The Blue Shoe Times

Dallas businessman brings the blues to classrooms

2009-01-09T23:35:00.000-06:00

By Cortney Harding

NEW YORK (Billboard) - A nonprofit record label? Sounds like the punch line to a joke.

But the Blue Shoe Project, a Dallas-based nonprofit aimed at educating school kids about the blues, isn't kidding around.

Co-founder Jeff Dyson describes himself as "not really a musician or a music business person, but just a huge fan of the blues." The telecom executive says he started the Blue Shoe Project with his son Michael when he realized that blues legends were dying off, taking with them stories that would be lost if young people didn't learn about them.

In 2004, the Dysons produced a concert in Dallas featuring acclaimed Mississippi Delta bluesmen Pinetop Perkins, Henry James Townsend, David "Honeyboy" Edwards and Robert Lockwood Jr.

The event, the first that father and son had ever produced, came with a catch: The audience was limited to local college students, who were required to write an essay on the history of the blues in order to gain admission. In addition to performing their songs, the musicians took questions from the audience and told the stories behind their songs.

The Dysons arranged for the concert to be filmed and recorded, thinking it would make a valuable historical document. After incorporating the Blue Shoe Project as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, the Dysons made CDs of the concert and sold them online to raise money. One of the album's producers passed along copies of "Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live in Dallas" to some friends who were members of the Recording Academy. The album went on to win a 2007 Grammy Award for best traditional blues album.

Thus far, the Grammy win has yet to translate into sales -- the album has sold fewer than 1,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. But the Dysons say the album reached stores only recently, through Burnside Distribution.

"Having a record label hasn't been our priority," Jeff Dyson says. But if they can find funding, they'd like to prepare more releases.

DVD IN THE WORKS

"We're getting to the point where we have enough material for a small catalog," Michael says, noting that he and his father are working on a DVD of the Grammy-winning concert, which they hope to release by September. "We also staged and recorded another concert in 2006, and we would like to release that as a CD and a film."

Since the first concert, the Dysons have started two educational programs that travel around schools in Texas, aiming to teach kids about the history and relevance of the blues.

"We go in and use references that are meaningful to their lives," Jeff says. "We ask kids if they know who Lil Jon is, and of course they all cheer, and then we compare him to a session player who was a really in-demand guest musician on a lot of blues records. Or we talk about Henry Townsend, who makes up all his lyrics as he performs, and how he's the grandfather of freestyling."

The Dysons also use the programs to teach kids another valuable and timely lesson -- that they should pay for their music. "We're a nonprofit, but we still pay all the artists their full fees," Jeff says. "Young people have to know that artists should be compensated for their work and that music is not free."

Of all the Blue Shoe Project's endeavors, releasing "Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen" has provided the greatest satisfaction, Michael Dyson says.

"It captured the essence of the concert in such a great way," he says. "When I look at all the albums I have in my collection, you kind of take for granted that you'll always be able to hear more records by those artists, but they're getting older. We need to make sure as many people as possible hear them before it's too late."

Reuters/Billboard

http://uk.reuters.com/article/musicNews/idUKTRE5090MK20090110

Who needs to play the Inaugural Ball?

2008-11-18T14:54:00.004-06:00

We recorded the Legends '08 program and received the tapes late last week. The footage is nothing short of amazing. We used some of the video footage to submit a video to the inaugural ball committee in Washington D.C. in an effort for Pinetop and Honeyboy to take part in the festivities. Needless to say they are two Americans that deserve more than anyone to take part in that event.

Here is the video we created, spread it far and wide! Also, call Washington and tell them you want Pinetop and Honeyboy to play the inaugural ball.

(202) 691-2247 or (202) 691-2244

Delta Blues Men Took To Dallas

2008-11-11T12:35:00.004-06:00

photo: Anne E. Dyson / The Blue Shoe Project

The Last Of The Great Mississippi Delta Blues Men Took To Dallas

Mon Nov 10, 2008 at 12:31:49 PM

By Dianna Wray / The Dallas Observer

They wheeled David "Honeyboy" Edwards, 93, to the edge of the stage. People in the shadows helped him to stand, and he crossed into the spotlight, taking slow deliberate steps, carefully placing each foot until he reached the plain wooden chair placed in the stage's center.

The crowd, full of students from across the metroplex, was on its feet screaming from the moment he appeared.

Handed his guitar, he takes it in hand, strums the instrument, and tunes its strings. With a glance at the audience, a small knowing smile crosses his face, and he begins to play. His hands pull sound out of the instrument with incredible power considering his age, and his voice rips and wails across the chords and figures.

“It’s wonderful to me,” he says later. “All of the people. The bigger the crowd I play for, the better I play.”

Takenya Byers, an Oak Cliff music school teacher looks back at her children as everybody else is clapping enthusiastically--but not quite on the beat. She lays it out for her fifth grade charges, a solid snap landing right in the groove, and her class is looks cool and knowing, snapping on the beat in the front row of the Meyerson.

The reason the Meyerson Symphony Center looked like it had been attacked by a horde of yellow school buses on Friday morning was because schools from districts across the region, including Plano, Lewisville and Dallas, had brought their students for fifteen dollars apiece (with scholarships for those who couldn’t afford it) to see David "Honeyboy" Edwards and Pinetop Perkins.

They are two of the last living links to the blues tradition.

Edwards was a friend or acquaintance of some of the greatest names of the age. He knew…well, he knew everybody. Big Joe Turner was his mentor. He drank with Tommy Johnson. He was friends with Robert Johnson, King of the Mississippi Delta Blues, who famously recorded thirteen of twenty seven known tracks (including “Me and the Devil Blues” and “Hellhound on My Trail”) at 508 Park Avenue in Dallas. Edwards was there the night Johnson was poisoned (when the hounds of hell caught up with him as legend has it). Edwards used to play Dallas, too, and recalled performing in Deep Ellum and hanging around Oak Cliff with T-bone Walker. He was around for some of the great moments in blues history, but not having died tragically or young, he has never been quite as famous as his contemporaries. Pinetop Perkins, 95, is called the King of Boogie Woogie Piano, and he'd played with Muddy Waters as part of the Chicago electric blues sound.

The show was organized by The Blue Shoe Legends Program, a creation of Jeff Dyson and his son Michael, in an effort to expose children to the blues and teach them about it. Since establishing the educational program in 2004, over 30,000 students have been introduced to the blues tradition through it.

Back in 2004, the father and son recorded a live album in Dallas with four bluesmen (only "Honeyboy" and Pinetop are still alive) called Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Blues. Unexpectedly, the album won a Grammy earlier this year, and the Dysons have been trying to get the two surviving artists to come and perform for the project itself ever since.

“It’s funny, you know, because they weren’t really doing much before, and then after they won this Grammy with us, it’s been almost impossible to get them,” Mike Dyson says, laughing. “But it’s still awesome to get to see them play.”

Dyson, in a navy pinstriped suit, white backwards baseball cap and blue and white sneakers acted as the emcee for the event. During the two performances (at 10:30 am and 12:00 pm) he comes bounding onto the stage, a smile almost splitting his face as he speaks into the microphone over the steady din of 2,000 students from fifth grade to high school who chattered and wriggled excitedly in the plush velvet seat.

Many of the schools who attended on Friday had already had introductory programs at the schools themselves. “I’m here to see the Honey man,” a fifth grader says, while her friends nod I agreement. “He plays the blues.”

Asked if he has any advice for the kids Edwards says, “What you like to do--music, or singing or whatever--don’t stop doing what you’re doing. Just keep on doing it. That’s what I did and if you just keep on doing what you love. Things’ll work out.” --Dianna Wray

Legends 08 Recap

2008-11-11T12:33:00.001-06:00

First and foremost, I'm sorry it's been a while since you have heard from me. The Blue Shoe Legends Program 2008 has usurped much of my time and the blog has fallen on the back burner as a result.

The good news is that the event was amazing and we're planning our next event now. Jen Friedberg from the Star-Telegram came out and put together an awesome piece that we invite you to check out. Keep your eyes out for my next posts, there is a lot to cover!

Posted by: Blue Shoe Mike

Everything is not okay, but it's going to be alright!

