Mississippi blues legend Bobby Rush readies 'Down in Louisiana'

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GRAMMY NOMINATED BLUES INNOVATOR BOBBY RUSH STAKES HIS CLAIM AS A LIVING LEGEND New studio album Down in Louisiana, due February 19,  updates the sounds of the swamps and the juke joints   JACKSON, Miss. —Bobby Rush’s new Down in Louisiana, out February 19, 2013 on Deep Rush Productions through Thirty Tigers, is the work of a funky fire-breathing legend. Its 11 songs revel in the grit, grind and soul that’s been the blues innovator’s trademark since the 1960s, when he stood shoulder to shoulder on the stages of Chicago with Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter and other giants.   Of course, it’s hard to recognize a future giant when he’s standing among his mentors. But five decades later Down in Louisiana’s blend of deep roots, eclectic arrangements and raw modern production is clearly the stuff of towering artistry.   “This album started in the swamps and the juke joints, where my music started, and it’s also a brand new thing,” says the Grammy-nominated adopted son of Jackson, Mississippi. “Fifty years ago I put funk together with down-home blues to create my own style. Now, with Down in Louisiana, I’ve done the same thing with Cajun, reggae, pop, rock and blues, and it all sounds only like Bobby Rush.”   At 77, Rush still has an energy level that fits his name. He’s a prolific songwriter and one of the most vital live performers in the blues, able to execute daredevil splits on stage with the finesse of a young James Brown while singing and playing harmonica and guitar. Those talents have earned him multiple Blues Music Awards including Soul Blues Album of the Year, Acoustic Album of the Year, and, almost perennially, Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year.   As Down in Louisiana attests, he’s also one of the music’s finest storytellers, whether he’s evoking the thrill of finding love in “Down in Louisiana” — a song whose rhythmic accordion and churning beat evoke his Bayou State youth — or romping through one of his patented double-entendre funk rave-ups like “You’re Just Like a Dresser.”   Songs like the latter — with the tag line “You’re just like a dresser/Somebody’s always ramblin’ in your drawers” — and a stage show built around big-bottomed female dancers, ribald humor and hip-shaking grooves have made Rush today’s most popular blues attraction among African-American audiences. With more than 100 albums on his résumé, he’s the reigning king of the Chitlin’ Circuit, the network of clubs, theaters, halls and juke joints that first sprang up in the 1920s to cater to black audiences in the bad old days of segregation. A range of historic entertainers that includes Bessie Smith, Cab Calloway, B.B. King, Nat “King” Cole and Ray Charles emerged from this milieu. And Rush is proud to bear the torch for that tradition, and more. “What I do goes back to the days of black vaudeville and Broadway, and — with my dancers on stage — even back to Africa,” Rush says. “It’s a spiritual thing, entwined with the deepest black roots, and with Down in Louisiana I’m taking those roots in a new direction so all kinds of audiences can experience my music and what it’s about.”   Compared to the big-band arrangements of the 13 albums Rush made while signed to Malaco Records, the Mississippi-based pre-eminent soul-blues label of the ’80s and ’90s, Down In Louisiana is a stripped down affair. The album ignited 18 months ago when Rush and producer Paul Brown, who’s played keyboards in Rush’s touring band, got together at Brown’s Nashville-based Ocean Soul Studios to build songs from the bones up.   “Everything started with just me and my guitar,” Rush explains. “Then Paul created the arrangements around what I’d done. It’s the first time I made an album like that and it felt really good.” Rush plans to tour behind the disc, his debut on Thirty Tigers, with a similar-sized group.           