VizzTone Label Group artist: Gaye Adegbalola - Satisfied - An Anthology - New Release Review

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Satisfied- An Anthology, by Gaye Adegbalola and it's packed full of tracks from 9 of her solo projects. The Dirty Dozens is a strong piano boogie with great vocals by Gaye and excellent piano by Jeff Covert. One of my favorites on the release is Tippin' On The Down Low with plenty of swing. Rodney Barnes adds great personality on piano giving it a terrific vintage feel. I really like Gaye's vocal work on Prove It On Me Blues. Her ability to dig in and deliver is well demonstrated, backed by Barnes on piano. Simple acoustic blues, Blues For The Greens starts off with Gaye alone with guitar but explodes with full support of Covert on keys, bass, drums and slide guitar. Sensitive, Winona, is a quiet blues featuring Gaye on vocal and guitar and Phil Wiggins on harmonica.  Wrapping the release is Lift Every Voice and Sing, in duet with Resa Gibbs. A solid closer for a lifetime of music. 

  If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

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For your convenience, you can click the title of this post above to be taken to a site where this cd can be purchased - Happy Listening

M.C. Records artist: Corey Harris - Insurrection Blues - New Release Review

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Insurrection Blues, from Corey Harris and it's particularly strong. Harris, who has released 20 albums during his career is up with a new one and this time on M.C. Records, inspired by the recent events in Washington and certainly influenced by his year long stay in Africa. Opening with Twelve Gates To The City, Harris really pours on the heat. I'm uncertain who wrote this track but I know it as a Rev Gary Davis track and a powerful version of the track with Harris at his vocal blues best. Terrific! Mama Africa could have been written and played on the Continent. The African influences are so evident and beautiful. Harris' singing and playing is top notch. Sunjuta is a traditional song, with a cool arrangement instrumental by Harris. His sensitivity to the African musical style is terrific. John Jackson's Boats Up River has a great, up beat, finger picking blues style and By and By again pulls heavily on Harris' traditional delta style singing. Excellent! Phil Wiggins on harmonica joins Harris on Afton Mountain Blues giving you a solid helping of country style blues. This is a real nice acoustic jam with great feel.  Wrapping the release is Harris' Scottsville Breakdown, a country finger picking blues. If you ever want to know where the original/traditional blues lies in todays world, you need look no further than Cory Harris. Excellent job!

  If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

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Ben Hunter & Joe Seamons with Phil Wiggins - A Black & Tan Ball - New Release review

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, A Black & Tan Ball, by Ben Hunter & Joe Seamons and it's strong. Opening with classic, Do You Call That A Buddy, Hunter on violin & Seamons on guitar along with Phil Wiggins create the sound of a fine wine with a really nice arrangement. Excellent! Georgian fiddler tune, Shangai Rooster really gets heels high in the air with harp, banjo and fiddle. Super jam. An exceptional hot jazz number, Struttin' With Some Barbeque, features Wiggins on harp trading lead with Hunter on violin with tight rhythm by Seamons on guitar. Very nice. Another super jazz number, Do Nothing Til You Hear From Me features solid vocals and excellent mandolin lead by Hunter and warm harmonica melodies by Wiggins. Guitar Rag is a great jam with Hunter on violin and Wiggins on harp again working with Seamons on guitar for an excellent track. Cool old blues track, Hard Time Blues holds tight and fast to original Lane Hardin styling with vocal, guitar, mandolin and harp. Particularly strong vocals on Bullfrog Blues makes this one of my favorites in the manner of William Harris. Wrapping the release is Stop & Listen Blues, a Mississippi Sheiks tune with great vocals, pure harp, authentic violin and solid guitar. This is a really strong release of authentic blues tracks. Check it out!

  If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

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Title- Pop Ferguson Blues Heritage Festival in Lenoir, N.C. - Line Up Announced

Blues with No Apologies
Phil Wiggins John Dee Holman  Vonna  Pop Ferguson		If you are a blues lover, then this is the place to be -- June 14, 2014 at the Pop Ferguson Blues Heritage Festival, in historic downtown Lenoir,N.C. USA   Meet blues legends. Hear their stories. Attend a music workshop.   See how other genres came from blues through our theme, “Roots, Branches and Stems” Phil Wiggins, John D. Holman and Pop Ferguson (Roots) Country, Swing, Jazz, R&B, Rock (Branches) Hip-Hop and Funk Fusion (Stems)   Learn how to play the blues harmonica with harmonica great Phil Wiggins. Play along with him on your own instrument, or be one of the first 100 attendees and get your own free Hohner -harmonica!   Learn about the blues violin from world famous violin maker Bob Kogut  by attending his demonstration. Once you hear Bob's violin you will think PaPa John Creech came to play!   www.popfergusonbluesheritagefestival.com Visit us on Facebook     June 13th- SPECIAL VIP Kick Off Party Featuring Phil Wiggins & John Dee Holman TIXS still available call - 828-221-5022        Come Join Us For the Festival on SATURDAY, June 14, 2014, In Historic Downtown Lenoir, NC     9AM to 11PM     popfergusonbluesfestival.blogspot.com crfergjr.wix.com/popfergusonbluesinc www.facebook.com/PopFergusonBluesFestival crfergjr@gmail.com

