Live Focus – Mike Henderson – Last Night At The Blue Bird - Live

“Mike Henderson's long musical career saw him tour with Mark Knopfler, record with Emmylou Harris, John Hiatt and Kelly Willis. His song writing skills have been showcased by the Dixie Chicks, Trisha Yearwood and Patty Loveless, and he's played in numerous bands over the years including The Steel Drivers with Chris Stapleton. He first started playing regular shows at Nashville's Bluebird Café in 1986 while a member of The Kingsnakes.

‘Last Nite at the Bluebird – Live’ brings to close a thirty year relationship with the famous venue and documents the late musician in an intimate venue he knew and loved.

A gentle ribbing of the venue and the famous singer-songwriter sessions it hosts gets his audience warmed up as he opens the album with his own composition, ‘Weepin’ & Moanin’.  Not letting up, the boogie shuffle of ‘Matchbox’ quickly follows.  However, things really step up a gear with the searing slide guitar on ‘Too Much Alcohol’, a song made famous by the late Rory Gallagher.  This version finds Henderson playing with the fire of Elmore James and Jeremy Spencer combined.

Other highlights include ‘When I Get Drunk’, the harmonica soaked ‘Have A Good Time’ and ‘Pay Bo Diddley’ from Henderson’s old band, The Bluebloods.

‘Last Nite at the Bluebird – Live’ is well produced live recording that highlights Henderson’s raw energetic guitar skills and ability with work with an intimate audience, anyone who was lucky enough to catch any of these shows really did witness something special and as this recording proves, catching lightning in a bottle is possible.” Folk and Tumble

Really excited to present this crackin live set this week.

Plus new music from Billy Branch & the Sons Of Blues, Kim Wilson, Eric Bibb, Maria Muldaur, GA20, Chambers DesLaurier Band, Lloyd Spiegel, Darren Watson, The Alexis P Suter Band and Candice Ivory.  

 

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Classic Album Feature – The Paladins – Years Since Yesterday

 

“Hottest roots rock band on the West Coast; terrific guitar from Dave Gonzales. Minimalist and raw as hell. "Beat for beat, there's no better band than The Paladins. This lineup is lethal!"--L.A. WEEKLY

 

The Paladins' own way of making music has earned them fans from many quarters. They have toured often with Los Lobos and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Texas guitar hotshot Anson Funderburgh and The Fabulous Thunderbirds' Kim Wilson worked on the band's self-titled debut album. The Los Lobos connection continues on Years Since Yesterday, which was produced by Lobos saxman/producers Steve Berlin and engineer Mark Linett.”

 

I’m excited to feature for you this incredible album from one of the very best bands I’ve ever seen this week.

Plus new releases from Buddy Guy, Roomful Of Blues, Maria Muldaur, Kim Wilson, Eric Bibb, Fiona Boyes, Greg Nagy, The Alexis P Suter Band, Dave Keller, Darren Watson, John Primer & Bob Corritore and GA20.

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“David Johansen is a true musical chameleon. Whether fronting the influential punk band the New York Dolls, lounging it up as Buster Poindexter or invoking the blues with the Harry Smiths, he has always demonstrated his unique talent for taking a musical style and making it his own. On David Johansen and the Harry Smiths, David and his first-rate band summon the spirit of the blues through American musicologist/folklorist Harry Smith. Featuring gripping performances of songs by Muddy Waters, Mississippi John Hurt and Bob Dylan.”

A favourite of mine when It was released back in 2000, Im excited to feature for you this week, this extraordinary record.

 

Plus new releases from Buddy Guy, Kim Wilson, Harrell “Young Rell” Davenport, Eric Bibb, Sue Foley, Shirley Johnson, Greg Nagy, Fiona Boyes, Alexis P Suter Band, Lloyd Spiegel and Darren Watson.

