know the brakes don’t work, but there’s no way I want to get off. Curley Bridge’s piano is the bees’ knees on Sweet Sixteen and Boogie Woogie Country Girl. Joe varies his vocal approach appropriate to the wide-ranging Turner catalogue featured here, variously forceful, subtle, swinging, crooning. Amazingly, there’s no ‘Shake Rattle and Roll’ or ‘Honey Hush – maybe they were considered as being too obvious – but the dozen tracks on this album evoke a golden period in popular music, performed with obvious affection for the classic tunes, but with enough natural spunk to keep it fresh.

Pete inneS

THE INDIGO KINGS

againST a BriCk wall

independent

A seven-piece band that plays original ‘vintage pop’, inspired by the jazz, blues and swing beats of yesteryear. Harmony, gritty lyrics smooth sax and classic blues guitar are woven together with jazz piano to create a vintagey-modern sound on this, their debut album released in 2012 (it says in the notes). The band consists of three ‘grizzled’ men and three young ladies, a slightly odd ensemble to be playing blues, which is where the seventh member comes in, blues guitarist Christian O’Connell. In fact it sounds more ‘goodtime swing’ on first playing, with some smooth harmonies and tight ensemble playing.

More cool jazz than blues, so not really my cup of tea, but the main vocalist has a sometime Billie Holiday feel, the sax of Emma Stone is mellow and inventive and O’Connell’s lead guitar adds blues sometimes, but never enough for me, while the stomping piano is pure jazz. It’s all a bit doo-wop, Andrews Sisters even, and to my mind not really blues at all (but what do I know?). I bet they put on a great live gig though. You can

sample the tracks on their website www.theindigokings.co.uk and on youtube.

Pete SimmonDS

DOVE AND BOWEEVIL BAND

The Barn SeSSiOnS liVe independent

This duo from the flat lands of Norfolk have cut a live CD for their latest recording, and prior to the finals of The New Brunswick Battle of the Bands in London. The only cover is T Bone Walker’s, Stormy Monday, the other six tracks have all be composed by this young duo. This acoustic duo combines Lauren Dove’s voice and Mark Howes acoustic guitar, creating their own East Anglian sound that builds on styles of a past era, full of energy. The opening track Bourbon Street, does not for me evoke New Orleans and this vague feeling of disappointment continues for me throughout the CD; which is compounded by the lack of an intimate live feel there is no audience presence.

The compositions are fine; if at times a little repetitive the guitar playing good and the voice tuneful but there is no twist of difference. I have heard similar songs, played in this safe acoustic style over and over again. On a positive note this is a pleasing album it just is frustrating that two obviously talented musicians have not used the opportunity to really showcase themselves and stamp their personal style on a marketplace that is full of the pleasant. If it is easy, pleasant bluesy style music you are looking for then this is the CD for you the highlight for me was Red Eye Fly with its chugging beat. liz aiken

DREVER MCGUIRE YOUNG giFTS

orcadian

DEADSTRING BROTHERS

Cannery rOw bloodshot records

In complete contrast to their own publicity on the internet, the Deadstring Brothers sound nothing like “...early 70’s Rolling Stones”, and if their “...hearts beat with pure Rock & Roll” then someone ought to use a defibrillator because there’s little if any shown on Cannery Row. In fact names like the Flying Burrito Brothers, Johnny Cash, even Tammy Wynette come to mind when listening to this, for this is undoubtedly country style music which for the most part tends to drone on.

Upbeat tracks such as It’s Morning Irene, which has a good zydeco feel to the backing with accordion and harmonica as well as Kim Collins on backing vocal and Oh Me Oh My, a Dylanesque styled song with sweet pedal steel guitar backing. Long Lonely Ride’ does resemble the Stones in their country rock phase, but this is as hard as it gets. The title track, Cannery Row is hard work and perhaps the lyrics salvage the track somewhat but it did little for me.

Lucille’s Intro is 30 seconds of interesting instrumental before turning into Lucille’s Honky Tonk, the albums’ best track, full of life and interesting playing between the various styles of guitar. It then returns to a feeling of depression with The Mansion from where the album fails to recover. In terms of musicianship there is little to fault, it’s just the overall feel in the song writing that manifests itself in a somewhat morose way.

This is certainly enough to give one the Blues.

merv oSBorne CONTINUES

Debut album from Scottish trio who play folk, roots and Celtic music featuring acoustic guitars, bodhran, accordion, whistles, harmonica, drums and keyboards. Ivan Drever has been on the Scottish folk and roots scene for many years and known Frankie McGuire since the mid 80’s. They have recently been joined by Richard Young and already completed several overseas tours with their warm, atmospheric music. Candle In The Storm starts out with a gentle acoustic guitar refrain and light percussion as Drever’s warm vocals tell a tale of life, love and the universe. Nothing Can Stop Us Now is a pretty love song set to a lilting piano figure and features a whistle for a little extra colour.

This music is subtle, melodic and tasteful with many layers and there are no egos on display here with the focus being on the songs and music. Strummed guitar and bodhran propel If You Took Your Love Awa’ as Drever contemplates losing his lover. Even the light hearted Chuck Berry inspired romp Roll Over Stonehaven manages to rock gracefully.

ELEANOR MCEVOY

iF yOu leaVe moscodisc

Young’s accordion features prominently on the yearning My Fathers Son . Title track Gifts is a song of thanks for all the good things and good people met along the way in life. The lovely instrumental Forget Me Not seems to float gently along on a stream of tinkling piano, acoustic guitar, pipes, strings and whistles. The closest we get to blues here is with closing track You Take The Rhythm which features a harmonica solo from Rich Young. I’m sure this trio will do well on this summer’s folk festival circuit and on their overseas tours. This excellent album of comforting music should bring them to the attention of a wider audience.

Dave Drury

FRANK BEY WITH THE ANTHONY PAULE BAND

yOu dOn’T knOw nOThing blue Dot records

It was a chance 1999 meeting between San Franciscan Noel Hayes in a Philly blues club that prompted him to bring soul & Blues vocalist Frank Bey from Philadelphia

to California. Bey has been performing there for a few years and this CD is testament to a fine live set recorded before a most appreciative audience at the Biscuits & Blues nightclub in downtown San Francisco on 20th July 2012. Hayes requested local guitar ace Anthony Paule to put together a suitable band to back up Bey’s considerable stage presence, and they support Bey powerfully yet sympathetically. Much as Bey’s testifying and charismatic vocal performance might dominate, it is the subtlety of Paule’s guitar work that leaves the lasting impression, for example in the horn-drenched instrumental Town Without Pity . Stand outs from the set include Ain’t That Loving You and the cool and funky Still Called The Blues.

The spoken introduction and deep soul treatment of Lennon’s ubiquitous Imagine works less well, attempting to turn a moderate introspective piece into something of the status of say, A Change Is Gonna Come , was possibly a mistake. I presume it is Paule taking over with his more restrained lead vocals on Can’t Get The Time Of Day . To cap it all Bey’s consummate vocal performance on Ray Charles’ Hard Times is a delight. Nancy Wright embellishes these two songs with wonderfully economical and understated tenor sax solos. This album is well worth a listen.

Eleanor McEvoy has done a wee bit of everything. She’s done folk, rock, pop and jazz. She sings solo, and as a band, and is never anything but interesting. But does she sing the blues? Well, no. Not really. Notwithstanding a cover of Elmore James’ Dust My Broom. That’s not to say this isn’t an enjoyable album, because Ms McEvoy doesn’t make bad albums, but don’t come here looking for them there blues, because you’ll find one of her more accessible, poppier albums on offer, replete with melodies, harmonies and some top guest performers including the likes of Mary Coughlan, Gemma Hayes, Hermione Hennessy and Sharon Shannon.

It’s proper grown up singer / songwriter stuff, with the accent on the melancholy songs such as Ache In My Heart and Listen To Me. She bungs in a few covers, besides the Elmore James one, with The Beach Boys’ God Only Knows, the Cyndi Lauper song, True Colors and Life The Wings from ‘Riverdance’ making an appearance. The release bumph speaks of “neo retro blues”, but I not know what that means. It’s a good Eleanor McEvoy album, which makes it borderline great by anyone else’s standards, but it’s by no definition a blues record.

Stuart a hamilton

noggin

JESSE VALACH PRESENTS

BlueS mOunTain independent

Hailing from Elwood, Victoria, Australia, this album by Blues Mountain is a tasty delight of soul and funk blues led by the charismatic Jesse Valach. From across the Tasman Sea and of Maori decent, Valach combines soulful vocals reminiscent of Al Green, with smooth guitar lines that can also sting when the mood requires.

