AUGUST 2021 Issue #412

interview with hALLeY DeveStern interview with eDDie MArtin

LAwrence Lebo’S coLUMn bLUeS boYS A LonG wAY FroM hoMe (ArticLe) cD reviewS viDeoS

Halley DeVestern

CONTACT:email: [email protected] We www.bluesinthesouth.com : @bluesinthesouth IN THE MEAN TIME, DON’T GO TO GIGS IF YOU ARE NOT ABSOLUTELY SURE THEY ARE COMPLETELY SAFE, MAINTAIN SOCIAL DISTANCE AND REMEMBER:

The CORONA VIRUS DOES NOT CIRCULATE PEOPLE CIRCULATE IT MUSIC VENUE TRUST LAUNCHES #TAKEATEST INITIATIVE

Live Music Fans Urged to Self-Test Before Attending Gigs

London, 19th July 2021 - Music Venue Trust (MVT), which represents hundreds of grassroots music venues, has announced a new campaign to encourage live music fans to take a voluntary lateral flow test ahead of attending gigs.

The #takeatest initiative follows the UK government’s lifting of most COVID-19 restrictions from today (July 19th), allowing music venues to fully re-open for the first time in over 16 months and is a response to the move towards ‘personal responsibility’ as the principal guidance moving forward.

Music Venue Trust, in consultation with grassroots music venues around the country are launching a social media led campaign urging music fans to accept responsibility to keep themselves, their fellow gig-goers safe and the staff at music venues safe as restrictions are lifted.

Using the hashtag #takeatest the messaging will be very clear:

Be Kind: Be respectful. Be part of the live music community #takeatest

or

Artists are taking a test to protect you. Staff are taking a test to protect you. Be part of the live music community: #takeatest before you attend a show

Music venues, artists and fans themselves will be asked to promote the initiative on their own social media platforms before they host, perform at or attend an event.

Free lateral flow tests can be ordered online and are available from local pharmacies or for home delivery by visiting

www.gov.uk/order-coronavirus-rapid-lateral-flow-tests

Mark Dayvd, CEO of Music Venue Trust said, “We have spoken at length to our community about reopening venues safely as restrictions are lifted, and whilst there are differing opinions on some aspects of how we will achieve this there is a consensus about asking music fans to accept personal responsibility to keep themselves and others safe. We have an opportunity through this strong, unified #takeatest messaging across the live music sector to persuade audiences to accept that responsibility and to take a lateral flow test before attending. This is a voluntary initiative that speaks to the sense of community across the grassroots live music sector. We are confident that live music fans will respond positively to this direct appeal from venues, promoters, artists and their fellow gig-goers.”

People are asked to begin using the #takeatest hashtag on their social media platforms from 11am on Monday July 19th. BLUES GIGS: FROM EXMOUTH TO EASTBOURNE AND A BIT MORE BESIDES

01/08 Junco Shakers @ The Dolphin, St Denys, Southampton, 15:00 01/08 Hugh Budden & Andy Stone @ Kings Arms, 27, High Street, Langton Matravers, BH19 3HA, 14:30 03/08 Hugh Budden & Andy Stone @ The Lord Nelson, The Quay, Poole BH15 1HJ, 20:30 04/08 Hugh Budden & The Blue Chords @ Norden Farm Campsite, Corfe Castle, Dorset BH20 5DS, 19:00 06/08 The Catfish Kings @ The Brunswick, Hove 06/08 Junco Shakers @ The Bird in Hand, Fareham, 21:00 06/08 Catfish @ Cranleigh Arts Centre, 20:00 07/08 Dennis Greaves & Mark Feltham @ The Brook, Southampton 07/08 Hugh Budden, Andy Stone & Jamie McGarrick @ Ye Olde Two Brewers Inn, 24, St. James’ St, Shaftesbury SP7 8HE, 19:30 07/08 Kevin Brown @ The Southgate Inn, Devizes, 19:00 07/08 Andy Grant Band @ The Platform Tavern, Southampton, 21:00 07/08 Nigel Bagge Band @ The Three Lions, Farncombe, 21:00 07/08 The Big Blue @ The Hare & Hounds, Framfield, 15:00 07/08 The Relics @ The Nag's Head, Lyme Regis, 20:30 08/08 Pete Harris & Jon Vaughan @ Platform Tavern, Southampton 08/08 Hugh Budden & The Blue Chords @Poole Hill Brewery, Poole Hill, Bournemouth BH2 5PW, 15:00 08/08 Me and The Devil @ The White Hart, Truro, 16:00 08/08 Andy Broad @ The George Inn, Portland, 16:30 08/08 Tim Staffell & Paul Stewart @ The Brunswick, Hove, 19:30 08/08 The Big Blue @ The Red Lion, Pevensey, 16:00 12/08 Kaboodle @ Customs House Cafe, Poole, 21:00 12/08 Harv & Hugh’s R & B Jam @ The Cricketers Arms, 12 Park Lane, Wimborne BH21 1LD, 20:30 12/08 Brixham Blues Second Thursday BBT2@ The Old Coaching Inn, Fore Street, Brixham, 20:30 13/08 Hugh Budden & The Blue Chords @ Platform Tavern, Town Quay, Southampton SO14 2NY, 21:00 13/08 Sykick Surfers @ Queen's Head, Gosport, 21:00 14/08 Stompin' Dave @ New Inn, Shipton Gorge, Bridport 14/08 Hugh Budden & The Blue Chords Unplugged @ The Kings Arms, 27, High Street, Langton Matravers BH19 3HA, 20:00 14/08 Lewis Clark @ The Southgate Inn, Devizes ,19:00 15/08 Hugh Budden & The Blue Chords @ The Lord Nelson, The Quay, Poole BH15 1HJ, 15:00 15/08 Junco Shakers @ The Taphouse, Wimborne, 16:00 19/08 Krissy Matthews Band + The Sharpeez @ The Beaverwood, Chislehurst,19:30 20/08 The Blunter Brothers @ Ropetackle Arts Centre, Shoreham, 20:00 21/08 Aynsley Lister @ Arlington Arts, Newbury 21/08 Paul Lamb & Chad Strentz @ Community Centre, Milford on Sea 21/08 Howlin' Mat @ The Southgate Inn, Devizes, 19:00 21/08 The Big Blue @ The Bricklayer's Arms, Crowborough, 21:00 26/08 Remi Banklyn & The King Bees @ The Rec Rooms, Horsham,,19:00 26/08 Dana Gillespie and The London Blues Band @ Ropetackle Arts Centre, Shoreham, 20:00 27/08 Voodoo Room @ The Hawth Studio, Crawley, 19:45 27/08 Vince Lee and The Big Combo @ The Chintz, Falmouth, 21:00 27/08 Zoe Schwarz Blue Commotion @ Chapel Arts Centre, Bath, 20:00 28/08 Not Dead Yet @ The Stables at The New Inn, Amesbury, 20:30 28/08 Pete Robson @ Acoustic Cafe, Father's House, Shaftesbury,19:30 28/08 Vince Lee and The Big Combo @ The Millbridge Inn, Plymouth, 21:00 28/08 The Relics @ The Ale House, Taunton, 20:30 28/08 Chicago 9 @ Chandler's Ford Central Club, 20:30 29/08 The Flotonics @ The Stables, New Inn, Amesbury 29/08 Zoe Schwarz & Rob Koral @ Chaplin's Bar, Bournemouth, 20:00 29/08 Vince Lee & Becca Langsford @ The Finnygook Inn, Crafthole, 21:00 30/08 Hugh Budden & The Blue Chords @ The Phelips Arms, The Borough, Montacute, Yeovil TA15 6XB, 14:30 31/08 Hugh Budden & Andy Stone @The Lord Nelson, The Quay, Poole BH15 1HJ, 20:30, 01/09 Colosseum @ Sub 89, Reading

Listings are provided as a guide only. DON’T FORGET TO CHECK THE VENUE BEFORE YOU LEAVE HOME to ensure that the gig is still on. The listing here is far from complete, so check out www.bluesinthesouth.com/gigs as that is updated all the time: Last date for inclusion here is the 10th of the preceding month - ie., 10 Jan for Feb.

Lots of venues are OPEN for music gigs

When you start getting new bookings, don’t forget to put them on the BiTS website ‘Gig Guide’. www.bluesinthesouth.com/gigs

YOU CAN ENTER THE GIGS THERE YOURSELF—IT’S VERY EASY—OR AS AN ALTERNATIVE, SEND THE INFORMATION DIRECT TO OUR GIG GUIDE MASTER Andrew Cadwell

THE BITS GIG GUIDE HAS BEEN CALLED “THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE GIG GUIDE I HAVE EVER SEEN” BY DJ AND GIGGING MUSICIAN IAN MCHUGH (Jazz FM). Tell your friends about it too and let’s get back to NORMAL! BiTS INTERVIEW: Eddie Martin

According to The Times newspaper, Eddie Martin is ‘among the UK’s foremost blues musicans’. Touring 35 countries with 15 acclaimed original albums and a string of National and International Awards and Nominations (including Winner, Best Solo Artist category in 2018 European Blues Awards) he has become known as “The Ambassador of British Blues”. Eddie’s new album “The Birdcage Sessions” has just been released. Ian McKenzie spoke to him on the telephone.

BiTS: Eddie, first of all, tell me how you’ve been affected by COVID, first of all. Has it really damaged your business?

EM: Yes, of course. Like all musicians who rely on gigging for a large part of their income, it’s been totally taken away for nearly 18 months and with gigs going, it means you’ve got less opportunity to sell your merchandise and sell your CDs. Face to face guitar lessons have gone out the window. Currently, they’ve picked up a bit by Zoom lessons. If I hadn’t qualified for the government grant, it would have been absolutely dire. I’ve been a professional musician since 1997, semi-pro for ten years before then, and this was my livelihood, so it was quite a shock.

BiTS: Are things gradually starting to creep back?

EM: Because the rules keep changing, you get used to the idea that you’re going to be resuming the work that you had in the diary and then as it gets closer, the rules change and it gets put back another month and gigs get cancelled, so it’s not really approaching normality at all. We can’t really say that that’s going to be happening for the foreseeable future because with this new upsurge in the virus and the Delta Plus waiting in the wings later on in the year, I’m pretty pessimistic, to be honest. Even if the indoor gigs happened again, it doesn’t fill me with a sense of security, the idea of doing gigs indoors with lots of people having drinks, getting drunk and being in a confined space with people with variants going on. I’m pretty pessimistic.

BiTS: I don’t blame you for being pessimistic at all. It’s been pretty awful for anybody that’s been a professional musician. I take it that you don’t have any other source of income at all?

EM: Well, I’m a professional musician and you develop income streams, so teaching, gigging, selling your CDs, so I’ve managed to carry on with some lessons. My wife’s in a similar situation because she’s a full-time artist and so all the galleries have shut. All of her work, the tap has been turned off just as quick as mine was, so what we’ve done, we’re lucky enough to have quite a big garden and we’ve built a gazebo in the garden and we’re looking to start doing open-air workshops. Workshops in our gazebo, so with the rules, it looks like we can do up to ten people. We’re going to start doing that from August because both of us can’t rely on what’s happening outside. Yeah, so it’s a bit of a shock.

