There's a new voice out of the South making waves, and if familial genes count for anything, blues/soul/r&b/pop singer Claudette King, a longtime Californian now living in Atlanta, will go far, very far. The youngest daughter of ultimate blues master B. B. King, she’s quick to cite her father as her main “inspiration.” But most certainly, the power of Claudette’s enthusiasm for the splendid genre-blending music on her debut “On To Something” (Blues Express) merits wide notice.

 

Trained in the gospel of the Baptist church from age 13, King is developing some of the emotional authority that one associates with her mighty mentors: Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Koko Taylor, Chaka Khan, Mavis Staples, Mahalia Jackson, even Michael Jackson. The affable singer will tell you: “I got a bit of everybody inside of me.”

 

Conscientious and hard-working, she shows her own style, her own identity, through rhythm, phrasing, and timbre. By turns convincingly sensual, sassy, or wistful, she explores the emotional turf of album numbers like “Rock My Soul,” “Too Little Too Late,” and “A Dog Like You” with ease and confidence.

 

 

Claudette, whose previous recording experience was an album distributed only in Europe, enjoys a musical meeting of the minds with well-regarded guitarist Bobby Murray (Etta James, Charlie Musslewhite, etc.), with members of Texas soul-blues legend Frankie Lee’s band, and with other first-call sidemen. The horn players are savvy to historic Memphis soul, and Claudette's rapport with all the musicians mirrors that of her father--warm and natural.

 

One of the premier, up-and-coming blues-and-more vocalists of the day, we are sure there is lots more to come from talented Ms. King.

 

 

Dear Blues Fans;

 

Musicians are being hurt economically by the widespread online theft of their music. Senators Leahy (D-VT) and Hatch (R-UT) and a number of other senators have introduced a bill that will give the Justice Department the power to combat this piracy. It is important that senators know we support this bill, and so I ask for your help. Simply click here to send an email to your two senators.

 

Thank you very much for taking the time to do this.

 

Best regards,

 

Hal Ponder
Director of Government Relations
American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada

NEW ORLEANS– Music Rising, an award winning initiative co-founded in 2005 by U2′s the Edge, legendary producer Bob Ezrin and Gibson Guitar Chairman and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz announced a $1 million program in partnership with Tulane University to develop a college curriculum that will provide a permanent, comprehensive and definitive study of the musical heritage of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region. The Music Rising program is administered by the Gibson Foundation.

Music Rising has worked closely with Nick Spitzer, professor of anthropology and American studies and creator of Tulane’s public radio program American Routes in creating the connection with Tulane. The curriculum for the program on music and culture of the Gulf Coast will be implemented at Tulane and available to other universities through web and print materials. In addition to drawing from field, studio and live interviews, programs and performances of the American Routes Collection, the curriculum will draw upon the resources of the William Ransom Hogan Archive of New Orleans Jazz as well as the Maxwell Music Library, the Louisiana Collection, the Southern Institute and the New Orleans Gulf South Center, all housed at Tulane.

 

“I wouldn’t be where I am today without the unique musical heritage that is New Orleans,” said U2′s the Edge. “So much has come from that part of America. From the birth of jazz, the roots of Rock ‘n’ Roll and R&B, to the traditional celebrations in the streets, New Orleans has provided all of us with great musical traditions. This new curriculum, which I am personally very proud of, will help preserve this history and educate for many years to come.”

 

“Our goal has always been to preserve the musical culture of New Orleans and the Central Gulf. We started by replacing instruments that were lost in the hurricanes of 2005,” said Bob Ezrin. “And now we are thrilled to be working with the wonderful folks at Tulane University to develop a course of study that will allow people from the region and all over the world to study and understand that culture and the music that creates it.”

 

The Music Rising curriculum at Tulane will preserve the great musical heritage of the Gulf Coast region and eventually be adapted to educational levels ranging from elementary through high school. Preserving the music of the region has always been the driving force behind the many initiatives Music Rising has supported since its inception in 2005 after the devastating hurricanes of Katrina and Rita. It is critical to the organization that the various styles of music which have borrowed from earlier traditions be understood and taught to future generations. New Orleans has been the birthplace of jazz, blues, Dixieland and even funk, all of which make the region arguably one of the most important spawning grounds for global musical culture. Building the Music Rising curriculum will also serve as a catalyst to develop a comprehensive system of archives that will preserve a vast amount of Gulf Coast based cultural history.

