WANDA JACKSON SUPPORT SLOT PLANNED OCT 15
Grace Askew – the Tennessee Tumbleweed – will launch a fall headlining
tour amidst raves from SPIN, Rolling Stone, Yahoo! Music, LA Magazine,
and beyond. It will include an October 15 concert opening for Wanda
Jackson.
Most recently, in a review of 'Scaredy Cat' in the September issue of
Relix Magazine, Jeff Tamarkin writes, "Grace Askew, on Scaredy Cat, is
some kind of moonshine-soaked cross between Wanda Jackson, Howlin’ Wolf
and one mean, coiled-up rattlesnake."
Grace Askew Fall Tour:
Oct 03 - Windy City Grille - Como, MS
Oct 04 - Bar DKDC - Memphis, TN
Oct 09 - Beat Kitchen - Chicago, IL
Oct 10 - Nippersink Music and Arts Fest - Mundelein, IL
Oct 10 - Loaded Buffalo - Mundelein, IL
Oct 12 - Rozz-Tox - Rock Island, IL
Oct 15 - The Dakota - Minneapolis, MN (with Wanda Jackson)
Oct 16 - Rich's Bar and Grill @ Russell's - Annandale, MN
Oct 17 - Brew Ales & Eats - Perham, MN
Oct 26 - Pony Bar - Pony, MT (with Montana Rose)
Oct 28 - The Alibi Pub -Laramie, WY
Oct 30 - Lion's Lair - Denver, CO
Oct 31 - Lost Love Saloon - Red River, NM
Nov 05 - The Cowgirl BBQ - Santa Fe, NM
Nov 07 - Pecos Flavors Winery - Roswell, NM
Nov 08 - The Blue Light - Lubbock, TX
Nov 13 - Minglewood Hall - Memphis, TN (with The Dirty Guv'nahs)
Nov 18 - Mucky Duck - Houston, TX
Nov 22 - The Booksellers at Laurelwood - Memphis, TN
Nov 22 - The Continental Club Austin - Austin, TX
Nov 30 - The Frog Pond - Silverhill, AL
Monday, September 29, 2014
Thursday, September 25, 2014
VISIT TO HANK WILLIAMS MUSEUM IN MONTGOMERY CHANGES JOE FLETCHER’S LIFE, INSPIRES NEW SONG “HAINT BLUE CADILLAC”
HANK I’S “RAMBLIN’ MAN” PROVIDES CREED FOR NEW ALBUM ‘YOU’VE GOT THE WRONG MAN’ (OCTOBER 7) AS ROLLING STONE RUNS PREVIEW
On Joe Fletcher’s first tour through Alabama, he stopped at the Hank Williams Museum in Montgomery. “I was stopped in my tracks by the pale blue Cadillac just a few feet in front of me. This, of course, is the car that Hank passed away in somewhere between Bristol, VA and Oak Hill, WV in the first few hours of the first day of 1953,” he says. He examined the car, the stitching on the suits, the photographs and handwritten lyrics. “Not one other patron entered the museum over the next hour or so,” he remembers.
Fletcher goes on, “As I circled back through towards the entrance, I stood and stared a little longer at Thee Cadillac. Suddenly ‘Ramblin' Man’ came on over the speakers. I had long identified with this song as a declaration of his devotion to a risky way of life, a way of life that baffles and alienates those with more traditional values. Hank explains here that he doesn't have a choice in this calling and that it's not important that anyone else give their blessing. He asks only for understanding from those that matter to him. I could never describe the experience I had over those few minutes, but I can tell you it changed my life forever.”
“Haint Blue Cadillac,” recorded solo electric, was written a year later, portraying the ghost of Hank accompanying Joe for a drink at a local tavern. Fletcher says, “The only tribute I could possibly pay that morning was try to capture the essence of it in a song. This tale is not what happened, nor its it what I saw that day. Something was still nagging at me to put a frame around that very special morning.”
Last week, Rolling Stone previewed ‘You’ve Got the Wrong Man,’ out October 7 on Wrong Reasons Records, saying, “With a narrative writing style that eschews traditional structure in favor of twist-and-turn tales, Joe Fletcher's songs are like the musical version of Lombard Street: they wind and roll with steep changes, always ending with a birds-eye view that suddenly organizes it all into one delicate vision. The Rhode Islander-turned-Nashvillian's words flow more like folk poetry than verse-chorus status quo, picking on a honky-tonk spirit with a Tom Waits heart.”
Tour dates are here.
On Joe Fletcher’s first tour through Alabama, he stopped at the Hank Williams Museum in Montgomery. “I was stopped in my tracks by the pale blue Cadillac just a few feet in front of me. This, of course, is the car that Hank passed away in somewhere between Bristol, VA and Oak Hill, WV in the first few hours of the first day of 1953,” he says. He examined the car, the stitching on the suits, the photographs and handwritten lyrics. “Not one other patron entered the museum over the next hour or so,” he remembers.
Fletcher goes on, “As I circled back through towards the entrance, I stood and stared a little longer at Thee Cadillac. Suddenly ‘Ramblin' Man’ came on over the speakers. I had long identified with this song as a declaration of his devotion to a risky way of life, a way of life that baffles and alienates those with more traditional values. Hank explains here that he doesn't have a choice in this calling and that it's not important that anyone else give their blessing. He asks only for understanding from those that matter to him. I could never describe the experience I had over those few minutes, but I can tell you it changed my life forever.”
“Haint Blue Cadillac,” recorded solo electric, was written a year later, portraying the ghost of Hank accompanying Joe for a drink at a local tavern. Fletcher says, “The only tribute I could possibly pay that morning was try to capture the essence of it in a song. This tale is not what happened, nor its it what I saw that day. Something was still nagging at me to put a frame around that very special morning.”
Last week, Rolling Stone previewed ‘You’ve Got the Wrong Man,’ out October 7 on Wrong Reasons Records, saying, “With a narrative writing style that eschews traditional structure in favor of twist-and-turn tales, Joe Fletcher's songs are like the musical version of Lombard Street: they wind and roll with steep changes, always ending with a birds-eye view that suddenly organizes it all into one delicate vision. The Rhode Islander-turned-Nashvillian's words flow more like folk poetry than verse-chorus status quo, picking on a honky-tonk spirit with a Tom Waits heart.”
Tour dates are here.
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
“AMERICANA MASTER” (NASHVILLE SCENE) DOM FLEMONS TO PERFORM AT MADISON SQUARE PARK OCTOBER 4, SUBCULTURE OCTOBER 11, AND CITY WINERY CABINET OF WONDERS (NPR)
The American Songster Dom Flemons’ October tour will include three performances in NYC:
* October 4 in Madison Square Park
* October 11 at SubCulture
* and October 24 as part of the Cabinet of Wonders at City Winery, also featuring Eric Andersen, Mac McCaughan (of Superchunk), Eugene Mirman, Dani Shapiro, and Sarah Vowell.
Cabinet of Wonders has been picked up by NPR as a syndicated program and is hosted by Wesley Stace.