BiTS: Let’s move on to something slightly more upbeat. We’ll talk about the new album. First of all, tell me why is it called “The Birdcage Sessions”? It makes it sound like a lockdown title. Is it a lockdown title?

EM: The idea was when I first started in the lockdown and I was thinking, what am I going to do? I thought I can write songs and so I carried on writing and writing and writing, and the idea initially was to write a song a week and then to do streaming concerts and play the songs and work towards an album. A song is like a little bird being set free out of a cage of lockdown, so it’s embodying the idea of freedom that we’re clinging to for the future. That was the idea, really, “The Birdcage Sessions”.

BiTS: I take it, Eddie, that all the music is yours, with the exception of ‘Amazing Grace’, of course, which is incidentally a wonderful cover. I love it very much indeed. Are all the rest of the songs yours?

EM: Yeah, that’s right. They’re all original songs. The new thing about the album, apart from the fact it’s all new songs, is that I did it in lockdown, so I did everything myself. [Chuckling] I’m a multi-instrumentalist anyway, being a one-man band, but I’ve learnt a few more instruments, so I’ve got lap steel guitar on there, mandolin, banjo. I even borrowed my son’s cello and did a couple of sounds on the cello for some of the arrangements. It’s the first album that I’ve recorded in my newly built home studio. It’s a really good studio. I’ve got really good equipment because over the years, I’ve been building it up with the intention of doing recordings at home, but never learnt how to be a sound engineer, which is a whole skill-set on its own, so with all the time in lockdown that’s what I’ve been doing and this is the first album I’ve written and recorded and played everything myself, with the exception of getting my son in on cello. He was my bubble companion on lockdown at home. He was doing his GCSEs which was a nightmare.

BiTS: Before we move on to any other songs, tell me about ‘Amazing Grace’ because it’s obviously a resonator that you’re playing, but it sounds as though there’s some sort of amplified reverb or something on it. What is the technicality of that?

EM: It’s funny you should say that because it’s actually just a resonator guitar, but as I say, I engineered it myself and what I did is I put microphones around the room. I’ve got an attic studio in my house. It’s quite a big room. It’s got a very high ceiling which is fantastic for recording studios, it means you get a really nice ambient sound, and the resonator guitar is loud, and it’s got a lot of sustain anyway, so that’s pretty well what it is. That’s what the sound is. It’s just the purely natural sound of the guitar miked up with room mikes.

BiTS: That’s what they call ambience.

EM: Yeah, a very ambient sound. One of my heroes is Blind Willie Johnson on slide guitar, and in fact, over this last year, I’ve put up a tuition video on ‘Dark was the Night, Cold was the Ground’. The famous Blind Willie Johnson track. That style of old slide guitar playing is beautiful for hymns with strong tunes and so I did the ‘Amazing Grace’ version. I actually did it as a request for a funeral of a good friend of mine. He died and I was asked to play that at the funeral and that’s partly why I thought it was quite appropriate to stick it on the album really, a lot of people have been touched by the sadness of loss over the last year and a half and so I thought it appropriate as an album from this time to give a little musical space for people to reflect on anybody they knew that they’ve lost over the last year and a half. That’s how I came up with the arrangement to start with.

BiTS: The reference to Blind Willie Johnson actually answers one of my questions that I had for you and that was why it starts off in the lower register because that was a lot of what Blind Willie did. Most people start to play ‘Amazing Grace’ in the higher register, but you leave it until the end.

EM: [Chuckling] I didn’t realise that. It might be a Blind Willie Johnson thing, but it’s funny, it’s just how I hear the tune, but interesting. You’re right. It could start higher.

BiTS: Tell me about some of the other songs. Do you have a favourite?

EM: One of the things about doing a recording on your own, it’s like the era of record companies just giving their signees an unlimited time in the studio just to spend the next two years on a track. Of course, it’s all changed now. Everything has got so time and money-oriented that you’re lucky to get a couple of days in the studio from some recording contracts, but recording at home meant that I had a long, long time dawdling over all of these songs and trying different ideas and trying different arrangements, so I’m very attached to all of these songs because I’ve lived them for about nine months, some of them. And even longer, others.

BiTS: Somebody said to me recently, they’re all my babies.

EM: Yeah, that’s right. They are. They’re all your babies, exactly right. I think the ones that I did for the single, ‘Before We Wake Up’, I’m particularly pleased with that one. That was kind of an experimental arrangement, and all the songs start off pretty usually anyway, with blues guitar techniques, whether it be old slide or old fingerpicking and usually pre-war influences on the guitar playing, with the exception of the one electric guitar part in ‘I Long for a Sail’ which is pretty blues- rock. That was an experiment in trying to do blues-rock without the band [chuckles] and I’ve got clapping on there to fill in the gap from the drummer, but apart from that one, they’re all old style. I was very conscious in my role as a producer on the album, it’s very easy to bore people if it’s just one person making the music all the way through, and I know this from listening to a load of albums of solo artists before. People who play all the instruments and doing the whole lot, it gets wearing, so I’d been consciously making all the arrangements as varied as possible on this album, so there’s stripped-down just me and a guitar songs.

BiTS: Do I hear a banjo on a couple of tracks, or is it just my ears?

EM: [Chuckling] There was a banjo on the ‘The River Song’, that’s right and mandolin on ‘Happy Broke and Free’ as well. There’s quite a few instruments on there.

BiTS: Eddie, tell me a bit more about the title that intrigues me most of all, that is ‘I Long for a Sail’. It sounds as though you’re a frustrated sailor not able to go out on a yacht.

EM: [Chuckles] Yeah, it’s a bit more metaphorical than that, really. It’s basically just the feeling of compassion for people out there who are suffering more than you and you just long to make things better for them. ‘I long for a sail in a clear blue sea to take the wounded away to sanctuary’, is the first verse. It’s basically just looking at the idea of looking out to sea and just wishing that you could wrap up all the people suffering and take them somewhere better. It’s that idea, really. The last verse is that we all might have these feelings, but we just have to carry on doing what we can and unfortunately, we can’t really solve a lot of the problems of the world, but it doesn’t stop us feeling the need to try.

BiTS: I take it that you haven’t ever gigged any of these songs yet, or are you starting to do that now?

EM: I have had a couple of gigs actually where Eddie Martin (and Big Red Radio) "Ingolstadt" they’ve got their act together in terms of meeting the rules and the local venue here in Frome is a great venue called the Cheese and Grain, a big touring venue and I just did a gig there two weeks ago. That was the launch gig of the album, yeah, I managed to do that. I’ve got a big son as well, my 15-year-old who I live with, but my big son lives in Bristol, and he’s got a recording studio and he’s out there as a recording engineer once again when the gigs are available. He mixed the album for me in his studio and then he did the sound in the Frome gig, so that was a nice little family affair.

BiTS: Tell me about ‘Kitchen Boogie’ Eddie. It sounds as though you might have been wandering around the house and just started playing in the kitchen [chuckling].

EM: [Chuckling] Yeah, it’s funny that. You look back over the year and there are times when it’s not all down. We’ve had some lovely times in our house. If you’re lucky enough to have a good home atmosphere and good relationships at home and maybe a bit of space and a garden, you’re one of the lucky ones in terms of your lockdown circumstances and we’ve had that. ‘Kitchen Boogie’, we regularly dance around the kitchen on Saturday morning and Sunday morning, so that was what the song was all about, really. It’s really just me jamming a blues shuffle on guitar and harmonica, but when I hear it back, it always reminds me of Snooks Eaglin, actually. I loved Snooks Eaglin’s playing going right back when I first started getting into acoustic blues and hearing new names and it’s a bit of a Snooks Eaglin quality about that, I think.

BiTS: Some time ago, Eddie, you did an album with a big-ish band. Have you got any plans to do something like that again when things get back to normal because I thought it was a fabulous album?

EM: Thank you very much. You never say no in music, especially me, because I’m always getting bored with one particular line of doing my music and then exploring and bouncing off into another direction and trying different things. But I think I am pretty well enjoying the simplicity of being a bandleader of just one person [laughing] for the time being.

BiTS: You don’t get band arguments, do you if it’s just you?

EM: It’s true. I’m lucky in that I’ve always had really lovely people I’ve played with. They’re all really good musicians and really good people and we’ve never had any arguments in the bands I’ve been in. They’re all great guys, but it is complicated to be a bandleader and I’ve done it for 30 years and I do enjoy not having to chase everything up for rehearsals and worry about all the travel arrangements and so on for lots of people. The number of times we’ve turned up at the ferry to do a tour around Europe and one of the band members has left his passport behind [chuckling]. These sort of stresses or band members who go through security drunk or something and you’re the bandleader and you have to carry all the responsibility of these delinquent families sometimes. I don’t miss not having to do that at the moment. Snooks Eaglin c. 1987

BiTS: You said, Eddie, when we first started talking that you’d planned to write an entire album with a song a week. I’m not sure how close you got to that, but there are 14 tracks on this album, and you’ve clearly done a lot of song writing. When you went to start recording it was everything done, or did you have to add tracks or do anything else to get things up to your standard?

EM: Yeah, I had to work really hard on this one for a long, long time. Some of the songs took a long time to sound good. I thought they just don’t sound right yet, so I worked very hard. I’ve probably worked longer and harder on this album than any of the other albums that I’ve recorded and not just because I had to learn how to be a sound engineer, but it’s just because I didn’t want to let it go until I was happy with it. Usually, there’s time constraints or release date constraints where you’ve got to get it out by a certain time and because I didn’t have that really this time around, it’s taken me longer to make this album than any other one, and in many ways, although I’m too close to it to be very objective, I’m happier with it than all of my albums really.

BiTS: I take it the whole thing was produced by you. Did you do the mastering as well, or do you have somebody else do the mastering?

EM: No, I’ve got a bit of a dream team when it comes to mixing and mastering. The guy that did the mastering has mastered my last couple of albums and I’m so glad I discovered him. His name is Ben Macintyre and he’s got a company called Lucid Audio, but he’s a big-time mastering engineer of Van Morrison, Sting. He’s done lots of great albums and he is a marvel. One of the things that I like about this album is the overall sound that he helped me get, which is a very warm and full sound. It’s difficult when you’ve just got one person doing all the music side of it to get that and it’s all through digital equipment really. It’s not old school valve technology. He’s done a fantastic job.

BiTS: I think I agree with you entirely about the warm sound. It’s absolutely wonderful. I loved the album. I’m giving it some airplay very shortly. I’ve only just got it on my computer, and it will be amongst my favourites, certainly for this year, anyway. Eddie, I won’t take any more of your time. Thank you very much indeed for talking to me. I hope everything starts to smooth out before very long.

EM: Thanks very much. Good to hear. Thanks, Ian. All the best.

. BiTS INTERVIEW: Halley DeVestern The Halley DeVestern Band is a high-energy Blues Funk Roots Rock band from New York City featuring ex members of Roger Waters, Shawn Mullins, Deni Bonet, and more. They have toured nationally and internationally, had a #1 song on the prestigious Roots Music Report (keeping company with The Tedeschi-Trucks Band, Norah Jones and the like) and were in the running for the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. Ian McKenzie spoke to Halley on the telephone at her home in New York city.