Supplemented with Roger Nelson CONTINUES

on harmonica, Start It Up gives a firm indication of the high standards to follow. Torren Dove on bass and Louis Battour on drums set the groove that allow Valach to shine.

The pace slows for Cold Shoulder where the pleading lyrics rest in the memory long after the song has finished. The moody Can’t Take Another Day shifts the style, with a more modern Rhythm & Blues flavour. These contemporary influences prevail through Baby It Won’t Be Long which is augmented with a sublime guitar solo. One of Valach’s key influences is revealed in It Ain’t Wrong which leans borrows heavily the vocal melody of Keb Mo’s Am I Wrong . The mellow closer Have You Ever reaffirms that Blues Mountain have a real strength in song writing, arrangements and catchy melodies. Indeed with material of this calibre it seems it won’t be too long until Valach and Blues Mountain follow the likes of Geoff Achison and Claude Hay to emerge from Australia onto the international blues stage.

DunCan Beattie

JJ GREY & MOFRO

ThiS riVer independent

April 2013 sees the release of JJ Grey’s sixth studio album and eighth in total, This River. Named for the St. John’s River, near Jacksonville, Florida where he grew up. This is swamp blues as she should sound; uplifting, lyrical, raw, gritty, slyly emotional, mean and nasty, and this guy does it better than most, with his band right there with him. His songs are original and memorable; his grimy blend of front porch soul and down-home storytelling simply rocks.

Mofro are: Art Edmaiston, saxophone, Dennis Marion, Trumpet, Anthony Farrell organ and piano, Todd Smallie, Bass, Anthony Cole, drums and Andrew Trube, guitar. Anyone who saw them when they toured Europe last Novermber 2012 will know this is a band to enjoy, and will snap up this latest offering. JJ and the band continue to play over 125 shows a year, and are set to return to Europe

in 2013.JJ sums himself up: ‘I’m just a salmon swimming upstream.

Going back home I reckon.

I don’t know why and I quit caring why a long time ago. I guess there is no why that my mind could understand anyway. All I do know is that I’ve enjoyed, and I’m still enjoying, every second of just being here and doing whatever it is I’m doing.’ Tracks: Your Lady , She’s Shady; Somebody Else , Tame a Wild One , 99 Shades of Crazy , Florabama; Standing On the Edge , Write a Letter , Somebody Else, Harp & Drums , and ending with the title track, a slow ballad and beautiful vocal that tops off a superb CD.

Peter SimmonS

THE GET GO

Three’S a CrOwd southside

CD by The Get-Go from South East London, from the off it is definitely music that was pouring from coffee bar juke boxes from the late fifties and through the sixties the CD is definitely reminiscent of The Mods. This band formed in 2011 have produced a CD that would sit well within any collection especially those who loves the sound of the sixties with soul-rock that stirs

KELLY RICHEY

SweeT SPiriT sweet lucy records

the emotions so authentically reproduced.

The keys from Roger Cotton (Peter Green’s Splinter Group) add another dimension as shown on Cut You a-Loose to Stuart Farnham’s vocals/guitar skills, Brain Hall’s Bass and Richard Metcalfe keeping the tempo tight on Drums. Don’t Know Which Way To Go vocals reminds me of early Ian Parker with the raw emotion felt being clearly portrayed. The album is another example that blues is still alive in Britain today in variety of forms and the sixties style is now being revisited in homage producing this guitar lead sound, delivering eight tracks of covers that never challenges but always pleases. liz aiken

LUKE WINSLOW KING

The COming Tide bloodshot records

Luke Winslow King’s new album is an abject lesson in taste, musicianship, and songcraft. With a definite retro, fifties style, he melds his songs around his own vocals, tasteful slide guitar, and organ, whilst adding classy ingredients, such as a brass section, laidback rhythms, and the vocals of

Ambitiously described in some quarters as a cross between Stevie Ray Vaughan on guitar and Janis Joplin on vocal, there is no denying that there is a parallel heavy groove in her gruff and grainy singing, with her restrained less-may-be-more guitar. The first four tracks lay down the mould of fierce rock blues and I Went Down Easy and Leavin’ It All Behind would undoubtedly serve as tracks to wake the dead. The mood shifts with Everybody Needs A Change, a studio edit that chooses a bass-funk vibe and with a breathy vocal to accompany the infrequent guitar as it edges towards soul-pop. Then it’s back to her signature sound with the energetic and intense Fast Drivin’ Mama, a very suitable vehicle to illustrate her Lonnie Mack and Albert King influences. Hailing from Lexington, Kentucky, and with a back catalogue that stretches back to 1994, this is a great introduction to latecomers (who will certainly be tempted to research the back catalogue) and a valid addition to the shelves for those in the know.

gareth hayeS

Esther Rose, who provides a perfect blend to his own voice.

With styles ranging from the laid-back, relaxed beat of The Coming Tide or MovingOn(TowardsBetter days) and the pop/blues sensibility of Let ‘em Talk this is song-writing of a different order, although the songs do owe a certain something to other songs. ‘Let em Talk’ is a relaxed saunter through Dylan’s Don’t Think Twice , It’s Alright whilst Staying In Town has to many similarities to Cliff Richard’s Miseltoe and Wine in the vocal, although it is saved by a fine slide guitar solo.

The blues is evident throughout, not only in the mature slide guitar parts, but in the choice of covers, in the slow gospel stomp of Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning , Ledbelly’s Ella Speed and I’ve Got My Mind Set On You a slide guitar led treatment that is far removed from George Harrison’s pop hit version of this song.

In all, this is a fine album, full of slow, laidback grooves, guitar solos that place tone and musicianship above technique, good singing and song-writing, and although it is probably not going to buy the musicians big houses, it is a fine calling card from a singer/songwriter and musician with a lot to offer.

Ben maCnair

THE DUNWELLS

leaVing The rOSe concord/Playing in traffic

Short five track EP from this five piece who emerged from the pub and club circuit in Leeds with their blend of melodic English folky rock and American roots music. They are currently touring America and most of these songs were recorded in Willie Neson’s studio in LA. They feature wonderful harmonies with echoes of CSNY, The Eagles and The Flying Burrito Brothers. Opener Oh Lord is a gospel flavoured ballad with gently strummed acoustic guitars, tasteful organ flourishes and soaring 5 part harmonies. Goodnight My City is another sensitive and melodic song

HOT TIN ROOF

Hot Tin Roof are Andrew Mckay-Challen; who takes lead vocals and plays rhythm guitar and Gavin Jack; who plays lead and slide guitar. Andrew moved to Edinburgh, from his home in Plymouth in two thousand and nine, he first met South Lanarkshire born Gavin in two thousand and ten at a gig that Gavin was playing with the blues band Missing Cat, after an initial conversation at the end of the evening’s performance Gavin invited Andrew to a jamming’ session after which a friendship was struck and a new musical direction was born. Now, three years later we have the fruits of their combined labour which is, a relaxed, unhurried and measured performance that favours the discerning ear as their flowing mixture of Blues and Scottish Folk music of the late sixties and seventies lets’ the listener savour the enticingly hypnotic and almost laconic musical performances that are drawing you inexorably into their world. The thirteen original compositions her are all very much in the same vein; a rich vein that is mined and delivered with a panache and a style that is equally arresting as it is relaxing. Numbers such as Backwards in High Heels, concerns a question frequently asked by many men, that of; some women’s particular choice of evening attire; this contains a mellow and slow pulsing guitar that includes a dreamily almost Hawaiian rich slide, underpinning an image that lingers longingly in your ears, accompanied by Andrew’s almost mournfully croaky yet, fluid voice. Early Twenties, features an eastern flowing guitar theme that is entwined fully with a very lyrical Peter Green influenced solo. Although, some of the subject matter is not perhaps all swinging and jolly such as; the tale of an alluring and falsely enticing lady of Maybe Baby, and the melancholic lost love of Lonely is The Road, all in all, this is a very enjoyable and satisfying collection of tunes.

Brian harman

which would not sound out of place on Hotel California I Could Be A King is a more rousing affair which adds jaunty banjo to the sound. The songs are all original and well-crafted with good arrangements. The two final tracks Only Me and Hide And Seek are acoustic ballads with more superb harmonies. A refreshing change if you’re into this genre of retro soft rock – almost an English Fleet Foxes.

