‘Cause sometimes you need a little Stevie Ray Vaughan to start your week off right. Here’s a vintage Vaughan mini-set from 1989, featuring classics like “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” “Couldn’t Stand the Weather” and “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return).”
Eric Bibb – Jericho Road
Eric Bibb is one of the elite handful of African-American blues musicians who have built on the legacy of the great post-World War II generation of bluesmen who brought the music form from the back woods of the Mississippi Delta to the streets of Chicago and beyond. About a decade younger than Taj Mahal, who […]
Johnny Rawls – Remembering O.V.
Soul blues is a form of blues that, as its name implies, fuses soul music with traditional blues music. It is a form of blues that was pioneered by African-American musicians in the South. Among the music form’s early champions were the late Bobby “Blue” Bland and Z.Z. HIll. Although a number of prominent blues musicians, such […]
Listen Up: Nicki Bluhm & the Gramblers, Toy Soldiers and the Silks
There’s been something of a resurgence of 1970’s rock of late. The three bands highlighted below are among the finest purveyors, each adding their own distinctive stamp to the classic sound. TOY SOLDIERS When I first saw this Philadelphia-based quintet live I was tempted to put them in the indie rock category. The Maybe Boys, […]
Americana 2013, the Sounds, Part 2
Every fall, The Americana Music Association gathers members, artists and music fans together in Nashville for its annual conference. Starting with the annual Americana Music Awards and continuing through four days of showcases and panel discussions, it is a tremendous celebration of Americana music. LUCINDA WILLIAMS The Americana Conference instituted a new tradition this year: […]
Americana 2013: The Sounds, Part 1
Every fall, The Americana Music Association gathers members, artists and music fans together in Nashville for its annual conference. Starting with the annual Americana Music Awards and continuing through four days of showcases and panel discussions, it is a tremendous celebration of Americana music. PATRICK SWEANY Sweany delivered what was, hands down, my favorite showcase […]
Samantha Fish – Black Wind Howlin’
Samantha Fish is a precocious young guitarist and singer with the wind – the howlin’ black wind – at her back. At 24, the Kansas City native already has a Blues Music Award under her belt for Best New Artist Debut for her 2011 album Runaway. Along with British blues-rocker Dani Wilde and Otis Taylor’s […]
Shawn Holt and the Teardrops – Daddy Told Me
Keeping it in the family, Shawn Holt, son of the late blues icon Magic Slim, is the latest of a number of sons of famous fathers to try to break into the music industry. Holt took over as front man for his father’s band earlier this year when Magic Slim was hospitalized hours before opening […]
MonkeyJunk – All Frequencies
In those odd moments when you’re craving funk, I mean, the lost art of funk seventies style, with the rhythm and beat that make you want to groove, MonkeyJunk can fill that prescription. The Ottawa, Canada-based trio of Steve Marriner, Tony D and Matt Sobb are called blues rockers, but their latest release, All Frequencies, […]
North Mississippi Allstars – World Boogie Is Coming
North Mississippi Allstars has been tearing it up for 17 years. From their studio recordings, with their unique blend of traditional roots and edgy rock, to their thundering live performances, featuring drumlines and bizarre instrumentation from electric washboards to cigar box guitars and a stringed instrument made from a coffee can on a stick, the […]