Del Castillo Set to Release New CD, "Infinitas Rapsodias," with Bonus HD Video Disc, on March 13

DEL CASTILLO SET TO RELEASE NEW CD, INFINITAS RAPSODIAS, WITH BONUS HD VIDEO DISC, MARCH 13 ON SMILIN’CASTLE RECORDS, DISTRIBUTED IN NORTH AMERICA BY SONY/RED

ALBUM FEATURES SPECIAL GUESTS MONTE MONTGOMERY, MALFORD MILLIGAN, LEANN ATHERTON, ERIK HOKKANEN, PHOEBE HUNT & CARL THIEL, WITH SPECIAL APPEARANCE BY GERMAN OPERA DIVA

ANNA MARIA KAUFMANN

AUSTIN, TX – Del Castillo, which combines elements of Rock, Latin, Blues, Flamenco and World music in their amazing palette of sound, announces a March 13 release date for their new album, Infinitas Rapsodias, a special 2-disc set that also includes a 5-track bonus DVD, all shot in HD. Infinitas Rapsodias will be distributed in North America by Sony/RED and in Europe by their label and distribution partners, The Music Agents GbR (Blue Label) / Soul Food. The band will kick-off the new release with an extensive world-wide tour, beginning with a European series of shows starting on March 3 in Zurich, and ending in Berlin on March 25.

Infinitas Rapsodias showcases five brand new Del Castillo songs, as well as newly-created versions of several tunes from previous CDs that have become fan concert favorites and have taken on a whole new life of their own with different arrangements and instrumentation. These include “Brotherhood,” “Vida,” “Porque” and “Perdoname.” Demonstrating their global appeal, the band has even included a new take on their popular song, “Maria,” only this time with a vocal in Italian.

The audio CD features the band with such favorite Austin artists as guitarist Monte Montgomery, singers Malford Milligan and Leann Atherton, and violinists/gypsy fiddlers Erik Hokkanen and Phoebe Hunt. It also includes a song featuring producer and pianist Carl Thiel, and closes with the powerful duet, “Amor Venme a Buscar,” performed by acclaimed German opera diva, Anna Maria Kaufmann, and Del Castillo lead singer, Alex Ruiz. Infinitas Rapsodias was recorded at Smilin’ Castle Studio in Kyle, Texas, and produced primarily by Rick and Mark del Castillo.

The high-definition DVD includes a behind-the-scenes, up-close-and-personal look at the making of the entire project. It also features a video for the new song, “Canta de Alma,” which was shot by the band while on tour in Europe in 2011 and directed/edited by Mark del Castillo. Other DVD tracks include three studio jam session performance videos of Del Castillo favorite cover songs: the Doobie Brothers classic, “Listen to the Music;” the Louis Armstrong chestnut, “What a Wonderful World” and a slamming guitar-driven rendition of George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” with special guest guitarist Monte Montgomery.

Austin-based Del Castillo began as a CD project for family in 2000 by award-winning guitarist brothers Rick and Mark del Castillo. They’re joined by exciting and charismatic lead singer Alex Ruiz, plus Albert Besteiro on bass, Mike Zeoli on drums and Jason Murdy on percussion, who make up the band’s dynamic rhythm section. The music these six individuals create has a passion and energy that transcends any language barriers, which has resulted in Del Castillo becoming international touring stars.

Rolling Stone called Del Castillo “tumbling brilliance on nylon-string classical guitars” with “eruptions of technique and taste (that) conjure images of Eddie Van Halen fronting early Santana (with an assist from the Gipsy Kings).”

Del Castillo has become a symbol of the cross-cultural power of music, with their eclectic blend of Flamenco, Rock, Latin, Blues and World music having made the band into a world-wide favorite of fans all over the globe. Between the release of their first CD, Brothers of the Castle in 2001, and their 2009 self-titled release, Del Castillo, the band received an astonishing 23 awards, including SXSW/Austin Music “Album of the Year” Awards for Vida (2002) and Brotherhood (2006); “Band of the Year” (2003); ASCAP’s “Best Independent Group of the Year” (2005); and Austin Music Pundits “Best Live Act’ (2004).

For the past two years, Del Castillo has toured extensively in the US and Europe, both as a headliner and in support of such diverse artists as Styx, Los Lonely Boys, B.B. King, Don Henley, Buddy Guy, Los Lobos, Bela Fleck and Willie Nelson. They’ve performed at three of Willie Nelson's 4th of July Picnics and Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival. Other US and international venues they’ve played include the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow, Scotland; California WorldFest; Austin City Limits Festival; Strawberry Music Festival; Tropical Heatwave Festival; Vancouver Folk Festival; Wendelstein Festival; Jazzfest Gronau and Bergen Fest (Norway). They’ve also performed on BBC Radio in London and Scotland.

