Gulf Coast Records artist: Odds Lane - Lost & Found - New releae review

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Lost & Found, from Odds Lane and it's mixes rock, pop and blues for a catchy set. Opening with Don't Give It Away, a solid rocker with a great bass line by lead vocalist, Doug Byrkit, and spanking drum beat by Brian Zielie with solid guitar work by Mike Zito. Lost and Found is a super radio track with just a sprinkle of country flavor. Byrkit and Zielie have a real flair for radio style melodies and this may be the best one on the release, topped with a straight but cool guitar solo. Moth To A Flame is set over a James Brown style boogaloo beat. This will keep your feet tapping and Zito's slide guitar work hits solid on target. Very nice. A solid blues rocker, Blood On The Van, has a great thumping bass line, underscored guitar lead by Brykit along with smooth vocal blending with Zeilie and nicely executed slide work by Zito. Latin influenced, Little Too Late, has a bright, almost jazzy feel with balanced instrumentals, smooth vocals and a really nicely phrased guitar solo. Wrapping the release is White Castle Blues, so strong a closer that it should be a tv theme song. With it's perfectly balanced melody and vocals, and searing slide work by Zito, a solid closer. 

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Gulf Coast Records artist: Billy Price - Dog Eat Dog - New Release Review

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Dog Eat Dog, from Billy Price and it's old school R&B. Opening with Funky rocker, Working On Your Chain Gang, Price, who has one of the smoothest voices on the circuit leads the way with strong support from Alex Pettersen on drums, Jerry Jemmott on bass, Jim Pugh on keys, John Halblieb on trumpet, Jack Sanford on sax, Kid Andersen on guitar and organ, and Walter, James and Dwayne Morgan on backing vocals. Very cool. Smooth pop jazz track, Lose My Number sounds like it's right off of a Steely Dan record with it's strong melody and supple vocals over a organ lead backing melody. Eric Spaulding adds a real nice sax solo on this one giving it a real kick. With a smooth dance groove, title track, Dog Eat Dog is really in the groove with great lead vocals by Price, tight backing vocals by Lisa Leuschner Andersen and Alabama Mike, cool congas by Vicki Randell, the super sax work of Spaulding and great harmonica by Rick Estrin. Dark soul track, My Love Will Never Die, is one of my favorites on the release with screaming vocals, and ripping guitar work by Kid Andersen. Excellent! Another favorite is funky, New Orleans flavored, All Night Long Café. Price really rides high on the rhythm on this track with Jon Otis on congas and percussion, and power horn work by Spaulding, Sanford and Halblieb and a funky bluesy guitar solo by Mike Zito. Really cool. Wrapping the release is radio style track, You Gotta Go with heavy tom tom driven rhythm and glistening key work by Pugh. Andersen's guitar attack is direct and essential as always and Price's vocals are as solid as when I saw him in Pittsburgh with Roy Buchanan a lot of years ago. Price's best album in years. 

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Gulf Coast Records artist: Jimmy Carpenter - Soul Doctor - New Release Review

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Soul Doctor, from Jimmy Carpenter and it's cool mix of blues, rock, soul and R&B. Opening with blues rocker and title track, Soul Rocker, Jimmy Carpenter on lead vocal and sax sets the pace with hot guitar work by Nick Schnebelen, Red Young on keys, Jason Langley on bass and Cameron Tyler on drums. Shuffle, Wild Streak has a cool swing and features a real solid sax solo by Carpenter and so great slide by Trevor Johnson. New Orleans flavored, Love It So Much is one of my favorites on the release with hot drum work by Tyler, a great bass line by Langley, Doug Woolverton on trumpet, Mark Earley on Bari sax and of course strong vocal and sax work by Carpenter. Slower blues track, Need Your Love So Bad really gives Carpenter a chance to shine on vocal and sax and Johnson's lead guitar work is very nice. Funky, Wanna Be Right is a solid radio entry with excellent key work by Young, super vocals by Carpenter, Chris Tofield, Carrie Stowers, Queen Aries and Al Ek. With Carpenter's warm sax soloing and underpinning by Langley, this track is super. Stepping into James Brown / Boogaloo territory, Carpenter rolls a great sax lead on Boots Randolph's One Mint Julip. Wrapping the release is Eddie Hinton's R&B track, Yeah Man and Carpenter's featured lead vocal work. This is a prime entry for radio track with a solid melody, vocals and clean guitar and organ work under the lead and prominent sax soloing, supported by glistening slide work. Nice closer for a solid release. 

