Fixin' To Die: Johnny Winter

Johnny Winter was simply one of those guys who was always fixin' to die.  A legendary figure, with a legendary appetite for everything dangerous, he lived  the rock & roller life to the full. Sadly, his last gig, at the wonderfully intimate Cahors Blues Festival in France saw a less than wild, stirring performance. The ghosts were already waiting in the wings.

Winter squinted, in his usual way, at the audience, a rapturous full-house turn out that worshipped the man and his music. Running through a back catalogue of challenging, raw emotion and stylistic, staccato guitar, he wooed the crowd, pulling tricks from his amazing, famous hat with aplomb and clearly, and sadly it seemed at times, difficulty.

Winter was clearly struggling with the high humid temperatures - 34 Celsius - and the demands of an adulating, admiring audience.  His coordination was at times shaky - but it has often been that way, part of his special magic. His voice was also rocky and stretched. But again, what's new? The guy was seventy. Nevertheless, he managed well over an hour under flashing strobes and baking, airless heat on his trembling feet. People were forgiving, happy to see the guy in action, to taste his old personal mojo magic.

Despite his evident pleasure at being onstage, slamming and sliding his guitar like a kid, he always had the appearance of a guy on the edge - of an abyss, a musical cliff top, of life itself. He looked tired, clearly in poor health. The problem for everyone watching was: what's new?

In many ways it's easy to say, a throwaway line, he was on his last legs. Sadly a truism.  Blues music is jam-packed with great lines about death, 'passing' - as bluesmen are oft wont to euphemistically say. On this, Winter's final gig, he was certainly 'Knockin' on Heaven's  - or more likely. Hell's - Door'. 

Never one to admit to regret, if he had any regrets at his own passing it would probably be that he won't be around come September for the release of his much anticipated latest recording project featuring many mammoths of blues music: Old Slowhand Clapton; ZZTop; Dr John; Mark Knopfler; Ben Harper.

It's perhaps fitting that his last gig was on an enormously important and symbolic day of celebration: July 14, France's national day - Bastille Day. A celebration of French independence, strength, liberation and freedom. A night when many took everything to excess, drink, drugs, sex, rock&roll, blues, fan-worship, explosive firework displays. Full on festivities.  Like July 4 on acid.

 Winter would have been the first to appreciate and love the symbolism and significance. Always assuming that he realised what was going down, of course. After repeated, rapturous encores, Johnny Winter took it to the limit one last time.

Wide Eyed And Legless, Unplugged

Been a while since I was here. Been keeping busy, though, and now involved iwith about a dozen music titles across three continents: USA/Canada & Australia; UK plus Sweden; France; Germany & Netherlands.

Recently been cathing up and chatting to Clapton's guitarist, Andy Fairweather Low. A genuinely lovely guy, here's what he had to say:

ANDY FAIRWEATHER LOW

Andy Fairweather Low is possibly one of those recognized names that doesn't truly fully register with many.  And yet, this guy from Wales is without doubt one of the most important and significant musicians of a generation. Now drifting towards receipt of his pension, he remains as important as ever, touring, writing and generating excellent music on a near daily basis.

And although Fairweather Low has been at the top of the musical tree for the better part of half a century now, he somehow also manages to remain just below the popular radar, a largely self-induced state of affairs from a guy who seems to thrive on diffidence and unaffected charisma.

Since his days as frontman and writer with sixties pop band Amen Corner, Fair-weather Low has continued to play and compose near-instant hit music from his Welsh hideaway.  Back then he wrote the smash hits 'If Paradise Is Half As Nice' ,'Bend Me, Shape Me' and countless other winners, songs that are still loved and sung by many. After a quiet period in the seventies and into the eighties, he again burst onto the stage with another huge hit, an unexpected smash in pre-Xmas UK, 1985, with the cleverly crafted lyrics still heard being chorused by raucous holidaymakers in bars from Birmingham to Benidorm, and amid Karaoke chaos the world over, 'Wide Eyed And Legless'.

For the past near twenty years, he has been the guitarist sideman of choice for one of the world's acknowledged greatest guitarists, Eric Clapton. Now Clapton's clearly a guy who knows a thing or two about guitars and music in general. But interestingly, in particular, he chooses Fairweather Low both on the road as tour sideman and in the studio.  Indeed, he even goes as far as to partly credit the Welshman with the success of one of his biggest selling albums, the famed 'Unplugged' release which has now sold in excess of 14 million copies worldwide.  Fairweather Low, who toured as a band member with Clapton on the promotional tours for the album, also worked with Old Slowhand in creating the arrangements of many of the tracks, including the wonderful version of 'Layla', a CD centerpiece in many ways.

