by Pico Several years ago I read an article interviewing Robert Cray. In it he was asked about which up and coming blues artists he was listening to and he mentioned Eric Bibb and Corey Harris. Being a fan of Mr. Cray, I naturally had to check out these aspiringRead More

by Pico When you look at the blues scene today, some of the best out there can do one or two things well. Studebaker John, however, is a quadruple threat. He can compose, sing, play guitar and play blues harp, and do all of these things better than most. TheRead More

Much like jazz, most young people get introduced to the blues from artists who mix it with a more mainstream type of music, which usually means rock. Twenty years ago Stevie Ray Vaughan’s music was the gateway to the straight blues while the young Jonny Lang led the way thereRead More

“Lovin’ Cup” illustrated a passion for Paul Butterfield long before Robben Ford released a celebrated album in tribute to the late bluesman.

by S. Victor Aaron With so many women blues singers patterning themselves after Bessie Smith or Koko Taylor, Rory Block is one of the rare ones in modern times (aside from the late Jo-Ann Kelly) who is more inspired by the bluesmen of pre-War blues, like Charley Patton, Robert JohnsonRead More

If you recall how the Fabulous Thunderbirds sounded early on, before “Tuff Enuff” and all that, they were a throwback to the vintage blues-rock bands. Not of the sixties, mind you, but of the fifties. Back in the day when rock ‘n’ roll had just spun off of the electricRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Most bluesmen sing the blues with sadness, resignation or even celebration. Not Otis Taylor. He’s got the blues and he’s pissed about it. You May Also Like: Otis Taylor, “Cold at Midnight” from Hey Joe Opus / Red Meat (2015): One Track Mind Otis Redding’s “DockRead More

by Nick DeRiso Throat cancer got Sam Myers today, all the sadder since he was nothing if not this throaty, memorable blues singer and harpist. A towering, nearly blind seer, Myers (almost always with Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets as his accompaniment) used to practically burn down the stage atRead More

It’s hard to put a label on Aaron Neville’s music. Even, as we saw in this interview, for Aaron Neville himself.

by Nick DeRiso While the performances on “Johnny Shines and Robert Lockwood,” from Shreveport, Louisiana’s Paula Records, are first-rate, unfortunately the sound quality early on is spotty. Some of the source material was slightly damaged on the Shines sides, resulting in a couple of gurgly spots where the sound fallsRead More