The BluesPowR Blog

35 years on, Sugar Ray and the Bluetones still playing the blues, Living Tear to Tear; plus an exclusive interview with Bluetones bassist Mudcat Ward

Posted on September 5, 2014 by Mike

We’ve all heard the adage “The more things change, the more they stay the same”, and perhaps no blues band today more resembles that comment than the storied Sugar Ray and the Bluetones, who have certainly seen their share of change in the now three and a half decades since their formation. Among those changes of course have been numerous shufflings in personnel, with the Bluetones’ founding guitarist – a fellow by the name of Ronnie Earl – leaving the band relatively early in its history to replace Duke Robillard in another New England-based outfit, Roomful of Blues, and original drummer Neil Gouvin making a similarly hasty exit, going on to record with the likes of Luther Allison, Otis Grand, Debbie Davies, and former bandmate Earl. And even bandleader, vocalist and harmonica player Sugar Ray Norcia spent some time with another band during the 1990s when he served as lead singer for Roomful of Blues (with former bandmate Earl having already set off on his own by Norcia’s arrival).

So it’s pretty amazing really that four of the five musicians who play on the Bluetones’ new album Living Tear to Tear (Severn Records) also happen to be four of the band’s original members – finding Norcia on vocals and harmonica, Michael “Mudcat” Ward on bass, Anthony Geraci on keyboards, and Gouvin back on drums, all of whom celebrate their 60th birthdays in 2014 – with Earl’s spot on guitar having been filled by a series of other faces through the years until the band brought on its current guitarist in 2001, a brilliant young player in Monster Mike Welch.

As you might expect from a band that’s played together for so long (even the “new” member Welch has been with them now for more than a decade), the Bluetones are about as tight a band musically as you could ask for, both live (as we had the chance to observe when we caught them this winter during the Lancaster Roots & Blues Festival, where we shot these pics) as well as in the studio, as Living Tear to Tear once again proves. Whether you attribute it to their many years of experience playing together, the professionalism of its individual members, or both, the band is also one of the best we’ve seen or heard at being able to grab a listener’s attention and maintain it, tearing from one great song to the next with ease.

Sugar Ray Norcia & Monster Mike Welch

Take, for example, this latest CD: it all kicks off with the raucous roadhouse swing of “Rat Trap”, followed by the swaying, soulful Mike Welch-penned “Here We Go”, and then on to the gritty midtempo cooker “Things Could Be Worse”, which really helps put things into perspective with its chorus of “you should quit your complainin’, and be thankful first/ because for every bad, I know there’s a worse”.

From there, they move to the shuffling, steady groove of the album’s title track, while perhaps no tune better says the blues than the tough sounds, vocals and lyrics of the slow, simmering “Misery”, which, clocking in at just over eight minutes, ensures that listeners get their money’s worth in every way.

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Posted in Albums, Interviews | Tagged Anthony Geraci, Michael Mudcat Ward, Monster Mike Welch, Neil Gouvin, Ronnie Earl, Sugar Ray & the Bluetones, Sugar Ray Norcia | Comments Off

Muddy Waters Tribute caps off stellar night of blues focused on fighting cancer

Posted on August 29, 2014 by Mike

It’s not every day that you get to see two former guitarists with Muddy Waters‘ band perform together on the same stage, backed by an all-star band of some of the top names in the blues music world. And while a event/catering center in Columbus, Ohio, may not seem the most likely of settings for such a historic gathering – indeed, this was a show you could just as easily imagine taking place in one of New York’s or perhaps Chicago’s marquee theaters – you really have to commend the organizers of the annual Project Blues Review for assembling such a superb line-up of blues acts, not just in terms of the fantastic, one-night-only Muddy Waters Tribute but with an entire evening of solid performances.

Now in its fourth year, the Project Blues Review is also a fundraiser for the Columbus Cancer Clinic, a division of the LifeCare Alliance that provides education, screenings, examinations and various other services for cancer patients throughout Central Ohio. In addition to the proceeds from ticket and merchandise sales, the evening also included an auction of custom-made and signed memorabilia such as guitars, harmonicas, posters, and t-shirts that helped to bring in several thousands of dollars more to benefit the cause of diagnosing and fighting cancer.

The music began mid-afternoon with a rich acoustic “back porch” set from Columbus native and 2007 International Blues Challenge (IBC) winner Sean Carney and harmonica player Bob Corritore, playing on – literally – an indoor back porch constructed by a local builder for just this occasion and hitting on such blues classics as “That’s All Right”, “Ramblin’ on My Mind”, “C.C. Rider”, “Kindhearted Woman”, “Take a Little Walk with Me”, “Key to the Highway”, and Robert Lockwood’s “Western Horizon” as well as Tom Waits’ “Chocolate Jesus”.

