North Mississippi All-stars Prayer For Peace Sony Legacy The North Mississippi All-stars were formed in 1996 by Luther and Cody Dickinson the sons of Memphis record producer Jim Dickinson. The North Mississippi Allstars released their first studio album “Shake Hands With Shorty” in 2000. That album received a Grammy Award nomination for “Best Contemporary Blues […]
Janiva Magness Blue Again Blue Elan Records Janiva Magness had some hard beginnings as she was a foster care child. Inspired by an Otis Rush performance she found her calling. She recorded her first album in 1991. She has since been nominated for twenty-six Blues Music Awards winning seven times. Magness won the BMA for […]
John Nemeth Feelin’ Freaky Memphis Grease Records John Nemeth has an adventurous soul. Originally from Boise, Idaho he convinced his wife to move from their Oakland, California home to Memphis. Nemeth’s soul was always in Memphis, the home of Blues, R n’ B, and Rock n’ Roll. In 2013 he released his eighth album “Memphis […]
John McNamara Rollin’ With It Bahool Records/Black Market Records John McNamara is an award winning soul blues singer from Australia. He released his debut recording “One Voice, One Guitar” in 2014. In 2015 he competed in the International Blues Challenge and was a semi-finalist. This is McNamara’s follow-up recording. In order to “roll with it” […]
Nick Schnebelen Live In Kansas City Vizztone Label Group Nick Schnebelen was a founding member of the band Trampled Under Foot. First formed in 2000 the band released their self-titled debut in 2006. They won the band competition at the 2008 International Blues Challenge and Schnebelen took home the Albert King Award for “Best Guitarist”. […]
Taj Mahal/Keb Mo TajMo Tajmo Record/Concord Records Taj Mahal released his first two albums in 1968 when he was twenty six years old. He was a product of an older generation and his influences included Howlin Wolf, Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Sleepy John Estes. His self titled first album included his version […]
Jon Zeeman Blue Room Membrane Records Jon Zeeman grew up near New York City. As a child he studied classical guitar and piano. He attended Ithaca College and settled in Manhattan where he began to take session work as a jazz fusion guitarist. His first album “Still Life” was released in Europe in 2003 and […]
Anthony Rosano and The Conqueroos Independent Anthony Rosano and The Conqueroos are a relatively new band. Formed in 2012 their debut recording was 2014’s “Get ROO’D”. They followed up with the live “ROO’D Awakening” in 2016. The Conqueroos are two time International Blues Challenge semi-finalists who have opened or shared the stage with Tab Benoit, […]
Steve Krase Should’ve Seen It Coming Connor Ray Music Steve Krase got his education playing harp with Jerry Lightfoot and The Essentials. In 2004 he formed his own band, “Steve Krase & The In Crowd”, and they won the award for Houston’s Best Unsigned Blues Band. The following year “The In Crowd” released their only […]
John Primer & Bob Corritore Ain’t Nothing You Can Do! Delta Groove Music Alfonso “John” Primer was born in Camden, Mississippi but moved to Chicago where he was a regular at Theresa’s Lounge located at 48th and South Indiana Avenue. He played in Willie Dixon’s Chicago Blues All-Stars and in The Muddy Waters Band. Later […]
Monster Mike Welch & Mike Ledbetter Right Place, Right Time Delta Groove Music When guitarist Mike Welch was only thirteen years old blues aficionado, actor and comedian Dan Aykroyd gave him the nickname Monster Mike. Welch released his 1996 debut recording “These Blues Are Mine” on the Tone-Cool Record label co-produced by Richard “Rosy” Rosenblatt. […]
Hector Anchondo Band Roll The Dice Independent Hector Anchondo was born in Omaha but raised on a farm near Salem, Missouri. He picked up the guitar when he was sixteen and has learned quickly. He moved back to Omaha in 2000 because there were more places to play. He formed his first band, Anchondo, and […]
Chris Bergson Band Bitter Midnight 2 Shirts Records Chris Bergson grew up in a Boston suburb. He began taking guitar lessons at a very young age and developed an appreciation for jazz and blues. He listened to everything from Muddy Waters to Miles Davis. Bergson moved to New York City and began to sit in […]
