Blues Giant Popa Chubby Releases A Bold Double Live Album & Hits The Road For A New World Tour!

Blues Giant Popa Chubby Releases A Bold Double Live Album & Hits The Road For A New World Tour!

Los Angeles, CA - 2015 was one of the busiest years for modern blues ace Popa Chubby. After the release of a stellar studio album in late 2014 I’m Feelin’ Lucky, The Chubbfatha hit the road for a relentless run of shows across both the US and all over Europe. Audiences expecting a subdued, restrained performance from this veteran star of the stage were surely disappointed as Popa came out swinging, with all guns a-blazing, firing off multiple highlights from his 26+ year career including “Sweat,” the hit single from his blockbuster major label debut Booty & The Beast, as well as fan favorites “69 Dollars,” “Life Is A Beatdown” and more! The tour was immensely successful, the energy beyond palapable, and the vibe so undeniable that it quickly became apparent these blistering performances needed to be recorded for posterity. And that’s exactly what happened at 3 venues in France. The result is this stellar double live album Big, Bad and Beautiful, which will be released January 22 on the newly christened Cleopatra Blues imprint, a subsidiary of Cleopatra Records, Inc. Chubby’s live album have always been extremely well received by fans and critics alike since anyone familiar with him knows without a doubt that the stage is where his immensely talented guitar playing skills really come alive! So don’t miss out on what is sure to be one of the most talked about blues releases of the year and catch Popa Chubby on the road with his Big, Bad & Beautiful World Tour kicking off in January!

Track List:

DISC 1

1. Working Class Blues

2. Stoop Down Baby

3. One Leg At A Time

4. 69 Dollars

5. Same Old Blues

6. Angel On My Shoulder

7. I Don't Want Nobody

8. Life Is A Beatdown

9. Palace Of The King

10. Sweat

11. Signed With Heartache

12. Rock Me Baby

13. Blues Bearin' Down

14. Chubbfatha Medley

DISC 2

1. Rock On Bluesman

2. Take Me Back To Amsterdam

3. I Was Lookin' Back

4. Love In Vain

5. Brown Sugar

6. Wild Horses

7. Another Ten Years Gone

8. Caffeine And Nicotine

9. Daddy Played The Guitar

10. Finger Bangin' Boogie

11. The People's Blues

12. Noise Making Love Machine

13. Over The Rainbow

THE BIG, BAD & BEAUTIFUL WORLD TOUR

Jan 9 - Tuckerton, NJ - Lizzie Rose Music Room

Jan 15 - Washington, DC - The Hamilton

Jan 16 - Islip, NJ - Treme Blues & Jazz

Jan 22 - Weert, NL - De Bosul

Jan 23 - Magny le Hongre, FR - File 7

Jan 24 - Pont l’ Abbe’, FR - Le Triskell

Jan 25 - La Couarde sur Mer, FR - La Maline

Jan 26 - Argeteuil, FR - Cave d’imieres

Jan 27 - Strasbourg, FR - La Laiterie

Jan 28 - Massy, FR - Paul B’s

Jan 29 - Vernouillet, FR - La Scene

Jan 30 - Queven, FR - Les Arcs

Feb 13 - Woonsocket, RI - Chan’s

Feb 19 - Mildale, CT - Tipping Chair Tavern

Feb 20 - Jim Thorpe, PA - Mauch Chunk Opera House

Feb 26 - Fairfield, CT - The Warehouse

Feb 27 - Beacon, NY - Towne Crier

March 2 - New York, NY - Iridium

March 3 - New York, NY - Iridium

Buy the CD: http://flyt.it/PopaChubbyLiveCD

Download on iTunes: http://flyt.it/PopaChubbyLiveDig

Hurricane Ruth Publishing artist: Hurricane Ruth LaMaster - Winds Of Change - New Release Review

I just received the newest release, Winds Of Change, from Hurricane Ruth LaMaster and its a powerhouse. Opening with boogie woogie track, I Feel Lucky, Hurricane Ruth takes charge on lead vocals backed by Brian Curtis on keys, Doug Wilcox on trombone, Mike Gilette on tenor sax, Sande Hackel on bari sax, Frank Huston on guitar, Gary Davis on bass and John Sluzalis on drums. Dick Garretson takes a nice trumpet solo and Curtis really hits the keys. Smokin! Willie Dixon's Built For Comfort is low slung and Ruth is laying it on thick. Huston sets down a greasy guitar solo and the horn section really riches up the mix. Ruth sells Percy Sledge's, When A Man Loves A Woman, as a simple soul ballad with plenty of feeling and the horn section adds punch. Wrapping the release is Delbert McClinton's Going Back To Louisiana with Dixie swing. Ruth really lays it out there on this one with nice guitar runs by Huston and splashes of horns throughout. Cool closer for a cool release.