Local band Deuce ‘n a Quarter kept things rolling with a tough, often soulful, swinging set that included originals like “Bust That Boogie” and covers such as “Wasn’t My Time to Go” (James Cotton/Keb’ Mo’) before wrapping up with a most fitting encore of “Healing Power of the Blues”.

View more photos from the Project Blues Review 2014 in our BluesPowR Gallery

Carney returned to the stage for another shared set, this time with Texas guitarist and fellow IBC winner (2005) Jonn Del Toro Richardson, with the pair taking turns on vocals and solos through a number of songs off their 2013 album Drivin’ Me Wild, including a Carney-sung “Come on With It” and Richardson on vocals for “Peace of Mind” and “Shake That Thang”. But the real highlight of the set came at its close with the duo’s electrifying cover of Johnny “Guitar” Watson’s “Looking Back” during which Richardson and Carney both played on Carney’s guitar simultaneously and then swapped guitars, with Richardson at one point also leaning down to play Carney’s guitar as Carney lay on the stage on his back.

Jonn Del Toro Richardson, Karen Lovely

Richardson retook the stage a short time later – joined now by fellow Project Blues Review musical host, Chicago guitarist Tom Holland (James Cotton Band, Tom Holland & the Shuffle Kings) – as they together welcomed Portland, Oregon vocalist Karen Lovely. Kicking off with a cover of California bluesman BB Chung King’s driving “Company Graveyard”, Lovely led the band through a forceful set featuring songs like Howlin’ Wolf’s “Who’s Been Talking” and a funky take on O.V. Wright’s “Don’t Let My Baby Ride”, also introducing a new original train song inspired by Johnny Winter in “Heard the Whistle Blow” before inviting Bob Corritore to accompany on the slow, stinging “Glad You’re Gone” and then also adding Muddy Waters band guitarist Bob Margolin to the mix for “Death Letter Blues”.

Bob Stroger, Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith

Margolin stayed on to serve as host for the headlining Muddy Waters Tribute, first introducing pianist David Maxwell and drummer Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith, who combined for a lively instrumental to open the set. They were soon joined by Corritore and famed Chicago blues bassist Bob Stroger, with Margolin belting out “Screamin’ and Cryin'” – Muddy’s favorite song of the ones he himself wrote, according to Margolin – followed by a confident “I’m Ready”.

Cancer survivor Stroger was the next to take a turn on vocals, starting with the shuffling “Talk to Me Mama” and then “Come on Home” from his new CD with Smith, Keepin’ It Together (read our review of the CD here).

Next it was on to Smith for a song, which he dedicated to his father, Muddy Waters band drummer Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, in the creeping “What Cha Say” – also from Keepin’ It Together, calling Holland to the stage midway through the number.

John Primer, Tom Holland, Bob Corritore

As great as the set already was, things only got better with the addition of guitarist and Muddy Waters band alumnus John Primer to the group, with Primer taking vocals on songs such as the classic “Mean Old World”, his original “Going Back to Mississippi” and Waters numbers like the crawling “Take the Bitter with the Sweet” and mid-tempo “Close to You”, closing the set with a magnificent “Got My Mojo Working” on which Stroger also joined on vocals, incorporating a little “Keep Your Hands Off Her”. The band returned for a one-song encore, an inspirational tune about sticking together so that no one gets ahead of you, with Primer (a thyroid cancer survivor) even inviting his young daughter to sing a few lines.

Bob Margolin, John Primer

The only thing that might have made this tribute (more photos of which you can find in our BluesPowR Gallery) any better would have been the inclusion of Waters’ son Mud Morganfield on vocals to add a bit more of a Muddy flavor to the program, but we’re certainly not complaining – this was one hot show!

Having already brought in the likes of James Cotton, Keb’ Mo’, Anson Funderburgh, Dave Specter, Rich DelGrosso, Diunna Greenleaf, Ray Fuller and the Blues Rockers, Omar Coleman, and Christian Dozzler for previous programs, with Richardson and Holland serving as musical hosts each year, the annual Project Blues Review may well have been one of the best kept secrets on the live blues scene. But with shows like this one, we imagine it’s just a matter of time before Project Blues helps put Columbus on more blues fans’ summer travel maps!

