DEEP BLUES

The Only Known Filmed Footage of Leadbelly

2012-01-25T12:38:00.001-05:00

thx to Dangerous Minds blog!

The brilliant folks at the Facebook Real Blues Forum kindly corrected me about the above being the only filmed footage of Leadbelly. Here's a newsreel from 1935:

History Detectives: A book of Slave Songs published in 1867 & Josh White's Guitar

2012-01-22T15:56:00.000-05:00

Thx to NTSiB for the tip!

Hey! Wanna Win This Wicked Black Keys Poster?

2012-01-20T11:13:00.000-05:00

My pal April at NOW THiS SOUND iS BRAVE is celebrating the second anniversary of her blog by giving away this supa-cool Black Keys zombie poster. To enter the running for the baby,

"you’ll have to tell us about an important music moment in your life. Be it funny or touching or something that will make us all want to slash our wrists, whether it involves playing music, listening to music or meeting a music hero, as long as it was important, influential and memorable to you we want to read about it. The sharer of the best music moment, judged by my own indefinable I’ll-know-it-when-I-see-it standards, will win my extra Black Keys zombie poster to have, to hold and to scare young children with. The deadline for entry will be 5 PM EST on January 26, and I will announce the winner on the NTSIB anniversary, January 27..."

For more info and to enter go HERE.
Good Luck! I can't wait to read your stories.

KENNY BROWN - Can't Stay Long

2012-01-09T00:11:00.000-05:00

Do I really need to write anything about Kenny Brown? Really?

Haven't we got to the point yet where his albums are issued at birth to each newborn child? If not this world is in a damn sad state.

Y'all know Mr. Brown learned to play mostly at the feet of Mr. Joe Callicott, and as a young man became R.L. Burnside's "adopted white son," playing guitar for Mr. Burnside (and on occasion with others like Junior Kimbrough) for twenty-six years. For the last few years he's been playing and hosting the North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic, which presents most everybody you could want to see/hear that rocks that Hill Country sound.

Mr. Brown released an album on the Plum Tone label in 1998 (back in the olden days when I ordered it by phone it was Kenny on the line) called Goin' Back To Missisippi (shamefully out-of-print! Somebody needs to fix that.), one on Fat Possum in 2003 called Stingray, one i'd never heard of called Fast, Cheap, and Dirty with Danish guitarist Troels Jensen in ought-six, Meet Ya At The Bottom via CDBaby in 2008, and now a new double-disc set on Devil Down Records called Can't Stay Long.

Disc One is titled Porch Songs and that's just what it is. Kenny Brown playing and singing solo on Kenny Brown's porch. Recorded over a weekend. That's it. All you need.

Disc two is titled Money Maker. It was recorded live at the 2010 North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic. If you've been achin' for some classic Mississippi Hill Country boogie you can quit it now. Dr. Brown and his band deliver the rural medicine. The thing that I dig most about this live set is that you finally get to hear just what a badass bar band vibe Kenny Brown can roll out (dream show would be Kenny and The Bottle Rockets), yet get artistically deep up in the boogie.

Can't Stay Long is the first album to really deliver Mr. Brown's live thing intact. It stands as both Kenny Brown/ North Mississippi Hill country Blues compendium and companion. Maybe Kenny can't stay long but this album will.

TiNARiWEN on NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts

2012-01-05T13:33:00.000-05:00

R.L. BURNSiDE video! - Live at Junior's Juke - Early 1990s

2011-12-30T22:43:00.000-05:00

JUNiOR KiMBROUGH - Live at Junior's Juke - Early 1990s

2011-12-30T22:39:00.000-05:00

The Art of JOE SACCO

2011-12-24T22:14:00.000-05:00

Joe Sacco, artist of the award-winning graphic novel Palestine was sent on tour with R.L. Burnside by Details Magazine in 2000. The work below was published in the magazine and included in the Fat Possum Records book Darker Blues.

The Sensational Golden Age Gospel Goodness of JUBiLEE SHOWCASE

2011-12-23T01:38:00.000-05:00

@ Online // Facebook

Starting out humbly by broadcasting from a Chicago car dealership in 1963 and for the next twenty-one years of Sunday mornings, Sid Ordower presented the Emmy award winning Jubilee Showcase, a powerful half-hour of the finest Gospel music America had to offer.

Many artists now considered legendary performers from Gospel music's golden age got their start on Ordower's show or made their first televised appearance there. Names like Thomas A. Dorsey renowned as the father of gospel music , The Barrett Sisters, The Soul Stirrers, Andrae Crouch, Albertina Walker and The Caravans, Jessy Dixon, Edwin Hawkins, Sallie Martin, The Staple Singers, Inez Andrews, The Dixie Hummingbirds, The Reverend James Cleveland, Otis Clay, Shirley Caesar, and many more. The ultimate Who's Who of Gospel music. As Mr. Ordower told the Chicago Tribune in 1982,

"I always used to pride myself on getting the best soloists, the greatest groups, the finest accompanists in gospel," "The idea was to get variety. . . . We didn't want to feature just quartets or just soloists. We wanted everything that was out there, so long as it was the best."

Featuring three to four acts per show, over the course of the shows run Ordower presented over 430 acts. In a an interview with Steven Ordower, Sid's son, I asked how his father became interested in Gospel music,

"My father became interested in Gospel Music out of his work and commitment to the Civil Rights movement. African-American churches were a main part of the organizational apparatus of the Civil Rights movement, so my father was around a lot of Gospel Music at the time." Steven Ordower went on to tell the Chicago Tribune that, "I think a lot of his views got shaped when he was in World War II," "I have a feeling that seeing the atrocities of war first- hand – and he would never talk about it with me – scarred him mentally on many levels, and I think it inspired him in a lot of ways, too…."I think that really launched his whole desire to do something about the injustices he saw. He got really involved in the labor movement and in the civil rights movement. And the churches were a real organizing part of the civil rights movement, so he got to know a lot of those people. … He could really cross cultural and racial boundaries pretty naturally – he was accepted in these different worlds."

The senior Ordower's experience in America's Civil Rights struggle included a trip to Jackson, Mississippi in 1951 where he was beaten by racist thugs when they learned of his plan to appeal to the state supreme court for a stay of execution "to allow new evidence to be presented in the case of Willie McGee, who had been unjustly convicted of raping a white woman." As a result of the vicious beating Ordower recieved, a U.S. Supreme Court Justice intervened and granted a stay of execution.

When asked what kind of relationship he had with the artists who performed on his show Steven Ordower replied,

"My father had a relationship with a lot of the artists outside the show. He used to take me to the Barrett Sisters' house for meals when I was very young, and he is remembered very affectionately for helping guide the careers of many of the artists that went on to become well known. He was also regularly referred to as "Brother Sid" in the black church, and recruited some talent directly from the churches."

Sid Ordower would be the first to admit that the Jubilee Showcase was not about him. Rather, he took pride in limiting his face time, "You see, I wasn't the star of the program, and I didn't pretend to be," he said in the Tribune interview. "I wasn't the one who sang and danced. All I did onscreen was introduce the groups, and I had a rule that I made myself and followed religiously: Never talk for more than 2 1/2 minutes."

Thanks to Sid Ordower and his family, America now possesses what Chicago's Rev. Lucius Hall calls, ``the most comprehensive gospel video collection in the world today.`` As Ms. Albertina Walker states, "Sid opened the door and made it possible for the people at home to see it, because it wasn't show before he started it."