Dave Drury

VARIOUS midnighT STePPerS fantastic voyage

Or, as it is subtitled “70 Masterpieces By 34 Blues Piano Heroes”. Which pretty much lets you know what is on offer across the three discs. I remember as a teenager going into

The Oldies Museum at haymarket and buying a 49p cassette by Memphis Slim. I’d never heard anything quite like it, and my love for boogie woogie and stride piano was born. So when you’ve got tracks by Memphis Slim, Champion Jack Dupree, Otis Spann, Roosevelt Sykes, Big Maceo, Eddie Boyd, Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson, Meade Lux Lewis, Eddie Boyd, Sunnyland Slim, Amos Milburn and more, I’m certainly not going to complain.

This is part of a series of themed blues compilations from Fantastic Voyage which also includes Just Wailin – a harmonica set, and Screamin and Crying which takes care of the guitarists. It’s an excellent compilation, spread over three discs – Bluebird BeaT, The Boogie Woogie Trio Plus and Post-War Piano, with some lesser

Albums reviews known tunes like Sugar Bowl Blues by Curtis Jones, Pine Top’s Boogie Woogie by Cripple Clarence Lofton and Dices! Dices! by Big Chief Ellis grabbing your attention. It’s probably a wee bit overpriced, consider it’s all public domain material, but it’s certainly worth checking out.

Stuart a hamilton

WALKER BROAD

a walk aBrOad independent

Back in 2006 one of my first reviews for Blues Matters! was a solo album by Andy Broad that I likened to the early U.K. Acoustic Blues Boom artists like Mike Cooper and Dave Kelly, on receipt of this CD I was looking forward to seeing how he has progressed in the convening seven years, albeit on this release he is accompanied by female vocalist and pianist Sandy Walker, could this be a Dave and Jo Ann Kelly inspired album?

Initial reaction is a downbeat one as this release has moved his music away from the standard acoustic Blues sounds to a more ‘Folksy’ direction with undertones of jazz, having said that there is one stand out blues track, aptly named Play Me Some Blues on which Andy plays some tasty electric lead guitar. Sandy provides some interesting lyrics and song titles to Andy’s music, Pissing in the Dark is not a title I would have expected on this album but it is certainly one of the catchier songs here. While I am highlighting my disappointment at the lack of Blues material on the album there is still plenty to enjoy during these fifteen original tracks..

aDrian BlaCklee

OLD MAN LUEDECKE

Tender iS The nighT true north records

On first hearing Old Man Luedecke (real name Chris, and not that old) might not appear to be of popular appeal. He

is a musician with uncompromising attitude, but still manages to carve out a career in the competitive folk/ country arena.

Hailing from Nova Scotia and with five albums to date, he has a faithful following. Handling vocals, banjos and guitar he is accompanied by producer/ fiddle/mandolin/guitar player Tim O’Brien, Mike Bub on bass and Kenny Malone on percussion.

Being somewhat a traditionalist, O’Brien takes care to surround Luedecke with a series of unadorned and unassuming set-ups ranging from banjo and fiddle duets on Can’t Count Tears In The Ocean and Little Stream Of Whisky , to more cheery offerings like A & W Song and Broken Hearted Buddy . Likewise the old time technique finds itself perfectly suited to the cowboy sing-along Song For Ian Tyson and on the ragtime strum of This May Just Hurt A Bit Luedecke appears content to ply his trade.

On I’m Fine (I Am I Am) he proclaims, and there is no reason to doubt this assertion. This old man is a master when it comes to administering his carefree caress.

Clive raWlingS

JESSE DEE

On my mind / in my hearT alligator

Jesse is the new blue-eyed soul singer that has over recent years emerged onto the scene and has impressed people to such a degree that the Alligator label has snapped him up; which to all intents and purposes virtually secures his musical future.

Jesse was born in Boston, Massachusetts in nineteen-eighty and grew up in Arlington, he attended The Massachusetts College of Art and whilst immersing himself in his studies he was also the lead vocalist in a ten piece soul band named Decifunk, At the turn of this century he subsequently went on to join a rock’n’roll band entitled The Dirty Whites and in two thousand and eight he released his first solo album

entitled ‘Bittersweet Batch ’ on the Not/Munich label. From this point on, he went on to play all across America and in the years that followed he went on to tour most of Europe. He has supported and opened for such artists as; Al Green, Solomon Burke, Etta James, Bettye LaVette and has performed with James Hunter.

Now, he has released an album which will quite possibly catapult him into a far greater and wider, welcoming audience. With the benefit of hindsight we all (should) know what makes an, infectious finger clicking soul album and Jesse does not disappoint; His vocal delivery is casual and inviting, there is also evidence and echoes within of Sam Cooke, Van Morrison and on the higher notes inflections of Aaron Neville.

The eleven numbers featured here contain all the hooks and riffs you could ever want and are backed with a tight grooving brass section that delivers all the right notes, all at the right time. One can easily imagine cruising along the highway to the jaunty Sam Cooke inspired brass rolling title number or jiving on a cramped club dance floor to I Won’t Forget About You , or the swaying Tell Me (Before It’s Too Late)

Brian harman

BARRELHOUSE

FeelS like hOme independent

Barrelhouse was born Kevin Burke, who is based in Long Island, New York, he is well known as a musician who had been writing for and playing electric guitar in a band in and around the area for thirty years. However, his interest in finger style acoustic blues was greatly increased after a road trip which saw him visiting places such as; Nashville, Memphis and Mississippi. The cumulative effect of witnessing many of these many differing musical styles and types of playing whilst on his journey through the south caused Kevin to change his whole approach to the music, which is now reflected in his own personal style of playing. Over

DEKE LEONARD

The Twang dynaSTy northdown Publishing

The Twang Dynasty is Deke Leonard’s third offering following his first two titles Rhinos Winos and Lunatics and I should have stayed in Bed all from Northdown Publishing. Having known Deke from early 60’s days – he being with The Corncrackers and yours truly with The Vikings our paths would occasionally cross – often in various South Wales gig venues – but more often in various Swansea area Asian food establishments in the very early post gig hours –meetings of which too much detail could prove dangerous – say no more!

The Man from Man continues to beguile us with stories from the road, although this tome has a more technical bent interspersed with delicious eavesdropping’s, namedropping’s: all sorts of guitar related droppings really – all cut as usual with lashings of the Leonard trademark acerbic witticisms and whimsical anecdotes. I took great personal pleasure in pursuing this literary journey with Deke as many of the early ‘celeb’ names were people I had also had the pleasure to meet and gig with – fantastic players and vocalists – huge characters like Screaming Lord Sutch, Mick Green, Johnny Kidd and many many more are all recalled within the pages. Leonard also delves deeply into early Americana rock and roll citing some of his many heroes – Scotty Moore , James Burton

a period of four years of constant playing he has created a crisply sharp mixture of blues, country and bluegrass; conjuring-up a type and a feeling that was generally found in rural areas in the time prior to world war two, a feeling which he endeavours to capture in renditions of his own musical compositions that can be found on this, his debut album.

There are eleven numbers in all, two of which are instrumentals. Kevin’s vocals contain hints and echoes of Talking Heads’ David Byrne, they are strident and forceful but certainly not overpowering, his main playing influences of Toby Walker and Chris whitley are evident throughout. The passion and sincerity of each number streams out of the speakers and envelopes you in its cascading arms; the frenetic dobro and footappin’ on You Never Listen , propels you ever forwards in its fervour and

and early associates of The Sun record label based in Memphis with reverent (and irreverent) reminiscences of The King in his pomp (i.e Elvis - pre GI Blues era). Blues Matters readers too are very well served as Deke devotes a lengthy section of his book to the early blues musicians – even offering a reprise of some of the all time harmonica greats in addition to masters of early blues guitar. One of my own very favourites is covered in Sister Rosetta Tharpe, a truly fantastic gospel and blues singer/guitarist of the early 50’s / 60’s who has an especially meaningful memory for me as I played the same Gibson SG guitar as the great Lady (Deke, please note the SG Custom Les Paul was introduced in 1960/61 – Not 1968 you naughty boy!) alas I sold mine for £90 in ’65 to buy an engagement ring!

