Hailing from Gainesville, Florida, the Used Blues Band  has been reinventing traditional blues forms since 2002, when bassist Butch Wise formed the band with a few fellow blues aficionados. After a few personnel changes the resulting line up (Wise on bass/vocals; Alan Yeatter, guitar/vocals; Gus Olmos, harmonica; Rick Wagner, drums) continues to fuse the electric blues formula with rock, soul and traditional delta sounds to create a unique and yet evocative sound not to be missed.

 

The band's debut CD "Deep down in Florida" has been praised by artists like Ben Prestage ("5 stars...Terrific mix of original material...soulful songwriting."), Pete Karnes, Charlie Hargrett and others. UBb's original composition "Palm Reader Blues" recently took home the 2010 Independent Music Award for Blues Song of the Year. With judges including Charlie Musselwhite, James "Blood" Ulmer, Tom Waits, and Bettye LaVette among others, this comes as high praise, indeed. The band's live performances, a mixture of traditional blues classics by the likes of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, and powerful, soulful originals, continue to thrill audiences and critics alike.

 

UBb has shared the stage with the likes of Bo Diddley, Joe Kubek & B’nois King, Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials, Eric Sardinas, Mem Shannon, JW Gilmore, Eddie Kirkland, Roger "Hurricane" Willson, and many others.

 

Click for more

 

Click here to listen to "Palm Reader Blues" (Winner of the 2010 "Independent Music Awards" Blues Song of the Year Award)

 

Donnie Walsh thinks a hat might make a difference.

 

“Something that will help the band fit in … or stand out,” says the veteran Canadian bluesman by way of explaining the title of the new Downchild album, I Need A Hat. It’s a joke, of course. Downchild doesn’t need a hat, or a ticket, a tag, a bag, a niche, or a flashing neon sign.

 

Forty years on, Downchild remains a blues force, true to itself and without equal.

 

For just about every waking moment of the four decades since he formed the Downchild Blues Band – Canada’s best known and best loved blues outfit – Walsh has been living the dream that changed his life back in the early 1960s, when someone dropped a Jimmy Reed album onto the turntable at his girlfriend’s 16th birthday party in suburban North Toronto.

 

“That was it. I was hooked. I never wanted to play anything else.”

He drove his girlfriend crazy learning Reed’s lip-splitting harmonica technique, then James Cotton’s. He locked himself away from the world while he picked apart Muddy Waters’ and Albert King’s guitar licks, reconstructing them in his own inimitable style on a beat-up electric guitar. And when he did venture out, it was to one of Toronto’s legendary blues dives to catch his heroes Luther Allison, B.B. King, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, all of them regular visitors in those days to Walsh’s hometown, Canada’s blues capital.

 

Walsh was a good student. He is recognized around the world as both a blues harp virtuoso with few equals, and an unusually expressive guitarist.

 

Singer Chuck Jackson, tenor sax player Pat Carey, drummer Mike Fitzpatrick, bassist Gary Kendall, and pianist/organist Michael Fonfara – Walsh’s compadres in Downchild for the past decade and a half, and, he says, the “best musicians I’ve ever played with” – were soaking up the blues in their teenage years as well, in different parts of the country.

 

Their shared dedication has served them well. And with the release of their 16th album, I Need A Hat, October 6th, 2009, on the Canadian independent label Linus Entertainment, Donnie Walsh and his buddies are celebrating their collective longevity big time.

Comprising a new batch of Walsh originals – edgier, darker, more caustically humorous than ever before – I Need A Hat boasts a cluster of stellar guests. Dan Aykroyd – a long-time friend and admirer of Downchild – on harmonica, second-generation Canadian blues-rocker Colin James and Nashville-based Canadian roots music veteran Colin Linden on guitars, and Stax Records legend Wayne Jackson of the Memphis Horns on trumpet, all make muscular and eloquent contributions to the album, which Walsh produced over five days earlier this year in Toronto’s famed Metalworks Studios.