Down in Louisiana is spare on Rush’s usual personnel, — Brown on keys, drummer Pete Mendillo, guitarist Lou Rodriguez and longtime Rush bassist Terry Richardson —  but doesn’t scrimp on funk. Every song is propelled by an appealing groove. Even the semi-autobiographical hard-times story “Tight Money,” which floats in on the call of Rush’s haunted harmonica, has a magnetic pull toward the dance floor. And “Don’t You Cry,” which Rush describes as “a new classic,” employs its lilting sway to evoke the vintage sound of electrified Delta blues à la Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters. Rush counts those artists, along with B.B King, Ray Charles and Sonny Boy Williamson II, as major influences.   “You hear all of these elements in me,” Rush allows, “but nobody sounds like Bobby Rush.”   Rush began absorbing the blues almost from his birth in Homer, Louisiana, on November 10, 1935. “My first guitar was a piece of wire nailed up on a wall with a brick keeping it raised up on top and a bottle keeping it raised on the bottom,” he relates. “One day the brick fell out and hit me in the head, so I reversed the brick and the bottle.   “I might be hard-headed,” he adds, chuckling, “but I’m a fast learner.”   Rush quickly moved on to an actual six-string and the harmonica. He started playing juke joints in his teens, wearing a fake mustache so owners would think him old enough to perform in their clubs. In 1953 his family relocated to Chicago, where his musical education shifted to hyperspeed under the spell of Waters, Wolf, Williamson and the rest of the big dogs on the scene. Rush ran errands for slide six-string king Elmore James and got guitar lessons from Howlin’ Wolf. He traded harmonica licks with Little Walter and begin sitting in with his heroes.   In the ’60s Rush became a bandleader in order to realize the fresh funky soul-blues sound that he was developing in his head.   “James Brown was just two years older than me, and we both focused on that funk thing, driving on that one-chord beat,” Rush explains. “But James put modern words to it. I was walking the funk walk and talking the countrified blues talk — with the kinds of stories and lyrics that people who grew up down South listening to John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf and bluesmen like that could relate to. And that’s been my trademark.”   After 1971’s percolating “Chicken Heads” became his first hit and cracked the R&B Top 40, Rush’s dedication increased. He relocated to Mississippi to be among the highest population of his core black blues-loving audience and put together a 12-piece touring ensemble. Record deals with Philadelphia International and Malaco came as his star rose, and his performances kept growing from the small juke joints where he’d started into nightclubs, civic auditoriums and, by the mid-’80s, Las Vegas casinos and the world’s most prominent blues festivals. Rush’s ascent was depicted in The Road to Memphis, a film co-starring B.B. King that was part of the 2003 PBS series Martin Scorsese Presents: The Blues.   In 2003 he established his own label, Deep Rush Productions, and has released nine titles under that imprint including his 2003 DVD+CD set Live At Ground Zero and 2007’s solo Raw. That disc led to his current relationship with Thirty Tigers, which distributed Raw and his two most recent albums, 2009’s Blind Snake and 2011’s Show You A Good Time (which took Best Soul Blues Album of the year that’s the 2012 BMAs), before signing him as an artist for Down in Louisiana.   Although his TV appearances, gigs at Lincoln Center and numerous Blues Music Awards attest to his acceptance by all blues fans, Rush hopes that the blend of the eclectic, inventive and down-home on Down in Louisiana will help further expand his audience.   “But no matter how much I cross over, whether it’s to a larger white audience or to college listeners or fans of Americana, I’ll never cross out who I am and where I’ve come from,” Rush promises. “My music’s always gonna be funky and honest, and it’s always gonna sound like Bobby Rush.”       11271 Ventura Blvd. #522 Studio City, California 91604 Tel: (323) 656-1600 cary@conqueroo.com http://www.conqueroo.com