And Fairweather Low's career just doesn't splutter to what would be a remarkable achievement and close here either. Apart from his impressive and entirely enviable work with Clapton, he has also toured , recorded and played with most of the world's leading music royalty: George Harrison; Van Morrison - 'Playing with Van's a bit of a right of passage for many musicians,' he quips tantalisingly; Sir Tom Jones; The Beegees; Roger Waters' Pink Floyd; Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings; Pete Townshend and the Who; Chris Rea; Paul Carrack; Brian Wilson. The list seems endless.

These days, he's also at home fronting his own band once again with Andy Fairweather Low & The Low Riders, a sparkling four-piece outfit with an effortless blend of R&B and Soul-rich material, much of it straight from the pen of this instant Celtic hitmaker. Indeed, as he confirms, he's currently out on the road in the UK with this pet project band  supporting and promoting their excellent album, 'Zone-O-Tone'.  While, later this year, as winter draws in, he will be once again out touring with Bill Wyman and The Rhythm Kings on an international platform:  'I always enjoy going out, playing with Bill and the guys,' he says, before adding:' It was the Stones that made me a musician, really. On the 28th of Februuary, 1964, I went to see the Stones play. At the time I was drifting a bit, a secondary-modern guy with no real ambition or future. Then I saw the Stones and they were fabulous. I thought that's what I want to do. I was hooked. I never looked back from that day on. It genuinely changed my life.'

And, unlike most, he did indeed go out and not just do it, but do it in spades, even to the extent of now playing with their former bassist when the chance arises and his own touring schedules permit. When Wyman produced his well-received,  autobiographical coffee-table-cum-scrapbook of memories and photographs etc., about his life and career a few years ago, Fairweather Low was able to open it at the very page where Wyman displays the set-list and date of this seminal event in Fairweather Low's  life in 1964, a date, a set and a gig he has never forgotten.

But, strange to think with the benefit of hindsight, it could all have gone so very differently, muses Fairweather Low: ' Punk finished me. I'd just recorded the old Cliff Richard hit, 'Travelling Light' when The Sex Pistols released their original, infamous single, 'God Save The Queen.' I had a seven-year contract/recording deal in its first year. But when this happened, basically I was done and dusted. I even sold off my equipment - needs must - for cash to keep going, including my Hillman Imp.'

But never one to say die, the Welshman kept faith with the music, writing and playing locally while always practicing guitar, as he still does on a daily basis today: 'I'm not a natural guitarist, not like Eric (Clapton). I have to work on it every day. Eric doesn't.'

He acknowledges the change in his fortunes came about when the late Beatle George Harrison made contact and asked if he could play a bit of slide guitar on the 'Material World' project. 'I just said, yea. Then I thought to myself. I don't play slide, though I knew with work I probably could. Still, I didn’t want to turn up and look a fool so I decided to come clean with George and phoned to tell him I didn't play slide. He said fine but comeup to Friar's Park (Harrison's English home) for a cup of tea anyway.' From there, doors , many gilt-edged, began opening for him, with offers  from Roger Waters to join Pink Floyd, where he played before a 400,000 crowd while being the first band-member to be bricked behind The Wall at a live concert in Berlin, and many other top names.

'What was lovely about George Harrison,' he adds,' is he was a great guy. Really decent and incredibly generous. I've never met you and I've never seen you play but everyone seems to like you, he said. He eventually told me I hadn't been the first choice for the slide guitar-work on 'Material World'. I'd been the seventh choice, but he also said, I'd been the right choice.'

Of course, it's impossible to chat to Fairweather Low without raising the spectre, the elephant in the room, of his work with Eric Clapton.  Again, chance or serendipity had a role to play in this development. 'I was in a rehearsal room in London with Eric and a few others. We stopped for a short break and Eric casually asked if I could join him at the Royal Albert Hall on his next tour. Another life-changing moment, I knew at once.'

Clapton has often said he considers Fairweather Low to have been the architect of the success of the "unplugged' album, in particular.  This is a credit most musicians would virtually kill or die for. Not so, Fairweather Low, who instead adopts his customary self-deprecating approach to his life and career: 'Eric gives me too much credit for 'Unplugged'.  In reality, I helped a bit but the arrangements were something I just worked on. I worked at his home, doing it, and we got on well together. The thing about Eric is he's an absolutely fabulous electric guitar player. He was wary about acoustic to some extent but he wanted a version of the old Robert Johnson song 'Malted Milk' included. It's not an easy number and I asked if he really wanted to try it. He said yea, so I put that together for him.  I said, okay, if you really must, I'll work on it. The rest is history, as they say. It was a success and the album and tours were both great fun.'

