Tune into to http://www.bluesmusicfan.com from High Noon to 2 pm ET today, June 30th for new tunes by Kenny ‘Big Boss’ Wayne, Anthony Geraci, Kyle Yardley, Evelyn Rubio, and many more!
A first class acoustic guitar player with a great voice and a true appreciation for the blues, Rory Block (a six time winner of blues awards from the prestigious Blues Foundation) unearths some gems by early female blues singers and applies her special touch to them. This is the second Power Women of the Blues recordings she has done and it is a great listen.
I enjoyed her new song Eagles as well as He May Be Your Man (Helen Humes), It’s Red Hot (Madlyn Davis), and Wayward Girl Blues (Lottie Kimbrough).
Some badass Chicago blues from singer and harmonica player Kyle Yardley who hails from St. Louis and is now lives in Georgia. Particularly loved Little Girl which features some licks from one of my favorite guitarists, Johnny Burgin, and also loved That Ain’t Right, Savannah Georgia Women, and Country Girl (alternate version).
Evelyn Rubio – Crossing Borders (2020 Productions On Seaspeed LLC)
Evelyn Rubio hails from Mexico City and is now based in Houston. A singer and saxophone player, when she turns up the volume and lets it wail, she is at her finest. Really liked I Made a Mistake, Just Like A Drug, and One More Last Time.
Joshua Batten hails from Australia and at 23 has just released his second recording that features a range of tunes across several genres. I loved the blues rocker Tell Me I am Wrong as well as Silver Dollars and The Fox and The Hound. All three will get airplay during my roadhouse blues shows on Blues Music Fan Radio.
Produced by the great Texas bluesman Anson Funderburgh, Jose Ramirez’s new album features some stellar guitar playing and singing and is full of catchy blues tunes. Jose hails from Costa Rica and is now based in Tampa, Florida. With a Robert Johnson tat on his arm and a distinctive guitar tone, he is more than ready to pay his blues dues. I loved One Woman Man as well as Gasoline and Matches and Stop Teasing Me. Keep an ear out for this guy…..he has a very bright bluzin’ future!
Jan James has been singin’ the blues and payin’ her dues for many years. The new album Justify may finally get her the broad based recognition she is due as one of the contemporary blues’ great female singers. I loved the songs A Different Life, Believe in Me, and I’m Always Coming Back. Her long time partner Craig Calvert plays some mean guitar licks as well on all the songs. Overall, a great blues recording!!
What have YOU been listening to over the past month?? Leave a comment with an album that you have enjoyed….we wants to know!!!
Ben Vee is an internet DJ and writer from New Orleans that now lives in Connecticut with his wife Annette. He started spinning records back in the 1970’s and has been writing about the roadhouse blues since 2011. He does two roadhouse blues shows each week on http://www.bluesmusicfan.com and he writes about the blues when the urge strikes on http://www.benveeblues.com.
Years ago down in Birmingham, I got my start managing bands and helping to produce concerts. And at least once a month, I would wander into an aging hotel downtown that was long past its prime. Most of the guests were budget vacationers traveling in the South or just off the bus from the Greyhound terminal down the block. But it was a warm and friendly place with a great little smokey piano bar with smiling waitresses, great martinis, and some damn fine jazzy blues. It had a healthy mix of old timers and young people from the local area as well as the occasional hotel guest and was just a fun place to hang out and listen to the music.
Listening to Anthony Geraci on his new album Daydreams in Blue brought back memories of that place and time with his virtuoso piano playing of both upbeat roadhouse style tunes and jazzy blues numbers that let you drift off into memory land. Dennis Brennan does almost all of the singing on the album and his Randy Newman style voice is a perfect fit for Anthony’s music. Monster Mike Welch does most of the guitar playing with other guest appearances by Walter Trout (guitar), Peter Ward (guitar), Troy Gonyea (guitar). Michael Mudcat Ward handles the acoustic bass, Jeff Armstrong is on drums, and Scott Arruda along with Mark Early do some badass horn playing. Overall, it is a fantastic supporting cast for the album.