Flemons last performed in NYC at Lincoln Center Out of Doors in August. He earlier discussed what it means to be the American Songster in an extended interview with Terry Gross on NPR Fresh Air.
A founding member of the GRAMMY-winning, Newport Folk Festival-playing Carolina Chocolate Drops, Flemons lived in NYC until last year, when he made the move back to North Carolina. Here’s what others are saying about the new album ‘Prospect Hill,’ which features a guest spot from New Yorker Guy Davis:
“Exceptional.”
-Robin Denselow, The Guardian (UK), July 28, 2014
“Unforgettable.”
-Clive Davis, The Times (UK), July 25, 2014
“Flemons’ harmonica-heavy, foot-tapping folk makes for the perfect hot summer soundtrack.”
-Dacey Orr, Paste, June 2, 2014
“This is interracial hoedown music, irresistibly delivered with a wink and a strut, and it sounds unlike anything else on the market today.”
-John Morthland, Wondering Sound / eMusic, July 25, 2014
“Dom Flemons satisfied an old-time craving.”
-Chris Parton, CMT Edge, June 4, 2014
“A mix of traditional and original songs that explore different moods and strains of Americana… from both the head and the heart.”
-James Reed, Boston Globe, June 26, 2014
* October 4 in Madison Square Park
* October 11 at SubCulture
* and October 24 as part of the Cabinet of Wonders at City Winery, also featuring Eric Andersen, Mac McCaughan (of Superchunk), Eugene Mirman, Dani Shapiro, and Sarah Vowell.
Cabinet of Wonders has been picked up by NPR as a syndicated program and is hosted by Wesley Stace.
Flemons last performed in NYC at Lincoln Center Out of Doors in August. He earlier discussed what it means to be the American Songster in an extended interview with Terry Gross on NPR Fresh Air.
A founding member of the GRAMMY-winning, Newport Folk Festival-playing Carolina Chocolate Drops, Flemons lived in NYC until last year, when he made the move back to North Carolina. Here’s what others are saying about the new album ‘Prospect Hill,’ which features a guest spot from New Yorker Guy Davis:
“Exceptional.”
-Robin Denselow, The Guardian (UK), July 28, 2014
“Unforgettable.”
-Clive Davis, The Times (UK), July 25, 2014
“Flemons’ harmonica-heavy, foot-tapping folk makes for the perfect hot summer soundtrack.”
-Dacey Orr, Paste, June 2, 2014
“This is interracial hoedown music, irresistibly delivered with a wink and a strut, and it sounds unlike anything else on the market today.”
-John Morthland, Wondering Sound / eMusic, July 25, 2014
“Dom Flemons satisfied an old-time craving.”
-Chris Parton, CMT Edge, June 4, 2014
“A mix of traditional and original songs that explore different moods and strains of Americana… from both the head and the heart.”
-James Reed, Boston Globe, June 26, 2014
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
JOE FLETCHER JOINS BILL WITH LUCINDA WILLIAMS, THE LONE BELLOW, LINDA PERHACS, JACKSON BROWNE, MANY MORE FOR NEWPORT FOLK FEST’S WAY OVER YONDER SEPTEMBER 26
ROLLING STONE PREVIEWS FLETCHER’S “DELICATE VISION [AND] FOLK POETRY” OF ‘YOU’VE GOT THE WRONG MAN,’ OUT OCT 7
Joe Fletcher will perform Friday at Way Over Yonder, presented by Newport Folk Festival, on the Carousel Stage at Santa Monica Pier at 6:40pm. He joins an all-star bill featuring Lucinda Williams, The Lone Bellow, Linda Perhacs, Jackson Browne, and many others at the two-day festival.
Last week, Rolling Stone previewed his new album ‘You’ve Got the Wrong Man’ (October 7) and set at Americana Music Fest, saying, “With a narrative writing style that eschews traditional structure in favor of twist-and-turn tales, Joe Fletcher's songs are like the musical version of Lombard Street: they wind and roll with steep changes, always ending with a birds-eye view that suddenly organizes it all into one delicate vision. The Rhode Islander-turned-Nashvillian's words flow more like folk poetry than verse-chorus status quo, picking on a honky-tonk spirit with a Tom Waits heart.”
Meanwhile, Paste Magazine premiered “I Never (Reprise),” which features a chorus of his Nashville-based friends including John McCauley of Deer Tick.
Joe Fletcher will perform Friday at Way Over Yonder, presented by Newport Folk Festival, on the Carousel Stage at Santa Monica Pier at 6:40pm. He joins an all-star bill featuring Lucinda Williams, The Lone Bellow, Linda Perhacs, Jackson Browne, and many others at the two-day festival.
Last week, Rolling Stone previewed his new album ‘You’ve Got the Wrong Man’ (October 7) and set at Americana Music Fest, saying, “With a narrative writing style that eschews traditional structure in favor of twist-and-turn tales, Joe Fletcher's songs are like the musical version of Lombard Street: they wind and roll with steep changes, always ending with a birds-eye view that suddenly organizes it all into one delicate vision. The Rhode Islander-turned-Nashvillian's words flow more like folk poetry than verse-chorus status quo, picking on a honky-tonk spirit with a Tom Waits heart.”
Meanwhile, Paste Magazine premiered “I Never (Reprise),” which features a chorus of his Nashville-based friends including John McCauley of Deer Tick.
Monday, September 22, 2014
DOM FLEMONS ANNOUNCES TOUR DATES SUPPORTING OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW, ON TOUR NOW WITH POKEY LAFARGE AS SUPPORT AND EMCEE, HEADLINING IN OCTOBER
MUSIC CITY EMBRACES DOM FLEMONS
The American Songster Dom Flemons has thirty tour dates this fall, in September with Pokey LaFarge on the revue-style Central Time Tour, headlining in October, and newly announced dates in November supporting Old Crow Medicine Show.
Photos of Dom: http://nicklosseaton.blogspot.
Flemons just played Nashville, TN where the Nashville Scene called him an “Americana master” and Peter Cooper wrote a profile for the Tennessean, writing, “Everything Flemons does as an entertainer is informed by his deep listening and study. But ‘study’ sounds like something academic, and Flemons trades on something more fun than academia. He internalizes his learning, then externalizes it, and then we hear it and tap our feet and smile”: http://www.tennessean.com/
NPR Fresh Air recently aired a full-length performance/chat on the American Songster: http://www.npr.org/2014/07/30/
Flemons performed at Lincoln Center last month and was the subject of a New Yorker illustration.
