Back In The Day

Kickin' It With The Box Kickers

noreply@blogger.com (Ricky Bush) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 16:11:00 +0000

It's been a couple of years since I reviewed Greg Izor and The Box Kickers first release, I Was Wrong. Since then, Greg has been on a roll, touring the country and many parts of Europe. He's headed back overseas for a summer tour as I type this, with stops in the Canary Islands, Spain, Italy and Norway.

Back home in Austin, Izor has admirably filled a void left after the passing of Gary Primich. Much like Primich, Izor has a palette on which he splashes color from other genres kin to, but slightly outside of the blues; all while blowing superb harmonica notes. I think that some labeled Primich's last recordings as Americana, I guess since the Grammys lumped Blues into that category, but all of Primich's albums had that musical extension applied. Primich's influence most certainly has seeped into Izor's musical vision, but he definitely brought some of that with him after living in New Orleans and mentoring under Jumpin' Johnny Sansone, who mashes up and slings the same type of musical gumbo.

A strong suit of Close To Home is Izor's songwriting. The twelve self-penned tunes here offer ample examples of a man who is a keen observer of the life that has swirled around him. I'll stick him on the same level as my favorite songsmith, James Harman, when it comes to that. I sure don't know how autobiographical these cuts are, because I don't know if he's ever had trouble collecting money from deadbeat friends on "Get My Money", if he's been unemployed and run out of whiskey when his lover runs out on "Can't Get It Right", if he's been in prison and having trouble with doing "Straight Time", if his love is stronger than a monkey grip on "What's It Gonna Take", if he shot pool with his friend "Broadway Joe", or if he's been in the military on "G.I. Blues", but he spins some mighty fine believable stories. And that's what his songs are; well crafted, well told stories.

Izor's vocal chops aren't of the octave ranging type, but his singing style is very effective. He's gets these small nuances going that produces enough tonal variety to keep things interesting, much in the same way that Doug Sahm got his songs across. On the bonafide blues numbers he puts across a sense of urgency when shouting that he wants his money on the shuffling blues, "Get My Money", doom and gloom drip and seep from his lips on the lowdown, slowdown, "Broadway Joe", he soars a bit as he tells stories, sad and true, on "The Rub", and he even sounds a bit like James Harman on "Hooper Street". I can hear the heartbreak in his voice as he sings I lost everything when I lost that woman of mine on on "Can't Get It Right". He gets downright twangy on "Straight Time", "What's It Going To Take", and "Call Me Lonesome", which mixes up a little country western and R&B together. Speaking of Doug Sahm, to my ears he evokes Sahm's cohort, Augie Myers, on these cuts.

Izor is a badass harmonica player and can throw down with the best of 'em (I've seen his high energy life shows), but he doesn't set out to prove that on his recordings. His harp is always in service of the song and not a riff-a-rama fest. He does come out smokin' on the opening cut with some greasy amplification on "Get My Money" and struts out some nice solo licks, but then he backs off with simple, deeply drawn chromatic chords to open and then close out the gutbucket "Can't Get It Right". Most of the song is filled with some nice single guitar notes from one of his two note slinging Box Kickers, Mike Keller or Willie Pipkin. One of them also dominates the twangy "Straight Time" also. Izor does display his chromatic chops on the instrumental, "Three-eyed Tiger", which sounds as if the tune would be at home in bar in Spain with a couple of Flamenco dancers tapping out the rhythm. He does the same on another instrumental, "Close To Home", but puts the chromatic through it's lowdown blues pace. His chromatic also sets up the lost love story, "The Rub", and some mighty fine big chords lends to the moodiness of the tale. of I'd venture to say that Sansone probably had a lot to do with Izor's excellent attack on the big harp.

His acoustic harp skills are on display on "Call Me Lonesome", "What's It Gonna Take", and "Hooper Street". On the first two, he waits until mid-song to stick his harp into the mix, tossing out some great octave and upper register runs into "What's It Gonna Take", and nice single note runs on "Call Me Lonesome". Sonny Williamson II style licks drive "Hooper Street" down into the alley. He hangs around the low end of the harp to provide the doomy, gloomy "Broadway Joe" with the amplified doom and gloom tone the song calls for. He effectively uses just a few deeply drawn notes through his harp mic to drag this song into the depths of sadness.

He places no harp into "From Hello" nor "G.I. Blues". The former would most certainly get the "two stepping" dancers out onto a barroom floor. The ballad has that greasy Louisiana swampy feel to it with a few countryish guitar licks and crashing cymbals from Jason Corbiere. The latter has some finely picked blues licks dominating throughout the tale of serving until the fightings done.

Of course The Box Kickers represents one of the best backing bands that a harp player could possibly recruit. Mike Keller plays with the band whenever he's off the road with that other harp guy, Kim Wilson and his T-Birds. He and Willie Pipkin are like red beans and rice. There is no indication as to when one is taking a solo, but when they aren't, their rhythm guitar backs the other as good as any example that I can think up. Corbiere and Corey Keller split equal time at the drum set on these twelve cuts and both steer the ship when they do. Oh, and the bass player? I'd run out of ink if I attempt to run down the number of blues bands for which Ronnie James has thumped his instrument.

Danged fine recording by a danged fine harmonica man and a danged fine band. Can't ask for more than that. Greg Izor has definitely established himself as one of the best in the business and adds to the legacy of fine harp men who jumped started their careers from an Austin launch pad. Close To Home will sit close to home next to my stereo for some time to come. Check out www.gregizor.com for info about where to buy and find out when he's coming to town (after he gets back from Europe).

Old News Blues

noreply@blogger.com (Ricky Bush) — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 14:54:00 +0000

This whole post is relatively old news, which means it ain't news. I will start with the newest by mentioning Rick Estrin winning the award in the Best Harmonica category at the Blues Music Awards back in May against some might powerful competition. He also snagged a nomination for The B.B. King Entertainer of the year, which he certainly deserved to win also. I've never seen the winner, Curtis Salgado, play a live set, but he must put a whale of a show to beat out what Estrin brings to the stage. Certainly, with all the health battles that Salgado has faced (and is still facing), he dang sure deserves the nod there. Rick Estrin and The Nightcats received a nomination, but were beat out for Best Band honors by the Tedeschi Trucks band, and Kid Andersen (Estrin's guitar slinging partner) was trumped by Derek Trucks for Best Guitarist. Not the way I think it should have gone, but I guess a somewhat youth movement moved the voters. At the end of it all, though, I think that Rick Estrin and The Nightcats have perched themselves back on the plateau that they reached when his co-conspirator, Little Charlie, led the band with him.

What is news, since it ain't happened yet, is that Rick Estrin and The Nightcats will return to Houston's Dan Electro's Guitar Bar on June 22. Great news, I'd say, since they'll be within driving distance of my Ford pickup. The H Town Jukes, some friends of mine, will open the show, so that'll be a treat also. Looking forward to seeing the bad boy of the blues again. That's what my wife called him after I took her to see him years back and hearing some of his lyrical double entendres. "He's a bad boy" says she.

Back to the old news. I almost hung my head, but didn't, when I pulled my copy of One Wrong Turn out of its cubby hole and realized that I've had the darn thing almost a year and never got around to jotting down a review of some sort here on the blog. I'm sure that everyone with a passing interest in blues harmonica has had it almost as long as I have and have spun its wheels off since then. If not, then their interest in blues harmonica was just that--a passing interest, because this one deserves a spot in their blues rotation. Still can't believe I didn't pass along my opinion last year, but since I didn't I'll throw down something short and sweet.

One Wrong Turn picks up where Twisted left off with Estrin and crew establishing themselves as a band setting out to establish their Nightcats groove, not in opposition to the Little Charlie era, but with a stamp that says this is Rick's crew now. Of course, Estrin's witty observations of life as he knows it are on full display on every song. It's even rubbed off on drummer J. Hansen's song smithing, which fits nicely in the Estrin camp when he sings "You Ain't The Boss Of Me". His relentless beat drives this rocker and Kid Andersen rips the heart out of it. He also does the dog bark on the opener D.O.G. When Estrin's not lauding or lamenting over those of the female persuasion, he takes the dastardly deeds of male members of society. Here he sings Sniffin' 'round, sneakin' where you don't belong/Just huntin' for a spot to bury your bone/You're just a DOG.

And speaking of old news, Estrin does just that on "Old News". He does his superb Rice Miller acoustic best while talking about staying confused as he trots through life and as he says Yeah, but that's old news. He's always nailed down Sonny Williamson II's timbre, tone and attack and tends to give a nod to the master on most every album he's played upon, and while he can spit out the book of Chi-town style amplified at will, he's moved way beyond anything remotely slavish to that mode of doing his business with his harp. Beginning with the release of Twisted, I think that he began to develop a Rick Estrin mode of playing amplified blues harp that'll be as readily identifiable as his own, much in the same way that us harp players recognize a Sonny Boy or James Cotton style. I'll be darned if I can describe all the different tonal shifts that he get going with his harp in his mouth. He goes from wide open, full chord blasts with double stops torching his amp speakers to superbly bent slip sliding single notes with nary a cliched note. He yanks out some great chromatic bombs on 'Lucky You", on which he just wishes he had the luck of someone else.

