Eric Bibb: Digging a little deeper in the well with a non-stop career that takes him around the world

Stony Plain debut record Deeper in the Wellcrosses musical genres as the singer offers his audience hope and optimism

Eric Bibb's Deeper in the Well is a unique combination of traditional and contemporary Louisiana music. Acclaimed folk blues singer/songwriter/guitarist Eric Bibb is backed by an all-star Louisiana band including multi-instrumentalist Dirk Powell, guitarist Cedric Watson, drummer Danny Devillier and harmonica player Grant Dermody. Special guests include Michael Jerome Browne, Jerry Douglas and Christine Balfa.

Eric Bibb is one of the highest profile roots musicians, having been nominated for multiple Blues Music Awards and a Grammy. He will be touring extensively throughout 2012.

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The fifth album from the Dave Hoffheimer Band is a cleaner, more traditional sound. Still heavy on the guitars, but with a refined old-school feel. Memorable guitar riffs that harmonize with the bass lines (tracked by Chris Derfler who played in lemondrop with Dave) and background piano carry most of the songs. Some funky grooves include Messed Up and No Control, while Long Way Home provides a slow, sexy trip down Lonely Street. In a slight departure, Here Comes Trouble moves in a jazzy direction with the upright bass, but stays in the blues with guitar riffs galore.

The Dave Hoffheimer Band is best known for their house rockin' blues (listen to the King Pin & Less Is More CDs) like Roll Away and Scratched My Itch, though the clean, standard sound has taken over in this collection of outstanding songs. The addition of a clav on Shakin' Her Finger and minimal slide on Lonesome Road really round out this band.

The backing vocals by Stacey and Courtney are perfect. They swing and taunt throughout the whole album. You can see them sway back and forth as they put the finishing touches on new dimensions in their vocal tracks.

While most of the Dave Hoffheimer Band music is heard on European airwaves, expect this album to break into Chicago, Memphis, and New Orleans radio. These guys are based in the Mid West, and play most of their shows in that area, but are definitely heading down south in this summer's tour plans. 

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We Juke Up In Here

(CLARKSDALE, MS) – The hotly anticipated new blues film, “We Juke Up In Here: Mississippi’s Juke Joint Culture at the Crossroads”, will have its world premiere on Friday, April 13 at the Delta Cinema at 11 Third Street in Clarksdale, MS. The event is free and open to the public. The inaugural screening is being sponsored by Delta Music Experience. The event takes place as the kick-off to Juke Joint Festival weekend in Clarksdale. 

The film’s premiere kicks off at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, April 13 with a reception and meet-and-greet with the filmmakers in the lobby of the Delta Cinema. The reception will feature refreshments and live music by several artists featured in the film, including Elmo Williams, Hezekiah Early and Robert Lee “Lil’ Poochie” Watson. The film will screen at 7 p.m. following the reception. 

“We Juke Up In Here” follows music producers Roger Stolle and Jeff Konkel as they explore what remains of Mississippi’s once-thriving network of juke joints – the down-home, quasi-legal blues clubs that have served as the testing ground for blues talent in Mississippi for more than a century. “We Juke Up In Here” pulls back the curtain on the state’s contemporary juke joint culture through exciting musical performances, compelling interviews and rare on-camera experiences. The film is a joint production of Broke & Hungry Records  and Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art. The project was produced in partnership with the Associazione Roots ‘n’ Blues of Parma, Italy.  

“Through the years, Roger and I have spent countless nights hanging out in down-home juke joints throughout the Delta, drinking cheap beer and enjoying some of the hottest blues imaginable,” said Konkel, owner of Broke & Hungry Records. “Over time, we’ve seen some subtle and some not-so-subtle changes in Mississippi’s juke joint culture. With this project, we’ve tried to address some of those changes by going straight to the source: The juke joint owners and the musicians they hire. The end result is an insider’s look at the past, present and future of Mississippi’s juke joint tradition.” 

“We Juke Up In Here” reunites Konkel and Stolle with Damien Blaylock, their co-director for the award-winning 2008 film “M For Mississippi.” Also returning from the earlier film is sound engineer Bill Abel. Rounding out the production team for “We Juke Up In Here” is co-producer Lou Bopp who provided still photography and shared cinematography duties with Blaylock.

