Blues Matters 117

Our name says it all!

BETTE SMITH | KIM WILSON | SAMANTHA MARTIN | SELWYN BIRCHWOOD | SHEMEKIA COPELAND | TOMAS DONKER

WILLIAM SHATNER

JORMA KAUKONEN SUSAN SANTOS

RHYTHM & BLUES RECORDS

www.rhythmandbluesrecords.co.uk

BOBBY PARKER SOUL OF THE BLUES 2CD (also on LP)

Virtuoso blues guitarist Bobby Parker inspired John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Jimmy Page and many others yet it has taken 66 years since his recording debut for a proper compilation to be issued under his name. The one you all know, Watch your Step was played on stage by the Beatles in their Hamburg days who by their own admission, took its ri to fashion the opening to I Feel Fine. And let’s not forget Led Zeppelin’s Moby Dick, which borrowed that same ri . What a great soulful blues singer Bobby Parker was too. From his 1956 recording of Titanic, to 1969’s It's Hard But It's Fair, we present some unforgettable vocal performances plus guitar instrumentals that showcase his unique way of playing the blues. And there are some unreleased live performances from a radio show broadcast in 1995. Bobby Parker originals are hard to come by – apart from the hit Watch your Step, everything else is a valuable collector’s item. But this compilation brings them all together in one set and we can promise a treat in store for you.

AMERICAN FOLK BLUES FESTIVAL MANCHESTER 1962 CD

Manchester Free Trade Hall was host to two concerts on Sunday October 21st 1962 that acted as a catalyst to the nascent British Blues & R&B boom, around 2000 early blues enthusiasts saw the rst major concert in Britain to feature American bluesmen. Manchester was the only UK date on the 1962 American Folk-Blues Festival tour and it was attended by blues fans from all over the country through what Paul Jones called ‘the bush telegraph’. With Jones were Alexis Korner and Maccles eld-born John Mayall, plus extraordinarily a contingent of younger fans who had made the trip in a clapped out van from London. Why extraordinary? Because the van contained some of the future superstars of the British scene: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones and Jimmy Page. The Stones by this time had just a dozen gigs under their belts and Page had recently embarked on the rst stage of his career as a session guitarist. Jimmy Page: “I was keen to join the pilgrimage to Manchester… it was also the rst time I met Mick, Brian and Keith.” In excellent sound quality.

Rhythm and Blues

Editor’s comment WELCOME to BM 117

Let me just check... yes still here! Locked down again though. It’s on then off then.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR to you all. Let’s do the best we can in small numbers as allocated by our relevant governments and STAY SAFE.

So how we all out there?

A friend told me that at the start of all this his wife said “it’ll be good for us, we can get to know each other again!”. Now months down the line he said: “it was fun at the start but now I know things I f*****g didn’t!”

Being stuck in lockdown can be ‘stressful’ and I hope that you are all coping as well as we can. Those odd jobs that didn’t get done, many Nations will have the best looking gardens by now. We’ve got the blues but that’s ok because we all love The Blues, don’t we?!

This issue takes us to places we’ve never been - boldly or otherwise! There are so many sides to the Blues and we’ve had help finding another side to it. I’ll let you read on in these magnificent pages knowing you will find what I am talking about. I am assured that no harm came to the musicians involved in The Blues album. It sure does take The Blues to

new places and there is no denying the vocal talent on show as we await news of a promotion tour when we’re allowed out again.

We’ve also got the new exciting UK act When Rivers Meet in their ‘blitz’ period for you, plus a previously unpublished interview with the legend that is Peter Green.

Our Blues Matters! merchandise has now been launched - live the blues, wear the blues - with our range of T-shirts, hats and more. You’ll find discreet ads in the pages and can see a new tab on our website. The quality is fab and we hope there’s something for everyone. If there’s an item or garment you want to see, let us know - the range can be wider...

www.bluesmatters.com/shop

A great way to help musicians in this time is to buy their music or merch directly from their website. Streaming services don’t pay the artists very well at all!

Music is ever more important to us in these times so let’s celebrate the artists we enjoy. We’ve been doing it for years already and we ain’t stoppin’… enjoy your issue!

BLUES MATTERS!

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Contributing Writers:

Bruce Alexander (USA), Tim Arnold (USA), Roy Bainton, Eric Baker (USA), Steve Banks, Adrian Blacklee, Eddy Bonte (Bel), Colin Campbell, Laura Carbone (USA), Norman Darwen, Erik Damian, Dianne Dodsworth, Dave Drury, Ben Elliott (USA), Barry Fisch (USA), Sybil Gage (USA), Stuart A. Hamilton, Stephen Harrison, Trevor Hodgett, Barry Hopwood, Stacey Jeffries (USA), Rowland Jones, Adam Kennedy. Jean Knappitt, Brian Kramer (Sw), Frank Leigh, Andy Lindley, Gian Luca (USA), Ben McNair, John Mitchell, Glenn Noble, Toby Ornott, David Osler, Iain Patience (Fr), Alan Pearce, Dom Pipkin, Sharon Ponsford, Simon Redley, Darrell Sage (USA), Paromita Saha-Killelea (USA), Glenn Sargeant, Dave ‘the Bishop’ Scott, Graeme Scott, Jon Seymour, Andy Snipper, Dave Stone, Matty T. Wall (Aus), Don Wilcock (USA), Dani Wilde, Steve Yourglivch

Contributing Photographers:

Arnie Goodman, Jennifer Noble, Adam Kennedy, others credited on page.

COVER IMAGE: Rob Blackham blackhamimages.com

Original material in this magazine is © the authors. Reproduction may only be made with prior Editor consent and provided that acknowledgement is given of source and copy sent to the editorial address. Care is taken to ensure contents of this magazine are accurate, but the publishers do not accept any responsibility for errors that may occur, or views expressed editorially. All rights reserved. No parts of this magazine may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying recording or otherwise without prior permission of the editor. Submissions: Readers are invited to submit articles, letters and photographs for publication. The publishers reserve the right to amend any submissions and cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage. Please note: Once submitted material becomes the intellectual property of Blues Matters and can only later be withdrawn from publication at the expediency of Blues Matters.

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CONTENTS

BLUE BLOODS

Our look at the artists you may not have discovered yet

102

THE BIG BLUES REVIEWS GUIDE

118

16

20 |

More blues from Oz |

IBBA CHART

The IBBA top 40 chart

The RMR top 50 chart

VIRTUAL BLUES

|

22 |

An exclusive chat with the late great |

BLUES DOWN UNDER

REGULARS Our

name says it all!

BLUES

WORDS & PICTURES: ADAM KENNEDY

Well, it’s fair to say that 2020 has given us all a case of ‘The Blues’. With an absence of live music, opportunities to catch up with our favourite musicians have been few and far between.

The consensus amongst artists has been to take their craft online. With live streaming performances becoming the new normal. Likewise, as a music photographer and photojournalist, I was presented with a roadblock back in March when all of my live and portrait photoshoots were cancelled as a result of the pandemic.

However, this made me stop and think. It began to feel that as a result of this, there wouldn’t be much of a photographic record of the music industry within 2020. Yet this time we are in right now is historic. Never before has there been a period where pretty much every musician on the planet has been off the road, with concert halls, clubs, and theatres all being closed.

I decided that I wanted to capture this time as a historical and cultural reference. I hope that in the future people will want to look back on this era, and essentially my work will be a means of doing so.

But how could I achieve this with the current COVID restrictions in place, and live music ground to a halt? Most artists will tell you that creativity can’t be forced, it has to come to you naturally. And that’s exactly what happened to me. I had an epiphany or a moment of inspiration one night at the end of April during a restless night’s sleep.

I concluded that I wanted to try and conduct portrait photography sessions online with artists from the music world to prove that there can still be creative and photographic collaboration even

in isolation, as well as simultaneously making a record of this strange time. Of course, it was an artist from the Blues world catalysed this virtual journey and sent it along it’s now long and well-trodden path.

During an unrelated chat with Finnish slide guitar supremo Erja Lyytinen, we spoke about how we had both become creatively frustrated during the lockdown. I just so happened to mention my idea of virtual photoshoots which I had dreamt up the night prior. Erja became immediately fascinated.

Lyytinen goes on to say that “I was lucky to be the first one on Adam´s virtual shoot project. When he was telling me about this photography-idea, I got immediately excited!” With our enthusiasm in full swing, it didn’t take long for us to set up our virtual photo session. Speaking of that first virtual photoshoot Lyytinen said that “It felt for a few minutes like everything was back to “normal”. Adam giving me instructions about how to pose with my Stratocaster. It definitely gave both me and the photographer a burst of adrenaline, as we were both doing stuff that we enjoy.”

Since that first session with Erja Lyytinen at the end of April, I’ve gone on to complete 287 virtual photo sessions across the planet without leaving my home in the North East of England. These sessions have spanned from Alaska to Los Angeles, Nashville to New York to as far afield as Rio, Mumbai, Bahrain, Osaka, Melbourne, Honolulu, Costa Rica and all over Europe.

Throughout my virtual adventures, I’ve been catching up with blues artists around the world to find out what they’ve been up to. Here at Blues Matters Magazine, we bring you closer to your favourite artists during these unprecedented times.

NIK WEST

(Los Angeles, CA)

When it comes to bass players, Nik West is certainly at the top of the league. West has performed with some of the great artists of our time including the likes of John Mayer, Bootsy Collins, George Clinton/Parliament Funkadelic, to name but a few. As well as having credits working with Quincy Jones Productions and Prince himself. It was a real honour and a privilege to photograph Nik at her Los Angeles home.

ELLES BAILEY

(Bristol, UK)

You never know what’s going to happen during one of these virtual shoots - they are so organic. When you get two creative people together magic happens. With this shoot, in particular, Elles ended up perched on her garage roof (long story). This certainly gave the neighbours something to talk about as they peered out of their windows nearby. Bailey said “I didn’t know what to expect from a virtual photoshoot, but I have worked with Adam before and was very comfortable despite only working through the phone! Adam talked me through what he wanted me to do, whilst having a lovely catch up and I think the pics are super! What an incredible way of capturing life in “Lockdown”.”

ADAM WEINER

LOW CUT CONNIE

(Philadelphia,

PA)

Just one week before the US election I caught up with Adam Weiner at home in Philadelphia. Of course, Pennsylvania is one of the battleground states during this US election campaign. Low Cut Connie released their critically acclaimed new double album ‘Private Lives’ last month. Whilst shooting in front of his piano we discussed a wide range of artists from Charlie Patton to Little Richard and Dion. Low Cut Connie is classic rock n roll at its best.

SAMANTHA MARTIN

(Toronto, ON)

Ahead of the release of her new album under the banner of Samantha Martin and Delta Sugar, I took a walk through the streets of Toronto with the Canadian chanteuse. Look out for Martin’s latest offering ‘The Reckless One’ on November 20th.

KIM SIMMONDS

SAVOY BROWN

(New York, NY)

When it comes to blues legends Kim Simmonds from Savoy Brown is right up there with the best of them. We got some beautiful shots of Kim at his home. It was a real honour to work with an artist of Kim’s calibre. Of course, go and take a listen to the new Savoy Brown album “Ain’t Done Yet”, which was released in August.

WAYNE PROCTOR & OLI BROWN

(Ollerton, UK)

In recent months Wayne Proctor has been busy working with a myriad of artists including the likes of Kaz Hawkins, Lynne Jackaman and The Mentulls, to name but a few. Whilst in production at Superfly Studios I got to be a fly on the wall and capture some images of Wayne and Oli Brown whilst they worked on the Brown’s forthcoming album. I look forward to hearing more news about this exciting new release.

KATIE KNIPP

(Sacramento, CA)

With a lot of the shoots I’ve done it’s taken lots of correspondence before we manage to lock in a time in our schedules. Fortunately, with this shoot with Katie, we had spoken via E-mail in the morning and by the evening we were shooting together, which I love. Sometimes it’s just nice for everything to fall into place quickly. Katie had a video shoot that day, so she was already geared up for our photo session. We had a lovely shoot together, and I discovered that Katie loves Vintage Trouble, so of course we had plenty to talk about.

WHITNEY SHAY

(San Diego, CA)

Earlier this year I had been looking forward to the arrival of the Ruf Blues Caravan tour. Unfortunately, the pandemic put an end to that UK run which featured Ruf artists Ryan Perry, Jeremiah Johnson and Whitney Shay. Despite this, and by the wonders of modern technology I was able to catch up with Whitney Shay at home in ‘Sunny California’. If you are looking for an album to brighten up your day, Shay’s latest Ruf Records release ‘Stand Up!’ is out now.

KAZ HAWKINS

(Limoges, France)

With each shoot, I’ve wanted to try and make the portraits look different. Hawkins had recently moved to France and wanted to try and capture a French ‘Lady of the Manor’ vibe with this shoot. All I can say is mission accomplished in that respect. I can’t wait to work with Kaz again in the future.

WP&OB WS

MIKE ROSS & TROY REDFERN

(Hereford, UK)

Having got together for a live streaming event, Mike Ross and Troy Redfern asked if I would be interested in doing a shoot with the pair of them together. With this style of photography, you never know where the artist will be when they come online. And for this shoot, in particular, the dynamic duo had ventured to Hergest Court in Herefordshire. This spot is believed to have inspired the Sherlock Holmes adventure, The Hound of the Baskervilles. A historic location for a historic shoot.

ELIANA CARGNELUTTI

(Udine, Italy)

I’ve been fortunate enough to work with Eliana three times over the last six months, and each shoot we’ve completed has produced photographic gold. The latter also happens to be the artist’s favourite colour, as you can tell from this image. Cargnelutti went on to say that “Adam invited me to participate at this virtual “around the world” photographic project. I find very special that he can enter the artists’ houses and photograph the best of them. It is a brilliant and very fun idea. And then the photoshoot was even more so! I thank Adam very much because I really had some fun during this sad Italian lockdown and I’m sure that I will thank him also in the future for having immortalized these unique moments worldwide. Even the music thanks him and maybe one day his shots will also deserve a proper exhibition.” Look out for Eliana’s new studio album, which is presently being tipped for a 2021 release.

HANNAH WICKLAND

(Gainsville, FL)

This year I had planned to catch up with Hannah Wicklund on her scheduled support tour alongside King King. Again, COVID-19 made that tour unfeasible. But we recently caught up for an impromptu photo session in ‘The Sunshine State’. Wicklund has been keeping creative throughout the lockdown with a variety of musical and artistic outputs coming to fruition during this time.

JIMMY CARPENTER

(Las Vegas, NV)

I’ve been recently working with some of the artists from the Gulf Coast Records roster out in the US. I had the pleasure of working with one of my favourite Sax players Jimmy Carpenter in Las Vegas. Obviously, ‘Sin City’ is an entertainment hub in the US, so it was really interesting to hear how the pandemic had affected the music scene in such a prominent location.

LEWIS STEPHENS

(Fort Worth, TX)

Not only is Lewis one of the most respected blues keyboard players around but the list of artists he has worked with is simply astounding. I know he gets asked about this a lot, but it was nice to chat a little about his tenure with the Freddie King band during the 70s. Just one of the amazing artists Lewis has worked with.

My virtual photoshoot project continues to gain momentum every day, as I work with new artists across the planet. If you are a musician and interested in getting involved with my project, feel free to drop me a message. You can keep up to date with my work in each issue of Blues Matters Magazine, and via my social media pages via https://linktr.ee/akennedyphotographer.

PHENOMENAL BLUES WOMEN

CORA ‘LOVIE’ AUSTIN

WORDS: Dani Wilde

Lovie Austin was ‘one of the first important female bandleaders in jazz (who) deserves to be much better known.’ - Jazz critic Scott Yanow

Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1887, Lovie Austin (born Cora Taylor) was a childhood friend of Bessie Smith. The friends would sneak out together to watch their idol Ma Rainey perform. Austin was from a musical family; she described her father as ‘a great musician, and teacher in New York.’ Whilst he was away teaching, she was raised by her Grandmother in the South.

Keen to pursue her passion for music, Austin trained at Roger Williams College in Nashville, an African-American educational institute, until it burned down.

touring the Theater Owners’ Booking Association (TOBA) circuit as pianist and musical director of the Sunflower Girls revue. The TOBA theatres, which mostly had white owners, booked African-American jazz and blues acts, comedians and classically trained performers, for predominantly black audiences. TOBA had a reputation for underpaying and overworking African-American artists.

The organization which had more than 100 theatres’ at its peak in the early to mid 1920s was often referred to by black performers as ‘Tough On Black Artists’ or, by Blues Legend Ma Rainey as ‘Tough On Black Asses’. Austin had a short, second marriage to a fellow musician, and they toured the circuit under the name Austin and Delaney, however, when the relationship failed, Austin took the initiative to form and lead her own band and revue shows.

She then studied music theory at Knoxville College which was unusual for a woman at that time. Still in her teens, she married a movie house operator, however, the relationship did not last long, as Lovie’s passion and focus remained on her music. Her teachers expected her to become a music tutor, but instead she was drawn to the variety shows of the Vaudeville scene, where accompanying classic blues singers would become her speciality.

In her early 20’s, Austin rose to prominence

From the 1910s through to the 1930s, black culture thrived in Harlem and became known as the Harlem Renaissance. African-American’s who had endured horrendous hardship and racial discrimination turned to the arts to redefine their culture and showcase their talents, defying racial stereotypes. The Great Migration saw hundreds of thousands of African-Americans travel North from the agricultural South, re-establishing themselves in urban cities.

In Harlem, there was an explosion of cultural pride; African-American culture was reborn. In the 1920s, this included a blossoming of jazz and blues music, a trend that extended into Manhattan’s Club Alabam, where The Lovie

“Austin trained at Roger Williams College in Nashville”

PHENOMENAL BLUES WOMEN

Austin Revue became a popular attraction. Lovie would play piano, and direct the band accompanying handfuls of female singers of the Harlem Renaissance in front of large black and white audiences.

Renowned Pianist Mary Lou Williams remembered the impact Lovie Austin had on her: ‘When I was between 8 or 10 years of age [1918 or 1920],’ she recalled, ‘there was a TOBA theatre in Pittsburgh where all black entertainers came. I remember seeing this great woman sitting in the pit and conducting a group of five or six men, her legs crossed, a cigarette in her mouth, playing the show with her left hand and writing music with her right. Wow! I never forgot this episode.’

Not only was Austin one of the first female pianists to accompany the classic blues singers at their live shows, Austin formed The Blues Serenaders, whom she led as a session band for Paramount Records. In 1923, Austin directed The Serenaders, accompanying Ma Rainey on her first recordings for Paramount. You can also hear Austin’s piano and musical director skills on classic tracks including Ida Cox’s, Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues, Ethel Waters, Craving Blues, and Alberta Hunter’s, Sad ‘n’ Lonely Blues.

Lovie Austin’s most popular composition is Down Hearted Blues, a co-write with Alberta Hunter. In 1923, The Empress of the Blues, Bessie Smith had a huge hit with the song on Columbia Records, selling 780,000 copies in the first six months. The track made Smith a huge star, and helped to rescue Columbia from imminent financial failure. Austin also co-wrote classic blues hits Chirping the Blue with Alberta Hunter, Bo Weevil Blues with Ma Rainey, and Bama Bound Blues with Ida Cox.

Many artists of the period failed to receive royalty money for their original material, however Lovie Austin was smart and helped her friend

Alberta Hunter to secure her copyright protection on ‘Downhearted Blues’. Hunter would later express that the world should never ‘ever forget Lovie Austin... Lovie wrote ‘Graveyard Blues’ for Bessie Smith and made hundreds of those early records. And it was Lovie who helped me copyright my blues.’

In 1923, Austin decided to settle in Chicago, where she would live and work for the rest of her life. She was often seen dressed to perfection, racing around town in her Stutz Bearcat, a beautiful WW1-era American Sports Car with leopard-skin upholstery.

Although the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s has gained greater prominence, the black creative movement in Chicago was one to be celebrated. During and after the Great Depression (1930s-1950s), African- Americans in Chicago created a new community on the South Side that was distinctly their own. The Chicago Black Renaissance celebrated the emergence of jazz,

the evolution of gospel music, and the rise of urban blues. In 1922 trumpeter Louis Armstrong came to Chicago, swiftly rising to stardom as a virtuosic improvisational soloist with his Creole Jazz Band. He would remain in Chicago for the next three decades, where his recordings and radio broadcasts defined and dominated Chicago jazz. During this era, Lovie Austin, along with Armstrong’s wife, Lil Hardin Armstrong, and Earl “Fatha” Hines were Chicago’s most prominent pianists.

By the end of the decade, as the era of Classic Blues Women fell in popularity, Austin stopped touring, taking up the position of Musical Direc-

“Austin found work as a security guard at a naval defence plant”

PHENOMENAL BLUES WOMEN

tor for the Monogram Theater in Chicago, where all the T.O.B.A. acts would perform. She would work there for 20 years. Ethel Waters, who performed there during World War I, recalled the stage was so close to the noisy subway that performers had to pause every time a train went by. In her memoir, Waters would recollect that of ‘all the rinky-dink dumps I played, nothing was worse than the Monogram - You dressed away downstairs with the stoker. The ceiling down there was so low, I had to bend over to get my stage clothes on. Then you came up to the stage on a ladder that looked like those on the old-time slave ships.’ The venue may have been a little run-down, but it hosted many the era’s best African-American Jazz and blues performers under the creative direction of Lovie Austin.

During the 2nd World War, many musicians had to find other forms of work to support themselves and Austin found work as a security guard at a naval defence plant. During and after World War II, Austin found that Swing music had taken over as the new popular sound; even Bessie Smith was dropped from Columbia Records. Despite this, Austin soon returned to her music, finding work as a pianist at Jimmy Payne’s Dancing School.

In 1946, Blues vocalist Bertha Chippie Hill, a friend of Austin’s from the 1920’s, staged a comeback album and she hired Lovie Austin and her Blues Serenaders as her backing band. The album was well received, however, just a few years later, Hill was hit by a car whilst crossing a road in New York and killed at the age of 45. Austin continued to occasionally record and perform. During the 1960’s blues boom, interest in her early career grew. Some of the old records she had co-written were re-released, however the royalties she was owed for these new pressings failed to materialise. In 1961, Jazz critic Chris Albertson brought Hunter and Austin back

together in the studio to record ‘Alberta Hunter with Lovie Austin and her Blues Serenaders.’ Many consider the highlight of this session, a performance of ‘Down Hearted Blues,’ played together for the first time since 1922. This was Austin’s final recording. Lovie Austin passed away in Chicago on 10th July, 1972.

Legendary female Pianist, Mary Lou Williams, (who wrote and arranged for Duke Ellington), cited Lovie Austin as her greatest influence. Williams described Austin as, ‘…a fabulous woman and a fabulous musician too. I don’t believe there’s a woman around now who could compete with her. She was a greater talent than many of the men of this period. My entire concept was based on the few times I was around Lovie Austin.’

Austin was one of the very first female band leaders and prominent jazz instrumentalists who helped inspire and pave the way for others to follow. Despite having a robust and distinctive piano style, Austin is often overlooked in music history. I believe this is because she played

the role of supportive accompanist so well; she always played for the song, supporting the lead vocalist and soloists without ever overshadowing them. Austin was overlooked, and yet throughout both the Harlem and Chicago renaissance, there she was, sitting behind the most respected and influential artists of the era, directing their bands, co-writing and arranging their songs, and playing wonderful, expressive, piano that allowed the most successful classic Blues Women to shine.

“the royalties she was owed for these new pressings failed to materialise”

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BLUES

WORDS: Matty T. Wall PICTURES: Supplied

Despite the fact we are in a terrible pandemic, there is always time for just listening to music. In fact, the healthiest thing you could do may probably be to lift your spirits by playing music you love. Well, there are artists all over the world right now, working on songs, in studios, to try and bring the music out of their minds and to you – so it can be shared as a new creation. 2020 has seen many album releases, which to me is so reassuring that the perseverance and drive of talented artists is still active and creating.

So, I wanted to bring some attention today to a few albums that I have noticed over this pandemic period here in Australia that might be worth a listen for you.

Mike Elrighton Aftershock

Weighty, gripping, authentically blues-flavoured and brilliantly produced. It is fair to say that ‘Aftershock’ is Mike Elrington’s masterpiece – and the album that fans have been thirsting to hear.

A four-year break from the recording studio and a tumultuous couple of years on the personal front, 2020 and Mike has released ‘Aftershock’. Shaped by the pain & sadness of his marriage breakdown to the mother of his two small children, this album is a personal confession. It breaks new territory with crossover blues that has ignited re-

views across the nation.

An experience at a Mike Elrington show has been an aural feast of powerful vocals and energetic acoustic blues. He stands over two metres tall and pours out everything when he performs – sweat flies off and you can feel the electricity in the performance. However, this new record brings a stunning, professional sheen to the force that is Mike Elrington, with orchestration at all the right places and modern sounds that fit right into 2020. It also has an achingly beautiful darkness that the original blues masters of the last century were able to conjure.

Mike Elrington has a voice. A tone of voice that puts him right up there with the top blues singers in the world. In this release, it is showcased as the bringer of doom, tragedy, and, eventually, pure joy. The lyricism takes us on a journey of emotions from the very start of the record. Mike has been working on this studio album for three years now, with 200 studio hours being poured into this monumental effort. In his own words ‘an absolute bucketload of pain, heartache, anger, confusion, passion & soul went into this.’ This album is a cracker.

Simon Kinny-Lewis

Another Day in San Jose

Simon is a great player from down-under, with a leaning to the Robben Ford style of things. And in speaking of Robben Ford, he also took

part in these sessions for ‘Another Day In San Jose’ that Simon and band completed in 2019. This album has gone onto hit number one on the Australian Blues Radio charts for two months in a row, showing that it has universal appeal and cut-through. This is a great sounding record with a great band, the band behind Simon creating a solid wall of sound and groove. This is tight, slick produced stuff, right up there with the best. As referenced by Steve Lukather from Toto, Simon has a bit of ‘Bonamassa’ in his voice, and you either like that style or don’t. Either way, it sounds great to me.

But don’t let this detract you from the playing on this album. Like I said, Simon is a really great guitar player with his own style and brings some super-tasty playing here along with this incredible band of seasoned pros: Andy Just, Dewayne Pate, Tony Boyd, Nate Ginsberg and Walter Jebe. They play everything ‘right’ to get this album and bunch of tunes to sit perfectly. When you have players of this calibre, you find new things in each and every listen. Really great playing.

Charlie Bedford

Good to Go

Charlie is quite a young artist from Melbourne and has been working tirelessly in the Melbourne blues scene for years, representing Australia in the Youth Showcase – International Blues Challenge in Memphis. He also coaches younger artists coming up through the blues ranks in Melbourne. So, it’s great now to hear him step further with his latest

record “Good to Go”, released by Blue Heart Records in the USA.

He brings a relaxed, fun vibe, reminiscent of John Mayer, with a focus on song structures that step outside the realms of the blues canon. He has a light, fun vibe that just seems to work. We can’t wait to see what is in store as his musical maturity increases and his song-writing style develops even further, as it is refreshing to see young artists like Charlie push themselves to improve in the blues industry. He is still on the journey and getting stronger year by year with his iconic Hagstrom guitar by his side. No doubt Memphis will see much more of him in the future.

Now, I also wanted to send my best wishes to all of you out there struggling in these days of tough laws and lockdowns, my heart goes out to all those in distress or facing distress. As a musician, all I can offer is the notes that I play and record go to helping someone feel better when they need it –that is what musicians are bringing to you in 2020. There is a joy in digging for new sounds and new artists, so I hope you find something incredible to listen to, that connects with you and brings you that joy.

So, all blues-hounds out there that love discovering new albums, get out and check out these artists’ latest creations, and I’ll be seeing you next time.

CHATTING TO A MAN OF THE WORLD PETER GREEN

WORDS: Andy Hughes PICTURES: Photography Marco van Rooijen (BluesMagazine.nl)

It’s a fact – some interviews, and interviewees stick in your mind more than others.