Acclaimed film director Robert Rodriguez became a big fan of the band after attending one of their shows in 2002 and has featured their music in such films of his as Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Sin City, Grindhouse and Spy Kids 3-D, even enlisting the group to perform with him at the premieres. Rodriguez was so impressed with Del Castillo that he wanted to record with them, so together, they formed CHINGON and recorded an amazing electric rendition of the Mexican classic song, “Malaguena Salerosa.” Director Quentin Tarantino loved it so much that he re-did the ending sequence of his Kill Bill Vol. II film to fit the song into his movie.

In 2008, the band’s two guitar virtuosos, Rick and Mark del Castillo, were selected by Gibson Global as two of only six guitarists in the world to launch Gibson’s new Les Paul guitar line, “Dark Fire.”

Del Castillo recently performed a beautiful, unique song with Carlos Santana, Willie Nelson and Los Lonely Boys on a CD benefitting The Hermes Music Foundation. The song, “Claro Que Suede” (“Yes We Can”) is featured on their website, www.delcastillomusic.com.

One of the fathers of modern guitar - Roy Smeck

Roy Smeck (born Leroy Smeck, 6 February 1900 – 5 April 1994) was an American musician. His skill on the banjo, guitar, steel guitar, and especially the ukulele earned him the nickname "Wizard of the Strings.
Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, Smeck started on the vaudeville circuit. His style was influenced by Eddie Lang, Ikey Robinson, banjoist Harry Reser, Johnny Marvin and steel guitarist Sol Hoopii. Smeck could not sing well, so he developed novelty dances and trick playing to supplement his act.
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Exodus - Bob Marley

Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers (1963–1981). Marley remains the most widely known and revered performer of reggae music, and is credited with helping spread both Jamaican music and the Rastafari movement to a worldwide audience.

Marley's music was heavily influenced by the social issues of his homeland, and he is considered to have given voice to the specific political and cultural nexus of Jamaica. His best-known hits include "I Shot the Sheriff", "No Woman, No Cry", "Could You Be Loved", "Stir It Up", "Jamming", "Redemption Song", "One Love" and, "Three Little Birds", as well as the posthumous releases "Buffalo Soldier" and "Iron Lion Zion". The compilation album Legend (1984), released three years after his death, is reggae's best-selling album, going ten times Platinum which is also one Diamond in the U.S., and selling 25 million copies worldwide
In July 1977, Marley was found to have a type of malignant melanoma under the nail of one of his toes. Contrary to urban legend, this lesion was not primarily caused by an injury during a football match in that year, but was instead a symptom of the already existing cancer. Marley turned down doctors' advice to have his toe amputated, citing his religious beliefs. Despite his illness, he continued touring and was in the process of scheduling a world tour in 1980. The intention was for Inner Circle to be his opening act on the tour but after their lead singer Jacob Miller died in Jamaica in March 1980 after returning from a scouting mission in Brazil this was no longer mentioned.

The album Uprising was released in May 1980 (produced by Chris Blackwell), on which "Redemption Song" is particularly considered to be about Marley coming to terms with his mortality.[citation needed] The band completed a major tour of Europe, where they played their biggest concert, to a hundred thousand people in Milan. After the tour Marley went to America, where he performed two shows at Madison Square Garden as part of the Uprising Tour.

The final concert of Bob Marley's career was held September 23, 1980 at the Stanley Theater (now called The Benedum Center For The Performing Arts) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The audio recording of that concert is now available on CD, vinyl, and digital music services.

Shortly after, Marley's health deteriorated and he became very ill; the cancer had spread throughout his body. The rest of the tour was cancelled and Marley sought treatment at the Bavarian clinic of Josef Issels, where he received a controversial type of cancer therapy (Issels treatment) partly based on avoidance of certain foods, drinks, and other substances. After fighting the cancer without success for eight months, Marley boarded a plane for his home in Jamaica.

While flying home from Germany to Jamaica, Marley's vital functions worsened. After landing in Miami, Florida, he was taken to the hospital for immediate medical attention. He died at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami (now University of Miami Hospital) on the morning of May 11, 1981, at the age of 36. The spread of melanoma to his lungs and brain caused his death. His final words to his son Ziggy were "Money can't buy life". Marley received a state funeral in Jamaica on 21 May 1981, which combined elements of Ethiopian Orthodoxy and Rastafari tradition. He was buried in a chapel near his birthplace with his red Gibson Les Paul (some accounts say it was a Fender Stratocaster)
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My Babe - Cousin Harley

Cousin Harley is the rocking hillbilly persona of Paul Pigat, an accomplished guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. Hailing from Vancouver, Canada, Cousin Harley has a hard-earned reputation for delivering everything from hot rod rockabilly to foot stomping vintage country and western swing. ....