2008-08-21T01:33:00.001-05:00

Everything is not okay, but it's going to be alright! This week has not been a good one in the blues. We have sustained heavy losses one of which was Maurice Reedus, Robert Lockwood, Jr.'s long-time saxophone player. Maurice was a staple of The Robert Lockwood, Jr. Allstars for decades and also appeared on the Grammy award-winning album Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen - Live in Dallas. The album won Best Traditional Blues Album of the Year for 2007.

We are saddened at this loss as he was one of the many artists who participated in the Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen - Live in Dallas project.

Our friend Bob Corritore out of Phoenix has also reported the losses of Little Arthur Duncan, Phil Guy, and Hosea Leavy this week. Last week marked the passing of Jerry Wexler and Issac Hayes as well.

Maurice Reedus

* RIP Maurice Reedus 3/24/1930-8/18/2008: Maurice Reedus is best known as Robert Lockwood, Jr.'s longtime saxophonist. Word came from Mary Lockwood that Maurice left us on Monday, August 18, 2008 at 1:30pm in the Cleveland VA Hospital, after a long battle with cancer. His spare, jazz-tinged sax style was the perfect foil to Lockwood's stylized guitar, and that combination appeared over the years on classic Lockwood albums such as Contrasts, Does 12, and I Got To Find Me A WomanMaurice was associated with the . Lockwood sound for 35 years. His resume also includes work with Nancy Wilson, Jimmy Smith, Red Holloway, Hank Marr, Lou Rawls, and many others. There is more information and photos on Robert Lockwood, Jr.'s website, which you can see by clicking here, and then clicking on Maurice's name. Goodbye to a good man and a great player who was essential to that Robert Lockwood, Jr. sound that we loved.

Little Arthur Duncan

* RIP Little Arthur Duncan 2/5/1934-8/20/2008: It is with great sadness that we report yet another passing in this terrible week of losses to our blues community. Chicago harmonica ace Little Arthur Duncan passed away Wednesday morning, August 20, 2008 at Kindred Hospital in Northlake, IL. He was 74. He had been incapacitated for months with little hope of recovery. Born February 5, 1934 in Indianola, Mississippi, Arthur moved to Chicago at age 16, where he heard and befriended Little Walter, who inspired him to take up the harmonica. While holding down a construction day job, he began performing around Chicago with John Brim, Floyd Jones, and Hip Lankchan. He would later own and operate the Artesia Lounge on Lake Street, which moved to West Madison Street and reopened as Backscratcher's Social Club. Owning a club gave Arthur a regular place to perform, and he became a popular neighborhood attraction on the West Side. Twist Turner produced some of Arthur's first recordings, which appeared first on cassette and then on Cannonball Records' Blues Across America series. As Arthur's stature grew in Chicago, he recorded more, cutting two beautiful CDs for Delmark (Singin' With The Sun and Live At Rosa's Blues Lounge), and one for Random Chance (Live In Chicago). He was a simply great vocalist, with tremendous power and expressiveness; and his sparse harmonica was always on the money. He specialized in third position and chromatic harmonica. His final band included Illinois Slim, Rick Kreher, and Twist Turner. He had a warm and gracious personality, and his passing leaves a huge hole in the Chicago blues scene, as he was one of a handful of the dwindling old school harmonica masters. We will miss you, Arthur.

Phil Guy

* RIP Phil Guy 4/28/1940-8/20/2008: This news form Steve Hecht of Piedmont Talent and Buddy Guy's Legends: Guitarist/vocalist Phil Guy, the younger brother of the legendary Buddy Guy, passed away today at St. James Hospital in Olympia Fields, IL, after a battle with kidney and liver cancer. He was 68. Born April 28, 1940 in Lettsworth, Louisiana, Phil learned to play guitar as a child. He followed in Buddy's footsteps, playing after him with Baton Rouge artists Big Poppa and Raful Neal. He recorded as accompanist for his brother in 1957, for Raful Neal around 1958, and for Slim Harpo in the mid-60s. He joined his brother's band in Chicago in 1969, and has been based there ever since. He has worked and recorded with many of the city's leading artists, such as his brother, Junior Wells, Byther Smith, and Jimmy Dawkins. Phil began focusing his efforts on advancing his own musical career during the 80's and he developed a solid reputation as a tough, electrified Chicago blues guitarist. He toured all around the world; and though he never achieved the fame or recognition that his brother did, he was considered a star in his own right. His recordings are numerous and appear on labels such as JSP, Wolf, Isabel, and Red Lightning. Memorial info forthcoming.

Hosea Leavy

* RIP Hosea Leavy 11/26/1927- 08/12/2008: Another great one is gone. Fresno, California blues singer and guitarist Hosea Leavy died on Monday, August 12, 2008 of liver cancer. He was 80 years old. Born in Altheimer, Arkansas, just outside of Little Rock, he learned blues guitar from his father, and played throughout Arkansas before venturing out west during the 1960s. In 1968, Hosea's younger brother Calvin Leavy would record the hit record “Cummings Prison Farm” for Soul Beat Records, featuring Hosea's combo as the backing band. This led to a string of subsequent singles for both Calvin and Hosea. In 1977, Hosea settled permanently in Fresno, where he became a major part of that town's blues scene. In the 1990s, drummer Chris Millar produced sessions with Hosea that led to his only CDs, You Gotta Move, and a collaboration with Harmonica Slim called Cold Tacos and Warm Beer on the Fedora record label. A few additional cuts appear on the now out of print CD West Fresno Blues Masters, also on Fedora. A stirring vocalist and down home guitarist, Hosea had toured Europe and recently made a well-received appearance at the San Francisco Blues Festival. Don Heflin of Central Valley Blues Society and Deja Blues reports the following funeral information: The funeral service for Hosea Leavy (Granddaddy of the Blues) will be held this Friday, August 22, 2008 at 1pm. It will be at the Cooley Funeral Home, located at 1830 S. Fruit Ave, Fresno, CA 93706, tel. (559)268-6123. Afterwards, there will be a music celebration of life at the Hinton Community Center, 2385 S. Fairview Ave, Fresno, CA 93706, tel. (559)497-0795. To read the Hosea’s obituary in the Fresno Beehive, click here.

May these great men Rest in Peace.

Blue Shoe Bootcamp!

2008-07-13T21:27:00.002-05:00

photo: Dean Knuth / azstarnet.com

When we ramp up a series of education events, it's a whirl-wind. The latest whirlwind took place at the John H. Wood Charter School District. They operate the educational infrastructure within several juvenile detention centers throughout Texas. Debi Christensen, the director of curriculum for the district reached out to us after hearing about one of our programs through word of mouth.

Each detention center housed kids under the age of 18 that had been convicted of serious crimes: aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, and sex offenses.

These detention centers are sort of an intermediary between the Texas Youth Commission and other alternative programs.

We decided that we would need to work with this kids on a more one-to-one basis which made a harmonica workshop program a perfect fit. Each kid was furnished with a real Hohner harmonica that we had custom-made with Blue Shoe insignia laser engraved on each instrument. After leaving the facilities, each kid will get to take the harps home with them.

You would think that starting from scratch and working with this population of at-risk kids would be seemingly impossible. This was quite the opposite. It was amazing how quick the kids picked up the harmonica lesson. Some of them even worked ahead in the book and you could hear them hammering out When the Saints Go Marching In before we even got to that part in the lesson.

Overall the program was a huge success. Around 175 kids had the opportunity to participate. Strong life-lessons were blended into the program and most of the kids attentively listened. They asked lots of questions and were genuinely inspired by the opportunity to learn how to play the harmonica.

John H. Wood Charter District wants to have us back and we are really looking forward to the opportunity to return in the 2008-2009 school year. Many of the kids many choose to continue to play the harmonica and maybe we’ll have our next Sonny Boy Williamson, by way of the Texas Juvenile Justice system? One thing is for certain, the kids will never forget the day that The Blue Shoe Project visited their campus. Time will only tell!

It was an amazing experience for Blue Shoe and we really appreciate John H. Wood Charter School District and specifically Debi Christensen for providing the opportunity to visit their wonderful students.

