Iowa Blues Showcase Podcast

So a lot of changes here at the Blues Historian.  First the radio station has been long gone.  Live 365 either went out of business, or was sold to someone else, and bye bye Iowa blues on internet radio.  However, one of my long term goals is finally coming true, and that is the variety and blues show the Iowa Blues Showcase is finally going to be a real thing.  Technology has come a long way since the early 2000s when I was trying to get a local blues radio program on the air.   So many struggles, and trying to please program directors, sound men, engineers, etc, etc, etc,   There was just so many gate keepers that it was impossible to get everything lined up to get a show on the air.  However, now technology has made it easier and easier to produce and publish music online.  Especially the growth of Podcasting, much like everything else in the music business, the middle men have been taken out and the artists can pretty much do what they please.  Yet, the problem with freedom is that you have a ton of choices, and boy is the field crowded!  YIKES!!!!!  

The nice thing is that the Iowa Blues Showcase doesn't have to start from scratch since long time readers of the blog know about it, and even though I have been a lazy blues historian lately, this blog amazingly still pulls in visitors daily.  Most days about 100 of you are digging through the archives, and just two days ago 250 of you just showed up for no reason.  Thanks to you this decrepit blog still functions.  For the next few days I will be working on updating and fixing issues with the blog.  I will also try to delete posts that have no content.  (which will be hard considering there is several thousand posts)  Finally I will add new content including the return of the Iowa Blues Showcase!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/iowa-blues-showcase-no-1/id1116888087

That link above is your ticket to the podcast.  through this month it will be archived shows that you probably never have listened to, or if you did you were one of the few who caught it on the old Iowa Blues Showcase radio show on Live 365.   In July we start recording new shows so you definitely want to subscribe to the new podcast.  

BTW, the show will be recorded live once a month.  I will let you know the time and place so if you are interested in performing, or attending let me know by commenting, or emailing me.  

I look forward to finally getting this old blog back up and running.  I know, I have promised it before, but I finally have a lot to write about the blues again, and hey its time to get thing started.  

Another Blues Historian

Article from Penn State about blues historian Jerry Zoltan and his research on Paramount records.  Paramount was a furniture store in Grafton Wisconsin in order to sell record players, Paramount started to record music. The most sought after being blues recordings of artists like Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charlie Patton, and Skip James.

To read more click HERE. To read the Wiki about Paramount click HERE.

NYE 2011! Bob Dorr and the Blue Band

I am playing solo piano as part of the Bob Dorr's annual Happy Blue Year. NYE at the Hilton Garden Inn in Urbandale Iowa. Located conveniently off of I-80/35 and 86th street. It is a great show and tickets are still available. Included in the show are of course the star of the show Bob Dorr, with his guests Matt Woods and the Thunderbolts, Joe and Vicki Price, Six Ways to Sunday, The Erick Hovey Band, Toney Brown, and myself. Of course the night before my good friend Rob Lumbard will be playing. More information can by found at

http://www.theblueband.com/newyear.htm

See ya NYE!!!!!!

Over 3000 Posts!

We just went over the 3000 mark for posts today!  A nice landmark for a blog that was only met for my college students:-)  Originally it was blues articles I had found, and lots of videos.  Today it is more of a collection of blues news from great sources like Illinois Blues, Bob Corritore, John Hammer, and Bob Dorr.  I still post videos and occasional stories, but mostly I am becoming a hub of blues news.

Thanks for you continued support and lets go for more!

Tom Gary

Blues Historian

Blues Historian Now Smart Phone Friendly

I do look at the stats, and few people with smart phones stop by here at blues historian.  I never really thought about it, because I was too cheap to get a smart phone!  OK, so I finally got a good deal on one, and I checked out the blog and found out why.  the blog IS TOO DAMN BIG!  So I went in and did some adjustments, and now it is user friendly for people with smart phones, and any other small screen device that you use to gather information from the net.  Please pass the word along and check it out.  It works great I just checked it out on my phone:-)


Thanks for keeping the blues alive

Tom
Blues Historian

Blues Historian Review: Willie Buck, The Life I Love

Another disc sent to me from my friends at Delmark, is the retro recording of Willie Buck.  Willie Buck and his band recorded the first part of the disc in 1982 at Sky Hero in Chicago, the last five songs were recorded live in 1984 at Robert's 500 Room in Chicago.  This is an interesting disc.  It fluctuates from a John Lee Hooker free form blues, to structured Chicago blues.  However, regardless if the band is changing the time, or the form from 12 bar, to 13, or 15 bar blues, Buck has an amazing voice that is a cross between Muddy, and Wolf.  It is an interesting combination of gutsy, raw, and melodic.  While I am not sure if it is the band, or Buck, who mixes things up with the changing counts, they still deliver a great if sometimes awkward punch.  The amazing John Primer is playing on the studio recording, and he is helped out by Louis Meyer.  It is interesting how Primer is on the right channel, while Meyer is on the left.  What is cool is you can pick out who is playing and both do a great job.  This is a cool disc and Willie Buck is still out there in Chicago playing the blues, so buy his disc, and check him out.

