It’s Spring…..now if we can just get the weather to cooperate!! Join me today, Tuesday March 21st, for my roadhouse blues nooner on http://www.bluesmusicfan.com to help kick off a bluzin’ new season!! New tunes from Eric Demmer, the Blood Brothers, Eddie 9V, Misty Blues, Red Slim, and Dr. Wu & Friends PLUS a whole lot more contemporary blues!
Here is the intended playlist! If ya like a couple, go to your favorite music download site and download them!! It’s the way ya help the blues to thrive in 2023!!
Two of the most talented artists of the contemporary blues have joined forces as Blood Brothers and produced an incredible album that releases today, March 17, 2023! Albert Castiglia is a powerhouse of the roadhouse blues with an engaging on stage presence, a distinctive voice, and a unique funk tinged blues guitar sound. Mike Zito is the proverbial Renaissance man of the blues. He sings, plays an incredible guitar, writes memorable lyrics, has produced music for others including Samantha Fish ….AND….is co-owner of Gulf Coast Records which has a slew of talented blues artists recording on the label!
Back in 2011, two other artists combined their talents to produce an album that catapulted their respective careers to hypersonic status in the contemporary blues: Beth Hart & Joe Bonamassa. I believe that Blood Brothers can do the same for Albert and Mike. The chemistry on the recording between the two is authentic and complimentary! And I can’t wait to see them together when they come to StageOne in Fairfield, CT on April 7th.
The new record is produced by Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith and contains 11 tunes. The recording also features members of their individual bands: Douglas Byrkit (bass), Lewis Stephens (guitars), and the dual drumming talents of Lewis Stephens and a personal favorite of mine, Ephraim Lowell!
My favorite song on Blood Brothers is In My Soul. It is a Zito penned tune that starts out with acoustic riffs and then slowly unleashes a wave of beautiful blues rock sounds accompanied by some haunting guitar licks. Mike wrote the song after finding out his wife had cancer during the summer of 2022 and his vocals are a heart felt prayer for understanding and love.
Another favorite on the recording is the Castiglia penned ballad A Thousand Heartaches. It is the perfect platform for Albert’s incredible and unique voice. Featuring Joe Bonamassa on guitar, it is a mellow love song with hints of Bob Seger in his delivery. I also love a tune that Albert sings that the great Tinsley Ellis penned for the band, Tooth And Nail. It is the perfect meshing of blues rock and southern rock and I can’t wait to hear the live version of it on April 7th. Another tune I can’t wait to see performed live is the instrumental Hill Country Jam. The dual guitars of Albert and Mike on the same stage!!! Oh yeah!!!
Both Albert and Mike are known for the kind of up tempo contemporary blues and blues rock that populates a lot of my radio playlists: Hey Sweet Mama, Bag Me/Tag Me/Take Me Away, and My Business fit the bill to a T! I also enjoyed listening to One Step Ahead of the Blues and No Good Woman….perfect roadhouse blues tunes!!
Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia have over 45 combined years in the music business. As individual artists they have won awards and accolades for their talent. Blending their styles on Blood Brothers with the help of Joe Bonamassa, Josh Smith, and a great supporting cast has yielded a recording that is certainly one of the great roadhouse blues recordings of 2023 and will translate easily to the live stage. I can’t wait to see them from row three SOON!!!
Ben Vee started out spinning songs on terrestrial radio and at nightclubs back in the 1970’s in his home state of Louisiana. After a career in the construction business, he returned to DJing in 2011. He now hosts two shows each week on http://www.bluesmusicfan.com and writes about the blues at http://www.benveeblues.com from his home in Connecticut. He also has a personal 24 hour stream devoted to the Roadhouse Blues… WRHB as well as a Youtube channel.