And what about 'Layla'?  I ask the veteran Welsh wizard: ' Oh, Layla! Playing that every night was killing me at times. But, tell you what, I can sit there on-stage with Eric and in reality I don't see what's going on. That's because I'm too much a part of it. I don't have the perspective, the audience's view, if you like. But one track I can sit and watch him play all night, forever, is when he picks up the acoustic and plays 'Nobody Wants To Know You When You're Down And Out.'  His picking and his voice are perfect, every time, for me. I always enjoy that one.'

www.andyfairweatherlow.com

Andy's current album, a cracking bit of work with his immediate lyrical skill to the fore throughout:

The Selwyn Birchwood Band; Interview & Feature

www.bluesiana.co.uk

A FEW WEEKS ago, Selwyn Birchwood, winner of the 2013 IBC Award in Memphis, took the time out to chat to yeractual about the band, the man and his music. Now signed to Chicago-based Alligator Records, yeractual tipped Selwyn as one to watch over a year ago. A prophesy that is easily running true with Birchwood playing major events across the US and gaining rave reviews for his recently (June 10, 2014) released second album on Alligator, 'Don't Call No Ambulance'.  Here's Selwyn's story:

Selwyn Birchwood Band

Twelve short months ago, Florida-based Selwyn Birchwood and his band had just won the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. He had a self-produced album out on the streets and was playing mostly local gigs, trying all the time to break into a wider US audience. The IBC award helped push the boundaries for him and last July he played one of the USA’s most popular and significant blues festivals, The Portland Waterfront Blues Fest in Oregon, where we first met up with him. It seemed clear then that this was a guy and a band destined for greater things. Fast-forward and we find the band now signed to Bruce Iglauer’s  Alligator label in Chicago with a great new CD, ‘Don’t Call No Ambulance’, under their belt and international accolades flowing in.

The IBC award was joined by Selwyn also taking the 2013 Albert King Guitarist of the Year Award. Two renowned accolades that many bands and players would virtually kill for!   But despite this international acclaim, there remained a need to push at the doors of venues and festivals throughout the US and Europe.  Selwyn himself acknowledges the struggle while agreeing that the IBC awards helped him gain toe-hold in hitherto closed doors across the US.

‘Winning the IBC was huge for us. I wouldn’t say that it ‘opened’ as many doors as it ‘UNLOCKED. A great starting point, being a relatively obscure band from Florida, it was hard to grab peoples’  attention outside our home state. We had been touring throughout Florida for the past 5 or 6 years and people down home knew of us and received us openly, but I found out really quickly that getting work away from home was a huge challenge. After we won the IBC, people were a lot more willing to take a second look at us and that’s all that I felt we needed. It seemed that once people actually saw us perform live, we didn’t have too much of a problem getting invited back, but it was just a matter of getting our foot in the door. Once we were able to do that, then I was wanting to kick it open!’
The band’s first album, ‘FL Boy’ was a largely self-produced effort released in 2011. Now with Chicago blues label, Alligator, Selwyn found the entire process much better and more solid. He explains how he came to sign to Alligator and how he views the difference in this way:

‘My band competed in the IBC the year prior to us winning as well (2012). We did extremely well, we made the finals (Top 9 bands in the competition). Bruce Iglauer caught our performance in the finals and pulled me aside to talk about the band while I was running around promoting with flyers etc. He had apparently purchased my FL Boy album. I advised him that I did not feel that CD was a good representation of my current sound. In fact, it was a completely different band that I had in Orlando that can be heard on that CD. I also let him know that I had just finished recording a new record and wanted to send him the tracks, if he’d be so willing. He was surprisingly receptive to the idea. He was brutally honest with me, as he is with most everyone, and said he felt I had half an album. I thought it was interesting that he said that because I had actually run out of budget on that record and had to rush through all but 5 songs rather hastily. Not surprisingly, he said that those 5 tracks were “keepers” and he would like to hear more if I had it. When I explained that was out of budget and that I had to sell a lot of my guitar equipment just to get those recordings done, we got into conversation about writing new tunes and perhaps having the recorded on his dime. After about a year of shopping tunes on and off, Bruce selected another 7 that he was content with. The initial 5 and the 7 new ones became the record “Don’t Call No Ambulance” that we just recorded for Alligator.  This is another league to FL Boy. The recording, production, mixing, mastering and pretty much every aspect of the record is better because of the help and guidance of the Alligator Records team and Bruce Iglauer. It has gotten great reviews so far and we are excited to get it out to the public! ‘

