Over the course of the striking, stripped-down Medicine, former Detroit autoworker Solomon King returns to that moment when the blues moved inexorably away from the uplift that defined gospel music, and ultimately toward rock ‘n’ roll and then hip hop. You May Also Like: How B.B. King Left Us WithRead More

A pioneer as just the third African American woman to make a phonograph recording back in the 1920s, Edith Wilson later fell on hard times — and was reduced to appearing through the mid-’60s (and quite anonymously) in the first Aunt Jemima TV commercials. You May Also Like: Cassandra Wilson’sRead More

Los Lobos guitarist/accordian player and all around musical polyglot David Hidalgo got together with vocalist Mike Halby (Canned Heat, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers) to create this fantastic chunk ‘o blues. You May Also Like: Los Lobos – ‘Native Sons’ (2021)

by Derrick Lord I’ll never forget my first night at a “real bar” when I turned legal. There used to be this place called Daddy Rawshucks Oyster Bar, which was the typical cool joint so common then and so rare now. No corporate logo needed. I was legal anyway butRead More

Patrick Boissel’s Alive Natural Sound record company, an outfit he founded in 1994, has become a haven for music acts in the realms of garage rock, punk, power pop, and just about any band that plays the blues with bluster and the volume up at 10. It’s the smaller labelsRead More

by Derrick Lord It has long been the first trap any musician must jump once they hit it big. A successful record means a lot of people hear your music and from that point on you have a decision to make You May Also Like: Greg ‘Stackhouse’ Prevost – UniversalRead More

His name is linked forever with the town, and the sound, of Memphis. But Booker T. Jones’ influence moves beyond Beale, into hip hop and today’s rhythm-and-blues — something that’s underscored on The Road from Memphis You May Also Like: No related posts.

by Tom Johnson My dad introduced me to Robert Cray long ago and, even into a new century, little had changed with Cray: He was still putting out dependable, if unspectacular, albums of his smooth brand of blues — a sound that fills in that overlooked category of music thatRead More

The 32nd annual Blues Museum Awards ceremony was held Thursday night at the Memphis Cook Convention Center. Produced by the Memphis-based Blues Foundation, the event belonged to Buddy Guy. You May Also Like: Denise LaSalle, Soul-Blues Belter (1939-2018): An Appreciation How Levon Helm Turned ‘Dirt Farmer’ Into a Rootsy, ThrillingRead More

Dominated by a dreamy wah-wah from guitarist Kyle Sclafani, Mia Borders’ “Try Me On” initially brings to mind all of the big-hat-wearing, too-tall-bootsy joys of 1970s funk. When her lyric, which starts out sexy and tough, gives way to Adam Matasar’s throwback turn on the Fender Rhodes, the lava-lamp lightningRead More