Thursday, January 26, 9:00P.M.-Midnight - Gator Omalley's, Omaha
Friday, January 27, 5:00P.M.-7:30P.M. - Duggan's Pub, Lincoln
Saturday, January 28, 9:00P.M.- Midnight - Havana Garage, Old Market, Omaha
Monday, January 23, 2012
Honeyboy Turner Update
The Honeyboy Turner Band this week !
Thursday, January 26, 9:00P.M.-Midnight - Gator Omalley's, Omaha
Friday, January 27, 5:00P.M.-7:30P.M. - Duggan's Pub, Lincoln
Saturday, January 28, 9:00P.M.- Midnight - Havana Garage, Old Market, Omaha
Thursday, January 26, 9:00P.M.-Midnight - Gator Omalley's, Omaha
Friday, January 27, 5:00P.M.-7:30P.M. - Duggan's Pub, Lincoln
Saturday, January 28, 9:00P.M.- Midnight - Havana Garage, Old Market, Omaha
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Andy Coats Update
This is to let everyone know that John Dee and I will be tearing it up at the Blue Note Grill this Friday:
Friday, January 27, 2012, 9 pm - mid
John Dee Holeman and Andy Coats
Blue Note Grill
$5 cover charge4125 Durham-Chapel Hill BoulevardBlue Note Grill
Durham, NC 27707
(919) 401-1979
www.thebluenotegrill.com
Hope you can join us!
thanks,
Andy
John Hammer Blues News
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John 'blueshammer' Hammer
Blue Monday Monthly Magazine
www.bluemondaymonthly.com
Hammered By The Blues Weekly Radio
KOWZ 1170am/ 100.9fm
510 West McKinley
Owatonna, MN 55060
Illinois Blues Blast
Cover photo by Arnie Goodman © 2012
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In This Issue
Terry Mullins has our feature interview with Savoy Brown guitarist Kim
Simmonds this week.
We have six CD reviews for you this week!
James "Skyy Dobro" Walker reviews a new release by Jimmy Burns. Mark Thompson
reviews a new CD from the Kilborn Alley Blues Band. John
Mitchell reviews a new CD from Savoy Brown. Ian McKenzie reviews a
new CD by Trent Romens. Gary Weeks reviews a new CD by Nick Moss. Steve
Jones reviews a new CD from Samantha Fish. All this and MORE! SCROLL DOWN!!!
From The Editor's Desk
Hey Blues Fans,
We have had an interesting advertiser for the
last few issues. Deb Landolt, aka Long Tall Deb is doing a follow up to her
critically acclaimed 2010 CD, Diamonds on the Desert Floor.
And in this case you can help make this new CD a reality by actually
contributing money toward recording the CD using the website
http://www.kickstarter.com. Many other artists have used this cool way
to raise the funds for a CD project.
The way Kickstart works is you pledge any amount of money from $1 up. If you
contribute to help make this new CD a reality you can get rewards ranging
from a digital download of a song from the record before it's released for
your $1 contribution, all the way to signed copies of the new CD, your name
in CD thank you credits and the opportunity to sit in on recording session
and more for a donation of $500 or more.
If all goes well and the funding for a project is reached (a total of
$18,500 needed for this one!), your credit card donation is charged when a
successful project closes. If the funding goal for the Kickstart project is not
reached, then you are not charged and the project will not be funded.
So far this project has raised nearly $7,000 and the project remains open
for donations until February 11th! We think this is a cool way for you all
to get involved and help keep this Blues project alive, so much so that I
personally kicked in my donation.
I challenge all our readers to kick in $5 or $10 each to help make this project
happen. It is a great way to get involved and help out. You can get all the
information on the new CD project and make a donation now just
CLICK HERE.
Wishing you health, happiness and lots of Blues music!
Bob Kieser
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Featured Blues Interview -
Kim Simmonds
 If it was a path traveled by his idols, why shouldn’t he choose to go
down that path, too?
After all, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and John Lee Hooker all shook off
the constraints of Father Time and continued to play the blues into
their sixth decades on this earth (well beyond that in Hooker’s case).
And the way that one of the original architects of the British blues
sees it, that plan of action beats the heck out of hanging up the
guitar, kicking back in the easy chair and drawing social security.
“Well, I always thought that I’d play into my 80s because all my
mentors, that’s what they did,” Kim Simmonds said. “So I thought, why
would I want to be any different? And that’s the truth. That’s exactly
what I’m going to do. But what I didn’t bargain on was getting older and
it getting physically harder. But I decided a long time ago, since I’m
in this for the long haul, I’ve got to take care of myself. And that’s
what I’ve been doing. I’ve got a health and fitness regimen that I try
to keep going. I would like to think – barring ill health or problems –
that I can keep playing music until my 80s and then one day just keel
over.”
And with the intensity and passion that Simmonds goes about his business
on Savoy Brown’s latest album – Voodoo Moon (Ruf Records) -
retirement most certainly is the last thing on the mind of the
64-year-old living legend.