Of course, I'm preaching to the choir here as far as Estrin's harp skills go, but if you only know him from the Little Charlie era, then you owe it to yourself to experience the signature sound that he's developing. If you don't know him from the Little Charlie era, then you've missed a one of a kind blues band at work. Iconic, I'd venture to say. And, I have to assume that there are those who aren't familiar with Rick Estrin's body of work. I had to chuckle when I read a One Wrong Turn review on Amazon that read "This is a guy with a great future". Well, this reviewer needs to work his way back to 1989s Big Break and should definitely stop off and enjoy Estrin's On The Harp Side aimed to appease blues harp fans with a program of covers representing some of the finest traditional blues songs ever written.

Same for the Nightcats. Back in the day, they were never a twelve bar shuffling groove blues band and they darned sure ain't now. They certainly play the blues while they mess with the timing, the rhythms, and the beats on the songs, sticking in a bit of jazz or roots rocking along the way. J. Hansen and Lorenzo Farrell are no small part of the overall sound that the band achieves. Besides playing bass, Farrell is also adept at swirling some organ and piano in the mix, which is highlighted on "Zonin'" with a great sax break by Terry Hanck and wild guitar leads from Kid Andersen. I think Farrell and Hansen deserved their own nominations at those blues awards for what they bring to this band.

Of course, Kid Andersen makes the stew simmer and boil over throughout the entire session. "Broke and Lonesome" is a tour de force from the Kid's fretboard, and if it's the lowdown twelve bar you want, then listen to what he twists through the song. Ya never know which way he's going to head once he sticks his fingers on the strings. Now, I guess there are a few guitarist who could have stepped into the shoes of Little Charlie; Rusty Zinn paired up with Andersen on the aforementioned On The Harp Side and smoked it on down, but I don't think anyone can equal the Kid as the perfect foil for Estrin's vision. Doesn't hurt that he runs Greaseland Studios, which is fast becoming the go to recording facilities on the West Coast.

Ok, I don't think I'm going drag out this old news review any longer than I have. Said I'd keep it shourt and sweet. Sure I could go through each song and gush about the witty lyrics, the outstanding harp licks, guitar licks, and the jump and jive of each, but I feel sure that most readers here know all that by now. I ain't gonna promise, but I darn sure plan to not wait a year to get a review up on the next great thing in the world of blues harp. 'Nuff for now.

Random Blues Stew

noreply@blogger.com (Ricky Bush) — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:51:00 +0000

Just throwing together a random stew of what's simmering on the burners around here.

May 18--The Devil's Blues book signing @ The Twig Book Shop 11am-1pm, 306 Pearl Pkwy, San Antonio, Texas

June 1--The Devil's Blues book signing @ Hasting Book Store 1-3pm, 735 Villa Maria, Bryan, Texas

June 7--Rob Moorman & Company @ Mobius Coffeehouse, w/me on harmonica, Brenham, Texas

July 23--The Devil's Blues book siging @ Murder By The Book 6:30-9pm, 2342 Bissonnet, Houston, Texas

Have to mention that it's about time that Rick Estrin was presented the award for best harmonica player at the Blues Music Awards. I've been listening to One Wrong Turn for awhile now and haven't written a review yet. Hell, just get it. Then, you can agree or disagree with me when I ooh and ahh when I get around to writing my opinion.

I returned to the Rob Moorman stage with the Kalamazoo amp last week. They agreed that it sounded stupendous and worked well in the mix this time out. The little booger has a great tone. I blew through a Shure bullet with a CR41 element in it and my Dan Echo delay modified for harp. Pretty sweet.

By the way, I sent the bullet to Greg Heumann at Blowsmeaway Mics. He stuck a Switchcraft screwon connector in it to make it work like a champ once more. Also bought one of his volume controls. Highly recommended.

I've been working on my third book featuring those crime fighting bluesmen Mitty Andersen and Pete Bolden. Working title is Howling Mountain Blues and follows them to Belize for a blues festival where they run across a blues fanatic who operates a business he calls Abductions Are Us. I'm somewhere about halfway through with the first draft. Life has been getting in the way and slowing the process down a bit. I'll get her done, though. 'Nuff for now.

Eddie C. Campbell

noreply@blogger.com (Ricky Bush) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 00:32:00 +0000

I previously posted just how much Eddie C. Campbell means to me a couple of times. The first time I ever stepped on a stage and played amplified harmonica was with a stupendous ChiTown blues band that Eddie C brought to Texas back in the day. He graciously invited me up to sit in that night without having a clue as to whether I could play a blues lick or not. A few years ago I took my wife and son to eat lunch at Buddy Guy's Legends during a visit to Chicago. Lurrie Bell and Matthew Skoller were doing an acoustic set and the only other person in the club was Eddie C, who remembered the gig fifteen or so years ago. He invited Lurrie and Matthew over to meet me during their break and told me that he was Lurrie's Godfather. Best lunch break I ever had.

A few months ago Eddie C had a stroke in Germany and is finally making it back to Chicago. He's slowly recovering, but the medical bills have added up substantially. Bob Corritore sent this out in his recent newsletter, so I thought that I'd pass it along.

Out of the Comfort Zone

noreply@blogger.com (Ricky Bush) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 19:51:00 +0000

Just trying to get the groove back here. I'm not going to offer up a bunch of lame excuses at to why I've been neglecting the ol' blog, just going to jump in and write a post. Many of my posts on Back In The Day have had to do with my journey with the harmonica. Posted lots of thing about how I got to where I got to with the instrument and the tales relating. This one will be relative to that.

Somewhere about a year ago, a fellow named Rob Moorman contacted me and said that he had a coffee house gig and asked if I'd be willing to add my harmonica to a couple of bluesy tunes during the evening. "I could do that," I told him. I met up with him and fellow guitarist, Raymond Lynch the night before for a little run through.

One tune was a Randy Newman song called "Guilty", by way of Bonnie Raitt, which was indeed bluesy enough and the other was the pretty much a 12 bar groove by Cookie and the Cupcakes' "I've Got You On My Mind". He felt that I could hang with "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" at the end of the show, also.

Now, Rob used to be on the road as a professional musician back in the day. He ramrodded an outfit known as The Silver City Saddle Tramps in Austin during the Cosmic Cowboy wave. His group caught that wave and surfed it throughout the region fairly successfully. At some point, he found Jesus, quit the biz, returned to his hometown, found a traditional occupation, and raised a family of kids (most of whom I taught in high school). This gig would be his first such one in about thirty years or so.

For you gear guys (or gals), I decided to plug straight into the p.a. with my Astatic crystal mic running through a Lone Wolf Harp Break pedal and a modified for harp Dan Electro Echo pedal. The Harp Break adds a bit of distortion to the mix and the Dan Echo, a little slap back echo. He asked if I could play along with his opening number, John Denver's "Country Roads". Said I'd give it a whirl. What I stuck in there seemed to work well enough and I attempted to step from the stage.

"No, don't go anywhere. You should be able to add something to Merle Haggard's "Silver Wings"," he said. So I did that one also. At that point he would let me leave.

Keep in mind. When the music strays from blues, I get away from my comfort zone. We strayed way away from that zone. We played music by Bob Marley, Neil Diamond, Buddy Holly, Hank Williams, Dave Loggins, Elvis Presley, The Eagles, The Beatles, and even Herman Hermits, with a handful of originals thrown into the mix. To say that I was lost and remained so most of the night would be an under statement. I flew by the seat of my pants and just hung on throughout most the proceedings, and dearly hoped that I wasn't screwing his songs and wonderful voice up too much.

I really thought that I'd exceeded my limitations and was relieved that he and Raymond thought that I'd done just fine. I also felt that "Okay, I made it through a trial by fire, and that that was that." I figured that he learned his lesson and wouldn't ask me to do that again. The next night he sent me a Facebook message asking me if a date suited me for the next gig. "What?" I replied. "You want me to do that again?" "Well, heck yeah, I do. Can you make it or not?" That was a year ago, and the Rob Moorman and Company trio has been doing it once a month since then. We'll be back in action at Mobius Coffeehouse this Friday. I thought that somewhere along the line that I'd hear, "Thanks, but we won't really be needing you any longer", but that hasn't happened.

I still feel way out of my element (the other two guys are outstanding musicians) and I'm still way more comfortable with the blues. It does keep me on my toes, especially when he takes a request from the audience or brings something new to the stage. That happens frequently, but it's all been quite fun.

