The Bush League - Didn't See This Coming - New Release Review

I just received the newest release, Didn't See This Coming, by The Bush League and it's another smoker! Like their first release, ”Can of Gas and a Match” this release is gritty, raw and bluesy. This release is live and gives The Bush League a chance to stretch out a bit and I think that it pays off in spades. Opening with Hearse, a rambling blues with trace clues to Govt Mule, this track has a really nice underlying bass line by Royce Folks, super vocals by JohnJay Cecil and wild frenzied guitar work by Michael Burgess and Brad Moss over a stiff drum rhythm by Wynton Davis. Real nice! Bringing the pace (but not the heat) down, Show You Off has has a real nice swagger with a woven tapestry of guitar, drums and bass carrying the vocals on a chariot. With an increase in intensity as the track grows, the band is really getting the crowd sweaty. Lowell Folsom's Tramp, one of the great underrated tracks of our time fits nicely into the set. Shelly Thiss joins the band sharing lead vocals with Cecil and she has an excellent voice! She has a great weighted clarity like some of my favorite contemporary blues singers. This is an excellent demonstration of the bands capabilities both vocally and instrumentally! Gimme My Money is a real nice R&B style track in the Otis Redding flavor. Cecil is a great band leader with a super voice and this track is solid as a rock. Can of Gas & a Match is a real nice hill country style boogie. The band really gets would up on this one cranking out an excellent jam with acute dynamics. Frysumfish is a funky track that I'm certain has the crowd on it's feet. How funky you say?...Think Sly Stone! Kick Up Yo' Heels has a Tommy Tucker feel with a few hot guitar solos. Wrapping the release is Muddy Water's Mannish Boy, a 12 plus minute long jam with excellent guitar riffs and also featuring Pete Turpin on harp. This a sweet live performance by one of today's earthiest blues bands. Enjoy!

  If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

 

Wendell Holmes has passed - My thoughts are with his family

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WENDELL HOLMES, DECEMBER 19, 1943 - JUNE 19, 2015 Wendell Holmes, vocalist, guitarist, pianist and songwriter of the critically acclaimed soul/blues band The Holmes Brothers, died on Friday, June 19 at his home in Rosedale, Maryland of complications due to pulmonary hypertension. Earlier this week, Wendell addressed his fans and friends in an open letter as he moved into hospice care. He was 71. Wendell retired from touring earlier this year when he was first diagnosed. Holmes Brothers drummer Willie "Popsy" Dixon died on January 9, 2015 of complications from cancer. Brother and bassist Sherman Holmes continues to carry on The Holmes Brothers legacy with The Sherman Holmes Project featuring Brooks Long and Eric Kennedy.         Wendell, the man Entertainment Weekly has called "a timeless original," was born in Christchurch, Virginia on December 19, 1943. He and his older brother Sherman were raised by their schoolteacher parents, who nurtured the boys’ early interest in music. As youngsters they listened to traditional Baptist hymns, anthems and spirituals as well as blues music by Jimmy Reed, Junior Parker and B.B. King. According to Wendell, “It was a small town, and my brother and I were about the only ones who could play anything. So we played around in all the area churches on Sundays.” The night before, though, they would play blues, soul, country and rock at their cousin’s local club, Herman Wate’s Juke Joint. “When he couldn’t get any good groups to come from Norfolk or Richmond, he’d call us in,” Wendell recalls. “That’s how we honed our sound. We used to say we’d rock ‘em on Saturday and save ‘em on Sunday.” Once Wendell finished high school he joined Sherman, who had already begun playing professionally in New York. The two brothers played in a few bands before forming The Sevilles in 1963. The group lasted only three years, but they often backed up touring artists like The Impressions, John Lee Hooker and Jerry Butler, gaining a wealth of experience. Sherman and Wendell met drummer Popsy Dixon, a fellow Virginian, at a New York gig in 1967. Dixon sat in with the brothers and sang two songs. “After that second song,” recalls Wendell, “Popsy was a brother.” They continued to play in a variety of Top 40 bar bands until 1979, when the three officially joined forces and formed The Holmes Brothers band. The band toured the world, releasing 12 albums starting with 1990's In The Spirit on Rounder. Their most recent release is 2014's Brotherhood on Alligator. The New York Times calls The Holmes Brothers "deeply soulful, uplifting and timeless." In September 2014, The Holmes Brothers were honored with a National Endowment For The Arts National Heritage Fellowship, the highest honor the United States bestows upon its folk and traditional artists. They won two Blues Music Awards including Blues Band Of The Year in 2005. The Holmes Brothers are featured on the cover of the current issue of Living Blues magazine. Wendell is survived by his wife, Barbara, daughters Felicia and Mia, brothers Sherman and Milton, and three grandsons. Memorial service arrangements have not yet been announced. ### www.ALLIGATOR.com