I don't think it's possible to state strongly enough that if you are a fan of serious Gospel music, if like me you have the documentary Say Amen, Somebody and The Gospel At Colonus in your DVD collection, then you must add Jubilee Showcase. It is a powerful set that we are so blessed to have had preserved. It's an amazing collection and I can't wait to see what else is in the Jubilee Showcase vaults.

THE ART of CHRiSTOPH MUELLER

2011-12-18T17:20:00.001-05:00

@ Facebook // G+ // OnLine

Mr. Mueller hails from Aachen, Germany. He was tapped by Chris Johnson to do the artwork for the 2008-2010 Deep Blues Festivals. Mr. Mueller is responsible for the striking album art for Willem Maker's newest album and his work has graced the covers of albums by Chip Hanna, Peter Murphy, and others. He has also done artwork for Muddy Roots Festival and for Rambler Magazine, Daddy Mojo Cigar Box Guitars, and Wayne "The Train" Hancock.

I am curious about your artistic influences. R. Crumb and Joe Coleman I can see. Who else inspires you?

Another major influence was Chris Ware, I was drawn to his work for the first time when I was about 14, especially by his stunning lettering style. After reading Jimmy Corrigan I was amazed how a "comic" is able to move you emotionally.

I have always been fascinated by how drawing could be used to make visible all those invisible things we deal with every day, things that are pretty much the very nature of the human experience. That's also what impressed my about R. Crumb's and Joe Coleman's work. Especially seeing Crumb's sketchbooks when I was in my early teens opened a whole world of possibilities to me, it showed me how drawing could help you cope with life better. It's a very good tool to reflect on things, once you put them on paper you are not in the middle of them anymore, you have a chance to observe them from the outside. This process has been very important to me again and again, I think it helped me somewhat understand the chaos around me.

I met Crumb in 2003 briefly, he took a look at my sketchbook from that period and encouraged me to keep at it, "keep on drawing!" he told me. That was a very important moment, a very encouraging one. I think my sails where set by that point, but getting that support from my big hero was the wind that kept me going. After that Joe Coleman encouraged me to look and dig deeper inside myself, find out more about myself. Another important day when I met him at home in Brooklyn. Not sure why I elaborate on this, I think it was very important to me to actually meet the people that had been such a great influence on me. Being acknowleged and supported by them was and still is the fuel that keeps me going on the draftman's path.

There are many obstacles and uncertainties, many people that don't really understand what you do and why, getting approval by your mentors lets you know you are on the right track.

When I write about music I always listen to whoever it is i'm writing about or I enjoy the silence. I wonder what you listen to when you work on a piece?

Music is very important. It used to be the key to get in touch with myself whenever I sat down to make a personal drawing. I liked to get carried away by songs that fit my mood, doing very little thinking, a lot of feeling and just let things happen on the paper. For some reason I have stepped a bit away from that approach recently, could be due to my analytical period I am in at the moment. But it still happens. I still don't consider myself to be the best thinker there ever was. I feel like being too much a slave to my own feelings at times. Something prevents me from thinking every now and again. Probably a good thing for my drawings, not sure yet.

Another thing about the kind of music that appeals to me is that there seems to be a somber tone to it. Wether it's the blues, country, irish folk music or Mahler, I am somehow drawn to that melancholy tone. Probably because it is anchored very deeply inside myself. It feel like home to me. And wether you channel your sorrows into sounds or lines -- it isn't that much of a difference I think.

Your font choices and often the style or layout you use in your work looks like it comes from turn of the century (or earlier, actually) American newpapers. Do you agree? If so, what can you tell me about the origin of those style choices for you?

Visually I am very much influenced by the lettering of the late 18th century. I am just blown away by the craftsmanship of those people, overall there seemed to have been much more appreciation for a craft well executed. I can spend hours just looking at old stock certificates, maps, paper money, and books from that period. I can also really relate to the spirit of the Arts and Crafts movement, William Morris or Louis Sullivan for instance, to whom's work Chris Ware introduced me a year ago. I have spend a lot of time studying ornament recently. Seems like I have turned a bit more analytical and less impulsive. I didn't really think a lot about what I was drawing in the past, that however has changed these days and I am pretty sure it shows in my work.

Artist Statement:

Christoph Mueller:
“I came to the solution in the last years of studying that you can try any style or whatever . . . the thing that makes your artwork interesting is when you find out what’s inside of you. Who you are. What gets you going. All that kind of stuff. That’s where it becomes real art. Or at least something that I think is worthy of doing.”

Joe Coleman:
“Yeah, and the process of doing that Christoph, is painful.”

Christoph Mueller:
“Yeah.”

Joe Coleman:
“But that’s the prize. It should be painful. Most things that are worth while in life are painful. And life, even though you might try to avoid it, which is understandable, anyone would try to avoid the fucked-up things in life, but that’s what life is about. Life is about pain. Everybody’s going to suffer, so why don’t you face the suffering that’s important to you. You’re going to suffer all the other things too. Everybody . . . No-one gets out of this world alive.”

Enable the little CC (closed caption) button for the Germanicly challenged:

OTHAR TURNER - Gravel Springs Fife and Drum (1971) A short film by Bill Ferris and David Evans

2011-12-17T22:42:00.000-05:00

It's a SOUL OF JOHN BLACK Christmas!

2011-12-17T22:22:00.000-05:00

The Soul of John Black has a new Christmas ep out now.

You can download it from his label Yellow Dog Records
for a measly four bucks. Get it HERE.

<a href="http://thesoulofjohnblack.bandcamp.com/album/the-soul-of-christmas">The Soul of Christmas by The Soul of John Black</a>

Here's JB with the great Nikka Costa:

The Retro Future Blues of Hungary's MiSSiSSiPPi BiG BEAT

2011-12-15T16:00:00.003-05:00

Gal Csaba Boogie from Budapest, Hungary, has always made interesting blues-based music. His new group Mississippi Big Beat is no exception. Consisting of Harmonica, guitar, and turntables/drum machine it's an exciting step to the future. Check out his Soundcloud page for more info.

Here's a taste:

Mississippi Big Beat at 2011 Sziget Festival on the Blues Stage from Maco on Vimeo.

Want Somebody (short sample) by Mississippi Big Beat

SENSATiONAL FRiENDLY BROTHERS

2011-12-14T16:47:00.000-05:00

The Sensational Friendly Brothers of Tallulah, Louisiana, perform "Heaven Is My Goal" at the St. James Missionary Baptist Church in Canton, Mississippi. Shot by Alan Lomax, John Bishop, and Worth Long, August 11, 1978. For more information about the American Patchwork filmwork, Alan Lomax, and his collections, visit http://culturalequity.org.

CHiCKEN DiAMOND - Factory Smoke

2011-12-11T09:50:00.000-05:00

You can find out more about our French monster homeboy
@ Facebook // Beast Records

LiTTLE JOE WASHiNGTON

2011-12-08T08:56:00.000-05:00

Little Joe Washington @ Online // Facebook

Thx Shane Speal!

MERRY XMAS from SCOTT H BiRAM!

2011-12-03T23:04:00.000-05:00

Bummed you missed out on those 5 bonus tracks from Biram's Bad Ingredients?

Me too. Scott's got yr Xmas present right HERE.

THE DEAD EXS

2011-12-02T11:12:00.000-05:00

@ Facebook // Reverbnation // Blog

The Dead Exs are a two-man rye-soaked crossroads from the NYC.
They make heavyhowlin'muddydirrrtyblues stomped down with rock n' grrravel.