P.S. on gear--I have experimented from time to time with different stage gear scenarios. One night I brought in my Kalamazoo amp (which is a great blues harp amp), and even though it is low wattage, it prove to be a bit loud for the room, so we turned it down and miked it through the p.a. Turning it down robbed it's tone, so I went back to plugging into the p.a. I've stuck with the Harp Break and Dan Echo, but I've used different mics. I used my Shure 545 stick mic a couple of times, but I missed the volume control that's built into my Astatic. The last gig I tried out my Shure Bullet with a controlled reluctance element that mic whiz Greg Heumann stuck a volume control into, and it worked really well. I think it's more compatible than the Astatic with the straight into p.a. arrangement. Hard to say, since I only do this with the trio once a month, and sometimes Raymond totes in a different p.a. head.

'Nuff for now. Excuse me while I go practice "Three Little Birds".

Read An eBook Week

noreply@blogger.com (Ricky Bush) — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 20:26:00 +0000

My publisher is offering 40% off all eBooks they publish for the national Read An eBook week from March 3-9. Details are at this link: Barking Rain Press.

THE DEVIL'S BLUES is LIVE

noreply@blogger.com (Ricky Bush) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 19:04:00 +0000

Those crime fighting bluesmen, Mitty Andersen and Pete Bolden are officially back in action in The Devil's Blues which popped up on Amazon this weekend. The book is the second in my series featuring these two blues harp musicians. Once again, they lay their Marine Bands down long enough to rid the world of a bit more of the evil that finds a way to cross their paths. This time out they are trying to clear the name of a good friend accused of blowing up the congregation of his church and end up in the sights of a wicked paramilitary group aimed at bringing Christianity to its knees.

The Devil's Blues is available in paperback at Amazon and will roll out on Barnes and Noble and a dozen other sites over the next couple of months. It'll also be offered in all the possible eBook formats. The publisher, Barking Rain Press, has eBooks available now, and they also offer a FREE PDF preview of the first four chapters.

Once I receive a stash of books, then I'll sell signed copies from here. There will be a "buy now" button in the sidebar, similar to what exists for the predecessor, River Bottom Blues. I dang sure appreciate those of you who ordered that one and will dang sure appreciate being able to fulfill orders for the new adventure. Anyone who still needs a signed copy of River Bottom Blues, it is certainly still available and provides a significant amount of background on the protagonists, but The Devil's Blues stands alone as a story quite well. If Mitty and Pete are your kind of guys, then help me get the word out.

I'll supply updates as the book reaches more retailers. In the meantime, I'll get another round of CD reviews up and rolling here on the blog. Thanks so much for tuning in...and stay tuned. 'Nuff for now.

Dave Nevling-Sweet Bijou

noreply@blogger.com (Ricky Bush) — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 19:27:00 +0000

The first time I heard Dave Nevling play, the tone he produced really impressed me. More than that, though, it was his intonation on the instrument which floored me. I've reviewed his work hear before, and I'm pretty sure that I said something like "he worries the hell out of a note" on the harmonica. I can't come up with a better description of what Nevling does with each hole that he hits than that. He's back doing just that on his latest release, Sweet Bijou. I'm also quite sure that I mentioned back then that if anyone deserves wider recognition beyond his Texas stomping grounds that it is he. This release further solidifies that opinion.

If you pick it up, just skip down to the final track, Sancho, and see that I ain't fibbing. He romps through a Latin tinged instrumental and gets everything he wants out of each hole that crosses his lips and tongue. He immaculately intones deep bends, double stops, flutter tongues, octaves and runs up and down the diatonic. I don't know if he'd call himself a perfectionist or not, but if so, then he's achieved that goal. Then go back a few tracks to Drink You Away for a taste of what he pulls out acoustically. To me, what separates the great players from the also rans is an acoustic tone that proves they don't have to rely on amplification to achieve a fabulous tone. Any weakness in intonation will be revealed with just harp to mouth. This track proves that Nevling has no weaknesses when it comes to pulling notes out of our humble diatonic.

Of course, I'm darned sure not saying that the other tracks aren't just as worthy; they are in spades. Nevling is certainly the proverbial triple threat. He writes great songs (these are all originals), plays the hell out his harp and sings his butt off. I'm quite sure that apprenticing with Gulf Coast legend, Bert Wills, was quite instrumental in helping him get his vocal chops together sufficiently enough to strike out with his own band. He vocals are fine through out, but if you're still skipping around, cue up Night Into Day. It's a marvelous ballad with a vintage vibe that he just slays vocally. I was going to compare it to a classic that it reminded me of, but as I sat down to write, that memory faded away. Actually, I hate doing those comparisons anyway, so forget about it.

A Dave Nevling release is aways about flowing through a variety of moods and modes. Upside is a nasty little number, lyrically as well as tonewise, on which he produces an accordion sound from his harp; I suspect with help from the Lone Wolf Octave pedal that he sticks into this Meteor Mini Meat amplifier. Guitaris Tom Bryan dishes out a fine solo on the tune and plays pretty darned tastefully throughout.

On the title cut, Nevling nails down and absolutely rules the use of hitting octave runs on the swampy song and stays with that Louisiana vibe with a rocking rhythm on Vieux Carre (which I assume is about partying in New Orleans' French Quarter). Lenora reeks of an Otis Rush style (see, I did use a comparison after all) minor keyed blues on which he whips out his skill on the chromatic. He doesn't chime in with the big harp until the five minute mark of the seven minute tune, but he doesn't hold back once he does. Bryan helps get that slow mo groove going with some nice string bending, similar in style to...naw.

He rounds out Josiah, about an innocent man executed, by playing organ to help set the tone. Drummer, Joe Campise and bassman, Jeff Parmenter are instrumental in providing stomping rhythms to lend a bit of seriousness to the song. Nevling pulls some of his deepest, dark tones on this one.

Connie's Cafe and I Need Love are both jumping, rollicking numbers. The former jumps and jives with some rockabilly picking, standup bass playing off the drums, and more expertly delivered octaves, flutter tongued licks (which he's mastered) and note pulls from Nevling. The latter is just some good time rock and roll on which he and Bryan bounce notes off each other. Heck of a tight band that he's leading down the road.

If he's playing third position harp on the opening cut, She's All That, and I think he is, then I'd have to say that it's some of the best harmonica that I've heard using such. If it's not in third, then the playing is deep toned and deep fried and well played anyway.

That's about all I have to say, other than...just get it. I know CD Baby has it available. His previous releases can be found there, also. As a disclaimer, I guess I need to mention that, yes, Dave Nevling is a friend of mine, and that, yes, he offered me a copy. I sent him a copy of River Bottom Blues as a swap. I got the better deal. I know that he'll read my book only once, but I'll listen to Sweet Bijou numerous times.

THE DEVIL'S BLUES PLAYLIST

noreply@blogger.com (Ricky Bush) — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 14:32:00 +0000

Just finished up the review of the galley proofs of The Devil's Blues in order to catch the last bits and pieces of any stray typos remaining. Thankfully, there were very few. This also means that publication of the second round of adventures of those crime fighting bluesmen, Mitty and Pete, is soon to follow.

My Barking Rain Press editor, Ti Locke, came up with the idea to include a playlist of youtube vids of all the music that Mitty and Pete play or mention in the book. She tracked down these versions and they'll be clickable in the eBook format. Cool idea. Here's the playlist that can be checked out now. The numbers indicate the chapters in which the songs appear.

Playlist

Ricky Bush has provided this chapter-by-chapter playlist to go along with reading The Devil's Blues. Just click on each song title to hear the song at YouTube.

Chapter

Title

Artist

2

She Moves Me

Muddy Waters

4

Early in the Morning ('bout the Break of Day)

Sonny Boy Williamson II

10

Bring it on Home

Sonny Boy Williamson II

Precious Lord Take My Hand

Thomas Dorsey with Mahalia Jackson

A Change is Gonna Come

Sam Cooke with Otis Redding

I Shall be Released

Bob Dylan

15

Off the Wall

Little Walter

Fields of Gold

Eva Cassidy

Born Under a Bad Sign

Albert King

Baby Please Don't Go

Big Joe Williams

21

Death Letter Blues

Eddie "Son" House

23

The Creeper

James Cotton

Roller Coaster

Little Walter

25

Walter's Boogie

Big Walter Horton

26

Santa’s Messin’ With The Kid

Eddie C. Campbell

Blue Christmas

Elvis Presley

Who's Been Talking

Howlin' Wolf

She Moves Me

Muddy Waters

29

Laundromat Blues

Albert King

31

The Creeper Returns

Little Sonny

38

Spirit in the Sky

Norman Greenbaum

Sympathy for the Devil

Rolling Stones

39

Rollin' & Tumblin'

Muddy Waters

40

Crosscut Saw Blues

Tommy McClennan

Too Much Is Not Enough

noreply@blogger.com (Ricky Bush) — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 23:40:00 +0000

Let me begin by saying that I lied in my last post. Not about finally getting around to reviewing something to do with the blues, but about the ones that I said were up next for me to waxed poetically about. I put a Christmas Amazon gift card to good use and received this release yesterday and just had to put my spin on it.

