APRIL 2021

CONTACT:email: editor@bluesinthesouth.com Web: www.bluesinthesouth.com Twitter:

Joyann Parker

interview withMAtt LOnG

interview withSUnDAY wiLDe

LAwrence

LebO’S cOLUMn:MichAeL FreeMAn

ObitUArY: chriSbArber

reviewS

viDeOS

Issue #409

IN THE MEAN TIME, DON’T GO TO GIGS IF YOU ARE NOT SURE THEY ARECOMPLETELY SAFE , MAINTAIN SOCIAL DISTANCE AND REMEMBER:

CORONA VIRUS DOES NOT CIRCULATEPEOPLE CIRCULATE IT

INTRODUCING…

With the music scene taking an everlasting beating due to this pandemic, and live work lookinglike a distant dream, I've decided to put together this new series called RG Sessions. Since the

summer of 2020, I've put out a few videos with some of my musician friends from the UK and USAwhich have been well received. As many of these musicians are still out of work (as am I), I wantedto put together something that could help support these world class artists and bring you, our valuedsupporters, ever improving content and music!

With "RG Sessions", I'll be inviting many of my musician friends to create new original and covermusic/videos for all of you to enjoy. My hope is to create (THROUGH “BUY ME A COFFEE”DONATIONS) a supportive community that will in some way help these fine musicians survive thisterrible situation we're all in until we're able to get out and play live for you all again!

The advantage of donating using "Buy Me a Coffee" rather than Patreon, for you - the supporter, isthat you don't have to join and commit to a month's membership. You can donate when you're ableto and be secure in the knowledge that your donation is going to support the music scene we all love.There is an option to join as a member for a recurring, monthly or yearly donation but that decisionis entirely up to you!

We will be adding more perks to our Buy Me A Coffee page for supporters... i.e live, online duo/trioshows (when it's safe to do so)/exclusive merchandise/discounts on publicly available merch andmuch more. We'll post more about that very soon...

A message from Ruzz Guitar

The 24th Maple Blues Awards, held virtually, reached 13K online views for its four segments intotal

You can re-watch all four episodes including streams from Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, andVancouver on the TBS YouTube channel or on the TBS Facebook page. The YouTube link below willtake you to a playlist where youwill find all the episodes andcan switch in between for aneasier watching experience. Forall our videos visit our channelhere.

Watch on YouTube

Watch on Facebook

CONGRATULATIONS TOALL THE WINNERS!

Entertainer of the Year: DawnTyler Watson

Electric Act of the Year: Jack deKeyzer

Acoustic Act of the Year: MattAndersen

Male Vocalist of the Year: MattAndersen

Female Vocalist of the Year:Angel Forrest

New Artist of the Year: Smoke Wagon Blues Band

Recording/Producer of the Year: Smoke Wagon Blues Band – Ballad of Albert Johnson / Producer:Steve Sherman

B.B. King International Artist of the Year: Ghost Town Blues Band

Songwriter of the Year: Colin Linden

Blues with a Feeling Award (Lifetime Achievement Award): *Tie* Ken Whiteley and Joe Murphy

Guitarist of the Year: Garrett Mason

Harmonica Player of the Year: Steve Marriner

Piano/Keys of the Year: Jesse O’Brien

Horn Player of the Year: *Tie* Mark LeClerc and Mat “Moose” Mousseau

Drummer of the Year: Gary Craig

Bassist of the Year: John Dymond

John Valenteyn Blues Booster of the Year: Cindy McLeod

With the government’s recentannouncement, it won’t be longbefore venues are again OPENfor music gigs.

When you startgetting

bookings, don’t forget to putthem on the BiTS website ‘GigGuide’.YOU CAN ENTER THE GIGS THERE YOURSELF—IT’S VERY EASY—OR AS ANALTERNATIVE, SEND THE INFORMATION DIRECT TO OUR GIG GUIDE MASTERAndrew Cadwell <andrewcadwell9@gmail.com>

THE BITS GIG GUIDE HAS BEEN CALLED “THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE GIG GUIDE I HAVE EVERSEEN” BY DJ AND GIGGING MUSICIAN IAN MCHUGH (Jazz Fm). Tell your friends about it too andlet’s get back to NORMAL!

Chris Barber OBE [17/03/1930 – 02/03/2021]Donald Christopher "Chris" Barber was born in Welwyn Garden City on

17 April 1930. By his twenties he was an accomplished tromboneplayer, following his love of New Orleans based 'Dixieland' jazz.

Barber also doubled on string bass. For all of his professionallife Chris sought to promote not only his jazz, but also bluesand gospel music both of which he saw as an integral part ofthe American jazz tradition. As well as scoring a UK top twenty

jazz hit, he helped the careers of many musicians, notably the bluessinger Ottilie Patterson, who was at one time his wife (0ne of

four) and vocalist/banjoist Lonnie Donegan, whoseappearances with Barber triggered the skiffle craze of themid-1950s. The group had a transatlantic hit with a tune based on a Lead Belly song, ‘Rock Island Line’, with Beryl Bryden on washboard..

Barber played bass (which he had studied alongsidethe trombone at the Guildhall School of Music) in the

skiffle group, which was fronted by Donegan. Thegroup started a movement which took hundreds

of thousands of young people bythe ears and saw hundreds of

skiffle groups spring up all overthe nation, performing bluessongs by artists such as Lead

Belly, Leroy Carr, and Josh White,gospel songs by the likes of

Rosetta Tharpe and Thomas A Dorsey (Georgia

Tom) and blues tinged country music.

The movement was largely amateur, but

did see a number of

professional bands such as The Chas

McDevitt Skiffle Group, Johnny Duncanand the Bluegrass Boys and The Vipers with

Wally Whyton.

Many British musicians began their careers playing skifflein this period, and some became leading figures in their respective fields. These included leadingNorthern Irish musician Van Morrison and British blues pioneer Alexis Korner, as well as RonnieWood, Alex Harvey, and Mick Jagger; folk musicians Martin Carthy, John Renbourn, and AshleyHutchings; rock musicians Roger Daltrey, Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, Robin Trower, and

David Gilmour. The Beatles developed from John Lennon's skiffle group The Quarrymen. Barberprovided an audience for Donegan and later, for Alexis Korner, making him a significant figure inthe British rhythm and blues and "beat boom" of the 1960s. But more was to come.

The late 1950s and early 1960s saw Barber as the principal organiser of the first UK tours of bluesartists Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee and Muddy Waters with Otis Spann. This,with the encouragement of local enthusiasts such as Alexis Korner and John Mayall, sparked youngmusicians such as Peter Green, Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones into playing blues music forthemselves. Barber was instrumental in introducing to British audiences, Brother John Sellars,Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller), Howling Wolf with Hubert Sumlinand Jesse Fuller.

Barber took British jazz and blues—in the form of Ottilie Patterson's remarkable ‘authentic’delivery—to the USA, wowing audiences at Muddy Waters’ club in Chicago and appearing on the EdSullivan Show.

With Harold Pendleton of the National Jazz Federation, Chris Barber was the founder of TheMarquee in London, one of the leading music venues in the country. He continued to playregularly in the Big Chris Barber Band until well into his eighties. Over the years he amassed aprodigious collection of original 78 rpm blues and jazz records.

On December 2, 2015, at the Concorde Club in Eastleigh near Southampton, Ian McKenzie (Editorof BiTS), on behalf of the committee of the British Blues Awards, presented Chris Barber with atrophy recognising his achievements in bringing blues music to Britain, with the accolade ‘BritishBlues Great’. Barber’s autobiography is titled “Jazz Me Blues’.

Ian K McKenzie

Matt Long has carved himself a reputation as a stellar front man of multi award-winning BritishBlues band Catfish. Alongside playing with Catfish, Matt is now also on the road with his ownband, Matt Long and the Revenant Ones, with powerful new riff-influenced original rock material.Ian McKenzie spoke to him on the telephone at his home.

BiTS: HI Matt, tell me something about your upbringing and where you first became aware ofmusic, that sort of thing.

ML: I was starting out as apiano player actually when Iwas about five or six years oldand I didn't really get on with itas much as I wanted to. I lovedthe instrument, I just nevercould play it very well myself,

so I asked my parents if I could playguitar instead because we had an old guitar

lying around the house with broken tuningpegs and missing strings and a whole bunch of

other things, so it didn't make any desirablenoises, but it made noises and it was a lot of fun.

BiTS: I'll make a bet that it had a very high action aswell. They all do.

ML: Yes, exactly [chuckling]. I didn't even know what an action was at the time. This is strange tosay, but I enjoyed just whacking it and having a whole bunch of silly noises come out of it. It was alot of fun. Later on, I asked them if I could get a slightly better guitar and some guitar lessons, andthey very graciously said yes. I was about six at the time when that happened. I'm 26 now, so 20years later, here I am doing what I do.

BiTS: With your father being a músic and television producer, there must have been a lot of musicin the house, I would guess.

ML: Yeah, he was definitely my earliest inspiration with regards to all that and he made me wantto pick up music at a very early age. He got me into a lot of blues music and just music in generalbecause he's a producer, so I'd always hear him working on stuff and he'd always be showing methings and I always remember being very interested in all of that. Yeah, I really enjoyed it. Dad wasdefinitely a huge influence on me and probably my first influence.

BiTS: Although six is a little young, what music did you start listening to? You mentioned bluesjust then. What about blues and rock musicians that you were listening to then?

ML: People like B.B. King were probably some of the first people that my dad showed me. BuddyGuy, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, a lot of the kind of big guys and I just loved all of it. It was great.

BiTS INTERVIEW: Matt Long

Then I kind of found my own way into different kinds of music like different kinds of blues and theninto different kinds of music in general, like rock. I found my own way into that and progressedfrom that into things like heavy rock and then metal. After that, I just kind of expanded my horizonsand I was like if it's good, then I enjoyed it. If I enjoy it in some way, then I think it's good. I listento a bit of everything and anything now. I always believe that in every genre, there's going to besomething that everyone likes, so you've just got to go out and find it. It's a great experiment,really.

BiTS: By the time you got into playing the guitar, did you start to do a lot of what they callwoodshedding? Playing along with other people's records, that sort of thing.

ML: Yeah, that's how I learned how to play. Get your CD player and picking up your guitar andkind of learning what they're doing through your ear. I find that learning through the ear gives youcertain characteristics that learning by reading doesn't and then vice versa. Learning through

reading gives you certain things that learning throughyour ear doesn't. It's a very different way of learningand I always really enjoyed it. I was half self-taught atthe beginning and then like I said, later on, I gotlessons to get the technique down a bit more, but Iwas always listening, and I was always recreatingthings which I really enjoyed and then eventually Imanaged to find a sound that I liked and kind ofstarted doing more of my own thing or inspired byother people, finding my own kind of sound.

BiTS: Are there any guitar players that you considerparticularly influential?

