Bman's Blues Report

The Michael Packer Blues Band rolled into Chicago from New York City on Wednesday morning October 19th tired, ragged but ready to donate their time for a celebration of David Honeyboy Edwards life in a evening performance of blues. Buddy Guy's Legends club opened about 11 am and to my surprise and delight when I introduced myself and told the manager that we had just drove from New York. He said ":Welcome!" and with open arms proceeded to show us 2 green rooms upstairs where we could relax and take it easy so we would be ready for the nights event. They basically gave us the run of the joint. My hat goes off to the management and staff @ Buddy Guys. They made us feel at home and we were. Home of the blues in Chicago. The night started with a VIP party and acoustic acts with everyone telling their Honeyboy Edwards stories. To me the highlite was listening to Liz Mandeville who has recorded several CDs for Earwig Music which is owned by Honeyboy's manager and side-ki...

I have to admit I am probably one of the luckiest musicians in the world to be able to say I knew and played guitar with Honeyboy Edwards. I have been playing 2nd guitar with him for the last year and a half and sometimes with my band which was nicknamed "The Honeyboy Band". Even at 96 he could still play. His slide work was still top shelf."Sweet Home Chicago", "Dust My Broom". I certainly admired his playing, I was learning from the master but it was his manner, his voice and his storytelling was what I found most compelling. Honeyboy knew and played with Robert Johnson. He was recorded by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress in 1942. Those recordings are simply fabulous. Honeyboy was an american legend in blues history but it took years to gain the respect from the music world. It did finally happen. In 2006 he won a grammy for his "The World Don't Owe Me Nothing" CD and in 2010 he won the Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award. I...

David "Honeyboy" Edwards (June 28, 1915) is a Delta blues guitarist and singer from the American South. Edwards was born in Shaw, Mississippi. Edwards was 14 years old when he left home to travel with bluesman Big Joe Williams, beginning the life as an itinerant musician which he lead throughout the 1930s and 1940s. He performed with and was a friend of iconoclastic blues musician Robert Johnson. Honeyboy was present on the night Johnson drank poisoned whiskey which killed him, and his story has become the definitive version of Johnson's demise. Edwards knew and played with many of the leading bluesmen in the Mississippi Delta: Charley Patton, Tommy Johnson, and Johnny Shines. He described the itinerant bluesman's life: “ On Saturday, somebody like me or Robert Johnson would go into one of these little towns, play for nickels and dimes. And sometimes, you know, you could be playin' and have such a big crowd that it would block the whole street. Then the police wo...

John Hammond interview with Willie Mae who was Robert Johnsons girlfriend and Honey Boy Edwards who is of course robert Johnsons cousin. Enjoy

Chicago's Grant Park will be filled with every style and sound in the blues when the 28th annual Chicago Blues Festival is held from Friday, June 10 through Sunday, June 12, 2011. Sponsored by the Mayor's Office of Special Events along with various commercial supporters, the Chicago Blues Festival is the largest free admission blues festival in the world. This year's event follows the lead of the 2010 festival, restricted to three days (instead of the traditional four) due to the economy; the festival will still feature more than 60 performances on 4 stages over the weekend as well as tributes to Delta blues great Robert Johnson and the 40th anniversary of Chicago's Alligator Records label. Read more about the Chicago Blues Festival 2011.... With the temperature rising and spring starting to take hold across the U.S., 'tis rapidly becoming the season to listen to some great blues music in an open field with several thousand of your new best friends! The blues festiv...