Posted in Shows | Tagged Bob Corritore, Bob Margolin, Bob Stroger, David Maxwell, Deuce 'n a Quarter, John Primer, Jonn Del Toro Richardson, Karen Lovely, Kenny Beedy Eyes Smith, Muddy Waters, Project Blues, Sean Carney, Tom Holland | Comments Off

A first look at Project Blues Review 2014

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Mike

Bob Corritore, Bob Margolin, John Primer

The late, great Muddy Waters once sang about a dream he had on his mind and when he woke up the next morning, not a thing could he find. Saturday night’s Project Blues Review was so good, we thought we may have been dreaming – then we found the photos on our camera to prove that we weren’t!

From the opening “back porch blues” set from Columbus native Sean Carney and harmonica ace Bob Corritore to an electrifying set from Carney and Houston guitarist Jonn Del Toro Richardson to the evening’s – and, dare we say, year’s? – main event in the Muddy Waters Tribute featuring former Waters band members John Primer and Bob Margolin on guitar along with guests that included Bob Stroger on bass, Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith on drums, David Maxwell on keyboards, Tom Holland on guitar, and Corritore on harmonica, things were all good in Columbus, Ohio, Saturday night!

Muddy Waters Tribute

We’ve got a whole lot more to show and tell you about the program in the coming days, but in the meantime, here’s a quick peek at some of what we took in.

Karen Lovely & Bob Margolin

Bob Stroger & Bob Margolin

Sean Carney & John Del Toro Richardson

Sean Carney & Bob Corritore

Posted in Shows | Tagged Bob Corritore, Bob Margolin, Bob Stroger, David Maxwell, John Primer, Jonn Del Toro Richardson, Kenny Beedy Eyes Smith, Project Blues, Sean Carney, Tom Holland | Comments Off

One night only Muddy Waters Tribute to assemble Waters band members John Primer and Bob Margolin, other top names in the blues

Posted on August 22, 2014 by Mike

Yesterday, we told you about the latest releases from second generation bluesmen Mud Morganfield and Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith – in Mud’s case, a tribute to his father McKinley Morganfield, a.k.a. Muddy Waters, on which he paired with esteemed harp player Kim Wilson, and for Beedy Eyes, a collaboration with longtime Chicago blues bassist Bob Stroger called Keepin’ It Together. This weekend, we’ll be attending a program that incorporates a little from both of these projects when Stroger and Beedy Eyes join with former Muddy Waters Band members John Primer and Bob Margolin along with other musicians such as harmonica player Bob Corritore, pianist David Maxwell (who is often compared to Waters pianist Otis Spann), and Chicago guitarist Tom Holland (band leader for the James Cotton Band as well as for his own Tom Holland & the Shuffle Kings) for a first of its kind Muddy Waters Tribute in Columbus, Ohio.

Sponsored by Columbus’ Project Blues, an organization that focuses on raising awareness and funding for people with cancer through the blues, the program will also feature performances from Columbus’ own 2007 International Blues Challenge (IBC) winner Sean Carney, Texas guitarist and 2005 IBC winner (both individually as best guitarist of the competition and as a member of Diunna Greenleaf‘s Blue Mercy band) Jonn Del Toro Richardson (who, along with Holland, will serve as co-host for the program), and acclaimed vocalist Karen Lovely before the Muddy Waters Tribute takes the stage at approximately 9 p.m. The doors open at 3 p.m. for a full day of the blues, with Carney opening the show at 4 p.m., followed by fellow local act Deuce and a Quarter.

Whether you live in the Columbus area or are looking for a good excuse for a road trip this weekend, this Project Blues Review is one you’re not going to want to miss! (But if you do, rest assured that we’ll have a full recap of the event for you next week.)

To order tickets or for more information on the event, visit the Project Blues website.

Posted in Shows | Tagged Bob Corritore, Bob Margolin, Bob Stroger, David Maxwell, John Primer, Jonn Del Toro Richardson, Karen Lovely, Kenny Beedy Eyes Smith, Project Blues, Sean Carney, Tom Holland | Comments Off

Sons of the blues Mud Morganfield, Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith team with players from fathers’ pasts on latest releases

Posted on August 21, 2014 by Mike

We’ve talked here plenty of times before about the numerous second generation bluesmen and women doing their parts to help keep their fathers’ music alive. So we were of course delighted to learn of separate new projects involving two true sons of the blues: Mud Morganfield, son of McKinley Morganfield, a.k.a. Muddy Waters, and Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith, son of longtime Waters drummer Willie “Big Eyes” Smith. And to make things even better, both Mud and Kenny have teamed with accomplished blues players with ties to their fathers for their latest releases, Kenny recording with legendary blues bassist and Big Eyes (not to mention Eddie King and Otis Rush) backer Bob Stroger, and Mud pairing with harmonica ace and Fabulous Thunderbirds frontman Kim Wilson, who Muddy once reportedly praised as “the greatest harmonica player to come along since Little Walter” while Wilson cites the elder Morganfield as his biggest mentor.

