Kenny Blues Boss Wayne

Trio of 2022 Canadian Releases You Need to Give a Listen

Would you like to listen to some new roadhouse blues tunes? Here are some Canadian artists that you ought to lend an ear!!!

The Hogtown Allstars – Hog Wild (Stony Plain Records 2022)

Featuring Chuck Jackson and Gary Kendall (of Downchild fame), this Canadian group, The Hogtown Allstars, cranks out some lively jump blues and a bit of classic R&B. Also loved the title cut, Hog Wild.

HOROJO TRIO – Set the Record (Stony Plain Records 2022)

Featuring JW Jones, an incredible guitar player, the fantastic voice of Jeff Rogers, and the steady drumming of Jamie Holes, this Canadian band’s debut album Set The Record features an array of R&B and soul tunes that I loved listening to: Hard As I Can, Man of Steel, A Little Goes a Long Way, and Real Deal….(and that they are!).

Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne – From Chicago to Paris (Stony Plain Records 2022)

The new recording, From Chicago To Paris, is a tribute by Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne to the music of Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon, two icons of the blues. Kenny is an expat from the United States and a long time resident of Canada who is one badass keyboard player and a master of the boogie woogie blues style. The album features 17 selections of which I loved Rock and Rolling This House and The Way She Loves a Man the best.

#blues #roadhouseblues

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.

Tuesday Bluzin’ on BluesMusicFan Radio 12-2 pm ET

Join us today from 12-2 pm ET for the Ben Vee Roadhouse Blues Nooner on http://www.bluesmusicfan.com. We will be featuring new music from Anthony Geraci, Kenny ‘Blues Boss’ Wayne, The Hogtown Allstars, Mindi Abair, Ronnie Earl, Van Morrison, Kilborn Alley, Brad Absher, Bennett Matteo, and more!

Here is the intended playlist:

ARTISTTITLE
Anthony GeraciInto The Night
Anthony GeraciI Ain’t Going To Ask
Kenny ‘Blues Boss’ WayneThe Way She Loves A Man
The Hogtown AllstarsThe Sad One
Ben LevinMy Back Scratcher
Mindi AbairWhat About Love?
Miss BixThe Poison
Ronnie EarlBlow Wind Blow
Al BasileThe Time Is Now
Van MorrisonPretending
Tad RobinsonReal Street
Taj Mahal & Keb’ Mo’Ain’t Nobody Talkin’
Jontavious WillisLow Down Ways
Mary LaneBlues Give Me A Feeling
John NemethFountain Of A Man
Texas Horns, TheSoulshine
Kilborn AlleyDo Your Dance
Brad Absher & The SuperialsBe The Luv
Scott EllisonRevolutionary Man
HOROJO TrioReal Deal
Bennett Matteo BandBelieve In Me
Big Jack Johnson with Wild Child ButlerRun Blues Run
Ian SiegalWorking on a Building (feat. Jimmie Wood & JJ Holiday)
Big Papa and the TCBAin’t  No Thang
Mike StevensDevil’s Bride

Tuesday August 4th High Noon EST Roadhouse Blues

Join us on http://www.bluesmusicfan.com from 12 pm to 2 pm EST today for some great contemporary blues from artists like Jonny Lang, Gravel & Grace, Diane Blue, Moving Blues plus some classics by Freddie King and Omar Kent Dykes and Jimmie Vaughan.

Below is the intended playlist:

