Bman's Blues Report

Last week, JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound released their Bloodshot Records debut, Want More , an 11-song collection of soul crooning, R&B horn pops, and a raw post-punk aesthetic. Metromix mentioned that the album, “ Sounds like the MC5 jamming with Otis Redding’s horn section.” Following the release of their first single from the album, “Everything Will Be Fine” (available for download below), the band has followed up with a music video for the song as well. Co-created by the band and folks at Chicago’s storied Second City, the video is a fusing of retro ‘80s Dial-A-Lawyer commercials and a narrative that brings JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound from the street to the board room. In addition to the main video, the band also made five short teaser videos that showcase their well-intentioned but somewhat misinformed manager, Glenn Peacock. #1 “The Interview” - http://youtu.be/RaLWkVibVoQ #2 “Wilco” - http://youtu.be/6tV2J8_Kky0 #3 “Bullies” - http://youtu.be/gcHAYcinJ8...

This superb documentary vividly illustrates the enduring vitality of country blues, an idiom that most mainstream music fans had presumed dead or, at best, preserved through more scholarly tributes when filmmaker Robert Mugge and veteran blues and rock writer Robert Palmer embarked on their 1990 odyssey into Mississippi delta country. What Arkansas native and former Memphis stalwart Palmer knew, and Mugge captured on film, was that the blues was not only alive but still intimately woven into the daily lives of rural blacks. Palmer, a former rock musician and Memphis Blues Festival cofounder best known for his bylines in The New York Times and Rolling Stone, had already chronicled the saga of Southern blues in his seminal book that provides the film's title. He's an astute guide, and Mugge underlines this role by pairing him with British rocker Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), whose avid interest in the music makes him an effective foil. The film's real triumph, however, rests in ...

Foster Wiley, a.k.a. ‘Mr. Tater,’ legendary street musician of Clarksdale, Mississippi, passed away on Friday, September 10th. According to friend John Ruskey, Wiley was 63 years old. Upon hearing of Mr. Tater’s failing health, Music Maker friend Will Dawson volunteered at the Music Maker office to produce CDs for Mr. Tater. Will later informed the Music Maker Foundation that Tater received the CDs prior to his passing, and was truly touched. “The money from CD sales are now being used to cover funeral expenses,” said the the Music Maker Foundation press release. Mr. Tater, an artist who impacted many, will truly be missed. Affectionately called “Mr. Tater” by his legion of fans, Foster Wiley was perhaps best known for his daily street performances in downtown Clarksdale as well as his late night jams at local venues like Ground Zero Blues Club, Red’s Lounge and Club 2000. Though plagued by various physical and environmental handicaps, Wiley was rarely without a smile and always...