Playlist-links for Nov 15 2012 'Rock-it Science'

ROCK-IT SCIENCE Nov 15 2012 with Greg Lewis

 

 

91.9 WNTI Hackettstown NJ Thursdays 8-10pm   wnti.org

 

 

hr 1     http://www.sendspace.com/file/tlf64p          hr 2   http://www.sendspace.com/file/ne13km

 

Playlist Songs---SONG---ARTIST--- ALBUM----

	Back Alley Blues, Vargas Blues Band, Madrid Chicago Live Start: 20:01:00 End: 20:07:00 Duration : 6:00
	Strange Things, Jack Lear, Diamonds And Stones Start: 20:08:00 End: 20:12:00 Duration : 4:00
	I Want To Be Loved, Hoax, Humdinger Start: 20:12:00 End: 20:16:00 Duration : 4:00
	No More Doggin', Steve Miller, Let Your Hair Down Start: 20:16:00 End: 20:19:00 Duration : 3:00
	Breakdown [bonus track], Gary Clark Jr, Blak & Blu Deluxe Edition Start: 20:19:00 End: 20:23:00 Duration : 4:00
	Kiya Gris Gris, Dr. John, Anutha Zone Start: 20:28:00 End: 20:32:00 Duration : 4:00
	Walk On Gilded Splinters [edit], Humble Pie, Best Of The Frampton Years Start: 20:32:00 End: 20:40:00 Duration : 8:00
	I Hear A Heartbeat, Jason Vivone, Lather Rinse Repeat Start: 20:46:00 End: 20:52:00 Duration : 6:00
	Dr Ross Boogie, Dr Ross, Down Home Blues Classics Vol 5 Start: 20:52:00 End: 20:55:00 Duration : 3:00
	Livin' The Blues, Blues Broads, The Blues Broads Start: 20:55:00 End: 20:59:00 Duration : 4:00
	Love Me Please, Savoy Brown, Jack The Toad Live Start: 21:01:00 End: 21:09:00 Duration : 8:00
	Love Me Like A Man 2` Still On The Road To Freedom, Alvin Lee,  Start: 21:10:00 End: 21:17:00 Duration : 7:00
	You Give Me Loving, Ten Years After, Recorded Live Start: 21:17:00 End: 21:23:00 Duration : 6:00
	Moving On Back To You, Danny Bryant's Redeye Band, Shadows Passed Start: 21:25:00 End: 21:30:00 Duration : 5:00
	I Know Why The Sun Don't Shine, Paul Kossoff, Blue Soul Start: 21:30:00 End: 21:34:00 Duration : 4:00
	Ain't No Sunshine, Aynsley Lister, Live At Burtons Start: 21:34:00 End: 21:39:00 Duration : 5:00
	Crossroads, Craig Chaquico, Fire Red Moon Start: 21:39:00 End: 21:43:00 Duration : 4:00
	Hard Pressed [what the fuzz?], Ian Siegal & The Mississippi Mudbloods, Candy Store Kid Start: 21:48:00 End: 21:53:00 Duration : 5:00
	No More Cane On The Brazos, Bluebirds, Swamp Stomp Start: 21:53:00 End: 21:57:00 Duration : 4:00
	Look Over Yonder, Spirit, California Blues Start: 21:57:00 End: 22:00:00 Duration : 3:00

Don't Start Me To Talking - Johnny Turner

Recorded May 25, 1976 at The Raven & The Rose in Sierra Madre, CA.; Johnny Turner, vocal and guitar; Zaven "Big John" Jambazian, harmonica; Tony Manriquez, bass; Stu Perry, drums Photography by Stanley Kubrick; Mike Butorac: Johnny Turner and his Blues With A Feeling band, source: back cover photo of Testament T-2227 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!

Trembling Bed Springs Blues - Little Boy Fuller

Little Boy Fuller (Richard Trice) b. 16 November 1917, Hillsborough, North Carolina, USA. Born into a very musical family, Trice learned guitar early, and was partnering his brother Willie Trice, playing blues for dances by his early teens. In the 30s, he took up with Blind Boy Fuller, and his music developed very much in Fuller’s mould. In the late 30s he made records, two sides solo and two supporting his brother, very much in the eastern states style of the time. In the 40s, he moved to Newark, New Jersey, and not long afterwards made a solo record under the pseudonym Little Boy Fuller. In the 50s he moved back south, and his music moved in a religious direction when he joined a gospel quartet. He was interviewed by researchers in the 70s, but steadfastly refused to play blues guitar again. 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!

Come On Home Baby - Hubert Sumlin & Sunnyland Slim

Hubert Sumlin (November 16, 1931 – December 4, 2011) was a Chicago blues guitarist and singer, best known for his "wrenched, shattering bursts of notes, sudden cliff-hanger silences and daring rhythmic suspensions" as a member of Howlin' Wolf's band. Sumlin was listed as number 43 in the Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Sumlin played a 1955 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop guitar and a Louis Electric Model HS M12 amplifier. Born in Greenwood, Mississippi, Sumlin was raised in Hughes, Arkansas. He got his first guitar when he was eight years old. As a boy, Sumlin first met Howlin' Wolf by sneaking into a performance. When Wolf relocated from Memphis to Chicago in 1953, his long-time guitarist Willie Johnson chose not to join him. Upon his arrival in Chicago, Wolf first hired Chicago guitarist Jody Williams, and in 1954 Wolf invited Sumlin to relocate to Chicago to play second guitar in his Chicago-based band. Williams left the band in 1955, leaving Sumlin as the primary guitarist, a position he held almost continuously (except for a brief spell playing with Muddy Waters around 1956) for the remainder of Wolf's career. According to Sumlin, Howlin' Wolf sent Sumlin to a classical guitar instructor at the Chicago Conservatory of Music for a while to learn the keyboards and scales. Sumlin played on the album Howlin' Wolf, also called The Rockin' Chair Album, which was named the third greatest guitar album of all time by Mojo magazine in 2004. Upon Wolf's death in 1976, Sumlin continued on with several other members of Wolf's band under the name "The Wolf Pack" until about 1980. Sumlin also recorded under his own name, beginning with a session from a tour of Europe with Wolf in 1964. His final solo effort was About Them Shoes, released in 2004 by Tone-Cool Records. He underwent lung removal surgery the same year, yet continued performing until just before his death. Sumlin was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 2008. He was nominated for four Grammy Awards: in 1999 for the album Tribute to Howlin' Wolf with Henry Gray, Calvin Jones, Sam Lay, and Colin Linden, in 2000 for Legends with Pinetop Perkins, in 2006 for his solo project About Them Shoes (which featured performances by Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Levon Helm, David Johansen and James Cotton) and in 2010 for his participation on Kenny Wayne Shepherd's Live! in Chicago. He won multiple Blues Music Awards, and was a judge for the fifth annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers. He died on December 4, 2011, in a hospital in Wayne, New Jersey, of heart failure at the age of 80. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards paid Sumlin's funeral costs 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!

