Classic Rock supergroup "ASIA" returns with "XXX" album on July 2

Mainland Europe Release: June 29th
UK Release: July 2nd / North American Release: July 3rd

BRITISH SUPERGROUP CELEBRATES 30th ANNIVERSARY WITH WORLD TOUR AND 30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF DEBUT ALBUM

ORDER YOUR TICKETS FOR ASIA’S 30th ANNIVERSARY UK DECEMBER 2012 TOUR FROM EVENTIM
CLICK HERE TO ORDER TICKETS

Thirty years after its eponymous debut album, ASIA ascended to the top of the Billboard Top 100 chart (where the album remained No.1 for 9 consecutive weeks). The legendary British classic rock band returns with a new studio album, a 30th Anniversary edition of their debut album, 2 DVDs, and a world tour that includes UK, Europe, Japan and America.

ASIA will release their new studio album “XXX” (pronounced Triple X) via Frontiers Records, on Monday July 2nd. The new album, produced by Mike Paxman, has been hailed as ASIA’s best album since its classic early 80s releases. The album will be released on CD, collector’s edition CD/DVD (featuring new music videos and behind the scenes footage), and on a limited edition vinyl.

The first single taken from the highly anticipated new album is entitled “Face On The Bridge”, released digitally worldwide on Monday May 14th.

“We’re very pleased with, and confident about, XXX,” says John Wetton. “It encapsulates, lyrically and instrumentally, the essence of the band today. However, it is the very same four people that gave you the original, iconic album 30 years ago. If you loved it then, you will love it now.”

Says Asia’s guitarist, Steve Howe; “We wanted to recapture the energy of the first album, ASIA has always been about great songs, fantastic musicianship and I am sure fans of the first album, will fall in love with XXX.”

In addition ASIA has also completed “Resonance”, a DVD concert film of the group’s 2010/2011 Omega World Tour, captured live in Switzerland which will be released subsequently.

To celebrate their 30th Anniversary, ASIA will release a collector’s edition box set based on their legendary 1982 eponymous debut album, supported by a myriad of ASIA releases in 2012.

The 30th anniversary edition of their debut album will feature 2 audio CDs (a re-mastered edition of the debut album, plus a CD of live rare tracks), an expansive historical booklet, a limited edition ASIA T-shirt, goodies from ASIA’s 1982 tour, plus a DVD of the new band documentary: ASIA - 30 Years On. A newly commissioned painting by Roger Dean updates the symbolic dragon and pearl from 1982 to 2012, the Year of The Water Dragon (in the Chinese calendar).

ASIA "XXX"
30TH ANNIVERSARY UK TOUR

Tickets Are Now On Sale!
24 Hour Ticket Hotline: 0844 478 0898
Book Online: www.eventim.co.uk

VIP Tickets will be available from www.originalasia.com

Tavistock The Wharf
Saturday 15th December
Tickets £22.50, £25.00 / Doors 8pm
Box Office: 01822 611166
Canal Road, Tavistock, PL19 8AT
www.tavistockwharf.com

Holmfirth Picturedrome
Sunday 16th December
Tickets £22.50, £25.00 / Doors 7:30pm
Box Office: 0844 478 0898, 0871 230 1101
Market Walk, Holmfirth, HD9 7DA
www.picturedrome.net

Edinburgh Queen’s Hall
Monday 17th December
Tickets £25.00 / Doors 7pm
Box Office: 0844 478 0898, 0131 668 2019
85-89 Clerk Street, Newington, Edinburgh, EH8 9JG
www.thequeenshall.net

Salisbury City Hall
Wednesday 19th December
Tickets £25.00 / Doors 7.30pm
Box Office: 01722 434434
Malthouse Lane, Salisbury, SP2 7TU
www.cityhallsalisbury.co.uk

Birmingham Town Hall
Thursday 20th December
Tickets £25.00 / Doors 7.30pm
Box Office: 0121 345 0600
Victoria Square, Birmingham, B3 3DQ
www.thsh.co.uk

Manchester Royal Northern College of Music
Friday 21st December
Tickets £25.00 / Doors 7pm
Box Office: 0161 907 5555, box.office@rncm.ac.uk
124 Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9RD
www.rncm.ac.uk

London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
Saturday 22nd December
Tickets £22.50, £25.00 / Doors 7pm
Box Office: 0844 477 2000
Shepherds Bush Green, London, W12 8TT
www.o2shepherdsbushempire.co.uk

ASIA - BIOGRAPHY

ASIA’s debut album exploded onto the music scene in April 1982, with several Top 10 singles. It was the world’s best selling album of that year. Featuring Geoff Downes (keyboards), Steve Howe (guitar), Carl Palmer (drums) and John Wetton (bass, lead vocals), ASIA was the logical successor to their collective bands of the 70s including Yes, ELP, King Crimson, UK, and The Buggles.

Labeled a "supergroup" by critics and the media from the onset, it was a tag the band never asked for. ASIA’s music and rock’n’roll stage charisma developed organically and effortlessly. Although all four band members had experienced chart-topping success in their previous bands, ASIA had a special chemistry that fans and music industry insiders were quick to recognise.

ASIA became one of the most played acts during the first year of MTV. Throughout most of '82, ASIA ruled the radio airwaves and MTV. They sold out every date on the tour, and the debut album crushed all the competition at record stores around the world.

ASIA’s original line-up reformed in 2006. It was the first time in 23 years the four original members worked together. They regrouped with no more expectations than to play a single reunion tour. Now in its 7th reunion year, ASIA has completed several world tours, released two studio albums (2008's Phoenix, and 2010's Omega), as well as two live albums and DVDs recorded in Japan and the UK respectively.

