Author Archives: Mike

Gary Clark Jr. and first-time GRAMMY winner William Bell deliver soulful primetime performance of “Born Under a Bad Sign”

Okay, we’ll be honest: we spent a lot more time watching Sunday’s GRAMMY Awards pre-telecast ceremony online (waiting for the blues categories to be announced) than we did the network televised portion of the awards. Which means we missed this … Continue reading

Posted in Awards, Shows | Tagged , | Comments Off on Gary Clark Jr. and first-time GRAMMY winner William Bell deliver soulful primetime performance of “Born Under a Bad Sign”

Bobby Rush, Fantastic Negrito each land first Grammy award

In case you missed it, the annual Grammy Awards took place last night, with the blues awards again among the 75 or so doled out during a live-streamed ceremony before the bright lights of the network TV cameras came on. … Continue reading

Posted in Awards | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Bobby Rush, Fantastic Negrito each land first Grammy award

The King Brothers get on up with Get Up and Shake It

You can almost tell by listening to them that brothers Sam and Lee King have blues royalty in their blood. While Lee’s guitar licks might at times sound like those from Albert King – coming, as some of them do, … Continue reading

Posted in Albums | Tagged | Comments Off on The King Brothers get on up with Get Up and Shake It

Ain’t Gonna Be Easy

With all the political and social divisions we’ve seen lately, who’s ready to escape through another talk-free edition of our BluesPowR Radio Hour? Go ahead and inaugurate yourself to the blues with new music from the likes of Omar Coleman, … Continue reading

Posted in BluesPowR Radio Hour | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Ain’t Gonna Be Easy

Blues-rocker Devon Allman rides on with Ride or Die

Rock legend Gregg Allman had some good things to say about his son Devon Allman‘s musical abilities in the Allman Brothers Band co-founder’s biography My Cross to Bear a few years back, perhaps none more to the point than that … Continue reading

Posted in Albums | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Blues-rocker Devon Allman rides on with Ride or Die

Seeing really is Believing: Sugar Ray & the Bluetones rack up combined 10 nominations in 2017 Blues Music Awards

Nominations for the 2017 Blues Music Awards were announced earlier this week, with New England blues institution Sugar Ray & the Bluetones and its members earning an impressive – and probably unprecedented – two handfuls of nominations, including nods for … Continue reading

Posted in Awards | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Seeing really is Believing: Sugar Ray & the Bluetones rack up combined 10 nominations in 2017 Blues Music Awards

Rush’n’ the Blues

Slow things down a bit this Christmas season with another talk-free episode of our BluesPowR Radio Hour, featuring music from Lurrie Bell, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Robert Finley, the Bob Lanza Blues Band, a double-shot of Joanna Connor, and more! Playlist … Continue reading

Posted in BluesPowR Radio Hour | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Rush’n’ the Blues

Featuring both solo and collaborative tracks, latest record from blues master Taj Mahal is true Labor of Love

Last week, we gave you an early listen off blues legend Taj Mahal‘s newest album Labor of Love (Acoustic Sounds) in the form of a delightful “Shortnin’ Bread” that paired Mahal with the late one-armed harmonica player Neal Pattman, a … Continue reading

Posted in Albums | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Featuring both solo and collaborative tracks, latest record from blues master Taj Mahal is true Labor of Love

First listen: Shortnin’ Bread from Taj Mahal’s Labor of Love

With blues master Taj Mahal‘s new vinyl-only release Labor of Love (Acoustic Sounds) hitting stores next week, we thought you might enjoy a little taste of “Shortnin’ Bread” that pairs some plucky banjo from Mahal with crisp, whooping vocals and … Continue reading

Posted in Songs | Tagged , , | Comments Off on First listen: Shortnin’ Bread from Taj Mahal’s Labor of Love

Guitarist Harvey Mandel slithers back onto scene with Snake Pit

Back in October, we gave you a preview of Chicago blues guitarist Harvey Mandel‘s new album Snake Pit (Tompkins Square) in the form of the tasty title track. Now, we’re happy to report that the rest of the album is … Continue reading

Posted in Albums | Tagged | Comments Off on Guitarist Harvey Mandel slithers back onto scene with Snake Pit