 

  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”

 For added exposure - Blues World Wide Group "LIKE" 

 

Roller Records artist: Berdon Kirksaether & The Twang Bar Kings - The Voodoo Sessions - New Release Review

I just received the newest release, The Voodoo Sessions/Live at Down Under from Berdon Kirksaether & The Twang Bar Kings and it's got bite! Opening with Mama Roll Over, Berdon Kirksaether on guitar and vocal, sets a solid pace with swagger and sting. Joined by Erik Gabrielsen on guitar and vocal, Roy Hanssen on drums and vocals and Stein Tumert on bass and vocals, these guys mean business. Some Kind Of Voodoo, has a Bo Diddley beat and cool reverb guitar effects with nicely blended vocals. A solid tom tom beat by Hanssen sets the pace and nicely accented guitar tweaks reinforce the Voodoo effect. Very cool! Robin Trower's, Mad House, is a great rocker with definite Hendrix/Trower looseness and rip. Super! Wrapping the release is When The Moon Is On The Rise, is a cool understated rocker that builds as it goes. Obtuse guitar riffs and light/tight drumming carries this track. With traces of Led Zep and tons of guitar effect, this is a real cool closer for a super EP.

 

  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”

 For added exposure - Blues World Wide Group "LIKE" 

 

Macon Blind Guitar Legend Joey Stuckey Working On New Blues Album Feat. Chuck Leavelle, Jimmy Hall and Renowned Producer Ross Hogarth

Macon Blind Guitar Legend Joey Stuckey Working On New Blues Album Feat. Chuck Leavelle, Jimmy Hall and Renowned Producer Ross Hogarth

Macon, GA - Joey Stuckey is a blind guitarist, producer, educator, recording artist and media personality.

Born in Green Cove Springs FL, a city that has honored him with the key to the city and now residing in Macon GA, for whom he is the official music ambassador, Joey Stuckey is a power house of music talent. He has worked with icons from Alan Parsons to Ted Nugent and Joe Solo, producer of Macy Gray to Sammy Nestico, arranger of the Count Basie orchestra.

Last year saw him take on the UK where he toured and released his latest single “Blind Man Drivin'”.

http://youtu.be/hkhLDuMj2t0

The song and it's accompanying video was a runaway hit and became the official theme song for the Visually Impaired Musicians Lives Conference, held at the University College of London where Stuckey was also a keynote speaker and performer.

While in the UK, Joey also became friends with research teams from Queen Mary University of London and Goldsmith's University and has worked with them extensively to improve music technology for the blind. As a blind person, a studio owner, producer and professor of music technology at Mercer University, this was a roll Stuckey took on with ease.

http://youtu.be/z-qOvmg-RYI

http://youtu.be/VB6o0UKCV8U

http://youtu.be/rfH3wrCGPm8

http://youtu.be/Gfi-bRIVMms

2016 is already shaping up to be a land mark year as Joey prepares to release the full length album “Blind Man Drivin'” in early summer.

Says Stuckey, “Music is the thing that makes me know I am a live. It is my spiritual bread and butter and the best way I know to encourage and provide comfort and inspiration to others, while at the same time entertaining and sharing stories about who I am. When I first started making my own music it was a combination of southern rock sensibilities mixed with bands like The Smiths and The Cure, I used to think of myself as the Morrissey of Macon. I have played a lot of jazz and my jazz album 'Mixture' was number 9 on the top 40 CMJ jazz charts for 5 weeks back in 2013, but, the thing that really seems to enthrall my audiences is blues and that is now what I am focused upon.”

And no wonder that blues is what Stuckey fans want to hear! With his versatile voice that can whisper or shout with equal alacrity and his guitar playing that can make one note cry or explode like a super nova with seemingly a thousand notes a second, blues is Stuckey's true calling.

