The first time I saw Jontavious Willis, he was performing on the January, 2020, Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise. I was impressed.
He was young, enthusiastic and obviously a student of the classic acoustic blues era. His knowledge easily moved beyond dry history into joyful story-telling and music-making. His acoustic guitar style was a tribute to the old masters, his personal style was lighthearted and friendly, and he had stories to tell – the stories of some of the earliest blues.
Willia already had two fine albums to his credit, and now his third and self-produced album, “West Georgia Blues,” effortlessly combines those traditional styles with an updated musical sensibility on 15 originals, without losing their essence. “Some folks sing the blues cause they know the song / But we singing these blues just to carry tradition on.”
Willis has his own origins in Greenville, Georgia; his family goes back generations — you can hear that story in the church-like, hand-clapping title track. Like many blues singers before him, he started singing in church, but got hooked on a Muddy Waters video, and his life took a new direction. His joyful determination to celebrate this blues history is obvious in his music.
What you’ll hear throughout is a masterful blend of blues guitar styles — Piedmont, Delta, Texas with fingerpicking, slide, and resonator). — that bookend original lyrics that run from the slyly lighthearted “Charlie Brown Blues” to the deep blue lament of “Broken Hearted Moan.”
Jontavious Willis on the Jan. 2020 Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise.(Jim White photo)
“Keep Your Worries On the Dance Floor” is a joyous invitation to lose yourself on the dance floor, with rhythms made for moving your feet. “Rough Time Blues” and “Lula Mae” update old-timey sentiments with guitar licks that rock into another time.
Then there’s the lilting melody and gentle lyricism of “A Lift Is All I Need,“ which Willis describes as “a song based in jump blues and early R&B in the key of F, with a full band and myself only on vocals. The song draws inspiration from Amos Milburn. The tune is meant to motivate you in whatever you are in the mood to be motivated for – whether that’s doing sprints or sitting on a couch with the munchies watching cartoons.” Those kinds of thoughts pervade the spirit of the entire album. It’s a direct pipeline to the universal emotions of the blues.
It all wraps up with the raucous instrumental “Jontavious’ West Georgia Grind,” filled with rollicking piano and fuzzy guitar (that’s a good thing). West Georgia musicians Jayy Hopp and Lloyd Buchanan share the musical honors here, adding depth and variety to Willis’s stylings.
I’ve touched on just a few of the album’s highlights for me, but that doesn’t mean that I’m in any way opposed to the rest of the tracks! This is a fine and fun session, filled with music that invokes the spirit of early blues music, and combines it with the joy and enthusiasm of an artist who’s willing to add an eclectic touch to the blues without disturbing its essence.
If you’re a blues fan, you need this music. If you’re not a blues fan, you may need it even more!
Here’s the title track, “West Georgia Blues”:
Tracklist: 1. West Georgia Blues 2. Charlie Brown Blues 3. Broken Hearted Moan 4. Keep Your Worries On the Dance Floor 5. Rough Time Blues 6. Lula Mae 7. Ghost Woman 8. Who’s Gonna Hear It? 9. A Lift Is All I Need 10. Too Close to the Finishing Line 11. Earthworm Basement Blues 12. Squirrlin’ Mama 13. Time Brings About a Change 14. Lost Ball 15. Jontavious’ West Georgia Grind
Keepers of the blues flame sometimes just seem to keep disappearing. Then someone like 25-year-old Sonny Gullage comes along, with a little help from an equally 25-year-old Christopher “Kingfish” Ingram, and just like that, the blues flame gets turned up a notch.
“Go Be Free” is Gullage’s debut album, a 12-song collection from the New Orleans native, showing off his considerable songwriting and keyboard skills. Also know that this impressive first effort was produced by the bluesily (well, that should be a word!) omniscient Tom Hambridge.
On a related optimistic musical note, this release helps mark the revival of the Blind Pig record label, originally launched in 1977, and which quickly became one of the best blues and roots labels in the known universe. Welcome back!
The basic message of this exuberant note-perfect album comes in its title song, with a reference to his family’s role in his musical sensibilities. The title track opens with the kind of stomping beat you’d hear in a Southern church. Accompanied by a propulsive groove, Sonny sings: I remember back when I was young/Daddy called me said, “Come here my son”/He said, “If you want to be like me/You gotta learn to keep your mind at ease”/Said, “Go be free.” The song swells with a euphoric feeling that’s equal parts gospel salvation and blues-based self-realization.
The opener is a gorgeous little exercise in funkiness — “Just Kiss Me Baby” — extremely listenable and quite danceable. Just the right beginning for this thoroughly enjoyable first album.
The title track opens with an urgent hand-clapping beat and a moaning backup chorus filled with elation that drives hard as Gullage explains: “I remember back when I was young / Daddy called me said, “Come here my son” / He said, “If you want to be like me / You gotta learn to keep your mind at ease” / Said, “Go be free.”
“Things I Can’t Control” keeps the beat throbbing behind a strong message of focusing on what you can change, not what you can’t control. “Separate Ways” is a delicate lost-love ballad with a beat. “Worried About the Young” means what it says, as Gullage is joined by Ingram providing a fiery guitar background. The fact that they’re both relative youngsters themselves (at 25) adds a note of urgency.
“Blues All Over You” is tough Chicago-blues with piano that’s equally tough and tasty. Lessons from his grandfather shine in the gentle rhythms of “I’ve Been There.” Rollicking boogie-woogie piano pushes “Stop That Stuff” to a higher level of pure joy, then shifts back to the steamy blues of “Tattooed Wings,” before entering the “Hot House” with stark rhythmic feeling. “File It Under Blues” is an upbeat ending to a relationship, as he’s “gonna close this case of love and file it under blues.”