Eric Bibb Migration Blues Stony Plain Records Eric Bibb is the son of Leon Bibb a singer-songwriter popular during the folk music scene of the 1960’s. The younger Bibb was given his first guitar at the age of seven. Growing up in New York City he was surrounded by the folksingers of that era including […]
Ruthie Foster Joy Comes Back Stone Truth Music/Blue Corn Music Ruthie Foster is still on a roll. The former gospel singer won her first Blues Music Award as Contemporary Blues Female Artist of The Year in 2010. Since then she won the BMA for Traditional Blues Female Artist a.k.a. The Koko Taylor Award five times. […]
Billy Price Alive & Strange Nola Blue/Vuzztone Label Group Billy Price was born William Pollak in Fair Lawn, N.J. in 1949. In the seventies he moved to Pittsburgh where he still works for Carnegie Mellon University. Price became Roy Buchanan’s vocalist and he appears on Buchanan’s 1975 album “Live Stock” on Polydor Records. Price formed […]
Lauren Mitchell Desire Lauren Mitchell Music Lauren Mitchell was born in Columbus Ohio. She began taking voice lessons at the age of nine and developed an interest in musical theatre. Her father had been into soul music and the blues but after her parents divorced he moved to Florida. Mitchell attended college in Columbus but […]
Samantha Fish Chills & Fever Ruf Records Samantha Fish was raised in Kansas City. She started out as a drummer but switched to guitar when she was fifteen. She recorded, “Live Bait”, in 2009 and got noticed by Ruf Records. She was part of Ruf’s 2011“Girls With Guitars” along with Cassie Taylor and Dani Wilde. […]
Rockin’ Johnny Burgin Neoprene Fedora West Tone Records Johnny Burgin was raised in Starkville, Ms. and Greenville, S.C. He went to The University of Chicago with the intention of becoming a writer but instead fell into the Chicago blues scene. He started backing up the Chicago blues vocalist Taildragger. Later he wound up touring with […]
Billy Flynn Lonesome Highway Delmark Records Guitarist Billy Flynn has played with Jimmy Dawkins, Sunnyland Slim, The Legendary Blues Band, Mississippi Heat and the Cash Box Kings. He recorded with Bryan Lee, Willie Kent, Snooky Pryor, Big Bill Morganfield, Jody Williams, Billy Boy Arnold, Mark Hummel, Kim Wilson and many others. Flynn also has ten […]
Coco Montoya Hard Truth Alligator Records Coco Montoya apprenticed with Albert Collins and The Icebreakers for five years and with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers for ten. In 1993 he broke-out and formed his own band and never looked back. Montoya’s debut recording was 1995’s “Gotta Mind to Travel” on Blind Pig Records. Montoya released two more […]
Adrianna Marie Kingdom of Swing Vizztone Label Group/Barking Blues Music Adrianna Marie Hansen grew up in a musical family and left Westport, CT. for California when she was seventeen. She and her husband, guitarist L.A. Jones, now live an hour and half from Los Angeles. She recorded a demo called “Spellcaster” just to get her […]
Guy Davis & Fabrizio Poggi Sonny & Brownie’s Last Train M.C. Records Guy Davis is a blues musician and an actor. Davis made his Broadway debut in 1991 in the musical “Mulebone” featuring the music of Taj Mahal. He also performed in 1993’s “Robert Johnson Trick The Devil” where he played Johnson; as a direct […]
Vin Mott Quit the Women for the Blues Independent Vin Mott is from Pequannock, N.J. While still a teen he got bit by the blues bug; it was the sound of the blues harp. His influences included Muddy Waters, Little Walter, and James Cotton. Mott studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and […]
Professor Louie and The Crowmatix Crowin’ The Blues Woodstock Records Aaron Hurwitz a.k.a. Professor Louie was a sought after New York City producer and engineer. When he moved up to Woodstock he began to work with the remaining members of the Band; Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, and Levon Helm. Dubbed Professor Louie by Danko he […]