Dom Flemons Tour Dates:
September 23 - Iowa City, IA - The Englert Theatre *
September 24 - Columbia, MO - The Blue Note *
September 27 – Peninsula, OH – G.A.R. Hall **
September 28 – Pittsburgh, PA – Club Cafe **
September 30 – Lancaster, PA – Tellus 360 **
October 1 – Washington, D.C. – The Hamilton **
October 3 – Arden, DE – Arden Gild Hall **
October 4 – New York, NY – Madison Square Park
October 5 – Providence, RI – Columbus Theatre **
October 7 – Philadelphia, PA – Tin Angel **
October 8 – Hamden, CT – The Outer Space Ballroom **
October 9 – Northampton, MA – Iron Horse **
October 10 – Cambridge, MA – Club Passim **
October 11 – New York, NY – SubCulture **
October 13 – Burlington, VT – Higher Ground **
October 15 – Rocky Mount, VA – Harvester Performance Center **
October 17 – Black Mountain, NC – Lake Eden Arts Festival
October 18 – Black Mountain, NC – Lake Eden Arts Festival
October 19 – Charlottesville, VA – The Southern
November 14 - Louisville, KY - Palace ***
November 15 - Memphis, TN - Orpheum ***
November 20 - Athens, GA -The Classic Center ***
November 21 - Birmingham, AL - Alabama Theatre ***
* Central Time Tour with Pokey LaFarge; Joel Savoy, Jesse Lége & The Cajun Country Revival; The Tillers; and The Loot Rock Gang
** With Grace and Tony
*** With Old Crow Medicine Show
The American Songster Dom Flemons has thirty tour dates this fall, in September with Pokey LaFarge on the revue-style Central Time Tour, headlining in October, and newly announced dates in November supporting Old Crow Medicine Show.
Photos of Dom: http://nicklosseaton.blogspot.
Flemons just played Nashville, TN where the Nashville Scene called him an “Americana master” and Peter Cooper wrote a profile for the Tennessean, writing, “Everything Flemons does as an entertainer is informed by his deep listening and study. But ‘study’ sounds like something academic, and Flemons trades on something more fun than academia. He internalizes his learning, then externalizes it, and then we hear it and tap our feet and smile”: http://www.tennessean.com/
NPR Fresh Air recently aired a full-length performance/chat on the American Songster: http://www.npr.org/2014/07/30/
Flemons performed at Lincoln Center last month and was the subject of a New Yorker illustration.
Dom Flemons Tour Dates:
September 23 - Iowa City, IA - The Englert Theatre *
September 24 - Columbia, MO - The Blue Note *
September 27 – Peninsula, OH – G.A.R. Hall **
September 28 – Pittsburgh, PA – Club Cafe **
September 30 – Lancaster, PA – Tellus 360 **
October 1 – Washington, D.C. – The Hamilton **
October 3 – Arden, DE – Arden Gild Hall **
October 4 – New York, NY – Madison Square Park
October 5 – Providence, RI – Columbus Theatre **
October 7 – Philadelphia, PA – Tin Angel **
October 8 – Hamden, CT – The Outer Space Ballroom **
October 9 – Northampton, MA – Iron Horse **
October 10 – Cambridge, MA – Club Passim **
October 11 – New York, NY – SubCulture **
October 13 – Burlington, VT – Higher Ground **
October 15 – Rocky Mount, VA – Harvester Performance Center **
October 17 – Black Mountain, NC – Lake Eden Arts Festival
October 18 – Black Mountain, NC – Lake Eden Arts Festival
October 19 – Charlottesville, VA – The Southern
November 14 - Louisville, KY - Palace ***
November 15 - Memphis, TN - Orpheum ***
November 20 - Athens, GA -The Classic Center ***
November 21 - Birmingham, AL - Alabama Theatre ***
* Central Time Tour with Pokey LaFarge; Joel Savoy, Jesse Lége & The Cajun Country Revival; The Tillers; and The Loot Rock Gang
** With Grace and Tony
*** With Old Crow Medicine Show
Thursday, September 18, 2014
TIM DUFFY LAUNCHES TOUR AS HARDCOVER BOOK “WE ARE THE MUSIC MAKERS” IS OUT THIS WEEK ON NAUTILUS PRESS
Music Maker Relief Foundation founder and head Tim Duffy will tour with
his new book We Are The Music Makers! Preserving the Soul of America's
Music, out this week on Nautilus Press. The book consists of 144 pages,
featuring the stories of little known southern roots musicians and
Duffy’s own photography. This book was released as a celebration of the
non-profit organization’s twentieth anniversary.
Duffy said, “I have learned to see the world I live in, as it is, that is my point of view. I strive to see through my own eyes not the memory of what others have seen. I do not venture out of my own community of musicians I have worked with over the last 30 years. I am very uncomfortable photographing people that I do not know. Combining my greatest passions of folk musicians and photography has been a trail I have never veered. Knowing this world inside out from years of association helps me give the photographs a greater originality and authority and the "feel" of which you cannot convey without the lack of knowledge. I let the intimate knowledge I have the Music Maker artists, speak for itself."
Select stops on the tour will feature Music Maker artists:
+ John Dee Holeman – This NEA National Heritage Fellowship award
winner has recorded with Taj Mahal.
+ Little Freddie King – This multiple New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Fest
and Ponderosa Stomp veteran is one of New Orleans’ reigning bluesmen.
+ Alabama Slim grew up playing in juke joints in Alabama and moved to
New Orleans in the ‘60s.
+ Major Handy is a Zydeco musician and blues accordion player who was
born in 1947 in Lafayette, Louisiana. His past gigs include playing
guitar with Rockin’ Dopsie’s band for 12 years and with Buckwheat
Zydeco’s original lineup for about a year.
September 19 - The Regulator, Durham, NC (w/ music by John Dee Holeman)
September 24 - Burwell School, Hillsborough, NC, (w/ music by John Dee Holeman)
September 30 - Quail Ridge Books & Music, Raleigh, NC (w/ music by
John Dee Holeman)
October 13 - Square Books, Oxford, MS
October 14 - Otherlands Coffee Bar, Memphis, TN
October 15 - Lemuria Books, Jackson, MS
October 16 - Maple Street Books, New Orleans, LA (w/ music
from Little Freddie King and Alabama Slim)
October 17 - Garden District Books, New Orleans, LA (w/ music from Major Handy)
October 18 - Louisiana Music Factory Tent at Crescent City Blues and
BBQ Festival, New Orleans, LA
Recent events have included a museum exhibition, Lincoln Center performance. The new 2CD set ‘We are the Music Makers’ comes out September 30. The New Yorker recently ran a playlist of Taj Mahal’s favorite songs from the Msuic Maker catalogue.
Barry Mazor’s feature on Music Maker Relief Foundation ran last month in the Wall Street Journal.
Duffy said, “I have learned to see the world I live in, as it is, that is my point of view. I strive to see through my own eyes not the memory of what others have seen. I do not venture out of my own community of musicians I have worked with over the last 30 years. I am very uncomfortable photographing people that I do not know. Combining my greatest passions of folk musicians and photography has been a trail I have never veered. Knowing this world inside out from years of association helps me give the photographs a greater originality and authority and the "feel" of which you cannot convey without the lack of knowledge. I let the intimate knowledge I have the Music Maker artists, speak for itself."
Select stops on the tour will feature Music Maker artists:
+ John Dee Holeman – This NEA National Heritage Fellowship award
winner has recorded with Taj Mahal.
+ Little Freddie King – This multiple New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Fest
and Ponderosa Stomp veteran is one of New Orleans’ reigning bluesmen.