Brewers Boogie - Brewer Phillips

Brewer Phillips (November 16, 1924 – August 30, 1999) was an American blues guitarist, chiefly associated with Juke joint blues and Chicago blues. Phillips was born in Coila, Mississippi, United States, on a plantation and learned the blues from Memphis Minnie at an early age. He relocated to Memphis and played with Bill Harvey, Roosevelt Sykes, and Hound Dog Taylor. Following Taylor's death in 1976, Phillips recorded under his own name, as well as playing with J. B. Hutto, Lil' Ed Williams, and Cub Koda amongst others. He performed on both acoustic and electric guitar, and recorded for Delmark Records and JSP Records. Phillips died of natural causes in Chicago, Illinois, in August 1999, at the age of 74. 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! Must see video

Do Right Women, Do Right Man - Dan Penn

Dan Penn (Nov 16, 1941) helped shape the development of southern soul music with his legendary songwriting, musicianship and production. A native of Vernon, Alabama, Penn moved to the Florence/Muscle Shoals area while still a teenager and assumed the role of lead vocalist in a local group calling itself the Mark V Combo. When asked what kind of music they played, Penn replies, “R&B, man. There was no such thing as rock. That was somethin’ you picked up and throwed.” He laughs. “Or threw.” It was around this time that he penned his first chart record, Conway Twitty's “Is a Bluebird Blue”. During the early ’60s, Penn began working with Rick Hall at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, first as a songwriter, and then as an artist under the names Lonnie Ray, Danny Lee, and finally Dan Penn. Penn’s early co-writing collaborations with Spooner Oldham while at Fame included “I’m Your Puppet,” which became a hit in 1965 for James & Bobby Purify, and “Out of Left Field,” and “It Tears Me Up” performed so memorably by Percy Sledge. He also co-wrote hits for Joe Simon, Jimmy Hughes and Wilson Pickett. Dan became an exclusive writer for Fame Publishing Co. for about three years. “It was sort of an in-house thing, where artists were comin’ and goin’, askin’ for songs, and there was sort of a built-in opportunity to try to be a commercial songwriter. According to Penn, the reason people hear touches of country in his brand of R&B is “because I’m an old hillbilly myself. Took me about 30 years to find out I was still a hillbilly. But compared to R&B, country is much easier. You ain’t got to struggle. Anybody can sing, ‘Because you’re mine, I walk the line.’ Go try to write ‘Out of Left Field’; go find all those chords and what all that means. So a hillbilly I am, but in the ’60s I really loved R&B music, and there was a lot of it to love. I loved Jimmy Reed, Bobby Bland, Ray Charles, Little Milton, James Brown… I always respected the black singers because they were always there — we were trying to get there. Knowing that the black singers wanted my songs inspired me.” A number of their classics were written for particular singers. “’Sweet Inspiration’ was written for the group the Sweet Inspirations, ‘Cry Like a Baby was written for Alex Chilton, ‘Out of Left Field’ was written for Percy Sledge,” says Penn. “I either was involved in the production or I was real close to the production teams, so when you’re in the middle of a clique, you got the power to either do it right, do it wrong or get out of the way and let somebody else do it.” One gets the impression that Penn was not the kind to get out of the way. “But you have an opportunity to score, and sometimes we scored. By that I mean comin’ up with a song that was good enough to get on the session. And then, if it came out and was a hit, the score was really complete at that point. So first you had to get on the session, and then the big question was, did it come out? And then the next question was, is it the single? At least back then. “Some of these songs weren’t written that way. ‘Do Right Woman’ wasn’t written for Aretha, nor ‘Dark End of the Street’ for James Carr. Me and Chips Moman just wrote those songs and we didn’t have anybody in mind. We worked great together while we were together—we’re so lucky to have those two songs. In 1966, Penn relocated to Memphis and began producing at Chips Moman’s American Recording Studio. While at American, Penn and Moman co-wrote “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man,” which Franklin turned into a soul classic, along with “Dark End of the Street,” stunningly recorded by James Carr, while Dan and Spooner came up with “Cry Like a Baby” for the Box Tops and later “A Woman Left Lonely,” written at Dan’s Beautiful Sounds Studio in Memphis, and chosen by Janis Joplin for her classic album Pearl. Penn and wife Linda relocated to Nashville in the ’70s—where he recently co-wrote and produced Bobby Purify’s comeback album, Better to Have It, in his basement studio. The session included one of Penn’s co-writers, Malaco keyboardist Carson Whitsett. The well-received album was released on Proper American in the summer of 2005. 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!