Toby Walker and Phil Wiggins

Internationally and nationally acclaimed Toby Walker has been hailed as a roots music fingerstyle guitar virtuoso who has toured the US, England, Wales, France, Germany, Belgium and Holland. Walker has been featured in the New York Times, the London Sunday Times, the London BBC, Sirius-XM radio and was the 1st place recipient of the International Blues Challenge Award given out by the Blues Foundation in Memphis TN. Walker combines the styles of blues, ragtime, country, bluegrass, rock and old time jazz into his own unique style. Jorma Kaukonen of Hot Tuna and the Jefferson Airplane says "Flat out... you have to hear this great musician... I'm blown away" and has employed Walker to teach at his famous Fur Peace Ranch Guitar Camp for 6 years. In 2010 Walker won the NY Music Award for 'Best Instrumental CD,' sharing the honors with Mariah Carey, Rufus Wainwright and Judy Collins among many others. Walker has recently released two instructional guitar DVD's for the world famous company Homespun Tapes, both of which have been getting rave reviews and his latest CD release 'Shake Shake Mama' has been hailed as a shining success in the genre of traditional blues recordings. Carnegie Hall acknowledged his rare talents and hired him to augment and teach in their "American Roots" program aimed at honor level middle school students. Toby’s passion for blues, rags, folk, and other traditional American music drove him to leave an apartment crammed full of recordings, books and instruments for the Mississippi Delta, Virginia and the Carolinas where he tracked down some of the more obscure - but immensely talented - music makers of an earlier era. He learned directly from Eugene Powell, James "Son" Thomas,Etta Baker, and R.L Burnside, among others.

  If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, -  ”LIKE” ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorite band!

George Kilby Jr Brings a "Six Pack" CD of Americana/Roots Music Set for Release February 5, 2013

Singer-Guitarist George Kilby Jr Brings a Six Pack of New Americana/Roots Music Set for Release on February 5, 2013

Collection of Six Singles Features Special Guests from Railroad Earth, as well as Phil Wiggins and Jono Manson

BROOKLYN, NY -  Singer-guitarist George Kilby Jr, who plays what he calls “rough- cut American music,” announces a February 5, 2013, release date for Six Pack, coming from Top Frog Music, which includes special guests from Railroad Earth, as well as Phil Wiggins (Cephas and Wiggins) and Jono Manson, a member of Blues Traveler’s “extended family.”

Born and raised in Alabama, George Kilby has been playing roots-based music for over 30 years, and has been a permanent fixture of a New York City music scene that embraces everything from blues and folk to Americana, bluegrass and jamband styles. A long stint with legendary bluesman Pinetop Perkins’ band gave Kilby a woodshed schooling in the art of performing as well as playing the blues, lessons that he puts to great use on Six Pack.

On Six Pack, Kilby eschews the traditional 10-12 song album format; instead creating a collection of six singles, each one exploring a different facet of his influences and manifesting in his contemporary roots sound. He moves gracefully from “jamgrass” to Delta blues, making stops along the way at singer/songwriter, roots-rock and folk music. The five originals on the new CD are paired with a scintillating bluegrass take on Cream’s classic, “Sunshine of Your Love.”

Joining him on the journey is his long-time band, The Road Dogs, consisting of Neil Thomas (keyboard, accordion), Eric Halvorson (drums) and Arturo Baguer (bass). Jono Manson contributed guitar, backing vocals and also produced the opening track, “When the People Sang,” Kilby’s ‘60s folk anthem tribute that also features Railroad Earth member, Tim Carbone, on fiddle. “I Love You in Brooklyn,” Kilby’s ballad salute to New York’s colorful borough, showcases writer Neil Thomas’ dazzling accordion and Wurlitzer piano magic. And on “Something I Can’t Find,” which Kilby describes as “bluesy rocker with a trippy side,” he and the other pickers flex their six-string chops with a double-guitar riff that recalls The Allman Brothers Band.