It would almost fund a small apartment nowadays! Meanwhile – back to The Dynasty – a final chapter covers a gaggle of Welsh guitarists – some very famous – some not so famous – some totally ignored (thanks Deke!). Names to be conjured with include: Dave Edmunds, Mickey Jones , Brian Breeze, Pete Ham, Micky Gee, Andy Fairweather Low: all of whom have Leonard-related experiences to serve up. Mostly laced with a good dose of humour and indeed, fondness. The bibliography may well cover familiar territory for the blues aficionados amongst you and for those seeking bluesology enlightenment there are many sources of interest and research listed relative to the history of the blues. In all – a really praiseworthy effort for title number three Deke ‘leg well broken.’ Can’t wait for number four!

Dave WarD

joy, this spell is continued with the instrumental Cadillac , you manage to get your breath back with the rolling and ringing Day at The Beach . The dexterity and faultless finger playing of Kevin is finely displayed for all to hear on the enticing, fluid and rolling second instrumental Maine in October . The very catchy, last number a dobro, riffing, footappin’ Slappy , is a fine finale. There is an overwhelming feeling of warmth and pleasure found within all the numbers here.

Brian harman

SPACE EAGLE FirST BlueS self

released

You’ll find Paul ‘Space Eagle’ Stabridge’ busking in Norwich most Saturdays, whatever the weather. This is

his debut, nine gloriously unadorned takes on classic blues; including Robert Johnson, Bukka White and R.L Burnside. Stanbridge provides his own foot stomp powered percussion to many of the numbers, along with some of the dirtiest slide guitar this side of Billy Gibbons. Opener, Robert Johnson song Preaching Blues is one of the stand outs, along with a fuzzed-up take on Aberdeen Mississippi Blues and a re-working of Bukka White’s Jitterbug Swing that starts like a funeral march and ends like a Hokie joint knees-up, complete with barking dog. First... ends with a trio low-slung garage blues songs that would get the dead dancing: Poor Black Mattie , Big Mamas Door and Come On In First... is as life-affirming as the blues ever gets and well-worth investigating. Available online from www.space-eagle.com

martin Cook

Blues at the Briars

Melbourne, AustrAliA

February 2nd 2013

I first heard about the inaugural Blues at The Briars music festival via some savvy social media and clever marketing in the preceding months, however, I knew little about the event or its location beforehand.

So it was with great expectation that we rocked up for our first taste on February 2nd this year. The Briars is an historic homestead and park located at Mount Martha on the Mornington Peninsula south of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. A scenic setting with plenty of trees for shade and an open area for spreading out, festival goers could sit on chairs, rugs, or on the grass, so it wasn’t difficult to find

somewhere comfortable to get settled for the day. The location proved to be ideal for an outdoor music festival, and near perfect weather was a blessing.

We currently have a proliferation of festivals in Australia, with one staged every other week branded as a ‘blues’ festival it seems. Some have retained a component of that genre, but many have gone decidedly mainstream in their

Yngve & his Boogie Legs at the european BLues ChaLLenge

aLex Burns pLaYs BLues at the Briars

choice of acts. It is refreshing to find a new event staying true to its name and catering for lovers of blues music. The program for ‘Blues at The Briars’ was composed exclusively of blues artists, mainly from Melbourne, and supplemented with local acts. The organisers didn’t follow the well-trodden path of using a prominent mainstream artist to headline the event to attract a critical mass. Instead, they featured a full program of high calibre performers worthy of gracing stages in that context anywhere in the world. In fact, Geoff Achison and Chris Wilson, Fiona Boyes Trio, Lloyd Spiegel Duo, Claude Hay and Jimi Hocking’s Blues Machine, have done exactly that, and are already considered international artists in their own right. Also featured were Marisa Quigley, Rob Papp and Blueshead, Alex Burns Band, Shannon Bourne Trio, Kevin Buckingham Band, Dukesy and the Hazards and Blues Mountain. Though some are not yet household names, they are well known to blues lovers.

There were many musical highlights throughout the day and the schedule ran very smoothly, with 45 minute spots and quick change-overs co-ordinated by a hard-working stage and production crew. No mean feat considering there were a dozen acts on the bill. The area chosen for the live music performances was a natural amphitheatre, with a flat area in front of the stage which was great for dancing as the day progressed. The happy music-loving crowd had a clear unobscured view of the entertainment from all angles. The purpose-built transportable stage with high quality sound and lighting production equipment ensured an enjoyable entertainment experience. The music was a comfortable volume so it was easy to enjoy the company of those nearby as well.

Arts, crafts and clothing vendors combined with a well-chosen selection of good quality local food and beverage stalls around the perimeter of the festival site gave it a cool vibe, almost like stepping into a bazaar. Having good amenities like fresh water, well-serviced portable toilets and plenty of parking was appreciated too, as were the family-friendly activities for the kids like face-painting and minigolf, with plenty of open space for them to run around and make their own fun. Bigger is not always better, and there is a place on the festival calendar for events like this. They fill a niche for the ‘true believers’ and also bring a much needed economic boost from associated spending on hospitality and tourism. They also support Australian bands and musicians, providing important and valuable exposure to their target audiences. Entrepreneured by a partnership of blues and music lovers from the local district, and supported by a dedicated, loyal and hard-working group of volunteers, friends and community groups, staging an event such as this was a huge risk... but one worth taking! For a first time festival they got a lot of things right. They’ve also sought feedback from festival goers since to ensure they address any issues which need tweaking and make the appropriate changes/ enhancements to improve the festival into the future. $60 for Adult admission represented extremely good value for 12 hours of blues-flavoured live music, and 2013 ticket sales comfortably exceeded the projections. With that success, plans are already underway for ‘Blues At The Briars’ to be even better next year. It may grow in size too, but hopefully it will retain the relaxed vibe of an intimate boutique event. It was a ripper festival (but over way too soon). We had a cracking time! Thanks to all concerned.

RobeRt QuantRelle

eurOPeaN Blues ChalleNGe 2013

le bikini, rAMonville, toulouse, FrAnce

8th – 9th march 2013

Now the worrying thing is that a not inconsiderable number of you reading this will have no idea what the European Blues Challenge is and will probably not even be aware that the organising body, the European Blues Union, exists! So, to set the scene, this was the third annual European Blues Challenge, this year organised by the European Blues Union in conjunction with France Blues and the Toulouse Blues Society. The Challenge drew entrants from 20 European countries, although only 19 managed to get to Toulouse as one could not raise the necessaries to fund their trip! The event was staged over two nights in a modern, top class venue a short taxi ride from Central Toulouse and was superbly managed with nine acts on Friday and 10 on Saturday playing 20 minute sets, and changeovers being achieved by an excellent stage crew in just five minutes. Congratulations must go to all involved, particularly all the crew from Le Bikini, the Toulouse Blues Society, France Blues and, of course, the EBU.

Openers on Friday were Latvia’s GZT – the Gints Zilinskis Trio – who, perhaps surprisingly, treated us to an all instrumental set featuring Gints with some fine boogie-woogie, ragtime and blues piano backed by stand-up bass and drums. The trio was very tight and very well rehearsed and so gave us a good opening set, certainly leaving me, and those I was with, wanting more.

Next it was the turn of Luxembourg’s Heavy Petrol & the Greyhounds, a five piece

CONTINUES OVER...

festivaLs

comprising vox, harmonica and air guitar, twin guitars (real ones!), bass and drums who gave us a very different and nicely varied selection much more in the blues-rock genre. Austria’s Bluesmopolitans, a big seven piece outfit, took the stage and kicked off with a beautiful slow blues before breaking into something completely different for their second number, a song with a beat that was very nearly ska and most effective. The lead guitarist’s struggles with a defective guitar lead or some other technical stuff, detracted slightly from the band’s performance but generally they had a very ‘big’ sound and great rhythm. There were several standout performances amongst a number of very good ones and one of the standouts was Soul Serenade, an acoustic trio from Romania and the youngest competitors in the Challenge. Performing seated with mandolin, guitar/harp and a lovely female vocalist whose sweet voice

also had great power and depth. Their set included a number of covers, but they were such original versions that they almost made them their own. Great versions of Walking Blues and a very different version of Got My Mojo working were almost eclipsed by one of the highlights of the evening, a stunningly different take on Smokestack Lightning which gave the old favourite a brand new lease of life.

