Blues Matters 134

ERJA LYYTINEN

“I’M MISSING MY FRIENDS AND FANS”

COCO MONTOYA

“I ACTUALLY HUNG UP ON JOHN MAYALL”

DANNY BRYANT

“PEOPLE ARE STARTING TO COME OUT AND SEE US”

DOM MARTIN

ON THE BLUES CRUISE WITH PLUS OUR HUGE REVIEWS SECTION

KINGFISH, KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD WHEN RIVERS MEET, BYWATER CALL, AND MORE!

BACK WITH A NEW ALBUM FROM THE HEART

“INGRAM SETS THE BAR TERRIFYINGLY HIGH”

“INGRAM SETS THE BAR TERRIFYINGLY HIGH”

–GUITAR WORLD

–GUITAR WORLD

“THIS IS WHAT LIVE MUSIC IS ALL ABOUT” –BLUES MATTERS

IS WHAT LIVE MUSIC IS ALL ABOUT” –BLUES MATTERS

“ASTONISHING CREATIVITY” –MOJO

“ASTONISHING CREATIVITY” –MOJO

THE COMPLETE CONCERT ON 2 CDS OR 2 LPS AND DIGITAL FORMATS

THE COMPLETE CONCERT ON 2 CDS OR 2 LPS AND DIGITAL FORMATS

THE NICK MOSS BAND featuring Dennis Gruenling

“An incendiary brew...fiery fretwork and wailing harmonica... soulful, playful and exuberant.” –Living Blues

AVAILABLE ON CD, RED LP AND DIGITAL FORMATS

MAXWELL STREET BLUES

I have had a serious fascination for Chicago’s Maxwell Street since stumbling across the album; Robert Nighthawk, Live On Maxwell Street 1964 as a teen in New York.

Simply intoxicating and every track in my mind and fantasy took me right to the street, soaking up the deepest and most jubilant of Blues.

Anyone who knows anything about the Blues knows the historic, original Maxwell Street Market was a bustling place where on Sunday’s locals peddled their wares in stalls and carts right on the streets and countless Blues musicians, some more known than others would vie for your attention and make some scratch in the process. Gospel music, preachers, troubadours, whole bands. Folks dressing up in their Sunday best and then after church heading over to the market, having a little nip and dancing in the streets to the most fantastic, intense, free Blues festival one could ever imagine. This was life in Chicago as I imagined as a young lad with a hunger for the Blues.

There are documentaries about it, books about it. I don’t need to go into specific account, just to inform of its impact on me and you can take it from there.

I started capturing some moments in my drawings over the past few years. About a half dozen or so, which struck a chord with a few folks who experienced it firsthand back in the day. Harp master and Muddy Waters veteran Jerry Portnoy saw a few of these which resonated enough with him to reach out to me, recalling his young days to me growing up there, his dad owning a store right there on Maxwell Street which gave him direct access to in indelible world of Blues as a kid.

This illustration is a proud depiction created for the Chicago Blues Society in tribute with a nod to some staple Maxwell Street players of the day; Pat Rushing, Daddy Stovepipe, Blind Arevela Gray, Nighthawk and Big Walter Horton. Oh, yes and of course “The Chicken Man”.

The iconic W Maxwell Street sign front and center.

I still give those Live On Maxwell Street tracks a spin every once in a while and they still take me right back to a place in Blues history and a legendary spot I have never personally been, but somehow feel immediately right at home!

INSIDE THE BLUES CRUISE

A CELESTIAL BLUES CRUISE WITH THE LEGENDS ON THE MEDITERRANEAN BLUES CRUISE-2023

The Mediterranean Blues Cruise started its third adventure on August 17th, 2023, setting sail from the beautiful Port of Athens. But this is only part of the story surrounding this amazing collection of Blues artists and bands, the story started in 2019. This was the first of the Blues Cruises and was such a success that plans were made for more to follow. Then the pandemic hit, and the world was put on hold, literally.

Every section of society was severely affected in every corner of the world including musicians from all four corners of the globe. That is when Joe Bonamassa and his partner and manager, Roy Wiseman decided to do something to help get struggling musicians back on the road, KTBA Foundation was started to help create funds, and this has turned into a musical foundation that stretches far beyond helping musicians get back on their feet. During the last three years or so, over 91,000 students have been impacted by the foundation, 600 + projects have been supported, and over 2 million dollars has been raised to help fund schools and budding artists. Instruments have been sent to schools along with sheet music, with the mission to uphold the rich culture and history of the Blues as a true American art form.

Now putting all this together is no mean feat, a cruise does not just happen on its own, so Sixthman approached Joe Bonamassa and Roy Wiseman about planning a Blues Cruise under the umbrella of the KTBA record label and foundation. It has been so successful, that a Caribbean cruise has also been added to the party, and a cruise sailing from Miami is already sold out for 2024. Putting together such events is, as you can imagine, a mammoth task, but Sixthman is the world leader in putting on cruises of all kinds, not just the Blues Cruise. The planning and organisation are staggering, but the guys and girls at Sixthman make sure that every detail is covered, no matter what that might be, a truly remarkable achievement.

So to the cruise itself, I must admit that I never dreamed that Blues Matters Magazine or I would ever get the chance to be a part of this momentous five-day extravaganza, but that is exactly what happened.

I must add that I had never been on a cruise of any sort before, so this would be a learn-

ing curve culturally as well as musically. The sheer size of the Norwegian Jade, which would be our floating home for the next five days was quite a sight to see upon arrival at the quayside, a giant, shining palace ready to mesmerize everyone onboard. Once onboard, settled in, and acquainted with where most things were, a quick tour of the vessel was in order. The main stage, the pool deck, was, as you would imagine, on the 12th deck, offering panoramic views of the Mediterranean ocean. Apart from the main stage, the ship had four other venues where the artists would perform, each artist appearing three times at various venues. These venues were Bliss, Magnums, Spinnaker, and The Star dust Theatre, and acoustic sessions were held within the Atrium lounge.

My first encounter was to see the amazingly talented Dom Martin play an hour-long acoustic set at the Atrium Lounge. Another thing that I must point out about the preparation and technical nous of the Sixthamn crew, is the sound in every venue was just amazing. Dom Martin, an acoustic guitar, and a lounge full of blues lovers, what more could you possibly ask for as an opening gig? Dom has one of the most authentic blues vocals that I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to, despite being from Belfast, his phrasing of blues lyrics and all-round interpretation of blues music is as good as it gets. Add to that his skill as a guitarist, what you have is one of the most exciting talents to grace blues music. Not only did he deliver great songs, but he also told tales of his background, stories of growing up in Belfast, and the very tough and sometimes very troubling times. It would be very easy to label Dom Martin as the next Rory Gallagher, but that would be so wrong, he’s his own man, with his own identity, and his own songs. But, he is also as relevant as Rory, but in his own unique way.

When I got offered the chance to be a part of the Blues Cruise representing Blues Matters, one of my bucket list artists was Christone “Kingfish” Ingrams. I had the pleasure of reviewing his debut album for the mag and from the first tune I knew that this guy was something quite special. Fast forward

DOM

MARTIN

BY PAUL MAY

four years, on the main pool deck stage, I’m getting ready to see “Kingfish” play live for the first time. I must admit to having the feeling of being a young teenager attending his very first gig, the anticipation was almost overwhelming. On the main stage pool deck, the wait was finally over, the beautiful Gold Top Les Paul struck the first note, and off we went into an hour and a half of Blues heaven.

The four-piece band behind him was as tight as hell, allowing “Kingfish” to sing and play the most amazing set of songs. At the tender age of twenty-four, hailing from Clarksdale, Mississippi, Ingrams seems that he was born with the blues, and with a guitar in his hands, his life on earth was to play the Blues. And oh, can he play and sing the blues? Halfway through the set, he introduced, Mathias Lattin, the winner of the International Blues Award for 2023. Together they produce two of the most amazing pieces of Blues music that I have ever laid witness to. More of Mathias later. Watching this modern-day Blues artist produce probably the finest set I’ve ever seen, and believe me, I’ve seen many great Blues artists, was the most enthralling and mind-blowing experience. I’ll say it now, in Christone “Kingfish” Ingrams, the Blues is in very safe hands.

Keeny Wayne Shepherd has been playing Blues and Blues/Rock since 1990, releasing many solo albums along the way. His latest

 Stephen Harrison  As credited

upcoming release, Dirt On My Diamonds, is set for release next month. This was another first-time experience for me, seeing KWS perform live for the very first time. He is a long-time friend and collaborator with Joe Bonamassa, both on stage and off. Here is the epitome of Blues/Rock, so much energy and enthusiasm put into every song, swapping vocal and guitar duties with Noah Hunt, who has one hell of a set of lungs on him. It was electrifying, and pulsating, drawing breath, and onto the next tune. It is easy to understand why KWS has been around for so long, producing performances like this and releasing album after album of great material.

But not all of the artists and bands on board

get the chance to grace the main pool deck stage. This is where the fabulous smaller venues on board the ship come into their own. More intimate, the fans are close to the action whether it be an acoustic session or a full-on band blues-thumping romp. It is time to explore these magnificent hotbeds of blues up close areas. My first encounter was Bliss to see the totally amazing When Rivers Meet perform their first set of the cruise. The audience packed in right at the front of the stage and I found myself perched right next to the speaker stack. A thrilling, if not an ear-bashing experience. Aaron and Grace Bond have been performing around England Europe, and America in recent times, and these performances

KINGFISH

BY MARTY MOFFATT

BLACKBERRY SMOKE

BY MARTY MOFFATT

BYWATER

BY MARTY MOFFATT

EDDIE 9V

BY SIMON GREEN

RUTHIE FOSTER

BY SIMON GREEN

have earned them the right to be part of the Blues Cruise. As a four-piece outfit, they have been adoring everyone lucky enough to see them. They have just finished recording their third album which will be released next month. The married duo wowed this small but very grateful audience at Bliss by playing songs from the new album, as well as tunes from the first two. They have a connection with the audience whenever they play live, almost a common link with everyone. The harmonies between them are simply sublime, combining feeling and emotion. As a guitarist, Aaron displays coolness in his playing, while retaining the ability to tear the strings up with force when it becomes necessary. As the set finished, the small, but very appreciative audience demanded an encore and were duly obliged. Once again, the Sixthman crew had gotten everything spot on, sound and lighting.

Another of the inside venues, The Stardust Theatre, played host to several bands and artists, one of them once again providing me with my first experience of this band, Bywater Call, which is based in Toronto, Canada. A 7-piece band that contains two horn players. I’m almost ashamed to say that I hardly know anything about this band, but that changed the moment that they took to the stage. The lead singer, Megahn Parnell, and lead guitarist Dave Barnes are the driving force and main songwriting team. Megan Parnell has one of the most amazing vocals, so powerful and so full of emotion. Dave Barnes, on the other hand, is a truly wonderful musician, a master of the slide guitar, his presence on stage certainly does not go unnoticed. Their latest album, Remain has received critical acclaim, and quite rightly so,m with a new song, Sweet Maria set to be released soon. I realized very quickly that I had indeed been missing out by not finding this band sooner. One of the highlights from the set was actually a cover song, nothing wrong with that, I hear you say, I concour. The song in question was the Stephen Stills classic, Love The One You’re With. The soulfulness and emotion from the band, and Megahn in particular would have graced any stage in

band. Eddie 9 V is definitely one to be on the lookout for in the near future.

Magnums was an even smaller, but more intimate kind of venue. The first artist that I had the pleasure of seeing performing here was the amazing Alice Armstrong. Now, Alice and I have crossed paths a few times on our respective travels, so I knew exactly how good this was going to be. And it was made even more enjoyable by the fact that Matt Long was her guitarist. I was lucky enough to see them both performing at the Blues Awards in London a few months back. Matt is one of the true blues aficionados of the guitar, such a magnificent player. Alice Armstrong has one of the most emotional and far-ranging vocals, such a sweet and melodic voice, that, in an instant, she can blow the horns off the devil himself. Apart from watching the artists in Magnums, it was also a great opportunity to chat with some of the many people on the cruise at the bar. People from so many places were abroad, Europe, the UK, and mostly, all over America. It became something of a place to meet and swap stories about the various bands people had seen so far on the cruise, as well as back home, wherever home was.

JOE BONAMASSA

BY SIMON GREEN

Spinnaker was another slightly smaller venue than The Stradust Theatre, but just was welcoming. Yet again, I had another first-time live experience watching the very soulful, Eddie 9V. I did, however, have some knowledge about Eddi as we interviewed him a few months ago in Blues Matters Magazine. A very lively four-piece band that had Eddie’s brother playing bass, and he reminded me of Donal “Duck” Dunn in his approach and style. A lively upbeat set containing a couple of covers by Albert King and Bobby Rush highlighted the versatility of this fine

Back to the main pool deck stage, it was now time to see the first of two sets from our host and organizer, Joe Bonamassa. Now, you will know, that I am a huge fan of his having first seen him perform in front of about 70 people in 2007 in Manchester, England. I told everyone who would listen and also told anyone who wouldn’t listen, that Joe Bonamassa was going to be an international Blues artist in his own right. Anyway, enough about that, Joe took to the stage with his now very familiar touring band, dressed in a blue suit, every inch the Blues artist. Kicking off the set with, Evil Mama taken from the album, Redemption. Now I have had the pleasure of seeing Joe perform live on many occasions, the last one was in May, I swear this guy gets better each time that I see him. The band that he has right now is at the top of their respective games, the ever-present Resse Wynans, a keyboard genius if ever I saw one, the amazingly talented Josh Smith on guitar, and two of the most delightful backing singers, help to make this one of the finest Blues/Rock outfits you will ever have the chance of seeing. An hour and a half of blistering Blues and Blues/Rock littered with tunes from albums that Joe can deliver on such a regular basis. Dust Bowl, If Heartaches Were Nickels, and, Lonely Boy. The final track of the evening, Just Got Paid, is the perfect way for Joe to wind up the gig. An immense tune, with great lyrics that allows Joe to do what he does best, play guitar as if his very existence depends on it, leading up to an impromptu rendition of the Led Zeppelin classic, Dazed And Confused to

end what was a brilliant show.

Another band that has been extensively covered over the years in Blues Matters Magazine is King King, a truly wonderful five-piece band hailing from Scotland, led by two brothers, Alan and Steve Nimmo. These guys are another of the seemingly growing bands that has legions of dedicated followers who travel the length and breadth of the country, and sometimes further afield to catch them at every show. So much so, that the band played one particular song specially dedicated to their loyal fans, not often that you see that, but a nice touch. Another nice touch during the set was a song that they dedicated to their dear friend, Danny Bose, Whatever It Takes To Survive, a very moving song that had the crowd joining in on every word. It’s not every day that you come across two really good singers and guitarists from the same family, but that’s exactly what you get with King King. The songs have almost turned into anthems, Heed The Warning, Long History, I Will Not Fall, a song by Alan to his brother Steve, and the inimitable, Stranger To Love. A truly amazing set.

As I found myself chatting with some of the artists and a lot of the passengers I noticed that there was a big community feel to the cruise, it wasn’t just about another gig, another dollar. It really resonated with me that these were in fact, friends first, and colleagues second. No competition, just the feeling of let’s all have a blast together. This leads me nicely onto a few jam sessions and conversations that went on at some of the smaller venues on board. For example, Dom Martin jamming with Chris Buck, from Cardinal Black, the Campfire Sessions, featuring “Kingfish” and other artists. These

ALL STAR BLUES JAM BY

small intimate gatherings were just as good as the main pool deck stage. It showed the respect that all of the artists have for one another. Wherever you went on board you were assured of seeing some of the finest musicians around, again, highlighting the amazing Sixthman crew that made sure that everything ran smoothly, be it in Magnums, or on the main stage. Their professionalism is second to none, a point noted by each and every artist.

LAURA COX

BY SIMON GREEN

SIMON GREEN

Foster, delivering her blues/gospel vocals, whilst being backed by this extraordinary band of musicians. Four members of Bywater Call joined the band to deliver such a magnificent rendition of The Band classic, Ophelia, in memory of the recently departed Robbie Robertson. On and on it went, guest after guest, impromptu jams, blistering guitar duels, the crowd never wanting it to end. Christone” Kingfish” Ingrams and the international Blues Award winner, Mathias Lattin joined the party to rapturous applause, both trading licks with each other and with Josh with all good things, this magnificent gatherkin’. I swear to God, this performance

eyes. It ended with a guitar duel

Bonamassa, both encouraging the other to kick it up a notch, whilst being supported and urged onlection of musicians. This, without a doubt, is the finest musical been lucky enough to witness. The future safe hands, thanks to amassa and

READERS WITH THE STARS

Got an image and a story of you meeting one of the stars of the blues? Send it into design@bluesmatters.com and you may just find your mugshot in the next issue of Blues Matters!

Face to face with John Mayall

Testimony

27 March 2019. John Mayall was to perform that evening in front of the stalls of the Politeama theatre in Genoa, Italy. Once I arrived in front of the concert venue, I walked in and saw a long line of people. I thought it was the queue to exchange the online ticket for the paper one. In reality, the queue was generated by the presence of Mayall himself who, behind the merchandising stall, was selling fans his CDs. I walked up to him and bought, directly from his hands, the Nobody Told Me record, released only a month earlier. John did not fail to autograph it and handed it to me with a gesture of composed kindness. After signing the CD, I tried to approach him for a photo, to which he agreed, but without removing that symbolic wooden table, which emphasised the distance between him and me. We exchanged a few words, nothing in particular, but I had the impression of a self-confident person, aware of his own history and at the same time free of the divisiveness typical of rock stars.

WHEN RIVERS MEET

BY MARTY MOFFATT

his team. It has been assured of sustainability by things like this, hard work, dedication, and above all else, a feeling. Christone “ Kingfish” Ingram is the future of Blues music, of that there is no doubt. Alongside him, Mathias Lattin. Remember that name - you’re going to hear it for decades to come!

“Every time we walk onto the stage, we have the same goal, the same mission, which is to put on the best show that we can. I like the experience, I actually enjoy it, I like the community and it allows us to see other bands, that maybe we wouldn’t be able to see. It’s a great opportunity to hang out with each other” - Kenny Wayne Shepherd

“Honest emotion that gets the audience feeling something, is more important than a super-fancy chord progression” - Meghan and Dave of Bywater Call

“When I started doing gigs, I didn’t really talk a lot, I didn’t think the stories would resonate with anyone. I was focused on the music rather than the personal aspect of it, but after a while, I started telling the stories behind the songs and people related to them. I’m from Belfast, and there’s nothing wrong with being from Belfast, but these opportunities don’t normally get afforded to people like me. Last night I shared the stage with Chris Buck (Cardinal Black). Chris has been a hell

of an influence on me and my playing. It was an absolute pleasure to share the stage with him” - Dom Martin

“It’s amazing, absolutely love it, our very first time on a cruise as well. We’ve been speaking to a few people, and it feels like a really immersive experience. There is music all day, It’s intoxicating” - Grace and Aaron Bond- When Rivers Meet

A final word about the cruise from one of the most amazing singer/songwriters whom I’ve been lucky enough to know for a few years, and have had the privilege of seeing her and her band performing “ I thought it was surreal absolutely incredible, it was an amazing opportunity. It was a joy to perform three times, each set was a different animal. It was glorious to be able to hang out with other musicians when they were not working all the time. Spending downtime with other musicians was so good, exhausting, and quite overwhelming, it was probably one of the most exciting weeks of my life” (Alice Armstrong)

I would like, once again to thank our hosts, Joe Bonamassa, Roy Wiseman, and the Sixthman team who looked after us so well. It was a truly wonderful experience, one that I will never forget. The Blues is very much alive and kicking.

Photographer Arnie Goodman snapped this image of Dayton and Fish holding their cover issue of Blues Matters.

of Antonio Pellegrini

BRIAN AUGER’S OBLIVION EXPRESS

6-VINYL REMASTERED BOX-SET STEPHEN HARRISON’S

RECORD ROUND-UP

sion. The auspicious playing of band leader Brian Auger and the amazing guitar work of Jim Mullen combine to make the sweetest of sounds, music to lose yourself in, wafting over you like a fluffy cloud, then bringing you back in the room with a thundering clash of instruments, as if the world was coming to an end.

This, as you will see, is not my normal Record Round Up where I choose two or three classic blues albums of yesteryear and regal tales of said albums. This fine collection has recently been remastered and contains the six studio albums from Brian Augers Oblivion Express. Now, this band is not an out-and-out blues band, far from

There are also soft laments, and beautifully orchestrated instrumentals, with songs such as Total Eclipse, The Light, and On The Road. This first album of the collection gives you a small insight into the world of Oblivion Express, the other albums navigate the journey.

Second Wind, released in 1972, features Alex Ligertwood on vocals which gives the band a somewhat harder, bluesier edge, as opposed

it, they encompass so many genres, including jazz, funk, soul, prog rock, blues, and reggae. This is a mishmash of a band, to say the least. Oblivion Express came out of the band Trinity in the mid-60sBrain Auger has in the past been dubbed The Godfather of Acid Jazz, an apt description when you come to listen to the albums.

In the past, Auger has worked with the likes of, Rod Stweart, Nina Simone, and Sonny Boy Williamson, so this is a pointer as to what kind of music he had encompassed in the past, and what kind of music he would be producing in the future.

The first album to be released was Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express, which was released in 1970. As with many of the albums released at the beginning of the 70s, there were just three songs on each side of the album, very prog rock you might think. And you could be forgiven for thinking that way, keyboard solos, long guitar solos, etc, etc, but Oblivion Express did these things differently. Instead of the usual rock-type scenario, Oblivion Express combined the aforementioned genres, jazz, soul, funk, blues, and off-the-wall freedom of expres-

to the more laid-back relaxing mode of the first album. Another small but appealing bit of info is included on the sleeve of this album, it gives you the exact key in which each song is played in, for example, Truth is in, D-minor, Freedom Jazz Dance, C-minor. The songs on this album do tend to lean more towards the jazzier and blues and funk side of the fence, I suspect the addition of Ligertwood has a large part in that.

On each album, there is a slight change in personnel but the main band retains its musical core. The addition of a different guitarist, or the addition of someone playing congas, adds to the twists and turns of the musical landscape. This collection is a trip down memory lane, a reminder of Bands that had spontaneity amongst their ranks. I feel that when these albums were first released and listened to by the general public, there may have been gatherings in a house where bottles of wine and herbal cigarettes were commonplace. A less complicated time. With this remastered collection, you have the opportunity to relive those days, the music is still as enjoyable.

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MONTREAL JAZZ FESTIVAL 2023

A BLUES-INFUSED TRIUMPH

The Montreal Jazz Festival 2023 marked a triumphant return after the pandemic-induced hiatus, and it did not disappoint. This annual extravaganza, despite its jazz-centric name, transcends musical boundaries, offering a rich tapestry of genres to please a diverse audience.

For blues aficionados, the festival had some stellar acts in store. The legendary Robert Plant, known for his iconic role in Led Zeppelin, took the stage alongside the talented Alison Kraus, offering a memorable performance that blended rock classics with Americana gems. Plant, in contrast to his flashy past, appeared content as an ensemble player, showcasing his inspirations from the Everly Brothers to Led Zeppelin.

Another standout performance came from Buddy Guy, the iconic blues guitarist known for his showmanship and virtuosity. Opening for him was the young and promising Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram, whose blues guitar skills belied his age.

Gesu, a unique venue converted from a church, offered a fusion of Indian raga and traditional blues by the versatile Harry

Manx. Manx’s mastery of the mohan veena, a unique instrument, created a captivating soundscape. He reimagined classics like “Voodoo Chile” on the banjo, adding a fresh twist to familiar tunes.

For those seeking the heart of blues at the Montreal Jazz Festival, Scene Rogers was the place to be. This outdoor venue featured both Canadian and international blues artists, performing two sets each night. The rain couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the audience, especially during Dawn Tyler Watson’s powerful blues and gospel performance. Her rendition of “Lost” was a highlight, with the rain adding an extra layer of atmosphere.

The funk-infused blues sound of the Blackburn Brothers, complete with a horn section and Hammond organ, proved their prowess as a live act. Their rendition of the classic “Driftin’ Blues,” featuring the Talkbox, was a crowd-pleaser. Closing the show with “Sister Rosa,” they delivered a rousing message wrapped in funky blues.

The festival also celebrated its local talents, including JW Jones, a shining star in Canada’s blues scene. His performance ranged

from rockabilly joy to heartfelt renditions of classics like JJ Cale’s “Somebody’s Knockin’.”

A special mention goes to Canadian blues guitar legend Steve Hill, whose powerful set left a lasting impression. His guitar skills, demonstrated on tracks like “All About The Love” and “Everything You Got,” were nothing short of mesmerizing.

