Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Mercy Me , from Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters and it's strong. Opening with Muddy Waters' classic shuffle, Blow Wind Blow in Earl style and it's great. With Diane Blue handling the lead vocals nicely, Dave Limina on B3, Paul Kochanski on bass and Forrest Padgett on drums and Peter Ward sharing the guitar work with Earl, this is a solid opener. Slow blues, Blues For Duke Robillard , is prime Earl. I know that this may sound repetitive, but although Earl is an excellent player across the spectrum, his flow and chops on slow blues instrumentals are really tops in todays market. His feel, phrasing and tone is excellent and this track is an excellent example. With a slight uptick, Anthony Geraci's A Prayer For Tomorrow , is another great jam showing Earl not only with strong lead phrasing but gripping trem bends and lush chords under the beautiful key work of Geraci. Very nice. Another great shuffle, Dave...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Train To Key Biscayne , from Peter Ward and it's energetic. Opening with The Luther Johnson Thing , Luther Guitar Junior Johnson is upfront on lead vocal with Peter Ward on guitar, Mudcat Ward on bass, Neil Gouvin on drums and Anthony Geraci on piano. A cool shuffle with slick guitar lead, nice harp and excellent vocal phrasing, a super opener. Laid back, almost country styled, title track, Train To Key Biscayne features Sugar Ray Norcia on lead vocal and Jiri Nedoma on piano. Ward's warm guitar soloing backed by the sax work of Aaron Gratzmiller gives it a cool retro feel. One of my favorite tracks on the release is Blues Elixir (Ronnie's Here) featuring Ward on lead vocal and really nice trademark guitar lead work by Ronnie Earl. Backed by Nedoma on piano and with solid harp work by Norcia, this is a really cool track. Johnny Nicholas is up front on lead vocal on Change (Ain't Never For The Good) a...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Blues On My Shoulders , from Peter Ward and it's quite good. Opening with solid shuffle, She Took It All , Peter Ward on guitar and lead vocal sets a great pace with Mudcat Ward on bass, Neil Gouvin on drums and Sugar Ray Norcia on harp. Excellent opener. Surf rocker, Which Hazel , is a solid rocker along the lines of Chuck Berry with a strong surf twist. Clever lyrics and guitar riffs by Ward give this track a lot of gas. On title track, Blues On My Shoulders , Anthony Geraci adds nice piano and I particularly love the guitar work by Monster Mike Welch. Collaborate is all about lush chords and sassy sax and Ward's guitar work with Sax Gordon Beadle's sax work is just that. Excellent! Shuffle track, It's On Me is another outstanding entry on the release with a hot sax solo from Beadle and hot fingering from Ronnie Earl and Ward. Very nice. Southpaw is a hot number with a smoking B3 solo from Rusty Sco...

Boston-Based Guitarist Peter Ward Sets October 20 Release Date for His New CD, Blues on My Shoulders , on Gandy Dancer Records Special Guests Include Ronnie Earl, Sugar Ray & the Bluetones and Sax Gordon Beadle BOSTON, MA – Guitarist Peter Ward announces an October 20 release date for his new CD, Blues on My Shoulders , on Gandy Dancer Records. Besides Ward on guitar and vocals, special guests on the new disc include multiple Blues Music Award-winning guitar legend Ronnie Earl, Sax Gordon Beadle on sax and the members of Sugar Ray and the Bluetones: Sugar Ray Norcia (vocals and harmonica), “Monster” Mike Welch (guitar), Anthony Geraci (piano), Michael “Mudcat” Ward (Peter’s brother – bass) and Neil Gouvin (drums).  “It pleases me to present Blues on My Shoulders , my first solo project,” Peter Ward says about the new album. “I wrote the words and music to 12 of the 13 songs. I grew up wearing out the vinyl records trying to understand how Robert Jr. Lockwo...