BiTS: Tell me something about your early life, where you started, where were you born and that sort of thing?

HD: I was born in Manhattan. I lived most of my life on Long Island early on. I was born in 1963, so I’m up in there in age and I studied acting. I went to acting school for college and I got into music around that era, and I came late to music because I was focused on acting mostly, and that’s about it.

BiTS: Your college degree was from the University College of Fine Arts. Is that the one in Boston?

HD: Yes, Boston University.

BiTS: What did the course involve? Was it acting or did you do singing and dancing and that sort of thing? Was it everything?

HD: It was just acting. I got a degree, a Bachelor in Fine Arts—a BFA—in acting.

BiTS: I’ve done a bit of research in preparation for this chat. I see that you’ve done some voiceover work as well. Are you still doing that?

HD: Yes, I am. It’s something that’s easy to do from home, so I’m doing a lot of that and with COVID and everything it’s safer than going out on a set and doing a movie shoot or a commercial shoot.

BiTS: You, at some stage, were fronting with the Janis Joplin band, Big Brother and the Holding Company. How did that come about? Did you do auditions for it? Were you in competition with other people?

HD: No, what happened was I applied for a spot in the Lilith Fair competition to perform at Lilith Fair and it happened to be run by an assistant to Ron Delsener, who was a big concert promoter here in New York. His assistant played my demo for him, and he liked me so much that I met with him, which was very exciting, and he said I want to do something with you, but I don’t know quite what to do, but I know that Big Brother and the Holding Company is looking for a singer for their East Coast tour. I hooked up with them. He sent them my demo and they liked it so much that they hired me on the spot. We didn’t do any rehearsals, they just sent me recordings to learn the songs and we met up in Indianapolis and did the first gig there without rehearsal and it went great. It was like a dream come true because I’ve enjoyed their music since early childhood. My older siblings had their albums, and it was really exciting.

BiTS: The first gig in Indianapolis must have been terrifying if you had never done the songs before?

HD: Yeah, I was a little nervous, but I carried it off and they were very pleased. My voice is very much like hers with the phrasing and everything – it’s less growley, but it was something that I was born to do, I guess.

BiTS: Did you have a favourite song from the set that you did that Janis Janis Joplin used to do?

HD: I loved doing ‘Ball and Chain’ because it’s a very emotional song and you really have to sing your guts out with it and that was my favourite one. It was a real showstopper. Always brought down the house.

BiTS: How long were you working with this band?

HD: We did the East Coast tour for a few months and then I came back and did another tour with them out in Western New York. It was just a couple of tours, but it was very exciting.

BiTS: I know that there is a Janis Joplin stage show. That’s nothing to do with what you were doing, though?

HD: No, that was a separate thing.

BiTS: Let’s move on to what you’re doing now, The Halley DeVestern Band, which I happen to think is absolutely terrific. Tell me how you got together and how you formed the band in the first place.

HD: I met my husband when we were doing a benefit together and he became my bass player as well as my husband, and we got together with our drummer Rich Kulsar and our guitarist David Patterson and our newer guitarist Steve Jarvis by word of mouth. Who would be a good person for this band and through recommendation we got together, and we’ve been together since 2006? That’s basically how it happened, just word of mouth, who’s available, who’s good?

BiTS: This new album that you’ve got out under the band’s name is not the first. How many have you done with the band so far?

HD: This will be our fourth album together. I’ve done other albums with a different band. Maybe three albums with other bands. BiTS: Tell me about the band. How did you acquire the musicians? Did you audition for them, or were they recommended, or what?

HD: They were just recommended. We didn’t do any auditions. It was just word of mouth – who was good, who can do it. Auditions are kind of funny. It’s not something I enjoy doing. I’d rather just get together and see who’s good.

BiTS: Do you do a lot of rehearsal?

HD: Not lately because of COVID. We haven’t been getting together as often as we’d like. In fact, we haven’t rehearsed in about a year since COVID hit.

BiTS: Did you have a lot of gigs cancelled when COVID started?

HD: We had some gigs cancelled, not a lot. It put a dent in what we could do in terms of touring. One of our guitarists, his partner is in the high-risk category, so he isn’t able to come out and do a lot. We had some gigs cancelled, but we didn’t have a lot in the hopper.

BiTS: Do you do your own booking at the moment or have you got a management agency?

HD: I do my own bookings, which can be difficult.

BiTS: Are they starting to creep back, or not?

HD: Well, yes and no. Some places are opening up. Some places are remaining closed and there are people touring now, but it’s slow coming back because a lot of things have to be outdoors and with the summer coming, I’m sure there’ll be more opportunities for outdoor gigs.

BiTS: Tell me something about the new album. First of all, why is it titled as it is? Why is it called “Money Ain’t Time”? What was the idea of that?

HD: One of our songs is called ‘Money Ain’t Time’ and basically the philosophy is that you don’t have a lot of time on this Earth, so make the best of it and don’t worry so much about earning money because no matter how much money you have, you still can’t cheat death. That’s what that was about, and I think it also harkens to the COVID situation. Like I said, you don’t have a lot of time on this Earth, so make the best of it. That’s basically it.

BiTS: You referred earlier on to your husband being the bass player in the band. What’s his name, please?

HD: Thomas Heinig. BiTS: There’s pictures of all of the band on the front of the album drawn by somebody, a colleague or a friend, I guess?

HD: Yeah, it’s an artist that I hire by the name of Les Toil, and he is famous for doing pin-up paintings of plus-size women. He’s done a couple of our album covers prior to this and he’s just terrific. He’s very creative and we had the idea of making this album cover a tribute to Salvador Dali.

BiTS: Yes indeed. The Persistence of Memory, all the melted watches and all the rest of it. Do I take it that the images on the cover are accurate of people in the band?

HD: Yes.

BiTS: They look like them, do they?

HD: Yes, they do.

BiTS: But I guess you don’t really have a pink poodle.

HD: No, I don’t have a pink poodle [laughs]. I have two cats. No pink poodle.

BiTS: [Laughing] A bit of artistic licence.

HD: Yes.

BiTS: Tell me about making the record. It was done live in a gig, yes?

HD: Yes, it was a gig we did out in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, a couple of years ago at this place called the Studio Winery. It’s also a recording studio, so the proprietor just hit the record button when we started the gig, and unfortunately, he forgot to hit the record button for the second set, so this is just pieces of the first set and it’s a gig that we’ve done before. They really like us there and we have great audiences there, so we thought it would be a good thing to look into in terms of putting it out as an album. Steve Jarvis, one of our guitarists, who’s also kind of our de facto producer, took the recordings and zhooshed them up and balanced it out and made radio-friendly.

BiTS: There is a fabulous version, in my opinion, of ‘Stormy Monday’ on the album. It particularly relates to me because the name of one of my blues radio programmes is Wednesday’s Even Worse, which of course, is a line taken from that song. Is that one of your favourite blues?

HD: Yeah, definitely. I love that song. I love performing it. It also helps to showcase the guitarist, which is good and it’s a song that I’ve done with other bands, and I just really like it.

BiTS: What is it about the blues that attracts you, Halley?

HD: Well, it’s a very easy song form to play with because it’s based on 1-4-5. It really speaks to my vocal strengths and it’s something you can do forever. It’s not necessarily for the young crowd, although the young crowd do like it, but as I get older, I find that it’s a comforting song form and it just feels good to carry on the history of this great song form, although we’re not strictly a blues band. We do tend to be blues-inspired and it’s just good to carry on a purely American song form, and I’m proud to do it.

BiTS: Are you acting while you’re singing? I guess that when you were doing Janis Joplin songs, it was almost impossible to avoid doing some of her moves and that sort of thing.

HD: The acting training that I’ve had definitely served me when I’m singing on stage. Reading the audience and putting some interesting emotional content in the song and just having a stage presence. Just being able to keep the audience’s attention, so I do do a bit of acting while I’m on stage singing.

BiTS: Do you have a favourite track on the album? A song that is a favourite of yours.

HD: Well, I like the title track ‘Money Ain’t Time’ the best, I think because that’s a showstopper and it’s always fun to sing. It’s a very emotional song and that harkens back to whether I act while I’m on the stage, which I guess I do, especially when I sing that song because it’s so emotionally charged. That would be my favourite song.

BiTS: I’m not going to take any more of your time, I’ve just got one more question to ask you and that is that I’m intrigued with your last name, DeVestern. Where does that come from? ‘Money Ain’t Time’ — Halley DeVestern Band HD: Well, it’s a funny story. The original name was Vestern and one of my ancestors in the distant past, his name was Harry Deteria Vestern and he decided to change it to Harry De Vestern. I’m not sure why. This was actually somebody who fought in the Civil War, who was a replacement fighter when they started the draft during the Civil War. If you had the money, you could get out of it and pay someone to take your place and my ancestor was somebody who took someone’s place. I’m not sure where the original Vestern comes from, but that’s how it became DeVestern.

BiTS: Okay, Thank you very much for that. Just one final question that’s just popped into my head. How long before you’ve got a gig coming up? Is it some time still?

HD: Yeah, we don’t have any gigs booked right now, unfortunately, so we’re just trying to write songs and figure out how to get back together and it’s tough because our other band mates have pretty heavy schedules. They teach as well as play, so maybe when the summer comes, we’ll have more things on the board.

BiTS: Fingers crossed that it all opens up a bit more in the fairly near future. Halley, I won’t take any more of your time, I’ve said that three times already and then gone on! Thank you very much indeed for talking to me. You have a wonderful day.

HD: Bye. Blues Boys A Long Way From Home

By

Jim Simpson Extracted from Henry's Bluesletter #61 with permission

A remarkable number of important Black American bluesmen, as well as jazz musicians, singers and dancers, left the U.S. and made their home in Europe, most of them staying for the rest of their lives. Memphis Slim, Mickey Baker and Willie Mabon graced the city of Paris for many a year. Howard McCrary chose Birmingham, albeit it for a far-too-brief 18 months, and Little Willie Littlefield made Holland his home, as did former Jelly Roll Morton, Earl Hines and Tommy Dorsey drummer, Chicagoan Wallace Bishop. But they were not alone...

CHAMPION JACK DUPREE

I first met Champion Jack Dupree around 1964 when I put on what I laughingly called a Blues Festival with him, Buddy Guy and The Lone Cat Jesse Fuller at Birmingham’s College of Advanced Technology, now Aston University. I couldn’t quite understand why this legendary two-fisted blues and boogie piano giant lived in Halifax.

He explained in a BBC Radio 4 interview, “I was tired of living in America. I came to England and met my wife. She’s English, this is her home, so this is my home and I enjoy it. Now I’m English too that’s why I love this place.”

William Thomas Dupree was born in Irish Channel, New Orleans, probably in 1910. His father was from the Belgian Congo, his mother part-Cherokee, part African American. Those early years are a little misty.