Crackling with the same kind of highly-motivated, blues boogie that
Simmonds has been responsible for ever since unleashing Savoy Brown on
an unsuspecting public back in 1965, Voodoo Moon’s 11 cuts are
welcome additions to the Welsh guitarist’s considerable legacy of nearly
50 albums.
“It’s been nothing but positive; I’m still waiting for the first bad
review,” he said. “We’ve been working some of the new material into our
show for the past 18 months and we saw that people really responded well
to it - so it was test-marketed. We knew that it would fit in well with
the older material and that was the first inkling we had of how the
album would be received. It’s all been a good thing.”
Voodoo Moon is definitely not a paint-by-numbers formulation of
1971’s Street Corner Talking, but the new release does maintain a
brotherhood with Savoy Brown’s immense back catalog.
“I’m such a feeling-type of musician, very spontaneous. And it’s hard
for me to be analytical – you just do what’s inside of you - but I do
think we captured a bit of the old sound,” said Simmonds. “Once I got
the song “Natural Man” I really felt that was a strong song, a real
Savoy Brown type of song. I went back and listened to all the old Savoy
albums to just remind myself of how I played guitar and approached
things in the old days. And I don’t normally do that, because it’s
difficult to listen to your old material. But I did do a quick
retrospect and that kind of helped me in a little way.”
The title track was one that had been packed in mothballs for a while,
just waiting for the right burst of inspiration to strike Simmonds so he
could assemble the pieces into a finished product.
“Yeah, I had the song “Voodoo Moon” for years and I just couldn’t get it
all put together like I wanted it,” he said. “I had a decent lyric, but
not a great one and had to work and work at it. You say to yourself, ‘is
it a good lyric, or is it too cliché?’ I fought with it and worked with
it – played it for friends and got their feedback. Songwriting can be a
very difficult process. But in the end, it all kind of came together.
It’s enjoyable (songwriting), but it’s also frustrating as all heck.”
Not only a gifted songwriter and guitarist, for the last decade or so
Simmonds has emerged as an accomplished painter (one of his original
works adorns the cover of his 2008 solo album, Out of the Blue),
as well.
And according to Simmonds, there is a direct link between bringing a
canvas to life with watercolors and turning a group of random words into
a song.
“They both (painting and song-writing) work together. Solving problems
is what it is. Painting and song-writing are both very, very hard. And
some days, things just don’t work out,” he said. “So you set them aside
and maybe come back to them later and then you have a breakthrough.
Those breakthroughs can be very exciting. For instance, if I have a
breakthrough in painting, I find that can inspire me and also lead to a
breakthrough in song-writing, as well. There’s nothing better than
success, and having a little success in either of those fields can lead
to success in the other. They’re both artistic, problem-solving things.
And if you don’t solve the problem, you don’t get a good painting or get
a good song.”
Filled as it is with plenty of moments of self-doubt and maddening bits
of dead-end ideas, Simmonds offers up that the “work” associated with
songwriting is not the same kind of “work” associated with hand-digging
a trench on a hot August day.
“The fun part for me is writing new songs and creating things and
solving problems in an artistic way – like trying to make a lyric work
or find a cool piece of music. That’s a blast,” he said. “That’s the fun
part of this. That’s not work. I’ve got a stand-alone studio about 50
yards from my house where I go and work and I love it. I practice every
day and try different approaches to things – I mean, you call that work?
Are you kidding me?
 That’s not work. The real drudgery is going on the
road and doing something you’ve done for 45 years. Don’t get me wrong, I
love the audiences and love being on stage every night playing, but
getting to that stage and then getting to the next gig, that’s
drudgery.”
To Simmonds’ credit, he’s clearly intent on adding to the body of Savoy
Brown’s work by creating new music, instead of simply resting off the
laurels of four decades of previous work. And for that, he once again
turns to his idols for inspiration.
“All the people I’ve admired throughout my life did that (continued to
make new music). B.B. King did that, John Lee Hooker did that and Buddy
Guy still does that … they put out fresh, new albums every couple of
years,” Simmonds said. “And with John Lee, he was a major influence on
me and still made records right until he passed a few years ago. So I
was a 13-year-old buying his records and then I was a 60-year-old buying
his records, so it seems normal for me to keep making records, just like
those guys. There has to be a love to do it and a need to do it (release
new music) and I have both. Some of the older, traditional blues artists
that I like, I want to hear new material from them. I don’t want to hear
retreads of “Sweet Home Chicago,” no matter how good the artist is.”
Thanks to a household filled with all kinds of long-players as a
youngster, it didn’t take Simmonds long before he was bitten by the
music bug.
It did, however, take him a little while before he came to the
understanding that not all music was the same.
