The Claudettes High Times in the Dark Forty Below Records The Claudettes were founded by Brian Berkowitz known professionally as Johnny Iguana. He had previously played organ in the Indie rock band “Oh My God” but is a highly regarded Chicago blues pianist having recorded with Junior Wells, Carey Bell, Lurrie Bell, Matthew Skoller and […]
Jay Willie & James Montgomery Cadillac Walk Zoho Music Connecticut based Jay Willie is the frontman for The Jay Willie Blues Band first formed in 2001 with Bob Callahan and Bobby T. Torello. They are a Texas styled blues band playing both traditional and contemporary blues. The JWBB released their debut recording in 2011 with […]
The Reverend Shawn Amos & The Brotherhood Blue Sky Put Together Music Shawn Amos is the son of Wally Amos founder of the Famous Amos chocolate chip cookie brand and singer Shirlee Ellis professionally known as Shirlee May. Born in New York City Amos returned and attended film school at New York University. After reading […]
John Blues Boyd What My Eyes Have Seen… Gulf Coast Records John Blues Boyd was born in Greenwood, Ms. in 1945. He began working in the cotton fields when he was seven years old. He relocated to California in 1980 where his primary occupation was that of a hot tar roofer; singing the blues whenever […]
Albert Castiglia Wild and Free Gulf Coast Records A young Albert Castiglia served his apprenticeship as guitarist in both the Junior Wells and Sandra Hall bands before embarking on his own solo career. He released his solo debut in 2004. In 2006 he signed with Blues Leaf Records and released four albums the last being […]
Backtrack Blues Band Your Baby Has Left Vizztone Label Group Sonny Charles, founded the Backtrack Blues Band in 1980, while attending the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Among the first to join was his classmate “Little” Johnny Walter. The band is a Chicago styled blues band inspired by and named after the Little […]
Alex Dixon presents The Real McCoy Featuring Lewis “Big Lew” Powell Vintage Dixon Dixon Landing Music Born in 1975, Alex Dixon was raised by his grandparents Willie and Marie Dixon. Willie Dixon, blues musician and songwriter, passed in January of 1992. So Alex spent his formative years living with his grandparents in both Chicago and […]
Mark Telesca Higher Vibrations Independent Originally from New York City Mark Telesca held the “bass chair” in many Broadway productions. He attended Florida Atlantic University and now resides in West Palm Beach. His passion for the blues led him to be a member of the band “Blues Dragon” and they competed in the 2012 International […]
Watermelon Slim Traveling Man Northern Blues Music William P. Homans III was born in Boston, the son of a civil rights lawyer. He was raised in North Carolina where the family maid would sing him John Lee Hooker songs. He rejected his family’s career aspirations and served in Vietnam. When he returned home in 1973 […]
Ryan Perry High Risk, Low Reward Ruf Records In 2007 The Tupelo Mississippi based Homemade Jamz Blues Band, comprised of sixteen-year-old guitarist Ryan Perry and his two younger siblings, fourteen-year-old bassist Kyle, and their nine-year-old sister Taya on drums; came in second place at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. The following December they became […]
Rory Block Prove It On Me Stony Plain Records When Aurora “Rory” Block was fourteen she was part of the Greenwich Village folk scene. She was introduced to the music of the Mississippi Delta by Stefan Grossman. She made it her business to learn directly from Mississippi John Hurt, the Reverend Gary Davis, Son House, […]
Bill Blue The King Of Crazy Town Conch Town Music In the early 1970’s a young Carolina based guitarist named Bill Blue toured with Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup. It was Crudup who wrote “That’s Alright Mama” in 1946 and it became the first song released by Elvis in 1954. After Crudup passed in 1974 Blue […]
Ben Rice & RB Stone Out of The Box Middle Mountain Music This collaboration is sub-titled “A Cigar Box Guitar Project”. The two principals mix three, four and six string Cigar Box Guitars to achieve an unpredictable sound. Ben Rice was a prominent member of the Blues community in the Pacific Northwest. In 2014 he […]
