Bman's Blues Report

All Hell Breaks Loose! At The Bliss 525 Jam Hosted By New Blues Revolution <<<< This Sunday, July 1 - 2:30 pm to 7 p.m. >>>> (Long Beach, CA) - Gig after gig and week after week, the group known as New Blues Revolution continues to earn their growing reputation as one of SoCal's Hardest-Working Bands. They suit up, show up, and lay waste (musically speaking, of course!) to each and every club, room, or dance hall they perform at....and, at the end of the night, those in attendance literally have to be carried out from having danced to the band's music so much! New Blues Revolution stand in for regular hosts Johnny Mastro and Mama's Boys at the always-lively Sunday Blues Jam at Bliss 525, 525 E. Broadway, Long Beach, this Sunday, July 1. 2:30-7 p.m. Free. Info: (562) 495-7252 or https://www.facebook.com/BLISS525 . Vocalist-frontman Bill Grisolia (l) and guitarist Chap Cooper (r) of New ...

Mark Pucci Media MARK PUCCI MEDIA CONGRATULATES ITS ARTISTS NOMINATED FOR THE 2012 LIVING BLUES AWARDS READER’S POLL Blues Artist of the Year (Male) – Johnny Rawls Best Blues Album of 2011 (New Recordings) – Johnny Rawls, Memphis Still Got Soul Blues Artist of the Year (Female) – Rory Block Most Outstanding Musician (Guitar) – Duke Robillard Most Outstanding Musician (Keyboards) – Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne Best Blues DVD of 2011 – Guy Davis, Guitar Artistry of Guy Davis: Teller of Tales All ballots must be received by July 10, 2012. Vote for one choice only in each category. All ballots must have valid contact details. Only one ballot per person is allowed. To vote, follow this link and click on the VOTE button: http://www.livingblues.com/ .

Pianist and bandleader Edgar Hayes is best remembered today for his 1938 version of Hoagy Carmichael's ''Stardust,'' the only hit song for Hayes. The recording features his light, tinkling piano style and is still today considered to be the definitive version of that number. Hayes attended college at both Fisk University in Nashville and Wilberforce University in Wilberforce, Ohio, where he earned a bachelor's degree in music. After graduation he made his professional debut with Fess Williams and in 1924 formed his own group, the Blue Grass Buddies. In early 1925 he went to work with the Lois B. Deppe Orchestra and late in the year led his own orchestra at the Ritz Hotel in Cleveland. In 1926 he played with Madison's Commodore Orchestra in Buffalo and in the spring of 1927 led his own Eight Black Pirates for the touring show Rarin' to Go. From late 1927 to 1930 Hayes led a group called the Symphonic Harmonists. In 1931 Hayes joined the Mills Blue Ribbon ...

Weldon H. Philip Bonner, better known as Juke Boy Bonner (March 22, 1932 – June 29, 1978) was an American blues singer, harmonica player, and guitarist. He was influenced by Lightnin' Hopkins, Jimmy Reed, and Slim Harpo. He described the bleak prospects of black urban existence in songs like "Life is a Nightmare", "Struggle Here in Houston" and "Going Back to the Country", accompanying himself on guitar, harmonica and drums in the self-sufficient one-man band mode of Joe Hill Louis and Dr. Ross Born in Bellville, Texas, Bonner was one of nine children; his parents died while he was very young. Raised by a neighbor's family, he moved in with his older sister in 1945. At the age of twelve he taught himself the guitar. He gained the nickname "Juke Boy" as a youth, because he frequently sang in local bars accompanied by the juke box. Starting a musical career as teenager, he won the first prize at local disc jockey Trummie Cain's weekly t...

