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Written by Larry "Dawk" McCarthy
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I have a new hero!
Ninety-five year old David "Honeyboy" Edwards was born June 28, 1915 in Shaw, Mississippi. Honeyboy is one of the last living links to Robert Johnson, and one of, if not THE last original acoustic Delta blues players. He is a living legend, and his story is truly part of history. He is the real deal.
Grammy Award winner 2010 - Lifetime Achievement
Grammy Award winner 2008 - Best Traditional Blues Album
Blues Music Awards 2005 & 2007 - Acoustic Blues Artist
And that's just the recent ones!
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Written by Larry "Dawk" McCarthy
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In a profession loaded with colourful personalities, Eddy "the Chief" Clearwater fits right in at the top. From his trademark Indian head dress (which may not be politically correct anymore) to his colourful outfits that change with each set, he is certainly one of the most recognizable blues personalities.
He honed his chops on Chicago's West Side right alongside of Magic Sam, Otis Rush and Freddie King. He is equally at home with the most heartfelt blues ballads as he is with the "party time' blues and blues rock. When you think of Chicago Blues, Eddy has to be on your top ten list.
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Written by Larry "Dawk" McCarthy
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I first saw Bryan “Braille Blues Daddy” Lee on University Avenue in June 2000 when he was part of the du Maurier Downtown Jazz festival. If I remember correctly, he shared a stage that day with C. J. Chenier and our own Canadian piano phenom, Tyler Yarema. I had recently rediscovered the world of blues and, being a guy from the burbs, had finally become comfortable in our local blues scene with our fabulous local talent and venues. But I could hardly wait to see and listen to an international star, even though many of my blues friends seemed to know little, if anything, about Bryan Lee.
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Written by Eric Thom
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One of the best things to ever have happened to Canadian blues comes in the form of amiable, highly-animated, 45-something music aficionado, Andrew Galloway. If he wasn’t a label owner, he’d likely be a record store owner – and he’d probably be making the same amount of money. And he’d be fine with that. He gets his thrills from the music and his proud label, Electro-Fi; it’s never really been about making money. It’s been more of a Love Train for the Grossly Underappreciated as this modern day Robin Hood first zeroed in on those forgotten artists who’d never gotten the recognition ─ or income ─ they’d so justly deserved on their first go-round in the career-crushing business of the blues.
Birthing
his fledgling label in 1996, Galloway had two objectives: one, to help
bring
some of these unsung heroes back into the limelight and, two, in so
doing -
help preserve the age-old, time-honoured tradition of the blues by
keeping these
characters in the loop. Ultimately, these associations have built solid
credibility for the label amongst blues fans and critics alike. And, as
Andrew
has endured the pain and heartbreak of losing the old guard - from Mack
Simmons
to Mel Brown, Sam Meyers and, most recently Dave Thompson - he's been
able to
translate all he's learned at the hands of these gentle giants and use
this
knowledge to gradually ease the label into a new generation of blues
artists:
Julian Fauth, Enrico Crivellaro (Electro-Fi is planning a new studio
release
with the hot guitarist teamed with famed harpist, Lee Oskar), David
Rotundo
(another planned release with David & Julian, together again).
Which
brings us round to the present. A man of semi-shrouded mystery, survivor
of twisted
law suits, fan of a super-wide breadth of music, ex-coiffeuse, customs
expert
and border runner, lover of fine beverages and better cigars......we
have many
questions to ask:
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Written by Press Release
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The Toronto Blues Society will be celebrating its* 25th anniversary *with an exciting line-up of *Shakura S'Aida, Fathead, The 24th Street Wailers*, and *Harrison Kennedy*; as well as live blues painting in the Ballroom by *Mark Smith*, campfire/open mike by *Brian Blain** *in the Art Bar, two blues photo exhibits, blues poetry and blues movies on Friday May 28 at the Gladstone Hotel.
WHO: Shakura S'Aida, Fathead, The 24th Street Wailers, Harrison Kennedy, and more!
WHAT: Toronto Blues Society - 25th Anniversary*
WHERE: The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St W, Toronto*
WHEN: Friday May 28, 2010, 7pm*
TICKETS: $15 TBS members / $20 public @ www.ticketpro.ca & Soundscapes,
plus FREE concerts
WEB: www.torontobluessociety.com
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Written by Press Release
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Edmonton, AB (May 17, 2010): Marshall Lawrence latest acoustic blues and roots disc, Blues Intervention, is now available. It's a recording that's steeped in Marshall's reverence for acoustic blues masters, yet abandons just enough form to embrace a fresh approach to an old tradition. Featuring Marshall's raw Delta bottleneck & finger style sound, and adorned by the talents of onetime B.B. King bassist Russell Jackson (stand-up acoustic bass) and Sherman "The Tank" Doucette (harmonica), Blues Intervention is a breath of fresh Mississippi juke joint air for blues and roots lovers of all persuasions.