Blues Historian Review: Tail Dragger Live At Rooster's Lounge

I received this from the good folks at Delmark last Christmas, and I have enjoyed watching this disc.  Tail Dragger is one of those old time blues musicians that the Wall Street Journal doesn't know about when they say the blues is dead.  Tail Dragger mesmerizes the crowd with his down home Chicago blues.  I love the way he plays with the crowd, and the magic in this guys eyes as he works the ladies.  Tail Dragger may have snow on the mountain top but there is a fire down below! (Wolf??  Muddy?? one of them sang it:-)  Tail Dragger has an equally amazing guest,the legendary Jimmy Dawkins (another bluesman that the Wall Street Journal should listen to)  Tail Draggers band includes, Rockin Johnny, Kevin Shanahan, Martin Lang, Rob Lorenz and Todd Fackler.  These guys are great, they know the drill, they follow along, and take their leads, just like a great band should.  If you want to see why the blues is still alive and well in Chicago, no thanks to the Wall Street Journal, then buy this DVD!

Bob Dorr And The Blue Band Update

 Yup that is me mentioned below in Colfax playing with the Blue Band!  Come see the blues historian in action Sunday night 7pm in Colfax Iowa. 





The pressures and anxieties of having to entertain readers of these notes is giving me a headache. Or it could be the fumes from this week's stain and varnishing of the trim woodwork on the remodeling of the house. It's kind of like what I imagine sniffing glue must be like, only living inside the tube of glue. I could go on and on about this week's adventure in living in a construction zone and probably will after the important stuff...
Saturday night (7/17) we've been invited to be part of the Nevada (the city east of Ames, not the state east of California) Firemen's Street Dance. This is a celebration of the fire department's 150th anniversary year and an attempt to raise some operating cash for the department's expenses next year. It's not often that we get to play in the Ames/Marshalltown area, so bring the kids, bring the kids' kids, and support a good cause while dancing in the streets of Nevada (sounds like some cowboy/western movie like Cat Ballou) (if you don't remember the movie Cat Ballou, you might be too young to read these notes) As some regular Blue Band players actually have lives outside of the band (what? there's life outside of the Blue Band?) (who knew?) it's going to be a special and possibly one-of-a-kind collection of players, with Sam Salomone bringin' out his big organ and Eddie McKinley, on loan from The Diplomats of Solid Sound, playing tenor sax. Wow, the sound of the goodle days with 6 pieces and only one horn player! We play 8-11pm, off of 6th street, in greater downtown Nevada. I've been told there is a rain location, I just haven't been told where that is...
Sunday night (7/18) marks our first EVAH appearance in Colfax. I know, it's hard to believe that in our 29 year history we've never played Colfax IA, but hey, there's a first time for everything! Normally the Colfax Party In The Park happens on Saturdays, but this is also part of a local Fair that's going on and Sunday night is the wrap up of the festivities. Mason City trumpet man Doug Huey will join Heath in the horn section and Iowa Blues historian and piano man extraordinaire Tom Gary will join us on keys (it's getting to the season where you can't tell the players without a scorecard) We start at 7pm, play a couple sets before the fireworks and one set after the fireworks on the Anspach Stage in Women’s Club Park located on 13 East Division Street. Ooooo, ahhhhh, FIREWORKS!!! Maybe there will be CAKE too!!...
Next week, Thursday (7/22) is our annual appearance at the Grinnell Central Park Gazeeeebo gig 5:30-7:30p, followed by Friday night's Geeeezer Gig, our only nightclub show of the summer, at our home in Sparkle City, The Hub, 4th and Main, with modified, summer geeezer hours, 7-10:30p and Saturday (7/24) has us in the city of the Sudlow Jr. High Tigers, Davenport IA, for the annual Downtown/Bix Street Dance, 2nd & Main in D-town. I love playing that gig, as many people from my high school (the Davenport Central BLUE Devils) stop out and we tell stories about when we were all very different people! (ya shoulda seen me throw that ball!) And don't forget about our RAGBRAI show this year, Parkersburg For Lunch, Thursday July 29 10:30am (that is not a misprint, we start playing at 10:30 IN THE MORNING) until a little after 1pm...