This represents Omar Kent Dykes second release paying homage to Jimmy Reed's music. I have the first one, with Jimmy Vaughn on board, called The Jimmy Reed Highway. It's a good 'un, but I bought this one here because of the Disclaimer that Dykes wrote explaining why he would do another batch of Jimmy Reed stuff. The title, Too Much Is Not Enough, explains some of his reasoning, but what sold me was this: "The most important reason to release these songs: they are the last recordings I did with my good friend, Gary Primich. I believe these songs deserve to be shared and appreciated. I am dedicating this CD to the memory and unstoppable talent of Gary Primich." 'Nuff said!

Once I decided that I'd learn the ins and outs of playing the blues harp, Gary Primich was the first professional that I met and witnessed in action way back in the day. I've documented that show somewhere here on the blog, but the bottom line is that he blew me away and I became a fervent fan of his. He passed away way too soon, but left a legacy of the high caliber harmonica recordings behind. I'm beholding to Omar Dykes for sharing these cuts with me.

Primich kicks off the proceedings on the opening cut with his fabulous deep, fat backed amplified tone and weaves all his tricks of the trade into the fills and solo. Too Much is not a Jimmy Reed staple, but takes the same shuffle path as the master. Same thing with the Dykes penned, I Gotta Let You Go, which is stamped with the signature groove. On this one though, Primich lays down his mic and shows off his unbeatable acoustic chops and enviable talent at bending the reeds to produce impeccable tone. Gary Clark Jr., the fast rising star from the Austin music scene, adds some nice slide guitar into the mix. He pops in and out of the core group of veteran blues cats Derek O'Brien (guitar), Ronnie James (upright bass), and Jay Moeller (drums). Barry Bihm throws down on electric bass when they want to get particularly nasty and Jon Hahn takes the drum sticks on a few.

Matter of fact, the only two cuts without Primich's harp (I Ain't Got You/I'm Gonna Ruin You) are from a stripped down trio with Clark doubling on harp and Moeller's drum kicking. His harp playing is effective, but rudimentary, and I suspect may have been included to contrast just how much more powerful Primich is on the instrument.

That Primich power is on full display on Shame, Shame, Shame on which Dykes turns him loose to do his thang. It is high octane stuff with Primich pulling out all the stops with his signature amped up runs, bends, and octave blasts. Same for You Don't Have To Go which Dykes transforms into a driving, whomping Chi-Town shuffle with Clark doing a bit of Elmore James style of slipping and sliding on the guitar frets. High and Lonesome also represents Primich's knack for getting the the deep, gutbucket grooves slamming with exquisite long drawn lonesome tones being pulled from the reeds and demonstrating his mastery of working the mic cupped and uncupped to add tonal variety.

Primich absolute owns Take Out Some Insurance, not exactly with any solos thrown down, but just proving how he can power a rhythmic groove. He helps it shuffle into the ozone, and on the instrumental Roll In Rhumba, he shifts gears to keep the rhumbaling rhumbaling.

Of course, Jimmy Reed's harp work is synonymous with what can be done in first position and the high end of the harmonica. No one, and I mean no one, nails that style better than Gary Primich. The bends, trills, warbles that he produces on those tiny reeds are nothing short of remarkable, and then he'll majectically swoop down for some low end acoustic thump on such tunes as Going To New York and I'm Going To Move To The Outskirts Of Town (again, not a tune associated with Reed).

Keep in mind that Primich is working as a sideman here and nothing is intended as a showcase for his talents. The songs are all less than four minutes long, some less than three, as should be, so he's just adding his licks to provide the songs with what is needed. Someone who is not a blues harp nut might not even notice, but we know what he's putting down.

I'm not meaning to give short shrift to Dykes. I saw beau coup Omar and the Howlers gigs back in the day and always loved his roadhouse rowdiness and his rough and ready vocals, and the man plays a helluva guitar. He knows exactly what he wants and how to get that across in any songs that he tackles, and here, he's tackled the Jimmy Reed grooves and wrestled them to the ground with a cracker jack group of musicians for an outstanding release. Damn right, Omar, Too Much Is Not Enough. And as he says in his liner notes, "If you think I've gone overboard with Jimmy Reed, just wait until I release my Howlin' Wolf and Bo Diddley material". Bring it on Omar Dykes. 'Nuff for now!

Spammer Blues

noreply@blogger.com (Ricky Bush) — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 14:45:00 +0000

Well, spammers found a home on my blog and have been leaving commentary aimed at selling something to someone. I've been deleting them as I detect them, but it's been a daily occurrence. Of course, none of these have anything to do with me, the blues, or you (unless you respond to them). None of them are solicited by me, so ignore them. If you leave a comment, don't request an e-mail follow-up or you'll get their spam from the comments page. I always respond to any comments left on any pages directly, except those left by these scumbags, who will respond to this post, and leave advertisements, as if I didn't call them snotnosed scumbags. Then again, once the find you, they automate the process.

I haven't abandoned the blog, just been roped into the activities of others around me that have demanded more of my time. I do have plans to get some reviews generated real soon. Some of those: The Muddy Waters/Rolling Stones DVD (planned on getting this up for quite some time...way before PBS ran with it), Rick Estrin and the Nightcats latest (love these guys), John Nemeth's live blues, and Doug Demings latest outing with Dennis Gruenling. That's my best laid plan. Now, off to battle the spambot comments.

Another Blues For Food Helping

noreply@blogger.com (Ricky Bush) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 15:23:00 +0000

Here's some more Blues For Food 2012 info from Houston Bluesharp Ace Sonny Boy Terry:

Hello everyone. Please help us get the word out for Shakespeare Pub's 23rd annual Blues For Food Music Festival and Food Drive. All proceeds benefit the Houston Food Bank. Every year in November before the start of the holiday season blues musicians, Shakespeare Pub, The Houston Blues Society, KPFT 90.1 radio and blues fans of all persuasions join together to donate non perishable food items and cash to the Houston Food Bank for needy families in the Houston area.

This year's line up of talent Houston blues acts is second to none. The music kicks off with the Mighty Orq doing an acoustic set followed by the Texas Blues Gentleman himself from Bellville, Don Kesee and the Bluesmasters featuring Pops Stewart and Pee Wee Stevens. By 3PM some chick power rolls in from Austin with the stellar Erin James Band. After that the true to life gulf coast legend, Galveston's Bert Wills along with Clint Boyd join the fun. Houston favorite The Tony Vega Band then takes the stage followed by two working front men in the same band Rich Delgrosso and John Del Toro Richardson change things up with superb blues mandolin and some very tasty lead guitar. Blues For Food producer organizer Sonny Boy Terry and his band serve up an offering of spicy harmonica deeply rooted in Houston blues history. Headlining this year's Blues For Food is two artists who don't do things like this often, former BB King bandleader Milton Hopkins and the delicious vocals of Jewel Brown. Keeping the ball rolling and into the evening is party favorites Mojofromopolis, rising star Annika Chambers and the House Rules Band will surely try and take house then on to Texas Blues/Rock guitar god John McVey and the Stumble. Topping the evening is the man voted Houston's best bass player Spare Time Murray and the Honeymakers featuring Little Screamin' Kenny hosting his weekly "World's Famous Blues Jam". This is over 12 hours of a diverse array of non stop Texas blues we hope represents the seen well. All musicians are donating their time for this good cause and Houston blues tradition.

Those who attend and donate receive a free plate of BBQ. There will be raffles, a silent auction, and lots of surprises. For those who cannot attend, you can use KPFT studios as a drop off point for any food items. There will be a Houston Food Bank truck on site at Shakespeare Pub the day of the show with volunteers to load your food.

This is a great charity but we need the Houston media's support too. Social networking, KPFT, the blogosphere and the Houston Blues Society help tremendously and we are truly grateful but without mainstream media support from the local we are often "preaching to the choir".

Blues For Food is by all accounts the "mother of all benefits" on the Houston blues scene - a true model showing how much good we can do at a grass roots level. it was started in 1991 by blues singer and KPFT deejay Big Roger Collins and has continued for 23 years now serving as a precursor to the development of the Houston Blues Society. Many on the Houston scene consider Blues For Food the best party of the year. The amount of cash and food donations accumulated through the years is remarkable. All the bands bring their A game with each act performing a tight set approximately 30 minutes long. There is hardly any lag throughout the day. it is truly a huge celebration with overflow crowds in the parking lot enjoying the music, the vibe and great BBQ. So please give us the print. We humbly feel it is well deserved.