Given the task of following an enthusiastically received soul Serenade were the UK’s BabaJack who instantly grabbed the audience with The Money’s All Gone closely followed by the title track of the forthcoming CD, Running Man . The audience were now hanging on Becky & Trev’s every word and when Becky introduced a work song, Hammer & Tongs which saw Becky’s voice accompanied solely by Trev’s harmonica, the spell was complete! Sunday Afternoon and

Skin & Bone rounded off their set and produced tumultuous applause from the now completely BabaJacked audience! From Croatia came Sunnysiders, a three male, one female quartet all of whose members sang to great effect. A nicely varied set included Bad bad Dance dedicated to the late Alvin Lee, the very amusing I Got the Blues tonight and the interestingly titled Superglue . Apt for a very tight quartet who had great stage presence and made the most of their time on stage.

Variety was the key word and this was so ably and excellently demonstrated by the next band, Chino & the Big Bet from Spain. With a wonderfully varied and, at times, highly original blues and swing style, they opened with probably the fastest version of Dust My Broom I have ever heard. Playing what looked to my untutored eyes to be electric resonator guitars, Chino, besuited and resplendent in his hat, led the trio which was completed by stand-up bass and drums, through a set that changed styles and rhythms and showed heavy Latin influences. The excellent Hush (Pretty Baby) had one couple in the audience dancing a very sexy and accomplished tango!

Slovakia’s representatives were unique in several ways! Bonzo Radvanyi & Lubos Bena were not only the only contestants to feature a song in their native tongue, Nemám hlad, nemám smäd (I’m not hungry, I’m not thirsty), the title track of their most recent CD, but they were also the only duo that featured a guitarist (Lubos) sitting behind and playing the drum kit whilst playing guitar! The aforementioned song was dedicated to the memory of fellow Slovak, John Dopyera, inventor of the Dobro guitar. Their set included River of Whisky and Average Man Blues complete with the donning of an obligatory ‘bluesman’s’ hat!

adeLina from souL serenade at european BLues ChaLLenge

After a short delay whilst the stage crew accommodated the band who were rounding off the first evening’s entertainment, Belgium’s Hideaway, a six piece who have been around since 1986 and were ready to party took the stage! With a line-up that included a great Hammond plus a super dirty sax, some great slide guitar and fine vocals, the guys went for it and really got the audience fired up with great sings such as a rock’n’roll take on Hideaway, a ditty about breaking up, Members Only and Mean Madame . A great set which sent us very happily out into the balmy night air to find a taxi. After a warm and busy Saturday which included the General Assembly of the European Blues Union in the morning and the excellent Blues Market in the afternoon, a gathering of more than 70 ‘exhibitors’ and many, many more musicians, promoters, media representatives and many others involved in some way in the blues, it was back to Le Bikini for part two!

Opening the evening were a band who, from listening to their music before going to Toulouse, were, I thought, going to be very interesting and they did not let me down! Honey B & T-Bones from Finland opened with a song that was preceded by what reminded me of Innuit throat singing and that was just for openers! At times reminiscent of Bjork, we had a song which opened with a cracking drum solo alongside a rip-roaring Mojo Boogie, the winner of the most bizarre song title award, We had to postpone the Hunting Season and, as a finale, a total contrast, a haunting and goosebump inducing stripped down version of Johnny Cash’s Walk the Line with Honey’s vocal transformed into a sweet soprano with added delay which produced an ethereal quality; fabulous. By total contrast, second on Saturday’s bill were France’s Shaggy Dogs (note: there is no

‘the’ in their name!). A band who proudly proclaim that there are ‘no more barriers between styles’ this four piece tore into their set with a power and energy which really fired up the audience. Opening their set with a drum solo whilst the other members took the stage amidst billowing smoke, they ripped into their opening number with wailing harp and glorious guitar. Shaggy Dogs have been compared to Dr Feelgood, and not without reason, but watching singer Green Bullet and guitarist Jacker interacting on stage also reminded me of two venerable members of the Stones! Shaggy Dogs have a new CD being released in May and it is a scorcher!

Another contrast as Sugar Boy & the Sinners from the Netherlands took the stage. Very much representing the younger generation of blues bands from a country with a rich heritage of great bands, Sugar Boy & his cohorts sported heavily gelled quiffs and stand-up bass, almost more popular at the EBC than electric bass! The guys built upon the energy generated by their predecessors and they really got the audience moving with a set highlight being the rumba rhythms of Baby You Are Out of Sight which produced an outbreak of dirty dancing. Great stuff! It was interesting to note that blues-rock outfits were heavily outnumbered by purveyors of a more traditional style. However, Switzerland’s Fabian Anderhub brought us a set that was unashamedly blues-rock, so much so that one member of the audience was heard to describe him as ZZSchweiz!

The smartly suited Fabian and his band opened up in super funky style and were an instant hit with the audience who lapped up his guitar driven set. A total contrast as Veronica Sbergia & Red Wine Serenaders from Italy took to the stage. Featuring Veronica on vocals, washboard,

A greAt set which sent us very hAppily out into the bAlmy night Air

kazoo and ukelele, Alessandra Cecala on stand-up bass and Max De Bernardi on guitar and uke, Veronica promised us ‘a journey through early 20th century brothels’, and what an enjoyable trip it was! This was great entertainment and music that put a smile on your face. The audience flocked around the stage enthusiastically lapping up the ‘old style blues’ pouring from it. A Victoria Spivey song about dope was followed by the country style Out on the Western Plains , all superbly and entertainingly delivered.

From southern Europe, the next act took us north to Norway who were represented by Yngve & his Boogie Legs, five young men from Oslo, all aged just 22 and playing great rockabilly blues with a style and skill that belies their youth.

Lead by the otherwise silent Yngve on stand-up bass, this young band’s set was comprised of totally original songs and finished with an absolute cracker which featured some wonderfully energetic bass playing. His excellent band complemented Yngve and they were enthusiastically received by the audience. Also from Scandinavia were the next contestants, Chris Grey & the BlueSpand, for me, one of the less exciting acts. Sorry guys. They were purveyors of funky blues rock with a very ‘urban’ stage persona but, apart from a very enjoyable slow number which finished their set off, I did not feel

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NeW BruNsWiCK Battle OF the Blues

scAlA, london

tuesday 26th march 2013

A different venue this year for the 2013 final, a wonderful former cinema, minutes from Kings Cross and a building which evoked memories of childhood visits to cinemas when they had character! Six very varied acts were competing to win a trip to play at the Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival in Fredericton, New Brunswick in September, following in the footsteps of 24 Pesos (2011) and Groovea-Matics (2012) and what an evening we had in store! Opening the evening were the winners of the South-East heat at the New Crawdaddy Blues Club in Essex, the Dove & Boweevil Band.

Hailing from Norfolk, the band is based around the duo of talented vocalist Lauren Dove and the excellent guitar of Mark ‘Boweevil’ Hawes. Lauren wasted no time in whipping up the audience’s enthusiasm as the band filled their allotted 20 minutes with a great variety of material which showed their skill and talent. They just get better every time I see them!

Next up were North-East heat winners, Street Corner Blues, a wonderful duo comprising guitarist/singer Chris James, appearing in his third NBBoB final, and glorious harmonica player Martin Fletcher. Their choice of material was excellent and the wonderfully full sound they produced filled the venue and hushed the audience. In particular, Martin’s harmonica appeared to produce a ‘surround sound’ experience. Sadly, all too soon their time was up.

From Dundee came the Boston Tea Party, four 20/21 year olds who have been making quite a name for themselves over the last 18 months including supporting ‘rising star’ Jake Bugg. The guys certainly enjoyed themselves and will, no doubt, become a fine band. My feeling was that they sometimes lost their way and could, possibly, have done with a bit more rehearsal but, that said, they were enthusiastically received by the audience so what do I know?

The fourth finalist was also a contestant from the South East heat, Cambridge based Ben Smith, the judges choice to fill the sixth slot in the final. Ben is not only an excellent guitarist but also a very strong singer blessed with a commanding voice. He sailed through a wonderfully varied set of originals including the excellent Let’s Go To Bed for a Week and very quickly had the audience (well the vast majority of them) listening eagerly and in near silence. A very strong set indeed and Ben is another act that gets better every time I see him.

Two acts left and next up was the Laurence Jones Band, winners of the North West heat in Newton Le Willows. 21 year old Laurence started playing classical guitar at 8 and went on to achieve grade 8 distinction on the instrument. It is, however, with an electric guitar that he is winning plaudits across the UK and Europe. His powerful guitar playing and rock solid rhythm section was very much appreciated by the audience and the end of his set was marked by prolonged applause, such that one wondered whether this might sway the judges. There is an old adage about keeping the best till last and on this Tuesday evening, at least, it was true.