The Scene Rogers consistently drew large and enthusiastic crowds, proving that the love for live blues music remains a vital part of the Montreal Jazz Festival’s charm.

This festival’s resurgence underscores the enduring appeal of live music, encompassing jazz, world music, and blues. It’s a must-attend event for 2024, but be sure to plan accommodations well in advance, as hotels and flights tend to fill up quickly.

In conclusion, the Montreal Jazz Festival 2023 delivered a triumphant return to live music, showcasing a diverse range of genres, including some unforgettable blues performances that left fans eagerly anticipating next year’s event.

 Andy Hughes  Laura Carbone

OPEN AIR BLUES FESTIVAL BREZOI 2023

A small town in rural Romania, on the edge of the Carpathians, Brezoi hosts what must surely be the finest blues festival in Europe every summer. Last year, 2022, our man-on-the-move, Barry Bluesbarn Hopwood, attended as a festival guest invitee.

He returned raving about the festival and its sheer quality. This year, again on the invitation of the festival organiser and head-honcho, Mihai Razvan Mugescu, Blues Matters visited what was to be probably the true international blues event of the year.

Brezoi Open Air Blues runs for about six days with a stunning line-up of blues names onstage every night. Variety is ensured with a few local Romanian artists also performing. 2023 saw a line-up including a festival opener from Serbia’s Ana Popovich; this was a rock-infused starter that genuinely set the tone for much to follow. I’ve never seen or heard Ana play better.

Other acts followed with the always wonderful Walter Trout band, led by Walter who was, again, on absolutely storming form. Our own Irish soul whirlwind, Kaz Hawkins, is now a regular Brezoi festival feature and her set was superb, theatricality and bursting beauty at the same time. The crowd absolutely loved every minute. Another evening saw the ever-popular blues explosion of Beth Hart; a set featuring her usual fire and fury.

Albert Cummings turned in a spirited set and joined the US visitors to rock the place and its crowd. Chicago’s

WARNER AND SPENCER

great Toronzo Cannon also showed just how it’s done with an absolutely fabulous set highlighting his huge presence and power. UK bluesman, Ben Poole, delivered a literally ‘spirited’ set washed down onstage with plentiful glugs of Irish whiskey and, for me, was perhaps one of the most unexpected quality performers.

Again, from over the Pond came Joanna Connor, a blueslady with a buzzing vibe and a fabulous grasp of the blues; likewise Eric Gales, Anthony Gomes and everybody’s favourite and pal, SugarRay Rayford, who closed the event six days later. Among the surprises was a Scot, now resident in Europe after being mostly raised in Australia, Louis King, a very solid band with hints of rock and rockabilly twisted through the wonderful mix.

In the interim each evening after the main stage shut-down around midnight, the fun moved to a marquee for an exuberant blues jam where anybody seemed able to join the fun – often led by Edi Oprea and the Southern Cockroaches, a local band with a big heart and an abundance of fun at its core.

Immediately alongside the site, which is well-served by the usual bars, cafes and eateries, is a sprawling, riverside campsite with all the usual features needed and expected. Set in the most beautiful, rugged mountainous valley, Brezoi is already preparing for 2024. And believe me, this is a festival like no other, a truly fabulous event where ticket prices are more than reasonable and the sheer quality of the acts is second to none. Easily the best, most significant blues festival in Europe, miss it at your peril!

AIN’T DONE YET

Words: Lovat Fraser Image: Pip Phillips

A bass player said to me a few years ago “Where is the grease in that tune?” and it got me thinking about the space and the groove and how they work within a band. So, I write blues and keep working on the space and grooves.

My live set of Americana and blues from the Delta to Chicago, is made up of more than half of songs I have written myself and it struck me recently that folks were dancing to my tunes and that was a great feeling.

My background is acoustic fingerstyle blues and slide and I have transferred that into my electric playing. I appreciate Fred McDowell’s approach to both - I play steady bass lines and lead lines. This gives me the versatility to perform in duo as well as in a band, and I often like that more direct connection.

I think of all the blues guitar players that have had the greatest impact on me are ‘fingers only players’ as they just move the strings more, get more accurate chording and a stronger or quieter attack. For phrasing Robert Johnson and Zal Cleminson have a great edge and Ry Cooder pulls it all together beautifully. For vocal influences Bozie Sturdivant and Corey Harris’ tunes are deep and if I could find a piano player like Louise Johnson I’d never stop playing.

My main aim with onstage gear is to reduce this also. I did try some dirt and compression pedals but hardly used them and stopped after a dancer knocked out my power plug. So now I’m straight into my Blues Jnr.

My guitars are Strat based. For slide I found an Aria STG in a pawn shop and as soon as I picked it up, I knew that the weight, the neck, and response were near perfect. I have fitted all my electric guitars with Qpickups from Croatia, and they give me good, manageable heat.

My wife Jane will sing harmony on my next CD, and she gives us performance pointers like “Make friends with the audience” and “Smile “– so I try!

My son Aly Fraser is stepping in on bass and Pip Phillips has joined on harp in “Ain’t Done Yet – Blues and Grooves “and Murray Charters is on drums and cahon kit, come up and say hello at a gig.

THE JBBH PROJECT

Joe Bonamassa and Beth Hart are renowned for quality performances and excellent albums, and now from West Sussex springs a tribute band to pay homage to these musical powerhouses.

“The JBBH Project is the brainchild born of covid restrictions and time spent keeping life interesting during lockdown, playing and learning songs from artists that we love and respect” explained Nat Ainley. “To keep ourselves busy Lee (my wife) and I spent hours in our home studio learning songs that we loved to listen to, quickly realising that the majority were from albums of Joe Bonamassa and Beth Hart” he explained further.

On the suggestion of creating of a band dedicated solely to these great artists, with Lee Ainley singing lead, they began recruiting the other members. Longtime friends Dave Atkin (drums), Jon Hill (bass) and Chris Anderson (lead guitar) quickly formed the core band, but then it was time to find the brass section. Finding band members instead of dep players was difficult at first, but they persevered and were lucky enough to find an established four-piece sax group, with Chris Handel on baritone, Richard West on tenor, Jane Clark, and Annabel Dunstan on alto. Next to be recruited were the backing vocalists, with Beverley Williams and Pauline Tandy completing the JBBH jigsaw.

“We have all been playing in bands for years and our musical influences are very broad, but we all have a love and respect of the blues. I remember as a kid watching the Blues Brothers movie and being blown away. There after all I’ve ever wanted to do was to play in a big rhythm and blues band with a full lineup. That movie introduced me to so many great artists like John Lee Hooker, James Brown, and Aretha Franklin, from there I then discovered Joe Cocker, Clapton and more recently Tedeschi Trucks, the list goes on” Nat explained. “Lee’s favourite vocalists are Beth Hart, Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin, Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald, a lot of which is covered by Beth & Joe on their collabo rative albums, so it was an absolute no brainer for us to go ahead with the band” stated Nat.

The JBBH Project have recently shot a live vid eo session at Stanbridge Farm Studios (West Sussex), recording 7 songs, which are being released on their YouTube channel. The band are now taking bookings for 2024, so if you are a club, theatre or festival promoter looking for a great Rhythm and Blues Band please get in touch.

Facebook.com/TheJBBHProject

BLUES DREAMING

The Concert For Dreams, in Dinxperlo, Netherlands on October 20 - 21, is coming up fast. Among acts performing at this year’s festival is Neil Sadler with his band The Neil Sadler Band on 21 October. Plus a great lineup with many bands from the UK but others from Spain, Ireland and Argentina.

The Vargas Blues Band who opened for the Rolling Stones, last year, in Madrid ; Eamonn McCormack and Todd Sharpville are also performing at the concert. Alongside these exceptional artists, there are many other greats - Rob Orlemans, Krissy Matthews, Yulian Taylor.

Two days of fantastic blues music and for those that like rock music there are some great rock bands and established tributes to the songs of Status Quo, Rolling Stones, Eagles, Fleetwood Mac and Kiss. A truly fabulous lineup of musical entertainment.

The event itself is a blues benefit affair, raising funds for a charity similar to the UK’s Wish Foundation, where people with life-limiting illnesses have their dreams fulfilled. As you may appreciate, to facilitate these dreams, a specially prepared ambulance with team of volunteer medical staff takes some preparation and funding. So, the event hopes to expand and attract as many UK blues fans as possible for 2023.

The event has grown in stature and has proved popular over the last five years with support gaining momentum each year! For music lovers there are plenty of B&Bs or motorhome parking spaces and room to pitch a tent, all for very reasonable prices; in addition, as a tempter, the event organisers have have put together some deals for fans travelling from outside The Netherlands to this event.

Blues Matters! caught up with the Sweden-based, American expatriate blues troubadour Eric Bibb at Whitley Bay Playhouse towards the end of his recent marathon world tour to promote his latest highly acclaimed album, Ridin’.

Eric summarises the experience: ‘The Ridin’ tour has been great; we spent two months in Australia, had some gigs in France and then travelled to Scotland, England and Ireland.’ Eric’s music reflects his thoughts on current world and historical events and his own experiences whilst remaining entertaining, uplifting and inspirational. He talks to us about his early influences, his extensive career, future plans and of course his affection for hats!

‘My dad Leon Bibb was the portal to this whole wonderful world of music that I inhabit. He was a very fine, trained singer with a beautiful voice but was frustrated with his attempts to get leading roles in Broadway because there was a lot of segregation going on at that time in the late 1940s and

early 50s. So he decided to create his own repertoire of folk and blues and joined the whole music renaissance that was happening in New York City. He teamed up with artists like Pete Seeger, Josh White, Odetta Holmes and Judy Collins which gave me the chance to meet all those people including a young Bob Dylan. I have my dad to thank not just for introducing me to beautiful music but wonderful musicians. My mother’s brother was also a well known piano player and composer, John Lewis, the founder of the modern jazz quartet so I was surrounded by great music.

‘My parents had an extensive record collection but I have to admit that my first personal record purchase was The Singing Nun! After that, I bought mainly blues and folk records. I had been listening to blues from the age of seven or eight, mainly people like Leadbelly, Josh White and Big Bill Broonzy. However, the biggest influence on me was Son House and I first saw him perform when I was 14 years old at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. He was an amazing performer who

changed my whole world view because he was a southern man from Mississippi singing deep Delta blues and I had never heard it like that before of course. I had his records but to see him perform was mind blowing and life changing. I started focusing on blues, not just acoustic blues but the Chicago blues scene when I was 15 and I met a friend, Dave Myer, at high school who had an amazing collection of records. I would go to his apartment and he would educate me.

Then I moved to Paris as a young man and ran into jazz and blues legend Mickey Baker who introduced me to the music of Robert Johnson which just flipped my world upside down. I started delving into country blues recorded in the 1920s and 30s because it is such a strong genre, a rich tradition that has influenced so many musicians across the spectrum including pop and jazz. It is coming from people who have experienced incredible duress, abuse and oppression who have somehow emerged with their sense of who they are largely intact. This music has a supernatural quality and I think that qual-

 Dave Scott and Tom Bolam  Jan-Malmstrom

ity is something that will appeal to young people for generations to come. There is so much generated by machines and artificial intelligence these days so the ‘real deal’ is someone sitting with a guitar and a harmonica, singing and making music from their own experience. Blues is such a strong tradition it will be around for a long time. With the internet, it is easier for people to access this tradition whereas in the past you had to seek out record collectors.

I have to say that although I am proud to be associated with the blues, and my music is absolutely rooted in that legacy, I don’t consider myself to be just a blues musician. I was always exposed to all kinds of music, a lot of jazz and a lot of classical music and that has influenced me as a writer. I realised that it was important in terms of a style that you can point to, in order to get work. I’m a finger-style guitarist. I’m not a strummer like Richie Havens who was a master strummer, and I’m not a lead player like Robert Cray. I am a Piedmont style guitar player, that ragtime hokum style, and Delta blues is in there

as well. I arrange in the way that supports the song. I am not an improviser, rather I accompany myself and do that comfortably. The highlights of my musical journey include the many collaborations with my heroes such as Mavis and Pop Staples, Taj Mahal, Bonnie Raitt, Ruthie Foster and singers from Mali in West Africa. I am always excited about my latest album and thinking about my next. The favourites among my own albums include Friends and Diamond Days but Ridin’ is one of the best I have ever been able to produce with Glen Scott and is right on time and well received. There are forces which are trying to delete important true stories from history so I try to write songs which fill some of the gaps such as “Tulsa Town” which is a serious song about a real and tragic event. I am privileged not just to write and play groovy music but to inform people about events they need to know actually happened. You wonder where all the negative attitudes and prejudices come from but it’s embedded in our history.

A young blues player who I rate highly is Jontavious Willis from Georgia who joined Taj and I on the track, “Blues Funky Like Dat”. He is a real treasure who knows the old school stuff and has done his research, he is a fine singer and player. I have also enjoyed working with Eric Gales, a superb electric guitarist. I have received many awards in my career, all of which are a nice nod from your community that they hear you and appreciate you, Grammy’s in particular. Jazz FM nominated me as Blues Artist Of The Year with The Rolling Stones and Bonnie Raitt, which was an honour to be included with them.’

When asked about how he writes such inspirational songs such as “Needed Time” and “500 Miles”, Eric replies, ‘ I don’t have a particular approach or specific song writing

technique. To tell the truth I don’t know how it happens. It is a mysterious process and very spontaneous and organic and I don’t know when a song is going to come through. It is fascinating because some people have a method and spend so many hours a day writing. I sit at the kitchen table with my guitar and the next thing I know a song is on its way!

With regard to my future plans, I am constantly writing, always got something on the go and creating in one way or another. I am looking forward to focusing on my solo performances. I had 20 solo shows before the band joined me on my latest tour and the audiences enjoyed them. I have done some ambitious productions with Glen but we are now looking at stripped down material. It is enjoyable getting close to an audience in smaller venues and I prefer these to larger events with bigger soundscapes with visually more to look at. I started out as a self-accompanying blues troubadour and those are my roots and that is my focus even though I enjoy collaborating with other musicians. Guitar and voice arrangements are now my focus and I will do more performing in that mode. I also like teaching in schools, mentoring and organizing workshops, telling people what my journey has been like and to help others on their way. If I hadn’t been a musician I would be a music teacher. I also like carpentry and I am a voracious reader so writing might have been another option.’

And as for those trademark hats: ‘When I was about 14 my mother returned home from Spain with a matador’s hat and I loved that flat brimmed look which is where my hat affection started. I found a hat maker in Santa Fe recently, and had a hat made which cost more than I want to reveal, but a good hat is something to have and to spend money on!’

WRITING ON THE WALL COCO MONTOYA

Coco Montoya’s remarkable career has left an indelible mark on the blues genre, and Coco Montoya’s remarkable career has left an indelible mark on the blues genre, and his artistry continues to captivate audiences worldwide. his artistry continues to captivate audiences worldwide. Caught up with him via Zoom link at his California home. We discussed assorted topics, his early career and also his newest release Writing On The Wall.

Coco talks about his personal journey as a musician:

“Music always affected me emotionally, I always identified with how music made me feel, whether it was some big band artist or singer, it is where it took me emotionally, making me, happy, sad, angry, you know. I became aware of the blues genre as a young teen going to a concert. I was aware of Eric Clapton and John Mayall by that time

through the British Blues explosion. I heard Born Under a Bad Sign by Cream before I heard it by Albert King. When I went to see a Creedence Clearwater concert, opening for them was Albert King this just blew me away because, you know, we’re all reeking in patchouli oil and long-haired hippie garb. Here is this man up there in patent leather shoes with his suit on, he just blew my head off. You just emotionally reached places emotionally that I had never been. Then I tracked Mike Bloomfield, Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Mick Taylor where they all got their blues style from. We had a lot of access to the blues on regular TV. The Johnny Otis Show was influential. I just was not aware of what I was seeing. My mom was a good singer but looked after the family. My dad was a weekend warrior playing tenor sax and drums, but he just did it as a hobby. It was no big thing to him. There was lots of music played in the house, Latino, big band music, Artie Shaw and even Solomon Burke.”

What influenced the guy proves revealing:

“The light bulb moment was that Albert King concert. Later I met Albert Collins and started drumming in his band. At that time, I dedicated my style to the blues genre. The two big gigs in my life; Albert Collins and John Mayall that is never going to happen again, it was very weird. I actually hung up on John Mayall. John phoned for me; I thought it was some of those guys having a go at me. I was quite surprised. But it was John Mayall calling me. He had a tape from a jam session that he’d heard me do and he asked me if I wanted to come down to the Central Club and check it out because he’s looking for a new set of Bluesbreakers. Mick Taylor had needed replacing and he chose me, without me pursuing it in any way, shape or form. It fell in my lap. We were in there playing and they said John Mayall’s in the house. I said, I’ll dedicate this bastardized version of an Otis

 Colin Campbell  Victoria Smith

Rush song to him via the soundman running a tape for John. John called me that was it. How the hell am I playing with John Mayall? How the hell am I playing with Albert Collins? But I was in his band for five years... John was very efficient, he made sure everybody in the band got a cassette and had time to homework a little bit of it on most songs we played. I think the most amazing thing about John Mayall, which was so much opposite of who I was. I grew up as a kid who, if you made fun of me once, you know, I would not do that again because it made fun of twice, music was the only thing that nobody could deter me.

eventually little weird things happened here and there. A friend of mine who did well in the music business selling guitars and had a guitar store in Hollywood, decided he wanted to produce an album, so we ended up doing that. It ended up being my first album. A bunch of different people came to play on it including Debbie Davies and Al Coper and Richie Hayward from Little Feat.”

With Drums and guitar in the history, I wonder if there’s a true preference:

And believe me, I had plenty people tell me I stink, and it didn’t seem to deter me. John confirmed all that watching him do what he does. He always said, don’t worry about that stuff. Just keep persevering. Don’t worry about slipping on a banana peel. He sat me down after about a month and just said,’ Hey, look, I didn’t get you here to be a Clapton clone you can’t be him or Peter Green!’ Albert Collins had internal power that he could pull us through anything. There were times at soundchecks Albert used to sit with me and just play rhythm guitar and I’d play drums. There were times when I went out with Albert Collins, and we were just picking up the guitars free-flying and our keyboard player followed along. His advice was always don’t think about playing, just feel it. He never analysed what he did. He told me to be the best version of Coco Montoya that you can be.”

“After leaving the Bluesbreakers, and suggesting Buddy Whittington as a replacement, John was very matter of fact when I left. To me it felt like no man’s land. I had been an alcoholic, a drug addict and during this time Albert Collins died, so many losses. But then

“:I started drums when I was eleven years old and worked my way up through that. But around thirteen I got an acoustic guitar. I am a self-taught guitarist never really got to grips with scales and chords. I’m a bit lazy that way and maybe regret educating myself on this. I’m seventy-one now, I stand in the one spot on stage, so I don’t fall over the monitors - it’s an awful life, my dance steps are all gone now!” he laughs.

“When I started listening to John Mayall and Cream this was not only blues, but it was also something where Clapton was coming from a different place at that time. My career as a drummer fizzled out, because when funk came along and people like David Garibaldi and Tower of Power came along, I wasn’t going to get a handle on that.”

Coco turns to the new album:

“My keyboard player, Jeff Paris, world renowned and an excellent guitarist had a studio that he had let get into a little bit of disarray. I said why couldn’t we do this here in your garage? I grabbed all the stuff I had here at my house, preamps, microphones the lot and brought them down there and a set of beautiful studio monitors and speakers. He started calling in favours and stuff like that. In the meantime, we’re rehearsing and trying to figure out what we are going to do on this

album. We were putting this studio together at the same time, redoing it, getting it up, and working again. The pressure was on from all kinds of directions! You’re trying to be creative but you’re in a rush to get this stuff moving and fired up. It is like bringing the Frankenstein monster back to life, right! We could have got this done a lot sooner if we’d just gone to a regular studio, but I don’t think we would have got the creativity and the freedom to let all these musicians express themselves. Another unique thing about it is I used my road band. So, the process was a bit jumbled, but you know, we’d go in and have Zoom meetings with Dave Steen and Jeff Paris and came up with these songs and we got pretty excited about it and the process. I guess the only reason why it took so long is because we had to write, record, and get a studio up and running.”

Coco’s life philosophy seems simple:

“Gratitude, that’s a big one for me. How to persevere and know there is an answer to whatever is in your way at that moment. Just have that gratitude. It’s really important because Albert Collins used to say it takes people less time to forget you than it does to get to know you. When I hit the stage for the last time in my life, I want to be grateful because I don’t know, around the corner I might be on my way on to the next place. You got to live in the live in the moment.”

And the meaning of success?:

“Success in my life would be just to be able to take care of my wife and be able to feel that on my deathbed, I would be able to know that she’s okay. You know, those are successes in life and playing music. You know, those are successes to me. Trophies and things like that mean nothing to me. Yeah, I understand the value in the business of Grammys, and I would be grateful if that would ever to happen. But for me personally, is that the be all and end all for me now, not at all.”

Looking ahead, Coco confirms:

“You know, at 71, I don’t know what there is. Every day and every minute be in it and just be ready to play and hopefully I’ve got a few years to go yet. You know right now I’m feeling good. I want to get out there and play. I am still hungry for it. The future is that right now. I still love it and I want to continue. And what would I say to my 13-year-old self … I’d say ‘stop biting your nails, you little bastard.’ No, I would get it into his head a little earlier that you can’t take everything personal. Let it roll off your back, you know!

For further information see website: www.cocomontoyaband.com

DOM MARTIN FROM THE HEART

Irish firebrand bluesman, Dom Martin, is a unique singer songwriter and guitarist. His musical styles are eclectic and the emotion he puts into writing his songs comes from an inherent honesty and a feel for what he is singing and playing. We discussed and touched on his individuality to his musical approach, especially regarding his new eleven track release Buried In The Hail.

With a recent American tour just behind him, I ask how it all went:

“Recently, we were in Omaha, Nebraska, we played the Playing with Fire concert. Vanessa and Jeff over there do these shows and thankfully they wanted us to go over. They sorted out the visas, accommodation, and stuff for us for a few days. From there, we drove to Colorado onto Iowa and Chicago, which was a crazy long journey but really good fun. There was a point in Iowa after the gig we all went to a local bar. I went back to the accommodation we were staying in, there was a porch and just me by myself and the night. I sat on the porch, man, and I smoked a vape and I listened to music, the crickets, and the trains and the big V8 engines going - that was the pinnacle of peacefulness. I found an inner peace that I didn’t know existed. Chicago is big and it’s beautiful. It’s rough, windy and we were treated like kings everywhere we went. I think it’s the Irish thing! All the people that came to the gigs, they had a good time and we’re really thankful for them for coming out and took a chance on somebody they might not have known a lot about. There was not much difference between an audience America, than there was in Ireland. I think a lot of people can identify with the songs. They see the energy on stage with the band. I jump off the stage and I get in people’s faces sometimes!”

And what about actually playing Buddy Guy’s Legends Chicago?:

“This was an experience I don’t think I’ll forget. I listen to Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. These guys seemed very unapproachable. But to meet Buddy was just like the big one for me. This guy played with them all. He’s been there, we shared a good moment together. I’m thankful for that opportunity just to meet him, never mind talk to him, a very smart guy, he does not suffer fools whatsoever. We played two sets; one acoustic and one with the band. It was magical. I sat there humble and listened

to what he said. Advice from Buddy? ‘You’re not there to impress anybody and if you’re coming into it thinking that you might as well stop. We share that same mentality, you play from the heart.’ I identified with a lot of the things he said, you know, which gave me validation that I’m doing the right thing.”

He confirmed my own thinking: be the best you can be, if you don’t do that you start maybe to lose a part of yourself. I’ve always said, even to people who leave my band this, because they can’t hack it, or they don’t want to travel or whatever. I have to say to them, can you look at your future self and ask Is he saying thank you or is he saying F-you? My future self has said thank you to me and all the things I’m doing now.”

Looking back, Dom says: “What would I say to my 13-year-old self – obviously, I told you so! I told you you’d have a room full of guitars and amplifiers that you always wanted, and you’ll be able to afford those strings. I used to walk five miles just to buy one E string. That’s a hell of a journey for one string! This wasn’t even that long ago, my early 20s.It was a tough time for me, but I always kept thinking, it’s going to be all right, you’ll get through this. I’m very grateful, now I’ve got loads of strings and loads of guitars, that’s my wealth in bits of wood and wire! “

Curious about his audience connection, he responds frankly:

“I just kind of found somebody one night in an audience. It didn’t look like they were having a good time. I just felt like I should try and get them to play the guitar or something, so I jumped off the stage and gave them the slide made them go up and down the fretboard with the slide while I was strumming. I put a big stupid smile on their face after them looking miserable for 20 minutes, and me going, I’m not winning this gig. Now I just find somebody in the audience that doesn’t really look like they’re interested. I’ll make them get into it and

give them a bit of fun!“

So, what are his thoughts on bringing on a new generation of blues players?:

“You need to nurture these guys. A lot of people think that that’s the finished article, when they do their first album or first demo. They have to remember that’s just the start. We can either get better or worse from there. So, it all depends on the people who are listening to the music and what they have to say about it. I mean, you could rip somebody apart for the stuff they’ve recorded. I could rip myself apart pretty easily for some of the stuff I’ve recorded that I’m not happy with, but I’ll have to think of it as a learning process. Recording music is a completely different animal than playing live. It’s very final, so the newer bands coming up, we’ve got to nurture them.”