Got My Mojo - Working Muddy Waters with Francis Clay

Francis Clay (November 16, 1923 – January 21, 2008), born and raised in Rock Island, Illinois,he started playing Jazz, professionally at the age of 15, played drums behind many of the biggest names of 20th century popular American music. Best known for his work behind Muddy Waters in the '50s and '60s and as an original member of the James Cotton band, Clay's jazz-influenced style is cited as an influence by many of the British Invasion rock 'n' rollers of the '60s such as Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones and Faces, respectively. In his career, Clay claimed to have backed Gypsy Rose Lee, and played with Jay McShann and Charlie Parker early on and with Jimi Hendrix while in New York's Greenwich Village. He can be heard on recordings including John Lee Hooker's "Live at the Cafe Au Go-Go" and can be seen and heard on documents from the Waters band's 1960 Newport Jazz Festival appearance and on albums issued by the El Cerrito, California Arhoolie label by Big Mama Thornton and Lightning Hopkins, among many others. Clay made his home in San Francisco in the late 1960s and became a part of the music scene in the Bay Area throughout the rest of his life. His birthday parties at the Biscuits and Blues nightclub were an annual gathering of the tribe, and he was known also as "the ambassador" at the annual San Francisco Blues Festival, where he was the subject of a tribute in 2007, and mourned in 2008. Clay claimed to have been deprived of recognition for his compositional contributions to the Waters oeuvre. Songs he claimed to have composed and/or arranged included "Walking in the Park," "She's Nineteen Years Old" and "Tiger in Your Hole." 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!

FRENCH ROCKING BOOGIE / OLD HOME WALTZ - SHIRLEY BERGERON

Cajun singer and steel guitarist Shirley Bergeron (a man, not a woman) recorded, for the most part, standard Cajun music in the late 1950s with his accordionist father Alphee Bergeron and backup band the Veteran Playboys. Cajun music for the most part, that is, because there was one 1962 single, "French Rocking Boogie," that tried to get some action by fusing Cajun with rock'n'roll. Actually it was a pretty enjoyable, energetic track, and the one that Shirley Bergeron is most known for among collectors. However, for the rest of his recording career Bergeron stuck to Cajun music of a much more typical sort, always accompanied by his father Alphee on accordion. Alphee Bergeron had done one 1949 single with the Veteran Playboys, but Shirley made his recording debut in 1957 with two songs at a radio session that eventually got issued on an LP. There were some recordings for Goldband in 1960, but Bergeron spent most of the 1960s doing singles for the small Lanor label, recording at the Crowley Studios run by Jay Miller, who did so much for Louisiana popular music of all kinds in the 1950s and 1960s by cutting bluesmen like Slim Harpo. Some of the Lanor recordings had drums, but Bergeron just used guitar, Alphee's accordion, violin, and triangle when he recorded the album Cajun Style Music at the music store of Marc Savoy in Eunice, LA in late 1969. A compilation of Bergeron's 1957-69 sides, French Rocking Boogie, came out on CD on Ace. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi 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!

Blind Pig Signs Southern Hospitality!