Cissy Strut - Leo Nocentelli and the Meters

Leo Nocentelli was one of the original members of the Meters, a groundbreaking funk group based in New Orleans from the mid-'60s to the mid-'70s. The band, playing mostly instrumentals, stayed at the forefront of the music scene in the Big Easy and achieved a good measure of national attention with Nocentelli penning songs and contributing guitar work. He has since gone out on his own developing his style with varied elements that span blues, rock, rap, jazz, and funk, but he considers himself a funk musician, first and foremost. He and his band have performed from coast to coast across the U.S., including an appearance at New Orleans' Jazz & Heritage Festival. He has penned more than 200 songs, some of which were recorded by Robert Palmer, Joe Cocker, Etta James, the Neville Brothers, Z.Z. Hill, Albert King, and George Duke.
Despite his desire to be known as a funk guitarist, Nocentelli originally wanted to be a jazz musician. He taught himself how to play the guitar during his youth by holing up in his room and listening to recordings by such artists as Charlie Christian, Barney Kessel, Johnny Smith, and Kenny Burrell. He found work with Danny White, and followed up with a stint as part of Art Neville & the Hawkettes. The Hawkettes eventually evolved into the Meters, whose membership included George Porter Jr. and Joseph "Ziggy" Modeliste. Nocentelli's career includes session work for a number of artists, including Peter Gabriel, Earl King, Dr. John, Lee Dorsey, and Patti LaBelle, as well as the Wild Tchoupitoulas, an offshoot of the Meters. He has also played on recordings by Manhattan Transfer, the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, the Supremes, Bonnie Raitt, Sting, and the Winans, among others.
Nocentelli's first release, Live in San Francisco from DJM Records, came about almost by chance. He hadn't intended to put together a live recording when he played one night at a club called Slim's, but went about his business on stage and gave a good show to his loyal following. When the night wound down, a man from the audience approached him and gave the funk musician a tape that he'd made that night with a DAT recorder. A few years later, the guitarist pulled the tape out of storage and asked a friend to copy it onto a cassette. While the music was playing in Nocentelli's friend's studio, DJM Records chief Daniel Moore stopped by. Nocentelli's music caught his ear, and he agreed to put out a CD.
The guitarist played with an incarnation of the Meters, called the Funky Meters, until 1993, when he decided to go solo. He has also contributed to movie soundtracks, among them White Men Can't Jump, Blaze, and Heartbreakers. His television appearances include An Evening at the Improv and Saturday Night Live. The Louisiana native resides in Los Angeles, CA.
If you like what I’m doing, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

Wayward Blues Boy - Aron Burton and Yard Dog Jones

Aron Burton has been hard at work for the past fifty years, securing his place in musical history as a master of the blues, and becoming one of the most sought-after bass players in the business. Born in Senatobia, Mississippi on June 15th 1938, Aron took interest in music at a very young age, when his gospel voice was sought after by many local churches. Among his early accomplishments was the formation of the Victory Travelers with his cousin Ruben Burton, a group that still tours.

Upon moving north to Chicago in the mid-1950s, Aron quickly gained a reputation as one of the most solid and “in the pocket” bass players in town. Aron was exposed to a variety of different styles of music, including r&b, soul, jazz, and rock, in addition to his blues and gospel foundation. It was only a short time before Aron began to be called upon by the masters of the industry, starting in 1956 with Freddie King. Eventually Aron was hired to support such legends as Jimmy Witherspoon, Junior Wells, Big Jack Johnson, Eddy Clearwater, and Billy Boy Arnold.

Perhaps Aron Burton’s biggest claim to fame is as a founding member of Albert Collins’ Ice Breakers, along with his brother Larry Burton and keyboardist Allen Batts. Aron shared several Grammy nominations with the band, and soon became a regular session artist at Alligator Records. He can be heard singing and playing on recordings of such legends as James Cotton and Fenton Robinson.

After his success as a backing musician. Aron finally decided to strike out on his own. He can be heard on solo albums recorded with both Earwig Music and Delmark Records in Chicago. These critically acclaimed albums have secured him four W.C. Handy Awards Nominations, as well as numerous other awards. To date, Aron has appeared on more than thirty-four recordings, has toured internationally, and has performed at nearly every Chicago Blues Festival since the festival began more than twenty-five years ago.
If you like what I’m doing, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

M.C. Records To Release Rick Holmstrom's Latest

M.C. Records Signs Rick Holmstrom

Cruel Sunrise

Set For Worldwide Release August 28

Northport NY - M.C. Records is thrilled to announce the signing of remarkable guitarist and songwriter Rick Holmstrom. Cruel Sunrise is his first solo recording in five years and features Mavis Staples on two tracks. All 12 songs on Cruel Sunrise were written or co-written by Rick Holmstrom. The recording will also be available as a limited "Deluxe Edition" which features a second disc of all instrumentals. They are Rick's unique take on classic songs including "You Send Me," "Fulsom Prison Blues," and "I'll Take You There." Both the single CD and Deluxe Edition will be released on August 28.

Click on the cover to check out some right-on songs from the new recording!

Cruel Sunrise is a musical high-water mark for Rick Holmstrom. He shows a maturity and confidence in his vocals, playing and songwriting making this his finest and most complete solo recording to date. Rick's long-time band-mates Jeff Turmes and Stephen Hodges perform on the record and help give Cruel Sunrise its tight and unique sound. Rick has recorded five solo albums and his last one was 2007's Late In The Night also on M.C. Records.

Over the last five + years Rick has been touring and recording with the legendary vocalist Mavis Staples. He received a Grammy in 2010 for his work on Mavis' "You Are Not Alone," produced by Jeff Tweedy (of Wilco). Rick continues to be the bandleader for Mavis Staples and will accompany her on a Summer Coast-to-Coast Tour with Bonnie Raitt.

Rick reminds me of my Pops. He's got that soulful feeling. I love playing with Rick. - Mavis Staples

My job became raising two little girls during the day and gigging at night. I remember burning it at both ends hard core. It was the best and the worst all at once. I was thrilled to be home spending important time with my daughters, but I also really missed touring and being a full time musician.

