All news BLUES in the US!
| FREE Blues E-Magazine | from IllinoisBlues.com | December 5, 2008 |
© 2007 - 2008 IllinoisBlues.com
News, photos, reviews, live Blues links & MUCH MORE in this issue! -
Scroll or Page Down!
IllinoisBlues.com quick website links: Reviews Links Photos Videos Blues Radio Blues Shows near YOU! Advertise for FREE! The Blues Blast Archives
| Hey Blues Fans, We made it to a benefit show in downtown Galesburg, IL featuring harmonica virtuoso David (Bernie) Berntson, a Tulsa Oklahoma musician and educator. He returned to Galesburg, his hometown, to play a benefit to raise funds for the Mississippi Valley Blues Society. David is a founding member of the Pine Street Persuaders, a Galesburg blues band formed in the late 1970's. In 2006, David won a second, Keeping Blues Alive Award, in Education, from the Blues Foundation. Backing up David were local musicians Chuck Jones, Ian Johnson, Justin Mooney, and Curtis Hawkins. Other blues friends sat in with the David though out the night. This was as good as pure Blue fun for a good cause can possibly get! Blues Legends Pass We are saddened to hear of the sudden death of guitarist, singer and songwriter Vernon "Chico" Banks on December 3, 2008. Chico was hospitalized and declared brain dead on December 2 according to reports from Bob Corritore. He passed away the next day. No information is available regarding funeral services at this time.
(Photo by Bob Kieser)
From Bob Corritore - It is with great sadness that we write about the passing of Odetta Holmes. Known in the circles of blues, spirituals, and folk, as well as being a beacon for the civil rights movement, Odetta was one of the most memorable musical personalities to emerge from the 1960s. She died of a heart attack on December 2, 2008 after being hospitalized for kidney failure. She was 77. Odetta was born on December 31, 1930, and at age 3, she moved to Los Angeles with her mother where she started singing and playing guitar. She earned a music degree from Los Angeles City College, focusing on musicals and classical, but her real love was the expressiveness of folk songs and spirituals. While working in the West Coast theater circuit, she found her way to the then emerging San Francisco folk scene, where she felt right at home. She made her first record, Odetta Sings Ballads & Blues, of which Bob Dylan stated in a 1978 interview with Playboy, was "The first thing that turned me on to folk singing". She recorded several albums during the 1960s, and became perhaps the most prominent musical voice in the civil rights movement, highlighted by a famous performance of the song "Oh Freedom" at the August 1963 March On Washington. She married three times, with one of her husbands being Louisiana Red, whom she wed in 1977. In recent years, her career was revitalized by her recorded work with Mark Carpentieri's MC Records. She recorded three CDs for MC, which earned her a W.C. Handy Award nomination (now called Blues Music Awards) and two Grammy® nominations. In 1999, Odetta was awarded the National Medal of the Arts and Humanities by President Clinton. In 2003, the Library Of Congress presented her with a Living Legend Award. She was a great musician and a kind and insightful person with a purposefulness to all her actions. In her last days, Yeager said, she had been hoping to sing at the presidential inauguration for Barack Obama. 51st Annual Grammy Awards Nominations for Blues Announced The 51st Annual Grammy Awards will be held February 8 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Best Traditional Blues Album Elvin Bishop - The Blues Rolls On Best Contemporary Blues Album Marcia Ball - Peace, Love & BBQ Upcoming Blues If you are in the Midwest be sure to check out the new Wednesday Blues show series by our friends at the River City Blues Society in Pekin, IL. This Wednesday, December 10 they kick off their series with a show by Chicago Blues legend, Nick Moss. Check out the ad for the show below, SCROLL DOWN!!! Also be sure you get your hotel rooms and tickets for the upcoming 25th International Blues Challenge in February. There will be more than 180 Blues acts performing in the Challenge. To see a complete list of all the acts participating, CLICK HERE See their ad below and get them NOW as the closest hotels are selling out FAST. You do NOT want to miss this! Blues Review this week - James Walker reviews a CD from The Beat Daddys. |
Chico Banks 1961 - 2008
Odetta 1930 - 2008| Winter 2009 Chicago Blues Tour Saturday, January 17th, 2009 Visit 9 of Chicago’s famous Blues clubs featuring 12 live blues bands! For more Info CLICK HERE |