Sass Jordan Rebel Moon Blues Stony Plain Records Sass Jordan is a Canadian rock singer who was first inspired by listening to The Band and songs like “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”. Other musical influences included Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest, David Bowie, and soul singer Al Green. Jordan’s debut recording was 1988’s “Tell […]
Casey Hensley Good As Gone Vizztone Label Group California’s Casey Hensley started singing when she was five. Considered a child prodigy she grew up listening to Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin. She released her recording debut “Live” featuring guitarist Laura Chavez in 2017. Her drummer was her partner, Evan Caleb Yearsley, […]
Popa Chubby It’s A Mighty Hard Road Popa Chubby Productions Theodore Joseph “Ted” Horowitz a.k.a. Popa Chubby was born in The Bronx in 1960. His first instrument was the drums but after listening to the Rolling Stones he soon switched to guitar. He was mostly influenced however by Jimi Hendrix and The Cream. He won […]
Avey Grouws Band The Devil May Care Independent Guitarist Chris Avey met vocalist Jeni Grouws at a blues jam in the Quad Cities. The Quad Cities area is a region of five cities in southeastern Iowa and northwestern Illinois. They formed the Avey Grouws Band in 2017 and won the Iowa Blues Challenge sending them […]
Roomful Of Blues In A Roomful of Blues Alligator Records Roomful Of Blues, the perennial blues band was first started in 1967; fifty-three years ago. Begun by Rhode Island teens that shared a passion for straight ahead Chicago-style electric blues, they added a horn section in 1970. They released their debut album in 1977 and […]
Sister Lucille Alive Endless Blues Records Sister Lucille is a four-piece blues and roots rock band from Southwest Missouri. The band made the semifinals at Memphis’ 2015 International Blues Challenge; and was also voted “Most Promising New Artist” at the 31st Music Pioneer Awards, also held in Memphis, the following year. The band is centered […]
Liz Mandeville Playing with Fire Blue Kitty Music Inspired by both Koko Taylor and Luther Allison; Liz Mandeville relocated to Chicago in 1979. She started working with both Delmark recording artist Willie Kent, and Alligator recording artist Maurice John Vaughn. She started her own band in 1983. Mandeville has won numerous songwriting awards and only […]
Dave Keller Live at the Killer Guitar Thriller Tastee Tone Records Vermont’s Dave Keller is the protégé of two soul bluesmen; Mighty Sam McClain and Johnny Rawls. Keller’s album “Where I’m Coming From” won the award for Best Self-Produced CD at the 2012 International Blues Challenge. In 2014 Keller released “Soul Changes” and he received […]
Sonny Landreth Blacktop Run Provogue/Mascot Label Group Mississippi born Sonny Landreth has lived most of his life in the greater Lafayette, La. area. Landreth first played guitar as the only white member of Clifton Chenier’s Red Hot Louisiana Band. Landreth has since been nick-named “the King of Slydeco” as he plays guitar with a strong […]
Whitney Shay Stand Up! Ruf Records Whitney Shay began fronting a band and singing blues and jazz in 2009. In 2012 she released her debut recording “Soul Tonic”. She performs over 200 dates a year and is a four-time winner at the San Diego Music Awards. She released her follow-up album 2018’s “A Woman Rules […]
Bernard Allison Songs From The Road Ruf Records Bernard Allison was born in Chicago in 1965 and raised in the blues by his father the late Luther Allison. The elder Allison, who passed in 1997, was an 18 times Blues Music Award winner and a 1998 inductee into the Blues Hall of Fame. The younger […]
Val Starr & The Blues Rocket Lighter Side of The Blues Sandwich Factory Records Raised in Southern California Val Starr began singing and playing guitar when she was twelve. It was the bands of the 1960’s and 1970’s, and female singer/songwriters Carole King and Joni Mitchell that were her early influences. Her mom loved the […]