“I was brought up listening to all the music – gospel, R&B, blues, jazz
and rock-n-roll. All the 50’s music,” he said. “And as a kid of 9- or
10-years-old, it was all the same to me. It was music I liked. I didn’t
know the difference between James Brown and Little Richard and Howlin’
Wolf and Jimmy Smith – it was all the same to me. But when I got to age
13, I heard Muddy Waters and that’s when I realized there were stylistic
differences that I hadn’t heard before. I realized that there was a
style called Chicago blues and it centered around Muddy Waters, Howlin’
Wolf and Willie Dixon, and they all lived in Chicago. At that point, I
realized out of all the music that I listened to – which was everything
– that what I wanted to play was the Chicago blues. That’s what I wanted
to specialize in. That sound really spoke to me.”
And with that, Kim Simmonds was off and running, forming Savoy Brown in
1965, a time that was fertile with all kinds of bands that were mixing
the blues with good, ole rock-n-roll.
Groups like Ten Years After, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, The Animals,
The Yardbirds … all groups that were taking Chicago blues and cranking
up the volume to 10.
 “There were so many of us doing the same kind of thing. But I think that
I probably had a better grasp of the blues idiom than most of my
contemporaries because of my upbringing. I didn’t just play one album
and say I knew the blues. I played a million albums. I knew all the
blues artists. I was an aficionado of the blues because of the people
who brought me up listening to it,” said Simmonds. “I was very lucky to
have an older brother that was a ‘tastemaker’ back in England in those
days. So I had a solid ground in the blues. And you could hear that in
the music. But there was so many of us blending styles together back
then. In my case, I was trying to be as completely true to traditional
blues as I could, but how could I be, when I’m a Welshman? So what came
out was this hybrid. Yes, it sounded like traditional blues, but there
was something else going on there that the listener could hear, as well.
That was accidental, because all I wanted to be was B.B. King or Freddie
King. But I couldn’t stop my own personality, and my own limitations,
from making it slightly different.”
Savoy Brown has had a few members come and go over the course of nearly
five decades. Some of those went on to find success on their own terms,
most notably guitarist “Lonesome” Dave Peverett, bass player Tony
Stevens and drummer Roger Earl, who went on to form Foghat.
But regardless of who lines up next to Simmonds - the only member to
appear on Savoy Brown’s entire catalog of albums – the mission statement
remains the same now as did then.
Create new music and spread the word of the blues.
And Savoy Brown has done just that, despite such storms as disco, punk,
new wave, glitter and any other musical fad one can think of, popping up
on the horizon.
 But the question is, just how has Savoy Brown done that?
“You have to a real sense of commitment, obviously. You have to have a
serious, hard-work ethic. You have to take risks and chances. And above
all, you have to do what other people won’t do,” said Simmonds. “You
have to be fearless and jump into the deep end. And when I was young, I
was fearless. When I changed the band at the end of a tour, I wouldn’t
play any of the old material. And I did that for years. When I look
back, I think how the heck did I have the nerve to do that? The older
you get, the more you lose your nerve. However, you’ve still got a bit
of it. You can’t just wish to have this kind of life. You have to work
at it. You’ve got to be able to adapt and survive.”
His band may never have scaled the golden heights, or raked in the
countless riches that some groups have managed to, but Simmonds is
anything but bitter about his fortunes.
“I think in my case, it probably helps that I’ve not had huge success.
Because I think if you have huge success, it can probably dampen the
fire,” he said. “And I’ve deliberately not sought that kind of profile.
And that’s what helps keep me artistically free and able to create by
having things my way. If you get too successful, you’re not so free.”
To be involved in any business for 45 years is a remarkable thing, but
when you’re faced with the challenges and fickle tastes that dominate
the music industry, well, that’s a whole separate ball of wax.
“I used to love everything about a life of playing music - the good
parts and the bad parts - I loved it all,” Simmonds said. “But now, I
don’t love the bad parts. But you do change and all of a sudden the way
you think about things changes. It’s all part of the survival process.”
And hopefully, that process will last another 20-plus years for Simmonds.
Photographs by Arnie Goodman © 2012
Interviewer Terry Mullins is a journalist and former record store
owner whose personal taste in music is the sonic equivalent of Attention
Deficit Disorder. Works by the Bee Gees, Captain Beefheart, Black
Sabbath, Earth, Wind & Fire and Willie Nelson share equal space with
Muddy Waters, The Staples Singers and R.L. Burnside in his compact disc
collection. He's also been known to spend time hanging out on the street
corners of Clarksdale, Miss., eating copious amounts of barbecued
delicacies while listening to the wonderful sounds of the blues.
For other reviews and interviews on our website
CLICK HERE
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Blues Blast
Advertising Special -
Lowest Prices Of the 2012 Season
Blues Blast Magazine is offering a winter advertising special. This early bird
special for the 2012 season will be our lowest
pricing of the 2012 year. It offers an affordable & effective way to get the
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add significant impact to your Blues advertising and promotion campaign. It is a great way to kick
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Normal
2012 Advertising rates are $65 an issue for Blues Blast magazine ads and
$90 per month
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BUT, for a limited time, you can advertise in six
issues of Blues Blast Magazine and on our website for a month and a half for
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This is a $525 value!