For many Americans, myself included, Australia is a tantalizing and mystical place; friendly confident people with a disarming “Hey mate” greeting, the siren call of the didgeridoo, kangaroos on the move, and the enormity of the desert Outback with scattered small pockets of proud indigenous people that hail back to the very beginning of the human experience can fire the imagination. AND it is also home to some world class roadhouse blues! I have been a fan of Paul Buchanan, particularly his songwriting, for a number of years. Some artists write great lyrics. Truly great artists tell vivid and vibrant stories in song. Paul is one of them.
The new Paul Buchanan’s Voodoo Preachers album Down Selling Lane contains a dozen songs; ten originals and two interesting covers of Fats Domino’s Hello Josephine and Hop Wilson’s Black Cat Bone. The album starts out in true roadhouse blues fashion with Paul’s growling vocals on Bad Luck & Trouble. The tone on Marc Leyshan’s guitar is menacing and matched by the fuzzed out insistence of John Werner’s bass on the tune. The second song, Blues Man’s Shoes, is reminiscent of Creedence Clearwater Revival and features a really cool howl by Paul that bears comparison with Howlin’ Wolf in his prime. The third tune, Blues Harp & a Bloody Mary, introduces the harmonica mastery of Phil Coyne and the breezy Spanish guitar of Ning Hopkins on another of Paul’s delightful story songs. I also really enjoyed drummer Stuart Anderson’s tight pocket and the guitar solo on Gotta Stop Thinkin’…mhmm…good stuff! The last song, Oh Mercy, is a clarion call to understand and help those that “are drinking from a different cup”. As he writes in the song “some people see everything just in black and white…there are colors everywhere…they need to see the light”. And Paul is voodoo preachin’ to a roadhouse blues beat that will have you movin’ your hips and wantin’ to hit a dance floor!!
The highlight of the album is the tuneRoadhouse. I have to admit I have a bias towards this song; Paul mentions me in the lyrics!!! Paul has been a regular listener of my roadhouse blues shows on BluesMusic Fan Radio and my 24 hour personal music stream . About a year ago, he sent me a text stating that listening had fired him up and he was gonna write a song about a roadhouse. I laughed and said COOL!! About six months later, I got another text asking me if it was okay to use my name in the roadhouse song. My reply was HELL YEAH! Then I didn’t hear anything for a number of months. I assumed, as often happens in songwriting, that he just couldn’t get it to work the way he wanted. Then lo and behold, I get another text several weeks ago asking me if I had gotten the album yet? I checked the BluesMusicFan Radio directory where DJs can see the new albums sent to the station and there it was…..track #7….Roadhouse. It is a fantastic catchy tune, a story song, and Paul Buchanan’s Voodoo Preachers at their best. Give it a listen and decide for yourself. As I stated I am a bit prejudiced but I think you will agree that it is a badass tune!!
Overall, Down Selling Lane, is contemporary blues and blues rock at its very best; distinctive vocals, fabulous harmonica playing with stellar guitars and driving bass riffs and drums. And most of all memorable lyrics that reinforce the magic and mystery of the land down under….and the talent of Paul Buchanan.
Ben Vee started out spinning songs on terrestrial radio and at nightclubs back in the 1970’s in his home state of Louisiana. After a career in the construction business, he returned to DJing in 2011. He now hosts two shows each week on http://www.bluesmusicfan.com and writes about the blues at http://www.benveeblues.com from his home in Connecticut. He also has a personal 24 hour stream devoted to the Roadhouse Blues.
Join us from 12-2 pm ET on http://www.bluesmusicfan.com for a mix of contemporary blues from Paul Buchanan’s Voodoo Preachers, Moody Smith & the Speculators and John Mayall as well as some classics from Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Albert King. and Double Trouble featuring Dr. John.
It’s Mardi Gras in my hometown of New Orleans. So today, I will feature artists from my home state as well as new tunes by The Stumble, Paul Buchanan’s Voodoo Preachers, The Hoodoo Men, The Mojoes, and Bedford Slim. Hope you can join us from 12-2 pm ET on http://www.bluesmusicfan.com!