So please share and help get the word out. Let's make this year's Blues For Food the biggest and best one yet. Again, music kicks off at 1PM and goes until 1:30AM. Admission is any non perishable food items or cash. Shakespeare Pub is located at 14129 Memorial Drive at Kirkwood just west of Beltway 8 off Interstate 10. Please call 713.822.0437 for more information. You may also visitwww.shalespearepub.net for more information.

THANK YOU!

Sonny Boy Terry

713.822.0437

Blues For Food Poster

noreply@blogger.com (Ricky Bush) — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 12:48:00 +0000

You just ain't gonna find a better blues show than this one, or one for a better cause.

Blues For Food 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Ricky Bush) — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 21:04:00 +0000

Once a year, Houston musicians pull together and put together one of the best blues events in the city aimed at refilling the shelves at the Houston Food Bank. Here's is the preliminary news release and schedule, courtesy of Sonny Boy Terry.

Here is the blues for food line up for November 11th 2012 at Shakespeare Pub. Time slots are subject to change but the line up is pretty much confirmed. Due to the volunteer nature, an artist may fall out and someone of equal stature will take their place. This is the 23rd consecutive year and we are proud to say this is the "Mother of all blues related benefits in Houston. It has set the bar and served as the model and led to the formation of the Houston Blues Society". All proceeds benefit the Houston Food Bank and everyone performs with their bands for free. Hopefully, this is an honest representation of Houston's diverse blues scene. Many artists add special guest to their sets as we all do our best to be as inclusive as possible. Each year artists asking to play Blues For Food is overwhelming. Admission is any non perishable food items or cash. Co-sponsored by the Houston Blues Society and KPFT 90.1 along with the Shakespeare Pub and the blues musicians of Houston. Sonny Boy Terry took over hosting and producing the event after the founder blues singer Big Roger Collins passed away in 2001. Free BBQ plate for those who donate.

Mighty Orq - 1:PM - 1:45PM
Don Kesee and the Blues Masters - 2PM - 2:30PM
Erin James - 2:45PM - 3:15PM
Bert Wills and Clint Boyd 3:30PM - 4PM
Tony Vega Band 4:15PM - 4:45P
Jewell Brown and Milton Hopkins - 5PM - 5:30PM
Sonny Boy Terry Band - 5:45PM - 6:15PM
Rich Delgrosso and Jonn Richardson Band - 6:30PM - 7PM
Mojofromopolis - 7:15 - 7:45PM
Annika Chambers and the House Rules Band - 8PM - 8:30PM
John McVey and the Stumble - 8:45 - 9:15PM
Spare Time Murray and the Honeymakers World Famous Blues Jam - 9:30PM till Closing.

The times are always fluid and subject to change.

The Devil's Blues Cover

noreply@blogger.com (Ricky Bush) — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 01:19:00 +0000

My publisher revealed the cover for The Devil's Blues, so I'll reveal it here.

River Bottom Blues Half Price Sale

noreply@blogger.com (Ricky Bush) — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 16:58:00 +0000

The one year anniversary of my publisher, Barking Rain Press, is cause for celebration. They are doing so by offering all their eBooks at 50% off, which means the eBook version of River Bottom Blues can be had for $2.99. Visit their site http://www.barkingrainpress.org and type in the code BRP1YEAR at checkout for the bargain price.

I've been really pleased with the growth and progress Barking Rain Press has made over the past year under the leadership of publisher, Sheri Gormley. They've acquired the works of excellent authors, added staff members, and significantly increased their profile on the publishing scene since I signed with them. Once my capable editor, Ti Locke and I finish the final round of edits and put the shine on The Devil's Blues, it just may make a release date prior to Thanksgiving. I just got a gander at the marvelous cover work supplied by staff artist Stephanie Flint. Can wait to show it off. Of course, I'll shout it out here.

In the meantime, be sure to get the first in the Mitty Andersen/Pete Bolden series by taking advantage of the 1/2 price eBook deal. Of course, a signed trade paperback can still be ordered by clicking the "Buy Now" button in the sidebar of the blog here. By the way, Amazon and B&N are offering the $2.99 deal also. 'Nuff blatant self promotion for now.

P.S.---Just found out from my publisher that the print version is 50% off also.

Mississippi Heat

noreply@blogger.com (Ricky Bush) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 15:40:00 +0000

Bring on the heat...Mississippi Heat, that is. The band is celebrating their 20th anniversary in the business of playing the blues by releasing Delta Bound by way of Delmark Records. It's been that long since blues harp meister Pierre Lacocque's dream of getting a blues band up and running in his adopted hometown of Chicago materialized and he's never had to look back. The aggregation has seen a myriad of personnel changes over the years, but Lococque has always managed to pull together a team to keep his vision intact. I went looking for my CD of 1992's Straight From The Heart, with Robert Covington leading the group on vocals, and had trouble finding it. Was going to revisit what they did twenty years ago. Took awhile to realize that I hadn't bought a CD player yet and had my copy on cassette. That machine has been shelved for awhile. The point is that I've been a fan of Pierre Lacocque's playing for quite some time now.

Deitre Farr took over the vocal duties after that debut album, with songbird Inetta Visor settling in for the duration in 2001. The band has never been a straight up, down the river Chi-town blues band. Lacocque has always mixed and matched blues styles along the way and Delta Bound carries on the tradition, with Lacocque leading the way with his tough as nails, fat and crunchy harp tones. Previous Heat members Farr and guitarist Billy Flynn join the core group of Visor, Giles Corey/Billy Satterfield (guitars), Chris "Hambone" Cameron/Johnny Iquana (keyboards), Joseph Veloz (bass) and Kenny Smith (drums) for the anniversary celebration. Lacocque throws in the incendiary guitar work of Carl Weathersby on a few cuts and Chubby Carrier's accordion for some Louisiana flavor with Keith Blair adding his guitar chops.

Lacocque kicks things off with fat, octave tongued chromatic work on the opener, "Granny Mae", and locks in with Cameron's organ pumps to provide for a horn driven sound. Even though Lacocque's tone throughout the proceedings rips and roars for the most part, he can call up a rounded, horn like, tenor sax vibe at will, or for variety, lay back a bit and display his acoustic chops. He proves his acoustic meddle on the piano driven, "What's Happening To Me" and "Trouble In His Trail". He pulls out the full on, amped up tones on quite a few numbers, but really pulls out the stopper on "Sweet Ol' Blues" with tongue flutters and nice lick runs and on the instrumental, "Lemon Twist". On the former, Flynn sticks in one his trademark understated, but spot on solos. On the latter, Lococque calls to mind Rod Piazza while Veloz' bass lines drive the tune along with Smith's insistent drum beats and Iquana's organ swirls.

Weatherby's guitar work has always leaned towards a rock attitude, but stays blues rooted and manages keep it on that side of the line. A bit more high energy, I guess. He rips into "Mr. Mistreater" with tenacity, and he takes the old chestnut, "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" for a pretty good ride. Being so accustomed to hearing Eric Burdon turn the song inside out, it took me a bit to adjust to Visor's version. She won me over and can claim ownership now. Speaking of ownership, Lacocque penned the vast majority of the songs on this set and he, of course, writes from the female's perspective of the blues, so there's plenty of my man's done gone, done me wrong, or he suits me to a tee blues. He turns some mighty fine lyrics into some mighty fine blues songs for his songbirds. The Blues Matrix threw me a little, but it's a fun time tune with reference to the movie, which of course, I never understood.

Speaking of songbirds. I was hard pressed to distinguish between the vocal stylings of Visor and Farr. I listened to the CD before checking credits and had no idea which songs Farr sat in upon. Neither are what I'd call "blues shouters". They don't go for the vocal histrionics of some that ply the trade. I like that. Don't get me wrong. They both have powerful voices and bring forth that power when the song calls for it, but not for the sake of "listen to the octaves that I can hit". They get what the deep blues is all about and both go about the business of bringing that to Lacocque's lyrics.

Even though Lacocque's harp is always front and center, Mississippi Heat is about solid, in the pocket, ensemble work. Whether it is on the traditional Chi-town stop time shuffle, "Lookee Here, Baby" with Kenny Smith illustrating why he is one of the most sought after drummers in the genre, the jazzy, vibraphone ladened (Kenneth Hall) "Going To St. Louis", or the second line whomp of "New Orleans Man". All the parts and pieces blend and make the whole groove happen.

So, if it's taken you twenty years to discover what Mississippi Heat is all about, I'd say better late than never and this CD would provide a great entry point for the introduction. Well played, well sung, well written, and well, you know, just a darned good blues recording, especially if one's taste run towards great blues harp.
'Nuff for Now.

