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ERIC BIBB
“CONTINUES TO WOO MUSIC FANS AROUND THE WORLD”
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ED, ER
Have we produced another winner?
“May is arguably the biggest month in the international Blues calendar, with The Blues Foundation announcing their winners at the illustrious Blues Music Awards ceremony - this year being the 29th anniversary for the annual event, and the first to be staged in Mississippi...”
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COVER FEATURE…
ERIC BIBB
GROWING PLEASURES
(INTERVIEW: RHYS WILLIAMS & DARREN HOWELLS)
“Every time I hear the new record, my soul shouts for joy! That's how pleased I am with the way it sounds and what it has to say. With ‘Diamond Days’, I felt that I had succeeded in consolidating my various influences into a personal style. I feel that the new record, ‘Get Onboard’, is an even stronger expression of that personal style.”
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ALEX TINTINALLI
TALENTED GUITARIST ENJOYS EARLY REWARD
(INTERVIEW: MERV OSBORNE)
“I play guitar when I wake up in the morning, and when I come home from school pretty well everyday, and any other time I can. I have never had a problem getting my school work done and playing my guitar. I usually attend a local jam one or two nights during the week. So far so good with my school marks."
FRUTELAND JACKSON
IT’S THOSE THAT CAN DO THAT TEACH
(INTERVIEW: BILLY HUTCHINSON)
“The purpose of the Blues In The Schools programmes is to create a deeper appreciation, and a greater awareness of Blues music. The young kids, they don't really care when W.C. Handy was born; they just want to hear some boogie-woogie, so I tell stories.”
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JAMES BLOOD ULMER
A FRESH CHALLENGE
(INTERVIEW: CAROL BORRINGTON)
“I think the Blues needs to be stripped down and the people who have participated in the Blues, who have taken it away from its original state, they need to be extracted. The Blues is something cultural; it's about a people and a personal situation, to me. It needs to always exist, but it doesn't need to exist as it is.”
THE MALCHICKS
GET THE BLUES AGAINST ALL ODDS
(INTERVIEW: ANDY SNIPPER)
“To be a true musician you have to be driven by what you love and what means something to you - not purely by what is commercial. That is why we're playing the Blues and not modern pop.”
ASH GRUNWALD
UNIDENTIFIED BLUESMAN
(INTERVIEW: BILLY HUTCHINSON & DARREN HOWELLS)
“Not many of my fans are Blues listeners. At the end of the day, it's about making music. The labels are something we use to try to help us understand it. I tend to talk about Howlin' Wolf and Son House, and other guys, at the gigs and sometimes fans end up checking the stuff out and digging it.”
DOWNCHILD
A WORTHY CONTRIBUTION
(INTERVIEW: JOHN QUINLEY)
"When I started my band thirty-nine years ago, the only real Blues scene, that I was aware of, was in Chicago, and I guess the money was so bad there that a lot of those bands came to Toronto whenever they had a chance. The money must have been better because we used to see people like Muddy Waters, B.B. King, James Cotton, Albert King, Luther Allison, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells."
GINA SICILIA
HAS BEEN LIVING THE HIGH LIFE
(INTERVIEW: KEVIN WHARTON)
“I am a young woman in a business that is male-dominated. This is true. What disturbs me, as it does most Blues fans, is that there are a good share of experienced women and men in the business, but few young Blues musicians looking to enter it.”
JOHN HAMMOND
DROPPING THE NAMES
(INTERVIEW: NORMAN DARWEN)
“John Lee Hooker and I met in 1963 at the Newport Folk Festival. It was my first big gig ever. I'd imagined John being seven feet tall. Much to my surprise, there was a real-life human being, about five foot five or whatever. A real nice guy, and when he opened his mouth to sing, it was like…forever.”
VICTOR BROX
QUICK Q&A
(INTERVIEW: STEVE NICHOLSON)
“The person that I really got on well with was Little Walter, which was surprising as he did not get on with people. We had some great times and he was an excellent guitar player, as well.”
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PLUS! Don’t forget all the regulars!
MARSEILLE FIGS ARE
GETTIN’ THE BLUES
‘MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE’ (Chuck Berry), ‘ALABAMA’ (John Coltrane), ‘CORINA, CORINA’ (Freddy Fender): “The track's in Spanish, and Fender's beautiful, high and lonesome voice floats over a low-slung guitar figure, a lumbering bass and some simple but subtly accented hand percussion.” (J. Maizlish)
“EASE THOSE BLUES,”
decrees Gareth Hayes, “with ‘When Negroes Walked The Earth’”
NOW, BEFORE WE FORGET…
MEMPHIS MINNIE
“Whilst Beale Street was one of the very few places where women could perform in public, women were valued on the street only alongside whisky and cocaine, and like most, Minnie had to turn to prostitution in order to earn enough to survive. She charged $12 for her services, a premium rate at the time.”