With regards to the roadhouse blues, I loved the blues shufflin’ Mister. Anthony pounds those ivories and Dennis wails on his harmonica…..badass tune. One note from the guitar on No One Hears My Prayers and you know Walter Trout is in the studio. The back and forth between Anthony’s keyboards and Walter’s guitar is simply awesome. And another little jewel is Tutti Frutti Booty with Anthony on vocals. It is some classic boogie woogie that will get ya boppin’ in your easy chair.
Among the more jazzy blues tunes on the album that highlight Anthony’s keyboard talent, I loved Daydreams of a Broken Fool, Hard to Say I Love You, and the sultry Jelly, Jelly. My favorite Dennis Brennan vocals on the album are on Living in the Shadow of the Blues… the song and lyrics are picture perfect for him.
Anthony Geraci with Dennis Brennan – Daydreams in Blues (2020 Shining Stone Records)
Ben Vee is an internet DJ and writer from New Orleans that now lives in Connecticut with his wife Annette. He started spinning records back in the 1970’s and has been writing about the roadhouse blues since 2011. He does two roadhouse blues shows each week on http://www.bluesmusicfan.com and he writes about the blues when the urge strikes on http://www.benveeblues.com.
At the age of 75, Kenny ‘Blues Boss’ Wayne has cooked up a fine blues gumbo of 13 songs that range from boogie woogie to a compelling blues rendition of a Lynyrd Skynyrd classic. An expat from the United States who has lived and recorded in Canada since the 1980’s, the Blues Boss released his eleventh studio album, GO, JUST DO IT!, a couple of weeks ago to a chorus of applause from across the blues spectrum. With talent on the keyboards, and a soulful energetic voice, Kenny reminds us with some stunning riffs and rolls that the piano and other keyboard instruments have been as vital a part of the blues over the years as the electric guitar.
My personal favorite on the recording is the title cut that features a vocal duet performance with Canadian Dawn Tyler Watson, a rising blues star in her own right. It’s a funky upbeat tune with lots of horns that sends a message that resonates in my life; don’t let folks tell what you can’t do……Go…just do it!
Another song that made me sit up and listen on the album is You’re In For A Big Surprise. It is 60’s style martini bar jazzy blues number that is splendidly delivered by Kenny and Grammy Award winning Diane Schuur. The keyboard playing is stellar and the horns are terrific. It brought back memories of Nina Simone and that is nevah a bad thing!!
Additionally, That’s the Way She Is is a great roadhouse blues tune that I will be giving a lot of spins during my radio shows. I also enjoyed the boogie woogie instrumental Let the Rock Roll as well as Lost & Found, Motor Mouth Woman, and You Did a Number on Me. Kenny also takes on the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic They Call Me the Breeze and produces a great bluzin’ cover.
Kenny was ably assisted on the recording by a slew of talented musicians including horn players Jerry Cook and Vince Mai (Powder Blues), guitarist Yuji Ihara (Boogie Patrol), renown harmonica player Sherman Doucette, Russell Jackson on bass (B.B. King), Joey “the Pocket” Dimarco on drums (Studebaker John) , Barry Sharbo on tamborine, and additional vocals by Julie Masi (Parachute Club) and Kenny’s son Corey Spruell.
So…if ya wanna hear one of the great singing and piano talents of the blues (and a member of the Boogie Woogie Hall of Fame) givin’ it all he has….buy this album……GO, JUST DO IT!
Kenny ‘Blues Boss’ Wayne – Go, Just Do It (2020 Stony Plain Records)
Ben Vee is an internet DJ and writer from New Orleans that now lives in Connecticut with his wife Annette. He started spinning records back in the 1970’s and has been writing about the roadhouse blues since 2011. He does two roadhouse blues shows each week on http://www.bluesmusicfan.com and he writes about the blues when the urge strikes on http://www.benveeblues.com.