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To get this special
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Featured Blues Review 1 of 6
 Jimmy
Burns Band - Stuck in the Middle
VelRone Records
13 songs; 54:23 minutes; Suggested
Styles: Blues, Rock and Roll, Country, Pop, Soul, R&B
Why do so many Blues artists perform a disco song – namely The Rolling
Stones’s “Miss You”? Perhaps it’s their way of saying, “I am a
multi-faceted, multi-talented, all-music loving artist. Sure, I’m in the
Blues box, but please don’t lock me up in there!” An example of breaking
out of that box, one popular artist has left the Blues on his last two
CDs to play other music he likes.
Chicago’s Jimmy Burns (born 1943 in Mississippi) has an impeccable Blues
pedigree although his late teens and early 20s years found him growing
up on the Near North Side singing Doo-wop, R&B, Folk, and Soul inspired
more by Curtis Mayfield than Muddy Waters. In 2001, a true testament to
Burns’ Blues came when he appeared on the cover of “Living Blues”
magazine (Issue 156) with his brother Eddie Burns above the caption,
“The Real Blues Brothers Eddie and Jimmy Burns.” While Eddie landed in
Detroit and became a pioneer of electric urban Blues, recording and
touring with John Lee Hooker, Jimmy left his native Mississippi for
Chicago in 1955. After recording his last Soul record in 1972 (“I Can’t
Get Over”), he became a full time family man sitting in only
occasionally with bands. By 1996, he was back and into the Blues full
time recording his debut on Delmark Records, “Leaving Here Walking.”
Today, Burns is one of the most recognized performers in Chicago and
regularly hosts the Monday night jam at Buddy Guy’s Legends.
Now, with four Blues CDs behind him, Burns has decided record an album
of cover songs like the music he was hearing on the radio in the early
60s – a cornucopia of popular styles. “... I went back to some of what I
used to do.... I felt for the most part that this was me,” Burns reveals
in the liner notes.
For me, the standout track is “Reach for the Sky” written by friend
Felix Reyes in memory of his early 90s Atlanta protégé, Sean Costello.
Here, Jimmy sings the lyrics for his recently departed wife of 44 years,
Dorothy Burns. Done in a mid-tempo Calypso style, the song features
Jimmy on uplifting vocals, co-producer Dave Herrero on guitar, and band
member Bryant “T” Parker on congas. Illustrating his deep love of all
music, the calypso style is a throw-back to Burns’s teenage days of
playing solo on songs like “The Banana Boat Song” at the Fickle Pickle,
booked by Mike Bloomfield.
Like early 60s radio, variety abounds on the album: three tracks written
by Richard Hamersma, “Early Morning Blues,” “How Close,” and “Incidental
Lover,” find Burns providing his patented Soulful vocals over mellow and
melodic Bluesy songs with Ariyo Sumito Ariyoshi on killer keyboards. The
band Rocks it up on Matt Powell’s “Cadillac” with Dave Herrero on
scorching guitar. Surprises “Pop” up when Burns does his own arrangement
for the Beatles’s “Get Back” using a borrowed Magic Sam guitar riff. The
title track (and cover photo) is a re-work of the 1972 Stealer’s Wheel
classic “Stuck in the Middle (With You).”
Jimmy Burns has so much good music inside him that had to come out.
Music fans can’t help but be entertained and moved by a singer on a CD
this good.
Reviewer
James "Skyy Dobro" Walker is a noted Blues writer, DJ, Master of
Ceremonies, and Blues Blast contributor. His weekly radio show "Friends
of the Blues" can be heard Saturdays 8 pm - Midnight on WKCC 91.1 FM and
at www.wkccradio.org in Kankakee,
IL.
For other reviews and interviews on our website
CLICK HERE
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Featured Blues Review 2 of 6
 Kilborn
Alley - Four
Blue Bella Records
11 tracks/49:04
Now operating as a quartet, Kilborn Alley serves up another batch of
tunes that hit home with a cutting edge that honors the blues tradition
while mixing in some of the soulful seasoning that has always been a
distinguishing element of the band's music. Andy Duncanson handles the
lead vocals and guitar with Josh Stimmel also on guitar, Chris Breem on
bass and Ed O'Hara on drums and backing vocal. The group gets help from
several special guests including Gerry Hundt on harmonica, Vince Salerno
on sax and Travis Reed, a member of the Nick Moss Band, on organ and
piano.