That’s why, on reading of the passing of blues legend Peter Green I was transported back to a wonderful evening at the Wheatsheaf pub in Stoke-on-Trent, a memorable and sadly converted live music venue, and an incendiary performance by The Splinter Group, out on its first tour since Peter’s return to live performance. From there to the North Stafford Hotel – which is still there – to join Peter for a late drink and a talk about his history, his health problems, and his hopes for the future.

What stuck in my mind were Peter’s matter-

of-fact references to the characters that ‘spoke to him’ – clear indications of the ongoing fragility of his mental health, and the simple honesty with which he confessed that he doesn’t really like being interviewed any more. His modesty about the legendary songs he has written was absolutely genuine, as was the appreciation of his support network that enabled him to live normally, and gradually return to the blues he loved so much.

Far too many of our legends are gone too soon, but I was delighted to find our intimate interview and bring it to a new audience here at Blues Matters:

Peter Green, legend of blues guitar music, passed away peacefully in his sleep on 25 July 2020, he was seventy-three years old.

If you know anything al all about blues music, you know the legend of Peter Green the prodigiously talented guitarist who gave up music as his mental health fractured after excessive ingestion of hallucinogenic drugs.

Green enjoyed a stellar career as a composer and guitarist, replacing Eric Clapton in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers in 1966, before leaving in 1967 to start his own band, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac.

The story of Fleetwood Mac is long enough for its own magazine issue, but during his time with the band, Green wrote a series of classic hit singles with the band, but in 1970, he underwent a complete personality change, leading to him leaving the band he had created.

By 1996, Green was living in a house with Mich Reynolds, a friend of many years who had been married to Green’s manager. During his time there, Peter enjoyed conversations about music with Mich’s brother Nigel Watson, a guitarist himself, Watson slowly encouraged Peter Green to start playing again, and with musicians including Cozy Powell (Rainbow, Whitesnake) on drums and Neil Murray (Whitesnake, Black Sabbath) on bass, they formed Peter Green’s Splinter Group, and began a small venues tour of the UK and Ireland.

Demand for the band was instant, such was the eagerness of blues fans to see the legendary Green play again, and many of the original dates had second and third nights added in as they sold out rapidly.

One such gig was in September 1996, at the Wheatsheaf Pub in Stoke-on-Trent.

Green spoke little, except to wryly advise with a grin that he was unaware there were so many Santana fans in the house after an electrifying run-through of his own Black Magic Woman.

Following the show, the band adjourned to a local hotel where they quietly sat chatting in the lounge, and Peter Green and I took comfortable seats to talk about the gig, and Green’s new adventure in live music.

I had been advised that Green’s mental health was still fragile – he was unable to sign his name on anything without the express permission of Mich Reynolds His fragility manifested itself during the long conversation we had, where he frequently went off at a tangent from the subject being discussed, and often lapsed into incoherent mumbling, In spite of his clarity and vigour on stage, maybe the only place he was truly happy, Green’s mental health issues were evident, when he spoke about his inspiration from ‘The Sisters’ and ‘The Spirit Guide’ who were guiding improvements in his playing – clearly a reference to the voices he could hear in his head as a manifestation of his still active schizophrenia.

Our conversation started gently, with Peter confirming that he had enjoyed the show, and was happy to be playing live again. “Wonderful … wunderbar!” he exclaimed with a broad smile, before going on to recount his re-emergence into playing and recording after his long absence. “I wasn’t really going to play the guitar again. I met up with Nigel and asked him if he was playing, and he said he was, and if I fancied playing some stuff with him. I told him I wasn’t playing guitar any more, I had long fingernails, too long to fit on a guitar, over an inch long all ten of them. I was listening to music, always listening, I just wasn’t playing any more.

So, Nigel showed me a few things he was doing, and asked me to come and have a go at playing along with him. And I found myself quite inspired by what he was doing, I thought it was stuff that I couldn’t ever see myself playing, so I thought I might think about it. One day I was round at his house, and I just sat on the couch playing Baby Please Don’t Go, you know the old blue classic, Them had a hit with it (sings first six lines under his breath) and I just sat there working out how to play that again, and that was it, I was back into playing guitar again.”

It’s clear from the skill that Green demonstrated during the show earlier in the evening, that his skills may have lain dormant during his time away, which included spells in prison and in psychiatric hospitals, but they certainly never actually left him, and he pondered on the notion of musicianship remaining even when most other mental faculties had deserted him. “Well I guess that’s true, although it depends what you are doing when you are not playing … mind you I didn’t really know that much to begin with … but I could see doors opening up for me again, and I’m not someone who has ever been too proud or

too stubborn to take advice. I really just got hung up on how successful I had been.”

Green’s massive success and the adulation that went with it, was something he was clearly unhappy about almost from the start – and that unhappiness was probably a contributory factor in the damage to his psyche caused by the strong doses of LSD he consumed on early tours with Fleetwood Mac. Was that level of fame, and the effect it had, an obstacle to overcome in returning to recording and playing live again? “I’m not sure it was an obstacle as such. The thing is, I wrote the hits for Fleetwood Mac, I was the writer whose songs were successful, and I guess I just got a bit big-headed about it. I had to go right back to the beginning again, right back to three chords, then four chords, and learn how they relate to each other again. I didn’t mind doing that. I have some help, I have ‘The Sisters’ they talk to me and tell me things, I have a ‘Spirit Guide’ and she is teaching me to play the guitar all over again.”

Having enjoyed such a level of success, and now returning once again to a massive fan base which has lost none of its fervent adoration for Green’s playing and the songs he wrote, did he feel that his audiences are looking to see a bona fide ‘guitar hero’ – which he absolutely was, regardless of how uncomfortable that status may make him. “I’m really not sure about that.” Green decided, after pondering in silence for a few moments: “I do worry about it. I don’t know if I do come with huge expectations really. A lot of times, when people go to see someone they really like and admire, they are disappointed aren’t they? I do fear people being disappointed when the see me … I do fear it.”

It’s simply impossible to separate Peter Green not only from the body of work he created as a songwriter, but from his individual skills as a musician which have seen him laud-

ed and envied by stellar guitar players all over the world. It is Green’s fundamental modesty and unease with his fame that accelerated his mental decline, but now, recovering and playing music again, was he happy to accept his status as a gifted musician, or as a guitar legend? “Hmmm, I’ll go with ‘gifted musician … yeah, I quite like that, I do like to think of myself as a gifted musician. But ‘guitar legend’? Nah, I don’t think that’s true at all. Someone like Bo Diddley, he’s a guitar legend, he does so many things that are unique to him, they couldn’t be anyone else. I don’t think I do that personally.”

I honestly felt unable to let that observation pass without challenge. I understand that for any famous person, seeing themselves as others see them is a difficult concept to grasp, especially if you are as genuinely self-effacing as Peter Green was. But his description of

Bo Diddley’s justification for the status of ‘legend’ applies equally to Peter Green for exactly the reasons he pointed out. Green was happy to politely disagree with a gentle laugh. “No, I don’t think so. You won’t get me on with that one mate! (laughs). You can’t pull the wool over my eyes. I said it about John Mayall once, and he didn’t appreciate it at all. I will go with ‘gifted’, like you said earlier, I do like that description. I did think I was talented, and I quite liked that idea of myself.”

Now that the conversation was flowing, it was time to address what may be an uncomfortable subject – Peter Green’s mental state, and I was keen to advise him that if he felt uncomfortable discussing the subject, then we could move on. “I feel better all the time.” responded Green with no hesitation. There is that story about me growing my nails to prevent me from playing the guitar ever again, that’s just nonsense. I didn’t grow my nails deliberately at all, I just didn’t cut them. There’s that other nonsense as well, about me switching the pickups around my guitar to get a brand-new tone. That’s rubbish as well. I took the pickups apart to see how they worked and what they looked like, and I put them back in the wrong way round, that was all. Nothing to do with searching for a tone at all.”

Peter Green as a guitarist is synonymous with the Gibson Les Paul, a guitar that can produce the most beautiful and expressive tones in the right hands, and he has owned some original 1958 models – did he regard them as precious, or simply as tools of the trade? “Both really, I have owned guitars that I was not especially attached to that I did really see as just guitars that I play, and I have owned other guitars that I have been attached to, I had a Nashville Framus I was very fond of, but that got stolen. I am starting to develop attachments to the guitars I am playing now.

I can grow very fond of the colour of a guitar, I have a midnight-blue Telecaster that I play, and I love that. The other thing that attracts me to one guitar over another is the feel of the neck. I have a Japanese Telecaster that has a wonderful neck on it, I am fond of that.”

Bands often have one or more leaders, so did Peter see himself as a band leader? “I can be if can put my foot down, but to be honest, if I got an adverse reaction, I’m not sure I’d know what to do. The band are all friends who came together to support me when they heard I was doing some playing and recording, so it’s not like they are strangers, we are all friends. It’s not like I have any difficult of complex demands about the way things are. We have only really done some demos so far, but we do some rehearsal in the studio. Bands like The Stones spend weeks in the studio just working things out, but they can afford to do that. We will have a little rehearsal time but we will need to know more or less what we are doing when we go in, and just get it done.”

We break for a short time while Peter and the band and Mich order sandwiches and hot chocolate – a far cry from the heady days of 1970’s touring when drinks would be seriously alcoholic, and additional company could be shady and unscrupulous.

When you come to record, will you have a producer, or produce the album yourself? “I will want a producer. I think back to Albatross which was produced by Mike Vernon, and he did a fabulous job, he did all the interaction with the engineer to get it to sound like that. I want someone to do that, I just like the freedom to be able to play, that’s wonderful, if all I have to concentrate on is playing my guitar, then I’ll be very happy with that.”

As someone who has been front and centre of British, and indeed worldwide blues music, I wondered if Peter Green pondered the purity

of the blues as a musical form, and would wish for it to be how it was in the beginning, before history and artistic development took it so far along its endless journey of change and adaptation? “I think I am a blues addict.” he replied with a wondrous simplicity that seemed to sum him up perfectly. “We play a couple of Robert Johnson songs in the set, and Nigel introduces them, and I always think, if I was near a microphone, I would tell the audience, we are addicts, now, we are all Robert Johnson addicts. That’s the effect he has, when you hear his music, and see pictures of him, he puts you right there with him, you can smell the atmosphere in the music, he really is God-sent.”

That seemed an appropriate point to wrap up. Everyone was finishing their drinks and head-

ing for bed. Peter looked tired, but he had remained polite and considered during our long conversation. I wondered if he accepted being interviewed as simply an aspect of his profession? “I sometimes think I should do what Carlos Santana does. I love that group, and they don’t do interviews. They just play their music, and don’t talk to people. Maybe that’s what I should do from now …”

I wondered if he has enjoyed our conversation? “Er… no… not particularly…” he replied with a complete matter-of-factness that removes any hint of rancour – he was simply giving an honest answer, because Peter Green always was, first and foremost, as a musician, and as a man, fundamentally honest. I don’t think he ever knew how to be anything else.

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SANDRA BOUZA BLUE BLOODS

My name is Sandra Bouza and I am bluessoul artist from Toronto, Canada. I didn’t grow up with the Blues. I grew up with a Northern Spanish father listening to Spanish Folk and a hippie Canadian Mom listening to Neil Young, Simon & Garfunkel and classic rock. My Mom had a pretty diverse record collection to be honest, and I did have a great musical education, but there wasn’t a lot of Blues.

When I was in my first year at University, I took a class on the history of music. The professor put on ‘Smokestack Lightning’ by Howlin’ Wolf. It was like a brick to the head spiritual experience. It was so raw! It was probably one of the coolest sounds I had ever heard. I went home and I delved into the Blues, I got into Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Mama Mae Thornton, and then more ‘recent’ rock blues artists like Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, to name a few! The more I got into the genre, the more I learned that it was the base of all the music that I loved. Without a doubt, it has greatly influenced my song-writing and most definitely my performing. The happiest and free-est I have been on stage has often been during improv Blues jams with other like-minded artists!

I started writing songs in my early teens, and because I was raised on Folk music, I

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had a strong influence of singer-songwriter folk stylings, but when I started delving into the Blues, it truly opened up a new world to my song-writing, allowing me to combine that songwriter storytelling with the raw emotion that comes from digging deep into the Blues. In January of 2020 I was fortunate enough to be chosen to represent Toronto at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee. It was a humbling experience, to say the least. We made it to the semi-finals along with some of the best blues musicians from across the globe. I was also the winner of the 2020 Toronto Blues Society Talent Search, and since that award, I have been welcomed with open arms into the Blues community.

For years of my experience in the music industry, I did not refer to myself as a Blues artist, it felt almost arrogant to count myself among the ranks of such a heavy and historic music genre. But as the community continues to embrace me, I have to think back to that moment in my first year and realize that, like most modern popular music in the last century, my sense of musicality and song-writing has been derived heavily from the Blues, and so I am deeply grateful to be called a Blues artist.

www.sandrabouza.com

As French as their name may sound, Le Garage hail from Utrecht, the picturesque medieval city in the heart of the Netherlands. Guitarist Pim Vugteveen and singer, harp player and guitarist Maarten Bruns had been in various bands together since they were teenagers, but it was only when they teamed up with drummer Maria Postema in 2015 that they found the raw, powerful blues sound they were looking for. Notorious for their energetic live shows, Le Garage were searching for a way to capture that sound on their new EP BOUGIE, which was released in September 2020. ‘The whole EP is recorded semi live in a blues venue in the deep south of Holland,’ Maarten explains.

‘With Bram Dewachter of Big Dog Recordings mixing and mastering, we really got the true Le Garage sound on tape, and we couldn’t be happier with the results.’ Shortly after recording, the pandemic hit and all gigs were cancelled. Le Garage look on the bright side, however: ‘It’s a pity we can’t perform for big crowds right now. But with the new EP, at least we can bring our music into people’s homes, instead of to the stage,’ guitarist Pim Vugteveen says with a smile.

LE GARAGE BLUE BLOODS

WORDS: Supplied PICTURE: Maartje van Doorn

Hearing Le Garage, it’s clear they draw inspiration from decades of blues. ‘Pim and I went to secondary school together and we spent evenings listening to blues heroes like Junior Kimbrough, Howlin’ Wolf, Love Sculpture and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers,’ Maarten says. But there’s also the more modern influence of The Black Keys, Lebanese blues rockers The Wanton Bishops and Daddy Long Legs, the American blues stompers Le Garage supported during DLL’s tour in Holland in February 2020. One notable thing they have in common with these contemporaries is the lack of a bass player. ‘We’ve never given much thought to it,’ Pim explains. ‘We don’t try to be unconventional on purpose, but having no bass player forces you to look for creative solutions to get that low end, and it just works out for us this way.’ And ‘this way’ sure seems to be the right one for Le Garage. Grooving guitars, pounding drums and haunting harmonica –is there a secret to their captivating sound? ‘We just really complement each other,’ drummer Maria says. ‘We still play the first song we wrote during our very first jam session. Whether we’re on stage or in the studio, something happens when the three of us start playing together. It’s this chemistry that gives Le Garage that unique sound and energy.’

Listen to Le Garage at www.legarage.one

JAMES OLIVER

WORDS: Steve Yourglivch

PICTURE: Mick Schofield

collective wings. A recent tour of Sweden was a major success and a return trip is planned, pandemic allowing, linking up with Mick Greens 1990s rhythm section Romek Parol and BJ Anders to perform Pirates material. There’s also a new EP pencilled in for early 2021 release.

James Oliver has long been one of the hardest working musicians in the UK. Still only in his mid-20’s he has recently clocked up ten years of constant gigging and way over 2000 shows. He’s talented too, winning the UK Blues Award for Best Emerging Artist this year and releasing the critically acclaimed Twang album. James is an accomplished guitarist in the rock n roll style of Mick Green and Dave Edmunds, indeed Twang was produced by Edmunds collaborator Paul Riley.

Don’t think James is a one trick pony though. He is working hard with members of Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band too, learning complex passages from Eric Klerks and Drumbo French. Outstanding players such as Redd Volkaert, Bill Kirchen, Deke Leonard and Albert Lee have recognised the growing talent and taken James under their

James writing shows a great maturity ahead of his age and the album is peppered with good humour too. As he says about opener American Cars, ‘“Where I live in Blackwood, South Wales you never see Cadillacs, Lincolns etc. and all my favourite Chuck Berry songs are about those vehicles. So, I thought about a song with cars like Saabs and VW Polos because they are the cars I regularly see.”

The album closes with a tremendous version of Misirlou by Dick Dale, a long time live favourite.

Being the workaholic he is James also has a regular You Tube slot that in a very short time has amassed four thousand subscribers and over a million views.

To keep up to date and find out more check out jamesoliverband.co.uk

ANI SAVVIDES BLUE BLOODS

Hi Blues Matters! Readers and followers! My name is Anastassios (Ani) Savvides and I’m 23 years old. Excited to announce that I’m about to launch my first solo track as a recording artist and professional guitarist on the 5th of November. It’s been a long road to get to this stage and it feels like only yesterday at aged 7 I was given my first electric guitar – a 3/4 size Fender Squire Strat! Thanks to Simon Burrett of the Blue Bishops who, as my childhood mentor and family friend sourced it for me. It is now mounted on my wall as a reminder of how it all began!

I now look at my ever-growing collection of Fenders, Gibsons, Charvels and Chapmans, as a sentiment. Not only do they mirror how I’ve progressed as a guitarist, but they all represent different stylistic elements which I incorporate into my fusion of blues, rock and metal! Joe Bonamassa’s album “Black Rock” instigated my love for blues rock music. I first heard it when I was 12 years old and all I wanted to do was to emulate his style. He was the catalyst that ignited my passion to explore a plethora of artists such as: Eric Johnson, John Petrucci/Dream Theater. Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert, Eddie Van Halen, Gary Moore, BB King, Jimi Hendrix, Josh Smith and Greg Koch.

For me Blues Matters! Because it has brought me to where I am today. Attending live concerts, being part of multiple Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea cruises and interacting with amazing artists such as: Kim Sim-

monds and Savoy Brown, I am able to gather all these experiences. My debut single “Last Dance” reflects a fusion of Heavy rock and Metal, however I want to thank the Blues for being my foundation!

THE TERRAPLANES BLUE BLOODS DISCOVER THE UNDISCOVERED

Sometimes a band comes along that just fits. Hugely talented individuals, The Terraplanes are an extraordinary blues band who have cemented their position at the forefront of the UK blues scene with a debut E.P that’s quite simply superb. Released in May 2020, Midnight Train hit the top 5 of the IBBA (Independent Blues Broadcasters Association) chart and there it stayed, for two months, a sign that they got their marketing just right. A hard hitting, polished live band, The Terraplanes are a four-piece blues explosion. Tom Turner’s drums have a subtle touch and metronomic timing which marries the perfect backbeat to the classic, dirty blues bass lines laid down by Mark Clark. Eduardo Allen is an enthralling harmonica player influenced by the original masters such as Jimmy Reed and Little Walter with plenty of his own swagger to go with it. Guitarist and singer Nick Scrase, the creative force of the band having written all the bands original numbers, is just as comfortable singing a sweet blues ballad, emotive and heartfelt as he is belting out a barrelhouse jump blues or gritty R’n’B number. The same can be said of his guitar play, not overstated or flashy, even though his command of the bottleneck is a joy to see. The influence of 50’s and 60’s rhythm and blues and a devotion to dirty slide guitar riffs gives the band their inimitable sound - finger pickin’ country blues and high energy, raw R’n’B. Having crafted their style through consistent gigging and sheer hard work, they broke out of their local Bristol scene. A fantastically diverse city, Bristol has some great venues for all genres of music, along

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with an enthusiastic gigging community who love the rich pickings to be found any night of the week. While the band have not relied on management or external promoters to help them along, Nick Scrase is quick to acknowledge the role MAS Records have played in their development and in helping them to fulfil their undoubted potential. The brainchild of internationally renowned artist Robert Plant, former vocalist of Led Zeppelin, MAS Records provide mentorship and guidance for musicians, helping bands identify and achieve their goals. They select only the most promising of bands and it was something of an honour to have been chosen. With a top 5 E.P under their belt, The Terraplanes are looking forward to the future, keen to get back into the studio and record a follow up for 2021. The group are hoping for a return to something resembling the amazing live music scene we all remember. Their latest single Malted Milk was released 3rd October and is available now on all platforms.

BILL ROSEMAN

THE TERRA-

WORDS: Supplied PICTURE: Supplied

Bill Roseman was raised in the South Jersey area near Philly, USA, and grew up listening to rock, soul, and jazz. Picking up guitar aged 13, and inspired by electric bluesmen including the great and legendary Albert Collins and Buddy Guy, he set to learning some blues guitar and used it as his main form of expression. Influenced by “everyone”, including Freddie King and Roy Buchanan, Bill says, “It’s a labor of love,...exciting to learn something every day..”

Arriving in Europe in the ‘90s, Bill helped form The Medford Slim Band, which enjoyed success at the time releasing a couple of CDs, and playing the festival circuit, including Belgium R&B Festival in Peer, and the Amsterdam Blues Festival. Also working with The (former B.B. King bandleader) Calvin Owens Blues Orchestra, and performed a stint in Belgian R&B singer Luke Walter Jr.’s group during this period.

The Belgian based Medford Slim Band enjoyed a five-years playing through Benelux and western Europe. Releasing the CDs Too Much Is Never Enough (‘91), and Come And Get It in ’94. During this period Bill developed his songwriting skills, writing the majority of the original songs recorded then. Skills that are evident on the new album Outskirts...Drawing on eclectic influences, respecting the Americana music traditions, he “tries to bring tunes that ‘groove’, but have feelings, and meaning as well. I hear ‘the blues’ in everything from The Carter Family to Little Walter; from T-Bone Walker to Merle Haggard.”

Roseman has played all over the Benelux,

and in France, Germany, Switzerland, and the U.K. not to mention ‘back home’ in the clubs on the East Coast from New York City to Philadelphia, Pa.

“Feeling good, feeling mean, gonna jam on my six-string machine...All Night Boogie...” After years of playing, recording, teaching, working in music...after countless bar gigs, demo ideas... driving around Benelux, imagining how he’d pull it off... Outskirts marks a turning point for a musician steeped in and inspired by Roots music. Featuring eleven original songs (plus an instrumental tribute to a late musical legend). As a singer, songwriter, and guitarist Bill certainly delivers on his first solo album.. Two years in the making, it finds Bill continuing his musical odyssey, mixing roots rockin’ grooves with the blues evident throughout.

From the Blues approved Good Thing, Hashtag, and (Roseman Trio staple) All Night Boogie; and R&B / Soul inspired; The Edge Of Town, Natural Thing, and Shake It; to good old Rock’n’Roll (Checked Out, Jeanelle, The Loop), Outskirts displays an eclectic maturity from a veteran musician at a highpoint in his musical journey.

“Too many years, too many bills, I need more time, I need more thrills... All Night Boogie...”

SUSAN SANTOS LANGUAGE

IS THE MUSIC!

Susan Santos is an acclaimed singer songwriter and impressive guitar player. She has a great understanding and passion for being a blues musician.

She has many styles as noted on her new release, The L.A Sessions, a four track E.P. recorded in Los Angeles at Fabrizio Grossi’s studio. Grossi also plays bass on the recording. This follows acclaim for her previous album, No U Turn. Our Colin Campbell spoke to Susan via Skype. A heavy emphasis was made to the current pandemic and related issues, also talked about influences on her guitar playing and future plans.

How are you getting on, given the constraints of this Covid pandemic?

It’s all very weird and information is difficult to understand. We have two gigs planned south of Madrid but not sure if they will go ahead. We will probably have another quarantine in forty eight hours, just waiting. I’m missing doing gigs, the last was in July. I have two planned gigs this month. I usually do lots! We’ve got bills to pay, it’s crazy. When I came to Madrid, I taught guitar and am doing some online lessons just now to make money.

Have you been doing online live streaming concerts?

I did during the worst time of the quarantine. People need to be distracted from listening to the news and get on with life. They need the music and miss going to live shows, so streaming is a good way of connecting with people.

Let’s go back in time, what made you want to become a musician?

One day I listened to a blues radio show. I don’t know why, but I wanted to play this kind of music. I listened every week and this made my decision to play the guitar. I started playing Spanish guitar and felt that was easy. A year later, I started learning to play electric guitar. I didn’t just listen to blues music. I listened to Cream, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Rolling Stones. I played Flamenco, but electric guitar was something different. I had a band and lived in a small town. Said to the band, I needed to go to the city to learn more and get more opportunity to play, and went to Madrid! I got a job on national television on a morning programme. This helped pay to make our first album. It was a way to get noticed, being on television every day!

Do you come from a musical family?

My father loved music, he was a musician, and he played Flamenco. I didn’t listen to blues at home.

What music did you listen to growing up?

A lot of music, but when I first listened to Stevie Ray Vaughan, wow! I listened to all the classic groups including Pink Floyd. Now I like listening to new bands and other types of music, Celtic music. I like Classical music. I feel like an eternal student where music is concerned, always learning!

Can you remember your first live performance?

It was a local event, I was very nervous! Now, there is a different ambience, I feel the people want live music and I feel more confident on stage, and feeling the crowd energy helps.

What is the Spanish music scene like

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these days, specifically regarding a blues genre?

Yes, there are small blues music clubs. They are in the centre of Madrid. A lot of tourists go to them. There are music nights where musicians come from all over the world, but closed since the lockdown. I loved the energy when playing with new people.

live and on records. I like the Stratocaster sound. Other times I play Gibson guitars, depends on the tone and sound I want to get. I love to play the banjo and Dobro also, great acoustics.

Is it harder to play the guitar left-handed? It’s hard sometimes to find the chord you love! Even with the pick-up, it’s totally different. There’s a guitar shop I use to get the specifications from a guitar I need! My newest guitar is the green surf Stratocaster, this was custom built.

You shared the stage with Billy Gibbons and Supersonic Blues Machine recently, what was that like?

Do you have a song writing technique, does it start with a hook or melody, for example?

When I write a song, I need silence! I have my guitar and paper. Sometimes it starts with a riff, sometimes melody and then finds the lyrics to go with these. When I write a CD or with my new EP, I write the songs in my home studio. I record a demo then give it to the band. I think this also lets the producer know how I want that song expressed.

What’s the best advice you have had as a musician?

I met a lot of people around the world in the countries I have played. Best advice, is to meet other people from other cultures and this will open your mind. Also, you must follow your dreams. Put all your passion into whatever you do. This life only happens one time!

Have you a favourite guitar you like to play?

I love to change guitars when I’m playing

Yes, last summer, it was one of my most memorable events. The guys in the band are great. Billy Gibbons is special. When I first met him, he spoke to me in Spanish. He asked me to play a song with them. I’m a huge fan of ZZ Top!

Is that how you met Fabrizio Grossi, who produced the new EP and played on this? Yes, we kept in touch after that gig and we are now friends. He said maybe we could get together sometime to record. I went to his studio and recorded the four songs on the new EP! He is easy to work with, he is a great musician. He knows what I want to do with a song. It only took a few days to master. When we record a song, he is so focussed on this. He said, ‘This is your song Susan; you are the first person to say who likes it.’

The four songs on the L.A. Sessions EP are all different in style and arrangement, care to discuss these?

I recorded a lot of songs, ten or twelve. I wanted to write more rock/blues structure. My other releases have had soul and country vibes. I felt it was time to change

“Put passion into whatever you do”

the style. Dirty Money, is about someone being obsessed with money and power, we all know somebody like that! Somebody To Love, is a funny song to play, not played it live, hopefully will tomorrow. It sounds like a Tarantino song! It’s about lonely hearts, in a city where they can’t find love. Fever, is about living in the moment. Wait, is a song about waiting for all things to turn to normal!

How would you describe your musical style?

Some people call my style Americana. Equally, rock blues can live together with that as well. It all comes from the same root! You need something different and exotic in your armoury!

Singing in a second language, English, are the emotions tied to songs similar to singing them in Spanish?

