Blues Roadhouse

This is the second volume of fine blues and roots music from a gathering of musicians in 2007, jamming just for fun, and who gave themselves one of the best band names since the “? and the Mysterians.”

I’m talking, of course, about the New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers, who, after the music simmered about 14 years until it was good and tasty, released Volume 1 last September.

Now, Volume 2 of that sparkling, creative music has dropped from Stony Plain Records. It’s just as fine. These are not warmed-up leftovers, these are tracks cut from the original cloth of their musical sessions.

The musicians, a generation-spanning group musicians, are Grammy-winning harpist Charlie Musselwhite, guitarist Alvin Youngblood Hart, ex Squirrel Nut Zippers’ frontman Jimbo Mathus, the late Jim Dickinson and North Mississippi Allstars members Luther Dickinson and Cody Dickinson (Jim Dickinson’s sons and recent Grammy nominees).

Their music is as fresh as it is timeless; moving from the pure down-home blues of Musselwhite’s laconic “Blues for Yesterday” to 1965’s rockish “She’s About a Mover,” from Doug Sahm and the Sir Douglas Quintet and given new life here by Hart.

Mathus puts together a strong, straight-ahead blues on “Searchlight,” and Jim Dickinson gets deep and rootsy with “Blues Is A Mighty Bad Feeling.”  He also adds some blues classics on Junior Wells’ “Messin’ with the Kid” and Jimmy Reed’s “Can’t Stand to See You Go.” And of course, there are more, just waiting for your ears to listen up.

But these guys are not a cover band, and they’re not just bluesy impressionists. They’re bringing their own considerable strengths and musical visions into the mix, churning out fresh and original takes on timeless music.

Even though these recordings took place in 2007, Jim Dickinson’s death in 2009 put the production into limbo, and it was basically forgotten until 2019 when Stony Plain founder Holger Petersen heard about the sessions from Musselwhite, and turned over the production to Luther Dickinson and his engineer Kevin Houston, who finished the project.

This is good music-making at its best — full of energy and spontaneity. Put both volumes together for double the fun.

Here’s the opening track, “Blues for Yesterday,” by Charlie Musselwhite:

Here’s the tracklist:

1. Blues for Yesterday (featuring Charlie Musselwhite)
2. She’s About a Mover (featuring Alvin Youngblood Hart)
3. Searchlight (featuring Jimbo Mathus)
4. Oh Lord, Don’t Let Them Drop That Atom Bomb on Me (featuring Jim Dickinson)
5. Greens and Ham (featuring Jimbo Mathus)
6. Messin’ with the Kid (featuring Jim Dickinson)
7. Black Water (featuring Charlie Musselwhite)
8. Millionaire Blues (featuring Alvin Youngblood Hart)
9. Can’t Stand to See You Go (featuring Jim Dickinson)
10. Blue Guitar (featuring Luther Dickinson)
11. Blues Is a Mighty Bad Feeling (featuring Jim Dickinson)

“Keeping the blues alive” has been a catchphrase for years. And among other things, it’s also a cruise, a musicians relief program, and an annual award. But no matter where you find them, the words have the same purpose: Trying to make sure that the great music of the blues never dies.

That phrase has taken on new meaning in the past year, with a pandemic shutting down music venues, turning off the music, and creating financial strain for club owners, concert promoters and the musicians themselves. Many of them have taken to the internet with virtual shows on Facebook and other media. A Facebook group called Can’t Stop the Blues has provided a forum for dozens of performers. I’ve also seen John Nemeth on his front porch, Rory Block in her living room, and Ronnie Baker Brooks in his basement.

But that’s not quite the same experience as live music, shared with friends and fans, and feeling the musicians feed on a roomful of enthusiastic fans.

That’s what you got at Moondog’s.

I know, because I spent a lot of nights there, enjoying gin and tonic (and cigars, before we started to care about our health), and some of the best blues talent in the world.

Moondog’s is small, intimate bar (maybe 250 people, elbow to elbow at its most intimate) whose purpose is mainly music — no kitchen, no ferns, no valet parking — in the tiny Pittsburgh suburb of Blawnox, where it has lived for its past 31 Moondog years.

There’s nothing fancy about the place, just the musical magic that comes from musicians up close, filling that hole in your soul. I can remember nights when the audience dwindled down to 10 or 20 at the end of the closing set, but the musicians never let up.

Like many such blues joints, a year without business hasn’t helped. It’s run by Ron “Moondog” Esser, who has been a fixture on the Pittsburgh area music scene a few notes short of forever, with his club long a nexus for the local blues scene, and making his own music before that. Here’s a Q&A with Ron by a Scott Mervis, a former colleague at a former employer, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, that will tell you a little about Ron.