Blues Want Ads
| Blues Musicians Place Your Want Ad here for FREE "workin Blues performers" ONLY can place Want Ads here for FREE. NO Commercial Ads! Blues Music Reviews wanted Blues Blast Magazine is looking for reviewers to review new Blues CD's. If you have a background and experience with Blues music and like to write we can provide new CD's for you to review. Person must be willing to write a minimum of one review every other week. Reviewer keeps the CD's for writing the review. If interested please send a sample of your writing and a short bio of your Blues background to info@illinoisblues.com Information on Guitar Player Willie Lee Johnson wanted Looking for info on Willie Lee Johnson and The Rolling Crew. Wolf's first Guitar Player Willie Lee Johnson, who was he who else did he work with, was he someone else using this name? Any discography or history info out there? Also The Rolling Crew, They Did Home on Alcatraz and Cryin' Emma on Aladdin records. Who were the group members, did they do any other records or perform as any other group(s)? Drummer seeks band Former Walter Trout Drummer-----Joey Pafumi formerly with Walter Trout for 6 years 2002-2007--looking for full time touring band. Contact Joey at joeypafumi@hotmail.com or 818-749-8856 All ads submitted will be used if space allows. If space is limited, ads will be randomly selected to appear in the Blues Blast. Ads may be edited. Send your ad submission to |
Featured Blues Review
| Independent Release/Crippled Frog Music BMI 14 songs; 67:26; Suggested Style: Blues-rock/Southern blues-rock As I sat and pondered, weak and weary, the weather outside, bleak and bleary,
Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December......Ok, that is enough of waxing POE- etic. But, the blowing snow propelled by a strong wind created layers of ice in the scene out my window. It is our first winter blast here in central Illinois, depressingly on an Autumn day, December 1. Pleasant memories of summer fun at blues festivals automatically flowed. More than memories were needed to warm the cowbells of my heart, however. That is what made this album by the Beat Daddys so perfect for the occasion. Recorded live at the Quincy IL Blues Festival in the summer of 2007, the upbeat fun just exploded from the speakers, warming the room. Featuring nine original songs of the fourteen presented, the CD opens, following the stage introduction, with Tommy Stillwell’s lead electric guitar sounding like he was fully warmed up, not playing the first song of a set. By a buck-thirty into “She’s All That,” lead singer Larry Grisham sings powerfully in a voice made to sing the blues while adding guitar licks of his own. As the applause wanes, Jeremy Clement’s drums establish a steady rhythm for Stillwell’s slide guitar to rip a new hole in the ozone layer. Here on “Train in the Distance,” and throughout the CD, Jon Rochner plays absolutely masterful bass. With about a minute left, Grisham whips out his harmonica to completely seal the deal – this is a summer blues party! (2008 Note: current drum duties are provided by Dave Sappington.) By the third song, Grisham doesn’t wait for the applause to end; he opens a cappella, “I met a f-i-i-n-n-e beautician; in very f-i-n-e condition....” The band jumps in, popping, on BB King’s “Beautician Blues” for a fun romp. Next, just to see if anyone was sober enough to pay attention, they played a mid tempo blues version of the theme song from the old Beverly Hillbillies television show! Intermingling with two ripping guitar solos in the middle sandwiched around a harp solo, Grisham pours out the original lyrics, verbatim. Who woulda thunk it? But, didn’t I say right up front this is a “fun CD”? Slow blues with a sad story? Sure, the Beat Daddys next play an, “Pale White Circle” referring to the missing wedding ring on the protagonist’s finger. Requisite mournful guitar solos pour out, but Rochner’s bass lines steal the show. Ok, enough of that slow stuff; the up tempo track six, “Beg Borrow Steal” rips open with wailing harmonica underpinned by Rochner’s bass and Clement’s drums. After a Stillwell guitar solo, Grisham sings the lyrics, “Beg Borrow Steal” that is somewhat reminiscent of “Flip Flop Fly.” By mid-set, the boys throw down Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Sloppy Drunk,” followed by audibly obvious crowd pleasers by Hendrix, “Hey Joe” and “Little Wing” featuring Stillwell’s scorching guitar. Grisham and Stillwell played together near Evansville in southern Indiana