 

“Tulane University is the perfect partner for this venture. From their Music and Humanities departments which are world renowned to Nick Spitzer’s American Routes and the amazing archives that they have built over the decades,” said Henry Juszkiewicz, Chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar. “Now, all of these departments and disciplines will be engaged in a historical collaboration in creating this amazing course of study. We are very proud that Gibson Foundation could play such an integral role.”

 

Tulane Provost Michael Bernstein foresees that new public service opportunities for Tulane students could arise from the Music Rising curriculum. Tulane requires that all undergraduate students complete a specified number of service-learning hours, which are connected to their coursework.

 

“This is the kind of collaboration that lies at the heart of the service-learning commitment at Tulane – an enduring promise to our city, our state, and our region that the talents and imagination of our very best artists, scholars, and students will serve the interests and needs of the community,” Bernstein said. “Tulane is profoundly grateful to Bob Ezrin, Music Rising and the Gibson Foundation for their exceedingly generous support of a significant endeavor on behalf of the arts and culture of the Gulf Coast region.”

 

Through the project Music Rising hopes to create a new generation of students, scholars, musicians and community members who can perform, document, produce, preserve and advocate for the music and cultures of the Gulf Coast and create an opportunity to generate awareness of the significant importance of the musical heritage and traditions that originated from this region of the United States.

 

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On Saturday, September 18 at 3:30pm, the 112th Mississippi Blues Trail marker will be dedicated in Lime Kiln Park in Grafton, Wisconsin, near the former site of Paramount Records.

 

During the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Paramont Records label recorded many pioneering artists from Mississippi, including Charley Patton, Son House, Tommy Johnson, Skip James, Gus Cannon, Henry Townsend, the Mississippi Sheiks, Willie Brown, the Graves Brothers and others. This is the seventh marker dedicated outside of the state, and like the others, it demonstrates the wide reach and influence of Mississippi blues music.

 

“Paramount Records was instrumental in bringing Mississippi blues to the world,” Gov. Haley Barbour said. “Some of our state’s greatest musical legends traveled to Wisconsin to get their start in the music industry. Mississippi may be the birthplace of America’s music, however, partners in states across this country have been invaluable in spreading the sound.”

 

The marker is being placed in tandem with the Fifth Annual Paramount Blues Festival. During the weekend, Tommy Johnson and Big Bill Broonzy will be honored on Grafton's Paramount Walk of Fame. Also on Saturday, Johnson's legacy will be celebrated with the Fifth Annual Tommy Johnson Blues Festival at the Cooper's Down Racetrack in Terry, Miss.

 

Paramount Records was launched in 1917 by its parent company, the Wisconsin Chair Company, which also produced phonographs and phonograph cabinets. The label began recording blues artists in 1922, initially concentrating on female stars of the vaudeville circuit including Ma Rainey. By the mid-1920s, it was the home of leading male artists including Texas’ Blind Lemon Jefferson. In the late 1920s, Paramount began utilizing field agents, including Jackson, Miss., furniture and music store owner H.C. Speir, to locate talent across the South.

 

Among the artists that Speir located in Mississippi was Charley Patton, one of the founders of the Delta Blues, who recorded over forty songs for Paramount. Other Mississippi-born artists who recorded for the label include: Tommy Johnson, the most influential artist in the Greater Jackson area; Memphis jug band pioneer Gus Cannon; Henry Townsend, a leading bluesman in St. Louis; Bentonia’s Skip James, one of the most distinctive stylists of early blues; and Son House, who was the mentor of both Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters.

 

Many of these recordings were made between 1929, when Paramount opened a studio in Grafton, and 1932, when low record sales resulting from the Depression forced Paramount to close its doors. Over the ensuing decades, however, historians and record collectors would hold the Paramount’s recordings in the highest esteem.

 

For more information about the weekend’s activities, visit graftonblues.org

 

The Mississippi Blues Trail is a museum without walls taking visitors on a musical history journey through Mississippi. The trail started with the first official marker in Holly Ridge, the resting place of the blues guitarist Charley Patton. The trail winds its way to sites honoring B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Son House and more.

 

For more information about the Mississippi Blues Trail, visit www.msbluestrail.org

 

Advance tickets are now on sale for BLUSD’s Fifth Annual Pre-Party for the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise on Oct. 16.

 

Tickets are priced at $15 through Oct. 1. After that, the will be $20.

