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Zac Harmon & The Drive - Live - New Release Review

By Bman -
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 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Live , from Zac Harmon & The Drive and it's super! Opening with soulful, NTRO , Nate Robinson on bass and Gino Iglehart on drums set a solid foundation, with Corey Lacy building on keys and lush guitar work by Zac Harmon and Kingston Livingston really setting the bar. Terrific opener. Blue Pill Thrill has super movement and soulful vocals by Harmon. Lacy on keys works the rhythm with Robinson and Iglehart and Livingston and and Harmon play stinging riffs on guitar really giving this track some kick. Deep blues track, Feet Back On The Ground features Albert King like stinging riffs and super soulful vocals by Harmon. Keeping the music floor low allows Harmon plenty of space to go dynamically from soft to wow quickly adding real emotion to the track. Excellent! Boogie Down is a strong jam with a firm piano base by Lacy giving Harmon plenty of headroom for vocal corralling. Lacy lays in some real tasty keyboar...
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CLICK ON TITLE BELOW TO GO TO PURCHASE!!!! CD submissions accepted! Guest writers always welcome!!

I started a quest to find terrific blues music and incredible musicianship when I was just a little kid. I also have a tremendous appreciation of fine musical instruments and equipment. One of my greatest joys all of my life was sharing my finds with my friends. I'm now publishing my journey. I hope that you come along!


Please email me at Info@Bmansbluesreport.com

Specialty Records artist: Little Richard - Directly From My Heart: The Best Of the Specialty & Vee-Jay Years - New Release Review

By Bman -
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I just received the newest release, Directly From My Heart: The Best of the Specialty & Vee-Jay Years from Little Richard and it's a blast! This 3CD set features 64 tracks spanning the mid fifties through the mid 60's and a super 36 page book with a ton of great photos and notes by Billy Vera. Most people only think of Tutti Frutti or Long Tall Sally when they think of Little Richard but this deluxe release shows so much more. These three CD's are packed with soul, blues, R&B and rock and roll tracks that will open your eyes. With great backing vocals and some hot sax work as well this is a super release. Of course he does Tutti Frutti, Kansas City, Slippin and Slidin, Long Tall Sally, I Got It, Ready Teddy, Rip It Up, Lucille, Jenny Jenny, Good Golly Miss Molly, The Girl Can't Help It, Keep A Knockin, Whole Lotta Shakin and Lawdy Miss Clawdy but a number of lesser known tracks like Goin Home Tomorrow , a hot remake of Blueberry Hill, a seductive Cherry R...
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Music Theories Recordings artist: Neal Schon - Vortex - New Release Review

By Bman -
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I just received the newest release (June 23, 2015), Vortex , from Neal Schon and it's quite good! Opening with Miles Beyond it is immediately recognized that you are listening to something different. With it's heavy bottom, almost like a giant strolling, it has unusual time signatures mixed in with middle eastern sounds and maybe even traces of Led Zep, but what it is all about is clean instrumental guitar work joined by Steve Smith on drums and Jan Hammer on keys. Very nice! Awakening immediately puts you into the feel of the Mahavishnu Orchestra with its excellent sense of rhythm and timing. Schon is certainly not copying McLaughlin here with totally different lead guitar style but essential and fluid just the same. Excellent! Cuban Fly Zone is a much more evenly paced track with vocal like jazz guitar leads and Hammer creating nice tension on keys. Schon is certainly equipped to fill a frame with notes but restrains himself for the most part creating melodic quick runs...
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Simi Cajun and Blues Festival - Evelyn the bluezy redhead - Guest Writer

By Bman -
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The site of the Simi Cajun and Blues Festival every Memorial Day weekend is a spacious park in the bedroom community of Simi Valley in Ventura County. This festival pays tribute to and honors the men and women who died during service in the armed forces and I applaud them for that! A lesser known fact is that they raise funds for a long list of local community, national and international organizations and activities, and should be commended for the enormous effort it takes to put on a festival of this magnitude! There are two stages: Cajun and blues, as you might be able to surmise from the name of the festival! The only time I left the blues stage area or covered dance floor was to use one of the vast array of 'restrooms' lined up on the baseball diamond. Speaking of thriving, the opening band was Reverend Tall Tree (not sure if he is an actual reverend, but he is tall, yet not as tall as a tree). Anyway, Mr. Tree has a voice and harp skills as solid as the t...
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WaxEater Records artist: JC Crossfire - AWOL Blues - New Release Review