So, because of Ron’s background, his help for area musicians and his devotion to music, Mark Byars and Cheryl Rinovato, a couple of musicians who think Moondog’s should be kept alive, are producing three nights of music online this weekend (March 26-28), to help keep the dog and the music going. When it returns live, of course.

Ron is humble about this unexpected help. In the Post-Gazette interview, he says: “This fundraiser, I really didn’t want them to do it, but they’re doing it anyway, and I’m grateful. I’m eternally grateful.”

In addition, there’s a GoFundMe campaign that has raised $4,100 toward a $30,000 goal, and a Save Moondog’s Facebook page. And here’s more information about viewing.

And we haven’t even mentioned his shepherding of the Pittsburgh Blues Festival for many years.

The National Blues Foundation honored Ron Esser with the “Keeping the Blues Alive” award in 2005. 

Seventy artists are booked for the weekend’s virtual festival, including national acts Tommy Castro, Barbara Blue, Joanna Connor, Selwyn Birchwood, Mike Zito, Vanessa Collier, Jerry Cortez (from Tower of Power) and Jason Ricci, and Pittsburgh acts such as Joe Grushecky, Bill Toms, Billy Price, Norm Nardini, Soulful Femme, Bobby Thompson, the Granati Bros., Charlie Barath, Matt Barranti, Ms. Freddye and the Neids Hotel Band.

A few of the national acts Moondog’s has hosted:
Susan Tedeschi, Keb’ Mo’, Derek Trucks, Koko Taylor, Luther Allison,Junior Wells, Jimmy Vaughn, Tommy Castro, the Nighthawks, Jimmy Thackery, Maria Muldaur, Pat Travers, Candy Kane, Ana Popovic, former Beatle Pete Best, Johnny “Clyde” Copeland, Walter Trout, Tinsley Ellis, Shemekia Copela, Lil Ed and the Imperials, Long John Hunter, James Cotton, Chris Duarte, Johnny Clyde Copeland, Rod Piazza, Corey Harris, Monster Mike Welch, Luther Allison, Shemekia Copeland, Brian Auger and Jim Croce’s son, A.J. Croce.

Plus several generations of Pittsburgh area musicians, including Norman Nardini, Bill Toms, Guitar Zack, Glen Pavone, Billy Price, Gary Belloma and the Blue Bombers, Jill West and the Blues Attack, the Jimmy Alder Band, Patty Spadero, the SPUDS, Nieds Hotel Band, Good Brother Earl, Bill Deasy and more.

None of this means that there isn’t a multitude of similar clubs across the country undergoing similar hard times. I just happened to know about Moondog’s because I used to live and work nearby. In fact, performers at Moondog’s often wound up on my previous blog, BlueNotes. So I jumped at the chance to highlight a national condition with this local connection.

Here are a few of those artists (and a chance to show off some of my favorite photo work), most with a view of Moondog’s stage wall, painted with caricatures of well-known artists, but with a dog’s head.

Here’s a follow-up to the Kenny Wayne Shepherd story by Variety, the entertainment publication:

Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s Blues Awards Nomination Rescinded Over ‘Dukes’ Confederate Imagery; Guitarist Says He Retired It

Here’s a news release from the Blues Foundation, issued this afternoon, about an ongoing issue in the Foundation.

THE BLUES FOUNDATION RESCINDS  KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD’S 2021  BLUES MUSIC AWARD NOMINATION

The Blues Foundation (the Foundation) has rescinded Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s 2021 Blues Music Awards (BMA) nomination for Best Blues/Rock Artist. The BMAs will be presented virtually on June 6, 2021. The decision to rescind the nomination is in keeping with the Foundation’s statement Against Racism (March 15, 2021) https://blues.org/the-blues-foundations-statement-against-racism/ which asserts “The Blues Foundation unequivocally condemns all forms and expressions of racism, including all symbols associated with white supremacy and the degradation of people of color.  We will hold ourselves as well as all blues musicians, fans, organizations, and members of the music industry accountable for racist actions and encourage concrete commitments to acknowledge and redress the resulting pain.”  The decision to rescind the nomination was based upon continuing revelations of representations of the Confederate flag on Shepherd’s “General Lee” car, guitars and elsewhere.  The Blues Foundation has also asked Ken Shepherd, father of Kenny Wayne Shepherd, to step down as a member of its Board of Directors.  The Blues Foundation states that it is resolute in its commitment to purposefully address racism and contribute to a more equitable blues community. The Blues Foundation is widely acknowledged as the foremost non-profit blues organization with more than 4,000 members and nearly 200 affiliated blues societies across the globe.  The Foundation preserves blues heritage, celebrates blues recording and performance, expands worldwide awareness of the blues, and ensures the future of the uniquely American art form.  The BMAs are generally recognized as the highest honor given to blues musicians. The Best Blues/Rock Artist is one of 25 BMA categories that are awarded by vote of Blues Foundation members.  In addition to the BMAs, the Foundation also presents the International Blues Challenge, as well as Blues in the Schools, the HART Fund which provides grants to cover the medical needs of blues artists and, most recently, the COVID-19 Blues Musician Emergency Relief Fund which has distributed more than $250,000 to address the urgent needs of blues musicians impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Just another public service from your Blues Roadhouse.