I think the language IS the music! I can’t think Flamenco in English! All sounds are different in all languages. I prefer singing in English. Recently I have been playing more gigs outside Spain. Regarding audiences, usually people are over thirty who listen to blues rock. When I see younger people in my audiences, I love talking with them although some do not play instruments, that seems a bit weird.

Most the bands in Spain who play blues rock are older than me. It’s sad, but my band are older than me, they are Spanish pioneering blues musicians! Maybe if bands don’t get gigs due to this virus, they will get other jobs, strange times. We need new artists but…

Do you think the blues genre matters to a younger generation?

If people get the opportunities to listen to this music they love it. National radio plays one-hit-wonder artists. For young people to listen to blues music, it’s difficult. When I teach young people, I play some old blues songs and they go wow!; but whether they look for it, I don’t know.

How difficult has it been publicising your new material during this pandemic?

This is a year of no tour and no shows. I need to do something and express myself. I want to release some vinyl. Social media is important. The people want to see the videos of me playing the guitar and sharing photos helps the fans keep connected.

What does the word blues mean for you as a playing artist?

It’s a style, of passion, feeling. You can improvise. One show will be different from another because as an artist you are feeling different emotions. The audience feels this too. Blues is about the emotion!

I have a set list but it can change. I choose different songs sometimes to match the

audience. It makes every night different. I like a walkabout into the audience. I think the audience feel a closer attachment with the music this way. They see you are a normal person who plays the guitar, there

“If people get the opportunities to listen to this music, they love it”

is no difference! We all love music!

If you were not a musician, what do you think you would be?

I don’t see my life without music, that’s the thing. I may be in a boring job! I have hobbies; main one is painting, this I find very relaxing!

What plans have you got for the future? Hopefully go touring some time next year! Difficult to plan things ahead! Live performances will be different with social distancing and people wearing masks, just strange! I always tell people to go out and see local bands! Buy and listen to their music! Hopefully people will go out and buy my new EP as well.! I want to release a live album in the future sometime, so here’s hoping!

Susan Santos releases her EP ‘The L.A.’ Sessions’ on Friday 6th November. More info – www.susansantos.info

DISCOGRAPHY

BETTE

SMITH SHAKE THOSE HIPS

Brooklyn born singer/songwriter Bette Smith’s debut album, Jetlagger, earned widespread acclaim and plaudits, she was born to sing the blues.

WORDS: Colin Campbell PICTURES: Shervin Lainez

Now she has released her second album, ‘The Good The Bad And The Bette,’ on the Ruf record label, ten dynamite tracks, mixing soul, rock and roll, roots with a heavy Muscle Shoals influence. Blues Matters! grabbed the chance to talk to Bette about growing up in a less than stable neighbourhood, influences on her career, the new album, touring and recording.

Hi Bette, thanks for taking time out to talk to Blues Matters, where are you today, how’s life?

I’m in Brooklyn, New York. I’m feeling really energised,just had a week of good reviews on my new album so I’m very grateful.

For those not acquainted with you or your music style could you tell us your take on how you would describe your style?

I’m a Tina Turner, Betty Wright, Bettye LaVette, Janis Joplin mixture! Rock and Roll, blues and Southern Soul are what I do! I’m a blues woman at heart. Blues is in my soul!

Gospel music seems to have been where it all started for you; would that be fair in saying?

It all started for me in the church when I was five years old. My daddy put me on stage to sing in Sunday school for the congregation on Mother’s Day. I remember being in front of a lot of grown-ups for the first time and being a little nervous. But when it finished I felt victorious and happy.

What music did you listen to when you were growing up, do you come from a musical background?

My mother listened to Mahalia Jackson along with the South African, Miriam Makeba. My father was a Choir Director, so he always listened to hymns and spirituals; I had it coming from both sides!

What made you want to be a singer?

I loved being the centre of attention when on stage. I was the youngest child of four. We grew up in a household where my mother was very strict and she said, ‘Children ought to be seen and not heard.’

I badly wanted to be HEARD, so singing... I was a very self-assured five-year old! Deep in my heart I’m still that five-year old girl.

Your vocal range is very strong, have you had vocal lessons?

I was educated by an Italian tenor called Fillipe De Stefano. He told me, ‘Your voice is not sweet, you don’t have a sugary voice and you don’t have a peppery voice. You’re like Pearl Bailey, a spicy voice. Don’t let anyone fiddle with your voice. Your voice is more a cinnamon and nutmeg

That was the point my voice started to shake. It wasn’t humiliating. We were all on the same wavelength. It was a very cathartic feeling. Something in the audience, empathising with the way I was feeling, was beautiful!

Yes, it’s the connection with the audience that’s most important. During this lockdown pandemic what are you missing most about not playing live events?

Not having that connection with the audience, as you say. For an artist like myself, it’s hard not to be playing live in front of an audience. This too shall pass!

What’s the story behind changing labels from Fat Possum to Ruf Records?

voice, a little gritty.’ I looked online at Pearl Bailey and listened.

I don’t have a sugary and feminine voice!

I have the voice I was given. I have to collect myself on stage. Last year I sung Whistle Stop, a song about my mother and I found myself crying. The audience was so sweet; they rode the wave with me. I sung through my tears and able to gain my composure.

Yes, Whistle Stop is a real favourite on the new album, The Good The Bad And The Bette. When you have written a line, ‘Stop these tears from the first time you went away,’ it’s hard not to get emotional.

I signed a three year deal with Ruf Records. When I signed with Fat Possum, it was a one release deal. Bruce Watson who signed me, according to my mother ‘got my toe in the door.’ I feel very blessed this led me to signing for Ruf Records.

On the new album you mix up music styles, there’s soul, rock and roll and blues. Noticeable on tracks like, I’m a Sinner and Everybody Needs Love. Yes, a lot of rock and roll and soul there!

Where did the title, The Good The Bad and The Bette, originate?

My Manager Danny Lerner and I were brainstorming. He came up with the idea. Then I thought, the Good is positive, the Bad is life lessons and Bette, is me getting through this catharsis! We passed it by the producer, Matt Patton, who loved the idea, so I’m happy about that and people

seem to like it. We went to Mississippi to record some of it. They wanted me out of my Brooklyn element. I grew up in the concrete jungle of New York and fell in love with Mississippi. We did five songs there in early 2019. We finished the last five songs when we signed with Ruf Records. The mastering took two weeks. We wanted each song to “Pop,’ but it felt like two months!

You have some great musicians playing on the album?

Yes, Luther Dickinson is an incredible guitarist. Jimbo Mathus is there, he produced my first album. We had Curtis J Brewer and a whole team of guitarists come in. We all collaborated and it came out as a nice brew!

Was the production different from your first album, Jetlagger?

On the first album, the musicians played as I was singing. Lots of takes until Jimbo said we’re done. It was a good school for me. On the new album, some songs were pre-recorded by Matt Patton. Some were made just as we went along. Two different styles of production!

Is there a theme running through the album?

Yes, it’s more introspective. It’s about my evolution from a young girl to a young lady, to where I am now. It’s about relationships with my mother, my best friend, on the tune, Song For A Friend. My love life, first love. We’ve road tested I’m A Sinner and I Felt It Too, and we did them on our Spanish tour. Also we performed, Human. We used the tour to test out what ones the audience loved. I’m A Sinner - we closed every concert with, that went down well. My favourite is the last song, Don’t Skip Out On Me, it takes me to a place when

my mother left me at four years old, a very powerful song.

Did you choose all the songs on the new album?

No, I did it in collaboration with Matt Patton. He helped me choose them.

How did you get your band together?

Curtis J Brewer picked my touring band. You couldn’t ask for a better bunch of lads!

Do you have a particular song writing style?

I get a divine inspiration when I write a song. Say I’m on vacation and meet a bunch of friends and have an experience with them, I write from that perspective. It can be parts of my personality, relations with people. I write the lyric first, from an emotion of sadness or joy. I pick up my guitar and write the chords and write it round the lyrics. I take it to the band and then the Studio, that’s my process.

How do you work a crowd?

With my hips baby! I like to dance and shake my rump. I like to preach and say the gospel according to Bette! I try to get out of my head and into my body. I feel more myself on stage. I’m more introspective and meditate off-stage. I ground myself purposefully. I write in a journal, three pages a day. I prepare myself for my next stage performance. Before I go on stage, I ask my manager to find a place for me to meditate. So when I get on stage I don’t have stage fright. When things happen on stage it’s easy to become unfocussed, that’s why I use meditation.

What’s the best advice musically you’ve had and from whom?

My music tutor, Fillipe. He told me, ‘Don’t start singing unless you warm up your

voice; sing the hymn, How Great Thou Art, right through, and that will be your voice warmed up.’ He also said, ‘Don’t sing for free.’

Where’s the strangest place you have sung?

My neighbour, a feisty Jamaican, came round for a funeral in New Jersey. I didn’t know what to sing, so I just sang Amazing Grace. I got up on stage in front of three hundred people, closed my eyes and when I opened them everybody was crying, that was pretty intense.

If you were not a singer how do you think things would have turned out for you, it doesn’t sound like your parents wanted you to do this?

My mother was cynical about my singing career; think she wanted me to be more administrative. I’d be sad. Before my brother died he told me, ‘I know you always wanted to sing, I want you to sing songs like Bill Withers does!’ I said. really?

I sung to him in hospital before he died. He got cremated, I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye. I sung first for Junior’s sake, then it turned out to be mine. When touring, I was in an Airport with my Manager and there was a Bill Withers song played, I said to him that’s Junior looking after me!

Anything about yourself that people do not know about?

I grew up with a monkey! My mother bought me a squirrel monkey when I was four. He lived for twelve years. They are quite intelligent!

Was he as intelligent as your dog Jerimiah who inspired your song Human, on the new album though?

Ah, that song came about when I took him to a park. One day I lost sight of him

and I panicked. I called his name, he came running to me and it came from that.

How much does image matter these days in the music business?

I like to portray an image that says something positive about me. Such as being a self-actualised African Caribbean woman that has self-respect, that’s important to me. A very bold image. One of my main philosophies is ‘Don’t live with regret.’ Everything I’ve faced has brought me to the place I am in today. Face forward, never give up. I have a lot of diversity in my audience, mainly young. Jimbo told me not to let people pigeon-hole you.

These days, do you feel that the blues genre of music matters?

Definitely. I studied Music in College and think it’s important to soothe your soul through music. Blues music is soothing as well as rock and roll and soul. Billie Holiday is my favourite blues singer.

Anything you want to relay to Blues Matters readers and your fans?

Buy the album, The Good The Bad And The Bette, let’s go on this musical journey together!

What are your future plans?

I’d like to inspire children. I have a lot of nieces and nephews. I’d like to be a positive influence on them! I want to tour a lot and spread that positivity! May get touring again in Spring 2021, got to stay optimistic!

Great speaking to you Bette. See you soon, bye!

thriving in the pandemic

WORDS: Don Wilcock PICTURES: Arnie Goodman

“there’s that fear of uncertainty that I’m not going to get through the song, but the thing is I know today I will get through the song, and if I make a mistake, nobody dies.”

The pandemic has fundamentally changed the way we all look at things, musicians perhaps more than most. A member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and a Grammy recipient, Jorma’s repertoire includes originals and cover tunes from more than half a century of performing, first as a founding member of the psychedelic forerunners Jefferson Airplane followed by both acoustic and electric versions of Hot Tuna who still perform today and solo performances that dip into the legacy of blues icons like The Reverend Gary Davis.

The Covid 19 pandemic may have cancelled

Hot Tuna’s touring for the year, but Jorma has made the best of a bad situation by holding Solo Free Quarantine concerts from his Fur Peace Ranch in Ohio, where he and other legacy artists like Rory Block teach blues guitar.

As I write this, Jorma is preparing for his 19th Solo Free Quarantine Concert. The New York Times calls his weekly Saturday night dips into his half century’s worth of repertoire one of the ‘10 Best Quarantine Concerts Online.’ He is often joined by his wife Vanessa Kaukonen, John Hurlburt, or Myron Hart. The production values are

“When I go back to play a song on our little stage for the first time in 40 years,”

says Jorma Kaukonen

topnotch. The sound is excellent and his attitude is custom-tailored to the times. I could have predicted his response to the coronavirus. He’s always made the best of what fate hands him and he keeps on truckin’ and pickin’.

“We’re doing these coronavirus concerts every Saturday night at my place,” he explained in May, “and we’re (pulling) out a lot of songs that I haven’t played in many decades. So, I’m going back to relearn these songs ’cause I’m not a jukebox. Where you press a button and a song pops up.

In an interview years ago, he summed up his philosophy: “You need some techniques in order to be able to play. There’s some stuff you need to know. As far as who you become, take what you need and leave the rest.” He claims the Jefferson Airplane’s repertoire was so boring to him that had he not been stoned at the time he never would have persevered with that band. But the creators of Surrealistic Pillow laid the foundation for his long-term success.

A humble legacy artist, Jorma likes to say his style is the result of an inability to copy his mentors. In fact, he won’t even admit that Rev. Gary Davis is his most significant mentor, first because he never could afford lessons from Davis, and second because he simply cannot copy the original licks. Instead, he says he’s a ‘shmo,’ not a protégé of Rev. Gary Davis.

He’s always refused to draw a line in the sand between folk, rock and blues, and to this day tours Hot Tuna sometimes in acoustic format and sometimes electric. “I was in New York the summer of 1960, and I was just learning how to do this stuff, and I remember Ian Buchanan, my true mentor. He was like a half a generation or a generation ahead of me, and studied Dave Van Ronk, the Lord of the folk scene back then.

I remember Dave and some of the other guys gave me the crabs for not sounding like Blind Joe Snowball or whoever it is out of some backwoods town in Mississippi because I didn’t have the talent to clone the masters in that way, but I learned a lot from them. Now, in the long term, it’s accrued to my benefit.”

When he first moved from Washington D.C. to San Francisco, Jorma subbed for Janis Joplin when she was still playing traditional acoustic blues. “These days a lot of my creativity is focused on being able to mainstream and to reprogram than anything. I’m going to be 80 years old this year (December 23rd). You know, my grandfather when he was in his 50s, was an old man. I am so lucky thanks to the genetics in my family. Thanks, Dad. I’m still able to get out there and do it, and it’s still fun. I mentioned that in my book. The guitar has dominated my life in so many ways just as much as I ever did, and that’s a good thing, too. So, every time I pick it up and the environment invites me to walk through that open door. It’s just a blast. It was then, and it is now.”

He’s seen it all. Below are comments he made for the Woodstock chapter of my upcoming memoir, Skin Deep.

“People today who don’t know what was happening back then think we were just

“It’s just a blast. It was then, and it is now.”

bunch of stoner hippies. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not backtracking on that, but when the rubber hit the road, and it came time to play, we were dead serious about it. It was arduous. It was chaotic, and if nothing else, I can always say, ‘Yeah, I played Woodstock.’

“If we had a day like Woodstock today, we’d go, ‘This gig, this festival, sucks. I never want to work here again.’ But having played Woodstock, yeah, (I can say) I played Woodstock.”

Jorma acknowledges the us-v-them mentality of the time. “I don’t think there’s any question that we became aware in that moment. People talk about how much difference does this make down the road? And the answer is, I don’t know. Probably not much, except something happened that in my opinion will never happen again for a lot of reasons.”

He remembers seeing Buddy Guy in the ’60s in San Francisco. “In those days he wasn’t sustaining a note until the sun comes up, but still and all he was setting a bar for the rest of us. The vignette guitar work he did on Koko Taylor’s first album, stuff like that, but the first time I saw him it was a “suit” Chicago blues band. That’s kind of what we expected of those guys, but at that time, remember he had a 100-ft. chord or something like that. I remember seeing him at the Avalon Ballroom where he got off the stage, walked into the men’s room with his guitar on, still making funny guitar sounds obviously taking a leak and coming out playing his guitar with one hand and zipping up his fly. Now, that’s showmanship.”

To see Jorma’s streams, go to the Fur Peace Ranch YouTube Channel and subscribe at www.youtube.com/user/FurPeaceRanch. Set your notifications “on” to receive the actual link to watch the show or alternatively go to his YouTube channel shortly before 8 p.m. EDT on Saturday nights at 8 p.m. eastern daylight time in the United States and type in Jorma’s name. Jorma Kaukonen, he’s one of a kind!

Channel and subscribe at www.youtube. com/user/FurPeaceRanch. Set your notifications “on” to receive the actual link to watch the show or alternatively go to his YouTube channel shortly before 8 p.m. EDT and type in his name, Jorma Kaukonen.

DISCOGRAPHY

Jorma Kaukonen has a huge back catalogue covering half-a-century of music, plus his work with Jefferson Airplane & Hot Tuna. As a result we feature only a few more recent releases as a taster:

• River of Time 2009

• Stars In My Crown 2007

• Blue Country Heart 2002

I’m a An interview with Kim Wilson BLUES SINGER

Founder member and frontman of The Fabulous Thunderbirds and harmonica virtuoso, he lives and breathes music. He has a new album out called Take Me Back, his first for three years. With a touring schedule of usually over two hundred shows a year and several Grammy Awards and performances with other artists like, Paul Simon and Carlos Santana, safe to say he is the real deal and blues is paramount in his life. Caught up with him recently for a chat.

How have you been coping with this pandemic, you been managing to do any live concerts or streaming?

I’ve done a couple of online things. I was on the East Coast when all this started and I was lucky to get out of there because

everything was getting closed down. Not played a gig since March.

What are you missing the most during this unprecedented time?

I love to play; I like the camaraderie with the band. I like to see the country and see the world. Don’t get me wrong I could get used to staying at home but I like to play and that’s the bottom line.

What was it like recording the new album and where was it recorded?

I recorded it at a couple of studios, mainly Big Jon Atkinsons, though. He has the great old gear he loves recording with. It’s a compilation of years actually about three or four. I started with the Blues and Boogie

WORDS: Colin Campbell PICTURES: Michael McGrath

With a five-decade career in music, Kim Wilson is a living blues legend.

stuff that was done at Nathan James Studio. No overdubs. From live to audio monologue. Except actually for the horns. To be safe we overdubbed them! This was all done prior to the pandemic.

You got some special guests to play on this, talk about them and why you chose them? Why I chose them is because they are the best that they do, in the world! They are also friends of mine. People like, Billy Flynn and Big Jon Atkinson and Robert Welch, he played some guitar on this selection. On this album it’s all keyboards, he is an incredible keyboard player. Rusty Zinn plays on one instrumental. I get a better imagery from the old mono records than stereo; I like the sound of that one big track. For traditional music I can’t see further than four track recording. A lot of fidelity went into the first track, You’ve Been Goofin’; the Jimmy Nolen track.

Is there a theme or message running through the sixteen songs?

The only message is, if you’re going to make a record, make it to a high level. There’s no political message, just put your best foot forward if you’re going to make a record!

Did you choose them all?

Yes and wrote a few. I’m Sorry, an old Thunderbirds number. That’s got Barrelhouse Chuck on it. There’s one called Play Me, a cool thing. Fine Little Woman is kind of Chicago blues shuffle. There are three instrumentals, Wingin’ It, is a chromatic tune, and Strollin’, soon as we cut that one I said to Jon, ‘That’s a classic right there.’ There wasn’t really a rehearsal on any of these tracks. There are some covers and when we wanted to put our own spin on them, we did. Go Away Baby, is what it is. You don’t want to take the covers so far from the original that it’s not the song!

The release was originally supposed to be on Severn Records, now on M.C Records, what’s the back story to that?

Mark Carpentieri on MC Records made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. He got me seventeen years ago, this resulted in Grammy nominations. He gets a lot of bang for his buck. He promotes things heavily, people like him and people will do things for him. I don’t even think he has a personal publicist, that’s okay because he does it all himself!

Your vocals remain very strong, how do you keep them toned, when not singing? I don’t! I’ll sing around the house. I play harmonica more than I sing. A good year off ‘the pipes’ probably makes sense to me.

How would you describe your vocal style?

I’m a blues singer, not a soul or gospel singer. I sing everything like a blues singer. I don’t think there are too many of them out there these days to be honest with you. The great ones are people like Robert Cray, Curtis Salgado.

Did you ever get singing lessons or does it all come naturally?

It came naturally! I had a throat operation about fifteen years ago. Then I went to a vocal coach after that, just to stop me getting hoarse again. My style of singing I learned years ago when I was a kid. No one wants just a harmonica player, you have to sing.

What made you want to be a musician?

I had been listening to a lot of great people. I played trumpet when I was nine years old. But after leaving High School, I went to these places like the Golden Bear and places in Los Angeles. There were a lot playing the Santa Barbara region. Listening to people like Muddy Waters and George Harmonica Smith. I remember seeing BB King and Freddy King in the same show, that was

an eye opener! There was a guy I listened to at school who played harmonica. I thought, I want to do this! After three months I had a band. Within a year I was playing with Eddie Taylor. It’s been a great run; I’ve had some great teachers who taught me by example. It’s sad those guys are not around anymore. Buddy Guy’s still around, that’s great, Jimmy Johnstone. Now I’m the old guy! Being able to play with say Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers and Lowell Fulson, Albert Collins, means I’ve played with most people I wanted to!

How do you keep blues music interesting to a younger generation?

You have to give them an example of what is real. Show them it takes skill and artistry to really do this kind of music. It took me my whole life to get to this level and I’m still learning!

with Bonnie Raitt, Mark Knopfler and all those guys. It’s been fantastic!

Are there any young musicians who play traditional blues you like?

My son’s got a lot of potential. Hard to think of kids who do it for me. Kingfish Ingram is a work in progress, he has a lot of potential, but get away from the blues rock! I tell my son to follow your soul. He’s not a died-inthe-wool blues guy, I love his technique; he plays with his fingers like Clarence Gatemouth Brown. His childhood hero was Dave Davies from The Kinks!

Did you always want to play harmonica?

Yes. I play a bit of guitar, not much. Tell us about your back story and how you and Jimmie Vaughan came to set up The Fabulous Thunderbirds?

What’s the best advice musically you have had and from whom?

Lowell Fulson told me, ‘You don’t have to play all over that shit, get in and accompany people.’ That’s what I became known for, backing people up, Muddy Waters and Eddie Taylor loved my backing.

How would you sum up your career thus far?

I’ve been able to do just about everything I’ve wanted to do. I would have loved to have made a record with Muddy Waters; we were planning on that then he died. Now is the icing on the cake, getting out there and making great records. I’ve been in the studio

I was playing with this guy, Mark Pollock, who was in California with Lowell Fulson. He told me stories about Austin, Texas. I moved to Minnesota for a year, started talking to his girlfriend and she was starting a record label. She heard my first recording, liked it, wanted me to come down and be personal advisor. I said you’ll have to fly me down; I’d never been on an aeroplane. I went for a week, me, Doyle Bramhall and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Jimmy Vaughan was playing in Alexander, outside of town with a band called Storm. To be honest, I didn’t think much of it. I said I was going home, this trip is not happening. I went back to Minnesota and got a call and started the band in October 1974. It was always swimming upstream. Muddy Waters came to Antones to hear us and he put the word out. We had crowds because of this. It was never easy, that’s how it formed. We’ve had a lot of good people and still do in the band. We’re doing more bluesy stuff next album

Any stories from touring on the road?

“I would have loved to have made a record with Muddy Waters”

I was sitting in with Eddie Taylor, Big Walter, Sunnyland Slim and Hubert Sumlin. I came to Antones to see them, I told Eddie not to get me on the bandstand because I was going to get drunk and listen to you guys. I had like twenty two high ball glasses full of whiskey. Big Walter sees how messed up I was and calls me up! I played standing behind Eddie. He gave me a solo and I felt I was playing good, and then I reared back and went through the back curtain, still playing! That was the beginning of a horrific evening!! I called Eddie the next day. I apologised for last night. He said ‘Why, what happened?’ He didn’t even know. He said, ‘Well you’ve got to have fun sometime.’ That was it. It blew my mind.

What’s it like for you being the frontman of a band?

It’s a natural spot for me! Soon as I picked up an instrument I was leading a band, I like being a sideman, like with Clapton and Paul Simon. That’s also been fun.

Ideally what would you see as the main characteristics that makes a successful band?

I’m not sure, uniqueness of skill. I’ve seen it over the years but not now with pop music. You get people playing “Blues,’ but I’m not a blues-rock fan. Show people you have skill, stand up and do it.

Is there a process to your songwriting style?

A groove, but it’s about the words and melodies. Anything that’s real, I like. Treat people like you want to be treated, that’s my philosophy.

Describe what the blues means to you?

It’s a feeling. If you can be musically wellversed and still get that feeling, that’s what I’ve always tried to do. It’s a great feeling

even if the song is sad. It depends how it’s attacked. I listen to different types of music but they all have that one thing in common, a beautiful and rich feeling, and great sound, very honest.

If not a musician, what would you have been?

Maybe a wino, I don’t know! I wanted to be a fine artist as a kid. I’m fortunate to do what I love.

Anything about you that people would be surprised to know?

I was a football player as a kid. Scholarships, then I started playing music. I got focussed on music at seventeen. I’m a normal guy with a talent.

What are your future plans when possible?

We’ve got a new project with The Fabulous Thunderbirds, still writing on that.

Any message for the Blues Matters readers out there?

That I love them, without blues fans I’d be nothing!

For further information see his website: fabulousthunderbirds.com

SELWYN BIRCHWOOD Firing

Again

Selwyn Birchwood is a bluesman with a fiery determination to push the edges of modern blues music. Never content to sit back and deliver covers of either classic blues standards or other writers’ material, he always looks to change the narrative, turning out his own work with a clear blues feel and a soulful, burning heart.

Backed by a band of blues buddies, most of whom have been with him many years, he signed to leading blues label, Alligator Records in 2014. A move that has seen him prosper as a musician while pushing the band onto ever-greater things. With a new album about to hit the streets around the turn of the year, Birchwood confirms that he’s eager to get back on the road to promote and expose the release to a growing hoard of global fans and says he and the guys are badly missing touring in these Covid-restricted times.

Chatting with Floridian Birchwood, he bemoans the current restrictions and limitations now placed on him and the band: “It’s real hard to be a musician when there’s no concerts. We’re getting virtually nothing right now, like everybody else, maybe one or two gigs every now and then. It’s not what we’re used to. We’re a busy band, generally out on the road, covering the country and hitting Europe as often as we can,” he confirms.

And with Birchwood’s constant need and ambition to produce self-written material, when I ask if the near-lockdown situation might not be a blessing in disguise in some

weird way, he laughs and partly agrees: “Yea, I’m using the time to write, using my sort-of downtime to work at home, writing new songs, practising guitar more than ever and looking ahead to the next one!”

The new album, ‘Living In A Burning House’ was a few years in the overall making, with Birchwood writing the songs, chopping and changing the sound, the lyrics, the thinking and the ethos behind it all: “This is my fifth album, and my third with Alligator. I always want my own sound, material and my own stamp on my music. I don’t really understand why many still want to, or seem happy to, cover old blues music. Blues has to change. It has to grow if it’s to have any relevance. I mean, some of those old standards, the stuff that’s always being covered,

is now around a hundred years old. It really has to always move forward. That’s what blues is and has always been about!”

“Take Willie Dixon, he wrote so many great songs but I’m sure he wasn’t thinking, ‘I better stay inside some parameter or other!’

He was just writing all of the time, developing and moving ahead with each song,” he adds by way of explanation and, perhaps, inspiration.

WORDS: Iain Patience PICTURES: Ivy Neville

“It has to grow if it’s to have any relevance”

Listening to the new album, ‘Living In A Burning House’, it’s clear that Birchwood is onto something with his thinking. For this is an album that is instantly blues but with a modern edge and feel. Birchwood’s own fretwork is always on the button, with some wonderful, perfectly pitched slide-work included, and lyrics that pulse with meaning and thoughtfulness. For my money, this is readily Birchwood’s finest offering to date and must presage much more to come on the blues horizon.

