Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Memphis Sun , from Jon Hines and I really like it. Opening with title track, Memphis Sun , Jon Hines lays down a solid boogie featuring Cameron Palmer on drums, George Wolf on bass and Hines himself singing lead, playing harmonica and some knockdown electric slide with overdriven fat tone. Excellent opener. Slow easy blues, Until The Wheels , has a cool, easy feel with Jon singing lead and playing rhythm guitar. Taking a melodic solo on guitar and with with just the right texture added by Wolf on bass, this a a real nice track. Shuffle, Pitter Patter , is anchored by Wolf on bass and Palmer on drums as Hines plays a loose rhythm on guitar and takes lead on vocal. The track has a springy feel and Hines finger work ties it all together nicely. Wrapping the release is Working Man with a lumbering, rhythmic, almost Hill Country swagger courtesy Wolf and Palmer. Kevin Fletcher really gets the harmonica howling giving Hines ...

I just received the newest release, Chin Up , from John Campbelljohn and it's a fusion of country and blues. Opening with swing boogie, The Mumble Boogie , Campbelljohn steps right up with his notorious slide guitar and steps on the gas. Backed by Neil Robertson on drums and Ronald Hynes on bass this track cooks. I Got It All brings it down a few notches and with more of a country 2 step feel. Smooth and easy is how he handles the guitar work on this track with clever vocals and a radio melody. Meet My Maker is a stripped down blues number with guitar harmonics and rudimentary drums. A cool slide solo on this track sweetens the pot. I really like the different feel of The Poor Man Plays . It has a swampy funk and backing vocals by Martha Mae Campbell, Megan Baxendale and Stan Carew. Very cool! Castaway is a blues rocker with a simple repetitive riff. Driving bass line from Hynes and a wide open slide solo cap this track. Attitude has some of the coolest slide work on the relea...

Release date: March 10, 2015         Multiple award winning East Coast blues guitarist John Campbelljohn is set to release his 12 th album, titled Chin Up on March 10, 2015.   A master slide guitarist and songwriter, Campbelljohn hails from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, and over the course of his four decade-long career has won or been nominated for countless music awards including Maple Blues Awards, East Coast Music Awards, Real Blues Awards, Music Nova Scotia Entertainer Of The Year, Blues Recording Of The Year & Musician Of The Year.    His newest release, Chin Up features 12 original tracks covering a myriad of topics and sub-genres all highlighting Campbelljohn’s prowess as a guitarist and vocalist.  From the up-beat opening number “The Mumble Boogie” the progressive blues sounds of “Meet My Maker”, the rocking blues track “Castaway”, and the folk blues based “How Stupid Is That”, Cambel...

Dutch Mason, CM (19 February 1938 – 23 December 2006) was a Canadian musician from Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was inducted into the Canadian Jazz and Blues Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the Order of Canada in 2005 Dutch started performing as a musician in the mid-1950s, usually playing rock and roll or rockabilly standards as well as traditional music from the Canadian maritimes. Dutch regularly played the local twin city lounge scene, notably The Wyse Owl/Eastern Billiards, The Dartmouth Inn and The Monterey in Halifax. As he began to become known as a blues artist in the sixties, he started to tour various parts of Canada. Into the 1970s and onwards, he became a very popular act and toured the country regularly, performing at the legendary Albert Hall in Toronto and the Rising Sun in Montreal. In 1998, during his 60th birthday celebration, the CBC recorded a live tribute cd that includes performances by the Nova Scotia Mass Choir, Sam Moon and Frank MacKay. In 2004, he was nomina...