The award for Best Traditional Blues Album or Best Traditional Blues Recording, went to Bobby Rush for “Rawer Than Raw.”

The other nominees were:

• “All My Dues Are Paid”
  Frank Bey
• “You Make Me Feel”
  Don Bryant
• “That’s What I Heard”
  Robert Cray Band
• “Cypress Grove”
  Jimmy “Duck” Holmes

The award for Best Contemporary Blues Album or Contemporary Blues Recording, went to Fantastic Negrito for “Have you Lost Your Mind Yet? .”

The other nominees were:

• “Live at the Paramount”
  Ruthie Foster Big Band
• “The Juice”
  G. Love
• “Blackbirds”
  Bettye LaVette
• “Up and Rolling”
  North Mississippi Allstars

It’s time once again to catch up on some recent album releases with a few mini-reviews. This doesn’t mean that they are mini-important, mini-albums, mini-artists, or that sometimes I have mini-thoughts (well… ). It’s just that I like to maximize my priorities and obfuscate the realities, thereby diminishing my returns.

But enough philosophy. let’s get to work. Here are a few albums that deserve your ears.

“Country Supper” by Robert Connely Farr

This is a very unusual, very intense, very good album.

Robert Connely Farr is a modern-day practitioner of the Bentonia, Miss., school of blues, which is unique among blues styles. Skip James gets most of the credit for this droning, hypnotic music, but Henry Stuckey and Jack Owens were primary, with Stuckey claiming that he taught James the tunings and the other-worldly sounds that Farr has absorbed from his Bolton, Miss., roots, and his tutoring at the primeval knee of Jimmy “Duck” Holmes, who still runs the Blue Front juke in Bentonia.

Farr, now a Vancouver, Canada, resident, has created a powerful album of 16 covers and originals in the Bentonian style. His guitar style is the deepest of deep blues, rhythmic and trance-like, and his dark vocals plumb those same mysterious depths. It’s all very raw and primitive sounding, sort of what you’d expect to hear at the crossroads at midnight. Here is the best of the deepest, darkest blues.

The song “Cyprus Grove” opens the album and sets the pace for what’s to come. Give it a listen:

“Living in the City” by Big Harp George

This is a fine effort by Big Harp George (George Bisharat), a SanFrancisco-area singer, songwriter, and harp player known for his lyrically clever, jazz-inflected bluesy style, wrapped around his chromatic harmonica.

Bisharat weaves his way through 13 originals, with lyrical themes ranging from whimsical app-making to mysterious medical bills, and music that twists and turns from funky to jazzy to horn-kicked blues. Some have a little Latin seasoning. He’s not the only bluesman to pursue the chromatic, but he adds arrangements with his seven-piece outfit that have a big-band flair. He also earned nominations for Best New Artist Album from The Blues Foundation and Blues Blast Magazine for his 2014 debut album, “Chromaticism.” and for the 21st century. As if that isn’t enough of a life, Bisharat was a criminal defense attorney, and award-winning professor of law at UC Hastings College of the Law.

Give him a hearing. And start with “Build Myself an App”

“4801 South Indiana Avenue” by Joanna Connor

Joanna Connor is a blues powerhouse, the queen of blues-rock guitar, with tough vocals and tougher guitar work that she’s been spreading around Chicago for almost 30 years.

She’s joined on this new release by Joe Bonamassa, who co-produced, plays second guitar, and uses some of his own band in the production. Connor tackles a set of old blues covers here, with plenty of authority, gritty vocals, and razor-sharp guitar licks. The title is, of course, the one-time address of the legendary Chicago blues joint, Theresa’s Lounge. This is a great set for fans who like their blues with a punch.

“For the Love of a Man”

“What is Real” by Trevor B. Power

Trevor B. Power is what tends to be called these days, a roots musician. That means a couple of things — that he’s comfortable and authentic in blues, country, folk, rock, and also that he’s very good at what he does.