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Billy Price Presents A Tribute To Roy Buchanan at The Birchmere

Renowned Soul-Blues Singer Billy Price Presents: A Tribute To Roy Buchanan Featuring Special Guests   THE BIRCHMERE - Sunday, September 22 - 7:30PM

(Alexandria, VA) - Renowned soul-blues singer Billy Price, presents a Tribute To Roy Buchanan featuring an array of special guest musicians,  at The Birchmere, 3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Sunday, September 22. 7:30pm. Tickets are $25. Info: (703) 549-7500 or visit http://www.birchmere.com.    Price was the vocalist on two of the late Buchanan's albums, That's What I'm Here For and Live Stock. Among the Special Guests for the Roy Buchanan Tribute: Award-winning Blues-rock guitarist Mike Zito, also co-founder of new label Gulf Coast Records, who recently released Price's critically-lauded new album, Dog Eat Dog.           ~Billy Price: Some Background And Info. About Dog Eat Dog~   New label Gulf Coast Records releases Dog Eat Dog, the new album from longtime soul-blues vocalist, Billy Price. After the critical acclaim and Blues Music Awards nomination of his last album Reckoning, Price was excited and eager to get back into Greaseland Studio in San Jose, California with Producer, Kid Andersen. Kid and Billy's mutual love for the music and commitment to making an original contribution to the soul- blues genre is evident in this new collection of recordings.   Dog Eat Dog contains twelve songs, eight of which are original compositions. The album opens with "Working On Your Chain Gang," co-written by Price and longtime collaborator, keyboardist Jim Britton. Price and Britton also co-wrote the atmospheric "Lose My Number,"  "All Night long Cafe," and "Toxicity" (with Executive Producer, Guy Hale), while Britton wrote "Walk Back In." Price teamed with another longtime collaborator, French guitarist Fred Chapellier, to write "Remnants," a great new blues song, and the tuneful sweet soul track, "More Than I Needed."  Price worked with Bill Troiani, writer of Reckoning, on another catchy blues tune, "You Gotta Leave." The covers, in addition to "Dog Eat Dog," are Bobby Byrd's "We're In Love," Otis Rush blues classic "My Love Will Never Die," and "Same Old Heartaches," first recorded by The Impressions and written by Price's friends, the songwriting team of Melvin and Mervin Steals, best known for penning "Could It Be I'm Falling In Love" by The Spinners. The Otis rush song, a staple in Price's live repertoire, was added after Andersen saw a You Tube video of Price performing the song and suggested recording a new version of it.       Price and Andersen assembled a first-class group of musicians on Dog Eat Dog, featuring Price on vocals, Andersen (guitars and assorted instruments), Alex Pettersen (drums), Jerry Jemmott (bass), Jim Pugh (keys), Eric Spaulding (tenor sax), Jack Sanford (baritone sax), and John Halblieb (trumpet). Andersen added congas to most tracks, covered by Jon Otis (son of the great Johnny Otis) and Vicki Randle (Jay Leno Tonight Show Band, Mavis Staples). Randle also provided background vocals with Lisa Leuschner Andersen, Charlie Owen, and the Sons of the Soul Revivers gospel group. Dog Eat Dog also features guest appearances by Rick Estrin, Alabama Mike, and Mike Zito. Estrin plays harmonica on the title track, which he wrote and recorded on one of his albums. A big fan of Alabama Mike, Price was thrilled to share the lead vocals with Mike on "Dog Eat Dog." Gulf Coast Records co-founder Mike Zito also contributed a scorching guitar solo on "All Night Long Cafe."   2016 Blues Music Awards winner Billy Price first attracted national attention during his three-year association with guitarist, Roy Buchannan. Price is the vocalist on two of Buchannan's albums, That's What I'm Here For and Live Stock. Since then, with the Keystone Rhythm Band, the Billy Price Band, and solo projects, Billy Price has recorded and released a total of seventeen albums, CDs, and DVDs. In April of 2016, Price was officially recognized and inducted as a Pittsburgh Rock 'N' Roll Legend at an awards ceremony. Price's album This Time For Real, with the late Chicago soul singer Otis Clay, received a 2016 Blues music Award in the "Best Soul Blues Album" category. Billy's last recording, Reckoning, released in June 2018, was nominated for a Blues Music Award for Best Soul Blues Album of the Year.                                                         ~Billy Price/Dog Eat Dog: What The Media Is Saying~ "Billy Price made his bones with the legendary Roy Buchanan, singing lead on two albums. Since then he has released seventeen albums, either solo or with various bands, and now lands on one of the hottest new labels – Gulf Coast – with his new album. I’ve heard some really good albums this year, in many genres and forms, but this is classic soul, played with an awesome sense of the music and way out there ahead of most. Bloody wonderful." (5 stars out of 5).                                         MUSIC-NEWS.COM "There are those who have an incredible voice. There are those who have an ear for great R&B. Then there are those who have a deep soul spirit. Billy Price has all of that and more. Much more. Few can put it all together like he can."                                      BLUES HIGHWAY US 61 "We are pleased to premiere the song “Working On Your Chain Gang” by the great soul-blues singer Billy Price...a light-hearted and humorous story of love that sure caught our attention with its funky blues groove. Billy Price does it again."                                     ROCK AND BLUES MUSE "They have carved out a niche for great soulful music, sweet harmonies, and music that can make you dance or break your heart. Dog Eat Dog is a fantastic album and one that will easily be on my Best of 2019 list at the end of the year."                             PROFESSOR JOHNNY P'S JUKE JOINT      The Billy Price Charm City Rhythm Band @ The Pearl Street Warehouse 2019   Billy Price 'Dog Eat Dog' Tour 2019 - Live Shows/Special Events Itinerary Sept. 13 (Fri.)         MOONDOGS                                    Blawnox, PA Sept. 20 (Fri.)         HIGHMARK BLUES & HERITAGE FEST     Pittsburgh, PA Sept. 21 (Sat.)        AN DIE MUSIK                                  Baltimore, MD Sept. 22 (Sun.)      TRIBUTE TO ROY BUCHANAN          Alexandria, VA Sept. 28 (Sat.)        THE MAINSTAY                                Rock Hall, MD Oct. 4 (Fri.)            SELLERSVILLE THEATER                    Sellersville, PA Oct. 11 (Fri.)          NATALIE'S LIVE MUSIC                      Columbus, OH Oct. 19 (Sat.)         KNUCKLEHEAD'S SALOON                 Kansas City, MO Oct. 26 (Sat.)         THE SOUNDRY                                  Columbia, MD Nov. 2 (Sat.)           PEARL STREET WAREHOUSE              Washington, DC Nov. 9 (Sat.)           BALTIMORE BOOK & LIGHT FEST       Baltimore, MD Nov 14/17 (Thur/Sun) LUCERNE BLUES FESTIVAL                Lucerne, CH Nov. 21 (Thur.)       RHYTHMS LIVE MUSIC HALL             Chapel Hill, NC Nov. 22 (Fri.)          THE ROOSTERS WIFE                         Aberdeen, NC Nov. 26 (Tues.)       ST. GEORGES COUNTRY STORE         St. Georges, DE Dec. 21 (Sat.)         118 NORTH                                      Wayne, PA Dec. 31 (Wed.)       GENETTI HOTEL                                Williamsport, PA                                          *CD Release Party                                                                 www.billyprice.com                                                                            www.facebook.com/BillyPriceBand                                             https://twitter.com/BillyPricePgh                                   www.gulfcoastrecords.net Pittsburgh Post Gazette - Cover Story/Interview