The fitting close is the plaintive ballad, “Home to You,” a tender spot of soulful longing that highlights yet another aspect of Gullage’s exceptional talents.
“Go Be Free” is an album overflowing with the multiple talents of Kevin “Sonny” Gullage. The songwriting is smart and bright. The music is deliciously inspired. The vocals reflect a maturity of an old blues soul.
Gullage describes his music thoughtfully: “It was almost a revelation when I discovered I could sing the blues — it just flowed out of me — and I realized that’s how I wanted to connect with people,” he says. “When I sing, I don’t sing for people to understand me, I sing for people to understand themselves.”
If that sentiment, and this album, is not at the heart and soul of the blues, nothing is.
Here’s an interesting interview with Sonny Gullage by Michael Limnios at blues.gr.
Here’s “Go Be Free” from the album:
Track list & credits:
1. Just Kiss Me, Baby (Sonny Gullage, Tom Hambridge) 2. Go Be Free (Sonny Gullage, Tom Hambridge) 3. Things I Can’t Control (Jeff Schroedl, Tom Hambridge) 4. Separate Ways (Sonny Gullage, Tom Hambridge, Richard Fleming) 5. Worried About the Young (feat. Christone “Kingfish” Ingram) (Sonny Gullage, Tom Hambridge, Richard Fleming) 6. Blues All Over You (Sonny Gullage, Tom Hambridge, Richard Fleming) 7. I’ve Been There (Sonny Gullage, Tom Hambridge, Richard Fleming) 8. Stop That Stuff (Tom Hambridge, Richard Fleming) 9. Tattooed Wings (Sonny Gullage, Tom Hambridge) 10. Hot House (Sonny Gullage, Tom Hambridge) 11. File It Under Blues (Sonny Gullage, Tom Hambridge, Richard Fleming) 12. Home to You (Sonny Gullage, Tom Hambridge)
SONNY GULLAGE vocals/piano TOM HAMBRIDGE drums/background vocals/percussion KENNY GREENBERG guitar KEVIN MCKENDREE piano/keyboards ROB CURETON bass on tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 &10 TOMMY MACDONALD bass on tracks 3, 6, 8, 9, 11 & 12 Christone “Kingfish” Ingram guitar on “Worried About the Young” Max Abrams saxophone and Julio Diaz trumpet on tracks 3 and 12
In the liner notes of their effervescent new album, “40 – Blues with Horns Volume II,” by Chris Daniels and the Kings, Daniels describes Louis Armstrong’s brilliant 1928 recording of “West End Blues” as the beginning of an era of “horn-band sound.”
The King’s 20th album on their 40th anniversary proves that their magnificent big-band sound is still keeping that era alive.
The Colorado-based Kings have been pumping out music since their 1984 founding by Daniels, with the band membership shape-shifting along the way. The Kings of this album are: Chris Daniels, vocals, electric, acoustic, slide and synth guitars; Freddi Gowdy, vocals; Steve Ivey, drums; John Thornburg, bass and vocals; Colin “Bones” Jones, guitars; Bob Rebholz, alto sax and flute; Darryl “Doody“ Abrahamson, trumpet and vocals; Darren Kramer, trombone. Daniels and Gowdy share the vocals on every track.
Guests adding their talents throughout include Christian Teele, percussion; Mark Oblinger and Linda Lawson, vocals with Robert Johnson and Kenny Andrus; Sam Bush, mandolin and fiddle; Hazel Miller, vocals; Tom Capek, B3 and keyboards; Steve Conn, accordion, B3; and Sonny Landreth, slide guitar.
The multi-award-winning Kings have toured with Albert King, James Taylor, Tom Jones, Al Kooper, David Bromberg and many more, and backed everybody from bluesy Bonnie Raitt to rocking Bo Diddly. The band plays good old-fashioned jump blues with joyous emotion, horns that blaze through ten tracks on this musical romp, and Daniels and Gowdy sharing vocal duties on each one.
It’s fitting, then, that this exuberant session opens with horns blasting into the lively “Jump,” with Daniels and Gowdy on vocals – “Now my baby says jump, jump, jump / And I’ll say how high, high, high you want me to / Jump, jump, jump,” with a swinging Sam Bush fiddle. Background vocals from Miller, Oblinger, Lawson, Johnson and Andrus behind Daniels and Gowdy help put the funk in the highly danceable Gowdy original, “I Like Funky Music” – “I like funky music / Something about the beat / Come on grab your partner now / This music will move your feet.”
The Daniels original “Everybody’s a Millionaire” snaps to life behind lively percussion and sharp horns with its message: “Everybody’s a millionaire / It’s what’s inside, what you can share.” Pulsing rhythms highlight an urgent bid for better times in “I Need Some Good Luck Bad” with the plea: “Sister fortune won’t you smile on me / I’m as ready as a man can be.”
As if you need to be reminded of the album’s purpose, Gowdy’s “Dance, Dance, Dance” steps out: “When I hear that rock and soul music / I want to dance, dance, dance, dance.” Sonny Landreth adds fierce slide guitar to a song he co-wrote, “Congo Square,” where “It might be superstition, but some kind of somethin’ / Goin’ on down there / It’s an old time tradition when they play their drums at night / In Congo Square.”
The gently swinging “Stealin’ Candy” slows the pace with a lilting guitar intro followed by the sweet lyrical vibe of “Stealin’ candy / From my baby / You know it’s easy as can be / And it’s always so delicious / The way she steals it back from me.” Landreth takes another turn in the whimsical “I Like Your Shoes,” co-written by Gowdy – “Now there is no need to go out and plead in the parking lot / No 2 a.m. last ditch routines / You just compliment your partner on those fine-looking shoes.”
