Bman's Blues Report

I just received the newest release, On Down The Road from JL Fulks and I really like it. Opening with The River , Fulks sets the stage with a meaty double stop sound on his guitar and his own vocals backed by solid backing vocals by Rachel Brown. Driving rock drums work by Ian Jones and tasty bass work by Ken Burgner complimented nicely by Muggie Doo on B3 leads into a well executed guitar solo. Very cool. Snappy drum riffs by Jones opens title track, On Down The Road , a Matt Schofleid compiosition. Fulks has really learned to keep his guitar in check and uses his lead vocals to direct the track, adding really well executed guitar soloing by Schofield and his own to complete his expressions. Excellent! Slow blues number, I Believe In Love , gives Fulks the opportunity to show his metal with his guitar. His phrases are well composed and fluid showing maturity and patience. Very nice! On Honey, Ain't That Love , Fulks backs off to an easy shuffle and more primitive styling. Wit...

WE HOPE YOU'RE AS EXCITED AS WE ARE! Boy do we have a great year of music for you. For those of you who ARE familiar with Provogue, you already know that we are an international favorite in the blues world. With artists like, Robert Cray, Walter Trout, Beth Hart, Popa Chubby, and Leslie West it's no surprise that we took home 7 honorable mentions in The Blues Magazine's Best of 2013 edition, not to mention 2 Blues Foundation nominations, and a Grammy nomination!  That's why it's no surprise we plan on making a lot of noise in 2014!    WHAT'S NEW? Fresh Artists + Brand New Releases Whether you're into classic blues, Chicago blues, a good ol' shuffle or even your new-age progressive blues there's a big buzz coming from Matt Schofield. His latest release "Far As I Can See" serves an entree of well thought out songs that take you for a journey. The albu...

I just received the newest release (February 18, 2014), Far As I Can See , from Matt Schofield and I really like it! First I'll start out by saying that this is not a pure "blues" release but blues based and fresh. Opening with From Far Away has more of a contemporary jazzy feel along the lines of Robben Ford. Schofield is an excellent singer and he spends no time at all showing what all the clamor is about with his guitar playing. Clean Break is a really slick shuffle track with solid organ contributions from Jonny Henderson. Schofield really swings this track with crisp articulated guitar runs and Jordan John is tight on drums. Getaway is a funky progressively timed track with cool bass work from Carl Stanbridge. Schofield really jumps on this track with some of the cleanest guitar riffs I've heard on a record in a long time. Excellent. One track that is bound to be a common denominator for everyone is Albert King's Breaking Up Somebody's Home . Schofie...

MATT SCHOFIELD TO RELEASE FAR AS I CAN SEE VIA MASCOT LABEL GROUP'S PROVOGUE RECORDS ON FEBRUARY 18 North American Tour To Commence March, 2014 New York, NY --- Mascot Label Group has announced a February 18, 2014 release date for Matt Schofield's FAR AS I CAN SEE on the Provogue imprint.  Guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer Schofield has been frequently lauded as the British blues guitarist of current times. Overseas, Guitarist Magazine published simply, “There isn’t a better British blues guitarist playing currently”. With his debut album for Provogue, Schofield finds himself as representative for the long tradition of British Blues on the ultimate blues guitar label, and gaining a home amongst his peers - the world's greatest contemporary blues players.  Schofield's career has been gaining momentum for the last several years on both sides of the Atlantic.  Successful runs in the UK, Europe and North America have been met with c...

This is my first opportunity to listen to one of Matt's recordings and I must say that I like it. It is a very uptempo recording with little of the cliche riffs typically found in many contemporary recordings. He is a very skilled guitar man with licks that more resemble Albert Lee than Albert King. That isn't a bad thing. I think SRV has that covered. When he cuts in with one of his solos they are heartfelt and fat. One song, Wrapped Up in Love, does play a tribute to King, but it certainly isn't a SRV clone nor does it sound like a King ripoff. Very nice. The cd includes 10 tracks and all are very enojoyable. If you like the contemporary blues, this may be your ticket!