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April 23, 2010 

Hey Blues Fans,

BLUES TO THE RESCUE!!!  Here is a great example of how Blues music can help people!

The West Virginia Blues Society is sponsoring an all-day Miner’s Memorial Fundraiser to benefit for the families of the Upper Big Branch Mining Disaster. This was the huge mining explosion that was all over the news recently. The show will be at Tomahawk’s Smokehouse & Saloon, Route 60w of South Charleston, WV, Saturday, May 1, 2010 beginning at noon.

Jason Ricci and New Blood will be the headliner along with a host of other great performers - Crossroads Blues Band, Robert Altmann, Holy Cow, Leon Waters, Hunter Wolf and ARE, Six Kinds of Crazy, C & S Railroad, John Taylor, Washboard Jo and others.

Over twelve hours of live Blues music, a hog roast and fixin’s – all for the price of $15 per person or $25 per couple, no charge for children. Proceeds will be donated to the WV Council of Churches to be distributed to the Upper Big Branch miners’ families.

West Virginia Blues Society is in need of Sponsors to help off-set the production costs of this event to benefit the coal miners in West Virginia. Everyone is welcome to join in and experience the healing powers of the Blues. For information on how you can help, call Jack Rice at 304-389-1439 or visit www.wvbluessociety.org .

In other Blues Society news, our good friends at the Crossroads Blues Society of Illinois are throwing their very first Blue festival this year. The Byron Crossroads Blues Festival will run from noon to midnight on Saturday, August 28, 2010, in downtown Byron, Illinois.

The festival lineup includes The Resistors, noted artists Filisko and Noden, The Cashbox Kings, Westside Andy/Mel Ford Band and Dave Weld and the Imperial Flames. Look for more news on this new festival soon!

Blues Wanderings

Last Friday we made it out to catch a set by Texas Blues man Lightning Red. He had Steve The Harp and friends as his backup band. Many musicians sat in including bass man Jerry Ginger from the Ju Ju Kings, 14 year old guitar ace Matt Curry, Coleen Kerestes, vocalist from the Blues Edge and several other Central Illinois Blues players. Enjoyable music!

Too Slim & The Tail Draggers were at a Blue Monday show this week and played many of the tunes from their recent release Free Your Mind .  With Tim "Too Slim" Langford on guitar, Polly O'Keary on bass and Tommy Cook on drums they rocked the Alamo.

Halfway though the first set we noticed a commanding looking red head sitting at one of the tables with another couple faces that looked familiar. Turns out Blues Rocker Shannon Curfman was in town to promote her show this week with Tommy Castro.

We coaxed her up for one song. Her new CD, What You're Getting Into is reportedly selling well. Look for a review of her CD in Blues Blast Magazine soon

In This Issue

James "Skyy Dobro" Walker reviews a new CD from Jason Elmore. Steve Jones reviews a new CD by Long Tall Deb & The Drifter Kings and also  reviews a new CD by Barrelhouse Chuck . Greg 'Bluesdog' Szalony reviews a new CD by Rice Moreland. Belinda Foster reviews a new CD by Steve Howell.  All this and MORE! SCROLL DOWN!!!

 Blues Musicians Place Your Want Ad here for FREE

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Buy or sell equipment , musicians wanted, gigs wanted, help wanted, information wanted etc. Limit 100 words. All ads submitted will be used if space allows. If space is limited, ads will be randomly selected to appear in the Blues Blast. Ads may be edited. Send your ad submission to

Guitarist/Frontman or Diva Lead Guitarist for TRIO

WANTED: Guitarist/Frontman or Diva Lead Guitarist for TRIO. On Drums/Bass We are both female with backup vocals. A male voice would round out this trio but we are open to all seasoned talent. We are in the Peoria/Pekin, Illinois area. Blues mainly but we'll start with what you know. Serious experienced players please respond to: Maryl @ 309 363 6458 or kikazdrumr@yahoo.com 

Magazine Seeks Summer Festival Reviewers

Blues Blast Magazine is looking for a few good men (Or Women)! Over the 2010 summer season we are looking for folks who attend Blues Festivals and take GOOD photos for festival reviews.  If you attend multiple Blues Festivals or Blues shows and could volunteer to send us 500 to 1000 word reviews and a few good photos, please reply to .

Reviewers are needed for the Midwest, Southwest and Texas area, the Florida and Gulf area, The West Coast, The Pacific Northwest, Canada, the Eastern coast area and also on the European, Asian and Australian continents. A short sample of your writing, a sample photo and info on your Blues background would be helpful. Please include your phone number with the reply.