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The first live album from the King of Texas Roadhouses. Raw rockers, soul ballads, driving band. A best seller. "Breathtaking, hardcore roadhouse rhythm & blues"--Rolling Stone

I’ve long been a fan of this classic live set from Delbert and his amazing band and now, for the first time, I’ll be featuring it in its entirety on the show.

Plus new music from Buddy Guy, Roomful Of Blues, Eric Bibb, Sue Foley, Kim Wilson, Fiona Boyes & The Fortune Tellers feat. Hubert Sumlin, Monster Mike Welch, Billy Branch & The Sons Of Blues, John Primer & Bob Corritore, Mike Henderson, Darren Watson, Young Rell Davenport and Johnnie Johnson and Friends.

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A favourite band of mine from back in the very early days, a copy of this incredible live show has recently made its way back into the Blues With A Feeling record library and I’m beyond excited to be featuring this album for you this week.

Plus tracks from the latest releases by Buddy Guy, Jimmy Burns, Mike Henderson, Shirley Johnson, Kirk Fletcher, Bily Branch & The Sons of Blues, Fiona Boyes & The Fortune Tellers feat. Hubert Sumlin and Raphael Wressnig.

  

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“Blues Is My Wailin' Wall is the debut album by the American musician Mighty Mo Rodgers, released in 1999. Rodgers referred to his music as "nu bluez"; he was also working on a master's thesis titled "Blues as Metaphysical Music (Its Musicality and Ontological Underpinnings)". He initially released the album on his label, North Star Records, in December 1998. Rodgers supported the album with a North American tour. He was nominated for a W. C. Handy Award for "Best New Artist Debut".

Exclaim! wrote that the album "is no revivalist camp ... but a richly musical charge that recalls the work of the late Curtis Mayfield... Rodgers' deep, warm vocals embrace gospel and R&B, and his voice alternates between a powerful growl and a gentle caress across arrangements designed around solid hooks that first seduce the listener before driving home their message."The Daily Herald noted that, "where most contemporary blues songs are riffs built around hogging guitar solos, Rodgers brings a literate, philosophical punch to the genre."The Edmonton Journal said that "slices of soul, dips into R&B, some rootsy roadhouse arrangements and a voice that has lived every lyric, amounts to an impressive 11 songs.”

Long a favourite of mine, I’m excited about featuring this remarkable record for you this week.

Plus new releases from Buddy Guy, Roomful of Blues, Billy Branch & the Sons of Blues, Alexis P Suter Band, Mike Henderson, Fiona Boyes & the Fortune Tellers feat Hubert Sumlin, Monster Mike Welch, Jimmy Burns, Shirley Johnson, Tom Hambridge, Raphel Wressnig, Darren Watson and Kirk Fletcher.

 

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“Walter “Wolfman” Washington, a New Orleans guitarist and singer… played his mix of funk, blues, soul and jazz in the city’s clubs for six decades.

A quintessential local luminary, Mr. Washington held down long-running weekly residencies at clubs including the Maple Leaf and d.b.a, where he recorded a live album with his band, the Roadmasters, that was released in 2013. He was also a member of a durable trio, with the keyboardist Joe Krown and the drummer Russell Batiste Jr., that released “Live at the Maple Leaf” in 2008.

Between New Orleans gigs, Mr. Washington toured clubs, particularly around the South, and worked an international circuit of blues clubs and festivals.

Mr. Washington’s guitar playing was lean, light-fingered and harmonically rich, conveying a relaxed authority as it teased and jabbed. His voice could convey flirtatiousness, amusement, heartache or wily agility, and his syncopated phrasing was as close to jazz as to traditional blues, leaping easily into falsetto or letting loose a vulpine howl.”

Its long been an ambition of mine to spend some time featuring this incredible musician Walter “Wolfman” Washington and this week, its all coming together as I feature this incredible release “Funk Is In the House” .