+ Alabama Slim grew up playing in juke joints in Alabama and moved to
New Orleans in the ‘60s.
+ Major Handy is a Zydeco musician and blues accordion player who was
born in 1947 in Lafayette, Louisiana. His past gigs include playing
guitar with Rockin’ Dopsie’s band for 12 years and with Buckwheat
Zydeco’s original lineup for about a year.
September 19 - The Regulator, Durham, NC (w/ music by John Dee Holeman)
September 24 - Burwell School, Hillsborough, NC, (w/ music by John Dee Holeman)
September 30 - Quail Ridge Books & Music, Raleigh, NC (w/ music by
John Dee Holeman)
October 13 - Square Books, Oxford, MS
October 14 - Otherlands Coffee Bar, Memphis, TN
October 15 - Lemuria Books, Jackson, MS
October 16 - Maple Street Books, New Orleans, LA (w/ music
from Little Freddie King and Alabama Slim)
October 17 - Garden District Books, New Orleans, LA (w/ music from Major Handy)
October 18 - Louisiana Music Factory Tent at Crescent City Blues and
BBQ Festival, New Orleans, LA
Recent events have included a museum exhibition, Lincoln Center performance. The new 2CD set ‘We are the Music Makers’ comes out September 30. The New Yorker recently ran a playlist of Taj Mahal’s favorite songs from the Msuic Maker catalogue.
Barry Mazor’s feature on Music Maker Relief Foundation ran last month in the Wall Street Journal.
TAJ MAHAL ACCEPTS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FROM AMERICANA MUSIC ASSOCIATION
Taj Mahal accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana
Music Association at tonight’s ceremony at the Ryman Auditorium in
Nashville, TN. Keb' Mo' presented the award. In his speech, Taj Mahal
said, “This is one of the most powerful and wonderful things that could
happen in life.” He then performed “Statesboro Blues” with an all-star
band that included Ry Cooder (with whom he played in the Rising Sons),
Don Was, and Buddy Miller.
He also reflected, "It's a real honor to receive a lifetime achievement award from the AMAs and to be in such esteemed company. I've been performing for over fifty years now and to be recognized for the road I've traveled means the world to me. I could not have done this without the audience that has been so supportive of me throughout my musical journey."
In the past five years, Mahal has opened for Bob Dylan, Wynton Marsalis and Eric Clapton; performed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon with the Roots; guested on new Clapton recordings; joined the Rolling Stones onstage; performed at the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles, CA; and joined a Bonnaroo jam with Susan Tedeschi, Anthony Hamilton, Derek Trucks, Chaka Khan, and more. ‘The Complete Columbia Album Collection’ was released February, 2013 on Columbia/Legacy.
Composer, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Taj Mahal is one of the most prominent and influential figures in late 20th century blues and roots music. Though his career began more than four decades ago with American blues, he has broadened his artistic scope over the years to include music representing virtually every corner of the world – west Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, the Hawaiian islands and so much more. What ties it all together is his insatiable interest in musical discovery. Over the years, his passion and curiosity have led him around the world, and the resulting global perspective is reflected in his music today. Taj Mahal is a two-time GRAMMY Award winner and Blues Hall of Famer.
The Americana Music Awards were broadcast by NPR Music and SIRIUS XM and will be broadcast in edited form by PBS.
He also reflected, "It's a real honor to receive a lifetime achievement award from the AMAs and to be in such esteemed company. I've been performing for over fifty years now and to be recognized for the road I've traveled means the world to me. I could not have done this without the audience that has been so supportive of me throughout my musical journey."
In the past five years, Mahal has opened for Bob Dylan, Wynton Marsalis and Eric Clapton; performed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon with the Roots; guested on new Clapton recordings; joined the Rolling Stones onstage; performed at the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles, CA; and joined a Bonnaroo jam with Susan Tedeschi, Anthony Hamilton, Derek Trucks, Chaka Khan, and more. ‘The Complete Columbia Album Collection’ was released February, 2013 on Columbia/Legacy.
Composer, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Taj Mahal is one of the most prominent and influential figures in late 20th century blues and roots music. Though his career began more than four decades ago with American blues, he has broadened his artistic scope over the years to include music representing virtually every corner of the world – west Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, the Hawaiian islands and so much more. What ties it all together is his insatiable interest in musical discovery. Over the years, his passion and curiosity have led him around the world, and the resulting global perspective is reflected in his music today. Taj Mahal is a two-time GRAMMY Award winner and Blues Hall of Famer.
The Americana Music Awards were broadcast by NPR Music and SIRIUS XM and will be broadcast in edited form by PBS.
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Monday, September 15, 2014
Taj Mahal Bio
Composer, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Taj Mahal
is one of the most prominent and influential figures in late 20th
century blues and roots music. Though his career began more than four decades
ago with American blues, he has broadened his artistic scope over the years to
include music representing virtually every corner of the world – west Africa,
the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, the Hawaiian islands and so much more.
What ties it all together is his insatiable interest in musical discovery. Over
the years, his passion and curiosity have led him around the world, and the
resulting global perspective is reflected in his music today.
Born Henry St. Claire Fredericks in Harlem on May 17,
1942, Taj grew up in Springfield, Massachusetts. His father was a jazz pianist,
composer and arranger of Caribbean descent, and his mother was a schoolteacher
and gospel singer from South Carolina. Both parents encouraged their children
to take pride in their diverse ethnic and cultural roots. His father had an
extensive record collection and a shortwave radio that brought sounds from near
and far into the home. His parents also started him on classical piano lessons,
but after only two weeks, young Henry already had other plans about what and
how he wanted to play.
In addition to piano, the young musician learned to
play the clarinet, trombone and harmonica, and he loved to sing. He discovered
his stepfather’s guitar and became serious about it in his teens when a
guitarist from North Carolina moved in next door and taught him the various
styles of Muddy Waters, Lightnin’ Hopkins, John Lee Hooker and Jimmy Reed and
other titans of Delta and Chicago blues.
Springfield in the 1950s was full of recent arrivals,
not just from around the U.S. but from all over the globe. “We spoke several
dialects in my house – Southern, Caribbean, African – and we heard dialects
from eastern and western Europe,” Taj recalls. In addition, musicians from the
Caribbean, Africa and all over the U.S. frequently visited the Fredericks home,
and Taj became even more fascinated with roots – the origins of the various
forms of music he was hearing, the path they took to reach their current form,
and how they influenced each other along the way. He threw himself into the
study of older forms of African-American music, which the record companies of
the day largely ignored.
Henry studied agriculture at the University of
Massachusetts at Amherst in the early 1960s. Inspired by a dream, he adopted
the musical alias of Taj Mahal and formed the popular U. Mass party band, the
Elektras. After graduating, he headed west in 1964 to Los Angeles, where he
formed the Rising Sons, a six-piece outfit that included guitarist Ry Cooder.
The band opened for numerous high-profile touring artists of the ‘60s,
including Otis Redding, the Temptations and Martha and the Vandellas. Around
this same time, Taj also mingled with various blues legends, including Howlin’
Wolf, Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Sleepy John
Estes.
