New Englander Ryan Lee Crosby teams with Bentonia blues master Jimmy “Duck” Holmes for Delta blues classic “Catfish”

Ryan Lee Crosby may not be from Mississippi, or anywhere near it, but that didn’t stop the under-45-year-old Rhode Islander from packing up his bags and equipment and heading there to record his latest album At the Blue Front, due out in August. Here’s the first single from that album, a haunting take on the popular blues classic “Catfish” that, like the rest of the album, was recorded at Bentonia’s Blue Front Cafe, a juke joint dating back to 1948 and owned and operated by Jimmy “Duck” Holmes, one of the last living links to the Bentonia-style of blues made famous by Skip James (who performed often at the Blue Front). 

You can watch and hear the Lou Reed-sounding Crosby trading verses and licks with the 77-year-old Holmes (as they pass the microphone back and forth for their respective vocal parts) in this video, on which they’re also joined by Jay Scheffler on harmonica and Grant Smith on calabash, a West African drum fashioned from a gourd that adds some neat texture, but it’s hard not to love the entrancing sound of that 12-string guitar from Crosby in combination with Holmes’ 6-string!

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Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’ make Room on the Porch for everyone with sophomore album

There’s simply no better pairing in the blues today than when Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’ get together, as we heard and saw back in 2017 with their Grammy Award-winning debut collaboration TajMo, which also captured both the Album of the Year and Contemporary Blues Album honors at the annual Blues Music Awards (where Mahal additionally was named B.B. King Entertainer of the Year and best Acoustic Artist, while Mo’ was crowned best Contemporary Blues Male Artist). With their second album Room on the Porch (Concord Records), Taj and Keb’ invite everyone to continue to celebrate the music with them, with another delightful collection of tracks and a chemistry unlike any other artists can offer.

Although this TajMo album might be slightly mellower overall than their debut, it certainly isn’t any less captivating, inviting you in with the swaying Americana title track that opens the album with guest vocals from Ruby Amanfu, violin, and welcoming lyrics such as “all of our friends are now your friends, that’s how we do it here/ stay as long as you like, that’s alright, we got plenty of beer” and chorus of “come on up, there’s room on the porch for everyone”, and never letting you go, from such other swaying numbers as the “My Darling, My Dear” (with Keb’ on primary vocals as well as acoustic and slide guitar, banjo, octave mandolin, and percussion) that immediately follows; smooth, jazzy tracks such as the blues classic “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out” with its soulful, gospelish backing vocals, and the sax-laced “Blues’ll Give You Back Your Soul” (“they say jazz’ll give you back your mind/ reggae, give you back your body/ I know you like rock/ and I know you like to roll/ but, the blues, these blues will give you back your soul”) that features Taj on ukulele as well as most of the vocals; and all the way through to a breezy “Better Than Ever” that finds Billy Branch on harmonica and Wendy Moten on backing vocals (and Taj even busting out some French!), and the Jontavious Willis-penned straightahead acoustic duet “Rough Time Blues” (our favorite track) that close the album, the latter with such lyrics from Taj as “at one time, you could take a hundred dollars, and you’d need help takin’ your groceries back/ you could take one C-note and you would need help takin’ your groceries back (Keb’: I remember, I remember) /you know, with that same old Franklin now, you could put everything you bought in one sack”. That’s the blues, baby, and, as advertised, these blues will indeed give you back your soul.

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Blues guitarist and singer Larry McCray looks on the “Bright Side” with track originally written for Bobby “Blue” Bland

We’ve been a big fan of Michigan-raised blues guitarist Larry McCray ever since we first heard him play the Pittsburgh Blues Festival a decade and a half back — and then discovered that McCray was the first artist to record the Warren Haynes-penned anthem “Soulshine” that, a year following McCray’s version, would also show up on the Allman Brothers Band’s Where It All Begins album.

McCray has a new album coming out in mid-June, and recently released the second single from the project, a grooving, soulful track called “Bright Side” with an interesting history to go along with its smoking guitar, terrific backing vocals, and rich horns.  The song was originally written by the album’s co-producer (alongside Joe Bonamassa) and fellow guitarist Josh Smith and two others for Bobby “Blue” Bland (one of those two others was Michael Price, who also co-wrote such gems for Bland as “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City” and “I Wouldn’t Treat a Dog (The Way You Treated Me)”).