BLIND PIG SIGNS SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY The South has long been known for its hospitality and down home music.   Recently the region has seen the emergence of a musical group of young musicians who are masters of their craft and embody the soul and spirit of Dixie. Or as Blues Revue said, "There's a new entity in the blues world, a diverse, powerful group with enormous potential." The Band creating all the buzz, called Southern Hospitality, is comprised of lap steel guitar master Damon Fowler, guitarist extraordinaire JP Soars, and keyboard wizard Victor Wainwright. Blind Pig Records is proud to announce the signing of Southern Hospitality, which is about to record what promises to be one of the most exciting CDs in 2013.   The album will be produced by Tab Benoit, winner of three Blues Music Awards this year, including the prestigious "B.B. King Entertainer of the Year."  Said Tab, "I'm looking forward to working with Southern Hospitality because Damon, Victor, and JP are the future of roots music."   Recording is set to begin during Thanksgiving week at the Whiskey Bayou Studio in Houma, Louisiana. The three artists are musician's musicians, each bringing a unique style and fresh translation of the great Southern soul, blues, and rock music that came before them. Together, their mutual chemistry, high energy and skill sets create a cohesive vision, with echoes of Muscle Shoals and Macon, that organically flows together into an entirely original and dynamic form of Americana, Southern soul roots music with a modern sensibility. Damon Fowler is a master of the six string, slide guitar, lap steel and Dobro who's been compared to Johnny Winter and Jeff Beck, while his slide guitar has a hint of the late Duane Allman.  JP Soars and his band won the Blues Foundation's International Blues Challenge in 2009 and he won the Albert King award as the best guitarist in the competition.  A singer/songwriter and guitarist best known for his distinctive gypsy-swing jazz playing with plenty of rock potency, he was nominated this year for a Blues Music Award as the best "Contemporary Blues Male Artist."  Memphis-based Victor Wainwright is known for his high-octane boogie piano, big soul sounds, powerhouse blues, and roots rock 'n' roll. Victor was nominated this year for the "Pinetop Perkins Piano Player" Blues Music Award. The Band originated when Fowler, Soars and Wainwright, who were performing with their respective bands at a festival in Florida in July of 2011, decided on an impromptu jam together at a post festival party.  After witnessing the performance, the South Florida Blues Society approached the trio about playing for the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Pre-Cruise Party. Fowler had already been thinking about doing a project with other musicians and contacted his pal JP Soars.  Like Fowler, Soars lives in Florida and traces his family roots back to Arkansas. "I thought it was great idea as soon as Damon called," Soars said from his home in Boca Raton. "I had jammed with him a few times on stage and was totally excited because there was a natural chemistry that seems to happen whenever we play together." The two guitar-slingers with the singular singing voices immediately decided they wanted pianist-frontman Wainwright to round out their aggregation.  Soars added, "I had played with Wainwright before, as well, and he has a lot of soul, and we just feed off each other." Dubbing themselves Southern Hospitality, the three musicians added bassist Chuck Riley from Fowler's band and Soars' drummer Chris Peet to the lineup and made their official debut opening for Buddy Guy in August 2011 at the Heritage Music Blues Fest in Wheeling, West Virginia. Each frontman sang a couple tunes and the Band jammed them to a thunderous conclusion.   Fowler said, "It was cool to have two guitars and piano, it really added to the overall texture."  By the time the performance ended the crowd exploded with cheers and applause." "We were all ecstatic about the reaction," Soars said. "I knew it would be good but not that good. The response was overwhelming. Walking around, people kept coming up and telling us how great it was. It felt good." "It was a super magical experience and excellent response right from the first number," Wainwright said. "That was something I've only experienced a few times after many years of playing. The reaction was amazing." BluesWax said of the show, "Southern Hospitality, which after a single gig has significant players in the blues world taking notice.  Fowler, Wainwright and Soars share much love for the songs of the South. The hot jazz and funk of New Orleans, classic country, gospel, soul, and blues that became rock 'n' roll in Memphis and went global by way of a trucker named Elvis." Since then Southern Hospitality has performed at a handful of select dates and been rehearsing for the recording sessions.  Fowler hopes to do something like the Traveling Wilburys, where each member brings his owns songs to the table, and then everybody works on them together. "We are representing the South," he said of the project. "We wanted to put together a package of where we're from that represents the music we grew up listening to and that we're making our own today." Publicity: Debra Regur   pigpress@blindpigrecords.com   415-550-6484 Radio: Peter Robinson   radio@blindpigrecords.com   773-772-0043 Booking: Piedmont Talent  info@piedmonttalent.com   704-399-2210

Favorite Reviews For The Charles Burton Blues Band's Album

    

   Favorite Reviews For The Charles Burton Blues Band Album, "Favorites"                     

"Recorded at the end of one of Charles Burton's tours, this session features eleven favorite songs that bring instant recognition when he sings 'em. With the leader playing guitar, Arnold Ludvig on bass and Asmus Jensen on drums, each selection comes through clearly with plenty of energy to spare. Burton sings forcefully and delivers a clear lyric, but it's the band that drives each message loud and clear. They appear to be on top of their game, as seamless as a blanket and as tight as a workshop vise."  