TiNARiWEN on The Colbert Report

2011-12-01T15:59:00.000-05:00

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

SANFORD and SONS:: FRED SiNGS THE BLUES with B.B. KiNG

2011-11-30T18:59:00.000-05:00

Thanks to April from NowThisSound and Charlie from Old Gray Mule!

BONUS! Merle Haggard on The Waltons

BLACK DiAMOND HEAViES - ONE NiGHT ONLY! DEC.11.2007!

2011-11-28T11:45:00.000-05:00

You might have seen a couple videos from Deep Blues Festival 2009 of the a-fkn-mazing Black Diamond Heavies show (which features a reunion with guitar Buddha Mark "Porkchop" Holder as they cover Nutbush City Limits and Paul Wine Jones' Guess I Gone and Fucked It All Up!).

At 9pm EST on December 7th, 2011

SAViNG COUNTRY MUSiC

will be streaming the Black Diamond Heavies show in it's entirety.

Mark your calendars, kids!

LiTTLE JOE AYERS Brings that Mississippi Hill-Country Sound BACKATCHYA!

2011-11-26T22:02:00.003-05:00

Devil Down Records // Facebook // iTunes 

A conglomerate (kəŋˈɡlɒmərɨt/)
is a rock consisting of individual clasts within a finer-grained matrix that have become cemented together.

Earl "Little Joe Ayers is a conglomeration of Junior Kimbrough, R.L. Burnside, T-Model Ford, Son House, and Little Joe Ayers.
.44 (I Wore My .44 So Long) by DevilDownRecords

Backatchya was recorded on the front porch of the home of former R.L. Burnside guitarist Kenny Brown. It was recorded by Reed Turchi (Devil Down Records boss) and mixed in Memphis at the famed Ardent Studios. Ayers sounds like he's in the room with you as you listen.

Ayers brings a firm and strong, yet almost pretty, touch to the guitar. Where Junior Kimbrough got weird with one chord, R.L. Burnside was groovin' and dirty, and T-Model is slashin' and rubbing, Ayers' picking is tough and lovely. Ayers played bass for Kimbrough for years so covers of Junior abound on Backatchya, but played in Ayers' deft, well-picked style. Little Joe Ayers sounds best to me sitting at my desk, the volume not too high, so I can really hear him. Vinyl would be even better. It makes me listen to what he's playing and really hear just how good he is. But you have to be able to slow down, come sit and listen to him. I think you'll be moved.

Don't Leave Me Baby by DevilDownRecords

PS- Kudos to Devil Down Records. 

Each of their releases are worthy of your money.

R.L.'s EMERGENCY RESPONSE

2011-11-23T11:06:00.000-05:00

Thx Karen Abney Korn!

Mr. Waters gets his hair done.

2011-11-21T00:30:00.000-05:00

CONK!

Today In History: Bo Diddley Appears On Ed Sullivan - Nov. 20th 1955

2011-11-20T11:05:00.011-05:00

ViA

Born Ellas Otha Bates in McComb, Mississippi, in 1928, the man better known as Bo Diddley introduced himself and his namesake beat to the world on this day in 1955 with his television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Bo Diddley opened his appearance on Ed Sullivan with the eponymously titled song "Bo Diddley,". This now-famous number set portions of the children's rhyme "Mockingbird" to what is now known as "the Bo Diddley beat"—a syncopated rhythm in 4/4 time that is the foundation of such rock-and-roll classics as Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away"

and the Stangeloves' "I Want Candy,"

among countless others. Five months before Elvis Presley would make his famous Ed Sullivan debut, Diddley's performance gave many Americans their first exposure to rock and roll, though that term was not yet familiar to mainstream audiences. Neither was the Bo Diddley beat, yet within just a few seconds of the drum-and-maraca opening of "Bo Diddley,"

the live Ed Sullivan audience can be heard spontaneously clapping along to the distinctive rhythm in the surviving kinescope recording of the performance.

As Diddley would later tell the story, Ed Sullivan had expected him to perform only a cover version of "Tennessee" Ernie Ford's "Sixteen Tons"

and was furious enough with him for opening with "Bo Diddley" that Sullivan banned him from future appearances on his show.

Be that as it may, Diddley's appearance on this day in 1955 introduced a sound that would influence generations of followers. As blues-rock artist George Thorogood—who performed and recorded many Bo Diddley covers during his own career—once told Rolling Stone: "[Chuck Berry's] 'Maybellene' is a country song sped up... 'Johnny B. Goode' is blues sped up. But you listen to 'Bo Diddley,' and you say, 'What in the Jesus is that?'"

Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning

2011-11-19T18:28:00.000-05:00

Matthew 25 - NiV

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

¹ “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of them were foolish and five were wise. ³ The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. ⁴ The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. ⁵ The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

⁶ “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

⁷ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps.

⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

⁹ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

¹⁰ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

¹¹ “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

¹² “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

¹³ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

Dig The New Sound of DEADLY LO-Fi

2011-11-18T21:23:00.000-05:00

BOYD and RUTH MAY RiVERS

2011-11-18T09:22:00.000-05:00

R.L. Burnside's Sons do the Hambone

2011-11-18T09:14:00.000-05:00

R.L. BURNSiDE and Family: Boogie Instrumental - 1978

2011-11-18T09:05:00.000-05:00

R.L. Burnside with family at home in Independence, Mississippi, shot by Alan Lomax, Worth Long, and John Bishop in August, 1978

mp3

LONNiE PiTCHFORD - Diddley Bow Tune # 2 - 1978

2011-11-16T23:54:00.000-05:00

BELTON SUTHERLAND - Video Recorded by Alan Lomax - 1978

2011-11-16T23:52:00.000-05:00

SAM CHATMON - Songs and Interview Recorded By Alan Lomax - 1978

2011-11-16T23:45:00.000-05:00

JAMES LEG - Have To Get It On! - video

2011-11-16T13:28:00.000-05:00

SCOTT H BiRAM - BORN iN JAiL - Video

2011-11-15T21:34:00.000-05:00

MiSSiSSiPPI MEETS MANHATTAN: Robert Belfour and T-Model Ford Do New York

2011-11-15T15:41:00.000-05:00

An olde show review from two-thousand-ought-seven by Matt Rogers:

"The Black Keys? I ain't never met 'em. I ain't scared of 'em, though." When reminded that he had indeed met "those two white boys from Ohio," T-Model responded: "They play a different style of music. I'm playing the hard blues, and they can't play that. They play rock, and I don't like rock. They wants my style. Don't you think they don't now."

And so four days after the much-hyped Black Keys blasted a sold-out Mercury Lounge, Fat Possum label-mates T-Model Ford and Robert "Wolfman" Belfour gave the same venue a lesson in straight-up Mississippi blues.

The thickly sideburned Mr. Belfour, clad elegantly in slick brown suit, matching top hat and fat gold rings, assumed the catbird seat first. With the help of his "RPB"-initialed steel-string acoustic guitar and a heavy fuzztone amp, the elder Wolfman masterfully finger-picked originals from his latest release, "Pushin' My Luck," (e.g. "Black Mattie") and classic covers (e.g. "Baby Please Don't Go," which he declared was the first song he learned when he was 7) while howling about women who wouldn't cook after a hard day's work or had left yet again with a best friend.

Throughout the hour-long set the retired construction worker rocked forward and back, tapping his foot hard while he forcefully strummed, his booming hill-country sound — part Howlin' Wolf, part Lightnin' Hopkins — interrupted only by sips of J.D. chased by Bud, and a late busted string.