Chances are that Bland never had the opportunity to put the song to tape (as, listening to it, you can certainly envision Bland singing it), and so it was never released, at least until now, when Smith brought it to McCray knowing that McCray was the one who could do the track justice, with McCray’s husky, sometimes growling vocals even occasionally resembling those of Bland’s as McCray delivers such lyrics as “…cleaned out my strongbox, but I still got some ones/ took all the sweet rolls, and left me the crumbs/ well, that woman, she dragged me deep underground/ but the world is still turning and the sun’s beating down/ I’m just doing the best that I can (sometimes the world just don’t understand)/ I’m just doing the best that I can/ oh Lord, out here on the bright side”.

Give it a listen and you’ll understand why Smith says on social media that “It might be my favorite song I’ve ever written and my favorite song my brother @joebonamassa and I have produced”!

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Tune into the Weekend: Blind Boys of Alabama’s Joey Williams joins North Mississippi Allstars on soul-stirring single “Don’t Let the Devil Ride”

The North Mississippi Allstars have a new album coming in early June, but you don’t have–or want–to wait until then to take this one in: a simmering, soulful take on the oft-covered gospel blues classic “Don’t Let the Devil Ride” on which the band is joined by longtime Blind Boys of Alabama guitarist Joey Williams on guitar and vocals for an even more captivating experience, with Kashiah Hunter also guesting on steel guitar.

Here’s the official lyric video so you can sing along. You’re going to want to take a ride with the Allstars and their guests on this one (just make sure not to pick up any other passengers)!

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Jus’ Blues Music Foundation celebrates 25 years with essential anniversary album

We haven’t talked about the Jus’ Blues Music Foundation much here over the years, but their 25th anniversary seems as good a time as any to tell you about the organization’s good works, especially when that anniversary is accompanied by a compilation of some of the music the foundation is helping to preserve.

Jus` Blues describes themselves as “a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to preserve Blues heritage through cultural arts by nurturing the soul of the Blues with historical Blues education programming. We honor them by giving recognition to some of America’s finest African-American Blues & Soul music talents who are often left out of the more popular mainstream media and awards shows.”

Indeed, Jus’ Blues first caught our eye and ear a decade or two back through their annual music awards and conference honoring legendary Black blues artists and industry professionals for their outstanding accomplishments in the genre of blues and soul music. Even if you haven’t seen the organization’s name frequently here on these pages, you’ll likely recognize the names of many of the foundation’s past honorees from our musings, including Bobby “Blue” Bland, John Primer, Bob Stroger, Diunna Greenleaf, Jimmy Burns, John Lee Hooker Jr., Eric Gales, Grady Champion, Arthur Adams, and Anthony “Big A” Sherrod, along with such rising stars as D.K. Harrell, Stephen Hull, and Marquise Knox, just to name a few.

2025 Jus’ Blues award honorees to be recognized during a July 31st ceremony include, among others, Jimmy “Duck” Holmes, Gerald McClendon, Willie Buck, Johnny Rawls, Keith Johnson, and Sean “Mack” McDonald.

With 2025 marking the 25th anniversary of the awards, the organization has released a compilation album showcasing some of the artists Jus’ Blues has recognized over the past decades, with past honorees such as Bobby Rush, Lucky Peterson, Diunna Greenleaf, Jimmy Burns, and Trudy Lynn all generously donating music for the album. Four of the tracks here are previously unreleased, including a catchy, Mavis Staples-like “Turning the Same Ole Corners” from Trudy Lynn (backed, among others, by Lucky Peterson on guitar and B-3 organ) and the funky, closing “See My Way God” from Peterson himself, with Bobby Rush and Latimore each turning in new versions of classic songs recorded just for this project in the solo acoustic “Garbage Man” and swaying, scratchy-voiced “Let’s Straighten It Out”, respectively.

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Charlie Musselwhite blows up a Storm (Warning) on this single from upcoming album

Here’s one from veteran bluesman Charlie Musselwhite‘s soon-to-be-released (as in, this Friday) album Look Out Highway (Forty Below Records) that we like for several reasons: in addition to having a bit more fire vocally than many Musselwhite tracks, this number features a couple of great harmonica solos from Musselwhite and some ripping guitar from Matt Stubbs, all coming together to create a perfect storm of gritty blues!