                                                                                                          SOUTHLAND BLUES

"As a blues guitarist and songwriter/singer, Charles Burton has released four CDs - two with fabulous songs of his own pennings and two giving loving care to blues and r&b covers..."                                                                                        SAN DIEGO ACOUSTIC    

"'Favorites' provides a great vehicle for The Charles Burton Blues Band to showcase their tight ensemble playing...the band sets a great groove and allows the music to breathe. Tight, light, and with plenty of soul - just the way we like it."           BARRELHOUSE BLUES

"A very adept and soulful guitarist, Charles treats us to many familiar tunes...he even gets his Classics IV groove on with 'Spooky." Guitar work is constructed very nicely...each tune here will ring true to you, familiarity is good on many levels."                              BLUES 411

"Burton has put together eleven of his favorite tunes and has created a pretty entertaining album...a tight rendition of Duke Robillard's "Tell Me Why" opens the recording getting started down the Texas-style blues path...nice job Charles and congratulations on a cool CD."                                                                                               BMANS BLUES REPORT

"...A team of talented tune-smiths...the Johnny 'Guitar' Watson  cut "Gangster Of Love" features some noteworthy guitar work and further proves the band can really work their faves and yet remain true to the spirit of the genre."                                     L.A. EXAMINER

"Good blues guitarist with a good enough voice to handle all the material here (on 'Favorites')...for straight blues, best effort here is Duke Robillard's 'Tell Me Why.'"                                                                                                                                       BLUES BYTES

"One never gets tired of listening to the great music and The Charles Burton Blues Band certainly knows how to deliver up these favorites...delivered with the energy,simplicity and authority that only a seasoned three-piece blues band can, "Favorites" is a must-have for the discriminating music connoisseur."                                                      BOOMEROCITY 

"These renditions of some great Blues and R&B tunes does more than justice to them, and defines the difference between a cover and an interpretation."     ALL ACCESS MAGAZINE

"Guitarist/singer Charles Burton plays with fire, and when he does, his articulation and phrasing are instantly recognizable."                                        BLUES FESTIVAL E-GUIDE

"Rockwired's Jazzed And Blues presents Charles Burton, San Diego's Blues Ambassador to the World."                                                                                                     ROCKWIRED

"Another good name I recommend for you to check out is guitarist Charles Burton....his playing deserves your serious attention!"                                                   GUITAR ON SKY

  

"American Veterans Radio is proud to bring to the World  The Charles Burton Blues Band as our Spotlight Artist of the Week!"                                    AMERICAN VETERANS RADIO

                                       

  Check out Burton's skillful guitar playing on a live version of the track "Gangster Of Love."

                                  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8B8X68BO_U

                                               Charles Burton - A Brief Bio

 Born in Los Angeles in 1958, Charles Burton plays with fire, and when he does, his articulation and phrasing are instantly recognizable. This tall drink of water has been playing Blues, Country, Rock, and Roots music for over forty years. He has played lead guitar in Country bands in Los Angeles (1970's), Honolulu (1980's), Tokyo (1990's), and Fresno, California. He headlined the Fresno Blues Festival playing with the late great Hosea Leavy in 1995. As a blues guitarist and singer, he has released four CDs with the Charles Burton Blues Band, and has toured Europe headlining festivals, culture houses, and clubs twice a year since 2005. In 2007/2008 he toured Scandinavia with Maury "Hooter" Saslaff (Big Jack Johnson and the Oilers), playing over 200 gigs in seven months! In 2009 he won San Diego's International Blues Challenge finals. That same year he took first place in San Diego's King of the Blues competition. Widely regarded as the best blues guitarist in San Diego, Charles is San Diego's Blues Ambassador to the World.

                                                      www.charlesburton.com 

        https://www.facebook.com/charles.burton.16?ref=ts 

Happy Home Blues - Mississippi Matilda

Mississippi Matilda  Powell(Hattiesburg, MS, January 27, 1914)(maiden name unknown), was believed to have been from around the Utica or Hollandale, MS. area. In the 1930's she married musician Eugene Powell who later recorded under the name of Sonny Boy Nelson. In 1936, The Powells traveled to New Orleans to record for Bluebird along with members of The Mississippi Shieks, Willie Harris & Robert Hill. Matilda recorded four songs, and one of them were unissued. This gave her one record to her credit, and half of another that Bluebird coupled with Mack & Mack. These were her only recordings. Around 1942, The Powells moved to Greenville where Eugene went to work at the John Deere plant, to support his large family. In 1952, Matilda separated from Eugene, and moved to Chicago taking their one son and five daughters with her. 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!