This diversity of musical experience served as the
bedrock for Taj’s first three recordings: Taj
Mahal (1967), The Natch’l Blues
(1968) and Giant Step (1969). Drawing
on all the sounds and styles he’d absorbed as a child and a young adult, these
early albums showed signs of the musical exploration that would be Taj’s
hallmark over the years to come.
In the 1970s, Taj carved out a unique musical niche
with a string of adventurous recordings, including Happy To be Just Like I Am (1971), Recycling the Blues and Other Related Stuff (1972), the
GRAMMY®-nominated soundtrack to the movie Sounder
(1973), Mo’ Roots (1974), Music Fuh Ya (Music Para Tu) (1977) and Evolution (The Most Recent (1978).
Taj’s recorded output slowed somewhat during the 1980s
as he toured relentlessly and immersed himself in the music and culture of his
new home in Hawaii. Still, that decade saw the well-received release of Taj in 1987, as well as the first three
of his celebrated children’s albums on the Music For Little People label.
He returned to a full recording and touring schedule
in the 1990s, including such projects as the musical scores for the Langston
Hughes/Zora Neale Hurston play Mule Bone
(1991) and the movie Zebrahead
(1992). Later in the decade, Taj released a series of recordings with the
Phantom Blues Band, including Dancing the
Blues (1993), Phantom Blues
(1996), and the two GRAMMY® winners, Señor
Blues (1997) and the live Shoutin’ in
Key (2000). Overall, he has been nominated for nine GRAMMY® Awards.
During this same period, Taj continued to expand his
multicultural horizons by joining Indian classical musicians on Mumtaz Mahal in 1995, and recording Sacred Island, a blend of Hawaiian music
and blues, with the Hula Blues Band in 1998. Kulanjan, released in 1999, was a collaborative project with Malian
kora player Toumani Diabate (the kora is a 21-string west African harp). He recorded
a second album with the Hula Blues Band, Hanapepe
Dream, in 2003. Zanzibar, a
European release, followed in 2005.
In 2008, Taj celebrated the 40th
anniversary of his rich and varied recording career with the Heads Up
International release of Maestro, a
mix of original material, chestnuts borrowed from vintage sources and newcomers
alike and including performances by Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, Angelique Kidjo,
Los Lobos, Ziggy Marley and others – many of whom have been directly influenced
by Taj’s music and guidance.
Taj’s most recent release is a 15 cd deluxe box set
titled Taj Mahal – The Complete Columbia
Albums Collection (February 2013 via Columbia/Legacy). It includes every album from his self-titled
debut of 1968 through 1976’s Satisfied ’N Tickled Too, plus landmark archival
compilations Rising Sons
Featuring Taj Mahal And Ry Cooder and 2012’s two-cd set of previously unreleased
material,
The Hidden
Treasures of Taj Mahal 1969-1973.
Taj continues to tour internationally, doing as many
as 150 shows per year throughout the U.S., Europe, Australia, New Zealand and
beyond.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
MUSIC MAKER RELIEF FOUNDATION EARNS PRAISE FROM NEW YORKER, THE NATION, WALL STREET JOURNAL AS WELL AS KUDOS FROM B.B. KING, BONNIE RAITT, TAJ MAHAL, DEREK TRUCKS, & MORE
Of late, the Music Maker Relief Foundation’s twentieth anniversary has
earned press in the New Yorker, Wall Street Journal, The Nation,
Wondering Sound, and more. But musicians are also praising the
non-profit organization and record label. Here’s what some of roots
music’s leading lights have said:
“We are the Music Makers [the book] highlights an essential part of our culture, providing us a glimpse into the lives of the amazing, and often little known, musicians of the American South. Tim Duffy has taken every opportunity to sustain a dimension of Blues culture that could easily be lost forever, and nowhere is that more apparent than in his new book.” –BB King
Clapton said, "Music Maker is a fabulous project, real evidence that the music I have always loved is alive and well." –Eric Clapton
“I think they’re doing wonderful work and I support them for keeping not only interest in the blues alive but the musicians themselves... The photographs in this book are not only beautiful, but reflect the deep love and dedication The Duffys have for both preserving traditional Blues culture and providing real support and opportunity for these wonderful musicians who might otherwise be forgotten.” –Bonnie Raitt
“Some of the best blues comes from unlikely places. Thanks to Music Maker for seeking out the real blues artists.” –Derek Trucks
“Having worked extensively with The Music Maker Relief Foundation, I can say without a doubt, it is one of the most amazing organizations I have dealt with. Tim's and Denise's dedication to preserving the quality of life and the music of these essential and historic musicians is unsurpassed. Congratulations on 20 years!” –Kenny Wayne Shepherd
"Through the efforts of the Music Makers Relief Foundation, these amazing people and artists have been able to live dignified lives. In many cases they were rediscovered during their golden years by Tim and Denise Duffy, then given the joy of new recognition by their families, peers and fans world-over!" –Taj Mahal
“I have never seen photographs generate so much of the atmosphere and personalities of blues music.” –John Cohen, The New Lost City Ramblers
Next up is "We Are The Music Makers," a new book out next week on Nautilus Press; ‘We Are the Music Makers,’ a 2CD set out September 30; and the Homecoming October 3-4 in North Carolina, featuring over 40 musicians performing in concert.
“We are the Music Makers [the book] highlights an essential part of our culture, providing us a glimpse into the lives of the amazing, and often little known, musicians of the American South. Tim Duffy has taken every opportunity to sustain a dimension of Blues culture that could easily be lost forever, and nowhere is that more apparent than in his new book.” –BB King
Clapton said, "Music Maker is a fabulous project, real evidence that the music I have always loved is alive and well." –Eric Clapton
“I think they’re doing wonderful work and I support them for keeping not only interest in the blues alive but the musicians themselves... The photographs in this book are not only beautiful, but reflect the deep love and dedication The Duffys have for both preserving traditional Blues culture and providing real support and opportunity for these wonderful musicians who might otherwise be forgotten.” –Bonnie Raitt
“Some of the best blues comes from unlikely places. Thanks to Music Maker for seeking out the real blues artists.” –Derek Trucks
“Having worked extensively with The Music Maker Relief Foundation, I can say without a doubt, it is one of the most amazing organizations I have dealt with. Tim's and Denise's dedication to preserving the quality of life and the music of these essential and historic musicians is unsurpassed. Congratulations on 20 years!” –Kenny Wayne Shepherd
"Through the efforts of the Music Makers Relief Foundation, these amazing people and artists have been able to live dignified lives. In many cases they were rediscovered during their golden years by Tim and Denise Duffy, then given the joy of new recognition by their families, peers and fans world-over!" –Taj Mahal
“I have never seen photographs generate so much of the atmosphere and personalities of blues music.” –John Cohen, The New Lost City Ramblers
Next up is "We Are The Music Makers," a new book out next week on Nautilus Press; ‘We Are the Music Makers,’ a 2CD set out September 30; and the Homecoming October 3-4 in North Carolina, featuring over 40 musicians performing in concert.