Is there any challenge in keeping a band together, I query:

“This certainly keeps me on my toes. I found two guys here in Ireland. After this year, it will be a big test to see if they want to do it completely, the travel and the lifestyle, which is horrible, sometimes it can take its toll on you. I love the experience with the bad times and the good times. A lot of people have left because of that. And I fired a lot of other people because of other reasons. But these two guys I’m using now, I think that I really have hope that these are my guys. We just have to get along, if we have differences, we put them aside.

Ben the bass player he’s got my back, he’s capable and he’s steady. My drummer was brought in and straight away I saw he was not scared of hitting those drums, you know like the first beat I was, oh yeah this, guy can hit those drums! He’s got this whiplash thing going on. I don’t want to chop and change the band anymore. We must evolve as a band.”

I close asking about the new album, Buried in Hail:

 Colin Campbell  Tony Cole

“When I was doing the first two albums, nothing went right. It was just awful. But this time; I feel that I actually got it right, I’m 100% satisfied. There’s not one second on this album that makes me feel embarrassed or frustrated or sick. This album was uncompromising, I would not take anybody’s input lightly. Nothing was changed or chopped. I didn’t let them change a damn thing. It’s a bit selfish of me to say that like but it does say Dom Martin on the album. I stuck to my guns every second of the way. I did it completely selfishly for myself and the songs are exactly the way they should be. It’s just an album straight from my heart. For me, the writing comes from a place of utter heartbreak and emotional despair. But I kind of find out that I put myself in these situations on purpose, right! There’s also a kind of self-destructive tendency to put myself in situations that do cause me physical and emotional harm. But out of that comes these songs. I’ve sacrificed everything for this music, EVERYTHING - and I refuse to hide myself anymore. I love the pain of it all, I get off on it. I made friends with these songs. They’re all my friends, all these feelings, all these bad thoughts and the utter heartbreak we all go through.”

The album closes with the song, Howlin’, Dom explains its significance: “Recorded live, so we couldn’t fix or change anything. It was all the drums and the bass and me were in the same room together so you couldn’t overdub or do anything,

just like going back to the earlier stages of amplification. Howlin’ Wolf is one of a handful of artists that I listen to every day, John Martyn would be another. Howlin’ Wolf has been such an enigma to me and an influence. His life was so tough, his childhood was all traumatic and horrible. It was just maybe I could identify with his a little, tiny bit! I just wanted to tip my hat to the guy, that’s all.”

Dom Martin’s new album “Buried In The Hail” is released by Forty Below Records on September 22. Dom tours the UK and Ireland from October 8 to November 17.

Album & ticket info: www.dommart.in

Danny Bryant is a blues troubadour. He plays around three hundred live shows a year. When you take out time for writing and rehearsals, that doesn’t leave a lot of spare time for anything else. But that’s OK, because being a blues musician is all Danny ever wanted to do with his life.

He started learning guitar at the age of fifteen, and by the age of eighteen, he was ready to launch his own career as a professional musician. Along the way he secured some hugely valuable support from blues legend Walter Trout, and we’ll discuss that shortly. But we began our conversation discussing whether or not Danny was a naturally talented guitarist, and it all simply fell into place. “I don’t think I’m a ‘natural’ in the sense of a huge instinctive talent that I simply had to polish a bit.” reckons Danny after some thought. “What felt natural to me was the urge to do it, the sense of just how much I wanted to be a guitar player. I actually was one of those kids who spent ten hours a day locked in their bedroom practising, and playing along with their favourite artists. I had such a love for the guitar, and it drove me to be as good as I could as a musician. It still does, I am still always looking for ways to improve my playing. That’s why I never get bored with it, there is always something new to learn. Once I decided to be a professional musician, I had to learn other things, like how to actually write songs, and how to perform on stage. I think I made enough rapid progress early on, to be encouraged to keep going with it.”

Back at the learning stage. Danny followed the tried and trusted method that has worked for so many legendary musicians in the past. Find an artist you admire and who’s style you like, buy their albums, and try to copy what they do. “Absolutely and completely,” Danny confirms. “I have said this many times in

interviews, but it does bear repeating – it doesn’t matter about forming your own playing style, your own individuality, because that will come naturally. If you find you can take this bit from this song, and that bit from that guitarist, and you need to fit them together, then that’s when your own style starts to happen, when you start creating those musical bridges.

“That’s when you start to understand what your musical identity is, and once you have a hold of it, you can continue to develop it more or less for the rest of your life.”

One unusual aspect of Danny’s development has come through the mentoring and support of the legendary blues player Walter Trout. Danny explains how he got to know the great man. “I’ve known Walter since I was fifteen, he’s been like a second father to me. I wrote him a fan letter, and put my phone number on it, and he rang me to talk to me. Walter tours the UK in the summer, and I would meet up with him.

“The thing is, now I am a professional musician, and I play around three hundred days a year, and I know now how important that afternoon sleep is when you have a gig that night. He used to come down to the garden of the hotel where he was staying, and he would bring his guitar, and I would sit there with my guitar, and my mum and dad would be with me, and he would give me an hour’s guitar lesson. Every day that he was within a distance that we could reach him, he did that. That went on until I was a recording musician, we played on albums together. Then when he got ill, he had the band to pay, and seven-week tour to play, and he had his liver transplant, and Walter called me and asked if I would go out on the road with his band and play the shows for him. That was my chance to give a little bit back for everything Walter has done for me, he is one of the dearest friends I have ever had.”

It’s a wonderful story, that Walter Trout has taken the time and trouble, including forgoing his vital afternoon naps on show days, to encourage a young guitarist – but musicians like Walter must get fan letters from loads of people, it’s not as if he has the time, even if he does have the inclination, to do the same for them as he did for Danny. So, what made Danny the special one, the one that Walter Trout chose to mentor and bring on as a guitar player? “I think he saw the hunger I had for learning the guitar, and the dedication I was putting into doing it. I wrote to him as I said it was before the days when e-mail was as common as it is now, and the fact that I took the time to write to Walter meant

 Andy Hughes  Felix Groteloh

something to him. He’s said to me since, that he sees a lot of him in me, when he was young and starting out. He is my mentor; I have learned so much from him over the years. I call him The Boss, and he laughs and says that Bruce Springsteen’s tag not his. But as Bob Dylan says, everyone has to serve somebody, and to me, he’s The Boss. If you have a band and you are in charge, you are the boss, so he is my boss, that’s how I think of him.”

Mainland Europe has a massive blues scene, and a large number of blues bands and artists have very solid fan bases out there, the backbone of their touring schedules. Danny Bryant is becoming a major player on the European blues scene, so what attracts the European fans to his work? “I think a lot of it has to do with being signed to European label, the have all the connections, and we do tour there a massive amount of time. If you look on my website, it’s an endless list of our dates, and a lot of them are in Europe. I do see a lot of young people at gigs in Europe, more than here, but that is changing here in the UK. I think more young people are embracing blues music and coming out to see bands play live. It ebbs and flows, as it always has. I think the UK blues scene is in a very healthy position right now, which is great considering that national finances, and there’s not a lot of money around for pleasure in buying albums and going out to see gigs. But the blues has survived, and now, as things get back to normal again, people are starting to come out and see us, which is wonderful.”

No job is perfect, everyone knows that. No matter how much you love what you do, and Danny Bryant absolutely loves what he does, there is a downside. And Danny has no hesitation in advising what it is. “Travelling. I always say, I don’t get paid to play, I get paid to travel. The show is wonderful, the travel around it, less so. This is festival season, so I may be at home for three or four days, and then off out again. I have done six plane flights in the last two weeks. Flying is tiring, and airports are often not pleasant experiences for us, especially as we do so many of them. We like to get the first flight out, then we can get to the hotel and have some sleep before the soundcheck and the show. If the flight is delayed or cancelled, then you lose that rest time, but still have to do the show as well as possible. And then off again the next day, and it can happen again, and it gets gruelling after a while.

“You learn strategies to get as much rest as you can. When I get back from a gig, I shower, and lay out my clothes for the next day. I put the toothpaste on my toothbrush, my deodorant next to it. When I am due

to check out of the hotel at twelve, I set my alarm from eleven-forty-five and I am dressed and ready to go at twelve, with as much sleep as I can get first. It’s funny, when I set my alarm, I always wake up a minute before it goes off. I could have been a farmer, but I’m glad I’m not, I’d much rather do this!”

Time to talk about songwriting, a craft Danny has learned, to go along with his prodigious ability as a guitarist. “I do enjoy it, and it has got easier over time. You learn techniques as you go, because writing is a craft, and like all crafts, there are skills you learn that help you.

“Once I have finished an album, unless a melody is nagging at me enough that I have to record it for the next writing session, I don’t usually write for about six to eight months. All songwriters have influences from their lives and experiences, some of them subconscious, and by the time they float up into your mind and become a lyric idea for a song, they have adapted quite a bit.

“I get a wonderful sense of freedom when an album is finished, and in that really exciting feeling of release and time to do something else, I get inspired to write two or three songs, and then I think that they should have actually gone on the album! I just keep them, and they’ll be ready when we come to make another record, and they’ll make a god start to the writing time for the next album.

“It’s a massive cliché, but cliches are cliches because they are true, that all the great songs fall into your lap, they appear really easily. They are just there. But for the less easy ones, there are techniques that you learn. You can find a lyric from one song, the bridge from another, and the chorus from a third, and put them together and make a complete song. Because no-one except the composer ever knows where a song came from, or how it’s constructed, the method is not important, it’s the result that counts.”

Any and all blues guitar fans know that the solo is the heart and soul of any piece of blues music. Some construct solos, some play them as they feel on the day, or night, in the studio, or on the stage. “I completely improvise my solos,” Danny advises. “I could never make a solo the same every time, it just wouldn’t feel right to me, I have to play something I feel in the moment, and that applies when I am recording, or playing live on stage. It has to be there and then, that’s how I work anyway. I’m not saying constructed and rehearsed solos are a bad thing, only that they’re not how I work.” Most artists have a favourite song on a new album, one they are looking forward

to playing when they take the album out on the road. “Into the Slipstream is a song I enjoy,”, says Danny. “It’s not like some of the other songs I have written before. I am very pleased with the whole album. Once I have finished recording, I don’t tend to listen back to it. You get far too close to songs to hear them objectively any more, like the audience can. You come back to it when you rehearse for a tour, and certain changes have to be made to accommodate playing a song live, and that’s always a good thing to do, working things out for live playing.”

We spoke about Danny’s hero, the maestro Buddy Guy. I had the pleasure of seeing Buddy play at the wonderful Montreal Jazz Festival in the summer, the Festival is always a huge supporter of blues music. Buddy was on fine form, hamming it up, and having a wonderful time. Danny is keen to share his first of several meetings with the great man. “I was playing at a festival with Buddy on the bill, and I so wanted to meet him. The promotor said no chance, Buddy is famously shy, he doesn’t mix with other musicians, he has dressing facilities a short way away from the site. The promoter was picking Buddy up for his show and he invited me to come along and sit in the car, and see what happened.

“What happened was, the two of them went back to the dressing room to get something, and left me alone in the car with the legendary Buddy Guy. So, I figured I’d introduce myself, and he was absolutely charming, really nice, we had a great chat. When he found out this would be the first time I was going to see him, as he got out of the car, Buddy said ‘It was nice to meet you Danny, I hope I don’t let you down.’ I shall never ever forget that. If I live as long as he has, I’ll still be playing, like he is.

So, what next for Danny Bryant? “Well, I’ve just resigned another five-year three-album deal with my record label, that gives me some confidence and security moving forward, so it’s on with the touring and then think about the next album in 2024.”

And finally, the question most, if not all blues guitarists have an answer to – who would you like to play with? “Eric Clapton.” comes the response from Danny in a nanosecond. He is still the legend, and I would love to stand on a stage with him, and see him in action up close, it would be a dream come true.

“I always had two reactions when I listened to Eric Clapton growing up. One was to simply give up, because I’ll never be able to play like that. And the other, was to practice even harder, to get as near as I possibly can! That one still stands!”

BLACKBURN BROTHERS THE SOUL, FUNK AND A WHOLE LOT MORE

Blues Matters caught up with an amazing Canadian band, the Blackburn Brothers, speaking with three of the brothers, Cory, drummer; Brooke, guitarist and vocals; and Duane, keyboards and vocals, (Robert who plays guitar and does harmony vocals was not available). They are a well-known Canadian band who have had Juno award nomination and Maple Leaf nominations. Their new release Soul Funkn’ Blues showcases different styles of music in their repertoire. Here we talk about this and other topics. Let the brothers speak.

Brooke first explained how music had always been in the family, their father being the main influence. He explains;

“My father, Bobby Dean Blackburn, had been playing since the1950s, the early stages of rock and roll with Little Richard and Fats Domino. He was one of the first rock and roll musicians here in Toronto. He played on Young Street, the longest street in the world. He played at the Blue Note then the Zanzibar Tavern back in the day. He was also into blues, jazz, and R&B. He fed us a lot of music that would enlighten our senses about being more outgoing to other music. You go from Fats to the Meters or Miles Davis. You’d have the groove style of the Meters from New Orleans and back to the blues with BB King Live At The Fillmore. The records we listened to were eclectic for black music in that sense. We all started playing with my dad, he’s a keyboard player. I started practicing when I was thirteen; by fourteen, I was playing duo with my dad. This encouraged us to go out and play as a band, The

Blackburn Brothers. I think I was eight and on Christmas day there was a guitar under the Christmas tree, so I think they preordained me to play! There was a drum kit also, Robert played for a minute, but he preferred the saxophone back then. Duane was in High School, and his teacher emphasised his natural talent. He was scouted for Scholarships. You just go to an instrument that interests you, I suppose. We needed a drummer, there comes Cory he’s the youngest in the family. When Cory started playing with us, he’d already been playing with my dad, he was well seasoned. He grew up with Hip-Hop, he knew the new grooves. He introduced us into that world!”

Cory adds his agreement: “I remember the first song I played with my dad, Blueberry Hill. I heard that music around the house. To engage and try to play these songs hooked me into that style of music. My brothers started playing, I hung around listening! There were always drums in the house. I didn’t take the drums seriously until grade nine and going to High School and not let my brothers down when I played with them! They are all self-taught musicians.”

Brooke: “We’re self-listeners as well, listening is an art just like playing is. We learned to listen first.”

Cory: Yes, I learned listening. Nowadays kids watch You Tube and get mentorship from that. For us, if we had a drummer staying at our place that was your chance to check live and get that opportunity of mentoring explained. This was special and we knew to

pay attention.”

Duane joins in the conversation: “I got into Nat King Cole in my teens, also Fats Domino and Bob Marley were big influences. Our neighborhood was predominantly West Indian- a lot of different influences came through, roots, funk, and reggae.”

Asking Duane about the band’s style, he explains:

“I put a lot of organ bubbles on the blues tracks. Jazz influence is there also. I’d call it a blend just like we are.”

Brookes; “It’s all soul, funk, and blues like the name of the new album! This is our roots and where we come from. Blues is the foundation of all the music we play. It was a natural progression to go into that category.”

Cory: “Hip Hop, that for me was the most popular, I loved the energy behind this. If you listen to this, drums are the biggest foundation of that music. I identified the drum patterns and samples. It was what all my friends listened to. I got into Herbie Hancock and Grover Washington and knew the grooves and style to play. Kids have access now if they want to be their own producers and where influences and roots of the music comes from.”

We talk about influencers on their musical career, Brookes alludes to advice from a saxophone friend. “He said ‘Play every gig like it’s your las.’ “

Duane interjects: “You must enjoy what you’re doing, that’s the bottom line. If it

 Colin Campbell  Laura Carbone

becomes something different, then you shouldn’t be doing it! Enjoy the vibe you get off others playing with you, that’s better than accolades, money, or anything else.”

Cory adds: “Open your ears; being a drummer with a six-piece is like listening to all the elements others in the band are bringing. You have to find your place, that’s when it makes sense to the band and the people who are listening.”

Is there any difficulty playing as a family in a band?:

Cory: “For me it’s spiritual. I can telegraph what Brooke will play rhythmically guitar wise and with Duane where he is going vocally and how this blends with his keyboards. I don’t know whether it’s because we’ve played for years but I feel it’s beyond seeing and hearing.”

Brooke: “When we work on a new song we innately know where people are going to put their feel to it. It’s like a heart rhythm as being siblings. I play a lot in Toronto with other musicians, but there’s nothing like playing with your brothers. We all want the best from each other. The more we learn the better we can become; you never stop learning. We like to honour the sounds of yesterday and that’s our thing. We have a bac- in-theday groove. If the groove isn’t working that’s not for us! You can tweak harmonies after that the groove is the start! Robert and I have played in a Club every Thursday for twelve years. We collaborate on the songs we write. It depends on the song.”

Duane: “My vocal training started at church camp. We sang all the time and did harmonies. Getting older, me and Brook played with a cousin, Eugene Smith. He taught me how to breathe properly when singing. I like good tone and vocals like Nat King Cole, it’s about tonality for me in a song.”

That Blackburn Brothers family Lineage comes up too: Brook summarised that this could be traced to the underground railway system in the early 1800’s.

“This means we came from Kentucky as runaway slaves. In Canada the railroad was where those who were repressed came up through. It’s not a real railroad just places to hide, sometimes they went by buggy trying to escape. Songs like Wade In The Water cover this. It means bounty hunters are after them and don’t leave tracks. There were also quilts that were sold that had maps sewn in them. You follow the North star and ended in Canada. We have a lot of different influences from different family backgrounds. My mother is from Newfoundland so there’s that connection, also a Gaelic connection. This influences my solo performances when I play acoustic guitar. Playing with Eugene Smith got us into the folk blues sound. He is an iconic Canadian influencer.”

Soulfunkn’ Blues

We talk about some of the new songs and their derivations on the new release, which they explain this way:

Cory: “These songs were all done before Covid. The bed tracks had all been done then. It was prolonged. I always say, performance trumps anything technical. We grew on records that were not the best recordings. It’s interesting how this record came together but it took a long time with the process. A lot of songs were demoed, and a lot stayed, not much overdubbing.”

Brooke: “ Tracking this album was like a railway with different connections. I liked the uncertainty of it! It has an organic feel. We just pressed record then Duane would add the vocals.”

The opening track has a special place; Bobby’s Blues. “This talks about my dad doing it his way! He has a strong will. Brook wrote this. My father used to play pool for five dollars to bring soup home for us to eat. That’s where the concept of the lyrics. The lyric “Sometimes I fought” … Being black in Toronto sixty years ago things were less Liberal, they had to fight to get their point across. We heard stories of people not being

allowed in Clubs, but their music was! My father has led a real rock and roll lifestyle in a sense”.

Brooke: Tracking this album was like a railway with different connections. I liked the uncertainty of it! It has an organic feel. We just pressed record then Duane would add the vocals.

We go on to discuss where the blues genre fitted into the band’s ethos.

Brooke explains: “ The blues is a constant foundation to what I write. Some call it 1,4,5. It’s more a feeling and listening to the greats like BB King you listen to the music, and you hear where they got the concept. Ray Charles was an influence; he was the soul of the blues.”

They outline their hopes going forward: Duane: “I hope people listen to the album and discover what we’re putting out there and they enjoy it. If it puts a smile on your face and makes your soul feel good that’s all that matters to me. We want to come to UK and Europe; we’re just getting the connections. It’s the financial aspect as well!”

Brook: “If people dig then hopefully this will be something they don’t hear every day. People who come to our shows don’t hear what we do every day from other artists. They like our groove, our feel and that’s what this album is saying what we’re all about!”

A final thought on audiences arises as we part:

Duane: “Quebec or East Coast audiences are more in tune to the band maybe because we’re from Toronto. I appreciate the Canadian audience. When we go to the States, we get incredible responses. They are warm, they want to know your history. We do a lot of Festivals; a celebration of music seems to be the vibe these days.

For further information see website: www.blackburnbrothersmusic.com

JOE BONAMASSA MAN ON THE MOVE

It used to be said, quite rightly, that B.B. King was the hardest-working blues artist around. He played more gigs in America and around the world than any of his fellow blues contemporaries. Since his death, that level of playing and performing had been confined to the history books. That is until Joe Bonamassa came along, producing award-winning album after award-winning album, and constantly touring all over the globe. He’s currently playing in Europe, before travelling back to America for a few gigs, then venturing back to Europe to board the Mediterranean Blues Cruise.

 Stephen Harrison  Christie Goodwin

It is twenty years since the release of his third album, Blues Deluxe, a career-defining album that showcased Joe’s blues roots, twelve blues classics that catapulted him into the blues stratosphere. Blues Deluxe Vol 2 sees yet again Joe’s ability to produce a mind-blowing album of iconic blues songs, along with a couple of original tracks. I recently caught Joe amid his hectic schedule to chat about the album, gigs, and the impending Blues Cruise.

“Blues Deluxe Vol 2 was a challenge you know, for me, it was like, can I pull it off again, am I a better singer, am I a better musician than I was twenty years ago? I really didn’t know the answer going into it, if you know what I mean”

Blues Deluxe Vol 2, in my opinion, proves beyond all doubt that Joe Bonamassa has indeed become a better singer and a better musician than he was some twenty years ago. When I first heard the original Blues Deluxe album, I could not envisage Joe needing to become a better musician, he was a breath of fresh air in the blues and blues/rock world. But we all need to keep moving forward to some degree, and Joe, his band, and the producer, have brought to the fore a more rounded and harder edge to his voice allowing his musicianship to blossom. A reminder that blues music and Joe Bonamassa go hand in hand.

“These are big songs, by big artists and I wanted to do something to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of Blues Deluxe. I didn’t want to just remaster it, or add a bonus track, I wanted to do a whole new set of songs. I think that Josh (Smith) did a great job of producing it; we actually did it in six

days in total”

The band of musicians accompanying Joe on the Blues Deluxe Vol.2 is by and large the band that tours with Joe. Listening to the album you get a feel of the tightness that exists within the band that can only come from them touring constantly, so they bring that live energy into the studio. Josh Smith not only plays on the album, but he also writes one of the original songs and co-writes another. Twenty years ago, the original Blues Deluxe, had an element of, ‘ this is what I’m all about’ to it”. I was keen to know if that same feeling had prevailed.

“Yeah, well, every ten years or so, I feel the need to remind everyone that I am a blues guy. We kind of go off on tangents and do a lot of stuff that would be considered not blues. And, it’s nice to get back to your roots, it’s nice to get back to where it all began, and go back and live there for a minute.”

When doing an album of this nature, some people would label it as an easy album to make, with old songs, and no writing involved, just get into the studio and play. This could not be further from the truth, you have to pick the right songs, not the kind of songs that people have heard a million times before. This, for me, is what makes Blues Deluxe and Blues Deluxe Vol 2 so good and so special. A carefully chosen bunch of blues tunes, not necessarily always on the tip of your tongue, but blues tunes of some standing, given a new lease of life.

“Josh and I chose the songs, we both had lists, and we both had songs that we wanted to do. So we had to see if they would work, and you know, everything that we picked worked. We didn’t have one that

We all brought something different to the album

we failed on, so it was all good. When you are singing a Bobby “Blue” Bland song how can it not be a challenge? The songs that you choose kinda dictate what you are saying, so Twenty-Four Hour Blues from his album Dreamer, I thought, was the perfect song to pick, and it’s from probably his finest album.”

Over the years, Joe has produced his own albums and produced albums for other artists, and has had Kevin Shirley produce his live albums and DVDs. On this latest release Josh Smith took over the role of producer, and as the album proves, it is one of the finest pieces of work from Joe. Working with a different producer will inevitably throw up a different approach.

“He’s been playing in the band for over two years now. it’s a good collaboration. We all brought something different to the album, very different from the way Bob Held worked. The original Blues Deluxe was done in seven days, we didn’t pre-production anything. We went into the studio, played half of our live set, then played the rest of the songs. Blues Deluxe Vol 2 is a lot more sophisticated. We’ve got two of the songs from the album into the live set, Twenty-Four Hour Blues and, I Want To Shout About It, we are going to work out most of it into the live shows when we go out on the road in the fall (Autumn) when we go out for twenty-six shows.”