Winners of the Southern heat at the aptly named Brunswick in Hove, David Migden & the Dirty Words electrified the audience from the opening drum beat and produced a set of such originality and diversity that it fair took your breath away! David has an amazing voice and his four band mates are such consummate musicians that there was very quickly a feeling that we were listening to and seeing the winners, a feeling I had voiced when I was a judge at the Hove heat.

The applause at the end of their set left little doubt about who the audience felt were the winners. And so it came to pass as David Seabrook, head judge and one of the principal lights at the Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival took the stage to announce the winners.

He opened by saying ‘The standard of entries has been extremely high this year, as it was in the competition’s first two years. But David Migden & the Dirty Words had the edge and richly deserve the final prize!’

A very excited David Migden & the Dirty Words returned to stage to be feted by an audience who, I hope, realised that they had seen some excellent acts but that they had also witnessed possibly one of the most original and exciting acts on the scene at the moment and one that will blow away the audiences at the Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival!

Congratulations go to all involved and thanks to Tourism New Brunswick for, once again, providing such a wonderful showcase of the unsigned and often almost unknown talent that there is on the UK blues scene.

Thank goodness for the Canadians!

ashwyn smyth

that their material was particularly original and certainly their music did not move me.

Ever since reading about Poland’s representatives, Harpcore, I had been eagerly looking forward to their appearance. There are occasions when you will catch four top harmonica players on the same stage but it is normally more by chance than choice. However, Harpcore pulls together four of Poland’s best, adds two excellent guitarists and a drummer with the end result being something rather special. Harpcore’s set gave us twenty minutes of sheer heaven which saw the four harps playing in unison, playing like a brass section and then each taking turns to solo. One player even fed his harp through some sort of electronic wizardry to produce the sound of a Hammond organ, so much so that I, and others, kept looking on stage to see where the Hammond was hiding! Without a break, Higher & Higher became an 11 minute marathon Take Me to the River . Magic stuff that ended all too soon. How I would love to see this band play a full set!

To Germany next with the Tommy Schneller Band, a great seven piece outfit with a three piece brass section lead by Tommy on sax and vocals. The band opened with a gorgeous slow number, Blues for the Lady which gave each instrumentalist an opportunity to shine, and boy did they! The set continued and a lovely sense of mellifluousness washed over the auditorium as the band showed a tightness and togetherness which reflected their talent and experience. Another band that I would love to see play a full set. And so to the final act of the Challenge, Matti Norlin & Badge, a trio of blues rockers who took no prisoners. Led by Matti playing a steel bodied resonator, a bit surprising given the music they were playing, the band’s Calculated

Mover was taken at 110 m.p.h. there was some fine bottleneck playing from Matti and this was definitely one for the headbangers. For your reviewer, it was the end of a long night and, if I am honest, not really for me but for many of the audience, it was their last chance to dance, and dance they did!! A brief wait whilst the judges’ scores were totted up and then Thomas Ruf, President, and Jean Guillermo (vice-President) of the EBU took to the stage to announce the results. For the first time in EBC history, two acts tied for second place – the popular Chino & the Big Bet and crowd favourites Soul Serenade. The announcement of the winners, Veronica Bergia & Red Wine Serenaders, was received with wild approval from the audience, and with wild abandon by Veronica and her band mates, so much so that Veronica rushed across the stage and threw herself at Thomas! I think they may have to get married now! To close the night, we were treated to a jam which saw two stand-up basses on stage as the three ‘winners’ took to the stage for a wonderful, impromptu jam. A great finale to two excellent evenings of blues and beyond.

Congratulations must go to everybody involved who worked so hard to make the EBC such an excellent two day feast of great blues from Europe. Next year it all takes place in Riga, Latvia so put the dates – April 11th & 12th - in your diary and make sure you book time off for 2014’s blues feast that is the EBC. And visit the EBU website – www. europeanbluesunion.com – to find out more about the Union and how you can support their efforts, and blues in the UK, by joining! ashwyn smyth

sCarBOrOuGh tOP

seCret Blues Festival

cAsk inn scArborough 22–24 april 2013

FridAy

While the rest of Britain returned to the Ice-Age, in snow-free Scarborough, the Blues Club let the secret out on their six day festival. Earlier in the week saw

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appearances by 24 Pesos and Zoe Schwarz Blue Commotion with support from a large pool of local talent (of which more later). This review concentrates on the weekender which was limited to 90 tickets and a jaw-dropper!

Friday Night; Grainne Duffy Band started the fun with extended workouts on their studio material. Original numbers included the Stones riffing Time Is Not Enough, sultry vocals on Waiting For You and classy guitar on Test Of Time . B.M! got a mention when Christine Moore was invited to show off her ‘Reggae-Dancing’ to Sweet, Sweet Baby . A soulful take on I’d Rather Go Blind with a sustained final vocal line

Durham Blues rOCK JamBOree

MAinsForth coMMunity centre, Ferryhill, durhAM march 29th, 2013

Local blues aficionado Les Routledge is our master of ceremonies for the night and enthusiastically welcomes curtain raisers The Mitch Laddie band The powerful Time Running Away from album Burning Bridges together with the energetic Gettin’ It Right show why Laddie earned the praise of Walter Trout. Extended soloing and ability to expand a riff to almost gigantic proportions combined with the maturities of playing and song writing saw Mitch tipped by many as one to watch – a brilliant rendition of What Is Hip (Tower Of Power) and ballsy reworking of Marvin Gaye’s Inner City Blues

Next on stage is Ron Sayer Jnr, Bad Thing shifting emphasis from Laddie’s sometimes histrionic style towards a more melodic feel; Charlotte Joyce

brought well deserved cheers of appreciation. This hard working band encored with The Shape I’m In – which is pretty good!

The Producers took to the stage with some gentle ribbing from Harry Skinner comparing their own Bournemouth to the bitter winds outside. Bitter Sweet and Blue followed, featuring fine jazztinged keyboards from Ray Dury. The band showcased material from new release London Blues, including The Money Lender, with some nice slide, and the slowburning blues Some People Say This was another band enjoying playing music for both the crowd and themselves, which worked so well over the weekend in the

on electric piano and additional vocals given a real work out at times during a superb set. Sayer is blessed with an expressive and soulful voice, not one single note either musically or vocally feeling anything other than effortlessly smooth. The slow blues of I Wonder Who benefits from his ability to milk the best out of everything he plays, solos displaying power and class.

Loosening up with an extended instrumental jam, headliners The Russ Tippins Electric Band move quickly into high gear with Josephine from debut album Electrickery and Too Cool To Sweat from soon to be released new CD Combustion before a staggering rendition of Killing Floor shows why this band leave audiences begging for more.

By now the set has caught fire and appropriately the eponymous Combustion follows, Tippins amazing talent soaring from six strings under command of a master puppeteer, Stevie Wonder classic I Wish giving the superb rhythm section of drummer Ian

intimate setting of The Cask cellar bar.

sAturdAy

Harry Skinner & Dave Saunders played an acoustic lunch-time set taking us gently through blues, country blues, and even touching on jazz with a laid-back visit to Van Morrison’s Moondance . From the hill country of Mississippi for Fred McDowell’s Try Me One More Time , down to the Delta for Walkin’ Blues and further west to Texas for the smartly picked Fishing Blues

The Producers duo entertained with fine playing and easy between numbers humour. The encore saw Harry play the delicate and haunting instrumental Arizona, a beautiful way

Halford and bass guitarist John Dawson deserved opportunity to shine. Their ability to build a platform from which Tippins can project is frequently stunning.

What sets Tippins aside from his contemporaries is the ability to draw influence from legendary players, processing it through his virtuosity to produce something his own – the crowd pleasing title track to first album Electrickery being a perfect example.

A multi layered Dazed & Confused closed an exceptional performance from a trio with a growing international reputation, with demands for an encore bringing Laddie and Sayer back on stage for a 20 minute jam through Hendrix and Fleetwood Mac, resulting in a standing ovation from an ecstatic crowd that hung on every note.

Having supported Dr. Feelgood here previously, Tippins fell in love with the venue, leading to his arranging this mini festival. Judging by the crowd response, I can easily see this becoming an annual event.