From classic honky tonk and cow punk tinged rippers, to a helping of western swing and classic jump blues, Cousin Harley plays in the old tradition—slugging it out hot and heavy in the trenches of the live music
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Send Me To The Lectric Chair - David Bromberg And His Big Band

Born in Philadelphia in 1945 and raised in Tarrytown, NY, “as a kid I listened to rock ’n’ roll and whatever else was on the radio,” says Bromberg. “I discovered Pete Seeger and The Weavers and, through them, Reverend Gary Davis. I then discovered Big Bill Broonzy, who led me to Muddy Waters and the Chicago blues. This was more or less the same time I discovered Flatt and Scruggs, which led to Bill Monroe and Doc Watson.”

Bromberg began studying guitar-playing when he was 13 and eventually enrolled in Columbia University as a musicology major. The call of the Greenwich Village folk scene in the mid-’60s drew David to the downtown clubs and coffeehouses, where he could watch and learn from the best performers, including primary sources such as his inspiration and teacher, the Reverend Gary Davis.

Bromberg’s sensitive and versatile approach to guitar-playing earned him jobs playing the Village “basket houses” for tips, the occasional paying gig, and lots of employment as a backing musician for Tom Paxton, Jerry Jeff Walker and Rosalie Sorrels, among others. He became a first-call, “hired gun” guitarist for recording sessions, ultimately playing on hundreds of records by artists including Bob Dylan (New Morning, Self Portrait, Dylan), Link Wray, The Eagles, Ringo Starr, Willie Nelson, and Carly Simon.

An unexpected and wildly successful solo spot at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival in Great Britain led to a solo deal with Columbia Records, for whom David recorded four albums. His eponymous 1971 debut not only included the mock-anguished “Suffer to Sing the Blues,” a Bromberg original that became an FM radio staple, but also “The Holdup,” a songwriting collaboration with former Beatle George Harrison, whom he met at his manager’s Thanksgiving dinner festivities. Harrison also played slide guitar on the track. Through Bromberg’s manager, Al Aronowitz, David also met the Grateful Dead and wound up with four of their members, including Jerry Garcia, playing on his next two albums.

Bromberg’s range of material, based in the folk and blues idioms, continually expanded with each new album to encompass bluegrass, ragtime, country and ethnic music, and his touring band grew apace. By the mid-’70s, the David Bromberg Big Band included horn-players, a violinist, and several multi-instrumentalists, including David himself. Among the best-known Bromberg Band graduates: mandolinist Andy Statman, later a major figure in the Klezmer music movement in America, and fiddler Jay Ungar (who wrote the memorable “Ashokan Farewell” for Ken Burns’ PBS documentary, “The Civil War”).

Despite jubilant, loose-limbed concerts and a string of acclaimed albums on the Fantasy label, Bromberg found himself exhausted by the logistics of the music business. “I decided to change the direction of my life,” he explains. So David dissolved his band in 1980, and he and his artist/musician wife, Nancy Josephson, moved from Northern California to Chicago, where David attended the Kenneth Warren School of Violin Making. Though he still toured periodically, the recordings slowed to a trickle and then stopped.

After “too many Chicago winters,” in 2002 David and Nancy were lured to Wilmington, Del., where they became part of the city’s artist-in-residence program and where David could establish David Bromberg Fine Violins, a retail store and repair shop for high quality instruments. Frequent participation in the city’s weekly jam sessions helped rekindle Bromberg’s desire to make music again, as did the encouragement of fellow musicians Chris Hillman (The Byrds, Desert Rose Band, Flying Burrito Brothers) and bluegrass wizard Herb Pedersen, and David’s manager, Steve Bailey. The jams also led to the formation of Angel Band, fronted by Nancy and two other female vocalists, with David serving as an accompanist.