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
SUGAR RAY & THE BLUETONES #1 AT RADIO AS HUFFINGTON POST PREMIERES NEW SONG
NEW ENGLAND CONCERT DATES ADDED
Sugar Ray & the Bluetones' ‘Living Tear to Tear’ (Severn Records) debuted at #1 on Living Blues Magazine's radio chart this month. The band is celebrating its 35th anniversary since its first recording, a vinyl-only EP in 1979. Sugar Ray & The Bluetones have backed Otis Rush (who turned 80 this year), Hubert Sumlin, Jimmy Rogers, Big Walter Horton, Roosevelt Sykes, Big Mama Thornton, and Memphis Slim. Sugar Ray & The Bluetones are Sugar Ray Norcia (vocals, harmonica), Monster Mike Welch (guitar), Mudcat Ward (bass), Anthony Geraci (piano), and Neil Gouvin (drums).
Check out the Huffington Post premiere of the Louisiana swamp pop song “Our Story."
Sugar Ray & The Bluetones Tour Dates:
Saturday, Sept 20 - South Shore Conservatory - Hingham, MA
Saturday, Sept 27 - The Knickerbocker Café - Westerly, RI
Sunday, September 28 - The Narragansett Café - Jamestown, RI
Friday, October 24 - Johnny D’s - Somerville, MA
Saturday, November 1 - The Flying Monkey Performance Center - Plymouth, NH (with Tommy Castro)
Thursday, December 4 - Scullers Jazz Club - Boston, MA
Sugar Ray & the Bluetones' ‘Living Tear to Tear’ (Severn Records) debuted at #1 on Living Blues Magazine's radio chart this month. The band is celebrating its 35th anniversary since its first recording, a vinyl-only EP in 1979. Sugar Ray & The Bluetones have backed Otis Rush (who turned 80 this year), Hubert Sumlin, Jimmy Rogers, Big Walter Horton, Roosevelt Sykes, Big Mama Thornton, and Memphis Slim. Sugar Ray & The Bluetones are Sugar Ray Norcia (vocals, harmonica), Monster Mike Welch (guitar), Mudcat Ward (bass), Anthony Geraci (piano), and Neil Gouvin (drums).
Check out the Huffington Post premiere of the Louisiana swamp pop song “Our Story."
Sugar Ray & The Bluetones Tour Dates:
Saturday, Sept 20 - South Shore Conservatory - Hingham, MA
Saturday, Sept 27 - The Knickerbocker Café - Westerly, RI
Sunday, September 28 - The Narragansett Café - Jamestown, RI
Friday, October 24 - Johnny D’s - Somerville, MA
Saturday, November 1 - The Flying Monkey Performance Center - Plymouth, NH (with Tommy Castro)
Thursday, December 4 - Scullers Jazz Club - Boston, MA
Monday, September 8, 2014
GRACE ASKEW OPENING FOR CORB LUND IN NASHVILLE TOMORROW, SUPPORTING WANDA JACKSON OCT 15
ASKEW WINS JOHN LENNON SONGWRITING CONTEST
Grace Askew will open for Corb Lund tomorrow at the High Watt in Nashville, TN. It’s also been announced that she will support Wanda Jackson at the Dakota in Minneapolis, MN on October 15.
She has also won the John Lennon Songwriting Contest in the Folk category for her 2013 song "Empty Rooms." George Clinton, The Black Eyed Peas, Prince Royce, 311 and Jim Steinman are some of the members on its Executive Committee of Judges.
Askew’s new album ‘Scaredy Cat,’ recorded at Sun Records, is out now.
Grace Askew will open for Corb Lund tomorrow at the High Watt in Nashville, TN. It’s also been announced that she will support Wanda Jackson at the Dakota in Minneapolis, MN on October 15.
She has also won the John Lennon Songwriting Contest in the Folk category for her 2013 song "Empty Rooms." George Clinton, The Black Eyed Peas, Prince Royce, 311 and Jim Steinman are some of the members on its Executive Committee of Judges.
Askew’s new album ‘Scaredy Cat,’ recorded at Sun Records, is out now.
Friday, September 5, 2014
Music Maker Relief Foundation Partner Artists The Como Mamas
Coming
this August 26th, Mississippi’s own a cappella gospel singers the
Como Mamas will release two unique singles that integrate jamming new rhythms into
their soulful music.
Born
in Como, Mississippi with the spirit in their veins, sisters Della and Angela
and cousin Ester Mae express their passion through what’s most familiar to them.
Music has filled their lives for more than 50 years, through the church and the
uplifting sound of their grandfather’s guitar that pulled them through times of
turmoil. “Back then you had to go to church, it wasn’t a choice you made,” says
Ester Mae. “We would go and sing in the choir but they didn’t have a pianist.
That’s why it comes easy for me to sing without background music. I grew up
without it.”
The
Como Mamas share the Gospel through powerful and compelling vocals, driving
both passion and grace into the words they sing. Such emotional and spiritual
intensity conveyed through unaccompanied voices is a rare phenomenon, and therefore
has garnered much interest over the past years, especially from New York field
recorder Michael Reilly and Daptone Records. After hearing the Mamas sing
during his first visit to Como in 2005, the only word Reilly could muster up in
response was “wow.” Ester Mae knew immediately that it wasn’t his last visit –
“The spirit had spoken to me, and sure enough they came back.” Since then the
Como Mamas have released two albums with Daptone Records: “Como Now: The Voices
of Panola County, Mississippi” in 2008 and “Get an Understanding” in 2013.
With
two albums already under their belt, the Como Mamas certainly haven’t slowed
down. Most recently, Daptone brought the Mamas to New York to try something new
and record with the Menahan Street Band. Such an opportunity was truly exciting
for these small town a cappella musicians accustomed to only the echo of their
own voices among the church walls. They felt a connection with the band
immediately, and fell right into sync with the music. Della was particularly
impressed by the band’s great skills; “They were awesome. They knew so much
about the music and how to add in all sorts of sounds. They really knew what
they were doing.”
Though it wasn’t
necessarily what they had planned for the session, Reilly remembered hearing
them sing “Well, Well” and “Out Of The Wilderness” when he was in Mississippi,
and asked them to give it a try with the band. It didn’t take long to realize
that they’d found something special. “We learned these songs growing up in church,
but the beat really adds something to our music that I think everyone will
love, especially the younger folks,” said Della. Much to the Mamas’ surprise, Angela’s
son Kevin who is part of a rap group in Como (music quite different than their
own), after hearing these songs for the first time, responded, “You’ve
definitely got a hit.”
This
opportunity to deliver the message of their music to a larger audience has the
Como Mamas beyond excited. “It’s different, but I think this kinda music will
open the ears of the young folk,” claims Ester Mae. “We’re trying to capture
everybody. We all need to know about Jesus and what He does for us every day.”