If you want to learn more about the John H. Wood Charter School visit their websites: http://www.jhwoodcharterschool.com/ and the new website (coming soon) http://www.woodcharter.com/

If you would like to support programs like this, visit The Blue Shoe Project website and donate today!

Posted by: Blue Shoe Mike

Honeyboy, Shuman, and Gibson

2008-07-11T14:35:00.001-05:00

Alonzo Townsend, Scott Shuman, Jeff Dyson, Honeyboy Edwards, and Michael Dyson at the 50th Annual Grammy awards in Los Angeles

We have a google alert set up that lets us know about anything going on with The Legends. A cool article came across in the Washington Post today. Honeyboy received a brand new Les Paul from Gibson guitar in recognition of the recent Grammy win for Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen - Live in Dallas. It was presented to him at the show he played at Blues Alley in Washington D.C. It was cool to learn that our good friend Scott Shuman backed him up on guitar. We talked today and I asked him how he managed to do that!?

Honeyboy can be a bit challenging to follow on guitar...at least for me! Scott was able to pull it off though. Scott co-produced and engineered Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen - Live in Dallas and also performed on the album backing up the legendary Henry James Townsend. He is currently working on major label projects.

You can read more about the show and the recognition they received via The Washington Post website.

Down in A-Town!

2008-07-08T15:47:00.001-05:00

Jeff Dyson, Pinetop Perkins, Michael Dyson, Alonzo Townsend

photo: Anne Dyson / The Blue Shoe Project

Of course we did have the camera, but did not take pictures! Nonetheless we had a great time at Pinetop's 95th birthday party at Antone's in Austin. Pinetop was looking super-snazzy as always (he wore the red suite displayed above). Susan Antone was kind enough to allow us to get up on stage and say a few words about The Blue Shoe Project and how we came to know Pinetop, etc, which was awesome!

Michael Freeman, co-producer of Pinetop's new album, Pinetop Perkins and friends was also in the house. He is a super-nice guy and the story he told about how Pinetop's new album came into fruition is rather amazing. The album features guest appearances by iconic artists such as Eric Clapton and B.B. King. We hope to record a podcast soon chronicling this story. Tomorrow we're headed to San Marcos to conduct The Blue Shoe Project harmonica workshop for about 120 kids that are classified as extremely at-risk. We'll keep you posted on how this goes and hopefully we'll have some pictures to share. Stay tuned!

Posted by: Blue Shoe Mike

Pinetop's 95th in Austin!

2008-07-07T16:18:00.000-05:00

photo by: Anne Dyson / The Blue Shoe Project

We're down in Austin right now about to head over to Pinetop's 95th birthday party at Antone's! Little does everyone know, The Blue Shoe Project really started with Pinetop. Specifically his album Portrait of a Delta Bluesmen where he told awesome stories in between the songs. This album helped us recognize that there is a significant story to tell through the lives of these historic artists. Tonight we pay homage to the legend that started it all. Join us at Antone's, the party starts at 8:00 p.m.!

Blue Shoe Honored by U.S. Congressman

2008-07-05T17:49:00.001-05:00

Sterling Robertson / The Dallas Morning News

IRVING – The Blue Shoe Project, a non-profit organization based in Colleyville, Texas, was recognized on June 30 with a congressional record by Congressman Kenny Marchant. Blue Shoe Project won the best traditional blues album at the recent 50th Annual Grammy Awards Ceremony.

Blue Shoe Project was founded by Jeff Dyson and his son, Michael Dyson. The Dyson’s shared credit for recording the winning Grammy record, Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Businessman: Live in Dallas, performed by four legendary blues musicians: Henry James Townsend, Joe Willie “Pinetop” Perkins, Robert Lockwood, Jr. and David “Honeyboy” Edwards.

Marchant applauded Blue Shoe Project in their effort to preserve and advocate America’s great musical and cultural heritage for future generations.

Blue Shoe Project particularly works to spread the history and enjoyment of blues music to children and young adults. To date, more than 20,000 students have experienced Blue Shoe Project presentations.

Honeyboy Edwards turns 93!

2008-06-28T12:47:00.000-05:00

video: The Blue Shoe Project "Legends" Program featuring David "Honeyboy" Edwards

Blues Legend and Grammy award-winner David "Honeyboy" Edwards celebrates his 93rd birthday today. Honeyboy continues to tour extensively worldwide and will be making it back to Dallas soon for The Blue Shoe Project Grammy Celebration, soon to be scheduled.

Be sure to celebrate Honeyboy's birthday by picking up a copy of the album Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen - Live in Dallas that Honeyboy won the Grammy for along with blues compadres Henry James Townsend, Robert Lockwood, Jr., and Pinetop Perkins.

The album is available via The Blue Shoe Project store, Amazon.com, Cd Baby and I-Tunes.

Errant Grammy trophy arrives in time for festival

2008-05-16T21:36:00.001-05:00

By Bill Teeter

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

COLLEYVILLE -- Something wasn't cool after these two won a Grammy for the blues.

Father-son team Jeffry and Mike Dyson of Colleyville won the music industry's highest award Feb. 10 for their CD The Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live in Dallas.

Jeffry Dyson received his award three weeks ago. But Mike Dyson, 23, never received his.

Turns out the shipping label fell off en route. So The Recording Academy in Los Angeles had to resend it.

It got to Mike Dyson on Monday, just in time. The Dysons' non-profit organization, The Blue Shoe Project, is putting on a blues festival Saturday at the Village at Colleyville. Mike Dyson plans to unveil the trophy -- a gold statuette of a phonograph -- at the festival.

Blue Shoe Project commemorates Grammy with festival in Colleyville

2008-05-16T21:35:00.002-05:00

Andrew McElwee / Pegasus News Special Contributor

If you missed the Jimmy Buffett show out in Frisco last month, why not consider a healthy blues alternative? The Blue Shoe Project will be hosting their first ever Blue Shoe Blues Festival at The Village in Colleyville, this Saturday, May 10th.

Blue Shoe Project Blues Fest

There’s good reason to celebrate. After all, it’s not every year someone local wins a Grammy. That’s right—the Project took home the prestigious award last February.

Their live album, Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesman - Live in Dallas, won Best Traditional Blues Album at the 2008 Grammy Awards.

The festival features an impressive lineup of crooners not unknown to DFW (and beyond). Opening the show with a hoop and holler will be Elvis T. Busboy and the Blues Butchers.

Following (and even matching) their lead, Tutu Jones will introduce his untamed guitar talent to fans. Like Red Bull and gin, this blues veteran’s style is explosive and exceedingly personal.

Many concert-goers already familiar the Project’s reputation will witness 17-year old guitar prodigy Marquise “Big Daddy” Knox and the Hard Knox Blues Band. A product of Blue Shoe’s successful educational programs, this Gen-Y bluesman is steadily gaining ground across Texas.

“He’s way ahead of his age to be playing this stuff,” said Mike Dyson, co-founder of The Blue Shoe Project. “Blues is where Marquise really shines. We look at him and say, this is the future, right here.”

Following the performances, specialized blues workshops will be taught personally by Marquise and Mike.

The Blue Shoe Blues Festival kicks off at 2:00 PM and jams until 9:00 PM. The event is presented by Tivoli Wines plus a host of other generous sponsors.

And for those who don’t believe in free lunches (or drinks, for that matter) VIP tickets will be available for $100. All proceeds go to further support The Blue Shoe Project’s educational ventures.

“This event is the first of its kind in Colleyville,” remarked Dyson. “It’ll show folks what we’re up to--continuing to foster blues while showing people a good time.”

Founded as a non-profit organization in 2004, The Blue Shoe Project is committed to advancing awareness of blues and roots music in education. For more details on the festival, visit www.blueshoeproject.org or call 1-800-714-6019.

