Nick Dow Band plus Crossfire

True Blues Club, Earlestown

Saturday March 6th

Crossfire

Once again, our resident band Crossfire opened the evening’s entertainment with another completely new set of “Blues” material. The set included many new tracks, which they are about to record on a new album, and included Neil (my apologies for calling him Ken) showing his talents on the harmonica once again at the True Blues Club!

“Steve & I wish to congratulate the lads on being asked to play at the forthcoming Burnley Blues Festival”.

Up stepped the Nick Dow Band!

Nick Dow

Nick is as laid back on stage as he is on his radio show and opened by saying that due to a family crisis Jim, his regular bass player, was unavailable but, as he put it, he had stolen young Nick from his cot as a stand in! (Jim beware, this lad is good).

So, with barely two hours rehearsal Nick, with Craig on drums and young Nick on bass, proceeded to mesmerise the audience with two wonderful, make it up as you go along, sets!

Nick oozes “Blues”, his guitar and harmonica just seems to be a part of him. The love and emotion shown in numbers like “Sugar Coated Love” and “Sugar Free Mama” were a joy to behold but Nick literally held the audience spellbound with “Devils Music”.

Check us out on   www.truebluesclub.co.uk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIQ2IymlPtk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8LvD0OKcDI

Cherry Lee Mewis

The Academy Buckley – 26 Mar 2010

Ironworks, Oswestry – 27 Mar 2010

When you think of blues, you don’t tend to think 5 foot nothing brunette women. From Wales. Who are 24 years old. And very attractive. With a powerful, soulful voice and model looks, Cherry Lee Mewis is the perfect candidate to be an X Factor winner, but she has eschewed such gratuitous commerciality in favour of playing and writing the kind of real music that makes her tick. The blues.

And in doing so she has managed to turn roots and blues music into a cool swinging fusion that is both classic and yet contemporary. Her music is a heady mix is a heady mix of foot-stomping barnburners to bluesy slow-cooked rockers with even a spoonful of jazzy shuffle all helping to secure Cherry Lee Mewis place as one of the rising stars on the UK blues and roots music scene.

Whilst packed with great original blues numbers, Cherry’s sets also feature new arrangements of many classic blues numbers that are red hot and smoking, proving not to be just an echo of their original raw originators. The soft and sultry vocal delivery on Travellin’ Light, the rockin’ All You Need and wonderful swing-blues of Shake That Thing  all showcase those signature Cherry growls and tender vibratos.

So while Cherry is something new and exciting in the world of Blues, she is also very much focused on what makes blues so fascinating and capturing its rawness and its this dichotomy that makes her such a fascinating artist to see.

http://the-ironworks.co.uk/

The film features new performances of the freedom songs by top artists, including John Legend, Joss Stone, Wyclef Jean, and The Roots; riveting archival footage; and interviews with civil rights foot soldiers and leaders, including Congressman John Lewis, Harry Belafonte, Julian Bond, and Ambassador Andrew Young.

The freedom songs evolved from slave chants, from the labor movement, and especially from the black church.  The music enabled blacks to sing words they could not say, and it was crucial in helping the protesters as they faced down brutal aggression with dignity and non-violence.  The infectious energy of the songs swept people up and empowered them to fight for their rights.

SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION celebrates the vitality of this music.  Directed by Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman (Nanking), and executive produced by Danny Glover, SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION is a vibrant blend of heart-wrenching interviews, dramatic images, and thrilling contemporary performances — a film of significance, energy, and power.

http://www.soundtrackforarevolutionfilm.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJcccwYI5Go

Danny Bryant’s Redeye Band, The Animals and Friends, Mark Radcliffe’s The Big Figures with support from Citadel favourite Tom Doughty and a return visit from Wilko Johnson.

For further information or to book tickets call the Citadel box office on 01744 735436 or visit www.citadel.org.uk

John and Lorraine Welsh have put together a magnificent programme of Liverpool-based gigs for 2010, which will see the return of a number of top class internationally acclaimed performers and the first appearance of the highly talented Mark Flanagan, best known as the guitarist in Jools Holland’s Rhythm and Blues Orchestra. Details of the fabulous line-up are as follows:

Friday, 12th March – The Hamilton Loomis Band (at Garston Royal British Legion) – the young man from Galveston, Texas, combines supreme artistry with a spell-binding stage presence. He presents funky-edged good-time blues at its very best.

Friday, 23rd April – The Mark Flanagan Trio (at Garston Royal British Legion) –out of the shadow of the Jools Holland Orchestra, Mark Flanagan delivered a brilliant set on the main stage at last year’s Burnley Blues Festival where he matched his undisputed mastery of the guitar with equally fine vocals.

Thursday, 20th May – The Backbones (at Liverpool Marina) – fronted by singer and supreme harmonica player, Big Pete van der Pluijm, The Backbones are one of the very best blues bands in Europe, who  provide a stunning programme of Chicago-style blues infused with the powerful influences of Junior Wells and Lester Butler.