Duncanson has a marvelous voice that is rough around the edges, yet also
capable of expressing breathtakingly deep emotions that hit hard at your
soul. His yearning, pleading vocal on “You Were My Woman” drives home
the pain of a love lost. The band channels the sound from the glory days
of labels like Stax and Hi Re-cords on “Good Advice”, with Reed on organ
providing the perfect backdrop for Duncanson as the singer pours out his
feelings in soul-wrenching fashion. Duncanson's finest moment comes on
the opening two lines on “Going Hard”. The lyrics “Whiskey bottle, on my
bed-side table..” don't seem like much until you hear his spine-chilling
delivery that immediately transport you to a time when each of us has
stood alone, late at night, battling our demons. Later in the track,
Stimmel matches the singer's intensity with a lengthy guitar solo that
show-cases his distinctive style.
Breem and O'Hara lay down a driving shuffle on the opening number,
“'Rents House Boogie”, with Stimmel's taut rhythm guitar part serving as
a counterpoint to Hundt's harp. “Wandering” is a joyous romp with Hundt
blowing in the upper register of his harp ala Jimmy Reed. The tough
groove on “Fast Heart Beat” returns the band to the traditional Chicago
sound while the instrumental “Argyles and a Do-Rag” celebrates Stimmel's
sense of style with both guitar play-ers trading the lead position.
“Sitting on the Bank” employs the classic riff from “'Rolling &
Tumbling” with Hundt once again making a key contribution. Another
highlight is Duncanson's moving rendition of “Couple of Days (Change My
Ways)”, a song that illustrates again how well the group can handle
gentler, soulful material.
Kilborn Alley continues to impress with their outstanding musical
interplay and knock-out vocals. If you are looking for some blues music
worth spending your hard-earned dollars on, I strongly suggest that you
start your search with this release. It comes highly recommended !!
Reviewer
Mark
Thompson is president of the
Crossroads Blues
Society in Rockford. IL. He has been listening to music of all kinds
for fifty years. The first concert he attended was in Chicago with The
Mothers of Invention and Cream. Life has never been the same.
For other reviews and interviews on our website
CLICK HERE
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Featured Blues Review 3 of 6
 Savoy
Brown – Voodoo Moon
9 tracks; 45.32 minutes
Savoy Brown has been around since 1966, the one constant being founder
Kim Simmonds who has been there since the beginning on guitar and
occasional vocals. Although the original incarnation of Savoy Brown was
British, Kim has been resident in the USA for many years and all the
players here are local to NY State where Kim now lives. Kim produced the
CD, wrote all the material, plays all guitars and sings on two tracks.
Joining Kim are Joe Whiting who handles most of the vocals, plays sax on
six and co-wrote two, Pat DeSalvo who plays bass and Garnet Grimm who
plays the drums. Keyboards and percussion are added by Andy Rudy and Ron
Keck respectively.
Vocalist Joe Whiting has a clear, strong voice, ideally suited to this
sort of blues-based rock. His sax playing is always in the background,
beefing up the music rather than taking a lead role which remains
largely Kim Simmonds’ role. What I like about Kim’s playing is that he
never distorts the sound, keeps it clean and often gets great tone in
his solos. The album opens strongly with “Shockwaves”, an insistent
guitar riff and lots of piano underpin the fast rhythm. The next track
slows the pace a little, another catchy riff carrying along a song that
claims that the singer does not have (or need) some of those ‘little
extras’ of blues lyrics such as TNT or dynamite, John The Conqueroo or a
Black Cat Bone – no, he’s just a “Natural Man”. What he does have though
is a great lyrical guitar solo in the middle of the song.
“Too Much Money” is also a slower tune with a touch of funk in the mix.
Keyboards feature strongly here, the lyric suggesting that nobody has
too much money – “Only a fool says something like that”! “She’s Got The
Heat” is a real rocker, with exciting slide guitar and sparkling piano.
Kim steps up to the mike for “Look At The Sun”, another mid-paced piece.
He has a good voice, not quite as strong as Joe’s, but certainly
serviceable. Joe’s sax can be heard quite clearly supporting the main
theme. “24/7” is the only instrumental on the album, a fast-paced number
with lots of guitar which ably demonstrates how good and varied a player
Kim is.
In an album of strong guitar performances my particular pick is “Round
And Round”. A repetitive guitar motif and swirling organ underpin the
vocals but between verses Kim weaves an intricate pattern of crystal
clear solos. Title track “Voodoo Moon” is also a strong contender for
best track on the album. It has a rousing chorus which lifts the music
after the slower paced verses and another strong guitar solo. “Meet The
Blues Head On” closes the album with an anthemic, riff-driven tune and
the memorable chorus “You’ve got to stand up tall and strong, don’t run
and hide, you’ve got to meet the blues head on”.
This is a very enjoyable album of strong songs and performances. Savoy
Brown will be touring to promote this album and I suspect that this
line-up will be well worth catching live.
Reviewer John Mitchell is a blues enthusiast based in the UK. He also
travels to the States most years to see live blues music.
For other reviews and interviews on our website
CLICK HERE
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Featured Blues Review 4 of 6
 Trent
Romens - Aware
New Folk Records: NF 1426
10 Tracks 46:47
Here we have 19 years old Trent Romens, from Edina, Minnesota. He is an
accomplished guitar player but IMHO, his voice is just a tad thin for
most of the songs on this album, and which, I regret to say, is well
suited to the genre of music suggested by the name of the record label.