 

David Gerald, the son of Mississippi born and raised parents, grew up to the sounds of the blues and R&B music in his hometown, Detroit. He’s the 11th of 11 children, 6 of whom were born and partly raised in Mississippi. “Because segregation and racial discrimination were so bad in Mississippi, my dad moved the family north to Detroit when he was 33, so we'd have a better chance at the American dream. He reminisces about that ‘til this day,” says Gerald.

 

Gerald started playing guitar at the age of 16 influenced by Prince and 80’s rock guitarists. He rediscovered the blues and listened to the music of Albert King, ZZ Hill, B.B. King, and Stevie Ray Vaughan to name just a few.

  

Gerald performed in many local blues, R&B and rock bands cutting his guitar and vocal chops live and in person. Finding it hard to keep a band together, Gerald learned to play guitar, bass, keys and drums. Using two antiquated cassette recorders he would overdub each part individually until the song was completed. “The end result sounded horrible, and the songs would not end up in the same key they started in. But it got my songs recorded,” says Gerald. This was the beginning of his songwriting, most of which were pop and rock tunes during the 80’s. Around the age of 24, he began experimenting with computers to write and compose music, which he has done to this day.

 

Gerald, now in his 40’s, has his own band playing locally and regionally in Michigan. Earlier this year he opened the 'Triple Threat Of Blues' show for Bobby Rush and Mel Waiters in Jackson, Michigan performing at the State Theatre. Gerald has performed several times at the two major festivals in Michigan; Detroit Riverdays Festival, (International Freedomworks Festival) and Chrysler Art, Beats and Eats Festival. Recently David was listed as #1 on the ReverbNation blues charts for Michigan blues artists.

 

David Gerald’s debut album, Hell And Back, contains five studio originals and five live arrangements of well known tunes including Thrill is Gone, Red House and Cold Shot.

 

Since the days of Napster (version 1.0), the music industry has been mired in a funk. But then legitimate digital music services came along to help salvage sales, and the industry rejoiced.

 

Now comes a return of bad news. Last year saw a 21% drop in the number of people in the U.S. buying music -- both digital and physical -- compared with 2007, according to figures released Thursday by NPD Group, a market research firm.

 

The NPD numbers echo similarly dour news released last month from the IFPI, a London-based consortium of 1,400 record companies. A 12% uptick in digital music sales in 2009 was not enough to reverse an overall 10% slide in global sales of recorded music in all formats, according to the IFPI.

 

The NPD figures shed some light on possible reasons sales have declined. Here are some highlights:

 

The good: Those who bought digital music spent an average of $50 in 2009, up from $33 in 2006. NPD also found the number of songs posted on peer-to-peer networks such as ThePirateBay dropped significantly as consumers cited their fear of malware on these unregulated sites. And Internet radio services, such as Pandora, increases the likelihood of purchasing songs.

 

The bad: Listeners of free, ad-supported on-demand music services such as LaLa or MySpace Music end up spending 13% less on music downloads. Why buy when you can listen to any song, anytime you wish, for free?

 

The ugly: The number of people in the U.S. who bought music fell by one-fifth, to 93 million, in 2009 from 116 million in 2007. In other words, the market seems to be shrinking, even as digital music revenue is poised to eclipse physical music sales this year.

 

The upshot: Russ Crupnick, NPD's music analyst, said, "In the short term, the numbers are outright scary. But the good news is that there are a lot of dedicated digital music buyers out there. We just need more of them. It doesn't have to be a death spiral."

 

 

Wed. March 31, 2010 San Francisco, CA, Great American Music Hall
Friday April 2, 2010   Santa Ana, CA,  Galaxy Theater

Saturday Apr 3, 2010 San Diego, CA,  Anthology

 

Once in a lifetime you may experience a brief moment when the stars align and something truly extraordinary happens. This will be the case in March and April 2010 when six of the greatest living blues legends assemble on stage for three incomparable nights of music. Not just legends in the Blues. Not just early architects of rock and roll. These are true American cultural icons including one recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellowship Award, the highest honor in the USA for traditional arts.

Once reunited in July 2008 for a part in the upcoming film “The Perfect Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” the old magic reemerged. These musicians continue to inspire the current rock and roll heroes so expect more than a few special guests to drop by. Staging such an epic event is a rare opportunity and will thus be captured for a feature documentary film described as The Last Waltz meets Buena Vista Social Club.

