November 1, 2010, Tupelo, MS—It’s here! The Hottest sound to date by the Homemade Jamz Blues Band, their latest CD “The Game,” is some sweet hot Delta Blues fo’ sho’. The force, the magic, the energy all come together nicely in this, their third, compact disc. To this project, Homemade Jamz Blues Band brings harmonica stylings from some place way down deep…that sitting on da’ front porch kinda blues…that’s ole school heated up with some fresh Homemade Jamz, featuring dad Renaud Perry.

 

The Game premieres tunes like, “I’m the Man” one of the original tunes that are destined to become classic blues songs folks will be singing and playing for decades to come…yeah, it’s just another one of those head-bobbin’ neck-jerkin’, toe-tappin’, foot-stompin’ blues rhythms. They take us home to Tupelo, Mississippi reminding us about the hard times and trouble every Blues lover can relate to. The blues will never die…As long as we got some Homemade Jamz Blues Band singing about living…I got a good, good, feeling about this release. Indianola, Clarksdale and a few other Delta towns get a shout out…how bout that! The Game is Homemade Jamz Blues Band perfect!

 

The HOMEMADE JAMZ BLUES BAND has been featured in all major media: NPR, PBS, CBS Sunday Morning, NBC Today’s Show, BET, internationally distributed blues magazines and of course in local papers everywhere they go. The young Band performs all over the US, Canada, & Europe; as well as the Caribbean Islands and on the Legendary Blues Cruise.

 

In 2006, the HOMEMADE JAMZ BLUES BAND won the 3rd Annual MS Delta Blues Society of Indianola’s Blues Challenge, and became the youngest band to compete in the International Blues Challenge, in 2007. Out of 93 bands, the Band took 2nd place, their first time in a major competition. And have gone on to be nominated for the "Best New Artist Debut," Blues Music Award, 2009; and to win the Jus' BMA "Band or Combo of the Year," in 2010.  Giving them the significant accomplishment of being the youngest blues band, in history to be nominated for these, or any major blues music award…that’s why they are now considered the “Trifecta of the Blues World.”

 

The Game is now globally released.

 

Tommy McCoy has completed his 7th CD "Late in the Lonely Night". This new CD is comprised of 10 new McCoy originals and 2 covers, the Cornelius Bros. R&B classics "Too Late to turn back now" and "Treat her like a lady". This CD is contemporary blues with the predominent focus on McCoy's songwriting and lead guitar prowess. The various moods of the CD reflect the different styles McCoy has embraced over the years with emphasis on original blues compositions and solid blues grooves overall. The songwriting on the CD shows the maturity of McCoy's creative ability to vividly emote his themes through a menagery of blues imagery to create an intriguing collection of well penned blues titles that include: "Angel on my shoulder/Devil on my back", "My guitar won't play nothin' but the blues", "Language of love", "I never shoulda listened", "Cars, bars and guitars", "Scattered and smothered", "Life's tides", "Spacemaster" and hit worthy title cut "Late in the the lonely night". All of these songs feature the honest vocals and guitar work of McCoy with the help of some of the top talent from the Tampa bay area. McCoy notes "I'm getting back to the real blues where I belong" after his foray into Americana with his last 2 CDs, "Angels Serenade" recorded in Woodstock NY with Levon Helm and Garth Hudson in 2004, then "Kickin' the Blues" with Commander Cody in 2008. In 2009 a European label reissued 4 of McCoy's CDs as imports with strong International distribution and airplay. McCoy is currently discussing releasing the new CD on a major blues label out of Chicago. Touring will follow the release, look for Tommy McCoy in your town and see what "real blues" is all about.

 

‘Mud Shack is the dynamic debut of Peter Rudy backed by the wildly talented Apostles of Dirt.
These are real lusty grooves that the Apostles lay down with sheer delight. They bring out the subtleties of the songwriting, which, coupled with Rudy’s raw approach, turns the music into a real tour de force. The band is quite comfortable tracking Rudy’s musical wanderings and style variations, splattering them with pure, driving emotion.

 

The controversial San Francisco manager/promoter Alvin Brinkman declared ‘Mud Shack’, “a wonderful nugget, my favorite recording of the year.”

 

I wanted to pass on the information regarding the upcoming out-of-state marker in Tallahassee, Florida.

 

This will be the 8th out-of-state marker for the Mississippi Blues Trail and is indeed a milestone for the state of Mississippi and the Mississippi Blues Commission.

 

The event will take place on Saturday, November 20, 2010 at 5:00 PM  (marker ceremony will take place with reception following,  local entertainment will follow with a performance by Legendary Bluesman, Bobby Rush at 10:00 PM.)

 

Location:

 

Bradfordville Blues Club
7152 Moses Lane
Tallahassee, FL, 32309
(850) 906-0766

 

Click for more

THE BLUES FOUNDATION KEEPS THE BLUES ALIVE WITH ITS 30TH ANNUAL AWARDS CEREMONY IN MEMPHIS THIS FEBRUARY

 

Honorees Include Key Movers from Around the Globe

 

Memphis, TN – On the heels of achieving its all-time high membership (quickly approaching 4,000 total), The Blues Foundation will honor 21 individuals and organizations with its 2011 Keeping the Blues Alive (KBA) Award during a recognition brunch on Saturday, February 5, 2011, in Memphis, Tennessee.