Birchwood reckons the entire project took between two and two-and-a-half years to put together, including the writing, and is evidently delighted to have leading US producer, Tom Hambridge on-board this time round: “This is something I’m real proud of. I think we’ve got the sound I was aiming for, our own sound here. There was a real joy making this, a joy of music, I guess. I don’t know how to be like anyone else. I don’t know how to be anyone but me,” he laughs.

Birchwood had met Hambridge and asked if he might be prepared to help with production duties. Getting a tentative affirmation, he sent rough cuts of the material to him and was relieved and pleased to get the thumbs-up from the greatly in-demand producer.

“I think we all aimed to produce something as uplifting as possible. It all came together so well from start to finish. I’d met Tom – we’d done a few shows in the past with Buddy Guy – and Tom was around at times. I just took a chance and asked if he’d produce the album for me. He said ‘yes!’ It was cool.”

Blues Matters first met Birchwood some years ago in 2013, a few short months after the band had won the IBC at Memphis

and Birchwood himself had picked up the Albert Cummings Best Guitarist Award. We spoke then, following a great set at the USA’s major festival in Portland, Oregon, the Waterfront Blues festival. It seemed clear back then that despite having yet to deliver an album and having no recording contract then on the cards, that was always gonna change. Soon afterwards, Bruce Iglauer made contact and invited the band to submit a demo of their material for consideration. At the time Birchwood didn’t have enough for an entire album and was fortunate when Igluer was sufficiently impressed by what he heard to invite the band to send in more when it was ready and available. Birchwood followed up on the suggestion and confirms that things have worked out great for him and the band ever since:

“We all get on great. Alligator is wonderful. I feel blessed to be working with them. It’s a whole team at Alligator. They do all this amazing work for the blues and musicians like me. There’s like a team of say sixteen people but they do the work of maybe fifty people. It’s insane, a real good, happy sortof marriage. They encourage you to grow. It really keeps you on your toes. No bad thing, really.”

When he won the Albert Cummings Guitarist Award in Memphis back in 2013, he was given a beautiful blond, Gibson 335 guitar as a prize. Turning to the new album, Birchwood smiles and tells me it remains his instrument of choice and features on the new album, a bit of blues synchronicity that provides a delightful book-end to his blues journey to date. So, when did you start playing? I ask:

“I was in my early teens. But when I was about nineteen years old, Sonny Rhodes

helped enormously, letting me join him and play along with him for about five or six years.” A period that Birchwood recalls with pride and pleasure and believes cemented his love for the music and provided the drive, ambition and confidence needed to set out on his own path a short-while after.

“I work steadily with my guitar. I practise a lot, especially now with few gigs out there. I have the time to work and improve,” he adds. “I started working on slide with a lap-steel guitar, and developed from there, moving on, always trying to get better. You sortof walk a tight-rope - always trying things out, different styles, techniques and sounds. I’m happy to switch from electric to acoustic at times. You’re always sort-of walking a tight-rope with your music, a mix of traditional, maybe acoustic sounds, with modern slide and electric stuff too. I enjoy that challenge, always trying to do both. As I say, blues always has to move on. There’s only so much use for 100-yearold songs, after all!”

www.selwynbirchwood.com

RIVERS WHEN MEET-RIVERS

WORDS: Alan Pearce & Colin Campbell

PICTURES: Rob Blackham

British husband and wife duo, Grace and Aaron Bond release their new album, We Fly Free, working through Blues Rock/Americana styles with multi-instrumental talents and presence including the vocal range, and stage presence that can soar and menace and while always holding it tight as the songs dictate. They really have something ‘special’. They write all their own material and have crafted some wonderful, wild sounds both soothing and edgy.

Hello to you both again, thanks for talking to Blues Matters magazine. Thanks for having us.

Where are you from?

Aaron: A small village near Kings Lynn in Norfolk.

Grace: Ely in Cambridgeshire. We moved to Essex about ten years ago.

Growing up, did you have music at home and in your schools or teach yourselves?

Aaron: I taught myself to play guitar, I didn’t really have anyone in my family that could play instruments as or teach me. My Mum did play a bit of piano before I was born but nothing serious, funnily enough though she took it back up when I left home. Even though we had music once a week at school it wasn’t a chance to learn instruments. I just loved listening to music, all different styles. I loved singing, and when I got

my first guitar I was already hooked and in a couple of Rock bands. So, it was perfect timing for me.

Grace: I started having piano lessons at four years old, I knew early on I wanted to be a musician. After piano I learnt to play some woodwind instruments, flute, clarinet, and saxophone. Unfortunately, whilst learning to play sax I dislocated my jaw! So woodwind instruments went out the window. Singing was always my thing and my real love. Aaron bought me my first violin and mandolin a few years ago because I wanted to play something different that wouldn’t hurt my jaw.

How did you meet (gig, birthday party, simple pub night or in one of those rare Record stores browsing the same sections)?

Grace: I was the barmaid; Aaron was the punter, that’s how we met. I worked in a pub in Aaron’s local town!

Aaron: I walked in on a Friday night, saw Grace for the very first time, and I was totally knocked backwards with how gorgeous she is. Funnily enough she had just started working on her first night behind the bar. I walked over, ordered a drink and started chatting to her straight away, about music of all things, and we hit it off straight away.

What were your musical tastes back then?

Aaron: My upbringing was listening to rock and roll. Mum loved The Beatles and was a big Elvis Presley fan too. My musical tastes are quite large and varied, but my main love is Rock and Blues music. I love Guns ‘N’ Roses, Thunder, Nirvana, Free, Led Zeppelin the list goes on. My very first CD was John Lee Hooker. When I heard Boom Boom Boom for the first time I instantly fell in love with the blues, and that led me

into other artists such as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Robert Johnson etc.

Grace: I was brought up on the likes of Dusty Springfield and The Beatles. I must admit Aaron has a great taste in music, he introduced me to some great rock and blues music. This led me into listening to the likes of the amazing Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, Paul Rodgers of Free and Bad Company, and always loved Bonnie Raitt. The pub was all about music, so it was cool!

Going to have a ‘vision’ that you were both little rivers flowing along, meandering toward each other and that is how you came up with the name for the band?

Aaron/Grace: That is in fact very close. We had been playing music together for a little while, it was not long after we had got married that we decided we really needed a name for our band. We were not keen on Bond & Bond, as it sounded more like a building firm or sticky substance. We were in Sardinia on a short holiday and found ourselves overlooking a beautiful ravine, where two rivers met. We thought right away in that high up beautiful place looking down, that we were like those two rampant fast moving rivers converging and suddenly meeting together, and that’s when all the music happens, hence “When Rivers Meet”. The name certainly does have a significant meaning to us.

We had been playing music together for a in Sardinia on a short holiday and found ourselves overlooking a beautiful ravine,

Your fans are called ‘Rapids’?

Your fans are called ‘Rapids’?

Grace: We had a competition and they came up with the slogan, ‘When Rivers Meet Rapids Follow.’

To you Grace: your voice is an instru-

To you Grace: your voice is an instrument! What training did you go through to find ‘your vocal range’?

Did you go to Music College?

Grace: I’ve had so many singing Our name

teachers on different techniques, some good, some not so good. I’ve always been able to sing, not necessarily with a healthy technique! It took me about twenty teachers before I found my own style and technique. A massive influence on my singing is Paul Rodgers, the bluesy notes he hits. I loved Dusty Springfield, soul singers and Bonnie Raitt.

To each of you, what were your first instruments and what attracted to each?

Aaron: My very first instrument was a Tanglewood semi acoustic guitar, I loved the look and sound of it. However, it was a very limited selection at the only music shop in Kings Lynn at the time.

Grace: My first instrument was the piano, strictly because it was handed down from my great grandparents to my grandparents to my Mum and it was in the house. My sister and I used to spend hours playing it.

To you Aaron: I was asked if you are named after Elvis Aaron Presley?

“slidemandolin happenedbyaccident”

Aaron: Funnily enough my Dad was a huge Elvis fan and yes, I was in fact named after him. Dad signed the Birth certificate; I think he would have loved to call me Elvis but knew Mum would have hit the roof if he had.

Do you actually say Grace at the dinner table?

Grace: I grew up in a Methodist Chapel. I got many of those jokes!

Aaron: Only when I want her to pass the tomato sauce.

OK so basics done as there is not a lot of info out there on you now, we can move on to this amazing time you are having. You’ve played this well, releasing download singles, then physical EPs, building a following up to the album release… (let’s skip through ‘lockdown’, if only!)

Aaron: Recording the two EPs helped prepare us for recording the debut album. We were lucky enough

to find an amazingly talented producer/ recording engineer in Adam Bowers. He is so creative, an absolute pleasure to work with and we were all very clear going in to record the album on what sound we wanted, which stemmed from recording the EP’s together originally.

Whilst recording the album we decided to go down a slightly heavier route, not unlike bands in the caliber of Led Zeppelin and Bad Company and keeping very much in touch with our love of the Blues. We decided to use real spring reverb and tape delay on the tracks and recorded it all in a live studio room. This enabled us to have a real classic style of recording that would’ve been used in the 60’s and 70’s.

We also wanted to introduce Hammond organ on the album, which we hadn’t had on the EPs, this also brings a real feel of 1970”s rock and blues. I guess we really wanted to create a mixture of all our influences and

different styles, but with a WRM twist.

I know from our chats, with added giggles, that ‘excitable’ applies - how have you kept your feet on the ground?

Grace: We were totally blown away by how people reacted to our music and the support we’ve received. When we released our two EP’s The Uprising in September 2019 and Innocence Of Youth back in May this year. People seemed to get what we were doing straight away, and they just seem to dig it, which is just amazing. To be able to write and record our own music, that we absolutely love, and for other people to feel the same way, we just can’t put into words. People have been sending us emails and posting on social media that they can’t wait for the album’s release. It’s really humbling in these very uncertain times that people just want to hear our music and all this just seems to be happening so quickly and in a very short amount of time, considering we only released our first EP last September. We are so excited to see what the future brings, and hopefully things will get back to some sort of normality soon.

How would you classify your music style, you are both so multi-talented you could fit into most musical genres?

Aaron: Blues and rock! When we write songs, it’s a case if we like the song we carry on writing it.

Grace: We are difficult to categorise, especially with the violin and mandolin which is unusual. The slide mandolin happened by accident...

What are you missing most during this pandemic?

Aaron: Gigging! Being on the road. Playing different places. First week of lockdown we were supposed to be in North Yorkshire

and Scotland, we were gutted.

Grace: The excitement of playing. Just staying in the Campervan after gigs, chatting about the gigs. With the new album, I’m thinking how this will sound ‘live,’ especially with the whole band. When you visualise it, it’s a crammed place, how the reality will be, who knows! It’s the atmosphere! We’ve been well supported. No room to moan.

Talk about the new album. What was the production process?

Grace: We planned on going into the studio when returning from Scotland but that got delayed. We record in Adam’s house, The Boathouse Studio. He’s very organic. We recorded it in his house. You’ll hear birds sing in the recording. There’s no vocal booth. We spent the summer there; it was so quiet and nice. The whole time was fun, not stressful. It was only when the mixing and mastering stage came, when we thought, people have to listen to this and you listen to the songs from different people’s perspectives. Aaron’s lyrics have different meanings; people can take it from their own angle.

Aaron: Adam didn’t realise how bad the lockdown was! The album is heavier than songs we have done beforehand. We’ve added a Hammond organ; otherwise the instruments are still the same. Old School recording! The theme of the album is what we’re going through at the moment.

Twelve different tracks, you got any favourites?

Grace: Did I Break The Law, it’s fun. The big notes in the chorus, I love singing those. Doing the video for Battleground this week was fun to do. Bury My Body has good harmonies. Breaker Of Chains, brings Americana in as well.

Aaron: We Fly Free is a favourite. You can just rock out to it! We wrote it in the back of the van; we thought it would make a good album title!

What is your song writing technique?

Aaron: One of us might come up with a lyric or riff. When we’re writing we’re thinking ‘Can you imagine playing this in front of hundreds of people and they are going to love it.’ If you think, ‘Yes,’ that’s how we go about it.

Grace: We sometimes are in the same room but not allowed to talk. Aaron throws lyrics to me. We co-write everything. We have a lot of material now. We ended up playing the same set three times when we first started out!

What’s the best musical advice you have had?

Aaron: From David Bowie (Not personally!). He used to write for himself, and then he got wrapped up in the industry and started writing for other people. He said if he likes what he’s writing, he can put that in his songs and performances and people will get it. That’s the best advice I’ve heard through writing music. That’s why we enjoy writing our own songs; we have an attachment with them. If you can get to venues that encourage original music, it’s great. A lot of bands don’t allow themselves to do this.

Grace: As you said earlier about not putting people into boxes, that’s what we tried to do at first. People know when things are not authentic. When people want to find new music it’s very special. You have to persevere when you’re writing your own stuff.

Do you prefer intimate Clubs or Festivals?

Aaron: nowhere quite like a Festival. Seeing lots of people there, your music is

booming out to them, you can’t beat it!

Grace: We did Cambridge Folk Festival last year. This was the first time where a car pulls up to your car and taxis you to the back of the stage, which was a highlight! You have a fixed time and it’s cool. You can interact well in an intimate venue better though.

Where’s the strangest venue you have played?

Grace: Somewhere in Essex. We were told by management no one claps!

Do you think Blues (music) Matters these days?

Aaron: Definitely, it’s the soul of music! The first CD I got was by John Lee Hooker. The reason was the riff on Boom Boom. The riff and his voice, that got me into Muddy Waters, Son House and Robert Johnson.

Grace: The simplicity and foundations can be so simple. A good beat, a good riff and a good vocal, we’re happy! Our philosophy is to keep it simple!

What does success mean to you?

Aaron: Being able to play our music for a living!

Grace: It’s the freedom of being able to do that, not having a nine to five job. We have both done that. The vision of the music industry that things are down to luck and that one person spotting you is not true. It’s about working really hard and knowing who you are. Doors get shut in front of you all the time.

You got a message for the Blues Matters! readers?

Grace/Aaron: Thanks for your continued support through lockdown. We can’t wait to see you when we play live, when we can safely! We’re not stopping gigging!!

What plans have you for the future? The album is getting released. We have not looked much further forward. We don’t know what’s going to happen. We’re doing two albums next year, a lot of online things. We had a venue for release night but we’ll do a public live stream with the full band.

Well, great speaking to you, all the best for the future! Awesome, thanks!

When Rivers Meet’s debut album “We Fly Free” is released by One Road Records on November 20th via: whenriversmeet.co.uk

Grace plays:

by Hobgoblin and a German violin of

Ashbury Resonator Mandolin made by Hobgoblin and a German violin of unknown make.

Aaron plays: A Gibson Les Paul and uses Marshall amp JCM 2000-DSL 401 Dual Super Lead.

DISCOGRAPHY

• We Fly Free-

E.P’s

• Innocence Of Youth 2020

• The Uprising

Fly 2020 Youth 2019

A MUSICAL WARRIOR

With three Grammy nominations already in the bag, US blueslady Shemekia Copeland is clearly a musician of some stature. Now, with a new album, ‘Uncivil War,’ just released on Alligator Records, she took some time out to chat about life, politics in a presidential election year, and her music.

Shemekia Copeland’s a lady with a remarkable history and a father, leading Texan bluesman, the late Johnny Copeland, who didn’t just support her own youthful blues excursions but influenced and helped her carve a career in the heartland of electric blues, Chicago. A musical journey that has seen her move on, forging a path that never seems to dim and, with each new release, often propels her onto the international awards stage. She recalls her own initial, faltering steps as a teenager when she would go out to ‘support’ her father, often opening as

a support act for his sets while learning the business, stagecraft and gaining confidence as a performer:

“He’d take me out on the road with him. I was about fifteen or sixteen. He’d let me do a few numbers before his set and sometimes a whole set of my own. I thought I was there to help and support him by just being there but in reality it was the other way round, he was actually supporting me! He died when I was about eighteen; he’d been ill for a while, his health steadily getting worse. I did my first recording around that time and he was able to hear that first record. It was a great moment. He was just so proud of me!”

When I suggest that in the circumstances, she must have been pretty much born to sing the blues, to be a musician, Shamekia laughs at the thought and instantly agrees with the sentiment: “Yea, that’s about right. I mean, I had a few other jobs when younger, but I was always singing. It was always in me, it was always gonna happen; finally it became who I am, what I do”

Turning to the new album, a blistering offering that truly explores, and even exposes, the current topical issues in the USA with a Presidential race well underway, Shemekia packs a punch from start to finish. Opening

WORDS: Iain Patience PICTURES: Mike White

about a tragic slave-trader event in, Mobile, Alabama, in the mid-1800s, and in many ways helps set the tone for much of the album that follows. Copeland is quick to confirm her thoughts: “This happened about fifty years after slavery was abolished here! It’s a shocking story, and a great song. But

back then, after the abolition, they were still bringing slaves over from Africa. It was just systemic racism. And it’s still out there. Since my last album, ‘America’s Child,’ there just seems to be more and more division, with that guy in office making it seem as if it’s all okay. Well, it’s not okay! Why can’t anyone agree anymore? There’s just so

many hateful people out there in the world!”

And the theme continues, a cultural whirlwind reflected in the lyrics and song titles included in the new album. ‘Walk Until I Ride,’ she considers to be self-explanatory: “It’s like culturally we make lemonade out of lemons. We wait until the time’s right. We use what we have, what we need. That’s what we do!”

cultural whirlwind reflected in the Ride,’ be lemontitle, back of it

Another stand-out track with a strikingly memorable title, ‘Apple Pie and a 45’ brings Copeland back to another major issue in modern US life, gun control, or rather the apparent lack of it across the pond: “It’s really bad. It’s kinda crazy. People talk about their right to own guns. You have to understand that in this country people getting guns leads to deaths, they have too many guns, weapons there’s no need for them having.”

And the line-up here reflects that strength, in many ways a power that maybe only Nashville can bring to a musical table. Country-twang veteran, Duane Eddy, adds his force alongside the likes of current, modern Americana giant, Jason Isbell, who also weighs in, to the clear pleasure of Shemekia: “I love Jason Isbell and his music,” she says. “To be honest, I never thought we could get him along. He’s maybe, well, the biggest thing in Americana ever. But Will just knows them all!

Other local, Americana greats onboard include mandolin master, Sam Bush, and Dobro, slide guitar wizard, Jerry Douglas, two guys in constant demand both on the road and in the studios of Nashville. But Copeland is also able to call on the services of another Alligator Records artist with

With ‘Uncivil War,’ a title that evidently

With ‘Uncivil War,’ a title that evidently expresses Copeland’s thinking on current life in the USA, we turn to look at the cast of greats who work with her on the project. Recorded in Music City, USA, Nashville, Copeland pulled in the renowned local musician and producer Will Kimbrough on studio production duties. Now, this is a guy who is hugely in demand with credits including Keb Mo among his many recent successes: “Will was great. He just knows everybody in Nashville. It doesn’t matter what genre. He knows them all. He just got almost everyone involved. It was all such a cool, organic process. I didn’t have to say, ‘do it like this’ or anything. He just got it from the very beginning in the studio.”

Christone Kingfish Ingram on one track. Add ‘Dock of the Bay’ writer and guitarist Steve Cropper to the musical mix and you have an album that must inevitably cement Copeland’s position as a modern Blues-Americana great, a powerhouse with passion and a fearless ability to confront issues that many of her musical colleagues often prefer to ignore.

“Will’s really a genius,” says Shemekia. “He’s such a talented guy. He’s also such a great writer. I’m good at spotting a great song. I can do that. And Will can write them too. Writing just seems to come easy to him!”

“He was just so proud of me”

she explains when I ask about the track selection itself. Perhaps the surprise track here is the Jagger-Richards, old Rolling Stones standard, ‘Under My Thumb,’ here given a delightful twist and treatment.

by her late father, Johnny Clyde Copeland, ‘Love Song,’ a cut that brings the album to a close with a personal memory of her father and pays homage to the importance of him to her own, personal musical journey: “My father was so important to me. There was always music all around as a kid, growing up. It was just there. Always. He put me on the road for sure.”

As we wind down, I suggest that she’s likely to again hit the Grammy awards circus with the new album. Shemekia laughs at the thought: “Who knows! But that’s not what it’s all about. Sure, don’t get me wrong, that’s all good, it’s a good thing, but it’s not why I make music, why I record or perform. I do this because I really love it!”

Recorded pre-Covid restrictions, ‘Uncivil War’ is an album that raises its own issues for Copeland who admits to being baffled as to what might happen in terms of promotion. Normally, she’d be hitting the road around now, pushing the release internationally to fans and blues-lovers globally. Covid has pretty much scuppered anything like that for the foreseeable future however: “It’s all very hard. There’s a piece of me that’s mourning not being able to get out on the road to perform. It’s such a huge part of me. It’s what I am. I love performing. It’s tough not being able to perform. Normally I’d be able to get out, taking my new material out to the people who support me. I have to be hopeful that maybe around the second half of 2021 we’ll all get back to something like normal and get out again. And here in the USA we have this election coming up. It’s almost like we’re living in a vacuum right now! I really don’t know what’s going to happen!”

The new album closes with a particularly poignant track, a cover of a song written

I tell her that I recently phoned soul-blues veteran, William Bell, at home in Atlanta, to congratulate him on picking up the National Endowment for the Arts Award, a few years after collecting his first Grammy. William swiftly corrected me when I said it had taken fifty years to win his first Grammy by telling me ‘No, it’s only taken sixty years!’ Copeland laughs at the thought before saying: “I love that man. I want to marry him – but don’t tell my husband!”

“I never thought we could get him along”

GENUINE HOUSEROCKIN’ MUSIC SINCE 1971

SELWYN BIRCHWOOD LIVING IN A BURNING HOUSE (CD/LP)

AVAILABLE JANUARY 2021

“A master storyteller and raw blues guitarist...knife-edged leads, roadhouse-rattling grooves.”

–LIVING BLUES

SHEMEKIA COPELAND UNCIVIL WAR

“A soundtrack for contemporary America...powerful, ferocious, cleareyed and hopeful. Sends shivers up your spine.” –LIVING BLUES

ELVIN BISHOP & CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE 100 YEARS OF BLUES

“Elvin Bishop is a legendary guitarist...impeccable and spirited. Charlie Musselwhite sets the standard for blues harmonica.”

–ROLLING STONE

CHRISTONE "KINGFISH" INGRAM KINGFISH (CD/LP)

“Impossible to ignore. Confident, joyous, tasty and raw...one of the brightest new stars of his generation.”” –LIVING BLUES

ROOMFUL OF BLUES IN A ROOMFUL OF BLUES

“Brawny shuffles, swinging horns, searing guitar, passionate vocals and balls-to-the-wall enthusiasm.””

–LIVING BLUES

TINSLEY ELLIS ICE CREAM IN HELL

“Incendiary...Scalding guitar and banshee solos. Ellis mixes soul and fire.”” –PREMIER GUITAR

NEW FROM ALLIGATOR RECORDS, CHICAGO, USA

SAMANTHA MARTIN

IMAGE: Renan

KEEP ON

Samantha Martin is a Canadian blues, soul, and gospel singer. Her album Run To Me, released in 2018, was a stunning success. She has just released her latest album, The Reckless One We recently caught up on Skype to chat about the album and her career in general.

HOW HAVE YOU BEEN COPING IN THESE STRANGE TIMES?

I am doing ok, there have been a lot of ups and downs but now we’ve had to take a break because of how things are. We had been going pretty hard for the last two years or so as far as touring goes, so I was happy to stay put for a while. Then all the cancelations started happening, with tours canceled and festival appearances canceled. But you try to stay positive and we put out the record, and keeping myself busy so I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself. I think musicians, in general, are very good at knowing how to pivot, we are very good at learning how to adapt because of the nature of the business. You can have a gig canceled in normal times, so you learn to adapt. You see things like the live streaming coming to the fore as it’s the only way to play. Then you learn how to use cameras and all the stuff that goes with a live stream.

WHEN DID YOU START WRITING THE RECKLESS ONE?

The Reckless One was written in a few different spurts. The first sort of spurt of creativity came during some tours. I started writing with my guitarist, Curtis Chaffey, when we had a couple of days off. And then I took the month of October 2019 off and did a lot of writing. I work well under pressure. I have to have a deadline to work to, a goal that needs to be reached.

HOW COME YOU CHOSE MEET ME IN THE MORNING, THE BOB DYLAN TRACK, TO DO ON THE ALBUM?

Initially, we were in the studio and we’d recorded all the original songs that we wanted to go on the album, and rather than waste studio time, so we started playing around with a few certain covers, we’d originally done, The Fruits Of My Labours by Lucinda Williams, because we’d been doing that live and the audiences loved it so I thought, let’s do a song that we’ve never done before. I’d played the song once for everybody, then we discussed how we were going to treat it and make it more of a soul version, and this is what came out of it. Even though it sounded really good, we didn’t think it would go on the album, it may have been used as bonus material, but it just turned out so good, and it was so much fun, that it ended up on the record. Bob Dylan as a songwriter doesn’t particularly write in a specific genre, he’s almost created his

WORDS: Stephen Harrison PICTURES: As Credited

own genre and sound. So because he’s such an amazing songwriter they can be adapted to any genre, no matter what it is. Any good song can be turned into a soul song. Gospel came first, then the blues, soul came out of the blues. Rock and Roll was in there too. Black music was the foundation for most music that we have right now.

ARE ALL THE DELTA SUGAR BAND ON THE NEW ALBUM?

There are a lot of the same people on The Reckless One that was on Run To Me but because of tour schedules and because of the growth of individual careers, there are some new people on The Reckless One that weren’t on Run To Me. For example, we have three different drummers on the new album that all play on a few tracks. Curtis Chaffey is on this record, so we have some different personnel and some of the people that were on the previous record. A couple of the people that join us on the live shows have helped us on the record so it’s a mish-mash. Sometimes it comes down to availability because of things that are beyond our control. The band is so big, there is a rotating cast of people from time to time.

Delta Sugar is not a twelve month of the year kind of band. Delta Sugar is me and the people I choose to play with and back me up. There are familiar faces and some that come and go.

HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO DO ANY LIVE GIGS AT ALL?

We haven’t played any live shows as the full band. Canada is quarantined and the opening measures and guidelines have been fairly strict so that we can keep Canada open as much as we can. Canadians have been trying to manage the severity of the lockdown as best we can. We did one live show but only as a three-piece. We did that on my birthday, so it was a good excuse to get together for my birthday and we had a great time playing. We are hoping to have some shows in October, but not with the full line-up. Duo’s, trio’s, maybe five at the most. So we are hoping by the album release there is going to be a live show with the full band but doing it on a live stream because of the nature of what we are up against with Covid. I want a level of quality that you saw with the Joe Bonamassa live stream for my show, and not doing it via my

IMAGE: Paul Wright

phone. I would rather do it with film people and sound people and make it good and professional. I would rather do one really good one than a hundred not so good. So, we are gearing up to do a good one around November 20th. We are starting to see people and venues struggle in Canada due to the rising cost of insurance so the sooner we get back to doing live shows and doing it safely the better it will be for everybody because it’s a billion-dollar industry that

I think that was my first memory of what blues music was. I remember my grandparents getting mad at me because I took the boxed sats home with me and they were like, where did the Fats Domino set to go? That made me ask, what kind of music is this, it made the hairs on my arm stand up. And that was the first time I realized that music could evoke such emotions in that way. The music that came out of the fifties, sixties, and seventies was very derivative of early blues music. What was inspiring, the artists of that time. Each genre of music influenced the next genre. I’ve done a fair bit of digging but there is a lot more digging to do; the learning curve never stops. As an artist, especially a white artist singing black music, my job, if I’m going to pay homage to those artists and those influences, as an artist is to understand and educate myself as to what made that music great. My influences come through in my music and I make sure that I do it respectively.

supports so many people in Canada and internationally.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST INTRODUCTION TO BLUES MUSIC?