By Bman -
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I just received the newest release, AWOL Blues , from JC Crossfire and it's pretty straightforward and bluesy. Opening with shuffle track, It Is What It Is , Crossfire on vocal and his notoriously snarling guitar tone is joined by Tony Galabria on bass, Al Rich on drums Steve Lombardelli on keys and Joe Beard on piano. One More Day has a 12 bar format and Crossfire paces himself nicely with fluent guitar solo. Working Man has a nice blues drive. Nicely phrased guitar riffs and a driving bass line run this train. Black Hole has an easier pace with acoustic guitar and slide. Title track AWOL Blues has a real nice back beat and steady drums emphasize that. Slide work from JC gives it it's bite. Sweet Thing is a more traditional R&B style ballad and duet with Marybeth DeSarle. A nice sax addition by Lombardelli is sweet. I Can Still Pump has a New Orleans bounce feel. JC's vocals on this track are primo and Beard's piano work is spot on. Plain & Simple has a...
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13th Almost Annual Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival - Concert Review - Stilladog - Guest writer

By Bman -
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This year’s festival started off under partly cloudy skies with Patty Reese rendering an acapella version of the Star Spangled Banner .   As she sang you could gaze out over the Chesapeake Bay and imagine, as I did, the British warships heading back out to sea after failing to capture Fort McHenry.   Then a moment of silence was observed for the passing of BB King. The festival kicked off with the Marcus King Band followed by a female band of local DC musicians put together specifically for this performance called the Sisterhood of Soul .   Then a last minute substitute band, The Record Company , replacing the previously booked Davy Knowles.   The highlight of these opening acts, in fact one of the true high points of the whole festival, was the performance turned in by Little Margie Clark of Sisterhood of Soul. The little old lady (formerly of the 60s group The Jewels) packed a powerful voice. And when she ad libbed some serious scat she blew the lid off t...
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Fish Food/VizzTone artist: Amanda Fish - Down In The Dirt - New release Review

By Bman -
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I just received the newest release, Down In The Dirt , from Amanda Fish and it covers a lot of bases. Sister to Samantha Fish, Amanda has joined up with Stone Cutters Union front man Sean McDonnell on slide. Opening the release is I 'mma Make You Love Me, a funky R&B kind of track showing just what Fish has to offer vocally and featuring McDonnell on guitar, Cole Dilingham on guitar and bass and Kristopher Schnebelen on drums. Player Blues is a slinky blues number with cool understated and fat aggressive slide work by McDonnell. Wait has a cool blues rock rhythm accented by rhythmic strumming on guitar and rich, saturated guitar riffs. An hot guitar solo on this track gives it a leg up for radio play. With a pinch of country, Guess I'll Lay Down features McDonnell and Fish on lead vocals as well as Liam Goodrick on piano and Jacob Niser on fiddle. Latin jazz number Prisoner Of Your Touch , has a real smooth feel with Goodrick on piano and Matt Peters on guitar. Again...
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Brand new album from Sugaray Rayford

By Bman -
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Delta Groove Promotions and Nimoy Sue Records presents "Southside" the brand new album by Mannish Boys' singing sensation, Sugaray Rayford. This is Sugaray Rayford’s third CD release. His 1st release, Blind Alley (2010), was independently released. His 2nd release, Dangerous (2013), was under Delta Groove Music Inc. Dangerous was #8 on Living Blues Top 50 Albums of 2013. Sugaray was just nominated for BB King Entertainer of the Year and Traditional Male Vocalist for the 2015 Blues Music Awards. He is also lead vocalist for The Mannish Boys who were also nominated for 3 awards. Upcoming Tour dates: June 12 - The Birk Birkenfeld, OR June 13 - Highway 99 Seattle, WA June 14 - Shuga Jazz Bistro Seattle, WA June 16 - Poor House Bistro San Jose, CA June 18 - Biscuits & Blues San Francisco, CA June 19 - Biscuits & Blues San Francisco, CA June 21 - Malarkey's Long Beach, CA June 22 - Sugar Mill Tarzana, CA June ...
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Michele D'Amour and the Love Dealers - Ante Up - New Release Review

