They call him the Iron Man, and he’s earned the name. He’s earned it with his hours-long, intensely physical performances. He’s earned it with the steely attack of his guitar playing, pouring out brilliant, molten solos that build from one verse to the next, until you think he’ll wring the neck off of his Flying V. He’s earned it with the passion and depth of his singing. And he’s earned it offstage too, spending endless hours behind the wheel of his battered van (when he isn’t underneath it making repairs), driving from one end of the U.S. to the other, hauling his band and his trailer full of gear from one club or festival to the next.

This is Michael Burks’ third album for Alligator, and it’s been a thrill to watch him grow as an artist—from the juke joint-raised bluesman from tiny Camden, Arkansas playing clubs across the South into a giant of the blues, headlining festivals around the world. In those few years, Michael has honed his own huge guitar sound, bringing a level of rock intensity to the tasteful soulfulness of his playing, and finding his own singing voice, full of emotion and energy. For my money, if anyone in the blues can fill the void left by Freddie King and Luther Allison, it’s Michael Burks.

To capture all the fire of Michael’s live performances, we decided to cut this album with his seasoned road band rather than with the Memphis studio aces who supported him on his last two records. Wayne, Popcorn and Don have backed Michael on literally hundreds of gigs, and they know his every move. So we were able to cut these tunes almost completely live in the studio, with Michael lighting a fire under the band just like he does onstage.

This album captures Michael “Iron Man” Burks at full force, doing what he does so brilliantly a hundred nights a year—delivering raw, up-to-the minute, electrified and electrifying blues with a master’s touch.

Click the LISTEN button to hear "Love Disease" from IRON MAN.

Finis Tasby, adds "cover boy" to his resume.

The California-based band the Mannish Boys have quickly become one of the most popular blues bands in the country. The four-year-old band is a sort of blues “supergroup” featuring some of the hottest California blues musicians as well as three venerable frontmen/vocalists, Finis Tasby, Johnny Dyer, and newest member Bobby Jones. The story follows the band in the studio recording their fourth and introduces us to each of the current members of the band.

This month Living Blues magazine has honored The Mannish Boys with the cover position.



                                           [paid advertisement]

The Mississippi Delta Blues Society of Belzoni Inc
Presents:
The 1st Annual Pinetop Perkins Blues Festival

The festival will kick off with a Blues Marker Dedication honoring Pinetop Perkins.
The late Paul Jones of Belzoni will also be mentioned on the Blues Marker;
Honoring his life long dedication to the Blues
Featuring Performances By:
The Legendary Pinetop Perkins
The Billy Gibson Band
Bobby Rush
Mississippi Slim
Bill “Howlin Madd” Perry
T-Model Ford
The John Horton Band
Outlaw Richard
The Bill Abels Band
Slick Davis

& Introducing:
The 1st Annual “Cruising To the Blues” Show Car Cruise:
Enter to Win “Best of Show”
For Parade Entry Info Call: 662-836-6148
It’s all going down on:
Saturday May 03, 2008
Downtown Belzoni (Courthouse Lawn)
12:00pm-6:00pm
Family Fun and Entertainment, Including: Jumpers and Basketball Competition for the Kids
Free Festival Admission
Family Fun, Flea Market, Food and Craft Vending


[paid advertisement]

Remember me..."
 Paul deLay Scholarship Benefit Concert
celebrates the life, music and spirit of Paul deLay

Sunday, April 20, 2008, 6-10 pm
Kridel Grand Ballroom at the Portland Art Museum (1219 S W Park)

            Sometimes it takes a death in the “family” to bring people together for change.  It has been a year since Portland blues great Paul deLay passed from the effects of late-stage leukemia.  And it’s been more than ten years since the figurative “death” of music education in the Portland public school system.  So, former members of the Paul deLay band are joining forces to celebrate the life of the Big Man on Harp, by raising money for kids to learn music.

            Duffy Bishop, Linda Hornbuckle, Lloyd Jones, Terry Robb, Joe McMurrian, Jimi Bott, Fiona Boyes (and other special guests to be announced) are on-tap for a great night of blues in memory of Paul deLay.  Players who made up the various incarnations of the Paul deLay Band will host this fundraising event—including David Vest, and D.K. Stewart on keyboards; Peter Dammann on guitar; Dave Kahl, Don Campbell on bass; and Jeff Minnick, Kelly Dunn on drums.  This special event will also feature special guests, Teresa James & the Rhythm Tramps based in Los Angeles.

            Charles Lewis founded the Ethos Music Center in1998, in response to budget cuts that severely limited arts education in Oregon’s largest public school district.  It’s name comes from the ancient Greek "Doctrine of Ethos," which held that music can change your thoughts, moods, and actions.  Ethos believes every child should have the opportunity to make music.  The Ethos Music Center, in Northeast Portland, is now working with area musicians to endow a new scholarship program to honor the late, GREAT Paul deLay.