ARTISTTITLE
George Thorogood2120 South Michigan Ave (Feat. Charlie Musselwhite)
Cigarbox Henri – New American FarmersSound Of The Small Box
Nathan B. SpoonerCayuga Blues Band
Kenny Blues Boss WayneYou Did A Number On Me
Kyle YardleyGoing To St. Louis
Diane BlueThat’s a Pretty Good Love
Evelyn RubioWhat A Way to Go
Zoe Schwarz Blue CommotionLife Goes On
Jan JamesI’m Always Coming Back
Jonny LangCherry Red Wine
The Lucky LosersHalf a Nothing
Jose RamirezGasoline and Matches
The Ryan McGrath BandNo Good to You
Charlie BedfordSteady Driver Man
Charlie Frey’s Blue Plate SpecialsThe Minister’s Daughter
Moving BluesYou Know I Love You Babe
Mo’ JakeUh! Uh!
Micke and Lefty feat. ChefI´m A Steady Rollin’ Man
The SunBearsSet Fire To My Heart
Omar Kent Dykes & Jimmie VaughanBaby What You Want Me To Do/Bright Lights Big City
Freddie KingKey To The Highway (Live)
Anni PiperBlow Up Doll
Gravel & GraceBottles
Bakelite Radio (Joe Camilleri)Country Girl Blues
CD WoodburyFollow The River Home
Hurricane RuthShe’s Golden
Cass Clayton BandDoesn’t Make Sense
GreyhoundsLong Goodbye
Bridget Kelly BandDark Spaces

The Thursday July 9th Good Time Roadhouse Blues (3-5pm EST)

We have the Ben Vee July 9th Good Time Roadhouse Blues for ya from 3-5 pm EST on http://www.bluesmusicfan.com. The show features plenty of new contemporary blues such as Cass Clayton, The Hi-Jivers, Gravel & Grace, and Odds Lane as well as some badass “keepers” by Buddy Guy, George Thorogood, Keb’ Mo’, and Muddy Waters.

ARTISTTITLE
Kenny Blues Boss WayneLet The Rock Roll
Simon Kinny-LewisEvery Day I Have The Blues
Kerry Pastine And The Crime SceneDown Down
Angel ForrestAin’t No Doubt
Pierce Dipner & The Shades Of BlueDon’t Get No Sleep
Kat PearsonCane Creek
Diane BlueEasy, Easy, Baby
Be Sharp BandMojo Joe
Charlie BedfordGood To Go
Debra PowerAll Night Playing the Blues
Anthony Geraci with Dennis BrennanMister
Cass Clayton BandNo Use In Crying
Zoe Schwarz Blue CommotionIf Only I Could Be with You
Hurricane RuthWhat You Never Had
CD WoodburyI Didn’t Know
The Hi-JiversSomething’s Gotta Shake
SwingadelicYou’re Humbuggin’ Me
Charlie Frey’s Blue Plate SpecialsMarjorie
Misty BluesDon’t Send Me Home
Gravel & GraceBottles
Bakelite Radio (Joe Camilleri)You Better Watch Yourself
Anni PiperCake Walk Into Town
Andrew AlliTexas Woman
Odds LaneSpare Change
Carey BellI’m Gonna Buy Me A Train Ticke
Muddy Waters(I’m Your) Hoochie Coochie Man
George ThorogoodWillie Dixon’s Gone
Buddy GuyIt Hurts Me Too (When Things Go Wrong)
Keb’ Mo’The Worst Is yet to Come
Rory BlockIts Red Hot
Pete ThelenThought Passing Through

Kenny ‘Blues Boss’ Wayne – Doin’ It Mighty Fine!

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.

Best of the Blues 2018 – Ben Vee’s Roadhouse 66 Song List

Similar to the old Route 66 that wound from the heart of the United States in Chicago to the west coast and captured some of the best of what America has to offer, the Ben Vee Roadhouse 66 song list meanders world wide from Africa to Europe to North and South America.. on then to Australia and up to Asia capturing the best blues songs of 2018. The roadhouse blues is situated at the crossroads of the blues and rock genres so there are plenty of upbeat tunes and a number of belly grinders on the list. The selection includes 15 female singers..a dozen blues rockers…several roots blues tunes and numbers of hot contemporary blues recordings…I hope you download and enjoy listening to all the songs!!

As a DJ, in 2018 I played over 200 sets and 500 hours of blues music or roughly 6,000 songs for listening audiences. On my 24 hour Roadhouse blues stream, I streamed thousands more. Picking the best 66 from my broadcasts was both a labor of love and a huge challenge.  The position of the songs on the list is of little consequence…you might list them in a different order or include ones that I didn’t.  The important thing is that these 66 tunes are a “top shelf” sampling of a vibrant and growing contemporary blues market. Don’t let ANYONE tell you that the blues are dead or dying!!  I encourage you to turn your friends on to songs on the list and help spread the news that, as Buddy Guy said on his latest album, the blues is alive and well!!