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Written by Press Release
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Harvest's first-ever Early Bird Online Sale of tickets and passes will begin at 9:00a.m. on Saturday, May 15th.
You can visit our website now to see the Early Bird Schedule and read artist bios to perfectly plan your own personal Harvest experience!
The remainder of tickets and passes will go on sale, as usual, on Saturday, July 17th at 8:30am, online, by phone and at Harvest Central at 81 Regent Street. (Please note that NO tickets or passes will be sold from Harvest Central UNTIL July 17th.)
Avoid waiting IN LINE by buying ONLINE! Available for purchase at www.harvestjazzandblues.com, www.ticketpro.ca, or by calling the Ticketpro call centre at 1-888-311-9090.
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Written by John Taylor
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 Harpdog Brown, our Artistic Director at large has just completed a successful tour back east promoting his new CD collaboration with Graham Guest. What follows is a review that gives you an insight to what critics are saying.
When one considers that the most common type of harmonica is, by definition, limited - the diatonic scale omits flat and sharp notes - it's astonishing just how expressive an instrument it can be in the hands of a master like Edmonton's Harpdog Brown. Above And Beyond, Brown's latest on his own Dog Breath Records, finds him teamed with fellow Edmontonian Graham Guest, pianist extraordinaire, who spent years working with blues chanteuse Sue Foley among many others.
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Written by Larry "Dawk" McCarthy
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Little Walter Jacobs, born on May 1, 1930, had a revolutionary approach the harmonica that found him compared to artists such as Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix when it came to innovation and his impact on succeeding generations. In 2008 it earned him a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the only artist ever to be inducted specifically for work as a harmonica player.
He arrived in Chicago in 1945 and garnered instant attention for his harp work. Reportedly, he grew frustrated with having his harmonica drowned out by electric guitarists, and adopted a simple, but previously little-used method of cupping a small microphone in his hands along with his harmonica, plugging the microphone into a guitar amplifier. While he is sometimes credited with being the first to amplify the harp, Sonny Boy Williamson and Snooky Prior might also claim the same honour. One thing for sure, though, Jacobs was the first to purposely try to push his amplifiers beyond their technical limitations, using the amplification to explore and develop radical new sounds, previously unheard from a harmonica.
Jacobs joined Muddy Waters' Band in 1948, and by 1950, he was playing on
Muddy's recordings for Chess Records. He was also frequently utilized
as a sideman behind artists like Jimmy Rogers, Memphis Minnie, Johnny
Shines, Bo Diddley, Otis Rush and Robert Nighthawk.
In February 1968, he was involved in a fight while taking a break from a
performance at a nightclub on the South Side of Chicago. While he
received relatively minor injuries, they aggravated damage he had
suffered in a previous encounter and he died in his sleep. He was only
37.
But why all this talk about Little Walter?
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Written by Blues on the Rideau
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HARMONICA SHAH
"rode the dog" all the way up from Detroit to join
the great JACK DE KEYZER (fresh
off his 2010 Juno Award win for Best Blues CD Of
The Year) for a 2 night stand at BLUES ON
THE RIDEAU @ THE COVE INN, Westport April 23 & 24 and their performances left the crowd
literally blown away. Backed by consummate bass
man/Producer Alec Fraser and
dynamite drummer Al Cross (Big
Sugar, Great Big Sea) the band tore it up all
night long to the great pleasure of sold out
crowds (both nights).
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Written by Press Release
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MonkeyJunk based in
Ottawa were the only Canadian
artists nominated at the prestigious Blues Music Awards presented by The Blues Foundation in Memphis, TN. They were even invited
to perform at the Awards gala. This tremendous recognition crowned a great year
filled with nominations and awards in
Canada as well a
prize for Best New Artist in
Memphis. Their first CD Tiger
In Your Tank is getting a lot of mileage!
The Blues
Foundation is
Memphis-based, but world-renown as the organization dedicated to
preserving our blues music history, celebrating recording and
performance excellence, supporting blues education and ensuring the future
of this uniquely American art form. Founded in 1980, the Foundation
has 3500 individual members and
185 affiliated local blues
societies representing another50,000 fans and professionals around the
world. Its signature honors and events - the Blues Music Awards, Blues Hall of Fame, International Blues
Challenge and Keeping the Blues
Alive Awards -make it the international center of blues music.
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Written by Press Release
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It was a red letter evening for Canada’s Stony Plain Records label at the annual Blues Award ceremonies in Memphis last night (Thursday May 6).
The “Album of the Year” award went to Joe Louis Walker for Between a Rock and the Blues, his second album of the label. And guitarist, bandleader, songwriter and producer Duke Robillard earned “Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year” honours.
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