I guess my first introduction was through my mu’s record collection. She was a big fan of Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, and The Rolling Stones. When I was about fourteen, I started digging through my grandparent’s record collection and I came across a Staple Singers boxed set and also a Fats Domino boxed set. So

IMAGE: Mike Scott

IMAGE: Jen Squires

IF YOU COULD RECORD WITH ANY OTHER BLUES ARTIST, WHO WOULD IT BE?

I don’t know if she’s considered a blues artist, but I would say probably Mavis Staples. I would love to do a record with Mavis Staples or Tina Turner. These are artists that inspired me both as vocalists and performers and as people. Mavis Staples and Tina Turner moved me in ways that I don’t think other artists have ever done. I’ve seen Mavis Staples every chance that I could and I got the opportunity to meet her backstage at Massy Hall, it’s like our Albert Hall in Toronto. It was such an amazing experience, she is such a bright light, and I’ll be forever grateful for that experience, getting to meet her and shake her hand and thank her for her guidance and tenacity. She’s an amazing woman.

DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS TO TOUR THE UK WHEN EVERYTHING GETS BACK TO NORMAL?

Absolutely. Right now we are trying to get things sorted. We have dates in Europe planned for February, March, May, and June 2021, and we are working right now to add some dates in the UK. We’ve been trying to get into the UK for quite some time now but it’s looking like it’s going to happen, provided it’s safe to do so. We are looking at how we could fit some UK shows around the ones we have planned for Europe. For an international artist, the UK can be somewhat difficult to get into, but once the ball gets rolling all the pieces fall into place. It’s looking good.

WELL, I’VE ENJOYED THIS CONVERSATION SAMANTHA, THANKS.

So have I, Stephen, thank you for getting in touch.

samanthamartinmusic.com

GEORGE BENSON NEVER GIVE UP ON A GOOD THING

Singer-songwriter, vocalist and guitarist

George Benson has had an illustrious career which has seen him awarded no less than ten Grammy Awards, an Honorary Doctorate of Music From The Berklee College of Music and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He very graciously spent some time talking to Glenn all about his new live record ‘Weekend In London’, songwriting and future projects, and even though we had some phone connection issues to begin with, in the words of the great man himself, Never Give Up On A Good Thing:

Well first of all, thank you very much for agreeing to do this as I appreciate how busy you are.

Hello great to talk to you!

I’m here to talk to you about your new live album, ‘Weekend In London,’ recorded at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club.

Well it was a lot of fun doing this album. I’ve always loved Ronnie Scotts and the world calls it ‘The greatest European jazzhouse’ though it is not on the continent. It certainly deserves its reputation because over the years they have kept ‘the best of the best’ at that place. It still has the same charm it had many years ago when I first came to it. So, I appreciate Ronnie Scott’s very much.

It is a beautiful venue with a lot of history. Interestingly, this album was produced by Kevin Shirley. Can you tell me about working with him?

First of all, he is a very congenial man to work with and he listens a lot to what you are saying. He is already an expert, and an excellent producer. He was very easy to work with and he was open to fresh ideas. So we never had a run-in of any kind and it was a great pleasure to work with him. That doesn’t always happen, in the studio with producers, they have a certain idea or thought in mind and sometimes it can be completely different to the way you’re hearing things. Not so with Kevin, he’s worked with a lot of different kinds of artists and genres and he seems to have a good understanding of where they are. Artistically and in mentality.

One thing I do have to say is that your band is incredible. Who was performing with you?

(Enthusiastically) Oh yeah! I love the collection of musicians I have now and some of them have been with me for many years. The newest member is the lady who was the percussionist and singer, Liliana de los Reynes. It is a really great thing because having a band today without a woman in it

WORDS: Glenn Sargeant PICTURES: Carl Hyde

" IT HAS BEEN A UNIQUE LIFE MY FRIEND "

INTERVIEW | GEORGE BENSON

seems really strange. They have made such inroads in all different kinds of professions and genres in the music world. I’ve had female percussionists before and it also opens up the range vocally with the background singing when you hear the harmonics which come off a woman’s voice. It is essential in today’s music. The rest of the band – Stanley Banks - a bass player who has been with me for many years, Michael O’Neil,l the guitar player, Thom Hall is the keyboard player. We just lost our drummer who was on this album but he is from Chicago and his name is Khari Parker. He is probably the best live drummer I’ve had on the road because he seems to know the dynamics so he never over-played, played loud or overshadowed my vocals. That made my job easier because I didn’t have to fight the band with my vocals. The other keyboard player was Randy Waldman and he was the musical director for Barbra Streisand. Before that, when he was a youngster in his early twenties he was in my band for about three years. Then twenty years later he reappeared and I asked him, ‘Where have you been?’ and he said, ‘I have been Barbra Streisand’s Musical Director for the last twenty years!’ He does everything thoroughly and he is the first one to criticise himself if something is wrong. Each performance has to be different and we’re not looking to repeat what we did last week! Even if we are playing the same songs, there is something different about the story we are telling today. This is a fun band so that’s what we did at Ronnie Scott’s. I had a great time!

You’ve released so many albums and had such an illustrious career, whenever I hear that you are doing any live shows I always think to myself ‘It must be a nightmare picking a setlist?!’ How do you approach that?

The great thing about my career, when I started out to learn to play jazz I had a hard

time trying to figure it out with the wonderful harmonies. It took a long time to come to that conclusion but jazz does crossover into the other genres. So I don’t feel any different when I play a pop song but when there is an opening for me to improvise I’m glad it is there. It has been a pleasure just to get to a place where they allow me to open up and do what I feel good about. With the guitar and the vocal it isn’t something I force. It either works or it doesn’t. It’s not a gimmick that I do. It is part of the music. We’ve been fortunate enough to find songs that allow me to do a lot of that. When it happens, and it is honest, it brings the room to life. One of the highlights for me on ‘Weekend In London’ is the version of Turn Your Love Around with this great keyboard tone. It feels like the music equivalent of a giant hug! (Laughs) Oh yeah? That’s a strange tune and I’d never heard one quite like it. I remember when we went into the studio with Toto and the guitarist Steve Lukather, who is a fabulous guitar player. He played the piano part of the song for me first and he played it a lot slower. I said, ‘No, this is a fun tune – let’s raise the tempo’ and he replied, ‘No, it won’t work.’ So we put one take down and afterwards I asked him what he thought and he said, ‘Well…’ I looked at him and said ,’That’s a smash!’ We had a lot of fun making that record together and it worked. It is interesting making records because there are no two of my albums which sound exactly alike. I’ve never paid much attention to that but I have to give each piece of material its own space and allow it to be what it is meant to be. Working with Richard Jones is not the same as working with Toto. I let it be what it is.

That’s what you should do. Then you go into Donny Hathaway’s The Ghetto, and you’ve got this Herbie Hancock vibe with it and I just love how improvised it is. It doesn’t sound complicated.

(Laughs) Yeah. Donny was one of my favourite artists. I liked him because his voice and piano playing were unique. When you heard him, you knew exactly what you were listening to. He had a style, and I used to write songs with him when I was not considered a vocalist and still in the guitar world. He knew I liked his vocals so we would write songs together. Then he passed away in the late Seventies but I had that experience. But that song, The Ghetto, it definitely has a vibe and I went back to that. I used to make records with both of his daughters so it has been a unique life, my friend. It has a nice easy vibe and a lot of opportunity to improvise.

It is a really lovely addition on this record. You decided to close the show with the instrumental, Cruise Control. It paints pictures in my mind of driving down a long road. I’ll tell you when we recorded that in the studio it was in New York above the New Jersey line. They were trying to see the studio so they let us use it and somebody brought that song with them. We had this young fella called Little John, from Atlanta, Georgia. We love playing it and we had to include it on this album because it allows us to be jazzy without going too deep into that direction. That’s probably why I like it so much. What are you thinking about doing going forward because I appreciate it has been a crazy year? Are you planning on recording any new material?

Always in the studio with new material doing something different. Hoping to come onto something with a fresh point of view. We’ve still got a lot of fans and we are picking up new fans all the time. My records are selling tremendously and the world is still alive for us. People are calling us daily trying to get us to do stuff. I’m thinking about doing my life story with a film. There’s a lot going on.

On the touring side of things, you are sched-

uled to return to the UK in June 2021

Well, we can’t predict what’s going to happen next. No one is able to come up with an answer to that question ‘What’s going to happen next?’ So, we keep our minds open, we keep practising. I practice almost every day. That keeps my mind busy and hopefully by then we should have some really sharp new things to present. I don’t know how they are gonna go over and what will stick out. I will have some fresh things to test out on the public. They are the ones who tell me what I should hang onto or not. If it doesn’t work, I go down another avenue. I love it when someone comes up with a new idea, like Turn Your Love Around was so different to everything else out there.

www.georgebenson.com

DISCOGRAPHY

George Benson has recorded nearly fifty albums over the course of his career. We therefore feature only his current offering and his previous release in 2019.

• Weekend in London 2020

• Walking to New Orleans 2019

WILLIAM SHATNER BLUES: THE FINAL FRONTIER

WORDS: Roy Bainton PICTURES: Supplied

There are things we need in this dark age of Covid. A hug, kisses, a theatre, a party. And a smile.

Trawling through Netflix every night you’ll often come across Captain Kirk – William Shatner. Having just spent some privileged time talking with the man himself, a man who dramatically portrayed the future long ago in our past, I feel as if I’ve boldly been where no blues fan has been before. He didn’t mind me calling him ‘Bill’ and as he’s just released an extraordinary CD entitled The Blues, who better to discuss the project than we aficionados at Blues Matters!. But here’s a warning. If you’re a heads-down, Mississippi mud, Maxwell Street Chicago Memphis pedant who collects matrix numbers, stop reading now. There is a kind of cinematic tradition of actors ‘singing’ who can’t really sing – people like Richard Harris in Camelot, Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady, Alec Guinness in Scrooge, you could even list Captain Beefheart and Tom Waits in there. When it comes to William Shatner, this is about the blues as you’ve never experienced it. That Covid smile we all need? This is it.

The Blues is Shatner’s eighth album, and he’s also appeared on numerous compilations and released several singles. By his own admission, he’s not a singer in the true sense of the word. He’s an award-winning actor at the top of an impressive career which includes dozens of movies and TV series. He’s a prodigious author who’s penned numerous books, a skilled equestrian who breeds horses, and at 89 there seems to be no limits to his energy. So here’s how our conversation went.

The blues – has this been a lifelong obsession? Years in gestation?

“Well, not compared to the gestation of a whale… it was probably a year. The Christmas album had done so well the label came up with the suggestion of another album and as to what kind of an album, the blues came up and although I’ve admired blues for the longest time, it’s a specialty and not something you take lightly because people in the community have a reverence for it which I didn’t totally understand. So I got into it and I realized that people are seriously protective of it!”

The songs are very varied – did you choose the numbers yourself?

“Well, I did but I chose them with some consultation with people that I knew were either themselves blues people, musical people who said ‘here’s one … here’s another...’ and I would look them over and as you understand I need a particular song to fit the kind of thing I do but then I realized I’d done songs that didn’t always fit the delivery; I didn’t know if I’d pull them off or not but it makes more sense to have a good lyric.”

Am I allowed to say that I find some of this album amusing?

“Yes – I’ve released a video – it’s mostly funny – you can laugh…”

I couldn’t help laughing when we heard The Thrill Has Gone.

“You laughed at The Thrill Has Gone? That

“That Covid smile we all need? This is it!”

song by BB King is a perfect example where the lyric lends itself to what I do. The first time I laid down the track I was trying to do too much BB King so a few days later I redid the track and I went into the emotion of the song and it came better off for me when I relied on the song being the conveyor of that emotion.”

My favourite track on the album is In Hell I’ll Be In Good Company.

“Yes, I agree with you. It’s one of those songs that say ‘this is how the blues can sound’ and maybe if you can’t exactly wail or have been brought up in blues all your life – because I’m a Canadian from Montreal… although Montreal, being a very musical city, when I was growing up there as a young university student I had the opportunity to visit clubs. I was associated with a young man who was a critic on the local paper, the Montreal Gazette, his part-time job was as a music critic and every so often I would go with him to music clubs and hear the great Oscar Peterson play and the famous trumpet player Maynard Ferguson, so between Oscar Peterson and Maynard Ferguson my seeds were sown.”

“I hope so, although what I learned before going through to the Stratford in Canada, what I appreciated was the rhythm, the onomatopoeia of the English language, and I had a feel for the poetry.”

How difficult was it to gather all the superb guest artists on this recording, because most people would give anything for names like James Burton, Richie Blackmore and Steve Cropper to be on their record.

“Yes. Isn’t that fantastic? What an honour it has been over the years that some of them have contributed their talents more than once and with this album, they’ve said how much they’ve enjoyed being on it and how they would look forward to the next one, which is in the planning stages and I’m looking forward to having them on the tracks. They’re the backbone of the album.”

Will that be another blues album?

“The next album is autobiographical, and I’m working with a lyricist in New York City and Los Angeles and a composer and musician in upstate New York so it really is a result of the virus – a ‘viral’ composition and we’re putting the whole thing together as we speak totally locked up in our hovels. We’re creating a superb long-distance album and when I’m ready to release it, it is going to be an interesting summation of the effects of the pandemic which has required us all to hunker down, and is going to lead to a focus that is created.”

You worked in those early days as a Shakespearian actor. Would you say that even now, all these years later, that what you learned back then comes through when you’re interpreting a lyric, the way you phrase the lines?

Back to The Blues album, I thought that after listening to the delivery of the lyrics I realized that it kind of pokes you into a bit of deeper thinking…

“That’s what I had in mind.”

On the next album, as well as the contributors, will there be strings? Orchestras?

“I had a feel for the poetry”

“Because its very varied I’m urging my two partners to think in multi-rhythmic ways so that it isn’t all fluid words but what’s happening is that I’m laying down my track and I talk to lyricist and tell him of intimate memories of my life that I think of passionately in some manner. We’re calling one of the numbers The Bridge and on my way from Montreal to Toronto, after leaving university I’d packed this little cheap car and I’m on my way, leaving home, starting a life away from home and I come to a bridge and as I cross the bridge an 18-wheeler truck is coming the other way and almost pushes me off the bridge. My impulse was, if I go over this bridge and into deep water everything I have, the whole memory of me is packed in this car and it would be as if I hadn’t lived. I used the symbology of the bridge to that this is the beginning of a new life. I’ve crossed the bridge. So that song can lend itself either to the simplicity of a guitar or a more complex orchestration. We have about eighteen songs written and recorded.”

Will you be touring with these albums? Live appearances?

“The last live appearance was in London just prior to the Prime Minister closing London down. One of the songs is actually called Monday Night In London when I’m on my way to the theatre having sold out 3,500 seats. When I got to the theatre I didn’t know if the 3,500 people would attend in defiance of the Prime Minister’s statement, but almost all of the people were there. So that’s the song – Monday Night In London.”

Our allotted time for the interview was almost up so I asked Bill about his beloved horses.

“I can drive for 45 minutes to where my competition horses are and I ride almost every day, every morning. I’m a better

horseman right now than I’ve been at any time and during the pandemic - it helps me to focus on what I’m doing.”

I thanked him for speaking with us and couldn’t resist a final comment; “Bill, don’t ride over any bridges.” He got the joke and we shared a hearty laugh. He’s that kind of guy. Get Scotty to beam you up and then listen to the album and you’ll understand.

Tomás DONCKER all round man

Tomás Doncker originates from New York City and is CEO of True Groove Records.

He’s also a singer/songwriter, producer, and musician. So, he’s an all-round musical corporation with immense talent. I was lucky enough to catch up with him for a couple of hours to talk about his new album Wherever You Go, to get a glimpse of what makes this guy tick.

considered too old, which was very daunting. So, I thought, I’m gonna have to do this myself. So, in answer to your question, I am both, because I have to be.

Wherever You Go brings together The Blue Ruin Band. Do you see yourself recording with them in the future?

Do you see yourself as CEO of True Groove Records first, or as a musician first?

Good question. Ok, from the moment that I wanted to be in music, when I was about twelve years old or perhaps even earlier than that when I started to buy records, I immediately knew that I wanted to be involved in music as my career. I always read the back of albums, who engineered it, who was the producer and the executive producer, who, a lot of times, was the guy at the label. I always wanted to connect the dots and find out how records were made. It’s a process, a journey. You look at a record as an eleven-year-old and there are so many names on the record. I’ve always had a respect for the idea of the creation and curation and the distribution. The marketing and distribution was a team effort. For each artist, there is their team and the team that they interphase with, a huge network of people. The idea of being a label head was not my first interest at all, but you make a record, have a career, go on tour. Fast forward to 2000 and the whole independent thing was becoming a reality, the digital age was starting to creep up on us. I then started to realize that ageism was upon me. Clive Daviess not going to knock on my door because the guy’s like me were

Oh, of course. We’ve already got some stuff to put out. We are going to release a single that will probably come out near the time of this publication. It’s a cover of The Specials song, It Doesn’t Make It Alright. I took it on like The Five Blind Boys Of Alabama meets Di- Angelo covering The Specials. A s a kid in high- school I was a big Specials fan. The whole two-tone thing, I loved it. Their first album is one of the best albums that I still own. The sound of a band in a room. The song It Doesn’t Make It All Right still resonates with me. This song is about racism. The guy is singing about racism. But it’s still so pertinent for today in the world we live in. So, we’ve done a very bluesy version of that song. The Blue Ruin Band is a major part of The True Groove family and personality. I have two official bands, one is the True Groove All-Stars and the other is The Blue Ruin Band which comprises a few of the All-Stars band and some of our European members. The idea of our brand is Global Soul. It’s not soul music, it’s not world music, it’s soulful music. Because of this pandemic, I was able to expand the empire, if you will. The tour got cancelled, we had 18 dates planned, so I need to keep these folks involved and sane. So, The Blue Ruin Band are an essential part of what I do. I’ve got members of The Blue Ruin Band mixing and working with some of the members of The All-Stars on different projects at the same

WORDS: Stephen Harrison PICTURES: Supplied

time. There is a lot of stuff going on. The Blue Ruin Band is my Crazy Horse. That’s how I see them.

You do a couple of covers on Wherever You Go of Blind Willie Johnson and Skip James. Have they both been a major influence on your career?

Come on man… Ok, so you are a bluesman and this is a blues magazine, so you are going to get this. I’m a songwriter first and foremost. The core of music, roots music, blues music, is storytelling that’s what it is. Period. You get to people like the great Willie Dixon and he writes a song specifically for Chester Burnett, AKA The Wolf and the song is Wang Dang Doodle. What the hell is a Wang Dang Doodle? What it is, is the neighbourhood newscast, it’s about what’s going to happen on Friday night in our town. And then you realize it’s the same all over the world every Friday night. So, when you talk about Blind Willie Johnson - this guy was a preacher and his church burned down. He and his wife are standing in the rubble of their burned-down church and he’s playing these songs and his wife is singing along with him while she’s passing the cup to help rebuild their church. That’s where these songs come from. Skip James was also a preacher. All of these people were able to find a light in the darkness, to find a ray of hope in their daily struggle. Skip James and Blind Willie Johnson are not only great writers, but they are interesting. They make it interesting.

I was going to ask about Regina Bonelli, who sings on I’m Gonna Run to The City Of Refuge, the Blind Willie Johnson song on the album. Have you worked with her in the past?

Oh wow, are you kidding? We did Love Letter (Regina Bonelli James Dellatacoma, Tomás Doncker) in 2018 and it is still on the charts. It’s number 11 this week. It will not

go off the charts. Regina Bonelli is a flagship artist on my label. She’s a treasure, man. She sings on a lot of our funk stuff. The song she posted on Facebook this morning, Didn’t I, we put that out about a week ago. We have a compilation album coming out soon on the label, and Regina has a song on it called Mr. Big Man. She’s amazing, an amazing artist, an incredible writer, and performer. She also sang backing vocals on the title track on the album, Wherever You Go.

Do you prefer producing other artists or do you prefer working on your own projects?

Producing other artists and writing for and working with other artists has infinitely informed my work. It has made me a better overall artist. When I work on my own Tomás Doncker records my partner, James Dellatacoma, does the producing, but on other artist’s records, we work together. So, on my records, I can concentrate on being the artist. I can’t say his name often enough. He’s an amazing guy to work with. He’s also a great guitar player as you can hear on Wherever You Go. The core reason that I want to work with them is that they have something I want, but believe me, I’ve learned so much from working with other artists. My other partner, Marla Mase, I’ve covered her song on the album, Drown In Blue. So, working and collaborating with other artists has a profound effect on my work. She sings the song on her album, but I do it on my album. That’s a great example of another artist influencing my work.

You’ve worked in Japan and China a lot over the years. What was the big pull over there?

I lived in Japan for four years. It completely changed my life. I learned more about black music living in Japan for four years than I have living in America. They look at things differently. You and I think we are

record freaks, they will tell you who made the coffee on the album. They have a very high reverence, respect, and knowledge for history. These things are important to them. Look at it this way, how long has America been around? Japan has been around for centuries and centuries. America is a blip on the Japanese radar. When they look at the history of black music, they understand it goes back to Africa. They are not trying to be black, they respect it. They understand the aspect of being respectful. When I was in Japan, I was privy to a lot of information, and they were happy to share it with me. The trips to China were awesome. We played at the Expo. We were the only American

acts to play there when they had it. We also played at the Shanghai Folk Music Festival. We played to over a million people in a week. It was very intense. We were there for nine days in total.

Collings guitars are your guitar of choice. How come you started using Collings?

I had a band years ago and I was endorsing another brand of guitar, who I won’t mention but anyway, my deal was for a solid body or semi-body guitar and I wanted a hollow-body or 335 BB King guitar and that company did not make them. A friend

“It’s not soul music, it’s not world music, it’s soulful music”

of mine said, why don’t you go down to Collings, they make the best guitars, period. I’d heard of Collings, but for someone like me you assume that is out of reach. So, I showed up at their booth and for about the next three years and I became friends with Steve McCreary, who now runs Collings guitars after the death of the great Bill Collings a couple of years ago. Finally, Marla Mase and I were doing a festival, women in music festiva,l in Austin, Texas, and we just ran into Steve on the escalator. It turned out that they were one of the sponsors of the festival. So, he said to me, you have to come to the factory. Next day I went to the factory, well it’s not really a factory, it’s more like a workshop. The moment you walk through the door you feel love, it’s in the air. He took me on a tour, and I’ve never seen such devotion to every single detail. We ended up at the finish room where they box them up and ship them out. I started to play a little Howlin’ Wolf thing on one of the finished guitars, I looked around and there was a whole bunch

of people just watching me play this guitar. About three weeks later Steve messaged me and said, I’ve got you a guitar, and I was like what? Wow! I love Collings guitars. I can’t thank Steve McCreary enough for all his help and support.

So, what’s next for Tomás Doncker?

We are making music constantly. I’ll keep you in the loop, Stephen. Wherever You Go is being released on vinyl on October 24th via RoughTrade in the UK and USA. I’m trying to get over to Europe in November, to Finland to work with one of our artists and at some point, we’ll be coming through the UK and Italy hopefully. The second the globe seems safe enough, we’ll launch the Wherever You Go Tour. I’ve been rehearsing this show in my head for about a month now, so I can’t wait. It’ll be a combination of the new album and a lot of Howlin’ Wolf stuff. We are making music and videos and I’m talking to wonderful people such as yourself. I can’t thank you enough.

ERJA ERJA LYTINNEN LYTINNEN

WORDS: Adam Kennedy PICTURES: Hertta_Hynnine

Like all artists, Finnish guitarist Erja Lyytinen had her touring plans for 2020 cancelled or rescheduled. But rather than taking a wellearned break, Erja set to task on a whole raft of new projects including a forthcoming live album, a guitar tablature book, developing her own brand of tea as well as an English translation of her recent biography.

Blues Matters caught up with the ‘Queen of the Slide Guitar’ at home in Helsinki to get the low down on Erja’s latest projects.

How did you feel when your tours were cancelled due to the pandemic?

We were on the road with the Blues Queen tour in Finland, promoting my book, when the news about the virus spreading came in. I remember that Thursday night very well. I needed to decide what to do. I didn´t sleep much that night, as I was looking at my schedule and Excel spreadsheets with all of the expenses and calculations and pondering. The next week we would have sold out concert halls throughout Finland. But the fear of putting my band and fans in danger weighed on me more than the financial implications. So, because of Corona, I called my team for an emergency meeting ironically on the morning of Friday 13th of March, informing them that we had to cut the tour short. It was such a hard decision, but what else could we have done?

How disappointed were you about losing shows in Australia and Canada as well as throughout Europe?

At first, it was really hard to wipe out all of the shows from the calendar. Around fifty shows were cancelled/postponed, and it took a lot of effort to organize everything. It felt like a lot of the work we had done for the tours and gigs was in vain. But at some point, I said to myself, okay, this can´t last forever, let´s do something else and we started innovating instead of gigging. I started working on my own songbook. I developed my own brand of tea which is called The Blues Queen. We played special events for small audiences as well as streaming gigs and so on. One of the new projects I took part in was my friend and photographer Adam Kennedy´s idea of capturing artists in their homes through virtual photoshoots over the Internet.

How did it feel to perform live again following the lockdown in Finland?

It felt amazing to have my gear, pedals, guitars and everything taken out of their flight cases after two months of silence. I felt so grateful to be able to step up on stage and taste a bit of that ‘rock´n´roll star life’ that we usually get to do throughout the year. But mostly I was grateful for having my dear band members and teammates around me, as I had missed them so much. The government had imposed restrictions on the Southern part of Finland, as the number of COVID infections were highest there. So, we literally could not meet even if we wanted to, as part of the band lives outside of Uusimaa region.

How did it feel to get the band back together after the lockdown?

We had a rehearsal before the first actual live stream, and that joy - it was incredible! From March to June we were supposed to be playing in five different countries ranging

As a result of the current global pandemic, artists have had to find innovative new ways to perform whilst at the same time attempting to keep in touch with their fanbase.

from Spain to Australia. So of course, this was a little consolation compared to that, but still, it felt fantastic to meet my bandmates and get to play! From all of this, I have learned that although you may plan as much of your life as you possibly can, in the end, we can´t control everything.

‘Another World’. We streamed the show on Mother´s Day Eve, so in addition, we included some of my poppier tunes such as ‘Torn’ and ‘Wildflower’ on the setlist to add a bit of variety. All of the songs, except for ‘Dreamland Blues’ and ‘Don´t Let A Good Woman Down’ appear for the first time as live recordings. So, it was very exciting to finally make a concert album featuring these recent songs!

How did it feel to play in concert without a crowd in front of you?

What did it mean for you to return to your hometown of Kuopio to record ‘Lockdown Live 2020’?

It was nice to be able to travel outside Helsinki and go to my hometown, Kuopio, where my family lives. I wanted to visit my parents, but we could only sit outside due to social distancing. So, I was sending my love on Mother´s Day a few meters away from my Mom and Dad. I was not able to stay in their house, which I usually would have done. I had to protect them from this awful virus, as they are in a high-risk group because of their age.

How did you go about choosing the setlist for this special recording?

We wanted to make an energetic 60-minute set for our fans and really rock out, so we chose our favourite songs from our gig setlist. Most of the songs are taken from my last two studio albums ‘Stolen Hearts’ and

It was quite a different experience to play our very first proper streaming gig. There was no physical audience except the camera crew around us. But I have done some TV work previously, so it was like playing on a TV show. Knowing that this will be documented, and we need to make the best of the situation whether people are physically present or not. We had a paying audience around the world, and I was trying to keep this in my mind, performing for the fans who were watching this show in front of their laptops and phones.

You often post pictures in tearooms. You seem to be a bit of a tea connoisseur, and you now have your own blend. How did the idea of your own brand of tea come to fruition?