“We Juke Up In Here” will be released as a deluxe two-disc collection in April with a DVD featuring the documentary along with exciting bonus features and a CD soundtrack with music from the film plus additional recordings by the featured artists. A full-color pullout booklet includes insightful essays by the filmmakers along with extraordinary photos of the featured musicians, juke joints and proprietors. The collection is available for pre-order at www.wejukeupinhere.com for just $25 (including worldwide shipping). In late March the set’s price will increase to $29.99 plus shipping and handling. Orders are slated to ship in the second week of April. 

“We made the decision early in our planning for ‘We Juke Up In Here’ to make the collection as comprehensive as possible,” said Stolle, owner of Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art. “We want our customers to really get a feel for Mississippi’s contemporary juke joint culture, so we’ve included all kinds of extras on the DVD, including optional English closed-captioning, optional French and Italian subtitles, extended and deleted scenes, artist and filmmaker biographies, a photo gallery and more. We also compiled a scorching CD soundtrack featuring 14 performances featured in the film. It’s the next best thing to a trip to the Delta.”

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Little Red Box

Little Red Box is D. Edward's debut album as a Singer/Songwriter/Producer.

Born and raised in Berkeley and Oakland CA. He began his musical journey in elementary school starting with the trumpet and clarinet as well as appearing in the chorus of a school musical.

While in middle school he began taking piano lessons after his family inherited a piano. All the while interested in lyrics of songs he heard on the radio.

In high school he went on to study Afro-Cuban drumming and found this to beanother passion along with songwriting. He played for the high school Afro-Haitian dance classes as well as with the Jazz band and sitting in with the Symphonic band on occasion.

It was in college that he began studying Jazz arranging, voice and music theory as well as business courses.

He has played in many bands in the San Francisco Bay Area over the years.

In The 90’s he thrived on the Acid Jazz scene in "The City" (San Francisco). He played percussion and keyboards and co-produced 2 CDs, with a group called "Know Jazz.” The first CD was an EP titled "Unsigned and Ready to Deliver", it received a rave review in Hitmakers Magazine and then produced an album titled "Take a Hit of This..." , from which the song “Funky Maiden” was picked up by Moonshine Records and featured on their compilation CD called “The Speakeasy Collective. ”

He has released two Smooth Jazz CDs "The DC Initiative" and "Clifton at Desmond" and has worked with many other artists and producers including Genevieve Goings of Disney's Choo Choo Soul program, Producer Joel Jaffe, Actress/Singer Brely Evans, Rapper Simply E, Omega Rae (from Goapele, Martin Luther's bands), Grammy Nominated Producer PC Muñoz, R&B singer Case, Victoria Theodore (from Stevie Wonder's band), Terry Bradford (from Celine Dion's band), Yuko Tamura (from Gladys Knight's band) and currently performs with R&B /Funk legends Con Funk Shun as their Percussionist and continues to work as a Studio Musician.

He is currently putting together the live band together for shows to promote the release of Little Red Box. 

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Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise 

Bands Announced!

LRBC #20 Caribbean, January 20 ~ 27, 2013

Ft. Lauderdale, FL to Tortola, St. Kitts & Half Moon Cay • Holland America ms Nieuw Amsterdam

Taj Mahal & The Phantom Blues Band

Elvin Bishop with Mickey Thomas

Mavis Staples

Big Head Todd & The Monster

w/ The Mile Hi Horns

Legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue w/ Tommy Castro, Kenny Neal, Rod Piazza & Samantha Fish | site

Tab Benoit

Rod Piazza & The Mighty Flyers plus Reunion w/ Alex Schultz, Bill Stuve & Jimi Bott (2 Bands) | site

Phantom Blues Band

Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience

Mark Hummel's Harmonica Blowout w/ Lazy Lester, Sugar Ray Norcia, Little Charlie Baty

Tommy Castro & The Painkillers

John Primer

Smokin' Joe Kubek & Bnois King (acoustic)

Kelley Hunt

Otis Taylor

The Lee Boys

Tasha Taylor

Southern Hospitality w/ JP Soars, Damon Fowler & Victor Wainwright

Rick Holmstrom Band

Marquise Knox

Monkey Junk

Ray Bonneville (IBC Solo/Duo Winner)

Eden Brent (Piano Bar)

Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne (Piano Bar)

Barrelhouse Chuck (Piano Bar)

Steve Willis (Piano Bar)

Randy Oxford (Jam Host) 

Plus

Special

Guests!

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Record Labels, Artists Left Singing The Blues In Australian Radio Royalties Case

IT'S not every day the big labels are cast as the underdogs of the music business, but a landmark decision in the High Court yesterday has got the majors singing the blues. 