The new album, ‘Don’t Call No Ambulance’, released in June, is already kicking up a storm in the US and beyond with gigs stretching across the US, radio and television appearances and bags of media coverage, propelling Selwyn and the band into the blues limelight.  Selwyn confirms the band comprises Regi Oliver on Baritone Sax, Curtis Nutall, Drums, Huff Wright, Bass guitar and himself on Guitar and Vocals. He cites his major influences as coming from a ‘pretty eclectic range’ from blues, jazz, country, rock, reggae and everything in between. He singles out Muddy Waters, Gatemouth Brown, RL Burnside, Buddy Guy, Charlie Patton and Lightnin’ Hopkins as among his own personal favourite blues artists.

Joe Loius Walker features on the new album, a strong player with a powerful blues attitude. Selwyn believes he contributed greatly to the mix:

‘Joe was a perfect accent to the record. I had been listening to Joe for years before I met and befriended him. I enjoy his approach because he pulls from many different sources and styles. ‘
Watching the band perform it seems clear that Birchwood is a guy who can slip easily and comfortably from hard-electric- guitar driven blues to subtle, southern acoustic slide work without a hint of hesitation . However, he says he has no specific preferences within the music:
‘I don’t really have a preference. I am just a lover of music. I feel like there is too much good stuff out there to get locked down to one specific thread of it. My favourite bands and players to listen to are the ones that I can hear slipping in and out of several genres. I feel that gives the music a lot more texture and style and makes it more interesting to hear.’
Last year, the band had yet to visit Europe. A few months ago, in April, they  crossed the pond to play the  Nideros Blues Festival in Trondheim, Norway, where Selwyn confirms the band had a blast of a time:
‘We had a great time at the festival in Norway! I’d love to get back over to Europe to play. We will head over to play for you there ANYTIME, just line up the date! ‘

CD Time

Hi and welcome to BLUESIANA, the home of acoustic, rural country blues & Americana music reviews, interviews, news and features.  BLUESIANA is brought to you by the only pan-European blues music News and Features Agency, BLUESIANA.   www.bluesiana.co.uk

We aim to keep you up to date in the best of largely unknown music masters on a weekly basis, so check in and add us to your favourites now! Don't miss an issue! And your comments are always welcome, so long as they're relevant to the material and the music. ENJOY.

BRIDGET KELLY BAND

Forever In Blues

Alpha Sun Records

*****

Forever In Blues is the second album by the Bridget Kelly Band. Florida-based, the band has a full, rich sound with some great guitar playing by Tim Fik clearly to be heard in the mix while Kelly's voice is strong, powerful and full of soul. Mostly electric in nature, the slide-work here is excellent at times.

You sure get your money's worth with this one. Fifteen tracks, all strong with no dead-weight to be found here.  This is simply a very good album that grabs the attention from the opening bars and rips along boldly with panache and clarity.  You'll be sad when it reaches the end but fortunately it can always be replayed - time and time again.

The Bridget Kelly Band is a finely balanced ensemble that has a firm grasp of the music and a maturity that only comes from years of experience playing the clubs , juke-joints and bars of the  US South.  There's a great confidence in the self-written material and in its soulful delivery.  At times, I was reminded of early - perhaps the best - work of Johnny Winter.

Overall, it would hard to fault anything about this release. It fair romps along from track to track with fine pacing and emotion. Highlighting the skill of the four musicians featured. An album for those who like their blues to rock their boat.

Website: www.bridgetkellyband.com

AARON BURTON

The Return Of Peetie Whitestraw

Autoprod

Arron Burton hails from Texas, a State with a long history of blues music mastery - Lightnin' Hopkins was certainly no slouch, after all.

This is Burton's fifth album to date, self-produced and promoted, it features fourteen self-penned tracks. Strong on southern drawl and laid-back acoustic guitar picking, this album is indeed so laid back that the guitar work at times comes close to being overlooked - a mistake, because the picking, though understated,  is singularly soulful, sound and skillful, contributing effortlessly to a very finely honed sound that belies its own underlying complexity.

Burton is a guy who is self-taught, an autodidact with a background playing the bars and clubs of the Lone Star State and producing interesting material that touches all of the usual areas from love and heartache to death and misery. In other words a typical blues gamut of thought and emotion, underpinned by great guitar-work and  a fine rambling, rumbling, drawling  voice.