Hence, we were nicely awash with raw Mississippi lament when the 80-year-old T-Model Ford, dressed-down in jeans and ball cap, hobbled with his cane to center stage. Once sitting he adjusted his glasses, smiled and greeted the main inspiration for his music: "Hello, ladies. If y'all ain't never seen him, this is T-Model Ford. And I'm the blues man. And that's fo' sho'!" And with that he picked up his electric black Peavey Razor, which looked like it might have belonged to Eddie Van Halen when he was hot for teacher; smiled again at the twenty somethings lined in front; then signaled with a yelp for his longtime drummer Spam to begin the steady four-beat march of the duo's crunching boogie-woogie style.

This was music full of hootin' and hollerin', foot-stomping blues meant to help sweat any sorrow out of your system.

This was T-Model's brand of Viagra, as he wiggled and squirmed in his chair, massaging the metallic twang from his "Black Nanny" with nimble chords and finger-picking as if he were working one of his previous five wives, all the while his eyes gleaming and grinning at the ladies shaking it before him.

A shout of "It's Jack Daniels time!" punctuated the end of each song, and then he'd reach down for his cup. His two-hour set was relentless (and by his standards short; back home he regularly plays eight hours straight), filled with favorites like "Chickenhead Man" and "To the Left to the Right," and gradually wore down the younger generations until the self-proclaimed "tail-dragger from Greenville, Mississippi," was nearly dancing alone, still ready to get it on. And that's fo' sho'!

STEPPENWOLF - Ballcrusher + Pusherman

2011-11-14T12:10:00.001-05:00

HOWLiN' WOLF - Live - 1970

2011-11-14T11:41:00.002-05:00

Kudzu Jesus, Mississippi

2011-11-11T17:28:00.000-05:00

A little something I made last night...

MERRY CHRiSTMAS from JiMMY "DUCK" HOLMES and BROKE & HUNGRY RECORDS!

2011-11-10T21:07:00.000-05:00

Git Some!

Goddamn, Hell, It's HAMPER McBEE from Monteagle, Tennessee!

2011-11-07T13:21:00.000-05:00

I don't know how I managed to miss this guy but thanks to Jim Quine i'm all fixed up. Hamper McBee has an album available from Drag City. 

I just ordered it. Y'all should, too.

The Complete Record Album Covers of R. Crumb

2011-11-06T23:48:00.000-05:00

"Robert Crumb first began drawing record covers in 1968 when Janis Joplin, a fellow Haight Ashbury denizen, asked him to provide a cover for her album Cheap Thrills. It was an invitation the budding artist couldn't resist, especially since he had been fascinated with record covers-particularly for the legendary jazz, country, and old-time blues music of the 1920s and 1930s-since he was a teen. This early collaboration proved so successful that Crumb went on to draw hundreds of record covers for both new artists and largely forgotten masters. So remarkable were Crumb's artistic interpretations of these old 78 rpm singles that the art itself proved influential in their rediscovery in the 1960s and 1970s. Including such classics as Truckin' My Blues Away, Harmonica Blues, and Please Warm My Weiner, Crumb's opus also features more recent covers done for CDs. R. Crumb: The Complete Record Cover Collection is a must-have for any lover of graphics and old-time music."
IN STORES NOW. More info HERE

THUMBS CARLILLE Picks Blackberry Boogie with Lil' Liza Jane

2011-11-06T00:03:00.000-04:00

Via Kuzzen Wyldweed::

Evidently the singer is unknown.

Don't miss Thumbs Carlille at about 1:20

Leadbelly and Silas Green From New Orleans - Letterheads

2011-11-05T22:00:00.000-04:00

ViA

SCOTT H BiRAM - Victory Song - Live at Last.fm

2011-11-04T21:45:00.000-04:00

SCOTT H BiRAM - Just Another River - Live at Last.fm

2011-11-04T21:42:00.000-04:00

SCOTT H BiRAM - Truck Driver - Live at Last.fm

2011-11-04T16:10:00.017-04:00

The Denunciation of Ricky Skaggs From On High by Steve Scafidi

2011-11-04T16:02:00.000-04:00

Originally published in The Oxford American Magazine twelfth annual music issue.
I pity the fool that does not subscribe.

The Denunciation
of Ricky Skaggs
From On High
by Steve Scafidi

No more light strumming of your mandolin

and the whispered tone and the sap-

happy featherweight songs in my honor.

Ricky, no more treacly bullshit. I actually

rose up from the dead. Do you understand

what that means exactly? A God. A mother-

trucking god is who you are singing to. Did

Zeus get tickled with a zither and prance

on his tippy-toes like a little girl from outer

space? No. Did my Father get weepy little

valentines and thank-you notes for nothing

but pain and suffering for a thousand years?

He got hollering and screams and fists raised

at the sky. He got rockabilly eventually and

heavy metal and thrash. Listen to Bill Monroe.

He won't just kiss my ass. Ricky you have

suffered in your life enough to know better

than to sing that stuff. It pains me to hear it.

Stick to what hurts most and mean it. Cut open

something valuable and bleed it. Hang it

upside down in your yard and let it drain.

into the grass. My god Ricky I might have to

come down there and show you what I mean.

Don't make me. I got eyes like laser beams

and a voice like Ralph Stanley but deeper

down darker. No more sweetness Ricky.

You are not a bee. There is a broken down

burning house inside the soul and someone

in the window waves. It is me. Dammit

Ricky, do something. Sing something true

the way you used to. Heaven is not a given.

make a ladder of what happens to actually

matter to you-blood, strings, and the ear.

PiNK & FLOYD

2011-11-03T14:10:00.000-04:00

SONNY BOY NELSON - How You Want Your Rollin' Done (1978)

2011-11-03T14:02:00.000-04:00

Via LOMAX on YouTube

Sonny Boy Nelson aka Eugene Powell - WiKi

The Night James Brown Saved Boston - April 5th, 1968

2011-11-03T10:36:00.002-04:00

James Brown's show on April 5th, 1968 is credited with saving the city of Boston from full scale rioting following the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King the night before in Memphis. The gig had been scheduled for months but was cancelled by the city due to riots in the predominantly black area of Roxbury and South End.

City Councilman Tom Atkins pushed for the show to not only procede but to be televised via WGBH. Brown stood to lose $60,000 if the show was cancelled, and had a non-compete clause with a TV special, titled Man To Man, that he was filming at the time.

Mayor Kevin White wisely approved the show and agreed to meet Brown's financial requirements. The show went on, though attendance was only 2500 compared to the 15,000 expected, and was simulcast on WGBH. As a result Boston was largely spared the widespread damage and violence that occured in other large cities around the country.

From James Brown- Man To Man Tv Special James Brown was filming at the time of the Boston gig.

Here's the concert as broadcast in it's entirety tho the clips above are a better quality.

BOMBiNO on BBC's Later With Jules Holland

2011-11-02T16:21:00.000-04:00

EViL!

2011-11-01T12:06:00.000-04:00

''Somebody has been cashing checks and they've been bouncing back on us,'' ''And these people, the poor class of Negroes and the poor class of white people, they're getting tired of it. And sooner or later it's going to bring on a disease on this country, a disease that's going to spring from midair and it's going to be bad. It's like a spirit from some dark valley, something that sprung up from the ocean. . . . Like Lucifer is on the earth.'' -Howlin Wolf

HOWLiN' WOLF - Color Video of The Wolf in Action

2011-10-31T13:13:00.000-04:00

SCOTT H BiRAM cooks with BAD iNGREDiENTS

2011-10-31T12:32:00.000-04:00

@ Facebook // interwebs // Buy via Scott // Bloodshot Records // iTunes // Amazon

Scott H Biram's Bad Ingredients album is aptly titled. His most blues-based work, is also his most sonically dynamic and lyrically accomplished.

