CD Reviews on projects by Indie Blues Artists
Rees Shad The Galahad Blues Self-released Rees Shad is one of the most prolific artists on the scene, having released some 30 albums in his three decades as a recording artist. He’s a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and storyteller rife with unexpected themes and ideas. Beyond that he is a polymath of first order, a luthier, a […]
Chris Badnews Barnes Badnews Travels Fast Gulf Coast Records “Hokum,” according to Webster’s: a word probably created as a blend of “hocus-pocus” (meaningless talk or activity) and “bunkum” (nonsense). “Hokum blues,” as defined on Wikipedia: “A particular song type of American blues music which uses extended analogies or euphemistic terms to make humorous, sexual innuendos.” […]
Big Harp George Cooking with Gas Blues Mountain Records George Bisharat a.k.a. Big Harp George is a San Francisco singer, songwriter and harmonica player. He favors the chromatic harp which gives his music a Jazz like sound. Formerly George was a criminal defense attorney and award winning professor at the University of California. Early harp […]
Reverend Shawn Amos Soul Brother No. 1 Immediate Family Records This is the Reverend Shawn Amos’ newest recording on Immediate Family Records. 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 attended film […]
Anthony Geraci Tears in My Eyes Blue Heart Records Keyboardist Anthony Geraci plays tribute to the old masters on his second album for Blue Heart Records. Included are two studio sessions, the first four songs were recorded in Massachusetts, while the remaining seven songs are from a session recorded in Prague. Geraci’s seventeen Blues Music […]
Deb Ryder Live and Havin Fun Vizztone Label Group “Live And Havin’ Fun” from Deb Ryder is her sixth album and first live recording. Included are fourteen originals including two completely new songs written by executive producer Deb and her husband bassist Ric W. Ryder. The album opens with “Fun Never Hurt No One” with […]
Steve Howell and the Mighty Men 99 1/2 Won’t Do Steve Howell is from the greater Texarkana area. The music there is steeped in tradition and Howell finger picks the guitar in a style we attribute to traditional country blues. Howell often covers time honored pop tunes reintroducing them as tradition. Smithsonian Folkways would define […]
Sue Foley One Guitar Woman Stony Plains Records “One Guitar Woman” is a sequel to 2005’s “Blues Guitar Women”. That two-CD set included a Contemporary Blues session and a Traditional Blues session and the performances included supporting musicians. This time Sue plays everything solo on this “a tribute to the female pioneers of guitar”. “They […]
Nick Gravenities Rogue Blues MC Records Nick Gravenities has never won a Blues Music Award but has been inducted into the Blues Music Hall of Fame twice. In 1976 he was co-producer, with Otis Rush, of the “Right Place, Wrong Time” album on Bullfrog Records. In 2006 the album The Paul Butterfield Blues Band was […]
Bernard Allison Luther’s Blues Ruf Records Ruf Records is celebrating it’s 30th anniversary. They began by bringing Luther Allison’s music to the world. This two-disc set features 20 stellar tracks from his son, Bernard Allison, each one a Luther Allison composition previously released on one of Bernard’s many albums. “I made a promise…that I’d always […]
Rick Vito Cadillac Man In 1987 Rick Vito was a member of Fleetwood Mac finally taking over for Lindsey Buckingham in 1991. Vito’s first solo album was 1992’s “King of Hearts” on Atlantic Records.In 2001 Vito won a Blues Music Award for writing the Song of the Year “It’s 2 A.M.” covered by Shemekia Copeland […]
The Wicked Lo-Down Out of Line Gulf Coast Records The Wicked Lo-Down snaps, crackles, and smokes ‘em from one end to the other on their second album, Out of Line, a set of songs not to be missed by fans of the kind of raucous, blues-based rock and roll laid down by the vintage Fabulous […]
Canned Heat Finyl Vinyl Ruf Records Canned Heat the seminal American blues rock and boogie rock band was first founded in Los Angeles in 1965. The original co-founders were Alan “Blind Owl” Wilson, who passed away in 1970 and Bob “The Bear” Hite who died in 1981. They named the band after a 1928 song […]