 

Each year, The Blues Foundation presents the KBA Awards to individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the blues music world. The KBA ceremony begins at 10:00 A.M. and will be held in conjunction with the 27th International Blues Challenge (IBC) weekend of events that will feature the final rounds of the world’s most prestigious blues competition and largest gathering of blues acts, as well as seminars, showcases, and receptions for blues societies, fans, and professionals on February 1-5.

 

The KBAs are awarded strictly on the basis of merit by a select panel of blues professionals to those working to actively promote and document the music. Nominations are accepted from affiliated blues societies, past KBA recipients and current members of The Blues Foundation’s Board of Directors.

 

“The recipients of this year’s awards – as with every year – are people and organizations who are an integral part of not only promoting blues music, but of preserving it as well. Their work applies to the business of recorded music, but also to live events, print media, radio and visual broadcasts, and increasingly, the internet,” notes Art Tipaldi, KBA chairman.

 

The 2011 Keeping the Blues Alive Awards recipients are:

 

 

Tickets to the KBA ceremony are sold only as part of the IBC Big Blue ticket package, available online at www.blues.org or by calling 901.527.2583. The IBC weekend, commencing Tuesday, February 1, 2011, is sponsored in significant part by ArtsMemphis, Budweiser of Memphis, FedEx, First Tennessee Foundation, Gibson Guitars, Lee Oskar Harmonicas, Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise, Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau, Smokin’ Bluz Radio and Entertainment Network, T. Clifton Art, Tennessee Arts Commission, and VividPix & Design.

 

Media sponsors include Beale Street Caravan, Big City Rhythm and Blues, Blues Festival Guide, Blues Revue, BluesWax, Downtowner, House of Blues Radio Hour, Living Blues, Memphis Flyer, WREG-TV, and Sirius XM Satellite Radio B.B. King’s Bluesville.

 

About this year’s Award recipients:

 

Agent: Intrepid Artists – Charlotte, North Carolina
Now in its 17th year, Intrepid Artists continues to dedicate itself to booking the finest blues and roots artists in the world. Founded by Rick Booth, Intrepid has always chosen to remain a “boutique” agency with emphasis on quality, not quantity. Booth, along with his first-class staff of agents, Jake Lankheit, Brad Stewart, Kevin Hopkins, and longtime office manager Michelle Kiser, work diligently to keep their artists working the finest clubs and festivals around the world. Through the years, Intrepid has selectively represented many of the major blues talents. Today’s roster is a veritable who’s who of the blues, including Janiva Magness, Joe Louis Walker, Kenny Neal, Watermelon Slim, Walter Trout, Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials, John Lee Hooker, Jr., Rick Estrin & the Nightcats, and exciting newcomers like Honey Island Swamp Band, Trampled Under Foot and Dana Fuchs.

 

Blues Club: Chan’s Fine Oriental Dining -- Woonsocket, Rhode Island
How about this as a pitch for a blues club? The best national blues acts every weekend, eight o’clock shows, free parking, and an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. What began 34 years ago under the name of Chan’s Egg Rolls and Jazz has evolved into the home of great blues every week. Visually, Chan’s is a blues anomaly. Instead of Southern folk art on the walls of a faux juke joint or blues memorabilia scattered throughout a dimly lit saloon, Japanese paper lanterns hang from the ceiling, tiny Christmas lights twinkle above the stage, and Chinese artwork adorns the walls inside John Chan’s personal blues parlor, a 125-seat banquet room. Throughout the years, more than a thousand blues performers have played here. In 2010 alone, 138 performers took the stage. Because Chan’s has a reputation as the blues place to be, you might be sitting next to Jerry Portnoy or Doug James or Duke Robillard, who, on an off night, has come to see a friend.

 

Blues Organization: Billtown Blues Association -- Williamsport, Pennsylvania
What began in 1990 has become a model for every affiliated blues organization. Today this blues society boasts a membership of over 300 who expertly keep the blues alive in Williamsport and the surrounding Susquehanna Valley. Over the years, the organization has staged the very successful Billtown Blues Festival. It produces a quarterly newsletter, The Billtown BlueNotes, and has produced other longstanding events like the Fall into the Blues fundraiser, the Billtown Songwriter’s Showcase, and The Music of Billtown, an event presenting a variety of music influenced by the blues and performed by area musicians. Like many organizations, it has supported local music education by donating to the Uptown Music Collective to encourage blues as part of its curriculum. In August 2010, the organization was honored by a city proclamation calling August “Billtown Blues Association Month.” And it even had a float in the Little League World Series parade.

 

Education: Gary Allegretto -- Los Angeles, California
Gary Allegretto is a world-class harmonica player who shares his passion through his acclaimed work as a BITS educator and blues harmonica workshop teacher at camps, special events, and festivals. But perhaps most remarkable is the impact of Gary's humanitarian work, which quite literally changes lives around the world. Through his nonprofit organization Harmonikids, he provides music therapy and harmonicas to children with a wide range of physical, emotional, and/or economic disadvantages. Since 1985, Gary’s programs have reached over 20,000 children globally. His most challenging work has been with child tsunami victims in Indonesia, Katrina victims in New Orleans, and recent earthquake victims in Haiti. Throughout the year, Allegretto is most often found working in schools, in hospitals, and with at-risk youth. The joy and hope that he has brought to children around the world are immeasurable.

 

Festival (U.S): Tampa Bay Blues Festival – St. Petersburg, Florida
What better way to shake off the snows of winter than with a blues extravaganza in sunny Florida? Held each spring since 1995 in Vinoy Waterfront Park in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Tampa Bay Blues Festival remains one of the first major blues festivals on the yearly circuit. “Warm weather and hotter music” has been the mantra of founder and producer Chuck Ross, who has grown his dream blues event into one of the major festivals of the year. Each year, Ross not only assembles a lineup to appeal to hard-core blues aficionados, he also books roots-based bands to bring out fans of this music genre. Thus, fans who come to see Little Feat or Los Lobos also hear Curtis Salgado and Tommy Castro. In April 2011, the fest features a “Best of the Fest” where fans and industry friends selected the lineup featuring their favorite performers of the past decade. Three great days of blues by the bay!

 

Festival International: Notodden Blues Festival – Notodden, Norway
The 23-year-old Notodden Blues Festival is a blues adventure every fan should experience. Staffed by a force of 700 volunteers and an administrative staff of 3.6, the festival turns the tiny Norwegian town of Notodden, population 7,000, into the cosmopolitan blues center of Europe, drawing over 30,000 fans from all corners of the blues world. It is the town’s commitment to this festival that wins over fans the moment they set foot on Notodden’s main streets. The city turns every available nook into a stage for the music. Normal clubs burst at the seams, restaurants transform into Mississippi jukes, and alleys sprout stages and sound systems and morph into intimate venues. The festival, which serves as a tower of pride for the region and for the nation’s enthusiastic blues community, is strongly supported by the residents of Notodden.

 

Film, Television, and Video: Mako Funasaka – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
It's not uncommon to see this quiet man lugging tripods and video and sound equipment as he documents special moments in blues music. Since 2000, Canadian filmmaker Mako Funasaka has traveled the world to record interviews and performances by a wide variety of blues personalities, before editing those conversations to create informative videos, podcasts, and broadcast material. The result, Talkin’ Blues, is currently a 39-part series examining the current state of blues music, documenting the stories and the passion behind the music. The series was syndicated on Bravo! Canada and also appeared on BET-Jazz. In addition, Funasaka continues to produce video podcasts (37 and counting) available on iTunes, featuring song performances and conversations with both international and local blues performers. Funasaka’s archival library is essential to chronicling the history of the blues. He has also been the guiding hand in producing In Memoriam films that honor the past year’s deceased at each Blues Music Awards show.

 

Historical Preservation: Canada South Blues Museum – Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Opened in 2004, this is a live performance museum housed in Place Concorde at the Oasis Pub, a 175-seat venue, where the Canada South Blues Society inducts each honoree before a full house. Once the MC unveils the induction star, the artist performs a show. The initial inductee was Johnny Johnson, and to date 28 artists have been inducted, including Eric Burdon, Jeff Healey, Bobby Rush, Honeyboy Edwards, Kim Wilson, Downchild, Alberta Adams, and Jeremy Spencer. The museum is also hosting youth clinics where professional musicians provide children lessons in the blues.

 

International: Paul Jones – London, England
Paul Jones is perhaps most recognizable as the vocalist and harmonica player in Manfred Mann, one of the most popular bands of the British Invasion. In 1979 he founded The Blues Band, which helped kick-start another boom in blues music. The band has now recorded 17 albums, and tours throughout Europe. This award honors his 20-plus years as the host of BBC radio’s weekly blues program. The show runs every Monday and features both recorded blues and musicians live in BBC studio sessions. Since his show began, Jones has been a major blues voice that reaches all of Europe, and his impact on the European blues scene has been immeasurable.

 

Internet: Mary4Music.com -- Baltimore, Maryland
This blues and indie music website, which started 13 years ago, has become one of the go-to sites on the Internet for blues fans. Founder Mary Roby partnered with Peter "Blewzzman" Lauro to produce this online blues resource. Here, fans can keep track of record labels and their new releases, and can check out blues festivals, clubs, and radio stations playing the blues. There is a blues club and blues band directory that can take fans directly to those sites. In addition, the site lists musician services with links to information on the blues industry. There are links to publicists, managers, agents, promoters, distribution, studios, etc. There are also up-to-date CD, DVD, and show reviews. Central to the timely aspect of this site is Lauro's insatiable appetite for the blues in all its live forms.

 

Journalism: Tim Parsons – South Lake Tahoe, California
In an age when newspaper content is shrinking, coverage of the arts is usually the first to go, but Tim Parsons continues to steadfastly provide comprehensive coverage of area blues shows via the various publications of the Sierra Nevada Publishing Group. In 2010 alone, he published more than 25 stories in its arts and entertainment weekly promoting area blues shows. When the 27-year newspaper veteran became its editor in 2006, Lake Tahoe Action was a standard A&E weekly covering the South Shore. Today it is a hard-core blues magazine covering both the South Shore and North Shore casinos that have brought many well-established artists to the area. Parsons has the responsibility for coverage of every blues act that plays in his area. Not only does he promote these shows, his insight also provides his readers with an accurate history of the music. He consistently has rock 'n' roll, jazz and country artists confirm blues as the origin of their genres, keeping the blues alive in the hearts and minds of Lake Tahoe's readers.

 

Literature: Mary Lou Sullivan – Coventry, Connecticut
Mary Lou Sullivan’s quest to tell the story of Johnny Winter began when she interviewed him for a local article in 1984. That dream came true in 2003 when she finally secured the access to Winter that she needed. Culled from hundreds of hours of interviews with Winter and honest talks with nearly every person who was part of his life, Raisin’ Cain, The Wild and Raucous Story of Johnny Winter is a first-class biography. Her accurate descriptions of Winter’s childhood in Texas, from his early days listening to Howlin’ Wolf on KWKH radio and seeing B.B. King when Johnny was 16 to his days playing at the Vulcan Gas Company, jammin’ with Jimi Hendrix, Woodstock, and his revitalizing of Muddy Waters’ career in the late 1970s make this book as much about the times as it is about this iconic guitarist. In its first year, it went into its third printing, an impressive accomplishment for a blues book.

 

Manager: Paul Nelson -- Bullseye Management, Stamford, Connecticut
In 1999, Johnny Winter met a guitar player who would change his life: Paul Nelson, a top session and touring guitarist. He was invited by Winter to participate as guitarist and songwriter in the recording of I'm a Bluesman. Winter, whose health was poor and deteriorating daily, then asked Nelson to join his band full time. In 2005 Nelson took over the job of manager, enabling him to see the full extent to which Winter's problems were affecting him both personally and professionally. Nelson instituted a health regimen that weaned Winter from the effects of drugs and alcohol. Winter began to recover, and his health, as well as his playing, improved. Nelson also undertook the negotiation of a number of career-reviving license deals: instructional and live-performance DVDs, the Top-10-charting live bootleg audio series, a Gibson Firebird guitar, the long-awaited release of Winter’s Woodstock performance, and the highly praised biography Raisin’ Cain. He also continues to generate high-profile gigs, including Winter’s appearances with the Allman Brothers at the Beacon Theater, worldwide reunion shows with his brother Edgar and Rick Derringer, and Winter's acclaimed performances at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Festivals, helping him reclaim his rightful place in the hearts of his adoring fans.

 

Photography: Bill Steber
In 1992, photographer Bill Steber first traveled through the Mississippi Delta, driving north on Highway 61 out of Natchez along the fabled Blues Highway. He stopped in Leland, met Son Thomas and photographed him with one of his full-size folk-art caskets. The journey, Steber acknowledges, forever altered his life. Through the “Stones in My Pathway” project, Steber found a way to combine his passions for photography and music by beginning an ambitious photographic survey of blues culture in Mississippi with an old Hasselblad camera and lots of black-and-white film. Since then, he has set out to document every living blues musician associated with Mississippi, as well as most of the state’s juke joints, churches, river baptisms, hoodoo practitioners, traditional farming methods, folk traditions, and every other cultural tradition that gave birth to or influenced the blues. His work has been an integral part of Living Blues, the Oxford American, and many other blues publications.

 

Print Media: Twoj Blues – Poland
For 10 years and more than 42 colorful issues, Twoj Blues ("Your Blues"), through its stories, interviews, and CD and concert reviews, has encouraged Polish blues fans to listen to the blues and learn its history. That has encouraged the double-digit growth of blues festivals in the country. The magazine can be viewed on its website, www.twojblues.com, where blues fans around the world can see the first-class quality in every issue. The magazine is published by Delta (www.delta.art.pl), a publishing and booking agency, and utilizes journalists from Poland, the Czech Republic, Great Britain, Germany, Latvia, Canada, and the United States. Twoj Blues has subscribers in Poland, Slovakia, Germany, Belarus, the Netherlands, Canada, and the U.S., and an especially significant number in the Czech Republic, where -- thanks to the similarity between the Polish and Czech languages -- it is treated as the main source of information about the blues.

 

Producer: Michael Freeman -- Barrington, Illinois
Michael Freeman’s work as producer or engineer has appeared on 60 blues titles over three-plus decades. As a teenager in London in the 1960s, Freeman was listening when British DJs were introducing American blues and R&B to British audiences. He first came to the U.S. in 1973 to manage artists, and emigrated here by the decade’s end. His recording career began in the suburbs of Chicago at Hedden West Studios. Freeman has produced 16 first-class blues records including Blind Pig releases by Deborah Coleman, Eddy Clearwater, and Studebaker John. He has also been at the controls for Mississippi Heat and Sharrie Williams. He was co-producer of the Grammy-nominated Pinetop Perkins & Friends album for Telarc in 2009 and Mississippi Heat’s Let’s Live It Up on Delmark in 2010. Most recently, he produced Pinetop Perkins and Willie “Big Eyes” Smith’s Joined at the Hip on Telarc. As engineer, he worked on Alligator’s Vu Du Menz for Corey Harris and Henry Butler, John Primer’s The Real Deal, Bo Diddley’s 40th-anniversary album A Man Amongst Men, and many others.

 

Promoter: Didier Tricard – Montferrier sur Lez, France
For over 35 years, Didier Tricard has been one of the main blues promoters in Europe. He created his Chicago Blues Festival Tour of Europe (41st in 2010) in addition to promoting individual tours with blues icons like B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Albert King, Junior Wells, Albert Collins, Snooks Eaglin, and Ike Turner. He first began in 1976 as the road manager for Luther Allison and John Lee Hooker on a two-week summer tour for Black and Blue records. As part of George Wein’s European office from 1978 to 1981, he booked shows and went on the road with Muddy Waters, Fats Domino, and Chuck Berry. In 1982 he booked his first Chicago Blues Giants tour, including the Lonnie Brooks Band featuring Eddie Shaw, Lefty Dizz, and Melvin Taylor, followed by the 1982 Chicago Blues Legends tour with Little Milton, Magic Slim, B.B. Odom, and Lucky Peterson. Tricard books European gigs for Magic Slim (their business relationship started in 1978), Kenny Neal, Lil Ed, and Zac Harmon, and for the last 10 years has acted as the artistic director for Jazz Club Etoile, Hotel Meridien, in Paris. At the same time, Tricard has also been a first-class producer of blues recordings for his Isabel label, founded in 1979. The most famous of his recordings have been released in America, including Buddy Guy’s Alone & Acoustic and Stone Crazy on Alligator.

 

Publicist: Debra Regur -- Blind Pig Records, San Francisco, California
For nearly a decade, Debra Regur has been the publicity director for Blind Pig Records. Through her tireless efforts to promote the label’s artists, she has helped many of them significantly advance their careers. Her daily contact with all forms of media has increased their appeal and fan base and also brought them greater recognition and critical accolades beyond just blues outlets. Her efforts have resulted in features and reviews of Blind Pig artists on National Public Radio, in national print and internet publications, on syndicated radio programs, etc. She also provides valuable tour support by advancing touring dates to publicize local shows and appearances. The artists on the label appreciate her dedication and love of the music. One example of the kind of up-and-coming performer who has benefited from Regur's expertise is John Németh, who says, “Club owners, promoters, and myself know that the seats will be filled because I have the best publicist in the business on the job, Debra from Blind Pig.”

 

Radio (Commercial): Mark Pasman -- 94.7 WCSX-FM, Detroit, Michigan
Mark Pasman has hosted “The Motor City Blues Project” every Sunday night for 22 years on the classic rock station WCSX-FM, with over 50,000 watts. “The Paz Man” has one of the top 10 shows in the market, with an average listenership of over 35,000. Pretty good numbers for the blues on radio! In 2009, Pasman was awarded the Blues Horizon Award by the Detroit Blues Society and was inducted into the Canada South Blues Society Museum. In addition to his “anything will do” blues attitude in music selection, Mark has brought many legendary performers like B.B. King, Koko Taylor, Willie Dixon, Bo Diddley, Lonnie Brooks, and Robert Cray to the show for personal interviews and plugged in his guitar to host live, on-show jams with Double Trouble, Levon Helm, Robert Randolph, Johnny Bassett, Thornetta Davis, and many others.

 

Radio (Public): Tom Wendt -- KBOO-FM, Portland, Oregon
When Curtis Salgado says, “When you meet somebody like Tom Wendt, you realize you can’t even carry his lunch pail,” one takes note. Wendt has been the station’s volunteer blues DJ, hosting “Blues Power” (now called “Blues Junction”) since 1974. A lifelong student of the blues, Wendt credits KPFA in Berkeley and Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records with turning him on to the blues. Through his vast selection of modern and rare recordings, Wendt has been instrumental in helping his audience learn about and enjoy the blues. It is that dedication to sharing the music that has made him a mainstay of the blues in the Portland area. Whether he’s at the stage absorbing a new blues performance or sharing his experiences about legends who have passed away, Wendt is truly a living blues historian.

 

Record Label: Electro-Fi Records– Toronto, Ontario, Canada
With a mission to record the unsung heroes of the blues, Andrew Galloway opened the doors of Electro-Fi Records in 1997. With a focus on older, African-American artists who either hadn't been recorded in a long time or hadn't been recorded properly, Electro-Fi has recorded multiple records by blues legends such as Snooky Pryor, Billy Boy Arnold, Mel Brown, Little Mack Simmons, Curley Bridges, Sammy Myers, and Willie “Big Eyes” Smith. At the same time, the label has become home to a new generation of blues traditionalists: Mark Hummel, Harrison Kennedy, Julian Fauth, Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne, and Andrew "Jr. Boy" Jones among others. Throughout the years, the label has released over 65 original records, many of which have been nominated for or won Blues Music Awards or Junos, the Canadian equivalent.

Due to many factors, the majority of which centered around the state of the economy, the lack of viable sponsors, and the long-term prognosis of an economic turnaround, Hot Blues and BBQ in Oxford, MI is announcing that the event has been canceled for 2011. The future of the event in later years, at this point, is undetermined.

 

For 6 years Hot Blues and BBQ has presented a class show featuring the very best in local, regional, and national Blues talent. "We are very proud of what we have accomplished in our 6-year history" says organizer Steve Allen. "I am in hopes that when the economy finally turns around the Hot Blues can re-invent itself and continue as a viable, family-oriented festival". "It has been a blast to stage this event each year" said Allen.

 

Hot Blues and BBQ is proudest of the fact that each year the beer tent revenue has been split with local charities, adding thousands of dollars to their coffers each and every year - the true mark of a community event.

 

Thank you to all who have made this event the success that it has been. Keep your ears to the ground for future developments!

NPR - Of the films that feature The Rolling Stones in concert, there are two that matter. One is Gimme Shelter, but that Altamont documentary isn't really about the Stones, is it? The other one was more talked about than seen over the years, but you can finally enjoy Ladies and Gentlemen ... The Rolling Stones on your own flat-screen TV rather than in the hit-and-miss quadraphonic setup in which it was originally released in a few theaters.