So the good news is that I now have an operable kitchen sink for the first time in over 3 months! How I got the sink and faucet is an "interesting" story. I hesitated to go along with the idea of getting granite counter tops because I'm just getting to the age that I hate to buy something that I know will outlive me. But my wife is WAY younger than I am, so granite it is. We drove to Des Moines to pick out the stone in March. It was finally delivered last Tuesday. The plumbers came the next day to hook up the sink faucet. At last, I could finally wash out my own coffee pot in my own sink once again! I thought. But NOOOOOOOOO. When the granite counter top maker made the ever living stone counters, he cut a precise hole for the sink. Cool. And a perfect hole for the faucet fixture. Very cool. But the plumber discovered that we ordered a sprayer along with the faucet and there was no hole for the sprayer, which apparently is directly hooked to the water line with the faucet so you have to have the sprayer hooked up or every time you turn on the faucet, water will spray all over the brand new cabinets. Boooo. And since we are planning on the cabinets outliving me also, we needed that hole in the rock solid granite countertop before I was gonna get any water to wash out the coffee pot. I would have thought that there would have been a drill bit strong enough to bore thru granite in Sparkle City. There's not. So we had to get the counter maker to come back. He lives in Norway (thankfully the small town west of Cedar Rapids, not the country west of Sweden) It took him two days to get back. Apparently absolutely nothing else could get done on this remodeling project until the one inch hole in the granite was drilled because all of the other contractors stayed away for those two days also. It was devastating to think that nothing else would get worked on until the hole was drilled (rim shot). The man came from Norway and was finished drilling the hole (insert your own joke here) at 3:55pm. The plumbing contractor sent a guy out immediately to hook up the sprayer. Unfortunately, that plumber discovered that the other two plumbing guys stopped hooking up everything else (like the garbage disposal) in the drain after they discovered that we had one less hole than we needed (no joke here, this is serious stuff) and it was already 4:20pm and he couldn't work past 4:30pm so I wasn't gonna get to wash out my coffee pot again. Do you know how difficult it is to eat CAKE without coffee???...
And I haven't even started to tell you about the varnish fumes that started on Monday (then sat there until Thursday, presumably because the hole wasn't cut in the granite) and then picked up again today meaning that pretty much as soon as I had gotten rid of the fumes from Monday they were replenished today. That'll have to be for another time. I wish I could blame this headache on the fumes, but I have a feeling (sick as it may be) that not sleeping in the last 20 hours has something to do with it and maybe, now that the hole was drilled, (do yer own joke one more time) some more contractors might show up in about four hours. YIKES!!...
See ya on the Blue Highway, wear yer zydeco tie and rub it with the firemen (they'll be there to put you out if you spontaneously combust from rubbing it to much) bring CAKE when you stop over to see my new sprayer (!) and always remember we love you. Bob Dorr & The Blue Band

Selling a Book On Ebay

Hey everyone!

If you like John Lennon I have a very cool, and very collectible book about an Iowa artist who tried to warn Lennon that his life was in danger.  Don't let the graphic cover of the book scare you.  The imagery in the book is more like a fairy tale.  The title of the book is John Lennon: A Real Live Fairytale.  You can check it out here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130403760952

I am in some big debt, and it is time to start selling off my collectibles.  I have Beatles memorabilia, Blues collectibles, and tons of records, and books.  I will post each new auction here on the blog.  I appreciate all your help!