John Primer and Bob Corritore Crawlin Kingsnake Vizztone Label Group Bob Corritore was born in Chicago and got hooked on blues Harmonica when he was twelve years old. He studied and received playing tips from Carey Bell, Big Walter Horton, Junior Wells and others. At the age of twenty-five Corritore moved to Phoenix, Arizona. Ten […]
John Clifton Too Much To Pay In the Late 1980’s Harmonica ace John Clifton founded The MoFo Party Band with his brother Bill. They released their debut recording “Call The Doctor” in 1999. The album was named one of the new West Coast Blues Recordings and made numerous “Best” lists. In 2006 they followed with […]
Making a Scene Brings you Gerry Casey’s Interview with Rev. Jonni Hodson of Silveroller Silveroller have been a band that’s caught my attention for quite a while now . So when the opportunity came along to interview the band I jumped at the chance. This band possesses and energy that grabs your attention. In this […]
Mike Zito Life Is Hard (Gulf Coast Records) Deeply personal tragedy has prompted Mike Zito to paint his masterpiece, the emotion of the loss of his wife to cancer last year shaping the twelve best performances of his life, by far. Awful how that happens, the impetus of real blues affecting an artist’s work. But […]
JJ Grey & Mofro Olustee Alligator Records Olustee is titled for the unincorporated town in north central Florida, west of JJ Grey’s Jacksonville home, which derives its name from the Seminole words for black water. Grey often salutes the aspects and virtues of his home state in song, and Olustee is rife with that homage. […]
Tinsley Ellis Naked Truth Alligator Records Atlanta’s Tinsley Ellis Offers Making a Scene Some Peeks Behind the Scenes of Naked Truth, His First All Acoustic Album “I still have that string!” The excitement Tinsley Ellis felt as a 15-year-old when B.B. King handed him his broken string from the stage resonates as if 51 years […]
Betty Bryant Lotta Livin’ Bry-Mar Music We last visited pianist, vocalist and composer, the now 94-year-young Betty Bryant when she celebrated her 88th birthday with her 2019 release Project 88 and despite the loos of most of her vision, she’s still belting out her trademark mix of blues and jazz. Bryant is one of the […]
Anthony Gomes Peace , Love , And Loud Guitars Well what can I say about this remixed album of High Voltage Gold . Back in 2018 when I heard the original version I was blown away with the quality of this album. At the time, entering the amazon charts at #1 and deservingly so . Six […]
Chris O’Leary The Hard Line Alligator Records Chris O’Leary plays entertaining roadhouse blues styles from boogie woogie to Southside Chicago and Louisiana stompers. These performances emote passion and authority.His forceful harmonica accentuates his powerful songwriting. His first album “Mr. Used To Be” was nominated for a Blues Music Award and won a Blues Blast Award for […]
The Allman Brothers Band Manley Field House, Syracuse University, April 7th, 1972 Allman Brothers Band Recording Company This latest archival release by the keepers of The Allman Brothers Band flame captures the iconic group doing what they did best during one of the unique, short-lived periods in their 45-year-long existence. Singer and keyboardist Gregg Allman, […]
The Memphis Blues Box Original Recordings First Released on 78s and 45s, 1914-1969 Bear Family Here are the staggering numbers: 534 songs, 161 artists, 360 11×11 pages in a hefty hard-bound coffee table book, 20 CDs, 13 years in the making, for a total weight of 10.5 lbs. How can we possibly do justice to […]
Tom Clarke’s Top 10 Roots and Blues Albums of 2023 In No Particular Order Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway City of Gold Nonesuch A guitar prodigy, rousing songwriter, and vivacious singer, Molly Tuttle is the real deal wrapped up loosely and attractively in the whole package. Tuttle won the 2022 Best Bluegrass Album […]