Keep It Clean - Charley Jordan

Charley Jordan (January 1, 1890 - November 15, 1954) was a St. Louis blues singer, songwriter and guitarist, as well as a talent scout, originally from Mabelvale, Arkansas. He was known for a unique style that drew on his rural roots. Jordan recorded numerous singles for Vocalion and Decca between 1930 and 1937, and also performed with some well-regarded bluesmen from the 1920s to the 1940s. Jordan recorded with Peetie Wheatstraw, Roosevelt Sykes, Casey Bill Weldon and Memphis Minnie. He had most of his biggest hits, including "Keep It Clean", in the early to mid 1930s. Later in that decade and into the 1940s, he worked frequently with Big Joe Williams. His most appreciated number, however, seems to have been "Keep It Clean", a selection of mildly suggestive traditional jokes strung along on the melodic thread of a blues, to which he added several sequels In 1928 Jordan was shot in the spine, this was due to his extramusical career as a bootlegger. This gave him a long term disability and caused him to walk with crutches thereafter (which can be seen in the few photographs of Jordan available). Jordan died of pneumonia in 1954 in St. Louis, Missouri 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!

Sunny Rhoades Harmonica

Blues Harmonica Player-Blues Piano Player.Photographer, Artist Space Painter. 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!

Hurry Up and Wait - Little Charlie & The Nightcats with Dobie Strange

Little Charlie & the Nightcats (now billed as Rick Estrin & the Nightcats) is an American four-piece electric blues / jazz combo, consisting currently of guitarist Kid Anderson, harmonicist/lead vocalist Rick Estrin, bassist Lorenzo Farrell and drummer J. Hansen. The band's music relies chiefly on electric urban blues of the Chicago variety, but mixed in with other compatible styles, including early rock and roll, soul, surf music, swing, jump blues, and western swing. The Nightcats issued their debut album, All the Way Crazy, in 1987, including the songs "Poor Tarzan", "Suicide Blues" and "When Girls Do It". The following album Disturbing the Peace (1988), included "That's My Girl", "My Money's Green", "She's Talking" and "Nervous". The records help established them on the blues festival and club circuits, and they began touring the country extensively, playing a number of international venues. They have played at the San Francisco Blues Festival in 1980 and 1982, the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the San Diego, California Street Scene and Seattle's Bumbershoot Festival plus the Juneau Jazz & Classics Festival in 2002. Their 1993 album, Night Vision was produced and played on by Joe Louis Walker. It featured "My Next Ex-Wife," a witty blues-rocker that won Estrin a W.C. Handy Award for 'Song of the Year', highlighting his steadily growing reputation for songwriting prowess. Original drummer Dobie Strange left in 1996, after 20 years with the group, and his spot was taken by June Core 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!

Blues Come Home - Clayton Love and Sid Wallace

Clayton Love Jr. (November 16, 1927 – February 28, 2010)[1] was an American blues pianist, who led his own band, the Shufflers, in the early 1950s and later played in Ike Turner's band, the Kings of Rhythm. He was born in Mattson, Mississippi, and grew up in Clarksdale. He served in the US Navy in World War II, and then studied as a pre-med at Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College near Vicksburg. He began performing in Vicksburg clubs with his band, the Shufflers, before graduating in 1949. His cousin, bandleader Earl Reed, recommended him to the owner of Trumpet Records, Lillian McMurry, and he first recorded for the label in 1951. The next year he began recording for the Aladdin label, with Raymond Hill's band, and over the following years also recorded for the Modern and Groove labels. Clayton Love was a prominent member of Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm during the mid-'50s, making some of his finest platters with the legendary band. But Love made his first vinyl appearance on Lillian McMurry's Jackson, MS-based Trumpet Records in 1951 with his own jump band, the Shufflers. The combo was a fixture around Vicksburg, where Love was attending Alcorn A&M as a pre-med student. Love's cousin, Natchez bandleader Earl Reed, had recorded for Trumpet and recommended his young relative to McMurry. Love's 1951 debut, "Susie"/ "Shufflin' with Love," exhibited infectious enthusiasm if not a great deal of polish. From there, Love moved over to Aladdin in 1952 (with saxist Raymond Hill's band backing him), Modern (with Turner on guitar) and Groove in 1954, and in 1957, Love fronted and played the 88s with Turner and the Kings of Rhythm on their Federal platters "Do You Mean It," "She Made My Blood Run Cold," and "The Big Question." Turner had nothing to do with Love's pair of 1958 singles for St. Louis-based Bobbin Records; bassist Roosevelt Marks led the backing band for the clever coupling "Limited Love"/ "Unlimited Love." Long settled in the Gateway City, Love made an album for Modern Blues Recordings in 1991 with fellow ivories aces Johnnie Johnson and Jimmy Vaughn, Rockin' Eighty-Eights. 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!