The
Como Mamas continue to further their career with Daptone Records who recently
partnered with the Music Maker Relief Foundation out of mutual interest to keep
this musical tradition of gospel alive.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
LESSONS FROM EARLY MENTORS LIKE BIG WALTER HORTON, OTIS RUSH, ROOSEVELT SYKES, ETC. TO PLAY WITH DEEP FEELING STICK WITH SUGAR RAY AND THE BLUETONES
“THAT’S THE WAY HARMONICA IS SUPPOSED TO BE PLAYED”
-MUDDY WATERS
"SUGAR RAY HAS GREAT TONE AND GREAT PHRASING, SINGING AND PLAYING THE HARP. ONE OF MY FAVORITES!"
-CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE
SUGAR RAY & THE BLUETONES’ NEW ALBUM ‘LIVING TEAR TO TEAR’ OUT NOW ON SEVERN RECORDS TO RAVES FROM GUITAR WORLD, ELMORE
Three-time GRAMMY nominee Sugar Ray Norcia still draws on lessons he learned from playing with Muddy Waters, Otis Rush (who turned 80 this year), Hubert Sumlin, Jimmy Rogers, Big Walter Horton, Roosevelt Sykes, Big Mama Thornton and others in the 1970s and ‘80s, most of all to play with deep feeling. The leader of Sugar Ray & The Bluetones says, “We were in awe of them! Sometimes there’s a myth about old blues guys that they’re gun toting and gruff. But they were open with their ideas and had no prejudices. They could hear our love of the music immediately and feel our soul. They accepted us.”
Sugar Ray & The Bluetones have played shows with B.B. King. “He treats everyone with dignity. That’s always rubbed off on me,” says Norcia. “I sat in with Muddy Waters one time and he told me, ‘Son, now that’s the way the harpmonica is supposed to be played.’” (Ray confirms that he used the word “harpmonica.”)
Backing Roosevelt Sykes led directly to the band having the assurance to go into the studio for the first time in 1979 after the gigs led to Baron Records signing the band, making 2014 the 35th anniversary since that vinyl EP. “We backed Roosevelt Sykes at the Speakeasy [in Cambridge] before we ever made a recording. He said, ‘You fellows sound so good. You ought to capture that great sound in a recording studio.’”
The band toured extensively with harmonica great Big Walter Horton and Norcia remembers him fondly, “I learned so much from him, the way he handled himself on stage as well as the tonal qualities of the harp. Walter just stood up there and addressed the audience directly. It doesn’t take theatrics all the time; it takes deep inner feeling. Walter carried his harmonicas in a drawstring sack. He’d coil the cord after every show and carefully put it in his sack with his harps. We’d go to Ronnie Earl’s apartment and Walter would sleep on the floor, just unfurl the old mattress.”
Far less unassuming was slide master J.B. Hutto, who played in a flashy suit and used a 100 foot guitar cord to wander into the audience while the Bluetones backed him.
Bassist Mudcat Ward says he learned early from the masters “how to play with a drummer, how to make a pocket, make a groove,” continuing, “It was exciting to us.” He recalls the early Bluetones – the same lineup as now with one exception: Monster Mike Welch plays guitar in a spot once held by Ronnie Earl – as a band that took learning the craft seriously, saying, “The blues is serious as a heart attack. We always gravitated to the deep stuff, the lowdown stuff. If someone put on a tape or record of Robert Johnson, say, at an after-gig get-together or in the van, we'd shut up, just stop talking and things would get quiet. Why? Because we'd be listening. This was serious stuff to us."
Pianist Anthony Geraci says, “One time when we were backing the great Memphis Slim, we played a few numbers and then we called him up to do his show. He placed his arm on my shoulder and said ‘you play, I’ll sing.’ That was a thrill.”
Sugar Ray & The Bluetones’ new album ‘Living Tear To Tear’ (Severn Records) came out last month. Damian Fanelli writes, “The hard-swinging band fully absorbed the lessons learned from Chicago blues masters.” Elmore Magazine said, "(Sugar Ray Norcia's) voice is soulfully engaging, in sync with Welch's guitar and his own masterful harmonica playing." Twangville called it “a gem,” saying, “The album is a pleasure to hear.”
Norcia strives to return the favor to his early mentors. When Big Walter Horton’s family didn’t have the money for a tombstone for the master musician, Sugar Ray & The Bluetones played several benefit concerts to raise the money. “I have his amplifier and his microphone. That’s pretty special.”
He encourages young blues musicians to explore its roots and give the music space to breathe, saying, “Slow down, take a minute, think about it, play it with more feeling.”
-MUDDY WATERS
"SUGAR RAY HAS GREAT TONE AND GREAT PHRASING, SINGING AND PLAYING THE HARP. ONE OF MY FAVORITES!"
-CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE
SUGAR RAY & THE BLUETONES’ NEW ALBUM ‘LIVING TEAR TO TEAR’ OUT NOW ON SEVERN RECORDS TO RAVES FROM GUITAR WORLD, ELMORE
Three-time GRAMMY nominee Sugar Ray Norcia still draws on lessons he learned from playing with Muddy Waters, Otis Rush (who turned 80 this year), Hubert Sumlin, Jimmy Rogers, Big Walter Horton, Roosevelt Sykes, Big Mama Thornton and others in the 1970s and ‘80s, most of all to play with deep feeling. The leader of Sugar Ray & The Bluetones says, “We were in awe of them! Sometimes there’s a myth about old blues guys that they’re gun toting and gruff. But they were open with their ideas and had no prejudices. They could hear our love of the music immediately and feel our soul. They accepted us.”
Sugar Ray & The Bluetones have played shows with B.B. King. “He treats everyone with dignity. That’s always rubbed off on me,” says Norcia. “I sat in with Muddy Waters one time and he told me, ‘Son, now that’s the way the harpmonica is supposed to be played.’” (Ray confirms that he used the word “harpmonica.”)
Backing Roosevelt Sykes led directly to the band having the assurance to go into the studio for the first time in 1979 after the gigs led to Baron Records signing the band, making 2014 the 35th anniversary since that vinyl EP. “We backed Roosevelt Sykes at the Speakeasy [in Cambridge] before we ever made a recording. He said, ‘You fellows sound so good. You ought to capture that great sound in a recording studio.’”
The band toured extensively with harmonica great Big Walter Horton and Norcia remembers him fondly, “I learned so much from him, the way he handled himself on stage as well as the tonal qualities of the harp. Walter just stood up there and addressed the audience directly. It doesn’t take theatrics all the time; it takes deep inner feeling. Walter carried his harmonicas in a drawstring sack. He’d coil the cord after every show and carefully put it in his sack with his harps. We’d go to Ronnie Earl’s apartment and Walter would sleep on the floor, just unfurl the old mattress.”
Far less unassuming was slide master J.B. Hutto, who played in a flashy suit and used a 100 foot guitar cord to wander into the audience while the Bluetones backed him.
Bassist Mudcat Ward says he learned early from the masters “how to play with a drummer, how to make a pocket, make a groove,” continuing, “It was exciting to us.” He recalls the early Bluetones – the same lineup as now with one exception: Monster Mike Welch plays guitar in a spot once held by Ronnie Earl – as a band that took learning the craft seriously, saying, “The blues is serious as a heart attack. We always gravitated to the deep stuff, the lowdown stuff. If someone put on a tape or record of Robert Johnson, say, at an after-gig get-together or in the van, we'd shut up, just stop talking and things would get quiet. Why? Because we'd be listening. This was serious stuff to us."