With fourteen tracks to choose from here, it's impossible not find something that should satisfy a blues lover's taste. This is a guy and a CD that is real surprise and a true discovery - an artist and material of genuine quality, well worth seeking out. Burton is due to record his next album over the next few months and I, for one, look forward to hearing his next offering.

Website: www.aaronburton.net

MATT WOOSEY BAND

On The Waggon

Autoprod  

*****

This CD by English bluesman Matt Woosey marks a debut of real class and style. A wonderful mix of electric and acoustic material, driven throughout by Woosey's excellent vocals and sensitive guitar-work, it features a dozen self-written tracks that amply showcase Woosey's love for the music and his clear class.  And while Woosey himself may well be a relative youngster, the performances here  are mature and fully-formed.

The band already has a growing band of fans in the UK and has been tipped as an outfit to watch by many English observers and critics.  I reckon, they're right. On the basis of this release, it should certainly be interesting to see how the band develops in future. With this twelve track CD they have shown they have strong writing capacities, fine musicianship and a real grip on the blues.

It's clear that this band has its roots firmly planted in the Delta/southern blues tradition, with northern, Chicago-like flourishes lifting it to the stars when needed. For me, this album is a clear five-star album, one that is never dull or repetitive. It's one of those great CDs that stands up well to repeated plays always  seeming to have something new and refreshing  in the mix each time.  In short, this is a release that should satisfy most blues-lovers demands. The seemless mesh of electric, acoustic and slide-work here make this a truly great album deserving of a much wider audience.

Le site: www.mattwoosey.co.uk

BRIAN KRAMER

OUT OF THE BLUES & FULL CIRCLE

Bullet Point Publishing & BKB CD0007

Stockholm-based, Brooklyn-born bluesman Brian Kramer seems a pretty talented guy.  In an almost unprecedented move, Kramer has boldly gone where few have gone before with the simultaneous release of his first novel, ‘Out Of The Blues’ and a new CD, ‘Full Circle’. Launched at his literal stamping ground in the Swedish capital, ‘Stampen’, a blues/jazz venue where the man himself is often found leading jams and otherwise kicking up a fine old blues-inspired shindig, the novel is published by Bullet Point Publishing under his full name of Brian D Kramer. 

And in Scandinavia, a region now leading the world in crime fiction, ‘Out Of The Blues’ fits nicely into the genre with the added twist of blues music and dodgy dealing at its heart and an author who certainly knows the business back to front and inside out. But to say it’s a crime novel, does Kramer a disservice: instead it’s an intriguing insider view of the world of the pro musician and the daily trials and troubles that can all too easily beset the unwary player. The album is themed with the book, and lyrics from it crop up repeatedly as prompts in the book’s pages and chapters. It’s an interesting idea that Kramer carries off with apparent ease.  Anyone who has picked guitar as a jobbing player or sideman will identify with the principal New York down at heel character, his life and his problems.  The strong whiff of biographical detail pulses at the heart of the book, including the wistfully titled track, ‘Going Back To Brooklyn’.

‘Full Circle’, the accompanying CD release, is an excellent little album. Themed around Kramer’s quarter century as a pro player and his New York roots, It sure resonates with me with its laid-back rhythm and material that ranges from Ragtime-Blues influences to Brian’s beloved and sensitively picked Steel Guitar work.  His electric playing is also showcased with a fine bunch of backing musicians including Chuck Anthony on guitar, Mats Quartfordt on Harp, another Swedish based US player, Bert Deivert, Steel Mandolin, and some very soulful backing vocals from Maria Blom, Isabella Lundgren and Fanny Holm. At times the groove here is reminiscent of the late JJ Cale, with its deceptively laid-back melodies and clever lyricism.

You might be excused for thinking that Kramer, who for many years provided back-up guitar to Eric Bibb, both on the road and in the studio, and has also worked with Junior Wells, Larry Johnston and Taj Mahal, would be struggling with writers block having laboured to fruition and produced this highly readable novel. Well you’d be wrong: he also wrote all of the material that features on this solid CD

 Website: www.briankramerblues.com

JOE McMURRIAN

‘Get Inside This House’

Autoproduction

This is a very strong acoustic album from a guy who knows his blues stuff. From Portland, Oregon, a town steeped in blues music and stuffed fit to burst with blues musicians of every stripe, ‘Get Inside This House’ is a showcase for McMurrian’s sterling guitar picking. Always driving and skillful, it propels this thirteen track album along at a fair pace.

McMurrian is a firm favourite on the Portland Blues scene, playing gigs throughout the US North West, while also performing and holding master-classes at The Portland Waterfront Blues Festival, one of the biggest and most popular, annual Blues Festival events in the US.