With the release of Try Me One More Time, his 2007 solo return to the studio, David continued his musical revitalization, playing shows on his own, backed by (and supporting) Angel Band, his own David Bromberg Quartet, and reunions of the David Bromberg Big Band, the configuration depending on the circumstance. As 2010 draws to a close, David is completing an ambitious new album entittled Use Me, which features David collaborating with friends like John Hiatt, Levon Helm, Los Lobos, Tim O’Brien, Vince Gill, Widespread Panic, Dr. John, Keb’ Mo’ and others.
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Friday, March 2, 2012
David Bromberg Big Band @ Birchmere 3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria, VA 22305 (United States) - Map (703) 549-7500	Set: 8:00 PM Doors: 6:00 PM All Ages	Tickets: $45 Buy Now
Saturday, March 3, 2012
David Bromberg Big Band w spec guest Allen Toussaint @ Town Hall 123 W 43rd St., New York, NY 10036 (United States) - Map (212) 840-2824	Set: 8:00 PM All Ages	Tickets: $45, $50, $55 Buy Now
Also Playing: Allen Toussaint (8:00 PM)
Friday, March 30, 2012
David Bromberg @ tba - Hawaii tba, HI (United States) - Map	Set: 8:00 PM All Ages
Saturday, March 31, 2012
David Bromberg @ tba tba, HI (United States) - Map	Set: 8:00 PM All Ages
Sunday, April 1, 2012
David Bromberg @ tba tba, HI (United States) - Map	Set: 8:00 PM All Ages

Railroad Blues - Luckey Roberts

Charles Luckeyeth Roberts, better known as Luckey Roberts (August 7, 1887 – February 5, 1968) was an American composer and stride pianist who worked in the jazz, ragtime, and blues styles.
Luckey Roberts was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was playing piano and acting professionally with traveling Negro minstrel shows in his childhood. He settled in New York City about 1910 and became one of the leading pianists in Harlem, and started publishing some of his original rags.

Roberts toured France and the UK with James Reese Europe during World War I, then returned to New York where he wrote music for various shows and recorded piano rolls.

With James P. Johnson, Roberts developed the stride piano style of playing about 1919.

Robert's reach on the keyboard was unusually large (he could reach a fourteenth), leading to a rumor that he had the webbing between his fingers surgically cut, which those who knew him and saw him play live denounce as false; Roberts simply had naturally large hands with wide finger spread.

Luckey Roberts noted compositions include "Junk Man Rag", "Moonlight Cocktail", "Pork and Beans", and "Railroad Blues". "Moonlight Cocktail" was recorded by the Glenn Miller Orchestra, and was the best selling record in the United States for ten weeks in 1942.

An astute businessman, Roberts became a millionaire twice through real estate dealings. He died in New York.
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EVERYBODY AIN'T THE SAME - Iron Jaw Harris

IJ Harris, Chicago Blues singer on the Cash label died on January 5r, 1984.
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Blues For The Blues - The Hamsters

The Hamsters are a band from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England.

They performed their first live show at the Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea, on 1 April 1987. They initially played in local pubs with no ambitions to take themselves seriously or to turn professional. As the band ethos is to combine humour with music two members of the original band (now all three) use light-hearted and parodying pseudonyms as stage names. The original line-up was Snail's-Pace Slim on vocals and guitar, Rev Otis Elevator on drums and Andy Farrell on bass. Andy Billups, aka Ms Zsa Zsa Poltergeist, replaced Farrell on bass in 1988.

The band's name was based on a pseudonym used by the Sex Pistols
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Ñaco Goñi y Los Bluescavidas

Naco Goni has a blues band in Spain. He plays a mean harp!

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Money (Thats What I Want) - BARRETT STRONG

Barrett Strong (born February 5, 1941, West Point, Mississippi) is an American singer and songwriter. Strong was the first artist to record a hit for Motown, although he is best remembered for his work as a songwriter, particularly in association with producer Norman Whitfield
Strong was among the first artists signed to Berry Gordy's Motown corporation, and is the performer on the company's first hit, "Money (That's What I Want)," which reached No. 2 U.S. R&B in 1960. Written by Gordy and Janie Bradford, the single was originally released on the Tamla record label, a forerunner of Motown, but was then leased to the Anna label as it was getting airplay, and it was on Anna label that it was a hit. "Money", which gave Strong his only major hit as a vocalist, was later recorded by a number of acts, including The Beatles, The Kingsmen, Richard Wylie and His Band, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Searchers, The Flying Lizards, The Sonics and Buddy Guy.

In the mid 1960s, Strong became a Motown staff lyricist, teaming with producer Norman Whitfield. Together, Strong and Whitfield wrote some of the most successful and critically acclaimed soul songs ever to be released by Motown, including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" by both Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight & the Pips; "War" by Edwin Starr; "Smiling Faces Sometimes" by The Undisputed Truth; and the long line of "psychedelic soul" records by The Temptations, including "Cloud Nine", "I Can't Get Next to You", "Psychedelic Shack", "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)", and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", amongst others. Strong received a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song in 1973 for "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone". Strong and Whitfield also co-wrote the ballad "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)", a 1971 Billboard No. 1 that also marked the last Temptations single to feature charter members Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams.