            ALL the proceeds from "Remember me..." the Paul deLay Scholarship Project Benefit Concert will go toward this scholarship program at Ethos.  deLay wrote the haunting lament “Remember Me” after the death of his own mother, and the mothers of three band members, within a challenging two-year period.  It was released on the Heavy Rotation CD (Evidence Music) in 2001.  Now, we remember Paul.

          Tickets for this ALL AGES EVENT are $20 in advance, $25 at the door (children and students $10 in advance, $15 at the door).  Advance tickets are available through the Portland Art Museum, 503-226-0973, or online at www.communityboxoffice.net. Food and refreshments will be available.
 
---------------------------
Peter Dammann * Paul deLay Band
PO Box 25542 * Portland OR 97298
phone: (503) 244-5827    
fax: (503) 289-2836
email: Peter@pauldelay.com
web: http://www.pauldelay.com

To celebrate its 125th anniversary, The Gretsch Company, one of the world’s most well-known drum and guitar manufacturers, is kicking off the Next Gretsch Greats Unsigned Artist Competition, an online competition to identify the world’s hottest unsigned bands. The competition entry period will begin May 1 and end May 31, 2008.

“George Harrison, Charlie Watts, Chet Atkins, Bono, Brian Setzer, Jimmie Vaughan (pictured), and Phil Collins – they’re just a few of the ‘Gretsch Greats’ who made our drums and guitars so famous over the past 125 years,” said Gretsch Company president Fred W. Gretsch.  “This year, as we celebrate our musical heritage and kick off the next 125 years of ‘that great Gretsch sound,’ we’re looking for the next generation of Gretsch greats who are going to help define popular music.”

To enter the competition, artists simply visit www.gretsch125th.com and submit an mp3 file of the original song that could help make them famous.  Every artist who enters will receive a free commemorative Gretsch 125th Anniversary poster, while the top three prizes include the opportunity to perform at Gretsch’s 125th Anniversary Concert in New York City and enough Gretsch gear to take an up-and-coming band out of the garage and into the limelight.

Grand Prize Winner performs live at Gretsch’s 125th Anniversary Concert in New York City as part of an illustrious lineup of “Gretsch Greats” and wins a full rack of great Gretsch gear, including:

• Gretsch Setzer Hot Rod guitar
• Gretsch Electrotone bass guitar
• Gretsch Rancher Cutaway acoustic/electric guitar with Fishman® pickup
• 20-watt Gretsch Executive Amplifier with 15” Eminence speaker
• Gretsch Renown 5-piece drum set in Bermuda Sparkle Lacquer finish
TOTAL ESTIMATED PRIZE VALUE: $20,000+

1st Prize winner wins enough gear to “Gretsch their garage,” including:

• Gretsch Pro Jet electric guitar
• Gretsch Rancher Jr. acoustic/electric guitar with Fishman® pickup
• Gretsch Broadkaster bass guitar
• Gretsch Catalina Club Rock 5-piece drum set in Silver Sparkle over Silver Lacquer finish
TOTAL ESTIMATED PRIZE VALUE: $5,245

2nd Prize winner wins $1,250 in Gretsch-product gift certificates to help them take their sound to the next level.

Ten finalists will be selected by popular online voting at www.gretsch125th.com in June and July.  Then, the finalists will be judged by an expert panel who will select the grand, first and second prize winners.

The Next Gretsch Greats Unsigned Artist Competition is open to unsigned and independent label recording acts residing in the United States, U.K., Canada, Spain, Germany, France and Japan.  No purchase will be necessary to enter or win.  The complete contest rules are available for review at www.gretsch125th.com

More information about The Gretsch Company’s 125th Anniversary celebrations can be found at www.gretsch125th.com and www.myspace.com/gretsch125th.

Matador Records Skips Important Credit on Cat Power's JUKEBOX

Despite near-ubiquitous praise for Chan Marshall's (aka: Cat Power) JUKEBOX covers from the songwriters and performers interviewed for this story, there is one artist whose friends believe Marshall cheated her.

In the album's liner notes, "Lord, Help the Poor and Needy" is credited as "Traditional, by Jessie Mae Hemphill, arranged by Chan Marshall, Public Domain."

Olga Wilhelmine Mathus, a San Francisco–based blues musician and founder of the Jessie Mae Hemphill Foundation — a nonprofit dedicated to the preservation of the northern Mississippi hill country blues tradition — says the song isn't in the public domain and that Hemphill owns the copyright. Mathus believes Marshall owes royalties to the late singer's estate.

"The money from that song should go to Jessie's estate and be divided up among her relatives, who, much like Jessie, are poor, elderly black people, many of whom are living off welfare," Mathus said. "This isn't anything new. It's unfortunate that most of the originators of blues music died in poverty because of situations similar to this."

Hemphill, a W.C. Handy Award–winning electric guitarist, songwriter, and singer, was born in Senatobia, Mississippi, in 1923. She spent decades playing on Beale Street in Memphis before releasing two albums in the 1980s and '90s. In 1993, she suffered a stroke that paralyzed her left side, leaving her unable to play guitar for the remaining 13 years of her life.