This album is immediately gripping from the first track with its stylish slide guitar to the tingling minor chording of Skip James’s classic ‘I’m So Glad’, and the old standard, ‘I’ll Fly Away’, here given an urgent Blues voice.

This album has a relaxed and measured feel to it. Production is just right with McMurrian’s guitar (and sometime banjo) always firmly in the driving seat, moving the music forward and making for a great listening experience for lovers of traditional Deep South country-blues. His roots are clearly on display here and with much of the material written by the guy himself, it carries a strong and vivid aroma of Delta rhythms, style and atmosphere.

An excellent album for all acoustic blues fans.

Website: www.joemcmurrian.com

SOFIE REED

Simplicity Chased Trouble Away

Autoproduction

This is Sofie Reed’s second album, featuring her fine, strong Harp playing alongside some solid Steel slide work.  Perhaps the most surprising element of this artist’s music is that she also majors in Dulcimer, an instrument not normally heard in blues saloons and bars but which here is successfully pitched with an unexpectedly strong and successful blues groove.  Certainly a first for me and, refreshingly different, it works remarkably and surprisingly well.

The twelve tracks that make up this album are mostly self-written. The album romps along at a fair lick with some sensible and interesting changes of tempo from the excellent and upbeat opening track, ‘Glitter Girl’ through the near-Afro-vibe of ‘Human Every Day’ to the soulful vocals and pounding underlying guitar and Harp –work evident on ‘Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen’.

Reed’s previous release, ‘Baby Boo Got Gone’ was equally strong on song-writing and instrumental skill and style.  She has a whomping sound, varied by virtue of the at times unusual instruments she prefers, rhythmic foot-stomping and the southern influences under-pinning the material. Her blues-base is more than clear here to the ear.

So, while the instruments may at times be eclectic, the writing and playing are solid throughout this fine album. Sweden has a strong blues-fan base, with many good musicians plying their trade in bars and clubs throughout the country. Reed clearly fits that Nordic mould while incorporating crossover influences from US traditional music and Americana.  Now US based, she certainly is one to watch.

Le site:  www.sofiereed.com

ROB HERON & THE TEA PAD ORCHESTRA

Talk About The Weather

TP/Tea Pad Recordings

****

Heron and his band come from the North East of England, an area known for its straight-talking, hard-drinking, sport-loving residents. It's a part of the UK with a rich musical background and heritage that spans many years of traditional folk music (Lindisfarne, for example) and which, in the 1960s, saw one of the most enduring names in popular modern Blues to emerge:  Eric Burden and The Animals.

Rob Heron is, like Burden in the sixties, a young guy fronting a genuinely different sounding band, an outfit with charisma and a spark of genius.  A six-piece band, fronted by lyricist and singer Heron, the Tea Pad Orchestra play a louche, melodic style of blues based in the heady days of the 1930s with its swing and ragtime influences clearly on display.  If you know the US band Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three, you'll have a fair idea of what to expect here. The similarities are striking to me although Heron's voice fails to match the strident power of his American counterpart, LaFarge. That said, it remains nevertheless more than adequate for the material making up this CD, the band's second release to date.

Three tracks stand out, for me at least: the opening 'Drinking Coffee Rag' is a splendid bit of writing and playing, followed by 'Soliel' and 'Small Town Blues'. All three tracks use the full sound opportunities of a variety of instruments that range from guitars and drums to fiddles, trumpets, trombones and accordions. Although the material is a bit of a pastiche of elderly musical styles and thirties grounding, the album is a fabulously enjoyable concoction of masterly ragtime performance, feel and energy. Definitely a band to catch live if possible.

Website: www.teapadorchestra.co.uk

GARY GRAINGER

First Takes & Mistakes

Autoprod

This is British player, Gary Grainger’s debut album.  Thirteen tracks that range from old blues standards such as ‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine’ and Bo Carter’s ‘All Around Man’ to the Americana takes of the old Doc Watson favourite ‘Goin’ Down The Road’ and ‘Goin’Up The Country’. There is even a closing accapella track, featuring the old Janis Joplin wishful special, ‘Mercedes Benz’.

Grainger is the sole performer here, with good vocals and guitar picking and occasional Harp flourishes. The album is what it says on the tin: no overdubs or fancy production techniques, just simple first takes of all tracks. In reality, it’s hard to pick out the so-called mistakes and the whole thing has the feel of a neatly captured live performance to it.

There is some good, crafted slide guitar work and an overall balance to the release that belies a debut appearance.  Grainger is based in the North East of England where he is an award winning presenter of local blues radio and gigs extensively. He is attracting increasing critical acclaim and this CD should help secure a wider support for the man and his music on the national and international stage.

