CD Reviews on projects by Indie Blues Artists
Annika Chambers & The Houston All-Stars Making My Mark Montrose Records Annika Chambers a.k.a. U.S. Army Sergeant Annika Chambers served eight years in Iraq and Kosovo. Since she returned to the states this Houston native has been living her dream. This is her debut album. Producers Larry Fulcher and Richard Cagle have assembled an impressive […]
Georgie Bonds Stepping Into Time 8th Train Records Georgie Bonds grew up in the Germantown section of Philadephia. Bonds liked Rhythm and Blues but he loved horses even more and he dreamed of being a cowboy. He purchased his first horse in 1975 when he was 21 years old. Unfortunately a year later he got […]
Cowboy “5’ll Getcha Ten” www.RealGoneMusic.com I actually saw Cowboy opening for (I don’t recall the band, but it wasn’t the Allman Brothers,) at the Fillmore East, but they were a captivating laidback country-rock band that immediately captured my attention. Cowboy is frequently remembered for their associations with the The Allman Brothers Band and Eric Clapton […]
Robin Banks Modern Classic RB Music Robin Banks sometimes calls herself Miss Robin Banks to differentiate her from famous males with the same name. Banks hails from Canada just east of Detroit. She released her first album “Permanent Record” in 1997 and that year won Canada’s Maple Blues Award for “Best New Artist of The […]
S.E. Willis Turtle Dove Bounce/Live at the Poor House Mr. Suchensuch Records S.E. Willis aka Steve is the veteran piano player in The Elvin Bishop Band. During a two year period when Willis was ill he worked in his home studio recording his versions of some classic piano blues. He also contributes four original compositions. […]
Trigger Hippy Trigger Hippy Rounder Records Steve Gorman, the drummer who co-founded The Black Crowes twenty-five years ago, has started this new band. Gorman has enlisted some impressive talent. Singer Joan Osborne has seven of her own recordings to her credit including her triple platinum 1995 debut “Relish”. Singer, guitarist, keyboardist Jackie Greene performed with […]
Lucinda Williams Down Where The Spirit Meets The Bone Highway 20 Records Lake Charles, La. native Lucinda Williams recorded her first album in 1978, but it wasn’t until ten years later that she began to be noticed. In 1988 she released her self titled album “Lucinda Williams” containing her song “Passionate Kisses”. In 1992 that […]
Lisa Biales Belle of The Blues Big Song Music Lisa Biales hails from Ohio where she first honed her skills. In 1991 while still at Ohio University she released her first recording. Her first full length album was 1999’s “Music Box” re-issued in 2007. In 2011 Biales had a small acting role in Francis Ford […]
Chris Bergson Band Live at Jazz Standard 2 Shirts Records Chris Bergson was born in New York but spent his formative years in Somerville, Ma. He returned to Manhattan in 1995 and began his career as a sideman for Jazz singers, including Annie Ross and Norah Jones. He embraced the blues but added his own […]
Candye Kane and Sue Palmer “One Night in Belgium” Motel Swing Music Sue Palmer is San Diego’s Queen of Boogie Woogie piano. Palmer was previously a member of The Candye Kane Band when they were still called the “Swingin’ Armadillos” and she appears on four of Candye Kane’s albums including “Diva La Grande” and 1998’s […]
Candi Staton Life Happens Beracah Records In 2013 Magnolia Home Entertainment released “Muscle Shoals” a documentary about Rick Hall’s Fame studios where the Muscle Shoals sound was born. Featured in that DVD was Candi Staton. Staton, who sang gospel as a teenager, had her solo career launched as a Southern soul singer. In 1970 she […]
Eric Bibb’s latest CD, Blues People, is an extraordinary musical documentary. Certainly, it sounds marvelous with Bibb’s usual mix of country blues, folk, soul and gospel. But it goes far beyond that as Bibb delves into the history of African-Americans from the end of slavery to the present day, with a strong focus on the […]