So I'd go out to my van and write songs after the girls went to bed. I was trying to find some kind of way of marrying my love for blues with actual songs, not just clever 50's R & B ditties or re-worded or re-written classic blues and R & B songs, but teaching myself how to write good original songs. That's it, really. I just wanted better songs. I wanted them to be true to how I felt, and I didn't always feel chipper. They were all coming from a very confused but determined hard headed dude and it took a long time. Rick Holmstrom

Click the photo to check out Rick with Jeff Turmes and Stephen Hodges performing in Madrid, July 2011. So soulful!

Great blues guitarists are about tone, mood, and style. Being nimble helps, but intensity and passion more often exist between the notes. Rick Holmstrom revels in this abundance. All Music Guide

Rick Holmstrom Tour Dates

6/13/2012 Portsmouth VA, Telos Wireless Pavilion (Bonnie & Mavis)
6/14/2012 Vienna VA, Filene Center at Wolf Trap (Bonnie & Mavis)
6/16/2012 Philadelphia PA, Academy of Music @ Kimmel Center (Bonnie & Mavis)
6/17/2012 Baltimore MD, Pier Six Pavilion (Bonnie & Mavis)
6/19/2012 Montclair NJ, Wellmont Theatre (Bonnie & Mavis)
6/20/2012 New York NY, Beacon Theatre (Bonnie & Mavis)
6/21/2012 New York NY, Beacon Theatre (Bonnie & Mavis)
6/23/2012 Boston MA, Harbor Lights/Bank of America Pavilion (Bonnie & Mavis)
6/24/2012 Hyannis MA, Cape Cod Melody Tent (Bonnie & Mavis)
7/10/2012 Raleigh NC, North Carolina Museum of Art (Andrew Bird & Mavis)
7/11/2012 Richmond VA, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden (Andrew Bird & Mavis)
7/15/2012 Los Angeles CA, Liquid Kitty (Rick Holmstrom Band)
7/22/2012 Pittsburgh PA, Pittsburgh Blues Festival (Mavis)
8/3/2012 Long Beach CA, El Dorado (Rick Holmstrom Band)
8/10/2012 Regina SK CANADA, Regina Folk Festival (Mavis)
8/12/2012 Edmonton ALB CANADA, Edmonton Folk Festival (Mavis)
8/16/2012 Detroit MI, MotorCity Casino (Bonnie & Mavis)
8/17/2012 Grand Rapids MI, Meijer Gardens (Bonnie & Mavis)
8/18/2012 Kettering OH, Fraze Pavilion (Bonnie & Mavis)
8/20/2012 Madison WI, Overture Center For The Arts (Bonnie & Mavis)
8/22/2012 Milwaukee WI, Marcus Center for the Performing Arts

(Bonnie & Mavis)
8/23/2012 St. Paul MN, Minnesota State Fair (Bonnie & Mavis)
8/24/2012 Omaha NE, Orpheum Theater (Bonnie & Mavis)
8/26/2012 Morrison CO, Red Rocks Amphitheatre (Bonnie & Mavis)
8/28/2012 Salt Lake City UT, Red Butte Garden Amphitheater (Bonnie & Mavis)
8/29/2012 Salt Lake City UT, Red Butte Garden Amphitheater (Bonnie & Mavis)
8/30/2012 Sun Valley ID, Sun Valley Pavilion (Bonnie & Mavis)
9/1/2012 Boise ID, Idaho Botanical Garden (Bonnie & Mavis)
9/2/2012 Spokane WA, INB Performing Arts Center (Bonnie & Mavis)
9/5/2012 Eugene OR, Cuthbert Amphitheater (Bonnie & Mavis)
9/7/2012 Troutdale OR, Edgefield Amphitheater (Bonnie & Mavis)
9/8/2012 Woodinville WA, Chateau Ste. Michelle (Bonnie & Mavis)
9/9/2012 Woodinville WA, Chateau Ste. Michelle (Bonnie & Mavis)
9/14/2012 Berkeley CA, Greek Theatre (Bonnie & Mavis)
9/16/2012 Santa Cruz CA, Civic Center (Bonnie & Mavis)
9/18/2012 Davis CA, Mondavi Center (Bonnie & Mavis)
9/22/2012 Los Angeles CA, Greek Theatre (Bonnie & Mavis)
9/23/2012 Santa Barbara CA, Santa Barbara Bowl (Bonnie & Mavis)


If you like what I’m doing, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! - ”LIKE”

Deep Ellum Blues - Blackberry Smoke with Billy Gibbons

You can call Blackberry Smoke’s music southern rock and you wouldn’t be wrong. Or you could call it country and you wouldn’t be wrong, either. But you would be selling both the band and its legion of fans short by trying to fit them solely into one genre. With influences that run the gamut from country to bluegrass to metal to gospel and yes, southern rock, Blackberry Smoke is more than the sum of its diverse parts.

“None of us have ever said, ‘Let’s be a southern rock band or a bluegrass band or a country band’,” Blackberry Smoke front man Charlie Starr explains. “We all love the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Stones and the Faces and Hank Williams and Bill Monroe. It’s not about what kind of music it is, as long as it’s good and it’s honest. When we get together it just sounds the way it does.”

The group, which is made up of Starr, sibling rhythm section Richard and Brit Turner (bass and drums, respectively) and guitarist Paul Jackson, formed in 2000 and quickly made an impact. Thanks to individual and shared reputations for entertaining, the foursome hit the road hard. “We had gigs right away,” says Richard, who with Brit had been in a popular Atlanta band that opened for national touring acts.

One of the fledgling group’s early supporters was Jesse James Dupree of Jackyl, who invited the group to tour with his band. “He’d heard a demo and thought it was fantastic,” remembers Charlie. “It was trial by fire. We played every scary dive between here and there… and a few real nice ones, too. From that tour we made relationships with club owners, promoters and DJs that we still have today,” says Charlie.