“The album started its initial process in the spring of 2022 That’s when we started to

formulate everything, it only took six days to record the whole record. We did four days in L. A and two days in Nashville, and it was done, it was quicker than the first Blues Deluxe. We cut eight songs in four days, and then we cut four songs in two days, and that was it. It was nice to re-visit the original record and to try and beat it.”

Listening to the album, I’m reminded of these blues classics that I hadn’t heard in many years, all of them still relevant today, a new lease of life breathed into each song. One particular song stands out for me as one of my all-time favouite blues tunes, Win-O, originally recorded by Pee Wee Crayton back in 1954. The original tune is exquisite, this new rendition certainly does it justice. On here, you can tell how much Joe’s vocals have altered to become more earthy and raspy with guitar work to match, it is a masterpiece.

“I Like, Twenty-Four Hour Blues and, Well, I Done Got Over It, and I Think, I Want To Shout About also came out well on the album,” says Joe.

Once again, Joe is headlining the Mediterranean Blues Cruise, with a cast of blues artists and bands second to none. Each year it seems to grow in stature attracting bigger and bigger audiences. As well as more established names such as Joe, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and Blackberry Smoke, newer artists are appearing, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Vanessa Collier, and Dom Martin, to

name a few. I was interested to find out how this wonderful idea came to fruition.

“It was something that Sixthman brought to us, we wanted to make a point where there is a charitable component to it. It has been almost ten years since the first one, and luckily it’s been very successful. Unfortunately, there won’t be a Mediterranean cruise next year because the ships needed to accommodate a concert cruise are not going to be in the Mediterranean so we are doing one in the spring of next year which will be the Caribbean cruise. Picking the artists and bands to be on the cruise is a kind of collaboration of us, Sixthman, the agents, all of us get together. Our people in the office pick a lot of the new talent that maybe I’m not aware of. A lot of familiar faces are coming back which helps to make it a nice little community. It’s a good hang for the artists, a good hang for the fans.”

The Blues Cruise is, without a doubt, one of the live highlights of any year, with forty bands appearing at gigs from noon to ten on the main deck, and some gigs being played at two in the morning. This is another part of the Joe Bonamassa live shows that keep him touring relentlessly, bringing new talent to the blues world, and helping to keep the blues alive with albums such as Blues Deluxe Vol 2.

Blues Deluxe Vol 2 is released on October 6th along with its predecessor Blues Deluxe on J & R Adventures.

ERJA LYYTINEN SHINE LIKE A DIAMOND

Internationally acclaimed guitarist and singer-songwriter Erja Lyytinen is preparing to release her fourth live album Diamonds On The Road – Live 2023.

Whilst the anticipation builds for both the artist’s new live album and her imminent UK return, the Queen of the Slide Guitar has been keeping herself busy. “I know for sure we have a hundred confirmed shows for this year. So that’s a lot of shows, and there’s still five months to go. I know there’s going to be more dates added to the touring calendar,” confirms Erja.

With such a hectic start to the year, the Finnish guitarist feels that there has been a return to some semblance of normality within the live music scene. “We did a long tour in Finland in March, and it was good to have a proper tour with an audience and without any restrictions. You can see that people are back to normal, so to speak. They are enjoying the vibe of the show together with everybody else in the audience,” she says. “We went to Canada and played some festivals there, and that was wonderful. Then we had the honour of playing on the main stage at the biggest festival here in Finland called Pori Jazz. Following me on the bill was Tom Jones. So that was great, and we enjoyed it very much. That’s the top show you can get in Finland unless you start playing arenas; that’s a different thing. So, it’s been a nice half a year.”

Canada is fast becoming an important market for the High-Flying Finn. “We’ve played there a few times now. So, people are starting to catch us. You do get some messages online asking - when are you coming back to Canada, and it was great to see you there,” explains Erja.

For those who have yet to have the pleasure of catching Erja Lyytinen in concert, the award-winning guitarist is about to release her brand-new live album. The release which is called Diamonds On The Road – Live 2023, was recorded on tour in Finland earlier this year. But what is it about the concert album format that resonates with the gifted performer? “When you have a new studio album, you start to play those songs live. They start to live a life of their own on stage. You bring something new when you play the songs repeatedly,” explains Erja. “We recorded

the live album in March 2023, and the studio album came out in October 2022. We had been playing those songs for a few months, and I thought it was just good timing to record the songs, as they would still be fresh but with a different vibe and energy.”

But did Erja know that these shows were going to develop into a live album, or did it happen organically? “We were supposed to only record the show the day before, but we recorded two shows in the end. And the latter one, it was just pure joy and so fluent, and it sounded perfect. So, we thought okay - we’re going to put this one out,” explains Erja. “So, we knew that we were going to make a live recording, but it wasn’t forced, and we were just playing the show. I think you can hear that on the recording. It flows nicely, and we’re having a good time on stage. We had a very nice crowd that night. We had played a few shows before that and most of them were sold out. Overall, there was just a really good vibe going on.”

Having released several live albums during her career, are concert albums something that Erja Lyytinen enjoys listening to herself when she is not performing? “I do sometimes listen to live albums. I’ve listened to many of Bonamassa’s live albums and other colleagues playing blues/rock. Eric Gales, of course – I’m a really big fan of his music and Gov’t Mule have some good live recordings that I recently listened to. I remember John Mayer when he did his trio album, this was like 10 years ago, he was playing with Pino Palladino on bass and drums it was Steve Jordan. So that was just brilliant how sometimes a live recording can be so perfect,” she says. “It is a different world really. In the studio, you can lay down as many tracks as you want to. You can edit and you can do all sorts of things to make the recording sound perfect. But onstage, it’s the real deal. Especially when it’s blues and rock music. It works the best really played live - it’s just brilliant.”

A few years back, Erja Lyytinen recorded a concert album under very different circumstances - that being

Lockdown Live 2020. A live album that was recorded amid the pandemic, where artists performed in front of their fans via live streams. Thankfully, this time around, Erja was able to record her new live album in front of an actual audience. “I could tell that people are so much more into live music again, and they’re so free and open with everything. So, I could see that it was a great time to record a live album,” says Erja. “We can freely do what we love and enjoy playing together. So, it’s like a celebration of freedom in some way.”

The first single from Diamonds On The Road – Live 2023 is You Talk Dirty. “It’s a different song from all the other songs in some way. I had a Black Sabbath War Pigs vibe going on in my mind when I was arranging that song. It’s a strong song and good fun to play,” explains Erja. “Towards the end, we have this double tempo in there. It’s a rocking song, and we play that one loud each night on stage. I love it, and it seems like people always enjoy that song.”

The album features an incredible cover of Crosstown Traffic by Jimi Hendrix, where Erja puts her stamp on the timeless number. But out of all the songs in the Hendrix repertoire, what was it about that track that made Erja want to cover it for the album? “It’s a nice up-tempo track first, and there are not so many covers of that song. I’d been playing this song for a few years already. We’ve been playing it now and again. And now we’ve added this one to this year’s live set,” says Erja. “It was fascinating to play these guitar parts that are being played by Jimi Hendrix, but I’m using a slide. So, it was rearranging the song and what he’s doing there. Of course, we added our own touch to it and so on. It’s a very nice live track as well. And on the live recording, it’s our first encore.”

Speaking about the late great guitar icon, Erja adds: “It’s like Hendrix has his unique style. It’s hard to copy him. That’s why it’s easier to play the solo with a slide. So it will sound different. But I like Jimi Hendrix, and I do listen to his albums when I’m at home quite often. Yesterday, I was playing at this festival, and I had a chance to jam with an old rock band. So, we played Little Wing and Fire by Jimi Hendrix. Both great songs, and it was lovely.”

Erja Lyytinen is preparing to return to the UK in November for her first UK headline

Adam Kennedy

Elsa Wellamo & Peter Verstraeten

shows since the pandemic. “I am so thrilled to come back to see you guys. I’ve been waiting a long time now. I think it’s four and a half years since the last time I set foot on the British Isles. I’m missing my friends and fans there,” she says.

Erja concludes: “I’m really looking forward to coming there and playing this new material for the audience and hearing their response. The last UK tour we did was the Another World Tour in 2019. So since then, we’ve had two live albums and one studio album. I would say things have changed quite a bit and our live set has changed. It’s more powerful, and energetic and there’s even more joy while playing on stage than before. So, I think it’s going to be so much fun to finally get to hit the UK stages and play the new songs for our fans that have been waiting for us for years.”

Diamonds On The Road – Live 2023, the new concert album from Erja Lyytinen, will be released via Tuohi Records on October 6th. Erja will be touring throughout the UK in November ‘2023. For ticket information and further details, please visit erjalyytinen.com

MIKE VERNON

Mike Vernon is a name most will recognize. One of the UK’s most important and significant blues music producers, he has a career stretching back to the early 1960s when he secured his first job with Decca Records before going on to establish the renowned label Blue Horizon alongside his brother Richard Vernon. The man largely responsible for the hugely admired collaboritive release, Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton, back in 1966, he has been inspirational and influential ever since. Now, following a fair few years fronting his band, the Mighty Combo, and after a brief hiatus, he returns to the blues fray with a new band of hardened bluesmen, Cat Squirrel Blues – and a remarkably accomplished, already widely lauded new release, ‘Blues What Am’.

But Vernon is also known for his work with the likes of Savoy Brown, the late Duster Bennet – one of the UK’s finest voices –Fleetwood Mac in its golden era with Peter Green and Danny Kirwain; John Mayall, Christine McVie and even David Bowie. In the midst of massively significant blues, he also found the time to work with some true surprises including The Proclaimers, Duran Duran and Edinburgh popsters the Bay City Rollers. When I mention this to him, he snorts with laughter and agrees that was a strange one in many ways.

Having the chance to chat with Mike, I sug-

gest he is now something of that old chestnut, a ‘Living Legend.’ Vernon is instantly dismissive of the thought:

“Well, you know you just don’t think about it. For me it was career choice, a route I was actively determined to take and be part of. You get your head into it and don’t think about until maybe years later. Till maybe somebody points it out to you and says ‘Do you realise what you did?’ The first job I had was with Decca in 1962! I was eighteen back then. I then never had another job, simple as that.”

“All I ever really wanted to do was make music. I was hooked on rythm & blues; what came up was Fats Domino and Little Richard – which everyone then called Rock’nRoll; but I discovered early on there was another genre called R&B, and you could shove all those people in there,” he says with a laugh.

“When I was about eight or nine, my father had a war-time buddy we used to visit and he had a record collection of big old 78s amongst which were records by the Inkspots, the Mills Brothers and Louis Jordan. So early on I discovered like Jump Blues without even realizing quite what it was. I just went on from there really, it was as simple as that!”

With a clear love of the music, evidently from such an early age – he is now approaching 80 – Vernon stuck to a musical path. Moving on to establish famed studios in Chipping Norton, he recalls how the Blue Horizon label started as a sprawling offshoot of his foray into blues music magazine publishing:

“That happened, not overnight. It was something that my brother Richard and I started. It grew out of the magazine I started with Neal Slaven, R&B Monthly – back then Blues Unlimited was very stuck in that real thing, if you know what I mean; pre and post-war blues really. At the time, there wasn’t much space for the likes of Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. So, we started that magazine to bring it all in then as a result, we started – romanticising is maybe the best word to use – about having our own record label. And that’s how Blue Horizon started with the Hubert Sumlin single, Across the Board. That got recorded in my bedroom in my parents’ house onto an old Grundig Reel-to-Reel tape machine. It just kept going after that really,” he chuckles again at the thought.

As the label grew so did its star-name roster; Otis Rush, Lightnin’ Hopkins, BB King, Bukka White, Sonny Boy Williamson, Chicken Shack, all recorded under its auspices. Fleetwood Mac’s sole UK number

 Iain Patience  Fernando Moreno Perez

OVER THE HORIZON

one, Albatross’, too is a Blue Horizon delivery. I ask how the label developed so rapidly in such an astonishing way. Mike shrugs and smiles as he recalls that time:

“A lot of people really liked the idea of the label. John Mayall really liked it, for example, and that lead to the work with Eric (Clapton); and Peter (Green) also liked it so that’s how Fleetwood Mac ended up on the commercial label!”

In the here and now again, Vernon is about to hit the road with his latest band, Cat Squirrel, and he recollects his first outings as a musician, which he describes as being ‘somewhat traumatic really!’:

“I must have been about sixteen; back then you could get into a pub or somewhere with maybe folk music and get up and play for maybe an hour at a time. There was me and my childhood friend, Neal Slaven, another guy on guitar called Vaughan Rees – the brother of Angharad Rees the actor – and Steve Williamson on harmonica – there’s a coincidental name”, he laughs, before adding, “And a bass player whose name I honestly can’t remember. But I was never quite happy with it, never felt comfortable really. I had an issue in that I couldn’t always remember the lyrics too! Now, I have an excuse for that, with age!”

Few can have avoided hearing the wonderful Gerry Rafferty track ‘Baker Street.’

One of international movies most loved and sampled numbers, with its soaring saxophone solo middle-eight break. Again, Vernon was instrumental in its release:

“That was recorded after Blue Horizon ceased to exit, with our ill-gotten gains from Chicken Shack and Fleetwood Mac really! It was a residential studio, and my brother and I agreed we had to get some really good acts along to record there at Chipping Norton. It was always sensibly priced, never outrageous. So Duran Duran came along, Radiohead, The Proclaimers, Focus, so many more. Then of course gradually with time the whole recording business has completely changed, digital is king and taking over so much! In reality, once digital came upon us, our studio became redundant! Eventually, we let it go; I was gadding about but Richard was living there, having to look after it. I was off making records at other studios which always pissed him off a bit! I think we closed down in 1996; I was doing a lot of mixing by then. It ran for about 25 years, so not a bad run!”

“I did two albums with Thomas Ruf. He asked me to do one with Dani Wilde. I really like that album, even now. I love the way she plays, like Texas-style. She’s a real smart lady. I love the way she writes and works generally That picking style with thumb and first finger. I also did one with Oli Brown, before he jumped ship into that heavy metal stuff – not really my bag at all!”

We return to Cat Squirrel and Vernon’s latest music project, the release of the new band’s debut album in early October on French Dixie Frog label, ‘Blues What Am’:

“I want go back to when I was sixteen years old, searching out Howlin’ Wolf records, Baby Boy Warren and things like that. I want to go back to those roots. I asked Carlos (Kid Carlos) what he thought about bringing along Mingo Balaguer on harmonica; he said he’d be interested. Then we added Oriol Fontanais on bass and Pascual Monge on drums. We had to get Spanish band members, though one is in Madrid, another in Barcelona, and one in Seville, then I’m near Malaga. So not the easiest between us all to meet. We went into the studio in Seville, and it was just so easy to make the record. It felt like working with Willie Dixon or something like that; they just know what to play! You don’t have to tell them what to do. The album was just so much fun to make. It has taken us a while to get it off the ground for various reasons. We’ve got a handful of gigs in Spain coming up in end of September and October; Then we have a few festivals lined up for next year, so I hope when people start hearing the record they’re gonna start getting excited. So far the reaction we’ve had has been very, very positive! For me, it’s something where I’ve gone back to roots, back to the stuff I love so much.”

THE GREIG

TAYLOR

BAND SEARCHING FOR THE LIGHT

Time for some home-grown blues talent, Blues Matters spoke with lead singer and songwriter Greig Taylor and drummer Dave Cantwell of the Greig Taylor Band, a Scottish blues rooted band based in the Stirling area, who mix soul and rhythm and blues to their latest venture.

Greig has built his career mainly within the blues scene in the UK and was nominated in the 2014 British Blues Awards for Male Vocalist of the Year; he has since released four acclaimed studio albums via his various projects. Dave is a professional drummer with over four decades of musicianship and has been in many bands including The Big Dish amongst others. Previously they have worked in several bands gaining notoriety and with their new release, The Light they will gain more followers and get more recognition. A band on the rise, here is their story and more.

Recently, they played a Nort- East England tour, a new venture for them and venues unknown:

Dave: “We just want to get out gigging and promote ourselves, but as you know, it’s not that easy. There’s a good healthy blues scene here, we got positive responses everywhere, even though we were not known there. I’d

like to think we’ll be going back there in the future; we’re just going to have to just keep building the brand. The lineup’s solid, Dave Cowan, on keyboards, he played on the new album but has so many commitments we have got another keyboard player, Kenny Clark, and he’s been a great fit for us, personality wise and playing wise.

Has the new album been challenging, I ask?:

Greig: It’s definitely been different from any other album that I’ve been involved with from multiple perspectives, the level of musicianship in the band for one. It’s been a collaborative effort in terms of the writing of the album. The arrangement process was an eye opener for me on so many levels. I knew quite a lot about making an album until we started working on this one! We started it just before the pandemic, so I’ve had all this time to work on it and flesh it out. There have been setbacks and from my own perspective here speaking this has been the most rewarding album for me. For the first time, I felt like I’ve had to step up to the plate with other guys I’ve been involved with. I’ve always felt like the big fish in any other outfit, here I felt like the small fish in a bigger pond. It was nice to go through another, new learning process, the only other time I can compare it to was when I actually went on

the tour with Earl Thomas. It was working with someone who’d been there and done it. I was very much like a sponge. This is the first piece of work that I’ve done work on since the era of Thomas time. So, I was able to put that certainly from my own perspective, from a singing and delivery perspective, how I approach the songwriting part of it as well in terms of the lyrics. There’s an attention to detail in this album, each person is really passionate about how they’re represented on the record. I think everyone, has offered their opinions, it’s been a real collaborative effort.”

Greig/ Dave: “My idea of the blues has changed over the years. Initially it was blues rock that influenced me, Gary Moore for example and then obviously as I’ve always felt from day dot that that’s the genre that best allows me to write my stories. The Greig Taylor Band style is rooted in blues, but this is not a stereotypical blues album. There’s blues tracks in there, we’ve tried to expand the genre, and push the boundaries a wee bit. There are bits of Latin influence, and country influence. It’s still primarily a soulful bluesy album, but we tend to use other styles. We wanted to create something that you couldn’t just pigeonhole as blues, and we

 Colin Campbell  Stuart Stott

think we’ve managed that!”

Is there a writing process at play?:

Greig: “I’ll get together first with the guitarist. I’ll either have already ideas about a song or how stylistically how I’m viewing a certain song. They will go away and come back with some sort of music that fits the profile of what I’ve been speaking about. Or I might already have something that I’ve actually recorded just acappella on my phone. So, we would come down to Dave’s house, to his studio, and we would start fleshing these songs out together as a band. It’s the intricacies of adding a middle eight to a song or a bridge that amaze me on these recordings. I

Brian McPhee and I have a history together. We were in the band The Big Dish in the late 80s.I thought Brian would be a great fit and he was up for it. So that gave us that. Nelson suggested David Cowan for keyboards. So basically, that’s it. The live shows are really coming together now. We’re all enjoying it. We always try to learn something every time from every album that we do. It’s about desire. The only thing I would desire to do in the next album and that’s what we’re already starting the process of doing.”

We chat about music being their chosen career path and advice they got and from whom;

Dave: “From working with John Martyn; The whole band gets the Fucking groove. The groove is bigger than all of us. I think at the

time I didn’t quite take that on board. But as time went on, I realised it was the groove that fires everybody up. You know, when I’m playing, I’m watching the band, if their heads are moving and the feet are tapping, I look at the audience and I know, I’m in the right area!”

Greig: “From Earl Thomas on a purely technical side regarding vocal tuition. But on a personal side, it has to be about people actually giving their time to work with me. Guys that have been there and done it. I’ve been singing 12 years now, so I’m getting a bit experience myself as well. But it tends to come in short phases of intense learning when you’re doing it right.”

For further information see website for details:

www.facebook.com/greigtaylorblues

people, they just go, no, I can’t do this, there’s

for Personal Jesus. When it came to guitar,

KYLE CULKIN

 Michael Limnios  Supplied

“There are so many varieties of music today that I think there is something for everyone. I hope that people who listen to my records understand the importance of living the human experience. Life is short so embrace it all, the good and the bad. Without hard times, we can’t appreciate the good times, so I try to approach music with that same self-reflection and a little humor mixed in. Hopefully that concept is something the listener can connect with. I’ve never found anything that can convey the emotion of the human experience like music can.”

Kyle Culkin is an American songwriter, guitarist and roots music recording artist. He has worked over the past two decades as a multi-instrumentalist musician and the guitarist for nationally touring acts such as The Jeff Jensen Band. Culkin opened for the great B.B. King on his 80th birthday tour when The King of the Blues

proclaimed, “This kid can play”! Today, with years of experience under his belt, Culkin is playing American roots music that projects a truthful authenticity from hard learned lessons of life on the road. He combines a fun and witty sense of humor with the struggles of life in every song. Culkin’s critically acclaimed albums include a mix of country, rock, blues, and soul that put a new twist on an instantly familiar Americana sound.

He never overplays his hand and uses taste, tone, and timing to season his lyrics with the right amount of flavor. Now Culkin has enlisted legendary musicians and some of his musical heroes as featured artists with an A-list band (Albert Lee, Johnny Hiland, Jade MacRae, Ted Russell Kamp, Max MacLaury and others) of incredible players for his new album that you wont want to miss! “Shotgun Ridge” releases on Tonebucker Records, June 30th, 2023!

enjoy every moment to the fullest

“My understanding of the blues and roots music is always evolving. It’s a deep well in which you can never quite reach the bottom. Music has helped me understand some of the universal experiences that all people share while also appreciating the differences in one another. Even if we don’t understand the language, we can still understand the rhythm and melody of a song and that has an emotional impact. It’s part of the innate human experience. Roots music has also taught me that immense talent can come from anywhere. There is no prerequisite for any type of secret knowledge or economic background. Everyone can offer something interesting or open a window to a view you never thought was possible. I will always love that about music!”

“My friend and mentor Carl Verheyen told me a long time ago, “play what you dig”! I’ve always taken that to heart. Why limit yourself to just one style? I love blues, country, rock, jazz, funk, soul and everything in between. My music may lean one way or another for a given song but it’s always an amalgamation of all those styles. If I had to use one word, I’d describe my sound as Americana. We all have musical influences and it’s essential to learn from them but the most important philosophical idea I utilize today is to make every effort to sound like me and not someone else.

I always want to make music. Inspiration comes from all the challenges, failures, triumphs and humorous experiences life has to offer. There is always another experience that can be put into in to a heartfelt song. You just have to be open to the music coming to you. I used to love touring but today I absolutely love working in the studio and making records. More recently, I’ve been lucky enough to record with musical heroes of mine and that has been an incredibly inspiring experience. There’s nothing like playing guitar with Albert Lee and Johnny Hiland or writing songs with Ted Russell Kamp to light a fire under you! I also find inspiration by listening to incredible players like Jamison Trotter on piano, Adam Gust on drums, Jade MacRae’s vocals and Marty Rifkin making the pedal steel sing. I’m so thankful to have them in the band for this record. My hope is that people who listen to my songs find something that speaks to them. Whether it’s a witty lyric, a funny rhyme, or just a killer groove with a fantastic band, I want the music to pull on the listener’s heart strings. I put everything I am into these songs and I hope that honesty is palpable.

I always loved music growing up but never really thought about it as something I could do. One summer, my dad gave me the Eric Clapton Unplugged record and I was hooked. I never heard anything like that before and had to learn what was going on. It changed my whole life and sent me down a path for the past 25 years to learn about roots music.

Everything from Robert Johnson, and Bob Wills to Albert King, and John Prine. I’ve been able to do more than I could have ever hoped for with music, but the biggest highlight is always hearing from fans about how my music touched or inspired them in some way. However, nothing has meant more than my parents saying they are proud of me.

I was lucky enough to open for B.B. King on his 80th birthday tour. After our set, I walked to the green room area and heard the King of the Blues say, “This kid can play”! I looked around to see who he was talking about but it turns out he was talking about me. It was a real surprise and an incredible honor to hear one of the pillars of American music give praise like that. Another fond memory was going to The Baked Potato in Los Angeles to go see a local legend Alan Mirikitani with his band BB Chung King and the Buddaheads. He called me up to sit in with the band. I remember Gerald Johnson was playing bass so that was cool! Alan discreetly invited up another guitar player and handed him a guitar while Alan got a drink at the bar. We played a couple blues tunes and got into this guitar solo section where the other guitar player and I were trading licks back and forth. The crowed got really ramped up and the band was on fire! As the other guitarist and I were trading licks, we moved really close to one another and I could finally see who it was. I was trading licks with Slash from Guns N’ Roses! What a great surprise!

It’s easy to look in the rear-view mirror of life with rose colored glasses. I think music just evolves over time but there are some things that I miss. The biggest thing I miss most nowadays is that the music used to matter more than the look of the artist. It was about the music first. I’d like to get back to that. I also miss listening to the spontaneous nature of fantastic musicians working together on a record. Some of the tracks I

hear in modern music today are so perfectly recorded and engineered that it makes me miss those human imperfections that add so much character to a piece of music. With that said, there are so many great artists today, you just need to work a little harder to find them. So much musical talent out there gives me hope for the future.