ML: A big one for me would be a guy called JoeBonamassa. Who I've been listening to for over tenyears now and I remember seeing him when he was,not first coming over to the UK, but in earlier daysbefore he kind of made it big. He’s such a nice guy butalso his playing was amazing, and I was justenraptured by it. Then I got to meet him several times

as well. Like I said, he was a lovely guy, really down to earth and kind of like a nerd, sort of like me,which was really fun. And then he's always been really good to younger players and encouragingthem no matter how big he's gotten. I knew him from then and he's now a blues superstar, but healways still finds time to encourage little guys like me and just everyone. He's probably one of mymain influences in the guitar world, certainly.

BiTS: How old were you Matt, when you first started to perform on stage?

ML: My first performance, I guess I was about ten. It was for my parent's wedding anniversary andmy gift to them was me playing [chuckles]. I don't know whether they respected that or not, but Iwas young, they couldn't say anything. I got up and played with my dad's friends. All I did was justa bit of blues. I wasn't soloing or anything. I was terrified. I was just there, kind of plucking onenote. but I loved it and that kind of sparked off a lot of the love for performing that I have. I wouldsay professionally gigging, I probably started throughout college. I had done gigs before then butnot like on a regular basis like I'm doing it now, or at least I was before everything shut down and

Joe Bonamassa

yeah, professionally, I'd say I was a professional musician as of, I think about five years now andthis is a career for me now. It's not just a hobby anymore, it's how I'm making my living and I'mstill loving it, so that's great.

BiTS: That was presumably when you started playing with Catfish. Would that be right?

ML: Catfish started out as a covers band, so I would say we weren't like a professional band at thevery beginning. We were playing in pubs, just having some fun and making a little bit of money, butas far as like this is my job on the tax returns and all that kind of thing [chuckling], yeah, it's beenabout five years now since I've been like this is my job. This is what I want to do with my life.

BiTS: We'll come back to Catfish in just a minute. Tell me about your own band, The RevenantOnes. Getting pretty successful, I think, before COVID came along.

ML: Yeah, COVID's kind of put a stop to everything, really. It started out I'd been playing withCatfish for so long and doing a lot of blues-rock stuff which I love, but at that point, I wasn't doingany heavy rock things which I had been doing throughout college. I had a few bands doing that kindof thing and then all of a sudden, at the same time, they all kind of folded for their own reasons,which is fair enough. I was focusing on Catfish because that was getting more and more popularand we were becoming more of an originals band, so I was kind of dedicating my time to that, but Ikind of realised one day that I had written a whole bunch of heavy rock songs, or even metal songs

that weren't getting played because Ididn't have a band for it, so I wantedto start up a solo project, in essence,to kind of get all that out, which wasliterally just going to be called MattLong at the time, but then when I gottogether with Adam and Kev on thefirst rehearsal, everyone just nailed itand I was like this is a band. This isn'ta solo thing. This is a band. Thisworks together pretty well, so later onwe evolved into Matt Long and TheRevenant Ones. It's still my solo stuffin essence. I do the majority of thewriting, but Adam and Kev lend a lot

to the band like their sound, and they contribute to a couple of writing aspects here and there, soit's definitely a full band thing rather than a solo kind of ego project.

BiTS: Matt, in what sense are you "revenants"? Why the name, in other words?

ML: It came about because of our story, because of how I wasn't really doing a lot of rock stuff fora long time and revenant means, in essence, coming back to life or undead, things like that. It was,in essence, bringing back to life a side of me that I hadn't really been paying attention to for a longtime, so The Revenant Ones actually seemed really fitting and also, I just think it's kind of cool.There's no such thing as a good band name [chuckling]. That's the hardest part of being in a band,is actually giving it a name, in my opinion.

BiTS: Let's get back to Catfish. You played all over the world with Catfish. Has there been anoccasion when you've been standing on the stage playing or perhaps singing when you thought,what on earth am I doing here? This is wonderful.

ML: [Chuckles]Every time we go somewhere new, really, it's a whole new experience still, eventhough I travel around and do it all the time. Going to new places and meeting new people is alwaysreally humbling and I really enjoy it, to the point where we were playing in Spain one time and itwas a tiny little village, and we didn't think anyone was going to be there. We didn't think therewas anyone in the village. It looked deserted. But then we went to the venue and it was like okay,well maybe it might be a bit of fun. It might be a paid rehearsal or something like that, thinkingthere was not going to be anyone there. It was absolutely flooded. The whole place was rammed.The whole village had shown up essentially, and it was amazing and one of the things that reallygot me was we went into a song called ‘Broken Man’, and when I got to the chorus, I saw a lot ofpeople in the audience, who didn't speak any English, who had only met us that afternoon, singingalong to the song and I was like this is amazing. We're in a whole new country that we've nevereven been to before, playing to a room full of people who don't speak English, or at least themajority of them don't speak English and we don't speak very good Spanish, but they're singing

along to one of our songs and it's just incredible tothink that a small village in the middle of Spainknows the lyrics to one of my songs. Just thingslike that make me really realise that wow, this isreally cool.

BiTS: That's an absolutely terrific story. I like thatvery much indeed. When you're writing music—you write a lot of stuff, I think with your dad, butyou clearly write alone as well—how do you writea song? Do you get an idea for the lyrics or themelody, or does it come in different ways?

ML: It comes in different ways, really. A lot oftimes, I'll have a guitar riff come to mind or

something like that on the guitar and then I'll fit some lyrics around it, or sometimes it's the otherway around. Sometimes an idea for a subject for a song or a lyric idea comes into my head and thenI write down a vague chorus and then kind of add rhythm and melody to it. It can change dependingon the mood. I never like to sit down and purposefully write a song. I always like it to kind ofspring to mind naturally, which can sometimes be annoying because it could be 4 am, and you'retrying to get to sleep, but then you suddenly get an idea for a song and you have to do it thenbecause otherwise you're going to forget it and it can also be annoying because sometimes youdon't really write anything for a while. Sometimes it just doesn't strike until a later date. I know alot of musician friends of mine have the ability to sit down and just write songs, whenever theywant and I'm always quite jealous of that, but yeah, I always think you find your own way of doingthings and I think this is my way of doing it.

BiTS: If you have an idea in the middle of the night, how do you keep it? How do you keep the ideaalive?

ML: Well, you've just got to keep working at it, really. Sometimes you use stuff that you haven'theard in years. I record every idea that I have on my phone and I never delete any ideas, so I could

Paul Long

potentially hold onto an idea for years and then later on, when I'm writing a certain song, I'm like Ineed a certain bit for this section and then I'll go back in the catalogue and be like oh yeah, thatthing I wrote about six years ago, that's going to fit here really well. I always say to people neverthrow away any idea because you never know when it's going to come back. Even if you never usethat idea again, it's just in case. You never know.

BiTS: You, Matt, are already an award winner. What do you think of the whole process of givingpeople awards for playing music?

ML: I think it's nice in a way; it's giving people who don't necessarily have a lot of share of thelimelight in comparison to a lot of other musicians and other kinds of music out there, especiallyblues. It kind of shines a light on them in a way and I think most of the time they all deserve it andit's just fantastic. We've never gone out of our way to get awards. We've never been driven by “weneed to win this thing”. It's never a competition for me all these kind of things. That's a fool's kindof way of looking at it for me. I never look at it as a competition, it's always a celebration of themusic itself and the musicians. To be honest, being nominated is enough for me, a lot of the time.It's just humbling to know that people give a dam about what you do, more than anything. I'mhappy with not having any trophies or medals or anything like that. I'm not doing it for that butknowing that people actually care about what I'm doing is invaluable to me.

BiTS: Do you have a favourite guitar that you play?

ML: I do. Well, yeah. I do and I don't. I always think it's like choosing between your favourite kidsbecause I've got quite a few, but yeah, I've got a couple of main ones, certainly that I'll use pretty

much full time. One of them being a PRS guitar,SC245, if you want to be specific and nerdy aboutit. It's one of the most beautiful guitars that I'veseen and one of the best guitars I've ever played,so I'm very, very happy with it and another one isGibson Les Pauls. A lot of the time, you can't gowrong. I love all those kind of things, but everynow and again, I pick up a Strat or a 325 or someother kind of thing and they all do different things.

BiTS: Do you like, many guitar players, havedozens of guitars around?

ML: I certainly have. I never call myself a guitar collector. I call myself a guitar hoarder. There's abig difference [chuckles]. I like to think that a good majority of the ones that I own, I do play andsome of them fairly often, but most of them I do play. There's a couple that I don't really play andthey're for sentimental reasons, like my first ever electric guitar and things like that and thenthere's a couple that I'm like I don't need this. This is a slab of wood with some strings on it.[Chuckling] It's not anything valuable to me, but they all do different things. I enjoy them allequally as much as each other, but I will tend to gravitate more to the Les Paul style of guitar orPRS guitar.

BiTS: Ever do an unplugged set?

ML: I've done acoustic sets. I've not done unplugged sets because I like having loopers and thingslike that to go behind me on an acoustic set, it just kind of helps fill out the space a lot more. I'vedone a lot of acoustic sets, recently. I've been doing a lot of live streams over the last year and kind

of fine-tuning more of the acoustic side of me, which I hadn't really done a huge amount of. I'vedone a little bit here and there but not nearly as much as I have done in the last year. It was almostkind of forced upon me, but it was good.

BiTS: Tell me how badly COVID has affected both you and, I guess, both the bands that you'replaying with?

ML: Well, put it this way, the last gig that Catfish have done was over a year ago. It was March 8th,I want to say, was the last Catfish gig we did. Yeah, last March, the beginning of last March was thelast Catfish gig we did aside from the live stream that we did where we got the live album and a livefeed done. As far as a gig in front of people, a ticketed event, things like that, it's been over a year.With The Revenant Ones, we managed to squeeze in a gig when lockdown lifted in October. Thatone has been slightly less time but still a long time since we've done a gig and then lockdown cameback in again, almost the next day actually, I think it was, it was just we managed to squeeze it injust before everything shut down again. Yeah, on the gig front, it's been awful. It's been terrible.

BiTS: Did you have a lot of gigs ripped away from underneath you?

ML: Yeah, I think we had about 150 gigs thatwere lined up in that time.

BiTS: As many as that, wow!

ML: That's a normal kind of number that we getin a year, or at least in the time it's been. Yeah, Ihaven't done any with Catfish and then we hadthat one with The Revenant Ones, yeah so to gofrom 150, and actually we probably did about200 because before everything locked down,probably not that many, so between 150 and200, somewhere in between there. So to have150 of those ripped out from under our feet wasinteresting.

BiTS: Are they starting to come back? I seepeople have actually started to announce gigs invarious places.

ML: They're coming back in essence. It's stillquite hopeful and it's looking like they will. On a good wind, and with the vaccine and the roll-outof that happening really well and it's optimistic in a way and in a good way. I'm not saying likethey're being optimistic about it. I'm saying it's good to be optimistic about it because it will begood to get back to it, but not for a few months still, I don't think. At least not until the vaccine getsrolled out and everyone who is going to take it has taken it and it's still a long way off from beinganywhere near normal, but I'm certain that socially distanced gigs will start happening againprobably within the next few months and then hopefully, like I said, on a good wind by at least thetime the year is out, we'll be back to some form of normal. It's like the whole thing of you want toprepare, so we book the gigs, and we want to prepare, but we always say, on a good wind this willhappen, so obviously if things change.