After Motown moved its operations base from Detroit, Michigan, to Los Angeles, California, Strong left the label and resumed his singing career. In 1972 he signed with Epic. But after one failed single, Strong moved on, recording two albums for Capitol Records in the mid 1970s.

Strong continued into the 1980s, recording "Rock It Easy" for an independent label and writing and arranging "You Can Depend on Me", which was included on The Dells' The Second Time album in 1988. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004.

Strong has re-released his last album, Stronghold II, which he wrote and composed in collaboration with rocker/songwriter Eliza Neals in 2008, in digital format only.

Recently Strong has appeared in "Misery", his first music video in his fifty years of recording music, co-produced by Eliza Neals and Martin "Tino" Gross with Strong at the helm
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Kenny Wayne Shepherd with Buddy Flett

Kenny Wayne Shepherd (born Kenny Wayne Brobst, June 12, 1977, Shreveport, Louisiana) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He has released several studio albums and experienced a rare level of commercial success both as a blues artist and a young musician
Shepherd graduated Caddo Magnet High School in Shreveport, Louisiana. The guitarist is "completely self taught", and does not read music. Growing up, Shepherd's father (Ken Shepherd) was a local radio personality and some-time concert promoter, and had a vast collection of music. Shepherd got his first "guitar" at the age of three or four, when his grandmother purchased a series of several plastic guitars for him with S&H Green Stamps, which Shepherd has said he would "go through like candy".
Shepherd stated in a 2010 interview that he began playing guitar in earnest at age seven, about six months after meeting and being "pretty mesmerized" by Stevie Ray Vaughan, in June 1984, at one of his father's promoted concerts. His self-taught method employed a process of learning one note at a time, playing and rewinding cassette tapes, utilizing "a cheap Yamaha wanna-be Stratocaster...made out of plywood, basically", learning Muddy Waters, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Albert Lee licks from his father's vast music collection.

At the age of 13, Shepherd was invited on stage by the New Orleans bluesman Bryan Lee. After proving his abilities, he decided on music as a career. Demo tapes were made and a two-camera video was shot at Shepherd's first performance at the Red River Revel Arts Festival in Shreveport. It was this video performance that impressed Giant Records chief Irving Azoff enough to sign Shepherd to a multiple album record deal.

From 1995 on, Shepherd took seven singles into the Top 10, and holds the record for the longest-running album on the Billboard Blues Charts with Trouble Is.... In 1996, Shepherd began a longtime collaboration with vocalist Noah Hunt, who provided the vocals for Shepherd's signature song, "Blue on Black". Shepherd has been nominated for five Grammy Awards, and has received two Billboard Music Awards, two Blues Music Awards and two Orville H. Gibson Awards.

In September 2008, Fender Musical Instruments Corp. released the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Signature Series Stratocaster, designed exclusively by Shepherd. In 2007, he released a critically acclaimed and two time Grammy nominated DVD–CD project, 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads. This documents Shepherd as he travels the country to jam with and interview the last of the authentic blues musicians. As they tour the backroads, Shepherd, with members of the Double Trouble Band, play with a host of blues greats including Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and Bryan Lee, Buddy Flett (with whom he jams at Lead Belly's grave), B. B. King, blues harp master Jerry "Boogie" McCain, Cootie Stark, Neal Pattman, John Dee Holeman, Etta Baker, Henry Townsend with Honeyboy Edwards, and a concert session with the surviving members of Muddy Waters' and Howlin' Wolf's bands, including luminaries such as Hubert Sumlin, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith and Pinetop Perkins. In 2010 Shepherd was nominated for a Grammy for Live In Chicago which featured performances with Hubert Sumlin, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, Buddy Flett and Bryan Lee. Most recently in 2011, Shepherd released his 7th CD entitled How I Go on Roadrunner Records.
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Your Turn To Cry - Bettye LaVette

Bettye LaVette (born Betty Haskins, January 29, 1946) is an American soul singer-songwriter who made her first record at sixteen, but achieved only intermittent fame until 2005, with her album, I've Got My Own Hell to Raise. Her eclectic musical style combines elements of soul, blues, rock and roll, funk, gospel, and country music.
LaVette was born in Muskegon, Michigan, and raised in Detroit. Unlike many of her contemporaries, she did not begin singing in the church, but in her parents' living room, singing R&B and country and western music. She was signed by Johnnie Mae Matthews, a local record producer. In 1962, aged sixteen, she recorded a single, "My Man - He's a Lovin' Man", with Matthews, which became a Top Ten R&B hit after Atlantic Records bought distribution rights. This led to a tour with rhythm and blues musicians Clyde McPhatter, Ben E. King, Barbara Lynn, and then-newcomer Otis Redding.
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Sippiseekinsaw - Super Chikan & The Fight Cocks

James "Super Chikan" Johnson (born February 16, 1951, Darling, Mississippi) is an American blues musician, based in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He is the nephew of fellow blues musician Big Jack Johnson.

