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
Join me today, May 28th, from 3 to 5 pm ET on http://www.bluesmusicfan.com for some great Good Time Roadhouse blues! I have new tunes by Dion, The Teskey Brothers, Johnny Burgin, Jeff Fetterman, Kat Riggins, Seasick Steve and plenty of contemporary blues!
You can find the intended playlist below……hope ya download and buy a couple during the show!
I have new songs by Lucinda Williams, Jeff Fetterman, Tony Holiday, Eliza Neals, Victor Wainwright, and many more Good Time Roadhouse blues tunes today, May 21st, at http://www.bluesmusicfan.com from 3 to 5 pm ET. Grab yer favorite beverage and call/message a friend and ask them to share the social distancing blues with ya!!
The contemporary blues scene is very much alive in 2020. Below are some artists that you may not be aware of that are worth a listen. Check ’em out! Links to their albums on Spotify are provided in blue.
A vibrant soul singer out of Chicago, Katie Kadan got her first big break on The Voice back in 2017. Her voice is a delightful mix of Adele and Brittany Howard (Alabama Shakes). Her newest release, Katie Kadan, contains a number of great tunes including My Man and Stuck on You.
Peter D. Harper hails from Australia where he released his first album back in the mid 1990’s. On his latest album, RISE UP, he cranks out some rockin’ and socially relevant roots blues playin’ a badass harmonica and incorporating the use of the didgeridoo. Give the title cut a listen to see what I mean. I Still Got You and Welcome Home are tunes I also loved…heck…the whole album is great!!
A Sacramento California based artist, Pinkie Rideau has been playin’ music for a long time. On the new album BRING ME SUGAR, she brings together some fine musicians (and life long friends) to produce music with a laid back “down the bayou” feel. I particularly liked Forgetful and I’m On The Outside. She has such a great voice….give her a listen!!
What’s not to like when two of the finest blues artists in America collaborate to produce a spectacular album. If you are not familiar with either of these artists, John Primer is a well known Chicago blues man (who played with Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, and Magic Slim) and Bob Corritore, who is based in Arizona, is one of the genre’s great harmonica players. I love the title cut as well as the grindin’ blues tune Walking The Back Streets And Crying and the Elmore James/Magic Slim inspired Keep A-Driving.
A great new group out of my ancestral home of Croatia, the BE SHARP BAND features the stellar voice of Marija Gašparić. On their debut album, ASHES, they crank out some badass roadhouse blues. Give Put ‘Em Down and Wolf a listen….and then download and buy the album!!
If you have suggestions for albums that I should give a listen to or are an artist with radio ready material…..just send me an email at ben@benveeblues.com.If I like it, I will give it a spin during my shows on BMFR and, perhaps, write about it.
Starting today’s Roadhouse Blues Nooner at http://www.bluesmusicfan.com with a string of fabulous female blues artists including new tunes by the Zoe Schwarz Blue Commotion and Eliza Neals that you just have to hear! And I will finish it with new songs by the Rolling Stones, Joe Bonamassa, Jeff Fetterman, and another blues rock group out of West Virginia, Three’s Company Blues, that you just don’t want to miss! So grab your favorite beverage and click the link. Cya from 12 to 2 pm EST!
Below is the intended playlist:
ARTIST
TITLE
Arsen Shomakhov
Three Arrows
Katie Kadan
Hey Yo
Lucinda Williams
Happy Woman Blues
Kristin Diable
Black Plague & Dynamite
Zoe Schwarz Blue Commotion
When the Blues Come A Knocking
Eliza Neals/Derek st. Holmes
Never Stray
Mojo Hands
High Blood Pressure
Michael Grimm
Hold On I’m Comin’ (feat. Bill Medley)
Vegas Strip Kings
Hold On
Terry Hanck
Here It Comes
Tony Holiday
It’s Gonna Take Some Time
Travellin’ Brothers
I Believe
Jimmie Vaughan
Hey-Yeah
Sonny Landreth
Hell At Home (with Eric Clapton) [2016 Remastered]
Kind of an eclectic set of the roadhouse blues today with contemporary blues, roots blues, some soul, and a bit of blues rock. A number of tunes are by artists that won awards at Sunday night’s Blues Foundation award ceremonies for 2019.