Ruf Records artist: Samantha Fish - Wild Heart - New Release Review

I just received the newest release (July 10, 2015), Wild Heart,from Samantha Fish and she just keeps getting better. Opening with Road Runner, a hill country style blues track, Fish has teamed up with the master of hill country blues, Mr Luther Dickinson ans the duo make a great team. With just a taste of rock and nice slide work, this track is a nice opener. Place To Fall is a serious slow blues ballad featuring Fish on guitar and vocal, Dickinson on bass, Brady Blade on drums and Shontelle Norman-Beatty and Risse Norman on backing vocals. Dickinson plays some really hot lap steel riffs on this track so watch yourself! Blame It On The Moon has a strong pop feel and Dickinson lends his hand again with nice lap steel work (think Lindley and Browne). Highway's Holding Me Down has a real nice slinky feel with a nice recurring guitar riff from Fish and driving bass line from Dickinson. Fish steps on the gas on this one with a real nice guitar solo and using some of the drone note fingering. Very cool! Soft country ballad, Go Home, nicely showcases the strength of Fish's voice and blending with Norman - Beatty and Norman. Jim Lee Blues Pt. 1 is a cool Charlie Patton track with strong country blues sounds. This is likely my favorite track on the release with Fish belting the blues vocally accompanied by Dickinson on mandolin and Lightning Malcolm on guitar. Turn It Up is a solid rock track and features a ripping guitar lead by Dickinson. Cool! Show Me is a straight up rocker with a driving beat by Dominic Davis (Bass) and Brady Blade (drums). Fish steps up on the lead guitar on this one and lays into it pretty good with some stinging riffs to compliment her taunting vocals. Very nice! Lost Myself is a crisp, well written radio oriented track with a nicely articulated lead guitar work as well as cool lap steel work from Dickinson. Wild Heart is a nicely blended country rocker with a R&B style vocal flare. Fish digs deep for a bluesy guitar solo on this number nicely complimenting the overall track. Bitch On The Run is one of my favorite tracks on the release with a contagious rhythm guitar riff. This is one of those tracks that just grabs you and makes you want to drive. Fish was made to sing this kind of track and Blade pushes it hard. Dickinson rips a super lead solo and slide work. Excellent! Wrapping the release is a Jr. Kimbrough's I'm In Love With You, a really sweet R&B track featuring Fish's voice nicely. Fish, Malcolm and Dickinson play a nice acoustic bridge with only light drum bottom by Sharde Thomas making this an excellent closer for what may be Fish's best release yet! If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

MP Media Congratulates Its Artists for Garnering 8 Blues Blast Music Award Nominations

Mark Pucci Media is happy to announce that our artists have received 8 nominations for the upcoming Blues Blast Music Awards! Here’s the entire list of our nominees & we’d appreciate your consideration in voting for these well-deserved artists. Information on how & when to vote is listed at the end.

2015 Blues Blast Music Award Nominations

Traditional Blues Album

·         Mud Morganfield & Kim Wilson - For Pops (A Tribute to Muddy Waters)

Soul Blues Album

·         Otis Clay & Johnny Rawls - Soul Brothers

·         Tad Robinson - Day Into Night

Rock Blues Album

·         Tinsley Ellis - Tough Love

Acoustic Blues Album

·         Big Dave Mclean - Faded But Not Gone

·         Rory Block - Hard Luck Child

Live Blues Recording

·         John Mayall's Bluesbreakers - Live in 1967

Historical Or Vintage Recording

·         John Mayall's Bluesbreakers - Live in 1967

Voting Is Open To The Public - Fan voting begins July 15, 2015 and continues until September 15, 2015 on our website at www.BluesBlastMagazine.com. Voting is free and open to anyone who is a Blues Blast Magazine subscriber. You do not have to be a current subscriber to vote! You are automatically signed up as part of the voting process on our website if you are not currently a subscriber. Blues Blast Magazine subscriptions are FREE and you may unsubscribe at anytime!

2015 Blues Blast Music Awards Ceremonies - The 2015 Blues Blast Music Awards ceremonies will be held at The Fluid Events Center in Champaign, Illinois on Friday, September 25th, 2015. The awards ceremony will feature music by the artists nominated. Tickets for the event will go