Well, for a couple of years I’ve had this concert concept in my head of combining three things. I love blues, whisky and tea. And, I’ve been going to this lovely tea shop here in Helsinki called Demmers Tea House. I think originally that brand is from Austria or something like that. I became friends with the lady who keeps this tea shop. At some point, I started to talk about her about this concept of doing these concerts with a small audience in the shape of a culinary evening. Then the idea of having my own tea brand

also grows into the conversation. And I was like, yeah, that would be amazing. So quite fast I had an idea of what I would like to put out. I mean, I’m a blues guitarist, so I wanted to develop a smoky tea with a hint of whisky in it. I loved that process. And I remember when I was sitting in the house and trying these flavours out, I was going like, I love my job. I’m a musician, or an artist, but also innovating things and collaborating with other brands and crossing over these ideas I think that’s just beautiful that I’ve got friends and associates that I can come up with ventures like this. And there is something exciting coming out next year, but I can’t talk about it yet.

You’ve been working on your first guitar tablature book. You’ve got so many albums and so much material. How have you gone about picking songs to transcribe for this new project?

Well, I simply chose the songs that I felt like it would be nice for people to learn the solos and where there are enough tricks and things to learn from my playing. And the songs that have long guitar solos that would interest guitarists in the same token. Also, the songs that some people would like to sing and learn. And so, we came up with those 16 songs quite fast. There’s going to be two books and the first one is going to be regular guitar tuning. So, me playing rock guitar, solos, and the other is the slide guitar. And it looks amazing. I mean the guy who transcribed the songs did a great job. We also got Sonny Landreth´s permission to make a notation from his playing on ‘Wedding Day,’ so it is all very detailed. It’s so rewarding to see what you’ve played because it comes back to you when you see it in print, seeing those songs put out as a notation. It’s like, oh, I did that kind of a thing with the guitar and, wow, can I even play that? We’ve been going through these songs

the whole summer during the lockdown. And then recently coming home to my flat and I’ve been playing my solos note by note from his notation. And some of them are good. I then question if I play like that on my album. Then I have to go back and listen to the album, but nowadays I am playing it differently. So, you have to kind of accept that’s what you did on the original recording and then everything else is an evolution of the song.

How is your outlook now since playing again?

At the moment the situation is still a bit open and many shows that were postponed from the Spring to Fall 2020 have now been rescheduled for 2021. So, it looks like the next two years will be even busier than ever. I am trying to allow myself to have some holidays right now to get ready for next year´s busy schedule. I am pretty sure we are learning a lot from this situation and I am sure people will appreciate everything, even more, when they can go out in big crowds again, listening to their favourite bands together.

Lockdown Live 2020 by Erja Lyytinen will be released as a live album Double Vinyl, CD and DVD package on Friday 6 November 2020. erjalyytinen.com

THE BIG

BLUES REVIEWS GUIDE

CONNOR BRACKEN NIGHTBIRD MOTEL

Independent

I’m just going to initialise CBATMLB and say that they hail from that hotbed of American rock and roll Asbury Park, New Jersey. So what we have here is a collection of ten tracks, roughly thematic, where a band and the creative driving force, Connor, are growing exponentially. The overall sound of the album is simple and clean but, most importantly, it is full of energy. That energy pours out of songs such as Photographs Of Johnny Cash and the opening cut When The World Stops Turning with that strident rocking that grabs you and demands you get up get bopping. We all can remember the exciting sound of the early Beatles, Stones, Kinks and Who songs and this, in a sense, reminds me of those days. No frills just in your face fun music. Mind you the band can get deeper and down to the darker side of things when we get to Blame On Me. I don’t know what state of mind Connor was in when he wrote this but there is a sense of brooding menace

permeating through this song. Songs about DJs keep occasionally appearing and here we get Voice On The Radio as the man behind this band doubles down as a talk show host. That kind of broadcasting never appealed to me but for those that do it you have to deal with all manor of weird callers. Nightbird, essentially the title track, has a much fuller production sound and the longest running time at a little over six minutes however even taking those facts into consideration you still know clearly the source dynamics of this band. They may tell fuller stories in the future but remember their roots. Excellent stuff.

GRAEME SCOTT

“the album is simple and clean but, most importantly, it is full of energy”

JOHNNY BURGIN

NO BORDER BLUES

Delmark Records

Bit of an international theme this time round, This is a Blues disc with a major difference in that there isn’t a single band playing here, but a collection of some of the top Blues musicians in Japan, who are truly world class, and here they set out to prove it. All joining under the influence and leadership of top US Bluesman Johnny Burgin who has spent a lot of time playing in Japan. Some of the tracks were recorded in Chicago, but the rest were recorded in Japan. Johnny is the thread linking them all together as he plays on every track and vocals too on most of the tracks. 11 tracks in total and some

WHEN RIVERS MEET WE FLY FREE One Road Record

of them hark back to the early electric Blues pioneers. Lightning Hopkins, Robert Johnson and to name but two! Apart from a couple of tracks where you hear Japanese being spoken, there is nothing to make you aware of the fact that these are Japanese musicians, playing to world class standards and sounding as authentic as anyone could possibly wish.. You have got a girl singer sounding out like Beth Hart, harmonica work to die for, some guitar playing to set your amps on fire, and all recorded to the highest standard. Because of the logistics, it is highly unlikely that this show will ever hit the road, so all the more reason to forget any “purist” ideas that you may be harbouring and go seek out this record, you won’t be sorry!

DAVE STONE

I’m blown away by this original debut album from this super duo/band, talk about a breath of fresh air to the scene. Read about Grace and Aaron Bond in an interview in this very issue and here’s the fruit of this dynamic duo plus band. An twelve-track debut that weaves magic in your ears. The diversity of sound they utilise with dramatic instrumentalizations is astounding. What a great way to follow their clever EP releases and give us a full dose of great sounds and voices. From the off we pound along with grinding rhythm for Did I Break The Law. Grace spaces the lyric as we stomp along to Aaron’s striding guitar and the drums crash in and Grace wails out over slide-work coming to a crescendo. Bound For Nowhere is like a storm blowing in and out so put on the weatherproofs, oh it does fade away. Next Aaaron joins the vocal while his guitar screams between lines in Walking The Wire, there is no easing up here, the guitar sings and stings. Gently into I Have Fallen plaintive Grace over twanging guitar and gentle beat. Nice. Ok, we had our rest now get back in the saddle with the band. Battleground, their latest single, pounds in, gutsy chords stride throughout, solid rhythmic skin work, Radio 2 should get hold of this and damn well play it! I shouldn’t name every track for you but Kissing The Sky brings some Hammond that threads well, screaming slide, incessant rhythm, can’t keep still. Thoughtful Breaker Of Chains, great almost mournful instruments here. We build through I Will Fight, gently through slide passage, reiterating the fight and

easing out. Whistle for Bury My Body, an acoustic/harmony song of one about to join their love in a grave. So eerie. Grace gives us psychedelic slide mandolin as we thump through Take Me to the River. Old style next, cigar box and double bass, nice ‘n easy. Sadly we reach the end of a fantastic album (probably one of the albums of our year) as we exit on We Fly Free and wishing them the highest success. Compelling slide, impressive vocal range, whilst adding distinctive slide resonator mandolin and fiddle. The band are: Grace Bond – Vocals, Mandolin, Violin, Aaron Bond – Vocal, Guitar, Adam Bowers – Bass, Drums, Organ, Piano, Robin G Breeze – Bass, Organ, Piano. This album is a certified must!!

ALAN PEARCE

“Japanese musicians, playing to world class standards and sounding as authentic as anyone could possibly wish”

“a breath of fresh air to the scene”

ANDY WATTS SUPERGROOVE

Boogaloo music

A new album by Israel’s quintessential blues man called SuperGroove, and aptly named. From the first track, starting with a cool instrumental tune that has an almost sixties feel to it because of the saxophone and Hammond organ, Along with AW on striving guitar, this is a thumping tune that you could imagine being used in a chase from a classic film. This is followed straight away by the stonking Harmonica blowing of Coastin Hank and the gravelled voice Roy young on vocals, this is working class blues at its best. Singing up a storm of working hard and having no money, living hand to mouth. The second track on here and I love it, Straight Talking Woman brings into the fray Danny Shoshan on vocals along with the rest of the band Eyal Klein(keyboards) Loram Linker(sax) Gregory Rivkin(trumpet) Tom Mochiach(bass) Tom Bollig(drums) and Andy on guitar which tells a six minute story of the problems of people not settling with what they’ve got.

ELVIN BISHOP AND CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE

100YEARS OF BLUES

Alligator Records

What I like about this album is the collection of great musicians that appear and on Burning Deep we have Joe Louis Walker another veteran of blues putting his stamp on it. Pack It Up will have Freddie King fans drooling and Roy’s vocals are up there. Blues Of The Month Club we have, girl of the moment Eliza Neals, on vocals, along with Andy’s guitar playing is a match made in heaven, damn that girl can sing. Which leads nicely into, Don’t Take My Blues Away, which for me should of been the title track because in this world of technology and downloads it’s wonderful to get an album of blues/rock tracks like this in a gatefold sleeve with inner booklet of photos and stories, they are the bonus to the ten songs on here, If I tell you about all ten songs, isn’t that like spoiling a film by revealing the end? After all, music is in the ear of the beholder and like the song says, Don’t take my blues away.

With a joint career spanning 100 years, Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite bring us this wonderful album All but three of the tracks are composed by either Elvin or Charlie or both of them. The opening track Birds of A Feather hits you with the instantly recognizable vocals of Elvin. Charlie providing his unique blues harp sound makes this opener so good, almost teasing you as to how good this album is going to be. West Helena Blues, originally recorded by The Honeydripper, Roosevelt Sykes is simply wonderful. You can be forgiven for sometimes forgetting how good some of these older blues tunes are. So when an album like this is done it breathes new life into these recordings. Good Times has Charlie taking the vocals as well as blowing the harp and playing slide guitar. Beautiful piano accompaniment from Bob Welsh helps this track to evolve into the type of blues tune that sends you back in time to the early blues musicians of the last century. Midnight Hour Blues was originally recorded in 1932 by Leroy Carr. Haunting and dark lyrics tell a tale of a desperate bluesman singing the blues with the pain and anguish of a tortured soul. This version is sublime in capturing the exact feeling that Carr had back in 1932. South Side Slide is a wonderful little instrumental and titled because of how Elvin and Charlie first met in the South Side of Chicago in the 1960s. Blues For Yesterday, written by Charlie is a reminder as to why these two stalwarts of the blues decided to make this album. Their shared common love for the blues pours out in this tune so eloquently. Help Me was recorded and co-written by Willie Dixon and Sonny Boy Williamson II. Superb guitar by Welsh complementing Elvin and Charlie perfectly. 100 Years Of Blues finishes the album in great style. The story of how these guys met and their subsequent travels through the blues to get here is magnificently well-orchestrated A real treat for blues fans right here.

STEPHEN HARRISON

BARRY BLUES BARN HOPWOOD

“it’s wonderful to get an album of blues/rock tracks like this in a gatefold sleeve”

KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD BAND STRAIGHT TO YOU: LIVE Provogue/Mascot Label Group

The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band is well-known for their electric live performances across the globe performing to sold-out venues and packed music festivals. Following people requesting a live DVD release for decades, the band decided that the time was right to release an audio/visual delight. Recorded at the famous Leverkusen Jazzstage for the iconic German TV show Rockpalast in November 2019, the seven-piece band open proceedings with Woman Like You as Noah Hunt’s persuasive voice blends with Kenny’s fluid electric guitar to an excitable crowd. Long Time Running sounds like a live cut by the band Chicago as the rich horn section drives it home whilst I Want You allows Shepherd to showcase his vocal talents which is something he has been doing since the formation of The Rides alongside fellow seasoned musicians Stephen Stills and Barry Goldberg. The cosmic keyboard solo segues into sultry saxophone and then silvery trumpet allowing the band to flourish. Diamonds & Gold taken from the Lay It On Down album hits you straight away and always gets a crowd moving with its Vegas-esque horns and groovy guitar tones. I remember seeing this live in a packed tent at Ramblin Man Fair in Maidstone, Kent when they headlined the Outlaw Country stage in 2017. Talk To Me Baby is a welcome inclusion for blues lovers and Heat Of The Sun has a powerful lead vocal courtesy of Hunt as he allows the lyrics to be out front and centre as the guitar cries out like a phoenix rising from the ashes. Down For Love is a fun outing complete with slick drumming from Rock And Roll Of Fame Member Chris Leighton. Fan favourite Blue On Black rolls into the setlist and sounds as fresh as ever and the audience absolutely love it. King Bee is a funky number with cheeky lyrics as the rhythm section keep it moving. In conclusion, at a time when the live music world is not as active as it has been, Straight To You: Live is a welcome release with a well-thought out selection of songs, phenomenally talented musicians and two classy frontmen who just musically gel. Catch them on tour in the UK in October 2021.

GLENN SARGEANT

NEW MOON JELLY ROLL FREEDOM ROCKERS

STONY PLAIN CD Independent

To get to the heart of this album you need to absorb the informative 7 pages of historical sleeve notes by Luther Dickinson and Ernest Suarez. There is a gritty, cheery truthfulness to the overall sound. This is a dream team of blues performers with rich roots. Steering the ship are the legendary Charlie Musselwhite, harmonica and vocals, and Alvin Youngblood Hart, guitar, mandolin and vocals backed up with Jimbo Mathus, guitar and vocals, Jim Dickinson on piano and vocals and Cody Dickinson on drums, washboard and vocals plus bassists Chris Chew and Paul Taylor. The whole ambience of these ten uplifting tracks is down home, good time Mississippi, because these people go way back in the tradition, as the choice of numbers will indicate. Pony Blues, a Charlie Patton song, will have you dancing, and there is a superb slow blues, Night Time. with its relaxing piano and acoustic guitar supplemented by Musselwhite’s restrained harp.

Come on Down To My House will hit you like a cold beer on a warm night. There is a superb Memphis Jug Band number, KC Moan, a stirring, rocking delivery of Wilbert Harrison’s Let’s Work Together. They even tackle Jimi Hendrix’s raucous Stone Free to great effect, and the final track with its haunting mandolin, Stop and Listen Blues, has all the distilled authenticity you’d wish from Mississippi. If you like your blues played with skill, devotion, and genuine country warmth, this is the album for you. I just feel like I’ve spent an hour in a Delta juke joint circa 1953, so despite Covid, listening to this makes me think happy days are here again. Thank heaven for the blues. Five stars? Without a doubt.

ROY BAINTON

“Thank heaven for the blues. Five stars? Without a doubt”

BOBBY PARKER SOUL OF THE BLUES

Rhythm And Blues Records

Bobby Parker has influenced such giants of blues music that reads like a whos who. Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, and Jimmy Page, to name but a few. When I started to listen to this 2 CD compilation album, I immediately understood why. Sall Lou is the first song on disc 1 and straight away you get the feel of Bobby Parker. First recorded in 1954, this gives a wonderful insight into the world of Bobby Parker. I’m Looking For A Woman is a brilliant blues tune. Great back-beat that accompanies the soulful vocals of Parker. Blues Get Off My Shoulder continues down the blues track in such magnificent style. It’s as blues as you could ever wish to get. Melancholy, dark but with a hint of light at the end of the tunnel, this is just brilliant. I Got The Blues So Bad starts with honky-tonk piano that gives you a warm sensual feeling. Sexy horns and blues guitar thrown in for good measure, what more could

SAVOY BROWN

TAKING THE BLUES BACK HOME

Secret Records

you ask for I a blues tune? I Couldn’t Quit My Baby sees Parker perform blues vocals to die for. Put that alongside his stunning guitar playing, and what you are left with is nothing short of a masterpiece. Disc 2 kicks off with Born Under A Bad Sign. I’ve heard lots of versions of this classic tune, my favourite is the original by Albert King. This version by Bobby Parker runs that a very close second. Parker put’s his unique stamp on it that makes you feel as you are right in the middle of the song with him. Bent Out Of Shape, recorded live in 1995, highlights that not only is Bobby Parker a top-drawer artist, but that he also has an amazing bunch of musicians around him. Horns, keys, bass, and drums all combine in perfect harmony with him as the sort of big-band leader. Bo Diddley, another cover tune is exceptional. It’s easy to see why the aforementioned artists are so influenced by Bobby Parker. See for yourself. Get this album.

STEPHEN HARRISON

I was really excited in having the opportunity to review this triple disc live CD set by Savoy Brown although my initial enthusiasm waned when I realised that this material had previously been released by Secret in 2010 and 2011 under two separate CD releases entitled Train To Nowhere/Hellbound Train. Notwithstanding this it is a worthy release, these three discs cover twenty songs that were recorded live in the USA at two venues in August 1997 and March 1998 and represent one of my favourite incarnations of the band that included the talented bassist and vocalist Nathaniel Peterson. The set showcases some of the band’s classic tracks like Hellbound Train, Street Corner Talking and Train To Nowhere alongside songs from the then latest album called The Blues Keep Me Holding On which was released in 1999. Kim Simmonds has been the one constant in the history of Savoy Brown, he is an amazing Blues guitarist whose talent sits comfortably alongside Eric Clapton, both gaining their spurs during the first British Blues Boom in the mid 1960’s.These recordings highlight Savoy Brown as a three piece band with two separate drummers covering the concerts, namely Al Case and ‘T’ Xiques, with the vocals shared by Kim and Nathaniel. There are some tremendous songs played here that this review cannot do justice to. Although, I have highlighted just a couple; Mr Browns Boogie on which Kim ply’s his Slide Guitar skills for the first five minutes before Nathaniel’s vocals cut in, very reminiscent of Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac material and truly magic. Chris Youden’s song Stay While The Night Is Young gets some extended incendiary solos against the backdrop of Nathaniel’s rumbling base lines and soft throaty vocal. The standout track though is Louisiana Blues which runs for over twenty-one minutes, a song that Savoy Brown have made their own over the years. Kim introduces it as a bit of psychedelia, not so sure myself but it is still a full-blown guitar frenzy where Kim’s guitar work is unparalleled. For live recordings, the quality of the sound is exceptional although this is probably more down to the quality of the musicianship rather than the Producer’s skills. Either way this is a superb package highlighting a Blues band at their peak, listening to a live recording on CD does not replace the thrill of seeing a band live but in these Covid times this is a first-rate alternative.

ADRIAN BLACKLEE

“It’s easy to see why the aforementioned artists are so influenced by Bobby Parker”

VANESSA COLLIER

HEART ON THE LINE Independent

Having won the Blues Music Award twice for best horn player in the Instrumentalist category, Vanessa’s credentials are well known. On her fourth release she has produced this herself. She mixes a gumbo of blues, soul, rock and funk. A great saxophonist, she marries the tone to her ever improving vocal style. Eleven eclectic tunes;

ERJA LYYTINEN LOCKDOWN LIVE 2020

Tuohi Records/Bluesland Productions Oy

Finnish blues rock guitarist

incorporating eight of her own and three reinterpretations. James Brown cover, Super Bad starts things off with funky rhythm and sultry vocals mixing with saxophone solo, just brilliant. What Makes You Beautiful is delivered with sassiness and style, and smooth harmonies. Changes in style, like the country blues on, Bloodhound adds to the blend. Another highlight is her interpretation of, Leave Your Hat On, it is smooth and Vanessa really gets into the sassy groove of the wonderful horn section here. Also special mention to the rhythm section here, Nick Stevens on drums and Cornell Williams on bass line. Take A Chance On Me, has heavy bass line and leans towards a rocky interlude, horns and guitars jousting to a frenzy. Weep And Moan, turns the mood blue again, sultry and slow delivery. If Only, is a laid back song about missed life chances, jazzy toned piano here. Who’s In Power, has a politically charged theme full of soul. Freshly Squozen, has a funky vibe with heart felt lyrics and that lilting saxophone riff. Title song, Heart On The Line, mixes pop and country, extremely infectious and upbeat. Dynamic band, fantastic songs, a musically stunning release.

Erja Lyytinen is a hardworking singer-songwriter and musician who has released several albums and toured the world for several years with her signature fiery guitar and thoughtful songs. However, her packed 2020 schedule filled with live appearances had to change course as the global Covid-19 pandemic changed several industries overnight including the world of live music. Not one to sit on her laurels, Lyytinen travelled to Bluesounds Studios in her hometown of Kuopio, Finland on Mother’s Day Eve to record and film a live concert performance. This has resulted in a special CD/ DVD set entitled ‘Lockdown Live 2020’ which showcases twelve tracks from across her back catalogue. Opening with Don’t Let A Good Woman Down, Erja’s electric guitar springs forth with a melodic solo combined with rich Hammond organ.

The sultry vocal on Cherry Overdrive is the perfect driving song and reminds me of ZZ Top at times. The groovy Black Ocean bathes your ears in a Pink Floyd sounding guitar that is truly magnificent. The atmospheric Hard As Stone is a welcome inclusion and the defiant Torn allows the listener to understand that like a lot of people, Erja’s journey has not been a straightforward one. Lover’s Novels has this Stevie Wonder Higher Ground vibe and the cosmic Another World is already a live favourite with fans. The impactful guitar tone on Snake In The Grass is a highlight on this live offering. Wedding Day hears Erja in a take no prisoners’ frame of mind as she duels with the wedding organ trading back and forth with her guitar.

Closer Wildflower is lyrically beautiful like a lullaby encompasses not only her song writing prowess but also her vocal ability. In conclusion, Lockdown Live 2020 is a welcome release from Erja Lyytinen and proves why she can enthral audiences at both festivals and headline appearances without any gimmicks and just her sheer talent. This record has Erja bare her soul and is the perfect preview to her February 2021 UK tour.

GLENN SARGEANT

COLIN CAMPBELL

“Erja’s electric guitar springs forth with a melodic solo”

“Dynamic band, fantastic songs, a musically stunning release”

KIM WILSON TAKE ME BACK- THE BIG TONE SESSIONS

M.C. Records

For his fourth solo release, frontman to the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Kim Wilson has teamed up with Mark Carpentieri, whose collaboration previously brought Grammy nomination success.

ADAM SWEET

SINK OR SWIM

Adam Sweet Music

There are sixteen tracks here. So refreshing to hear a traditional blues album recorded in mono, from live to audio monologue at Big Jon Atkinson’s Big Tone Studios in Virginia. Kim brought some friends including, Billy Flynn, Barrelhouse Chuck, Kid Andersen, and Rusty Zinn to play along on some originals and rhythm and blues tunes. He reinterprets songs by Jimmy Rogers on, Money, Marbles And Chalk, and the up-tempo Goin’ Away Baby. Also, there is a Cajun-style take to Larry Williams’ Slow Down.

The opener, You Been Goofin’ by Jimmy Nolen sets the foot-tapping tone, but it is Kim’s vocals throughout that make this a standout release. Kim’s originals include, I’m Sorry, full of West Coast swing. Play Me, is an up-tempo track. He also wrote the Chicago blues number, Fine Little Woman. Wingin’ It, Strollin’ and Rumblin’ are all just brilliant instrumentals and sound full of workmanship and enjoyment, and clarity in the sonic layout.

The title track, Take Me Back has a real lived-in feel with Kim playing his harmonica to the backbeat of the band, a slow meandering tune.

This is first-class blues playing, every track a musical gem in the treasure trove that is blues music, sung by a passionate and true blues legend.

COLIN CAMPBELL

Adam Sweet is a blues musician bridging the gap between Nashville and … er … Devon. In these days of mass communication and digital recording, it has never mattered less where you are located, and the London-centric recording scene of years ago has completely disappeared, music can be made anywhere, and amen to that. This is Adam’s second album, and features his full band, including Ian Jennings on bass and Gary Kroll on drums, both seasoned top-end session players, and it shows in their constantly reliable engine room for the songs Adam Sweet has created with writing partner Steve Black. Musicians like Kris Barras have forged a path that takes American blues music in all its atmosphere and authenticity right back to its roots and origins. Highlight song here is Good Enough, where the mix of heartfelt vocals and the spot-on backing vocals sit gently on top of the keyboard wash and subtle guitar solo, all the elements that make this album, and this band, so satisfying to listen to, come together. It’s followed by another gem, Miss You So, with another soulful guitar solo, Sweet never overplays, and that’s the secret to a great slow blues, restraint is the key. Next up is an assured live favourite in Devil’s Lake with its southern-fried boogie rhythms and honky-tonk piano figures.

Not A Moment

Too Soon returns to the underlying link of this album, heartbreak, and sorrow, and that’s what we blues fans love to find. It meanders and winds beautifully. Fall From Grace takes an unusual tack, a man trying to help his friend’s marriage issues, although the friend is the woman in the marriage. It’s always good to finish on a strong note, and Something’ll Happen, an upbeat take of optimism over a slinky smooth acoustic front line and the ever-reliable funky rhythms underneath. It’s the invention of the writing and playing that lifts this album out of the morass of formulaic blues offerings, and Adam Sweet’s perfect accent ices the cake. British blues has another star. ANDY

HUGHES

“This is first-class blues playing, every track a musical gem”

“British blues has another star”

TREVOR BABAJACK STEGER

THE SOLEMN TRUTH AND BAREFACED LIES INDEPENDENT

Founder member and co-songwriter of the successful band Babajack, Trevor Babajack Steger once again steps out on his own following the success of Sawdust Man. Steger releases the much anticipated subsequent album The Solemn Truth And Barefaced Lies, playing Winebox Guitars, Weissenborn, Harmonica, Dobro, Mbira and percussion narrating his way through ten original tales. Helping are Paul Jones who produces the album and covers the percussion and all other sounds with Lily Skinner supplying backing vocals on four tracks. Kicking off with the dirty blues of Live Forever, the foot stomping pulse of harmonica and percussion create a driving

VARIOUS ARTISTS: BUDDY’S GARAGE VOL. 1

BUDDY’S GARAGE RECORDS CD

rhythm featuring contrasting guitar riffs and gritty vocals. Chugging guitar and harp start I’m Up, I’m Down before urgent vocals and the slide guitar appears on another fast-paced track. Following this is Devil Inside, a swampy blues with rhythmic percussion complimented by thunderous tribal beats, some wicked slide, and a menacing vocal delivery. Steger’s poignant vocals drift over the haunting sound of the Weissenborn accompanied by ethereal backing, it evokes pure imagery on the excellent slow blues of Red Dress. The feel good Something That You Want is a foot tapping piece of energetic blues with a Bo Diddley vibe and good backing from Lily. Travelling down to the Mississippi delta next on Deep River all swampy slide lap steel, pulsating percussion and excellent use of harp interplay make this a standout track. The next couple of tracks feature some super percussion work from album producer Paul Jones. Can’t Get Along With You with a rock n roll blues vibe and the southern gospel of In My Time Of Dying, the tempo drops for the more reflective blues of Weather Man. Title track, The Solemn Truth And Barefaced Lies featuring guest Ben Okafor on percussion and Djembe, a fitting nod to his time spent living and working in Zimbabwe. A grooving foot tapper with African beats to close the album in great style. No second album blues here as Steger excels on all fronts highly recommended

In its plain black envelope, no geographic location and accompanying PR material in Spanish, I had to do some digging to discover that this collection of blues tracks hails from Espana, mainly from Madrid and Seville. It’s a compilation of eleven tracks from ten acts and (long story short), it’s bloody great. Superb vocalist Alex Caporuscio and The Strat’s have the two opening numbers, and Let’s Have a Natural Ball truly swings with a fiery bouncy backing showcasing some superb sax by Danni Herrero. Mingo Balaguer and The Playboys provide one of the finest versions ever of Mystery Train, and Balaguer’s harp playing is exhilarating, to say the least. Cecilya Mestres offers a raunchy Hickory Dickory Dock with a fine blues voice, which she confirms later on the rockin’ Good Lookin’. The album culminates in a truly passionate reading of I’d Rather Go Blind by Rachel Reyes and The Fireballs. It is always a delight when you receive a mysterious album and it turns out to be a jewel box.

So, let’s hope that this first year for Buddy’s Garage Records leads to more of the same, and Bravo, Espana, having flamenco would be enough, but you’ve mastered the blues to perfection. Ole!

