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!!

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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!!!

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	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

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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.