Demons seem loose-leashed, tempered, but no less vicious, no less snarling. Brother Biram's straight in control now and crackin' the whip.

Scott's roots grow deep and strong and his guitar work is at it's best here, concise, muscular and nimble. His stomp-box sounds like its made of basalt and iron wood. Biram's trusty '59 Gibson hollowbody has always been a weapon in his hands, throwing out dirt clods of distortion. The tone cuts like rusty jagged sharply-honed knives or touches like a dog's paw.

All that mess is refined here not only by Biram's relentless touring, but by his obvious comfort in his own studio which he uses now as an instrument, the fifth Biram if you will. Scott has never been skeered to broaden and challenge his blues/country/metal sonic palette but he's got it down to a science this round and his fans will happily line up and volunteer to take his medicine. Biram never delivers snake oil. He's 100% patent and potent.

Bad Ingredients is not sonically enhanced in any way that would not allow him to throw the same party live as he does in the studio, but Scott's a listener. As such, he can throw down his sound and reinforce it with floydian textures in the nearly epic fourth track, Victory Song or make it sound like he and his acoustic are sitting across from you on a moonlit back patio.

The slow, dirty blues of Born In Jail walks on hind legs with grace at dusk, scratching signs in the dust and spitting raw sapphire-toned leads. Biram's breakin' it down for those who came before, son.

Broke Ass tells a story you're awful gawddamn glad isn't yours, but you know when he sings, "yeah, come on down and take a look at my bad dream" that if it's Biram's, he'll somehow live through it.

Mojo Hand i'm totally diggin'. Biram likes taking chances, just as he has in past work with Black Diamond Heavies and them. Accompanied here by Austin's Walter Daniels on saxophone, this is classic Scott H Biram.
Hollerin', stompin, and gettin' nasty.
Y'all read the story behind the song right Here.

His cover of bluegrass master Bill Monroe's Memories Of You Sweetheart is plaintive and real. As it should be. Biram played in bluegrass outfits early on and it remains a powerful element of his style. The other cover here, Lightnin' Hopkins' Have You Ever Loved A Woman displays Biram's formidable and burly picking skills.

I gotta admit, Killed A Chicken Last Night is Biram 101. It's like he's covering himself, but doing it better than the original. Let that boy boogie-woogie. It's in 'im and its got to come out. Y'know, I don't think he's done an album without a chicken song or two. But he can always be trusted to put one song on the album that makes you say, "huh?" but you end up diggin' it anyway. Gotta respect that.

Black Creek Risin' is Biram's "I Asked For Water...," vs. Cool Drink of Water vs I Asked For Whiskey. Ain't a damn thing wrong with that, and that ain't sellin' nothin' short neither. It's straight up classic blues that'll make yr straightblues hatin' or lovin' pal turn and cock their head and say, "what's this?"

Hang Your head and Cry is, again, classic Biram.
A rompin' Stompin barnburner and barbeque, ya muthrs.

I don't know if Scott has been listening to some Dylan/Guthrie-related junk or what, but the lyrics continue to expand upon the growth we've seen with his last three albums. Musically he shines hard. There is a serious and effortless confidence here that is at once familiar, and inspiring.

Scott H Biram is like a quality self-built dirt-floored yard shed. Filled with all the tools you love. Old Loppers and big ol' saws from your Grandpa's tool box. A couple over-size wood-handled standard screw drivers that more than do the job. Your first vice-grips. Bags of rich, deeply fertilized and loamy dirt. Stacks of sacks of chicken feed. A box of those good red shop rags. But back behind the shed? Bad luck and trouble crawls in the dark through the scrub wood and grass, a dark bird calls it's lonesome song and the hard wind howls, carrying lost voices through the live oak.

I don't believe in best anything. But if I did, Scott H Biram's Bad Ingredients would be high on that list. Biram brings what he knows, and what he knows is that you don't get many chances. So you better have a good time, break some hearts and get broke. You damn sure better take it to the stage right and full on.

Scott H Biram more than deserves your money.
Send it to him and buy all of his stuff.

ZZ TOP ---> Fandango --> Back Door Medley.

2011-10-30T00:05:00.000-04:00

R.L. BURNSiDE - Coal Black Mattie - Live at a Como picnic

2011-10-29T19:48:00.002-04:00

JAMES BLOOD ULMER w/ALLMAN BROTHERS - I Asked For Water - 3.16.2010

2011-10-29T00:05:00.000-04:00

MiGHTY CLOUDS OF JOY - A Bright Side (sermonette)

2011-10-28T16:04:00.002-04:00

TERRAKAFT - Alghalem- Live

2011-10-26T12:58:00.000-04:00

ROBERT PLANT W/ JUSTiN ADAMS at Festival In The Desert: Win My Train Fare Home

2011-10-25T20:53:00.000-04:00

PURGATORY HiLL - iNViSiBLE PiSTOLS From the Forthcoming LOWEBOW FEST DVD

2011-10-24T19:34:00.000-04:00

Purgatory Hill // Crackerswamp Productions - Home of The Lowebow Fest // Nobrow Productions -Creators of fine quality moving pictures for you and for me

RiCH HALL's THE DiRTY SOUTH. A BBC Documentary on Hollywood's Exploitation of The South

2011-10-24T19:04:00.000-04:00

Via Matt Mudlow!

"Rich Hall sets his keen eye and acerbic wit on his homeland once again as he sifts truth from fiction in Hollywood's version of the southern states of the USA. Using specially shot interviews and featuring archive footage from classic movies such as Gone With The Wind, A Streetcar Named Desire and Deliverance, Rich discovers a South that is about so much more than just rednecks, racism and hillbillies."

Part 4, for some crazyass reason, is non-embeddable.
Go here.

SACRED HARP of HOBOKEN - Short Emmy-winning doc on 150 years of Sacred Harp/Shape Note Singing in Hoboken

2011-10-24T07:56:00.000-04:00

If you are interested in learning/hearing more about Sacred Harp/Shape note singing see my previous post HERE.

SPENCER MOORE

2011-10-23T20:33:00.000-04:00

Via Tompkins Square

OTHAR TURNER and The Rising Star Fife and Drum Band w/LUTHER DiCKiNSON

2011-10-19T13:13:00.000-04:00

mp3

MANCE LIPSCOMB TRiBUTE with SCOTT H BiRAM, WALTER DANiELS, MATT PURYEAR

2011-10-19T11:50:00.001-04:00

GUADALUPE PLATA! NEW SiNGLE OUT NOW! FREE DOWNLOAD AT BANDCAMP!

2011-10-19T11:27:00.002-04:00

Holy sweet Isla Mujeres!
You now have a reason to live another day!

The great Guadalupe Plata have a new single out and it's a free download from their Bandcamp page.

I've raved about these guys before, and their new single, Casino El Camino Parte 1 and Parte 2 is every bit as wicked as previous.

Speaking of previous, you can still snag their two albums for free as well from their Bandcamp page.

Go! Vamanos! Skedaddle! Git it!

By the way...check out these two videos which feature the music from the single!:

Guadalupe Plata - Casino El Camino (parte 2) from Toni Anguiano on Vimeo.

