Rolling Stones, Taj Mahal & Keb' Mo' Win the Blues Grammys

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:

Fender Announces 'American Original' Series

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:

50's Stratocaster

60's Stratocaster

50's Telecaster

60's Telecaster

60's Jazzmaster

60's Jaguar

50's Precision Bass

60's Precision Bass

60's Jazz Bass

70's Jazz Bass

Nominees for the 39th Blues Music Awards

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!

The Blues meets Wu-Tang

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:

Original song: