The Bare Bones Boogie Band was formed in London in October 2008 by four musicians from across the UK. 

The Bare Bones Boogie Band is a stripped-down, no nonsense blues band.

Our vision is simple - to strip the music back to the bare essentials and build from there.

Our roots are the electric blues of the late 60s and early 70s, when bands like Free, Fleetwood Mac and the Stones were inspired by BB King and Robert Johnson, and Janis Joplin was re-inventing Etta James. Live, we will not hold back. We do not apologize for our rawness, nor for our tenderness.

We deliver heavy, soulful blues! 

Our first album was released in 2010 and received very complimentary reviews and airplay at the BBC and across the world. This second album was released on 1st January 2012 and is already receiving worldwide radio play and 5 star reviews...!  

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Pages of Paperwork is the fifth installment in Levee Town’s catalog.  With a sound built on years of constant performing and songwriting, the band has created a hard-driving, smoothly-polished, soulful record.

Pages of Paperwork exhibits a maturity and sophistication borne of heartbreak and the joy of personal resurgence.  Songwriters Hudspeth, Garoutte, and Meade share a convergent vision of the world-at-large and craft their individual tunes in a similar vein.  The band chugs along with astonishing energy and focus.  Vocally, Levee Town is obviously comfortable performing an ever-widening array of styles.

 From rocking shuffles to grinding slow blues to North-Mississippi-style rockers to KC swing numbers, Pages Of Paperwork is an exhilarating breath of fresh air and a joy to take in.

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Canada's Maple Blues Awards Winners Announced

Canadian Blues Artists from coast-to-coast were honoured by their peers at the 15th Annual Maple Blues Awards gala in Toronto this week as a crowd of blues lovers gathered to celebrate Canadian blues at Koerner Hall.

WINNERS OF THE 15TH ANNUAL MAPLE BLUES AWARDS

ELECTRIC ACT OF THE YEAR

Monkey Junk

ACOUSTIC ACT OF THE YEAR

Matt Andersen

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

Matt Andersen

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

Suzie Vinnick

NEW ARTIST OR GROUP OF THE YEAR

Sabrina Weeks & Swing Cat Bounce

RECORDING OF THE YEAR

To Behold, MonkeyJunk

BLUES WITH A FEELING (Lifetime Achievement)

Paul James

B.B. KING INTERNATIONAL ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Gregg Allman

GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Steve Strongman

HARMONICA PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Carlos del Junco

PIANO/KEYBOARD PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne

HORN PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Chris Whiteley

DRUMMER OF THE YEAR

Matt Sobb

BASSIST OF THE YEAR

Alec Fraser

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR

Suzie Vinnick

BLUES BOOSTER OF THE YEAR

Liz Sykes

The 16th Annual Maple Blues Awards will be held at Koerner Hall on Monday, January 21st, 2013.

Live in Australia, Run a Winery and Host a Blues Festival....It Could Happen to You!

(Australia) The famous Dingo Creek winery, just south of Gympie and home of the Dingo Creek Wine, Jazz and Blues festival, is up for sale, for $795,000 (AU$).

Hinternoosa agent Jim Ennis announced the sale on the internet, describing the property as offering "quality lifestyle with unlimited commercial potential".

The 10.5ha site is described as "large, fully fenced, usable acreage with high-producing vineyards, large dam, creek, bush and paddocks".

The house is described as "350sq m under one roof including four large bedrooms, huge living areas, enormous country kitchen and a fully licensed commercial kitchen geared to feeding the masses".

The home is raised to accommodate further development downstairs, with this said to be needed "to make the most of your vineyard's commercial kitchen and newly developed serving and dining areas".

The winery has been described as one of the prettiest on the Sunshine Coast. 

Quote By John Morrison the Mayor of Swing City:“Dingo Creek Jazz and Blues Festival is Australia’s only “personal” music festival.  Its a place where music lovers can meet and greet all their favourite musicians in a setting that is second to none!  Bring your sleeping bag and enjoy it the whole weekend.  There is NOTHING like it anywhere!” 

Blues Foundation annouces finalist for the Best Self-Produced CD Contest

The Best Self-Produced CD Contest has entered the final round. The initial list of 74 has been pared to five. The winner will be announced at the IBC band finals list of CDs still in the hunt are:

Saxophone Shootout II - Blue Lunch (Cleveland Blues Society)

Under the Influence - Bad Influence (Frederick Blues Society)

It Ain't Hard to Tell - Mikey Jr. (Jersey Shore Jazz and Blues Foundation)

Where I'm Coming From... - Dave Keller (Rhode Island Rhythm & Blues Preservation Society)

Me ‘n’ Mabel – Suzie Vinnic (Toronto Blues Society)

The winner will be crowned February 4, 2012 at Band Finals on the stage of the Historic Orpheum Theater on the corner of Main and Beale Street in downtown Memphis, Tn.

iTunes Blues Masters FREE 

If you are a blues guitarist who wants to know how the legends build their solos then you will want to get Blues Masters iPad app.

The celebrated Blues Masters is the perfect app for anyone looking to pick up playing styles from the legends that have inspired us!

Utilizing notes and tabs with animation, this app can help you learn authentic licks by sixteen of the greatest blues legends. They are broken down from the familiar 12-bar blues form into six two-measure chunks. Learn each chunk separately and then combine them to create your own 12-bar Hot List solo with full rhythm backing tracks.

Blues Masters is easy for beginners but also includes 115+ riffs for seasoned pros. So it’s easy to compare the approach B.B. King takes, for example, on the V–IV turnaround, with that of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Duane Allman, or Eric Clapton.

Slow down each riff to 3/4 or 1/2 speed to help you learn it.  Selected riffs also have video instruction.

Blues Masters has received high recognition from a variety of reputable music and app professionals alike.

It was named app of the week by IK Media, makers of iKlip and recently was named the 2012 MacWorld | iWorld APPALOOZA! winner of top apps which will be celebrated during the MacWorld Conference in San Francisco.

HP NEWQUIST Former Editor-in-Chief, GUITAR Magazine and the current Executive Director, The National GUITAR Museum, had this to say: “The Blues Guitar app created by G-Men is so full of enjoyable and entertaining elements that it's sure to inspire everyone who uses it to grab the nearest guitar and start playing! They've taken the age-old process of teaching guitar and infused it with stunning animation, sound, photos, and video.”

Check out Blues Masters for FREE!

Sarasota Blues Fest has earlier date, new name

SARASOTA, Florida -- The long-running Sarasota Blues Fest has undergone some changes.

For starters, the popular event typically takes place around the first Saturday in November.

But the 22nd annual edition has now been dubbed the Sarasota Blues and Music Fest. And it will take place Saturday, Sept. 29.

ExtremeTix and Three Zebras Entertainment took over ownership of the Sarasota Blues Fest last year.

The Houston-based made the announcement via email Thursday morning.

Later that same day, Barbara Strauss told the Herald from her home in Sarasota that she had parted ways with the festival.

She ran the Sarasota Blues Fest since 1993, sold it last year to ExtremeTix but continued on as executive director through the latest festival in November.

“The Sarasota Blues Fest is very important event to the community and I wish them nothing but the best,” said the Riverview High graduate. “But my days with the blues fest are finished.”

The debut Bradenton Blues Festival is scheduled to take place at the Bradenton Riverwalk at Rossi Park (currently under construction) in downtown on Saturday, Dec. 1.

Town Board absences lead to delay on Blues Festival vote

The Riverhead (Long Island, New York) Town Board held off on voting to approve the 2012 Riverhead Blues Festival permit application Wednesday at the request of Councilwoman Jodi Giglio, who wanted to discuss it with the full Town Board.

Two board members were absent at Wednesday’s meeting in Town Hall, which meant that resolutions needed a unanimous vote of the three members present in order to pass.

Vail-Leavitt Music Hall hich runs a downtown nonprofit theater by the same name, has yet to provide insurance for the festival, which will cost about $3,000; the town was planning to the group a waiver on the requirement that insurance be provided 120 days before the event. Insurance would still be required prior to the event, just not 120 prior.

Preliminary dates are set for June 16 and 17.

The Blues Festival had been an annual event until last year, when Vail-Leavitt cancelled it because theater officials were worried it would run into opposition, as had happened in 2010 when Business Improvement District and the Chamber of Commerce leaders sought to take over management of the event.

Video of the Week

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Dr. John's New Album Produced by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys

(vintagevinylnews.com) - Dr. John has recruited the very busy Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys as producer of his new album, Locked Down. The album is due April 3 and is Dr. John's debut with Nonesuch Records.

Not only is Auerbach's group's album, El Camino, currently at number 3 in the U.S., but they will be one of the headliners at this year's Coachella festival as part of their upcoming world tour. Still, he made time to work with Dr. John, saying "Mac [Rebennack, Dr. John's real name] inspired me every single day we were in the studio together: musically, spiritually, cosmically ... something special seemed to be happening and everyone involved could sense it. For my money, Mac's one of the greatest who ever was and who ever will be ... I'm so honored to have had this opportunity to work with him."

Dr. John returns the love, saying "It was way cool cutting this record with Dan and the crew he put together for it. It's real HIP."

Early word is that Locked Down is a departure from the artists latest few albums. He used a band of young musicians which he handpicked for the sessions, recording at his own Easy Eye Sound in Nashville.

It was Rebennack's children that first turned him on to the Black Keys and Auerbach, which led to the two men collaborating on last year's very successful Bonnaroo Jam at the yearly festival.

More details are expected on the album in the coming weeks.