“Music can have such a broad impact across culture. There are so many varieties of music today that I think there is something for everyone. I hope that people who listen to my records understand the importance of living the human experience. Life is short so embrace it all, the good and the bad. Without hard times, we can’t appreciate the good times, so I try to approach music with that same self-reflection and a little humor mixed in. Hopefully that concept is something the listener can connect with. I’ve never found anything that can convey the emotion of the human experience like music can.

Most bands don’t last and that’s what is so beautiful about it. When I’m making music with great musicians, I try to enjoy every moment to the fullest. Not everyone gets that opportunity so I am incredibly grateful to have so many great experiences and still be making music today. Gigs and records are like a snapshot in time so appreciate them while it lasts.

Another great lesson I’ve learned is that I have a passion for music, but family is incredibly important to provide balance and wellness to life. Constant gigging and life on the road, even for short tours, can be some really hard living. My wife and kids help keep me grounded. Not to mention the endless musical inspiration they provide. If you need musical inspiration, fall in love and have a bunch of kids. I promise you, adventure awaits!

Canada

has a strong and growing blues scene, and it gets its chance to show off the best of national and international talent at the world-famous Montreal Jazz Festival.

Every year the Festival lines up the cream of a vast variety of musical styles and genres. Blues is very well represented, with its own individual staging area, The Rogers Stage, just off the main St. Catherine Street in the heart of the city.

The bands who play here perform two sets, at nine in the evening, and then again at

eleven, so the time between was an ideal opportunity to catch up with Quebec jazz and blues heroine Dawn Tyler Watson, for a chat about her blues career.

Among a growing collection of Awards for her sterling work as a blues artist, Watson is most noted for the prestigious Juno Award, for Blues Album of The Year, for the

Mad Love album. Receiving an Award like that must give you a boost in confidence?

“It did,” Dawn agrees as we settle down to chat backstage. “It gave me confidence because being recognised by your peers is the finest recognition any artist could have. Just to be nominated is a fantastic honour, so winning it was just awesome.”

 Andy Hughes  Laura Carbone

“That album came out of a very difficult period in my life. There was a lot of pain and emotion involved, a short and very tumultuous marriage, a huge breakup, with lots of drama, and all that went into the songs on that album. That was the story of my life at that time.”

“An album written from experience like that one was, helps with the emotional healing process. I think some things, you don’t so much get over, as get used to, they weave into the fabric of your life, and become a part of your experience. I think that feeds the writing process for every musician, and it certainly does it for blues musicians, there is no doubt about that at all. When there is enough distance between where you are now, and where you were when the songs were being written, and the experience is still fresh, you can recall what was going on, and it is part of the process of healing and getting on with your life. Every time I sing a song from that album, I feel the healing a little more. All the experiences I have had, plus all the stories I hear from people I know, they all feed into my songs in various different ways.”

The writing process is fascinating, because it’s never the same for any two musicians, and they all have their personal ways of getting from an idea into a finished and recorded song. Dawn is no exception to that rule:

“I don’t write quickly,” she advises. I’m a ‘live’ person, for me music is all about being on stage and playing for an audience, and getting that reaction, that’s what it’s all about for me. So I’m not good at the actual sitting down to write songs. Some people do it as a daily discipline, but I’m really not a very disciplined person! Sometimes something comes quickly, and that’s great, but often it’s a case of assembling loads of fragments of ideas, tunes hummed into my phone recorder, bits of lyrics written down. I keep everything like that, and when I trawl through, sometimes months or even years later, I will find things that I can build into songs. I am actually going away for a few days shortly, and the idea is to concentrate on getting some writing done, at least to get some ideas going anyway.”

All professional musicians reach that jumpoff point where singing and playing move on from being a hobby, and a fun way to pass the time, and they crystallise into a time when it becomes apparent that this is actually going to be your job, your profession, your way of life for the foreseeable future. When asked about her time, Dawn was typically candid with her response:

“Do you mean when did I find out I could sing? Or do you mean that other people liked the sound of me singing enough for me to

make a career out of it, because they are not the same thing, at all!”

“Everyone can sing. If you can speak, you can sing, that’s a simple fact. I coach and I teach singing, and I know that everyone has the ability to sing, it’s just the level of ability to do it well that varies. Not everyone can sound like Luther Vandross, or Whitney Houston.”

“For me, I always sang around the house, I sang to the radio, and I sang all the theme tunes and advertising jingles on the television. My first real memory if singing is being at school. I was in Grade One or Two, and I remember standing on the dumpster lid in the yard, signing at the top of my voice, and all the other kids around clapping and cheering. There I was going (sings at full volume) Jeremiah was a bull frawwwwg, was a good frien’ a maaaahhhne …’ and I loved it. That was when I found I enjoyed singing, and especially I enjoyed people enjoying me singing, that was a powerful feeling.”

“They eat that one up”

And then of course, the decision to sing for a living:

“Well, I had a big life change in the early nineties. I was working in restaurants and bars, and I was doing a lot of drinking and a lot of other stuff at that time. I still had my passion for singing, and I just decided that all the drinking and the partying was just getting in the way of that. Singing was, and is, my passion, and if you follow your passion, you will have a happy life, so I decided to quit the partying and sing.”

“A friend of mine had come to university, and she told me that if I auditioned, I would get into a course, and she was right. I joined a community where music and singing was really important. I found some bands I could join and sing with, and started doing local gigs. People told me that they loved what I do, and they said I should go on Star Search, which was a TV talent show back in the day. I eventually reached a stage where I could make singing my main career, and I do teaching alongside that. I used to sing at day-care centres, and now I work with seniors and shut-ins, and that is really important to me, as well as singing and recording.”

Along the way, most musicians have a moment where they realise they have ‘arrived’. It may be playing a certain venue, the approval of a hero, the release of that all-im-

portant first album. But for Dawn it was back in 2017, as she remembers:

“It was winning the International Blues Challenge. That was just so amazing for us. It’s a real big event, and it attracts bands from all over, so we were up against bands from Chicago, from New Orleans, Mississippi, all the Delta area, the real homeland of blues music. And here was me and seven guys from Quebec, and we won, and I knew at the moment, that I really could sing the blues.” And she adds: “I started off as a jazz singer, but I started writing and singing blues songs, and now I do the two in parallel, which I love.”

And what about your favourite song to sing on stage?: “Well, that is actually when I do my jazz shows, and I’ll sometimes throw it into a blues set if it feels like it will fit, and it’s Minnie The Moocher, the Cab Calloway classic, I adore doing that, it’s such a fun song to sing, and all the audiences know it. They eat that one up!”

As a rightly renowned live performer, Dawn has to face the inevitable difficulty of trying to capture that proverbial lightning in a bottle – getting that live energy and sound down on record in a studio:

“It is more difficult for me,” Dawn agrees. “The last two albums have seen me getting closer to how I want to sound in the studio so I am developing my vocals in the studio setting. My problem is, I am such a perfectionist, I want everything to be absolutely perfect. In a live show, everything is in the moment, you make a slip, it doesn’t matter, it’s gone, you move on. But in the studio, it’s there on tape forever, unless you fix it. Of course, modern technology is just wonderful for fixing errors. I say to the producer, I missed an ‘s’ off the end of that word in that line, and there will be some button-pushing and some magic in the control room, and hey presto, my ‘s’ is back where it eeds to be. So yes I am always a live singer first and foremost, but I am getting to grips with the studio the more times I do it.”

Time for Dawn to get ready for her next live set, and a blistering sky-piercing set of blues and rhythm-and-blues it was, for an adoring Monreal Jazz Festival audience. But one last question, is she coming to the UK?

“I would love to!” is the instant and enthusiastic response. “Obviously I can’t bring my whole band with me, it’s too expensive, but I do know musicians over in England, so I could come with some of the guys, and pick up the rest for a tour, Let’s hope it happens one day.”

Amen to that – based on personal experience, a live show by Dawn Tyler Watson is something that the UK should be enjoying, and sooner rather than later.

RICHARD TOWNEND BIG BOSSMAN

The art of songwriting and self-analysis are intertwined. As a seasoned songwriter, musician and performer, Richard Townend understands this very well as he ponders as much with the title of his fourteenth release: Are You The Person You’ve Always Wanted To Be? And judging by the bar-raising exceptional quality of songwriting on its crafty fifteen songs, each pushing the next to further limits of excellence, it’s resoundingly in the affirmative.

As proof, a cordial Townend, fresh from a hearty Sunday lunch, abetted by a few drinks, is the picture of creative contentment on our zoom chit-chat. He looks like a happy Bosscat who is rightly enjoying his well-earned cream. Raised in Batley, Yorkshire, and now residing in Maldon, Essex, it’s fair to say that Townend’s salt of the earth persona is the basis of his wry observations on the human condition as his career of smartly constructed compositions proves.

As a musician graduating from Leeds Music College in 1986, he possesses a studied knowledge and informed perspective about the mechanics of songwriting: “I just

document life”’ he tells me. “I run a songwriting course and I guess it’s like computer programming. I mean, you only need four or five elements which are the subject matter; the lyrics; the melody; a chord progression and the form. That’s all you need. If you go to karaoke and hear the songs, they’re not that complex. All you need is two verses and a chorus. I mean, people overthink them...” This is the template for the savvy ten and five tracks that make up this rewarding album. It’s the insightful content that Townend builds on this blueprint that aligns him shoulder to shoulder with some of the artists that he is often compared to: Knopfler, Rea... Townend’s lyricism and mastery of rhythm has its roots dug deep into the groove of life as he reveals the naming of this record’s title song: “Normally I choose one of the songs on the album as I like to document life. I think nowadays, the world is not a nice place. I get more cynical as I get older with politicians and life and people saying what they’re going to do. The majority of times they don’t. I just think, would you like that to happen to you? So that’s really the thought behind that song.”

A prolific songwriter with pitch perfect prose, his recent recording process provided Richard with a strong link to his past, and a tenuous one to one of his musical heroes: “This one took the longest time and that’s really down to many factors, including availability of the studio and musicians,” he confesses. “My last album, Short Stories, again, took a while because that was done during lockdown. That was recorded using friends of mine in the UK and in Russia. In fact, on four of the tracks on Short Stories, there’s a brilliant bass player called Marcus Cliffe who actually plays with Paul Jones in The Manfreds and with Mark Knopfler. The only reason I know Marcus is that we were together at Leeds Music College all those years ago.”

With so much modern music being all surface and very little style, as an astute lyricist, Townend mines an under the skin deeper vein of nuanced and stylish storytelling. A perfect example of which is the gentle hookiness of Weathermen that also has a delightful rhythmic step change as he uncovers the background to this tune: “It’s about a friend of mine who had a row with his

 Paul Davies  Supplied

partner. He mentioned that he brought his muddy shoes into the house… and that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” he laughs. “There are many things that rain down on you during your day and it only takes one straw to break the camel’s back,” he empathises, “I don’t get too deep with my songs. It’s simple to have sympathy with people and try to understand where they’re coming from. It’s just an analogy,” Richard furthers, “That if you provide a smile, you can dry up that rain and be the weatherman.” Townend further reveals his songwriting method to me: “Normally what happens is I’ll either get a hook line, a lyric hook line, or I’ll get a chord progression. It doesn’t really matter where you start with a song, you’ve either got to have the subject matter, the lyrics, the melody, or the chords, if you start with any of those, and work back, you’ve got it completed.” He continues: “What I do is pick up the acoustic and have a little strum and I’ll basically record that to a click track. I’ll get a drummer involved then I’ll either play the bass or I’ll get a bass player involved. I’ll do a click track so I can basically cut and paste it. I’ll just build it up and arrange it in that way,” explains Townend. “I think I recorded about twelve albums worth of songs like that.” However, this process recently changed: “Then I met this bass player and drummer, and we did it slightly differently. We went to the drummer’s house,

recorded them, and then build them up from that so they are now more of a band sound rather than my sound. I think the next album will be more of a band sound.”

This new approach, for Richard, pays off dividends on the, at times, sublime depths of these new recordings. He documents the brutal tragedy unfolding in Ukraine, told from the perspective of two lovers, on this beautiful track, the erosion of a town’s very fabric on The River, and the more personal I Should Have Listened To You about which he discloses: “I was writing songs about my dad, because my dad’s not here,” he says, “My dad left me when I was in my mid 30s. My mum left me when I was in my mid 20s. And being male, the older you get, you can see the pressures that your dad was under that you never really realised as a young, arrogant youth. If he’s up there in the afterlife, he can see me paying my penance, trying to rectify things by admitting he was right.” Another track that takes the listener on an enjoyable narrative journey is Several Ways To Replace A Lover which has its obvious Paul Simon connotations in its title:

“I just thought it was a nice catch phrase. Nowadays, I know a lot of single people that are my age group and they’re either widowed or they’ve never found the right

partner, and everybody else is hooked up with somebody else,” he comments. “But it must be easier now than it was in the in the olden days with online, Grindr or the whatever is the equivalent of the heterosexual Grindr. So, I just thought, well, a bit tongue in cheek, let’s write a song.” This tongue in cheek approach reminds of his time as a jobbing musician after leaving Leeds Music College when he found himself playing guitar in Ronnie Corbett’s backing band of whom he has fond memories: “Ronnie was a particularly nice man and on the tour I went on the South Coast with him, on the first day at the theatre, I was running up the stairs and he was running down and I said ‘Ronnie, could you give me a signed card to my mum’, because I used to collect all the signed cards for my mum.” He adds: “He said, ‘Yeah, sure. What’s your mum’s name?’ and I said, ‘Irene’. Then he said, ‘I’ve just run out of cards. But once I get some, I’ll let you know’. And I thought that was it…About two weeks later, at a different seaside town, I ran up the theatre stairs again and he was running back down, and he says, ‘Oh, I’ve got some cards now’. So, I went up to his dressing room and he said, ‘It was Irene, wasn’t it?’ You know, a nice, nice man,” glows Townend at this precious memory. Which leads me to conclude that Richard Townend rightly appears to be the person he always wanted to be.

SHINE ON

Armstrong.”

Elles Bailey is a true phenomenon in UK music circles. With her easy smile, and charming, welcoming appearance to her rocking vocal delivery, she has successfully illustrated just how inter-related two musical genres, often viewed as different and divergent, truly are. As a multiple award winner in both UK blues and Americana worlds, Bailey is now often as likely to be found in what is fast becoming her favoured recording-stomping ground, Nashville, as her hometown of Bristol. When asked how she marries the two, she laughs but confirms her home-life, with a young, two year-old child – not to mention partner and dog – remain central to her life.

“I’ve got loads of new music coming out actually. I did an EP that was meant to come out before Shining in the Half Light. It was recorded but it didn’t get a mix until about two months before Shining in the Half Light came out. But I’ve sat on this for about the last two years so I’m finally gonna release that, single by single, over the next few months. I’m getting that ready at the moment with Alice

We first meet in Kent, where Elles is playing the UK’s major Americana Festival, Black Deer. Having absolutely stormed the place, I ask about her super-tight, superlative band:

“Joe, my guitarist, has been working with me since 2014, a really long while, then Johnny Henderson since 2016 and Matt, the drummer, since 2017, my bassist since about 2019, so they’re all session musicians and I do have others that fit it when needed. But that’s the core of my Elles Bailey Band.”

And so, with Americana in the blood where does the blues come into play, I ask:

“I didn’t know anything about the blues world to start with. I didn’t know anything about ‘scenes’, other than the Indy scene and the Folk scene. I didn’t realise there was this whole other world of niche scenes! I just started doing my thing and Graham Munn sort of introduced me to the blues scene; he asked, ‘Elles, did you know about this?’ I reached out to people and Richard Dunning

helped, and Joe Harman. And I started to get a few gigs. I always thought that when I went across to Nashville it would be different.”

“It was just so bizarre, it was weird string of coincidences that got me invited out there. Originally, I was just gonna do a day’s recording and then it went so well that we just did the whole album! I met Brian Knowle, who produced it, and Bobby, and they introduced me around town. I met Noel Black from the Black Keys. I was back in the studio with Duane Eddy, and I thought, ‘wow, people dream of this; people come and wait tables hoping for this!’ Don’t get me wrong, I’ve done a lot of hard graft in UK but I hadn’t anything back then in Nashville. It was like going over there, making this record, coming back and it sort of kicked off my story here as well! It’s just been a slow and steady journey,” she explains. When I suggest it’s been a climb, she laughs, nods and adds, “I’m tired! It does feel like a climb!”

“The new EP I’m about to release isn’t really bluesy at all. It’s totally different. I think it’s beautiful, it’s kind of like a soul vibe. I say I’m a bit of an interloper, but I’ve been

 Iain Patience  Chris Grifiths

really lucky in being welcomed into lots of scenes. All I want to do is write good, honest music. Sometimes it can be in a bluesy way, sometimes it can be produced in a soul way. I mean, a song is a song! It’s the production all around it that creates the end music thing.”

The Americana community – it’s quite funny, I don’t view anyone as competition. To me, we’re all trying to do our own thing but there’s space for everybody so I think a rising tide floats all boats. There shouldn’t really be competition in music, however, I just watched a documentary about me about twenty years ago and I’m saying, ‘Oh, it’s so competitive out there!’ As I’ve got older, more mature, as I’ve watched other people travel this path, similar journeys, I think we’re not in competition with each other – we just can’t think like that! It’s a really destructive way of thinking. We’re all in this together, we’re all making beautiful music, there’s enough music to go around. We can all share our stages.”

“There are so many avenues, that you can create your own path now. You just got to work hard. It’s music, it will start, it might be a long journey; if you’re in it for flash-in-thepan then get on Tik Tok!

With the UK Americana Award for 2023 presented to her by Robert Plant, I ask how it felt to be there with this recognition:

“Back in 2018, I remember being sat really far away in the Gods, at the Hackney Empire at the UK Americana Awards, and there was a Robert Plant band playing – not Saving

Grace – the Sensational Space Shifters, and I remember thinking I want to be down in the pit where I can see everyone. Then I didn’t know anybody, I didn’t have any friends to help. But just wanted to be a little bit closer. I never thought I’d be up there, with Robert Plant. Then fast-forward a few years and I’ve picked up awards, I’m backstage and I said to them ‘You know, four or five years ago, I was sat up there and didn’t know who anyone was.’ And you know, they are all really open.”

We briefly discuss the role of modern Americana stars and blues:

“These people have inspired so many of the people on the current scene. I mean, how could Neil Young not inspire anyone

on the blues scene?! It all started from the blues, really. Like Bonnie Raitt or Keb Mo. I watched Keb Mo on the blues cruise and he is just so good.”

“I’m inspired by the careers of the likes of Imelda May and Beth Hart. I think to just have the success they’ve had - inspirational people like Bonnie Raitt – they’re my career heroes! I want to make music and I want people to hear it. I don’t want to be bound by genres and don’t want people to ever be surprised by what I bring out. I think over the course of my career I‘ve definitely shown that I don’t just do blues even if that’s what was originally the scene that championed me. I’ve got the next few years mapped out ahead of me; I’ve the next album there and

BIG BLUES REVIEWS

JOE BONAMASSA BLUES DELUXE VOL 2

J & R Adventures

8BALL AITKEN

ICE CREAM MAN 2

INDEPENDENT

This album comes on the twentieth anniversary of the release of Blues Deluxe, the third album by Joe Bonamassa. A brand new set of musicians, a differ ent producer, and dare I say it, a more seasoned and well-rounded Joe Bonamassa at the helm. I say this because if an artist has not developed or moved for ward in the past two decades, then you could be for given for thinking that there wasn’t much substance in the first place. But let me allay those fears for you, this is Joe Bonamassa we are talking about. The original Blues Deluxe album showed the world what a lot of people already knew about Joe Bonamassa, here is a blues artist with the ability and depth, and knowledge of an artist many years his senior. Back to Blues Deluxe

one of Joe’s greatest albums

Vol 2, Josh Smith has taken on the role of producer, as well as a guitarist and a writer on one of the two orig inal songs on the album. The musicians on the album are more or less the guys who are on the road with Joe, so there is a tightness to the band, having played with each other for so long. The first track, Twenty-Four Hour Blues, originally penned and performed by the legendary Bobby “Blue” Band. Josh Smith has managed to bring out more of Joe’s blues vocals on this album, not just reliant on his amazing guitar chops, he brings out the rasp and howl that match this collection of songs so well. The main thing that I adore about this album is the fact that songs that we’ve not heard for many years have been given a new lease of life, and the original artists spring back into your mind. Bobby Parker, Ronnie Earl, and Fleetwood Mac are so well represented. It would be remiss of me to choose a stand-out track, the album is fully loaded with musical gems, but if I had to, I’d go with Win-O. Pee Wee Clayton has long been one of my favourite blues artists, this song epitomizes the blues so well. Joe Bon amassa treats it with the respect that the song and Pee Wee deserve whilst bringing his unique vocals and guitar skills, to make this one of the finest Bon amassa recordings I’ve had the pleasure of listening to. And I’ve heard everything he’s ever done. Blues Deluxe Vol 2 is one of the greatest albums Joe Bonamassa has done, if not the best.

STEPHEN HARRISON

8 Ball Aitken has self-produced another swampy blues type release of twelve well-crafted tunes. Singer songwriter, multi-instrumentalist he is joined on drums by Tom Hambridge, Buddy leach on saxophone, and keyboards, Dillion James Aitken on Hammond organ and Taya Chani and others on backing vocals. It was recorded in Nashville and Australia. Ice Cream Man’s Back starts things off with a stompy good, humoured tune reintroducing his alter ego, some

catchy beat. Wading Through Muddy Water has blues tones throughout blending growling vocals with a rocky backbeat, harmonies are superb along with dextrous guitar work. Just For You has slide featuring, a stomping joyous tune of love a feelgood vibe. Only Guiding Light slows the tone, he duets with Taya Chani here on this wonderful song. Lonely Long has a great hook, song peppered with saxophone tone adding to a big bold sound and fine harmonies. Loving the four-part harmonies on Why It Hurts. The Friends We Make is a highlight, laid back groove about friendship and gratitude, almost a gospel feel to this with resonating

playing with a heavy groove, the whole band getting their chance to shine on this one.

COLIN CAMPBELL

ALICE ARMSTRONG

LOVE, SEX & DEATH

MEDITERRANEAN BLUES

CRUISE EDITION

INDEPENDENT

I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Alice Armstrong for several years now, I’ve watched her performing with a few bands along the way, and I could see the potential within this artist. Fast forward a few years, The Mediterranean Blues Cruise 2023, and we meet again on the first day of boarding, along with Matt Long, guitarist and joint songwriter. Seeing Alice and her band performing live is one of life’s great pleasures, but so is relaxing at home listening to this six-track EP. The opening track, Upbeat Baby, is everything that the title suggests. Alice has such an emotive voice, packed with raw emotion, with Matt and the rest of the band adding their talents to this great tune. Better Later Than Never, written by Matt and Alice, was one of the songs in the live set aboard the Blues Cruise, in fact, all the songs on the EP were performed on the Cruise. These songs are not just straight Blues, they are soulful, have more than a touch of Gospel, and also contain a fair sprinkling of funk. The catchiest tune for me, and for the majority on the Cruise is Speed Dial. Joined on the original recording by members of close friends, Brave Rival, this is funky, fun, and just an all round bloody feel-good tune. It shows the diversity of Alice and her band. The final track, Friend, is a very short slow, and peaceful number. This EP is brilliant. Do yourselves a favour get a copy, and you will hear for yourselves just how good Alice Armstrong is.

STEPHEN HARRISON

BLACKBURN BROTHERS

SOUL FUNKN BLUES

Electro Fi Records

Prepare to get funky these are twelve songs that will get the listener dancing and tapping their feet to an infectious beat and rhythm, a quality release. Fronted by Duane, lead vocalist and keyboards, Corey on drums, Brooke on lead guitar and Nathan on bass guitar they are a solid family unit. The horn section comprises, Neil Brathwaite on saxophone and Ted Peters on trombone. Already garnering awards in their home country Canada, now is the time for everybody to take notice of this fine band. Bobby’s Blues is the opener that sets the tone throughout, with silky vocals mixing with luscious harmonies and then that horn section comes through. This band has it all mixing soul blues and funk with attitude. She’s A Heartbreaker has a driving groove, the rhythm section carries this one, it’s all about the groove. Let The Devil Play keeps things tight and upbeat a song for the world we live in.