Gulf Coast Records artist: Tony Campanella - Taking It To The Street - New Release Review

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Taking It To The Street, by Tony Campanella and I really like it. Opening with title track, Taking It To The Street, Tony Campanella, and it's an aggressive blues rocker with a veracious guitar sound and a Jimi style swagger.  Shuffle's have never sounded so good as when SRV was cooking but Pack It Up sounds great. Mike Zito's rhythm guitar is fat and solid and Campanella's lead is firm and authoritative. Very nice. Slowing it down a bit on One Foot In The Blues, Campanella shows he has great vocal shops and his lead guitar work is strong and soulful. Backed by Terry Dry on bass, Matt Johnson on drums, Lewis Stephens on keys and Zito on rhythm, this track is hot! My first exposure to Good Morning Little Schoolgirl wasn't Sonny Boy or even Johnny Winter. It Was Alvin Lee and Ten Years After. Every take I've heard on this track has been solid but this is a real nice one with hard kick bass drumming and tight guitar riffs. Kicking in the funk, Finger On Your Trigger, has a super bottom giving Campanella a great rhythm to jam over. His riffs are clean stinging. Very nice. Eddie Cleanhead Vinson's Mr. Cleanhead gets slowed down a notch and Campanella throws not only great vocals but super, quick Albert King flavored riffs on the mix making this one of my favorites on the release. Excellent! Texas Chainsaw is a primitive style blues with rugged vocals and Campanella matching guitar solos with Mike Zito. This is a loose jam but with great feel. Wrapping the release is blues ballad, Those Are The Times with simple BB King styling. Campanella's vocals shine bright and his guitar retort is gripping and smooth. 