Touring soon became a way of life for the band. Among the many acts the group has shared the stage with are ZZ Top, Montgomery Gentry, The Outlaws, Marshall Tucker Band and Cross Canadian Ragweed.

While the group has deep southern roots—Starr is from Alabama, the Turners are from Georgia and Jackson hails from Florida—it first found success north of the Mason Dixon line. “We got big in Wisconsin and Michigan and worked our way back to Georgia,” Brit says with a smile.

Not only did the band mesh when it came to touring, they also clicked when it came to musical aspirations. “We had an unspoken vision of what the band should sound like,” Charlie says. Paul agrees, “Everybody brings something to the table.”

The group found inspiration in some of the greatest bands of all time. “The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin would make records with great rockin’ songs and also some honky tonk country and blues,” explains Charlie. As such, diversity is important to Blackberry Smoke. “It makes it more enjoyable for the listener than staying in a little narrow hallway,” Brit says. “And for the players, too.”

Good music is good music, the band believes, no matter the style. “There are moments in our show that are straight out of a Jimmy Martin or Flatt & Scruggs set list,” Charlie says. “Bluegrass is a beautiful form of American music. Just like southern rock, bluegrass is about really good songs and good musicianship,” he adds. “You just spread out and see where it will go.”

The quartet, which has built an international following thanks to the Internet and a universal love for good music, self-released its debut, Bad Luck Ain’t No Crime, which was produced by Dupree, in 2004. A few years later, they followed up with the country-centric EP New Honky Tonk Bootlegs.

Acclaimed producer Dann Huff (Bon Jovi, Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts) agreed to produce Blackberry Smoke’s second album after coming to see the band live. “We were excited because we knew what a great musician Dann is,” says Charlie. “He said, ‘I love what you guys do and it’ll be great when we go into the studio that I don’t have to bring in studio musicians to play on it.”

True to his word, Huff encouraged the band to bring their road show into the studio. “We did not use any gear that we don’t have on our trailer, except for a 12-string acoustic,” remembers Charlie.

“Dann’s impressive in every aspect,” Charlie says of Huff. “He’s such a great musician and producer, with great ideas and great ears, and he has such a love for music. If we were arguing with one another, he would always help us find a middle ground.”

The result is Little Piece Of Dixie, a fresh yet familiar collection that fuses Blackberry Smoke’s diverse influences with its road-honed musicianship.

The band, which pens most of its own songs, is also astute enough to realize that a great tune can come from outside its four walls. “Everybody should tip their hat to Hank Williams as the greatest songwriter that ever was,” Charlie says.

To that end, the album is a complementary mix of songs written by the band and some of Nashville’s top songwriters, including Lee Roy Parnell, David Lee Murphy, Gary Nicholson, Craig Wiseman, Randy Houser and Rob Hatch.

The music is already spawning reaction—the hard-driving, layered riffing of “Up In Smoke” popped up in EA Sports’ NASCAR 08, and anthemic first single “Good One Comin’ On” was featured prominently in the Kevin Costner political comedy Swing Vote.

Keyboardist Brandon Still from Lancaster, SC was added to the band’s line up in 2009.

The final piece to the puzzle came when Zac Brown signed the band to his Southern Ground label in the Spring of 2011.
If you like what I’m doing, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! - ”LIKE”

T-Bone Shuffle - Skunk Jive

Original liner notes for "Scratch It" album by Ken Chang who has written for Allmusic.com and Blues Revue magazine. --- It was just another small footnote in blues history, but allow me a few lines here and I’ll give you the full story. The sky was overcast, the heat sweltering. Guitarist Harry Manx was halfway through his set at the 2004 Chicago Blues Festival when he decided to throw the audience a curveball. Enter stage right: Kelvin “Smokey” Ng. As Smokey took a seat by the microphone, there was some halfhearted applause, along with a couple of groans. Just a day earlier, a Japanese samisen troupe in full kimono garb had played on this same stage, resulting in a muddled attempt at an “East meets West” blues jam. And now here was Manx introducing a Chinese harp player whom he had met in Singapore. I could almost hear the crowd sigh, “Yes, globalization is nice and all, but we would like to hear some blues, please.” True, I could have pointed out to these folks that thanks to globalization, you can indeed buy a Marine Band in Singapore. But I held my tongue; I knew Smokey would give them what they deserved: a rude and bluesy awakening. What followed was a hoodoo-drenched acoustic version of “The Thrill Is Gone,” with Smokey blowing some of the fattest harp licks heard at the festival. He took his first chorus, and passers-by were stopping in their tracks. I had seen Smokey hypnotize an audience countless times, albeit on smaller stages that were literally on the other side of the world. Now the stage was Chicago. Whispers rose from the crowd: “Who is this guy?” Manx was happy to oblige an answer. “That’s Kelvin Ng,” he said. “All the way from...Singapore.” And that, my friends, is how Smokey was introduced to the city of Chicago. * The album you’re holding is one that I’ve been waiting for since 1997, when I first heard Kelvin play harmonica. I had been living in Singapore for about a year, and Kelvin had just finished his army service. Before you could say the words “skunk jive,” I was getting my crash course on how to back up a blues harp player on guitar. I can still remember our first gigs together, and my studied but desperate attempts to “be” Eddie Taylor (to Kelvin’s Jimmy Reed) or Robert Lockwood (to his Sonny Boy Williamson). When I returned to New York in 2000, I came back with an electric guitar, a firm grasp of blues history, and pages of notes for articles that I wanted to write -- thanks mainly to Kelvin. What I still didn’t have, though, was his album. The wait is now over. Prepare yourself for Scratch It, the debut album by Kelvin’s band, Skunk Jive. It’s an ambitious 42 minutes of original music, and the range of styles -- from Chicago blues to swamp boogie to soulful funk -- will surprise even longtime Smokey fans. Back in the ’90s, Kelvin stuck pretty close to the usual Windy City sources: Sonny Boy, Howlin’ Wolf, Big Walter, Jimmy Reed. But he’s tinkered a lot with his sound since then, trying out funkier rhythms and a jazzier approach on harp. Backing him up is crack team of groove mechanics in guitarist Thomas Wong, bassist Louis Lam, and drummer Gopalakrishnan. You can hear the band hit “fully funk-tional” mode on the title track and on the instrumental “Skanky Girl.” The band’s rougher, gutbucket side turns up on a pair of up-tempo blues. In the snarling “Don’t Be So Quick,” Kelvin takes aim at the drunk, disruptive customer who always crawls out from under his rock on the night of a blues gig. On “Tom’s Stomp,” axeman Wong hammers out a stop-time theme (gotta love that grungy chromatic turnaround) before launching into a Texas-style shuffle. “Run, Wally, Run” and “Chill Pill” offer an unexpected twist: the harp player on lead guitar. Kelvin has long been a fan of the capo-styles of guitarists Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Albert Collins, and Jimmie Vaughan. But few of us knew how much he was practicing them. Vaughan’s influence is all over both of these tunes, especially “Chill Pill,” with its tube-melting Fender tone. The closing track, “Letting Go‚” is “one for the harp-heads,” as Kelvin puts it. A tribute to both Little Walter and Big Walter, it takes me right back to the day I first heard Kelvin, and thinking to myself, “Somebody had better record this guy.”
If you like what I’m doing, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! - ”LIKE”