Sean Chambers Trouble & Whiskey American Showplace Music In the early 1990’s Florida’s Sean Chambers fronted a Stevie Ray Vaughan tribute band. In 1998 he released his debut recording “Strong Temptation” on the Vestige imprint. Some called the album “the most impressive debut since SRV’s Texas Flood”. While in Memphis Chambers was asked to sit […]
Beth Hart Fire On The Floor Provogue/Mascot Label Group Los Angeles is the home of Beth Hart who appeared on the TV show Star Search hosted by Ed McMahon. In 1993 she won the Female Vocalist competition for that season. Hart released her first album “Immortal” on Atlantic Records in 1996. Her follow-up recording, also […]
Vanessa Collier Meeting My Shadow Ruf Records Vanessa Collier hails from Clarksville, Maryland where she attended River Hill High School. While a student at River Hill she was co-captain of the Girls Basketball team as well as a soloist with their Jazz band. Collier attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston where she graduated […]
Hurricane Ruth Ain’t Ready For The Grave Hurricane Ruth Records Hurricane Ruth LaMaster is from southern Illinois. Her father Milt owned the Glendale Tavern in Beardstown. On Sundays musicians would come to jam and her father sat in on drums. She has been performing professionally since 1979. Ruth has been on stage with John Lee […]
Thorbjorn Risager & The Black Tornado Change My Game Ruf Records The Thorbjorn Risgaer Blue 7 was founded in 2002. Their debut album was “Live 2004”. In 2005 Risager was named the Danish Blues musician of the year. After eight albums Risager signed with Ruf Records. The band became an octet and took the name […]
Corey Ledet & His Zydeco Band Standing On Faith CPL Publishing Corey Ledet was born and raised in Houston, Texas but would spend his summers in Parks, Louisiana. Ledet’s primary influence was his grandfather, Buchanan “Tbu” Ledet, a drummer who worked with Clifton Chenier the King of Zydeco; and so he started out as a […]
Geoff Achison Another Mile, Another Minute Landslide Records/Jupitor 2 Records Geoff Achison is an Australian who formed his band the “Souldiggers” in 1994. He has also been a guitar instructor at Jorma Kaukonen guitar camp, Fur Peace Ranch, since 1988. In 1995 Achison, representing the Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society, competed in the International Blues Challenge […]
Jack Mack & The Heart Attack Horns Back to The Shack SSR Free Roll Jack Mack and The Heart Attack were originally formed as an R n B cover band in 1982. The Eagles had just broken up and Glenn Frey hadn’t yet started his solo career. So Frey found some friends to have fun […]
Delbert McClinton & Self Made Men Prick of The Litter Hot Shot Records Delbert McClinton was born in Lubbock, Texas in November of 1940. He worked in a blues band that backed up Sonny Boy Wiliamson II, Howlin’ Wolf, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Jimmy Reed. In 1962 he played harmonica on Bruce Channel’s “Hey Baby”. He […]
Southern Avenue Stax/Concord Music Group Southern Avenue is the first Memphis based band to be signed to the new Stax Records. They are a quintet that combines the soul, blues and gospel traditions of that city with a youthful exuberance all their own. They are named after Southern Avenue, the street that leads to Soulville, […]
Scott Ramminger Do What Your Heart Says To Arbor Lane Music Scott Ramminger is originally from Huntsville, Alabama. He graduated from the U. of Tennessee with a degree in journalism and settled in the Washington DC area. Ramminger has a broad musical taste he developed working as a sideman. He released “Crawstickers” in 2011 with […]
Elvin Bishop Big Fun Trio Alligator Records Elvin Bishop has been active on the Blues scene ever since he met Paul Butterfield in 1963. He left The Paul Butterfield Blues Band and formed his own band, The Elvin Bishop Group, in 1968. This is Bishop’s twentieth studio album and twenty-eighth album overall. A lot has […]
Lisa Biales The Beat of My Heart Big Song Music Lisa Biales hails from Oxford, Ohio. She attended Ohio University in Athens. Her first full length album was released in 1999. Her last album 2013’s “Belle of The Blues” was co-produced by EG Kight and Paul Hornsby. “The Beat of My Heart” is Biales’ ninth […]