 

Plus new releases from Buddy Guy, Mike Henderson, Billy Branch & The Sons Of Blues, Candice Ivory, Kirk Fletcher, The Alexis P Suter Band, Monster Mike Welch, Roomful of Blues, GA 20, Darren Watson, Shirley Johnson and Raphael Wressnig.

 

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“Young blues guitar slinger teams up with rough-hewn soul singer from the Motor City for a set of rockin’ blues in a kind of Stevie Ray Vaughan-meets-Rod Stewart (or maybe, more accurately, David Lee Roth) vein. Most of this will appeal more to rock fans than hardcore blues fans, although straight shuffles like “Face Down In The Blues” and Bangham’s slow blues instrumental “My Turn To Talk” should register with both camps. Bangham also scores big points with guitar fanatics with his revved-up Hammond B-3 organ-fueled instrumental romp, “Kid Stuff.”

 

A favourite album of mine for many reasons, I can’t wait to feature this wonderful release with you this week. And to add a little something, I invited Kid Bangham himself to join me for a chat about this record, his first following his departure from the Fabulous Thunderbirds.

Plus glorious new releases from Buddy Guy, Mike Henderson, Billy Branch & the Sons Of Blues, Roomful of Blues, Raphael Wressnig and Alexis P Suter Band.

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“The Sky Is Crying gathers ten previously unreleased tracks that Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble recorded between 1984’s Couldn’t Stand The Weather and 1989’s In Step, their final album before Vaughan died in a helicopter crash. Mobile Fidelity has released all five recordings, including the debut, Texas Flood, on outstanding SACDs (Analogue Productions has the vinyl covered).

 

Though each of these recordings displays Vaughan’s jaw- dropping talent, The Sky Is Crying most reveals the many styles he soaked up like a musical sponge. Check out Vaughan’s jazz chops on Kenny Burrell’s “Chitlins Con Carne,” and Hendrix’s “Little Wing,” arguably this collection’s most staggering achievement, alternately whisper-sweet and screamingly fierce.

 

Other tips of the hat are to Muddy Waters, Lonnie Mack (“Wham”), Elmore James, and Albert King (the title track), yet each song is pure, unleashed SRV. The sound is big, bold, up front, and clean as a whistle. Vaughan’s different tonal shadings—from warmly purring, to raggedly distorted, to wasp-tailed sting, plus a rare acoustic turn on the gorgeous closer, “Life By The Drop”—are all superbly captured, and the drums and bass have plenty of clarity and wallop. A brilliant musical document…if a sad reminder.”

 

With what would been Stevie’s birthday last week, I’m excited to feature for you this extraordinary collection of songs on Blues With A Feeling this week.

Plus new releases from Buddy Guy, Mike Henderson, Fiona Boyes & The Fortune Tellers feat Hubert Sumlin, Billy Branch & the Sons Of Blues, Monster Mike Welch, Kirk Fletcher, The Alexis P Suter Band, Jimmy Burns & Soul Message Band, Shirley Johnson, Chris Wilson, Tom Hambridge, Kent Burnside, Raphael Wressnig and Mud Morganfield.

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Like the force of nature that she was, GRAMMY-winning Koko Taylor, the undisputed "Queen of the Blues," was in a league of her own. With her exuberant, deeply soulful, good-time style and her tough-as-nails band, she could be counted on to make the reluctant fans dance and the quiet ones jump for joy. When Taylor passed in June of 2009, the world lost a musical icon. "Koko Taylor," according to Rolling Stone, was "the greatest blues singer of her generation."

With Koko Taylors birthday falling this week, I couldn’t resist the urge to feature for you, her 2000 release for Alligator Records Royal Blue.  

Plus new releases from Buddy Guy, Roomful Of Blues, Tom Hambridge, Monster Mike Welch, Candice Ivory, The Alesis P Suter Band, Kent Burnside, Billy Branch & The Sons Of Blues, Mud Morganfield, Mike Henderson, Kirk Fletcher and Raphael Wressnig.

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