BiTS: Fingers crossed. I hope it works out for you.

BiTS: Okay, that's fine. One more question. Where do you expect to be in ten years' time?

ML: Still doing this would be a good thing and I would be hopefully, it's tricky because I don'tknow where I'm going to be in a couple of months’ time because of all this really, so yeah, I wouldlike to still be playing and I would like to still be able to make music that I want to make, if youknow what I mean. I want to be doing what I want to do, rather than doing what I have to do. Ifthat makes any sense.

BiTS: [Laughing] You wrote a song about that, didn't you?

ML: Yeah, in essence, yeah. It's kind of like a 'can't keep me down' in a way. Yeah, it's a song[laughing].

BiTS: Matt, I won't take any more of your time. Thank you very much indeed for talking to me.

ML: Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you for having me. It's a pleasure.

BiTS: Bye then. Bye.

ML: Thank you. Bye.

The 2021 Great British Rhythm & Blues Festival in Colne, Lancashirehas been cancelled due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, organisershave today confirmed.

This legendary festival was due to take place over bank holidayweekend, 27th - 29th August 2021 headlined by Band Of Friends, KylaBrox, Layla Zoe, Davy Knowles, Mike Farris & more.

Festival organisers, Colne Town Council, have concluded that, at this time, it is "not possible"to run the event safely.

Naomi Crewe, Colne Town Council's Town Clerk, explains "It is with great regret that, in lightof the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, we cannot find a way to guarantee the safety of our festivalgoers (often upwards of 25,000 people), venues, traders, performers and staff at this time.Although we love the blues festival here in Colne, we love and respect our residents andvisitors more. It is the safety of everyone involved in the event which is the motivation for ourdecision."

All ticket holders will be contacted directly by Friday 2nd April, and given a refund on theirpurchases.

Updates will also be posted regularly on the festival website and via the festival social media.

The previous Great British Rhythm & Blues Festival (August 2019) was the 30th Anniversary ofthe event, and won the much-coveted UKBlues Award for the Best Blues Based Festival Of TheYear. The event in 2019 was particularly successful, and was enjoyed by thousands of visitorsfrom across the UK and Europe, as well as being a much-loved event for people of the localarea.

DICK WATERMAN : A LIFE IN BLUESTammy L. Turner

University Press Of Mississippi / ISBN 978-1-4968-2269-7

Last month I suggested some goodiesworth watching on Youtube if youwere trying to occupy some sparetime. Well, it was through one suchprogramme that I found out aboutthis book. Published in 2019, it’s thestory of Dick Waterman and hisinvolvement in the rediscovery andtouring of old blues artists duringthe early 1960’s, many who’d beenforgotten or assumed dead: SonHouse, Skip James, MississippiJohn Hurt and Robert Pete Wil-liams were the first.

Waterman acted as their friend,manager, booking agent and insome cases, their carer, serious-ly! Through the years he alsorepresented Bonnie Raitt, JuniorWells, Buddy Guy, MississippiFred McDowell and more.

This is a ‘warts and all’ historyof those days, and very inter-

esting it is too…. the sections on Big Mama Thorn-ton and Jessie Mae Hemphill give an indication of some of the things he had to endure.In fact the content in this book is, for much of the time, quite an eye opener.

For anyone interested in the older generation of blues artists, (before blues becamerock), and how they, and some of the Chicago acts like Junior Wells and Buddy Guywere able to tour and appear at big festivals, this is the book for you.

Check it out whilst you can.

Bob Pearce

BiTS: Well, Sunday, let’s get on and talk about you and your record and stuff. First of all, can I askyou what decided you to move all the way from Atikokan to where you are now? What’s the name ofthe place you’re in now?

SW: Thunder Bay. I moved here, Ian, becausemy partner, Reno Jack, who played music withme and we recorded a number of albumstogether, passed away. Then, my children arebig, and they moved away, so I was basicallyalone in that small town. I knew I wanted tocontinue music, so I moved to the bigger townclose by. It had more places to play and morepeople to play with and stuff like that, so Ithought it was the best thing for me just tocontinue on my music.

BiTS: The last album that you made seemed tocontain a large number of tributes to Jack inone way or another.

SW: Yes, I know, but this new one does not.The new album, none of the songs are abouthim, which is a first for me [laughing].

BiTS: Did you find being able to play musicand writing songs very therapeutic?

SW: Oh, yes, of course. Very much so. Verymuch so for me personally and music helps so

many people even if they’re not a musician. That’s why I do it myself. It’s very therapeutic and Iwish everybody that I cared about played music because it helps people.

BiTS: Did you have difficulty putting this album together? Had you got a lot of songs that wereready to go?

SW: I didn’t have difficulty, no, because I write songs all the time and I wanted to do anotheralbum, so I just really focused. When I want to do something, I just focus and get it done. Over thefall and early winter, I wrote every day and fine-tuned the songs as much as I possibly could.Because we’re in lockdown, I could only have a small group of people in my home, so I just had thebass player come in and the engineer come in. The new album was recorded on my acoustic pianoas well. I wanted it to be simple. Yeah, it was really cool. He had put microphones all around thepiano and I wanted it done that way and this album has no drums and no guitars neither. I knowyou’re a lover of acoustic blues, so sometimes people think acoustic blues is often guitar work anddelta and stuff, but this is not like that at all [chuckling].

BiTS: I know if you don’t have electricity, if you don’t have amplifiers and stuff like that, which Igather you probably didn’t, it’s an acoustic album, regardless of the instruments you use, in myopinion.

BITS INTERVIEW: SUNDAY WILDE

SW: Exactly. No, there were no amps at all. I used the acoustic piano, and the bass player playedhis upright bass. It’s a 100-year-old upright bass and we played together in the living room andthen we had a very well-known harmonica player in Canada and North America, Harpdog Brown.He probably used amps on his harmonica when he was doing his pieces.

BiTS: I don’t count that, anamplified harmonica. That’s still anacoustic instrument.

SW: Yeah, exactly and then theclarinet player. He recorded hisclarinet in Philadelphia, so aclarinet wouldn’t have an ampeither.

BiTS: How long did all this take toput together?

SW: From starting writing? Iwould think I was starting writing

in August. We recorded in October or November and then to get the pieces - it’s a big job puttingout an album, Ian, because you have to get all the administration stuff done and the artwork doneand everything. I’m thinking I received the masters in January, so a couple of months, say. It took acouple of months.

BiTS: Tell me about some of the songs that are on the album because although there’s going to bea lot of stuff from you, in most of the other albums you’ve done, you’ve done some sort oftraditional blues. Is there one on this?

SW: Some traditional blues? I did a Willie Dixon cover songcalled “Home to Mamma”. It’s an old one and it’s about beingsick on the streets and you’re talking to your mom wherevershe is, kind of thing and I thought that song was relevant torecord right now for obvious reasons. We have a big homelesspopulation here. I’m not sure where you live exactly, buthomeless people are dealing with a lot of factors right now.It’s a traditional blues song and that one’s got some clarinetand a trombone player played a little bit on that too. My songs,there’s ten original songs, of course, written by myself andtraditional blues, I guess, yeah, compared to so much otherstuff that’s out there. It’s not rock blues or anything. I’m anolder woman now, so there’s one song about some advice toyounger women about men [chuckles].

BiTS: [Laughing] Good for you.

SW: Yeah, things like that. I mean, I get to write whatever I want [laughing].

BiTS: Do you have a favourite song on the album?

Harpdog Brown

Willie Dixon

SW: There’s a few songs I do enjoy. One of them is called “Too Damn Cute” and it’s a bit of a fasterblues boogie song. Harpdog Brown plays harmonica on that and it’s just about a cute boy in theneighbourhood [laughing].

BiTS: You may be physically old, but you’re not that old.

SW: No, I’m 51.

BiTS: Still thinking aboutboys in the neighbourhood?

SW: [Laughing] Not really. Iwrote a song about it. One ofthe other songs I think isimportant for people to heartoo, Ian, is a song called“Peace For Everyone”. It’s alittle bit more like gospel bluesand has a jazz clarinet on it.It’s just about trying to givesome peace to people whenthey listen to it. That’s animportant song for me too.There’s a few of them that Ilike.

BiTS: Did you enjoy the process of making this album?

SW: Very much so. There’s no drums and no guitar on this album, so I enjoyed it because my pianoskills are getting a little bit better as I’ve gone on. You’ve known me for a while, and I just barelyknew the piano when I started doing this.

BiTS: I remember when we first talked, you talked about yourself not being a very good pianoplayer and that you were practising. You obviously had a lot of time to practice in lockdown.

SW: Yeah, yeah yeah. All the musicians I’ve ever met they say you keep learning, and you keepgetting better, so no matter how long they’ve been doing it, they still get better as they go, so I’mhaving fun with that. The process of doing this album was quite fun but also the artwork, I don’tknow if you had a chance to check out that cover yet, but I did a special Facebook live event with thevisual artist while we listened to the tracks of the album and watched him paint the cover at thesame time.

BiTS: Wow, that must have been an experience.

SW: I’m telling you it was so fun. I sent him the tracks before anybody else heard it and then helistened to it and he came up with some concepts. Then we had a special Facebook live virtual eventfor an hour in January, where people could listen to the music ahead of time and watch him designthe artwork.

BiTS: That’s terrific.

Sunday with Reno Jack

SW: It was really a one of a kind unique event. A lot of people are doing online events and I’m notdoing that kind of stuff really, but I organised that with my friend Joel, who did the artwork. It wasreally cool [laughing].

BiTS: Have you got any plans to go gigging this new album?

SW: We’re locked down, right. Like honestly, I can’t even imagine. I don’t know what’s going tohappen. I live in a town where there’s only a few venues, so for me to go touring, it’s a little bit of afeat. It really is where I live.

BiTS: Getting to gigs is a problem I guess?

SW: Okay. Well, here to get to the next town to play shows is a seven-hour drive.

BiTS: Oh, wow, still that.

SW: Yeah. For me to play, touring it’s like a three-week, four-week thing taking time off and we’rejust all dealing with being locked down and not knowing what’s going to happen.

BiTS: What’s your nearest big city, Sunday?

SW: The biggest biggest city in Canada is Toronto and that’s an 18-hour drive.

BiTS: No, the nearest one to you.

SW: Thunder Bay has 100,000 people, sothe nearest one to me is Toronto. The bigbig big city. If I go to Toronto, I can playfour or five shows in a week, so that’sprobably what I’ll to do is go down in thesummer if I can, but I don’t know if I caneven travel right now.

BiTS: I don’t know whether you know it,but one of my two radio shows goes outfrom a radio station which is based inToronto. Blues and Roots Radio.

SW: Yes, I know them. They have quite afew. Yeah, that’s been going for a while. I

noticed that you’re on that and there’s a few Canadian DJs that are also on that as well that haveplayed my music too and yeah, they’re really doing a lot with that station for sure.

