Coming From The Old School - Sam Myers

Sam Myers (February 19, 1936 – July 17, 2006) was an American blues musician and songwriter. He appeared as an accompanist on dozens of recordings for blues artists over five decades. He began his career as a drummer for Elmore James, but was most famous as a blues vocalist and blues harp player. For nearly two decades he was the featured vocalist for Anson Funderburgh & The Rockets.
Samuel Josepe Myers was born in Laurel, Mississippi. Myers acquired an interest in music while a schoolboy in Jackson, Mississippi and became skilled enough at playing the trumpet and drums that he received a non-degree scholarship from the American Conservatory School of Music in Chicago. Myers attended school by day and at night frequented the nightclubs of the South Side of Chicago, meeting and sitting in with Jimmy Rogers, Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, Little Walter, Hound Dog Taylor, Robert Lockwood, Jr., and Elmore James. Myers played drums with Elmore James on a fairly steady basis from 1952 until James's death in 1963, and is credited on many of James's historic recordings for Chess Records. In 1956, Myers wrote and recorded what was to be his most famous single, "Sleeping In The Ground", a song that has been covered by Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, and many other blues artists, as well as being featured on Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour show on 'Sleep'.

From the early 1960s until 1986, Myers worked the clubs in and around Jackson, as well as across the South in the Chitlin' Circuit. He also toured the world with Sylvia Embry and the Mississippi All-Stars Blues Band.

In 1986, Myers met Anson Funderburgh, from Plano, Texas, and joined his band, The Rockets. Myers toured all over the U.S. and the world with The Rockets, enjoying a partnership that endured until the time of his death, from complications from throat cancer surgery on July 17, 2006, in Dallas, Texas.

Just before Myers died, he toured as a solo artist, in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, with the Swedish band, Bloosblasters.

That same year, the University Press of Mississippi published Myers' autobiography titled Sam Myers: The Blues is My Story. Writer Jeff Horton, whose work has appeared in Blues Revue and Southwest Blues, chronicled Myers' history and delved into his memories of life on the road.
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Cold Cold Feelin' - Sam Myers with the Hi-Tones

Sam Myers (February 19, 1936 – July 17, 2006[1]) was an American blues musician and songwriter. He appeared as an accompanist on dozens of recordings for blues artists over the past five decades, and fronted one of the top blues bands in the world. He began his career as a drummer for Elmore James but was most famous as a blues vocalist and blues harp player. Myers was in high demand for his authentic delta blues sound. For nearly two decades he was the featured vocalist for Anson Funderburgh & The Rockets.


Johnny Moeller (born Jon Kelly Moeller, 31 October 1970, Fort Worth, Texas) is an American blues guitarist currently with The Fabulous Thunderbirds.

He had early exposure to music in the home as his father played a little boogie-woogie piano and was constantly listening to music. He started playing guitar in his early teen years and soon discovered Slim Harpo and Jimmy Reed in his father's record collection. Additionally, Moeller remembers hearings lots of both ZZ Top and The Fabulous Thunderbirds. Over the years Moeller's main influences have been from Freddie King, Lightnin' Hopkins, Earl King and Grant Green. Lesser, but meaningful influences come from a wide variety of other blues, soul and funk artists.

He began playing in Dallas and Fort Worth blues clubs whilst still in high school. During the summers Moeller and his year and a half younger brother Jay Moeller, who was already playing drums (and is now the drummer with The Fabulous Thunderbirds), would travel from their home in Denton down to Austin to "hang out" with their father. The summer they were 16 and 15 their father convinced Clifford Antone of the Austin blues club Antone's to let his sons periodically sit in with the evening's performers. The first night Moeller appeared on Antone's stage was with Little Charlie & The Nightcats. It was an event that Moeller would never forget and from that night on Antone was one of Moeller's biggest supporters.

After Moeller finished high school in Denton he moved to Austin and into the music scene that is 6th Street (Austin). He worked many of the city's well known venues and often soaked in the music of the constant stream of blues artists which Antone brought. Amongst those that played Antone's were Earl King, Albert Collins, and James Cotton.

Years later the Austin Chronicle quoted Antone (who also helped launch Stevie Ray Vaughan) as saying: "Johnny, nobody can burn like that kid. He's got the heart like Stevie had, about the only one I've seen with that kind of heart. Johnny's so quiet and bashful, just a sweet kid and sometimes those kids get overlooked."

By the time Moeller had joined The Fabulous Thunderbirds in mid 2007 he had recorded, played regularly with, or toured North America, Europe and Scandinavia with Darrell Nulisch, Lou Ann Barton, Mike Barfield, Doyle Bramhall II, Gary Primich, and Guy Forsyth.

Blue Shadows Falling - Anson Funderburgh & The Rockets feat. Sam Myers

Anson Funderburgh (born James Anson Funderburgh, November 14, 1954, Plano, Texas) is an American blues guitar player and bandleader of Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets since 1978. Their style incorporates both Chicago blues and Texas blues.In 1981, Funderburgh released the Rockets' debut album Talk to You By Hand from New Orleans, Louisiana's based Black Top Records. The band consisted of Anson, with Darrell Nulisch on vocals and harmonica. The album included a cover version of Earl King's song, "Come On". Talk to You By Hand was also the first ever release by the record label. The band appeared at the 1984 San Francisco Blues Festival. When Nulisch left the band in 1985, Funderburgh invited the blues harmonica player Sam Myers from Jackson, Mississippi to fill in the spot. The first Rockets' recording featuring Myers was My Love Is Here To Stay which came out in 1986. He stayed with the band until his death on July 17, 2006, appearing on eight albums with them.

As well as the studio recordings, Funderburgh and his band have played live at the Zoo Bar, in Lincoln, Nebraska. In 1990 the band played the Long Beach Blues Festival. The same year, they appeared on Show #109 of the NBC television program, Sunday Night.

In 1989 and 1990 the band's bassist was Mike Judge, future animator and creator of Beavis and Butt-head and King of the Hill.

Their song "Can We Get Together" was also featured in the film, 21 Grams in 2003.