The Mary Jo Curry Band Front Porch Independent Springfield Illinois’ Mary Jo Curry is a classically trained singer, and pianist. In 2011 Curry heard music on the street, emanating from a small club, and the sounds pulled her in. That was the first time Curry heard the blues. She wound up becoming the band’s singer […]
Lisa Mills The Triangle Melody Place Mississippi native Lisa Mills spent ten years playing guitar and singing in the coastal areas of the south before releasing her debut recording in 2000. In 2004 she appeared as a vocalist on The Big Town Playboys 2004 album “Roll The Dice” featuring Jeff Beck and Robert Plant. She […]
Michael Doucet Lacher Prise Compass Records Louisiana born Michael Doucet is best known as the founder and leader of the Grammy winning Cajun band Beausoleil. Doucet has twenty-five albums with Beausoliel, one with the band Coteau, five with the Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band, and one with the Fiddlers 4. Doucet is a fiddler who plays an […]
Marshall Crenshaw Miracle of Science Shiny-tone Records The Detroit born Marshall Crenshaw released his self-titled debut in 1982. That first album included the Top 40 hit “Someday, Someway”. Crenshaw followed with 1983’s “Field Day” which contained the single “Whenever You’re On My Mind”; and his 1985 album “Downtown” containing the hit “Little Wild One”. His […]
Tinsley Ellis Ice Cream in Hell Alligator Records Tinsley Ellis was born in Atlanta in 1957 and raised in south Florida. His friend’s older brother took them to see B.B. King and the performance inspired Ellis to become a blues guitarist. Ellis returned to Atlanta in 1975 and joined his first band with bassist Preston […]
The Phantom Blues Band Still Cookin’ Vizztone Label Group The Phantom Blues Band originated as Taj Mahal’s backup band. They first appeared on 1993’s “Dancin’ The Blues” and won a Blues Music Award for Traditional Blues Album of The Year. They went on to appear with Taj again on two Grammy Award winning albums: “Taj […]
Tas Cru Drive On Subcat Records Tas Cru lives in Chaumont New York not far from the Canadian border. He released his debut recording in 2006. Tas states his unusual stage name was bestowed on him by a Quebecois fan and roughly means “raw potato”. At the International Blues Challenge in 2014 Tas won a […]
Mark Hummel Wayback Machine Electro-Fi Records Mark Hummel was born in New Haven, CT in 1955, but his family relocated to Los Angeles soon later. While in high school he studied the music of Muddy Waters, Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson. He frequented the Ash Gove, an LA nightclub, where he witnessed Sonny Terry, […]
Waylon Thibodeaux Here We Go Again Rabadash Records Waylon Thibodeaux was born on the Louisiana Bayou. A native of Houma, Louisiana he started as a drummer until he heard fiddlers Johnny Gimble and Stephan Grappelli. He began studying the violin at the age of eight and won the Louisiana State Fiddling Championship when he was […]
Bywater Call Gypsy Soul Records This is the new self-titled debut by Canada’s Bywater Call. The Toronto based southern soul, blues and roots ensemble has already made their mark at Blues Festivals including the Tremblant International Blues Festival; the Quebec City Donnacona Blues Festival and The Markham Jazz Festival. The band’s influences include New Orleans […]
Thorbjorn Risager & The Black Tornado Come On In Ruf Records Thorbjorn Risager founded, Blue 7, his first band in 2002. His debut album “Live 2004” resulted in Risager being named the Danish Blues musician of the year. When the band became an octet they took the name Thorbjorn Risager & The Black Tornado. They […]
S.E. Willis and the Willing Too Much Love Mr. Suchensuch Records S.E. Willis was the piano player in the Elvin Bishop Band when they were named Band of the Year in 2015. He had been with Bishop since 1999. “Too Much Love” is Willis’ seventh recording under his own name the last being 2014’s two-cd […]