SW: But I really honestly don’t know what’s going to happen with touring. I did quite a bit of thatwith Reno Jack and he drove, and he helped with all that and you know touring is a lot of work.

BiTS: What are your plans for marketing this album? How are you getting it out there because ifyou’re not able to tour, as you’re not, what plans have you got for selling it?

SW: I’m focusing on radio and I’m focusing on TV and film placement, possibly. Just that kind ofthing and just word of mouth. That’s all that I am able to do right now. I don’t know how manyartists are touring. Are their people touring where you are?

BiTS: It’s starting to pick up just a little. I run this blues magazine, as you know, and for monthsnow, we’ve had no gigs to put in it at all, but in the last week or so, there have been just one or two

Toronto Skyline

starting to spring up and I know some musicians are starting to get diaries that are filling up, butit’s very, very bitty.

SW: Yeah, it’s going to be a little bit tricky. I have been invited to go down to the US in the summerfor a festival, but right now, we can’t go across the border yet. I’m going to guess maybe in the fallI’ll be able to, but I don’t let that stop me, Ian. There’s so many challenges in life and I do not letthat stop me. I don’t see touring as selling an album. I see making an album in itself is a good thingbecause the songs are important for people to hear and I don’t see that I have to tour because I canonly do what I can do, and all artists, that’s what we’re all doing right now. We’re just trying to dowhat we can.

BiTS: You’ve clearly got a full-time job, Sunday. What is it you do?

SW: I do outreach for a disability organisation.

BiTS: Good for you. That’s a wonderful thing to do.

SW: Yes, I love my job. I love my job. Then I focuson my creative stuff. I’m a writer and I’m a poet aswell. I had some poetry published in a book notlong ago and things like that.

BiTS: Wonderful. I didn’t know that. That’s terrificstuff.

SW: Yeah, as a creator and then one of the songs onthe new album is going on a commercial for arestaurant here, so I focus on those types of things.I focus on getting the recorded music to places thatit gets heard because I can’t necessarily go. It’s atricky business to be in where I live and I’ve alwayshad that challenge, no matter what the situation?

BiTS: You clearly do all of the marketing yourself.Do you have anybody that helps you?

SW: Yes, I do. I have a big radio promotion helping me right now. My friend Leen in theNetherlands. I’m not sure if you know him, but he’s been in assistance with me as a friend andhelper for a couple of years now and I got to meet him in Memphis this past year because I wentdown to Memphis last year for shows and things, but it’s just me, mostly [chuckles].

BiTS: I won’t take any more of your time, Sunday. Thank you very much indeed for talking to meand good luck with the album.

SW: Thank you. Thank you so much. Bye.

BiTS: Bye.

Sunday Wilde

THE HITMAN BLUES BAND: BLUES OF THE 21ST CENTURYBY

Gary Schwind

Hitman Blues band is a band that specializes in modern blues much to the delight of audiencesin both the U.S. and Europe. The band’s songs have been streamed more than half a milliontimes on Spotify, and with the new album Not My Circus, Not My Monkey, it shows no signs ofslowing down. By phone, frontman Russell Alexander discussed what drew him to the blues,the new album, and itching to return to touring.

Gary Schwind: What drew you to playing the blues?Russell Alexander: I’ve been a musicianmy whole life. My dad was a jazzmusician. He played with a lot of thegreats. I started playing professionallywhen I was about 16. Eventually Irealized that the music that appealed tome the most long-term was the blues.Like most people do, I played a lot ofcovers, really immersing myself in thevarious styles of the blues. I’ve alwaysbeen writing original tunes, and I startedwriting in that style. It came out the waythat it comes out.

GS: Are there any particular artists youwere first drawn to?RA: Oddly enough, Elvis. The early Sunsessions. Hearing what he was doing setme up for listening to blues artists likeMuddy Waters, Big Bill Broonzy, goingback to guys like Charley Patton, Lonnie

Johnson and those guys, and then all the way back to Blind Willie Johnson. These are guys withvarious fingerpicking styles. At one point, I was hired to learn all the Cream Clapton solos.Hearing what he had come from and how he expanded the styles. It was a pretty big eye-openerfor me. That also influenced the way I was looking at it. This is also coming from a rock and jazzbackground with all the jazz songs since my dad was a jazz musician.

GS: Speaking of jazz, did you hear about Chick Corea? [Who passed away on February 9, 2021(Ed)]RA: I heard about it. It’s so awful, and so sudden. They said it was a rare form of cancer that wasjust recently discovered. No warning. Last year was pretty rough. I’m hoping this year won’t be arepeat. We’re going to be dealing with things like this as people get older. The thing is, I don’t seea lot of guitar heroes coming to fill that spot. Do you?

Russell ‘Hitman’ Alexander

GS: No. For a long time in the blues, there’s been Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Idon’t know who might be coming after them.RA: They never really reached the public acceptance of Jimmy Page or Jimi Hendrix or Stevie RayVaughan. Most people, you say Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd, they’ll be like, “Who?”They’re not kids anymore. It’s encouraging that live music is getting pushed by a lot of artists whosome years ago were more concerned with sequenced tracks. I see more live music beingpromoted. Maybe it’s just the circles I run in.

GS: You have a new album coming out next month. How is it different than previous albumsyou’ve recorded?RA: We play what we call modern blues. It’s a combination of blues, jazz, and rock, but it’s allblues-based. I gave copies to a few people. What I’ve gotten is that it’s just been brought to a wholenew level. It’s still blues, but it’s a whole different level than what we’ve done before. Honestly, I’mnot really sure what they’re talking about, but OK. Almost everything that I write is based on myown life. If they like it, that’s good. Have you heard the album?

GS: Yes.RA: Did anything stand out to you?

GS: The first track. And the version of “John the Revelator”.RA: “John the Revelator” has been done so many times. They always stick to the same lyrics andthe same general song. I was thinking what if John was sitting there in his cave writing the Book ofRevelations and all the other gods just popped in and gave their own version of what the end oftimes is going to be like? So I wrote the lyrics like that. I had Buddha come by, and Odin, andBrahma. I like the way it came out.

GS: You have done pretty well in Europe.What’s the difference betweenperforming in Europe and performing inthe U.S.?RA: Generally I’ve found that people thatcome to see us are less genre-specific.They’re the kind of people who will go outand see a blues band one night, a heavymetal band another night. They just likegood music and music that’s performedwell. Here, it’s, “You’re not a real heavymetal guy, you poseur!” You’re alwaysgoing to have people that are experts in aparticular genre. They’re like “You’re notreally blues. You’re not really rock.” One comment that we get a lot is “I don’t really like the blues,but I like what you guys do.” What we’re doing is the blues. I’m glad you like it.

GS: We do get a little particular here.RA: The way I look at it is, as long as they listen to it. If they’re going to hear it, then they candecide if they like it or not. If they want to say, “I like it, but it’s not…” that’s OK. As long as youlike it. I always remember that Dylan came out and did his electric set at the Newport Folk Festival,

In Manchester on May17, 1966, Dylan’s useof an electric guitarprovoked a shout of‘Judas’ from one ofthe audience.

and he was booed off the stage. Did it stop him? No. If some people don’t like it, then they don’tlike it. What are you gonna do?

GS: What would you be doing if you weren’t making music?RA: I don’t know. Assault? (laughs) I like computers. I’m a bona fide computer expert. I’ve alwaysdone that as a hobby, and I enjoy it. The mind is set up for that the same way that it’s set up formusic. You follow the same kind of paths of things. I’d probably be a full-time computer guy,spending my time in the basement and having the same kind of skin I have now because I have anightclub tan. Everything would be the same, but I’d probably weigh a lot more. Twinkies and Jolt,man.

We were supposed to fly to France last August and the UK in November, and that got canceled.Hopefully we’ll be able to go thisyear. The dates from Novemberhave been pushed to November ofthis year. As far as France isconcerned, it’s hard to make anyplans.

GS: I bet you’re itching to get backon the road.RA: I love playing out. I would loveto play more in the United States,but it’s a big band. It’s nine pieces.It’s hard to get routing on thatunless people already know yourstuff and you have the advanceticket sales that can cover that. We’re trying. We’re pushing. We’re following everything we can.These days it’s a lot different. You’ve got Spotify, Deezer, Apple, and eight million blogs. It’s a bitoverwhelming. We had half a million streams on the last album, which shocked the hell out of me.My sax player told me we had more than half a million streams, which is not quite enough to payfor pressing 1,000 CDs, but it’s a brave new world where you can get tons of people hearing yourmusic, but not actually get any money for it. We do it for love.

When the internet was first starting, I used to think it’s be great if you could just put your musicout and people all over the world could hear it and be able to listen to it right away. Now we’ve got10,000 new songs a day. You gotta be careful what you wish for. It’s a lot of pros and cons. It mustmake your job a nightmare. You must be inundated.GS: It’s a bit difficult when you get a lot of music and you want to pay some attention to it,but you just don’t have time.

RA: A journalist friend of mine gave me the CDs she received for one month. It had been a coupleyears previously. Forget it, man. You have my respect. I did it that one time, and I was absolutelyfried. It got to the point where I would go, “Shit! Next!” Some of it was good and you could tellright away it was good. But some of it was shit right from the jump. Then I felt bad because I could

get shit, but I’m not really giving it a chance, am I?

When I was younger, I used to teach guitar privately. I hada student who had an acoustic guitar. He had made a dealwith his parents. If he took lessons for six months, theywould buy him an electric guitar. I taught this kid. Hetook the lessons for six months. He told his parents he hadfulfilled his end, and they bought him an electric guitar.He stopped taking lessons from me. He went on to form aband, and he went on to write a paragraph about thewhole situation about me in his autobiography. His nameis Ian Scott from Anthrax. Had he stayed with me, whatprobably would have happened, he would have said, “I’vegot this band.” And he would have played it for me. Iwould have said, “That sounds like shit. You guys shoulddo something else.” That would have been the end of that.Sometimes you listen to something and decide it’s shit.That could be the next seminal band.

Not My Circus, Not My Monkey will be released on March15. For more information about the album and the band,

visit hitmanbluesband.com.

Gary Schwind is a longtime music journalist whose musical tastes range from blues and soulto rock and reggae. He has interviewed artists such as Bettye Lavette, Bobby Rush, and BillyJoe Shaver, among many others. His reviews can regularly be found on Glide Magazine andAmericana Highways. He lives in southern California with his wife and two sons.

Ian Scott: Anthrax

GRAMMY WINNING PRODUCER MICHAEL FREEMAN

By Lawrence Lebo

This month I am honoured to interview fascinating and multi-talented Michael Freeman (below right). The former Brit (if there

is such a thing!) is playing out a successful and multi-facettedcareer in the music business. A bassist, manager, recordingengineer, and Grammy winning producer, Michael does it all atthe very top of the game.

Michael has garnered one Grammy Award and three GrammyNominations, three WC Handy/Blues Music Award nominations and one

Blues Music Award. Additionally, a Platinum Award for CandiStaton’s single ‘You’ve Got The Love’, released in 1986 and remixed over

20 times by many DJs and engineers worldwide. In 2011 he received aprestigious “Keeping The Blues Alive Award - Producer”, from The BluesFoundation.