Paul sinclaiR

to finish a finely crafted set. To call The Tom Townsend Blues Band a ‘house-band’ is a little disingenuous. That they are the main-stay of the Club nights is true, but they provide much more than standard covers of old Blues, and they write their own quality compositions. The band took the mid-afternoon slot and after rocking the house with I Don’t Need No Doctor moved into self-penned Chasing After You , driven by the steady bass of Nick Boyes and including some fine guitar soloing from Tom. Someone Called The Blues , written by drummer Paul Tilly was a soulful number with tasty keyboard fills from Mark Gordon. The Townsend treatment was given next to a cover – Sugar Rush , which led to the first of many surprises.

Ian Siegal was invitedon stage, and with the wry aside ‘they ruined my song’, led the band into a version of Businessman with extended guitar breaks from both Ian and Tom. As Ian left to rousing applause, the band continued with some jumpblues, Down At The Doctors before closing the set with Catfish Blues . Flame haired Laura Welburn, another product of the Club, gave a competent run through standards ranging from blues-shouter Why I Sing The Blues , gospel, This Train, to country numbers Falsom Prison and Cheating Heart . She was accompanied by the Tom Townsend band and featured some really outstanding sax solos from Lisa Pinkney, especially on the loungejazz of Turn Me On Saturday Night; With his signature taps, raps and flicks of the guitar Derrin Nauendorf opened the evening’s entertainment with Ghost Town accompanied by menacing sounds from the bowed upright bassof Rick Foot . A generous helping of guitar genius followed with standouts Won’t Turn My Back and, featuring a fine bass solo, the popular Shipwrecked . Then for the second time today Ian Siegal was invited on stage,

taking vocal duties on I’ll Fly Away which had the two guitarists taking lead breaks. Dylan’s Gotta Serve Somebody had powerful rhythm work and vocals from Derrin followed by Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning . The outstanding take on Wayfaring Stranger stretched from spiritual through delta bottom-lands and via desolate outback to Celtic roots. With bowed bass and Ian using slide very effectively, the music painted pictures. Another Dylan number brought all three back to the stage in the rousing I Shall Be Released with some fine fingerboard work from Derrin. The rhythmic instrumental which finished the set had the guitar body being used to create sounds, and with the usual head-butt of the mic the set closed to rapturous applause.

Headliners Jo Harmon & Company road-tested numbers from new release Dirt On My Tongue , mixed with classic covers. Ann Peebles I Can’t Stand The Rain and her own Cold Heart were followed up with Bobby Bland’s Aint No Love , Let It Be and a powerful version of Clarence Greenwood’s Sideways . The set showed off the deep emotions she puts into her music, nowhere more evident than the tribute to her late father Sweet Man Moses .

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Afternoon; Billed as a three-hour jam session, the stage was thrown open to local talent plus the odd guest or two. Tom Townsend Blues Band held the line with the addition of Dave Kemp on sax on the opener TajMahal’s Hard Headed Woman . There followed a rotation of the band with various members of T.C. & the Moneymakers plus a range of featured musicians. These included flautist Rob MacKay, who provided a fine solo on an old Oscar Brown Jnr. tune. MC Nick Adams gave an acoustic rendition of Everything Is Broken . Front of

house man, Tariq took a spell on drums, Laura Welburn returned for a run through Hallelujah I Just Love Him So , and even the bar staff came up to play a couple of numbers on guitar.

Among the guests who featured with The Tom Townsend Band was Jon Amor, who joined for a run through Lawdy Mama followed by a superb rendering of SheThought I Was An Eagle (I Was Just A Crow) . Another familiar face of the weekend, Ian Siegal joined Tom and the band later for a great take on Stop Breaking Down and another Dylan number, She Belongs To Me , slow paced with fine guitar work and keyboard, and harp fills from Tom Cox. Ian and Jon got up again to close the session with what proved to be the song of the festival, Tom Waits Shore Leave with Ian taking vocals. This was followed by I Just Can’t Stand It featuring another great sax solo and keyboards. Rhythm Zoo had the unenviable job of closing this long afternoon and they fought a running battle against time, hunger and tiredness in the audience, and an impromptu gig upstairs in the bar where T.C. were joined by Ian Siegal for another jam. Songstress Andi Jones shook her hair and

siegaL amor and aLan nimmo at sCarBorough photo: Christine moore

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belted out nice versions of Wild Wild Wimmin , and Robert Cray’s Playing The Blues . Phil Dean played some great licks during You Know What I Want . As the band went into Stormy Monday this writer beat the retreat into a wind-swept Sunday to get something to eat and take a break before the final session.

Sunday Night; The pure energy of The Revolutionaires pulsed through the room from the first notes of When I Get Drunk and dared anyone to not feel good. Old favourites had the crowd up from their seats dancing; Keep A Knockin’ , Hip Shake and Tequila Mystery Train featured sharp standup bass from Rich Stephenson and the tenor sax of Gary Hoole, while Mark Mathews kept the pressure up from behind the drums. The powerhouse energy of guitarist and lead vocalist Ed Stephenson was infectious as he rocked around the stage. The set ended with Hucklebuck which of course led

chris FArlowe

And the normAn beAKer bAnd beAuFort bAllrooM, beAuFort

14th march, 2013

Norman and his band started with a R’n’B number, a great version of My Baby’s Got The Blues; as ever, they provided the perfect backdrop for Chris; demonstrating why they are so popular, and reflected in the packed house. This was was a road trip of nostalgia for many, with music from their youth. The first set was a great mix of blues and Rock n’ Roll including Little Milton’s Ain’t No Big Deal On You, a song penned especially for him, and Mike D’Abo’s Handbags and Gladrags, for many the definitive version! Chris and Norman provided plenty of banter between numbers, engaging the

to cries for more before the band could leave the stage. They encored with Big Joe Turner’s Jump For Joy . Great rocking music that had the house doing just that.

Closing the weekend was given over to King King with a kilted Alan Nimmo demonstrating his fine guitar soloing on both hard rocky numbers and the slow soulful songs. The set featured material from new release Standing In The Shadows . Standouts included the moving number A Long History Of Love and One More Time Around , a rocker driven by the combination of drums (Wayne Proctor), bass (Lindsay Coulson) and new keyboard man Bob Fridzema. Also on the album and given an outing tonight was a tribute to Frankie Miller, his own Jealousy, which opened with electric piano and contained some heart-felt vocals. By contrast the infectious boogie Six In The Morning had the crowd up and dancing, and again featured

audience and ensuring that this was wall-to-wall entertainment. They slowed the tempo down with great lead breaks from Norman and his guitar that suited the arrangement of It’s Tough on Me, It’s Tough On You. The band were a tight cohesive unit with their individual sounds shining through, Dave Baldwin on keys, provided a stylish melding into the guitar chords giving a depth of tone, and, when released, he gave the band, along with the superb saxophonist, Kim Nishikawara, a delightful alternative to guitar lead breaks that with some other artists can become tedious, but this is never the case with The Norman Beaker Band, who use every moment to prove why Blues, Rock, and Rock’n’Roll are timeless and never boring, but a mix of tones, tempos and musical textures. The Rhythm section is

nice keyboard. Once again Jon Amor was invited to the stage to act as guitar-slinger on Old Love with intricate interplay between the two guitarists with ever decreasing volume before full power was returned in a crescendo from Alan that led back to a final vocal. Ninety souls brought the house down with a standing ovation which led the band into Mr. Highwayman with everybody singing along. As the music quietened, Ian Siegal was invited up to take over vocals and the song morphed into a Stoneslike boogie before returning to the original for a big finish.

All credit to Mark Horsley and his team of volunteers who put this event on and for making it run so smoothly. Mark says that the process is on-going, he’s already thinking about next year, taking note of changes that will make this great little festival even better.

mel

concerts

the strong backbone of this band provided by John Price (Bass) and Steve Gibson (Drums), who may be in the background, but they enable everyone else to soar to the heights and create the sound that had everyone’s feet a tapping, and singing along.

liz aiken

Chris farLoWe

l’olyMPiA, PAris

7th april, 2013

The concert at L’Olympia was originally scheduled as ‘Alvin Lee and Johnny Winter’ but because of Alvin’s untimely death on March 6th the promoters billed it as ‘Johnny Winter and Guests’ to be preceded by ‘a moment of silent reflection’ in tribute to the globally acclaimed blues-rock guitarist. Fans around the world were invited to join in this occasion at 7pm local time in France which marked the start of the show. Preceding this, as the audience filed into the auditorium, I’m Going Home was playing at full volume and for a moment it seemed that Alvin was on stage and all that had happened was just a bad dream.