In a case brought by the Phonographic Performance Corporation of Australia - acting on behalf of the four major labels (Universal, Sony, Warner and EMI) and the artists they represent - the court was asked to consider whether a cap on the royalties paid by commercial radio stations, set at a maximum of 1 per cent of the stations' revenue, was unconstitutional. 

The court ruled unanimously that it was not. ''This was a decision on legalistic grounds, not moral ones,'' said Dan Rosen, chief executive of the PPCA, after the ruling. ''All we were hoping to achieve was to get rid of this artificial and anachronistic cap, which significantly undervalues artists.''

Commercial Radio Australia responded to the judgment with a one-line statement in the name of its chief executive, Joan Warner. "The commercial radio industry is very pleased with today's decision," it said. 

What is at stake is the money that flows to the PPCA, a non-profit body, from royalties paid by the 273 commercial radio licensees in Australia, many of whom build their programming largely around music. 

Those royalty payments are split 50-50 between the labels and any artists who have registered with the PPCA as a featured performer on particular tracks. Crucially, any band member who has played on a recording is eligible for a cut. 

The PPCA argues while the scheme is capped at 1 per cent of revenue, in reality it averages about 0.4 per cent. It claims similar schemes in the US, Britain and Canada provide for royalties of 3 per cent to 5 per cent. According to Commercial Radio Australia, total revenue to the local industry in 2011 was $683 million - meaning no more than $6.83 million for record companies and artists.

Lindy Morrison, former drummer with 1980s indie band the Go-Betweens and a member of the PPCA board since 1994, was disappointed by the decision. ''The commercial radio stations are the Goliath, they represent enormously successful businesses. On the other end, you have people who make music and are simply trying to get paid for their work,'' she said.

There are two royalty schemes related to radio. The Australian Performing Rights Association administers a scheme that funnels a fee of up to 3.75 per cent of revenue to songs' writers or publishers. 

Mr Rosen has vowed to continue the fight. ''There is no economic, social or moral justification for this price cap.''

'Detroit Music: A Photographic Retrospective' Offers Snapshots Of Motor City's Musical Odyssey

(huffingtonpost.com) Detroit music runs deep. It's a river of sound with changing currents that carry many traditions: blues, techno, jazz, hip-hop, noise and the many strains of rock and roll, from punk to metal to garage to folk.

And as fun as Detroit music is to listen to, it's just as fun to look at. That's the idea behind a new photo exhibit at the Whitdel Arts Gallery in southwest Detroit that seeks to chart the visual ebb and flow of the city's rich musical legacy.

"Detroit Music: A Photographic Retrospective" brings together the work of three local photographers, Doug Coombe, Marvin Shaouni and Trever Long, with the words of Detroit music writer Jeff Milo. The show will feature 85 photographs of performers as diverse as Andre Williams, Insane Clown Posse, Daniel Kroha of The Gories and the Electric Six.

The Whitdel's Lisa Krug organized the exhibit. "I thought we were long overdue to highlight this important aspect of culture within our city," she told The Huffington Post in an email. "I personally contacted these three photographers because of their long and valuable contributions ... many times unpaid."

Doug Coombe has spent two decades capturing images of the musical worlds of Detroit and Ann Arbor and has shared them with Metro Times readers since 1999. His work has graced the pages of Rolling Stone, Spin, Mojo and many other publications, and he has covered nearly every aspect of the region's music scenes.

Marvin Shaouni walks the line between musician and photographer. He played bass, drums and guitar in a variety of local bands, including Caelum Bliss, Life of Crime and the folk group Blueflowers. Since 2008, Shaouni has been the managing photographer for Model D. He has exhibited photos on both coasts -- in the Pulse Contemporary Art Fair in Los Angeles and Fred Torres Collaborations in New York City.

Trever Long is a Detroit-based photographer whose specialties are live events and creating promotional work for musicians and other artists. He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the College for Creative Studies and has trained in illustration and painting, artistic traditions that add a narrative flair to his work. Long collaborated with Jeff Milo in 2010 to compile the book "Detroit:Now," which documents contemporary local artists, such as musician Audra Kubat and performer Satori Circus.

Visitors to the gallery are sure to get an inside view of Detroit they've most likely onlyheard before.

"It really is a beautiful collection and I believe it truly highlights the pride we have in our city, music and our own talent pool of writers and photographers," said Krug.