 

But wait — what about Martin Scorsese's 2008 Stones movie, Shine a Light, certainly the most cinematically rich documentary of the band? I think the difference between Ladies and Gentlemen and Shine a Light is captured in a moment before the music even starts. In Shine a Light, Bill and Hillary Clinton greet the band before the show — and, in fact, the two performances were a benefit for the ex-president's AIDS Foundation and a celebration of his 60th birthday.

 

 It's hard to get across what a scandal it would have been in 1972 if any high government official, let alone an ex-president, had such an intimate public connection with a Rolling Stones concert. Yes, presidents are more comfortable with rock 'n' roll these days, but the Stones are fundamentally transformed: They're not dangerous anymore. And all the fancy camera angles and inspired lighting and steely professionalism in Scorsese's movie can't make up for that. When Mick Jagger performs "Jumpin' Jack Flash" in Ladies and Gentlemen, he's not merely invoking a world-famous rock 'n' roll classic — he's incarnating it.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen ... The Rolling Stones reflects an early-days concept of what a rock show should be — an almost punk-like spareness to the stage set, 15 songs in a punchy 82 minutes, and a furious, almost deranged set of final numbers. It's also clear by now that this was the most varied and cohesive set of players for the group — the sidemen were Bobby Keys on saxophone, Jim Price on horns and Nicky Hopkins on piano. But the crucial regular band member was guitarist Mick Taylor, looking like a pre-Raphaelite cherub dropped into a nest of gargoyles. Unlike his ultimate replacement, Ron Wood, Taylor did not sound or solo like Keith Richards — he was gritty enough, but also a subtle, lyrical bluesman.

 

For The Rolling Stones, I think the most fundamental change of all since 1972 is that bluesmen aren't what they used to be. Once, the blues was the voice of outsiders who wouldn't sugarcoat love or tell you lies about work and success. Because the Stones were bold when they turned the language of blues-based rock to contemporary youth and events, they seemed like fearless, ravaged realists. But if the Stones never became aristocrats, they did become plutocrats and supreme show-biz insiders.

 

The blues faded as a living music language, and though they tried and tried and searched everywhere, the Stones never found as durable a style as the blues to tell hard truths or at least deliver indelible threats like "Midnight Rambler." But in Ladies and Gentlemen ... The Rolling Stones, Mick, Keith and the boys were fluent in the blues like nobody else.

 

For established pop-music icons, the Stones have been uncommonly reluctant to look back. By all accounts, the big impediment is Jagger, who feels the vintage material doesn't meet his standards. This release of Ladies and Gentlemen includes a new interview with Jagger in which he grants his seal of approval, saying the band sounds on and together. The cagey old codger is underselling a masterpiece.

 

Nepal’s celebrated blues festival, Himalayan Blues Festival (HBF), held annually since 2007, makes its way to India this Thursday. It features three of the eight blues artistes, who’ll be performing at Kathmandu later this month. “It’s just the beginning. It’s a sort-of preview to the five-day festival in Nepal. We’re planning to take the festival across Asia soon,” says festival director Samik Kharel, who will also be staging shows in Bengaluru and Delhi.

  

Blues in India has been popularised by acts such as Shillong’s Soulmate. The Soulmate duo of Tipriti Kharbangar and Rudy Wallang, who have previously performed at Kathmandu’s Jazzmandu, however, will not make it to HBF this year. Even homegrown Nepali bands take a backseat this year, failing to make it to the stage.

 

Fresh talent

“It’s an exciting line-up of artistes this year from all around the world. We’ve got people who’ve got the blues and will help spread the infection,” promises Kharel, who rummaged through over 100 entries before handpicking these nine artists.

This week, two young artistes, Owen Robert Campbell (25) and Jose Luis Pardo (29), offer the city a fresh taste of blues. Campbell, an Australian musician is ecstatic to make his comeback. “I performed at HBF in 2008 and it has been by far the most interesting and beautiful festival I’ve ever been to. The sight, smell and feel of the place is simply incredible,” says Campbell, whose music is a mix of folk and blues mashed to the beat of rock ‘n’ roll.
Another blues guitarist who grew up strumming a Spanish guitar, Pardo is an Argentinean who lives in Madrid. He picked up the music when he was growing up in the 1990s. “Those days it was unusual to see a boy playing blues. But it was a chance encounter when I heard Stevie Ray Vaughan playing ‘Ain’t gone and give up on love’ on television and I knew I had got the blues,” he recalls.

 

The highlight of the show, however, is the 63-year-old Dutchman from Austria, Hans Theessink (pronounced Tay-sink). The celebrated blues guitarist, who plays at least 200 shows in a year, will put up a one-man show. Theessink’s warm, emotive baritone is closer to the African roots of the genre. “Blues is a powerful medium that evokes emotions by its simplicity,” says the blues legend. “I hope I can make my audience in Mumbai high on a blue note this time.”

 

*Workshop/Clinic - 19th November, Friday @ Nepal Music Center, Shinamangal 

 

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NEWPORT, RI (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) -- For the second time in 25 years, the Newport Jazz Festival is casting about for a partner for title sponsorship. The festival, founded by George Wein in 1954, enjoyed a sponsorship arrangement with JVC for 23 years and then Carefusion, a manufacturer of medical devices, for the past two years. CareFusion also underwrote the New York festival in 2010, but has decided to step away from that event as well.
"I am grateful for the two years that CareFusion sponsored the Newport as well as their one year affiliation with our festival in New York," said George Wein, jazz impresario and festival producer. "I am also thankful to Ronda Thomas of The Exordium Group, who created the jazz sponsorship strategy for CareFusion," said Wein. "CareFusion came forward at a very crucial time when my company was facing decisions about the future of this historic event. They understood the worldwide appeal of jazz and tapped into its magic to launch their brand, and we're pleased that jazz helped to make the company a household name."