His eclectic music ranges from the plaintive folksiness of “I’m Still In,” to the grinding bluesy “Easier Way.” All in a whiskey-flavored voice that alternately cuts and croons. This fully original session focuses his sharp-eyed songwriting skills on the year 2020, which he views with clear 20-20 musical vision in all its messy repercussions. Even though he’s been performing for several decades, based in his native New Jersey, this is just his second album. There should be more.

Here’s the song “Pandemic (2020)” from the album, with overtones of another Jersey guy:

It’s very tempting to review “Damage Control,” (Alligator Records) the latest album from Curtis Salgado, by saying simply: It’s great! Get it now!

That would certainly be accurate. But it wouldn’t be quite fair not to talk about all the parts that make it great.

The first and main part is Salgado himself. He sings with great soul and passion, his harp swoops and soars, he writes, he produces — and the result is carefully crafted music that sounds spontaneous, original and fresh.

Salgado, at 67, has created what he calls “a rock ’n’ roll record with lyrics that hit.” That’s true enough, but it’s a lot more than rock ‘n’ roll (not that there’s anything wrong with that!). There’s imaginative and personal storytelling and sparkling musicianship from three groups of crackling backups recorded in three different studios. And it’s also kind of neat that someone still calls it a record.

He’s created (with a little help from some very musical friends) 12 songs for the album, which sound very much like they are reflections of his own life.

And that sentiment is soulfully stated in the opening track (my favorite), “The Longer That I Live — (The Older I Wanna Get”), with spunky musical support that includes Kid Andersen on guitar, Mike Finnigan, organ, and Jim Pugh, piano. It’s a joyous anthem to “keep on keepin’ on.” And that’s quickly followed by “What Did Me in Did Me Well,” an ode to learning life’s lessons and coming out the wiser, laced with Salgado’s subtle harp.

Speaking of favorites, Salgado said in an interview with Forbes that his favorite song, and the first song he wrote for the album, is “You’re Going To Miss My Sorry Ass,” a heartfelt little story told after he watched two people argue on a blues cruise, “and the wife walked away, and the husband turned around and said, ‘Oh, yeah, when I’m dead and gone, you’re going to miss my sorry ass!'”  Life is just full of songs waiting to be written. 

There are other moods as well: “The Fix Is In” is what might be called a cynical look at human nature, or a realistic one, depending on your point of view.

The title track is a more somber look at life, and how to deal with its slings and arrows, of which he says, “Life is all about damage control … trouble and then some. It’s about dealing with what gets thrown at you and saying, ‘I ain’t finished yet.’”

But there’s some whimsical fun in “Hail Mighty Caesar,” a historical romp with Julius and Cleopatra and, of course, Mark Antony. And there’s a zydeco party with Wayne Toups on squeezebox and sharing the vocals on “Truth Be Told.” Plus a rollicking cover of Larry Williams’ frenetic 1957 rocker “Slow Down.” I haven’t listed every song here, but each one in a minor gem of musical craftsmanship, with its own story to tell. There’s not a wasted word or note on the album — I mean record!

During his career, a lot has been thrown at him requiring much damage control, including multiple health challenges, battling back from liver cancer in 2006 and lung cancer in 2008 and 2012. In March 2017 he underwent quadruple bypass surgery.

But, as Salgado said in that Forbes interview, “Music has kept me alive. It’s protected me, it’s my life. It’s a connection and music is the most positive thing that we do as a species on this planet.”

This is Salgado’s fourth Alligator album, and the relationship seems to be working. There was “Soul Shot” in 2012, “The Beautiful Lowdown” in 2016 and “Rough Cut” (an acoustic album with guitarist Alan Hager) in 2018. These albums earned Salgado multiple Blues Music awards.

“Damage Control” is the best yet — a polished, playful and personal musical journey that sparkles with great music, and creative lyrical storytelling that ranges from serious to silly (in the best sense of the word). Salgado has always possessed gritty, soulful pipes, and they serve him well here. If anything, he sounds more soulful than ever. And the musicians – it almost reads like a cast of thousands – bring out the best in his vocals no matter whether it’s playful or profound.

Here are some videos (and audio). I’ve added a couple of others, just for fun.

Th official video of “The Longer That I Live”

I thought this was a very playful little ditty, with great music behind it:

Which somehow reminded me of this:

Or maybe this:

“Damage Control” tracks: The Longer That I Live / What Did Me In Did Me Well / You’re Going To Miss My Sorry Ass / Precious Time / Count Of Three / Always Say I Love You (At The End Of Your Goodbyes) / Hail Mighty Caesar / I Don’t Do That No More / Oh For The Cry Eye / Damage Control / Truth Be Told / The Fix Is In / Slow Down

Here’s a great article about Chris Strachwitz and Arhoolie Records, the label he founded in 1960, and which has provided a home for roots music of all kinds ever since.