1 Joe Bonamassa King Bee Shakedown
2 Anthony Gomes Whiskey Made Me Do It
3 Lance Lopez Blue Moon Rising
4 Larkin Poe Bleach Blonde Bottle Blues
5 Billy F. Gibbons Hollywood 151
6 Danielle Nicole Save Me ft. Kenny Wayne Shepherd
7 Boz Scaggs Little Miss Night And Day
8 Buddy Guy Cognac (feat. Jeff Beck & Keith Richards)
9 Shemekia Copeland Ain’t Got Time For Hate
10 Widow Blue Who’s Gonna Take Care of Lucille?
11 Bettye LaVette Things Have Changed
12 Mike Zito Mississippi Nights
13 Layla Zoe Are You Still Alive Inside
14 Ray Bonneville South of the Blues
15 Markey Blue Ric Latina Project Raised in Muddy Water
16 Colin James I Will Remain
17 Jim Allchin Voodoo Doll
18 Tinsley Ellis Nothing But Fine
19 Sean Chambers All Night Long
20 Ryan McGarvey Ain’t Enough Whiskey
21 The Nick Moss Band The High Cost of Low Living
22 Teresa James & The Rhythm Tramps The Day The Blues Came To Call
23 Delta Moon Skinny Woman
24 Chris Smither Maybelline
25 Janiva Magness Down Below
26 Curtis Salgado/Alan Hager You Got to Move
27 Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats Coolin’ Out
28 The Record Company Roll Bones
29 Travis Bowlin Vicksburg Blues
30 Damon Fowler Ain’t Gonna Rock With You No More
31 Beth Hart & Joe Bonamassa Give It Everything You Got
32 Dana Fuchs Ready To Rise
33 Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite The Bottle Wins Again
34 Sue Foley The Lucky Ones (ft Jimmie Vaughan)
35 Anthony Geraci Why Did You Have to Go
36 Joe Goldmark Beautician Blues
37 Mud Morganfield Oh Yeah
38 The Lucky Losers The River
39 Fiona Boyes Ember
40 Johnny & The Headhunters Watch And Chain (Hey Gyp)
41 Hannah Wicklund & The Steppin Stones Mama Said
42 The Reverend Shawn Amos Moved
43 Dry Johnson Drunk Girl With a Tamborine (feat Snit)
44 Tom Hambridge This End of the Road (ft Sonny Landreth)
45 Anthony Gomes Take Me Back Home
46 Ally Venable Backwater Blues
47 Kat Danser Hol’ Up Baby
48 Dan Patlansky Judge A Man
49 Marcia Ball Take a Little Louisiana
50 Sari Schorr Thank You
51 Too Slim And the Taildraggers Trouble
52 Jamie Lynn Vessels Done Me Wrong
53 Lindsay Beaver Dangerous
54 Steve Krase Dirty Dirty
55 Black River Delta Keeps Me Bleeding
56 The Marcus King Band Side Door
57 Kris Barras Band Wrong Place, Wrong Time
58 Dany Franchi Wanna Know
59 Niecie Thank God for Fools
60 Eric Steckel We’re Still Friends
61 Luke Winslow King Chicken Dinner
62 John Akapo Maui Drive
63 Kat Riggins A Girl in the Boys’ Club
64 The Bob Lanza Blues Band Hey Baby
65 Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne That Raggedy Shack
66 Elvin Bishop That’s the Way Willy Likes It

Ben Vee Roadhouse Blues Playlist for Thursday Nov 15 2018 3-5 pm EST

If you get a chance, join us today at BluesMusicFan Radio from 3-5 pm EST! Here is my intended playlist for the set!  Not only can ya listen but you can chat with me as the set goes along!  Just click the chat button to the right on the web page!  CYA there!

