Music
Lenny McDaniel, The Blues Side (Café Au Lait Music)
Lenny McDaniel‘s fourth CD is urban music to the nth degree: slick (but not overly so), clean, streamlined, and filled with the kind of confidence that comes from a thick […]
Rusty Zinn, Confessin’ (Black Top)
What I’d like to do here is talk about production. Most roots CDs are recorded with all the digital bells and whistles afforded to modern bands, and while I’m not […]
Big Bill Morganfield, Rising Son (Blind Pig)
Big Bill’s got no compunctions about trading on his father’s name — that is the son of Muddy Waters, and he does want you to know. So much do the […]
Fest Focus: Duke Robillard
The accolades of his fellow musicians serve as a testament that guitar legend Duke Robillard is perhaps one of the most respected names in the blues world. Muddy Waters once […]
Fest Focus: Tab Benoit
Some men are born into greatness, others have it thrust upon them; then there are people like Tab Benoit, who have to go out and hunt the sucker down. Only […]
Fest Focus: Marva Wright
The Blues may be “nothing but a woman cryin’ for her man” I as the great Georgia White once observed. Unfortunately for the blues world, there are precious few women […]
Blues Bests at The Fest
Ernie K-Doe may have only been half-serious when he uttered his now-famous remark, ”I’m not sure, but I’m almost positive that all music came from New Orleans,” but some-folks take […]
Selwyn Cooper & The Hurricane Blues Band, Louisiana Swamp Blues (Sound of New Orleans)
When you cue up the first song on this CD, ”The Cat Is Back,” you’re not liable to be much impressed. The sound of this album is far too thin, […]
Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Blackjack (Sugar Hill)
“Gates” gets upset when you refer to his music as blues, partly because the genre can sometimes carry a connotation of dejection and despair, but mainly because it’s just plain […]
Stavin’ Chain, Stavin’ Chain (PGD/Ruf)
This quote’s been attributed to Michaelangelo: “Trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle.” Well, Stavin’ Chain aren’t exactly painting the blues-rock Sistine Chapel yet, but they’ve come a long […]