 

 

The iconic festival is set for August 5 - 7, 2011 at the International Tennis Hall of Fame at Newport Casino and Fort Adams State Park. While the event's lineup has yet to be released, festival spokeswoman Carolyn McClair told the Boston Globe that the sponsorship issue does not imperil the festival and that Wein is currently booking artists.

 

According to the Newport Jazz Festival, the CareFusion Jazz Festival Series ultimately generated in excess of 2 billion measured media impressions and drove over 6 billion impressions in leading international media, creating significant brand awareness for CareFusion after its launch as a spin off from Cardinal Health. A media impression is a metric used in online advertising to count the number of times ads were delivered from distribution points such as placement on a web page.

 

"Any organization that gets involved with the jazz festival in Newport will enjoy a newsworthy celebration of America's music. The sponsorship fee is attractive and the benefits are immediate and substantial. We look forward to building new relationships as we continue to bring great music to Newport," Wein said.

 

 

As a newly minted graduate of Penn State, he began working with the Rainbow School for Special Needs Children at Pleasant Gap Elementary School under the direction of Patty Hild, to whom Ross dedicates the book.

 

 “Mrs. Hild was a visionary,” he said. “She gave me a stack of (children’s musicians) Ella Jenkins and Hap Palmer and told me to learn them. She encouraged me to write my own stuff about what I was teaching — anatomy, vocab, math, colors, emotions. For five years, I did that.” Then Queen Bee & the Blue Hornet Band took off, and according to Ross, “it went from being a local beer-money band to touring Europe, Canada and the Mid-Atlantic. We were on the initial ballot for the Grammy nominations.”

 

Ross found himself on the road for 14 years with the likes of B.B King and Stevie Ray Vaughn. Even in the midst of this success, Ross returned to one of his first loves: working with children.

 

In fact, Ross’ own children were a big part of his decision to leave the road. Ross searched for the right place to send his young son and discovered the Penn State Child Development Lab at Henderson Building. Director Linda Duerr saw Ross play one day when he volunteered in the classroom and asked him to bring his guitar for a regular gig, playing once a week for children ranging from infants to 5 year olds. Here Ross honed his craft still further.

 

“I try songs out and by the second or third time, I know if it’s a hit or not,” he said.

 

Now, Ross, together with illustrator Nathan Mellott, is in the process of turning the songs into books with accompanying CDs. Ross gave Mellott the song and Mellott returned with samples. Together they worked through the book, adding little extras to every page — a hidden fish and a “mixed-up” image to keep children engrossed and attentive.

 

“You can do whatever you want,” Mellot said. “In a kid’s imagination, there is no judgment of the weird things you throw in. You just have to keep up with their imagination.”

 

The CD features vocals by John Taylor who tweens might recognize as the lead guitarist/musical director of The Jonas Brothers. The Blue Hornet Band provides instrumentation and additional voices come from the children of Room to Grow and Bridge to Learning.

 

Children might also share music with Ross through his 10-week gig at Spela Children’s Store. On Mondays, Ross offers a “Juice Box Jams” class at 10:30 a.m. Children get a copy of the book, a T-shirt, a pair of rhythm sticks and, at every session, a juice box. The class is interactive and caters to the children’s ages which might be anywhere from infant to preschool. For more info, call Spela at 237-2400. Ross also will host a show at East West Crossings at 11 a.m. Saturday. People of all ages are welcome.

 

As for Ross, he considers himself a lucky man: “Without the help and guidance of Mrs. Hild and Linda Duerr and everybody and the Child Development Lab and Nate, none of this would be possible. I am just gonna try my best to make a positive impact and give a little more than I received.”

 

Mark Ross will perform for children at 11 a.m. Nov. 13 at East West Crossings, 210 Elmwood St., State College.

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Dave Hoekstra/Chicagosuntimes.com — Like the rhythm of Jimmy Reed’s guitar, the Midway Tavern drives a warm mojo all the way to your heart.

 

I can’t think of a Chicago blues club with this pedigree. (Lee’s Unleaded Blues, 7401 S. South Chicago, opened in the 1970s as Queen Bee’s Lounge.)

 

Maybe best of all, the Midway is booked and owned by Albertina Wassenhove. She is the 83-year-old daughter of the original owner, Martha Van Holsbeke. Wassenhove is 4-foot-11, an adorable Betty White in a blues world.

 

In 1989, Wassenhove booked the Swingin’ Crawdads blues band from South Bend. “It was upbeat,” she says. “Not down-in-the-mouth blues.”

 

Wassenhove’s business card reads: “Life is short. Dance often!!”

 

Wassenhove does not drink, smoke or “cuss.” But she loves to dance. And her mother loved to dance.

 

A native of Koewacht, Holland, Van Holsbeke tended bar at the Midway for 67 years. She liked to have a shot of Scotch at the end of her shift. Van Holsbeke died in 1990 at the age of 92.