Wednesday, 23rd June – The Geoff Achison Band (at Liverpool Marina) – now resident back in his native Australia, after a triumphant two-year stint in the USA, Geoff Achison guarantees a vibrant, unforgettable show, with his exceptional guitar playing and  distinctive, gritty vocals.

Friday, 17th September – Hans Theesink (at Garston Royal British Legion) – on his previous visit to Liverpool (at the Marina), the Dutch master charmed the very appreciative audience with his warmth, his rich voice and his consummate skills on acoustic guitar. A class act.

October (date to be confirmed) – Toby Walker – another prize import from across the Pond, Toby has become one of the firm favourites at the Marina with his combination of scintillating finger-picking guitar work, fine vocals and fascinating reminiscences.

Thursday, 4th November – Doug MacLeod – our third guest from the USA will be welcomed back with open arms. He complements his fabulous vocals with highly accomplished guitar work, while humour is never far from the surface in his lyrics and his wonderful anecdotes.

Tickets are available from John Welsh by telephone (0151-428 2855) or by email (johnswelsh@hotmail.com)

Lionel Ross

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbipF0qaKhQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcZK8otg9LY

Nick Curran Competition

To coincide with the release and bluesinthenorthwest.com review of Nick’s excellent CD “Reform School Girl” on Eclecto Groove Records we have a competition.

We have three copies of the CD to give away to three randomly drawn winners who correctly answer the following question.

There is a  link between Nick’s CD “Reform School Girl” and another bluesinthenorthwest favourite -  Johnny Moellers CD from 2001 “Johnny’s Blues Aggregation”.  What is the link?

Please email your answers to nwblues@gmail.com using Curran Comp as the subject line.

NICK CURRAN & THE LOWLIFES

“Reform School Girl”

(Eclecto Groove Records: EGRCD509)

From the superb West Coast-based Eclecto Groove Records, comes the latest offering from retro-rocker Nick Curran. The Maine-born, Austin, Texas-based Curran, once again delivers an exciting mix of rockabilly, r&b, blues and rock ‘n’ roll, with mainly original tunes highlighting his rip-roaring guitar work and amazing vocals – sounding again like a genuine 50s rocker!

After a couple of more modern sounding records for Blind Pig Records, he turns back to the feel of his early releases on the Texas Jamboree label, with “Reform School Girl” again recorded at Billy Horton’s studio, Fort Horton, in Wyldwood, Texas, with the vintage equipment giving his work that authentic 50s feel. Horton hold down the bass duties here and co-produces with Curran.

The rest of the band comprise of Derek Bossanova (piano), Jon Doyle (tenor saxophone), Dan Torosian (tenor and baritone saxophone) and Nikki K (drums), together with several background vocalists. A couple of special guests are fellow Eclecto Groove artiste Jason Ricci on harmonica, and Phil Alvin on vocals and guitar.

Curran blasts off with the opening “Tough Lover” – a classic 50s r&b stormer, with honking saxophones and a Little Richard edge to the vocal; followed by the rockabilly rave-up “Reel Rock Party”, with the afore-mentioned Jason Ricci on harmonica. He takes somewhat of a swerve on the title cut, his own “Reform School Girl”, recalling the girl groups of the early 60s, such as The Ronettes and The Shangri-Las.

The sinister “Kill My Baby” is again sax-driven, and leads into the short-but-sweet tear-up that is “Psycho” . . . . 1.57 of pure dynamite with Curran letting loose with a killer guitar solo. “Baby You Crazy” dips back to Little Richard territory and is another energetic romp, with the rockabilly tune “Ain’t No Good” fairly rattling along, as does the rocking “The Lowlife”.

The pace is taken down on “Dream Girl”, with impassioned vocal and some sparkling guitar; “Flying Blind” is a great song, co-written with The Blasters mainman Phil Alvin, who shares the vocals and guitar duties – definitely an album highlight. A thoroughly enjoyable 14 tracks end with a 1.28 romp through AC/DCs “Rocker”, time enough for more honking saxophones and another customary Nick Curran guitar solo . . . great stuff.

Curran has packed a lot into his 32 years . . . from being out on the road with Ronnie Dawson, then a stint in Kim Lenz’s band, The Jaguars, before a high profile three years as co-guitarist in The Fabulous Thunderbirds . . . but here he is doing the material he loves best and simply having a ball!

GRAHAME RHODES

www.myspace.com/curranrock

www.eclectogroove.com

(At the time of writing Nick is currently in Austin being treated for a cancer – we wish him all the best)

There is a great atmosphere at the monthly blues jam at the Red Lion in Malpas.  The Tommy Allen band provide great backing to a great night.  The atmosphere is lovely with good playing and no monster egos.

This month we were graced by a regular visitor – one of the finest blues musicians in the country Johny Hewitt from Runcorn whose great playing and  monster tone is an aspiration to all us harp players.  There was also a great slide guitarist hailing all the way from Leicester – my apologies though, I don’t remember the name.

Second Thursday of every month.  The next session is Thu 08 April.

A couple more pictures on the bluesinthenorthwest.com Flickr page.