Blue Shoe fest in Colleyville

2008-05-16T21:35:00.001-05:00

Nancy Churnin / The Dallas Morning News

You're never too young for the blues. That's the message the Grammy-winning music producers at the Blue Shoe Project are sending with their blues festival for all ages in Colleyville on Saturday. The mission behind the Blue Shoe Project is to preserve traditional blues music for new generations. To that end, the event will include a 3 p.m. blues workshop for kids, led by Marquise "Big Daddy" Knox, who will perform later with his Hard Knox Blues Band. Additional performers include five-time Grammy Award winner Tim Alexander of the country band Asleep at the Wheel, recording artists Elvis T. Busboy and the Blues Butchers, international blues artist Tutu Jones and slide guitar master Gerry Moss. The Blue Shoe Project has brought blues to more than 25,000 students in North Texas. While the event is free, a special VIP package that includes backstage access, hospitality and an all-inclusive food and beverage service costs $100, with proceeds going to the Blue Shoe Project's education and outreach efforts.

Saturday from 2 to 9 p.m. at the Village at Colleyville, 62 Main St., Colleyville. 1-800-714-6019. www.blueshoeproject.org.

Got the Blues?

2008-05-07T10:51:00.001-05:00

GOT THE BLUES?

Blue Shoe Project Plans Free Blues Festival in Colleyville

By Scott Price / Staff Writer - The Colleyville Courier

Fresh off its Grammy Award this year for producing the best traditional blues album, Colleyville-based Blue Shoe Project is organizing a local blues festival.

Blue Shoe Blues in the Village will take place 2 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, May 10, in The Village at Colleyville.

Michael Dyson, who started The Blue Shoe Project in 2004 with his father, Jeff, said this family-friendly blues festival is the first free event they have produced. He added that the event will include sale of food and drinks, but at "reasonable prices." Blue Shoe is a non-profit organization that seeks to educate people, especially students, about blues and the legacy of American music.

Photo Courtesy of Peter Newcomb

Although the headliner is Elvis T. Busboy, another top performer at the festival will be 17-year-old bluesman Marquise Knox.

The event will include 17-year-old blues prodigy Marquise "Big Daddy" Knox who will lead a blues workshop for children and their families at 3 p.m. during the festival. Dyson said the kids love it when Knox goes into the audience and allows them to play his guitar.

"He’s a totally reincarnated bluesman," Dyson said. "I don’t know where he gets it."

Also playing at the festival will be recording artists Elvis T. Busboy and The Blues Butchers, featuring five-time Grammy Award winner Tim Alexander of the iconic country band Asleep at the Wheel. Blues artist Tutu Jones and slide guitar master Gerry Moss, of the legendary Lloyd Price Band, will also perform.

A special VIP package is being offered for $100 per person, which allows personal access to each of the performers and access to a hospitality area with food and drinks.

The festival, though it has taken a number of weeks to organize, will be a post-Grammy Awards celebration of sorts, Dyson said.

The Blue Shoe Project won the Grammy Award in February for best traditional blues album for Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen – Live in Dallas. The album features David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins, the late Henry James Townsend and the late Robert Lockwood Jr.

Dyson said The Blue Shoe Project was approached by businesses in The Village at Colleyville with the idea of having a blues festival, and he said they liked the idea.

Now Realty Capital Partners, Tivoli Wines, the Colleyville law firm Denton, Smith and Cunningham, L.P., and Clifton Capital Partners are all sponsoring the festival.

Feedstore BBQ, based in Southlake, will be selling food at the festival.

"This is the first time we have had a free event," Dyson said, "and there is already a buzz around town for this.

"If everybody shows up and there is some great music, then maybe we will do it again in the fall."

Janet Denton, of Denton, Smith and Cunningham, one of the event sponsors, said she has seen Marquise Knox perform. "When he gets on stage, he becomes ageless, like Honeyboy," she said.

Denton said she feels this festival is coming along at the right time when The Village at Colleyville is about to blossom. She said it is becoming that old-fashioned walking neighborhood.

Denton said she is hopeful that the festival can grow.

"I think this is the springboard for something big," she said.

"It’s going to be like something they’ve never seen before [locally]," Dyson said.

People are allowed to bring lawn chairs, coolers and have open beer and wine containers at the festival.

More information on the web: http://www.BlueShoeProject.org

Blue Shoe hosting Free Bluesfest

2008-04-28T11:51:00.001-05:00

The Blue Shoe Project hosting first-ever Colleyville Blues Fest, Show features Grammy-winning Musicians

Bring the Kids!!!

Pre-show talk by Marquise “Big Daddy” Knox!

Colleyville, Texas –Saturday, May 10th. 2 PM - 9 PM. The Blue Shoe Project, North Texas’s Grammy-winning music producers, will host Colleyville’s first-ever blues festival in The Village at Colleyville, 62 Main Street, Colleyville, Texas (Highway 26 at Main Street). Headlining the event is national recording artists Elvis T. Busboy and The Blues Butchers, featuring five-time Grammy Award winner Tim Alexander of the Iconic Country band Asleep at The Wheel. Also performing will be international blues artist Tutu Jones, child prodigy bluesman Marquise “Big Daddy” Knox, a recent opener for BB King, and slide guitar master Gerry Moss of the legendary Lloyd Price Band. As a bonus for kids, before the show Big Daddy Knox will be leading the Blues Workshop for kids with Blue Shoe Mike, beginning at 3:00 PM.

This is a free event!

The event is being presented by Realty Capital Partners, Tivoli Wines, Denton, Smith and Cunningham, L.P. , Clifton Capital Partners and is sponsored by The Village at Colleyville business community. A Special VIP package is also available that includes back stage access, hospitality condominium and an all inclusive food and beverage Artist Meet and Greet. For information about the event or to purchase a VIP package, please contact The Blue Shoe Project at 1-800-714-6019 or online at www.BlueShoeProject.org or www.BlueShoeLive.com .

A non-profit organization founded in 2004, The Blue Shoe Project is dedicated to the education and preservation of traditional Blues music. To date, over 25,000 students have experienced live blues educational performances in informative and personal settings, as various artists share their music and its historical impact with children of all ages. All proceeds from the concert benefit The Blue Shoe Project’s education and outreach efforts.

Sitting in with Jeff and Mike

2008-03-18T10:22:00.003-05:00

An interview with Jeffry and Michael Dyson, founders of The Blue Shoe Project and producers of Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen - Live in Dallas. This interview appears in the February edition of Society Life Magazine.

On October 16, 2004, Colleyville’s Jeffry and (son) Michael Dyson transformed the historic Majestic Theatre into the perfect storm by bringing together some of the most legendary Blues musicians of our lifetime. Society Life’s Lisa Brown Ross talks to the family about what began as a passion for educating kids about the Blues, how it’s turned into a Grammy nomination and how lives have changed forever.
by: Lisa Ross - Society Life Magazine

You received the Grammy nomination for a live recording of blues legends who were 89-94 years old at the time of the recording. What have you learned from them?

This is a great question. When you read about musicians in traditional magazines that cover the subject or you talk to more astute followers of the music, the conversations seem to center around the music rather than the person. Since we didn’t come from the music business, our attention was focused as much on them as people in addition to them being iconic musicians. What unfolded before our eyes was a compelling story that had not been told. They really appreciated what we were trying to do for kids and this unlocked a part of their lives that focused on life lessons rather than musical ones. In a word, to answer your question—wisdom.

The CD, Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen—Live in Dallas is being hailed as one of the top live blues recordings of all time! How did you all react when you were notified about the nomination?

There aren’t words to describe the feeling. There are only three experiences in my life that stand ahead of how I felt when I found out about the nomination—the day I got married was the greatest day of my life, the day my daughter was born and the day my son [and now co-founder of The Blue Shoe Project] was born. But these personal experiences were different than the Grammy nomination. The joy I felt about the Grammy nomination was for the artists, not about me personally but a great joy nonetheless.

As the founders of the Blue Shoe Project,what inspired you?

Several things come to mind. The first is the preservation and perpetuation of the blues in school curriculum. Jazz, a first generation evolution of the blues root is one of several primary art forms taught in schools today. Yet blues, the foundation of popular American music, an art form that changed the world is nowhere in the curriculum or gets very limited study and that’s a tragedy. A world without blues would be like the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” but without George—no James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Beyonce’, Christina Aguilera, Ray Charles,Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Fats Domino, Eric Clapton, The Supremes, Temptations, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, ZZ Top, SteveMiller and Elvis would have never left the building. The list is endless. Imagine all the music you grew up with not existing—ever. The blues and the music that came from it is the gift our country gave the world and our kids should know it and be proud of it.