With strong, confident vocals that could easily be mistaken for his father’s, it wouldn’t have taken a soothsayer to see that it was just a matter of time before Mud Morganfield put out an album paying tribute to his Pops. And while we’re personally still holding out hope that Mud and his brother-in-law Big Bill Morganfield will someday collaborate on an album as they’ve done live on several occasions, we have to say that Severn Records chief David Earl’s decision to add Wilson as a featured musician on the tribute project is easily one of the, well, best-sounding ideas we’ve heard in a long time.

Featuring Morganfield and Wilson’s take on some of Waters’ most famous tunes – including “Still a Fool”, “I Love the Life I Live, I Live the Life I Love”, “Blow Wind Blow”, “Nineteen Years Old”, “Trouble No More”, “I Want to Be Loved”, “Just to Be with You”, “She Moves Me”, and “I Just Want Make Love to You”, For Pops: A Tribute to Muddy Waters (Severn Records) also finds the pair performing some of the blues legend’s lesser-known material, including a swinging “I Don’t Know Why” and the chugging “My Dog Can’t Bark”, with a superb band of Billy Flynn and Rusty Zinn on guitar, Barrelhouse Chuck on piano, Steve Gomes on bass, and Robb Stupka on drums helping to deliver some seriously deep, Muddy Waters Band-style grooves.

Three songs in, these guys have already established that they’re just as good with the slow, creeping numbers like “Just to Be with You” as they are on such up-tempo shufflers as the opening “Gone to Main Street” and “I Don’t Know Why”. By the time they arrive at songs like “She’s Got It” and “Blow Wind Blow”, the band is clearly in top form, operating in a zone few others can rival.

Recorded live in the studio in just four days – with the musicians all in one room and Mud in another, the release coincides with the 100th anniversary of Muddy’s birth – and honestly, we can’t think of a better, more meaningful tribute to him than this.

Key tracks: “Trouble No More”; “Just to Be with You”; “She’s Got It”; “Blow Wind Blow”; “Still a Fool”; “I Love the Life I Live, I Live the Life I Love”

While drummer Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith‘s latest project may not at first appear to be as direct a tribute to his father as Mud’s, there’s no denying that Kenny and bassist Bob Stroger have very much captured the spirit and sound of Willie “Big Eyes” Smith on their collaboration Keepin’ It Together. In addition to including one of Willie’s songs (the funky, Booker T-ish “Old Woman Sweetheart”) in its original form (with Big Eyes himself on vocals) as well as another inspired by a dream of him, the project also appears on a label named in Willie’s honor (Big Eye Records) and features some of the same personnel who backed Willie on his own albums in guitarists Frank Krakowski and Billy Flynn and pianist Barrelhouse Chuck (with the latter two also having lent their talents on the Morganfield and Wilson album discussed above).

Having both contributed to the Grammy Award-winning Joined at the Hip (Willie’s 2010 collaboration with fellow Muddy Waters band member and pianist Pinetop Perkins), Keepin’ It Together marks something of a triumphant return for the duo of Stroger and Smith, who, despite the decades of difference in age (Stroger is 74 while Smith is just shy of 40), are able to deliver a diverse, solid and fun collection of songs, from slow, creeping tunes like “What Cha Say” and a “Key to the Highway”-ish “My First Love” – both laced with some fine harmonica – to upbeat numbers like the swinging “He Took Her” (with Stroger apparently the “he” in this instance) and a shuffling “Clever Mama”.

The pair takes turn on lead vocals throughout the project, with Stroger – who’s lived in Chicago since 1955 – getting things started to the tough Chicago sounds of “Born in Missouri” (on which Stroger sings “I was born in Missouri, but Chicago is my home”) before Kenny picks up the pace a bit with a gritty, fast-chugging “Losin My Mind”. Stroger again takes vocals for a groovy “Come on Home” featuring some nice saxophone from Sam Burkhardt, staying on mic for the peppy, piano-driven “That’s My Name” (“you can call me what you want to, but my real name is the blues”), followed by the swaying “Sweet So Sweet” that comes just a bit later, passing the mic to Smith for the funky, shuffling “Love and Affection” and the soulful closer “In My House”, a song inspired by a dream Kenny had of his father that the album’s liner notes touchingly describe as “Willie’s creation, given to Kenny as a gift”.