Tommy Talton Until After Then Hittin’ The Note Records Tommy Talton is from Orlando, Florida. He picked up the guitar at the age of eight and by the time he was sixteen he was in a local band. In 1969 Talton and Scott Boyer formed the Jacksonville based “Cowboy”. Duanne Allman recommended them to Capricorn […]
A 2014 Musical Grab Bag of Jazz, Blues and Rocking Christmas Holiday Stocking Stuffers: Marilyn Scott “Get Christmas Started!” Prana Entertainment www.MarilynScott.com Scott digs deep for several well performed and way-back Christmas covers. For example not one but two Leon Russell Christmas covers that were actually released as A and B sides on a seven-inch […]
Erin Harpe & The Delta Swingers Love Whip Blues Vizztone Label Group/Juicy Juju Records Erin Harpe is from the Boston area. Her other band Lovewhip combines electro-pop with funky dancehall beats. Between 2001 and 2009 Lovewhip released five albums, the most recent being 2009’s “Love Electric”, and it included Memphis Minnie’s “Chauffeur Blues”. Harpe’s own […]
Altered Five Blues Band Cryin’ Mercy Omnivibe Records The Altered Five Blues Band was formed in 2002. In 2008 they released their debut album, “Bluesified”. It was comprised of inventive arrangements of roadhouse covers. In 2012 they followed up with “Gotta Earn It” which contained mostly original material. Frank-John Hadley of Downbeat Magazine wrote “Taylor […]
Frank Bey & Anthony Paule Band Soul For Your Blues Blue Dot Records Frank Bey was born in 1946. His mother was a gospel singer. He began singing at the age of 4 with the Rising Son Gospel Singers. At the age of 14 Bey had to sneak out of the house to sing secular […]
Steve Hunter “Tone Poems Live” Singular Recordings www.SteveHunter.com “Tone Poems Live” is Steve Hunter’s first live solo album; the band did perform live (in a studio) and were captured as if they were playing at a club/venue. There are two similar versions (DVD and CD,) both feature Tony Levin’s bass, Phil Aaberg’s keyboards and Alvino […]
Lisa Mills I’m Changing Mills Bluz Records Lisa Mills sang with the British R & B band “The Big Town Playboys” and at one time toured extensively, as a Janis Joplin like vocalist, with “Big Brother and The Holding Company”. Mill’s last album was 2011’s “Tempered in Fire”. Although recorded in Great Britain, Mills received […]
Steve Krase w/Special Guest Trudy Lynn Buckle Up Connor Ray Music Steve Krase, originally from New York, now makes Houston his home. There he met and befriended Trudy Lynn and he recently appeared on her Royal Oaks Blues Café album. Buckle Up is Krase’s second recording and follow up to “Some Day” released in 2013. […]
By Rhetta Akamatsu Recently I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of Diane Durrett and Soul Suga from the lady herself. My, my, my. Durrett lays on the sensual sass on songs such as “Show Up Sexy” and Butters in the Skillet,” celebrates another sassy lady with “Sassy Larue” with its imminently single […]
Barbara Lynn “The Complete Atlantic Recordings” www.RealGoneMusic.com Barbara Lynn Ozen has been rightfully referred to as the first lady of Texas soul and blues, and had her hit songs covered by Aretha Franklin, the Rolling Stones, and Otis Redding. She’s a gifted vocalist, a solid (southpaw) guitarist, an excellent songwriter and is also a dynamic […]
Bruce Katz Band Homecoming American Showplace Music This is Bruce Katz’s seventh album and first since 2008’s “Live! At the Firefly”. Katz also appears on over seventy other albums from artists who recognize his talent; including five each for Ronnie Earl and Mighty Sam McClain. He is able to coax soulful tones outta’ those keyboards. […]
Stacy Mitchhart Live My Life Dr Sam Records Stacy Mitchhart spent his formative years in Cincinnati but for many years has resided in Nashville. He performs 275 shows a year and maintains an “ongoing residency” at The Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Bar. In 2009 his album “Grown Ass Man” received considerable airplay. He followed […]
Pete Anderson Birds Above Guitarland Little Dog Records Among his many accomplishments Pete Anderson is best known as the Grammy winning producer and lead guitarist for Dwight Yoakum. It’s his guitar that can be heard on Yoakum’s best selling Warner/Reprise albums including 1986’s “Guitars, Cadillacs”, 1987’s “Hillbilly Deluxe”, 1995’s “Gone”; and 17 other Yoakum recordings. […]