It’s a band of seriously crafted artists who are as tight as can be

Soul Brother just glides, harmonies, groove it’s all there. Sister Rosa is a funky tune about Sister Rosa Parks, civil rights activist, a fitting tribute, an interpretation of the Neville Brothers tune. Why Do I Do (What I Do) drips with emotion a slow tempo vocal superb. Blues shuffle is the tempo on Won’t You Let Me Go. Be My Wife is an upbeat love song great arrangement it’s all in the song delivery. Freedom Train is a call for unity and packs that message to a pounding refrain. Last song I Don’t Ever Want To Be Alone will pull at the very heart strings of the listener, a beautiful song. So many styles here full of substance and honesty.

COLIN CAMPBELL

MARTIN

STEPHENSON & JOHN PERRY

NEW WAVE CONNECTION

THOROUGHBRED

It’s not often, if at all, a fan and his youthful idol come together to collaborate on an album later in their respective artistic lives. In 1978, a starstruck 17-yearold, Martin Stephenson queued outside the Mayfair in Newcastle to witness a The Only Ones concert and became so enamoured by their guitarist, John Perry, that he took his first strumming steps as a young new wave guitarist. Spooling forward, and with countless Martin Stephenson & The Daintees albums later, Stephenson has teamed up with Perry to re-imagine choice cut Daintees tracks. In naming this collaborative compilation project, New Wave Connection, both musicians hook up their backstory as Rock & Roll Jamboree gets this rave-up on the go. Perry burns up the frets with wild but controlled abandon utilising his fiery guitar technique to maximum effect. New Wave Dave continues this surprising sonic thrust. Even more surprises are in store as Stephenson’s lockdown favourite Frattern Star is transformed from its previous acoustic incarnation into a forthright belter. The new wave atmospherics and bouncy beat are a catchy revelation. What this pair of musically recorded opposites has achieved in covering self-penned songs, in completely different musical settings, is a template for anyone embarking on recording cover songs: march them to a different beat.

PAUL DAVIES

21ST CENTURY

JUKE JOINT BLUES SAMPLER

EASY EYE SOUND

Easy Eye Sound is the Nashville based record label headed by Dan Auerbach who has helped keep the blues tradition relevant to a new generation and those to follow. These twelve tracks are a homage to the blues genre and include a new Black Keys song, No Lovin’ with fuzzy hypnotic tones and laid-back vocals accompanying screeching guitar. These are all new tracks but so raw and authentic. R.L. Boyce’s arrangement of the opener, Coal Black Mattie is full of the Hill Country Blues rhythm uncannily mesmerising. Tell Everybody sees Robert Finlay from Louisiana add a powerful tune, with a groove that lingers. The Moonrisers bring an ethereal feel to the drum and dobro instrumental, Tall Shadow, almost primal in notation. Dan Auerbach has his own song Every Chance I Get this is truly infectious, Glam Rock meets electric blues, many layers to this. Jimmy Duck Holmes version of Catfish Blues is a delight with laid-back vibes and tones. Gabe Carter keeps this tone on the hypnotic Anything You Need and another song, Buffalo Road a stomping tune. Nat Myer’s brings a traditional finger picking style with his tune, Willow Witchin’ a new talent on the rise. Don’t Let The Devil Ride by Leo Bud Welch is a rocky gospel blues number delivered with an emotional warning recorded in mono. Glenn Schwartz features on two tracks, Daughter Of Zion, an uplifting gospel influenced tune with Joe Walsh that has a wonderful crescendo and the folky blues influenced, Collinwood Fire has his raspy vocals, it is all in the storytelling here. A wonderful collection; tell everybody to get this in their collection they will not be disappointed.

Recorded in the Devonshire countryside in various locations in 2022 and 2023 mostly using one microphone to create authentic recordings; this is a compilation of Vince Lee and Sophie Lord’s performances of Vince’s versions of traditional blues, country blues, ragtime. There is also jump blues and calypso tunes here on this sixteen-track release. Vince Gill wrote the opener, Long Black Road and is on lead vocals and guitar, he has a raspy vocal that suits the tune. The other he wrote is, Laughing In The Face Of Death, a murder ballad of sorts, a warning tale. The other tunes are reinterpretations done in their own style. Billy Emmerson’s The Pleasure Is All Mine is an up-tempo tune, capturing a steady bassline by Sophie. Tom Waits’ Heart Attack And Vine introduces electric guitar tones, Vince’s vocal delivery is acerbic. Tommy Johnson’s Big Road Blues adds some ragtime to the musical style, Vince hollering here, great sound. Nick Curran’s Beautiful Girl has an upbeat infectious jive feel, punchy lyrics. Country blues next, That’s No Way To Get Along, the Reverend Robert Wilkins song shows Vince’s dextrous guitar work. T-Bone Walker’s Vacation Blues is a standout track, laid back tones and deep bass a heady mix. Crawlin’ King Snake, the John Lee Hooker song is a great arrangement, raw and metaphorical. They finish with the Sleepy John Estes tune, Ragged And Dirty a stomping blues tune, well crafted, excellent finger picking here. Overall, an organic homemade release full of raw authentic, blues-based tunes, highly recommended.

COLIN CAMPBELL

COLIN CAMPBELL

VINCE LEE & SOPHIE LORD OUT IN THE STICKS INDEPENDENT

FRANCK L. GOLDWASSER WHO NEEDS THIS MESS!!??

CROSSCUT RECORDS

Starting out in France,

 Laura Carbone

JOHN MAYALL’S BLUESBREAKERS LIVE IN 1967 VOLUME 3

Forty Below Records

Thanks to resolute fan Tom Huissen who took his one channel reel-to-reel tape recorder into various London clubs in 1967, these historical performances were captured for all time. Unheard for almost fifty years, John Mayall obtained these tapes and began restoring them with the technical assistance of Eric Corne of Forty Below Records. This is the final product and is a true collector’s piece. It has the original Fleetwood Mac line up here, Peter Green, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood on these eight memorable tracks. This allows the listener to be in that moment and conjures up smoky Clubs but throughout it’s all about how good the music is and will remain the benchmark of early British blues. Opener is Brand New Start, a steady beat, great raspy vocals hallmark this one. Tears In My Eyes sees Peter Green playing the introduction and echoing John Mayall vocals with such effortless playing, spinetingling and gut wrenching in equal parts. There is stylish feel and groove throughout every song. Stand Back Baby has John Mayall on slide guitar, duetting with Peter Green’s guitar work, an upbeat tune. Greeny is a formidable instrumental that has great tempo and flair. Talk To Your Daughter is raw and has a fine shuffle to it. Your Funeral And My Trial has that hook and never lets the listener down. Freddie King’s Stumble has Peter Green’s phrasing and soloing all over it, sublime. Final tune is Double Trouble slow blues number often covered but epitomises the talent of these musicians. It showcases Mayall’s influential role in shaping the genre and his ability to assemble a group of musicians who pushed the boundaries of traditional blues.

COLIN CAMPBELL

Goldwasser got turned on to the Blues as a youngster and was discovered and encouraged by Sugar Blue and Sonny Rhodes before moving to California in the ‘80’s. Since then, he has been playing with many artists around the Bay Area, mainly under the sobriquet of Paris Slim and also as Frank Gee. This time around he is playing an album of originals (written with Ralph Carter) and releasing the album under his own name. It is a thoroughly enjoyable album, guitar led and with his slightly accented vocals. I have been critical in the past of European acts singing in English who don’t quite get the proper tonalities in what is not their first language, not so here though, he has an accent but manages to get emotion and feeling over perfectly well. The songs range from shuffles to swing beat, Mississippi Hill Country, jug band and even funk and cover normal Blues topics plus a fairly topical political rant (I Had A Dream Last Night). There are a few tracks that show a very individual stance, not least Monkey Junk which has a dark and heavy beat with him intonating meaningless phrases over it. A couple of my favourite numbers are instrumentals:

Diskum Baab Uleh Shun (Cthulu’s Groove) is a tight groove with Goldwasser’s guitar throwing patterns while Skwurly is a great groove number featuring R. J. Mischo’s harmonica and Goldwasser’s slide guitar. On the title track, Charlie Musselwhite adds his harp, Sugaray Rayford vocals, Kirk Fletcher adds guitar and Jim Pugh plays keys. It’s an enjoyable album, well worth investigating and with a few gems onboard.

ANDY SNIPPER

NAMEDROPPERS

BLUE DIAMONDS

BLIND RACOON

With a long career pedigree including stints with both Johnny and Edgar Winter,

CAT SQUIRREL BLUES WHAT I AM

Dixie Frog

Being rather fond of cats and impressed by squirrels, then experiencing a band with this nice bluesy name gave the music a head start. I wasn’t disappointed. Anyone who’s been riding the blues trail for long enough will know that when the name Mike Vernon MBE crops up, we’re in legendary territory. As a producer, over the decades Mike Vernon has worked with just about every major star name in the business, including Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers (with the Clapton/Peter Green and Mick Taylor line-ups) as well as pop superstars such as Bowie, Edwin Starr and Level 42. This is a tornado of a CD. For instance, What Might Be Your Name, featuring: Mike Vernon (vocals) Kid Carlos (guitar) Mingo Balaguer (harmonica) Pascual Monge (drums) Oriol Fontanals (bass) truly gets your feet shuffling. Their debut single, Sugaree Sugaree is shot through with Chuck Berry’s energy and on I Feel So Good with Mike Vernon (vocals); Kid Carlos (guitar), Mingo Balaguer (harp); Pascual Monge (drums) you’ll get a true feel of how good a live act this is.

Cat Squirrel and Mike Vernon prove that the boogie knows no boundaries

You’ll want this record even more once you’ve checked into Cat Squirrels’ high-quality website www.catsquirrelblues.com. There’s a rich Spanish thread of talent driving this music, too. Kid Carlos has been a guitar player of some significance and Barcelona’s Oriol Fontanals plays a mean bass. Their website features the band in several fiery performances but play this CD in your car and you’ll have a pleasant journey. I always thought of Flamenco as Europe’s covert blues tradition. Well, when it comes to hearing modern blues played with skill and tradition, Cat Squirrel and Mike Vernon prove that the boogie knows no boundaries.

ROY BAINTON

The Rascals, Ronnie Spector and Charlie Karp you can rest assured that the four members of this band sure do know their chops. With a sound which is both reminiscent of the kind of music you would expect from Stax and with shades of Motown and Chicago thrown into the mix you will hopefully get the kind of idea of what floats these guys boat. With two covers Hendrix’s Red House and Robey / Veasey’s Further On Up The Road the former done as a very tasty slow Blues while the

latter is a full on rocking cut with a really solid walking bass holding forth certainly gets a full thumbs up from me. However the album actually opens with the title track a driving song about the perils of getting involved with methadone and the all too familiar painful potential end game. Hollywood and the slow Blues of ‘I done you wrong and I regret it’ Just Come Home are next up. This has some excellent horns punching away throughout and a fine sax solo. New York and Are

You Lonely are fairly standard fayre whilst the album closes out with a blistering live rendition of Blue Guitar a tale of a stolen axe. Now there is one further cut on the album and personally I don’t think it works at all. With the best of intentions the band tips their hats to a certain conflict currently going on with Ukraine We Stand. I understand what they are trying to do but I just feel the song doesn’t work right at all. Sorry guys. One misstep does not condemn this album at all so just skip over it.

GRAEME SCOTT

JULIE JULY BAND WONDERLAND

THOROUGHBRED MUSIC

Six-piece outfit The Julie July Band define themselves as a British folk-rock band inspired by the folk, rock and blues of the 60s and 70s, albeit with a contemporary twist. On the evidence of this CD, I’d say they fit that bill rather admirably (and that’s no great surprise as several members of the group were there first time around). Tracks like the

A Pandora’s box of lyrical masterpieces

 Tony Cole

opening Standing On The Edge Of The World, composed by guitarist Steve Rezillo and Follow, as with numerous others from the pen of keyboards player and vocalist Carol Lee Sampson tend towards an early 70s rock sound, the first with hints of classic prog-rock outfit Yes, and the second named an intimate folk-rock item. Then there is the haunting Labyrinth, and throughout, Julie July’s lead vocals are heartfelt and soulful. But this is Blues Matters! of course, “blues without blinkers” as it used to say on the magazine cover, so I will draw your attention to those bluesy touches like the guitar playing on the slightly Latin-tinged Til The Sun Goes Down, particularly the (too brief) Hendrix inflected wah wah guitar playing towards the end, and the Dire Straits’ tinges of both Seven Cities Of Gold and the closing The Last Farewell. If your tastes run to folk-rock with hints of both progressive rock and the blues (and I know for a fact that there are readers whose tastes do indeed), then I recommend that you do investigate this rather worthy release forthwith.

OLE LONESOME TEJAS MOTEL

GULF COAST RECORDS

NORMAN DARWEN

Ole Lonesome are a fivepiece outfit hailing from Texas. This is their debut release of ten original tunes. The band comprises; Greg Achord on guitar, J. Wesley Hardin on bass, Zachary Feemster on guitar and vocals, Gregory Mosley keyboards and Jimmy Devers on drums. All band members shared in the songwriting; the tunes are dripped in Texan blues style music with their own swaggering trademark to them. Zachary’s wailing and pleading vocals make

DOM MARTIN BURIED IN THE HAIL

Forty Below Records

Dom Martin bares his soul on his newest release. Here on these eleven well-crafted tunes, he takes the listener on a voyage of inner intense dark, sometimes sinister emotions. A Pandora’s box of lyrical masterpieces. This is not a full-on blues release but my, the emotion slaps you on the face, this man has been through it all. Here he is joined by Ben Graham on bass guitar and double bass, also drummer Jonny McIlroy and the sound is fantastic. It was recorded in Golden Egg Studios in Ireland and every song oozes class, mixing bluesy styles with Americana, roots, and masterful guitar work. The opener, Hello In There has hypnotic guitar work blending with children’s voices, soothing yet an opus for what is to come. Daylight I Will Find is a stomping tune about the human condition and making your own way in life, the slide work is phenomenal. Government is another acoustically led track, a folky feels to this, possible homage to Richard Thompson in regards vocals and arrangement, a song for our times. Belfast Blues is an autobiographical tune about growing up in Belfast and his musical roots. His cover of Crazy is twisted and mesmeric, honing feelings of desperation and reframing to his interpretation. Unhinged is a personal song, just listen to the lyrics. The Fall is a call for world unity regarding communicating with people a humanist tune. Howlin’ is a homage to Howlin’ Wolf a wonderful bluesy tune. Buried In Hail is an outstanding title track full of musical twists and dark hypnotic lyrics. Lefty 2 Guns is a tune about a hitman with a twist, sonic guitar work quite extraordinary. Last tune is, Laid To Rest, a final piece to this exquisite release, mind-blowing.

COLIN CAMPBELL

THE MIGHTY BOSSCATS

ARE YOU THE PERSON YOU’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO BE?

Independent

A band that has a history in music as these guys do, you could be forgiven for thinking that this a rather strange title for what for all intense and purposes is a blues band. And you would be correct in that assumption, however, this is not a run-of-the-mill blues album. It’s an album littered with numerous influences, it gives me the feeling that this album has been written due to a relationship breakdown, judging by the titles of some of the songs. In that respect, it could be a very fitting title for a blues album. I digress, this is an album of fifteen original songs crafted so well, that it easily transcends musical boundaries. The relationship breakdown angle comes in the opening tune, How’s It All Come To This, which reminds me somewhat of mid-60s Beatles music. It has that hippy-type, laid-back approach to it. One of the many attributes that Richard Townend and the band have, is the ability to produce great music and not to be bogged down in one certain genre. On this album, you have Rock “n” Roll, Be-Bop, blues, country, and even the odd pop tune here and there. A very good example of this is the song, Roxys Friday Night, which, for me, conjures up memories of the musical Grease, guys with black leather jackets and blue jeans, girls in heavy make-up and tight skirts, gathering at the local coffee shop to drink milkshakes and eat hamburgers. A time when the world was much simpler and far more appealing. This is an album that will and should please many people, it has certainly pleased me. It allows you to open your mind to music that may be that little bit around the corner from where you normally reside. Little Bit Of Kindness tells everyone that this is what the world needs right now. Maybe an album of conscience, certainly an album of great music.

STEPHEN

HARRISON

the first tune Yvette into a pining love song, this has groove and style the Texan way, with guitar riffs aplenty. Gold Chevy is a full on in your face blues rooted tune, guitar hooks aplenty great rhythm. Steady Mistreater slows the pace down on this bluesy ballad, Zachary tells the tale of unrequited love. Momma’s Worry is a powerful supercharged pacy tune all about the groove here, the band rocks out. Easy Street slows the pace to a canter, a distinctive Texan blues tone branded through this one. Lo Key is dirty slow blues with a twist, solid guitar phrasing meets excellent vocal delivery. Ain’t No Good shows the slow sentimental side, a superb track. The Fool is melodic and laid back with some heavy riffs. Natural Fact continues the pace and builds up to a crescendo, great keys blend with tight rhythm section, sure to be a crowd pleaser. Final track is Tejas Motel that blends the release a gritty vibe to this and a descriptive narrative that stays with the listener. Brilliant debut, class release, one for the collection, every tune has a tale to tell, a band to watch out for.

COLIN CAMPBELL

LEONARD ‘LOWDOWN’ BROWN

BLUES IS CALLING ME

MUSIC MAKER RECORDS

At the ripe age of 70, the singer-songwriter and guitar player Leonard ‘Lowdown’ Brown has released his debut album. With decades of playing gospel, rock, blues and soul to his name, the catchy music owes a debt to all of them. With soundscapes like mid-career Van Morrison, Brown’s soulful vocals and powerfully twangy Jazz master guitar and a tight rhythm section power their way through the ten originals that make up Blues is Calling Me. It starts with the upbeat Juke Joint and Find A Bridge, whilst the gospel flavour is to the fore

MITCH WOODS FRIENDS ALONG THE WAY

Club 88 Records

The latest release from Mitch Woods, is a captivating and joyous celebration of musical camaraderie that takes listeners on a journey through various genres, eras, and collaborations. A veteran pianist and singer, he blends his boogie-woogie and blues roots with the talents of an array of accomplished musicians, including Van Morrison, Joe Louis Walker, Taj Mahal, Kenny Neal to name a few. From the moment the first track begins, it’s evident that this album is about connections; between artists, genres, and generations. The collaborative nature shines through as Woods shares the spotlight with an impressive roster of guest artists, each contributing their unique flavour to the mix.

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The chemistry between Woods and his collaborators is palpable, creating an atmosphere of genuine camaraderie that translates directly into the music. Woods’ prowess on the piano is undeniably the backbone of the album. His fingers dance across the keys with a delightful mix of precision and spontaneity. Tracks like C.C. Rider and Mother-in-Law Blues showcase his virtuosity, as he weaves intricate melodies while maintaining an infectious groove. There is a soulful melancholy to Saturday Night Boogie Woogie Man, Woods and his collaborators effortlessly traverse through blues, jazz, and R&B, keeping the listener engaged and eager for the next surprise. This is a must have release for anyone who appreciates the roots of blues and boogie-woogie while also embracing their evolution into the contemporary music landscape. This the deluxe edition comprising twenty-one songs, a blues musical odyssey.

COLIN CAMPBELL

in French Quarter Woman and the soul-blues ballad of Can’t Buy Time contains some of the most fervent singing on the release. The slow burning Blues Make Me Feel Good is drenched in blues licks and a wellbuilt Hammond Organ part, and Lowdown’s Blues is a funky little instrumental, that owes a certain debt to Booker T and The MG’s. Although there is nothing new here, it is a blues album with everything that that entails, it is a good release, well recorded, and featuring some fine musicians. It would be good to think that Leonard ‘Lowdown’ Brown has at least another album in him, but he will have to get his skates on.

BEN MACNAIR

REVEREND FREAKCHILD SONGS OF BEAUTY FOR ASHES OF REALIZATION

TREATED AND RELEASED RECORDS

This album features nine new versions of songs from the Rev’s prolific career that began in 2001. Opening track All I Got Is Now is a deep- groove funky blues featuring slinky lap-steel guitar from Hugh Pool fleshed out by B3 organ as Rev proclaims his thoughts on “trippin all night long”. Dial It In is a spacey, atmospheric, trip which is spiced up with gospel inspired backing vocals from Hazel Miller plus harmonica from G. Love. The glorious road trip country anthem All

Across America goes full throttle for a speedy drive with Rev playing some wailing harp alongside his vocals and the band racing to the finish. The title says it all with Hippy Bluesman Blues a psychedelic shuffle featuring tasty lead guitar from Mark Karan. Rev goes solo on Amsterdam Blues with some excellent slide guitar and then we are treated to Tears Of Fire a blazing blues-rock inferno with Chris Bergson on wailing lead guitar and thunderous drums from Chris Parker. The Rev. is on the outer limits of the blues spectrum, and I am loving this mash up of blues, rock, country and psychedelia (no magic mushrooms required) which is always a rewarding and interesting listen. A change of tone comes with the gentle Skyflower (Watermoon) a soaring country love song featuring strings and backing vocals from Sheryl Renee. Reverend Shawn Amos adds vocals and harp to Freak’s great slide guitar on the back porch style acoustic observation Don’t Miss Nothing ‘Til It’s Gone. Closing track Keep On Truckin’ pays tribute to Blind Boy Fuller and The Grateful Dead with a spiritually uplifting homage to Reverend Freakchild’s main inspirational heroes.

DAVE DRURY

SONIC BLUE

SHAKE THE BLUES

ANOTHER PLANET MUSIC

If you are looking for new and exciting, boundary pushing music then frankly this album is not the one for you. However, should you be in the mood for some solid, familiar feeling Blues then do take some time out to explore this ten-track collection of excellent grooves. Putting together a mix of fine covers and some originals the band have ended up with some foot tapping, head-nodding Blues and, I for one, like it a lot. To be honest I haven’t got the previous album Last Train from, I think, circa

2021 but would intend to seek it out. Okay as far as content goes it starts off with a horn drenched, Hammond driven take on Jimmy Reed’s The Sun Shining. Jimmy’s original kind of shuffles along with a sparse arrangement and a piercing harmonica as the solo instrument. These guys kinda share out the sound making it into a real band cut which suits it very well. Nice BVs as well and for sure I will be using this within my radio programmes. Long Cold Night, an original, is up next,

ERJA LYYTINEN DIAMONDS ON THE ROAD –LIVE 2023

Tuohi Records

which reminds me a little lyrically of Robert Cray. I said at the start that these are upbeat however being the Blues you can never be too far away from those reflecting on misfortune or troubled times in general. So included here are fine interpretations of Alfred Reed’s How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live plus Jimmy Witherspoon’s Times Getting Tougher Than Tough.

Unfortunately both are still apposite in these difficult times for many folks. If you

The queen of Nordic-noir blues rock returns and at her sonically forceful best with this volcanic hot live recording. It’s her fourth live album and, this one being recorded at Rytmikorjaamo, Seinäjoki, in the Western part of Finland, it’s a scorcher. It captures Erja, and her devilishly good band, in full lava flow during their ten-date Spring 2023 tour. Showcasing choice cuts from her most recent and acclaimed studio album, Waiting For Daylight, and favourite older songs, the high energy expended by Erja, and backed up to the hilt by her band, sounds like it put the front of house soundboard needles emphatically into the red zone. The surprise ingredient to this new album promoting track list is her ode to Finnish artist Pekka Halonen ́s painting ‘Väinämöinen Tuonelassa’.

an artist who still shines tough as a diamond

It’s based on the Finnish epic saga, Kalevala, in which a shaman called Väinämöinen goes into the Underworld. On this folk-metal hybrid, Erja also sings in her native Finnish tongue to awesome effect. But it’s the adrenalised stunner, Diamonds On The Road, that opens a sparkling and muscular set of songs in which one can hear the shock and awe of the audience’s reaction. This album’s single, You Talk Dirty, is a set to stun musical medusa of a song: one listen and you’re trapped then partially released by follow up tune, Lover’s Novels. As a live artist, Lyytinen never fails to lay her intentions on the line as she rocks the rafters of this Finnish outpost. These thirteen well-chosen tracks, including a frantic fret burn-up on Hendrix’s Crosstown Traffic, fully represents her live experience. Not forgetting her astonishing vocal delivery that could sink an iceberg. This is a hot and cool album in equal parts from an artist who still shines tough as a diamond.

PAUL DAVIES

are more into the ‘my woman done me wrong’ territory try out this version of John Brim’s Rattlesnake it, like the album, is excellent.