Jimmy Johnson Every Day of Your Life Delmark Records Jimmy Johnson was born James Earl Thompson in Holly Springs, Mississippi in 1928. He played piano and sang gospel before moving to Chicago in 1950. He took a day job as a welder and played guitar at night. Since 1959 Johnson worked with Freddy King, Albert […]
Betty Fox Band Peace in Pieces Tony Cavanagh Productions Betty Fox recorded her debut “Too Far Gone” in 2012 and followed up with 2015’s “Slow Burn”. The St. Petersburg based Fox is a five-time winner of Tampa Bay’s “Best of The Bay” awards. For her third studio recording she decided to make a pilgrimage to […]
11 Guys Quartet Small Blues and Grooves Vizztone Label Group Vizztone Label Group President Richard Rosenblatt was a harmonica player and session musician when he started out in the 1970’s. In 1985 he launched Tone-Cool Records and the first album released on that label was the 11th Hour Band “Hot Time in The City” with […]
Will Jacobs & Marcos Coll Takin Our Time Gaztelupeko Hotsak Will Jacobs went to high school in Winnetka, Illinois where he was the guitarist in the Grammy winning New Trier High School Jazz Band in 2008. The following year Jacobs was the winner in the Youth Division of the Chicago Blues Challenge sponsored by […]
The Jimmys Gotta Have It Brown Cow Productions The Jimmys are an R n’ B band formed by Jimmy Voegeli in 2008. By day the Wisconsin native works on his family’s fifth generation dairy farm with 200 Brown Swiss dairy cows. At night Voegeli is an award winning musician. In the liner notes Voegeli thanks […]
Warren Storm Taking The World By Storm APO Records Warren Storm was born Warren Schexnider in Abbeville, La. in 1937; not far from Lafayette. Storm learned to play both drums and guitar from his father, a Cajun musician. He befriended fellow Abbeville native Bobby Charles and they would visit New Orleans to listen and learn. […]
Angel Forrest Hell Bent with Grace Independent In 1988 Canada’s Angel Forrest began a musical career that would span three decades. Her debut recording 1996’s “Secondhand Blues” featured her versions of selected covers including Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads”; Ruth Brown’s “Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean”; Howlin’ Wolf’s 1969 single “Evil”; and B. B. King classics […]
Frank Bey All My Dues Are Paid Nola Blue Records Frank Bey was born in Georgia in 1946 and started singing gospel in the family band at the age of four. Being brought up in a strict household the young Bey had to sneak out of the house to sing secular music. When he was […]
Sugar Blue Colors Beeble Music James Joshua “Jimmie” Whiting better known as Sugar Blue was born in Harlem in December 1949. His mother was a singer and dancer at the Apollo Theater. His aunt gifted him with his first harmonica and he wailed along with Bob Dylan and Stevie Wonder songs. He was further influenced […]
Jimmy “Duck” Holmes Cypress Grove Easy Eye Sound Jimmy Charles “Duck” Holmes was born in Bentonia, Mississippi in 1947. The seventy-two-year-old Holmes is the last torchbearer of the rural style known as Bentonia Blues. He is also the proprietor of the Blue Front Café on the Mississippi Blues Trail and the oldest surviving juke joint […]
Making a Scene Presents Richard Ludmerer’s Top 40 Blues CD’s of 2019 (in no particular order) Chris O’Leary Seven Minutes Late Watermelon Slim Church of the Blues Sugaray Rayford Somebody Save Me Christone “Kingfish” Ingram Kingfish The Texas Horns Get Here Quick Jimmie Vaughan Baby Please Come Home Albert Castiglia Masterpiece The Cash Box Kings […]
Diane Blue Look for the Light Regina Royale Records Diane Blue had shared the stage with Luther Guitar Jr. Johnson; Irma Thomas; Big Jack Johnson and others. She released her independently produced debut recording in 2006. Four years later she won the Massachusetts Blues Challenge and went on to compete in the International Blues Challenge […]
The 2019 Bradenton Blues Festival – December 7th, 2019 Text and photos by Richard Ludmerer (Kenny Neal photos courtesy of Laura Carbone) The Bradenton Blues Festival is an annual festival now in its eighth year. It is brought to us by Realize Bradenton, a nonprofit organization that brings people together to create a vibrant downtown […]
