Bman's Blues Report

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Sweet Thing , from Moonshine Society and it's rich in blues. Opening with title track, Sweet Thing , lead singer, Black Betty uses her heavy, Big Mama styling to throw this track around like a rag doll with support from the likes of Jason Ricci with Joe Poppen on guitar, Wes Lanich on keys, Tod Ellsworth on bass and Rodney Dunton on drums. R&B ballad, Come On Home has great depth with the addition of Ron Holloway on tenor sax, Vince McCool on trumpet, Ken Wenzel on Bari sax and Billy Mayfield on backing vocals. Very nice. Funky, Southern Roads is one of my favorites with a super back beat and Ricci back on harp pushing Betty vocally and the excellent drum and guitar combo of Dunton and Poppen. Use Me On Guilded Splinters takes Bill Withers' classic Use Me, reinforces the funky rock bottom and hits it with a really hard dash of guitar, then rolls it all up in gumbo … Dr John style with I Walk On Guilded Sp...

I've just been listening to the new Moonshine Society release, "Live in Shanghai" and overall it really rips. It's a 9 track release and includes some standards like "Bright Lights Big City" and "Big Boss Man" but it's the treatment and instrumentation on a number of the tracks that really interests me. The opening track, "Breaking Up" has a great guitar interlude that got me to lift my head... nice! The third track, "Love Me Like a Man" is a remake of the Bonnie Raitt song but done with a totally different arrangement and again with some stellar harp and guitar work. Another cover of "Rock Me" has nice harp and guitar backing taking it places that haven't been explored by other artists. The final track, " Do What You Wanna Do" is a nice slow blues highlighting the entire bands talents and a great ending to an enjoyable recording. “Like” Bman’s Facebook page (available in over 50 languages). I wi...

In 2011, Washington, DC based blues rock band Moonshine Society was given the amazing opportunity to bring American roots music overseas. From January 2011-April 2011, the band performed six nights a week at the House of Blues and Jazz in Shanghai, China, owned by Chinese movie actor Lin Dong Fu. Joining them on stage was legendary harmonica player Charlie Sayles (WC Handy award nominee who has performed at Carnegie Hall, the White House, and been the focus of a BBC documentary after being discovered in New York City). They delivered sounds of classic and original blues, jazz, and R&B to a truly international audience including locals, business executives, music lovers, students, tourists, and more from around the world. While in Shanghai, the band recorded 18 live shows which have been condensed to a 10 song album. They're looking to release a truly unique album that crosses continents, generations, social differences, and language barriers and gives live witness to keep...