With one or two exceptions – principally the covers – Big Bill Broonzy/
Charlie Segar’s Key To The Highway and St Louis Jimmy’s Going Down Slow
– there is little here to interest the blues fan.
Joined by John Wright (bass and co-producer), Tony Marshall (Hammond
B-3), Jordan Carlson (drums), Tony Paul (percussion) and with Cate
Fierro and Shalo Lee (backing vocals) the CD opens with a Romens
original “Stimulate Me”, with a fine riff driven backing and occasional
bursts of excellent guitar work but with a rather whiney, thin vocal.
Material Blues follows with some nice slide work to open. It is a mid
paced foot tapper but comes again with thin whiney vocals. Fairy Tales
is a Beatle like pop song with a melody seemingly derived from Lennon
and McCartney’s Norwegian Wood.
Of the two covers, Going Down Slow is a nicely arranged paean to the St
Louis Jimmy original. It comes with some really nice guitar work in the
opening choruses and the vocal here is miles better, with little
tendency to the whiny stuff which precedes it. Seven and a half minutes
of good quality music, which will without doubt, get some air play.
Key To The Highway starts with an opening drum beat reminding me of
Muddy’s “She Moves Me”. The arrangement is sparse but it is nicely
carried off, with some outstanding slide work in the instrumental
choruses.
Trent’s own “Right Back Where I Started”, is an I-woke-up-this-morning
blues with - unfortunately - the aforementioned rather thin voice…Shame,
shame, shame as Jimmy Reed might have said.
Sorry Sherriff starts like a folk song and ends like a pop song and
there are again shades of Lennon and McCartney both in the melody line
and in the arrangement (including close harmony oohing from the backing
singers) and similarly, With You; is a pop song with an oooh oooh
backing and a guitar sound that reminds me of Brian May or the solo on
the Commodores 1977 hit Easy (On A Sunday Morning) (so beautifully
played by Thomas McClary).
The closer Hey Now, is the sound of Caribbean gospel music and comes
with a rudimentary strummed guitar backing, with bongos and so on…but
don’t think of Bob Marley, think Harry Belafonte.
Reviewer Ian McKenzie lives in England. He
is the editor of Blues In The South (www.bluesinthesouth.com
a monthly flier providing news, reviews, a gig guide and all kinds of
other good stuff, for people living and going to gigs along the south
coast of England. Ian is also a blues performer (see
www.myspace.com/ianmckenzieuk) and has two web-cast regular blues
radio shows. One on www.phonic.FM in
Exeter (Wednesdays: 1pm Eastern/ 12 noon Central), the second on KCOR –
Kansas City Online Radio (on Fridays at 1pm Eastern/ 12 noon Central)
www.kconlineradio.com.
For other reviews and interviews on our website
CLICK HERE
|
Blues Society News
|
Send your Blues Society's BIG news or Press Release
about your
not-for-profit event with
the subject line "Blues Society News" to:
Submissions must be a maximum of 175 words or less in a Text or MS Word document
format.
The West Michigan Blues Society -
Grand Rapids, MI
The West Michigan Blues Society and radio station WYCE 88.1 FM
present the 2012 Cabin Fever Blues Series at Billy's Lounge 1437,
Wealthy St. SE Grand Rapids, MI. Up coming shows include Feb. 11
Motor City Josh & the Big Three, Feb. 18 Hadden Sayers, Feb. 25 Nora
Jean Wallace, March 3 The Chicago Rhythm & Blues Kings. Tickets are
$10.00 per show at the door only. Doors at 7:00 PM Music at 9:30 PM.
Info at: www.wmbs.org
Rosedale Crossroads Blues Society - Rosedale, MS
Rosedale Crossroads Blues Society presents The Crossroads Blues and
Heritage Festival, Saturday, May 12, 2012 at the River Resort at
Highway 1 South in historic Rosedale, MS featuring Bill Abel,
Cadillac John, Big Joe Shelton, DSU Ol’ Skool Revue and other area
artists.
Gates open at 12:00 noon, music starts at 1:00 Admission $5 –
adults, $1 – children under 12 Bring your own ice chest – $10 No
beer sold – No glass – No pets, please Parking $5
Minnesota Blues Society -
Minneapolis, MN
In celebration of the Society's 10 year anniversary, Greater Twin
Cities Blues Music Society (GTCBMS) has changed their name to:
Minnesota Blues Society, to better reflect their constituency. Get
Out of Town" (GOOT) Fundraiser, Sun., Jan 22, 3:00pm, Minnesota
Music Cafe, 499 Payne Ave., St. Paul, MN, 651-776-4699. Suggested
donation: $10, Come support Minnesota's 2012 IBC representatives,
Annie Mack and Tom Kochie; and Javier and the Innocent Sons. Music
by former IBC representatives: Steve Vonderharr, John Franken, Good
Time Willy, Davina and the Vagabonds, Scottie Miller, Papa John
Kolstad, Jeff Ray, and Harold Tremblay. Visit our new website at
www.mnbs.org for more information.