First Takes & Mistakes is a fine album of cool acoustic blues and traditional music.  The whole package is accomplished, relaxed and authentic; a very fine debut indeed. I look forward to hearing the next one.

Le site: http://bluesshow.wordpress.com/gary-graingers-gigs/

BOTTLENECK JOHN

ALL AROUND MAN

Opus 3

CD23001

Bottleneck John, aka Johan Eliasson, is a steel guitar, bottleneck master. This offering is little short of a masterclass in saucy slidework, well-balanced arrangements of country-blues classics, and sharply honed self-penned material.

Big in every way, Johan is that rare blues thing: the real deal. A combination of vibrant, raw picking and a huge, throaty, gutsy, bluesy voice that carries him from his native Sweden to the deep Delta and all points in between.

All Around Man kicks off with an old oft overworked standard, Lonesome Valley, here  played with feeling and sensitivity, setting the tone for a splendid take on the Robert Johnson slide essential, Come On In My Kitchen. Tony Joe White’s classic Out Of The Rain and Tom Waits’ gospel-sounding Jesus Gonna Be Here fit well into the mix and Bo Carter’s eponymous title song adds levity to an otherwise solid disc of traditional and classic blues.

Best track maybe: Do You Call That A Buddy – a great bit of soulful playing with perfectly understated vocal accompaniment.  An excellent all round album. Recommended for anyone who loves resonator/steel and acoustic blues with a touch of class and style.

Website: www.bottleneckjohn.com

DOUG MacLEOD

There’s A Time

FreshRR:  RR130

Slide/resonator master Doug MacLeod’s latest album is a genuine bit of brilliance, with changing tempo, skillful picking and thoughtful, laid-back lyrics. Indeed,  so good, that it has just swept the board at the Blues Foundation’s awards 2014 in Memphis in May.

MacLeod’s work is always strong and sound; music that is always eagerly anticipated by acoustic blues fans everywhere. With this latest CD, he has cemented his position as the foremost resonator player on the global stage today.

Supported by leading bass player, Denny Croy, and possibly the foremost blues drummer in the USA, Jim Bott, this release captures the very best of MacLeod’s playing. Released on the recently established Fresh recording label, a wonderful offshoot of US label Reference Recordings, and produced jointly by MacLeod and Reference’s Jan Mancuso, ‘There’s A Time’ should satisfy every blues-lovers thirst for quality performance and playing. This is one of those great albums that you will return to time and time again, always with pleasure and satisfaction.

Definitely – and most of Memphis agrees – a five-star winner.

Website: www.dougmacleod.com

JOHN HIATT

Terms Of My Surrender

New West Records

*****

John Hiatt needs no introduction. One of the best singer-songwriters in the world of Americana music, he has been at the top of the country-music tree for many years, always a favourite in Nashville and a US festival evergreen guaranteed to attract hordes of fans and solid album sales.

Interestingly this release is reflective and intriguing in equal measure.  Over the years, Hiatt's material has been recorded by artists as diverse as Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt (Thing Called Love), Iggy Pop and the Jeff Healy Band, among many others.

With Terms Of My Surrender, Hiatt returns to both his roots and basics with a stripped-bare mostly acoustic album locked in gravel-throated vocals and blues influenced material which mirrors his own genuine love for the blues as a musical form: this is the man who wrote 'Riding With The King' , a track that spawned the Grammy award-winning album of the same name by BB King and Eric Clapton.

The album is a triumph, with Hiatt's clever lyricism covering a host of old familiar subjects: redemption, ageing, relationships and heartache and pain.  Pretty standard blues fare really. 

Eleven tracks make up the CD' every one is a little masterpiece in its own right. A consummate example of showmanship and elegance in form, and a bravura performance of blues-bending genius from a true American master storyteller and gorgeously groovy guitarist.  European release date, July 14, 2014.

Website: wwwjohnhiatt.com

MIKE GREENE & YOUSSEF REMADNA

TAKE IT ON

Independent release

The first thing to say about this 13-track album is that it’s good.  A great blend of traditional and modern blues, it has the feel and sound of the best of  1960s R&B at its heart.  The two musicians here are likely to slip below the wire because they’re based in the South of France and are therefore largely unknown outside the country.

Kicking off with the old Willy Dixon standard ‘I’m Ready’, the duo include fresh takes on ‘Come Back Baby’, JB Lenior’s ‘Mojo Boogie’ and Blind Willie Johnson’s great ‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine’. There’s even a lesser-known Dylan song, ‘From A Buick 6’ included in the stew.