Otis Clay Truth Is (Putting Love Back into The Music) Echo Records Otis Clay was born February 11th, 1942. He sang in church and became a gospel singer. After moving from Mississippi to Chicago he was a member of the Sensational Nightingales. Clay also had a contract with One-derful! a record label, that wanted him […]
Kaye Bohler Handle the Curves Kaye Bohler Productions For many years I would look forward to Labor Day Weekend. I would listen to the Blues by The Bay Festival in Eureka, California broadcast over the Internet on Humboldt County’s WHUM. That was the first time I ever heard Kaye Bohler. Bohler’s music is the funk, […]
Knickerbocker All-Stars Open Mic at The Knick JP Cadillac Records J.P. Sheerar was a regular at The Knickerbocker Café. In the old days Roomful of Blues used to have weekly jam sessions at the club. Sheerar is an avid blues aficionado and collector. It was his idea to select songs to be recorded by musicians […]
Big Harp George Chromaticism Blues Mountain Records George Bisharat a.k.a. Big Harp George first heard the Blues when his older brother brought home a copy of Paul Butterfield’s East-West album. He wanted to learn how to play Nat Adderley’s Work Song which Butterfield covered on that album. Once he heard Sonny Boy Williamson II he […]
To many blues lovers in Atlanta and throughout the country, the loss of Sean Costello in 2008 on the eve of his 29th birthday still stirs sorrow. He was so brilliant as a blues man that even those of us who did not get to meet him personally feel as though we know him because […]
Bill Frisell “Guitar in the Space Age!” Okeh Records – Sony – www.BillFrisell.com Title this recording as (updated) memorabilia of the fifties and sixties, it plays like an AM radio jukebox from the same era, but radiates a current and unique vibe. No matter; set your way-back machine(s) and enjoy the modernized and respectful (all-instrumental) […]
The City Boys Allstars Blinded By The Night City Boys Mike Productions LLC The City Boys Allstars’ first album “Look Out Here We Come” was recorded in 1994 but not released until 2011. “When You Needed Me” their follow up studio recording was released in 2012. After a seventeen year hiatus the band had re-united […]
JW Jones Belmont Boulevard Blind Pig Records JW Jones is an Ottawa based artist who has received twelve Maple Blues Award nominations. The Maple Blues Award is the Canadian equivalent to our Blues Music Awards. Jones released his first album “Defibrillatin” in 2000 on the Northern Blues label. Guest artists on his recordings include Kim […]
Trudy Lynn featuring Steve Krase Royal Oaks Blues Café Connor Ray Music Trudy Lynn was born Lee Audrey Nelms. In the mid-sixties she sang with guitarist Albert Collins. She began using her stage name soon after. In 1989 she released her debut recording “Trudy Sings the Blues” on Ichiban Records. She recorded five albums for […]
Devon Allman Ragged & Dirty Ruf Records Devon Allman is the son of Gregg Allman and Shelley Kay Jefts. They divorced when he was still an infant. Devon began playing music as a teen and grew up listening to The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton. Devon didn’t actually meet his father Gregg until he was […]
Jefferson Airplane “Bless Its Pointed Little Head” CD Vinyl Replica www.CultureFactoryUSA.com The Jefferson Airplane’s first live album recorded in ‘68, with the memorable cover art of Jack Casady passed out at a long table hanging onto a bottle of wine. It also validated the band’s immense instrumental chops and impassioned vocals from Grace Slick, Paul […]
Mississippi Heat Warning Shot Delmark Records Mississippi Heat, the band that was formed in 1991, still has one foot in Canada and the other in Chicago. Pierre Lacocque, is the talented harp player and songwriter who heads up this ensemble. Inetta Visor is the passionate vocalist heard on most of the tracks. Rounding out the […]