COVINGTON’S ART, PART 4
BLIND WILLIE JOHNSON
"Using raw materials, I try to project a reverence, not only for the cultural/historical aspects of my subjects but for the integrity of the individuals, as well."
NEVER FORGET
Blues artists that have sadly left us
JEFF HEALEY, BUDDY MILES, FRANCIS CLAY, SCHOOLBOY CLEVE and CALVIN OWENS.
CD REVIEWS
Listening for your Blues lovin’ ears
The most COMPREHENSIVE Blues review section you’re likely to find anywhere! In for review this issue: CHRIS REA, TOM MANSI & THE ICEBREAKERS, ERIC SARDINAS AND BIG MOTOR, HONEYBOY EDWARDS, THE KILLS, NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS, SMOKIN' JOE KUBEK & BNOIS KING, CATFISH KEITH, C.R. AVERY, FREE, THE BLACK KEYS, RON HACKER, TAB BENOIT, JACK BRUCE, ROBIN TROWER, B.B. KING, NICKY MOORE AND THE BLUES CORPORATION, MIKE BLOOMFIELD, JOHN-ALEX MASON, SON OF DAVE, DANI WILDE, SEAN COSTELLO, DANNY BRYANT’S REDEYEBAND, TAJ MAHAL, LITTLE MILTON, THE YARDBIRDS, THE DIRTBOMBS, JEFF HEALEY, BLACK LIPS, ROBERT CRAY, NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS, THE BLACK CROWES, THE MUSTANGS and many, many more…
DVD REVIEWS
Releases with a Blues vision
JOHN MARTYN, PAPA GEORGE, CARLOS SANTANA and more…
GOT LIVE
Artists keeping the Blues alive
CHRIS REA, BETH ROWLEY, GEMMA RAY, COCO MONTOYA, KYLA BROX, BUDDY WHITTINGTON, ERIC SARDINAS, PEGGY SUE AND THE PIRATES, JOE BONAMASSA, IAN SIEGAL, THE BLACK KEYS, THE BLACK CROWES, MATT SCHOFIELD, THE FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS, THE PRETTY THINGS, IAN PARKER, SEASICK STEVE and more…
FESTIVAL FEVER
Events that have helped showcase the Blues
BUTLINS ROCK AND BLUES and BOOGALOO BLUES.
(Acts/artists featuring include MAGGIE BELL, JOHN O’LEARY, KYLA BROX, DR FEELGOOD and many more)…
HAPPENIN’
Latest news from our Blues world
So what has been going on in the Blues world (both here in the UK and further away) in the last two months – well get a reminder (or find out) here…featured in the news this issue are CANDYE KANE, BLACK DIAMOND HEAVIES, JOOLS HOLLAND, PINETOP PERKINS, BEYONCE KNOWLES, ELVIN BISHOP, LITTLE WALTER, WALTER TROUT, DAVE ARCARI, THE HOAX, IAN SIEGAL, MICK HUCKNALL, SOLOMON BURKE, KIM SIMMONDS, BOB HALL, THE PACK A.D., NAUGHTY JACK, ANDY FAIRWEATHER LOW, CHICKEN SHACK and many more…
BLUE BLOOD
Unsigned acts on their own Blues mission
JOHNNY “HOTTUB” KRIER and THUNDERBIRD KINGSLEY are in the spotlight this issue… “The album, 'Thunderbird Kingsley', released in September of 2007, is an abridged collection of recordings done during live performances; in kitchens, basements, studio spaces and hotel rooms from Indiana to Nevada. In the recordings, one can hear dogs barking, floors creaking, amps humming and space heaters moaning behind the music.” (Brandon Jaynes)
NET THE BLUES
Blues for nowt
THE BLACK LOVES, TANTRUM and more…
FANS FEEDBACK
Share your thoughts with fellow Blues lovers!
We always want to hear what you think and you certainly do tell us…
“I am becoming slightly disappointed at the lack of opportunity to see some of the real still-living legends of the Blues here in the UK. It is rare that we get to see the greats like Jimmy Dawkins, Jimmy Johnson, Magic Slim, Lurrie Bell, and several other exponents of the Blues…”
Tell us what you think!
When you've finished reading this issue, why not send us a letter to let us know your thoughts? E-mail your views on anything related to the mag, or the Blues scene in general, to: mail@bluesmatters.com.
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