Between a pretty nasty cold, the first Pirates playoff run in more than two decades (way to go, Bucs!), and the addition of a new puppy to the BluesPowR household (who we personally wanted to name Mojo but somehow got out-voted on by others), the past few weeks have been hectic ones outside of the blog. Which of course means that we’ve again assembled another nice stack of new releases to tell you about, including a number that happen to be quite soulful.
Heritage Music Blues Fest 2012
To help get you in the mood for some of these soul-filled selections about which we’ll soon be telling you, we encourage you to check out this terrific single from Chicago bluesman Nick Moss‘ upcoming album Time Ain’t Free, a little something called “I Want the World to Know” that recently premiered on Billboard.com and features Michael Ledbetter, a direct descendant of blues great Huddie Ledbetter (who most will know by his nickname of Leadbelly), on vocals and second guitar.
Moss’ Time Ain’t Free, by the way, is currently in the midst of a $20,000 Kickstarter campaign, which will help allow the band to manufacture, promote, and release the CD in time for the 2014 tour season. You can learn more about the campaign, as well as hear a few more songs off the album in the again-soulful “Fare Thee Well” and the gritty shuffler “Was I Ever Heard”, on the project’s Kickstarter page, where you can also view a video of Moss and Ledbetter talking about the album, Ledbetter’s addition to the band, and Moss’ modern approach to the blues.
It may not exactly be free, but having caught Moss and Ledbetter at 2012’s Heritage Music Blues Fest and now heard several tracks off the upcoming album, we can assure you that whatever support you’re able to offer this Kickstarter campaign will be both time and money quite well spent.