Shotgun - Jr Walker and the Allstars

Junior Walker (born Autry DeWalt Mixon, Jr., June 14, 1931 – November 23, 1995) was an American musician. His group, Junior Walker & the All Stars, were signed to the Motown label in the 1960s, and became one of the label's signature acts,

Walker was born Autry DeWalt Mixon, Jr. in Blytheville, Arkansas and grew up in South Bend, Indiana. His saxophone style was the anchor for the band's overall sound. The other original members of the group were drummer Tony Washington, guitarist Willie Woods, and keyboardist Vic Thomas.

His career started when he developed his own band at the age of 14, in the mid 1950s as the 'Jumping Jacks'. His longtime friend Billy Nix (drummer) started his own group the 'Rhythm Rockers.' Periodically Nix would sit in on Jumping Jack's shows, and Walker would sit in on the Rhythm Rockers shows.

Nix obtained a permanent gig at a local TV station in South Bend, Indiana, and asked Walker to join him and his keyboard player (Fred Patton) permanently. Shortly after, Nix asked Willie Woods, a local singer, to perform with the group; shortly after Woods would learn how to play guitar also. When Nix got drafted into the United States Army, Walker convinced the band to move from South Bend to Battle Creek, Michigan. While performing in Benton Harbor, Walker found a drummer Tony Washington, to replace Nix. Eventually, Fred Patton (piano player) left the group, and Victor Thomas stepped in. The original name the 'Rhythm Rockers' was changed to the 'All Stars'. Walker's squealing gutbucket style was inspired by jump blues and early R&B, particularly players like Louis Jordan, Earl Bostic, and Illinois Jacquet.

The group was spotted by Johnny Bristol, and he recommended them to Harvey Fuqua, in 1961, who had his own record labels. Once the group started recording on the Harvey label, their name was changed to Junior Walker & the All Stars. When Fuqua's labels were taken over by Motown's Berry Gordy, Jr. Walker & The All Stars became members of the Motown Records family, recording for Motown's Soul imprint in 1961.

The members of the band changed after the acquisition of the Harvey label. Tony Washington, the drummer, quit the group, and James Graves joined the group in the Motown family. Their first and signature hit was "Shotgun", written by Junior Walker, and produced by Berry Gordy and featured The Funk Brothers' James Jamerson on bass and Benny Benjamin on drums. "Shotgun" reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the R&B chart in 1965, and was followed by many other hits, such as "(I'm A) Road Runner", "Shake and Fingerpop" and covers of the Motown tracks, "Come See About Me" and "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)". In 1966, Graves left and was replaced by old cohort Billy "Stix" Nicks, and Walker's hits continued apace with tunes like "I'm a Road Runner" and "Pucker Up Buttercup."

In 1969 the group had another hit enter the top 5, "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)". A Motown quality control meeting rejected this song for single release but radio station DJs made the track popular, forcing Motown to release it as a single, whereupon it reached #4 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the R&B chart. From that time on Walker sang more on the records than earlier in their career. He landed several more R&B Top Ten hits over the next few years, with the last coming in 1972.

In 1979, Junior Walker went solo and was signed to Norman Whitfield's Whitfield Records label. He was not as successful as he had been with the All Stars in his Motown period. Walker also played the sax on the group Foreigner's "Urgent" in 1981. The solo was actually cobbled together from tapes that he had made with the band.[citation needed] He later recorded his own version of the Foreigner song for the 1983 All-Stars album Blow the House Down. Walker's version was also featured in the 1985 Madonna film Desperately Seeking Susan. In 1983, Walker was re-signed with Motown.

In 1988, Walker played opposite Sam Moore as one-half of the fictional soul duo "The Swanky Modes" in the comedy Tapeheads. Several songs were recorded for the soundtrack, including "Bet Your Bottom Dollar" and "Ordinary Man", produced by ex-Blondie member Nigel Harrison.
Junior Walker died on November 23, 1995 in Battle Creek, Michigan of cancer at the age of 64. He had been inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Foundation that year. Drummer James Graves died in 1967 in a car accident, and guitarist Willie Woods in 1997 at age 60. Victor "Vic" Thomas died Sunday, November 28, 2010 in Battle Creek, Michigan. Tony Washington is the only original surviving band member of the four that Harvey Fuqua signed to his label in 1961 and took to Motown with him.
If you like what I’m doing, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! - ”LIKE”