Annie Raines

noreply@blogger.com (Ricky Bush) — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 00:17:00 +0000

I've always been a big fan of Annie Raines. She got one wail of a big tone on the harmonica, whether she's playing acoustic pre-war blues with her partner, Paul Rishell, or flat out, gutbucket, fat and greasy amplified blues harp. I was about to say that she's got the fattest tone of any woman that I've heard, but that would be misleading....she has as fat a tone and anyone in the game; male or female. Think Big Walter, no really, she can whom the deep stuff. I've got several of her recorded examples around the house, but one that stands out is her performance at one of Mark Hummel's Blues Blowout, where she holds her own with all the gentlemen on the bill. Anyway, now she shares what she knows on a set of instructionals Without further ado, I simply pass along the press release announcing what has to be a valuable resource to assist us harp players in gettin' it down better.

W.C. HANDY AWARD WINNER & LEADING FEMALE HARMONICA PLAYER ANNIE RAINES RELEASES FIRST INSTRUCTIONAL INTERACTIVE VIDEO SOFTWARE "BLUES HARMONICA BLUEPRINT" ON TRUEFIRE JULY 31

68 VIDEO LESSONS AND 263 MINUTES OF INSTRUCTION MAKE THIS MOST COMPREHENSIVE INSTRUCTION TO DATE

Blues Music Award winner and foremost of only a handful of female harmonica players Annie Raines has recorded the most comprehensive harmonica instruction to date and the only interactive video format with "Blues Harmonica Blueprint" with 263 minutes of instruction, 68 video lessons, and over 75 charts. It will be available as interactive video software available via DVD-R or download July 31. Raines is eminently qualified to teach as harmonica legend James Cotton calls Raines “James Cotton Junior” and Muddy Waters sideman Pinetop Perkins said, “She plays so good it hurts."

Here is TrueFire's Blues Harmonica Blueprint playlist on YouTube, with numerous embeddable clips:http://truefire.com/tftv/index.html?channel=harmonica-blueprint

Presented for the beginner to advanced intermediate player, this revolutionary video drills deeper and wider than any blues harmonica course ever published. Over two years in the making, with hundreds of hours dedicated just to the visual notation guides and animations, "Blues Harmonica Blueprint" features animated graphics showing where the notes are as they're being played; detailed video breakdowns of songs and exercises; text descriptions; live band jam tracks so you can play along with a blues combo including guitarists Paul Rishell & Troy Gonyea; an adjustable metronome; and a guitar tuner in multiple tunings.

One of the challenges of teaching harmonica is that one cannot see what a harp player is doing and TrueFire's animation over the footage of Raines cuts through that barrier.

Finally, Raines teaches solos and repertoire in the styles of blues harmonica masters such as Sonny Boy Williamson II, Big Walter Horton, Jimmy Reed, and Little Walter.

Having learned from Jerry Portnoy who has toured with Muddy Waters and Eric Clapton, Raines has performed on three Susan Tedeschi albums and with John Sebastian over her distinguished twenty-five year career. She has been the touring and recording partner of Paul Rishell for over twenty years. They have released six albums together, including the W.C. Handy Award-winning 'Moving to the Country.'

Over the past 20 years, TrueFire has worked with over 600 top artists and educators building what Guitar Player magazine calls "the planet's largest and most comprehensive selection of guitar lessons. Over 220,000 students from 140 countries are enrolled in various TrueFire educational programs"

For more information on Annie Raines or "Blues Harmonica Blueprint," please contact Nick Loss-Eaton atnick.losseaton@gmail.com or 718.541.1130.

http://nicklosseaton.blogspot.com/

http://www.paulandannie.com

http://truefire.com

Blues In School/Texas Style

noreply@blogger.com (Ricky Bush) — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 19:17:00 +0000

Here's a great Blues In Schools mini documentary forwarded to me by my great friend Sonny Boy Terry. Very enjoyable and commendable.

Sonny Boy Terry, Milton Hopkins, Texas Johnny Brown, RJ Mischo

Presented by The Houston Blues Society, Gail Singer, pres.
Shot & Directed by Guy Schwartz
Radio News Article by MArlo Blue
2012 Guy Schwartz, The Houston Blues Society & Sirius Hippies Productions

New From The Bo-Keys

noreply@blogger.com (Ricky Bush) — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 19:07:00 +0000

Trust me. Just click this and listen to Percy Wiggins sing his butt off behind the wailing Bo-Keys.

http://soundcloud.com/electraphonic/sets/the-bo-keys-featuring-percy/s-bot43

Memphis soul group The Bo-Keys teamed up with vocalist Percy Wiggins to bring a double shot of Memphis Soul and R&B. Wiggins, who cut classic Northern Soul sides in the 60s for ATCO and RCA, is featured on two original songs penned by the Bo-Keys and Wiggins. The Bobby "Blue" Bland-inspired R&B of "Writing on the Wall" and the Southern Soul ballad "I'm Still In Need."

Check out their website for more information: http://www.thebokeys.com/

Texas Harmonica Fest Schedule

noreply@blogger.com (Ricky Bush) — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 16:41:00 +0000

TEXAS HARMONICA FESTIVAL AND CLINIC BLOWING SOME COOL SOUNDS INTO HOUSTON ON A HOT SUMMER NIGHT AUGUST 4TH AT DAN ELECTRO’S GUITAR BAR

Here's the more details for the upcoming Texas Harmonica Festival from Sonny Boy Terry:
Now in its third year after two very successful Texas Harmonica Festival and Clinics, this year, it's just a little bit bigger with harp players from Austin, Port Arthur, Houston and Dallas representing a large chunk of Texas well. "I try to bring in artists and workshop instructors who I think I can learn something from and inspire me with their talent", says Terry. "Houston is a known guitar town. My goal with the Texas Harmonica Festival is to put the spotlight on the Houston harmonica scene and hopefully help other aspiring harmonica players up their game." "I also like networking with harmonica players across the country and beyond. The guys who I promote in this region, if they can, bring me to their cities to teach or perform".

The idea is to mix afternoon workshops and an evening concert is to bring one national known artist to Houston to headline (This year it's RJ Mischo), a special workshop instructor (This year it's Mike Rubin of youtube's Meat and Potatoes Harmonica), along with regionally and locally known performers. Christian Dozzler plays piano with the killer elite blues musicians of Dallas is also a stellar blues harmonica player/vocalist so he will pull double duty fattening up the Sonny Boy Terry Band's sound with classic blues piano.

"I have always loved RJ Mischo’s blues," says Sonny Boy Terry, "He learned straight from Muddy Waters' harmonica player Mojo Bruford while living in Minnesota. Anytime a young player learns from someone like Mojo he gets my respect because he is carrying on the tradition. RJ was meant to do what he does"
Blues fans will also love Paul Orta who hails from Port Arthur, where more great musicians are born per capita there than anywhere else in Texas it seems. He is known by many as the "Mexican Little Walter" who is a deep traditionalist with a sound that is distinctly east Texas. He worked with everybody in Austin during that town's blues hey day. "I've been following Paul for years, Sonny Boy says, "We are putting a great band behind him reintroducing him to Houston so he can really shine. I know he is going to put on a great show". This year’s festival as a very special day of authentic American blues and harmonica. Everybody is just a little more bluesier, Sonny Boy Terry’s band super tight and with Christian Dozzler on piano, the blues is going to swing. It’s going to be sublime!”

Sonny Boy Terry will kick the day off with short orientation and a beginner/intermediate workshop just to get everybody up to speed and prepared for a full day of harmonica heaven. After Terry’s introduction, Austin’s Mike Rubin will take over for his highly anticipated workshop “Meat and Potatoes Harmonica”. After that, the extremely seasoned RJ Mischo steps and guides participants on “How to Lead a Blues Band and Other Tricks of the Trade”.

An extra added attraction to this year’s workshops is Lone Wolf Harmonica Pedals owner Randy Landry out of New Orleans teaming up with Houston amp tech Stephen “Fess” Schneider to demonstrate how to use effects and amplification for harmonica. Steve is Houston’s best harmonica technician and a full line of effects, Lone Wolf Pedals for harmonica have taken the industry by storm. After that participants are invited to join the Sonny Boy Terry Band for a conga line style blues jam where everyone can get their licks in with an authentic Texas Blues act.

Following the afternoon workshops and short dinner break (Food is available on site). Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar transform from classroom back to a nightclub for a night of what promises to be a night to remember of Texas Blues. With Sonny Boy Terry Band, Mike Rubin, RJ Mischo, Paul Orta, and Christian Dozzler the music is sure to be on fire.

To register for the Texas Harmonica Festival and Clinic, you can visit www.texasharmonicafest.eventbrite.com or www.houstonharmonicalessons.com . The cost is still reasonable. You can sign up for the afternoon workshop for 30.oo or the evening concert for 15.00. But if you purchase the entire day, it only costs 40 dollars. But if you register online in advance you can get an additional 5.00 discount by entering the access code 0202 whether it’s the showcase, workshop or entire day.

Here is the schedule of the day’s activities:

Clinic times are a rough draft to provide a guide for the day's activities but
most likely will end before 6:30PM and include a short intermission.