Greene is a US-born bluesman who moved to France many years ago. His guitar work is deft, soulful and deceptively simple and understated. At all times, it’s bang on the money, though. The guys share vocals, while Remadna’s guitar playing is eclipsed by his cracking Harp work.

Take It On, is well worth taking on. If you like your blues raw but refined, with more than a hint of class, this CD should fit the bill. At times, it reminded me of early UK R&B: The Stones and Keef; Alexis Korner; Cyril Davies; The Animals. There are shades of all of these in this package.

Website:  Mike Greene Facebook.com

MALCOLM HOLCOMBE

Pitiful Blues

Autoprod

This is Holcombe's tenth release so far. Like those before, it features his rasping vocal delivery coupled with good, strong acoustic guitar picking.  For me, it's probably his best offering to date.

Based in North Carolina's Piedmont region of the USA, Holcombe's guitar-work reflects the quality and driving style of his home-area in the Appalachians with a skilful mix of 1930s style picking and cross-over Americana and Bluegrass influences.  A sort of 'backwoods blues' in sound and feel, the kind of thing you might expect to find being played on a sleepy southern porch on a hot, steamy day.

As always with this guy, the lyrics are strong and emotive. The entire ten-track album is chock-full of powerful and raw emotion, stripped-down sounds that jump from the disc to grab you by the throat. Holcombe is not a man to be ignored. Both the voice and playing demand and warrant attention.  

From the opening title track to the close of the album, Holcombe's stirring lyrics and at times dirge-like vocals carry this album out of the shadows into the light and easily earns it a place on any acoustic blues-lover's collection. This is a guy who is always interesting, daring to be different and staying well clear of the mainstream blues world.

Pitiful Blues would be worth having for the wonderful thumping guitar bass runs and jangling treble solos with the drawling vocal delivery evident on the eponymous title track alone. Due for European release, August 4, 2014.

Website: www.malcombeholcome.com

BERT DEIVERT
Kid Man Blues
HDCD02
Autoprod
*****
Bert Deivert is a US bluesman living in Scandinavia, where much of this very fine  twelve-track album was recorded and produced.  Despite living in Sweden for around forty years, Deivert remains a true US acoustic blues picker at heart. And it shows and shines clearly on this great CD.
Material ranges from some own-compositions to a raft od excellently interpreted old standards from the likes of RL Burnside and Son House to Sleepy John Estes and Skip James. For me, one of the finest and most striking tracks is Deivert's take on that old wonderful blues standard 'Come Back Baby', here done in a new, refreshing and genuinely interesting way. The title track is also a minor masterpiece, featuring Deivert's Yank Rachell-inspired resonator mandolin work to full effect.
Throughout this CD, resonators feature strongly with Deivert playing both Guitar and Mandolin with ease and class.  But this is not an album dominated by slide - it's beautifully produced with subtle emotive playing. Even the vocals are fine, with Deivert throaty and full of gutsy groove, clearly enjoying the whole performance.

Stockholm based, Us-born bluesman Brian Kramer - another big resonator fan - also plays in support here and the backing, support vocals are  pitched just right.  Deivert's take on Skip James's Cypress Grove is faultless, contributing to make this album a full five-star beauty.


Website: www.deivert.com/blues

Toby Walker

What You See Is What You Get

LTW103

‘What You See Is What You Get’ is the latest album from US East Coast bluesman, Toby Walker.  Sixteen tracks, recorded without overdubs or second-takes, it is little short of a tour de force of solo blues picking and skillful, sweet guitar work. Featuring only Walker on a range of different guitars, the material ranges from old blues standards like ‘Baby, Please Don’t Go’, ‘Statesboro Blues’ and ‘Good Morning Little Schoolgirl’ to new, self-penned pieces, including the jaw-dropping virtuoso brilliance of ‘Swing Bean’ and a great Blind Blake inspired instrumental, ‘Putting On The Blakes’

Walker seldom disappoints and in recent years his output has only got better and better.  His gutsy vocals hold-up well on this CD, which also includes a slick version of the old Mississippi John Hurt standard, ‘Got The Blues, Can’t Be Satisfied’.  His playing encompasses a wide variety of styles from blues, ragtime, country and rock to jazz and even bluegrass.  His versatility is widely admired  internationally with Hot Tuna frontman and former Jefferson Airplane guitarist, Jorma Kaukonen, a noted fan.

I’ve been listening to Walker now for about ten years or so and WYSIWYG is easily his best offering to date. It’s accomplished, well produced and engineered and the material is top quality.

Website: www.littletobywalker.com