“Sunshine of Your Love,” produced by Andy Goessling (also of Railroad Earth), who additionally plays various instruments on the track, is arguably the most revelatory song on Six Pack, with it’s “grassing” treatment of the iconic Cream ‘60s rock tune. Upon hearing the song, Brian Robbins of Jambands.com, described it as a “psychedelic porch stomp, with Goessling’s dobro putting a new spin on the riff created by Clapton’s Gibson SG – a new flavor of raunch. It is an absolute hoot.”

On “Cro-Magnon Man,” Kilby pens the kind of tongue-in-cheek tune that’s rarely heard on record these days: a folk/pop sly commentary on the environment and our current media craze. The album closes with “You Never See the Hand Throw the Stone,” another insightful song that touches on racism, religious hypocrisy and the financial crisis. It is given a down-home acoustic blues treatment by Kilby on guitar and dynamic harmonica all-star Phil Wiggins of acclaimed blues duo Cephas and Wiggins.

George Kilby Jr operates from both a cabin in the Catskill Mountains of New York, as well as an apartment in Brooklyn. He’ll be touring in support of the release of Six Pack with initial shows in December throughout Upstate New York and New York City, as well as a dates forthcoming in January that will take him to venues in Wyoming and other venues out west.

Triple A and Americana radio promotion for Six Pack is being handled by Brad Hunt of The WNS Group (845-358-3003 / bhsabres@aol.com).        

For more information, visit www.georgekilbyjr.com.

National Folk Festival Schedule

Dear Festival Friends: We're excited to announce our third round of artists for the 73rd National Folk Festival. You can read our official release below or check out bios and photos on our website at www.nationalfolkfestival.com.

Don't forget to find us on Facebook and Twitter. We'll see you Labor Day Weekend!

73rd National Folk Festival Announces Third Round of Performing Artists

NASHVILLE – The 73rd National Folk Festival is excited to announce eight more performing artists, among the 30 groups that will appear on stages throughout Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park at this free-to-the-public festival Sept. 2-4. This event is the longest running celebration of traditional music and arts in the nation and will call Nashville home through 2013.

The third round of artists that will perform at the 73rd National Folk Festival include:

Eddie Pennington and Ben Hall – “Travis-style” thumb picked guitar (Princeton, Kentucky and Okolona, Mississippi)
Western Kentucky’s Muhlenberg County is the birthplace of “thumb picking,” a complex guitar technique made famous in the 1940s by Merle Travis. Today’s leading proponent of this style is two-time National Thumb Picking Champion and National Heritage Fellow Eddie Pennington, whose delightful performances include a healthy dose of down home humor. Joining Eddie will be Ben Hall, a young thumb picking whiz recently graduated from Nashville’s Belmont University.

Hula Hlau 'o Keikiali'I -- hula kahiko (ancient hula) (San Francisco, California)
The art of hula is a poetic, deeply expressive visual language - a means of perpetuating Hawaiian culture through the passing of traditions from one generation to another. With drums, chant and dance, kumu hula Kwika Keikiali'ihiwahiwa Alfiche and his hlau express the myths and legends of Hawaii, carrying forward a beautiful, ancient and living tradition.

Thomas Maupin with Daniel Rothwell and Jay Bland -- traditional buckdance (Smyrna and Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Kennesaw, Georgia)
A recent recipient of the Tennessee Governor’s Arts Award, 73-year-old Thomas Maupin is a champion buckdancer with a keen sense of rhythm and a highly personal style. Joined by his grandson Daniel on banjo and Georgia State Champion Buckdancer Jay Bland, he’ll demonstrate the exciting interplay between this traditional percussive dance style and old-time mountain music.

Alberti Flea Circus -- flea circus (Winston-Salem, North Carolina)
This third-generation flea circus impresario and his talented troupe of tiny performers have been entertaining audiences with astonishing acrobatic feats for over 20 years. Look closely and no blinking. After seeing this amazing show once, you will be “itching” to come back for more. A rare chance to experience a tradition with roots in the 16th century, and one of the few remaining shows of its kind.

Don Vappie & The Creole Jazz Serenaders -- New Orleans Creole jazz (Covington, Louisiana)
Led by banjo virtuoso Don Vappie, this seven-piece group of New Orleans’ finest is one of the leading proponents of the Crescent City’s Creole French musical heritage. Breathing fire into the grand repertoire of classic early jazz, it performs Creole songs in the region’s traditional French patois, including those made famous by Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton, Joe "King" Oliver and other early New Orleans jazz greats.