SCOTT H BiRAM - New Video of Scott's cover of Omie Wise

2011-10-19T09:57:00.001-04:00

Scott Biram has a deep catalog to choose from but for some reason his cover of Omie Wise (the version from his Rehabilitation Blues ep)  has always moved me. If I had to pick my 3 favorite Biram songs this would be on the list. He's a little older now, his voice a little richer, and he does a beautiful job with the song. 

Scott H Biram's new album Bad Ingredients is out now and, like all his albums, it's a must own.

LEADBELLY and WOODY GUTHRiE: Live on WNYC - 1940

2011-10-19T00:10:00.000-04:00

via!

LEADBELLY and WOODY GUTHRiE: Live on WNYC - 1940 -Free mp3 HERE 

JiM O'NEAL - Founder of Living Blues Magazine & Rooster Blues Records Has Cancer and No Insurance. Please Help!

2011-10-18T00:33:00.000-04:00

Jim O'Neal (second from left) with Bobby Plant

Jim O'Neal, the founder of Living Blues Magazine and the late great Rooster Blues Records has been diagnosed with Lymph cancer and is currently undergoing treatment. Like so many in the music industry, and blues in particular, Mr. O'Neal does not have insurance. You can help Mr. O'Neal and his family by sending a donation and helping to spread the word. It's good karma, baby!

A fund has been set up at

Commerce Bank in Kansas City.

Checks may be sent to:

Jim O'Neal Blues Fund,

P.O. Box 10334,

Kansas City, MO 64171.

You can also donate at www.paypal.com

to the account onealbluesfund@aol.com

Of course, musicians being who they are are always quick to help their own and a series of benefit shows are being arranged. If you live near any of these locations please show up for a night of great music for an even greater cause. The good that Jim O'Neal done for blues music and musicians can hardly be repaid. But here is your opportunity to try.

THE JIM O'NEAL BENEFIT CONCERT SERIES

OCT. 20, 2011

SURF CLUB, HYATTSVILLE, MARYLAND

With Memphis Gold and others

OCT. 28, 2011

KNUCKLEHEADS, KANSAS CITY, KANSAS Kenny Neal, Memphis Gold and others

NOV 19, 2011(date is tentative)

BUDDY GUY'S LEGENDS, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

Kenny Neal, Memphis Gold, Eddie Clearwater, Eddie Shaw, Billy Branch, Elmore James Jr., Nora Jean Bruso and others

For further details and confirmations of time and artists, please check

www.Stackhouse-Bluesoterica.blogspot.com

Junior Kimbrough. Pop to his kid.

2011-10-17T08:55:00.000-04:00

Beautiful photo of The master posted on Facebook

by his son, David Kimbrough Jr.

SEASiCK STEVE - Underneath a Blue and Cloudless Sky

2011-10-11T21:21:00.002-04:00

C.W. AYON - Music Of The Delta Played From The Desert

2011-10-08T23:27:00.001-04:00

@ Facebook // ReverbNation // CDbaby //

New Mexico's C.W. Ayon is a One-Man Band who is AKA the drummer for that Texas outfit Old Gray Mule.

He's got a great new album out called Ain't No Use In Moving. Ayon is a fine songwriter with a soulful voice that recalls the Black Crowes Chris Robinson, and a slide style that'd make any North Mississippi Mama proud. All the songs on the album are original except for a cool take on Junior Kimbrough's Feel So Bad.

He has a groove on bass drum and foot-operated snare so deep that it almost falls out of the pocket, yet at times is akin to a heartbeat. He doesn't let the fact that he's a one-man band particularly show or get in the way, and he shouldn't. He runs a great balance of solid, muscular riffs with a sexy, vigorous, and dextrous delivery. 

Somebody needs to pony up and get this kid a smart, sympathetic, recording engineer for his next album and let him run bad and nationwide. Dude's capable. Let's move.

C.W. gave me permission to post one song from each album but i'm posting two because y'all need to know.

C.W. Ayon - Ain't No Use In Moving - Walkin'- mp3

C.W. Ayon - Ain't No Use In Moving - You Make Me Feel Good - mp3
C.W. Ayon - Is What It Is - Things You Do - mp3
C.W. Ayon - Is What It Is - Call My Name - mp3
C.W. Ayon - Gone - Women - mp3
C.W. Ayon - Gone - Moan Song - mp3

LONNiE PiTCHFORD's Perfectly Unique Gravestone.

2011-10-07T00:39:00.001-04:00

Via the wonderful Ukeleleist Shelly Rickey

Lonnie Pitchford (October 8, 1955 – November 8, 1998) was an American blues musician and instrument maker from Lexington, Mississippi. He was notable in that he was one of only a handful of young African American musicians from Mississippi who had learned and was continuing the Delta blues and country blues traditions of the older generations.

In addition to the acoustic and electric guitar, Pitchford was also skilled at the one-string guitar and diddley bow, a one-string instrument of African origin.

If you look closely at the picture you will see a Diddley Bow permantly mounted to the right-hand side of his gravestone.

In this wonderful documentary by Alan Lomax called 'The Land Where The Blues Began' you can see and hear Lonnie Pitchford demonstrating his amazing technique on the Diddley Bow beginning at 3:58.

SCOTT H BiRAM - I WANT MY MOJO BACK - New Video from the New Album Bad Ingredients

2011-10-06T14:31:00.000-04:00

OLD GRAY MULE - A Day In Mississippi, A Night In Texas

2011-10-06T01:51:00.000-04:00

@ Facebook // G+ // OnLine // Twitter // Free mp3

"I pledge allegiance to the Groove, the whole Groove and nothing but the Groove, so help me R.L., T-Model, and Junior. Amen." - Old Gray Mule guitarist C.R. Humphrey

That other little ol' band from Texas, Old Gray Mule has whipped up a sweet new disc of odds, sods, seeds and dirty ends for their trip down under this month.

Comprised of ten tracks, including live recordings from their annual Junior Kimbrough Birthday Party, and four tracks with Mississippi's legendary Bill Abel, who has played guitar for Paul Wine Jones, Big George Brock, T-Model Ford, and others.

This tough lil' set will be available stateside at OGM gigs or you can give Charlie a holler when they get back home. You can also send yr digits to OZ and get the good folks at Stobie Sound to send you a copy.
Physical only.
No Downloads.
As it oughta be.

Old Gray Mule just straight get it.

They feel the humid North Mississippi vibe, shake it and push it thru their own hand-hammered and home-made south central Texas sieve, leaving in the gravel, grit, and groove. What else do y'all need?

MELiSSA SWiNGLE (Trailer Bride, The Moaners) & Laura King (The Moaners, Grand National) Talk about Hasil Adkins

2011-10-04T10:09:00.000-04:00

Clip from the forthcoming Hasil Adkins documentary My Blue Star:

R. CRUMB's Heroes Of The Blues

2011-10-02T00:39:00.000-04:00

ViA Metafilter

R. Crumb's Heroes of the Blues

In the 1980s, R. Crumb produced a set of trading cards called The Heroes of the Blues.