Tom Gary
Blues Historian

Blues Historian Review: The Hollywood Blue Flames, Deep In America

D

Long time blues fans will know the legendary Hollywood Fats, guitar player extraordinaire from California that died way to young.  Fats band is still playing as The Hollywood Blue Flames and have a double CD out called Deep In America, with the first cd is a second disk called Larger Than Life Vol. 2. The Hollywood Blue Flames still have that good old jump blues vib going that blues purists around the US still love.  Nothing really new here, on Deep In America, but when you have a good thing why screw with it.  Perhaps the gem, and unfortunately the let down is the live disk Larger Than Life Vol. 2.  It is a gem because it perfectly captures the time.  It was an amazing time where blues started to make its big comeback from the disco hangover of the 70s. On this disc Fats, and the band cover some of the classic covers, like She's Dynamite, Hide Away, Kansas City, Lonesome, and many more. I love the second disc, and it would be my favorite, except you can barely hear Hollywood Fats, and he is the guy  I want to hear.  First, it is still an important historical CD recorded at three separate locations between 1979-1980. While track three is recorded by a hand held recorder, (I am assuming a cassette recorder back in 79)  The others sound like board tracks.  This is where you record off the sound system.  What is good about recording of the sound board, is that the vocals, keys, and drums are clear, but the guitar is usually buried.  The reason for this is that the stage volume of the guitar is so loud that the sound engineer will turn off the microphone to the guitar.  When that happens, which is darn near all the time, then the guitar gets buried in the mix, and unfortunately this gem of a disc suffers from Hollywood Fats guitar buried for most of the CD. Yet, I wouldn't let you deter you from this double CD.  It is a good collection of jump blues, a cool double cd of old and new, and a nice historical recording of one of the many golden ages of the blues.

Blues Historian Review: Kirk Fletcher, My Turn

I have seen the future of the blues and it is Kirk Fletcher!  I have always wanted to say that and I hope that it ends up on some future blurb for Kirk Fletcher.  However, being silly aside, I think I might be right.  If you have missed Freddie King, and Albert King, then Kirk is the guy you have been missing. Fletcher has the right idea, much like either Freddie or Albert he has plenty of cool instrumentals to go along with his vocals.  He seems to like to alternate tracks between vocal and instrumentals. Fletcher also has a great voice.  El Medio Stomp opens up the cd and it made me smile right from the start. The song is a good instrumental in the style of Stevie Ray, or Freddie King. From there on it is a great run of Texas blues to the end, when a Hendrix inspired song Continents End finished the CD off. Fletcher mentions the Hendrix influence in the liner notes of the cd, and you certainly can hear it, but it is the Texas influence that really comes across.

The nice thing about My Turn is that both the blues purists, and the causal listener will find this a great disc. The purists will appreciate Fletcher's strong catalog of blues songs, while the regular listener will hear what they think is Stevie Ray and Hendrix.  This is probably one of the better discs I have heard this year, and I must admit that for the first time in a long time I am starting to get excited about the future of blues.   Who knows if Fletcher will become the next big thing, but he does you heard it here first!


If you would like a copy check it out at Amazon!

CD Provided by Electro Groove

Blues Historian Review: Taylor Hicks, Whomp At The Warfield

I received this DVD from some fine folks at one of Taylor Hicks fan clubs. I suppose a review is not really necessary since his fans will love the DVD no matter what I say. However, I can safely say for those of you who haven't listened to this guy yet, that this DVD is for you. Taylor Hicks is the real deal. I have said this many times, but it is true the man can sing the blues, soul, R&B and rock and roll. Whomp At The Warfield is mostly a soul filled romp recorded live at The Warfield in San Francisco back in 2007. The band in incredibly tight and Hicks has both the band and the fans pumped up from start to finish.

I must admit I am fascinated with Hicksmania. Perhaps in a differnet time and place before the music business imploded from its own excess he would have been the next incarnation of Elvis, but today in a music scene that is so large, over played, and mega corrupt, Hicks seems to fly beneath the radar. It is both fortunate and unfortunate. In one sense his fan base is tremendous and very faithful. In many ways he and his fans remind me of the relationship between Tom Jones and his fans. Jones never got his due, was regarded as a pop singer, and his legendary fans have followed him forever. Both Jones, and Hicks can sing anything, blues, soul, R&B, Pop, Country, and folk. However, the blues purist would not think about either one as a blues performer, but when I hear them sing I think otherwise.

The other thing that strikes me when I watch the video is that Taylor reminds me a lot of the good qualities of Elvis. It is more than the accent, because both have the Mississippi drawl, but it is their obvious love of the music, and culture of African Americans. Also Taylor doesn't have all the trappings that came with Elvis's fame. Perhaps in the long run it is a good thing that the music industry doesn't control artists like in the old days because that's what ruined Elvis.

This is a great DVD. lots of energy, and great music. Buy it today you can't go wrong.