And…Michael is a highly respected member of the Chicago, Illinois recordingcommunity, a past Governor, Chapter President and National Trusteefor the Chicago Chapter of the Recording Academy. He also has servedon the Recording Academy’s Producer and Engineer’s Wing AdvisoryCouncil and currently Co-Chairs their Blues Advisory Committee.

If all that weren’t sufficient, Michael currently serves as adjunctfaculty to Columbia College Chicago teaching Master Classes inrecording and is also a founder member of EARS, the Engineeringand Recording Society of Chicago. He is a member of AES, The AudioEngineering Society and The Blues Foundation on whose Board hesits as Chairman of the Board of Directors. BLIMEY!

I asked Michael to tell us a bit about his life and career. This is what hetold me…

LL: Please tell us about where you grew up in the UK,what your family was like and what kind of music yourfamily listened to.

MF: I was born in 1952. For the first 12 years of my life, I grew up inChiswick, (pronounced Chiz-Ick), West London, moved to Dallas, Texas foralmost two years and then returned to the UK. We lived near Richmond,Surrey for about a year and then settled in Ruislip (pronounced Rice-Lip !!) on the northwesternedge of greater London. My father was a respected physicist with many fields of expertise whichincluded early work on radar and night vision equipment during WW2, work on the first cathoderay tubes at the dawn of the television age, and upon returning to the UK from Texas, EMI askedhim to “Find out about this new silicon chip technology”, which he did and designed and ran theirmicro-chip factory in Hayes, Middlesex until he retired. I probably got my technical sensibilitiesand work ethic from him which all stood me in good stead as a recording engineer, and as a

producer. He was quite the brain but wasn’t at all sure about his son’s sensibilities when heannounced that he was leaving a career at BOAC, the forerunner of British Airways to go to Chicagoto manage a rock band called Shakey Jake! More about that later.

My Mother and my Grandmother were the musical influences I absorbed as a boy and to somedegree as a teenager. Mum was a housewife for the most part but took some part-time secretarialwork from time to time. My Nan came to live with us after her husband had passed a couple ofyears before I was born. She and I were very close (she saved my skin from a couple ofmisdemeanors) and we shared a similar sense of humour. Both of them lived long lives into theirlate 90s!

Dad had no interest in music at all. Mum and Nan often gathered at a piano, sang old standards oftheir youth and of the day, punctuated by quite a few songs that would have been popular inwartime. My Mother also loved swing and big band music. Artie Shaw, Count Basie and GlennMiller; singers like Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, The Andrews Sisters, Ray Charles and Bing Crosby. Shehad a small but great collection of records that were listened to regularly.

In Dallas and then back in the UK my peers and I all listened to the pop artists ofthe day on the radio – our local stations in Dallas were KBOX and KLIF—butthe US had TV shows like Freddie Cannon’s “Where The Action Is”,Shindig, The Ed Sullivan Show and even Paul Revere & The Raiders hada show. We hadn’t really seen music TV like that before, but it was infull bloom when we returned to the UK with shows like Top Of ThePops, Thank Your Lucky Stars and Juke Box Jury. The UK didn’t havevery much to watch even then and so radio was really the daily mediumof choice.

I had a little ALBA transistor radio with a single earpiece and layawake at night searching through the frequencies to find radiostations all over Europe that played music. I remember American DJEmperor Roscoe on Radio Luxembourg – he played the morepopular hits, but later we had all the “Pirate Radio Stations” likeRadio Caroline, Radio North Sea and Radio London that broadcastfrom ships anchored just outside British territorial waters. Theirlegacy lives on today and many great DJs started their careers on theships. One in particular was the late John Peel who probably did moreto educate British youth in new and progressive music than any other DJ.His eclectic show was required listening on a Sunday afternoon.

After his show was Mike Raven’s R&B show. Again, required listening! The first hour was old schoolR&B – Tamla, Stax and the other relevant labels – the second hour was blues and quite the treat. Weheard artists and songs that we couldn’t even find in record shops. Legend has it that Mike wouldpersuade sailors working a passage to the US to bring back the recordings. Paul Jones, former leadsinger for Manfred Mann and leader of The Blues Band carried on that mantle at the BBC for manyyears and we should be grateful to him for his commitment to blues and exposing so many fineblues artists to listeners worldwide.

I was about 15 or 16 when I bought my first record player and started a modest collection. We didn’thave a lot of money, so my purchases were dependent on an allowance and weekend jobs. I hadbought a few Beatles singles and some other 45s in Dallas and added to the 45 collection here and

Mike Raven

John Peel

there in London. LPs became the only purchases and again after a few Beatles releases, my friendsand I veered well away and into the wildly varied musical landscape of the late 1960s and early1970s and for me, the blues based British blues boom bands became a good part of the collectionand listening. They were also the bands I wanted to see live.

My group of friends would get together every weekend and share our musical discoveries. When weweren’t hanging together at a pub or at someone’s house we’d be at gigs. In London you werespoiled for choice every weekend. I must have seen all the major British bands at club or collegegigs before they became well recognized worldwide.

As I became interested in the more blues-based artists of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, I wouldoften find my Mum, covertly standing outside my bedroom, listening to the likes of early FleetwoodMac, Savoy Brown, John Mayall’s Blues Breakers and the rest of my favorites. She was very hip, andwe often talked about that amid fits of laughter in later years. My Dad, however, had his armchairpositioned right underneath mybedroom and when my stereo gottoo loud, he’d bang on the ceilingwith a broom stick that he kept closeby for such occasions—which werefrequent!

I was very lucky to have grown upthrough an extraordinary period oftime in the UK and in musicalgrowth, possibly not to be equaled inmy lifetime. The musical trails wefollowed were varied and open.Music that had feeling and explorednew horizons were devoured.

LL: When, where and why did youmove to the States?

MF: My first move to the States was in 1964 from London to Dallas, Texas. Did I say culture shock!This was in April after the President Kennedy assassination; Dallas was incredibly segregated; Dadwas involved in the space program and The Beatles were invading! Heady times. My Father hadbeen head-hunted by a company in the Dallas area to design cathode-ray tubes for telemetry andpicture that would withstand the stress of space flight. They did. The first pics we saw from a moonprobe were his cameras and astronauts who landed in later missions returned them to Earth to findthem working perfectly. Yes, I’m very proud of him and his achievements.

That said, the job didn’t work out and with the Vietnam War looming the family decided to returnto the UK in late 1965.

I came back to the States in late 1973 to manage a Rock Band called Shakey Jake and indeed, theywere Shakey! We met in London through mutual friends, persuaded me to come to Chicago and theadventure that continues began! The band broke up 5 months after I arrived, and I went from there!During that time, I had decided to find my way alone to the famous Checkerboard Lounge but wasthwarted by two protective Chicago cops who grabbed me blocks away and drove me back to theNorth side. Apparently, there was a bad situation going down close by and they were bewildered to

The Grassy Knoll on Dealy Plaza in Dallas TX near which Pres. JF Kennedy wasshot. At the back of the picture is the Texas Book Depository from which

Kennedy was shot.

see a young white guy walking into trouble in that neighbourhood and got me out of there fast.Guess I’m grateful to those cops. They gave me a huge education about where to go and where notto go in Chicago in 1974.

LL: You’re enjoying a long, successful and varied career in the music business. Could you doyour best to give us an overview? Please don’t be shy!

MF: Well, it’s quite a story. I’ve described the first forays to America but after the Shakey Jakedebacle I found work at an instrument repair shop in Chicago for a month or two. There I met thesound engineer for The Shadows Of Knight who was about to work for a Chicago band calledPezband. They became the poster children for Power Pop and I was signed on as their roadmanager. They were the darlings of the Chicago club scene and it was quite a time with them. I gottired of that life and moved on, publishing a monthly music newspaper called Stage Pass for acouple of years. I had to return to London for family reasons for a few months and was asked tocome back to run a tour for Pezband whohad just been signed. That lasted for aboutnine months and I found myself back inChicago and went to see some friends whohad opened a recording studio complex in aChicago suburb and had been advertising inmy publication. I used to hang out therefrom time to time and we had becomefriends. Well, they were looking to replacetheir studio manager and asked me to fill theposition. Within a few moments of walkinginto one of the studios I realized I had found“home” and the light bulb went on! I spentevery hour imaginable learning the craft of making records and the next 9 years there were myapprenticeship recording every style and genre of music imaginable.

In 1986 the studios closed, and I went out freelance and never looked back. Blind Pig Recordscalled one day and asked if I would take over a Joanna Connor recording at the recommendation ofthe engineer who had become very ill and tragically died as I finished the record. I owe MikeRasfeld much. That call led to 24 or 25 titles I worked on for Blind Pig as either an engineer ormixer or a producer. That also led to so many other recordings and to date I have worked on 70plus titles with a couple more in the works. Three Grammy Nominations, A Grammy Award, BluesMusic award nominations and a Blues Music award and a recipient of a “Keeping The Blues AliveAward”. It doesn’t get much better than that. I am humbled that my peers think so well of my workand proud to work on so many meaningful recordings that will last for future generations.

One fun memory revolves around uber-producer Mike Vernon who became a dear friend. I hadrecorded an album for Blind Pig with Eddy Clearwater, and he had a fine guitar player in the bandat that time named Wil Crosby. Wil rang me up one day and asked if I would engineer a session forhim for some demos he needed to cut for a “producer from New York” who was interested inpossibly signing him. We set up at the studio and started to run down the songs. No producer.Finally, a very harried Englishman arrived, asked where Wil was, went into the studio and webegan recording the cuts. About an hour later he came into the control room, said “Hi, I’m MikeVernon, sorry I’m late”. I said, “No problem, I’ve been waiting 25 years to meet you so welcome toChicago!”. We laughed a lot and it led to a working relationship for his Chicago sessions that

Pezband - 1976

Pezband

included a Grammy Nomination for Bo Diddley’s 40th Anniversary album, John Primer’s “Real Deal”award winning album and several others along the way. That chance meeting led to a greatfriendship that continues to this day and for my realizing how many Mike Vernon produced albumsI had in my collection in the UK as a young man, how theyhad influenced my musical tastes and what serendipity to beworking with him all those years later! Life’s journey!

I think the most rewarding moment for me must have beenthe moment Pinetop Perkins (at 95 yrs. old) and Willie “BigEyes” Smith (at 77 yrs. old) received a Grammy for their“Joined At The Hip” album that I produced and mixed forthem. To see their joy at the ceremony was worth it all.

I have also given service in many ways. I was a Governor,Chapter President and National Trustee from Chicago for TheRecording Academy; I currently Co-Chair The Blues AdvisoryCommittee with Shemekia Copeland for The RecordingAcademy and I have served as a Director and currently, theChairman of The Board of Directors for The Blues Foundationin Memphis.

LL: Why do “the blues” resonate with you?