By Bman -
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I just received the newest release, Ante Up from Michele D'Amour and the Love Dealers and it's lively. Opening with She's Got Sway , a groovy rocker, D'Amour takes the lead on vocal with Greg Dolan on guitar, Patrick Mc Danel on bass and Rick Bowen on drums. Special guest Sue Oelrich plays a lively keyboard solo on this track as well. Waiting For You , a slow paced blues track features some particularly lush guitar work by CD Woodbury. Chippy rocker, Say What You Mean , keeps it light with a pretty nice guitar solo from Greg Nolan as well as Oelrich on keys. One of my favorite tracks on the release, One Wave At A Time , has a smokey feel along the lines of I Put A Spell On You. D'Amour does a nice job on vocals and I particularly like Dolan's guitar phrasing on this particular track. R&B style Angels All Around , has a cool groove and Dolan's guitar work puts me in mind of the Chambers Brothers. Jealous is a slow ballad with the nices vocal efforts ...
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Garage Door Records and Blue Room Management Sign North Georgia-Based Country Group, Smith & Wesley, with New CD Expected for Release in July; Band Set to Play Riverbend Festival on Friday June 12

By Bman -
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Garage Door Records and Blue Room Management Sign North Georgia-Based Country Group, Smith & Wesley, with New CD Expected for Release in July Band Set to Play Riverbend Festival on Friday June 12 CHATTANOOGA, TN - Chattanooga-based Garage Door Records and Blue Room Management announce the signing of North Georgia-based country music group Smith & Wesley to label and management contracts. Garage Door Records, which is distributed nationally by Burnside Distribution, will release the group’s debut album, Choices & Chances , in July. Smith & Wesley will soon announce special release shows to celebrate the new album, and are also set to play the acclaimed Riverbend Festival in Chattanooga on Friday, June 12. (Photo Credit: Joe Killion) Based out of the North Georgia/Chattanooga, Tennessee area, the Smith & Wesley sound is driven by two brothers, Scott and Todd Smith. Scott carries the lead vocals and plays acoustic guitar. His broth...
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Indian Hill Music Festival Welcomes Bo & The Bluesdrivers

By Bman -
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BO & THE BLUESDRIVERS ARE "SOCAL'S HARDEST-WORKING BLUES BAND"; THEY'RE NOW ON TOUR THROUGHOUT 2015 Performing at Indian Hill Music Festival - Saturday, May 30 (Also playing Dog House Saloon in Tehachapi on Saturday, May 30)    (TEHACHAPI, CA) - Bo and the Bluesdrivers   proudly answer to the monicker of being "Southern California's Hardest-Working Blues Band", and with two upcoming shows on the same day in Tehachapi, it's easy to see how they've earned the aforementioned title.    Bo and the Bluesdrivers perform at the Indian Hill Music Festival , at Indian Hill Ranch, 18061 Arosa St., in Tehachapi, Saturday, May 30 (Budweiser Main Stage, 10 a.m.). Tickets/Info: (661) 340-0026 or www.notoriousent.net .  Later that evening the band play at Dog House Saloon , 777 W. Tehachapi Blvd. Showtime 9 p.m. -1:15 a.m. Free. Info: (661) 822-4200 or https://www.facebook.com/DHSaloon .    Bo and the...
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Roy Rogers New Album Coming June 2nd Into The Wild Blue

By Bman -
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ROY ROGERS  NEW ALBUM COMING JUNE 2ND INTO THE WILD BLUE Into the Wild Blue coming June 2, 2015 Slide guitar master, Roy Rogers, again breaks new ground with his latest and highly anticipated solo album, Into the Wild Blue. Widely known for his work with The Delta Rhythm Kings, John Lee Hooker and Ray Manzarek, Grammy Award-winning Rogers blazes his own path with a solid collection of vocal and instrumental jams and ballads that breaks free from the restraints of convention, unfurling the genres of blues, rock and roots to exotic and exciting faraway places. Into the Wild Blue is Rogers' first solo effort in five years and is a distillation of a lifetime of myriad musical knowledge and experience; its multiplicity of styles are clearly steeped in tradition but reflect a broad musical sensibility. Rogers' background as a producer, songwriter, singer and unparalleled slide guitarist is extensive: a gifted guitar player by age 13 a...
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