The CD celebrates the artistic genius of Blues legend, “Honeyboy” Edwards, the late great Henry James Townsend, Joe Willie “Pinetop” Perkins and the late Robert Lockwood, Jr. If they were all alive today,what would you say to them?

Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your lives and for believing in us to participate in such an event that allowed us to create a legacy for kids to appreciate.

What were some of the stories shared by these awesome artists? The stories they shared and lessons about life in the time we spent together could not have been scripted any better. Here are some thoughts on what we learned. The importance of education and continuous improvement. Robert Lockwood Jr. said, “That guitar is going to be your woman from now on. You’re going to have to sleep with it (to be good at it). And you need to get yourself a teacher! He also talked about formal instruction, respect for others and the necessity of respect for one’s self as crucial. Dress for success. These guys set the bar for a ‘sharply dressed men’. Lockwood once askedMick Jagger, “With all that money you have, can’t you afford to buy some decent clothes?”

The Blues offers life lessons right?

Absolutely. Kids have a diverse set of challenges today—single parent families, physical abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, social pressures to fit in or get out and personal relationships with friends and love interests. There are life lessons in the blues. The experiences of the artists that created the music is as relevant today as it was when it was created. These personal challenges are all things that are chronicled in the blues. But also, when you consider the messages and lessons that the four artists featured on the album shared, you realize that kids can benefit from blues education. Just ask yourself these questions, why do people listen to blues in the first place and why do they feel better after doing so? Because the music communicates to the listener that “things may not be alright but they’re going to be okay and that’s an important message for our youth to build upon.

Talk tome about this journey to the Grammy? You’re not even record producers!

Great things happen when you pursue something out of passion. Everything about the CD was
about the purity of passion—passion for sharing this art form with kids, passion for the music, passion for the artists and for recognition long overdue for the artists in particular and all blues artists on the whole. It started as a project to expose kids to these legendary figures before it was too late.We realized it was much bigger than that and much bigger than us. Even the co-producer, Scott Shuman, who oversaw the mixing, engineering and song selection had a personal relationship with Henry Townsend that spanned three decades. He loved Henry like a father. He was passionate about giving Henry the chance for his music to be heard by future generations and by a larger audience and he was the absolute right person to give that challenge. Scott felt very passionately about the project and put his heart and soul into it and the end result is the representation of a body of work that is surrounded and enveloped in the love and passions of many.

One thing is for certain, it was never about money. As for the Grammys, this is about the artists, not about us. We hope that they receive the recognition for the contributions they’ve made to our country and to the world. If we can raise awareness of the importance of blues education, then we have succeeded.

Tell me about that evening on October 16, 2004 when you gathered this league of extraordinary men. It must have been magical?

The part where we didn’t know what the @#?# we were doing or the part when they began to play? Actually it started a little sooner than that. The artists arrived on the 15th for our first education event the evening before the grand performance. College students had to compose a 500 word essay on ‘The Impact of Blues on American Music’ in order to gain entry into a storyteller event featuring the artists. Students were given the opportunity to ask them questions, meet them, hear their music and learn about their life experiences. The three best essays were awarded a scholarship to the college of their choice. We picked the artists up at the airport the morning of the 15th and went to the local NPR affiliate KERA for a radio interview hosted by the late Glenn Mitchell. When they sat down in their respective chairs and once the interview began, the gravity of our mission and the validation that all we had worked so hard to bring together was finally happening made for a very emotional moment.

So, what happened at the performance?

That’s another story. Everything we didn’t know about producing an event came to light and ole’ Murphy was there with his whole gang! One challenge after another kept popping up. The show began 45 minutes late, we were sweating bullets, but once Honeyboy began to play the first set, the clouds parted and the sun came out. Magical is the right term. We had done all we knew to do and many things we learned along the way. When it came time to hand the baton to the artists, they did what they had been doing for the better part of 90 years, they played and man did they play. It was unbelievable. We had them in the best house in town—the historic Majestic Theater. I think it meant a lot to the artists to play such a venue and it showed in their music. They also were very happy to all be together. They had all known each other for years. Henry, in his 94 years had never played Dallas. They had just played for the kids the night before and the mood was as good as it could be despite our experience shortfalls. They were like old college buddies.

What do listeners have to look forward to on the CD?

It rocks! It’s hard to imagine these artists are 89-94 years old when you listen to it. Who is playing the way they play on a CD at 90 years old? Les Paul is the only one that comes to mind and he is 92. Each artist has a very unique style so listeners are treated to a candy store of blues sounds from Delta blues to Chicago blues, St. Louis blues, lounge blues and jazzy blues. They will find it hard to take the CD out of their player. One special surprise is the cameo appearance by the legendary, DJ “Sunshine” Sonny Payne. He still hosts the longest running radio show in American history—King Biscuit Time. He opens the CD by leading the audience with the legendary jingle “pass the biscuits its King Biscuit Time”. This was followed by the King Biscuit Boys song played by the very artist that wrote the song, Robert Lockwood, Jr. and then it all came together like it does every day at 12:15pm Central time on KFFA radio in Helena, Arkansas.

Would you consider The Blue Shoe Project your life’s work?

Til I die.

I’m willing to bet many people are unaware about the history of Dallas being a Blues Mecca—home to such legends as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Blind Lemon Jefferson and so many others. Do you cover this in your educational programs for youth and how do they
respond?

We do. It’s important for students to understand (especially in Texas) that Texas played a critical role in the evolution of blues and blues with regard to Swing, Rockabilly and Rock-n-Roll. I mentioned a few artists already but when you add to the list Freddie King, Albert Collins, Sippie Wallace, T-Bone Walker and Lightnin’ Hopkins for example, it would be hard to find their influences absent from interviews by most popular recording artists of today, certainly in Rock-n-Roll.

Between your birth date and your death date, there’s a line that’s really the essence of your life—or how you will actually be remembered. What do you want that life line to represent about the two of you?

There is absolutely no substitute for passion.

I just know that the men who are no longer here are smiling down on you now for honoring their memory in such a meaningful way. What do you think they’re saying?

“You know, I always said, because it’s true, and it all happened as I say,
because there wouldn’t be no me, if it wasn’t for you.”

QUOTE FROM HENRY JAMES TOWNSEND

Purchase your copy of Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen - Live in Dallas today:
http://www.blueshoeproject.org/
http://www.amazon.com/
http://cdbaby.com/cd/lotgmdb

The Bluesman's Apprentice

2008-03-18T09:17:00.006-05:00

photo by: Dayna Smith / The Washington Post

Acolyte of Henry Townsend Repays Him With a Grammy

By J. Freedom du Lac / Washington Post Staff Writer

Scott Shuman was a college freshman with illusions of becoming the next Eric Clapton, if not the new T-Bone Walker, when he met the old bluesman Henry James Townsend.

It was 1974, at a folk festival in the St. Louis suburb of Belleville, Ill., when the 18-year-old guitar-picker from Arlington noticed the sexagenarian Townsend sitting in the audience.

"Henry was wearing a tuxedo and a derby, looking very sophisticated," Shuman says on a recent afternoon at his home studio in Falls Church. "I was thinking: 'Man, that guy really looks like a bluesman.' "

Sounded like one, too, once Townsend hit the festival stage, plucking the guitar in that Delta-country style of his and talking the blues with his weathered tenor. Shuman introduced himself backstage, then grabbed a guitar, peeled off a few licks and brazenly asked if he could play with the Mississippi-born musician whose recording career had begun in 1929. On acetate.

"I was 18 and all I wanted to do in life was be a blues guitarist," Shuman recalls. "Henry says, 'What are you doing tomorrow?' And the next day, I'm in St. Louis, playing with Henry Townsend at his home on Kingshighway."

Thirty years later, they were still playing together on occasion. Such as the night of Oct. 16, 2004, when a wheelchair-bound Townsend and his old young friend Shuman -- accompanied by bass player John May -- performed at the Majestic Theatre in Dallas, on a bill that also featured Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins, David "Honeyboy" Edwards and Robert Lockwood Jr.