“Under Pressure,” also co-written by Gowdy, adds some social commentary to a throbbing beat: “Tryin’ to be the man you are / You know that just can’t be / Systems got you all tied down / Why can’t they let us be free.” The joyous, foot-tapping shuffle “When You’re Cool (The Sun Shines All the Time),” wraps everything up in a blanket of sassy horns and smart lyrics: “You can shuffle right through that rainstorm / Don’t you pay it no never mind / It’s got a lot to do with the attitude / Of leaving your blues behind / When you’re cool, boy, the sun shines all the time.”
Chris Daniels says of his music: “Our goal from the start was to bring the incredible energy of ‘call-and-response’ between a singer and the horn section to a new audience….”
Forty years later, the Kings are still bringing that incredible energy!
I put off writing about this album for a while. It’s not really blues, I thought, which is my primary focus. It’s just another tribute album, I thought — wrongly, as it turns out. But then, Rory Block is the premier acoustic interpreter of classic blues. And she’s singing Bob Dylan, who was nothing if not the poet laureate of his (and my) generation, and who was inspired by great American folk and blues music — Americana, if you like.
And then I listened again, and more closely. While this IS a tribute album — it says so right on the cover — it’s a damn fine tribute by an artist as accomplished in her field as Dylan is in his. She is, after all, a seven-time Blues Music Award-winning artist, and even that doesn’t do justice to her prolific and masterful career.
But it’s much more than a just a tribute. It’s Rory Block doing what she does best: She’s absorbing the material and recreating it in her own image, with her own inimitable acoustic guitar style. And she has chosen songs that reflect the broad, deep scope of Dylan’s music, not just his greatest hits, or his songs that lean into the blues. Block says that she was choosing tunes that “touched her heart and soul.”
Those songs that moved her are: “Like A Rolling Stone,” “Positively 4th St.,” “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall,” “Everything Is Broken,” “Ring Them Bells.” “Not Dark Yet,” “Mother of Muses” and “Murder Most Foul.” They’re songs that span Dylan’s immense body of work, from his early years to his most recent album.
It’s fair to say Block’s vision of Dylan has been informed by their shared environment: Block grew up in Greenwich Village during the early 1960s, where her father was a country fiddle player and owner of a sandal shop just a few doors from where Dylan lived, and her mother was a folk singer. Dylan was still a hopeful young folk singer, and a younger Block was just growing into her teens, absorbing the musical energy of the local musicians who would gather in her dad’s shop.
Here’s how Block describes some of that era in the liner notes:
“To me, Bob Dylan seemed almost like family—a brilliant brother who made it to the top. In the cover photo, taken in the late 1960’s, I am seated in the window of the Allan Block Sandal Shop, 171West 4th Street. The reflection in the glass is a reverse image of Jones Street, where Bob Dylan and Suze Rotolo were photographed for the cover of “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.” They were walking down the middle of the street directly towards the front of the sandal shop….” The photo, she notes, is by the gifted folk and rock photographer David Gahr.
Block’s interpretations here are acoustic and precisely spare, with none of the full band impact of most of the originals. But that spareness, and her unique guitar virtuosity, serves to accentuate her strong vocals, which always lend passion and power to her work. That quality serves her well here, since Dylan’s work has always seemed to be his attempt to find music that matched the power of his magical lyrical imagery.
Block opens with a gritty vocal turn on “Everything is Broken,” a sly Dylan rocker from his 1989 album “Oh Mercy.” It’s lyrically sassy and musically swinging. “Ring Them Bells” comes from the same album, more of a hymn-like dirge that Block leans into with an elegant passion.
The classic “Like A Rolling Stone” follows, a 1965 single that helped Dylan define himself. Its tangled up in blue history is worth a digression here, so bear with me for a few paragraphs, and a little Dylanology here and there (It’s my blog, after all!).
Dylan talked about the song in a 1966 Playboy interview:
“Last spring, I guess I was going to quit singing. I was very drained, and the way things were going, it was a very draggy situation … But ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ changed it all. I mean it was something that I myself could dig. It’s very tiring having other people tell you how much they dig you if you yourself don’t dig you.”
Dylan described the song’s origins to journalist Jules Siegel, thusly:
“It was ten pages long. It wasn’t called anything, just a rhythm thing on paper all about my steady hatred directed at some point that was honest. In the end it wasn’t hatred, it was telling someone something they didn’t know, telling them they were lucky. Revenge, that’s a better word. I had never thought of it as a song, until one day I was at the piano, and on the paper it was singing, “How does it feel?” in a slow-motion pace, in the utmost of slow motion following something.”
The complete recording sessions that produced “Like a Rolling Stone”, including all 20 takes and the individual “stems” that comprise the four-track master, were released in 2015 on the 6-disc and 18-disc versions of “The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966.”
It was an epic song; an early masterpiece that helped define Dylan and his audience. Block engages “Rolling Stone” with heart and soul, and despite the lack of the album’s rock background and Al Kooper’s (improvised) rolling Hammond intro, she powers along with her rousing version.
Block gives a spare and haunting reading to the darkness of the ballad, “Not Dark Yet,” from 1997’s “Time Out of Mind,” featuring Cindy Cashdollar’s elegant baritone guitar solo (she’s the only artist besides Block to appear here). Block delivers a folksy vibe to the extremely well-covered and criminally popular “Mr. Tambourine Man,” from the acoustic side of his 1965 album “Bring It All Back Home.”
One of the best covers here is the title track. Block distills the rock treatment of “Positively 4th Street” into a stark vocal, not unlike Dylan’s, recorded in 1965 for the album “Highway 61 Revisited.” She follows that with another one of her best, and one of my favorite Dylan songs, “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” recorded in 1962 for his second studio album, “The Freewheelin” Bob Dylan in1963. It’s filled with the symbolic imagery that characterizes so much of Dylan’s great work.