One other treasure you’ll find here is the track “Old Woman Sweetheart”, which includes part of the song from Willie’s 2008 Born in Arkansas album – with Willie on vocals – in addition to adding in a verse with both Bob and Kenny.

Muddy Waters Band harmonica player Jerry Portnoy trades off on harp duty with Joe Filisko, with Kevin Iles also contributing on guitar and Brian Leach assisting on bass; together, along with the aforementioned Flynn, Krakowski and Barrelhouse Chuck, they help provide a rich, full sound on top of Stroger’s and Smith’s impressive talents as the core rhythm section.

It’s been nearly three years now since the passing of the elder Smith, one of the most missed voices and players in the genre today; fortunately for us, Kenny – who had already been carrying on his father’s tradition of the blues as a longtime background player on drums – is helping to fill that void by stepping confidently out into the spotlight, sharing it here with one of the true legends of the blues guitar world in Stroger.

Key tracks: “Losin My Mind”, “Come On Home”, “That’s My Name”, “Love and Affection”, “Old Woman Sweetheart”

Posted in Albums | Tagged Barrelhouse Chuck, Billy Flynn, Bob Stroger, Frank Krakowski, Jerry Portnoy, Kenny Beedy Eyes Smith, Kim Wilson, Mud Morganfield, Muddy Waters, Rusty Zinn, Willie Big Eyes Smith | Comments Off

Heritage Music BluesFest 2014 in photos

Posted on August 19, 2014 by Mike

Ana Popovic

Jarekus Singleton

We’ve posted more than 250 photos from last weekend’s Heritage Music BluesFest to our BluesPowR Gallery, including new folders spotlighting Ana Popovic, Lurrie Bell & Billy Branch, Jarekus Singleton, Matt “Guitar” Murphy and the Nouveaux Honkies, and Damon Fowler, as well as two more albums featuring most of the other main stage acts, from festival openers Billy the Kid & the Regulators to Sunday night headliners the Spin Doctors, also capturing performances from Tab Benoit, Robert Randolph, Indigenous, Gracie Curran & the High Falutin ‘ Band, Tim Williams, Hadden Sayers, Seth Walker, and David Jacobs-Strain and Bob Beach.

Click here to view the Heritage Music BluesFest 2014 photos

And, in case you missed it, here’s what we wrote earlier on this year’s festival.

Lurrie Bell

Billy Branch

Posted in Shows | Tagged Ana Popovic, Billy Branch, Billy the Kid & the Regulators, Gracie Curran & the High Falutin' Band, Hadden Sayers, Heritage Music BluesFest, Indigenous, Jarekus Singleton, Lurrie Bell, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Nouveaux Honkies, Robert Randolph, Spin Doctors, Tab Benoit, Tim Williams | Comments Off

Heritage Music BluesFest 2014 recap

Posted on August 13, 2014 by Mike

If you follow us on Twitter or Facebook, you know that we spent much of the past weekend at the annual Heritage Music BluesFest in Wheeling, WV, now in its 14th year, the line-up for which included Tab Benoit, Robert Randolph, Ana Popovic, the Spin Doctors, Billy Branch & Lurrie Bell, Damon Fowler, Indigenous, and more. Here are a few reflections and photos on the weekend, with more pics to be posted soon in our BluesPowR Gallery!

Most impressive new act: Third-place International Blues Challenge (IBC) finishers Billy the Kid & the Regulators got the festival off to a fine start Friday evening with a nice mix of tunes from both their current and upcoming (being recorded in September and produced by friend Damon Fowler) CDs as well as covers that included the Steve Miller Band’s “Fly Like an Eagle”, the Spencer Davis Group’s “I’m a Man” that brought Billy out into the audience, and an encore number of the Ides of March’s driving “Vehicle”.

Tim Williams

And we loved what we heard from IBC solo winner Tim Williams, who helped ease the crowd into Saturday’s performances with tunes from the Rev. Gary Davis (“Poor Boy”), Clyde McPhatter (“A Lover’s Question”), Blind Willie Johnson (“Nobody’s Fault but Mine” and “Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground”), Robert Johnson (“Malted Milk”), Blind Boy Fuller and Sonny Terry (“Custard Pie”), and the Mississippi Sheiks (“Sitting on Top of the World”), in addition to a few songs of his own, capping it off with “Wee Midnight Hour Blues” for an encore.