Charlie Parr on tour - "Stumpjumper" film trailer premiering at PASTE

Charlie Parr Film trailer for "Stumpjumper" premiering at Paste Magazine Filmed on location in Minnesota and North Carolina Narrated by Phil Cook (Megafaun, Hiss Golden Messenger) "The raw metallic resonator guitar sound of Charlie Parr registers as a magnet of sorts – in the same way we’re drawn to the curious sounds of Tom Waits and even the indie folk of The Mountain Goats." - Glide Magazine June 18, 2015:  Charlie Parr's new album, Stumpjumper, was not only the first album the folk blues artist has recorded outside of his native Minnesota but his first to feature a full band. The album was recorded in rural North Carolina with producer Phil Cook (Megafaun, Hiss Golden Messenger). Cook put together a band of local players, setting up in an old outbuilding on the “Down Yonder Farm” near Hillsborough, NC to record the album.  Now, Cook and filmmaker Adam Heathcott have put together a short film trailer of the sessions, using additional footage shot around Duluth by Maxwell McGruder.  Phil Cook, a longtime friend and fan of Parr's, provides the narration and captures the feel of the North-South musical collaboration.  "Phil is such an important person to me, so the fact that he's taken the time to do that film is a big deal to me - I feel pretty lucky to be working with him," says Parr. "That part of Hillsborough, NC really reminded me of home and that's what made the record what it is. The first hour we played together there it felt like we'd been playing together for years, the guys were just so comfortable and accomodating. They all give off that 'everything is OK' vibe, and you can hear it in the music." View the trailer now at Paste Magazine.  Listen to the first single, "Over the Red Cedar" While a legend in some circles, Northwoods songwriter/guitarist Charlie Parr may be a new name to some music fans. Long a part of the vibrant Duluth, MN, music scene (Alan Sparhawk and Low, Trampled by Turtles), Stumpjumper is Charlie's first album on Grammy-winning Minnesota indie label Red House. Parr has announced extensive tour dates through 2015; scroll down for a complete listing. Press: "Parr is a picker -- whether on National resonator guitars, dobro, or banjo -- who cut his musical teeth on Charley Patton, Woody Guthrie, and Lightnin' Hopkins, and his actual teeth on the canned meat packed at the Hormel plant in his hometown. A product of both elements, Parr's songs ring out with a working class ethos and a welcome home energy."   - The Bluegrass Situation "Stumpjumper is a deep blues album first and foremost, but it’s Charlie Parr’s master craftsmanship at fingerpicking rhythms, and his folk-leaning songwriting that has liberated him from specific categorization."  - Saving Country Music "The native Minnesotan’s style can best be described as new music from an older time – sometimes dark and desolate, sometimes raucous and danceable."  - Dan Forte (Vintage Guitar) “Parr may have been born during the Nixon era, but you can taste the grit of the Dust Bowl in his music.”  - Dusted “Among the contenders in the every burgeoning indie folk, or new folk, genre, there are a lot of pretenders and acts trying desperately to “look and play the part”, but five seconds in front of Charlie Parr and you know you’re dealing with the real thing.”  - Jim Beckman (KEXP) “John Fahey described the music he collected on American Primitive Vol. 1 as ‘made under the influence of enthusiasm.’ The enthusiasm he spoke of was a kind of possession, whether Christian or diabolical he couldn’t be sure; a mode of ecstatic communication that intervened in the delivery of sacred and secular messages alike. Charlie Parr’s recordings, which make splendid companions to Fahey’s anthology, are similarly enthusiastic.”  - Popmatters Tour Dates: WE 6/24      Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle TH 6/25       Charlotte, NC - US National Whitewater Center FR 6/26       Wilmington, DE - World Cafe Live SA 6/27       Windham, VT - The Frendly Gathering TU 6/30       Ann Arbor, MI - The Ark WE 7/1        Nashville, IN - BigWoods Brewing TH 7/2         Cincinnati, OH - Washington Park FR 7/3         Berwyn, IL - Fitzgerald's-Berwin SA 7/4         Stoughton, WI - Stoughton Opera House TU 7/07       Cleveland, MA - Beachland Tavern TH 7/9         Cambridge, MA - Atwoods Tavern FR 7/10       New York, NY - Rockwood Music Hall 2 SA 7/11       Greenfield, MA - Green River Music Fest SU 7/12       Saratoga Springs, NY - Caffe Lena FR 7/17       Remer, MN - Double Barrel Blues Fest SA 7/18       Stillwater, MN - Stillwater Log Jam SA 7/18       Minneapolis, MN - Patrick’s Cabaret TH 7/30       Dubuque, IA - The Lift FR 7/31       Red Wind, MN - Falconer Vineyard SA 8/1         Somerset, WI - Somerset Amphitheater SU 8/2         Marquette, MI - Ore Dock Brewing FR 8/7         Shell Lake, WI - The Potters Shed SA 8/8         Appleton, WI - Mile of Music SU 8/9         Appleton, WI - Mile of Music FR 8/21       Durango, CO - Durango Blues Train SA 8/22       Durango, CO - Durango Blues Train SU 8/23       Lyons, CO - Oskar Blues Grill & Brew TH 8/27       St. Paul, MN - Minnesota State Fair FR 8/28       St. Paul, MN - Minnesota State Fair SA 8/29       Friendship, IN - Whispering Beard Folk Festival WE 9/2        Minneapolis, MN - Midwest Music Showcase @ Target Field SA 9/5         Duluth, MN - Red Herring Lounge SA 9/12       Ames, IA - DG's Taphouse SU 9/27      Johnsville, CA - Lost Sierra Hoedown WE 10/14    St Cloud, MN - Pioneer Place on Fifth Theatre SA 10/24     Austin, MN - Paramount Theatre SA 12/19     Lake City, MN - Oak Center General Store Charlie Parr on the web: Facebook Twitter Web Site