Some records say that he was orphaned at the age of eight, others, including Jack himself, say that his parents died in a fire at their home, murdered by the Ku Klux Klan. What is for sure is that as a child he spent many years in the very same Colored Waifs Home in New Orleans that at the same time housed Louis Armstrong. Jack learned piano from Willie Hall, who was known as Drive ‘Em Down and who Jack called Father.

He left the home at the age of 14, starting playing and singing in barrelhouses as well as working as a Spy Boy—does anyone know exactly what this was?—for the Yellow Pocahontas tribe of Mardi Gras Indians. Dupree moved up to Chicago, then Indianapolis playing with Scrapper Blackwell and Leroy Carr, doubling up by working as a cook. Moving to Detroit, he met up with the most famous boxer of that era, The Brown Bomber, Joe Louis, who inspired him to take up boxing as a professional. In the years 1932 to 1940, Jack went on to fight 107 bouts, winning a bunch of other prizes including a Golden Gloves and acquiring his soubriquet, “Champion”.

By the time he was 30 he was back in Chicago, working with Tampa Red and Big Bill Broonzy and recording for Lester Melrose, who of course appropriated many of Jack's song copyrights. Along came World War II, Jack joined the U.S. Navy, served from 1941 to 1945 in the Pacific as a cook, was captured by the Japanese and spent two years in a prisoner of war camp.

Post-war, he enjoyed a commercial success with his “Walkin’ the Blues” which led to better gigs, a European tour and a 1959 performance at London School of Economics with Alexis Korner.

The following year Jack upped sticks, settling first in Zurich, Switzerland, before making his home in West Yorkshire where he married a girl from Halifax, Shirley Ann Harrison, whom he had met in London.

When Henry’s Blueshouse opened in 1968, unsurprisingly, the name Champion Jack Dupree was one of the first on the datesheet, and apart from Black Sabbath, he probably clocked up the greatest number of appearances there. Those that remember the early Henry’s will know that most of the audience simply sat on the floor and probably chuckle at the memory that every time anyone got up to go get a drink, Jack would stop mid-song and call out, “Mine’s a pint of lager.”

Sadly, he and Shirley divorced in 1976 and he moved to Copenhagen, then Zurich and finally Hanover where he died of cancer aged 81 in 1992. As well as his fine singing and piano-playing, Jack was a terrific entertainer – and also a dancer. He sometimes recorded as Harelip Jack Dupree and he also worked occasionally as Meathead Jones.

CURTIS JONES

Early in the 1970s, pianist/singer Curtis Jones was set to appear at Henry’s Blueshouse. We were all agog with excitement at the prospect of seeing and listening to this enigmatic blues legend close up.

Our only previous experience of hearing him live was on the Lippmann and Rau American Folk Blues Festival of 1968 which was filmed by the BBC—I hope that is still safe in the archive. On the afternoon of the scheduled gig, Curtis phoned me, sounding relaxed and ready to chat.

I asked where he was, and he told me cheerily, that he was in Houston, which completely floored me. I was beginning to get accustomed to the often eccentric behaviour of some of the bluesmen, but to be back in Texas when he was due to be on stage in Birmingham in a few hours times was a bit extreme.

I asked him, probably not over-politely what he was doing in Houston, to which he responded that he was waiting for a train. The truth slowly dawned on me, that he was maybe at Euston Station, on the way to Brum.

I asked him if he meant Euston, and he responded, clearly becoming exasperated by this dumb Englishman, “Yes man, Houston. Houston Station, London.”

He arrived at New Street Station, guitar case in one hand, suitcase in the other with a couple of suits on a coat hanger hooked over the back of his collar. He told me that he wasn’t actually living anywhere at the time, just hoboing from gig to gig, city to city, carrying with him all of his worldly possessions.

Curtis Jones was born in Naples, Texas, in 1906, one of seven children of farmers Willie and Agnes. Raised on a farm, he worked from the age of eight, learned guitar when he was ten and in his mid- teens formed his own group to play Vaudeville shows. He ran away from home at 16, often working outside of music, and serving a short prison sentence for bootlegging.

In 1925 he recorded with Papa Chitlins, a pseudonym of Alex Moore but, as far as anyone can tell, the record remains to this day unreleased. Curtis was always on the move, to Dallas, through the South, spending some time in New Orleans, somewhere along the way getting married twice to Lula, known as Lulu, and then to Bertha, both sometime in the 1930s, before fetching up in Chicago. There he recorded what was to become his signature tune, ‘Lonesome Bedroom Blues’, for Vocalion in 1937. This not only became a hit, but is now a blues standard, still in the repertoire of many bluesmen.

He was subsequently to cut sides for Okeh, but seemed to take a break from recording for 10 years until 1952, when he recorded for Parrot, then Prestige/Bluesville and Delmark. In 1958 he was discovered by Blues enthusiasts living in a run-down apartment in Chicago. Reportedly, they helped him out and put him back on the road.

Curtis moved to Europe in 1962, first settling in France, notably featuring at The Trois Mailletz in Paris. He continued to tour through the continent and Morocco where he took a residency at The Basin Street Bar in Casablanca. In England he recorded for Decca and Blue Horizon and appeared in 1963 with the Chris Barber Band.

There must have been something in the make-up of Curtis Jones that gave him itchy feet. It appears that he continued to hobo through Europe until his death of heart failure in 1971 at The Schwabinger Krankenhaus hospital in Munich. He was buried in the Friedhof am Perlacher Forst Cemetery, but as he had died in penury and no-one had paid for the upkeep of his grave, it was sold off in 1979.

A lot of folk in Birmingham fondly recall this fine, under-appreciated musician whom blues authority Paul Oliver described as “The bluesman’s blues singer.”

GENE “THE MIGHTY FLEA” CONNERS

When the Johnny Otis Show came to the UK in 1972, I got to hang out with them while they rehearsed at The 100 Club in London, and found myself chumming up with the trombone player, The Mighty Flea, otherwise known as Gene Connors, or, as on his passport, Eugene Conners. Flea was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1930, reportedly played with New Orleans legend Papa Celestin when he was 11 years old and with territory bands as a teenager before joining the U.S. Navy during the Korean War.

During the 1950s Flea really came to be a force to be reckoned with, joining the sensational Johnny Otis Show, leaving to feature with the Ray Charles Orchestra, then with Dinah Washington before returning to the Otis show in time to feature his terrific playing in the Clint Eastwood movie, “Play Misty for Me”. The Monterey Jazz Festival sequence (left) is a killer. As Clint wanders amiably through the crowd, the Otis Band rocks everybody into bad health with the Flea feature, “Preacher’s Blues”. A visibly impressed Johnny Otis announces “That was triple- tonguing, baby, The Mighty Flea. Let’s give his tongue a big hand!”

By the time the Otis show reached the 100 Club, Flea wasn’t quite showing Otis quite the respect he should have, according to his bandleader, and there had been a couple of squabbles. On the second rehearsal day, Flea insisted we stay in the Green Man for another taste while the rest of the musicians returned to the rehearsal. When we did get back to the 100 Club, Johnny Otis was not at all pleased and proceeded to give Flea a tongue-lashing, which in the circumstances was probably unwise.

A small, fiercely proud man, Flea did not take kindly at being bawled at in front of the band, particularly the girls, vocal groups The Three Tons of Joy and The Otisettes. Tiring of the situation, Flea packed away his trombone, told Otis that he was quitting, and instructed me to follow him, only pausing long enough to yell, “Otis. Go get yourself a restaurant like all them other Greeks.”

Outside, on Oxford Street, Flea displayed a typically American lack of knowledge of UK’s geography by saying, “You live here. Call a cab, let’s go home”.

Back in Birmingham, he stayed with me a few days before moving to France to live with a girl he had met on tour. We stayed very much in touch and I produced his Big Bear album, “Let the Good Times Roll”, which also featured Mickey Baker with a largely Brummie team: Mike Burney, Bob Hall, Graham Gallery and Pete York.

Flea continued to be a star turn. We later recorded his “Boogie Down Wit’ The Boogie Man” with Birmingham soul funk band Muscles and in 1995 he guested on the King Pleasure & The Biscuit Boys album "Blues & Rhythm Revue Volume One", along with Charles Brown, Val Wiseman and Howard McCrary. He always claimed that his vocal on "So Tired" was the best he ever did.

Flea was a regular for many years at The Birmingham Jazz Festival where he was always a great attraction. In the meantime, where he lived depended on where his current squeeze lived, following his heart from France to Copenhagen and finally to Germany. He stayed there until returning to the States to live in Arizona, where he died of lung cancer in 2010. He was 79 years old.

Jim Simpson Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype, called The Log, served as inspiration for the Gibson Les Paul. Paul taught himself how to play guitar, and was also the inventor of the harmonica neck-rack (and multi-track recording). An early example of the rack is seen here. Today’s design follows this. Blues & Boogie Festival at The Carrington, Bournemouth 10th - 13th September 2021 With lockdown restrictions due to be lifted on 21st June, we are taking bookings for this fabulous event! • Lightnin’ Willie & The Poorboys (USA), TBC • Ricky Cool & The In-Crowd, • Boogaloo Blues All-Stars, • The Spikedrivers, • Bad Influence, • Robin Bibi Big Band • Hugh Budden & The Blue Chords, • Jason Stretch

Book the Blues & Boogie Festival and you get to go to the Rock 'n' Roll festival FREE of charge! That's TWO festivals for the price of ONE! Click here for details of the RNR Festival. Full booking details are on our website together with a link to pay the deposit by card, as well as details for paying by cheque or bank transfer. Blues Weekend at Norton Val Cowell Grange, IOW 8th - 11th- October 2021 One of our favourite venues for its excellent location on the Isle of Wight, the superb food and the cosy chalets. This will be our twenty-fifth year. To celebrate, we've booked many Boogaloo favourites, some of whom have been with us from the start! • Blues 'Super Group' featuring Val Cowell, Jess Hayes and more... • Cry Baby & The Hoochie Coochie Boys • The Cadillac Kings • Guy Tortora Band • Angelina (of 'JC & Angelina'!) • The Black Cat Blues Band • Stompin' Dave & Earl Jackson • Late night jam sessions run by The Black Cat Blues Jam (all the way from the IOW!) • MC/DJ: Earl Jackson To book, go to Warner's website, and don't forget to quote code RNB21. Blues Weekend at The Heathlands, Bournemouth

3rd - 6th December 2021

We're looking forward to this special weekend in the intimate atmosphere of The Heathlands. We love this hotel for its quirkiness and great atmosphere. We also love the late bars, the happy hours and the bacon butties at midnight! Great value at just £239 per person including all the music, three nights accommodation, dinner and breakfast.

• Greg Coulson Big Band,

• Big Dez (France)

• Papa George Band

• Eddie Angel Blues Band

• Frankie Connolly Band

• Shufflepack

• El Mondo Combo

• Late night jam sessions hosted by Robin Bibi

• Acoustic blues sessions

• MC/DJ: Earl Jackon

Full booking details here.