in 1970. Stillwell's first lasting exposure to the blues came in 1972, as a 17-year-old at a music festival at Bull Island, near Griffin, IN. He became inspired watching blues legend Albert King. (Anyone remember Bull Island? My wife and I were there, too.) The Beat Daddys’ legend spread from Southern Indiana well into the deep South. They opened shows in the Mississippi Delta for such blues luminaries as Johnny Winter and B.B. King. They signed a recording contract with Waldoxy, a subsidiary of Malaco, a respected Jackson MS, blues and gospel label. The Beat Daddys' first two records for Waldoxy were 1992’s "No, We Ain’t From Clarksdale," and 1994’s "South to Mississippi." Their first independent album, however, "Houserocking Rhythm and Blues" in 1989, is much truer to their live sound. For blues-rockers, The Beat Daddys may not be doing anything new, but what they do is done incredibly and energetically well. This is a summer set that thankfully got recorded by the good folks of the Mid-Mississippi Muddy Waters Blues Society. Give their CD a try, and see if it doesn’t just melt away those winter doldrums for you, too. Reviewer James “Skyy Dobro” Walker is a noted Blues writer, DJ and Blues Blast contributor. His weekly radio show “Friends of the Blues” can be heard each Thursday from 4:30 – 6:00pm on WKCC 91.1 FM in Kankakee, IL For other reviews and interviews on our website CLICK HERE. |
The Beat Daddys - Live at the Quincy Blues Fest 2007| | The River City Blues Society presents Wednesday Blues Featuring Chicago Blues Legend December 10, 2008 - 7:00pm 2801 Court Street Pekin, IL 61554 (309) 346-1154 Map to Club CLICK HERE 8-time Blues Music Award Nominee Best Blues Song - 2008 Blues Blast Music Awards |
Blues Society News
Send your Blues Society's BIG news or Press Release to: Please submit a maximum of 125 words in a Text or Word format ONLY. The Blues, Jazz & Folk Music Society - Marietta, Ohio The Blues, Jazz & Folk Music Society of Marietta, Ohio announce their 17th annual River City Ohio Blues Competition for sponsorship to the International Blues Challenge ( IBC) in 2010. January 9, 2009 is the deadline for participants to register. The competition is to be held February 20 & 21, 2009, at Hotel Lafayette, 101 Front Street, Marietta OH. The first place winner of The River City Ohio Blues Competition will receive $1000 dollars in cash, second place winner will receive $200 in cash and the third place winner will receive $100 in cash. River City Blues Society- Peoria, IL In conjunction with the Concorde Inn and the Captains Wheel Lounge in Pekin, IL the River City Blues Society is pleased to announce their new series of weekly Blues Shows in Central, Illinois starting Wednesday, December 10th, 2008. These Early shows will run each Wednesday from 7:00pm to 11:00pm and feature the best traveling regional and National Blues musicians. The shows will feature a budget priced cover charge of $3. The kick off performance on December 10th features Nick Moss and the Flip Tops. Other shows scheduled are: December 17 - Russell Miller and 6V6, January 7th - Studebaker John, January14th - Scott Holt, January 21 - TBA, January 28 - James Armstrong Friends of the Blues - Watseka, IL Elks Country Club Blues Show - Tuesday, December 9, Kilborn Allay Blues Band, 7:00 PM, Elks Country Club Blues Show, Kankakee Elks Country Club, 2283 Bittersweet Drive, St. Anne IL. Please join us for one more show this Season. The Kankakee Elks have invited us out to their beautiful club house with its spacious dining room / concert room. Together, we are producing a wonderful dinner and show. For menu and more information call 815-937-1228. Mississippi Valley Blues Society - Davenport, IA The Mississippi Valley Blues Society presents Chicago bluesman Joe Moss at the Iron Wheel Pub—1211 W. 5th St. (Old Hwy. 6) in Wilton, Iowa—on Friday December 5. The show starts at 7:30; admission is $10, $8 for MVBS members. For more information contact the Blues Society at mvbs@mvbs.org or call (563) 322-5837 The Blues Society of Omaha - Omaha, Nebraska The Blues Society of Omaha, for the third consecutive year, will tie-in their Annual Holiday Party with Omaha Rockabilly guitarist Lash Larue's Toy Drive for the Children of the Pine Ridge Reservation. The event will take place from 5pm-9pm on Sunday, December 7, 2008 at BarFly (707 N. 114th St.) in Omaha, NE. Featuring The Dallas Blues stars with Mike Morgan and The Crawl, featuring Jim Suhler. The Side Effects will open the show followed by The Loose Brothers. Admission is $10, or a new unwrapped