Jarekus Singleton

But no one was more dazzling than blues newcomer Jarekus Singleton, whose hard-hitting debut album with Alligator Records Refuse to Lose is currently burning up the blues music charts much the way the Mississippi native himself did the BluesFest stage Saturday, from even his warm-up song of “Big Legged Woman”. Singleton started his set on the shuffling “Come Wit Me”, taking it “to the juke joint” with a funky “Gonna Let Go”, before sliding into the slow bluesy soul of “Crime Scene”, which is exactly what Singleton and his band – including Sam Brady on B3 – were creating, killing it like they were. From there, they moved to the driving “Keep Pushin” and groovy “Singing the Blues” (from his 2011 independent release Heartfelt), closing out the set on the rocking title track from his new album with its confident lyrics of “y’all ain’t caught on to it yet, or maybe this time you won’t forget, I win at whatever I choose, ‘cuz I refuse to lose”, and then returning with an equally powerful encore in “Suspicion”.

Favorite set overall: You can always count on Saturday night headliner Tab Benoit and Sunday night performer Ana Popovic to deliver solid shows, and it was hard not to like the energy of Friday night closer Robert Randolph & the Family Band, who seemed in particularly fine form on what happened to be Robert’s birthday, including inviting Indigenous’ Mato Nanji back to the stage on “Voodoo Child”.

Damon Fowler

This was the first time we had a chance to catch Florida guitarist and singer Damon Fowler live, and we have to say he didn’t disappoint, kicking off his set with the double-entendred “Fruit Stand Lady” before diving into his latest album Sounds of Home with the breezy “Spark”, the slow, Blues Blast Music Award Song of the Year-nominated “Old Fools, Bar Stools, and Me”, the groove-filled title track, and a biting “Grit My Teeth”. Fowler also paid tribute to the late Johnny Winter with “Broke Down Engine” (Blind Willie McTell) and played a trio of songs from his earlier Sugar Shack album: “I Hope It’s Gonna Rain” and Merle Haggard’s “Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down”, then switching to lap steel for the set-closing title track, returning on lap steel again for the encore number of “Shake Your Moneymaker”.

Lurrie Bell & Billy Branch

But the biggest treat of the weekend for us was getting to see two Chicago blues legends – guitarist Lurrie Bell and harmonica player Billy Branch – together on the same stage like the old friends they are, having begun working together in the 1970s when they – along with bassist Freddie Dixon – formed the Sons of the Blues (which since has become Branch’s backing band, with Bell having left the group in the early 1980s). Taking turns on vocals and solos, the pair rolled through a wonderful selection of blues classics, from slow, creeping numbers like “As the Years Go Passing By”, “Last Night (I Lost the Best Friend I Ever Had)”, and “She’s Nineteen Years Old” to such movers and shakers as “Don’t Start Me to Talkin'”, “My Babe”, and “Got My Mojo Working”, also hitting on tunes like “Nobody Wants to Lose” and “Wine Headed Woman” along the way, topped with an encore of Junior Wells’ “Messin’ with the Kid”.

Among the weekend’s other highlights:

Matt “Guitar” Murphy

Another legendary blues guitarist, Matt “Guitar” Murphy, paired with the Florida-based Nouveaux Honkies for an entertaining evening program that included classics like “Rock Me Baby”, “Sweet Home Chicago”, “Baby What You Want Me to Do”, and Murphy’s famous instrumental “Matt’s Guitar Boogie”, as well as some interesting observations from Murphy on fellow blues players such as Willie Dixon (“I liked Willie but he thought he was too smart”), one of several famous blues musicians – along with Memphis Slim, Muddy Waters, Otis Spann and others – with whom Murphy traveled to Europe in the early 1960s for the American Folk Blues Festival

Blues-rockers Indigenous made their first appearance at the Heritage Music BluesFest, including a nice take on Jimi Hendrix’s “Hear My Train A Comin'”

Gracie Curran & the High Falutin’ Band delivered an energetic set Saturday that featured a nice mix of originals and covers ranging from fellow Bostonian Susan Tedeschi’s “I Fell in Love” to “I Just Want to Make Love to You” and “Got My Mojo Working”, with Curran eventually making her way into the crowd to dance with members of the audience

Houston, Texas, by way of Columbus, Ohio, guitarist and singer Hadden Sayers filled in for harmonica man John Nemeth (who wasn’t able to make it this weekend as he and his wife awaited the arrival of a baby), including Sayers’ hit recorded with Ruthie Foster, “Back to the Blues”, and an always-soulful version of Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home to Me”

Ana Popovic

Ana Popovic opened her Sunday night set with the hot title track off her latest album Can You Stand the Heat, then continued to burn things up with tunes that included the Rolling Stones’ “Rain Fell Down”, Albert King’s “Can’t You See What You’re Doing to Me”, Jimi Hendrix’s “Can You See Me”, and an instrumental tribute to her guitar heroes Stevie Ray Vaughan and Ronnie Earl in “Navajo Moon”, as well as an encore of “How’d You Learn to Shake It Like That”

