s a bit hyperbolic but there is a bit of new blood on the charts this week as British blues-rock legend Paul Rodgers - the roaring voice behind the bands Free and Bad Company - surprises everybody by debuting in the number one spot this week. For the first time in several years, guitarist Joe Bonamassa doesn...
s not a lot that's different on the blues chart for the week ending February 1, 2014...the Grammy® nomination bounce and holiday holdover seems to still be propping up much of the chart. The one lone outlier is the return of Mike Zito and his excellent Gone To Texas , one of last year...
s Remembering Little Walter compilation featuring Charlie Musselwhite, Billy Boy Arnold, Mark Hummel, James Harmon, and Sugar Ray Norcia. Blues and roots artists were also represented in other Grammy® categories but talents like the Alabama Shakes and Jack White walked off without a statute last night. Led Zeppelin took the "Best Rock Album" award for their bluesy set Celebration Day , which documents...
The Blues Foundation held its 30th annual International Blues Challenge this past week, January 21st through January 25th, 2014 in Memphis, Tennessee. The IBC represents the largest gathering of blues musicians in the world, and this year's event featured a record 225 participating acts from 40 states and 16 countries on four continents. ... Read Full Post ...
ve written about the event many times before, and America...
t really show any significant change, but there's some new blues coming, I promise! Gary Clark, Jr. continues to hold the number one spot with his best-selling Blak and Blu major label debut while the Tedeschi Trucks Band continues to bark at his heels. The North Mississippi Allstars continue to sneak upwards, and I wouldn...
s always great news to hear about a new album from Joe Louis Walker , so this announcement made our day! On February 25, 2014 Alligator Records will release Hornet...
Hot on the heels of the announcement of departing members Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks comes some happier news from the Allman Brothers Band camp. On February 18, 2014 Legacy ... Read Full Post ...
World Boogie Is Coming album jumped four spots this week to nestle in nicely at number three. Guitarist Joey B. still holds down three positions, one with Beth Hart and the Grammy®-nominated Seesaw album and, well, if all this sounds familiar, it...
The big news circulating among music fans this past week is that of the exit of longtime Allman Brothers Band guitarists Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks from the band. Haynes ... Read Full Post ...
s only fitting that the fretburner should have a career-spanning retrospective set to call his own. Two days after Winter's 70th birthday, on February 25, 2014, Legacy Recordings will release True To The Blues: The Johnny Winter Story , a long overdue box set that covers the guitarist...
Memphis music legend Sid Selvidge was just one of the talented musicians that we lost in 2013, and although his name may not be immediately familiar, his influence on rock and blues music can still be felt today. Back in the mid-1970s, though, he was a member of Jim Dickinson's influential Mudboy and the Neutrons band venturing out on his own with a solo album. ... Read Full Post ...
s a new year but, as shown by the blues chart for the week ending January 11, 2014, it's the same old song. Other than a little shuffling of positions among the top six spots, the entire Top Ten this week remains pretty much the same, with only the North Mississippi Allstars...
Word has come of the death of Baton Rouge blues legend Ernest "Tabby" Thomas. The beloved Louisiana bluesman passed away of natural causes on Wednesday, January 1, 2014. Thomas was 84 years old. ... Read Full Post ...
The blues world lost a lot of great talents in 2013, voices and instruments silenced by age, illness, and accidents. Among those who passed this past year are the great blues singer Bobby "Blue" Bland, beloved Chicago bluesman Morris "Magic Slim" Holt, country blueswoman Precious Bryant, and the underrated Chicago blues guitarist Jimmy Dawkins. Young and old, famous and obscure, they all left their...
Well, the holidays are winding down, the sales receipts are being counted, and the blues chart for the week ending January 4, 2014 looks pretty much the same as the previous weeks in December, except for more Joe Bonamassa. The top six spots on the chart stay exactly the same as last week, with the Rides inching up and bumping Joey B's Beacon Theatre set down a couple slots, the empty space filled...
s BMA winning Hard Believer LP. Sure, The Legendary Rhythm Blues Revue - Live! album a couple years back provided a taste of Castro alongside such other talents as the late Michael Burks, the great Janiva Magness, and up-and-comers Trampled Under Foot, but other than a lone single released in late 2012 that featured Castro's new band the Painkillers, we...
There really are no surprises on the blues chart for the week ending December 28, 2013, unless you consider how well older titles from artists like Joe Bonamassa and Gary Clark, Jr. are selling this holiday season. People bemoan the state of the blues all the time (and you should see the heated debates on Facebook!), and whether one considers Bonamassa or Clark (or the Tedeschi Trucks Band, for that...
Well, the votes are in, the hard choices have been made, and the Reverend has posted his annual round-up of the best blues albums of the year. Some wags on Facebook have questioned this annual tradition...well, more of a rite maybe...of the "Top Ten" list, wondering exactly how we critical types come to distill an entire year of music down to a single list or, in the case of this particular Blues...
And the bad news just keeps on rolling in...popular Chicago bluesman Eric "Guitar" Davis was found in his car, shot to death, early Thursday morning, December 20, 2013. Davis was only 41 years old. ... Read Full Post ...