“Mother of Muses” was an acoustic poem from the 2020 album, “Rough and Rowdy Ways,” and Block shifts from Dylan’s gruff rendering to a effective vocal in a higher register. The song offers a paean to Mnemosyne the goddess of memory in Greek mythology, who gave birth to the nine Muses, (the inspirational goddesses of literature, science and the arts). It’s a profound and reverential reading.
The closer is the epic “Murder Most Foul,” the final track on “Rough and Rowdy Ways.” It’s a musical adventure in imagery and wordplay that revolves around the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, with a multitude of political and cultural references. Block’s somber reading is stark and effective, despite her 20+ minute version of the original, a nearly 17-minute opus. In a statement released with the single, Dylan indicated that “Murder Most Foul” was a gift to fans for their support and loyalty over the years.
Rory Block has a uniquely powerful body of work in her own right. She’s the premier acoustic blues artist performing today. “Positively 4th Street” adds an impressive new dimension to her work, covering the premier singer-songwriter of our era. That musical combination demands your attention — and your appreciation.
Tracklist: 01 – Everything Is Broken 02 – Ring Them Bells 03 – Like A Rolling Stone 04 – Not Dark Yet 05 – Hey Mr. Tambourine Man 06 – Positively 4th Street 07 – A Hard Rain’s A- Gonna Fall 08 – Mother of Muses 09 – Murder Most Foul
The blues is a rich and primal music, deeply rooted in the swampy soils of the Mississippi Delta and the musical souls of artists like Louisiana native and musical institution Doug Duffey.
Duffey has been mining this musical vein for more than half a century with his singing, songwriting and keyboard work, starting professionally at age 14. He’s carried this soulful gumbo from New Orleans to the rest of the world with national and international performances. Duffey has created his music long enough and powerfully enough to be enshrined in the National Blues and Louisiana Halls of Fame, and the Northeast Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. In short, to paraphrase Willie Dixon, Duffey has dug the roots, and we harvest the sweet fruits.
Now Duffey has dug deep into his traditions for the riches of his latest album, “Ain’t Goin’ Back,” a celebration of his music with his band, BADD (a title carved from the first initials of band members’ first names). BADD includes Duffey on vocals and keyboards; Dan Sumner on guitars and electric and acoustic bass, percussion, vocals and trumpet; Adam Ryland on drums and Ben Ford on bass. A few talented players complete this lineup: Dave P. Moore on harp, Jonathan Patterson on trombone and Bert Windham on trumpet. Duffey and Sumner co-produced.
“Aint Goin’ Back” is tightly packed with eleven bitingly concise and lyrically gorgeous originals from Duffey and Sumner, capturing a range of styles coaxed from the timeless mists of the blues. “Whirlpool” sets the tone for the session, opening with a lonesome guitar, a solid backbeat and ethereal harp leading into Duffey’s deep blue tale of a troubled mind: “I said my mind be like a whirlpool, thoughts be swimmin’ round and round / and I ain’t gone find no peace until I’m on solid ground.”
“You’ve Got What it Takes” slinks along next behind a tough musical backing and carries a straightforward message: “You got what it takes to take everything I got.” The delicate strains of “The Wishing Game” introduce a melancholy tale of unrealized love told with elegant lyricism – “If wishes were horses … beggars could ride away from the wishing game.”
“Rock It All Night” rocks hard as it steps up the pace with the promise of good times: “Well the joint is burnin’ like a house on fire / yeah the joint is jumpin’ and ain’t nobody tired / cause the joint is swinging.”
“Front Porch Blues” conjures a moody blues image of the finality of a solitary existence: “I said I’m just sittin’ here in my ole rockin’ chair / you know I hear a train in the distance but I ain’t goin’ nowhere.” Another fatalistic message about lost love drifts along in the lilting “Get ‘er Outa Yo Head” – “You got to get a grip, and get her outa yo head / if you don’t end this bad trip, you gonna find yourself dead.”
The driving rhythms of “No Mercy” add a feral intensity to his mistreatment: “No mercy, no mercy for me / yeah you’se as hard-hearted as a body can be.” The gentle folksy balladry of “Turn It Around” offers a hopeful note: “Got to make some changes, got to make some plans / got to rearrange everything on hand.”
The heartfelt poetry of “Promised Land” suggests a yearning for something not quite known: “Yeah I’m sittin’ outside the station, an open ticket in my handI / got no real destination, goin’ lookin’ for the promised land.” The title of “Gallus Pole” hints at a traditional song, lost in time, when the phrase was ominously “gallows pole.” Duffey’s take is similarly foreboding — “Well I mortgaged my soul for rock and roll / now the payment is overdue. / Well, ain’t got no silver, I ain’t got no gold / next they’ll be had me down to the gallus pole.”
The title track and closer, “Ain’t Goin’ Back,” is another gentle lyrical gem with a delicate harp tapestry woven throughout as a counterpoint to its finality: ‘Well, I ain’t going back not even in chains / to that two room shack full of torture and pain.”
And just as the words “Ain’t Goin’ Back” suggest, Doug Duffey’s prescient music carries him forward through the shrouded mists where his music lives, into this smartly written album filled with the eternal truths of the blues.
BADD member Dan Sumner was kind enough to send along the first video from “Ain’t Goin’ Back,” a live version of the opening track, “Whirlpool.” I’ll leave the earlier, older video below that one.
TRACKLIST 1.Whirlpool 5:32 2.You Got What it Takes 5:06 3.The Wishing Game 6:09 4.Rock it All Night 3:38 5.Front Porch Blues 5:05 6.Get‘ Er Outa Yo Head 3:59 7.Turn it Around 4:36 8.No Mercy 3:38 9.Promised Land 4:59 10.Gallus Pole 3:20 11.Ain’t Goin Back 4:53
Kelly’s Lot — “The Blues Remind Me” — PK Entertainment
Kelly Zirbes, the Kelly of Kelly’s Lot, is celebrating her 30th year making Americana, folk and blues music with her 17th album, and first in three years, “The Blues Remind Me.”