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Catfish blues: final act from UK blues-rock band concludes masterful run

Recently, we spotlighted the video for the title track from the final album from UK blues-rockers Catfish, Time to Fly. Today, we’re here to tell you about the rest of that album, a bittersweet project that stands as another terrific recording for the band to be remembered after the tragic passing of its frontman Matt Long from cancer, as well as a majestic tribute to Matt.

Compiled by Catfish keyboardist/singer and Matt’s father Paul Long from a variety of sources, including a few tracks the band recorded before Matt was no longer able to play, demos from Matt’s computer with his guitar and vocals–to which the band then added bass, drums and keyboards–and a half-written song in a voice note on Matt’s phone, the album again captures the full range of the band’s capabilities, from the all-out rocking of the opening title track and other tunes such as the grunge-guitar soaked “Sick of It All” (one of two demos found on Matt’s computer) and a “Broken Halo” sung by Paul to such at least partly quiet, serene numbers as “Don’t Turn Around”, “Forevermore and Again” (both with Paul on lead vocals) and the closing “Say the Word” sung by Matt. While often poignant–particularly, for example, when hearing Paul sing lyrics such as “I know the times are getting harder, I know you should be moving on/ don’t turn around, I could never bear to see you cry”, hearing Matt and Paul sing together on the father/son duet of “Forevermore and Again”, and just generally listening to Matt’s vocals and playing throughout the album, knowing that we no longer will be able to hear his immense talents–much of the album is also triumphant, including, for example, Paul rocking out on both vocals and keys on “Broken Halo”, soaring backing vocals from Chloe Josephine, and Matt’s contributions on the title track and so many other places across the album.

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Check out this “Bad Boy” of a single from Doyle Bramhall II off upcoming Antone’s 50th anniversary box set

Late in April, New West Records announced the August release of a four LP, 41-track box set celebrating the 50th anniversary of Austin, Texas, blues music club Antone’s, a place that has helped launch or bolster the careers of many during the past decades, including the likes of Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Doyle Bramhall and Doyle Bramhall II, and Gary Clark Jr., in addition to serving as an important stop for such established bluesmen as Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Otis Rush, Albert King, and numerous others. Due out August 22, Antone’s: 50 Years of the Blues features rare, out-of-print, and newly unearthed live and studio recordings from the Antone’s archives.

Here’s one of two advance tracks the label released from the set’s opening double LP The Last Real Texas Blues Album, which, according to the press announcement for the set, “includes 18 songs of new material from artists integral to the history of Antone’s — Jimmie Vaughan, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Charlie Sexton, Ruthie Foster, Doyle Bramhall II, Bobby Rush, Derek O’Brien, C.J. Chenier + Muddy Waters’ guitarist John Primer and son Big Bill Morganfield — as well as its next generation leaders, Kam Franklin, Eve Monsees, McKinley James and more.”

We’ll tell you more about the rest of that opening LP and box set further on up the road but, in the meantime, enjoy this track from second generation bluesman Doyle Bramhall II, a gritty take on Eddie Taylor’s “Bad Boy” that’s vintage Bramhall, perhaps from a set with his band Smokestack, judging from Bramhall’s vocals and backing by J.J. Johnson on drums.

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“Grown Now”, D.K. Harrell is back with first single off Alligator Records debut

Here’s a real groover from rising star D.K. Harrell, the first single from Harrell’s debut album on Alligator Records coming this summer, Talkin’ Heavy. Accented by horns, with Harrell’s vocals and guitar-playing both in full force, “Grown Now” is one that’s only going to grow on you with each listen!

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Blues trio GA-20 is no stranger to our playlist with latest single “Stranger Blues” (and rest of their new EP!)

Anyone who may have thought that the departure of two-thirds of the original lineup of Boston blues trio GA-20 would set the Matt Stubbs-led band back would have been greatly mistaken, judging by the band’s new four-track EP (EP Volume 2), out this coming week.

With guitarist and vocalist Pat Faherty and drummer Tim Carman having moved on to form a new band, Canyon Lights, with a bit more of a rock flavor in 2023, guitarist Stubbs–who has spent the past decade and a half as a member of Charlie Musselwhite’s touring band in addition to founding GA-20 with Faherty in 2018–quickly found some more than suitable replacements in guitarist and vocalist Cody Nilsen and drummer Josh Kiggans, with the group sounding every bit as good as they did before, and Nilsen at times bringing a rawer, more soulful vocal a la more of a Sean Costello or Eddie 9V.

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