  If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

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Ruf Records artist: Ally Venable - Texas Honey - New Release Review

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Texas Honey, from Ally Venable and it's a fine blend of power pop and blues. Opening with rocker, Nowhere To Hide, Venable is on top with super vocals and fresh guitar riffs over a solid bass line by Bobby Wallace and the tight rhythm of Elijah Owings. Great opener. Title track, Texas Honey shows real grit with fat guitar tones and Gibbons like snarl. Excellent track. Blind To Bad Love has dark overtones, deep backing vocals and cool backing guitar work by Mike Zito. Come And Take It is a heavier track with real teeth. Eric Gales adds vocal and real snarling guitar riffs giving the band more intensity and more balance. Very cool. You knew it was going to happen... a young female guitar slinger taking on SRV. Love Struck Baby has lots of snap and Venable's guitar riffs aren't SRV but it's still hot and fun. Another track with vicious guitar riffs is White Flag. Venable turns up the grit up to Z (for ZZ Top) and really gets greasy. This track has a lot of flavor with heavy drums, a lumbering bottom and ripping guitars...very cool! Wrapping the release is another gritty blues rocker, Careless Love, with a thumping bass line and tight drum riffs. Venable's vocals are solid and her country flavored rock riffs are tasty and wet. Nice closer for a really cool release.

  If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

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Ruf Records artist: Katarina Pejak - Roads That Cross - New Release Review

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Roads That Cross, from Katarina Pejak and I really like it. Opening with surf rocker, Nature Of My Blues, Pejak is upfront on lead vocal and keys, with axe master Laura Chavez on guitar, Lonnie Trevino Jr. on bass, Damien Llanes on drums. Excellent opener. Modern jazz, blues track, Sex Kills has a cool, understated, almost reggae rhythm with solid lead vocals and nice piano work by Pejak. Southern soul oozes out of Pejak on Old Pain, a really nice track with real radio potential. Soft heat on organ gives the track an even warmer feeling yet. very nice. Country rocker, Chasing Summer has real sting with Chavez giving the track a coarse guitar edge and nice piano soloing by Pejak. One of my favorite tracks on the release is Latin flavored She's Coming After You. Llanes light had on drums really gives the track air, Chaves' guitar work is classic and Pejak's vocals are terrific. Excellent! Another radio track with a solid melody and really nice vocal harmonies is title track, Roads That Cross. Chavez lays low on guitar but her work are essential. Wrapping the release is The Harder You Kick, an easy ballad featuring Pejak on lead vocal and electric keys. A solid melody and clean execution makes this a strong closer for a really nice release.

  If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

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Ruf Records Artist Katarina Pejak Releases Roads That Cross on 2/15

SERBIAN BLUES PIANIST, KATARINA PEJAK TO RELEASE NEW DISC PRODUCED BY MIKE ZITO

ROADS THAT CROSS OUT FEBRUARY 15TH ON RUF RECORDS

It takes a brave artist to blaze their own trail. From her birth-city of Belgrade to the Marz Studios in Texas where she recorded her dazzling new album, Katarina Pejak has walked countless roads and stuck a thousand pins in the map. Now, with Roads That Cross, this award-winning performer unveils a fresh set of songs that follow her muse wherever it leads her. Inspired by blues, jazz, country and rock ‘n’ roll – and shaped by all the cities she’s called home – this is music that crosses borders and brings people together. As producer Mike Zito says: “Katarina is one of a kind…”

Making her debut on the iconic Ruf Records – and taking part in the label’s famous Blues Caravan tour in 2019 – Roads That Cross is the stone-cold classic that Katarina has promised since the start. Rewind to the post-millennium and this upcoming artist was already a little different: a classical piano virtuoso who raided her father’s record collection for Tom Waits, Bessie Smith, Van Morrison and Otis Spann – then challenged herself to write songs that measured up.