Big Bill Morganfield Bloodstains on the Wall Black Shuck Records In 1999 Big Bill Morganfield, the youngest son of the late McKinley Morganfield a.k.a. Muddy Waters, released his first authorized studio recording. It was the result of a fifteen year odyssey of self discovery. On “Rising Son” Morganfield surrounded himself with personnel who had played […]
Thornetta Davis Honest Woman Sweet Mama Music Thornetta Davis was born in Detroit. Davis released her first full length studio recording “Sunday Morning Music” in 1996. Her song “Cry”, from that album, was featured in an episode of “The Sopranos”. She appeared at the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Fest and sang onstage with Bonnie […]
John Ginty featuring Astor Pheonyx Rockers American Showplace Music John Ginty is an in demand organ player appearing on approximately sixty albums for other artists. Ginty’s grasp of American contemporary music enables him to play in a variety of different contexts. In 2013 Ginty starting working with producer Ben Elliot of American Showplace Studios and […]
Book Review The Blues: Why It Still Hurts So Good By Marie B. Trout, PhD Dr. Marie Trout has written a book about me. If you are reading this then it’s probably about you too. Why do I/we love the blues? The book starts “where a study of the blues normally ends. It is written […]
A ROOM WITH A VIEW OF THE BLUES by Richard Ludmerer Favorite Vinyl that made me love The Blues These albums are not supposed to be the best blues albums of all time They are albums in my collection that influenced me and made me love the blues Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee The Keys […]
John Mayall Talk About That Forty Below Records John Mayall is the influential British bluesman who formed his band The Bluesbreakers in 1963. A great guitarist, harmonica player, singer, songwriter and bandleader he is still going strong after more than fifty years. Mayall’s band members have included guitarists Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Mick Taylor, Harvey […]
Eight O’Five Jive Swing Set Red Rudy Too Tunes Eight O’Five Jive are a jump blues band. Their first album was 2014’s “Too Many Men”. That album consisted mostly of covers of songs by Big Maybelle, Memphis Minnie, Clyde McPhatter, Peggy Lee, Etta James and Big Jay McNeeley. The arrangements by the band were fabulous. […]
Ronnie Baker Brooks Times Have Changed Provogue Records/Mascot Label Group Ronnie Baker Brooks was born Rodney Dion Baker in January, 1967. Brooks is a Chicago blues, and soul blues guitarist and vocalist, and the son of Lonnie Brooks. Brooks joined his father’s band in 1986 and appears on his father’s 1988 Alligator records album “Live […]
Tom Craig and Soul Patch “Get Ready For Me” Independent Vocalist, songwriter and guitarist Tom Craig was first inspired by Jazz vocalists. He first discovered Frank Sinatra with The Count Basie Orchestra; and Ella Fitzgerald too. Craig even studied to be a Jazz vocalist while in College. Craig later discovered the classic soul sounds of […]
The Blues Foundation Presents The International Blues Challenge #32 The Blues Foundation’s “mission is to preserve blues heritage, celebrate blues recording and performance, expand worldwide awareness of the blues, and ensure the future of the uniquely American art form.” The foundation maintains two premier events. The Blues Music Awards “brings together Blues performers, industry representatives, […]
Peter Karp Alabama Town Rose Cottage Records Peter Karp was born in Leonia and raised in New Jersey and Enterprise, Alabama where his father, a retired military pilot, lived. Karp’s stepmother was an African-American woman who helped raise him. In New Jersey his birth mom would take Karp to concerts. As a teen Karp played […]
Wee Willie Walker & The Greaseland All-Stars Live at The Notodden Blues Festival Little Village Foundation Wee Willie Walker recorded nine sides for the Memphis based Goldwax label in 1968. It wasn’t until he was introduced to Rick Estrin that he was re-discovered. Walker’s 2015 album “If Nothing Ever Changes”, co-produced by Estrin and Kid […]