MF: Blues is about as real as music gets period! It may tell you a story of men and women and theirstruggles in the past, but it will surely put you right back into reality if you allow it into yoursensibilities. Blues is about a human condition. It is not to be taken lightly. I never truly understoodthe meaning of blues and its depth until I got to know some of the older legacy artists and heardtheir stories and takes on life. That was a privilege. Few realize that blues can often be uplifting. Itcan take you from despair to hope, from darkness to light. But it can also show you the dark sidebut also how to take care. No other musical form does that in such a profound way.

Last year we lost a rising star in the blues community. Joseph “Mojo” Morganfield, Muddy’syoungest son. He and I had forged a wonderful working relationship that produced a self-releasedEP and a single ‘It’s Good To be King’ that shot up the RMR radio charts to #1. Joseph was the nextgeneration of blues artists and had everything ahead of him for a successfulcareer trajectory. His passing shook the entire blues world. His passingspoke volumes.

LL: How long have you served on the board of directors, and aschairman at The Blues Foundation and what are your prizedaccomplishments in that role?

MF: I’m almost at the end of my Chairmanship and term out thiscoming November. This has truly been a privilege and I have been apart of the transition from one President/CEO to another. BarbaraNewman left her tenure with amazing growth for the Foundation, and weare in her debt for the growth that she propelled. Our new President/CEO PattyAden comes from a stellar background, has embraced the challenges ahead and is a delight to workwith. The future for The Blues Foundation is bright and especially in her hands as we navigateextraordinary times and challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mike Vernon

For my part, I am very proud to have spearheaded the move to an all-digital platform for The BluesMusic Awards which has proved to be very successful andwelcomed by the blues community. The cost savings forentrants and the foundation have been applauded and theaccessibility for voters and entrants has proved to beinvaluable.

I am also very proud of an initiative at The RecordingAcademy that I undertook to bring about the two Bluescategories, Traditional and Contemporary, to be recognizedonce again in their awards system. Blues had beenconsolidated to one best of category due to dwindlingsubmission levels. I wrote and presented, with the help ofKen Shepherd, Kenny Wayne’s father who was a Trustee atthe time, a proposal to reinstate the two categories. Thispassed the trustees unanimously. I have also arranged aGrammy luncheon at the Blues Music Awards for the past 4-5 years which has allowed a greaterengagement for blues artists with the Grammy process and thus their visibility nationally and forthe Grammys to understand so much more about our genre and engage with the blues communityon many other levels.

LL: Recently the Blues Foundation board was tasked with hiring a new President and CEO toreplace retiring president Barbara Balin-Newman. Would you talk about that process, and newpresident Patty Wilson Aden?

MF: A changing of the guard at any organization is a challenging prospect and especially when theoutgoing executive has made such meaningful changes and growth possible. Barbara left us with anextraordinary list of accomplishments and growth during her tenure. We are certainly in her debt.

That said, our task at hand was to find her replacement and an individual who we felt could takethe organization to the next level.

A search firm was engaged, and many candidates were presented to a search committee and theexecutive committee and Patty Aden stood out above all the other candidates.

Patty comes from an extensive background in the Not-For-Profit sector; organizations that areclosely tied to the music industry and in particular, American Roots organizations. She understandsour blues world and has embraced her new executive position wholeheartedly and we are delightedto have her on board.

LL: Last year was a big year for launching the Black Lives Matter movement in the States andaround the world. Has this movement affected the Blues Foundation?

MF: The Blues Foundation made its position clear about Black Lives Matter. Please refer to itscommunication.

LL: What does The Blues Foundation have planned for this year’s BMA awards?

MF: We are currently in discussions with a production company and plan to present a virtual BMAsin early June. Please watch the website for further details.

LL: As a performing and recording blues artist my world has been turned upside down via theworldwide pandemic. I’m still navigating around trying to right it! How do you see the musicindustry and specifically blues musicians going forward as the world comes out of this?

MF: This is a difficult question to answer because there are so many unknowns and changescurrently to our musical world. Firstly, and not just for blues musicians, the ability to perform liveonce again will be a huge boost to incomes and visibilitygoing forward. There has to be a huge pent-up demand foraudiences to see live music and this can only bode well.Historically the live performance opportunities have led tosolid merch sales at gigs – CDs, T-Shirts, swag etc. With adecline in CD sales what will that look like? We don’tknow.

How can we boost or supplant declining CD sales withother merch? We don’t know. We cannot survive onstreaming revenues which are criminally, outrageously notin favour of the content makers. This will be a challengingtime and we all have to communicate with each other tofind new avenues to revenue streams.

I have no concrete answers, but the conversation mustcontinue.

LL: How about you, Michael? What’s coming up for you?

MF: I’ve just finished co-producing a new Mississippi Heatalbum – my 6th with them – and that is now at mastering. I’m in pre-production with iconic TracyNelson for an upcoming album with her for the new BMG label Revival. I’m in discussions withItalian blues artist Freddie McGuire about an album with him when Covid allows us to travel.

My career and love for blues continues and I am so very grateful for all the support andopportunities that have come my way.

Thank you for including me!

~ Lawrence Lebo

Lawrence Lebo is an award winning, critically acclaimed Blues recording artist living in LosAngeles, CA, USA. She can be found on the web at www.lawrencelebo.com

Michael Freeman

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REVIEWS

Trevor B. Power—What Is Real—Farm 189 Records 489

At the age of fifteen Trevor was given a Hohner acoustic guitarand with his ability to ‘play by ear’ Trevor was able to learn toplay in a great many musical styles including; classical, flamenco,opera, popular, swing, and rock ‘n’ roll that were awash in hisNew Jersey household. Over the years he served his musicalapprenticeship in a good number of coffee houses and bars. Hisinterest in the blues came after coming into contact with BobbyWhitlock (the keyboards player with Derek & The Dominoes whowas also, the first white artist to be signed to the Stax label) with

his wife Co Co Carmel.

Trevor released his debut album entitled “Everyday Angel” in 2019 and now he is back with this, hisnew album. Joining Trevor, who provides guitars, harmonica and vocals on the 10 original selfpenned numbers are; Anthony Krizan, guitars, drums, bass, tambourine and vocals with Bob Cloreson B3 and piano. Included here is the single ‘Pandemic 2020’, which was released last summer; theanthem like drums and striking ringing guitars lead the way for an enticing rolling, raw vocallament, of Man, who is more interested in profit and gains than health and welfare. Anotherrocking lament, ‘Get Well Johnny’, concerns an older brother who suffers, for enjoying all the viceshe can, this features an attractive gospel vocal enticingly behind breathlessly raw urging harmonicasolos. There are a couple of mid-seventies Rolling Stones inspired numbers, firstly, the rocking‘Sexy Witch,’ a lazy growling vocal from Trevor is paired with a raucously alluring vocal fromDanielle Illario while his equally growly guitar roars along with solid drum work. Whereas thegentle country blues flavoured ‘I Am A Fool’, glides along on the sugar sweet strings of a drawlingslide. ‘Easier Way,’ is firmly settled in 50s-60s Chicago with its raw rolling harmonica aided andabetted with a drawling guitar and shuffling drum. Splendid. ‘This Old Road’, is an engaging 12string, Americana, reflective acoustic piece that ponders the values and traditions of a pastAmerica.

Greatly endorsed!

Brian Harman.

Joe Lewis Band—Up Next—Independent

Joe’s childhood home was in Picayune, Mississippi, just north ofNew Orleans; and as a consequence, the many and varied musicalinfluences emanating from there flowed easily across the Deltaand the radio waves into Joe’s home. Joe began playing the guitarat the age of 10; over time like many others he became interestedin the parallel and sometimes intertwining genres of Gospel andBlues, as wonderfully displayed by the stunning music of RosettaTharpe. After experiencing the possible enticements andpurgatory inducing perils of the music world, Joe, at the age of

25 was at his lowest point and found solace, purpose and reconciliation with his faith. Years ofdedicated live work have resulted in invitation performances at Buddy Guy’s ‘Legends’ club andbeing part of the International Blues Challenge.

This is Joe’s fourth album (the others are: “Good News Blues”, “Love From A Distance” and “Grace,Faith and Blues”) and here Joe takes lead vocal and guitar with Tom Cole on bass and DerrickEnyard on drums, together, this power trio deliver 10 original compositions written by Joe. Thealbum was mixed by Kevin Shirley at his Cave Studios in Sydney, Australia. The opening twonumbers are declarations of love for the woman in his life: The pounding percussion and strikinglyfunky yet slightly psychedelic prowling guitar from Joe and Bobby Wilson on ‘I Like It,’ certainlygrabs your attention, as does Biscuit Miller’s funkin’ bass lines on ‘Hot Lovin’ Momma,’ here, thestrident percussion and bass merrily takes us on a trip back to the seventies. Whereas ‘Do YourWork In Me’ is in a slower, funkier groove, as Joe, achingly asks to work with God. The satisfyingmixture of gentle acoustic and rich ringing electric guitar on ‘Jesus I Love The Way You Love’,amply displays Joe’s commitment to his faith. The melancholy ballad ‘Broken Angel Of The Delta’, isan emotion filled tribute to his sister, the gentle pain ridden guitar work matches Joe’s equallymournful vocals. On a lighter note, the rousing fifties inspired Texas shuffle ‘Baby Rocks The Boat’,splendidly, lifts your spirits and your feet.

Greatly endorsed!

Brian Harman.

Cash McCall CD Single—Blues Coming Down/One Who’s GotA Lot —Nola Blue Records

The two numbers here are from Cash (Morris Dollinson, Jr. 28January, 1941 – 20 April, 2019), who was a guitarist, singer andsongwriter, his recording and performing career encompassedgospel, blues and soul. The numbers were recorded with his oldfriend, composer and guitarist Jim Koeppel in 2014 and 2015.Produced by Jim Koeppel, ‘One Who’s Got A Lot’ and ‘BluesComing Down’ were recorded in Los Angeles in 2015.

‘One Who’s Got A Lot’ was previously issued digitally January 31,2020; ‘Blues Coming Down’ is being made available for the first time in any format. They havebeen, mixed, mastered and released to celebrate what would have been his 79th birthday. JoiningCash who takes lead vocals and rhythm guitar are Jim Koeppel; lead guitar, Rajiv Halim; tenorsaxophone, Tennyson Stephens; piano, John Christy; Hammond B3, Welton Gite; bass and JamesGadson; drums.

On the melancholy ballad ‘Blues Coming Down’, a lazy, richly fat tenor saxophone leads a mournfulB3, as Cash’s deep, woe-filled vocals bemoan his lost love and how, now, he feels at an all timelow’. A stark piano is joined by slowly stinging guitar. The pulsing shuffle ‘One Who’s Got A Lot’concerns a rather well developed, eye-catching lady, that Cash has taken a fancy to in a coffee shop.The strong, sweet, soul drenched vocals of Cash shine through, with a slowly slapping back-beatand gently rising guitar as company.

Greatly endorsed!

Brian Harman.

Blu ACiD feat. John Blake - Blu ACiD feat. John Blake EP - BluACiD Records

Blu ACiD are Misha Den Haring and Jan Mittendorp, twomusicians/producers from Holland. This four track EP alsoincludes the singer John Blake.

