The Year 2020 was one that we all were glad to see go. Not only were our family, friends, and neighbors ravaged by COVID but our political systems were stressed and our rights to meet and gather were often suspended. And performing artists and musicians took the financial brunt of the frenzied response as outdoor venues, bars, and restraunts closed across the world throwing millions of performers out of work. But musicians are a resilient and creative group. They retreated, like the rest of us, to their homes, their garages, and their basements and began the process of creating new music using novel internet collaborative tools to record and share their music with other band members and recording studios. The product of their work is what I want us to celebrate in this article. It took new thinking, creative use of software, and dogged perseverance to write, record, and release new music during 2020 and EVERY artist and group that did so should be commended for not giving in to the darkness and continuing to bring the joy of music to us all.

During 2020, I played over 7000 songs on my DJ shows and listened to hundreds of albums sent to me by the artists, publicists, and record companies. I received even more as part of the staff of Blues Music Fan Radio. Out of all that music, I have chosen my favorite 66 roadhouse blues songs for 2020 using only two rules; I had to have played the tune during one of my shows in 2020 and I could only select one song per album. The list represents less than 1% of all music that I broadcast during the year and includes both perennial favorites as well as artists you may not have heard of. These are the best of the best and regardless of position on this listing, they are all fabulous tunes in my opinion. I hope you enjoy reviewing the list, listening to the songs, and hopefully, downloading some for your own music collection or as a gift to family and friends.

The Roadhouse Blues Top 66 Songs

61	The Smoke Wagon Blues Band	The Fat Man	The Ballad Of Albert Johnson
62	Misty Blues	Treat Me Like I Want	Weed ‘Em & Reap
63	Peter Parcek	Beyond Here Lies Nothing	Mississippi Suitcase
64	Nora Jean Wallace	I’m A Blues Woman	Blues Woman
65	Lloyd Jones	Turn Me Loose	Tennessee Run
66	The Rolling Stones	Living In A Ghost Town	Living In A Ghost Town

The Roadhouse Blues Top 50 & 60 songs

51	John Primer and Bob Corritore	Keep A-Driving	The Gypsy Woman Told Me
52	Cary Morin	Nobody Gotta Know	Dockside Saints
53	Pinkie Rideau	Bring Me Sugar	Bring Me Sugar
54	Dudley Taft	The End Of The Blues	Cosmic Radio
55	Henrik Freischlader Band	What Have I Done to You	Missing Pieces
56	JD3 & The Jondo Trio	Rocks At The Moon	Something Good
57	Shaun Murphy	Living In The Palace Of The King	Flame Still Burns
58	The Nighthawks	Chairman Of The Board	Tryin’ to Get to You
59	Paul Buchanan’s Voodoo Preachers	Some Kind Of Voodoo	Testimony
60	New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers	Night Time (feat Jimbo Mathis)	Volume I

41	Mary Jo Curry Band	Nothin’ Is Easy	Front Porch
42	Kerry Kearney	Voodoo Down the River	Tales From The Psychedelta
43	Simon Kinny-Lewis	Black Cat Moan	Another Day In San Jose
44	The Reverend Shawn Amos & The Brotherhood	Counting Down The Days	Blue Sky
45	The Lucky Losers	Half a Nothing	Godless Land
46	Marcus King	The Well	El Dorado
47	Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar	Sacrifice	The Reckless On
48	Coco Montoya	Trouble	Coming In Hot
49	Robert Cray	Anything You Want	That’s What I Heard
50	Dave Fields	Force of Will	Force of Will

The Roadhouse Blues Top 40 songs

31	Steve Washington (feat  Lucky Peterson)	Blues Don’t Cost a Thing	Just A Matter of Time
32	Tammi Savoy & The Chris Casello Combo	As Long As I’m Movin’	That Rock ‘n’ Roll Rhythm!
33	Too Slim and the Taildraggers	Devil’s Hostage	The Remedy
34	David Rotundo Band	I Must Be Crazy	So Much Trouble
35	Mick Clarke	Ain’t Beggin’ Nobody	Crazy with the Blues
36	Casey Hensley	Searching For A Man	Good As Gone
37	Tas Cru	Save Me	Drive On
38	Sass Jordan	The Key	Rebel Moon Blues
39	Mark May	Barbecue And Blues	Deep Dark Demon
40	Shemekia Copeland	Walk Until I Ride	Uncivil War