90s alternative rockers the Spin Doctors – who started off as a blues band and have since returned to their roots on their new album If the River Was Whiskey – closed out the weekend with an assortment of songs that featured such well-known hits as “What Time Is It”, “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong”, and “Pocket Full of Kryptonite” as well as tunes from the new album that included “Scotch and Water Blues”, the title track, “Traction Blues”, and “Some Other Man Instead”

Tab Benoit

Robert Randolph

Posted in Shows | Tagged Ana Popovic, Billy Branch, Billy the Kid & the Regulators, Damon Fowler, Gracie Curran & the High Falutin' Band, Hadden Sayers, Heritage Music BluesFest, Indigenous, Jarekus Singleton, Lurrie Bell, Mato Nanji, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Nouveaux Honkies, Robert Randolph, Spin Doctors, Tab Benoit, Tim Williams | Comments Off

Ladies sing the blues: hot new releases from Janiva Magness, Kelley Hunt

Posted on August 7, 2014 by Mike

Among the new releases that have showed up in our mailbox recently have been the latest recordings from two pretty terrific female vocalists, the much-acclaimed Janiva Magness and a somewhat lesser-known – but arguably no less talented – Kelley Hunt. Both CDs provide a nice blend of roots, soul, rock, R&B, and Americana, with Hunt also turning in some delightful gospel-soaked performances.

Moving on after a successful three-album stint (What Love Will Do, The Devil is An Angel Too, and Stronger for It) with Alligator Records, Janiva Magness‘ latest offering Original comes on her own newly established Fathead Records label, which allowed Magness and producer Dave Darling the freedom “to go wherever we wanted musically to tell its stories”. That stretches from such slow, tender tracks as “Mountain”, “The Hard Way”, and the closing “Standing” to the breezy sounds of songs like “Twice as Strong” with its empowering chorus of “twice as strong as you need to be, and you’re twice as many now that it’s you and me” and the upbeat R&B grooves of “Who Am I”, featuring a driving backbeat, soulful background vocals, and its passionate refrain of “I’m just the one who loved ‘ya”, to the stomping “I Need a Man” – all built around Magness’ smooth, rich vocals, as Darling and Magness’ longtime guitarist Zach Zunis both contribute on guitar, including some John Mayer-ish licks on songs like the swaying “When You Were My King” and the aforementioned “Mountain” and “The Hard Way”.

Pittsburgh Blues Festival, July 2011

There is perhaps no finer display of Magness’ abilities than the series of tracks that comes four songs into the album, beginning on the energetic “I Need a Man” before moving to the soulful tenderness of “Everything is Alright” and then on to the funky strut of “With Love”, a duet between Magness and guest Dan Navarro, who also provides background vocals on both the album’s closing and opening tracks, “Standing” and the airy “Let Me Breathe”, respectively. The “Badass” that comes a bit later in the program is much what you’d expect from its title: an edgy, driving affair that features some gritty guitar as well as vocals that fluctuate between gruff and sweet as Magness delivers such lyrics as “you think you’re badass/ you think I’m waiting around, but I’m not” and “because I’m having too much fun, livin’ my own life ’til the sun comes up”.

Magness’ 11th album, Original marks the first time the singer has co-written the majority of the songs on an album, working with Darling and others to pen all but four of the tracks here. Whether or not you agree that Original is Magness’ best album yet, as a number of critics have proclaimed it, there’s no arguing that it’s another damn impressive one. The best advice we can give you here is to quote something Magness herself says at the start of “I Need a Man”: “Got to get it.”

Like Magness, singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Kelley Hunt has no problem demonstrating the range of her talents on her latest release The Beautiful Bones (88 Records). Hunt’s sixth album, The Beautiful Bones features a dozen original tracks showcasing the Kansas City native’s abilities vocally and musically (on both keyboards and guitar), as well as in the areas of songwriting and arranging.

If you like the sounds of Magness, Bonnie Raitt, Susan Tedeschi, Rory Bock, and Deanna Bogart, then chances are good that you’ll also like what you hear from Hunt, starting with the swinging opener “This Time” with its lively piano (Hunt), organ (Mark Johnson), and horns. From there, the band – which also includes former Bob Dylan guitarist John Jackson – moves to the upbeat gospel number “Golden Hour” featuring some more New Orleans-style piano from Hunt as well as background vocals from the famous McCrary Sisters. That’s followed by the soft “Let It Rain”, one of several nice slower songs to appear throughout the program, along with, for example, the swaying title track – for which Hunt switches to acoustic guitar – and a Tedeschi Trucks Band-like “I Want You There” that includes some rich backing vocals (also supplied by Hunt) and a particularly fine solo on saxophone from Mitch Reilly.