Fo’ Reel Heavy Water Independent This is the debut recording from a band that deserves your attention. Fo’ Reel is steeped in New Orleans soul and funk. They are just beginning so this is a formative recording. CP Love was born in New Orleans and first recorded for the King Walk label in the 1960’s. […]
Rob Paparozzi & The Ed Palermo Big Band Electric Butter/Play the Music of Butterfield & The Electric Flag Independent Rob Paparozzi, vocals and harmonica, is a New Jersey based session musician who has toured with “The Original Blues Brothers Band” and also as lead vocalist in the reformed “Blood, Sweat and Tears”. He has played […]
Gary Clark, Jr. Live Warner Brothers Records The Blues has found another young gunslinger guitarist to take our genre to a new and younger audience and his name is Gary Clark Jr. Clark is steeped in the Texas Blues tradition that includes Stevie Ray Vaughan and Freddie King. Clark is a thirty year old Austin […]
Billy Boy Arnold The Blues Soul of Billy Boy Arnold Stony Plain Records This new album produced by Duke Robillard features The Duke Robillard Band backing up the legendary singer, songwriter and harmonica master Billy Boy Arnold. In Chicago 1948 a nervous thirteen year old Arnold knocked on the front door of his idols home and […]
I love female blues singers I wrote a book about them (my T’ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do,) but not every new artist I get to review really stands out. Many are good, but they just don’t hit me in a special sort of way. This is not so with Markey Blue. Markey Blue is […]
The Allman Brothers Band “Play All Night Live at the Beacon Theatre 1992” Epic Legacy “Farewell to the Allman Brothers Band who’ll end an era: October, 2014 at the Beacon in NYC.” The Allman Brothers final live shows are six sold-out performances scheduled in October at the Beacon Theatre, NYC. Four of these shows (Tuesday, October […]
Rachelle Coba Mother Blues Mono Records This album is an introduction to Rachelle Coba. These are band performances but Coba’s voice and guitar are upfront as she fingerpicks her Stratocaster. The results are an intimate look at an emerging artist. All of the songs except one were written by Coba who is one helluva songwriter. […]
Liz Mandeville Heart ‘O’ Chicago Blue Kitty Music This is Liz Mandeville’s sixth album and second on her own Blue Kitty label. Mandeville’s first four albums were on Earwig Records including 2008’s “Red Top”. Her last recording was 2012’s “Clarksdale”. Mandeville was bitten by the Blues bug when she moved from Wisconsin to Chicago in […]
The Chris O’Leary Band Live at Blues Now! Basel, Switzerland Fidellis/Vizztone Chris O’Leary spent his early career as a vocalist for Levon Helm and The Barnburners. The Chris O’ Leary Band’s first cd “Mr. Used to Be” received a 2011 Blues Music Award nomination for Best New Artist Debut. They won the Blues Blast Award […]
Otis Clay and Johnny Rawls Soul Brothers Catfood Records Soul Brothers Otis Clay and Johnny Rawls are quite a pair. Otis Clay has recorded for Cotillion, Hi-Records, Bullseye, Blind Pig, and the Echo record imprints. He is a 2013 Blues Hall of Fame inductee. Rawls was O.V. Wright’s musical director and guitarist and his last […]
Marcia Ball The Tattooed Lady and The Alligator Man Alligator Records Marcia Ball is a Texas and Louisiana roots music icon. This new album is her fifth for Alligator Records and seventeenth album overall. Ball has been nominated for 42 Blues Music Awards and has won nine times. She has been “Piano Player of The […]
Johnny Hoy and The Bluefish The Dance Self-produced In the 1990’s Johnny Hoy and The Bluefish recorded three great albums for Tone-Cool Records; 1995’s “Trolling The Hootchy”, 1996’s “You’re Going To Loose Your Head”, and 1998’s “Walk The Plank”. Their last album was 2006’s self-produced “Film Noir Angel”. Johnny Hoy and The Bluefish are from […]
Marcia Ball is a romping, stomping boogie-woogie piano player with a voice made for expressing strong emotions and for singing party songs and telling raucous stories. It’s not a subtle voice or piano style. It’s made for straight-out fun and that is what you will have with The Tattooed Lady and the Alligator Man. Ball […]