The Lot is a great mix of talented musicians; for this session that includes guitarist Perry Robertson, who produced and shared the songwriting with Zirbes on all ten tracks, Mike Sauer on drums and Matt McFadden on bass. Keyboard player Mo Beeks appears on most songs, and duets with Zirbes on a song he also co-wrote, “Gotta Sing the Blues.” Longtime Lot saxman Bill Johnston arranged the horns, including Paulie Cerra, Didier Reyes, Chip Tingle and Aviva Maloney. Special guests are Rob Zucca, guitar; Gary Bivona, flugel horn; and Frank Hinojosa and Tomislav Goluban on harp. That’s quite a band-full, but everyone comes together at the right place and time to create a masterful musical backing.
The album gets itself under way with that gorgeous duet between Zirbes and Beeks, with her sultry vocals paired with Beeks’ down-home grit, explaining how they “Gotta Sing the Blues.” It’s one of the most enjoyable songs in the session, throbbing with soulful blues. “Boogie Bus” follows, a rollicking party song that invites everyone to join the fun, and “boogie woogie all night long.”
“Mama’s Blues” is an eloquent tribute to Zirbes’ mother’s singing: “What else would I do/If I couldn’t keep singing her blues/It’s my way of healing.” Zirbes’ poignant vocals are enhanced by an elegant horn section, making this tender ballad an album highlight. The horns keep flowing, kicking up their heels on the energetic “It Ain’t Always,” another track full of musical fun.
“Man In The Moon” takes a jazzy turn, carried along by Beeks on keys in a lovely, lilting airing from Zirbes. “Without You” pounds home an insistent political message about coming together, framing contemporary politics. “Just Tell Me the Truth” follows, with its bouncy plea for hope and honesty changing the mood to one of healing differences.
“Blessings (are born from tears)” includes Beeks working the Hammond organ behind Zirbes’ passionate blues that soar from whispers to shouting and back again: “Life can hurt you so bad that it’s good….”
Goluban steps up with sparkling harp on the rhythmic “Aces,” a fund-raising trip to the tables in Vegas. The closer is the upbeat theme and music of “Love and Understanding,” with light-hearted keys and lyrical sensibility: “Without love and understanding, we’ll never win.”
Kelly Zirbes and her Los Angeles-based Lot have been creating their music for 30 years now, always with a blues presence, but this time with a stronger focus throughout the album. She’s an outstanding singer, creating moods that flow effortlessly from tough to tender. And it’s easy to say a lot about the Lot, who complete the package with sharp songwriting and music that elevates but never intrudes.
“I Gotta Sing the Blues” from the album:
Tracklist: 01. Gotta Sing The Blues (feat. Mo Beeks) 02. Boogie Bus 03. Mama’s blues 04. It Ain’t Always 05. Man In The Moon 06. Without You 07. Just Tell Me The Truth 08. Blessings 09. Aces 10. Love And Understanding
If the blues knows how to sing life’s song, then singer/songwriter Christopher Wyze has learned that lesson well. The 13 original songs on his very first album, “Stuck in the Mud,” are steeped in that storied tradition, as Wyze blends the world of his fertile story-telling imagination into the essence of the blues.
Wyze has been soaking up that essence for the better part of two decades, visiting its primeval sources in the Mississippi Delta and letting his own thoughts flow into his songs. Those chops earned him a “One to Watch” songwriter award from the Nashville Songwriters Association International in December 2023.
Wyze and his band, the Tellers, recorded “Stuck in the Mud” in two musically historic places – ten tracks in Muscle Shoals, Ala., and three in Clarksdale, Miss. His inspiration for the songs, however, was pure Clarksdale, where he wrote them all – each with a co-writer. “In the Delta,” Wyze says, “songs seems to write themselves.” Wyze also gives each song a voice, in his own flowing, distinctive vocal style that shifts gears easily from old blues to rhythmic rock and gentle folk.
The story-telling begins with the open-road feel of the first cut, “Three Hours From Memphis,” where Wyze introduces his blues journey: “Three hours from Memphis / A million miles from home / Fifteen years of paying dues, I did it on my own.” Frustrations with the hard times show up in the bluesy “Stuck in the Mud,” though: “Tried and tried, ain’t nothin’ brewin’ / Nothin’ to show, but my undoin’.”
“Cotton Ain’t King” is a deeply sung, dirge-like tribute to a new southern “king” – “Songs of blue, restoring life / Crying from the soul. / Cotton ain’t king / Blues is the king.” Sung as a traditional narrative, “Soul on the Road” examines the solitude of the lonesome traveler: “Met a fella, he lived his days, collecting miles and not friends / No wife, no kids, just a road that never ends.”
“Back to Clarksdale” is a hard-driving visit to the source – “When I pay my dues / My life is what I lose / Just lay me down in those muddy shoes / Down in Clarksdale, play the blues!” An easy-loping shuffle, “Money Spent Blues” laments a different kind of worldly loss, cleverly phrased over tough blues guitar lines – “When you make a proposition, you know I can’t refuse / Got them money spent blues.”
A touch of funk introduces the fatalistic “Caution to the Wind,” with a high-energy guitar solo — “Future, up ahead / But can we change instead? / What is it that we dread? / All gonna, all gonna end up dead.” But what’s the use anyway, as the hard-edged “Hard Work Don’t Pay” mourns: “Well I done cashed me may last paycheck / Sat down and wrote this song.”