Gigs in the BiTS area circled DAVE ALVIN – RARE MUSINGS By Lawrence Lebo

Grammy winning Roots artist Dave Alvin is an American treasure. Mr. Alvin and I hail from neighbouring blue-collar towns in the suburbs of Los Angeles, and thus we have travelled in neighbouring musical circles. Dave and his famous older brother Phil grew up in Downey, California (home of the pop star duo The Carpenters), during a time when middle-class America was still strong and thriving. That experience has fuelled his artistic voice in ways that most Americans can immediately relate to. Dave Alvin tells their stories. He invokes musical nostalgia … longings for the good ol’ days and simpler times. And he’s been doing it for over 40 years!

Dave’s latest release Songs From An Old Guitar: Rare and Unreleased Recordings pays homage to the songs and artists that inspire him. The global pandemic created the opportunity for Dave to go back through his unreleased recordings and choose the songs he recorded for the pure pleasure of playing that song, and for the pure pleasure of recording music. Now that pleasure is all ours to enjoy. The majority of the 16 tracks cover other roots artists (Chris Smither’s 'Link of Chain', Bob Dylan’s 'Highway 61 Revisited', Doug Sahm’s 'Dynamite Woman', Bo Carter’s 'Who Been Here', Marty Robbins 'Who Walks Among Us', Willie Dixon’s 'Peace', Bill Morrisey’s 'Inside', Peter Case’s 'On The Way Downtown', Lillian Armstrong’s 'Perdido Street Blues', Mickey Newbury’s 'Mobile Blue', Link Davis’s 'Albuquerque', Robert Lee McDill’s 'Amanda', a variation on Earl Hooker’s 'Guitar Rhumba’). New material includes; 'Krazy and Ignatz', 'Beautiful City ‘Cross The River', and 'Signal Hill Blues’. Each track brings together Dave’s favourite musicians with whom to create music (Seems that Dave and I have the same taste in drummers, as we have both done some playing and recording with Steve Mugalian)! The album is a guitar slinger’s tribute to the instrument, both through Dave’s interpretations and through the contributions of his many prestigious guest players. In addition, Dave’s rich baritone vocals and the album’s production imbue a warmth and intimacy that convinces the listener Dave is right there in the room, singing just to you. What’s not to love?! I asked Dave Alvin to tell us about his life, career and his latest release Songs From An Old Guitar: Rare and Unreleased Recordings. This is what he told me …… LL: Could you paint us a picture of growing up in your family in Downey, CA, in the 60’s? DA: My family were sort of oddballs in Downey. My father was a union organizer for the Steelworkers Union but, in those distant days, Downey was a very, very conservative area so my family kind of stuck out politically. But, unlike today, everyone got along more or less despite these differences. My brother Phil and I also were kind of oddballs because we were seriously interested in older music like blues, jazz, rockabilly, etc., that weren't the normal Top 40 or FM Rock tastes of the day. Through in the late 50s to the early 70s, growing up on the southeast side of Los Angeles County was sort of a musical cornucopia. That is if you wanted it to be. Most folks and kids had little idea how much music there was around them, especially roots music. Phil and I (along with the other guys who would later become The Blasters) started sneaking into and hanging out at local bars. One example was back then we could see and hear the great blues/boogie-woogie pianist Lloyd Glenn playing at a lounge in a restaurant called Marmac's two blocks from our house. Lloyd had played on the great 40s/50s recordings of T-Bone Walker and Lowell Fulson, plus he produced the early records by Ray Charles as well as having his own hits on the Swingtime label in the early 50s. He was an extremely patient and kind man who taught our pianist, the late Gene Taylor, a lot about boogie-woogie piano playing. Most Downey folks getting drunk in the lounge just took him and his talents for granted but we knew who he was, how great and important he was so we never did. He was a huge influence on us. There were also lots of bars where you could hear swing era cats like Al Morgan and Buddy Banks, who had played with Fats Waller and Count Basie years before, or the great blues pianist Joe Liggins, the man who wrote ‘The Honeydripper’ and ‘Pink Champagne’ back in the 40s. Of course, Phil would get up and sing with all of them. Haha! There were old style country and western honky-tonks as well, like The Tumbleweeds in nearby Bell Gardens, where we could see brilliant country singers like Wynn Stewart plus there Karen Carpenter were neighbourhood Mexican bars where we could hear fantastic accordion groups. So, the area around Downey had a lot to offer musically if you knew where to look and, fortunately, we did. LL: So, every holiday season my family would get in the car and drive from Whittier over to Downey to join the line of cars driving by The Carpenters house, to see their spectacular animated Christmas lawn decorations … and The Carpenters van parked out front! Did your family do that?! Did growing up in the same town as these huge pop stars influence you in any way? DA: Haha! No, we didn't, but I can understand the appeal of doing that. I never cared for The Carpenters. None of my teenage pals liked them although my parents and their friends loved Karen’s voice. They were the hometown celebrities, though, so they were truly beloved by some in Downey and mildly hated by others. It wasn't until later in life, when I was older and wiser, that I came to appreciate Karen's soulful voice and what a role model she was to a lot of young women whether they were musicians or not. I also came to understand the tragic mental and physical pain and anguish she suffered with all of her life. Musically, I would have dug seeing her step out of the middle of the road, musical spider web that The Carpenters had her artistically trapped in. Sadly, that was never to be. LL: When did you start to play music? Self-taught or did you study? Influences? DA: Well, I took some tenor saxophone lessons from our friend and mentor, the great New Orleans sax man, Lee Allen. I wasn't very good at it though and he eventually gently told me that "Maybe saxophone is not your instrument, David." Haha! My brother Phil always had a teenage blues band going so I'd hang around as they practiced in the garage, staring at the fingers of the various guitar players who passed through his combo and then, when they'd leave to take a break, I'd grab their guitars and try to duplicate what they had just played. Phil and I also hung around a club called the Ash Grove (about 22 miles from Downey) where we would see T-Bone Walker, Johnny Guitar Watson, Earl Hooker, Freddie King, Buddy Guy, etc. The next day I'd pick up my brother's old Epiphone guitar and try to recreate what I heard those masters play the night before. I really didn't try to seriously play guitar until I was 17 or 18 years old though. There were just too many brilliant guitarists in our hometown so playing guitar seemed impossible to me. It still does in some ways. Haha! LL: Please tell us about some of the bands you’ve played in. How’d you come to be a part of them? DA: There've so many that it's difficult to go into them all. My brother and I put together The Blasters in 1979 to play the blues, R&B, and rockabilly music we loved. It was a lot of fun for a few years until it wasn't fun anymore. After The Blasters, John Doe and Exene from the classic punk rock band X, asked me to join X after their guitarist Billy Zoom had left the band. John and I had already played together in a voodoo/swamp/art/punk- jazz band called The Flesh Eaters as well as in the folk/country outfit, The Knitters, so joining X was a good fit for me for a while. I eventually missed playing my kind of roots music, so I left X and started my solo career to get back to the sort of blues/folk inspired music that I love. That's what I've done ever since. LL: Some of your songs have been recorded by other artists. What are some of your favourite “Dave Alvin” covers? DA: I honestly don't have a favourite cover version of one my songs. I'm just truly touched when anyone sings one of my songs, Whether it's Los Lobos, Buckwheat Zydeco, Dwight Yoakam, James McMurtry or Joe Ely, I'm honoured that they would like them enough to cover them. I do have to say, though, that having one of my favourite singers, Little Milton record a song I wrote with Ric Estrin (of The Nightcats) called ‘Never Trust A Woman’, and, well, to hear Little Milton sing one of my songs still blows me away. LL: Let’s talk guitars! Which guitar(s) and amp are you currently in love with playing? DA: It all depends. I don't have a huge guitar collection like some folks do. For the recording studio, I use my trusted 1964 Stratocaster and an early 90s Fender re- issue of an early 60s Vibro-Verb amp and those two tend to work for whatever musical style I'm playing in. For live electric gigs, I have an exact copy of my 64 Strat that I play through a 71 Fender Twin Reverb amp. The combination of those two will blow your head off so they're quite effective at shows. I also have a gorgeous 1934 National Duolian Steel Bodied guitar that I record with as well as a 1954 Martin D-18 that I use in the studio. For live acoustic performances I play an early 2000s Martin DC Aura. It's an amazing guitar that Martin sadly no longer makes for whatever silly reason. LL: There must be some great stories behind the making of the tracks on your latest release From An Old Guitar: Rare and Unreleased Recordings. Could you pick a few tracks that stand out in your mind and give us the skinny? DA: Well, I'm proud of everything on the album but I'm particularly proud of the covers of Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, Willie Dixon's Peace and the Earl Hooker's instrumental that I called ‘Variations On Earl Hooker's Guitar Rumba’. The track that I really get a kick out of, though, is a version Lil' Hardin Armstrong's 1920s, viper blues vamp ‘Perdido Street Blues’. I've dug that instrumental since I was a kid and recording it with two of my childhood friends and fellow Blasters, John Bazz on stand-up bass and late Gene Taylor playing piano as well as another lifelong pal, the genius steel guitarist Greg Leisz, truly means the world to me. It was also fun to play some of Johnny Dodds clarinet licks from the original recording on my 34 National Duolian guitar. LL: Usually I like to ask about all the players on a release, but in this case, there are so many! Who would you like to mention? DA: Yeah, I was fortunate to work with some my favourite musicians on these tracks and, yeah, there's way too many to list them all. Besides Gene, John and Greg , though, I treasure the tracks that Dave Alvin in pensive mood. feature musicians who've since passed away. Gene Taylor is sadly among them now but there are also the soulful drummer Bobby Lloyd Hicks from my old group The Guilty Men, the violinist from my short-lived combo The Guilty Woman, Amy Farris, and the brilliant studio drummer Don Heffington. All of them were dear friends who have crossed over to whatever awaits us on the other side of this life. The most bittersweet, though, are the large contributions from my best friend, the late singer/accordionist Chris Gaffney. Some of you may know him from The Hacienda Brothers with Dave Gonzales. Chris and I were very close comrades and to hear his voice and accordion with me on these songs still brings tears to my eyes. LL: What was 2020 like for you? DA: Haha! Frustrating and peaceful at the same time. After spending 10 months on the road in 2019, I needed a break … but not that kind of a break! It was good to recharge my batteries, but I long to get back on the highway to the next gig in whatever joint lies ahead. LL: What can we all look forward to coming up from you? DA: There are a couple of projects that I can't mention right now but besides those, I look forward to getting back to doing what I love doing most...making some glorious musical noise.

~ Lawrence Lebo

Lawrence Lebo is an award winning, critically acclaimed Blues recording artist living in Los Angeles, CA, USA. She can be found on the web at www.lawrencelebo.com BiTS is delighted to announce a new partnership with MusicGurus who provide music courses & training from the world's top musicians. Watch video lessons to improve your playing and get 1-on-1 coaching.

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Tutors in the blues and jazz field include Marcus Bonfanti (guitar), Matt Walklate (harmonica), Paddy Milner (piano), Ron Sayer (guitar) and many more. For a full list of tutors go HERE.

