Bman's Blues Report

From their inception in 1993 as Mike & the Mellotones they have been at the forefront of a new blues movement in Europe. In their native country of Holland they quickly made their way to the top based on a solid live reputation and an unparelleled ability to combine musicianship with showmanship. To stay on top it is essential, however, to reinvent yourself and keep up to date with new musical developments. Never the blues purists, The Mellotones have always managed to incorporate a number of styles into their music. First they named their particular blues brand Blues & Beyond but when they saw the term being used by more and more bands they chose a new title: Nu Bluz. These days they call their style of music Soul Rock. 2003 marked the transition from the three-piece format to a four-piece one renamed The Mellotones. With the addition of bassist Mike Sedee and guitarist Ruben Klabbers, frontman/singer/guitarist Mike Donkers and his drummer Lorenzo saw their taking shape as a k...

It is a matter of public record that Phillip Walker was born in Welsh, Louisiana, February 11, 1937. Phillip was the seventh of twelve children of Malvin and Viola Weber Walker, sharecroppers who were married at ages 14 and 13 and began raising a family when they were only children themselves. Malvin was a smart hardworking farmer who always managed, somehow, to keep a roof over the heads of his family. Malvin could fix anything, and Phillip seems to have followed in his dad's footsteps with a mechanical aptitude nothing short of amazing. When Phillip was 8 years old his family moved to Port Arthur, Texas. It is this combination of Louisiana Creole, French, and Indian (his mother’s mother was full-blooded Cherokee), and Texas western gunslinger that combines to prod Phillip’s unique speech patterns, accent and dialect. His mother spoke in the French Creole dialect (Cajun) of the area. Things went smoothly in Port Arthur for a while, but by the time he was 12 years old, his father’s...

You might go out of your house any day and come across in the dusty banking of the Square of Weapon, in the Orphans' land next to the Yellow House, perhaps in Providence along with a kiosk of newspapers.. The place does not matter really. He is always there, simply armed with a guitar and a sweet diatonic harmonica. And I say to you, you will not be able to avoid to be attracted by his talent, by his genius, by his sincerity, by his humility. Unconsciously everyone is influenced by the soft melodies and the free rhythms; they end up by humming, whistling, moving the head without noticing it. In this city full of sadness it is something very beautiful to see. Yes, Johnny canalizes the whole Blues that lives in the bends of Santiago; as a prodigious wandering Hamelin that in exchange for nothing manages to frighten, exactly, these crows of our hearts with a sound limpid, thin; nothing more raw. Write on our Facebook Wall or post your Photos of great blues events! -  ”LIKE”