With Koko Taylor’s sassy wailing, “Merry, Merry Christmas” provides a great excuse to sway to some prime, funky electric Chicago blues done right by one of its living legends.

by Pico A couple of weeks ago we looked at a band who at times sound like a virtual clone of Yes in their prime. This time, we spotlight a musical group who has taken mimicking others to an whole ‘nother level. Mickey Melchiondo and Aaron Freeman, aka Dean andRead More

by Pico In My Hallowed Opinion, it doesn’t matter much what kind of music it is, if it’s created and executed well, it’s worth listening to. That’s why you don’t have to like crooners to appreciate Sinatra. Or get into reggae to respect Bob Marley. That’s why even though IRead More

Alright, confession time. There are large areas of the musical landscape I listen to pretty regularly but haven’t written about and probably never will. And there’s various reasons for that. For instance, popular releases are bound to be well covered elsewhere, adding my thoughts to it just seems redundant. ThenRead More

by Pico Writing about underpublicized blueswoman Rory Block has got me thinking about another blues lady who needs no introduction at all. Everyone knows and respects Bonnie Raitt so much that her gender has long ago ceased to raise questions as to whether she can play with the big boys.Read More

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

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 Pico Ray Charles had been such a fixture on the American music scene for so long, it’s still hard to reconcile the fact that he’s been gone for over two years, now. True, it’s been a long time since he had a bona fide hit but his presence permeatedRead More

by Pico It was a tough call to make: do I pimp Papa Mali’s entire 1999 release Thunder Chicken or just quickly gush over just one of the tracks? There’s certainly enough tasty bits in Chicken to justify the full unpaid advertisement (and come to think of it, I alreadyRead More