‘Good News,’ like all Ronnie Earl & The Broadcaster records since their 1990 debut, is where intense soul and stylish exploits intersect.

This is how it started: Software-type person: “You’ve never seen Evil Dead?!!” You May Also Like: Les McCann – Invitation to Openness (1972; 2015 reissue) How the Isley Brothers Made Seals and Crofts’ ‘Summer Breeze’ Their Own

It probably goes without saying that, once you found yourself stranded on a distant island, there would be blues. And every kind, too — Delta, dirty, city, country, grease-popping, Texas crunching, let-it-all-hang low, you name it. You May Also Like: How Eric Clapton’s ‘Me and Mr. Johnson’ Made the CaseRead More

by Mark Saleski Ronnie Earl is one of the most soulful blues guitar players out there. Though he’s played with vocalists (Sugar Ray Norcia being my favorite), he specializes in instrumental recordings like the ones found on Hope Radio, a live recording put together at Wellspring Sound in Acton, Massachussetts.Read More

Bob Margolin discusses his role in Muddy Waters’ final sessions, takes on an early side from Chuck Berry, and then disagrees on one of our favorite solo deep cuts.

by Mark Saleski Sometimes, a writer can feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of releases that come along during the year. Look at those piles of CDs! It’s a fraction of what shows up on my desk over a 12-month timespan. As I said in my list of Jazz FavoritesRead More

Photo by Tommy Hazeltine by Mark Saleski It was many years ago, in the early 1990’s, that I had my first encounter with Ronnie Earl. He was playing at Raoul’s Roadside Attraction in Portland, Maine. I had never heard of him before but a friend of mine was sure thatRead More

They haven’t taken more than a week off since Nixon’s first term. They’ve withstood disco, fathering a rafter-shaking, swing-blues style that saw its own too-fey-by-half revival. (Did you ever notice that all those bands a few years back had names with the word Daddy in them?) So it is thatRead More