So What - Marcus Miller

Marcus Miller (born William Henry Marcus Miller Jr., June 14, 1959, Brooklyn, New York) is an American jazz composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Miller is best known as a bassist, working with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandross, and saxophonist David Sanborn, as well as maintaining a prolific solo career. Miller is classically trained as a clarinetist and also plays keyboards, saxophone and guitar.
Miller was born in 1959 and raised in a musical family that includes his father, William Miller (a church organist and choir director) and jazz pianist Wynton Kelly. By 13, Marcus was proficient on clarinet, piano and bass guitar, and already writing songs. Two years later he was working regularly in New York City, eventually playing bass and writing music for jazz flautist Bobbi Humphrey and keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith. Miller soon became a first call session musician, gracing well over 500 albums, a short list of which includes Michael Jackson, Herbie Hancock, Mariah Carey, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, Frank Sinatra, Dr. John, Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Grover Washington Jr., Donald Fagen, Bill Withers, Chaka Khan, LL Cool J, Me'shell Ndegé Ocello and Flavio Sala.
Miller spent approximately 15 years performing as a sideman or session musician, observing how band leaders operated. During that time he also did a lot of arranging and producing. He was a member of the Saturday Night Live band 1978-1979. He wrote the intro to Aretha Franklin's 'I Wanna Make It Up To You'. He has played bass on over 500 recordings including those of Luther Vandross, Grover Washington Jr., Roberta Flack, Carly Simon, McCoy Tyner, Bryan Ferry and Billy Idol. He won the "Most Valuable Player" award, (awarded by NARAS to recognize studio musicians) three years in a row and was subsequently awarded "player emeritus" status and retired from eligibility. In the nineties, Miller began to make his own records, putting a band together to take advantage of touring opportunities.

Miller's proficiency on his main instrument, the bass guitar, is generally well-regarded. Not only has Miller been involved in the continuing development of the technique known as "slapping", particularly his "thumb" technique, but his fretless bass technique has also served as an inspiration to many, and he has taken the fretless bass into musical contexts and genres previously unexplored. The influences of some of the previous generation of electric bass players, such as Larry Graham, Stanley Clarke, and Jaco Pastorius, are audible in Miller's playing. Early in his career, Miller was accused of being simply imitative of Pastorius, but has since more fully integrated the latter's methodology into his own sound.

Miller has an extensive discography, and tours frequently and widely in Europe and Japan.

Between 1988 and 1990 he appeared in the first season and again toward the end as both the musical director and also as the house band bass player in the Sunday Night Band during the two seasons of the acclaimed music performance program Sunday Night on NBC late-night television.

As a composer, Miller wrote "Tutu" for Miles Davis, a piece that defined Davis's career in the late 1980s, and was the title track of Davis's album Tutu, upon which Miller wrote all the songs with only two exceptions, and one of those was co-written with Davis. He also composed "Chicago Song" for David Sanborn and co-wrote "'Til My Baby Comes Home", "It's Over Now", "For You to Love", and "Power of Love" for Luther Vandross. Miller also wrote "Da Butt", which was featured in Spike Lee's School Daze.
If you like what I’m doing, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

Have You Ever Been Mistreated - Queen Sylvia

Queen Sylvia Embry, Born: June 14, 1941 | Died: February 28, 1992 Instrument: Bass, electric

For a period of time in the ‘70s and ‘80s, it appeared that Queen Sylvia Embry was going to emerge as one of Chicago’s leading blues women. After she emerged from her role as bass player for Lefty Dizz and the Shock treatment in the late 1970s, she began fronting her own small band in South Side clubs and making guest appearances on the North Side circuit. Everywhere she went, her big smile, warm stage presence, rich gospel-rooted voice and solid bass playing won her new fans.

There were (and are) only a few professional-quality instrumentalists among the city’s blues women, and only one other playing bass. “I played piano when I first started out as a kid,” Sylvia recalled, “and I got away from it because my grandmother was very strict. She demanded I play gospel, and I wanted to play a little boogie-woogie. I was crazy about Chuck Berry and Lloyd Price; I didn’t care for blues then. My grandmother and her friends would drink white lightning and play blues records at their little outdoor cookouts, but she didn’t want me to do it.” To please her family, Sylvia sang in church choirs, even in a professional gospel group, The Southern Echoes, while a teenager. But at the age of nineteen, her ambitions grew bigger than the tiny town of Wabbaseka, Arkansas (where she was born in 1941) could hold. “I always wanted to be an actress or a vocalist. So I left home, went to Memphis. But unfortunately I got married, started to raise a family. I really didn’t trust leaving my home with someone else, so I was mainly a common housewife.”

“I came to Chicago and started going down to Pepper’s at 43rd and Vincennes. That was in the ‘60s. I was separated and divorced. That’s when I met John.” Johnny Embry was one of the city’s fine but unheralded blues guitarists. He and Sylvia were soon married.

“John taught me to play bass, after we got married. I kept beggin’ him but he said, ‘You won’t do it; it’s a hard thing.’ But I’m a determined type person. The bass is the only instrument in the band that really fascinated me. Especially when Z.Z. Hill put out this song about “Don’t Make Me Pay For His Mistake.” That bass pattern just knocked me over! And that was the first tune I learned how to play.”

“I worked briefly with John and other people, but nobody really big until I got involved with Lefty Dizz.” Dizz and Sylvia held down the slot as the Blue Monday house band at The Checkerboard for over three years, with Sylvia’s vocals becoming a more and more requested part of the show. The band won a North Side following at Kingston Mines, and gigged all over the South Side. But she was still having trouble in a man’s world. “When I started playing with Dizz,” she recalls, “I really didn’t even know the scales on the bass. But he was nice; he didn’t try to intimidate me. My problem was with other bass players. They would say, ‘You can’t play; stay home and have babies!’”

Finally, at the age of 39, Queen Sylvia stepped out and made her debut recordings for Alligator’s Living Chicago Blues series. “The kids are up and on their own,” she says, “and I can travel.” Razor Records then released an album (now out of print) of John and Sylvia Embry (no longer married, they remained good friends). She then began a professional association with Jimmy “Fast Fingers” Dawkins, the West Side guitarist, with whom she toured Europe and cut an album, “Midnight Baby,” now available on the Evidence label.