Here is the intended playlist:
ARTIST
TITLE
MIssissippi ‘Shiners, William Pearson
Louisiana Moon
The Stumble
Sleepwalk
Tab Benoit
Fever For The Bayou
TNYFBB
Your Revolution
Billy Boy Arnold
I Ain’t Got You
Paul Buchanan’s Voodoo Preachers
Some Kind Of Voodoo
Debbie Davies
Watch Out What You Do
Gregg Wright
Don’t Talk to My Woman
The Hoodoo Men
Bye, Bye Baby
Bedford Slim
Till I Ain’t Able
Buddy Guy and Stevie Ray Vaughan
Champagne and Reefer
Edgar Winter
Got my Mojo Workin’ (feat. Bobby Rush)
Eric Johanson
Down To The Bottom
Ryan Foret and Foret Tradition
Flip, Flop and Fly
Jon Butcher
Foolish Behavior
Irma Thomas
Don’t Mess With My Man
Delbert McClinton
Going Back To Louisiana
The Mojoes
When A Man Loves A Woman
Buddy Guy feat. Mavis Staples
We Go Back
Jimmy Carpenter
I Got Loaded
Dr. John
I Walk On Guilded Splinters (Feat. Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real)
Got new tunes from The Adjournments, Paul Buchanan’s Voodoo Preachers, Laura Cox, Dyer Davis, Seth Rosenbloom, and Mike Zito with Albert Castiglia!! PLUS a number of tunes from the bluzin’ 1990’s from Jimmie Vaughan, Omar & the Howlers, Jimmy Thackery and more! Tune in on http://www.bluesmusicfan.com from 3-5 pm ET today!! #blues #bluesmusic #benveeroadhouseblues
It’s Valentine’s Day! And for today’s show from 12-2 pm ET on http://www.bluesmusicfan.com I will be featuring some of the great female voices of the contemporary blues: Beth Hart, Janiva Magness, Maria Daines, Eva Carboni, Susan Tedeschi, Meghan Parnell, and many more.
This past Sunday, Bonnie Raitt won the Best Song Award at the Grammys for the title cut of her album Just Like That…! The song is a heartfelt ballad inspired by the passing of her lifelong friend and fellow artist John Prine and it is about an organ donation. The tune beat out songs by some fantastic artists including Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Adele, and Harry Sykes! However, instead of honoring her, some publications and social media have been abuzz with denunciations.
Probably the most astounding pronouncement was from the Daily Mail in the UK. This well known newspaper actually had a headline that read “Unknown Blues Artist Wins Grammy…” I guess it is indicative of the times where journalists don’t do any research or have any real knowledge of the subject they are covering: Bonnie has won a total of 13 Grammy Awards and sold millions of albums! A pundit from the San Francisco area was befuddled that a song that was not on the Hot 100 Billboard chart had garnered the award. Another stated the song hadn’t sold well during 2022 and therefore should not have been considered at all. And from the trolling social media community, there were any number of disparaging comments that I won’t repeat.
I commend the Grammy board and voters for having the courage to award a song for it’s beauty, message, and delivery. Bonnie pours her heart into the recording and it has touched the hearts of the millions who have listened to it. AND the overall album is a great roots/blues mix for which Bonnie has always been known. She is arguably the greatest crossover music artist ever to identify with the blues. While sales is an element for consideration in the event of a “tie”, I believe the award should always go to the song/album/artist based on creativity, artistry, production values, AND the soul that goes into it. It appears the Grammy used the same criteria. Kudos to them. As far as the critics, let’s kill them with kindness and hope the more serious ones that are actually involved in the music business will give blues artists at least a listen in the future before worshipping at the Pop music altar.
Ben Vee started out spinning songs on terrestrial radio and at nightclubs back in the 1970’s in his home state of Louisiana. After a career in the construction business, he returned to DJing in 2011. He now hosts two shows each week on http://www.bluesmusicfan.com and writes about the blues at http://www.benveeblues.com from his home in Connecticut. He also has a personal 24 hour stream devoted to the Roadhouse Blues… WRHB as well as a Youtube channel.
Ben Vee Blues 