 

THE LEGENDS:

 

JOE WILLIE “PINETOP” PERKINS – Considered one of world’s greatest blues pianists.

Born July 7, 1913 in Belzoni, Mississippi, Grammy Award winner Joe Willie “Pinetop” Perkins took up piano mid-career after he was stabbed in the arm. Early on, Perkins accompanied such blues legends as Big Joe Williams and Sonny Boy Williamson. In 1953, already a well known back-up player, he made his first solo recording with Sun Records. 1n 1969 he replaced Otis Spann in the Muddy Waters Band and stayed for over a decade including many years with Bob Margolin. Today, “Pinetop” Perkins is an NEA Heritage Award recipient and at 96, the oldest living GRAMMY winner.

 

HUBERT SUMLIN – Considered one of world’s greatest guitarists – blues or not.

Though he’s influenced and inspired many of the most famous guitar players, Hubert owns the magic. Born in 1931 in Greenwood, Miss. he started his first band with James Cotton. Soon Howlin’ Wolf brought Hubert to Chicago. Rarely, in any genre, can one pinpoint such remarkable factors as the distinct sound of Hubert Sumlin’s guitar in those early to mid- ‘60s Chess recordings. It’s no wonder Rolling Stone includes him in top 100 lists and he’s joined by Allman Brothers, Stones, Aerosmith, Elvis Costello, Santana et al when he performs. Again, watch for special guests to drop by these shows and pay homage!

 

JAMES ‘SUGAR BLUE’ WHITING – Grammy winning harp virtuoso, schooled Mick Jagger.

Blue began his career playing on the streets, and later recorded with Brownie McGhee, Roosevelt Sykes and Victoria Spivey. In Europe, the Rolling Stones invited him to play on the Some Girls, Emotional Rescue and Tattoo You albums. Back in Chicago, Blue worked with and learned from harmonica legends Big Walter Horton, Carey Bell, James Cotton and Junior Wells. He played in the Chicago Blues All-Stars with friend and mentor Willie Dixon and contributed to Dixon's Grammy-winning 1988 album Hidden Charms. Sugar Blue & Margolin are the babies of the group at 60.

 

WILLIE “BIG EYES” SMITH – Considered one of world’s greatest blues drummers.

 

Born in Helena, Ark. in 1936 Smith ventured to Chicago at 17 where he played harp with Bo Diddley and Johnny Shines among others. In 1957 he switched to drums and quickly found himself recording and touring with the Muddy Waters Band until 1964. Lean times fell on the blues and Willie drove a cab and did odd jobs until one night in 1968 he dropped by to hear Muddy play. Sparks flew and Willie again played with Muddy until 1980 and appears on all his Grammy winning albums. He’s toured with Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton and appeared in The Blues Brothers movie as a street musician with John Lee Hooker.

 

BOB STROGER – Considered one of the best blues bass players alive.

Born in South East Missouri, Stroger moved to Chicago in 1955 where he lived in the back of a nightclub where Muddy and the Wolf played regularly. Living in a night club, it’s no wonder he took notice of the bass guitar. Stroger’s career stints read like a hired gun. Otis Rush, Jimmy Rogers, Louisiana Red, Snooky Pryor, Homesick James, Sunnyland Slim, Mississippi Heat and other gigs like the rhythm section duties for the American Blues Folk Festivals in Europe.

 

‘STEADY ROLLIN’ BOB MARGOLIN – Revisiting his appearance in The Last Waltz.

Margolin was the guitarist for Muddy Waters Band from 1973 to 1980, performing with Waters and The Band in The Last Waltz in 1976. He recorded four Grammy winning albums with Muddy and played at the White House in 1978. A true student, teacher and stalwart of the blues, Margolin is a currently a touring and recording artist, Blues Revue columnist, record label owner and producer.   

 

THE ONCE & FOR ALL TOUR & THE PERFECT AGE OF ROCK ‘N’ ROLL.