To make this debut blues project truly memorable, Stuckey is working hard to gather old and new friends alike to add some truly one-of-a-kind performances.

These artists include:

Ross Hogarth – Producer (John Melloncamp, Van Hailen R.E.M...)

Chuck Leavelle – Keyboards (Rolling Stones, Alman Brothers, Black Crows...)

Jimmy Hall – Sax and harmonica (Wet Willie, Jeff Beck, Hank Williams JR...)

Shannon Forest – Drums (Toto, Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts...)

Additional drums by Brandon Khoo, Maypex endorsed artist.

Charley Hoskyns – Bass guitar (Shayne McGowan, The Popes and Pete Maher...)

For more information:

www.joeystuckey.com

www.Joeystuckeyproductions.com

www.shadowsoundstudio.com

www.twitter.com/@jstuckeymusic

Classic Soul Blues Singer Wee Willie Walker Vaults to the Front of Public Attention with Three Blues Music Awards Nominations for "If Nothing Ever Changes" CD

Classic Soul Blues Singer Wee Willie Walker Vaults to the Front of Public Attention with Three Blues Music Awards Nominations for If Nothing Ever Changes CD

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – In one of the most amazing and powerful music stories of the past year, under-recognized classic soul blues singer Wee Willie Walker, who was previously best-remembered for a few 1960s obscure singles for Goldwax and Chess Records, released a new album, If Nothing Ever Changes, which has captured the hearts and minds of blues and soul music fans around the world. That led to his being nominated in three major categories by the Blues Foundation for the upcoming Blues Music Awards, to be held in Memphis on May 5: Album of the Year, Soul Blues Album and Soul Blues Male Artist. Members of the Blues Foundation can vote at www.blues.org, with voting open until the end of February.

To stream the music on the If Nothing Ever Changes album, click on this link:

https://soundcloud.com/littlevillagefoundation/sets/wee-willie-walker-nothing-ever-changes

When Blues Music Magazine recently announced their Top 10 Picks for 2015 from six of its editors, four of the six – including Editor-in-Chief Art Tipaldi - featured Wee Willie Walker’s CD on their lists. Additionally, the nationally-syndicated radio show, “Elwood’s Bluesmobile,” has chosen Wee Willie Walker's track, “Hands of Time” as Elwood's Blues Breaker to air the weekend of February 20-21. 

Reviews of If Nothing Ever Changes have been over the top in their praise of his long-overdue talent recognition:

“If enough of the right people hear If Nothing Ever Changes, Wee Willie Walker’s world will change, and he will become the award-winning, highly sought-after soul/blues singer he has deserved to be since the 1960s…….  Not enough good things can be said about this singer’s comeback record.” - Steve Sharp, Living Blues

“West Coast guitarist Kid Andersen and harmonica player Rick Estrin have done fans of quality roots music a public service by rescuing 1960s Goldwax soul singer Wee Willie Walker…” - Frank-John Hadley, DownBeat

“‘60s soul journeyman Wee Willie Walker returns here with a highly charged, diverse set stacked with airplay-worthy tracks……A ‘year’s best’ candidate.” - Duane Verh, Roots Music Report

The catalyst for the recording of If Nothing Ever Changes came when multi-Blues Music Award-winning singer/harmonica player Rick Estrin was introduced to Walker by Willie’s manager, Julia Schroeder, and instantly realized that this was the voice he’d remembered from hearing on some Goldwax and Chess 45s in his collection. And when Estrin heard how strong and vibrant Walker’s vocals still were, the idea was hatched, along with all-star guitarist Kid Andersen, to record a new album on Walker. During the sessions recorded with a host of A-list West Coast musicians, keyboard player Jim Pugh, himself a veteran of scores of major blues and roots recordings (Robert Cray, B.B. King, Etta James) and live dates (Johnnie Taylor, Little Milton), mentioned his idea of creating the Little Village Foundation to record artists such as Walker. As Estrin then states in the album liner notes, “We found our platform for launching this record into the world. All we wanted to do was to make music with Willie, and do what WE could to get him heard in the setting he deserves. Nobody was thinking about getting paid, it was all for the common love of this beautiful and near extinct music.”