 

The event will be held at 8 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Mission Valley. The hotel was formerly known as the Hanalei.

 

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The Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival in Helena, is bigger than ever this year and people from all over the world will be visiting our area, celebrating America’s Roots Music … Delta Blues! In support of this  Festival, Clarksdale, Mississippi, the "ground zero" of Blues is adding to the festivities by hosting FREE LIVE MUSIC at the "2nd Street Blues Party" on October 9 and 10, 2010.

 

The Festival activities involve days before and days after the main event with Real Deal, Down Home Blues all over this part of the Delta and the 2nd Street Blues Party is rapidly becoming an important part of this celebration next to other festivities during the weekend in Clarksdale.

 

 

The 2nd Street Blues Party will begin at noon both Saturday and Sunday each day in front of the Rock & Blues Museum, 113 East 2nd Street (corner of Delta Avenue and 2nd Street).

 

The street will be blocked off so the artists, who are donating their performance time, can share their talents with the public.  The performers will have CDs to sell, which they will graciously autograph for you. Performing will be Party host, Theo D "Boogieman", Louisiana legendary bluesman  Selwyn Cooper, Bob Walters Banned, Clarksdale's Studebakers,  Mississippi blues favorite Bill "Howl-N-Madd" Perry, Clarksdale blues guitarman Bill Abel, the legendary King Edward, harmonica blues player Deak Harp and more.  Following the last scheduled performer each day a blues jam will begin, so bring your instrument!

 

 

The Rock & Blues Museum, a non-profit museum is packed full of music memorabilia and artifacts from the 1920’s through the 1970‘s. You can follow the evolution of America’s music from blues, R&B, and rockabilly to rock ‘n roll and soul and see how it influenced people all over the globe. Recently added to the collection is a piece of Clarksdale history:Wade Walton's Barber Shop! On display are the green barber's chair, counter with an orange sink, the Coke machine and more.  As well as a blues musician, Wade Walton earned his place in Clarksdale's history as a barber to bluesmen like Howlin' Wolf, Ike Turner, Sonny Boy Williamson II and many others.  The Rock & Blues museum is open on Wednesday Oct. 6 and Thursday Oct. 7. from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.  On Friday Oct. 8, Saturday Oct. 9 and Sunday Oct. 10 the museum will be open from 10 am to 5 pm, Additional information is available at www.blues2rock.com and by calling 901.605.8662.

 

 

The Historic Mansfield Music Festival has assembled an all-star lineup of heavy-hitting North Texas music acts for a two-day event October 15 and 16. Headliner Jimmie Vaughan will top 12-plus hours of music performed on two stages. With an expected attendance of 12,000 or more, this festival is becoming one of the most talked about events around the state.

 

While Oak Cliff-native Vaughan is the show’s headliner, the special guests that will precede him on stage are among North Texas’ best musicians. Friday night starts with a bang when

Beatlegras takes the Granite Resources stage at 7:00 p.m. Back by popular demand is Poo Live Crew—voted Best Cover Band two years in a row by Fort Worth Weekly—a carefully constructed plethora of music from ‘68 to ‘98. Not to exclude any genre, “the Poo” mixes in eighties, pop rock, love ballads, new wave, country, pop divas, and even sitcom themes. Poo Live Crew was an opening act at last year’s festival and will be headlining Friday night's bill.

 

Saturday’s musical lineup consists of: Inner City All-Stars (Hip, funky horn-based band);

Yancey Stevens & the City Slickers (Country / Rock); Naked Lunch (Steely Dan Tribute); Ricki Derek & the Vegas Six (Las Vegas-style standards); Vintage Vibes ('40s-'60s variety); Lone Star Attitude (Rock / Country / Blues); Mark Harper Project (Jazz); Tania Cordobes (Americana / Folk / Cuban); Jim Suhler & Monkey Beat (Blues); and, headliner Jimmie Vaughan (Rock, Blues).

 

Admission to the Historic Mansfield Music Festival is free.

 

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Diamonds in the Dirt is the exciting new album by British artist Joanne Shaw Taylor, a rising star on the international blues scene. The 18 months since the release of her debut White Sugar have seen that recording receive a nomination as Best New Artist Debut at the 2010 Blues Music Awards and become the most successful debut ever on Ruf Records. Taylor's latest release reunites her with Grammy-winning producer Jim Gaines (Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughan) and the same team of studio pros that made White Sugar such an infectious pleasure.

 

 

 

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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