ROY BAINTON

SHIRL

“you’ve mastered the blues to perfection”

“Steger excels on all fronts”

SAMANTHA MARTIN & DELTA SUGAR THE RECKLESS ONE Gypsy Soul Records

I was very fortunate to be able to review Samantha’s previous album Run To Me last year for this publication. So, when the opportunity arose to review her latest release I jumped at the chance. Combining with some of the Delta Sugar ensembles, this was going to be a pleasure, of that I was sure. I was correct in that assumption, The Reckless One is a stunning album from start to finish. Love Is All Around is the opening track, and immediately I felt right at home in the silky velvet style of Samantha’s voice. That is always a good sign when you are reviewing an album. Silky and velvet-like vocals adorn this track, but before long you know you are going to get hit with her gritty raw side. Don’t Have To Be, has a sweet mix of drums, horns, and keys alongside her stunning vocal range. This track makes you want to get up and shake your thing from the opening bar. A very good song indeed. Meet Me In The Morning is a cover of

BETTE SMITH THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE BETTE Ruf Records

For her second release, Bette Smith has changed record labels and producers and recorded half of these ten tracks in Mississippi, a tall order for this Brooklyn resident to go to the country, but she loved it and this is infused with a real passion. It is a very introspective release, Bette baring her soul on highlights such as the haunting Whistle Stop and final tune, Don’t Skip Out On Me, with a

the Bob Dylan song. Here Samantha gives it the right royal blues treatment and then some. As well as the superb musicians she has at her disposal, the one thing that stands out is her voice and interpretation of a song. Getting everything spot on is not easy but Samantha makes it look so easy. Soulful, bluesy, this is a magnificent version the Dylan would be very proud of. I’ve Got A Felling has a distinctive gospel flavour to it which suits Samantha so well. The passion and emotion that she pours into this tune could well make this a blues/gospel classic of the future. This will stand the test of time for decades. Just when you think you have heard the best that this album has to offer, along comes Better To have Never. Soul-searching, heart-tugging, Samantha Martin produces another classic in the making. This is a truly remarkable album that I urge everyone to go out and buy.

STEPHEN HARRISON

trumpet solo to swoon over by Henry Westmoreland. Producer was Matt Patton who also keeps bass tone here. Usually he is with his own band The Drive By Truckers. The songs are all good and sung with true grit and emotion. The title is an homage to Spaghetti westerns and starts with the powerful, Fistful Of Dollars. I’m A Sinner just is full of positive tones and flavours a feelgood tune and used in her recent shows. I Felt It Too, has a fuzzy introduction and wouldn’t be out of place on a Tina Turner set list, heavy riffs meet melting vocals. Luther Dickinson joins in on guitar for Signs And Wonders, a country gospel tinge to this. Human, was inspired by her dog a song about separation, an emotion that trickles through this very powerful release as noted on, Song For A Friend. Pine Belt Blues, is full on Southern rock with catchy chorus. Everybody Needs Love, seems the message of the release its lyrics full of hope and that connectivity with people. A stunning release, full of soul and passion.

COLIN CAMPBELL

“Samantha Martin produces another classic in the making”

“The songs are all good and sung with true grit and emotion”

GREGG MARTINEZ MACDADDY MOJEAUX Nola Blue

Based in New Orleans, Louisiana native Gregg Martinez has fronted several bands and is a great singer who can operate across that gumbo of styles that includes soul, blues, Rn’B and swamp pop. On his twelfth album release Gregg handles lead vocals with a large cast of players, including a three-man horn section. Gregg sets out his stall with three covers, each song coming from one of his musical influences. A superb take on Ray Charles’ I Believe To My Soul has everything you want in a cover of one of the great Rn’B singers as electric piano dances underneath a forceful horn arrangement. Don Nix’s Same Old Blues is a song from Freddie King’s repertoire, with an appropriate guitar solo, while You Left The Water Running has been recorded by many great soul singers, including Wilson Pickett and James & Bobby Purify; suffice to say that Gregg’s version is just as good, with a fine sax solo the icing on the cake. Gregg also covers one of THE great soul songs, Starting All Over Again, sharing vocals with guitarist Tony Goulas, perhaps even improving on Mel and Tim’s original. Gregg goes back to his Louisiana roots with accordion and guest Sonny Landreth for the rocking story of a Louisiana temptress Eva Delle. Tony’s emotional ballad Just Stay Gone has a lovely horn arrangement, then another soul classic, Snatchin’ It Back, originally by Clarence Carter. As on the other soul songs here, Gregg does it full justice and the horns really push this one along brilliantly. Can I Change My Mind was a success for Tyrone Davis and it’s another hugely enjoyable cover with pumping horns and Tony’s jangly rhythm guitar setting the pace. Sam & Dave’s Don’t Pull Your Love has a lively co-vocal from Charlene Howard and a quiet reading of Randy Newman’s Marie, accompanied just by piano and strings, brings the album to a close. Gregg is a master of the soulful side of music and the album is a definite winner.

JOHN MITCHELL

TOMAS DONCKER

WHEREVER YOU GO

True Groove

When we get sent stuff to review it is usually on CD or as a digital download. So, you can imagine my surprise when the postman called with this album on vinyl. Tomas Doncker and his band The Blue Ruin Band have recorded a fabulous album here. The opening track, I’m Gonna Run To The City, is a cover of the Blind Willie Johnson number. And, how well they have done it.

The vocals of Tomas and band member Regina Bonelli combine perfectly. Blues and soul in equal measure, pour from the two singers mixing with the Blue Ruin Band effortlessly. Tight and groovy, this is a great version. Have Mercy Please highlights that not only does Doncker possess a terrific voice but he also writes great lyrics. It makes you feel so relaxed and care-free allowing the song to wash over you softly. Hard Time Killing Floor Blues, originally done by Skip James, takes this album into a different class musically. The whole band shows their brilliance on this tune as does Doncker once again with his powerful blues vocals. This is a masterpiece of blues done differently, but with such reverence. Change kicks off side two of the album. Now this might sound a very strange thing to say but, I know that

Doncker hails from New York City, but as soon as I heard the song start, that is exactly what sprung to mind. New York, groovy, funky, and with a hard street vibe to give it an extra edge. Come Sunday is a straight-up blues tune. The band and Donckers vocals make this so enjoyable. The playing by all members of the band, Doncker included, are topnotch. There is nothing not to like about this album. It is simply wonderful. Drown In Blues sums up the entire album for me. The whole album oozes blues, soul, and funk. Each track has a bit of all three, and some tracks are just pure blues. That’s what makes this album so good.

STEPHEN HARRISON

“The whole band shows their brilliance ”

WILLIAM SHATNER

THE BLUES

Cleopatra Records CD

Supposing you were a celebrity who wanted to make a blues album for the first time with a dream team of musicians? Well here is one, and among others, he’s got the following willing names contributing to his backing band; Ritchie Blackmore, Steve Cropper, Sonny Landreth, Albert Lee and James Burton. How did he do it? Simple. He’s William Shatner, Star Trek’s Captain Kirk. Those of you familiar with Shatner’s earlier recordings, such as his remarkable rendition of Jarvis Cocker’s Common People, might know what to expect. For die-hard bluesologists, pour yourself a stiff one and cover up the budgie, you’re in for 14 jaw-dropping performances. By his own admission, Bill’s not a singer. The album opens with a raucous reading of Sweet Home Chicago, featuring country star Brad Paisley. It takes your breath away. The emotion is tangible on I Can’t Quit You Baby, where he gives the lyrics the essence of his long thespian career. On Cream’s Sunshine of Your Love, featuring Sonny Landreth, that

FIONA BOYES

BLUES IN MY HEART (20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION)

Reference Recordings

Remastered edition of a first solo recording by Australian singer, songwriter Fiona Boyes who went on to win the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. Along the way she has picked up huge praise from the likes of Pinetop Perkins and Hubert Sumlin for her acoustic ragtime finger picking blues guitar and soulful vocal style. Self-penned title track Blues In My Heart is a tale of personal relationships and rolls steadily along displaying crisp, clean guitar work

familiar heavy riff is perfect for the poetic rhythm the lyric demands; dark and almost sinister. The single from the album is a version of BB King’s The Thrill is Gone. The vocal puts you in mind of the last guy in the bar pouring his heart out to the barman who’s just missed the last bus. When Bill does Muddy on Mannish Boy, he’s well into his blues stride. It’s one of the most heartfelt renditions with Ronnie Earl backing. All the songs, carefully selected, are blues classics. His interpretation of Screaming Jay Hawkins’ I Put A Spell on You will scare the bejeesus out of you, leave the light on. The best track is the restrained, dramatic In Hell I’ll Be in Good Company, featuring Albert Lee. It’s almost like the soundtrack narration to some dark mephitic swamp movie. The same goes for the final atmospheric song, Secrets and Sins. One hapless blues-loving customer on Amazon described this CD as ‘disgusting’. I beg to differ. William Shatner is an actor who understands the power of words. He doesn’t mind if you find his work ‘amusing’. But play this album a few times and it will encircle you and draw you into a world of emotional expression, with superb accompaniment.

ROY BAINTON

and naturally authentic vocal style. She is joined on Leadbelly’s jaunty Pigmeat by Kaz Dalla Rosa on harmonica and Paula Dowse on drums and adds a pleasing touch of grit to her vocals. She Could Play That Thing is Boyes tribute to one of her heroes Memphis Minnie. She is joined by harmonica, drums, and Gina Woods on piano for the fun, jug band style, rave-up I Let The Blues In. The gospel inflected Have Faith finds Boyes reflecting on a difficult period in her life and Honey You Can Take My Man is a humorous hokum romp. The ragtime fun continues with the original My Say So but the mood changes for a soulful cover of Rev Gary Davis’ Mean World. The playing is excellent throughout and the sound quality on this remastered edition is absolutely pristine. The infectious instrumental number Hokum Rag races by and Tommy Johnson’s salutary tale of illicit drinking Canned Heat gets a great cover. Closing track Hotel Room is a sad and lonely story of life on the road. I’m sorry I missed this cracking album first time round and I recommend it to all lovers of acoustic blues.

DAVE DRURY

“play this album a few times and it will encircle you”

“crisp, clean guitar work and naturally authentic vocal style”

LAURA TATE

LIVE FROM EL PASO

811 GOLD RECORDS LLC

Laura Tate’s latest offering was recorded at the McKelligon Canyon Amphitheatre, El Paso in her home state of Texas. Of course, the Lone Star State is synonymous with the blues, but Live From El Paso is much more than that. Tate’s musical stylings go above and beyond our beloved genre. Throughout the twelve tracks on the record, the versatile vocalist showcases a wide spectrum of music, as well as the many facets of her artistry. Each track on the setlist takes the album in a slightly different direction as the performance ebbs and flows. The concert album gets underway with the warm and soulful sounds of No Place To Hide, which in turn forms a beautiful opening to the show. Before Tate switches gears into the horn accentuated, blues/rock groove of I’ll Find Someone Who Will. The track listing is interspersed with several covers. The first of which is Tate’s take on the Thin Lizzy classic The Boys Are Back In Town as you’ve never heard it before. The Texan chanteuse has reimagined the rock anthem for this recording with slowed-down piano accompaniment, giving the song a unique and original interpretation. Tate also puts her stamp on the Irma Thomas soul number Hitting On Nothing to

PETER PARCEK MISSISSIPPI SUITCASE

Lightnin’ Records

Reviewing Mississippi Suitcase by Peter Parcek was an absolute joy. The World is Upside Down grabs your attention from the off with its slightly distorted guitar. Not only does the powerful heavy sound have a great riff, but the lyrics make a lot of sense in these very strange political times. Peter’s vocals have a hint of the chilled sound of Peter Green in the late 70’s, which is even more apparent in his very fine version of Sleepy John’s Everybody Oughta Make A Change, which also has blues philosophy at its heart. Speaking of philosophy, the ancient Roman poet Ovid’s line Beyond Here Lies Nothin, which was used by Bob Dylan for the title of the next track also gets a great rendition with excellent guitarwork. In a brilliant tribute to Peter Green, the next track is The Supernatural, which first appeared in 1966 on The Bluesbreakers’ Hard Road album. Mr Parcek’s performance has perfectly captured its spirit; his guitar says what words just can’t. Life’s A One Way Ticket, by Cousin Joe, is another pearl of a blues track with some very sound life hints (i.e. live your life before it’s too late) I just love the

great effect. Whilst tracks such as Need A Man showcases Tate’s beautiful voice as well as the jazzier side of her repertoire. With ‘Live From El Paso’ Laura Tate proves that she can turn her hand to any genre and do it well.

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line “I ain’t seen an armoured car at a funeral yet”. Please don’t be confused into thinking that the album is all about the words, it really isn’t, but it’s just fantastic when the quality and wit of the lyrics and their delivery matches the extremely high quality of the instrumental accompaniment. The title track is one of Peter’s own and is another gem. Eleanor Rigby is a vehicle for the artist’s guitar virtuosity and brings freshness to this Beatles’ classic. Sonny Boy Williamson’s down ‘n dirty Until My Love Come Down is enhanced by the unashamed clarity of the vocals. She Likes to Boogie Real Low, covered so well by Johnny Winter, is another brilliant instrumental track. Lou Reed’s Waiting For The Man gets a bluesy workover and the final track A Head Full Of Ghosts could have been composed by Peter Green himself. Very highly recommended.

STEVE BANKS

ADAM KENNEDY

“crisp, clean guitar work and naturally authentic vocal style”

“Peter’s vocals have a hint of the chilled sound of Peter Green in the late 70’s”

LUCIUS PARR

BLUES AND ME Independent

Singer-songwriter and musician Lucius Parr was born in the small country town of Yoakum, Texas and went from playing trombone in fifth grade to majoring in music at college and then being deployed to the Vietnam War after being drafted into the United States Army. In 2020, Parr has released his new album Blues And Me. Opener Going To Texas is a punchy track with a real Blues Brothers film vibe as he sings “‘I’m going to Texas, sorry I can’t take you” and features a fluid keyboard courtesy of Miss Cubase (Teira Doom) making it the perfect introduction to Parr. The guitar on Hot Outside is technically well done but sticks with the tried and tested blues shuffle. Interestingly, Parr is the cousin of Albert Collins and you can hear that he has soaked up Collins’ knowledge and feel on Meet Me Halfway whilst the synth sounding It’s Friday Night seems to be more Cameo then Collins! Calling out a cheating woman on This I Know, I’m reminded of fellow bluesman Bobby Blackmon and his song I’m Callin’ 911 which is full of fiery lyrics and crisp electric guitar. The vocal on Play My Blues is smooth and heartfelt and Lock My Doors has a driving beat as Lucius Parr wants to keep a woman out of his house. You Were Drunk sounds very Eighties and puts a spring in your step. I am slightly confused as after locking the doors previously he proclaims Welcome Into My House and as the guitar purrs, I can only assume he was able to obtain the services of a locksmith during the pandemic! Closing track Play My Guitar is a song for 2020 as he admits “I wanna take my lady out, just to have some fun” and explains everything he would rather do than be locked down. Parr’s friend James Tobin provides a funky Bobby Keys-esque saxophone solo that just compliments Lucius’ voice. In conclusion, this self-produced album mixes blues with electronic pop as Lucius Parr uses relatable lyrics which deal with everything from relationships, travelling and Covid-19. Fans of Robert Cray’s guitar tone check this record out.

GLENN SARGEANT

SUGAR RAY & THE BLUETONES FEATURING LITTLE CHARLIE TOO FAR FROM THE BAR

Severn Records

This latest release from Sugar Ray & The Bluetones features the late Little Charlie and was produced by Duke Robillard, who also adds his “tasty guitar licks” to four tracks. Charlie Baty sadly died unexpectedly in March and this album is one of his last recordings. Sugar Ray Norcia says in tribute “Charlie and I seem to have been cut from the same cloth and musically we were like two peas in a pod. On this recording, we swing, we jump, and we get down low. Sadly, I’ll miss my brother in the blues, but his music will live forever”. Charlie writes in the liner notes how he and Sugar finally came to play and record together. It really is a fine collaboration of 15 tracks in a classic blues style, ranging from jump blues to ballad style. The title track, Too Far From The Bar is a bouncy 50’s style good time number and the sharp lyrics could have been written by Louis Jordan himself. Little Charlie’s stylish guitar work is outstanding and is matched by Anthony Geraci’s piano playing. Too Little Too Late sounds like a late-night rock ‘n roll lament. Reel Burner has the feel of a classic Little Walter tune, although is by Sugar Ray and zips along with great pace. Can’t Hold Out Much Longer was written by Little Walter and has the feel of the Harpmeister himself. Numb and Dumb is another great bouncy track with a real original bluesy sound. Jerry McCain’s My Next Door Neighbour showcases Sugar Ray’s vocal expertise and some fantastic rockabilly style guitar from Charlie. (I love the way the track fades off into the distance, as if they just played on and on!) The bass player Michael Mudcat Ward’s track What I

put You

Through features his steady hand on the upright bass, chilled guitaring from Duke along with clever lyrics. The album contains great tunes in a classic blues style, performed by artists who have remained true to their genre over the years. A fantastic tribute to Charlie Baty RIP.

STEVE BANKS

ALLMAN BETTS BAND

BLESS YOUR HEART BMG

The band’s second album is outstanding. The personnel remains unchanged from the debut release Down To The River, apart from John Ginty taking over keyboard duties. There are lots of big guitars and rousing choruses, touches of the frontmen’s family DNA with Allman Brothers flourishes, but also some tunes that demonstrate the flexibility of the band. Opener Pale Horse Rider has a Western movie feel and shifts from an acoustic opening to big chords and nice slide accents while Carolina Song brings to mind Tom Petty, Devon’s confessional vocal wonderfully supported by female harmonies on the chorus and more strong guitars. Duane sings the next two, Art Edmaiston’s sax bringing a real bar-room Stones feel to King Crawler while Jimmy Hall’s harp accentuates the feeling of yearning regret on the slower Ashes Of My Lovers.

SUNNYSIDERS THE BRIDGES

Dancing Bear

Duane’s lengthy instrumental Savannah’s Dream is the centrepiece of the album, inevitably recalling Dickey Betts classics like Elizabeth Reed and Jessica. There is plenty to enjoy, bubbling bass, percussion effects and swirling keys and, of course, LOTS of guitars which are an absolute pleasure to hear, making a memorable listen, especially for veteran ABB fans! The band rocks out on Airboats And Cocaine (sounds like a fatal combination!) before Devon’s Southern Rain, a deeply personal song that brings a tear to the eye as Gregg Allman’s spirit is definitely in the room. Duane’s acoustic Rivers Run evokes memories of an innocent childhood and Magnolia Road follows on with tales from both men’s upbringing, the tune having a bit of a Grateful Dead feel with the weeping guitars. The slide, twin guitars and jagged percussion on Should We Ever Part are classic ABB, complete with foreboding lyrics about being “buried in the ground”. The last three tracks show some different facets to the band with Spanish guitars and gentle piano giving way to a Pink Floyd coda, a country tune with Devon doing a passable imitation of Johnny Cash and an Americana tune about the guy who got away from the one-horse town. Impressive!

JOHN MITCHELL

Fancy some Croatian blues? Of course, you do. Turns out it’s the 10th anniversary of Sunnysiders so they decided to get some of their mates involved in a celebratory CD. And very good it is too. Seems that Antonija Vrgoc Rola on vocal and tambourine and Boris Hrepic Hrepa on vocal, acoustic guitar and harp (who are Sunnysiders) are well known in their part of the world as well as having twice got to the semi-finals of the International Blues Challenge. They were a band but are now, largely, the husband and wife duo mentioned in the last sentence. The self-penned material is largely acoustic based, but they can whip up some rockabilly and blues rock when they need to. It’s an enjoyable medley of acoustic and electric which also see them dipping their toes into jazzy waters as well as some classic rock. The guests, although largely Croatian, also include the Norman Beaker Trio

and the final mix was done in the legendary Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. I particularly enjoyed the Hammond enhanced Flogging A Dead Horse, the (literal) car crash that is Hood In The Face and the ballad You’re Not That Good To Me To Cry but there are no duffers here. It is a well-presented package with lyrics and background to each song and comes highly recommended. STUART A HAMILTON

“plenty to enjoy, bubbling bass, percussion effects and swirling keys and, of course, LOTS of guitars ”

“It is a well-presented package and comes highly recommended”

THE MYSTIX

CAN’T CHANGE IT Independent

The Mystix are a New England band that has been around since 2002 and have released several albums. Founders Jo Lily (vocals) and Bobby Keyes (guitar) have often called upon the cream of New England musicians and are joined here by Duke Levine (guitar), Tom West (keys), Marty Ballou (bass) and Marco Giovino (drums and producer), plus a few guests. The music ranges quite widely with several songs in laid=back Americana style featuring acoustic guitars, accordion, and pedal steel (including a cover of The Stones’ Backstreet Girl) but the band also dips its toes into blues, rock and gospel. RL Burnside’s Jumper On The Line has a swampy vibe from North Mississippi Allstars Cody and Luther Dickinson adding electric washboard and slide while Jimmy Reed’s Going To The River is given

ERIC JOHANSON

BELOW SEA LEVEL

Nola Blue Records

Singer songwriter and guitarist has got in tow with Luther and Cody Dickinson for this stunning release. Luther produced and Cody plays blistering drums. Keeping a bassline tone is Terrence Grayson, from Victor Wainwright’s band. Eric wrote twelve songs full of dark tones, which intertwines with bayou sounds, roots, traditional blues and lots of power.

Starter, Buried Above Ground, the bond between him and Cody on drums is mesmeric, it’s all about the groove and wonderful guitar riffs a brilliant song. Down to The Bottom, shows off Eric’s guitar style on this shuffle, his vocals clear and distinct, rocking stuff. Changes The Universe, has a slower tempo, a haunting laid back blues ballad. Never Tomorrow, is a highlight, full of catchy guitar hooks and rhythm, a real crowd pleaser.

an acoustic makeover with fiddle adding a country blues feel. The traditional Wouldn’t Mind Dyin’ very effectively combines blues and gospel with lots of slide work and Jo’s gruff vocals work well on two songs from the Frankie Miller catalogue: Bottle Of Whiskey is played as a country ballad with Charlie McCoy on harp; I Can’t Change It is a classic rock ballad with lovely guitar and a fetching vocal, arguably the standout track on the album. Another natural to cover for Jo’s voice is Dylan and Outlaw Blues (from Bringing It All Back Home) opens the album in jaunty acoustic mode. Jo contributes four originals, That’s All, That’s All having a gospel feel with moody slide and Brand New Love building into an acoustically based blues tune. His other two songs are more in the Americana style with accordion giving the gentle Carrie a folksy feel that is continued in Let’s Get Started which is apparently what the band members say to each other as they head on to stage; Britain’s BJ Cole supplies the pedal steel that gives the tune a wistful country feel. The Mystix offers us a pleasing mix of blues, country, and gospel influences.

JOHN MITCHELL

Hammer On The Stone is pure Mississippi blended blues, Hill Country style personified. Have Mercy, has a heavy rock gospel feel. River Of Oblivion, is very atmospheric, a dark cautionary tale of drug taking. Nowhere To Go, is an up-tempo tune about the present pandemic. Open Hearted Woman, has a fantastic guitar solo a real rocking tone, similar to next tune, Dose Of Forget. Love Is Rebellion has a haunting refrain that just sets the scene for the final and magnificent slide driven acoustic

number Riverbend Blues, an evocative plea for trouble to cease. Brilliant musicianship, contemporary, well-structured songs, this is a masterpiece from a blues musician who shows great artistry.

“The Mystix offers us a pleasing mix of blues, country, and gospel influences”

“Brilliant musicianship, contemporary, well-structured songs, this is a masterpiece from a blues musician who shows great artistry”

Roots Music Report’s Blues album chart

A BAND CALLED SAM

LEGACY

Highlander Records

A Band Called Sam are a USA based Blues band who are performing material written by Sam “Buzman” Taylor who sadly died in 2009. During his long career he wrote and played with numerous bands including BT Express, where he plied his swing and jump jive blues sound, interestingly after Otis Redding died Sam provided the ‘whistling’ on Sitting On The Dock of The Bay track. The current band members include both his daughter and grandson, who together play homage to Sam’s legacy, Sandra Taylor takes lead vocal responsibility throughout the majority of the album’s nine tracks and does a fine job with her father’s material. Giving it a more straight forward Blues sound

CHERRY LEE MEWIS

LATE NIGHT LOCKIN, LIVE Independent

although the band do include horn player Richie Cannata to give their sound more depth and creates some swing. This is particularly prevalent on the song Funny which topped the R&B charts in 1959. This is a slow blues that has a dual vocal from Maxine Brown. Grandson Lawrence *L*A*W Worrell gets in on the act on the final track Stinger where he takes on the lead vocal and lead guitar, performing a more modern sounding song that is edgy with some funk undertones. The remaining band members are Mario Staiano who had a stint as drum man with Savoy brown, Danny Kean a renowned blind musician who handles all keyboards, bassist Gary J Grob and lead guitarist Garry Sellers, together they have also produced and arranged this excellent album. The band have put new life into these Sam Taylor songs and can be justifiably proud that they are continuing his legacy. Plenty more to come though as I understand there are hundreds of un-released songs waiting to see the light.

ADRIAN BLACKLEE

Cherry’s long overdue live album (her words not mine) is finally done and dusted, and due to hit the streets very soon. Cherry has been on the blues scene for some time now, and is a seasoned performer, and she even enjoyed a trip to Nashville several years ago. So, what do you get for your money? An assortment of live tracks recorded over three performances in 2018 and 2019, and the atmosphere is more of a seedy underground club rather than a large venue. You can imagine the air filled with smoke and the smell of beer and whiskey (if you’re old enough to remember when we could smoke in the clubs and pubs), and that makes the whole album feel a lot more intimate than live albums recorded at arenas and larger venues, and Cherry’s husky voice just adds to that feeling. The production is minimal too, with just a few touches here and there to make the sound a little crisper, but the dirt is still there, although the crowd mics are a little quiet, and you really have to listen to hear them, unless of course you’re listening to it very loud, and why wouldn’t you? The album consists of thirteen hand-picked tracks from Cherry’s back catalogue, and is a good representation of her song writing, backed by band members Max Milligan, Robbie Stewart-Mathews, Nick Slater, Brian Greene and with special guest Lee Vernon from Pearl Handled Revolver on blues

harp, it puts you right there in the room. Overall, this is a cracking album, and simply one of those “must have” albums for any blues fan, young or old. The album is available to pre-order from Cherry’s website, which includes an advance track from the album via email.

“The band have put new life into these Sam Taylor songs”

“a cracking album, and simply one of those “must have” albums for any blues fan, young or old”

DEVIL’S JUKEBOX

LAUGHTER IN THE DARK

Jelly Roll Records 2020

This is a blues album, but not as we know it. There are no screaming guitar solos, rambunctious bass and drum, no singing that digs deep into the soul of the vocalist, but it is songs that tell a story, over minimal, slow backing. So we have no bass guitar, but banjo bass, no guitars but Ukulele and Banjos, the solos are provided by Clarinets and Saxophones, whilst the percussion is a suitcase, and the laid back singing style of Dr Ezekiel Bordello is one of the band’s charms. The songs are all slower, and stately, giving the spotlight to the louche vocals, and attractive woodwinds that dance around the vocals, and add their own jazz timbre to the solos. Although there is no drama, and very little in

LEO MORSHEAD

LOST & FOUND INDEPENDENT

We are all for championing the underdog here at BM Towers, we will always offer space to the new musician finding his or her way, and doing it with a minimum of financial support except that gained in the old-fashioned way, with endless touring. So, when Leo Morshead’s album arrived on the mat, it did so with a polite no-frills letter asking for our opinion of the equally frills-free album package enclosed. The

terms of dynamic developments, the songs are all spirited examples in joyful music making, from the banjo and ukulele strumming of The Uptown Player’s Ball, or the opener The Shanghai Mess Around. Blue Drag could have been a lost soul song, with its mournful opening and brass parts adding to the drama, and The Ballad of Calico Jones is a slow building narrative song. The bluesy Whisky and Women takes its inspiration from Robert Johnson, with bouncy resonator banjo and saxophone providing the musical ballast behind one of the more spirited vocals. This is a characterful recording, full of joy, and some musical flourishes, music to lift the spirits, and in times like these, sometimes that is all you need.

music therein proved to be equally unfettered by bombastic arrangements and full-out-of-the-gate attacks. In fact, it’s just Leo and his expertly played acoustic guitars, and really, that’s all that’s required. Although not strictly speaking a ‘blues’ album, there is a definite Americana feel to the collection of songs here, and we’re a broad church here. Bringing to mind the young voice of the late John Martyn, Leo Morshead has a breathy intimate vocal style that draws the listener in quickly to his heartfelt musical messages. The musical style is an intriguing mix of English folk music sprinkled with Appalachian atmospheres, and it’s the sheer musical expertise that appeals so much. Everything is played with an understated level of skill that allows it to be the bed of the songs, but still shine through on its own highly skilled presentation. The best example of that dual presentation is Drive Away My Blues with its beautiful short solo that reminds you that this clever picking and strumming is present throughout the album, and it’s worth listening out just for that on subsequent listens. Strange Romance has the utterly English atmosphere of the late great Jake Thackray, and Wooden Hill is a completely charming offering to a child at bedtime, although hidden in there is some seriously technical playing as well, Once travelling restrictions are lifted, there is surely a large American audience waiting for the quirky off-beat sounds of this album, and sight and sound of the musician who has created it.

