Author: American Blues Scene Staff
Dylan Triplett’s debut album, out July 15, definitively answers the question, “Who Is He?”
Some of the most exciting sounds on the Chicago blues scene during the 1950s feature the harmonica. Chess Records led the way with Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin’ Wolf and others; then Vee-Jay followed with Jimmy Reed, Snooky Pryer and Billy Boy Arnold. But United/States released only seven harmonica singles: four by Junior Wells (on ‘Blues Hit Big Town,’ Delmark 640), one by Big Walter Horton, one by singer Tommy Brown with Horton on harp, and one rare coupling by singer-drummer James Bannister featuring the mysterious Alfred Harris. Horton’s “Hard-Hearted Woman”/”Back Home To Mama” was his first Chicago record…
R&B singer Samm Henshaw has kicked off his run of US tour dates. A performance video of “Loved By You” was also released from his debut album Untidy Soul. The son of a reverend, Henshaw grew up on gospel music and began writing worship songs for church at the age of 15. Naming Kirk Franklin, Lauryn Hill, and Marvin Gaye among his early inspirations, he made his acclaimed debut with a 2015 EP called The Sound Experiment (followed by The Sound Experiment 2 in 2016), and soon began touring with such artists as Chance the Rapper and Tori Kelly. Over…
Gulf Coast soul band The Suffers have released their new album, It Starts With Love, via Missing Piece Records. A common thread of empowerment runs through the new record which has already received widespread acclaim. The new album features previously released singles “Yada Yada,” a playful country-blues track on the hypocrisy often found in the music industry; “How Do We Heal” (feat. Son Little and Bryce The Third), a poignant question on enduring racial violence and trauma; and “Take Me To The Good Times,” which was named one of the best songs of the week by Rolling Stone. “Nunya” is…
From Second Half Records and Moondog Music, Chris Antonik’s new single “Waves of Stone,” hits like a thunderbolt, with its riff-driven blues-rock, classic blues themes, and modern-rock intensity. Emotionally propelled by the miscommunication and deafening silence experienced in the final weeks of a relationship, “Waves” features the incendiary guitar interplay of two of today’s most exciting guitarists, 3x-Maple Blues Award-nominee Antonik and 3x-Blues Music Award- nominee Jarekus Singleton, anchored by the track’s pounding groove, soaring gospel singers, and grand piano pumped through a roaring Leslie speaker. Forged from a crucible of pain and loss, this juggernaut from Chris Antonik powers…
Tedeschi Trucks Band — the revered, GRAMMY-winning, twelve-piece rock and soul band headed by Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi — release I Am The Moon: Crescent, the first episode of their epic four-part I Am The Moon album series. On Tuesday (5/31), the band premiered Crescent and it’s album-length companion film to over 10k fans via their YouTube Channel. Directed by Alix Lambert, the film featured kaleidoscopic visuals and footage of the band’s creative process shot in Pasaquan in Georgia, and offered a unique opportunity to communally experience the music in full alongside members of the band. https://youtu.be/I_smMxopFJs Featuring I…
Chicago blues is Dave Weld’s lifeblood. From his beginnings mentored by JB Hutto to his decades with Lil Ed Williams and his Blues Imperials, he has taken the blues around the world. Weld and his Imperial Flames have a brand-new album titled Nightwalk, their third for Chicago’s Delmark Records. Nightwalk deepens the forward-thinking sound and energy of their contemporary blues albums past, weaving an original tapestry of old and new traditions. Highlights include “Mary Who,” an authentic musical tour de force and vivid portrait of urban life and his tribute to JB Hutto, “Don’t Ever Change Your Ways.” Weld told Blues…
Thoroughbred Music announced the addition of Jamaican born folk/reggae/rock singer-songwriter Dwight Anthony Davis to their stable of artists, and the release of Davis’ new single, “Hurry.” This is the first song from the forthcoming album of the same name. The album Hurry is a collection of cracking songs now updated and rejuvenated under the leadership of new global record label Thoroughbred Music for a brand-new release, featuring a new reggae flock fusion of the first single, along with new songs. “Hurry” was born out of a period when Dwight faced many adversities in his life. He woke up one morning,…
Welcome to Windy City Wednesday. This newest offering from American Blues Scene will share classic and sometimes forgotten blues albums from some of the most iconic Chicago blues men and women ever to grace wax. This edition focuses on the album The Legend of Sleepy John Estes by Sleepy John Estes. *Notes from the ALL MUSIC Review by Alex Henderson In the late ’50s Sleepy John Estes wasn’t nearly as visible as he had been before and during World War II — in fact, he had become so obscure that some historians wondered if he had died. But the blues…
The album will be available on CD exclusively to the Music Maker Listeners Circle on June 1 and will be available to the general public streaming July 1.