The album opens with ‘Georgia’ a stripped back work song withminimal backing initially that subtlety increases and the tremeloeffect on the guitar adds intensity to give off a really good oldstyle Gospel feel. Really liked this one.

‘Gallows Tree’ is another work song in style with variousrhythms and backings, with the guitar helping to keep an old style feel but introducing new soundsalong the way.

A dirty blues boogie guitar riff opens ‘Keep It Burning’ to get your foot tapping whilst a more synthbased electronic music style gives ‘No Time’ more of a pop infused sound.

Listening to these songs brings to mind Moby’s “Play” album where old style blues met a modernday electronic twist. That Moby album was over twenty years ago now. Blu ACiD do add othermusical styles and modern day technology to an old style of blues roots music but it feels moreorganic and raw than Moby's album. You can not overlook the wonderful voice of John Blake too,particularly on ‘Georgia’ which helps pull this project together.

Clearly Blu ACiD are trying to push boundaries here with songs that are more about rhythms with avibe, and the lyrics are an integral part too. This is an interesting album for blues fans, (dare I saythis is ‘Electro Blues’) and I’m keen to see where Blu ACiD take their brand of music next.

Ged Wilson

Ben De La Cour - Shadow Land - Flour Sack Cape Records

Ben De La Cour is a Singer/Songwriter based in Nashville and‘Shadow Land’ is his fourth album.

Ben kicks off the album with some great upbeat acoustic guitaron ‘God’s Only Son’ that drives this tale of a bank robbing drifteralong rather nicely, with a hint of a spaghetti western about it.Next up is ‘High Heels Down the Holler’ with some hauntingfiddle, weaving its way through this one that has a hint of TomWaits about it. ‘The Last Chance Farm’ tells the story of rehab.Ben sings this song beautifully with such a gentle honest voice. Ilove the line, “...her words trailed off like cigarette smoke

underneath the door...” real poetry.

The title track ‘Shadow Lands’ is another reflective song with absorbing lyrics. ‘Basin Lounge’ has acompletely different feel about it, it’s a piano infused blues where Jerry Lee Lewis meets Dylan’s‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’! ‘Anderson’s Small Ritual’ is another lovely tale from Ben whilst theclosing song ‘Valley of the Moon’ is another haunting story with a hint of Leonard Cohen about it.

Ben has surrounded himself with some top class musicians that help make the music sound greatbut it is Ben’s voice and guitar that truly come to the fore. He has an ability to craft lyrics thatcreate imagery and a voice that touches your soul. ‘The Last Chance Farm’ my favourite song onthe album really connects with the listener in a way that you might listen to your best mate in a latenight bar.

For us blues fans this album is not strictly of the genre but names such as Townes Van Zandt, SteveEarle and Nick Cave whom he has been likened to give you an indication of where his music sits.Nonetheless this is a fine album and worth checking out.

Ged Wilson

Trower Priest and Brown - United State of Mind - ManhatonRecords

Three UK music legends have come together to release the album‘United State of Mind’. Robin Trower is well known to blues rockfans for his classic album ‘Bridge of Sighs’ as well as his earlierwork with Procol Harum. Maxi Priest has had a string of hitrecords and is acknowledged as a successful reggae fusion artist.Livingstone Brown is a talented producer/mix engineer as wellas a musician.

The album opens with the title track ‘United State of Mind’ andstraight away we can hear the fantastic voice of Maxi Priest. ‘Are

We Just People’ is a little more laid back with a more bluesy feel thanks to Robin Trower’s guitarwork. ‘On Fire Like Zsa Zsa’ smoulders with some distinctive wah wah guitar from Robin. It’s goodto hear a cowbell in there too! (You may remember a cowbell on ‘Lady Love’ on the ‘Bridge of Sighs’album). There is a real jazzy blues feel about the slow paced ‘Walking Wounded’ with some tastefulguitar from Robin once again.

This album is not really a blues album but more of a pop album. The tracks are laden with strings,brass and pads that fill out the sound but don’t really enhance it to my ears. I find the songs all very“samey” in that they seem to follow the same format and lack dynamics. For pop songs they seem tolack a “hook”.

If you listen to ‘Close to You’ by Maxi Priest it has a real bounce and freshness about it that ismissing from this album. If you listen to ‘Soul ll Soul’ for example, you can hear how their use ofstrings and pads adds a real vibrancy, once again this seems to be lacking.

On the plus side Maxi Priest has a fantastic voice and sounds great here, whilst Robin Trowerprovides some real classy snippets of his distinctive guitar work, as in the way he takes it out onthe closing track, ‘Where Our Love Comes From’. This album is well produced and pleasant but isnot my bag I’m afraid. But hey, don’t let me put you off, please do give it a spin and judge foryourself.

Ged Wilson

Georgia Randall—Hound Dog—Independent

Now living in Florida, singer/ guitarist/ songwriter Georgia toldher story in September 2020’s edition of BITS, from early dayssinging in church and listening to rock and roller Gene Vincentand his father playing guitars at a house just down the street.

Her fourth album, Hound Dog is a very fine set of blues androots music – the title track is of course the Big Mama Thorntonnumber that helped a certain Mr. Presley start his career, andGeorgia updates it tastefully, though keeping the flavour of the50s. She shows a fondness for the music of the 60s too, with acontemporary re-working of Buffalo Springfield’s anthemic ‘For

What It’s Worth’, and subtle Indian shadings on the otherwise soul-styled ‘She Likes It’.

The old folk-blues staple ‘House Of The Rising Sun’ gets a strong re-imagining as a slow blues balladwith soul touches, and the set opens with the catchy blues-rock groove of ‘Isolation Blues’. ‘Fever’ isan older original of Georgia’s, here present as an excellent sultry blues, as is the slightly sprightlier‘VooDoo’, with wah wah guitar, before Georgia invites the listener to her ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Party’, withthe music certainly appropriate, and ‘Ms Sadie’ falls somewhere between the blues grooves of TheRolling Stones and the sassiness of Tina Turner.

So, chalk up another good-timin’ blues and roots winner for Ms Randall. Recommended.

Norman Darwen

(www.georgiarandall.com)

Ajay Srivastav—Innocent People—Scion Records

Ajay often mixes the Mississippi blues with his Indian heritageextremely successfully, and this single is another example of justhow well he can do it. Here he comments on the unfairness ofthe world, sung passionately and convincingly with even just ahint of vintage Bob Dylan to the track, accompanied by hisexcellent slide playing on his steel guitar, and with tabla alsoprominent, and he manages to remain positive. Ajay is alwayswell worth a listen and this pointedly political track is noexception. His second album “Powerless” is another set, duelater in the year.

Norman Darwen

(www.ajayhq.com)

Anne Harris—Over—Independent (Single)

Anne Harris is a violinist from Chicago, and you might havecome across her with the likes of Guy Davis, Walter Trout, withJefferson Starship in the role once occupied by Papa JohnCreach, or during her long spell with Otis Taylor. The latter isperhaps the most relevant for this release, a moody piecerunning to four and a half minutes long, a little akin to Otis’“trance blues” style.

This impression is underlined by the use of banjo over modernbeats, a deep groove and a slightly distorted vocal. Presumablyit is Markus James who plays the banjo, as he wrote the song

and has a strong interest in the older forms of American roots music.

Whatever, this is an intriguing and different piece of blues/ Americana and I look forward tohearing more, please!

Norman Darwen

(www.annneharris.com)

True Strays—Take What You Want from Me—Independent

True Strays are a Bristol-based band specializing in Americana,but on this single they go for a strong but subtle blues-rockapproach, with slide guitar featuring strongly in the mix. It is astrong offering that almost didn’t make it. Just as the band werereadying a tour, prestigious festival appearances and a newalbum, along came COVID-19. Thankfully, Joseph James andJames Cameron persevered, with the help of their fanbase, andthis fine track will be featured on their soon-to-be-releasedalbum, “Heart Of The Matter”. In the meantime, do check thisout.

Norman Darwen

(www.truestrays.com)

Donna Hourigan—The Turnaround—Independent

The striking front cover photograph suggests a strong, big voicedvocalist and the opener, ‘I Don’t Fall For That’confirms thatimpression, a powerful piece of Hendrix-influenced blues-rock. Itis followed by a remastered version of the 2019 single, ‘No RoadMap’, a slow-ish blues that makes a fine contrast with its teasingvocal, brittle guitar work and organ cushion – rather nice!

Donna is from Brisbane, Australia, had a fine CD EP a couple ofyears ago fronting the Lucky Lips Band (now known as TheTurnaround, as in the album title, with Donna’s son JoelHourigan on guitar), and this set is rather nicely varied.

‘Something In You’ is controlled and thoughtful with some excellent restrained organ playing. The

slow burn vocals of the slow burn ‘Good Love’ are followed by the girly-sounding ‘Cheeky’, and ‘SoDamn Blue’ is a jazz-tinged blues.

‘He Loves Me’ ups the tempo, a fine rocker with some excellent vintage touches, ‘Lousy Cards’ isslow and a little torch-y in the vocal, and ‘What The Heart Knows’ is an unusual stop-time shuffle.‘The Haunting’ has a suitably spooky edge, ‘Wouldn’t You Ever’ is a fine blues band tackling classy,catchy soul, and the closing, live ‘The Wine Song’ is a bit of fun with audience participation thatbrings a smile to the listener’s face.

In short, this is a very fine set of blues, blues-rock and related music, with a top-notch vocalist outin front and some strong material. Check it out.

Norman Darwen

(www.luckylipsband.com.au)

Casey Hensley—Good as Gone—Vizztone Vtch-002

Singer Casey Hensley was acclaimed as the Best Blues Act at2019’s San Diego Music Awards ceremony, and this is her firstall-original album, though her debut release for Vizztone arrivedin 2017. It shows her to be an excellent singer, and incidentallyalso features a top-notch band including the always excellent,always reliable guitarist Laura Chavez.

The title track opens the album, with Casey’s powerful introreminiscent of vintage Etta James, before the song settles into a powerful rocking groove and witha huge-sounding guitar break. ‘You Should Be So Lucky’ is an excellent, deep, Magic Sam styledWest side blues, and just listen to Casey’s voice on the fade! ‘If I Pray’ is pounding blues-rock-gospel, and ‘Be My Baby (What Do You Say)’ is a jazzy, jumping blues with ringing guitar workbehind Casey’s flirty vocals. It is a complete contrast to the intense ‘Love Will Break Your Heart’ aBobby Bland-ish slow soul-blues song, and ‘Searching For A Man’, a fine slab of slow- to mid-tempoR’n’B, again with echoes of Etta in the vocals. ‘What’s A Woman To Do’ is an up tempo R’n’Bnumber with a crisp beat and a sax solo behind the high vocals - it should have been a 45 aroundthe beginning of the 60s.

‘Don’t Want It To Stop’ is a southern soul slow burner, that sounds like it could have come out ofMuscle Shoals in the glory days, and the closing track of this extremely fine release is the rockingblues of ‘All In’. Yes, this is impressive, and I am going to have to check out Ms Hensley’s backcatalogue for sure!