ANDY HUGHES

BEN MACNAIR

“music to lift the spirits, and in times like these, sometimes that is all you need”

“an intriguing mix of English folk music sprinkled with Appalachian atmospheres”

LINSEY ALEXANDER

LIVE AT ROSA’S Delmark

Probably, like me, most blues fans dream of entering one of Chicago’s famous blues clubs downtown and catching a local legend on top form. Sadly, I have not managed that yet and in the current difficult times it may never be possible. The opening track is B B King’s Please Love Me and it hits the spot straight away with Alexander’s tough vocals and stinging single note guitar salvo’s plus killer organ from Roosevelt Purifoy. Phew! Next up is the jumping original My Days Are So Long which is then followed by an early highlight, the slow blues classic Have You Ever Loved A Woman which gets a magnificent lengthy workout. In contrast I Got A Woman has a cool funky groove and Going Out Walking is a Texas boogie dance floor filler. I am already halfway to Chicago! This is the real deal and the band excel throughout with Alexander’s great expressive vocals and fiery guitar salvos leading the way. Latimore’s blues ballad Somethin’ ‘Bout ‘Cha is another highlight featuring soul -drenched vocals, smouldering guitar, and a touch of reggae. The romping Snowing In Chicago features scorching guitar and organ interplay and then the pace drops for Junior

VARIOUS ARTISTS

FRIENDS & LEGENDS OF LOUISIANA

L&M Star Productions

Wells classic slow blues Ships On The Ocean which is a real tour-de-force. The crowd respond enthusiastically, and Alexander treats them with the appropriately titled Going Back

To My Old Time Used To Be a funky riffing number which closes the set. Settle back with your favourite tipple and drink in the atmosphere and great modern Chicago blues from a seasoned old-timer. Wish I had been there, but this album makes up for it.

DAVE DRURY

This album is the brainchild of keyboard player Lucas Spinosa and music promoter Mike David. Lucas had the songs, Mike had the contacts, and between them they recruited a host of local musicians to play on the album, a different vocalist featured on each song. The core band includes bassist David Hyde and drummer Brian Brignac (at whose studio the album was recorded), Lucas handles all keyboards and horns appear on several tracks, adding to the varied palette of the disc. Beale Street Blues may namecheck Memphis but the vibrant horn arrangement brings the song South as sax player Jason Parfait handles the vocals and plays the soaring solo. A different style of sax playing introduces the lush ballad While You’re Still Mine, well sung by Parker James, and a great horn arrangement lights up Want It To Be featuring Don Rich on vocals and keys. Guitarist Bob Henderson co-wrote three songs: the uptempo Belly Of The Beast with Wayne Toup’s hoarse vocal and Sonny Landreth’s distinctive slide guitar, Red Tail Lights On A Blues Highway, a catchy piece of Americana well sung by Chris LeBlanc, and Living In A Fantasy with Ryan Foret rocking out with lyrical references to great Louisiana musicians like Professor Longhair, as well as Jerry Lee Lewis who is the inspiration for Lucas’ rocking piano solo. Surprisingly Bob’s vocal turn is not on one of his co-writes but on I Believe, another ballad on which he plays sax as well as guitar (though presumably not at the same time). Among the more recognisable names is Kenny Neal whose harp and vocal bring a downhome feel to Southern Side Of Life with references to “moss hanging from the trees” and Gregg Martinez’s strong vocals are well suited to the heartfelt ballad The Two Of Us: Gregg’s MacDaddy Mojeaux album was recently reviewed in BM. The album closes with Memories, a rather maudlin ballad sung passionately by Bryan Romano. Plenty of variety and some fine performances make this one a decent listen.

JOHN MITCHELL

“This is the real deal and the band excel throughout ”

ANDRES ROOTS

TARTU LOCKDOWN: THE HOUSE ARREST EP’S Independent

Whilst life on the road appears to be a distant memory for most, the current pandemic has given musicians unplanned downtime to write and be creative. We are sure that these times will result in a bounty of albums and studio recordings as time progresses. One artist who is ahead of the game in that respect is Estonian bluesman Andres Roots. Between March and May, the isolated artist recorded and released three EP’s from his home to chronicle his time under ‘house arrest’ so to speak. This trio of musical chapters now form the basis of Roots’ new and somewhat historic thirteen track collection. The Tartu Lockdown features a smorgasbord of instrumental slide guitar playing. The first four tracks of the album, which were each lifted from the initial House Arrest EP, captures Roots’ scorching slide

OLE FRIMER BAND LIVE IN EPPINGEN

Katti Records

Ole Frimer hails from Denmark and has been a big name on the Scandinavian music scene for many years. This live recording was taken from his 2019 European tour at the Eppingen Jazz Festival. First track The Clearing starts with an eerie keys intro before the band settle into a dreamy rock sound. This instrumental only track plays out with interplay between guitar and keys. Sheltered Roads is next, another soft intro, we get to hear Oli on vocals for the first time. His semi spoken rock voice is decent enough and his guitar playing is sparse and emotive

licks, catalysed by his fiery cigar box guitar skills. The mid-section of the record, which was taken from Andres’ second EP features much more of a traditional, old school blues sound. Standout songs from the record include both Hello Neighbour #1 and Hello Neighbour #2. Whilst tracks such as “Springtime Blues” has a bit more of a jazzy undertone reminiscent of the late great Django Reinhardt. One String Racket, which was recorded on Andres’ one string diddley bow require no further explanation. Whilst Lockdown Special is full of emotive playing which sums up what this strange time is all about. If you are a fan of cigar box guitar, slide guitar or instrumental blues Tartu Lockdown. The House Arrest EPs’ will be right up your street.

nicely supported again by the keys and rhythm section. Surprisingly, next we get a cover of the Eddie Boyd number The Blues Is Here To Stay that stays true to the original, credit to Niels

Ole Thorning on keys. Why Are You Stayin’ is a Frimer original and shows more of his blues guitar chops. The very blues lyrics suit his vocals better too. Next is Single City which Ole sings in his native Danish for the most part except for the chorus. Luckily, the English lyrics are printed on the CD cover. The song appears to be about the loneliness you can feel in a big city where you can get latte and sushi, sushi, sushi. The final three tracks are all covers starting with a ten-and-ahalf-minute version of Old Love by Clapton & Cray. The keys playing of Thorning offers some light and shade on what might have been an over long cover and Frimer keeps his solos lean and restrained when he might easily have become overblown. Next is Got A Mind To Travel, an almost jazz club vibe going on here which was quite refreshing. Brush With The Blues by Jeff Beck and Tony Hymas closes the album. The instrumental staying close to the original.

ADAM KENNEDY

“features much more of a traditional, old school blues sound”

“his guitar playing is sparse and emotive”

MALIGNIS CAUPONIBUS

A-PATHOS Independent

“Scamming Bartenders” in Latin (as in watering down your drink), so the sleeve tells us about the band name, though Google Translate gave me “nasty shopkeepers” and the band’s Facebook page says “vicious publicans”, someone obviously has upset these guys! So no, they are not about to produce a straight-ahead version of Sweet Home Chicago or Got My Mojo Working. You might have guessed that though from the fact that the seven person line-up includes musicians on whistle, clarinet and accordion, and especially the sleeve notes which mention the band will “use any unconventional method they find on their way to create their performance”. Indeed, there is a sense of anarchy in places here, or maybe these guys from Cagliari on the Italian island of Sardinia are just experimenting. They do use the blues though, guitarist Luca Marcia certainly plays blues licks and his vocals have the tough brashness of people like Howling Wolf or John Lee Hooker (in Italian) on Sicore and the accordion approximates a zydeco sound - as it does too on the closing My Pride, whilst Perdas is perhaps best-described as ‘mutant blues and roots’. This description can also apply to several other numbers here. Cisto has blues harp by Massimo Loriga behind Luca Marcia’s acoustic

SHERI ROBERTS GREIMES BLEEDING HEART

Big Girl Productions

A multiple award-winning blues singer based in Washington State Sheri sings her original songs with honest, vulnerable lyrics of love, loss, and redemption with a voice so full of soul that every song is a standout song. All I could think whilst I was listening to every track was how I would love to be able to sing like this lady, soul soaked vocal chords, raw, rich, mature and strong Sheri takes her incredibly talented musicians to another level altogether. I found myself looking for Sheri online and trying to find out if she were ever coming to the UK, this is one concert I would not want to miss. Every track was proficient and incredible with raw emotion, charisma and always that incredibly powerful rich voice.

guitar and vocals in English and Italian (I think!), at least up until the electric piano joins in and Interlude (Confused) is Enrico Morricone meets The Memphis Jug Band. There seems to be a greater willingness to experiment with the blues form on this side of the Atlantic and that is certainly the case for this group. Having written that though, this is far more interesting and enjoyable than you might think - and one of the few of this kind you can play repeatedly.

Po Girl Blues, with the sax alongside her voice made me want to hear her sing acoustically, just Sheri and the sax man.Reminiscent of Better Midler with her story telling, charm and personality shining through, I smiled as I imagined this album accompanying just the sort of film I would love. Gonna Be Alright had a gospel feel to it that made me think how beautifully put together with a smooth and clear production, the whole album is brilliant and with just 5 tracks you want to replay and replay thinking all the time of the story she is telling with every track. Just amazing, just beautiful, just buy this album! Normally I make sure I share the CD’s I receive to review, especially the good ones, I have friends who I know will appreciate them. This one however is a keeper; this stays in my collection. Everyone must hear this album and I honestly do not think there is a single person, who loves any genre of music, that will not just love it. How I have I not heard of this lady before? If you have a friend who tells you, they do not get the ‘blues’ play them this album.

JEAN KNAPPITT

NORMAN DARWEN

“this is far more interesting and enjoyable than you might think”

DR. HELANDER AND THIRD WARD TRAFFIC JAM ON THE BACK STREET

Blue Light Records

All the classic blues troops are here. John Lee Hooker and Elmore James parts played through heavily distorted guitars, squealing harmonicas, rock steady bass and drums providing the musical backing. With the strong lead vocals, guitar and song writing of leader Illkka Helander providing the musical focus. The album kicks of in refined style, with the swinging Nasty Revelator, harmonica player Tomi Leino, at the front. (Gimme Some of that) Backbeat takes the main riff from Killing Floor. Add some telling saxophone from Panu Syrajanen and keyboard from Timo Pratskin, whilst the drumming of Levi Leppanen and the bass and slide guitar prowess of Esa Kuloniemi add strong support, technique and subtle musicianship. The slower songs such as Ask Me About The Blues have soulful guitar and vocals, while the John Lee Hooker bounce of Strike a Match, or the funk bounce of Blown off With The Wind would fill a dance floor with minimal effort. Black Hole adds a Led Zeppelin rock groove, and

WALTER TROUT ORDINARY MADNESS

Mascot Records

Ordinary Madness is effectively the sister release to Walter’s Survivor Blues, indeed there had been talk about recording and releasing them together. Long recognised as one of contemporary blues outstanding guitarists the emphasis this time is on song-writing and Walter delivers in spades. The title track starts proceedings with a dark foreboding intro that builds and opens into an amazing guitar solo, do not worry, there’s still plenty of outstanding guitar. Wanna Dance is upbeat and celebratory leading us into the introspective My Foolish Pride, a song about not always succeeding and feeling ashamed, as honest piece of writing as anything Walter has previously recorded. Heartland is about being at that crossroads in life where you follow a dream, excited about what might be ahead but sad about what you’re leaving behind. All Out Of Tears was inspired by a meeting with Teeny Tucker

the album’s closing track Prime Minister, seemingly written and recorded during Lockdown is asking politicians for a solution. This is an album that blends respect for the blues tradition with a forward-looking sonic aesthetic. If you like your blues played with verve, and some rock soundscape, Traffic Jam on the Back Street is worth a listen.

soon after she had lost her son, a six-minute opus allowing Walter to display some wonderful guitar passages. Final Curtain Call is almost Zeppelin in places with those Middle Eastern motifs. Heaven In Your Eyes is a beautiful song that leads us into The Sun Is Going Down. Walter really hits a groove on this, it’s soulfully delivered with a guitar driven outro. Make It Right could have been a lockdown song but was written much earlier, the relationship theme easily transferable to society at large. There’s a twist of psychedelia in Up Above My Sky, the track builds and builds and we see another facet of what makes Walter such an outstanding performer. OK Boomer is a fun, tongue in cheek swipe at the boomer generation that promises to become a live favourite with some amazing keys and bass guitar augmenting the fiery guitar tones. Twenty-nine albums in Walter just keeps getting better and better, this easily stands shoulder to shoulder with his very best work, it’s honest, heartfelt and as skilful as we have come to expect.

BEN MACNAIR

“This is an album that blends respect for the blues tradition ”

“

it’s honest, heartfelt and as skilful as we have come to expect”

JIMMIE VAUGHAN THE PLEASURE’S ALL MINE

The Last Music Company

This album is a celebration of Americana Roots music, incorporating blues, country, and rock’n’ roll. It’s a 2 CD set filled with amazing songs and amazing musical interludes. The Pleasure’s All Mine kicks off the album superbly. Jimmie’s distinctive voice shreds through this tune so well. Backed by an array of brilliant musicians With superb horns this is blues at it’s finest. This is a journey through decades of blues, country, and country blues with a few other pieces thrown in for good measure. I’m Leaving It All Up To You is a prime example of that. It encompasses every genre that I have mentioned almost. Lou Ann Barton takes the lead vocal on Wheel Of Fortune leaving Jimmie free to play guitar as only he can. She has such a bluesy voice and vocal range that it’s hard to think of anything that she couldn’t sing brilliantly.

There are a few cover tunes here and one that is done particularly well is Lonely Weekends, first recorded by Charlie Rich. Lou Ann and Jimmie combining vocally in perfect harmony, this is a stunning version. RM Blues has a mix of sax, trumpet, and keys that will leave you breathless. Add Jimmie’s wonderful guitar playing into the mix and what you are left with is a masterpiece. The blues has never sounded so good as it does here. I Ain’t Never kicks off CD 2 and continues with the blues in effortless form. A lean-to the 50s with sweet sax mixing with blues guitar is a joy to behold. The remarkable thing about this 2 CD set is the interaction and bringing together these fabulous musicians and treating every song with such reverence. I would be hard-pressed to pick a favourite but if I had too it would be What Makes You So Tough. Jimmie Vaughan is such a fine blues player and singer and it shows on this tune so well. This whole album is magnificent. Songs and musicians in perfect harmony.

STEPHEN HARRISON

DUSTIN ARBUCKLE AND THE DAMNATIONS

MY GETAWAY

Independent

Dustin Arbuckle, doubtless remembered by many readers as half of now-defunct Moreland and Arbuckle, is back with a new-ish band, and a first album that is being marketed as Americana. But fear not, its Americana in bluesy kinda way, and of course I’m saying that like it’s a good thing. Given the prominence of Arbuckle’s harmonica work and some deft bottleneck playing by guitarist Brandon Hudspeth, how not? Don’t get me wrong, there’s impressive versatility to spare, including jazz instrumental Swingling, the southern rock of Dealer’s Lament, and a foray into country with Darlin’ Dear, which if nothing else prove this outfit can do all that.

But it’s the title track that shows what happens when these guys start cooking on 12-bar. The riff is nicked, although you cannot quite remember where from, the words are about leaving a woman, and the harp and slide give the proceedings just the greasy groove the job requires. Friday Evenin’ is built to the same recipe, getting almost Zepp-ish in places. Across The Desert demon-

strates for the umpteenth time how much juice can still be extracted from one-chord songs in the style of that old workhorse Catfish Blues. Honourable mention also for You Got To Go, which brings on shades of early Buddy Guy quasi-funk stylings. In sum, great to see the return of Arbuckle, and there’s plenty of meat on this CD. But for me anyway, the non-blues content was skippable.

DAVID OSLER

“the harp and slide give the proceedings just the greasy”

SELWYN BIRCHWOOD LIVING IN A BURNING HOUSE

Alligator Records

Selwyn Birchwood is a young blues

Turk, a Floridian with a band that is clearly going places fast and deservedly. Since signing with leading US blues label, Alligator Records, about five years ago, the band has grown in stature, confidence and musical ability. Living In A burning House is the band’s third release on the label where they are clearly an established presence with a future. In recent years, Selwyn Birchwood band has turned out a few albums that garnered considerable international support and admiration, with both Don’t Call No Ambulance, 2014, and Pick Your Poison, 2017, this band created a sound of its own, always featuring self-written material at its heart and pushing the edges of modern blues with class, confidence and style. Birchwood himself is one very fine guitarist

JOHN NEMETH STRONGER THAN STRONG

Nola Blue records

John Nemeth is easily one of the finest harp players in the current US blues world, a musician with bags of talent and a fiery stage-presence that never fails to hit the mark. In recent years, Nemeth has played in Europe a fair few times and is particularly fond of Edinburgh where he loves playing to blues fans and friends whenever possible. Afterwards, he tells me, he generally enjoys either a good curry or a bit of haggis, two personal characteristics that surely alone make him exceptional and stronger than most. A few years ago, in 2017, his last release, Feelin’ Freaky, was a popular and widely admired offering that helped cement his support and image as a bluesman of note across the USA, UK and Europe.

with a strong preference for lightly-slick, at times under-stated licks, odd riffs and some truly delightful slide-work that always bubbles to the surface with each recording. Backed by a band of buddies, most of whom have been with him since the start, on Living In A Burning House, he is joined for the first time with a new drummer. Having been listening to this band since it first came to prominence with an IBC Award win Memphis in 2013, it seems to me the band simply grows in strength with each passing year and each successive offering. Birchwood writes all of the material here, as usual, and believes the only way for blues is to always blur the edges, looking ahead and ever-developing its sound, sensibility and significance. With Living In A Burning House, Birchwood and the band have delivered what appears to be their best ever recording to date. An outstanding release from a modern blues band with a purpose.

IAIN PATIENCE

Now, as a well-settled resident of Memphis, Tennessee, the Idaho-born, Nemeth has delivered another top-notch release with Stronger Than Strong, an album that holds plenty of pleasure and promise in pretty much equal measure. As might be expected, Nemeth’s harp-work plays an ever-important role in the mix, though for a change the guys voice is perhaps more prominent than ever, highlighting a true vocal talent that may have been missed to some extent in previous recordings. Backed by some absolutely top-dollar musicians, horns also feature as we’d expect with any Memphis recording, and the 12-track release also features Nemeth’s powerful and accomplished song-writing abilities to the fore. Stronger Than Strong is an album that really does hit the spot, with great songs, howling blues and fine musicianship shining throughout from start to finish.

An album well worthy of catching from a US bluesman who powers ahead year on year and grows in stature with every offering he delivers.

“An outstanding release from a modern blues band with a purpose”

ROBERT PLANT

DIGGING DEEP Es Paranza

Well, where do you start with such a musical giant as Robert Plant, a man who has been a huge, global figure for so many years now that he’s nothing short of being a true UK national treasure and a musician with a thirsting desire that never flags and seems always to push him in new musical directions on an almost annual basis. This huge, thirty-track, double disc offering features an amazing selection of his material spread across a rambling forty years or so and includes previously unreleased material and hints of yet more to follow. Joined by many of his old music buddies, Digging Deep includes support on this curated release, of tracks with old Led Zep buddy, Jimmy Page; Patty Griffin; Nashville great Buddy Miller; Richard Thomson; and Phil Collins.

SHEMEKIA COPELAND

UNCIVIL WAR

Alligator Records

Shemekia Copeland’s last album, America’s Child, unsurprisingly picked up a Grammy nomination with a surprising twist in the Americana category. Here, we have a truly excellent follow-up that must surely see her again playing a role in the US Awards circus. And, make no mistakes, this is forceful, full-on modern blues that comfortably crosses music genre divides so could readily slip into either blues or Americana Grammy sections with ease. Copeland’s vocal delivery is always centre, strongly engaging and commanding with cracking support from a great studio outfit of Nashville greats and her usual band who hail from all quarters of the American continent. With 12 tracks to play with, Copeland powers through with an opener that is pure blues, Clotilda’s on Fire, a song with a blistering storyline about a slave-ship ablaze off the Alabama coast and the significance of slavery in modern US history. From this punchy kick-off, Copeland moves through a range of passionate emotion and unflinching lyrics always delivered with a soaring, searing voice that

Mostly taken from Plant’s immensely popular and widely acclaimed Podcast, Digging Deep with Robert Plant, this offering has that instantly recognisable voice, the remarkably varied and innovative range of at times unexpected influences and cultural musical driftwood that maybe only Plant could really pull off with such a mark of great success. Plant seems to be constantly forging ahead with an ear cocked to the rhythm of the world and its musical strengths and curiosities. Never one to flinch from the edges, Plant pulls in so many different genres here that it’s hard not to just sit back in awe and enjoy the overall end-product. Produced on his own label, with eight Grammys already under his belt, Plant is clearly a man with a still-vibrant musical mission and no sign of slowing down anytime soon.

truly makes this one of the finest blues releases of the year. Shemekia is the daughter of legendary Texan acoustic bluesman, the late Johnny Copeland, so sure knows just how to make an impression as a live performer and in the studio. Having learnt much of her stage-craft alongside her late father as a youngster, she now pulls it all together with a marvellous assurance and self confidence that makes her one of the most important modern US blues singers out there. With a Presidential election on the immediate horizon and a divided nation like never before this is an album that covers the bases headon, fearlessly and strikingly explosive from start to finish. And Uncivil War certainly brings home just how important Shemekia Copeland now is and looks likely to remain for many years to come. An absolute gem, grab this album as soon as you can, you won’t be disappointed.

“An absolute gem, grab this album as soon as you can”

“Plant pulls in so many different genres here that it’s hard not to just sit back in awe ”

[BOOK] CLIMAX BLUES BAND

- AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY:

VOLUME ONE - USING THE POWER 1968-1977, LIMITED EDITION

52 yrs. gone and The Climax Blues Band are still playing superb music but if you are a fan there is no need to tell you that. What you need to know is that at long last a definitive history of the band’s early years is available in the form of an exhaustively researched, beautifully illustrated and affectionately written coffee table book. Comprehensive in its history of the band member’s early lives, musical roots, influences and development, the book is a vast repository of interesting and need to know information. The absorbing style of the writing by author Robert Forsyth is reinforced by 550 photographs of the band, some rare and previously unpublished, venues, promotional posters, concert tickets, programmes, and other memorabilia. Derek Holt, founder member of the band adds an interesting forward and his memoirs, a significant contribution. Anything you might want to know about the band is here. The triumphs, failures, the highs, and lows, it tells of the band’s resilience on a long journey through changing times and fashions, of line-up changes and subsequent realignments.

The prelude tells the poignant tale of a day trip to Nogales gone wrong, resulting in an overnight stay in a Mexican jail. A scary experience, one never forgotten; the full story to be found in chapter 12 - Revolution Day.

M is a din y e H d Ba d L e e- i B 2007 h re b he H n b s - yw n N Yo k n wa y R d N k 1 d h t P k e b 3 (Jo H yco n e v p ap he s o 4 b Bo k w mpa d h b nd h og

rom gh A bam d a t g he dg be h v b be p g di c A U ve y h r t de d m h t s n e et p y h ab k ad dbeo the M e h a h y r J p es k nP H bo be 941 Cop d on h edg g O e f S gc e OSS a A ca ig s h h d n yb m CIA He p d L don 1944 w h m L n h d h doct Edi gh wh tac B t n p Op Ex ( OE) h h en d t emy ied A d h Mles born he d ng tpo g der shp Km h b w h hew dd eop r d h A h a m k d n t Cop d o CA an h b ost b s s h h a d ba M6in g d M g up L do d as l m G V-1fy gb mb dV-2ro her f he dthed k fc - p g an h n s d hetu Ph yAt r 19 C lan s D m he C u hé d e ty d h r h ow h Sy g me S hwo b e h o p y p nd d 1953 h d o g ac p ns 29

And so the story unfolds, 19 absorbing chapters take you on the Climax Blues Band’s journey through childhood, teenage and college years to four Stafford boys hitting the road and embarking on their musical career, interwoven with social commentary and emphasising the influences of Stafford’s vibrant music scene, routed in ‘trad’ jazz and an important part of the British Blues Boom.

The book is littered with references to rock and blues icons of the time that the band knew through gigging, touring, recording and other affiliations, too numerous to mention. Details of no less than six of twelve USA tours are recounted by the band, management, road crew, fans, too many contributors to list. You will enjoy stories of dressing room banter and the curiosities and quirkeries of Climax Blues Band life on the road. The authors candid and sensitive portrayal of the bands early history make it a must read. Regardless of the content of the book, when you see it, it’s very appearance, it’s hefty and immaculate binding will shout out to you don’t pass me by. So, there you have it, the band close up and personal, buy the book, it’s a fascinating read and the ultimate collectible.

GOIN’ TO NEW YORK

[BOOK] 44 DAYS ON THE BLUES HIGHWAYS

Photographs by Erik Lindahl.

Text by Tommy Lofgren

Tid & Rum Press

This is a truly delightful book, a near-must for blues-lovers of every stripe. Based on a journey of blues discovery in 1980, it features some wonderful photos from one of Europe’s finest blues snappers, Erik Lindahl, and his old buddy, Tommy Lofgren, who also provides the colourful text. With over 100 great black&white photos of bluesmen, fans and venues across the USA, there are some passionate live sets caught in the act by many largely unknown blues players alongside many better known and familiar faces. Lofgren is a former editor of the world’s oldest blues magazine, Jefferson Blues Magazine, in Sweden and has a deep history and knowledge of the music

matched by few. Together with Lindahl, he brings his curious view to the project and chronicles the trip the pair made visiting many old blues musicians, many now gone, and venues, also gone, but thanks to this book, clearly not forgotten. In many ways, this book highlights a history and a time when blues was still played in out-ofthe-way bars, clubs and juke-joints across much of the USA. The sheer joy of all participants here is evident in the smiling faces captured in often sweaty blues gaffs where the music was born, loved and lived. From San Francisco, through New Orleans, Texas, Memphis and Chicago, this book covers the bases in a genuinely delightful way making it an essential, must-have volume for blues-lovers everywhere IAIN

THE BLUES QUEEN TEA

SMOKY BLACK TEA BLEND WITH FINNISH CALLUNA

This unique blend consists of a smoky lapsang paired with aromatic Earl Grey and a hint of Finnish calluna. This tea can be consumed whilst listening to your favourite blues artist, creating a space where the classics meet.

AVAILABLE ON WWW.ERJALYYTINEN.COM/STORE

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