Unfortunately, Sylvia’s health declined in the 1980s and she died of cancer on Feb. 28, 1992, still not widely known in the blues world.
If you like what I’m doing, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

Discography

Jazz Foundation helps Music Maker ensure work for artists

Support America's Musical Heritage Please donate today! Your support of Music Maker has made many highlights and successes possible for our programs and artists this year. As we work towards improving the lives of our partner artists and educating the world about Roots and Blues music, our living culture, we want to thank you, our supporters, for ensuring we can continue this important work! Staff at Music Maker can be found daily helping partner artists meet day-to-day needs, overcome emergencies, hone their craft, and earn an income through their music. We present artists worldwide so that millions are given the chance to appreciate American traditional music. Through Music Maker's programs, artists may live in comfort and dignity while developing their music and passing on their cultural heritage to future generations. Please renew your membership today with a gift to our Annual Fund, or watch for your Annual Fund letter in the mail, and help us keep America's musical heritage alive for future generations! Donate Today! Listen: Captain Luke - Snowy Night in Georgia John Dee Holeman and his lady Joan at the Apollo Theater by Aaron Greenhood Quick Links: Website Merch Music MMRF Partners with The Jazz Foundation to ensure steady work for artists The Jazz Foundation's Agnes Varis Jazz and Blues in the Schools Program creates performance and teaching opportunities for elderly artists who still have so much to give back to their communities. Ironing Board Sam, Alabama Slim, Eddie Tigner, Dr. Burt, Boo Hanks, and John Dee Holeman will now have more opportunities for steady income, and new audiences will have a chance to experience their music. Each of these musicians will play once a month at a school or eldercare facility and in return, will receive a grant from the Jazz Foundation. Aaron and I have been working to find nursing homes and schools local to these artists and connecting them with the administrators of such programs. Dr. Burt was excited to get the chance to play for school children because he felt that he had so much to share, proclaiming, "I love kids. They deserve to know about where the music they're listening to comes from, and I want to be the one to teach them." Thank you so much to The Jazz Foundation for providing this wonderful program! Maggie Morrissey is a summer intern for Music Maker. Maggie recently graduated from UNC Chapel Hill with a degree in Journalism, and will begin her Masters in Public Administration at NC State in the fall. Diggin': Snowy Night in Georgia This week we're presenting Captain Luke singing, "A Snowy Night In Georgia" featuring Cool John Ferguson on guitar. This is an alteration on a classic cover that Captain Luke has done in the past called "A Rainy Night In Georgia." We hope this can help everyone stay cool this summer and keep holiday cheer going for a long time. We found this recording on a Captain Luke album titled "Old Black Buck" and on that CD as a bonus there was a video of Captain and Cool John performing some holiday themed songs. -- Mike Mike Capodiferro is a Music Maker summer intern helping us with everything from writing to running shows. Mike is a Dramatic Writing and Literature major at Hampshire College. MMRF Blues Revue Rocks Tinner Hill! Thanks to the Tinner Hill Blues Festival for putting on an awesome event! Ironing Board Sam, Big Ron Hunter, Pat "Mother Blues" Cohen and Sol performed at the festival this past weekend. Big Ron even hosted a songwriting workshop, where audience members got to hear about his process and then write a song together. Check out this interview with Big Ron featured on MyFoxDC! Upcoming Shows: Click here for more info on upcoming events 6/15 - Boo Hanks - Music Maker Roots and Leaves, Chapel Hill, N.C, 6-8pm 6/22 - Pat "Mother Blues" Cohen, Essie Mae Brooks - Music Maker Roots and Leaves, Chapel Hill, N.C., 6-8pm 6/23 - Cool John Ferguson - Sertoma Theatre, Cary, NC, 6-8pm 6/27 - Beverly "Guitar" Watkins - Sweet Georgia Juke Joint 6/29 - Pura Fé Trio, Lakota John Locklear - Music Maker Roots and Leaves, Chapel Hill, N.C., 6-8pm 7/4 - Lakota John and Kin - Carrboro July 4th Celebration, Carrboro, NC, 12:30pm 7/6 - John Dee Holeman - The Eddy Pub, Saxapahaw, NC, 8pm 7/13 - Ironing Board Sam - The Depot, Hillsborough, NC, 8pm 7/14 - Pura Fé - Harrison Hot Springs Festival, Harrison Hot Springs, Canada, 3:40pm Music Maker Relief Foundation, Inc. helps the true pioneers and forgotten heroes of Southern music gain recognition and meet their day to day needs. We present these musical traditions to the world so American culture will flourish and be preserved for future generations.

If you like what I’m doing, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

Louisiana Blues - John Campbell

John Allen Campbell (January 20, 1952 – June 13, 1993) was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter, who was born in Shreveport, Louisiana
A guitarist who took blues technique to new heights in concerts with a blend of driving rhythms, staccato riffs and bravura slide guitar sequences, his favoured instruments were a 1952 Gibson Southern Jumbo acoustic, a 1934 National Steel and a 1940's National resophonic guitar.

He grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana, and his first group was the Texas based electric power trio, Junction. Formed in 1973, the trio disbanded two years later, and Campbell cut his first album titled Street Suite. At the eve of the 1980s he spent a time at the Robin Hood Studios in Tyler, Texas and taped a demo with his acoustic versions of blues standards. In 2000 these twelve tracks were issued as the compilation album, Tyler, Texas Session.

As a solo artist, Campbell continued to play in clubs of east Texas, and he also appeared in New Orleans. In 1985 he moved to New York and joined the local blues scene. His next album, A Man And His Blues, featured Ronnie Earl as producer and guest guitarist, was recorded during two days in April 1988, and was released on a small German record label. Its follow-up releases were on Elektra, One Believer (1991) and Howlin' Mercy (1993). The latter included the single cover version of Led Zeppelin's "When The Levee Breaks".