“Life Behind Bars” is another profoundly sad tale of a different kind of confinement: “When it’s music, we call the bars measures / When he’s drinking, he calls the bars home / So he’s locked up and calls the bars walls that surround him / All it’s earned him, is life lived alone.”
“Looking for My Baby” turns hopefully upbeat, bouncing along with a rollicking honky-tonk piano break – “I search both night and day, but there’s no girl that got away / I’m looking for my baby, cause I ain’t never had a girl, hey, hey.” The punchy, chant-like refrain of “Wake Up” encourages an enthusiastic activism – “People! Enter the fray! / People! Live for today! / Wake up!”
Although it’s musically flavored with classic hypnotic North Mississippi Hill Country blues riffs, the lyrics of “Good Friend Gone” tell a more modern tale: “Those teenage blues, they drove us crazy / We didn’t do the things we should / Didn’t do the things we supposed to / But we sure did the things we could.” The closer is the gently swinging “Someday,” filled with the hopeful optimism of this musical journey – “Day after tomorrow, gonna be a go-getter / Someday, someday I’ll win the big game.”
Christopher Wyze is anything but “Stuck in the Mud” on this compelling debut album. He’s a lyrically literate delight, a smartly articulate teller of original tales filled with all the pain and pleasure of the blues. He’s already a winner at that “big game.”
“Stuck in the Mud” from the album:
Tracklist: 01. Three Hours from Memphis 02. Stuck in the Mud (feat. Cary Hudson) 03. Cotton Ain’t King 04. Soul on the Road (feat. Cary Hudson) 05. Back to Clarksdale 06. Money Spent Blues 07. Caution to the Wind 08. Hard Work Don’t Pay (feat. Cary Hudson) 09. Life Behind Bars 10. Looking for My Baby 11. Wake Up 12. Good Friend Gone 13. Someday
Fairly often in this blog, I write about artists who may not be well-known nationally, but who definitely deserve a wider stage.
Today’s choice, Chris Cain, is a good example of another kind of performer — one who has been on the national scene for decades, with fifteen acclaimed albums and multiple awards to his credit, and much praise from his peers. With all those accolades, it seems odd, but he still appears to be criminally under-recognized as a major talent when blues guitar gods are catalogued as household names. Cain is a topflight singer and songwriter, as well as a wickedly sharp blues guitar player, and assuredly deserves a higher ranking in that pantheon.
“Good Intentions Gone Bad” should be the album that helps boost Cain’s ratings in that universe. It’s his 16th album and second for Alligator Records, recorded at Kid Andersen’s Greaseland Studio, with Andersen producing. The thirteen original songs reflect Cain’s sharpness as a tunesmith, and his music reflects his strong, tough guitar chops honed over his decades of work. And Andersen’s addition of a horn section on seven tracks gives Cain’s songs an added, swinging, dimension.
Those horns help kick off the first three tracks: The bouncy “Too Little Too Late” opens with Cain’s gritty vocals and stinging guitar riffs that set the tone for what’s to come. Cain favors big fat guitar notes, sparingly played, filled with intensity from what they don’t say, as much as what they do. “Fear Is My New Roommate” is up next, with world-weary vocals adding heft to the thought he is “not sure what is going to happen to the world.” The title track shows up next, favoring with a little New Orleans swing behind clever lyrical tales of how his good intentions don’t always work out.
“Waiting For the Sun to Rise” drops the horns and focuses on Cain’s soulful vocal plea in this steamy ballad. “I Was Wrong” jumps back in with an upbeat apology, then the bluesy “Time to Cry” wails his frustration with time for nothing but “time to cry.”
Cain’s ode to aging (he’s approaching 70), “Still Drinking Straight Tequila,” explains that he hasn’t quite given up everything that gives him pleasure. “Bad Dream” is a torchy blues, with Cain showing off his piano licks. “Had About All I Can Take” shuffles in with its self-explanatory title and a fierce guitar solo.
“Blues for My Dad” is softly lyrical with jazz overtones, a heartfelt tribute to how his Dad introduced him to music. It’s a touching musical memory. On “TGIF,” takes to both piano and Wurlitzer as he celebrates the coming weekend with Lisa Andersen joining in with background vocals. “Never let You Break My Heart” is another torchy blues, wringing the sadness from blue notes. The closer is a romp through “Thankful,” with Tommy Castro helping on vocals. It’s a fitting upbeat finale to this outstanding session.
“Good Intentions Gone Bad” is one of Chris Cain’s best. It showcases all the talents of a veteran bluesman whose musical maturity sings loud and clear. And it’s full of great blues. Enjoy it soon and often. Household word, there you go!
