Charlie Bedford

The thing I love most about the Blues is the way the music evolves over time and how the next generation takes it to different places blending it with other genres and creating their own styles. I love old school blues as much as anyone, but the music must evolve and reach out to new listeners to keep it fresh and relevant. In Memphis, each year around January and February the Blues Foundation put on the International Blues Challenge where some of the best blues musicians from around the globe descend on Beale St for a weeklong Blues party. I have had the privilege to be a judge and witness first-hand the next generation coming through at this event. Our Blues society here in Melbourne also each year run a Youth in Blues programme that uses mentors in all forms of blues song writing, stage presence and of course, musicianship. It was around six years ago at this programme I met a 13-year-old who I could tell had something special. His name is Charlie Bedford and recently I had a chat with him to talk about the past, present and the future.

The Past I asked Charlie how music came into his life and he said “My Dad, used to play in bands when he was younger and as I was growing up, he had a guitar around the house and every now and then he’d play it and sing songs. When I was about 5 I got my first guitar. Dad taught me to begin with and then I took lessons. After a while I started going to the jam sessions at The Mount Dandenong Hotel, I played my first gig there when I was about 12. After that I became obsessed and went to every Sunday and Thursday night jam session for the next 3 or 4 years. That’s where I met the blues man Billy Kavanagh. He just blew my mind with all these classic licks from Elmore James to Steve Ray Vaughan, I just fell in love with this music”. “It was Billy who pointed me in the direction of the Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society (MBAS) and their Youth in Blues program when I was 13 years old. I’ve been involved with that program ever since, in fact, I formed my first band through Youth in Blues”. Youth in Blues is a free initiative of the MBAS, it’s been held annually since2005. Youth in Blues offers young

Photo by Gary Bedford Charlie Bedford in Sun Studios

Charlie Bedford

Youth In Blues

people a place to develop their musical did a session that went for half the night. talent and build their performance It was awesome experience, that studio confidence in a supportive learning has such an important place in the environment with musician mentors. history of music”. Charlie remembers that “one day my Dad received a phone call from John The Present Jerman, who was the MBAS President at I asked Charlie about his new the time and he said – we want Charlie album “Good to Go” which was released and the band to represent MBAS in worldwide in May 2020. Charlie said Memphis at the International Blues “It’s my first album with a band. It’s 11 Challenge (IBC) Youth Showcase”. originals and one cover, which is an old Charlie journeyed to the USA as a Mink De Ville song. I’m on guitar and 16 year old in 2017 and twice more in vocals, Tim Anderson is on the drums. 2018 and 2019. On all three occasions he David Carr played bass, some additional represented the MBAS and performed at guitar and backing vocals along with the IBC -Youth Showcase. Tim Wild. David also produced it”. Charlie has an interesting anecdote “It’s mainly a trio, but we did have about one of his many visits to the some guests. We had Chris ‘Stibbo’ legendary Sun Studio in Memphis. “It Hanger on the harmonica, for two tracks was the year when Bill Barber and the and Daryl Roberts from Hey Gringo Kelly Auty Band represented MBAS. We playing keys. We recorded it at all went over to Sun Studios in Union Rangemaster in the Dandenong Ranges. Avenue. We recorded there…we re- It was my first full studio experience corded in the actual studio, where so many legends had been before us. We continued on next page December 2020 • Rock and Blues International 7

Photo by Jeff Fasano

Charlie Bedford continued from previous page

where I spent months in the studio the blues. It’s the core of everything I do. working on the album and making sure It’s the soul. It’s the heart and it’s where we got everything right”. it started. It’s the most honest form of “Good to Go” has a fresh contem- music you can find and it’s just so damn porary feel about it, with echoes of John good. So, I wanted to keep the blues at Mayer and Gary Clark Jr, so I asked the heart of this album, which I think Charlie about the modern blues vibe that Photo by Jeff Fasano I’ve done, but I also wanted to blend in a he has gone for. Charlie laughed. “Yes, it modern feel. My guitar playing is bluesy, was quite hard to do that because I love but with the arrangements, the melodies, 8 Rock and Blues International • December 2020 the lyrics and chords, I’m trying to push my music in a new direction. My first album; “Nine and a Half Thousand Miles to Memphis” was old school blues, so with “Good to Go” I think it’s a natural progression. Charlie returned to Memphis in 2020 for the IBC and while there he met with Betsie Brown of Blind Raccoon, which led to a global distribution deal for “Good to Go”. Charlie explains how the deal came about. “Well, I was in Memphis for the IBC and my new album was almost complete. I think I had to do a couple more guitar parts and fix up some vocals, but it was pretty much done, I had demo versions ready to play to people. My idea was to go to the IBC, where I knew many of the industry people would be and see how I’d go about getting a distribution deal to promote my music in the USA and around the world”. “The IBC showcases record labels, so musicians like me can meet industry people and do the networking stuff. Betsie agreed to meet me. She had recently launched a new joint venture with Sallie Bengtson of Nola Blue Records, where Blind Raccoon and Nola Blue came together to form “Blue Heart Records”. So I went to their showcase, met with Betsie and she said she was interested in what I was doing. She told me Blue Heart Records were giving a global distribution deal as a prize during IBC week and I should put my name in for consideration, so, I did, and I was the lucky recipient of the deal”. “It was an awesome opportunity”, said Charlie. “Blue Hear Records have done the global promotion and distribution of “Good to Go”. They’ve done amazing things with the album during these COVID times. The international reviews have been fantastic and it’s done really well on the charts, hitting #1 in Australia and #2 in the USA on the RMR Blues/Rock Charts. In the UK it hit #14 on the IBBA charts”. Due to COVID, it has not been possible for Charlie to tour his album, so I asked him what he’d been doing during this difficult year. “I’ve been writing for my next album. I’m writing all the time really, but you know, it’s a bit different when you’re writing specifically, with a deadline, for an album. With all the COVID restrictions here in Melbourne, it’s been a bit tricky, because I haven’t been able to catch up with my band mates. But before the lockdown, I’d been playing with the New Savages and we got the chance to play with Kent Burnside at the Queenscliff Music