Mike Zito & Albert Castiglia Blood Brothers Live in Canada Gulf Coast Records Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia’s Blood Brothers Live in Canada feaqtures ten of the eleven songs on their award-winning Blood Brothers studio album released earlier this year. But in no way is this a superfluous move. Zito and Castiglia’s sweltering blues/rock performances […]
Various Artists Warren Haynes Presents: The Benefit Concert Volume 20 (Evil Teen / Mascot Label Group) The Benefit Concert Volume 20 presents in grand style the 30th anniversary of Warren Haynes’ Christmas Jam, held over two nights in 2018 in his hometown of Asheville, North Carolina. Since 1988, Haynes has gathered friends from across an […]
Marcel Smith From My Soul Little Village Singer-songwriter Marcel Smith’s From My Soul follows up his Little Village release Everybody Needs Love, covered in 2020 by Richard Ludmerer on these pages. His review has considerable biographical information, so we’ll forge ahead with the essence of what’s at hand this time out. First, Smith co-wrote five […]
Wayne Nicholson Gin House Grindstone Singer-songwriter, producer and frontman Wayne Nicholson is the blues voice of Canada’s East Coast. He has fronted Horse and the Oakley Band and is out with his seventh solo effort, Gin House, recorded on his home turf in Nova Scotia. This writer covered his 2020 effort with John Campbelljohn on […]
Lisa Biales At Christmas Big Song Music Christmas music can unite, lift emotions, and relieve anything like a salve for the soul. At Christmas succeeds at it all. If we could all just ring some jingle bells together, right now. At Christmas, by Ohio native Lisa Biales (pronounced be-Alice), contains brand-new assorted-in-style treats, including “Christmas […]
Kerri Powers Love Is Why Wildflower Child New England singer-songwriter Kerri Powers returns with her first album since 2018 with Love Is Why, songs written during the pandemic and steeped in loss and grieving when Powers was processing the loss of her father, with whom she was very close. So, the writing process was cathartic […]
Randy Lee Riviere Blues Sky New Wilderness Blues Sky represents a shift for singer-songwriter Randy Lee Riviere, teaming again with the acclaimed producer Kevin McKendree who produced, engineered, and mixed the album. The last time we visited Riviere he and McKendree delivered a western tinged Americana effort, 2021’s Wyoming. Before that, under the moniker Mad […]
Emma Wilson Memphis Calling Emma Wilson was the “Emerging Blues Artist of The Year” at the UK Blues Awards in 2022. As a result Wilson returned to Memphis to record this new album. Emmy Award winning Producer Scott Bomar brought in legendary Memphian musicians including organist Charles Hodges, bassist Leroy Hodges, and Booker T. and […]
Sue Foley LIVE in Austin Vizztone Lable Group Sue Foley has become a perennial Blues Music Award winner having won The Blues Music Female Artist of The Year award, also known as the Koko Taylor Award in 2020, 2022, and 2023. This live recording is a career retrospective. Although her most recent albums are “The […]
Nathan Graham Steps Saint of Second Chances Pravda Welcome singer-songwriter, Chicago’s Nathan Graham to the fold. His circuitous route has taken him from a youth absorbed in such commercial acts as Prince and Earth, Wind, and Fire to many a night supporting various blues acts at Buddy Guy’s Legends or Kingston Mines in his hometown. […]
Larkin Poe An Acoustic Companion Tricki-Woo Records When sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell lead the roots and blues rockers Larkin Poe, they inject their Southern Gothic-bred songs with high octane-addictive, modern pop gas. But around the time of the pandemic, the sisters flooded social media with videos of themselves as an acoustic duo in […]
Joe Bonamassa Blues Deluxe Vol. 2 J&R Adventures Joe Bonamassa cannot possibly have an off switch, only one that adjusts the mode. If he’s not out promoting an album onstage somewhere in the world, he’s likely in a studio working on the next one. Blues Deluxe Vol. 2 marks his 51st in 23 years, considering […]
Dave Keller It’s Time To Shine Montpelier, Vermont’s Dave Keller has been schooled by the very best. He studied acoustic blues with guitarist Paul Rishell, and soul blues with guitarist Robert Ward. After releasing the Dave Keller Band debut in 1998 he began to be mentored by Mighty Sam McClain who lived in nearby New […]