Hitting the blues circuit in her late-teens, word of Katarina’s house-rocking musicianship and smoky vocal spread across the Serbian capital like wildfire. But she had bigger plans. In 2011, Katarina followed the call to the birthplace of US roots, winning a scholarship to the famed Berklee College of Music that trained stars from Steve Vai to Quincy Jones. “It was amazing and tough at the same time,” she recalls. “Studying with people like Dave Limina and Pat Pattison really shaped me.”

Katarina soon made her own mark, picked out for Berklee’s prestigious Songwriting Achievement Award and winning critical acclaim in her native Serbia for early releases like Perfume & Luck (2010), First Hand Stories (2012) and Old New Borrowed And Blues (2016). Her material touched on every genre, but the common factor was honesty, which flooded from the speakers and held audiences spellbound as she performed with the A-list and began to be mentioned in the same breath. “I've had the privilege to meet and play with some true blues greats,” she recalls, “like Ronnie Earl, Mike Zito, Anson Funderburgh, Mark Hummel and Ana Popović.”

For now, Katarina has put down roots in Nashville. But Roads That Cross was born in Texas, where she arrived this year armed with a notebook full of new songs, a stellar studio band and the burning desire to make the best album of her career. “A young woman from Serbia,” considers Zito, “surrounded by Americans, in Southeast Texas, takes the reins and leads this band into some of the best songs I’ve heard in a long time. Her voice is subtle and seductive, her piano playing is on fire. She has emotion, passion and a desperate need for the music to be magical.”

Mission accomplished. Listen to Roads That Cross and you’ll be taken on a magic carpet ride of emotion and mood. There’s "She’s Coming After You,"  with its Latin groove, echo-chamber guitars and a lyric about a femme fatale who “looks like the Devil’s daughter/Walks like a baroness”. There’s the choppy reggae-flavored "Down With Me" and the expert jazz of "The Harder You Kick," carried by organ and Katarina’s astonishing vocal. The upbeat "Cool Drifter" combines escapism with a soul edge, while "Moonlight Rider" will satisfy the blues hardcore, its gritty riffs and dusty groove addressing a lover that she knows will leave. “I didn’t realize until after making the album,” she reflects, “but most of these songs are about good-byes.”

For everyone else, Roads That Cross is the start of a beautiful relationship. Following her meteoric early career, Katarina Pejak stands at a crossroads, ready to step into the fast lane. “She’ll make you think,” concludes Zito. “She’ll make you cry. By the end of this record, she’ll have you in the palm of her hand. For Katarina, this is only the beginning…”

Roads That Cross will be released by Ruf Records on February 15, 2019.

Ruf Records artist: Mike Zito - Blue Room - New release review

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Blue Room, from Mike Zito and it's terrific! Blue Room was Zito's debut release back in 1998 and it's great that Ruf Records is re releasing and remastering it for the fans. Opening with Hollywood, a funky blues rocker, Zito really has edge on vocal and is guitar work is wild and unbridled with solid bass work by Doug Byrkit and tight rhythms by Brian Zielie. Excellent opener. Another funky rocker is Pull The Trigger again with excellent raw energy on vocal and fluid guitar work by Zito. Very cool. Instrumental, Gravy Jam is a solid instrumental with super funky bass work from Byrkit and snappy beat from Zielie giving Zito a wide open floor to rip ion guitar and he takes full advantage. Excellent! Slow blues, Lovering, takes the uncontained playing feel of Steve Vai, Stevie Ray, Buddy Guy or Jimi Hendrix and plows it into raw blues energy in his own way creating wild free flowing soloing. Excellent! Ways About You has a warm chord backing over a reggae beat giving Zito yet another avenue to explore his guitar flow. Very nice. Soundcheck is another unbridled blues guitar exploration with an excellent bass and drum backing. Smoking. Wrapping the release is Zito's take on Elton John's mega hit, Rocket Man with a bit more edge and a lot more guitar. Zito really put together a strong package here. You need to check it out!