Blues Historian Review: Nick Curran, Reform School Girls

Nick Curran's latest release Reform School Girl is a rollicking romp through the best of the late 50s and early 60s. Curran at times sounds like Little Richard, then Screaming Jay Hawkins, or a sly parody of the Shangri-la's Leader of the Pack. I also enjoyed the intentionally distorted vocals on some of the tracks. The original artists who were African American didn't have the soundmen, or the equipment to improve the sound, or the time since many recordings were essentially one take. So now many years later, Curran takes that sound and intentionally records it that way. In many ways it makes sense given Curran's punk sensibility. Curran is interested in the raw power of the music and what better way than to distort the vocal, much like Little Richard or Muddy Waters did 60 years ago. I like this disc for many reasons, but mostly I like how punk and blues can work well together. both are a visceral, in your face type of music. To paraphrase John Lennon, it is not "would you please have the foresight to throw me a life preserver, but HELP! Like Lennon, Curran belts out his songs, and the emotion come through.

As you might know Nick is battling cancer. I am not sure if he has insurance, because most musicians don't have the money to pay for great health care. There was a fund raiser a last month for him. However, I am sure if you buy this disc it would help, and while you are at it buy another for your friends, and help out a bluesman in need.

BTW, to keep you on teh up and up, I did receive this disc from Electro Grove Records.

Blues Historian Review: Hot Buttered Blues

OK, you didn't think I actually sat through this garbage to see the real bluesman Louisianna Guitar Red did ya! Oh! The things I do for you people. This is an old movie from 1995 that I found at a video store and I just had to buy it. Certainly this movie will not go down as one of the greats. It is terrible even by adult film standards, and that is very, very low! Thank goodness, Red is blind, and couldn't see what was going on, in fact, I doubt he even knew it was a porn film! Our hero shows up in the beginning of the film singing the blues on a street corner, supposedly in the 1960s. He gets harassed by the police and leaves. Then he shows up later in the film to play a few songs. Red is the real deal although I believe he is now deceased. His real name was Cardell Boyette. Also, Red only sings and plays guitar. During his set people have there clothes on!

The movie is very forgettable and Ron Jeremy makes yet another appearance in an adult flick so I think you can just imagine how bad it is. There is also another band in what I can only describe as what a bunch of porn actors, trying to act as the stereotypical bluesmen on a normal day. Needless to say in all my years of performing (as a bluesman:-) I have never, ever, not even on my best day, ever had that kind of luck! (Ok, the story is we get into music to meet chicks, but hey guys here is the dirty little secret. IT DON"T WORK!!)

God bless ya, Louisanna Red. I hope that you had a great time, and made a lot of money.

Jem Top Site Recommended Reading!!!

Blues Historian website has been nominated by Jem Site readers as a Recommended Reading Site! Very cool news! Make sure to check out their site listed in the blogs I read links.

Also make sure to vote for Blues Historian by clicking on the icon below.

Jemsite
proudly awards
this site as
Recommended Reading

Please vote for it
in the community!






Vote for us!

The icon will also be found on the side of the blog.

Other news that I missed but you should know about. We went over 125,000 hits for the life of the blog! Thank you very much! Those of you who have been around awhile remember that I originally set up this blog for my blues students at Buena Vista University. Yet from day one I have been amazed at the number of people from all over the world that drop by. I also posted by 2,500 post a few weeks back! I missed that milestone too! Yikes!

anyway as always thank you and thanks for keeping the blues alive.

Blues Historian Review: Boogie Woogie Kings

I can remember growing up as a 8 or 9 year old, and loving my old K-TEL Records. If you are old enough you know what I am talking about, the long play 33 rpm records that promised the "Original Hits, by the Original Stars!" I must have worn the groves out of 2 or 3 of those LPs before I finally started buying records myself.

So this Christmas I was pleasantly surprise to receive this great CD from my friends at Delmark Records. Certainly the new Delmark release Boogie Woogie Kings is one of those great discs that is full of amazing blues piano much in the spirit of those old K-TEL releases. Nothing but the stars and these guys rock. Some of the recordings are a little on the low fidelity side, and the piano is just a tad out of tune, but then that's what makes Barrel house, and Boogie Woogie sound so good. Also remarkable is that most of these sides were recorded back in 1939. In many ways these guys are the fore fathers of rock and roll! This disc also has solo, and multi dueling piano's! To buy this great CD Click HERE

Blues Historian Review: Mike Zito, Pearl River

Mike Zito is an amazing guitar player who can not only sing, but has an amazing voice suited for blues and soul. Then add a very tight band, great songs, with good arraignments. Add Reese Wynans on keyboards. Have Cyril Neville write you a great song and sing with you, add a few more great musicians, get them all in a studio and mix it perfectly and you have Zito's latest release Pearl River.