"Detroit Music" opens Friday, March 30 from 6 to 9 p.m. DJ Carjack will provide music for the event. The show runs through April 28. The gallery is open Saturdays from 12 to 3 p.m. and is located at 1250 Hubbard in Detroit.

For more information see whitdelarts.com 

Chess Records Founder’s Son Slams Studio Owners: ‘We Were Dissed’

(suntimes.com) Marshall Chess is the son of the late Leonard Chess, the driving force at Chess Records.

He has kept silent about the developments at his father’s historic studio at 2120 S. Michigan.

Until now.

The space, where Etta James first sang and where the Rolling Stones recorded in 1964, re-opened in 1997 as a museum and headquarters for Blues Heaven Foundation, which owns and operates the facility. The non-profit foundation was founded in 1980 by Chess songwriter-producer Willie Dixon.

But the Chicago landmark is falling apart and visitors are down. In October, Jacqueline Dixon, the foundation’s executive director and Dixon’s daughter, told the Sun-Times she would “consider” changing the name from Blues Heaven to a more identifiable Chess Studios — like Motown in Detroit and Sun Records and the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis, Tenn.

“The whole Chess family was taken out of the picture,” Chess said from his home in upstate New York. “If you want to talk hip-hop, we were dissed. I mean, they took our name off the building.

“I would buy the building if they would sell it and I would run it the right way. I know the money goes to charity [Blues Heaven], but I could tell them how to make that a giant tourist attraction — and a profit. I would make a deal with a Chicago mobile recording company, rebuild the room upstairs, run the wires to the street and start hiring the studio out to bands. There’s an empty lot next door and they could do like they did in Memphis [at Sun Records] with a restaurant with music.

“And Chicago has much more tourism than Memphis.”

Marie Dixon, 74, is president of the Blues Heaven Foundation and the widow of Willie Dixon. She said, “Marshall hasn’t made a donation so we could even restore the building properly. Is Marshall willing to help us put the studio back in but not become my partner? Phil [Chess, Marshall’s uncle] made a small donation in ‘94 or ‘95. But the building is sagging. It is sinking. One of the dreams of my lifetime is to get a studio back in there, but I need a lot of help. I don’t know how to write a grant.

“I’m not trying to cut the Chess name out. They let it go out. We mention the offices of Leonard and Phil Chess on every tour. I purchased that building in a demolition stage. I came in from the West Coast and saved that building.

“Where would the Chess name had gone if they had torn it down, or not made it a landmark?”

The 2120 S. Michigan building was designated a city landmark in 1990. Marie Dixon bought the two-floor terra cotta building in 1993. She provided more than $400,000 of the initial $650,000 startup costs. She then donated the building to the Blues Heaven Foundation. Willie Dixon died in 1992.

Marshall Chess confirmed he has not donated to Blues Heaven. “I was highly insulted,” said Chess, 70. “At one point I was there with my cousin Terry. We were taking photos out in front of the building. We went in and the guy wanted to charge us admission.

“But by the time I turned 50 I learned that sometimes it’s better to keep your mouth shut.”

And then Chess continued, releasing years of frustration. He said, “More creativity came out of 2120 than any other place in the history of Chicago. It wasn’t just Chuck Berry and the blues. We had black comedy artists. We had amazing jazz. Rev. C.L. Franklin, Aretha’s first album. The Record Row studios that ground out stuff dried up after Chess left. Otherwise R. Kelly and Kanye West would have been on Chess, no doubt about it.”

The 2120 S. Michigan building was a magical spot for the Chess brothers. They purchased the former auto parts warehouse in 1956, and the glory days ran until 1967, when they moved to a bigger space at 320 E. 21st St.

“That building is our family’s history,” Chess said. “We never thought it would have been turned into Blues Heaven, with the Chess letters taken off. We went to the landmark ceremony. We were never consulted. It was a great honor, but they ruined the soul. They remodeled it like it was from another era. I didn’t want to say anything because the landmark guy was there and they still did a nice job.”

Chess and his uncle Phil tried to purchase the original Chess studio cast aluminum letters that had been transferrred to the label’s last stop on East 21st St. They asked the Dixon family to restore the letters on the 2120 S. Michigan space. It never happened.