Hope ya have a chance to tune in from 12 to 2 pm EST today on http://www.bluesmusicfan.com. And since most of us are at home, freshen up your coffee or whatever you are drinking….kick back….and enjoy the tunes.
The world has gone strange…….the news just feeds on the tragedy. Come join us on http://www.bluesmusicfan.com at 3 pm EST for some Good Time Roadhouse Blues! Escape the alarmists and the doom and gloom for a couple of hours! Grab your beverage of choice and let’s enjoy some badass Roadhouse blues! The world can wait…it’ll still be there when we finish the show!
Well..most of us are at home….prayin’, hopin’ for the best for all our family and friends…and gettin’ a bit fidgety! How about some BLUES? Tune in today at 12 pm EST for new Joanne Shaw Taylor, Troy Redfern, Crystal Shawanda, Roomful of Blues, and many more. Just click this link http://www.bluesmusicfan.com, grab yer favorite drink and/or smoke and let’s have a damn fine time listening to the roadhouse blues!!
The intended playlist is below. Buy a couple and help support the blues community which has been hit hard by the pandemic…no bars..no restaurants…no concert venues…no income!
The year 2019 was a banner year for the roadhouse blues across the world. From Australia to Copenhagen and along all points in between, both debut artists and well established performers released a stunning number of new recordings. Every month my in box and my mail box were full of some fabulous blues recordings which makes picking the Ben Vee Roadhouse Blues 66 this year much more daunting.
This year’s list includes classic blues, roots oriented blues, R&B, soul, contemporary blues and blues rock artists with songs that span the genre from “almost the blues” tunes to the stellar classic blues sound of Mary Lane. Given that many of us have some extra time on our hands due to the ongoing global pandemic, I hope you enjoy downloading and listening to every one of these songs.
The position of the songs on the list is of little consequence…you might list them in a different order and get no argument from me. Whether it is song #23 by Samantha Fish or number 66 by the Coyote Kings, all of these tunes made my playlists for my roadhouse blues shows at http://www.bluesmusicfan.com, got mentioned on my Ben Vee Facebook page or Twitter account, and/or got written about on this website at http://www.benveeblues.com during 2019. All 66 are representative of the energy and vitality that permeates the modern contemporary blues….by and large they are upbeat…sometimes loud…and truly international.
The Top Ten (in no particular order other than #1)
#1 Mary Lane – Blues Give Me a Feeling (2019 Travelin’ Woman)
Mary Lane, from Chicago, recorded the Roadhouse Blues 66 number one tune of 2019 at the age of 83!! How cool is that! She is one of the last living legendary singers of the blues to have been part of the great migration from the American Deep South to Chicago in the 1940’s. Just a fabulous tune!
Big Daddy Wilson – Crazy World (2019 Deep In My Soul)
An expat from the United States who has lived in Germany for years, Big Daddy aces an sumptuous slow soul ballad.
Altered Five Blues Band – Mischief Man (2019 Ten Thousand Watts)
Led by the deep blues voice of Jeff Taylor, this group out of Wisconsin once again makes one of my top performer annual blues lists.
Keb’ Mo’ – Cold Outside (2019 Oklahoma)
I played this song over and over when it came out on the album this past summer. You can nevah get enough of Keb’ Mo’!
Christone Kingfish Ingram – Fresh Out (2019 Kingfish)
A 20 year old with a debut album that features a cut with Buddy Guy as well as another with Keb’ Mo’. Life is good for this very talented young man.
Jontavious Willis – Low Down Ways (2019 Spectacular Class)
Another young blues artist that attracted the attention of Taj Mahal as well as Keb’ Mo’, Jontavious has stardom written all over him. It will be interesting to see how he evolves as a blues artist as the years roll by.