One commentator noted that Super Chikan, along with Big Jack Johnson, Booba Barnes, R. L. Burnside, and Paul "Wine" Jones were "present-day exponents of an edgier, electrified version of the raw, uncut Delta blues sound.
As an adult, Super Chikan began driving a truck for a living. During the long stretches on the road, he began composing his own songs. When he showed some of the songs to his friends, they convinced him to go to a recording studio and record them. He then started playing with some renowned local musicians, but he decided he would rather perform on his own than try to conform his style to that of his bandmates. He did so, and in 1997 he released his debut album, Blues Come Home to Roost, influenced by such musicians as Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and Chuck Berry. He went on to release What You See (2000), Shoot That Thang (2001), Chikan Supe (2005), and Sum Mo Chikan (2007). In the Clarksdale area, he is probably best-known for performing regularly at Morgan Freeman's Ground Zero blues club and for being Freeman's favorite blues performer. He also played support to Steven Seagal's band, 'Thunderbox.'

Super Chikan's latest release was Chikadelic, which was distributed by BluesTown Records. It was recorded in Notodden, Norway's Juke Joint Studios, and was released at the 2009 Notodden Blues Festival. Super Chikan was backed by Norway's, Spoonful of Blues.
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Blues Falling Down Like Rain - Kenny Neal

Kenny Neal, born in New Orleans and raised in Baton Rouge, began playing music at a young age. Learning the basics from his father, singer and Blues harmonica master, Raful Neal. Kenny is known as a modern swamp-blues master and multi-instrumentalist, that draws musically from the sizzling sounds of his native Louisiana.
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I'll Play The Blues For You - Homemade Jamz Blues Band

Ryan Perry (19) -- vocals, guitars

Kyle Perry (17) -- bass

Taya Perry (13) – drums



“These young kids have got energy, talent and do the blues proud with their own flavor. I believe they’ve got a GREAT future ahead.” – B.B. King

How does a seven-year-old kid get the blues? Ryan Perry, now 16, laughs heartily at the notion—like he’s a father himself, maybe even a grandfather, as if fondly recalling his precocious past self. “We haven’t had any bad xperiences as a family,” says Perry, who sings and plays guitar in the Homemade Jamz Blues Band (HJBB) with his brother Kyle (14, bass) and sister Taya (10, drums). He understands the irony of a world-weary anklebiter but more importantly the simple, youthful concept of doing what comes naturally.

HJBB started in Baumholder, Germany when father Renaud Perry returned from military service in Korea. Young Ryan found a Stratocaster copy among dad’s bags and wanted it. A week later, Ryan had composed a short instrumental tune (which he’d play at his school talent show) and was playing along to commercials. When the family relocated to Tupelo, the passion stayed with him. Returning home, Ryan, now 11, dove head first into the blues.

“I heard B.B. King, Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan,” he recalls, “and I would listen to them all the time and try to emulate them.” Having found his muse, Ryan’s playing progressed “like, tenfold. As soon as I knew which direction to go, it really took off.”

Two years later, Ryan was playing live with a drum machine and little brother Kyle, then nine years old, wanted in on the action. After first trying piano and becoming frustrated that he didn’t progress as fast as Ryan, Kyle switched to bass, teaching himself the nuances of the instrument and its role in the blues. Soon he was playing out with his brother, as confident as any wizened old pro and digging his role. “[I] keep the timing and lock down the beat along with the drummer, which allows the lead guitar player to do his own thing while everyone is juking to the beat.”

Eventually proud papa Renaud called Robert Stolle of Clarksdale’s storied Ground Zero Blues Club and insisted on an audition, HJBB—Ryan, Kyle and an unrelated drummer wowed Stolle enough to get a booking. When that drummer didn’t work out, seven-year-old Taya wanted to give it a shot. Already possessing a rhythmic sense from playing tambourine, Taya settled onto the stool and in two months was providing the beat behind Ryan and Kyle. “It's very exciting to play drums,” she says.