  If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

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Conner Ray Music - Dry Johnson - Long Live Them Blues Vol. 1 - New Release Review

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Long Live Them Blues Vol. 1, from Houston based duo, Dry Johnson and I really like it. Opening with lumbering blues rumbler, Daddy's Got A Cadillac, features favorites Annika Chambers and Mike Zito on vocals with Zito and Terry Dry on guitars and Matthew Robert Johnson on drums. Cool opener. On title track, Long Live Them Blues, Trudy Lynn's distinct lead vocals are coupled with Steve Krase on harp and Mighty Orq on guitar for a grinding groove. John Del Toro Richardson has the lead on guitar and vocal on Hit That Highway, a real nice blues shuffle. Two stepper, Drunk Girl With A Tambourine has kevin Snit Fitzpatrick on lead vocal and the Mighty Orq on guitar. This is really a strong track with kick. Juke Joint is a slick shuffle with a Bob Wills feel. Featuring Dry on lead vocal and Mighty Orq and James Wilhite on guitar this track is a great swinger. A track with a lot of texture is I Walk Alone featuring the gritty vocals of Wilhite and opposing shimmering guitar vibrato. Very cool. With a bluesy funk, Trashy Women & Cheap Guitars is another great track with Dry on lead vocal and drums and sweet guitar riffs by Zito. Definitely one of my release favorites. Fried Chicken is a super cool instrumental featuring Zito on lead guitar. Get funky my brother. Very nice. Wrapping the release is Little Bird featuring Terry Dry on vocal and acoustic guitar  with a strong folk track. I got to say, this release has a lot of sounds but it's all super. This is a great Christmas idea, and get one for yourself.

  If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

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Sandy Key Music artist: Jim Allchin - Prime Blues - New Release Review

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Prime Blues, from Jim Allchin and it's quite good. Allchin, who is releasing his 4th studio release is really honing in on the perfect sound for him. Opening with R&B flavored blues number, Give It Up, featuring Allchin on lead vocal and guitar, peppered with punchy horn work by the Memphis Horns (Charles Rose, Jim Hoke, Steve Hermann and Doug Moffet). Allchin has really honed his tone and his chops have always been super. His backing band is tops with Bob Britt, Rob McNelley  and Kenny Greenberg on rhythm guitar, Tom Hambridge on drums, Glenn Worf on bass, Mycle Wastman on backing vocals and Kevin McKendree on keys. Strutting, Devil Don't Sleep really has a great feel with excellent lead work by Allchin and heavy B3 by McKendree. Jimmy's Boogie is a high energy boogie with a solid bass line by Worf and terrific piano work by McKendree over the tight drums of Hambridge giving Allchin free rein to play. Excellent! Mike Zito guests on lead vocal on Enough is Enough and the track has a hard driving country rock feel. Very nice! Solid shuffle, Found The Blues really finds Allchin in the slot with terrific lead lines and sounding really comfortable on lead vocal. B3 soloing by McKendree adds real beef to the track making it one of my favorites. Bobby Rush steps up on harp and vocal on Two Bad Dreams, a slow blues number with rich horn work by the Memphis Horns. Allchin digs deep showing real blues chops giving this track a stiff edge. Wrapping the release is cool, Albert King flavored, Logoff, with a cool Latin rhythm and stinging guitar riffs. Allchin has really learned to temper his vocals with style and warm backing vocals and electric piano by McKendree adds real spice to this solid closer. Very cool. 

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Mike Zito's 'Blue Room' - 20th Anniversary Edition to be Re Released on 11/16/18

Mike Zito Debut 'Blue Room' Celebrates Two Decades

20th Anniversary Edition Re Released Nov 16^th on Ruf Records

It’s back. The debut album that blew up the ’90s blues scene. The songs that announced the touchdown of a major new talent. In modern times, as an established solo star and former member of the globally acclaimed Royal Southern Brotherhood, Mike Zito’s reputation precedes him. But turn back the clocks. Rewind the film reels. Slip through the wormhole to 1998, when a 27-year-old punk kid took his first shot in the studio. “Blue Room,” he reflects, “is the beginning of me becoming an artist.”

By 1998, Zito had been around the block. Raised at the sharp end in St. Louis, Missouri, he’d witnessed the lean years of the ’70s, as his father – a union employee at the local Anheuser-Busch brewery – grafted to support five kids in a cramped apartment. Music was a way out, with Zito learning his craft at a downtown guitar store, then seizing any live work that fell his way. As he told the Blues Mag: “I’ve played with country bands, dance bands, rock bands, alternative bands…”

Blue Room was the moment of clarity, when Zito realised he was burning to be more than a roadhouse-filling covers band. In 1997, he assembled a dedicated lineup and announced his new mission statement: original songs written from the heart. But artistic integrity didn’t come cheap. With just $1000 for studio bills, the entire Blue Room tracklisting was captured in a single day, and you can still feel the urgency flood through the speakers. “We’d played the night before until 6am at an all-night club in St. Louis,” recalls Zito, “and went to the studio at 9am. We brought beer with us and basically did not sleep. The vibe is total bravado, full of honesty.”