Capital Region
Blues Network - Albany, NY
The Capital Region Blues Network is proud to announce The Mid-Winter
Blues Bash on Friday, January 27th at The Roadhouse Grille (27
Fuller Road, Albany) at 8PM. Tom Townsley and Seth Rochfort will be
coming in from Syracuse to open the night, followed by The Matt
Mirabile Band with special guests Tom Healey and Tas Cru. Tickets
are $10.00 at the door and $5.00 for Capital Region Blues Network
members. For more info see our website @
www.capitalregionbluesnetwork.org
Grafton Blues Association
- Grafton, WI
The Grafton Blues Association (GBA) and State of Wisconsin will be
represented at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis,
Tennessee for the 4th consecutive year. The GBA will be sending a
band (Tweed Funk) and solo/duo act (John Stano) this year. A
Send-Off Party/Fundraiser will be held January 20th at the Black
Swan Room in Grafton.
The Send-Off Party/Fundraiser starts at 7 pm and will feature music
from both John Stano and Tweed Funk. Friday, January 20th, 2012;
7:00 pm to 10:00 pm; Black Swan Room; 1218 13th Ave, Grafton, WI
53024; Suggested Donation - $10; Drinks, Raffles, and Door Prizes.
www.graftonblues.org
The Diamond State Blues
Society - Wilmington, Delaware
On Saturday, March 3rd it's the Diamond State Blues Society presents
the
15th Annual House Rockin' Party. Opening the show at 3pm will be
Nuthin' But Trouble, followed by Florida's great Blues Guitarist,
Albert Castiglia, and headlining the show is the ironman himself,
the phenomenal Michael Burks! Full details can be found at
www.DiamondStateBlues.com
Dayton Blues Society
– Dayton, Ohio
The Dayton Blues Society presents the 4th Annual “Winter Blues
Showcase” on January 21st 2012, The event spotlights this year’s IBC
representatives Gregg “GC” Clark & Brian Lee (Solo/Duo) and The Noah
Wotherspoon Band (Band) opening for this year’s headliner Big Bill
Morganfield, son of blues legend Muddy Waters. Gilly’s 132 S.
Jefferson St. 6pm—Meet & Greet w/ Big Bill Morganfield ($5), 8pm—
Gregg Clark & Brian Lee, 9pm— Noah Wotherspoon Band, 10pm— Big Bill
Morganfield (Muddy Water’s Son), DBS Members—$20 / Non DBS Members—
$25, For more info go to
www.daytonbluessociety.com .
River City Blues Society
- Pekin, IL
River City Blues Society presents: Bringing The Blues To You with
the following shows - Jan 25th at
7PM - The Sugar Prophets. Location Goodfellas 1414 N. 8th St, Pekin, Illinois 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm $5.00
non-members $3.00 members. For more info visit:
www.rivercityblues.com
Illinois Central Blues Club -
Springfield, IL
The Illinois Central Blues Club presents "Blue Monday" every Monday
night for the last 25 years - BLUE MONDAY SHOWS - Held at the Alamo
115 N 5th St, Springfield, IL (217) 523-1455 every Monday 8:00pm $3
cover. Jan 23 -
Mike Zito, Jan 30 - Tombstone Bullet, Feb 6 - Matt O'Ree, Feb 13 -
Hurrican Ruth, Feb 20 - The Distillery, Feb 27 - The Blues Deacons. icbluesclub.org
|
Featured Blues Review 5 of 6
 Nick
Moss - Here I Am
Time:
71:57
It’s
probably appropriate Nick Moss titles his latest release Here I Am. He
seems comfortable in the shift in the musical direction that began with
the previous venture Privileged.
Known
primarily for digging deep into the wellspring of Chicago Blues, Moss
seeks a stylistic departure to avoid labels that can pigeonhole him. And
while some long-time fans are not too happy for this radical change,
Nick is simply following his bliss of where the music will take him.
However if
you were happy with what Nick started out on with Privileged, the music
on Here I Am will suit you just fine. If anything, it rocks just as hard
and Moss’ guitar work is sizzling as ever.
As he did
on Privileged, Nick pays tribute to the bands of yesteryear that were
influential in starting his journey towards the blues. Elements of
Cream, Free, Bad Company and The Allman Brothers bubble in the tracks.
It’s an approach that’s daring and Moss sees it fit to lift him out of
any musical ruts.
He wastes
no time in getting down to serious business. Opening track “Why You So
Mean?” is a boogie-based rocker while John Lee Hooker influenced careens
like a runaway train going off the rails. If Moss wants to immediately
grab an audiences’ attention, he should consider opening up with this
number at his gigs. Basically this tune fits the mold of arena-sized
rock when true riffage ruled in its iconic time and place.