Brian Tambling is preparing to release his debut album marking a huge stage in the career of the multi-talented guitarist. Brian, who lives on Curacao; Dutch Caribbean, has just put the final touches to the album and is now preparing for the imminent release that will hopefully build his fan base and get his music heard by more people than ever. The Album "Brian Tambling" consists of 11 original songs from Brian, each providing a combination with his high-energy guitar playing, melodious vocals and heartfelt lyrics. The rhythmic undercurrent bears testament to blues-rock playing, and the music is punctuated throughout with elements of blues, blues-rock and jazz. The album was recorded at Kadushi-Records on Curacao, and its creation was supported by bass and drums. It was produced by Brian and was post produced/mixed by Wietze Krikke. The album reveals the stunning array of influences that have found their way into Brian's music. Whilst his grounding came in blues, blues-r...

Bart Walker’s debut, Who I Am, is a portrait of the Nashville-based guitar and vocal powerhouse as a dreamer, a fan, a survivor, a creative dynamo and, most of all, a one-man argument for the continued vitality and emotional heat of the blues. A born virtuoso who began playing and singing at age four, Walker and his band — which includes ex-Stevie Ray Vaughan keyboardist Reese Wynans — make his original plucked-from-life tunes sound like classics, delivered with the same incendiary energy as the live performances that have won them a growing following in the South and Midwest. With the release of Who I Am and Walker’s continuing on-stage exposure as country star Bo Bice’s six-string right-hand man, Walker is ready to claim his place as a bold young torchbearer in the national and international blues scene, with his own distinctive and gritty guitar sound and a dynamic voice dappled with honey and gravel. “I truly and deeply love what I do,” he says, “This...

BIG JAMES and the CHICAGO PLAYBOYS UP FOR "BEST LIVE PERFORMER" AWARD Voting for Living Blues Award Open to the Public Now Big James and the Chicago Playboys , six time winners of the Living Blues Critics Poll Award for "Most Outstanding Horns," are on the 2012 Living Blues Awards Reader's Ballot in the "Best Live Performer" Category. Balloting is open to the public, who can vote by filling out and submitting a ballot from the June issue of the publication, or by voting online at the magazine's website: ( www.livingblues.com ). Voting ends July 15th . Proof of the power of the band's live performances can be found in their latest release, The Big Payback , recorded live at the legendary Lionel Hampton Jazz Club in Paris. Living Blues had this to say about the high-energy, soul powered blues recording: "Big James and his mates have clearly established themselves among the masters of contemporary Chicago blues ....

Alabama Slim, turning hardship into song Listening to Alabama Slim on the phone, one thinks of old Southern Blues and Gospel music, his voice smooth like butter and as warm as hot chocolate. Hearing him sing is even better; he is truly one of the best Blues singers of his time. Born in Alabama at the end of the Great Depression, Slim fell in love with the Blues of Bill Broonzy and Lightnin' Hopkins. "I grew up listening to the old blues since I was a child. I spent summers with my grandparents who had a farm. Them old folks would get to moanin' while they worked, and I just started moanin' with them. That's where I learned to sing," he said. Slim moved to New Orleans after Hurricane Betsy in 1956 and lived there up until he lost all of his possessions in the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina and had to move to Dallas. After the devastation of Katrina, he recorded "Mighty Flood," which illustrated the despair...

95-year-old Honeyboy Edwards performing at Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art, Clarksdale, Mississippi, on Sunday, April 17, 2011. Accompanied by Bill Abel (guitar) and Michael Frank (harmonica). David "Honeyboy" Edwards (June 28, 1915 – August 29, 2011) was a Delta blues guitarist and singer from the American South. Edwards was the last of the original Delta bluesmen[citation needed]before his 2011 death. Edwards was born in Shaw, Mississippi. Edwards was 14 years old when he left home to travel with blues man Big Joe Williams, beginning life as an itinerant musician which he led throughout the 1930s and 1940s. He performed with famed blues musician Robert Johnson with whom he developed a close friendship. Honeyboy was present on the night Johnson drank poisoned whiskey which killed him, and his story has become the definitive version of Johnson's demise. After Johnson's passing, Edwards knew and played with many of the leading bluesmen in the Mississippi Delta, ...