Get your day bluzin’ with me at http://www.bluesmusicfan.com from 12-2 pm ET. Glad to see 2020 go and got some hot new roadhouse blues tunes to get 2021 rollin’ from Marc Amacher, Eel Pie, Pat Smillie, Lynne Jackaman, Jo Harman, and many more!
Got some roadhouse blues for ya…..Sunday Wilde, Mike Goudreau, Tullie Brae, Crystal Shawanda, Fruteland Jackson….and many more. Just click on the link or type in http://www.bluesmusicfan.com, grab your favorite drink or smoke, and enjoy the tunes from 12-2 pm EST today, Tuesday, April 28th!
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.
The year 2019 was an exciting and invigorating one for blues lovers with the largest number of new albums released that I can recall since at least 2012. Amongst all the songs that I heard and spun for the year (and that was thousands!), these five struck me as the most creative in terms of the sound or lyrics or voice or a combination of all three!! (Links to the songs on Spotify or Youtube are shown in blue.)
With lyrics that are Shakespearean in terms of the pathos and images created for your mind to wrestle with, If I Loved You Hard Enough is about a dysfunctional love that has spanned the lovers lives since they were kids. The opening lyrics portray a shocking scene at a Piggly Wiggly parking lot and it just gets better from there!
The song was written by Rob Robinson, the leader and front man for the Leipers’ Fork Tennessee soul blues band and is just one of many great tunes on the album Holywater. Rob also owns and operates a roadhouse style eatery south of town calledPuckett’s…..mhmm…fine food and great roadhouse blues..I gotz to get there soon!
Amnesia Blues Band hails from Gippsland, Australia. Paul “Buck” Buchanan is the lead vocalist and primary songwriter and they have penned an incredible song, Fast Johnny Cool, on their latest album Hailstone. An infectious bass driven beat and a great voice frame a song about a battle of guitar players at a low down roadhouse.
I got to chat with them a couple of months ago and they warned me not to visit them “down under” with a great voice or guitar. Listen to the song…you will know what they mean!
Jason Ricci & the Bad Kind – Break in the Rain(My Chops Are Rolling 2019 on EllerSoul Records)
A transplant from Maine to my hometown of New Orleans, Jason Ricci is one of the great harmonica players of the blues genre. Break in the Rain has an insistent beat with fabulous guitar licks, some awesome harmonica riffs, and lyrics about a day jumpin’ in puddles and layin’ in the tall grass… naked! Hell yeah!
The song was written by band member and guitarist John Lisi. The Bad Kind band also includes Jason’s wife, Kaitlin Dibble, on backing vocals on the song. I hope to see them perform tunes from My Chops Are Rolling the next time I am back down in the Big Easy!
One of traits of some blues lovers is a kind of conservatism about what is and is not the blues. There are any number of blues purists out there that I respect but don’t agree with. As B.B. King stated once in an interview that I saw, it was only natural for the blues to evolve as more and more people were exposed to it and began to play and interpret it from their own individual perspectives. First it was the delta acoustic blues. Then it was electrified when it moved into urban areas like Chicago. Eventually it was rocked up by the British blues bands of the last sixties. And now we have the wide variety of contemporary blues that I love and spin regularly. I use the term “roadhouse blues” to describe this fascinating mix of modern blues with rock, soul, rhythm and blues, gospel, swing, roots music, and, yes…even a bit of rap influence!
On their latest album, Shine, Ghost Town Blues Band out of Memphis includes an original and creative song entitled Dirty. It’s a southern blues rockin’ tune about dealin’ with the life that fate sometimes deals and includes the tasteful use of rap. It is just such a natural fit for the song and blues in general. Kudos to the band for having the creativity (and bravery to face the blues purists) with such a fine recording! And people certainly love the album. It rose to number one on the Billboard Blues Charts soon after it’s release this past October.
Left Lane Cruiser – Smooth Commander (2019 Shake & Bake on Alive Records)
Left Lane Cruiser hails from Indiana and is a duo consisting of singer/guitarist Joe Evans IV and Pete Dio on drums/percussions. One of the songs on the new album SHAKE & BAKE is entitled Smooth Commander and it is about a sojourn across the world and his father’s love for the blues. The use of a resonator guitar is awesome and Joe’s voice is distinctive. And as he sings in the song, the blues will bring everybody around…..that it will surely do!!!
And kudos to the renown illustrator William Stout for providing such a creative album cover!
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.
Tune in for new tunes from CW Ayon, Sean Poluk, Janiva Magness and a bunch of other contemporary blues artists of 2019 on http://www.bluesmusicfan.com at 3 pm EST! Hope you have time to grab your favorite beverage and kick back and enjoy the music!
Tune in today on http://www.bluesmusicfan.com for my Gettin’ Close To Christmas Roadhouse Blues Nooner at High Noon EST! I’ll have some new tunes by Lucky Peterson, Diane Blue, Sugaray Rayford as well as some classics by Luther Allison, Freddie King, and Johnny Copeland.
Hope ya get a chance to tune in for my Roadhouse blues show today, December 5th at 3 pm EST on http://www.bluesmusicfan.com. I will be featuring a brand new tune from Marcus King and several songs from Louisiana artists Tab Benoit, Sonny Landreth, Eric Johanson, Tiffany Pollack, Charlie Wooten, and the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band.
It’s cold outside here in the eastern United States! Keep that blood flowin’ hot by tuning in for my roadhouse blues Nooner at http://www.bluesmusicfan.com. Got tunes by Gracie Curan, Tennessee Redemption, Chris O’Leary, Gov’t Mule, and a bunch more. CYA at High Noon EST for two hours of the best upbeat blues that I can deliver.
Below is the intended playlist.
ARTIST
TITLE
Johnny Burgin
Louisiana Walk (Feat. Nancy Wright)
Frank Christopher
Save Me From Myself
Al Basile
So Called Story Teller
Gregory Sutton
Just One Dollar
Frank Magnolia
Got Juice Got Gas
Gracie Curran
Things We Love
Tennessee Redemption
We Got A Thing Going On
Bob Corritore and Friends
I’m Gonna Keep What I’ve Got (feat. Mighty Joe Milsap)
I’m down along the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama this week. Here are some tunes that we are listenin’ to while drinking….eating oyster poboys…jambalaya…nookie burgers…red beans & rice…and oh…some more drinkin’….. (links to Spotify in blue)
I am so thankful for my family and friends and the life I have…..Beth Hart sings my thanks bettah than I can express on her brilliant new album War In My Mind.
A note about streaming (which is great for exposing new artists and songs)…..it may surprise you to know that for every 10,000 streams of a song, the artist may make as little as $40 (US). But when you buy their CDs, they can make a decent living plying their craft. SO…….if ya love the music…use your favorite site and download the albums. And if you go see the artists live….buy those CDs, tee shirts, and hats at the show…….helps them defray road expenses and, in many cases, eat for the night.
I have got a passel of roadhouse blues from Australia, Europe, and across the USA today at http://www.bluesmusicfan.com (BMFR) from 3 to 5 pm EST. Tune in…I promise ya these are some BADASS tunes!
Below is the intended playlist.
ARTIST
TITLE
Ronnie Baker Brooks
Pick Power
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
It Ain’t Right
Jimmie Vaughan
It’s Love Baby (24 Hours A Day)
The Cash Box Kings
Back Off
Peter Frampton Band
I Just Want To Make Love To You (Feat. Kim Wilson)
Ben Vee Blues 