Festival. Kent was amazing and he got me hooked on Mississippi hill country blues. I really enjoy the riffs and the repetitive grooves”. Charlie explains how he thinks younger people connect to the hill country sound. “I’m finding a lot of young people really get into it. Old school blues is always going to be there and people will discover it, but I feel like people my age, they hear some of the old stuff, and they may get turned off it for some reason. It’s old music, you know. So, if we can lead them to the blues with something that’s got a cool edge to it, but still has the blues at its heart, then, in time they will discover the old stuff and I’m sure, that will help keep the blues alive”.

The Future I asked Charlie about his plans for the next 12 months. “Well, I’ve got a rough plan” he said “but it’s a bit unpredictable, with everything that’s going on with COVID. I know I want to keep doing my music, so I’ll keep working on my next album”. “Hopefully, I may be able to tour to promote “Good to Go”, said Charlie. “The album has the full band sound, so it’s a bit hard to recreate that live as a solo act. It’s possible, but it’s not going to be the same as what we did in the studio. So, I’m talking to Tim, my drummer, about doing the duo thing again”. “You remember Tim and I performed at your club; the Hume Blues Club in the Shake Shack as a duo and that was really cool. So, if I do the songs from “Good to Go” with Tim on drums, then it starts to sound a lot fuller, more like a band”. “Even when I do my older material, with Tim, it gives a different flavour to the songs. They become quite edgy, which I like. We can really lock into each other and go wherever we want to go with it. So yes, as live music starts to reopen after COVID then I want to do lots of electric solo/ duo gigs and hopefully, plenty of gigs with the other two bands I play in; The Great Unknown and The New Savages”. “All being well, I’ll release the album I’m currently writing, in 2021. I’m aiming to release something each year, you know, even if it’s something smaller, such as an EP. I want to keep releasing music regularly because I guess it’s what I do”. The future of blues music is in the hands of young people like Charlie Bedford. He has played alongside and

Photo by Jeff Fasano

been mentored by some of the best playing with him, well, for me there was musicians in the Melbourne music scene, some serious Mojo up on the stage that artists such as Geoff Achison, Jimi night. It’s an awesome memory”. Hocking, Russell Morris and Lloyd Spiegel. Now Charlie is a fresh act on References the scene, representing the next genera- https:// tion of blues musicians. In life, some- www.charliebedfordmusic.com/ times things come full circle in a short https://blues.org/space of time. Charlie started his blues journey with the MBAS Youth in Blues program and now the MBAS has paid him the ultimate compliment by asking https://www.mbas.org.au/ https://www.facebook.com/ BillBarberMusic him back to be one of the musician https://kellyauty.com.au mentors for young blues players in the https://www.sunstudio.com Youth in Blues program. https://www.heygringo.net/ Most memorable moment https://www.facebook.com/ My time with Charlie was almost rangemasterrecordingstudio at an end, so I asked him, what so far has https://blindraccoon.com/ been his most memorable moment. https://www.nola-blue.com/ Charlie replied in his modest manner; https://burnsidekent.com/“I’ve been lucky and I feel very humbled to have experienced the things I’ve experienced so far. One highlight that I’ll always remember is meeting B.B. King’s https://qmf.net.au https://thenewsavages.com https://www.facebook.com/ bass player, Mr Russell Jackson. It was TheGreatUnknownBand/ 2017, the first year I was in Memphis. I http://www.russellbjackson.com/ was 16 and went to a jam at the legendary Blues City Cafe. Russell was doing About Barry (Baz) Maxwell this awesome version of Stormy Monday I live in Melbourne, Australia and I was on guitar in the band backing where I’m –him. I hadn’t actually met Russell at that Presenter of Blues on the Hill radio time, but after I got off stage someone show (https://www.facebook.com/ came up to me and said you know that was Russell Jackson! He was B.B. King’s bass player and I freaked out because B.B. is one of my biggest blues bluesonthehill and http:// www.sunburyradio.com.au) President of Hume Blues Club influences. So I went over to Russell and (http://www.humebluesclub.com) we got talking. He’s such a proper President Blues Music Victoria gentleman and so humble. Since then (http://www.bluesmusicvictoria.com.au) we’ve kept in touch. We message each Acknowledgement other every now and then. Every time I would like to acknowledge the I’ve been in Memphis, I’ve caught up contribution made by Glenn Owens to with Russell and sat in on a few songs this article. with him. But, you know, the first time December 2020 • Rock and Blues International 9