Author: American Blues Scene Staff
Welcome to the first edition of 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. Our inaugural edition focuses on the compilation album Bricks In My Pillow by the late, great Robert Nighthawk available on CD via Delmark Records. *Notes by Blues Hall of Fame inducted producer, writer, and record label executive, Jim O’Neal United Records, was the first successful black-owned record company. Operated by Leonard Allen, tailor, retired policeman and obviously one of exceptionally wide…
Nearly sixty years after they first played together, Ry Cooder and Taj Mahal, longtime friends and collaborators, reunite with an album of music from two Piedmont blues masters who have inspired them all their lives: Get On Board: The Songs of Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee. With Taj Mahal on vocals, harmonica, guitar, and piano and Cooder on vocals, guitar, mandolin, and banjo—joined by Joachim Cooder on drums and bass—the duo recorded eleven songs drawn from recordings and live performances by Terry and McGhee, who they both first heard as teenagers in California. Explaining where Terry and McGhee took him…
Marcus King has announced the release of Young Blood, his new solo album, produced by Dan Auerbach and released August 26 on Rick Rubin’s American Records/Republic Records. The 26-year-old, GRAMMY® nominated songwriter and performer draws on his most stadium sized rock influences to create this new record. Plugged into his old man’s dusty amp with a ’59 Les Paul in hand, Marcus set out to make a rock ‘n’ roll record in 2022. He didn’t disguise his ambitions at all. He didn’t hold back. He didn’t think about anything but writing from the gut, shooting from the hip, and playing…
After six decades stirring the melting pot of American music, Delbert McClinton is in a reflective mood. On May 13th, the legendary blues and soul rocker is set to release his 27th studio album Outdated Emotion, a vibrant musical celebration of his lifelong favorite tunes. Following his recent retirement from touring, the new record symbolizes a full-circle moment for the 2020 Grammy Award winner as he reinvents the swing, jazz, blues, and country tunes that have inspired him since childhood. “I’ve always wanted to do an album of the songs that influenced me the most,” says McClinton. “Hank Williams, Jimmy…
Medication Time, the highly-awaited album from longtime British Blues-Americana guitarist/singer/songwriter Todd Sharpville, explores a period of his life 16 years ago where the stress of a child contact battle during a messy breakup resulted in a total breakdown and a two-month stay in a mental hospital in West Wales. The album is being released May 20th on the DixieFrog label and distributed in the US by Redeye Distribution, with European distribution by Proper Music. Speaking of his experience in a mental institution, Todd explains the circumstances that led him there: I wasn’t emotionally prepared for the sudden separation from my…
Listen to Margo’s rendition of Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me.”
“Jimi told me the reason he started setting his guitar on fire was because he couldn’t do the back flips like I did.” – Guitar Shorty
Just 82 seconds into Anthony Geraci’s new album, Blues Called My Name on Blue Heart Records, there’s no doubt you’re in the recorded presence of a consummate keyboardist. Solidly backed by Paul Loranger on acoustic bass, Jeff Armstrong on drums, and mostly Charlie O’Neal on guitar, the Berklee graduate, and 2021 BMA-winning musician offers up ten self-produced originals, half of them instrumentals, which showcase his stunning piano and Hammond organ prowess. To open, Geraci makes an interesting choice by checking in with a song about checking out: “Old Pine Box.” In this rollicking ode to mortality, he’s not whistling past…
Swamp Pop legend and unsung Louisiana music hero Tommy McLain will release his first album in over 40 years this summer. This announcement comes with today’s release of title track “I Ran Down Every Dream,” a co-write/duet between McLain and superfan Elvis Costello. I Ran Down Every Dream is the first album from the 82-year-old McLain on the Yep Roc Records label, as well as his first album release since the 1970s. McLain’s return to the spotlight has already begun, as he’ll perform at New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and more in the coming weeks, followed by a run…
With The Strongman Blues Remedy, Volume 1 a new collective project is launching on the global blues scene. Conceived in the middle of the global pandemic, the Strongman Blues Remedy is an antidote for the weariness that the past two years have brought to music lovers everywhere. By doing songwriting sessions with a stellar cast of Canadian blues artists, Steve Strongman developed an album of songs that touch upon multiple experiences and viewpoints, with the overarching message that the best remedy for the world we’re living in right now is to fill it with music that celebrates life and focuses…