The announcement of the period of silence confirmed that Alvin’s family had been consulted and it was agreed the concert

should go ahead as he would have wanted everyone to have a good time. The reflection itself was a very spiritual experience and respected reverentially by a full house of over 1500. Tommy Emmanuel, two-time Grammy nominee and one of Australia’s greatest guitarists opened with a short, 20-minute set highlighting his distinctive finger picking style using all ten fingers.

The dazzling instrumentals were interspersed with the song Sixteen Tons , and the beautiful ballad Angelina dedicated to his daughter. Tommy brings light and shade to his playing which is jazz influenced and periodically punctuated by the tapping of rhythms on the body of the guitar. The genius of a musician at the peak of his career merited the rapturous applause from an appreciative audience. Johnny Gallagher and the Boxtie Band are a high energy, hard rocking Irish outfit, comprising Johnny’s brothers Pauric on keyboards

and James on bass with Michael Christie providing the thunderous drumming. Johnny immediately struck up a great rapport with the Olympia crowd whom he wooed with his larger than life personality, encouraging participation through joining in the songs and repeating phrases. Glugging the best part of a bottle of wine, Johnny powered his way through a memorable one-hour performance, the highlight of which was Shake That Tambourine a mixture of incendiary guitar solos and anguished, gravelly vocals. He had opened with I’m Going Home but not Alvin’s national anthem, rather a boogie which showcased Pauric’s mesmerising keyboard skills. Johnny has a gift of telling stories in a conversational style whilst correspondingly incorporating a series of crescendos into the song which take the listener on a musical roller coaster. CONTINUES

Alvin lee tribute concert

JohnnY gaLLagher and the Boxtie Band at the aLvin Lee triBute

edgar Winter at the aLvin Lee triBute

JohnnY Winter at the aLvin Lee triBute

Who would have thought a couple of years ago, the names Virgil and The Accelerators and Johnny Winter would have shared a stage? It’s testament to the hard graft in the studio and on the road, that Virgil got the gig. Not surprisingly, as brother Gabriel is on drums, with Jack on bass, this power trio have family feel about them.

Their slick set is based around the new live CD/DVD they’re promoting and excellent it was too. From opener Working Man to closer Are You Experienced, the good crowd were enthusiastic. It won’t be long before these youngsters become a headline act themselves. A short while later, we had lift off, an instrumental intro by the band, Paul Nelson on guitar, Scott Spray, bass and ex-Rick Derringer cohort Tommy Curiali on drums, heralded the arrival on stage of the legend that is Johnny Winter. Seated, it was straight into Johnny Be

Goode. It can be argued until the cows come home but Winter only does covers but my counter argument would be some of the best music was written between the late 60s and 70s from which he culls his play list. His brand of blues is heavily influenced by the old blues greats such as Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, not forgetting that he produced three Grammy award- winning albums for the former.

Winter cuts a frail figure but he still has all the guitar licks going on – nothing wrong with his fretboard hand. In no time at all he was through Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, Mojo, Killing Floor and the first of two Stones covers, Jumping Jack Flash. Winter stood for the final All Over Now before returning with his Firebird for the encores, Dust my Broom and Highway 61 Revisited, bringing the curtain down on a phenomenal evening. Again, special mention for the band who worked their collective socks off, especially Paul Nelson on second guitar. If you expect anything new from Johnny at 69 years of age you’ll be disappointed. What tonight

Slow burners such as Peace Of Mind were also part of the repertoire but the highlight was an original rendition of Hey Joe with its brilliant acoustic guitar introduction. However, rather than burning the guitar, Johnny sang through its sound hole whilst simultaneously playing it at the same time, an outrageous piece of showmanship which summed up his night. Johnny Gallagher enhanced his growing reputation and the audience loved every minute of his sensational contribution to what was a tribute now in full flow. The Frenchmen, Manu Lanvin and The Devil Blues played in the foyer during the interval and brought their Delta blues and American folk music to a less frenetic location than the main auditorium. The talented and innovative trio played the most authentic blues of the evening within an intimate setting. It was a pity that the majority of the audience would have missed such innovative guitar work, distinctive, passionate vocals and the excellent double bass which Gaby seemingly dances with to the tempo and rhythm set by drummer Jimmy Tantout.

Back to the main stage for the second half and the inimitable multi-instrumentalist Edgar Winter, who stormed through some Texas shuffles with a four-piece band and two singers, although Edgar himself proved to be the best vocalist of the whole evening. He is the consummate performer and clearly got a buzz from being invited to his brother’s gig, staying on for Johnny’s set as an additional band member, as was Robben Ford who made cameo appearances. The American bluesman Johnny Winter burst on the scene in 1969 with his fresh take on classic blues. Unfortunately there was very little evidence of the latter as Johnny blasted his way through old favourites such as Johnny B Goode , Good Morning Little Schoolgirl , Dust My Broom and Boney Maronie . The sound was

Johnny winter/ virgil And the AccelerAtors koMediA, bAth 18th april, 2013

JohnnY Winter at komedia photo: ken anstead

heavily distorted, the guitar solos repetitive and Edgar’s gut-busting saxophone and keyboard playing contributed to a cacophony. Not that Johnny’s legion of fans seemed to mind as they danced and shouted their way through the set. Alvin used to talk about occasions when there were just too many musicians on a stage and this was one of them.

To make matters worse, Jumping Jack Flash and It’s All Over Now sounded like contributions from a second rate Rolling Stones tribute band, far removed from their original brilliance and invention. By contrast, Robben Ford an electric guitarist par excellence contributed tasteful solos which were greeted with standing ovations. The American is a major talent whose associations over the years with Bob Dylan, George Harrison and Miles Davis have contributed to his current status as a significant player on the current blues scene, reflected in his new stunning album, Bringing It Back Home . In many respects, this concert had everything possible that was relevant to Alvin Lee which would have guaranteed his approval. The guitar wizardry of Tommy Emmanuel and Robben Ford is where Alvin was at in terms of technicality and innovation: Johnny Gallagher played at 100 miles per hour like a young Alvin Lee: Manu Lanvin provided the Americana of Alvin’s In Tennessee period; and Johnny Winter brought some of the nostalgia of Ten Years After’s R&B. However, there will only ever be one Alvin Lee and his absence has left a huge void. He really did change the world through the evolution of his timeless and classic music and he was one of the first popular musicians to promote peace throughout the world. Alvin deserves the last words: World pollution, there’s no solution, institution, electrocution

Just black and white, rich or poor, them and us, we’ll stop the

war! I’d love to change the world but I don’t know what to do, so I’ll leave it up to you. And Good Luck the bishoP

Joe bonAmAssA borderline, london

26th march 2013

How times have changed since Joe Bonamassa first played this intimate London venue back in 2005. In those days he was a somewhat podgy wanabee guitar hero of the club circuit, laughingly ignored by certain industry bigwigs and, it must be said, by his peers. Now a 35-year-old veteran, in very good shape, Joe is a class act, this, the first night of a sold-out four night London mini tour, culminating at the Royal Albert Hall.

The capacity crowd had an air of anticipation as to how the evening would pan out. One look at the set-list told me we were in for a treat, delving for much of the evening into his older numbers. Accompanied by Michael Rhodes on bass and Anton Fig on drums, he kicked off with the cool minor key blues I Know Where I Belong , one of several songs taken from the first album, 2000’s A New Day Yesterday . A heavy riff accompanied the Jeff Beck Group’s Spanish

Boots showcasing Joe’s love and feel for the British heavy rock tradition that has so influenced his style. As I alluded to earlier, not only does he look leaner, his singing is far better nowadays, and he plays with a speed and dexterity that is difficult to comprehend sometimes. A personal favourite, Rod Stewart’s Blues Deluxe illustrated the latter, played as well as any of the greats who have preceded him. We were treated to the older, Miss You/Hate You , Burning Hell, Don’t Burn Down That Bridge along with the newer, Story Of A Quarryman . A funny take on the latter was that Kevin Shirley, watching from the side of the stage, was not over impressed with Joe’s performance of it and insisted that he do it again as a prelude to the encore. For that, Joe only served to underline my earlier point about his guitar playing; a rarely covered Hendrix, Are You Experienced

All in all, then, a great night’s entertainment, if somewhat costly, but Bonamassa is in no mood, or hurry, to revisit the financial struggles of earlier years. But in other respects he turned back time, reverting to the set-list and ‘power trio’ format he deployed at the start of his career.

clive Rawlings

Joe Bonamassa at the BorderLine