It was a historic summit: Four Delta-blues elders, then ages 89 (Lockwood) to 94 (Townsend), all of them recipients of the National Heritage Fellowship, sharing the stage as if somebody had called a senior-leadership meeting of the blues.

Shuman engineered, mixed and mastered a recording of the concert with another studio whiz, Paul Grupp, and the resulting CD, "Last of the Great Mississippi Bluesmen: Live in Dallas," was released to minor acclaim in 2007.

The major notice arrived last month, when "Live in Dallas" won a Grammy Award for best traditional blues album.

It was a career highlight for Shuman, who finally gave up his next-Clapton dreams to become a full-time studio guy, producing, mixing and mastering everything from independently released bagpipe albums to mainstream major-label compilations. (He's also started producing music specials for television.) "Finally, at 51, I'm at the place in the music industry that I would've liked to have been 20 years ago," he says.

But the Grammy was bittersweet, given that Townsend wasn't there for the win and all the attendant attention. He died of pulmonary edema in 2006 -- a month shy of his 97th birthday -- near Grafton, Wis., where he'd gone to play a gig with Shuman. (Lockwood died two months later, leaving Perkins and Edwards as the last of the Last Greats. Perkins performs tonight at the Glen Echo Spanish Ballroom.)

"I wish Henry could have been there," Shuman says of the Grammy ceremony in Los Angeles. "The award was my way of thanking him for everything he'd given to me. He was one of the greatest unknown bluesmen. He was never as popular as a Willie Dixon or Muddy Waters or Buddy Guy, but he was at that level. I finally got him some of the recognition he deserved."

Shuman's friendship with Townsend seemed unlikely, especially at the outset.

Shuman grew up in the Washington suburbs and his blues addiction began with gateway artists like the Allman Brothers Band and Clapton, right at around the time he'd enrolled at Washington-Lee High School. Now, here was this white kid in a black leather jacket carrying his Gibson SG through the African American neighborhoods of St. Louis to be with Townsend, a tough man from Shelby, Miss., who'd grown up in Cairo, Ill., was nearly 50 years older, was nicknamed Mule, had a knife scar on his arm and, usually, a gun in his pocket -- who'd been around.

That day in Belleville? Shuman had no idea. "I thought Henry was just some blues guy," he says. "I didn't know he knew T-Bone Walker and had played with Robert Johnson. We just made a connection. He touched my soul. He became my teacher and my best friend."

The relationship endured even as Shuman moved away and moved on, landing back in Virginia, gigging with his own blues bands, then building his studio by converting a carport into a soundproof space with a modified Hammond B-3 organ tucked into a corner.

Then, a decade ago, Shuman says he decided he needed to try to get the old band back together. It was time, what with Townsend pushing 90. "I made a conscious decision to spend as much time as I could with Henry while he was still alive," he says. That meant regular flights back to St. Louis, and elsewhere around the country for concerts and festivals. "It wasn't just about doing the gigs," he says. "We hung out, worked on cars together, talked."

There were also sessions at Shuman's studio, where Townsend was always working out new ideas, new voicings. Ultimately, he recorded in nine different decades, on top of writing something like 350 songs and playing an unfathomable number of concerts.

"He was 96 when he went out, doing what he loves to do: He was on his way to a gig," says Shuman, who was at Townsend's side when he died in a Wisconsin hospital. "I felt a sense of peace when he went."

But it's hard not to think of his friend and mentor. "Every time I pick up a guitar, I can feel him." Shuman sighs.
"It's actually been hard for me to pick up the guitar since he died."

Fair Use Notice

TEAMWORK

2008-03-05T22:33:00.001-06:00

Jeffry Dyson and Scott Shuman

This article just came out in the paper about Scott Shuman, who engineered, mixed, mastered and co-produced Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen - Live in Dallas. This speaks to the amazing things that can be accomplished through dedication and focus on a common goal. Thank you to Scott Shuman of Shuman Recording and Paul Grupp for their awesome contribution to Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen - Live in Dallas. It could not have been done without them. If any of our readers ever need audio and high-definition recording services for their next project, Scott is your man. Visit the website at http://www.shumanrecording.com/ .

Here goes the article:

F.C. Producer Scores Grammy for Blues CD

by Byran Toporek / The Falls Church News Press

While most people spent this past Grammy night waiting for the Best Album of the Year upset that no one could have predicted, local resident Scott Shuman was focused elsewhere — on his own newly earned Grammy award.

Shuman won a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album for his production work on The Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live in Dallas at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards this year. The album, sponsored by the Blue Shoe Project, featured blues legends Henry Townsend, Robert Lockwood, Jr., Joe Willie “Pinetop” Perkins and David “Honeyboy” Edwards performing a concert in Dallas on October 16, 2004. At the time of the concert, the artists ranged from 89 to 94 years of age, and all had received the National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellowship Award, the highest honor in the United States for traditional arts.

Shuman’s involvement with the album came about through a long series of events stretching most of his lifetime, beginning with a lifelong friendship with Henry Townsend established in 1974, when Shuman was only 17 years old.

“Henry Townsend was my best friend. I initially learned to record through him in his recording studio in St. Louis. He’s always been a great boost to my career,” says Shuman.

Shuman moved to St. Louis in June 1975 to begin playing guitar with Townsend.

“Henry had a recording studio in his basement and we’d spend late nights recording and jamming with some of the best musicians in St. Louis.”

Throughout the course of his life, Shuman found himself inexplicably intertwined with Townsend and his career. When the opportunity came to participate on this album, Shuman could not refuse.

Shuman traveled with the four blues legends down to Dallas, playing guitar at the concert (his guitar work is featured on five tracks on the album). Shuman also co-wrote the track “It’s Got to End Somewhere” with Townsend, which appears on the record.

Shuman set up shop in Falls Church with Shuman Recording Studios nearly 12 years ago, as he describes Falls Church as a place with “a lot of creative, supportive people.” He mixed the Grammy award-winning album in his studio and was listed as producer of the album along with Jeff Dyson of the Blue Shoe Project. Knowing the massive undertaking he had in front of him, Shuman called his friend Paul Grupp, a reputable mixer from Los Angeles to help him out; both are credited as mixing and mastering the album.

“When I mixed this, I called Henry and I said, ‘Henry, we’re gonna get a Grammy for this.’ I knew this project was gonna get at least a nomination.”

Shuman is no one-trick pony however. Shuman keeps busy with as many projects as he can get his hands on.

“I work all the time. I get a good night’s sleep every night, and the rest of the time, I’m working,” he says.

Along with his work on the Grammy award-winning album, Shuman has mixed and mastered over 400 CDs, and is showing no signs of slowing down. He is currently working on the 50th Anniversary of Motown for Universal Records, and has worked extensively with all of the major record labels. Time Life Music, impressed by the quality of his work, hired him has a mastering engineer, and he continues working with them on a regular basis. In addition to being a recording and mixing engineer, Shuman is a record producer, and also directs and produces music television for Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation.

His work is not limited to just auditory mediums, either. He created “BB Presents: The Best of the Blues,” which airs nationally each week through PBS affiliates. His largest undertaking currently is his management of Front Row Music Television, which creates music television for broadcasters, produces DVDs and music videos and distributes and downloads live music performances via the internet at http://www.frontrowmusic.tv/. He also produces music video performances in 5.1 surround sound.

Despite the multiple future projects, Shuman recognizes that the work he did on the Last of the Mississippi Delta Bluesmen album was particularly special.

“This CD was really a labor of love to honor [the Bluesmen’s] life work and to honor their legacy. That’s really why we did it. It wasn’t about getting an award, it was about me saying thank you to Henry, my mentor and my best friend. When we won, it was really personal, because we won it for our friends. That’s what it was all about.”

Miles, Who Recorded With Hendrix, Dies

2008-02-28T01:57:00.000-06:00

AUSTIN (AP) — Drummer Buddy Miles, who played with Jimi Hendrix and sang in the claymation commercials featuring the California Raisins in the 1980s, has died. He was 60.

Miles, who had been suffering from congestive heart failure, died Tuesday night in Austin, publicist Duane Lee said.