The Perfect Age of Rock ‘N’ Roll Blues Band evolved out of a conversation that manager, Hugh Southard, had with Joseph White, the Producer of the film “The Perfect Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll”. Joseph was looking to put an authentic blues band in his film as a featured part of the plot line. Pinetop Perkins , Hubert Sumlin, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Bob Stroger, Sugar Blue and Bob Margolin became that band.

 

The band decided to tour in support of the film. Subsequently, a new documentary live concert film project has been born. This film will document the reflection of these artists, who have over 300 combined years of touring history to present to the world. It culminates with an all star event in San Francisco, Orange County and San Diego where special guests will showcase the love and respect they have for these legends.

 

The legends of the blues and those influenced by it are aging or passing and with it their rich history and culture. These legendary figures made a profound impact on American music and our society. The blues is America’s gift to the world, idolized around the globe, and no other culture can lay claim to its mighty influence.

 

 

 

Rolling Stone - While Pete Townshend’s ongoing tinnitus problem threatens to dock the Who for the foreseeable future, Roger Daltrey is already lobbying to work with another guitar god who’s on the lookout for a vocalist. “I’d love to do an album with Jimmy Page. He needs a singer to drive him. I’m a great blues singer,” Daltrey told BBC 6Music. “I don’t sing the blues with the Who, but that’s what I used to be before Townshend started writing. I used to be a great blues singer.”

 

 

As Rolling Stone previously reported, Page seemed eager to return to the live stage in 2010 after spending last year mostly on the sidelines, watching his Led Zeppelin counterparts like Robert Plant, who released Raising Sand with Alison Krauss and is reportedly working on a solo album, and John Paul Jones, who joined the supergroup Them Crooked Vultures, take on other musical projects. “Next year I have every intention of playing music live and manifesting it,” Page said late last year. “I’ve got the music waiting, and that’s what I’ll be doing.”

 

Before any possible collaboration with Page takes place, Daltrey will first hit the road with another of rock’s greatest guitarists. As Rolling Stone reported, the Who frontman and current RS cover star Eric Clapton will embark on a joint tour which started February 25th in Pittsburgh.

 

Starting with their Super Bowl XLIV halftime show, 2010 was expected to be a big year for the Who, with a tour to follow the band’s most-watched performance ever. However, Townshend continues to suffer from the tinnitus that has plagued his hearing for years. The guitarist was introduced to a new in-ear monitor that might prevent any further damage, and he’ll give the device a test drive when the Who play their only scheduled date of 2010, a March 30th Teenage Trust Cancer benefit concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall where the band will perform its classic Quadrophenia in its entirety.

 

 

WASHINGTON/PRNewswire - Justice Through Music, a national non profit that works with famous bands to bring attention to important social issues, teamed up the band Op-Critical in a music video called Prop 8, to oppose the California referendum that was used to overturn the state's gay marriage law. The video looks at the struggle for marriage equality through the lens of past struggles for women's rights, civil rights and voting rights.

 

Op-Critical's Storm wrote the tune in a 1930's Delta Blues style and recorded it on a 1937 National resonator steel guitar. The video was filmed with Storm on a porch, sitting in a rocking chair playing the steel guitar like so many well known blues artists. "The battle for marriage equality is historic in the same way as past civil rights struggles," he said. "The best way for us to portray that was by channeling past blues masters who sang with conviction about the struggles they were seeing during their lifetimes. The next generation will look back on the gay rights battles with the same dismay we now look at previous civil rights battles. It takes a while for people prejudices to be overcome but they always are. We are hopeful that this video will help and give people a real perspective on what is occurring rather than seeing this as simply a matter of politics or religion."

 

Click to see video

 

Clarksdale - Barefoot Workshops is presenting a series of six short documentary films at the Shack Up Inn on Friday February 26, 2010. The 10 minute films all focus on local men and women and their stories.

 

The two week workshop, which brought in 12 students from as far away as Australia, France, and Cameroon, teaches how to tell stories through documentary film. Hundreds of hours are put into each film over the two weeks they are here and great care is taken in documenting the lives of some of our local characters.

 

The films feature a wide variety of Delta residents including Bill Abel, Ellis Coleman, Gertha Milton, John Ruskey, Pat Thomas, Charles Wright, and Joey Young.