“Fear is My New Roommate” from the album:
Tracks and credits:
1. TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE 3:30 Chris Cain: Guitar, Vocals Greg Rahn: Organ, Piano Cody Wright: Bass June Core: Drums Mike Rinta: Horn Arrangement, Trombone Mike Peloquin: Tenor Sax Mike Galisatus: Trumpet
2. FEAR IS MY NEW ROOMMATE 3:33 Chris Cain: Guitar, Wurlitzer Electric Piano, Clavinet, Vocals Greg Rahn: Organ Cody Wright: Bass Sky Garcia: Drums Jon Otis: Congas Kid Andersen: Tambourine, Cowbell Mike Rinta: Horn Arrangement, Trombone Mike Peloquin: Tenor Sax Mike Galisatus: Trumpet
3. GOOD INTENTIONS 3:15 Chris Cain: Guitar, Vocals Greg Rahn: Piano Kid Andersen: Bass, Organ, RMI Electric Piano Sky Garcia: Drums Jon Otis: Percussion Lisa Andersen: Voice Mike Rinta: Horn Arrangement, Trombone Mike Peloquin: Tenor Sax Mike Galisatus: Trumpet
4. WAITING FOR THE SUN TO RISE 4:31 Chris Cain: Guitar, Piano, Vocals Greg Rahn: Organ Kid Andersen: Bass, Mellotron Strings June Core: Drums
5. I WAS WRONG 3:25 Chris Cain: Guitar, Vocals Greg Rahn: Organ Cody Wright: Bass Sky Garcia: Drums Jon Otis: Percussion Mike Rinta: Horn Arrangement, Trombone Mike Peloquin: Tenor Sax Mike Galisatus: Trumpet
6. TIME TO CRY 3:54 Chris Cain: Guitar, Wurlitzer Electric Piano, Vocals Greg Rahn: Piano Kid Andersen: Bass, Organ June Core: Drums Jon Otis: Percussion Mike Rinta: Trombone Mike Peloquin: Horn Arrangement, Tenor Sax Mike Galisatus: Trumpet
7. STILL DRINKING STRAIGHT TEQUILA 3:52 Chris Cain: Guitar, Vocals Kid Andersen: Rhythm Guitar, Bass, Organ, Wurlitzer Electric Piano June Core: Drums Lisa Andersen: Vocals
8. BAD DREAM 5:39 Chris Cain: Guitar, Piano, Vocals Greg Rahn: Organ Kid Andersen: Bass Sky Garcia: Drums
9. HAD ABOUT ALL I CAN TAKE 3:13 Chris Cain: Guitar, Piano, Vocals Greg Rahn: Organ Kid Andersen: Bass Sky Garcia: Drums Mike Rinta: Trombone Mike Peloquin: Horn Arrangement, Tenor Sax Mike Galisatus: Trumpet
10. BLUES FOR MY DAD 4:27 Chris Cain: Guitar, Vocals Kid Andersen: Nylon String Guitar, Upright Bass, Organ, Percussion June Core: Bongos, Shaker
11. TGIF 3:55 Chris Cain: Guitar, Wurlitzer Electric Piano, Vocals Greg Rahn: Piano Kid Andersen: Acoustic Rhythm Guitar, Bass, Organ, Cowbell June Core: Drums Lisa Andersen: Vocals
12. NEVER LET YOU BREAK MY HEART 4:59 Chris Cain: Guitar, Wurlitzer Electric Piano, Vocals Greg Rahn: Organ Dwayne Pate: Bass Sky Garcia: Drums Jon Otis: Percussion
13. THANKFUL 2:46 Chris Cain: Guitar, Vocals Tommy Castro: Second Vocal Greg Rahn: Organ Kid Andersen: Bass, Horn Arrangement Sky Garcia: Drums Jon Otis: Percussion Mike Rinta: Trombone Mike Peloquin: Tenor Sax Mike Galisatus: Trumpet
Produced, Recorded and Mixed by Kid Andersen at Greaseland, USA, San Jose, CA Mastered by Collin Jordan and Bruce Iglauer at The Boiler Room, Chicago, IL Photos by Laura Carbone Design by Kevin Niemiec
The Fabulous Thunderbirds — “Struck Down” — Stony Plain Records
“Struck Down” is not only the first album in eight years by the Fabulous Thunderbirds, it also celebrates the 50th anniversary of the band’s founding in 1974.
Band members over the years includes big blues names like Duke Robillard, Jimmie Vaughan, Fran Christina, Kid Ramos, Gene Taylor, and Nick Curran, among others. The current band is Kim Wilson on vocals and harmonica, Johnny Moeller on guitar, Bob Welsh on keyboards and guitar, Rudy Albin on drums and Steve Kirsty on bass.
And co-founder Wilson, the only original T-Bird still in the band, says, “I think “Struck Down” is my best album with The Fabulous Thunderbirds…by far.” It’s hard to disagree. It’s filled with great songs, fine performances and a stellar musical cast.
Special guests include Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, Keb’ Mo’ and Mick Fleetwood on the album’s lone cover song, Memphis Minnie’s “Nothing in Rambling.” Other guests are Elvin Bishop, Terrance Simien and Canadian guitar whiz Steve Strongman, who with Wilson wrote nine of the album’s ten tracks.
Strongman leads off the opener, “Struck Down With the Blues,” wrapping a torrid guitar around Wilson’s vocals, which after 50 years are as strong as ever, having aged to vintage quality. Simien leads with his accordion on “Don’t Make No Sense,” adding a Cajun flair, with a little help from Wilson’s harp.
“Payback Time” is tough, rocking blues with Gibbons on guitar and backup vocals. That’s followed by the gorgeous acoustic cover version of the Memphis Minnie classic, “Nothing in Rambling,” on which Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’ trade vocals, with Mick Fleetwood handling drums and percussion. It’s a classic in its own way and an album highlight.
“Won’t Give Up” is another tough rocker with Wilson adding furious harp lines, and lyrical nod to one of his first big hits: “Don’t tell me I’m not tough enough.” A gently swinging harp opens the acoustic ballad, “The Hard Way,” with a soulful Wilson vocal turn. “Whatcha Do To Me” shuffles in with Elvin Bishop on guitar and more fine Wilson harp.
“I’ve Got Eyes” opens with a percussive beat charged with the blues, and a stinging guitar solo chasing Wilson’s razor-sharp harp. “That’s Cold” keeps the tempo high in a frantic tale of a lover’s distress. The closer is another highlight, the luxurious ballad “Sideline,” with Chris Ayries’ eloquent harmonizing, and a sensuous sax solo from Kirsty.
“Struck Down” is an excellent album. It’s just the right mix of styles and tempos, showing off Wilson’s accumulated musical wisdom and lyrical strength, a half-century into the Thunderbirds’ long and spirited career. They are still tuff enuff!
