An interview on Reverb with Buddy Guy was posted in January but I never got around to posting it until now. Please mind my delay... music and what not got in my way!
Buddy Guy is one of the last remaining OGs of the blues alive today. He's been through it all man... this is a great video for all blues, music, and guitar fans!
Another year, another heartbreak, another lonesome day. Some of us might be in love, but that don't mean you don't have it down sometimes; Valentine's is a celebration of love, but in our case, it's just another day for the blues.
Here's a few songs for you if you feelin' like giving out some love.
This marks the first time I perform in Bahrain under my own name, and I've assembled a talent group of local musicians to be my backup band, so you're in for a treat!
Also, you get 25% off on bourbon and whiskey so you can get in the real mood for the blues.
Another year has gone by, and in the mist of all the hoopla around the major pop artists, we get the neglected music section that doesn't show up on TV... the blues Grammy awards!
So from the nominees I mentioned in November, The Rolling Stones have won the Traditional Blues Album of the Year and Taj Mahal & Keb' Mo' won the Contemporary Blues Album of the Year.
It might not be the most exciting year for the blues, but it's still nice to see the old schoolers getting the wins, not discounting the other artists like Eric Bibb, Ronald Randolph, Robert Cray and the others.
So congrats to the winners and I'll see you again same time next year! Here's some songs from the winners off their winning albums:
In a nice refresh of the American Vintage series, Fender just announced it's American Original series, a revamp and rebranding of the long running production (since 1982).
The biggest change is that the fretboard radius on these axes will be a flatter moden 9.5' instead of the vintage 7.25', which makes playing a bit easier. However the rest of the specs will be true vintage, down to pickups, the nitro laquer finish, color options, and neck profiles. The series no longer specifies the actual year it's trying to replicate, rather the decade (which combines a few things together).
Kinda pricey, and although the colors are awesome they are down to two or three options per guitar. Would have loved more options.
Here's the full lineup (not including the left hand models), more on www.fender.com:
The Blues Foundation has announced the nominees for the 39th Annual Blues Music Awards, taking place on May 10th, 2018 in Memphis Tennessee, and like every year I post them for ya!
As usual I found a nice gem for the blues; but this time from the Wu-Tang Clan.
Now if y'all don't know, I was heavy into Wu-Tang when I was a teenager. They practically raised me up; at 17 is when I found the blues and never went back. But I don't forget where I came from.
In 2005 a compilation album called 'Wu-Tang Meets the Indie Culture Vol. 1' which features members of the Wu-Tang Clan and their affiliates was released. In it, is a track called 'Slow Blues', which features Vast Aire, Byata, Wu affiliates Timbo King & Prodigal Sunn rapping over a minor blues progression, produced by Bronze Nazareth. It samples the song 'The Creeper Returns' by blues harpist Little Sonny.
It's a great fusion between these genres, one of the better if not best I've heard. Here it is for your pleasure, and I've also posted the original song it was sampled from:
One of the great things about blues music is that I always discover something to listen to; I've been listening and playing the blues for 17 years and I still am dumbfounded by the sheer amount of music that is available, albeit some harder to come by than others.
This album, appropriately titled 'Old Friends' is one such gem. I've been on a binge listening to the likes of Floyd Jones, Eddie Boyd, and others in the early 50's Chicago blues as of late, and while researching music by Floyd Jones, who doesn't have much on record, I found a little album that was difficult to find on CD (but (but Amazon can print it for you), but easily available on cdbaby for a $9.99 download.
And boy, I could not be happier with the internet.
In 1981, five of the biggest legends in Chicago blues got together in the studio, also in the city, and recorded 17 tracks. Everyone of these artists would get a few songs to lead on vocals; some new material and some old. What is the result? An unabashed, raw, in your face collection of the old-school blues in it's purest form, just that it's 30 years older.
The assembled cast, Kansas City Red, David 'Honey Edwards', Sunnyland Slim, Floyd Jones, and Big Walter Horton, represent a certain legacy in post-war Chicago blues. Many have played with other legends like Muddy Waters, and also became legends of their own. Horton is one of the staples of blues harp, Sunnyland is a pillar of blues piano, Honeyboy Edwards of delta style acoustic guitar, Kansas Red for his drumming, and Jones, while possibly the most obscure of the bunch, had his own unique dark songwriting.
Mashing this band altogether makes for over an hour of honest to truth blues; while many of them nearing their 60's at this point, their singing and playing remains loyal to the formula. While you will not hear anything out of the ordinary, you also shouldn't expect to.
I love the fact that this is all a live recording, as many times the band would go in and out of bars or end off time from one another, but this adds to the improvised flavor of the genre.
If you want to add an album to your whiskey drinking collection, I highly advise you get this one. Not only is it rare, but it's also like a piece of music history.
Track list:
01 - Apron Strings
02 - Gamblin' Man
03 - 43rd Street Jump
04 - The War Is Over
05 - When I Came In
06 - Banty Rooster
07 - Mr. Freddy Blues
08 - Over The Seas Blues
09 - I'm a Prisoner
10 - Freedom Train
11 - Lightnin' Struck the Poor House
12 - Linda Lu -
13 - Lula Mae
14 - That's All Right, I'll Be Around
15 - Heartache
16 - Sometimes I Worry
17 - I'm Going Back Home
This is the only video of the album on Youtube; you can listen to samples of each track in the cdbaby link above:
This song is a rare one; although a cover of the blues-soul/funk, very 80's sounding original from Johnny Taylor (see here), is a true hardcore and raw blues you would expect from me to send out to you.
A stellar fiery performance from legends Luther Allison and James Solberg who features on the track, released in 2002 on a compilation album:
