This Week in Blues Past has some big landmarks, with the loss of a Hill Country icon, the opening of a distinctly American hall of fame, the birth of a Texas blues giant a big bootleg recording, and much more!

If you don’t know “Ozark Grunge”, you’re about to.

It was announced this week that Mike Zito would be leaving the seminal blues-steeped Royal Southern Brotherhood. Bart Walker talk about stepping in to try and fill Zito’s larger than life shoes and the big move.

“That’s who I am and what I do. I want to inspire people to keep pushing their way through hard times.” says Jarekus in an extensive, interesting Q&A with the “next big thing” in the blues!

In the early ‘20s a Vaudeville guitar player named George Beauchamp paid a visit to a stringed instrument shop. His complaint: no matter how loud he played, his guitar just couldn’t compete with the rest of the instruments in the orchestra.

So, the owner of that shop, John Dopyera, developed the idea of fitting a guitar body with aluminum cones. Discs of fine-spun aluminum that vibrate to amplify sound. Make the body out of metal, and you’ve got a National guitar.

When hearing Ruthie Foster for the first time, it is the same as taking a bite out of the sweetest and most delectable piece of cake for the first time…

Coming off working with Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi, Mike Mattison has finally released the long-awaited solo album!

For a band entering their fifth decade, the Nighthawks bring it, and they play it with feeling. 444 is a party looking for a place to break out!

There’s a lot that happened this week in the blues… here’s the top ten, with one of the biggest tragedies in music, landmark album releases and more!

Black Hat. Dark Sunglasses. Sound like a Blues Brother to you? It is. The original Blues Brother. Inspiration to Jake and Elwood. Master songwriter, electric guitar titan, best-selling bluesman…John Lee Hooker.