You would
be happy if Nick stayed on this musical course. But he does see fit to
slow down things. While following number “Blood Runs” isn’t as dangerous
as the preceding tune, Travis Reeds’ keyboard work bolsters “Blood Runs”
into a moderate rocker with gospel shading.
Patrick
Seals’ short energetic drum intro opens the title track into a
Zeppelin-styled stomper coming from the Physical Graffiti era. The
lyrics smack of defiance towards anyone not understanding Moss’ take on
things. Reeds’ and Moss’ solos propel this song further into the
stratosphere with the rest of the band crashing behind them.
Using
Michael Ledbetter as a backing vocalist adds flavor to some tracks like
“Candy Nation.” But the shiny hours belong to back-up singers Jennifer
Evans and Shuree Rivera who guide “It’ll Turn Around” into friendly
radio airplay territory. Reeds’ churchy organ stands out to take things
to church with the song’s bruised gospel soul coated by Moss’ greasy
slide work.
While the
production credits belong to Nick, you can tell how he pays attention to
how each player stands out in the mix. It’s not all about him dazzling
with guitar virtuosity. The emphasis is on song presentation and making
a band ensemble gel tightly without excessive showboating.
A trace of
Hendrix’ Band of Gypsies turns up in “Long Haul Jockey” with its rocked
up grooves. There’s no denying Moss likes to push material beyond
time-honored marks. The tunes “Caught By Surprise” and “Katie Ann
(Sleight Return)” stretch to nearly ten minutes in length and stand a
good chance for being embraced by the jam-band community although
musically you can over-do a good thing by excessive vamping through
lyrical content and exercising musical chops that go beyond a normal
attention span. In these tunes, Moss displays a penchant for psychedelic
exploration that Hendrix himself would admire. Especially in “Katie Ann”
with its hypnotic spidery guitar lines.
Only in
instrumental “Sunday Get Together” does Nick seem to touch base with
blues roots as it echoes with a live feel as if it was recorded at Buddy
Guy’s Legends.
It’s no
wonder this musical package received a strong endorsement from Jimmy
Thackery. Moss has a journeyman attitude of exploring the zone and
visiting areas where his colleagues don’t dare to venture.
Reviewer Gary Weeks is
a contributing writer. He resides in Marietta, GA.
For other reviews and interviews on our website
CLICK HERE
|
Featured Blues Review 6 of 6
 Samantha
Fish - Runaway
RUF
Records
10
tracks/47:00
Samantha
Fish has gotten a lot of airplay and recognition as part of the “Girls
With Guitars” along with bandmates Cassie Taylor and Dani Wilde. They
are a fun group with a hot record, and now we have this 22 year old gal
from Kansas City with her solo release showing what she’s made of. Fish
wrote 8 of the tracks, co-wrote another with producer Mike Zito, and
covers Tom Petty’s “Lousiana Rain”. If you like hot guitar licks and a
fresh female voice, you can’t go wrong here. While her voice lacks a lot
of power, she makes up for that with tons of emotion. Her guitar work is
outstanding and is not overdone. She pulls off a great solo effort here,
supported by Cassie Taylor on bass and Jamie Litte on drums; bare bones
but a big, big sound.
Fish opens
with “Down In The Swamp”, which drips of hot sauce and greasy fritters.
A wickedly hot guitar line is excellent and Fish shows off her stuff
from the start. The title track is a hot little boogie number, and it
swings and rocks. Zito accompanies Fish on the cut he co-wrote, and he
appears on it too; “Push Comes to Shove” is a tidy and well done song
with a good duet between these young artists. The vocal sparring is hot
and the guitars are impeccable.
She shows
her stuff on the slow cuts like “Today’s My Day” and “Money to Burn” and
is able to deliver a tasteful performance. She unleashes her “wa wa” on
“Leavin’ Kind” and it is a fun and rocking romp. She gets her country
dander up on “Soft and Slow” and “Otherside of the Bottle” along with
the Petty cover. Nicely done stuff- she shows a lot of variety in these
10 tracks. She closes all soft and sultry with “Feelin’ Alright”, and
her vocals and guitar make even the staunchest man melt away. Very hot,
very cool stuff!
It’s a
great little CD that Fish has delivered here. I enjoyed her guitar work,
song writing and delivery; she is one talent young lady. I can’t wait to
catch up with her live act and hear her up close- she’s a great young
blues artist who I think will have lots of success in the future! I
recommend this one strongly!
Reviewer
Steve Jones is secretary of the
Crossroads Blues
Society and is a long standing blues lover. He is a retired Navy
commander who served his entire career in nuclear submarines. In
addition to working in his civilian career, he writes for and publishes
the bi-monthly newsletter for Crossroads, chairs their music festival
and work with their Blues In The Schools program.
For other reviews and interviews on our website
CLICK HERE
|
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