Some might dismiss Mathus' fervor for Hemphill's cause as sadness over the loss of a close friend and musical mentor, but it takes only a couple minutes of Internet searching to discover that "Lord Help the Poor and Needy" is indeed copyrighted to Jessie Mae Hemphill with Broadcast Music, Inc. and the United States Copyright Office.

When asked about the disputed credit on April 1, Matador Records cofounder Chris Lombardi seemed ready for the question. "We made a mistake and credited it incorrectly on the album," he said. "It's actually a Jessie Mae Hemphill song. I think we thought it was a traditional song and had not yet been registered, but her representatives contacted us recently and we're setting up the mechanical royalties now."

Even as Matador works to resolve the missing credit, the dispute raises an interesting question: Is the simple payment of publishing royalties enough recompense for copyright infringement? In 1985, blues legend Willie Dixon successfully sued and won credit and royalties from Led Zeppelin after alleging that their 1969 hit "Whole Lotta Love" was appropriated, without credit, from his "You Gotta Be Loved."

So what is ample restitution for infringing on an artist's copyrighted work? Mathus believes money is a good start, but hopes the attention Cat Power's music receives could ignite a spark of interest in Hemphill and her fellow musicians. "I think it's good that someone of Cat Power's visibility covers a song like this, as it makes it more accessible for the more mainstream audience," she says. "A lot of folks were turned on to R.L. Burnside after Jon Spencer came out with a record on him, so perhaps this will turn more people on to Jessie's music, the music of the north Mississippi hill country, and the life and struggles of many of these artists."

"One of the best CDs I've heard in a long time!" says Tommy Castro.

Leah Tysse's debut album is a fresh take on blues and R&B with plenty of horns and wailing vocals reminiscent of her heros Big Mama Thornton, Lydia Pence, Koko Taylor and Aretha Franklin. Leah writes and produces her material impressively and belts those songs out like she was born to do so. From her smoking horn-infused opening track 'Real Good Fire', to her sensual ballads and traditional blues you'll always be wondering what's coming next and you won't be disappointed. When you watch her perform, listen to her songs and, especially, hear that voice, you'll be convinced that Leah Tysse's arrival brings the next big thing to Blues, R&B and Soul.

Breaking news for new album!

“You Don’t Scare Me” Winner: Best R&B/Blues Song of 2007 - Billboard 

“R&B/Blues winner Leah Tysse and her smoking hot band charged through…with impressive authority. It was a lesson in the Blues, as they say; and a fine one at that. DO NOT miss this girl when their bus rolls into your town.” Official Billboard World Song Contest Post Award Show Press Release

For more information visit www.LeahTysse.com

Click the LISTEN button to hear "You Don't Scare Me"



                                            [paid advertisement]

The Wichita Blues Society's (Kansas) Crawl Spring Blues Crawl is Sunday, April 27th, from 6pm-12 am in Old Town.  A long time Wichita tradition features local blues bands from 6-9 pm in many clubs and restaurants in Old Town.  The after party at Americas' Pub is from 9pm-12am features this year, Jimmie Lewin & the Kingtones.

The Blues Crawl line up for 6-9 pm features: America's Pub...Berry Harris & the 9th Street Blues Band, Heroes...The Nightwatchmen, Larkspur...Rachelle Coba, The Brickyard...The Toltecs, O'Sullivan's...Made From Scratch, Loft 150...Little Smoke, Torre's Pizzeria...Bloodline Posse with Rudy Love, Club Indigo...Clif Major's Rockin' Blues, and Morts...The Sharon Rush Blues Band.

The cost is $5.00.  You can purchase a wrist band at any location and that gets you in to all venues.  This is a fundraiser for the Wichita Blues Society.

Baton Rouge (Louisiana) Blues Society's All Star Jam
Tuesday, April 22nd @ Phil Brady's
$20 Includes Membership, Food, and Awesome Blues!!!
 
www.batonrougeblues.org

The party takes place at the Cocoa Beach County Club Pavilion, 5000 Tom Warriner Blvd, Cocoa Beach, FL on April 19th from noon till 10:30 pm. The concert is free, donation jars are placed throughout the event. There will be food and drinks for sale, hamburgers and hot dogs from grill master Billy Rigg, an old fashioned bake sale, silent auction featuring art by Gary Propper, great raffles and lots of outdoor fun.

There will be a visit by the Florida Blood Center Mobile Donation Unit (Bus) on site from noon until 5pm Saturday, April 19th.

The River City Blues Society (ILLINOIS) will be holding a membership drive Saturday, April 12 at Po Boys 3207 N University in Peoria, IL with music by South Side Cindy & The Slip-Tones at 8:30 pm.

This is the night to join the River City Blues Society. Membership is normally $15 for individual membership or $20 for a family membership.While this is already a great bargain price, if you come out on this night and join you will get one FREE admittance to Po Boys (Normally $4 cover charge) AND South Side Cindy and tha gang will give NEW members a choice of one Slip-Tones CD or T-shirt. Talk about a discounted membership, WOW!

Also current members will get in for half price and those renewing an existing membership will get one FREE admission to this great show.