Tiffany Pollack & Eric Johanson – Blues In My Blood (2019 Blues In My Blood)
This blues duo hails from my hometown of New Orleans. Tiffany has a haunting voice that is framed by a strong beat and memorable guitar licks by Eric on this song.
Beth Hart – Bad Woman Blues (2019 War In My Mind)
Beth just has a great time with this tune and shows off the chops that have made her a fan favorite amongst blues rockers.
Brandon Santini – Drive You Off My Mind (2019 The Longshot)
This long time resident of Memphis had a great year in 2019. He was my 2019 Roadhouse Bluesman of the Year for both this album and one he did with Tennessee Redemption. A great voice and world class harmonica player; what’s not to like!
Allman Betts Band – Shinin’ (2019 Down to the River)
The sons of the Allman Brothers pick up where their dads left off! Not much else to be said but get yer tickets when they get close by!!
As you look through the rest of the list and hopefully listen to many, if not all, of the tunes, I hope you get an appreciation for what I term as the roadhouse blues. From its roots in the deep American south, the blues has grown and expanded to become a worldwide phenomenon. (And if someone you know states “the blues is dead” just show them this list and ask them how so?!) I am proud to be one of the DJs and influencers helping get the word out about just how great this music is!!!
Artist
Song Title
Album
1
Mary Lane
Blues Give Me A Feeling
Travelin’ Woman
2
Big Daddy Wilson
Crazy World
Deep In My Soul
3
Altered Five Blues Band
Mischief Man
Ten Thousand Watts
4
Keb’ Mo’
Cold Outside
Oklahoma
5
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
Fresh Out (ft Buddy Guy)
Kingfish
6
Jontavious Willis
Low Down Ways
Spectacular Class
7
Tiffany Pollack & Eric Johanson
Blues In My Blood
Blues In My Blood
8
Beth Hart
Bad Woman Blues
War in my Mind
9
Brandon Santini
Drive You Off My Mind
The Longshot
10
The Allman Betts Band
Shinin’
Down to the River
11
Amnesia Blues Band
Fast Johnny Cool
Hailstorm
12
HeavyDrunk
If I Love You Hard Enough
Holywater
13
Mindi Abair and the Boneshakers
Who’s Gonna Save My Soul
No Good Deed
14
Walter Trout
Me My Guitar and the Blues
Survivor Blues
15
Coco Montoya
Lights On But Nobody’s Home
Coming In Hot
16
Ghost Town Blues Band
Shine
Shine
17
Chris O’Leary
7 Minutes
7 Minutes
18
Tedeschi Trucks Band
They Don’t Shine
Signs
19
Van Morrison
Three Chords and the Truth
Three Chords and the Truth
20
Terry Hanck
Howlin’ For My Darlin’
I Still Get Excited
21
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Woman Like You
The Traveler
22
Zack Walther Band
Bad Girl
The Westerner
23
Samantha Fish
Dirty
Kill or Be Kind
24
Giles Robson
Don’t Give Up on the Blues
Don’t Give Up on the Blues
25
Lucky Peterson
Pack It Up
50: Just Warming Up!