Aubrey Ghent -- “sacred steel” gospel (Nashville, Tennessee)
One of the country’s most exciting players of “sacred steel,” a unique musical tradition that originated in House of God churches in the 1930s, Ghent can make his lap steel guitar soar like the spirit-filled voice of a gospel diva. With his wife on vocals and his powerhouse band, this American master is not to be missed.

Marshall Ford Swing Band -- western swing (Austin, Texas)
The musical legacy of western swing fiddling legend Johnny Gimble lives on in the piano playing and singing of his granddaughter Emily and her delightful band. With tasty guitar runs, playful vocals, and a rock solid, rhythm section, this band invokes the spirit of the great western swing bands of the past.

Paul Dahlin & Äkta Spelmän -- Swedish-American fiddle (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
There’s more than one “Sir Paul.” Keeper of a family repository of precious regional fiddle tunes and a performing style nearly lost in the Old Country, Paul Dahlin is a cultural hero both in America and Sweden, where he was recently knighted by order of King Carl XVI Gustaf. A devoted teacher, he is passing on this beautiful, ethereal music to a new generation of talented young Swedish-American fiddlers who will join him at the National Folk Festival.

Previously announced performing groups to be featured at the 73rd National Folk Festival include:


The Green Fields of America (Irish-American music and dance)
Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano (Mexican mariachi)
The Holmes Brothers (blues, gospel, R & B)
Dale Ann Bradley (bluegrass)
BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet (Cajun)
La Excelencia (salsa dura)
Roan Mountain Hilltoppers (Appalachian old-time string band)
Samba Mapangala & Orchestre Virunga (East African rumba and soukous)
Massive Monkees (breakdance)
Genticorum (Québécois)
Phil Wiggins & Reverend John Wilkins (country blues and gospel)
Lloyd Arneach (Cherokee storyteller)
Özden Öztoprak (Kurdish)
Oyama & Nitta (Japanese Tsugaru shamisen)


For additional performer information and photos, visit www.nationalfolkfestival.com.

The 73rd, 74th and 75th National Folk Festival in Nashville will be produced by the National Council for the Traditional Arts and Nashville Folk and Roots, in partnership with the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, the Arts and Business Council of Greater Nashville, the Nashville Downtown Partnership and the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau, in collaboration with the state of Tennessee and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Financial and in-kind support make the National Folk Festival possible. Thank you to our sponsors and additional partners: Altria • Avenue Bank • Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC • BMI • Bridgestone Americas, Inc. • Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation • Compass Records • Cracker Barrel • Mark Montgomery • Nashville Electric Service • Nissan • SunTrust • Tennessee Department of Agriculture • Tractor Supply Company • Vail Memorial Trust • Veritas Media Group • 650 AM WSM • AEG Live/The Messina Group • Cheekwood • Classic Party Rentals • Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum • Design (615) • Emma • Global Education Center • Katy Kirby • Lindsey Bailey • Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools • Music City Roots • Nashville Chamber of Commerce • Nashville Public Library • Sheraton Nashville Downtown • Steve Turner • Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition • Tennessee State Department of Tourist Development • Tennessee State Museum • Tennessee State Parks • The Frist Center for the Visual Arts • The Tennessean • Tuck Hinton Architects • Two Dog Media • Visual Machinery • XMI

For more information about the National Folk Festival, please visit www.nationalfolkfestival.com or call (615) 891-4944

Richmond Blues - John Cephas and Phil Wiggins

Cephas & Wiggins was an American acoustic blues duo composed of guitarist John Cephas (September 4, 1930 – March 4, 2009) and harmonica player Phil Wiggins (born May 8, 1954).They were known for traditional blues style known as the Piedmont blues.
Both musicians were born in Washington D.C., although Cephas was older by some 25 years. They first met at a jam session at the Smithsonian's Festival of American Folklife in 1975 or 1976, and played together in Wilbert "Big Chief" Ellis's band. When Ellis died, they decided to continue as a duo.

In 1980, Cephas & Wiggins were recorded by German archivists Siegfried Christmann and Axel Kustner. These recordings were their first as a duo and they were released the following year on as a part of Living Country Blues USA series on German label L+R.

In 1986, Cephas & Wiggins released Dog Days of August, their first U.S. release on Flying Fish Records. In 1989, Cephas was awarded the National Heritage Fellowship.

Two more albums followed from Flying Fish. After they left the label, they released one album from New York-based Chesky Records, and four from Alligator Records.

Cephas died of natural causes on March 4, 2009. He was 78. The duo had released Richmond Blues on Folkways Records in 2008.

If you like what I’m doing, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”