William Moore -- Raggin' the Blues

Peg Leg Howell -- New Jelly Roll Blues

Clifford Gibson -- Blues Without a Dime

Blind Blake -- West Coast Blues

Frank Stokes -- I Got Mine

Jaybird Coleman -- I'm Gonna Cross The River of Jordan Some O' These Days

Blind Willie Johnson -- Dark Was the Night

Leroy Carr & Scrapper Blackwell -- When The Sun Goes Down

Blind Lemon Jefferson -- See That My Grave Is Kept Clean

Curley Weaver & Fred McMullen -- Wild Cat Kitten

Whistler & His Jug Band -- Foldin' Bed

The Mississippi Sheiks -- He Calls That Religion

Rube Lacey -- Mississippi Jailhouse Groan

Skip James -- Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues

Bo-Weavil Jackson -- I'm On My Way To The Kingdom Land

Furry Lewis -- Judge Harsh Blues

Sam Collins -- My Road is Rough and Rocky

Ramblin' Thomas -- No Job Blues

Sleepy John Estes -- Someday Baby Blues

Cannon's Jug Stompers -- Minglewood Blues

Memphis Jug Band -- Coal Oil Blues

Big Bill Broonzy -- Worried Man Blues, Hey Hey, How You Want it Done

Roosevelt Sykes -- .44 Blues

Blind Gary Davis -- Death Don't Have No Mercy

Papa Charlie Jackson -- I'm Alabama Bound

Charley Patton -- High Water Everywhere, Part 1 & High Water Everywhere, Part 2

Buddy Boy Hawkins -- Awful Fix Blues

Barbeque Bob -- Mississippi Heavy Water Blues

Ed Bell -- Leaving Train Blues

Blind Willie McTell -- Broke Down Engine

Son House -- Death Letter Blues

Memphis Minnie -- If You See My Rooster (Please Run Him Home)

Mississippi John Hurt -- Stack O' Lee Blues

Tommy Johnson -- Cool Drink of Water Blues

Peetie Wheatstraw -- Four O'Clock in the Morning

Bo Carter -- My Baby

JAMMiN' THE BLUES (1944) Now In HD

2011-09-30T23:04:00.000-04:00

THiS MAY BE MY LAST TiME SiNGiNG - Raw African-American Gospel on 45 - 1957-1982

2011-09-27T10:59:00.002-04:00

Tompkins Square Records @ Facebook // Twitter // OnLine //

Willie Cotton - Stop Now ~ mp3

Elder Robert McMurray - Walk With Me ~ mp3

Prophet G Lusk - The Devil's Trying To Steal My Joy ~ mp3

With this straight up golden era, hard, raw, local gospel collection ( all tracks collected from 45s ) Tompkins Square cements their footing as one of the coolest labels in the country ( yeah, there are still some record labels around that matter. )

Just when you think it's all been mined, that America has given up the last Holy Ghost of gospel groups and testifying Deacons, along comes THiS MAY BE MY LAST TiME SiNGiNG - Raw African-American Gospel on 45 - 1957-1982. It's a thrilling three-disc collection that will knock out and rock out the hardcore fan, just as deeply as it will the virgin Gospel newcomer.

It's exciting to me as a total music geek that we still have some record labels that you can trust to put out a quality product. Tompkins Square Records is as well known known for their gorgeous packaging design as they are for their release of Frank Fairfield albums, a Polk Miller collection ( which I need! ), some acclaimed Charlie Louvin albums, and the amazing collection People Take Warning: Murder Ballads and Songs of Disaster 1913-1938, plus a bunch of other cool, eclectic stuff.

This beautiful set includes an incredibly broad variety of gospel styles within 72 tracks, a 23 page booklet that includes information about how the set was compiled, photos, and track by track annotation. What else could you want?

Do you find yourself sometimes needing
the healing power of serious gospel ?

Go HERE and get some!
Say Amen somebody.

SEASiCK STEVE - TREASURES

2011-09-26T19:48:00.002-04:00

The History Of Rock & Roll

2011-09-25T01:56:00.001-04:00

I'm taking a college course called The History Of Rock & Roll.

It's a lot tougher class than you'd think. But also a treat. I'll be reading seven books over the semester. The first down was Robert Palmer's Deep Blues.

It's the only one of the bunch I'd read before, but it had been at least ten years since I last read it. I discovered I should read it more often. Some of my fellow students had complaints about the book, but they were all history majors, I believe.

Anyway, I had to write a review about the book.

I got a C+. Which i'm actually quite happy with.

But it's been drawn to my attention that historical writing is not Creative Writing and I need to tighten up. As my Professor said (approximately), 'writing papers for history classe should be seen as writing with your Sunday best on'.
So I need to tone down the whateverthehellwordsalads and such.
If you are interested in reading my semi-occasionally-akward sentences and blah-de-blah
about the book Deep Blues you can take the jump to your pal April Fecca's blog,
Now This Sound Is Brave.

You can get the movie HERE
You can get the book HERE.

JERRY LEE LEWiS & SAM PHiLLiPS DiSCUSS RELiGiON

2011-09-23T00:42:00.006-04:00

Thanks to Dr. Michael Butler for the tip!

mp3! 

The source of this recording is allegedly the October 6, 1957 session for Great Balls Of Fire.  

MERRY CHRiSTMAS from BROKE & HUNGRY RECORDS!

2011-09-22T11:39:00.000-04:00

Coming soon on 7" Red Vinyl!

HOWLiN' WOLF on SHiNDiG!

2011-09-22T11:12:00.000-04:00

"This is where the soul of man never dies." - Sam Phillips

Via NPR:

"In 1965, The Rolling Stones, fresh from England, appeared on the ABC TV show Shindig. They had one condition: Their idol, Howlin' Wolf, had to be there, too. Sure enough, he was. A hulking black eminence, he stood at the microphone in a dark suit, his huge head sweating as he stabbed the air with his finger, shaking his hips salaciously before a bevy of white go-go dancers.

It's surely one of the most incongruous moments in American pop music. Music journalist Peter Guralnick, who says he reveres Howlin' Wolf, goes even further. He calls it one of the greatest cultural moments of the 20th century.

"What was so great about seeing Wolf on Shindig was it was in a sense reality imposing itself on this totally artificial setting," Guralnick says. "While I was a big fan of the Stones, it was altogether appropriate that they would be sitting at Wolf's feet. And that's what it represented. His music was not simply the foundation or the cornerstone; it was the most vital thing you could ever imagine."

BOYD and RUTH MAY RiVERS - Fire In My Bones via Lomax Archives

2011-09-21T13:23:00.000-04:00

mp3

DOODLE THROWER and FRiENDS - Swing Low Sweet Chariot via Lomax Archives

2011-09-21T13:10:00.000-04:00

SEASiCK STEVE - IT's A LONG LONG WAY

2011-09-21T09:40:00.002-04:00

OLDS SLEEPER is more than Plainspoken.

2011-09-21T09:26:00.001-04:00

@ BandCamp // Facebook // MySpace // Blog // SoundCloud

Olds Sleeper, Yr man of unknownness and mysteries known, has a new collection of songs available via Cracker Swamp (home to Husky Burnette who plays slide on Lost Highway). Elements of Nebraska, Sparklehorse, and Jim White coalesce towards the distant light to form songs familiar, intriguing, challenging, lovely and strong.

$8 w/free bonus album and etc

BUD SPiRES - EASY RiDiN' BUGGY

2011-09-20T14:05:00.002-04:00

NiMROD WORKMAN

2011-09-18T18:29:00.000-04:00

WiKi // Drag City Records

FARiS & TERAKAFT

2011-09-18T00:45:00.000-04:00

T-MODEL FORD at Nelsonville Music Festival

2011-09-16T15:52:00.000-04:00

Nice to see T-Model rockin' that GravelRoad T-Shirt!

BONUS:

the ALABAMA SHAKES!