GRAEME SCOTT

WILLIE J CAMPBELL BE COOL

BLUE HEART RECORDS

The late Willie J Campbell was the bass player in several great bands, including The James Harman Band, Fabulous Thunderbirds,

Mannish Boys and The Proven Ones. Diagnosed with a terminal condition, Willie told his friends that he had one more record in him and so this project was born. Recorded at Dockside Studios in Louisiana, Willie’s band mates in The Proven Ones, Kid Ramos and Brian Templeton, co-produced, drummer Jimi Bott and keyboard player Brooks Milgate were ever present, and many guests lined up to play one last time with Willie. The material includes seven by Brian Templeton alongside an interesting range of covers, including

 Elsa Wellamo

GREIG TAYLOR BAND THE LIGHT Independent

This is a testament to the group’s musical prowess and knack for blending various genres into a cohesive and engaging sonic experience. With a distinct fusion of rock, soul, and blues influences, this takes listeners on a journey through a variety of moods and emotions, leaving a lasting impact. The band has an undeniable chemistry. Greig Taylor’s vocals are both emotive and captivating, effortlessly conveying the depth of the lyrics. Whether it’s the intricate guitar work, the soulful keyboard melodies, or the rhythmic backbone, every element is finely crafted to complement the overall sound.

this is an outstanding release

From the start, Real Born Winner has a driven and bluesy beat, an introspective tune about rehabilitation, with a great guitar solo by Brian McFee. Three Chords And The Truth is a sublime tune, slow paced melodic with hard hitting vocals. Tears In My Beer is the highlight for this reviewer, phenomenal song from start to finish the band captures a moment and Greig’s vocals are never more passionate, another personal song, played live this is a showstopper. Bleeding Love is a slow ballad, great tones, and superb keyboard here from Dave Cowan. Born To Love You is full on blues soul infused with a catchy chorus, Earl Thomas duetting here, rhythm section of Nelson McFarlane on bass and Dave Cantwell gets rocking here. Destination; slows the pace, a soulful tune. Set The World On Fire is another soulful tune well delivered a grower. I Should’ve Known has a funky Latino beat fusing flavours here mixing the musical pallet. Final track, The Light is such a powerful tune, sung with passion and honesty, Greig Taylor is a force of nature, his vocal range shines through, this is an outstanding release.

COLIN CAMPBELL

two from the halcyon days of British blues-rock, The Faces’ loose and rocking My Fault and Peter Green’s Albatross, a poignant album closer. Willie’s only writing credit is You Better Let Go which Sugaray Rayford delivers in typically exuberant fashion, but his steady bass is featured throughout, nowhere better than the terrific instrumental Docksidin’ with no fewer than four guitarists featured (Kid, Anson Funderburgh, Mike Morgan and Shawn Pittman). Sax Gordon adds considerably to the soulful Standby (Sugaray’s second appearance), equally good is Brian Templeton’s gospel-tinged vocal on Forever Shall Be and David Hidalgo reprises Los Lobos’ This Time to provide another highlight. Janiva Magness sings wonderfully on the slow blues Can’t Stay Away which has some of Kid Ramos’ finest guitar work while Shawn Pittman brings a laid-back feel to Devil On My shoulder, his acoustic guitar ably supported by Kim Wilson’s harp and Kid, Anson and Mike’s electric solos. Perhaps the most emotional performance is the moving tribute to Willie, Use As Needed, but there are also tracks that are simply great fun and must have been a joy to play; try the full-on rock and roll of She’s A Twister or You Can’t Stop Her, a tribute to Huey ‘Piano’ Smith, pianist Brooks Milgate and the rhythm section delivering the stop-start New Orleans feel perfectly. This fine album shows the high regard in which Willie J Campbell was held.

JOHN MITCHELL

MUTTER SLATER BAND

THE MASQUERADE

THOROUGHBRED MUSIC

Mutter Slater was a member of the eclectic British band Stackridge who were in their prime during the 1970’s and were regulars on the Old Grey whistle Test. In addition, they had the opening slot at the very

first Glastonbury festival in September 1970. After many revivals of the original band Mutter Slater has now been leading his own sixpiece band for several years. This, their latest release is full of strong material which delivers a mix of Soft Rock and Blues, all benefiting from Mutter’s Iconic vocal style which alongside the absorbing lyrical content makes this one of those albums that you do not want to put down. The opening track The Party is a great opener, it has an NRBQ feel about it with the vocal chorus and infectious beats, there is a great repeated verse “bring our livers to the slaughter,” highlighting the sort of parties I remember back in the 1970’s! This is soon followed by the best track on the album called Show Me You Care which has a slow intro with just vocals and some trembling guitar before the rest of the band cut in, but unexpectedly mid song there is a choral section which is then the signal for a driving rock end to the song with some excellent solos from Clive Ashley on tenor saxophone, Tom Hughes on Keyboards, and guitarist Chris Cleaver. The final track is very atmospheric with birds chattering in the background to the sound of Mutter’s plaintive Flute before the band join forces on what is a multifaceted song providing a good finish to the album. While this is not an “out and out” Blues album it has some influences driven from the Blues and is a great showcase for a talented band.

ADRIAN BLACKLEE

JOHN ALEXANDER FACE THE WIND

INDEPENDENT

Scottish songwriter and guitarist John Alexander brings together the latest instalment of dustbowl blues with the release of his new album Face The Wind. This collection of life and weather-beaten tales follows on from his previous release Of These Lands.

The album was produced by Boo Hewerdine who plays guitar, keyboards and bass, it was recorded and mixed at Saltwell studios by Chris Pepper who plays drums, guitar and keyboards, with Iona Macdonald supplying backing vocals and Neil Warden on lap steel guitar. This is a collection of eleven original songs that starts with the wonderful Bullets In The Rain, the gentle delicate finger picking acoustic guitar and haunting lap steel create an emotive backdrop for Alexander’s soulful vocals, with tender harmonies from Iona. This flows into Living To Stay Alive, finer guitar picking and backings vocals with an Americana feel. White Noise, a solid rhythmic beat and Alexander’s ragged vocals give this a heartland rock feel, I could imagine Hiatt/ Mellencamp doing this. There’s a lift in tempo for Don’t Start A War, the drums change to a marching beat as the song builds on a background of atmospheric guitar work, while Alexander paints a cinematic landscape with vocals and lyrics. The more wistful Long Way From Gone brings some more delicious harmonies over the acoustic guitar and keyboard rhythm. The album closes out with Iona again adding backing vocals on the pleasing country Americana of This Side Of The Glass, this gets better with each listen, excellent album.

SHIRL

C BONE

NORTH SE BREEZE

APM RECORDS.

You might not imagine the bracing town of Newquay, Cornwall, to produce a plethora of bluesmen, but here’s one terrific example, C Bone. Although originally hailing from Sunderland, he’s known as a beach blues busker and has made some memorably funk-fuelled festival appearances. After living in Spain and France for some time he’s developed a smooth and exhilarating skill as you’ll

 Colin Campbell

KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD DIRT ON MY DIAMONDS VOL 1

Provogue/Mascot

Having witnessed at first hand this amazing band on the recent Mediterranean Blues Cruise, this brand new album could not have appeared at a better time. When you get to see a band of this caliber in a live environment, knowing full well that a new album is on the horizon, it certainly gets the listening juices ready for action. Eight songs, which includes one cover, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, has delivered a masterpiece of an album. The title track opens proceedings with all the swagger and bravado that we have come to expect. What you see is what you get with KWS, Blues, and Blues/Rock delivered at a high tempo, containing great lyrics and great playing.

I’m a good old boy as far as bad boys go

This current band of musicians has been together for a long time, and it shows, tight and full of energy. The soon-to-be-released single/video, Sweet & Low epitomizes this band, a brilliant rocker of a tune. But it is not all full-throttle Blues/Rock, for instance, You Can’t Love Me, has a softer edge to it, bringing out the soulful character of KWS, and showcasing the versatility of these guys. The cover song on the album is a well-known classic from one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Saturday Night’s All Right For Fighting. “I think we can add something to certain songs, it is a tribute to great music, with our stamp on it” (Kenny Wayne Shepherd chatting to me on the Blues Cruise). That sums it all up, a classic tune, with a fired-up band of guys who just love to rock out. This rendition will rock your socks off. “ I’m a good old boy as far as bad boys go” is the opening line to the song, Bad Intentions. That lyric immediately sets the story of what the song is all about, KWS showing his songwriting nous as well as his undoubted guitar skills. Vol 1 is a highly enjoyable album, packed full of great tunes, which makes this writer even hungrier for Vol 2.

STEPHEN HARRISON

hear on driving tracks such as Comin’ on Through and Come Hell or High Water. C Bone’s music has a driving funk quality, which is hardly surprising as his festival appearances with his band The Big Sets with his amazing bassist Dr. Funk have fired up thousands of festivalgoers throughout the Southwest. He also does some classy Jazzy R&B on the lively Three Sweet Kisses. If Blues rock is your bag, it’s all here with Loaded Gun and The Stealer, and

DUST RADIO PROBLEM & REMEDY INDEPENDENT

ABRAHAM RED PARLOR RECORDS

I particularly enjoyed the heads-down piledriver of Keep on Rockin’. So, there’s many blues, funk and blues influences going on here. Like a number of self-contained modern blues acts on this side of the Atlantic, it seems that an apprenticeship which propels you through parts of Europe only adds to your skill, knowledge and versatility. C-Bone’s got it all. If you can get to see him live, don’t miss the chance.

ROY BAINTON

This is purely gritty old school blues with a mix of roots and Americana styles, given a kick into the 21st Century via sharp harmonica tones and groove that will stay with the listener for a long time. Eight tunes that sizzle with blues infused passion with an infectious beat. A foot stomping band with attitude. No fillers here, just honest musical craftsmanship. They are a UK based duo, Paddy Wells on vocals and harmonica and Tom Jackson on guitar and vocals. Here they share the songwriting apart from their reinterpretation of Dr John’s I Walk On Gilded Splinters, a superb version. The rhythm section of Stu Baggaley on bass and drummer Stevie Oakes add to the tightness of the band and are a solid unit. By Way Of Fat Sam, the opening track sets the scene, an instant winner full of solid groove. Problem & Remedy is raw and edgy a more acoustic vibe here, punctuated with masterful harmonica tones, and slide guitar structure. South Of Nowhere changes the tempo very catchy with some more slide guitar work adding to the groove, great licks. The canyon is a beautiful instrumental mixing harmonica and acoustic guitar tones. Face Don’t Fit has a rocky feel. It’s in the groove. Gallows Pole sees another mood change a storming toe tapper. Final tune, No More Trouble has a delicate introduction, sublime harmonica dripping emotional tones, like Paddy’s vocal delivery through this slow blues number, so many layers to this, spine tingling. Highly recommended, relax and listen on repeat.

COLIN CAMPBELL

I am a little ashamed to say that I had not heard of Sandy Bailey before this album dropped through my letterbox. But what I am very happy about is, now that I have listened to the album, I’m a very big fan of this lady. This is the kind of album that portrays the singer/songwriter aspect more than the album in general. Let me clarify that, this is the sort of album you would have associated with

the likes of Carole King back in the early seventies. Easy listening with great lyrics and such a sweet vocal. The opening track, I Ain’t Your Honey is soulful beyond words. The lyrics and vocal performance by Sandy Bailey made me question myself as to why I had not heard of this lady before. From there on in, the album takes you on a ride of American music through the ages, soul, blues, country, and Americana, it’s almost a history lesson of music from the very beginning of Amer-

SUSAN TEDESCHI JUST WON’T BURN

Fantasy Records

2023 marks the 25th anniversary of the release of this album. It hardly seems like yesterday since people were marvelling at this somewhat unknown blues singer/songwriter. From the first track, Rock Me Right, Susan Tedeschi displays a vocal that has yet to be matched by many artists, male or female. The sheer ferocity of the delivery along with the punchy tune written by Tom Hambridge, leaves you in no doubt that this is going to be one hell of an album. Now Tom Hambridge has written, played, and produced so many blues artists for as long as I can remember, and when you hear the contributions on Just Won’t Burn, it is easy to understand why. He is so much of an encyclopedia of production and writing which helps to make this album as good as it is. Apart from the songs written by Tom and Susan, there are some notable covers that deserve to be mentioned. Little By Little, written by Junior Wells, and first released in 1960 brings out the best in Susan’s voice and playing, it’s such a wonderful blues tune that has been covered by many artists including, Buddy Guy. Looking For Answers highlights not only incredible vocals but also showcases the brilliant writing abilities of Susan Tedeschi.

The title track has me almost lost for words

A blend of soft, subtle lyrics with a velvety vocal that we have come to know and love. The title track has me almost lost for words, one of my all-time favourite tunes penned by Susan Tedeschi. Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean, was first recorded in 1952, and was written by Johnny Wallace, Ruth Brown, and Charles Singleton. Now Charles Singleton is not the first name to roll off people’s tongues where Blues tunes are concerned, but Help Poor Me, B. B. King, was in fact written by Charles Singleton. Angel From Montgomery remains a live gem when performed by The Tedeschi Trucks Band, it got its first airing on this album, which goes to prove just how good this album is. It’s a musical gem.

STEPHEN HARRISON

SANDY BAILEY DAUGHTER OF

another acoustic slide raw take here. Highly recommended, a stunning release.

ican culture. The title track is as sweet as honey and so silky smooth if you have had a bad day, for whatever reason, relax and listen to this song in particular, it’ll soothe whatever ails you. Waiting On Summer has more of a blues edge, a little bit more up-tempo, allowing Sandy to fully express her vocal range. As I mentioned earlier, this album helps to portray the singer/songwriter aspect, and it does it so well. That’s not to say that the accompanying musicians are just bit-part players, far from it, they play some incredible stuff that doesn’t override the songs, and they allow the vocalist, Sandy to express herself, through her lyrics, leaving space for her to shine. That’s not as easy as it sounds, but it works so well here. Daughter Of Abraham is a mellow album full of great tunes that teach us all about American music, some things that we may have forgotten.

STEPHEN HARRISON

THE RECORD COMPANY

THE 4TH ALBUM

ROUND HILL RECORDS

For their fourth release, the band goes back to their roots on these ten bluesbased tracks. The trio are, Chris Vox on lead vocals,

guitar and harmonica, Alex Stiff on bass guitar and backing vocals and Marc Cazorla on drums and backing vocals. Troubles with cancelled events and having to find a new record label has led to the background story, here the band has a reboot and exudes power and energy throughout.

Opening number, Dance On Monday has a bassline that just is tremendous then slide guitar tones gets the rhythm rocking, an upbeat catchy vibe catching the theme of defiance. I Found Heaven is a reflective tune, again loosely based on rejuvenation, harmonica tones and clear harmonies makes this a highlight. Highway Lady has a stripped back rootsy vibe, great melody, and slow tempo. Patterns, opens with another slick bass hook and morphs into a gospel blues tune another infectious danceable tune. Talk To Me has a funky groove of its own, vocal delivery sharp and showcases a tight band. Roll With It changes the tempo, an up-tempo floor filler, it’s all in the groove here. Bad Light also has a swagger and some good harmonies.

Control My Heart Blues has understated Chicago blues tones. I’m Working opens acoustically some great fretwork then harmonica and drums keep the rhythm fresh a stomping blues tune.

Last song, You Made A Mistake is traditional blues

COLIN CAMPBELL

MICK KOLASSA

I’M JUST GETTING STARTED!

ENDLESS BLUES

Eleventh album for Mick Kolassa, I’d have said he is well seasoned by now. There is a whole lot of good Blues on this album as well as some fine soul. From the opening title track through to the last notes of How Much Can I Pay You? you just get good music that is worth a lot more than a cursory listen. He is backed up by a bunch of quality musicians and together they make a good noise. Kolassa himself has a fine voice with real depth and on a song such as What Can I Do, a slow soul Blues, it really does show itself to be a mighty weapon. Dexter Allen, who plays bass on most of the album, also delivers a gorgeous guitar line on the track. Most tracks have a sense of humour in the lyrics, especially the originals and there are some good covers as well, Taj Mahal’s Leavin’ Trunk has some fine funk behind it and John Hiatt’s Real Man comes over pretty well. You can definitely hear the many years of experience in Mick Kolassa’s singing and playing and he has the feel of a seasoned live performer, but I feel that his best quality is in the soul songs. That Kind Of Man is presented with real emotion and Trying Not To Let The Darkness In, a slow ballad, builds some deep feeling. In a world of too many very average Blues performers, Mick Kolassa is definitely a step up in quality and class.

ANDY SNIPPER

MICK KOLASSA WOODEN MUSIC

ENDLESS BLUES RECORDS

With the swagger of midera Rolling Stones, the gruffness of Bob Dylan,

and some strong, swinging musicianship, Mick Kolassa and his talented ensemble prove that acoustic instruments can rock as hard as their electric brethren. With acoustic rhythm, lead and slide guitar, double bass, drums harmonica, piano and accordion the 10 originals and one cover on Wooden Music show the influence of such names as Chris Rea, John Lee Hooker and many others in a heady stew of styles, from straight-forward blues to the Leonard Cohen sounding You Gotta Pay The Price and the harmonica drenched light jazz swing of Sugar In Your Grits there is literate songwriting, and strong playing on display throughout the album. With elements of bluegrass and Americana the release ticks a lot of boxes. Hurt People has some good tack piano playing, and a small gospel choir adding to the soundscape. Memphis Wood is late era Dylan with it’s deep, world-weary vocal performance, Accordion and minimalist acoustic guitar solo. If Life Was Fair is another jazz singer, and the closing tracks One Hit Wonder and Gas Station Sushi are both character studies rich in detail and musicianship. Wooden Music is a good release, with plenty to please fans of blues, rock, and literate, narrative songwriting.

BEN MACNAIR

JOYANN PARKER ROOTS

HOPELESS ROMANTIC RECORDS

This is Joyann Parker’s third album and it’s a winner, full of original songs. Joyann has a great, powerful voice but never resorts to screaming and histrionics, making every track a pleasant listening experience. A long-time resident of Minneapolis, Joyann recently returned to her native Wisconsin and the title track reflects that move back to her Roots, a riff-driven rocker with

swirling keys and a strong chorus. Horns add to the catchy Faintly Optimistic which has a fine guitar solo by Mark Lamoine who also duets on vocals here. The confessional Wash It Away has more beautifully poised guitar and outstanding vocals in gospel style as she wonders where a former lover may be, is he Closing Someone Else’s Blinds, she ponders, over some lovely bass and piano lines. Chiming guitars introduce What’s Good For You, another tune with a great, singalong chorus: “You don’t know what’s good for you, but I know it ain’t me”. Juxtaposition has reggae rhythms with trombone, Old Flame is light and jazz-inflected with marimba and strings and Ain’t Got Time To Cry is a tango; three very different songs, all sung superbly. Joyann asks why she has been Forsaken by the Lord, Mark’s slide adding a moody Delta feel before we meet Miss Evangeline, the girl for whom the guy left Joyann, played at a frantic pace with the mandolin and acoustic guitar adding a campfire feel. The piano-led ballad Going Under is a tearjerker which Joyann delivers in peerless style, beautifully composed with lyrics like “open my hand but you don’t let go, open my mouth but no words come out, open my soul and you gain control, open my mind, you climb inside”. We close the album with a fun jump blues with horns that describes the life of a Stay Home Mama who must devote her time to her young family and Sconnie Girl, a country-tinged tribute to her native Wisconsin. Although this is far from a straight blues record, Joyann’s vocals and songwriting skills make this a must-hear disc.

JOHN

CHRISTONE “KINGFISH” INGRAMS

LIVE IN LONDON

Alligator Records

“Kingfish”, as he is affectionately known, first burst onto the blues scene around 2019 with his debut album, Kingfish. As a young blues artist from, Clarksdale, Mississippi, to say that he caught the blues world by storm would be an understatement. His second album, 662, released in 2021, catapulted him into the blues stratosphere. At the tender age of twenty-four, Chrisyone Ingrams has earned the accolade of the hottest blues artist on the planet right now. Earlier his year he released his third album, Live In London, recorded at The Garage. A magnificent double CD of some of the greatest blues I’ve heard in a very long time. The gig opens with, She Calls Me Kingfish, which has an amazing introduction, suddenly bursting into full bloom in the bluesiest of ways.

The essence of blues music that gave birth to a musical phenomenon

This young man, literally has the blues world at his feet. Not only is he an outstanding musician, a guitar ist’s guitarist, but he also has brilliant blues and soul vocals to match. Not surprisingly, the majority of the tracks are taken from his two albums, which again, highlights his songwriting abilities. Another Life Goes By, from the album 662 brings out his soulful side, and Hard Times brings out his funky side, both showcas ing his immense talent as a musician. Disc 2 continues in much the same vane, blues to simply die for. As I attested to earlier, at the tender age of twenty-four, Christone Ingrams is only going to develop into a much more rounded blues artist, the sky is the limit for this guy. Rock & Roll, now when you see this title on a blues album, you could be forgiven that it would be a stomping boogie woogie, ass wriggling type of tune. Nothing could be further from the truth, a piano intro, delicately brings you into such a sweet tune. It contains one of the best lines I’ve ever heard, “ Lend your soul to Rock &Roll”. The essence of blues music that gave birth to a musical phenomenon. This live album will take its rightful place among the legendary live blues albums of yesteryear.

STEPHEN HARRISON

ALONG FOR THE RIDE

INDEPENDENT

I’m no stranger to Trevor Babajack Steger as he’s played my Blues Barn twice and always leaves a lasting impression of true rootsy Blues. When I saw this CD drop through my letterbox, I had a rush of, at last,

on Red Dress, now, one of my all-time favourite songs. It truly got into my soul. Like all his songs, they are stories being told by a true craftsman using various instruments from harmonica, cigar box guitars, and foot stomps to his hand-built guitar, plus for me his most important instrument, his voice. As the album title says, the duo is along for the ride, this time it’s the ever-dependable Jesse Benn’s on cajon, or drum box as my grandkids call it, which just adds the salt to this perfectly bubbling casserole. After Solemn Truth, Red Dress stirs my emotions, and the goosebumps rush up my arm like an electric shock remembering where I first heard Trevor sing it to me. The Blues is a state of mind, a mix of emotions, a feeling, and by the time Ambler

Gambler is being stomped out of my speakers, I already know that this album is going to be played again and again. The harmonica playing on this album alone is worth getting it for, this is a howling, growling album of songs, no more evident than on the double track seven, Black Water/Rambling Man which has me closing my eyes and tapping my feet, whilst I drift off into a Blues coma.

BARRY BLUESBARN HOPWOOD

JONAH TOLCHIN DOCKSIDE

CLOVER MUSIC GROUP

Jonah has come up on my radar before which isn’t surprising when he’s had over twenty five million streams, no small feat in itself. Now

North Mississippi All Stars, on a joint venture and my tongue is hanging out like a dog waiting for a bone. Recorded over two days at Dockside studios in Maurice, Louisiana, I get the feeling this is going to be good. Starting off with a guitar fuelled Little Walter classic, Blues with a Feeling throwing in some funky guitar instead of harmonica is verging on genius and Jonah’s voice fits like a glove.Follow that straight up with Searching For My Soul, (which is going to be a single). I’m glad this one came to my house to review as it will be going into my personal collection. So far I’ve heard, Blues, Rock, Americana, where else are these boys gonna take me. Can’t Close My Eyes and Endless Highway are pure Louisiana Blues at its finest and Jonah blows the harp so well on this tune.

someone’s captured his live essence and, if it’s half as good as when I’ve seen him, I’ll be very happy. There’s something truly unique about Trevor as a perform er, his voice can sound like a growling bear on songs like Sawdust Man, which kicks off this live recording, fol lowed by River Song, then sound like a gentle breeze

 Simon Green

COCO MONTOYA WRITING ON THE WALL

Alligator Records

On his new release there is an eclectic choice of thirteen tunes, some reinterpretations and five written or cowrites by Coco. His vocals have never been stronger, and his guitar style is so unique, enveloping his lyrics. Here he has his own band helping; Jeff Paris, on keyboards and guitars also he is co producer and the songs were recorded in his studio. Rhythm section includes Nathan Brown on bass guitar and Rena Beavers on drums. There are special guests, including Ronnie Baker Brooks, Lee Roy Parnell, and Dave Steen. They all add sustenance to this wonderful release. The opener, I Was Wrong drips with soul laden vocals and consummate guitar hooks. Save It For The Next Fool is a rocking ballad full of emotion and groove encapsulating great harmonies.

His vocals have never been stronger, and his guitar style is so unique

You Got Me (Where You Want Me) Coco duets on guitar with Ronnie on this shuffle laden tune. (I’d Rather Feel) Bad Doin’ It, has a laid-back vibe to it. Be Good To Yourself, is a faithful rendition of the Frankie Miller tune. Writing On The Wall is full of funky blues, but with a country twist even, a true story apparently. A Chip And A Chair has Lee Roy Parnell on slide guitar on this tune about gambling addiction great hook to this one, well delivered with deep meaning. Baby You’re A Drag is an up-tempo tune with Coco and Ronnie duetting both vocally and guitar wise, a highlight. The Three Kings And Me is a Christmas blues tune dedicated to Albert, BB and Freddie King, a beautiful tribute.