Also included here are a rocking country number in “When Love is at the Wheel”, the boogie-woogeying “I’ve Got a Good Feeling”, and a gritty “Gates of Eden” that again finds Hunt on guitar in addition to offering some distorted vocals, while it’s hard to argue with either the delicate grooves or message of the lyrics of the soothing “Simplify”. The album closes, appropriately enough, on the sweet, piano-laced Memphis soul of “The Sweet Goodbye”.

Hunt’s vocals vary from smoky to tender depending on the mood of the song, often accompanied by some spiritual or otherwise uplifting lyrics. As its title suggests, this masterpiece from Hunt is a beautiful one to have.

Posted in Albums | Tagged Dave Darling, Janiva Magness, Kelley Hunt, Zach Zunis | Comments Off

Summertime Blues edition

Posted on August 4, 2014 by Mike

“Monday again, I can’t face another day…”: Janiva Magness captures the start of the workweek perfectly with this opening line from the song “I Need a Man” off her new album Original, but hopefully we can help you through the day (and week) a bit with this Summertime Blues edition of our BluesPowR Radio Hour.

Featuring new music from the likes of Royal Southern Brotherhood, Walter Trout, John Mayall, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Deanna Bogart, Keb’ Mo’, and Ronnie Earl, to name just a few, this is another episode well worth checking out.

And here, for those of you wondering, are a few more of the words from Magness’ “I Need a Man”, another of the tracks you’ll hear on this edition of our program.

“Monday again, I can’t face another day –
people all up in my face,
Lord, help me through this day.
I swear I’m so tired, of rattin’ with the race –
look real close, there ain’t no doubt,
you’ll see it on my face.

And I don’t care if it’s right or if it’s wrong,
give me one good reason I’m alone.
Please don’t say I hafta’ wait,
can’t you see it’s gettin’ late?
Don’t tell me that you’re doin’ all you can.
I need a man (I need a man)
I need a man (I need a man)
I need a man (I need a man)
I just need a man (just a good man)”
– Janiva Magness, Dave Darling & Gary Mark Davenport

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Playlist
World Blues – Royal Southern Brotherhood
I Got Loaded – Tweed Funk
I Need a Man – Janiva Magness
Mr. Tate’s Advice – Bob Corritore
Now I Know – Forrest McDonald Band
Big Town Playboy – John Mayall
You’re Gonna Make Me Cry – Joe Louis Walker
I Lost My Way – Matt Andersen
Fine By Me Good Bayou – Deanna Bogart
See No Harm – Tinsley Ellis
Everything’s Gonna Be Alright – Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band
Something For Nothing – The Mannish Boys
That’s Alright – Keb’ Mo’
Golden Hour – Kelley Hunt
The Blues Came Calling – Walter Trout
No Baggage – Rhythm Aces
Runnin’ In Peace – Ilana Katz Katz
Let’s Say It’s for Good – Andy T-Nick Nixon Band
Puddin’ Pie – Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters

Posted in BluesPowR Radio Hour, Lyrics | Tagged Andy T - Nick Nixon Band, Bob Corritore, Curtis Salgado, Deanna Bogart, Forrest McDonald, Ilana Katz Katz, Janiva Magness, Joe Louis Walker, John Mayall, Keb Mo, Kelley Hunt, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Matt Andersen, Mike Finnigan, Ronnie Earl, Royal Southern Brotherhood, The Mannish Boys, The Rhythm Aces, Tinsley Ellis, Tweed Funk, Walter Trout | Comments Off

International Blues Music Day is coming!

Posted on July 31, 2014 by Mike

Last summer, we told you about the inaugural International Blues Music Day (IBMD) established by New York musician and blues society leader Johnny Childs and friends to help promote and celebrate the genre around the world. With the first Saturday in August – designated as IBMD annually – just around the corner, we hope you’ve made some plans to incorporate some blues into your weekend, whether it’s attending one of the official events listed on the IBMD website or a blues show/festival in your area – or throwing a blues bash of your own with a few friends!

Here at The BluesPowR Blog, we like to think that we’re celebrating the blues each and every day, but it sure is nice to have one day each year on which folks worldwide can join together in supporting the cause. So if you like the blues, get out and show it this Saturday; like Christmas, International Blues Music Day comes but just once a year!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged International Blues Music Day, Johnny Childs | Comments Off