Ray Bonneville On the Blind Side Stonefly Juno Award winner and multiple Juno nominee, the Quebec-born, well-traveled and currently Austin-based blues and roots artist Ray Bonneville returns with his tenth solo album, On the Blind Side. This is Bonneville’s post-pandemic release, and understandably may be even more introspective than some previous efforts, leaning a bit […]
David Bennett Cohen Seems Like a Good Time for the Blues Self-released Blues pianist David Bennett Cohen has been on the scene for over sixty years and yet, as hardly a household name, his resume would be the envy of many, even those that are indeed well recognized. He’s a founding member of Country Joe […]
Ghalia Volt Shout Sister Shout Ruf We have one quick clarifier before we get started. The title may cause some, like this writer, to think this is a tribute to Sister Rosetta Tharpe and an album of the same name did just that. The Belgian-born, ever-evolving, once one-woman band Ghalia Volt is not in that […]
André Bisson Latchford Self-released It’s somewhat rare to hear an artist for the first time on his tenth album release and in the case of Canadian soul/R&B/roots singer-songwriter André Bisson, it raises the obvious notion of ‘look at what I’ve been missing.” Bisson has been on the scene for twenty years, boasts numerous awards and […]
Bowmanville Bowmanville Stoneagle Music Bowmanville is a Chicago-based quintet with a rather unique frontline of guitar, harmonica, and violin that straddles the gypsy jazz music of Django Reinhardt and those associated with “Hot Club” sonics, and Chicago blues. There are swing numbers, blues standards and originals in this infectious and inviting set that’s mostly instrumental […]
Davis Hall & The Green Lanterns Canboro Canborough Self-released Canboro Canborough is the second album from Toronto-based drummer/multi-instrumentalist Jim Casson and his band, The Green Lanterns. Admittedly, this writer is perplexed at how “Davis Hall” fits into this, except to guess that the character, like the song titles, relates to where Casson grew up on […]
Jason Ricci and the Bad Kind Behind the Veil Gulf Coast Records Jason Ricci and the Bad Kind. What a suitable, vivacious name for this bunch, given all the ins and outs and ups and downs crisscrossing Ricci’s story. Ricci’s traits include being an on again off again drug abuser, and a spiritual, openly […]
Dave Keller It’s Time to Shine Tastee Tone In previous reviews of Vermonter soul/blues artist Dave Keller, this writer recalls a quote from Keller about preferring to be a big fish in a small pond than an artist competing with many in the same locale. Do you know any other national blues artists from Vermont? […]
The Count Basie Orchestra, Directed by Scotty Barnhart (with Guests) Basie Swings the Blues Candid Records (assisted by Alligator Records) ‘There ain’t nothin’ wrong with havin’ a good ol’ time,’ Mr. Sipp urges in “Let’s Have a Good Time,” the hip-shaking opening number to Basie Swings the Blues. Sipp, the saucy, dapper, alter ego of […]
Nick Wade Feeling Good Is Good Enough ESP It’s not often that a younger bluesman comes along, steeped in the country Delta blues. Enter Nick Wade, who has received a glowing endorsement from Guy Davis and Corey Harris, and surely many others who don’t grace the liner notes. Guy Davis says, “…a young cat with […]
Teresa James & The Rhythm Tramps Rose-Colored Glasses Vol. 2 Blue Heart The highly decorated Teresa James & The Rhythm Tramps are on a roll. They return with Rose-Colored Glasses Vol. 2, going for three in a row. The hot streak began with 2019’s Grammy-nominated Here in Babylon, followed by the first installment of Rose-Colored […]
Lee Oskar She Said Mahalo Dreams We Share She Said Mahalo is harmonica legend, Lee Oskar’s more lighthearted, uplifting follow-up to his stunning career tour-de-force, 2022’s Never Forget, covered on these pages. This one is similar in Oskar’s melodic lines that often front fairly large ensembles, creating cinematic, expansive sonic palettes. If you’re thinking of […]