 

An amazing amount of time and effort have gone into these films during the workshop.

 

Barefoot Workshops Documentary Screening

Friday February 26, 2010

Shack Up Inn Main Lobby

Drinks @ 6:30 PM

Screening @ 7:00 PM

After Party - Stone Pony Pizza @ 9:00 PM

 

 

Rochester - There's no music more fitting for hard times than the blues, a style which longtime Rochester resident Son House helped to refine until his death in 1988.

 

As an effort to help Rochester's homeless community, the local Son House Club will be holding its Cool Blues Two event to raise money for the Catholic Family Center's Francis Center.

 

The fundraiser will feature live blues music by Steve West, Munding & Waterman, Ryan Griffith (pictured), and others, as well as workshops that focus on Delta-style open guitar tunings, harmonica, bass, and the connections that are shared with other musical styles. There will also be discussion about the history of blues and basic approaches to playing the music.

 

In addition to all the music and workshops, you can also donate clean clothes and non-perishable food items that will go to help the homeless community in Rochester.

 

Cool Blues Two takes place Sunday, February 28, at Beale Street Cafe, 693 South Avenue. Event will run 2-7 p.m. and carries a $5 suggested donation. For more information call 953-1449 or click here.

 

Street Date - April 20, 2010

 

One of our favorite Chicago blues bands, Mississippi Heat, just finished mixing their much anticipated new Delmark CD. More fantastic original songs from leader/harp man Pierre LaCocque and vocalists Inetta Visor and Rhonda Preston, along with special guests legends Carl Weathersby and John Primer (who is on this months cover of Living Blues Magazine!) on guitar and vocals!

 

Chicago’s Delmark Records is excited and proud to present the Delmark debut recording of one Chicago’s long time favorite blues bands,Dave Weld and the Imperial Flames! This is a killer veteran all-star, real deal Chicago blues band at its house rockin’ best,

led by the Hound Dog Taylor and J. B. Hutto influenced

guitarist/vocalist Dave Weld. Weld’s band is one of the hardest working, longest running and most talented and cohesive Chicago blues bands around. The Imperial Flames feature the one and only Abb Locke on saxophone, the soul and blues legend, Bernard Reed and Herman Applewhite on bass, and the vastly underrated Jeff

Taylor on drums and vocals. These guys have recorded and played with so many heavies, including Magic Sam, Otis Rush, Howlin’ Wolf, Elmore James, Earl Hooker, The Rolling Stones, and many, many more. There will also be a very special guest second guitarist on the soon to be released Delmark CD. This long time good friend and former band mate of Dave Weld’s name is Ed, smiles

endlessly, and is Lil’!

 

Vocalists Monica Myhre and drummer/singer Jeff Taylor add their outstanding singing this anticipated new release!

 

Click for more

 

 

Editors Note: In last weeks e-guide we ran a story on Lurrie Bell which stated "Bell's first CD, Let's Talk About Love, was recorded in 2007". We know this to be false and apologize for any misunderstanding.

 

Gordon Bulcock

E-Guide Editor

 

 Here is a list of Lurrie Bells Cd's which have been released by Delmark Records.

 

DBS RAFFLE FOR KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD FRONT ROW SEATS

We Are Selling Raffle Tickets For A Pair Of Front Row Seats For Kenny Wayne Shepherd At The Whiting (in Flint) on March 27, 2010 And You Can Buy Them Online!

 

The Drawing Will Be Held At The DBS Meeting And Jam At Callahan's On Saturday, March 13, 2010 And need not be present to win.

 

RBA Publishing Inc is based in Reno, NV with a satellite office in Beverly Hills, Florida. We produce the annual Blues Festival Guide magazine (now in its 7th year), the top-ranking website: www.BluesFestivalGuide.com, and this weekly blues newsletter: The Blues Festival E-Guide with approximately 20,000 weekly subscribers. We look forward to your suggestions, critiques, questions, etc.

Reach the E-Guide editor, Gordon Bulcock, gordon@bluesfestivalguide.com

or contact our home office at 775-337-8626, eguide@bluesfestivalguide.com
 

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