"He loved to laugh," Lee told The Associated Press on Wednesday night. "We spent more time laughing than anything else. He was a great joke teller."

Miles, who was born in Omaha, Neb., was performing with his father's jazz-influenced combo by the age 11. He then went on to play for The Delfonics, The Ink Spots and Wilson Pickett, according to his Web site.

He co-founded the band Electric Flag in 1967. He also co-founded the Band of Gypsys with Hendrix and Billy Cox, the Web site said.

Miles was drummer on Hendrix's landmark "Electric Ladyland" album before officially joining Band of Gypsys a few months later. Miles is best known for "Them Changes," a song he wrote and performed.

According to Miles' Web site, those he performed with included Stevie Wonder, Muddy Waters, Barry White, David Bowie, George Clinton, Santana and Bootsy Collins.

"You name it, he sat in with them," longtime friend Victoria Rose told the Omaha World-Herald.

Omaha musician Craig Balderston remembers jamming with Miles occasionally during the mid-90s.

"He would sit in and sing with us. He was a fantastic drummer and a fantastic singer," Balderston told the newspaper.

The Blue Shoe Project's Grammy win helping to "keep blues alive"

2008-02-25T15:51:00.002-06:00

PURCHASE NOW FROM:

The Blue Shoe Project's Grammy win helping to "keep blues alive"

By Andrew McElwee / Pegasus News

Once, if you told Jeffry Dyson of The Blue Shoe Project he'd be staring at a Grammy, his reaction would have been slack-jawed disbelief.

But now, the unbelievable has become reality. The Colleyville-based organization, dedicated to promoting awareness of blues in education, took home the prestigious award Sunday night.

Their album, Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen - Live in Dallas, was nominated in December for Best Traditional Blues Album. The CD features live music from four of the last original Delta bluesmen: Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Robert Lockwood, Jr., and Henry James Townsend.

For those riding the coattails of success, a Grammy nomination alone is a guaranteed foot in the door. But to actually win one? There must be a higher power involved.

Founded in 2004 by father-son team Jeffry and Michael Dyson, The Blue Shoe Project started out as a small-time operation. Their first shows took place in Grapevine and the surrounding communities, playing only to handfuls of students.

At the time, the endeavor appeared to be nothing more than a local phenomenon. But what folks didn’t count on was how eager these kids were to learn about the blues. That, and the sheer determination of the Project’s founders.

"A lot of light is being shed on blues because of this effort," explained Michael. "Blues is the root of everything in pop culture. How is the next generation going to know if we don't embrace it?"

This is where Blue Shoe discovered its niche. While other noble ventures to "keep blues alive" have failed, the Dysons' approach is radically different, yet far reaching: take a century-old genre, and put it in the minds and hearts of students.

To that end, the Project has successfully integrated a series of music programs, geared towards the blues, into school curricula all over North Texas. In support of these educational ventures, the organization has sponsored several sold-out performances in DFW, Austin, Chicago, and other hot spots across the country.

And while many of these played to local crowds, there was nothing local about the talent. Artists headlining Blue Shoe venues included soul legend Al Green, country superstar Hal Ketchum, and smooth jazz extraordinaire Richard Elliot.

But, like any worthwhile endeavor, the Project also weathered its share of hardship. Late in 2006, the organization lost one of its primary sponsors, 107.5 The Oasis, due to an unforeseen format change.

Shortly after, they lost not one, but two featured artists on the live album: Henry "The Mule" Townsend and Robert Lockwood, Jr. Both men were integral to the blues genre, widely credited with laying the foundation for modern American music.

Despite such setbacks, the Dysons' resolve and the vision for the Project never faltered. Their accomplishments have become a sort of blues legend in their own right, inspiring a new generation of musicians and educators.

And now, it would seem that the critical acclaim surrounding the Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen album represents the culmination of these efforts. Indeed, the proof is in the pudding. Or, in this case, the guitar chords.

Recorded in the historic Majestic Theatre in 2004, the CD features a variation of slide guitar and piano performances the four bluesmen. Cuts include Lockwood’s slide guitar rendition of “King Biscuit Time”, and ex-Muddy Waters member Pinetop Perkins crooning “Kansas City”.

And of course, there’s the unmistakable “Sweet Home Chicago”, performed the way it was meant to be by all four artists.

People sensed this event would be a hit. But no one could have predicted an outcome of this magnitude. Over three years since its recording, Last of the Mississippi Delta Bluesmen - Live in Dallas has won the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album.

If memory serves, a similar phenomenon happened in 1976, when an unknown actor by the name of Sylvester Stallone took home the Academy Award for Best Picture. Like the sleeper hit success of Rocky, The Blue Shoe Project has also attained that million-to-one shot.

Here’s to the underdogs.

Legendary Houston bluesman Calvin Owens passes

2008-02-21T21:13:00.001-06:00

By ANDREW DANSBY
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

1929 CALVIN OWENS 2008

Legendary composer and bandleader Calvin Owens, part of the blues bedrock in Houston, died Thursday morning. He was 78.

The trumpeter died of kidney failure weeks after undergoing a second surgery for liver cancer.

Nationally, Owens was best known for two periods of work as bandleader for blues legend B.B. King, one of which resulted in a Grammy. Locally, he was a major session player at the Peacock Recording Co. during its golden era in the 1950s. Owens was a fixture on Houston stages for 50 years. He also lived and worked in Europe for 12 years.

Nicknamed "the Maestro," Owens was a restless stylist who didn't limit himself to one genre.

"He was a visionary," said country musician Johnny Bush, who worked with Owens on two albums during the past two years. "He saw more in music than just blues or jazz."

Owens told Roger Wood, author of the blues book Down in Houston, "Jazz and blues are the same to me. People think of the trumpet as being a jazz instrument, and it is. But it's blues, too. So even when I do jazz, it's still the blues. I like to just think of myself as a musician."

Owens was born on April 23, 1929, and raised in the Fifth Ward by his mother, a New Orleans native who had relocated to Houston.

"We were extremely poor, in fact we were too poor to live in the housing project, and I mean, that's really poor," he told Amy Murdock in Touched by the Blues, an anthology of stories about blues players.

He grew up on Deschaumes Street in the Sawdust Alley area, northeast of downtown around Sumpter. Owens remembered the community fondly, later naming record labels and production companies after Sawdust Alley.

As a kid, Owens shined shoes and worked in a bowling alley. He picked up the trumpet at 13 and studied with the late, beloved music teacher Samuel H. Harris, among others. After graduating Phillis Wheatley High School, he joined a traveling vaudeville show.

Owens was also one of several local stars to make a name at Houston's Eldorado Ballroom. When he first played at the venue is difficult to pinpoint. He appears in a 1949 archival photograph; in Unsung Heroes, he suggested it was around January 1950.

Established as a premier player in Houston, Owens began working with King in 1953. Though King was born in Mississippi and had moved to Memphis, his roots in Houston were deep. As a young musician in the '50s he recorded here, and he also signed with a Houston-based booking agency. Owens told Wood of a camaraderie between Memphis and Houston blues musicians who would travel between the two cities picking up regular gigs. It was natural that King would court Houston talent for his band.

By 1957, Owens and King had parted ways. Owens worked different jobs around Houston, including one at a Maxwell House coffee factory. He also fell in with the Peacock Recording Co., where he developed talent and was a session player.

Those who heard Owens at the time suggest he was a fiery player.

"He was always first trumpet, no matter who he played with," Texas Johnny Brown, a blues guitarist who crossed paths with Owens for years starting in the mid-'40s. "You could say he was very brassy."

Local blues guitarist Pete Mayes, who played and recorded often with Owens, said he first heard the trumpeter in 1960. At the time, Owens was playing with Otis Turner's band.

"Let me tell you something about Calvin; Calvin loved to hit the high notes," Mayes said. "That was what you would call his forté. He'd play them notes above most other trumpet players."

Owens recorded with dozens of blues players, including T-Bone Walker, Amos Milburn, Gloria Edwards and Junior Parker. He also worked frequently with jazz artists such as David "Fathead" Newman and Arnett Cobb.