At the time when his recordings and live performances, including an extensive U.S. tour with Buddy Guy as well as two European ventures in 1992 and 1993, were gaining him popularity, Campbell suffered heart failure, in his sleep, aged 41, at his home in New York
If you like what I’m doing, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! - ”LIKE”

When You've Got No Place to Go - Eric Gales

Eric Gales (aka Raw Dawg) (born October 29, 1974, Memphis, Tennessee) is an American blues-rock guitarist, originally hailed as a child prodigy. As of 2011 Gales has recorded ten albums on major record labels, and has done session and tribute work. He has also contributed vocals on several records by the Memphis rap groups, Prophet Posse and Three 6 Mafia.
Gales picked up the guitar at age four. His older siblings, Eugene and Manuel (Little Jimmy King), took to teaching him many songs and licks at a young age, in the style of Jimi Hendrix, Albert King, B. B. King and others. In 1985, the young Gales began to play at blues competitions with his brother Eugene backing him on bass. Although Gales plays a right-handed guitar "upside-down" (with the E-bass string on the bottom), he is not naturally left-handed; he was taught by his brother who is left-handed and never second-guessed the untraditional technique.

In late 1990, Eric and Eugene Gales signed with Elektra Records, and together with drummer Hubert Crawford released 1991's The Eric Gales Band and 1993's Picture of a Thousand Faces. Guitar World magazine's Reader's Poll named Eric as "Best New Talent", in 1991. During this time he scored two rock radio hits, "Sign of the Storm" (#9 U.S. Mainstream Rock) and "Paralyzed" (#31 U.S. Mainstream Rock) and had spots on television programs such as The Arsenio Hall Show.

In 1994 Eric performed with Carlos Santana at the Woodstock 94' concert.

In 1995, Eric Gales teamed up with both of his brothers to record an album under the band name of The Gales Brothers. Left Hand Brand was released in 1996. 2001 saw Gales return with his album That's What I Am on MCA Records.

Gales has more recently released the albums Crystal Vision, The Psychedelic Underground,The Story of my Life and Layin' Down the Blues on the Shrapnel Records label. His most recent album is 2010's Relentless, with a new album for 2011 entitled Transformation due in August.

He maintains a strong friendship with record producer Mike Varney. Gales has one daughter, Jasmine (born 1992), and on August 31, 2001 he married Susan Gales.

In 2004, he contributed a cover of "May This Be Love" to the album Power of Soul: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix. In 2008, he, along with other guitarists, participated in the touring tribute to Jimi Hendrix, Experience Hendrix. the touring group of musicians included Billy Cox (of Band of Gypsys fame), Eric Johnson, Chris Layton (drummer for Stevie Ray Vaughan's rhythm section, Double Trouble), Doyle Bramhall II, Brad Whitford (of Aerosmith) and was the last tour that Mitch Mitchell played on.

In the winter of 2010, Gales returned to the touring circuit in Europe with TM Stevens on bass guitar and Keith LeBlanc on drums. The tour was billed as VooDoo Chile and featured works of Jimi Hendrix as well as original material from both Gales and Stevens.
If you like what I’m doing, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! - ”LIKE”

If You Need Me - Chris E Thomas

The first single Workin’ off Chris E Thomas’s debut album “Monkey Off My Back” was honoured at the Canberra Country Music Awards receiving the award for National Country Honky Tonk Song and the award for National Country Swing Song of the year.
The single was released to radio stations debuting in the top five on some charts.
Chris E has recently stepped forward from her success in the session world of radio and television to showcase her own craft.
Having stood behind or alongside many stellar performers for more than a decade, Chris E, through the encouragement of such artists has made the decision to stage her own performance. The fruits of this decision are now coming with the release of her debut album into the country / blues music realm, “Monkey Off My Back”.
She was born in Tasmania and moved to the mainland to capitalise on her talent when she was seventeen. Billy Thorpe, Tina Arena, Brian Cadd , Bachelor Girl, Vanessa Amorosi and Adam Brand are among just a few of the well respected Australian artists to draw upon her distinctive and powerful vocals and rhythm guitar skills to enhance their performances.
Chris E Thomas is undeniably unique in her ability to deliver vocal entertainment in a style unbeknown to any.
Australian rock legend, Brian Cadd, rates her amongst the best female vocalists he’s encountered during his illustrious career. "Her power and passion are what music should be all about".
If you like what I’m doing, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! - ”LIKE”

RedHouse - Keith Patterson Band

Since the release of Keith's debut album Stone Cold & Blue in April of this year, the band has built a loyal fanbase here in the USA & across Europe,the UK, New Zealand & Australia. The band is currently booking shows concentrating on their home state of South Carolina & the East Coast. Keith & the band are currently writing new material & performing some of the new songs live in preperation for the recording of their 2nd album in spring of 2012.
If you like what I’m doing, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! - ”LIKE”

Varese Records artist: Trevor Rabin - Jacaranda - New Release Review

Trevor Rabin has put together Jacaranda, an exceptional new recording of intelligent, classically influenced fusion music. I would call it fusion in that it really doesn't fall clearly into any category that is clearly defined but it does broach classical, bluegrass, jazz, rock and likely a number of others that I haven't mentioned. The recording is comprised of 12 original tracks all written by Rabin, and also who played most of the instruments. One track which contrasts with the balance of the recording, Zoo Lake, is mostly oriented around a very strong melody. Rabin, an accomplished guitarist and pianist has formerly had his own band, Rabbit, and was a featured guitarist, singer and songwriter with Yes prior to working as a composer for the soundtracks of over 3 dozen films. He is joined by a few very special guests like the incredible Vinnie Colaiauta on drums and bass phenom Tal Wilkenfeld, both who have toured extensively with Jeff Beck. If you have any orientation at all to instrumental music and especially if you like fusion style music, this is a cd that you should hear.
If you like what I’m doing, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”