Click this line for a list of available courses RESCHEDULE FEBRUARY 2021 UK TOUR TO FEBRUARY 2022

TICKETS ON SALE VIA

www.kingking.co.uk/tour & www.thegigcartel.com

+ OCTOBER 2021 UK TOUR

NEW ALBUM ‘MAVERICK’ OUT FRIDAY NOVEMBER 27, 2021

Due to the pandemic and uncertainty about when live concerts can take place, regretfully the decision has been made to reschedule the King King February 2021 UK Tour to February 2022 . All tickets remain valid for the new dates.

Tickets are available via www.kingking.co.uk/tour and www.thegigcartel.com .

King King , who have been going from strength to strength in recent years, released their fifth studio album “Maverick” came out on Friday 27 November 2020 via Channel 9 Music – King King’s new independent label. The 10-track album, released on CD, vinyl and various bundles, is available for pre-order from www.kingking.co.uk . REVIEWS

Mama & Friends—Mama’s Bag—Bone Union Records BUR 1107 /Black and Tan Records

Well here’s a turn-up for the books. A group of Turkish musicians whose music reflects the early roots of the blues and gospel music, as with a high degree of authenticity, they bring to life the music of Robert Johnson, Jesse Fuller, Leadbelly and Bessie Smith and others. The musicians in question are Çağlayan Örge (banjo- guitar), Suna Suner (vocal, tambourine) and Sarp Keskiner (vocal, electric lead and slide guitar, kazoo, harmonica, tambourine, snare & a cymbal). The band was formed in 1996 and these recordings were made in 1997 at various live gigs in Turkey, recorded on a cassette recorder by in-house sound engineer Kubilay Gürol.

But don’t let that put you off—this is a revivalist band par excellence! Take a listen to ‘This Little Light of Mine’, the old spiritual. It comes with vocals that sound like they emanate from a church in rural Mississippi and with a slide guitar that constantly reminds me of the very best ‘sacred steel’ work by the likes of Sonny Tredway, Willy Eason or Aubrey Ghent. These folks have done their homework!

This is an album that is replete with authenticity taking some old favourites like ‘CC Rider’, ‘Trouble In Mind’ and ‘Careless Love’ and presenting them with a verve and panache that takes them to a new place. I really like this one, it has a nice feel about it and a certain je ne sais quoi which puts it in a different place than many of the revivalist groups I hear.

Ian K McKenzie

Tito Jackson—Under Your Spell—Play It Right Records

Toriano Adaryll “Tito” Jackson is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Jackson, older brother of the late Michael, was an original member of The Jackson 5, which rose to fame in the late 1960s and 1970s with the Motown label, and later had continued success on the Epic label in the late 1970s and 1980s.

This, I think, is his first venture into the blues and it is a stunner. Eleven tracks of outstanding recordings with contributions from some of the current blues elite including George Benson, Joe Bonamassa, Kenny Neil, Bobby Rush and from the Motown world, Stevie Wonder—providing some easily identifiable harp work to ‘Love One Another’. Six of the eleven tracks were co-written (with Tito) by Michael K. Jackson, who strangely is no relation, but has worked with Jermain, Jaafar and TJ Jackson and at one time fronted the band Portrait. Here he acted as a back-up singer too and produced/arranged or engineered a significant number of the tracks.

The Music? Well Tito has a fine voice for this kind of stuff. Much of it comes with a nice touch of funk often driven by some outstanding bass playing from a wide range of guest musicians including Kenny Neil, his son Darnell, Terrell Griffith, and Rocc Thomas, the latter joining in for a nice moderately paced blues, ‘You’re Gonna Push Me Too Far’ co-written by Thomas with KT Thomas, which is outstanding. Along with such original works are covers of ‘Rock Me Baby’ from BB King and ‘Big Leg Woman’ by Freddie King, re-cast by Tito. This is great stuff. Check it out. Great horn section too!

Ian K McKenzie

Eric Bibb—Dear America—Provogue Records

Eric Bibb needs no introduction to blues fans, he has established himself as one of the best modern day blues songwriters to come out of America. Eric has excelled once again with this brilliant new album.

The album opens with ‘Whole Lotta Lovin’ a beautiful tune that has that nice simple but precise style that Eric brings. ‘Born of a Woman’ portrays a moving poignant message that Shaneeka Simon really enhances with some great vocals. On ‘Whole World’s Got the Blues’, Eric Gales guests on electric guitar. Gales is on top of his game with such great feel and timbre that he lifts this earthy blues and makes it great.

The title track ‘Dear America’ carries a rootsy message whilst ‘Tell Yourself’ has that lovely signature acoustic guitar picking that we have all come to love. ‘Emmett’s Ghost’ is such a sad story that is so well articulated by Bibb.

‘Talkin’ Bout a Train Part 1’ is a great blues tune made even better with some awesome harmonica work from Billy Branch no less and ‘Talkin’ Bout a Train Part 2’ really starts to funk it up! The album closes with a slow ballad ‘One-ness of Love’ where Eric forms a duet with Lisa Mills.

Eric Bibb has such a gentle voice that is so pleasant to listen to. He also has a lovely style of guitar picking that really suits his type of songwriting. Bibb tackles some serious issues on this album but he has such an eloquence about him that he has once again managed to produce a fantastic album. I recommend all you fellow blues fans give this a spin.

Ged Wilson

David Leask - Voyageur In Song - Jeddart Music

David Leask is a new name for me, originally from Scotland he now resides in Canada where he has built a solid reputation as a songwriter. ‘Voyageur In Song’ is a six track EP that comes with a beautifully illustrated lyric booklet. All the songs are based around different aspects of a specially built Six String Nation acoustic guitar that is made up of over sixty four different pieces of various Canadian artifacts and the guitar is nicknamed, ‘Voyageur’.

‘Against the Grain’ is a strong opening song that relates to a rare variety of spruce for the guitar top. ‘The Legend of Joe Labode’ is another well crafted song that relays the tale of a fisherman whose oyster shucking knife handle was used to secure the strap post on the guitar. ‘Fire and Ice’ refers to the glints of blue Labradorite that are embedded into frets three and nine on the guitar. ‘Spirit Wrestlers’ references a piece of wood used on the guitar that was sourced from a grain elevator built by Russian immigrants to Canada. This is a slow bluesy number with some nice slide guitar, liked this one. ‘Take a Seat’ is about a seat from Massey Hall that has been used in the headstock of the guitar and there is some lovely trumpet on this track. The final track ‘Les Chansons Du Voyageur’ is a discovery and tribute to the aforementioned guitar and all the sounds including percussion are created on the guitar itself creating some interesting vibes.

This is not a blues album. I would class it more as an acoustic folk, roots album. All the songs are very well crafted with lovely interesting lyrics which perhaps explains David’s string of songwriting awards. His voice is sometimes reminiscent of Kelly Jones from The Stereophonics and he has a great vocal delivery. All in all a very interesting project and well worth a listen.

Ged Wilson

Adam Schultz - Soulful Distancing - Blue Heart Records

Adam Schultz is a new name to me, born in 2002 and raised in New York City so he is still in his teens. This album has five songs written by Adam mixed in with some cover songs. Adam’s primary role is guitar and Clarence Spady (veteran bluesman from New Jersey) has surrounded Shultz with some fine musicians and singers for this release.

The album opens with Johnny Guitar Watson’s ‘A real Mother for Ya’ which is a great jazz/soul/funk blues that has that Johnny Guitar Watson vibe and does not venture far from the original. ‘Good Conversation’ a Schultz song is more soulful and has that Marvin Gaye feel from ‘Mercy Mercy Me’. ‘Harlem Tonight’ another Schultz tune hhas a hint of Bill Withers and some nice Hammond organ.

Schultz’s ‘Toxic Medicine’ is a slow blues whilst the old Tyrone Davis song ‘Can I Change my Mind’ has that old style soul sound of a Booker T or a Sam and Dave. The album closes with Roosevelt Sykes ‘44 Blues’ another slow blues.

Whilst it would appear that Clarence Spady has played his part mentoring Schultz this album does not particularly showcase young Adam’s talents and although there are some great musicians that play really well on this album it does tend to get a bit “samey”. I’m not totally convinced by this album as it appears to be finding its way and just seems to be missing something, but hey that’s just my personal opinion.

Hopefully Adam can go on from this and start to develop his own sound and style. The years are in his favour so I look forward to hearing his next release.

Ged Wilson

Cass Clayton Band—City Noise—Independent (Single)

(www.cassclayton.com)

Cass Clayton is a female singer based in Denver, Colorado and the leader of a band that plays blues, funk, soul and rock. They have had two well-received albums, and ‘City Noise’ is a taster for their next one. This almost four minutes long track is a nicely-understated slow-ish track, with Cass’s vocal and the song itself flitting seamlessly between blues and soul, both with a jazzy touch thanks to the excellent bass playing. The lyrics seem to be dealing with lockdown – Cass needs to hear the sound of the city - and her smoky, smooth vocals, the mellow keyboards and the sparse guitar work put the message across well. A rather intriguing release, this one.

Norman Darwen

The Atomic 44s—Volume One—Bird Dog

(www.facebook.com/The44sBand)

I’ve raved about the opening track, ‘The Boogeyman’ in these pages before, and listening to it as the opening track of this set doesn’t lessen its impact one iota. The Atomic 44s were founded by harmonica player Eric Von Herzen, who has worked with people like Walter Trout, Social Distortion, and most importantly for this outfit’s name, The Atomic Road Kings, and guitarist and singer Johnny Main of The 44s.

The sound these guys make - aided and abetted by such luminaries as Kid Ramos, Bill Stuve, Jim Pugh, Deb Ryder and other highly-respected figures of the California blues scene - has a strong retro sound, drawing on the likes of John Lee Hooker, Billy Boy Arnold and Howling Wolf.

The production shows that these guys understand the sound they are aiming for, the sounds of Memphis and Chicago in the 50s, with its rough edged down-home approach and strong ensemble playing, the harp way up front and mightily impressive. The vocals are in the same vein too (try the hard-grooving ‘Candy Man’ - an original, by the way - or ‘Ol’ Mexico’).

In fact, the album captures the ensemble sound perfectly, and achieves just the right balance between a loose spontaneity and a tightly-controlled groove (try ‘Lyin’ Still’ for a good example). And despite my “retro” comments, it also comes across as a strongly contemporary blues set. Recommended.

Norman Darwen

Misty Blues—Take a Long Ride—Lunaria (Single)

(www.mistybluesband.com)

“Featuring Joe Louis Walker” screams the bye-line, guaranteed to grab my attention even if Misty Blues wasn’t already one of my favourites of the newer crop of US blues outfits (well, they’ve only been around about 20 years). Singer Gina Coleman wrote the song about being on the road and away from your loved ones for long stretches of time, and the collaboration came from a flippant comment made by Gina in a radio interview. The result is this foretaste of Misty Blues’ eleventh album, due early next year on UK label Lunaria.

The slow- to mid-tempo introduction leads into Gina’s distinctive vocal and then the horns come in to lift it up another notch, before Joe’s stunning, inventive guitar break raises it even further, and a squealing sax joins the fray near the end. It’s an excellent and individual gospel-tinged blues that bodes well for the forthcoming set, but don’t wait until then. Get this now…

Norman Darwen Patty Tuite—Consider This—Thread City Productions

(www.pattytuite.com)

Singer/ guitarist and songwriter Patty Tuite is a new name to me. She’s not a stone blues artist as such, but names her influences as Bonnie Raitt, Susan Tedeschi, Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald, so she is obviously not far off.