   

Willie Walker was a member of the gospel group the Redemption Harmonizers when he left Memphis and headed to Minneapolis in 1960. With the Twin Cities having been his base of operations since then, Walker proceeded to work with a number of area gospel groups, before subsequent visits back to Memphis in the ‘60s landed him recording dates with Goldwax Records. He cut nine sides for Goldwax, which released some on their imprint and also leased four of them to Chess Records subsidiary, Check Records. Some of his singles included “You Name It, I’ve Had It” and “From Warm, to Cool, to Cold,” which were recognized as gems of soul music, but not widely released and known only to true music aficionados.

Before recording his latest album, Walker had recorded three albums over the past 10 years backed by hot local Twin Cities soul/R&B band The Butanes, which though with limited distribution and publicity, still garnered critical acclaim and kept Walker and the band busy playing local and regional dates.

  

If Nothing Ever Changes, his Little Village label debut, brings Willie Walker to the forefront with the support of some marquee names of West Coast blues and soul serving as his backing band.  Walker described the resulting recording sessions as a “houseful of love. I didn’t know them, but they all knew me and immediately we were like family,” he recalls. With Estrin producing and Kid at the helm, the artists assembled for the sessions represent some of the strongest talent of today’s West Coast Blues scene:  Jim Pugh – keyboard player and founder of the Little Village Foundation; Rusty Zinn – a guitarist whose resume includes recordings with Kim Wilson and Sly Dunbar; Robert Welsh, guitarist with Elvin Bishop; bassist Randy Bermudes of The Fabulous Thunderbirds and, vocalist Curtis Salgado, whose group The Nighthawks inspired John Belushi to create the Blues Brothers – just to name a few.

Since the release of If Nothing Ever Changes, Walker has performed on shows in the Twin Cities area and Midwest, as well as festival dates such as the prestigious Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland, Oregon and an overseas tour in Spain.

About the Little Village Foundation

What We Do: We bring music from next door to the world
How We Do It: By searching out, discovering, recording and producing music that wouldn’t otherwise be heard
Why We Do It: Diverse music builds empathy

For more information, visit www.LittleVillageFoundation.com and www.weewilliewalker.com

Gretchen Peters - New 2xCD Collection + UK Tour Dates

THE ESSENTIAL GRETCHEN PETERS Proper Records, February 5th 2016 New 2-CD collection + UK tour dates

On 'The Essential Gretchen Peters,' this very special Nashville-based singer-songwriter  combines career-defining tracks with rare outtakes, demos, and B-sides to provide a two-disc snapshot of her remarkable journey as a singularly fearless and creative talent.  The album is released to coincide with her latest UK tour. January 2016 Sun Jan 31 GLASGOW, MACKINTOSH CHURCH - CELTIC CONNECTIONS February 2016 Mon Feb 1 ABERDEEN, LEMON TREE Thurs Feb 4 DURHAM, GALA Fri Feb 5 SOUTHPORT ATKINSON Sat Feb 6 SHREWSBURY, WALKER THEATRE Sun Feb 7 MUCH MARCEL, HELLANS MANOR Tues Feb 9 RHYL, PAVILLION THEATRE Wed Feb 10 HARPENDEN, PUBLIC HALLS Thur Feb 11 BEXHILL-ON SEA, DE LA WARR PAVILION Sat Feb 13 BUXTON, PAVILLION Sun Feb 14 HIGH WYCOMBE, TOWN HALL Tues Feb 16 LONDON, UNION CHAPEL Thur Feb 18 SHEFFIELD, CITY HALL (BALLROOM) Fri Feb 19 BROMSGROVE, ARTRIX Sat Feb 20 BINGLEY, ARTS CENTRE Sun Feb 21 EDINBURGH, QUEENS HALL "I remember going on my first radio tour for my debut album and the guys at the radio stations would say, 'So you're a songwriter, and now you want to be an artist?'" remembers Gretchen Peters. In hindsight, it's a laughable distinction. Over the last three decades, Peters has proven to posses one of the most indelible voices in country and roots music in addition to wielding one the genres' most enduring pens. But in 1996, as she crossed the invisible Music City barrier between writer and performer, few could have predicted what lay ahead. Peters first arrived in Nashville in 1987 and quickly established herself as a songwriting force to be reckoned with and tracks recorded by some of the biggest names in country music. She landed her first #1 with George Strait's rendition of her "Chill Of An Early Fall," garnered her first GRAMMY Nomination and CMA Song of the Year win with Martina McBride's recording of "Independence Day," and penned hits for Patty Loveless, Shania Twain, Bryan Adams, Trisha Yearwood, Jimmy LaFave, and Etta James among others. "If Peters never delivers another tune as achingly beautiful as 'On A Bus To St. Cloud,'" People Magazine wrote, "she has already earned herself a spot among country's upper echelon of contemporary composers." All the while, though, she had bigger plans for herself. "Performing my own material was always in my sights from the time I moved to Nashville," Peters explains. "I didn't separate the writing from the performing from the recording in my mind. I always saw myself as a singer-songwriter, and that was all part of the job." Riding the momentum from her remarkable success, Peters signed her first recording contract in 1996 with an independent label and released her debut album, 'The Secret Of Life.' While it fared well critically, Peters fell between the cracks of an industry hungry for easy-to-categorize products to feed the machine. Marketing a nuanced, mature storyteller—one who penned songs like the album's bittersweet title track and the stirring "When You Are Old" (both of which appear on 'The Essential' Disc 1)—to mainstream country radio proved to be fruitless, and when the label later folded, Peters bought back the master recordings and vowed to maintain control for the rest of her days in the business, becoming an early adopter of the now-common process of self-releasing albums through licensing and distribution partnerships. Despite the early commercial stumble in the US, though, Peters found a different appreciation for her songs in the UK, where she earned the admiration of early champions in radio and press, like the legendary BBC host Bob Harris. "The first time I went over, I played four little gigs with no more than 40 or 50 people at any of them, maybe less," she remembers. "But I immediately felt completely comfortable in my skin. I felt like those audiences didn't expect or want me to be anything other than who I was. Everything that wasn't working here in the States was working really well over there. It was like stepping through the looking glass."