Pianist Anthony Geraci says, “One time when we were backing the great Memphis Slim, we played a few numbers and then we called him up to do his show. He placed his arm on my shoulder and said ‘you play, I’ll sing.’ That was a thrill.”
Sugar Ray & The Bluetones’ new album ‘Living Tear To Tear’ (Severn Records) came out last month. Damian Fanelli writes, “The hard-swinging band fully absorbed the lessons learned from Chicago blues masters.” Elmore Magazine said, "(Sugar Ray Norcia's) voice is soulfully engaging, in sync with Welch's guitar and his own masterful harmonica playing." Twangville called it “a gem,” saying, “The album is a pleasure to hear.”
Norcia strives to return the favor to his early mentors. When Big Walter Horton’s family didn’t have the money for a tombstone for the master musician, Sugar Ray & The Bluetones played several benefit concerts to raise the money. “I have his amplifier and his microphone. That’s pretty special.”
He encourages young blues musicians to explore its roots and give the music space to breathe, saying, “Slow down, take a minute, think about it, play it with more feeling.”
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Miss Ida Blue bio
Brothel Blues boss Miss Ida Blue lets her saucy coos lead members of Woody Allen's Jazz Band and HBO's Grammy winning Boardwalk Empire Orchestra
with a repertoire of turn-of-the-century whorehouse blues and a heavy nod to soul and gospel, miss ida spits stories dripping with sex, love, loss and no good men. she’s left nothing to the imagination and leaves everything on the bandstand. your girl will take you to a place that glistens with booze and sweat, offering secrets only her songs can pass on, and an explicit showing of how the blues can be audacious and adorned, loved and lusted, raunchy and rawkus.
“DEEP” JOE FLETCHER KICKS OFF NATIONAL TOUR AS ESQUIRE POSTS FIRST TRACK FROM ‘YOU’VE GOT THE WRONG MAN’ (OCT 7)
FESTIVALS INCLUDE NEWPORT-PRESENTED WAY OVER YONDER, AMERICANA FEST, MORE
Joe Fletcher – the gritty, cinematic songwriter who draws equally from seaside dive bars and from southern truck stops – launched a tour this week as Esquire premiered the first track from his forthcoming solo album ‘You’ve Got The Wrong Man,’ out October 7.
Esquire’s James Joiner writes, "Joe Fletcher is a natural storyteller... It's the lyrics that get you, the complexities of which are sometimes hidden by the musical styling. They paint the sort of deep portraits of American life many songwriters allude to but which few accomplish. There's darkness down there, but with it humor and, absolutely, a damn good time."
Joe will perform September 26 as part of the Newport Folk Festival-presented Way Over Yonder, joining a bill with Local Natives, Lucinda Williams, The Lone Bellow, and others. He will also perform as part of AmericanaFest, which also features The Avett Brothers, Billy Joe Shaver, Marty Stuart, Shakey Graves, Sturgill Simpson, and The Devil Makes Three.
Joe Fletcher Tour Dates:
Sept 3 - Great Scott - Boston, MA +
Sept 4 - Dream Away Lodge - Becket, MA +
Sept 5 - Columbus Theatre - Providence, RI +
Sept 6 - Rockwood Music Hall - New York, NY +
Sept 20 – The Basement - Nashville, TN (Americana Music Festival Showcase) +
Sept 25 - Pappy & Harriet's - Pioneer Town, CA *
Sept 26 - Way Over Yonder - Santa Monica, CA *
Sept 28 - Soda Bar - San Diego, CA w/ Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band *
Oct 1 - House Concert - Bakersfield, CA *
Oct 2 - Standing Sun Winery - Buellton, CA *
Oct 4 & 5 - Keepin' It Country Festival - Bandit Town, CA *
Oct 8 - Crepe Place - Santa Cruz, CA w/ JP Harris & The Tough Choices *
Nov 10 - Exit In - Nashville, TN w/ O'Death *
Nov 11 - The Earl - Atlanta, GA w/ O'Death *
Nov 12 - The Pinhook - Durham, NC w/ O'Death *
Nov 13 - DC9 - Washington, DC w/ O'Death *
Nov 15 - Cafe Nine - New Haven, CT *
Nov 16 - Atwood's, Cambridge, MA *
Nov 20 - Southgate House - Newport, KY *
Dec 11 - The Basement - Nashville, TN w/ Tim Easton, Aaron Lee Tasjan
+ Joe Fletcher and the Wrong Reasons
* Joe Fletcher solo
Joe Fletcher – the gritty, cinematic songwriter who draws equally from seaside dive bars and from southern truck stops – launched a tour this week as Esquire premiered the first track from his forthcoming solo album ‘You’ve Got The Wrong Man,’ out October 7.
Esquire’s James Joiner writes, "Joe Fletcher is a natural storyteller... It's the lyrics that get you, the complexities of which are sometimes hidden by the musical styling. They paint the sort of deep portraits of American life many songwriters allude to but which few accomplish. There's darkness down there, but with it humor and, absolutely, a damn good time."
Joe will perform September 26 as part of the Newport Folk Festival-presented Way Over Yonder, joining a bill with Local Natives, Lucinda Williams, The Lone Bellow, and others. He will also perform as part of AmericanaFest, which also features The Avett Brothers, Billy Joe Shaver, Marty Stuart, Shakey Graves, Sturgill Simpson, and The Devil Makes Three.
Joe Fletcher Tour Dates:
Sept 3 - Great Scott - Boston, MA +
Sept 4 - Dream Away Lodge - Becket, MA +
Sept 5 - Columbus Theatre - Providence, RI +
Sept 6 - Rockwood Music Hall - New York, NY +
Sept 20 – The Basement - Nashville, TN (Americana Music Festival Showcase) +
Sept 25 - Pappy & Harriet's - Pioneer Town, CA *
Sept 26 - Way Over Yonder - Santa Monica, CA *
Sept 28 - Soda Bar - San Diego, CA w/ Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band *
Oct 1 - House Concert - Bakersfield, CA *
Oct 2 - Standing Sun Winery - Buellton, CA *
Oct 4 & 5 - Keepin' It Country Festival - Bandit Town, CA *
Oct 8 - Crepe Place - Santa Cruz, CA w/ JP Harris & The Tough Choices *
Nov 10 - Exit In - Nashville, TN w/ O'Death *
Nov 11 - The Earl - Atlanta, GA w/ O'Death *
Nov 12 - The Pinhook - Durham, NC w/ O'Death *
Nov 13 - DC9 - Washington, DC w/ O'Death *
Nov 15 - Cafe Nine - New Haven, CT *
Nov 16 - Atwood's, Cambridge, MA *
Nov 20 - Southgate House - Newport, KY *
Dec 11 - The Basement - Nashville, TN w/ Tim Easton, Aaron Lee Tasjan
+ Joe Fletcher and the Wrong Reasons
* Joe Fletcher solo
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