Owens' second tenure with King was as bandleader as well as soloist, from 1978 to 1984. He was a crucial contributor to King's Grammy-winning 1983 album Blues 'n' Jazz, an apt title for Owens' decades of music.

After leaving King's band, Owens settled in Belgium for more than a decade. Owens returned to Houston in the late '90s and began to record prolifically as a leader, starting with 1993's True Blue. As was his way, he continued to make music without regard for genre. He recorded blues and jazz, sometimes country, and occasionally hip-hop. He also worked in Spanish-language music, translating a 1996 recording into Es Tu Booty two years later.

"He was a total inspiration," said Andy Bradley, chief engineer at Houston's SugarHill studios, where Owens made more than a dozen recordings. "He was always full of energy whenever he came over here. He was always looking for another great singer, another great tune, another great groove."

Last year, Owens released La Mujer que Canta Blues, a collaboration between his Blues Orchestra and blues saxophonist Evelyn Rubio. Owens and his ensemble also released Houston Is the Place to Be last year.

Despite his cancer diagnosis, Owens continued to work regularly with his Blues Orchestra. He and his band appeared on Bush's 2007 album Kashmere Gardens Mud.

"I'd call him Mr. Owens," Bush said, "and he'd say, 'Don't call me that, you're the same age I am.' But we had great fun together. His arrangements were great."

When he heard the record, Willie Nelson decided to make an album of jazz- and blues-based country music with Bush, Owens and singer Ray Price.

Nelson will release the album, Young at Heart, on his label this summer.

"Generally, jazz and pop musicians don't have much to do with what I call hillbilly music," Bush said. "He was the opposite. This album is, more or less, his brainchild. If Willie hadn't heard the blues things we did in Kashmere Gardens Mud, this album wouldn't have happened."

Owens, who was married four times, was single at the time of his death, though two of his former wives were with him at Memorial Hermann Hospice in his last days. He's also survived by six children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Mayes said Owens "was a guy that loved people. And he loved his family.

"And he was one of the most outstanding blues musicians and arrangers of our times. I'm sure he'll get his due credit after he's up in heaven. He was a great man."

Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

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Colleyville men soak in their Grammy win

2008-02-19T21:15:00.000-06:00

photo by: Laurie Ward / Star-Telegram

Left: Jeff Dyson, Michael Dyson

By PRESTON JONES / Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Colleyville's Jeffry Dyson and Michael Dyson have been Grammy winners for less than a week.

According to Michael, it still hasn't quite sunk in.

The Dysons, who co-founded the nonprofit Blue Shoe Project to introduce the blues to schoolchildren across Texas, won the trophy for best traditional blues album at the 50th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday in Los Angeles.

Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live in Dallas, a concert album recorded in 2004 at Dallas' Majestic Theatre, beat out recordings by Pinetop Perkins, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Koko Taylor.

Father and son returned to North Texas on Monday, wasting little time in getting back on the road -- the Star-Telegram caught up with Michael Dyson on Wednesday en route from San Antonio to Austin, where he'd just finished a presentation to a statewide group of public school administrators.

"Great things happen out of passion. We've never had any motive but to do the right thing, and sometimes the little guy wins," Dyson says. "I always believe, and my father feels the same way, if you follow your passion, you're going to land somewhere close to where you want to be, and that's what we did. It was always about the music."

Dyson says the golden gramophone is expected to arrive in April, and in the spirit of a bash Feb. 8 in Grapevine to celebrate their nomination, the duo hope that they can celebrate their victory in style.

"Now we have to do a Grammy blowout," Michael Dyson says.

Although industry recognition for Blue Shoe is sweet ("It's very much a validation"), Dyson acknowledges that the project will remain focused on its primary goal.

"Getting kids in front of the blues, exposing more kids to the blues -- that's what it's going to be about," Dyson says. "The Grammys were big even outside of the win, because we were able to rub shoulders and meet people who can be engaged with these kids."

Dyson hopes that the Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen concert, which was also filmed, will be released on DVD, allowing for a visual component to the album. He stresses that as a nonprofit, the organization can't keep going without support.

"We need everybody to know that our work is bringing value to the community, but at the end of the day, that costs dollars and cents to move these gears," Dyson says. "But I can guarantee you're going to see a lot more from the Blue Shoe Project."

A Grammy? Shucks, it's all in a day's work for some folks.

2008-02-19T21:14:00.000-06:00

from left: Alonzo Townsend (son of Blues Legend Henry James Townsend) , Scott Shuman - album engineer and co-producer, Jeffry Dyson - President of The Blue Shoe Project and album Executive Producer, Blues Legend David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Michael Dyson - co-founder, The Blue Shoe Project and album Executive Producer.

By JOY DONOVAN / Star-Telegram Staff Writer

We know now, but we didn't know then. Would we have acted any differently? Probably not.

Because we loved what we heard at the Palace Theater, and we knew that to hear David "Honeyboy" Edwards was to be in the presence of a legend. But even as we threw in a standing ovation, what we didn't know is that we also were in the presence of a future Grammy Award winner. As in two days later.

Yes, 92-year-old blues artist Honeyboy performed in little ol' Grapevine on Friday night, then by Sunday he was proclaimed a winner at the 50th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. His recording Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live in Dallas, won for best traditional blues album. It was made possible by Colleyville's father and son team, Jeffry and Michael Dyson, who founded The Blue Shoe Project to educate schoolchildren about the American blues tradition. The Dysons then had the foresight to record it, and the rest, as we like to say, is history.

The Dysons also arranged for a Grammy pre-party at the Palace Theater. While food and drink were served butler-style to the fans, our man Honeyboy held court backstage at a VIP party, signing autographs and visiting with music lovers.

Among the blues fans packing the house last week were Colleyville Mayor David Kelly and his wife, Debbie; Renova Williams and hubby John Hamiga, also of Colleyville; Martha Skitt of Hurst; and Debbie and Pete Baynard, who recently moved from Southlake to the Carolinas.

Honeyboy, who proved Friday he still knows his way around a song or 10, was featured on the Grammy-winning recording along with Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins, Henry James Townsend and Robert Lockwood Jr. But joining him on the Grapevine stage last week were Bone Doggie and the Hickory Street Hellraisers and St. Louis musical prodigy Marquise Knox, who happened to be celebrating his 17th birthday.

Less than 48 hours before the big awards, he shrugged off where he'd put a Grammy Award, should he win. Going to the ceremony might as well be another day at the office.

"I don't care who wins," he said about his prospects. "... I've done as much as I can anyway. If we do, it's all right. If we don't, it's OK."

Case closed, as he likes to say.

Bluesmen finally get their due at the Grammys

2008-02-19T21:11:00.001-06:00

By Dean Goodman / REUTERS

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Two bluesmen in their 90s won the first Grammys of their colorful careers on Sunday, a reminder that there's more to the music industry than fresh-faced youngsters.

Pianist Willie "Pinetop" Perkins, 94, and guitarist David "Honeyboy" Edwards, 92, won the traditional blues Grammy for their appropriately titled album "Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live in Dallas."

They recorded the project with Henry James Townsend and Robert Lockwood Jr., who both died in 2006. Townsend, who was 96 when he died, was represented at the ceremony by his 21-year-old son, Alonzo.

Perkins, a former sideman with Muddy Waters, was nominated in the traditional blues category with another album, "Pinetop Perkins on the '88's -- Live in Chicago."

As an indication of their extraordinary reach into the annals of music, Edwards recalled that he played with Robert Johnson, the fabled "King of the Delta Blues," in 1937.

Johnson, who wrote and recorded such blues staples as "Crossroads" and "Sweet Home Chicago," is considered one of the most influential figures in rock music, with artists from Muddy Waters to the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton owing their careers to him.

According to legend, Johnson sold his soul to the devil in order to play guitar. "I don't know about that. He told me that, but I didn't believe him," Edwards said.

He also recalled the day that Johnson died in 1938, at the age of 27, possibly poisoned by a lover's jealous husband.

He was buried the day he died, on a Wednesday, Edwards said, "but his sister come on the Thursday and had him dug up, and put him in a casket, and put him back in the ground ... And I was there the same time when that happened."