26
Heather Newman
I’m Coming For You
Rise from the Flames
27
Left Lane Cruiser
Smooth Commander
Shake and Bake
28
Delbert McClinton
A Fool Like Me
Tall, Dark, and Handsome
29
Miss Bix and the Blues Fix
Follow Me Down
We Don’t Own the Blues
30
Ash Grunwald
Ain’t My Problem (ft The Teskey Brothers)
Mojo
31
The Texas Horns
I’m Doin’ Alright (ft. Carolyn Wonderland)
Get Here Quick
32
The Mike Duke Project
I’m Not Sad Tonight
….Took a Whlle
33
Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters
Baby How Long
Beyond the Blue Door
34
Travelin’ Blue Kings
Ninety Minutes
Wired Up
35
Al Basile
So Called Story Teller
B’s Hothouse
36
Ida Bang & the Blue Tears
Shelter Me
Good to Me
37
Arsen Shomakhov
Women and Whiskey
Rainy City Blues
38
Elles Bailey
Help Somebody
Road I Call Home
39
The Teskey Brothers
So Caught Up
Run Home Slow
40
Kerry Pastine and the Crime Scene
Down Down
City of Love
41
Tad Robinson
Real Street
Real Street
42
Sugaray Rayford
The Revelator
Somebody Save Me
43
Southern Avenue
Whiskey Love
Keep On
44
Honey Hounds
Shine On
The Flame
45
Zac Harmon
Gypsy Road
Mississippi BarBQ
46
Annika Chambers
I Feel the Same (ft Paul DesLauriers)
Kiss My Sass
47
Tennessee Redemption
Back To Tennessee
Tennessee Redemption
48
Ivy Ford
Start a Fight
Harvesting My Roots
49
Wentus Blues Band w/ Duke Robillard
2:19
Too Much Mustard
50
Rockin’ Johnny & QuiQue Gomez
Everybody Loves My Baby
Dos Hombres Wanted
51
Albert Castiglia
Heavy
Masterpiece
52
Seth Rosenbloom
Broke And Lonely
Keep On Turning
53
Arlen Roth
I Can Fix It (ft Jack Pearson)
Tele Masters
54
Eliza Neals
Pawn Shop Blues (Roadhouse)
Sweet Or Mean
55
The Kokomo Kings
Heatwave
Fighting Fire with Gasoline
56
Robin Trower
Coming Closer to the Day
Coming Closer to the Day
57
Blue Moon Marquee
As I Lay Dying
Bare Knuckes & Brawn
58
Peter Ward
Train to Key Biscayne
Train to Key Biscayne
59
Duke Robillard
Don’t Bother Trying To Steal Her Love
Ear Worms
60
Harpdog Brown
Thinkin’ and Drinkin’
For Love & Money
61
Brother Yusef
I’m a Bluesman
Jook Joint Jam
62
Manx Mariner Manline
Rattlesnake
Hell Bound for Heaven
63
Josh Newcom
Girl Got the Mojo
The Blues Gonna Getcha
64
Savoy Brown
Conjure Rhythm
City Night
65
Big Wolf Band
Be Free
Be Free
66
Coyote Kings
Drive Me
Rocket
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.
Forrest McDonald, over his lifetime, has been coast to coast in the United States pursing his dream and providing us with some memorable guitar playing along the way. He jammed with Muddy Waters in New York City as a teenager, rolled out to California and jammed there with Van Halen and Steve Perry in the seventies, played the guitar solo with Bob Seger on the mega hit Old Time Rock ‘n’ Roll recording and with Bobby Womack on Roads of Life, and then settled down in Atlanta in the 1990’s.
Considered a musician’s musician, but largely unknown by the general music public, Forrest has done a number of recordings with the Forest McDonald Band on his label, World Talent Records, in the years since he began calling Atlanta home. The latest release, Blues In A Bucket, is a stellar album that features a number of talented backing musicians including Andrew Black (vocals), Becky Wright (guest vocals), and Tony Carey (guest keyboards/organ).
The album opens with a New Orleans style “down the bayou” tune Boogie Me Til I Drop that channels a bit of Dr. John……loved it!! Blue Morning Sun is a touching song done in remembrance of his brother that he lost recently. The slide guitar work on the tune is absolutely world class and evokes the spirit of the Macon sound of the seventies. The title cut, Blues In a Bucket, is some nice rockin’ blues, and Hard to Lose, Blues in the Basement, and Misery and Blues are just badass low down blues recordings. Going Back to Memphis is a great funky tune with some stellar horn and organ playing. And the album closes like it started with the delicious down the bayou sound of Let the Love in Your Heart.
Forrest has been playing his heart out on the guitar for over 55 years and he deserves wider recognition for his talent and his lifetime of contributions to the blues. And he certainly defines what I mean by the term “the roadhouse blues” on this fabulous recording. I hope my readers will consider purchasing a copy of this album both for the great songs included and as a big thank you to him for a music life well done!
Forrest McDonald – Blues in a Bucket (2020 World Talent 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.