Over the next twenty years, Peters would self-release seven more studio albums on both sides of the pond (including a collaboration with Tom Russell titled 'One To The Heart, One To The Head') and see her profile in the UK reach a new peak with 2015's 'Blackbirds,' which debuted at #1 on UK Official Country Artists Albums Chart. Uncut hailed her as "one of Nashville’s greatest talents of the past two decades," while The Sun called the album "an Americana tour de force." The record led to a sold-out UK tour, as well as spots on massive European festival stages from Glastonbury to Roskilde. All the while, the US was catching up to what they'd been missing out on in their own backyard. NPR called her 2012 release 'Hello Cruel World' "the album of her career," while Rolling Stone dubbed "Blackbirds" "one of the most affecting murder ballads since Bruce Springsteen's 'Nebraska,'" and in 2014, she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. While 'The Essential Gretchen Peters' collects some of the most memorable moments from her inimitable catalogue, it also offers a unique window into Peters' process. Highlights include rare recordings of her own takes on classics like "The Chill Of An Early Fall," "On A Bus To St Cloud," and "Independence Day," as well as a previously unheard collaboration with Bryan Adams and unreleased demos and outtakes from throughout her career. Listeners can also trace the evolution of her work with keyboard player Barry Walsh, who began recording on Peters' demos in 1990 and appears on every one of her albums (the two were married in 2010). "The first real UK tour I did with Barry was in 2001, and when we started playing live together it really became apparent that we had this sympathetic way of playing music," Peters explains. "We were always able to telegraph to each other what we were going to do. At this point now, 25 years since we first started recording together, it's like we play with one brain, but even back then, I felt like we had some kind of language that we were speaking onstage." Though Peters is beloved as a songwriter of the highest calibre, she also uses the 'The Essential' collection as an opportunity to showcase her talent for interpreting the work of others that have influenced her, including a stunning cover of John Lennon's "Love" and a gorgeous rendition of the Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses" performed by Wine, Women & Song, her touring group featuring fellow Nashville icons Suzy Bogguss and Matraca Berg. "Once the idea for this collection came up, I took the title pretty seriously when I was deciding on what to include," explains Peters. "Regardless of when, how, or if they were released, I wanted to choose tracks that really felt essential to who I am, the closest, absolute right-down-to-the-bone expressions of myself." Gretchen Peters is a songwriter and an artist. Both sides are essential to her identity, and one listen to this collection makes it clear that her extraordinary body of work is indeed essential listening for the rest of us. www.gretchenpeters.com