Norman Darwen

(www.caseyhensleymusic.com)

Popa Chubby—Tinfoil Hat—Dixiefrog ASIN : B08Q6RKQFN

Popa's last gig was in Key West Florida in March 2020, he camestraight home to isolate at his base 'Chubbyland Laboratories' inNew York State's Hudson Valley where he produced the dramaticsong 'Can I Call You My Friends?'. This had such a good responsewhen he posted it on the internet that he carried on to record awhole album playing all the instruments (including lots of greatlead guitar), doing all the vocals as well as producing the album.

We begin with the title track 'Tinfoil Hat' - Popa's take on thevirus deniers and the cover features the man himself wearing the

said hat but 'Baby Put On Your Mask' is a rocker where he in fact asks his girlfriend to comply withlockdown regulations. 'No Justice No Peace' and 'Someday Soon (Change is Gonna Come)' refer tothe Black Lives Matter movement and '1968 Again' with its nice acoustic slide guitar notes thatdespite the optimism at the time very little has changed for black people since 1968. Other trackslike ‘You Ain’t Said Shit’ refer to President Trump's tardy response to the Covid crisis and some ofthe ill-informed comments that he made, while 'Another Day In Hell' details some of the individualpersonal tragedies that Covid has caused. While I don't doubt Popa's sincerity in making thisrecord, I do wonder if his rather eccentric approach and some of the humour here deflect from thevery serious messages.

Graham Harrison

Valerie June—The Moon And Stars: Prescriptions ForDreamers—Fantasy Records ASIN : B08STTNTW7

If Valerie's last album 'The Order of Time' was a step up from2013’s “Pushing Against a Stone” with better production and amore unified sound this new album produced by Valerie and JackSplash (Kendrick Lamar, Alicia Keys, John Legend) in L.A. andMiami just before lockdown in 2020 is another step forward withan even greater sophistication, including strings (courtesy ofLester Snell) on some tracks. Gone is the down-home folkiness ofher early work which mixed bluegrass and blues, banjos andukuleles - although I've got to say that when I saw her live with a

band she was different again, much tougher and focussed than her earlier more whimsical material.

'Stay' is a brave place to start, a lilting, poignant track that slowly builds adding marching banddrums, restrained brass and strings, 'You and I' and 'Colours' are more folky and again both subtlybuild from an acoustic guitar accompaniment. 'Stardust Scattering' is a delicate trance blues verymuch like her earlier work, while the more R&B 'Call Me A Fool' (featuring Carla Thomas) is morereminiscent of her live act. However, 'Fallin' is just Valerie singing over an acoustic guitar, whereas'Smile' is built on a prominent drum track and with Valerie's whistful voice punctuated by bothbrass and strings. 'Within You' is ethereal, 'Two Roads' is a deeply soulful country ballad with nicepedal steel adding an eery feel in the background and 'Why The Bright Stars Glow' is a melodicpiano-led ballad. 'Home Inside' is a gospel lullaby with Valerie's double-tracked voice - "Some call itprayer...I’d be a fool to let it have a name”.

Valerie has said that she wanted to add more modern elements to the production of this record andshe has certainly done that, combining it with her previous roots-y sounds to produce her mostconsidered and developed album so far. However, while I recognise and celebrate this artisticdevelopment, personally I do miss the earlier rawer and more bluesy sounds.

Graham Harrison

Curtis Salgado Damage Control Alligator ASIN :8R64MLQN

In 2019 I went to the Blues heaven Festival in Denmark and forme Curtis Salgado was the best act there, both with a full bandand as a duo with his guitarist Alan Hager (his last album withHager ‘Rough Cut’ was a masterpiece). This new album wasrecorded in three locations Kevin McKendree’s Rock HouseRecording in Nashville, Tennessee, Johnny Lee Schell’s UltratoneStudios in L.A., California and Kid Andersen’s Greaseland Studioin San Jose, California with three different bands, includingcurrent and ex-Bonnie Raitt sidemen guitarists George Marinelliand Johnny Lee Schell, Mike Finnigan (keyboards) and TonyBraunagel (drums).

If ‘Rough Cut’ was a straight blues record ‘Damage Control’ is Curtis’s familiar mixture of blues andsoul, he wrote or co-wrote all the songs here with fellow musicians, except for the final track arocking version of Larry Williams’ ‘Slow Down’. We begin with the soulful ‘The Longer That I Live’with Mike Finnigan (organ) and Jim Pugh (piano) and bass playing legend Jerry Jemmott (KingCurtis, B.B. King and Aretha Franklin) and Kevin Hayes (drums) – like Curtis Kevin played withRobert Cray and also Tower of Power. ‘What Did Me In Did Me Well’ is another soulful philosophicaltrack with a nice chromatic harmonica solo from Curtis and some nice guitar on the playout fromKid and ‘Precious Time’ has a real Bonnie Raitt vibe- possibly because it features George Marinellion guitar.

‘Always Say I Love You (At The End Of Your Goodbyes)’ is another soulful reflective song, while‘Hail Mighty Caesar’ is a rocking New Orleans-style song celebrating Caesar’s love for Cleopatra andfeaturing a brass section. ‘I Don’t Do That No More’ is another rocker that like many of the songshere, including the title track, references Curtis’s past health problems and is powered by KevinMcKendree’s boogie piano. ‘The Truth Be Told’ is a Cajun romp with Wayne Toups (accordion andbacking vocals`) and Jack Bruno (drums) and ‘The Fix Is In’ is one of the album’s most bluesy tracksand the only one to really feature Curtis on blues harp. This is a well-played and produced albumthat features Curtis’s very mature and thoughtful songs and also his fabulous emotive voice but I’mafraid that after 2018’s wonderful ‘Rough Cut’, I’m a little disappointed that he didn’t feature morestraight blues material as well as more Alan Hager on guitar.

Graham Harrison

Dave Thomas—One More Mile—Blonde on Blonde Direct(Records) ASIN: B08R83TQG5

Dave Thomas, one time front man with the group Blonde onBlonde, has used the Lockdown to compile this album in threedifferent locations with three different bands with thecommon link being his vocals and guitar. We get off to a greatstart with an authentic version of BB King's 'It’s My OwnFault' followed by one of Dave's own songs 'I Like My ChickenFried' which is of the same high standard. The first fourtracks here feature Tom Arnold (Hammond organ), DylanApIvor (bass) Terry Popple (drums), Norman Tischler (tenorsax) and Jeff Hager (trumpet), with the track 'Poor Boy'featuring more BB-style guitar from Dave as well as the

organ/brass backing.

The next three tracks were recorded in Ireland with Declan Sinnott playing all the backinginstruments, the songs all have a softer, more acoustic vibe—'I Have the Blues' is the most bluesy(natch) with acoustic guitar and harmonica, 'You Danced In My Kitchen' is a lovely gentle, romanticsong and 'There’s A Train' is similarly poignant and melodic.

The final three songs are by Tony McPhee and were recorded in Bristol with Ken Pustelnik’sGroundhogs, with Dave out front. 'Garden' is an unusual lilting blues that ramps up with bitingriffing and slide guitar, 'Eccentric Man' is more riffing but a bit more prog than blues and 'StrangeTown' is a combination of the two but with some great biting blues lead guitar. This is certainly arecord that features lots of variety and if initially I liked the first four more straight blues tracksthe others have also grown on me, particularly 'Strange Town’.

Graham Harrison

Johnny Mastro and the Mamas Boys—Elmore James ForPresident—Continental Blue Heaven ASIN : B08Q6VT4Q6

I'd never heard of Johnny Mastro or the Mamas Boys beforebut presumed that an album called 'Elmore James ForPresident' was going to be a tribute to the great blues slideguitarist, however the title track didn't feature particularlyprominent slide guitar but instead is harmonica led and therest of the album doesn't feature any of Elmore's classicsongs. The band come from New Orleans and have a string ofalbums behind them, with a lineup of Johnny on (vocals andharp), Smoke (guitar), John Fohl (baritone guitar) and JimmyGoodhall (drums) and the album was recorded in the MusicShed studio in New Orleans. They have a lowdown and dirty

sound, a kind of mix between a Crescent City groove and the Excello sound of Slim Harpo etc. fromnearby Baton Rouge. 'If Think I've Lost You' in particular had a real Lazy Lester feel. There is somereally nice harp playing throughout with an incredibly thick, dirty sound and 'Last Dance inMemphis' features a nice guitar solo, the album closes with 'Little Freddie Is King' an instrumentaltribute to Little Freddie King! There are some great moments here but I found it all a bit too samey

Duster Bennett

and the production is very muddy which gives it a raw down-home sound but again just adds to thesameness of the overall feel.

Graham Harrison

Joanna Connor—4801 South Indiana Avenue—KTBA RecordsASIN : B08QBQK26F

The title of the album refers to the address of Theresa’sLounge, the famed South-side Chicago club that once hostedartists like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Little Walter andincluded Junior Wells and Buddy Guy in its house band. Joannawanted this album to a tribute to the music played there (eventhough it was recorded in Ocean Way Recording Studios inNashville) and she enlists Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith asproducers to achieve this, as well as a band with her and Joshon guitars, Reese Wynans (keyboards), Calvin Turner (bass)and Lemar Carter (drums).

‘Destination’ is a pounding opener with Joanna's slide guitar and Wynans' boogie piano and JimmyHall helping out on vocals, 'Come Back Home' is a nice riff-y blues (more great piano) and LutherAllison’s 'Bad News' is a powerful slow blues. We come out of that into a rocking version of Big BillBroonzy's ‘I Feel So Good’ followed by a take on Albert King’s ‘For the Love of a Woman (Man)’.‘Trouble Trouble’ adds a brass section for a drop of West-side soul and both Joanna and the band doa great take on Mel London’s ‘Cut You Loose’. Joe Bonamassa adds his guitar to the final two tracks,Little Johnny Taylor's soul/blues classic ‘Part Time Love’, while the atmospheric talking blues ‘It’sMy Time’ is different to anything else here. I can't say that I've been a big Joanna Connor fan in thepast but this is a really good album, well-produced and featuring some good playing and songs thatprovide variety without having to leave the blues genre to do it.

Graham Harrison

Suitcase Sam—Goodnight Riverdale Park—Curve Music

Suitcase Sam is—by choice—a bit of a mystery man. His webpage has the tone of a John Le Carré spy-story. The best wecan say, is that Mr Suitcase is probably Canadian (give-awaytitle on the album) and may or may not be a hobo or possiblya distant relation of Jack Kerouac. Whatever is the case, thisis a masterful record, reminding me of the likes of LeonRedbone in his prime, with tones of old country music—MrSuitcase’s voice reminds me of a cross between HankWilliams and Garth Brookes!

The give-away track is an terrific intrumental called ‘MapleLeaf Stomp’ (subtle innit?). Other outstanding tracks include

the closer, ‘Tattered Shoes’ which I love, and ‘My, Oh My’ which sounds like a Ray Charles (withthe Rayletts) gospel-meets-country piece. Wonderful! First released in 2019 only in North America,add this to your collection ASAP.

Ian K McKenzie

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