ARTIST TITLE
Bob Lanza Raritan River Stomp
Lance Lopez Blue Moon Rising
Joe Bonamassa Self-Inflicted Wounds
Beth Hart I’d Rather Go Blind (Bonus Track)
Bob Lanza Walking After Midnight
Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne That Raggedy Shack
Jamie Lynn Vessels Done Me Wrong
Larkin Poe Hard Time Killing Floor Blues
Chris Stapleton Death Row
Ray Bonneville South Of The Blues
The Lucky Losers The River
Steve Krase My Baby Walked Off
John Akapo Ramblin’ On My Mind
Layla Zoe I’ll Be Reborn Blues
Cary Morin Carmela Marie
Colin James Dig Myself a Hole
Billy F Gibbons My Baby She Rocks
Damon Fowler Up the Line
Casey James Fight You For The Blues
Michele D’Amour & the Love Dealers No Good
Taj Mahal & Keb Mo Don’t Leave Me Here
Anthony Geraci Long Way Home
Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters You Don’t Know What Love Is
Crystal Shawanda Ball and Chain
Markey Blue Worries
Tommy Castro & The Painkillers Blues All Around Me

Ben Vee’s Roadhouse Blues Bin for Nov 12 2018

A selection of albums I have been listening to lately:

Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne – Inspired by the Blues (Stony Plain Records 2018)

Kenny Blies Boss Wayne

Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne is the Chicago Boogie Woogie Blues Boss!  On his latest recording, Inspired By the Blues, he goes full tilt classic style boogie and blues with help from Duke Robillard (guitar) , Billy Branch (harmonica), and B.B. King’s long time bass player Russell Jackson. Kenny can pound those ivories and was named the “Most Outstanding Musician (Keyboards)” by the prestigious Living Blues Magazine in 2015. He has also won Juno and Maple Leaf blues awards in Canada and the new album is a great addition to my collection of roadhouse blues tunes.

Kenny makes the sounds of the late forties and fifties relevant for modern audiences with superb songs like Old Brick Wall, Start Rockin’, Make Up Your Mind, and Jimmy & Johnny.  I particularly enjoyed the tune That Raggedy Shack. Primarily upbeat and featuring great musicians, I think you will enjoy listening to this as much as I did!

The Bob Lanza Blues Band – Kids, Dogs, and Krazy Women  (ConnorRayMusic 2018)

Bob Lanza

Bob Lanza‘s new album Kids, Dogs, and Krazy Women is some fine roadhouse blues.  Up tempo for the most part, it features some particularly great musicianship from band members Vin Mott (harmonica), John Ginty (keyboards), Anthony Krizan (guitars, vocals, drums) and David Lockhart (bass) as well as Bob himself who has a great voice and plays some badass guitar. I have followed the solo careers of Vin Mott and John Ginty for some time and Bob brings out the best of their talents on this recording.

I loved Hey Baby, the title cut, Let Me In, Little Momma, and Problems.  Bob does a nice cover of Patsy Cline‘s Walking After Midnight and the grindin’ blues tune I’m Not the Man I Used to Be is absolutely fantastic.

Overall, I think this album merits a nomination for Contemporary Blues album of the year!

Cary Morin – When I Rise (Cary Morin Music 2018)

Cary Morin

Cary Morin is a native American who is a member of the Crow tribe. He was born and raised in Montana and is now based in Colorado.  He has long been known for his accomplishments on the acoustic guitar and his style of music would be equally at home in the juke joints of the Mississippi delta or in the folks clubs of Greenwich Village.  On his latest album, he includes a number of electric guitar and pedal steel guitar tunes that are well worth a listen.

The album has an electric and an acoustic version of Jug in the Water that I really enjoyed. I also liked the roadhouse sound of Carmela Marie. The acoustic tune and title cut of the album, When I Rise, features some great harmonica work by Dexter Payne and has both delta and native american influences..interesting tune to say the least.

All the songs are originals except for a delightful cover of Duane Allman’s Little Martha and a nice rendition of the Grateful Dead’s Dire Wolf. Generally, I would classify the album as Americana or roots music with some great blues influences.  And if he ever gets up into the northeastern part of the United States, I would drive a good ways to see one of his performances!