The Roadhouse Blues Top 30 Songs

21	Eric Johanson	Down To The Bottom	Below Sea Level
22	Tinsley Ellis	Evil Till Sunrise	Ice Cream In Hell
23	The Immediate Family	Cruel Twist	Slippin’ and Slidin’
24	Mike Zito	After The Storm	Quarantine Blues
25	Savoy Brown	Jaguar Car	Ain’t Done Yet
26	Kirsten Thien	Shoulda Been	Two Sides
27	Larkin Poe	Every Bird That Flies	Self Made Man
28	Eric Steckel	Since I Been Loving You	Grandview Drive
29	Sonny Landreth	Somebody Gotta Make A Move	Blacktop Run
30	Crystal Shawanda	Evil Memory	Church House Blues

The Roadhouse House Top 20 Songs

11	Rae Gordon Band	Get Right With The World	Wrong Kind Of Love
12	Fantastic Negrito	Chocolate Samurai	Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?
13	Ben Levin	My Back Scratcher	Carryout Or Delivery
14	Kat Riggins	The Storm	Cry Out
15	Albert Cummings	Red Rooster	Believe
16	The War and Treaty	Beautiful (feat. Jason Isbell)	Hearts Town
17	Anthony Gomes	Until The End Of Time	Containment Blues
18	Popa Chubby	I’m The Beast From The East	It’s A Mighty Hard Road
19	The Mary Stokes Band	Comin’ Home	Comin’ Home
20	Joanne Shaw Taylor	Human	Reckless Blues

The Roadhouse Top Ten Tunes for 2020

10. Johnny Iguana – Shake Your Money Maker [Johnny Iguana’s Chicago Spectacular] (Delmark Records)

Johnny Iguana’s cover of the Elmore James song from 1961 should get you movin’ in your easy chair as you listen. Johnny’s energetic keyboard playing is superbly matched by the slide guitar work of Lil’ Ed.

9. Layla Zoe – Nowhere Left To Go [Title Cut] (Self Release)

Though not officially released until January 8, 2021, I got a promo copy in December and started spinning it so it makes the list! Layla’s growling delivery is just badass and harkens back to Janis Joplin.

8. Wily Bo Walker/Danny Flam – Ain’t No Man a Good Man [Title Cut] (Mescal Canyon Records)

Blues rock with a hint of Dr. John in his voice, Wily Bo is a fantastic UK artist with a growing following. Wily’s delivery is theatric in nature and I can’t wait for the opportunity to see him and Danny perform live on stage one day…SOON!

7. Alastair Greene – Bayou Mile [The New World Blues] (Whiskey Bayou Records)

A native of Ventura, California, Alastair got to collaborate with the great Tab Benoit from my home state of Louisiana to make this recording and the result is a haunting beautiful song.

6. Thorbjorn Risager and the Black Tornado – Come On In [Title Cut] (Ruf Records)

A Danish powerhouse and one of my favorite European roadhouse blues artists, Thorbjorn has a unique voice and he is backed by an incredible seven piece ensemble that just continue to crank out catchy and upbeat roadhouse blues tunes.

5. Dion – Blues Comin’ On (ft. Joe Bonamassa) [Blues With Friends] (KTBA Records)

An American treasure, Dion is still creating vibrant music at the age of 81! Produced by Joe Bonamassa’s Keeping the Blues Alive label, Dion got Joe to sit in on this track!

4. Christone “Kingfish” Ingram – Rock & Roll [Empty Promises] (Alligator Records)

This song is about a deal with the angels and a family’s devotion to a young artist’s future. It is simply beautiful and Christone’s delivery is authentic and riveting.

3. Joe Bonamassa – Why Does It Take So Long to Say Goodbye [Royal Tea] (J&R Adventures)

Another Joe Bonamassa ballad that meshes rock and blues like only he can. He is known as a world class guitar player, but I love his voice and his songwriting. This one is a roadhouse jewel!

2. Walter Trout – Make It Right [Ordinary Madness] (Provogue Records)

At 69, Walter is creating some of the best music of his storied career. The guitar playing on this tune is vintage Trout. I hope I get to see him perform it live sometime this year or next!

1……. Avey Grouws Band – Rise Up [The Devil May Care] (Self Release)

A self released debut album by a group from Iowa features a song that is my #1 roadhouse tune for 2020! Who would have thought?? I know I didn’t until I heard Jeni Grouw’s voice and Chris Avey’s guitar playing on Rise Up. It is not only a catchy but topical tune. We all need to rise up, in love, and confront the issues of our times head on without hate or rancor. It’s a song and a message we all need to spread around! Oh…and by the way…..the Avey Grouws Band will be appearing in concert in June with…..Walter Trout. My #1 and #2 artists on the same stage…..if you are close…go see them!!!!

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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 24 hour stream devoted to the Roadhouse Blues… WRHB.