Blue Room changed everything. As the album sold, the songs began to be requested live – displacing the Cream and Hendrix covers – and Zito was heralded as an artist of rare potential. Back then, he didn’t anticipate the bitter-sweet future about to unfold – the lost years of alcoholism in the post-millennium, the salvation offered by his wife, Laura, the plaudits of Royal Southern Brotherhood in 2012 and the rising trajectory of his solo career since he picked it back up with 2015’s Keep Coming Back. But when Zito looks back now at Blue Room, he wouldn’t change a thing: “I find such joy in listening to the young man on this recording. I’m so proud that it’s finally being released by Ruf Records after twenty years…”

Blue Room out on Ruf Records Nov 16, 2018

New Release RUF 1260: Mike Zito, Bernard Allsion, Vanja Sky - Blues Caravan 2018

Mike Zito, Bernard Allsion, Vanja Sky Blues Caravan 2018 Release: 19.10.2018 Format: CD + DVD Video Label: Ruf Records GmbH EAN: 0710347126027 This was no ordinary club tour. This was the Blues Caravan 2018. If you’ve followed Ruf’s rolling revue since it started life in 2005, you’ll already know that these shows are must-see events, throwing together three stellar artists on one bill – then letting the chemistry do the rest. Traditionally, the Blues Caravan lineup has showcased the label’s breaking talent – from Aynsley Lister to Samantha Fish – and given fans a chance to catch the blues titans of tomorrow before they go ‘boom’. But in 2018, it’s time to mix things up. On this year’s Blues Caravan, you’ll not only find one young gun with a dazzling career ahead of her, but also two heavyweights with a sky-high reputation. Let’s welcome them to the stage… This CD / DVD release revives a unique Blues Caravan! A unique live piece to experience the Blues Caravan of 2018 again and again! The accompanying DVD was recorded on 27.01.2018 at Café Hahn in Koblenz! Ruf’s tireless dedication to the blues means it hunts far beyond the US and UK for its new signings – and the label has struck gold with Croatian gunslinger Vanja Sky. Channelling the fire and flair of Rory Gallagher, Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan, this 23-year-old hot-tip has already broken out in her home country and bordering Balkan States. On this CD / DVD she presents songs from her first studio album "Bad Penny". Vanja says, „I’m very excited to play on the Blues Caravan 2018,” she says, “and looking forward to meeting a lot of new people and sharing my music with them. My shows are filled with great energy and I always give everything when I’m on stage. I’m gonna play songs from my debut album, and also some cover songs – so people can definitely expect some great music and fun.” Some surnames command instant respect on the blues scene. As the son of the mighty Luther Allison – the late Chicago blues titan who was Ruf’s first signing back in 1994 – Bernard Allison has added to the family legend and carved out his own mythology as a world-class songwriter and performer. For this year’s Blues Caravan, he’ll be drawing on an acclaimed back catalogue that includes 1997’s US debut Keepin’ The Blues Alive and 2000’s classic Born With The Blues, and slipping between genres as only a master can. “My show is all about sharing my musical talent and presenting different styles like blues, rock and funk. There’ll be lots of energy, because I feed off of my fans and love interacting with them on and off stage. You can expect a fun time – the Allison way!” says Bernard. If you’re remotely serious about modern blues, you’ll have followed the twists and turns of Mike Zito’s fascinating career. The Missouri-born bandleader overcame his crippling early addictions to become one of modern America’s sharpest songwriters, and few artists have written with such stark eloquence as he did on 2011’s Greyhound album. In 2012, Mike threw us a curveball, lining up alongside Devon Allman and Cyril Neville as a key member of Royal Southern Brotherhood – and went on to stay with the supergroup for two critically feted albums. But the call of his own muse was too strong, and in 2014, Mike burst straight back into his solo career with Keep Coming Back and Make Blues Not War. “I have long wanted to join the Blues Caravan and run away, so I’m excited,” he says. “My shows are energetic and passionate: I try hard to give everything I’ve got and make every note count. You can expect rocking blues guitar, with a dose of soul vocals, and a mix of my best songs.”