This Electro Groove release was sent to me recently in the mail, and I have enjoyed listening to it as I have crisscrossed the state of Iowa. Zito knows what he is doing on guitar, and he is blessed with a great soulful voice. this CD is pretty much what you would expect from a contemporary blues band. Solid tunes, well rehearsed, and expertly mixed presentation of blues and soul. Only once was I shocked, and that happened at the beginning of Shoe Blues. It started out great, and for some reason I thought he was covering Robert Johnson's Walking Blues. Zito sings about waking up and looking for his shoes, and then Susan Cowsill, repeats the next verse, and I am thinking Oh-no! Not a duet of a classic Robert Johnson song! However, had I been listening closely I would have noticed that the lyric is different, and by the third line, I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized that it was not the classic Johnson song. Needless to say the song rocked.

If I have one problem with Pearl River, is that it is too perfect. The solo's are perfect, the band is tight, and the vocals don't waver. Perhaps it is the old school in me, but I really like the live feeling of blues. I like to hear a guitar player going out on a limb, or a vocalists straining to hit a note. I know that the old chess recordings were made quickly because the Chess brothers didn't have the equipment, or the time to perfect the sound, but my personal quirk is the live sound.

This is a buy, go out get it and listen to it!

Blues Historian Update

Things are slowing down here at Blues Historian. Back when I started this blog for my Blues History class at BVU, I was posting three stories, and three videos a day. Over the last few years I have added and subtracted features, but I have kept it going. However, things are changing. The blues class that I have taught for the last five years has ended. From what I understand it was a numbers thing, which in is probably a good thing. Teaching every night for three weeks in a row gets old quick, but having the opportunity to teach not only the history of the blues, but the history of African Americans was priceless. Many of my students had no clue about the history of African Americans. Most believed that after slavery everything was great. The blues let me teach that segregation, tenant farming, racism, and Jim Crow made life harsh for African Americans until fairly recent times.

Keeping this blog alive is becoming more and more a job, and my time to really put in an effort grows shorter as my day job seems to take up what free time I have left. I don't think that the weekly visitor will see much change, but those who stop by daily will probably see several days between posts at times.

I wish I had more time to work on this blog, because in many ways the blues is hitting hard times as well. festivals and blues societies that were the life blood of the blues for many years are experiencing the bad economy just like the rest of us. We are all pinching pennies and not spending what we use to, to support the blues, and that is certainly having an effect on musicians, promoters, and blues societies. Plus file sharing doesn't help. I know that those of you who get your music free think that given the current economy that at least you are listening to the blues, but you are killing us. Musicians who don't get paid for their hard work, stop making music.

So, please support your local bluesman, and blueswoman, keep the blues alive by PAYING for your music, and certainly check out the live shows.

Thanks

Tom Gary
Blues Historian

Blues Historian Reviews

I saw something coming up though our friendly federal government in regards to promotions on the internet. As you know there are a lot of unfriendly blogs that are purely set up to promote products. They try to convince you that they are ordinary people who have stumbled on to these great products. They are easy to spot, I call them spam blogs. The only thing that the blogger writes about is how great this wonderful product is that they are using. So the feds are wanting people to be honest that they are getting free product and not paying for it, so their endorsement is honest.
I am not sure how that effects me, but just so you know. I do get CDs, and DVDs to review from different record companies, and promotion staffs. Those of you who have read my reviews know that I am honest. I love music, and I love the variety of CDs that come my way. However, from now on I will let you know if I bought the CD, or it was sent to me for review. Hopefully this will meet whatever requirements that are coming down the line from the government.

Blues Historian Review: Ana Popovic, Blind For Love

This is one of the hardest reviews that I have had to do at Blues Historian. Ana Popovic is a blues guitarist, and a damn good one, but her latest disc is not a blues disc. Blind For Love is an eclectic collection of rock, funk, soul, and melodic jazz. The last song on the disc, Blues For M is blues, but that is about it. Yet, her amazing guitar playing certainly is blues through and through.

I think I can understand the need for Ana to move into other genres of music. I have certainly felt that myself. Playing, living, dreaming, and eating the blues can get old. Sometimes you want to stretch out and play or create something else. I went through a Billy Joel stage myself. Go figure!

I am not sure what the blues fanatics are going to think about Blind For Love, but I am sure that Ana's legions of fans will be happy with this CD. After all, her guitar playing is first rate, and her sultry raspy vocals are nice. Her band is tight throughout the disc, and it is a nice mix of styles. I suppose the only real problem is finding a market for this CD. I have read a couple of scathing reviews from the blues sites. However, I can only imagine that a follow up live disc, or her next release will get the blues purists back.