It’s likewise energizing to watch HJBB work out, and soon the cherubic trio was a hot ticket. Ryan’s gruff vocals and visceral, stinging, guitar licks, Kyle’s solid rumble and Taya’s cool stomp have electrified crowds across the country, up and down Memphis’s famed Beale Street and on the festival and blues cruise circuit. The band saturated their local media, appearing numerous times in several local papers and national blues magazines, and on local and national TV—including a feature segment on CBS Sunday Morning when the band played the WC Handy Festival last July. Even B.B. King said in a YouTube video, “In my 82 years, I’ve never seen something musically… so remarkable.”

As well, HJBB won the 3rd Annual MS Delta Blues Society of Indianola’s Blues Challenge (2006), and were the youngest band ever to compete in the International Blues Challenge (2007), taking 2nd in a field of 157 bands. Fred Litwin, president of the esteemed label NorthernBlues Music, was a judge for the event. Fred called HJBB and announced he was keen to make them the youngest blues band to sign with a major record label. “Mister Fred,” as the Perrys call him, made it happen. True to their name, the band recorded Pay Me No Mind at home, over three days in January 2008.

Rife with powerful, puissant songs (lyrics by Renaud, music by HJBB) that lyrically and musically epitomize the blues, Pay Me No Mind blends Chicago and Mississippi juke joint blues, copping the gritty slickness of the former and the dirty soul of the latter—never betraying its authors’ age. The trio exudes nothing but confidence and attitude as they sing of betrayal, love, hard times and other bad things gone down as if they’ve lived a life rich in strife. They are, to be sure, a veritable blues explosion poised to make the big sound.

Which again begs the question: how do a seven-year-old and his younger siblings get the blues? Ryan says they just “connect” with the music, like it’s hard-wired into them. He and his siblings don’t think in those terms. “We all love the blues,” he says matter-of-factly. “For some reason it just comes naturally to us.” Write on our Facebook Wall or post your Photos of great blues events! -  ”LIKE”

The Mighty Dow

Entertaining us and musically educating the youth for more than 30 years, Isidore York, known as the Mighty Dow, is an island treasure and a staple in Carnival. Born on the Friendly Island in the lovely month of April, the Mighty Dow has been working hard to reach his objective of supporting the local youth to reach higher standards of performance. With a passion for steel-pan music, the Mighty Dow is a renowned calypsonian and an accomplished steel pan instructor, entertainer, musical arranger and vocalist.

His musical talent was found and nurtured since the age of 8 by his father and Caribbean music icon, Chester York. The once lead performer in his former high school band (Milton Peters College), the stellar entertainer made a splash when he won best Carnival song in 1982 with the hit "For King." Since his start, the Mighty Dow has recorded 8 albums and has had great international hits like "St. Maarten Rhumba", "Soca Salsa", "Christmas Morning", "Ding Dong" and many others.
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All Day Music - Lowrider Band

The Lowrider Band consists of four of the five surviving original core group members of the multi-platinum selling band War: Howard E. Scott, B.B. Dickerson, Lee Oskar, and Harold Brown. These members lost the right in federal court to use and tour under the name "War" in the mid-1990s to Far Out Productions (producer and manager Jerry Goldstein). The band's original keyboardist Lonnie Jordan now tours using the name "War" under Goldstein's guidance
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Kansas City - Will Shade and Charlie Burse

Memphis Jug Band veterans Will Shade and Charlie Burse (a.k.a. Son Brimmer and Laughing Charlie) perform the Jim Jackson song "Kansas City Blues." This was part of a television special called "Blues Street" produced in 1958. Shade (playing trashcan bass) was 60 years old and Burse (playing resonator tenor guitar) was 57. They had been playing together for 30 years.
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We Want the Funk - Grady Thomas

Grady Thomas (born January 5, 1941 in Newark, New Jersey, United States) is a former member of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic. Thomas lives in Stone Mountain, Georgia.

Thomas started out in the late 1950s as one of The Parliaments, a doo wop barbershop quintet led by George Clinton. In 1977, Thomas (along with other original Parliaments Fuzzy Haskins and Calvin Simon), left Parliament-Funkadelic after financial and management disputes with Clinton, The trio formed a new funk band and released an album called Connections and Disconnections in 1981, using the name Funkadelic. Other names used in the years to follow would include "Original P"
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Jan. 2012 Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise Part II - correspondent Stilladog

When we hit St. Croix, USVI, it was just in time for the St. Croix Blues Festival. This festival began at noon and was spread out across various bars all afternoon culminating in a huge gathering at the Verne I. Richards Memorial Park stage in Frederiksted at dusk where the featured artists were Coco Montoya, Shemekia Copeland, and the Low Rider Band (formerly known as WAR... the band can't legally market themselves as WAR, but I can say that).