This set was recorded in Massachusetts, and yes, there are some non-blues tracks - ‘Dreams’ and the instrumental ‘Power Of Nature’ have an appropriately ethereal sound, and ‘Go Where It Takes You’ is soft-rock - but off-set against these are tracks like the joyous, raw slide-driven blues of ‘Wanna Go To Memphis’, the wonderful deep, slow, West side Chicago-styled blues of ‘Please Don’t Feel Lonely’ or the 50s styled Windy City flavoured tear-’em-up of ‘I Can’t Lose Tonight’ (with fine harp by Mick Seretny). Throughout, Patty’s strong vocals are backed by some very fine musicians, and producer Paul Nelson also supplies wonderful guitar work—as you’d expect from someone of his standing (check out his long string of credits - maybe try Joe Louis Walker and Johnny Winter for starters.).

The title track is a fine modern blues, ‘True Love’ has a fine, slightly jazzy 60s pop-soul approach (and fine sax breaks by Crispin Coie), and the closing ‘Since You’ve Been Around’ is more or less a straight jazz number. ‘Get Up N Go’ is a lovely piece of funk with a James Brown inflection, and ‘Feel The Heat’ is a cool, jazzy composition slightly related to Martha & The Vandellas’ ‘Heatwave’.

So, as I said, it’s not a full-on blues set, but there should certainly be enough to interest most readers, and the actual blues tracks are real winners. Worth looking into.

Norman Darwen

Eric Bibb—Dear America—Provogue/ Mascot Label Group Prd 76472

As Eric approaches his seventieth birthday, the world has changed a lot and this album reflects the blues troubadour’s thoughts towards life, race relations and his native country. As I write this, I’m listening to ‘Emmett’s Ghost’, dealing with the murder of young Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi in 1955. As recent events - and Black Lives Matter - proves, things haven’t changed too much…

It is followed, deliberately, I assume, by ‘White And Black’, detailing a different kind of injustice - interestingly, there’s a hint of country music to this one. The title track too is a letter to his homeland, and may have been written when the previous President was in power. ‘Born Of A Woman’ is a plea for respect for women, with Shaneeka Simon supplying a gospel touch.

Billy Branch adds his wailing blues harp to the pounding ‘Talkin’ ‘Bout A Train Part 1’, Eric Gales plays raw blues guitar on ‘Whole World’s Got The Blues’, and Chuck Campbell pedal steel on the wonderful though pointed ‘Different Picture’. Musically though, Eric is happy to draw on folk, pop, hip-hop, jazz, soul and especially gospel.

I used the words “blues troubadour” earlier. Eric’s not a bluesman in the sense of growing up picking cotton in the deep south - very, very few are these days - but the blues thoroughly permeates his music, and as seen, the subjects of at least some of his songs on this set are strongly embedded in African-American culture - but they have deep implications for all of us.

The album closer is a romantic duet between Mississippi singer Lisa Mills and Eric. That could never have happened in 1955, and so perhaps Dear America does finish on a hopeful note. Norman Darwen

Johnny Winter/ Muddy Waters/ James Cotton—Boston Music Hall, Boston Ma. February 26th 1977: Great American Radio Volume Six—Floating World Floatm6416

(www.floatingworldrecords.co.uk)

OK, what do I say? The blues seemed to be slowly dying by the mid-70s, as Alan Robinson recalls so well in his fine sleeve notes to this set. But, just a few short weeks prior to this recording, Muddy Waters had released his album “Hard Again” (produced by Winter, ED), with the same line-up as here, and soon the music was on its way back up again.

Muddy is in great form, harpman James Cotton had enjoyed a reasonably successful solo career (including some cross-over success) but would soon go on to greater things, and Johnny Winter was totally reinvigorated by returning to his (very strong) blues roots. Muddy’s regular band includes guitarist Bob Margolin, pianist Pinetop Perkins, bassist Charles Calmese and drummer Willie “Big Eyes” Smith. Each of the featured artists gets their own slots.

The one complaint I might make is that Cotton suffers from microphone failure early on in ‘Rocket 88’. No matter though – and not much I can do about it. These guys seem to be enjoying themselves as much as the audience, tearing through their sets with skill and enthusiasm (and abandon sometimes). There are also a couple of short interview segments on the second of the two CDs - one a brief chat with Pinetop Perkins, the other with all the guys as they come off stage, and which certainly keeps the atmosphere. Listen and enjoy. There were giants on the Earth in those days…

Norman Darwen

EG Kight—The Trio Sessions—Blue South Bsr00520

(https://egkight.wordpress.com)

Georgia-born E.G.—Eugenia Gail—Kight’s southern roots run deep, from a grandfather who was a preacher to a friendship with Koko Taylor. Originally playing and singing white gospel and country music, she switched to the blues on hearing Koko and spent time in Chicago. Koko recorded her material, as have also Dorothy Moore, Shakura S’Aida, and Saffire—The Uppity Blues Women.

This is indeed a beautiful album. EG has worked both solo and with a band, but for this set, as the title implies, she is in a stripped–back mostly acoustic format. With guitarist Ken Wynn and percussionist drummer Gary Porter, both from her regular band, recording began just before the pandemic struck and put everything on hold. It is good to have it now though, with the dobro, regular guitars, harp, harmonies and drums create a sweet, blues sound.

The songs themselves are mostly originals – the opening ‘You Just Don’t Get It’, co-written with Johnny Neel, about a hard-headed man, rides a strong Bo Diddley beat. ‘Burned’ is a fine, moody, slow-ish blues composition for which it is easy to imagine a full big band arrangement. ‘Feelin’ A Healin’’ has something of a southern rock sound with a gospel tinge – it morphs briefly, seamlessly, appropriately and joyously, into ‘Oh Happy Day’. I’ll just mention too that there is some excellent guitar work throughout the album.

‘Falling’ is a powerful, funky contemporary blues, and ‘Alone Too Long’ is a rather more old- fashioned blues – but still very effective!

EG also pays attention to the songs her fans request and she always endeavours to include one or two on her albums. So here we get ‘Evil’, best-known from Howling Wolf though EG got it from Koko – whatever, this is impressive. and Robert Johnson’s ‘Come On in My Kitchen’ has a fine treatment with just the slightest tinge of country, and the album closes with a beautiful cover of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’, very well suited to EG’s style and approach.

All in all, this comes rather highly recommended.

Norman Darwen

Donna Herula—Bang At The Door—Independent DH003

Chicago born guitarist and singer songwriter Donna Herula with her husband Tony Nardiello, who also plays guitar, journeyed to the Good Luck Studios in Chapel Hill in North Carolina, to seek further inspiration and to absorb the regional influences therein to record this, her third album. When not touring or recording, Donna’s day job is as a guitar teacher at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, where she teaches finger style and slide guitar. She has also taught at ‘Blues & Swing Week’ at the Augusta Heritage Centre of Davis & Elkins College (WV) and the Great Guitar Camp (NC). Joining her in the studio are FJ Ventre; upright bass, Doug Hammer and Daryl Davis; piano, Dana Thalheimer; drums, Tony Pons; trumpet with Bill Newton on harmonica and on violin, Anne Harris. The 14 numbers here are a mixture of originals and covers. The album opens with ‘Bang At The Door’, a jolly, slide guitar driven rolling rumba recalling the events of an unwelcome late night visit from a drunken ex-lover, the grooving bass and percussion certainly swings the hips. Whereas, ‘Black Ice’, is quite simply a stunning, dark instrumental, displaying Donna’s tight, crisp and emotive slide guitar and nimble picking. Lucinda William’s ‘Jackson’ is a splendid mellow, harmony driven duet with Tony Nardiello, which is underpinned by some poignantly emotive acoustic guitar and slide. On a lighter note we have the very amusing ragtime call and response ‘Moving Back Home’, a jolly warning of the possible perils of moving back in with your mum and dad. ‘Not Looking Back’, possesses an evocative atmosphere of a smoke filled, late night jazz dive, the lonesome piano and upright bass complimenting Donna’s refusal to pander to a drug fuelled ex-boyfriend. The foot tapping, loose, warm grooving New Orleans second-line strut of ‘Pass The Biscuits’, is Donna’s heartfelt tribute to her great friend and mentor Sonny Payne, the legendary DJ and host of the King Biscuit Time radio show. Pleasingly Donna’s rendition of Blind Willie Johnson’s ‘The Soul of A Man’, is warm and uplifting, the darkness of the original is replaced with an enquiring hopefulness.

Greatly endorsed!

Brian Harman

Rob Stone Featuring Elena Kato and Hiroshi Eguchi—Trio In Tokyo—Blue Heart Records BHRIO11

Boston born Rob began his world wide vocal and harmonica wailing blues journey after seeing Charlie Musselwhite perform at a local blues club at the age of 18. When Sam Lay visited Boston in 1993 he became aware of Rob and invited him to join his band, over time Rob has refined his skill and taste with encouragement from his mentor, the late great Big Jay McNeely, enabling him to form his own band, the C-Notes.

Over the years Rob has become a much in demand harmonica player worldwide and on his frequent trips to Japan he has become acquainted with pianist Elena Kato. In 1995, an extended stay in New Orleans broadened Kato’s influences and deepened her love of Jazz, Blues, and R&B music.

Upon her return to Japan, she has continued to perform nationwide. Bassist Hiroshi Eguchi moved to Chicago at the age of 18 to study music. He went on to work for Chicago’s World Wide Records composing and arranging music whilst becoming a fixture on Chicago’s club scene. He returned to Japan in 2004 to focus upon his own career.

The ten numbers were recorded in Japan at Sound Studio Dawn Kawasaki, Kanagawa and Maple House, Tokyo. There is a mellow relaxed, free flowing jazz inclined atmosphere throughout the album and from the first number ‘No Money’, out of the speakers the comforting bass underpins a gently understated piano while Rob’s pleasant vocals and harmonica waft in and out. Johnny Ace’s ‘Poison Ivy’ is dominated by Elena’s steady rolling and tripping piano while Rob’s creamy vocals are only interrupted by his sweetly blown harmonica.

The slow gospel infused ‘There Is Something On Your Mind’, was originally planned as a duet with Big Jay McNeely, who sadly passed away before its completion. So, Rob carries this bleak mournful slow burner with taste and reverence and is dedicated to ‘Big Jay’. Amos Milburn’s ‘Money Hustlin’ Woman’, is another lazy, hazy slow burner with a mournfully laid back piano, while the lonesome harmonica solos blaze away. Louis Jordan’s jump ’n’ jive classic ‘Jack You’re Dead’, lightens the mood somewhat, the bouncing piano and punchy harmonica glide effortlessly above a soft rolling bass.

Greatly endorsed!