There’s a ton of audio and video material here, and at the Arhoolie site as well, if you’re interested and follow the links.

Bon appetit.

A while back, I wrote a couple of posts about two documentary films that looked at the history of blues music in Oakland, Calif., a history that helped shape the origins of West Coast blues.

There were two documentary films involved, “Evolutionary Blues” and “Long Train Running,” and they offered some tantalizing looks at some of the artists from this prolific blues era that saw blues music migrate from places like Texas and Louisiana, add some horns and create a sauciness that older Delta and country blues lacked. Those horn sections were what helped birth R&B and jump blues, two extremely joyous, rhythmic and very danceable blues offspring.

That got me thinking (thank you for not smirking) that I needed to find some of this music and give it an extended listen. Also, there were a few names in those films that had me searching to find some of their music. It had been a while since I had heard anything by guitarist Sonny Rhodes, for example. And I wasn’t very familiar with the soulful pipes of singer Freddie Hughes.

The big names were easier. After all, the West Coast scene resonated with greats like T-Bone Walker, Lowell Fulson, Jimmy McCracklin, Johnny Otis, Floyd Dixon, Sugar Pie DeSanto, Big Joe Turner and Esther Phillips (the artist formerly known as Little Esther), to cherry-pick a few of the biggest names. There’s quite a list of artists who migrated to the Left Coast permanently, or who came for a few years, and then moved on. Check out that list, if you’re in the mood, and give them the digital equivalent of a spin.

And I’d like to recommend a few blues bites of these artists for you to chew on, either to refresh your memory or introduce you to some classic music. I’m sure the Google will help you find a lot more, and your favorite online music store or streaming service will help.

One of the first artists I looked up, because he was featured in “Long Train Running,” was Lowell Fulson. I’d recommend starting with a two volume set, “The Complete Chess Masters.” And I would add another great, Jimmy McCracklin.

Another fine talent from those films is guitarist/singer Sonny Rhodes (“I’m what you call a self-proclaimed Disciple of the Blues!”). He was a masterful lap steel player, a fine songwriter, with tough vocals.

Yet another, somewhat lesser known for mysterious reasons, is Freddie Hughes, with soulful pipes that should have brought him greater acclaim.

And of course you shouldn’t overlook the influential Aaron “T-Bone” Walker, whose exciting guitar talents and vocals helped originate both electric blues and jump blues. His music came out of Texas with him, but he took it to Los Angeles, and then to Chicago, and beyond. He’s credited with pioneering electric blues by becoming the first artist to make the electric guitar a solo instrument.

Check out the list of artists already mentioned, and enjoy.

Meanwhile, here are a few clips of some great West Coast blues.

Here’s Lowell Fulson with the classic “Reconsider Baby”

Here’s an audio clip of Sonny Rhodes, with his lap steel in fine form.

Here’s a clip of Johnny Otis in Monterey in 1970, with Esther Phillips and Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson. Vinson wasn’t exactly a California player, but his sensual sax and gritty vocals should have made him an honorary member.

I keep running across good blues things on the Interwebs, and some it cries out to be shared. Some of you may have seem some of it, but I hope it’s good reading (and viewing) for most.

I love blues history. Stories about how the music developed and then how it shaped so much other American music. It’s a story that bears telling, and then repeating. It’s more than one story, though; it’s a wide variety of stories, told from many perspectives about many people and many places. And that brings me to the first item here:

This is a series of stories from USA TODAY Network journalists nationwide on how black artists and black music have contributed to American culture. It’s a lot of material, but it can be read in sections, plus it’s what the people in the newspaper biz call “a good read.”

The article describes itself modestly:

“The stories that follow are not an exhaustive or definitive picture of the indelible contributions of Black musical artists to American culture. We hope rather, in the spirit of Black History Month, to illuminate a few stories, a few places and some of the people who helped make music what it is today.”

But don’t let that fool you. It’s excellent writing and reading.

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Festival updates: I’ve notice that some clubs are scheduling live dates, and some festivals are being announced for this year. Here’s hoping that it’s the beginning of the rebirth of blues shows. Here’s a link to the Blues Festival Guide for 2021, to give you a look at some dates that are on the books. Let’s hope they stay there.

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And now, some music: Finally, a video from NPR radio station KNKX in Seattle, featuring an interview with and music by Marcia Ball. She joins NPR’s John Kessler in a virtual visit from her home near Austin, where she talks music and shares a few songs.