COLIN CAMPBELL

As Trust Someone, and Too Far Down (tracks 7/8) kick in I hear Gospel/Soul music being gently eased in like a summer breeze and that’s what vocalist Chavonne Stewart brings to the fore, makes me drift off to a warm Louisiana night, sitting on a porch looking up at the stars. When an album can transport you away, you know its good. On Suffering Well, it’s evident that Luther is taking the reins of lead guitar and brings his distinctive sound. As Mama Don’t Worry blasts out my speakers I hear boogie woogie piano thrown into the recipe of this great big gumbo of an album, and there’s still two more tracks to go. Twelve tracks of easy listening music that will stay with you for a long time and if they don’t, you’re reading the wrong magazine...

BARRY (BLUESBARN) HOPWOOD

SEAN TAYLOR SHORT STORIES INDEPENDENT

London based troubadour Sean Taylor must be one of the best singer songwriters around and this new release of ten original tunes is peppered with emotion, style and musicality in every verse. It flows so well, the opener, an ethereal homage to playwright Samuel Beckett references Waiting For Godot and is just hypnotic in tone. Likewise, Snowdonia is a true story recreating a peaceful landscape, the arrangement is uplifting and memorable, Joe Harvey White’s pedal steel backing interplay lifts the tune to surreal depths. Wildflower keeps the magical spell of his vocals, evoking summer vibes and less is more on this piano laden track Paulina Szczepaniak on drums just keeping a light beat here, hypnotic trancey tones. Open Your Heart To Love comprises interweaving of conversations he has had, another hypnotic upbeat tune full of emotion, goosebump time here. Mona Lisa has a

boogie woogie blues style, about the famous painting, Sean’s harmonica style is mighty fine on this feelgood tune. Mike Seal who plays bass throughout, co-wrote Set Me Free a love song for hard times, Sean’s vocals soar through this musical rootsy treat. Gravestones is full on dark humour set to a voodoo beat, contemporary lyrics, love the violin. Sweet Maria is an Irish love song a bit of ragtime here. The Letter is a straight blues tune about ultimate heartbreak but an upbeat track. Last track, Be Cool is billed as a stream of consciousness to an ongoing narrative from Sean, jazzy vibes, especially Eric Lounsbury on trumpet make this a winner, so many layers to this astounding release, it gets better with every play, incredible release.

COLIN CAMPBELL

PARCHMAN PRISON PRAYER SOME MISSISSIPPI MORNING

GLITTERBEAT

When I first heard about this album, I was a bit skeptical, as one could imagine. An album made by inmates, recorded live, with no overdubs, not your normal run-of-the-mill offering. Parchman Prison, the oldest in Mississippi, was founded in 1901 and has housed some very famous people, and blues artists, of yesteryear, including, Bukka White, Son House, Mose Allinson, and a certain Vernon Presley. Now, it is not unusual for blues artists to be incarcerated, but to have so many famous ones in one prison, that I was not expecting. The prison itself is situated around the corner from The Delta Blues Museum, Clarksdale. So the blues is at the heart of this community, for good, and for bad. The songs are relatively short, they were recorded at different services on Sunday mornings. These songs range from short gospel tunes to gospel and blues tunes, and some are recorded with the pris-

on choir, with one or two of the inmates taking the lead vocals. Songs such as, Open The Eyes Of My Heart, I Give Myself Away, and Step Into The Water, is without doubt, some of the most uplifting and heartwarming stuff I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to. What also fills me with joy, is that whatever these people have done to find themselves in this penitentiary, there is a glimmer of hope, a light at the end of the tunnel. I also like the fact that these inmates have had the chance to show what is deep inside them, Blues and gospel music can be very healing as well as being sad, they can be both shining lights to something better. The highlight of this magnificent album for me is the solo a capella vocals on Hosanna by L. Brown, aged just 36. Whoever had the idea of making this album should receive at least a Grammy. I urge everyone to get this piece of musical brilliance and play it at least once a day.

STEPHEN HARRISON

SELINA AND THE HOWLIN DOGS BISCUIT CITY

INDEPENDENT

I am always delighted when it’s a British band’s album that is blowing my skirts up, so Reading’s Selina And The Howlin Dogs are flying the flag high and proud. Here at BM Towers were are more than used to expertly played, sung, and produced albums winging over from the USA, let’s face it, there’s a lot more of them, the chances are higher of them getting it right. But we are the home of the greatest blues musicians in the world, list too long to get into now, you know the names. And continuing that wonderful tradition, here is a new(ish) band hitting their stride and ticking all the boxes in big black and bold strokes. By the time My Love is pulsing into my ears, my smile is getting wider and wider, because

 Victoria Smith

this is the real deal. The musicianship is superlative, everything is tight and economical, nothing too flashy, everything supporting the vocals. And that’s where the ubiquitous Selina Arch shines. She has such a confident and sassy vocal style. There’s no need to scream and shout her vocals, her voice is so sweet and utterly listenable. There is a tight funky edge to songs like Keno Pie, and it’s clear that Slipping Away will be a highlight of the live set with its running bass lines. It’s not a criticism at all to say that the sound of these songs harks back to the best of the 1970’s, when Babe Ruth and Heart were making waves with exactly this kind of melodic blues rock. Of course, it’s always time for the new breed to burst on through, and with a band as naturally gifted as all of SATHD, this is exactly what is needed to keep the style moving and growing. Each song is individual, and different from the rest, while never losing sight and sound of the band identity. This band are going to take America by storm when the go over, as surely, they must, so catch them before they get tied up touring the world. Album of the year anyone?

ANDY HUGHES

THE DELTA BLUES OUTLAWS

WELCOME TO THE BLUES HIGHWAY

DELTA BLUES RECORDS

The synthesiser is not the most traditional of blues instruments, and let’s face it, there’s a good reason for that. However well it may have worked for silly haircut 1980s electropop bands, it is alien to many other musical contexts. Its heavy employment on the Delta Blues Outlaws’ CD Welcome To The Blues Highway, certainly gives the collection a distinctly eclectic vibe. Throw in muddy sound quality on a live album recorded straight off the mixing desk and the whole thing unfortunately never gels.

Substituting synth parts for Scotty Moore’s guitar licks on Elvis’s Tryin’ To Get To You and the brass section on Robert Parker’s standard Barefootin’ were always going to be bold moves. Alas, they don’t quite come off. There are some plus points, though, including a strong vocal performance from band leader and guitarist Billy Jones, which can be heard to best effect on Tennessee Whiskey. No Diggity is a fine slice of funk that conclusively proves Jones knows what to do with a wah-wah pedal. And for fans of risqué lyrics, the opening song Shadetree Mechanic gloriously leaves no entendre undoubled as a lady friend is offered a full service, if you know what I’m saying. Incidentally, this set was recorded last December at Harlow’s Casino in Greenville, Mississippi, a venue I have visited on my travels. I’d have been happy enough to have caught the gig.

DAVID OSLER

SKYLA BURRELL BROKEN 45’S INDEPENDENT

Born in California and now based in Pennsylvania, singer/ guitarist/ bandleader and songwriter Skyla joined her first band at the age of 15 and doesn’t seem to have looked back since. This is her sixth album since 2004, along with co-founder, fellow guitarist and musical sparring partner Mark Tomlinson. The first two numbers also show the breadth of Skyla’s approach. The title track is a fine slab of undoubted blues-rock, whilst Love Drug is a straight-forward blues shuffle, though her roaring vocal here brings to mind Koko Taylor, and musically it has something of the raw edge of some of the older musicians, approaching J.B. Hutto maybe, which is also apparent on the following song, Voodoo Love. The fifteen songs of this album are all originals, one of Skyla’s initial aims was to play only her own (co-)compositions and she keeps faith with that. They are good ones

too, try the boogying Hard Time, the Magic Sam styled west side Chicago sound of Other Side Of Night or the tough stop-time groove of August. Cash Money is one of those Windy City club numbers with a jazzy tint, So Hard To Love You has an early 60s R ’n’ B feel, and Rock The House needs no further description from me, I guess. Separated is more of a soulful blues-ballad, Troubled Times is a riff-ridden monster, with powerful slide guitar a little low in the mix adding greatly to the atmosphere, and the closing When You Coming Home brings this fine and thoroughly enjoyable set to a close with another straight-forward blues shuffle. By now you might be expecting the strong vocal, gritty guitar work and driving rhythm supplied by bassist Charlie Hilbert and drummer Ezell Jones, and this doesn’t disappoint in any way whatsoever.

NORMAN DARWEN

THE ROADSIDE BANDITS PROJECT THE SIBERIAN CANDIDATE

DHARMA RECORDS

Santi Arribas is the brainchild behind the band, who besides taking production and writing duties plays Guitars, Keyboards, and creates the programming which firmly places the music in a Blues/Electronica category. One that is not overly populated, so this album has a good chance of being heard across the various musical platforms available to these sounds. Santi utilises three guest vocalists to cover the six vocal tracks, John Sterry (Gang of Four) opens proceedings with a moody vocal on the opening track

Nothing which topically covers the Cost-of-Living Crisis. This is immediately followed by a song called Down, Down which covers another political sensitive subject in Mental Health, Julian Caswell takes the vocal duties on this one. The Electronica really kicks in on

NIECIE QUEEN OF THE HILL

Ride The Tiger Records

Niecie puts her heart and soul into her musicianship and love for the blues genre. Here on these twelve tracks, four of which are reinterpretations, she gives it her all again. The release was produced by Johnny Neel, the Allman Brothers keyboard player, and Grammy Lifetime Achievement winner, who also plays on all tracks. There are different grooves and styles to please any music lover here. The opener, Leave It All Behind is a song about moving forward and not getting stuck in the same routine, great guitar riff blends well with her powerful vocal delivery.5-10-15 Hours, covered by Ruth Brown is a catchy tune, a New Orleans vibe going on here.Title track Queen Of The Hill is a highlight, sassy delivery proving Niecie is her own person and don’t mess with her, great rhythm here an empowering tune with a great backbeat the band rocks out on this one.

Highly recommended, this is her best release to date

Hidden Agenda is a rocky blues tune, Jon Conley ‘s guitar solo sublime. Welcome To My Web has a Latino vibe Niecie’s vocals again sassy and luscious, an infectious groove on this also. Midnight Rain has a late-night Blues Bar feel, a smoky slow blues tune. Nothing Left To Lose is a very personal tune from Niecie, full of emotion and honesty. Two Kinds Of Men, alludes to the narrator’s choice of male partners, it is all in the vocal delivery, sharp and succinct. Every Kinda Blues epitomises the theme to this brilliant release, what you hear is what you get with this band is on fire here. Highly recommended, this is her best release to date, and she still has more on the way catch her live not to be missed.

COLIN CAMPBELL

LONG ROAD HOME ARE WE INVISIBLE ?

Independent

Firstly, I must admit to being unsure about this one before hearing it for the first time. It was initially suggested that this album might not necessarily wwork for lovers of more traditional blues, which is my bag, I approached it with trepadation. But, perhaps surprisingly, must admit to really enjoying this absolute stormer of a hi-energy, full-throttle electric-driven blues-rock release. There’s shades of Southern Rock rattling around in here and some mighty fine fretwork and lyricism both at play, making Are We Invisible likely to appeal to many bluieslovers across the internal genres and music types. Influences are at times tricky to pin down, but without doubt must include the likes of some of the greats such as Deep Purple, Jethro Tull, Gary Moore, Robin Trower and Joe Bonamassa. Not too shabby as a starting point for anyone interested in the music. With eleven tracks, there’s space to work around tempo and type here. Long Road Home are a 5 piece rock band with shades of prog and blues, tLong Road Home,the band, have many years’ touring and recording experience going back to the ’70s. LRH are guitarist, Steve Summers, ,vocalist, Mike Sebbage, bassist Derek White, Lee Morrell, drums and keyboard player Ian Salisbury. A damn fine release for anyone with a passion for modern, blasting-blues with a rockier edge.

IAIN PATIENCE

the instrumental numbers, particularly the title track which is very intense and heavy but punctuated by some tasty guitar playing from Santi, who certainly knows his way around the instrument. He really excels on the upbeat Blues shuffle instrumental called Reshuffle where he plays several solo’s all with a different sound and style of Blues playing. Half way through listening to this CD I have realised that I had a negative pre-conceived view about the Blues/ Electronica concept but this is totally unfounded, as this is invigorating and imaginative Blues music that is enhanced by the subtle studio wizardry use of Electronica. The final track Lifeboat, is more ambient than the rest of the album but still manages to incorporate some spacey chunks of Delta Blues through Santi’s melodic guitar work. This is a different Blues concept but one that I have really enjoyed listening to,

Statesboro Blues which owes more to the original than the Allman Bros. great late 60’s supercharged version. Easy Rider Blues is another BLJ track featuring Howell’s relaxed, almost world weary, vocals. The Rev Gary Davis based his Twelve Gates To The City on a Bible verse from Revelations and Howell’s delivers it with suitable reverence. Delicate fingerpicking offsets the sorrowful tale of the murder of Delia Green in the traditional lament All My Friends Are Gone. This album will appeal to those looking for authentic renditions of these classic old blues songs. William Brown’s stately instrumental Mississippi Blues is followed by Rev Gary Davies’ jaunty gospel tune Sit Down On The Banks Of The River. Another saucy old RGD favourite is covered as Howell’s asks the question Sally, Where’d You Get Your Liquor From? The traditional folk song I’m Going Away features a pleasing melody line. The album closes with a rendition of the fine instrumental track Dallas Rag as performed by The Dallas Stringband in 1927.

blues. The description is spot on. Midnight Train sets the wheels in motion, a high-tempo ditty that has gone to make this band one of the most exciting live acts in the country. Nick’s vocals and guitar playing go hand-in-glove with the wild harmonica playing of Eduardo Allen. It is not easy to grab the attention of the public with your first recording, especially in the current climate, but The Terraplanes do just that. Four out of the five tunes are penned by Nick Scrase, leaving one cover tune. Catfish and Voodoo Blues are every bit as good as the title track, raw blues, delivered with fervour and energy that is seldom seen these days. When embarking upon your first recording, especially an EP, you can be forgiven for including a blues classic, Malted Milk, by Robert Johnson is indeed a blues classic. I’m pretty certain that Mr. Johnson would heartily approve of this rendition. I urge you to go to watch these guys performing live, buy this EP, and buy the album, Stepping Stones, you’ll thank me later.

Santi Arribas has written some excellent material and shows that he has a keen sense for the Blues.

ADRIAN BLACKLEE

STEVE HOWELL GALLERY OF ECHOES

OUT OF THE PAST MUSIC

Long serving Texan troubadour with his affectionate take on eleven classic acoustic blues songs from the catalogue of his heroes from the American South back in the late 1800’s/ early 1900’s. Opening track Stocking Feet Blues was originally recorded by Blind Lemon Jefferson in 1926 and features excellent finger picking over a walking bass line. Cluck Old Hen is an Appalachian fiddle and banjo tune featuring Howell’s humorous delivery of the comical lyrics. Nice rolling guitar introduces Blind Willie McTell’s song

DAVE DRURY

THE TERRAPLANES BLUES BAND MIDNIGHT TRAIN-EP INDEPENDENT

You could be forgiven for asking why I’m reviewing an EP that first came to light in 2020. A good question, I’m going back to where it all started for these guys that hail from Bristol. Not long ago, they released an album called Stepping Stones, an album that appeared on these very same review pages. Let me introduce you to the band, Nick Scrase, (guitar, vocals) Eduardo Allen ( harmonica), Mark Clark (bass), and last but by no means least, Tom Turner (drums). On the inside cover of this Ep is a bit of a glimpse into what these guys are all about, jumping rhythms, and dancefloor

STEPHEN HARRISON

THE TESKEY BROTHERS

THE WINDING WAY

IVY LEAGUE RECORDS

We are a broad church here at BM Towers, we don’t go a whole lot on bracketing music, sticking it in boxes with labels on it. It restricts enjoyment, it closes ears to valuable listening experiences, and it refuses to acknowledge the simple fact that music is organic, it weaves in and out of styles, it’s never meant to be tied down to any one thing. That’s why I love it when albums like this new offering from Australia’s Teskey Brothers lands and makes the cut into the magazine. Because it is a blues album, it has all the emotion and feeling that you’d ever want. But the icing is the voice of Josh Teskey. He carries the soul

and sound of the legendary Al Green, who can put more emotion and feeling into a song that just about anyone. The rise of Take My Heart to its masterful climax of horns and keyboards is an object lesson of how to reach out to listeners and capture their attention, and hold it, probably for ever. The power of this collection of songs, is not just the peerless arrangements that underpin those magical blues and soul vocals, it’s the lyrical invention the brothers use to convey the messages of their songs. The use of London Bridge as a metaphor for a failing relationship is nothing short of masterful. The letter from a father to his baby daughter in Carry Me Home is another example of the slow full-band blues underpinned by soulful harmonica and dobro guitar. But it’s not all sadness and loss, This Will Be Our Year is a wonderfully optimism, and once again Josh Teskey’s voice rings out over the top of the brass and jaunty arrangement. There is a more pared-back approach with some minimal dual guitar on Blind Without You, a song about loss as powerful as anything you’d wish to find. The final song on this wonderful record will please all blues purists who may have not felt the winder appeal of the preceding cuts. What Will Be is pure blues, love that, and open your ears to the rest.

ANDY HUGHES

MARK CAMERON NASTY BUSINESS

BLUE HEART RECORDS

Minnesota resident guitarist Mark Cameron has been gigging since the early 1970s, but only turned his attention to the blues in the late 2000s, with Nasty Business marking his fifth venture into the genre since then. On the evidence of this collection of 10 selfpenned compositions, his playing is much influenced by British classic rock bands, and I’d place a small

wager that he listens to a little bit of Tom Waits on the side. While the CD has gone out in Cameron’s name, it’s not a one-man show. The other musicians, most notably harmonica player Rick Miller, and several guests backing vocalists, deserve credit for filling out the sound nicely. Standouts include Everything, which shows the band at their Stonesiest, the riffing stridently Keef-ish. Much the same applies to opener Sorry, a slide-driven story of a man with a laddish love life. I can’t quite place where the riff for title track Nasty Business comes from, it’s possibly derived from Zep, but it was certainly worth stealing. There’s a nod to Knopfler in the licks on Combination, while Life Is Good is a traditional acoustic blues, complete with a walking bassline, and the horn augmentation to Language Of The Blues almost qualifies the song as soul. When I say, ‘they don’t make ‘em like this anymore’, I mean that in a good way. Worth investigating if you rate Cameron’s influences and it’s been too long since you’ve heard an album of this type.

DAVID OSLER

JOEL ASTLEY

SEATTLE TO GREASELAND

BLUE HEART RECORDS

With a cracking piece of artwork and a story to tell on the CD cover I wanted this to be really good, and it was!!The debut album for a new name (for some) on the Blues and Roots music scene but a guy already in possession of 18 Washington Blues Society awards, writing his own stuff but managing to produce 11 tracks entirely reminiscent of a time gone by. Joel has an authentic 50’s feel to his voice and has surrounded himself with a handful of great musicians; Johnny Birgin on Guitar, Kid Andersen on keys, electric and acoustic guitar also providing backing vocals, June Core on drums, Randy

Bermudes on bass, and Jill Dennen and Marina Crouse backing vocals. Considering they got together as a band for this album they play like they have a connection, helping to produce a seemless succession of Blues and Rock n Roll. The production on this album is slick, 21st century, but with a sound that takes you back to a bygone era. Bursting with class, the rock n roll tracks reminding me of the joy in story saying that I always get listening to Elvis (it’s a delivery thing). Very hard to pick a standout track but I found myself singing along to Bobby’s Place right off the bat, this really great album finishing on a high (if you like a little Gospel) with the entirely authentic No Brighter Gold. If you like your Blues authentic with some bold rock n roll, you are going to love this album.

JEAN KNAPPITT

BERT DEIVERT PONY BLUES INDEPENDENT

Bert Deivert is one of those US-Swedish imports, an American based in Scandinavia with both history and experience behind everything he does. Pony Blues is his latest release, following a couple of excellent albums that proved popular with his band, Copperhead Run. In the past, Deivert has recorded with another US-Swede, Eric Bibb, which gives a hint at what to expect. Here, Deivert is found in acoustic mode, with a ready ability and quality that should easily satisfy any traditional country blues lover. Often likened to the late, great Yank Rachell because of his love for and talent on the mandolin, Deivert Is also no slouch on the old guitar as this release highlights more than adequately. With thirteen tracks, some self-penned as usual, the guy includes a few truly favourite acoustic standards including Mississippi John Hurt’s evergreen Louis Collins here performed with delightful harmonic

vocal support. Other covers include a bit of Gary Davis and the title track from the wonderful Charley Patton, also recorded by Canned Herat back in the day. Hesitation Blues features Deivert’s fine mando-work to great effect. The closing track, Run a Little Slower, has some beautiful oldschool fiddle that sets the stage for Deivert’s sensitive guitar, lyricism and vocal delivery.

IAIN PATIENCE

DOBROTHERS BLUES SELF TITLED

INDEPENDENT

The Dobrothers, as the name suggests, are a couple of slide guitarists, though not true siblings. Based in France, they are a couple of relative newcomers to the European blues scene though each has a backstory that merits inspection. Jim Roberts, is a name some ill recognize. Hailing from the USA, he was the true driving force behind an excellent LA blues outfit, the JRHB, a few years. This was a band where his songwriting, strong vocals and slide guitar mastery was a central theme to their international success and following. Now resident in France, Roberts has teamed up with a widely admired French slide picker, Jeff Toto , previously known as Jeff Toto Blues, to great effect. In the past few years this pair has been gathering plaudits across France while playing gigs and festivals. This marks their debut release with ten tracks self-penned and a huge helping of crackling old-school blues fretwork that highlights the guys absolute mastery of their resonator guitars and their slide prowess. Dobrother Blues is one of those albums that is bound to delight most lovers of old-school steel-guitar picking with some classy lyricism and writing skills also likely to appeal to most.

IAIN PATIENCE

DANNY BRYANT RISE

JAZZHAUS RCORDS

Danny Bryant is the sort of ‘no frills’ blues musician that always succeeds in finding a loyal audience. And judging from the tour schedule leaflet included in this album, Danny has whole host of loyal audiences right across Europe, especially Germany and Scandinavia. Danny will no doubt be introducing his army of followers to the live interpretations of these songs. Plenty of blues artists are great guitar players, some are great blues vocalists, and some, like Danny are lucky enough to be blessed with talents in both areas. His highly distinctive verses are delivered with a world-weary voice that perfectly suits the world-weary tales that populate this album. The overall arrangement of songs involves a welcome ensemble structure, Danny’s guitar licks and solos sit perfectly in the overall band sound, with no ego-tripping that guitarists as good as this can sometimes fall into. The blistering solo on Hard Way To Go follows an equally blistering tale of betrayal. The beautiful slow blues of Scarlett Street shows the deep soul in Danny Bryant’s vocal, his evocative lyrics painting vivid pictures of lives less fortunate. The band’s understated accompaniment is perfect, the

highly distinctive verses are delivered with a world-weary voice

solo is sublime, saying everything with a guitar that the voice has just laid out. This is the standout track on the album. Listening to the slow swing of drums on Silver And Gold it underlines the indisputable fact, should be played by musicians on instruments, not on computers by engineers. The only way to play songs like this is to get like-minded experienced musicians together and let their skill shine through the playing into the soul of the lucky listeners. Danny and the band spend their lives crafting superlative music like this, then they take it out into the bars and clubs so they can be appreciated in the only setting they belong, a live concert. If Danny Bryant is new to you, I advise you to get acquainted really quickly. There will be lots of opportunities, Danny seems to live on the road, only taking time out to write and record the next in a series of fabulous tunes to bewitch his growing audienc es. Time to join in.

ANDY HUGHES

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FEATURING THE SPECIALS HORNS

OCTOBER 19 / 2023 Temple of Art & Music (T.A.M), Elephant & Castle, London special guest Sam Huber

OCTOBER 20 / 2023 The Donkey, Leicester Support for: Amy-A Tribute

OCTOBER 21 / 2023 More Coffee, Melton Mowbray special guests: Sam Huber & Marla Mase

OCTOBER 22 / 2023 The Musician, Leicester support for: The Pressure Tenants

OCTOBER 26 / 2023 Rough Trade East, London special guests: Project Blackbird, Sam Huber, Marla Mase, & The Sunbirds

OCTOBER 28 / 2023 Rocka-Buy Records, Oakham Tomas Doncker/Solo/acoustic SPECIAL GUEST D.J. The Legendary Keith Shocklee of Public Enemy & The Bomb Squad

OCTOBER 27 / 2023 Great Easton Village Hall, Great Easton Tomas Doncker/Solo/acoustic