2011-09-16T00:06:00.000-04:00

the Alabama Shakes are the best thing to come out of Alabama since Mike Cooley.

@ Facebook // @ BandCamp

THE SCiSSORMEN WiLL CUT YOU!

2011-09-13T20:46:00.000-04:00

FELA KUTi & BAND - LiVE At GLASTONBURY - 1984

2011-09-13T19:13:00.000-04:00

via legendary photographer
Glen E. Friedman's blog

THE BLUES and GOSPEL TRAiN - Chorlton Railway Station - 1963

2011-09-12T11:46:00.001-04:00

---> MR. SCOTT H. BiRAM - NEW RECORD---> Bad Ingredients <---October 11th!

2011-09-08T23:51:00.000-04:00

Your man Scott Biram has himself a pretty wicked blues album coming out on OCTOBER 11th.

You may go HERE for a free mp3 of Don'tcha Lie To Me. 

Here's the seemingly immortal Scott's tour schedule. I feel sorry for those who havn't seen him live and I'm envious of those who are about to. I'd drive a couple of hours to see Scott play. A great entertainer, outstanding musician, he's one of our best:

Scott H. Biram Tour Dates

Sep 8—Nashville, TN @ The End
Sep 9—Huntington, WV @ V Club
Sep 10—Pittsburgh, PA@ The Smiling Moose
Sep 11—Erie, PA @ The Crooked i
Sep 12—Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place
Sep 14—Rochester NY @ Bug Jar
Sep 15—Winooski, VT @ The Monkey House
Sep 16—Dover, NH @ Dover Brickhouse
Sep 17—Newport, RI @ Jimmy’s Saloon
Sep 18—Cambridge, MA @ TT The Bear's Place
Sep 19—New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
Sep 20—Brooklyn, NY @ The Rock Shop
Sep 21—Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Lanes
Sep 22—Washington, DC @ Black Cat Backstage
Sep 23—Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live Upstairs
Sep 24—Richmond, VA @ The Camel
Sep 25—Durham, NC @ Casbah
Sep 27—Charleston, SC @ The Charleston Pourhouse
Sep 28—Savannah, GA @ The Jinx
Sep 29—Atlanta, GA @ Star Bar
Sep 30—Birmingham, AL @ The Bottletree

Oct 1—Jackson, MS @ Duling Hall
Oct 2 – New Orleans, LA @ Chickie Wah Wah
Oct 3—Baton Rouge, LA @ Spanish Moon
Oct 5—Lafayette, LA @ Blue Moon Saloon
Oct 6—Houston, TX @ The Continental Club
Oct 7—Dallas, TX @ AllGood Café
Oct 8 —Austin, TX @ Continental Club +
Oct 14— Hunter, TX @ Riley’s Tavern +
Oct 27 —San Antonio, TX @ Sam’s Burger Joint +
Oct 28 —San Marcos, TX @ Triple Crown +
Oct 29—Austin, TX @ Scoot Inn +

Nov 5—Oklahoma City, OK @ VZD’s +
Nov 7—Denver, CO @ Bender’s Tavern +
Nov 8—Aspen, CO @ Belly Up Aspen +
Nov 10—Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge +
Nov 11—Alta, WY @ Trap Bar At Grand Targhee Resort +
Nov 12—Missoula, MT @ The Palace +
Nov 15—Vancouver, BC @ Media Club +
Nov 16—Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern +
Nov 17—Portland, OR @ Dante’s +
Nov 18—Arcata, CA @ Humboldt Brews +
Nov 19—San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill +
Nov 20—Los Angeles, CA @ The Satellite Club +
Nov 22—San Diego, CA @ Casbah +

Nov 23—Phoenix, AZ @ Rhythm Room +
Nov 26—Austin, TX @ The Mohawk +

+ Record Release shows

Hiram sez:

My SEPTEMBER EASTERN USA TOUR STARTS TOMORROW in Nashville, TN!!
(Part of this Eastern tour takes me across the South so keep an eye out for those dates on
www.scottbiram.com). Also after the East coast, and after a short down-time back in TX in
October, I'll be headed out on my

NOVEMBER WESTERN USA TOUR.

Joining me as support for the entire Western tour will be my old friend Joe Buck Yourself, and new friend Molly Gene One Whoaman Band... Please keep an eye on www.scottbiram.com as we add the November dates to the schedule...I'll have the new record with me on my West Coast tour. Sorry East coast, it's just not out yet, BUT I'll have LIMITED EDITION 7" VINYL SINGLES ON BOTH TOURS!! This includes one of the songs from the new record, "Hang Your Head & Cry" along with it's B-side studio outtake (not included on full length record), "Growing Old." Get 'em while we still have them.

The Hendrix of The Sahara :: BOMBiNO! BOMBiNO! BOMBiNO!

2011-09-08T16:46:00.001-04:00

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Omara "Bombino" Moctar belongs to the Tuareg people ( known to themselves as Kel Tamasheq ), a semi-nomadic people from the Sahel region of Africa, a desert swath that stretches across the whole of North Africa from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. Bombino was raised in the city of Agadez, an important stop on the ancient trans-Sahara trade route. During the regions Tuareg rebellions, rebel news was carried through the region via song so guitars were banned by the goverment. Young Bombino traveled with his guitar to Algeria and Libya to escape the violence. While living there with family and friends he absorbed the videos of artists like Jimi Hendrix and Dire Straits.

Sometime later his Group Bombino was recorded by Seattle-based found and field recordings label Sublime Frequencies, for it's Guitars From Agadez series. Bombino disavows these recordings, but I find them to be thrilling and just as satisfying as his new studio recording Agadez. The Group Bombino recording is raw, with the sound of a good quality field recording, which is what it is. The performances, however, carry the crisp immediate edge of a Sahel desert-style post-punk clash with the late night soul of North Mississippi's juke deep grooves.

One can imagine Bombino, head and face wapped in a Tamasheq scarf, a young Tuareg blasting away the dark nights bright stars with arid Jimi'd guitar shards as his band and friends rock and groove the Saharan sky away to dawn.

The performances on Bombino's new recording Agadez are, to the contrary, smooth, refined, and often laid-back, but certainly no less powerful, rocking, and groove-a-licious. The recording quality is gorgeous, and Bombino and his band bring a variety of song styles to the sessions, from plaintive guitar and singer pieces with simple clapping and backup vocals for accompaniment, to trance-like polyrhythmic jams, no doubt influenced by local/regional artists like Ali Farke Toure and his son Vieux Farke Toure, and of course Tinariwen, and others. But Bombino brings his own vibe deeply filtered by the desert sand and ancient city streets of Agadez.

( You should know there is one other Bombino album out there called Agamgam that makes a nice bridge between the two. )

Listen, if you've been wanting to try out some of the New Desert Blues, the new Africa sound, but don't know where to start: Bombino's Agadez is the album to get. It's tasteful, hot, daring, smooth, tight and deep, and it's one of the top audio highlights of the year.

There's a wealth of cool North African stuff out these days that you should be checking out: Tinariwen, Toumast, Tamikrest, Group Doueh, Tartit, Mariem Hassan, Group Inerane,Terakaft, Staff Benda Bilili, and several others. Not to mention the guys working a hybrid, like Marcus James and Justin Adams. Click the names for a taste.

If you want a much deeper roll in the Sahel, pick up Bombino's Agadez, and The Rough Guide To Desert Blues (various artists). With tracks from four to nine minutes, put 'em on loud and random, let your western ears acclimate, and get your booty leg shakin'.