Clinics/workshop

2PM - Sonny Boy Terry - Intro. Beginner/Intermediate Harmonica

3PM - RJ Mischo - How to front a blues act workshop

4PM - Mike Rubin's Meat and Potatoes Harmonica Workshop

5PM - Lone Wolf Harp pedals Demo and Amplifying the Harmonica Workshop

6PM - Jam with a Pro blues Band (Sonny Boy Terry Band w/Christian Dozzler on

piano)

7PM - Movie Time! intermission/dinner. Fantastic Food Available On Site.

Texas Blues Harmonica Showcase

8PM - Mike Rubin

9 PM - Paul Orta

10PM - Christian Dozzler

11PM - Sonny Boy Terry

12PM - RJ Mischo

1AM Grand Finale

Location:

DAN ELECTRO'S GUITAR BAR

1031 EAST 24TH STREET

713.862.8707

Sonny Boy Terry

Producer/Founder of the Texas Harmonica Festival and Clinic, Blues harp man “Sonny Boy” Terry Jerome earned his moniker gigging and recording the past 29 years with Houston icons Johnny Copeland, Joe Guitar Hughes, Grady Gaines, Roy Head and Calvin Owens all the while fronting his own uptempo blues act and recording two excellent solo albums, Breakfast Dance and Live at Miss Ann's Playpen for the Austin based imprint Doc Blues Records. Sonny Boy Terry was featured in the 2008 book release Texas Blues: The Rise of a Contemporary Sound by author Alan Govenar.

In 1993, Sonny Boy Terry founded the 501©3 Houston Blues Society and served as president for three years. In his final year as president, HBS won the prestigious Keepin' the Blues Alive Award in 1996 for "Best Blues Organization" presented by the Blues Foundation in Memphis during the Blues Music Awards. In 2010, Terry's career came full circle when his band won the Houston Blues Society Regional International Blues Challenge scoring very high in Memphis representing Houston well while moving his career up a notch. "I am really grateful for that opportunity," "The Houston Blues Society's people were just so incredibly kind towards me" he says. "They have a wonderful group of people involved in that organization".

A noted harmonica teacher for twenty five years, Terry has long given private harmonica lessons, taught at local community colleges, high schools, for corporate retreats, and had the honor to serve as an instructor for Houston's Society for the Performing Arts' February 2012 acclaimed presentation Preserving a Legacy: A Tribute to Houston’s Blues. In 2011 Sonny Boy performed, taught and shared the stage with several of America's finest harmonica players like Adam Gussow, Jason Ricci and Jimi Lee at Hill Country Harmonica where the blues began in northern Mississippi. "Going to Mississippi was, much like spending years gigging in Houston's Wards, another of my going to the crossroads type experiences", Terry, who also took up guitar seven years ago believes it is essential to immerse yourself in the deep blues culture says, "Mississippi really helped me move my playing forward. They were mixing earthy northern Mississippi vamps and rhythms with technical sophistication of harmonica player Howard Levy of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. To me, from documentaries I have seen, it was the same way pre war jazz musicians integrated. I am starting to bring a raw form of bluesy jazz to my performances and has given me things to work on the rest of my life. I can play the latin grooves I have been messing around with much better now. And I am just at the tip of the iceberg," he claim, "I am excited about growing and maturing as a veteran blues artist. Making music is a life long journey."

RJ Mischo

Singer/Harmonica player R.J. Mischo began his music career over 20 years ago in Minneapolis. He worked with the area’s legends of the Blues scene like Muddy Waters alumni Mojo Buford and Sonny Rogers, as well as Percy Strothers & Milwaukee Slim. R.J. then led his own groups and gained a reputation as one of the region's top blues acts.

During his tenure in Minneapolis, R.J. was nominated in several categories by the Minnesota Music Academy and in 1996 won the award for Best Harmonica Player.

RJ Mischo scoops up everyday life and personal experiences and funnels them through his harp and vocals, and what pours out is the hot-blooded passion, the playful humor and high voltage energy of the blues.

R.J. was introduced to audiences worldwide when he and guitarist Teddy Morgan formed the RJ & Kid Morgan Blues Band featuring Percy Strother. In 1992 they released Ready To Go on the W. C. Handy award-winning Blue Loon Records.

1994 brought the critically acclaimed Gonna Rock Tonight also on Blue Loon Records. After several successful tours of Europe, RJ recorded Rough ’N" Tough "live in Europe "in 1996 and Cool Disposition in 1997 on the prestigious German label, Crosscut Records.

In 1998 R.J. Mischo and His Red Hot Blues Band moved to San Francisco, California and quickly established himself in the local music scene as each performance typically runs the gamut from mellow-down-easy acoustic to highly-charged full-on electric.

The CD "West Wind Blowin'" featured advances in R.J.'s writing style and guest performances by guitarist/vocalists Steve Freund and Rusty Zinn. RJ waxed three more Albums in California plus appeared on 2 volumes of Blues Harp Meltdown CD"s compilations featuriing live recording's of Mark Hummel's famous blues harmonica blow-outs with Kim Wilson, James Harman, Billy Branch, Rick Estrin, Gary Primich, Johnny Dyer, Annie Raines, Gary Smith, and Cephas & Wiggins.

His 9th CD "King Of a Mighty Good Time" 2008 was recorded "live" in the studio to best capture the energy and interplay of sympathic musicians under optimal recording conditions. His latest CD and first from Delta Groove Music, Make It Good has been release to critical review.

RJ and his Wife now reside in Fayetteville, Arkansas. R.J. works in the area with Northwest Arkansas' finest including guitar-ace Jimmy Thackery, the Table Rockers, Zack Bramhall and Arkansas legend Earl Cate. As well as touring worldwide performong on Blues Festivals and clubs with his own Red Hot Blues bands!

Paul Orta

Paul Orta (Vocal and Harmonica) was born in Port Arthur, Texas hometown of Janis Joplin, Guitar Junior and other prominent musicians. Paul was first influenced by the blues at the age of eight, when he saw Louis Armstrong on a movie. After nine years of playing with school band, Paul quit because the band never played Jazz or Blues. Within a half of a year Paul picked up the harmonica, and in three months he was in his first professional band. The name of the group was the Bayou Boogie Band, and they played and toured the Golden Triangle of Southeast Texas Beaumont, Port Arthur, Orange, and Louisiana for three years.

In 1979, Paul moved to Austin, Texas and he won the Kerrville Folk Festival harmonica contest in 1980. Later he formed the The Backdoormen with Port Arthur native Bill Arthur Jones, and with the help of bass player Eddie Stout they evolved into the Kingpins. Afterwards Paul entered the Antones University Of the Blues: playing with Blues greats Matt Guitar Murphy, Pinetop Perkins, Eddie Taylor, Sunnyland Slim, Wayne Benett, Robert Lockwood Jr, Luther Tucker, Willie Big Eyes Smith, Ted Harvey and many others, even being invited by Jimmy Rogers to play gigs and Snooky Pryor to join him on stage everytime he was at Antones. And every Wednesday night for three months Paul played with Howlin Wolf s guitar player Hubert Sumlin.

Paul also toured and recorded with Texas Guitar Tornado U.P. Wilson (U.S.A. and Europe) for over two years. Paul has also recorded over a dozen albums and also can be heard on over three dozen different compilations and various artists, albums in North & South America, Europe, Japan and Australia. In addition he has performed with second generation bluesman like Kim Wilson, Derek O'Brian, and has recorded with Tommy Shannon & Chris Layton (Stevie Ray Vaughn rythm section) with Brazilian Blues/Rock guitar player Nuno Mindelis, even performing several festvals in front of thousand fans. Past members have included Uncle John Turner (Johnny Winter), Keith Ferguson (Fabulous Thunderbirds), Mike Kindred (Stevie Ray Vaughn), Wesley Starr (Delbert Mc Clinton, Willie Nelson), Freddie Walden (Anson Funderburg), Jimmy Carl Black (Franck Zappa).

Mike Rubin’s Meat and Potatoes Harmonica Workshop

Mike Rubin's Meat and Potatoes Harmonica is getting lots of attention across the internet the past year or so. But Mike has been playing a highly professional harmonica for years. He is a monster technically sound and soulful all around great harmonica player. Sonny Boy Terry met Mike at 10,000 harmonicas where both were joined by Denver's Ronnie Shellist and Los Angeles harp player Gary Allegretto as they led the crowd at Minute Maid Park attempting to break the Guinness Book of World Records for largest harmonica ensemble only to fall short due to extra innings. "I was just impressed" Terry recollects, “Mike put on a great show later that night. He was fun and entertaining along with being an outstanding harmonica player

At 15 Mike worked as a camp counselor. His boss had a harp he let me borrow. Instead of looking at it for a minute, he went to a corner and jammed for a half an hour. 6 months later he was with a friend, Robert Schmidt, at a bookstore. There was Jon Gindicks’ Country and Blues Harmonica for the Musically Hopeless , a book that came with a tape and a harp for $14. His friend said, "There’s something flaky you would do." He had the money, which at 15 years old was a minor miracle. "You’ll never get anywhere with that." He said. The moment he played, he knew it was my thing. I was gigging a year later.