Hope all is still well with you and yours! Tune in today from 3-5 pm ET on http://www.bluesmusicfan.com for the Ben Vee Good Time Roadhouse blues featuring tunes by Keb’ Mo’, Jonny Lang, Carolyn Wonderland, Jan James, Larkin Poe, and many more.
Below is the intended playlist which I publish in the hopes that you will download a tune or two and support the contemporary blues!!
Summer is finally here!!! Join me from 12 to 2 pm ET for some great summer time Roadhouse blues at http://www.bluesmusicfan.com. Featuring tunes by Heather Newman, Ozgur Hazar, Lenny Paul, Jim Ruffing, The Teskey Brothers, Theresa Blue, Thorbjorn Risager, and many more.
Gonna be spinnin’ alot of blues rock and several tunes from the new DION album during today’s Ben Vee Roadhouse Blues Nooner at http://www.bluesmusicfan.com from 12 to 2 pm ET. Also have songs from the Quarryteen Men, Joe Bonamassa, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Ana Popovic, Sue Foley. Beth Hart, and many more.
Below is the intended playlist:
ARTIST
TITLE
Savoy Brown
Getting To The Point
Robin Trower
Crossroads
Dion
Way Down (I Won’t Cry No More) (Feat. Stevie Van Zandt)
Layla Zoe
Desert Song
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Anywhere The Wind Blows
Ash Grunwald
Everyday
The Quarryteen Men
Corona Condom
John Cook, Rich Newman, Rory Gallagher, Spoon
Leaving Town Blues
Joe Bonamassa
Woke Up Dreaming
Albert Cummings
Call Me Crazy
Dion
Blues Comin’ On (Feat. Joe Bonamassa)
Sue Foley
81
The Rolling Stones
Living In A Ghost Town
Ana Popovic
Get Back Home To You
Beth Hart
Better Man
Widespread Panic
Pleas
Bryce Janey
Funky Guitar Blues
Savoy Brown
I Can’t Stop The Blues
Dion
I Got Nothin’ (Feat. Van Morrison & Joe Louis Walker)
From 3 to 5 pm ET today, join me on http://www.bluesmusicfan.com for some Good Time Roadhouse blues featuring tunes from Rae Gordon, Joe Kopicki, the James Pitt Band, Eva Carboni, and many more!
Join me today, June 9rh, for my Roadhouse Blues Nooner on BMFR from 12 to 2 pm ET. I have new tunes from Dion, the James Pitt Band, Mary Jo Curry, The Nighthawks, Jeff Fetterman and plenty of great contemporary roadhouse blues!! Grab your beverage of choice and tune in at http://www.bluesmusicfan.com.
Below is the intended playlist:
ARTIST
TITLE
The Little Red Rooster Blues Band
Rockin’ My Boogie
The Rudy Boy Experiment
Juke Joint
The James Pitts Band
Love Me
The Little Red Rooster Blues Band
Hey, Hey, I Love You
Mary Jo Curry Band
Front Porch
Scott Ellison
Perfect For You
Etta James
Gotta Serve Somebody
Stephen Stills
Isn’t It About Time
Tommy Castro & The Painkillers
Live Every Day
Mike Zito
Bad News Is Coming
Heather Newman
His Soul
Lisa Mills
Slip Away
Tony Holiday
Paying Rent
Tom Hambridge
Bluz Crazy
Shaun Murphy
Happy with the One I Got Now
Sean Pinchin
Someone Like You
Daniel Castro
Cold Hearted Woman
Kenny Parker
Hard Times In The Land Of Plenty
Omar Kent Dykes & Jimmie Vaughan
Jimmy Reed Highway
Omar & The Howlers
Too Many People Talkin’
The Nighthawks
Chairman Of The Board
Jeff Fetterman
Goin’ Down To Nashville
Alvin Lee
Memphis
Rita Chiarelli
Tupelo
Blind Faith
Can’t Find My Way Home
Dion
Hymn To Him featuring Patti Scialfa & Bruce Springsteen
Ben Vee Blues 