 

Before Prohibition the Midway was known for Belgian archery, Belgian bowling and its homing pigeons. (Hopefully, all three were not going on at the same time.)

 

After Prohibition was repealed in 1933, Van Holsbeke booked live jump, swing and country-western music.

 

The dance hall has a refurbished 1905 Storey & Clark upright grand piano. It’s been played by everyone from Pinetop Perkins to Jim Hill. Blues greats Sam Lay, the late Chicagoan Barkin’ Bill and Liz Mandeville all have autographed the dance hall wall.

 

The club seats 175 people. About 30 patrons gather in the front, while the back bar is anchored by a working solid brass cash register built in June 1903 in Dayton, Ohio. I know this because bartender-manager Brian Geirnaert showed me the bottom of the register drawer.

 

That’s how they are at the Midway. They go out of their way to be friendly.

 

Wassenhove reckons the Midway got its name because it was halfway between Chicago and Detroit. Indiana governors and Al Capone have visited. Every couple of months, Capone gave Van Holsbeke a couple  dozen red roses.

 

“John Dillinger had an apartment on the corner of Lincolnway and Main Street above what used to be a bus station,” Wassenhove says.

 

During Prohibition, legendary Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne snuck in with some students, but Rock and Roll Hall of Famer John Fogerty has yet to visit. He lives part-time in a nearby castle with his wife, Julie Kramer, a native of Elkhart, Ind.

 

Wassenhove has spent her entire life in Mishawaka. She deals with agents directly from her home office, a few blocks away from the tavern.

 

“I’ve become friends with lots of the bands,” she says. “Agents don’t give you a break. But I do have three or four bands that will. Barrelhouse Chuck is a favorite.”

 

The Naperville resident will appear in a unique boogie-woogie piano showcase with Chicago legend Erwin Hefler and Lluis Coloma from Spain at 9 p.m. (Eastern time) Saturday at the Midway.

 

The joint opened as the Midway Lunch because alcohol was illegal. Then, Mishawaka consisted mostly of Belgian immigrants. They found work at the Ball Band shoe plant (which became Uniroyal). “Ball was called ‘The Belgian Shoe College’ because so many people who worked there were Belgian,” Wassenhove recalls. Her father, Cyriel, was a Belgian fisherman who worked at Ball. In 1920, her mother arrived in Indiana. Before the Midway hit stride, she worked at a shirt factory in South Bend.

 

The Midway serves 88 different bottled beers. I enjoyed a bottle of Bell’s Oberon ($3.50) from nearby Kalamazoo, Mich. The Midway also has a 32-ounce bucket of “Voodoo Juice” ($8, eight shots of Cruzan rum, pineapple juice), but I did not sample that. I had to drive home, making a wonderful stop at the Chick-fil-A, 5517 N. Main St. (closed Sundays).

 

Today, there are still about 20 family-owned bars within a 15-minute walking distance of the Midway. It’s like Milwaukee-in-Mishawaka.

 

The tavern is about four blocks from the former Kamm’s Brewery, which has been turned into office buildings and restaurants.

 

“I remember how Kamm’s had horse-drawn carriages,” Wassenhove says. “When my mother ran out of beer, they’d throw a keg on the carriage and deliver it to her.”

 

Wassenhove pauses and continues,  “Everybody was friendly back then. That’s what I try to be here.

 

“If people don’t become your friends, it’s just a bar.”

 

TOLEDO -- A Toledo man is heading to prison for 15 years for a botched robbery that left him with a gunshot wound.

 

 

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SAVANNAH, GA (AP) — The Savannah Music Festival is sticking with its usual eclectic mix of roots, classical and world music for its 2011 concert series.

Banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck, New Orleans R&B legend Allen Toussaint and jazz singer Dianne Reeves are among the artists announced for next year's festival, which runs March 24 to April 9.

 

While tickets are already on sale for the Savannah festival, executive director Rob Gibson said the full lineup won't be announced until January when more concerts are added.

 

Gibson said to expect some well-known performers among the late additions.

 

In its 22nd season, the Savannah Music Festival holds dozens of concerts at venues throughout the city's downtown historic district each year.

 

For more information, check them online at: savannahmusicfestival.org

 

 

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Order and pay for your ad before January 15, 2011 and receive a 15% discount! (Ad/artwork isn't due until end of March).

 

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The Arhoolie Foundation presents Down Home Music: A Journey Through the Heartland 1963, a DVD that features performances by Lightning Hopkins, Mance Lipscomb, Jesse Fuller and over 20 other artists.

 

Also available is The Best of Sacred Steel containing captivating, rocking gospel music from the steel guitar masters of the House of God churches.

 

 

Robert Randolph cut his musical chops playing pedal steel guitar in his mother’s church. Then he took "sacred steel" to the secular world, earning him a place on Rolling Stones’ list of 100 best guitar players of all time. He joins Elwood to talk about his disc, WE WALK THIS ROAD, produced by the legendary T. Bone Burnett. You will also hear BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Sly and the Family Stone, and new music from a stunning Milwaukee soul band, Kings Go Forth. Plus, a chance for you to win two contests this week!  EVERYTHING WEST is the new CD from actor, bluesman, and singer-songwriter Jim Byrnes. Bruce Springsteen’s THE PROMISE contains 21 previously unreleased songs recorded during the DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN sessions. Five copies of each will be given away here.

 

 

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.

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