A respected Austin session musician, Mike has recorded with Ruthie Foster among other great talents He took 3 jazz improv semesters in college, Sonoma State University, on chromatic. A couple of years back he took another semester’s worth at Austin Community College playing one diatonic harmonica fully chromatically. In college he also took chorus and ear training. He plays diatonic harp (10 hole blues harp) played fully chromatically, the chromatic harp, the bass harp, mandolin, vocals, electric bass, keyboards, melodica, kazoo, various flutelike things and percussion. He loves Paul Butterfield, Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller), James Cotton and William Clarke. He writes and sings too. He’s a showman with his own solo CD out. Besides live performances, check out his CD "Call of my Harp" which is a collection of live and studio cuts of him backing up 15 of Austin’s best players. His Meat and Potatoes Harmonica Workshop is sure to be a treat any harmonica lover is sure to enjoy.

Christian Dozzler

Christian Dozzler was born into a musical family in Vienna, Austria on September 22, 1958. He started getting classical piano training when he was five years old. At age 14 he fell in love with the blues and has continued this romantic relationship ever since.

Solo piano blues and boogie woogie were the starting point and are until now a major part in Christian’s work. In 1976 he formed his first group, the "Backyard Bluesband", where he also played harmonica and guitar. 1981 was the year when he decided to make a profession out of his musical addiction, he also picked up the accordion after discovering Zydeco-music.

The years from 1984 till 1993 Christian spent as the co-frontman of Austria’s "Mojo Blues Band", and started recording and extensive touring throughout Europe. Frequently working with American blues artists on their European tours widened his musical horizon and made him an experienced player in many different styles of blues music.

From 1993 till 2000, he had his own band again, "Christian Dozzler & The Blues Wave", where he could finally bring the whole diversity of his talent into play. The program was a musical journey from Chicago Blues, Boogie Woogie, Rhythm & Blues to Swamp Blues and Zydeco, and anything in between. Especially the Louisiana music would soon become a trademark of this band. Four CDs resulted from these years. In 1999 the band recorded their fourth CD "Louisiana" right in the land of the bayous, together with some legendary figures of the Louisiana music scene.

In May 2000 Christian Dozzler accepted an offer that couldn’t be refused. He joined the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, based band of Larry Garner, moved to America, and toured the US and the rest of the world with Larry for two years.

In 2002 he settled in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, and continued his solo career. This Metroplex rightfully has the reputation of having one of the best blues scenes in the world, and is consequently the ideal home base for any blues man. In spring 2003 he released his fifth CD "All Alone And Blue", going back to his personal roots in solo piano blues and boogie woogie. The success of this album in the KNON Texas Blues Radio charts even got Christian on the cover of Southwest Blues Magazine. In 2008 the next CD "The Blues And A Half" followed with all original songs, accompanied by some of the finest Texas blues guitar players: Anson Funderburgh, Mike Morgan, Jim Suhler, Hash Brown.

2009 found Christian Dozzler and Robin Banks renewing their musical partnership to record a highly acclaimed duo CD. "Livin’ Life" reached #1 and stayed in the top 10 of the Texas Blues Radio charts for several months, and was also featured extensively on XM-Satellite-Radio.

RJ Mischo

noreply@blogger.com (Ricky Bush) — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 20:38:00 +0000

Since a few folks reading this blog will also attend the Texas Harmonica Festival and since RJ Mischo will be one of the headliners, I thought that I'd best share my thoughts about RJ's newest release, Make It Good, from Delta Groove Music.

I've been listening to and writing about RJ Mischo's music since his Blue Loon release with Percy Strother back in 1992. I'm pretty sure that I've written reviews on most of what he's recorded since then, and it is quite a body of blues harp blasting work. He's never disappointed the blues loving harp player in me and he certainly ain't starting now.

Make It Good is a particular strong outing and not just for the remarkable talent RJ has with a harp in his mouth, or his sometimes wise ass lyrics, or his solid vocals. He's rounded up one hell of a band with some of best at what they do. How can one go wrong with Wes Starr on drums, Ronnie James Weber on bass, and a couple of real blues "ringers" for guitarists. What could go wrong with current T-Bird slinger Johnny Moeller spitting out licks out of one channel, while ex-T-Birder, Nick Curran's doing the same out of the other. The note vocabulary of this duo is unfathomable and relentless throughout the disc. They bounce leads back and forth like Chinese ping pongers, sometimes blending lead notes together, and slipping in and out of rhythms duties seamlessly. I'd like to know who's slinging what and when, but it really doesn't matter. I want pretend that I know their styles well enough to tell one from the other, but I'd be a liar, because both have chameleonic styles to suit whatever a song demands.

Oh, and then there's Nick Connelly's remarkable organ swells and fleet fingered piano runs punctuating the proceedings all disc long. His presence is noticeable from the "get go" on the opening cut, "Trouble Belt", on which RJ warns each and everyone to stay away from his girl. He pounds the hell out of the 88s on the rawkus tune, which by the way is devoid of harp, while the guitar twins get wound up with some kind of down and dirty tones and start rippin' notes from the fret board. Connelly's organ sets the stage for the instrumental, "The Frozen Pickle", along with RJs fat tone warbles.

There IS a third guitarist lurking about on this disc too, though. RJ included two cuts with what he calls his two man blues band, The Super Reverbs. He and guitarist Jeremy Johnson provide the smoke for the title cut, and Johnson get some down right, low down, funky tones going on with "Make It Good", with RJ providing minimal backing on harp. Drummer Richard Meade is thrown into the two man mix on this one and his heavy handed bombs are integral to the drive of the song. On their second outing on "Up To The Brim", it's Johnson keeping time with bass drum and high hat while slinging his notes around, and RJ lets his dirty, nasty, fat toned, freak flag fly on the instrumental.

RJ tends to always mix things up and keep the harp chops flying with other modes than full on, amped up tones. He does some good time, acoustic, chord heavy whomping on "Papa's S.T. Special", replete with Sonny Terry whooping, but also by tossing in plenty of single note nuggets. His acoustic superiority is on full display on "Not Your Good Man", which kicks off with some dirty Muddy guitar stylings. The tone that comes out of RJ's harp elicits remarkably deep bends. Whoa! Talk about blues with a feeling. I do know that Moeller stabs the hell out of the solo, because RJ calls his name out. He rips it. On "Elevator Juice", RJ drags notes from the bottom of the barrel with a low keyed harp and then swings to some of the best high end playing that I've heard anyone play.

Wes Starr and Ronnie James strut their stuff particularly effectively on the gut bucket shufflin' of "All Over Again". Look no further for a rhythm section operating on all cylinders. They drive the hell out of the tune.
They do the same to the rumba flavored instrumental "Arumbala Part 1" (early in the disc) and "Arumbala Part 2" (the closer), which is a lesson in what ensemble playing is all about. RJ breaks out his chromatic chops, as he and Connelly's organ mix and mingle together.

I don't think that I have enough adverbs, adjectives, or superlatives to describe every harp lick that RJ brings to the table on this CD, not to mention just what the hell Moeller and Curran continuously swap with each other. I'll just say this, "Hell Yeah!". Oh, and get this one.

Tunes At Noon

noreply@blogger.com (Ricky Bush) — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 21:40:00 +0000

Just received this and thought it certainly worthy to pass along.

The Houston Public Library has started a new music series called Tunes At Noon. According to Allen J. Westrick, Library Service Specialist, the program will feature local musicians performing in the restored Julia Ideson Building at 500 McKinney. The series is held the second Tuesday of each month from 12 noon to 1p.m. The duo of Snit and Org are the featured performers for July.

Texas Harmonica Festival 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Ricky Bush) — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 16:29:00 +0000

Gonna be another Killer show! Absolutely guaranteed!

River Bottom Blues Reviewed

noreply@blogger.com (Ricky Bush) — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 20:37:00 +0000

Just had to share that River Bottom Blues received a nice review on the Reader's Den website. I'll forgo the details and simply leave a link to the article. If you comment on the review, you have a chance to win a signed copy of the book from me. And I'll throw in a bookmark. If you don't win, then you can click on the cover in the sidebar of my blog and order a signed copy directly from me. I'll throw in the bookmark and a coupon from the publisher for a FREE eBook version. Of course, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony eReader, iBooks, Powells, Booksamillion, Diesel, and oodles of other places will see a copy to ya also.

http://www.readers-den.com/2012/06/river-bottom-blues-by-ricky-bush.html

The esteemed book review site Midwest Book Review also calls River Bottom Blues a "face pace mystery of murder and blues".