After a hike of 1.25 miles through "the jungle," as my wife called it, I hit a place called Rhythms At Rainbow Beach. They had a local band called the St. Croix Blues Society playing. These guys jammed and played well beyond the 12-3 time frame. I ended up here due to a prior commitment to deliver some Tom Jenkins BBQ Sauce down from Ft. Lauderdale to the keyboard player of the St. Croix Blues Society, Tom Eimer. And what I discovered at Rhythms is that Harry Nilsson was right. You put de lime in de coconut and drink em bot togetta, put de lime in de coconut den you feel betta. The Lime In The Coconut is their signature drink and it alone was worth the hike!

By the time I got to the festival stage Coco Montoya was just starting up. He did an abbreviated set due to technical sound difficulties but it was very inspired. About half way through, a typical Caribbean rain squall hit the festival. But we all had so many Bushwhackers, Cruzan Confusions, and Voo Doo Juice in us (on top of the Lime In The Coconuts) it didn't really matter. Coco kept jamming and we absorbed it all.

I had never seen Coco Montoya play before and was surprised to find that he is a left handed picker using a right handed guitar, a la Jimi Hendrix.

After a brief respite from the rain, another squall hit and we headed back for the ship where we sat on our balcony and listened to Shemekia Copeland and Low Rider Band.

The next day in St. Maartens, N.V. was spent at the beach but was not without music. We were thoroughly entertained by The Might Dow, aka Isadore York, and his steel pan band. Well known as the Calypso King of St. Maartens, The Mighty Dow proved that what Etta James said is true, "It's all blues."

After his scheduled set, The Mighty Dow continued to jam with the Kenny Neal Band who laid down an awesome groove for a sunny day at the beach! Kenny Neal employs nearly all his family (brothers, sisters, children etc.) in the band. Most noteworthy being his brother Frederick on keys who also hosted late night jams in the Piano Bar along with Mitch Woods and Eden Brent. And you must see Kenny's twin sisters Charlene and Darlene shake their sizable bootays! Let me tell you the James Brown Dancers got nothin' on those girls!!

The next act for review is the Homemade Jamz Band. Another family band which consists of two brothers and their sister, Ryan (vocal and guitar), Kyle (bass) and Taya (drums) Perry. In addition to giving a blues "tutorial" of sorts to public school children on St. Croix, these youngsters really rock it out! They also appear to be very nice and talented young folks who are only going to get better. Again, the blues is in good hands with kids like this playing it! Of note is Ryan Perry's custom guitar made from a Ford muffler and replete with dual tailpipes!!

Also appearing and representing the artwork of the cruise was my old buddy, James "Super Chikan" Johnson. Clearly Super Chikan was by far the most accessible, funny, and generally congenial artist on the cruise as he was on my last Blues Cruise in Jan. of 2010. He takes the time to talk with anyone who strikes up a conversation with him and is more than happy to clown around during an impromptu photo request. His music was great but the man is greater than what he plays.

Also appearing was Rod Piazza & the All Mighty Flyers featuring Rod on harp and his wife, the incomparable Honey Piazza, on keyboards. Rod might have had the tightest band on the ship. Among some very very professional performances, The All Mighty Flyers stood out. Ran into the Piazzas in the elevator where Honey and I reminisced about the time we were backstage for Aretha Franklin's Chesapeake Blues Fest performance. Honey told me that Aretha is getting married. But by the time I was on the plane for home, People magazine informed me that the nuptials were off.

I tried to catch some of Bettye LaVette but something about her rubbed me the wrong way. I think it was her stage presence or personality. At one point she said she was going to sing all her "hits" and ask the audience why they never sold. Bettye's recordings are great but I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to see her live. To be fair, those who stayed said she did a stirring performance on her cover of The Who's "Love Reign O'er Me."

I know Kenny Wayne Shepherd was the feature headliner of this cruise but I never bothered to go see him. I've seen KWS perform numerous times and he can really play. But he doesn't bring anything new to the table. I know Bman doesn't share this feeling but I can just as easily listen to my old Stevie Ray Vaughan records if that's what I want to hear. Word on the ship from those who did see him play was that his special guest, Buddy Flett, was the star of his show anyway. I tried to watch Kenny Wayne's last set from the TV in my stateroom as I packed to disembark, but after 4 tunes I switched over to the Weather Channel.

So that's about it in two nutshells. Bottom line here is that the Legendary Blues Cruise is first and foremost the best vacation you can ever have. And secondly, if you enjoy blues music the cruise is the place to be. They've got another one scheduled for October sailing out of San Juan, PR. If you can, get on it!!