toy. Proceeds from the beverage sales will also benefit the Toy Drive. Details at: www.omahablues.com Illinois Central Blues Club - Springfield, IL ICBC BLUES GIVES BACK TO THE COMMUNITY WITH FREE MUSIC AND FOOD AT A BLUES CHRISTMAS PARTY - The Illinois Central Blues Club in conjunction with the Illinois Arts Council, announces a Blues Christmas Party Sunday, December 7, 2008 from 5:00pm – 8:00pm at Robbies, 4 Old State Capitol Plaza, Springfield, IL. The Blues Expressions will provide “postwar” blues music with choice selections from artists such as B.B. King, Albert King, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Sonny Boy Williamson and Muddy Waters. Blue Mondays- Held at the Alamo 115 N 5th St, Springfield, IL (217) 523-1455 every Monday 8:30pm $2 cover - December 8 - The Workers (Watermelon Slim's Band) with special Guest Bill Lupkin, December 15 - Studebaker John, December 22 - Scottie Miller and the Uptake Inhibitors, December 29 - Sally Weisenburg and the Famous Sidemen |
| New CD Mighty Mighty CLICK HERE to Purchase this CD
|
In case you are not familiar with this event, it is an international search for the best undiscovered Blues band on the planet. Each year the Blues Foundation's 160 affiliate Blues societies from all over the globe hold "local" or "regional" Blues challenges. They send the winners to compete in the semifinals in Memphis in February. There are categories for both bands and solo/duet acts. In 2008, 100 bands and 60 solo/duo acts filled the clubs up and down Beale Street for the semi-finals on Thursday and Friday. This is a Blues show you do not want to miss. It is literally the worlds largest gathering of Blues Bands! Beale Street is the legendary Blues Mecca in Memphis. Each club on Beale has 6 or 8 acts competing in the semi-finals. By the rules of the competition, each act plays exactly 30 minutes all using the same stage setup for a panel of judges and a packed crowd of Blues fans. They are judged on Blues content, vocal and/or instrumental talent, originality and stage presence by a different panels of judges each night (See scoring criteria HERE). The scores are averaged and the top scoring act from each club advances to the finals that are held at the Orpheum Theater on Saturday. (To see some photos of last years fun CLICK HERE) Tickets to this historical event are just $75 and include entrance to all the clubs on Beale Street both Thursday and Friday and the finals on Saturday. CLICK HERE to get yours now. Be sure to get your hotel reservations NOW too as some of the host hotels are already sold out! CLICK HERE for hotel info |
Live Blues Calendar
| YOU can submit your Blues performances for FREE at: http://www.illinoisblues.com/submitnews.htm
Performance dates were submitted by Musicians, Club Owners, Blues Societies and Blues festivals. IllinoisBlues.com is not responsible for errors or omissions.
or click a state to see Blues shows by State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware D.C. Florida Georgia Performance dates submitted by Musicians, Clubs, Blues Societies and Blues festivals. IllinoisBlues.com is not responsible for errors or omissions. |
Advertise with IllinoisBlues.com
| Get the Blues word OUT! Festivals... The Blues Blast & IllinoisBlues.com's website are great ways to promote ANY Blues event or product. In fact we believe we just might have THE best Blues advertising vehicle anywhere to promote YOUR Blue event! Blues CD's... For less than the cost of one small ad in a newspaper, you can advertise your shows, new CD or any Blues product. A great way to get the Blues word out! Blues fans WANT to know about your Blues event of product. Call Bob at (309) 267-4425 or send an email to llinoisBlues.com covers Blues all over the US - NOT just in Illinois! IllinoisBlues.com also offers effective advertising for Festivals and Club Owners, Recording Companies and Performers. Put your Blues advertisement on our homepage at: http://www.illinoisblues.com either as a sponsored event or as a featured event, product, recording or merchandise. We get 10,000 visitors and 800,000 hits A MONTH on our website! Nearly 11,000 Blues Fans, Musicians, Recording Companies, Club Owners, Blues Societies and Festival Promoters in all 50 states and in 40 countries read the Blues Blast magazine each week. You can feature your event or product in the largest FREE internet Blues magazine delivered right to your inbox each week. Contact us Today at |
Visit our website at:
P.O. Box 721 Pekin, Illinois 61555
© 2007 - 2008 IllinoisBlues.com
No comments:
Post a Comment