Brian Harman Kelly’s Lot —Where And When—Independent KL0621

Kelly’s Lot have been together for 27 years now and started out primarily as a folk influenced band but, over the years they have delved their musical toes into many other genres. Here, they are in their comfort zone of acoustic Blues. The line-up includes Kelly Zirbes on lead vocals with Doug Pettibone; lead guitar, Perry Robertson; rhythm guitar and David Grover; upright bass. Perry Robertson and Doug Pettibone share production duties. The 11 numbers are a collection of originals and covers that were recorded live to microphone in Oxnard, California. The intimacy of the numbers here is evident from the emotional resonator strikes, to the gentleness of the stroking bass line, the vocals range from impassioned desperation to delicate strands of hope and joy. The opener ‘Stronger’ has a low walking bass and gently strummed guitar, underpinning Kelly’s gentle vocal expressions of depression and anxiety, regarding the current pandemic. Through it all she sees a glimmer of hope that makes us all stronger.

Howlin’ Wolf’s slow and gently reflective ‘Somebody In My Home’, effectively illustrates how a lack of visible and tactile show of love allows unfaithfulness to easily destroy a relationship. The rendition of Gertrude ‘Ma’ Rainey’s ‘Jealous Hearted Love’, starkly displays how the green eyed monster can strike anyone, while the slow and gently resonating slide cuts to the bone. The pleasingly intimate but, slightly ambiguous version of ‘Stones In My Passway’, from Robert Johnson allows Kelly to splendidly accentuate the doubts of honesty in others that we all experience in life. The jaunty, rolling and timely version of Gertrude ‘Ma’ Rainey’s ‘Black Eye Blues’, belies the cold vicious hatred found in the results of domestic violence. Another inviting steady rolling blues from the pen of Howlin’ Wolf is ‘Nature’, a tale of how it seems to be perfectly natural for a man to pursue unfaithfulness but not a woman, well the twist here is that Kelly suggests the idea may well be equally fine for women to do the same.

Greatly endorsed!

Brian Harman

Various Artists—Alligator Records - 50 Years Of Genuine Houserockin’ Music—Alligator ASIN : B091NWQ5X4

This 3-CD set celebrates 50 years of Bruce Iglauer's Chicago- based Alligator Records - started to record and promote Hound Dog Taylor and the House Rockers and it's Hound Dog who gets us off to a great raw and rocking start with his 'Give Me Back My Wig' from that first album.

The set features tracks from blues greats like Big Walter Horton, Koko Taylor, Albert Collins, James Cotton, Johnny Winter and Luther Allison but also includes material by related artists such as Professor Longhair, C. J. Chenier, Saffire – The Uppity Blues Women and the Holmes Brothers. Also from early on the company also featured white acts, examples included here are by Roy Buchanan, William Clarke, Curtis Salgado and Tinsley Ellis. As well as older established acts the label has also supported newer acts including Shemekia Copeland, Michael Hill's Blues Mob, Janiva Magness and Christone "Kingfish" Ingram and has not limited itself to 'Chicago blues' but has also included country blues artists like Cephas & Wiggins and Corey Harris, as well as casting its net to include artists from other areas such as Tommy Castro (San Francisco), Marcia Ball (Texas) and Roomful of Blues (Rhode Island). In short what we have here is an interesting collection of tracks that show how the blues has developed in the last 50 years and also the variety of material that can still be classed as blues.

Graham Harrison

Donna Herula—Bang at the Door—CD Baby ASIN : B095LRTGJS

I'd never heard of singer/guitarist Donna Herula before but this is apparently her third album and very nice it is too as she presents ten original songs, a co-write and three covers. Donna is a guitar teacher at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago and it’s her slide and finger-picking that is the basis for most of the tracks here, together with her understated vocals. We begin with the title track with her slide guitar and subtle bass (FJ Ventre) and drums (Dana Thalhelmar) and her husband Tony Nardiello on second guitar, this is followed by 'Pass the Biscuits' an affectionate tribute to her late mentor, Sonny Payne, the iconic host of the King Biscuit Time radio show, with rolling piano from Doug Hammer. 'Can’t Wait to See My Baby' sounds like 'High-Heeled Sneakers' and 'Promise Me' is a melodic ballad that as well as Donna's resonator guitar features mandolin from Jon Shain - who also produced the record in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. 'I Got No Way Home' introduces Bill Newton on harmonica and also female backing vocalists and 'Black Ice' is a slide guitar instrumental with minimal backing from Ventre on percussion. We then get respectful versions of Bukka White's blues 'Fixin’ to Die' and also Lucinda Williams’ 'Jackson' - with Tony Nardiello taking the lead vocals and Donna playing slide and joining in on the chorus. 'Movin” Back Home' is an old timey humorous song about an issue that affects many people today - having to move back into their parents home where Donna is confronted by artefacts from her past including a Rubik's cube, a Prince poster and 'The Breakfast Club' on VHS! 'Got What I Deserve' is like a modern jug band song with Donna on slide, Anne Harris on fiddle and Shain on 2nd guitar, while 'Who’s Been Cookin’ In My Kitchen' is an excuse for food based double entendres. We finish with another cover, a version of blues great Blind Willie Johnson's 'Soul of a Man' with Donna's slide guitar and vocals supported by double bass and four backing vocalists. I can't claim that this record is exceptional or life changing but I really liked its relaxed, understated charm and its old timey vibe that sounds as though it could have been recorded in the 1960's, the extra instruments add variety, as do the various styles on display here, all-in-all a lovely listen.

Graham Harrison

Steve Marriner—Hope Dies Last—Stony Plain ASIN : B093RNVV2B

I know Steve Marriner as the harp player with the Canadian band Monkey Junk but he has also recorded with Colin James and Harry Manx, also plays guitar with Paul Reddick as well as guitar, bass and keyboards with Samantha Martin and Delta Sugar. This solo record comprising ten original tracks is probably more rocky than other things that he has done, as in the opening 'Take Me To The City' and the riffy 'How High' but 'Honey Bee' is quite bluesy and features his harp playing, whereas 'Somethin’ Somethin' is a gospel-sounding power ballad with Samantha Martin and Mwansa Mwansa on backing vocals and Aaron Goldstein adding a pedal steel solo.

'Enough' is another power ballad where Steve shares the vocals with Samantha Martin (more pedal steel as well) and 'Uptown Lockdown' is a funky instrumental, while 'Petite Danse' has a NOLA groove and is sung in French and features nice electric slide guitar and piano. More powerful slide guitar on 'Hear My Heart' and also some soulful harp playing with the final track 'Long Way Down' being a thoughtful, acoustic folky song about addiction. Personally I would have preferred a more bluesy record but it is good to see Steve utilising the production techniques that he has learned during lockdown and he delivers a record that sounds good, is commercial and has lots of variety.

Graham Harrison

Tom Craig—Good Man Gone Bad—CD Baby ASIN : B0932YN3HD

This is Pennsylvania guitarist/singer Tom Craig's second album and while his first record was more soul-sounding this record is definitely more blues-based, probably reflecting the production by harmonica player Mikey Junior, although there are also jazzy influences - such as the piano-led title track. All the songs are written by Tom and Dave Gross not only plays bass but also mastered and mixed the record. The first two tracks 'I’m Working Too Hard' and 'What A Man’s Gotta Do' both have crisp lead guitar and driving backing including Mikey's harmonica, then 'It’s All My Fault' is a reflective ballad that reminded me of Robert Cray. 'Sheepdog' ups the pace and is a real blues rocker, while 'When You Love A Bluesman' is Tom testifying what life is like as a bluesman - with nice distorted harp from Mikey Junior.

'Treat Your Daddy Nice' is a fairly conventional blues shuffle, 'One Way Love Affair' is another funky Cray-style soul blues and 'Change my Way of Living' has nice organ from Eric Johnson and also subtle brass. We're back to the straight blues for 'Long Time Coming' and 'I like Soul in my Blues' does what it says on the tin - mixes soul and blues with riffing brass and then we close with a 'My Turn to Cry' a lovely relaxed ballad featuring Bill Heid on piano and with Tom's vocals on a par with Michael Bublé. This a good-sounding record with great playing from Tom and the band and with lots of variety, it's all very classy but I was just waiting for one of the songs to really knock me out but I'm afraid that none really did.

Graham Harrison

Jonathan Long—Parables Of A Southern Man—Wild Heart Records ASIN : B097647MF5

Jonathan Long is 29 years old but apparently has being playing guitar since he was six, picking up awards and praise from amongst others B.B. King along the way. This album for Wild Heart Records, the label owned by Samantha Fish (who also produces), reminds me of 70s Southern Rock by the likes of the Allman Brothers, the Marshall Tucker Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd and although there is blues in the mix, there is also country, gospel but mainly rock. 'Madison Square Garden' starts us off, a rocky ballad with delicate slide guitar with the next track the almost 'prog' 'The Ride' starting with more tasteful lead guitar and building up into a multi- tracked guitar master class, although 'My Kind of Woman' simplifies things to a straight ahead Chuck Berry-style boogie (earlier in his career Jonathon was known as Jonathon “Boogie” Long!) Although he was often portrayed as a wunderkind guitarist in the past, he has now rounded out into a good singer and songwriter as well as still being an excellent guitarist and his songs are often unfolding stories.

'Landline' is quite jazzy, 'All I Need' is funky with an infectious groove and great guitar and 'Dangerous' again features his slide playing. 'My Kind of Crazy' and the soul ballad 'That Ain’t Love' are nice, clever songs and we finish with an almost reggae-like 'Jenny'. There is lots of variety here but I'm afraid not enough blues for me, however if you like Southern Rock with lots of guitar this is a well-made and played album that could be right up your highway.

Graham Harrison

Joanne Shaw Taylor—If That Ain't A Reason—Single

Born in the ‘Black Country’ in the UK’s Midlands, Ms Taylor now is an expat, living in the USA and this single is extracted from a new (eighth) album that will be released later this year. In 2010, she won Best Female Vocalist at the British Blues Awards (BBA). She won the same category in the 2011 British Blues Awards and later she won the BBA Songwriter of the Year award for "Same As It Never Was" from her album “Diamonds in the Dirt”.

I interviewed her shortly after that ‘songwriter’ award and recall that whilst overjoyed at the award itself, she was disappointed that it, and neither of her previous awards, was for her instrumental skills. That is such a shame. She is a very fine guitar player (mostly on Telecasters) and indeed after her appearance with Annie Lennox outside Buckingham Palace on 4 June 2012, at the Diamond Jubilee Concert, she was informed that Stevie Wonder had loved her "clean, bluesy, understated tone".

Well, if the rest of the stuff on the upcoming album is like this, she may well be on course to address the problem. ‘If that Ain’t A Reason’ is a funky piece, with a fabulous horn section. Joanne’s voice is a powerful contralto with an edge of Tina Turner or Odetta…and sexy too. Then after two minutes her guitar breaks loose with a solo, which, if the dynamics and skills shown here are repeated on the album, will lead to massive recognition for her as an instrumentalist. Fabuloso!

I for one can’t wait for the full album! More please.

Ian K. McKenzie CLICK ANY OF THE PICS ON THE LEFT AND YOU WILL BE TAKEN TO YOUTUBE

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