A live performance of the T-Birds big 1986 hit, “Tuff Enuff”:
“Payback Time” from the album:
Track Listing 1. Struck Down By The Blues (featuring Steve Strongman), 3:41 2. Don’t Make No Sense (featuring Terrance Simien), 2:47 3. Payback Time (featuring Billy Gibbons), 3:35 4. Nothing in Rambling (featuring Bonnie Raitt, Keb’ Mo’, Taj Mahal & Mick Fleetwood), 3:55 5. Won’t Give Up, 3:35 6. The Hard Way, 4:06 7. Whatcha Do To Me (featuring Elvin Bishop), 3:09 8. I’ve Got Eyes, 4:07 9. That’s Cold, 2:18 10. Sideline, 4:03
It’s time for another round of blues music awards.
In June, a group of music critics, journalists, festival promoters, music venue managers, musicians and other blues music industry professionals, nominated their choices for the Blues Blast awards in 23 categories. Fans can vote for the winner in each category starting July 15, at www.BluesBlastMagazine.com
Voting is free and open to anyone, and ends Aug. 31. You may only vote once. If you are not currently a subscriber, you are automatically signed up for the free Blues Blast magazine as part of the voting process. (Roadhouse tip: It’s worth it.)
Here are the 2024 Blues Blast Music Award nominees:
Contemporary Blues Album Shaun Murphy – I’m Coming Home Chris O’Leary – The Hard Line Anthony Geraci – Tears In My Eyes Rick Vito – Cadillac Man Rick Estrin & The Night Cats – The Hits Keep Coming Selwyn Birchwood – Exorcist
Traditional Blues Album Monster Mike Welch – Nothing But Time he Dig 3 – Damn the Rent Fiona Boyes – Ramblified Johnny Burgin – Ramblin’ From Coast to Coast Nick Moss Band – Get Your Back Into It John Primer & Bob Corritore – Crawlin’ Kingsnake
Soul Blues Album Blackburn Brothers – SoulFunkin’Blues Dave Keller – It’s Time to Shine Kevin Burt & Big Medicine – Thank You Brother Bill Marcel Smith – From My Soul Jeff Rogers – Dream Job Eddie Cotton – The Mirror Joakim Tinderholt – Deadlines
Rock Blues Album The Wicked Lo-Down – Out Of Line Mike Zito – Life is Hard Coco Montoya – Writing on the Wall JP Soars – Brick by Brick Canned Heat – Finyl Vinyl Bex Marshall – Fortuna
Acoustic Blues Album EG Kight – Sticks & Stones Sue Foley – One Guitar Woman Arbuckle & Long – Gonna Be Justified Tinsley Ellis – Naked Truth Doug MacLeod – Raw Blues 2 Mick Kolassa – Wooden Music Nic Clark – Everybody’s Buddy
Live Blues Album Deb Ryder – Live & Havin’ Fun Li’l Ronnie & the Grand Dukes – Got it Live from ‘05 Christone “Kingfish” Ingram – Live In London Blood Brothers – Live in Canada Eric Bibb – Live at Scala Theatre Sue Foley – Live In Austin Vol 1.
Historical Or Vintage Recording Bob Corritore – Phoenix Blues Rumble James Harman – Didn’t We Have Some Fun Sometime Paul Oscher – Live At The Tombs House Of Detention, NYC Keef Hartley Band – Live at Essen Magic Slim & John Primer feat. The Teardrops – Slow Blues Omar & The Howlers – Magic Man Live In Bremen 1989
New Artist Debut Album BLUES People – The Skin I’m In Garnetta Cromwell – Time to Shine DK Harrell – The Right Man Joel Astley – Seattle to Greaseland Mathias Lattin – Up Next Nicholas Alexander – Lil Hoochie
Blues Band Of The Year The Dig 3 Blackburn Brothers Nick Moss Band Featuring Dennis Gruenling Rick Estrin & The Nightcats The Cash Box Kings Southern Avenue
Male Blues Artist John Primer Mr. Sipp (Castro Coleman) D.K. Harrell Kevin Burt Christone “Kingfish” Ingram Bobby Rush
Female Blues Artist Shaun Murphy Sue Foley Annika Chambers-DesLauriers Danielle Nicole Fiona Boyes Ruthie Foster
Sean Costello Rising Star Award Harrell “Young Rell” Davenport Mathias Lattin Joel Astley Candice Ivory Stephen Hull
Producer Of The Year Bob Corritore Kid Andersen Joe Bonamassa & Josh Smith Tony Braunagel Tom Hambridge Mike Zito
Electric Guitarist Of The Year Monster Mike Welch Nick Moss Joanna Connor Duke Robillard Christone “Kingfish” Ingram Laura Chavez
Acoustic Guitarist Of The Year Kevin Burt Doug MacLeod Sue Foley Eric Bibb Tinsley Ellis Catfish Keith
Slide Guitarist Of The Year JP Soars Joanna Connor Fiona Boyes Derek Trucks Rick Vito Sonny Landreth
Bass Guitarist Of The Year Jerry Jemmot Bob Stroger Rodrigo Montovani Danielle Nicole Larry Fulcher Michael “Mudcat” Ward
Keyboard Player Of The Year Jim Pugh Anthony Geraci Ben Levin Eden Brent Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne Mitch Woods
Percussionist Of The Year June Core Derrick D’mar Martin Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith Tom Hambridge Tony Braunagel Tony Coleman
Harmonica Player Of The Year Jason Ricci Bob Corritore Dennis Greunling Charlie Musselwhite Billy Branch Kim Wilson
Horn Player Of The Year Jimmy Carpenter Vanessa Collier Sax Gordon Beadle Trombone Shorty Eric Demmer Deanna Bogart
Vocalist Of The Year Ruthie Foster Bobby Rush John Németh Marcel Smith Billy Price D.K. Harrell
Blues Roadhouse 