Chess said he last spoke to Marie Dixon when Martin Scorsese’s 2003 PBS blues documentary “Godfathers and Sons” was being made in Chicago. “Marie loves Phil and me,” he said. “She hugged us in that documentary. But I put feelers out numerous times about buying the building. After I sold [the music publishing company] ARC , I thought this would be a great project. I didn’t care about money, it could all go to a blues charity.”

Dixon uses royalty income to help keep Blues Heaven Foundation alive. Willie Dixon wrote Muddy Waters’ “Hoochie Coochie Man” and Howlin Wolf’s “Back Door Man,” among hundreds of others. “But royalties are not enough to restore the building the way in which it needs to be restored,” she said. She would not disclose Blues Heaven finances.

“What can I say?” Chess asked. “My family’s gone. [Phil Chess is 90 years old.] I would love to get involved, but if I put my name on it I want it to be the best. Why would I want it to be second-rate?”

Lazer Llloyd: Singing The Jewish Blues

(ynetnews.com)Every man has his own style of blues, and that is exactly what Lazer Lloyd is looking for. The international blues artist who became an observant Jew and made aliyah knows that everyone has something they want to get off their chest – and he enjoys being the emissary who helps relieve the pressure.

Lloyd, 45, is currently a resident of Ramat Beit Shemesh, was born in Connecticut to a family whose connection to religion was incidental at best. Shortly after his Bar Mitzvah he launched a musical career that included playing in ill-lit pubs, to his parents' great chagrin. Yet they were overjoyed when he received a Masters degree in music. 

The road to fame seemed to take a clear path. Lloyd was swiftly identified as a guitar virtuoso, was signed on for a recording deal at Atlantic Records, and played music with Milt Hinton, Randy Baker, Gene Bertuccini, Johnny Winter and Prince.

It was at the height of his career that he accidentally met Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. One performance, Llloyd said that is all he needed to find what he was looking for his whole life.

'I didn't know what religious was until I met him," Lloyd noted. "I knew there was Yom Kippur and Passover, but I had never met a religious person in my life. I played music with him and he liked what he heard. After the show he told me I need to play with him in Israel and gave me a few CDs.

"As a result of that meeting I came to Israel, but he passed away a short time later, before we had a chance to perform together."

For years Lloyd's heart was in the Middle East but his livelihood was in the west. He lived in Israel but travelled several times a year for concert tours around the world.

"In the US, blues music is very popular," Lloyd explained. "I didn't think there was much of a market for it in Israel until a few years ago when Snowy White from Pink Floyd came to Israel and I was his warm up act at the Barbie club. The media were out in spades and I got a very warm response."

Lloyd became close to religion when he was 28-years-old by which point he was already completely in a different religion's thrall – he has often declared that Blues is a kind of religion – music that is a prayer – and becoming an observant Jew helped upgrade the musical creation.

With six albums behind him, Lloyd is currently working on three new albums simultaneously. Two are supposed to come out on Passover – an electric guitar album, an acoustic album, and one more – different from everything he has done so far – set to drop on Lag Ba'Omer: A very personal album of melodies, inspired by Carlebach's Jewish music.

"I often play for non-Jewish tourists who are searching for good music. They can connect to my Jewish blues. Throughout the world, Jews who aren’t connected and don't know Hebrew find it hard to connect with music because the language barrier gets in the way. But this melody is something everyone can feel connected with." 

Video Of The Week

Lazer Lloyd - My Own Blues

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PINETOP PERKINS FOUNDATION Announces Scholarships for 2012 Master Class Workshops

The Pinetop Perkins Foundation is pleased to announce the availability of nine scholarships for the 2012 Master Class Youth Workshops in Guitar, Piano and Harmonica. Held in Clarksdale, Mississippi from June 12 - 15th, and open to the young and the young at heart, scholarships are available to youth ages 12 to 21 nationwide. 

SCHOLARSHIP BREAKDOWN:

- Two scholarships are sponsored by The Honeyboy Edwards Fund for the Blues at the National Blues Museum. They are earmarked for harmonica and guitar in the amount of $600.00 each.

- Six scholarships are available from The Pinetop Perkins Foundation. They are up to $600.00 each and will be split between those attending the harmonica, piano and guitar workshops.

- One guitar scholarship has been set aside by donations earmarked to honor the late legendary bluesman Hubert Sumlin. The amount of the award will be determined by donations received in Hubert's name by April 15, 2012.

The deadline for submitting scholarship applications is April 15, 2012. More Information can be found here.

NOTE: While scholarships are limited to those ages 21 and younger, the MasterClass workshops are open to all ages including adults.