Jason Elmore & Hoodoo Witch - Upside Your Head

Underworld Records

www.myspace.com/jasonelmore

14 songs; 56:23 minutes; Suggested

Styles: Blues, Blues-Rock, Rock

Survey: Which describes your band?
A) Our Band has fun.
B) Our band plays great music, and we have serious fun.
C) Our band has fun, but we play serious music.

My take is that Jason Elmore and Hoodoo Witch are best described by the last phrase; they’re damn serious about their music and their “fun” comes from creating it well. The just-turned-32-years-old Elmore is a native of Texas, and he seems well schooled in rowdy, yet refined guitar work having been influenced by Freddie King, Anson Funderburgh, and Jim Suhler, among many others.

“Upside Your Head” is the high energy trio’s debut CD and will be released on April 20, 2010 on the Underworld label. The album was produced by Jim Suhler (front man for Monkey Beat and lead guitarist for George Thorogood) and consists of 14 original tracks. Beau Chadwell is the drummer in lock-step with bassist Chris Waw.

The very first track showcases a fine example of the Lone Star State’s rich musical heritage.

With lyrics about rowdy as hell protagonists out on the wild from “Dusk Till dawn,” the greasy Texas flavor drips off of words like, “...bloodshot eyes; head full of red – port - wine...,” and “...sawed off gun and a pocket full of shells....” This sets up an incredible, ripping slide guitar solo that sounds like Jason may have some Tim “Too Slim” Langford (the label owner) influence, too.

Song writers and all writers are often advised, “Write about what you know.” If Elmore took that advice, then what he knows for sure is woman trouble (“Drag Me Down,” “Black Widow,” Road to Ruin,” “Evil Woman”). Just one example is found in the first song my partner Shuffle Shoes and I played on our WKCC radio show, “6 Foot Down.” This fast paced Texas shuffle features rip-snorting guitar work and a vamp reminiscent of ZZ Top. “I won’t be back around,” the narrator tells his ex-lover. “I’d be better off 6 feet in the ground!”

“World of Trouble” was our next spin; it features Monkey Beat’s Shawn Phares guesting on accordion and B-3 organ. Elmore lays down slashing guitar and, mid song, some simply nasty slide guitar. “My woman’s gone, she took my cash, drank all my liquor, smoked my stash / the future’s looking dim, just empty bottles, seeds and stems / it’s a world of trouble....” Trouble? Now that is a convincing testimony!

Following last week’s airing of track 1, this week will find a tasty, low down slow Blues, “All It Does Is Rain,” with Tommy Young guesting on B-3 organ. Gut wrenching string bending and Walter Trout like violin-sounding guitar runs emote a mood to match the “dark cloud/high water” lyrics.

Future spins will include “Evil Woman” showcasing a catchy melody that changes the pace. Some of Elmore’s tastiest guitar progressions are found here just over the rhythm and Phares again on B-3 organ. “Black Widow’s” quintessential contemporary Texas guitar over a shuffle is always a solid crowd pleaser.

For acoustic fans, producer Jim Suhler joins Elmore on slide resonator guitar in the final track, “That’s the Way It’s Got To Be.”
For gritty hard rock fans, try “Big Money Grip,” “Drag Me Down,” “Wash My Hands of You,” and “Nobody Knows.”

Anything but a cat with a hat and a Strat, Jason Elmore’s Southern flavor and Texas guitar combine to pleasantly cross genres across this set. Both Rock and Blues fans will find much here to enjoy. For new Blues fans, this CD is a great introduction to the rich Texas sound.

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Mississippi Valley Blues Society - Davenport, IA

The Mississippi Valley Blues Society presents the Texas blues of Smokin’ Joe Kubek and Bnois King on Saturday April 24 at the Eagle Reception Hall—2030 4th Ave., Rock Island. This is a BYOB show; attendees must be 21 or over. The show starts at 8 p.m., and admission is $25 at the door, $20 for MVBS members or for advance tickets from the MVBS Office (MWF 11:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.).

Little Bobby and the Storm will perform for a Mississippi Valley Blues Society-sponsored event at Rascals (1414 15th Street in Moline) on Thursday May 6 starting at 6:00 p.m. Admission is $7.00, $5.00 for MVBS members. Little Bobby’s show will be followed by the regular Thursday night blues jam hosted by the Steady Rollin’ Blues Band. The band, from North Dakota, will be stopping in the Quad-Cities on their way down to Clarksdale, Mississippi. The last time they played here, Little Bobby and the Storm appeared on the street stage at the 2008 IH Mississippi Valley Blues Festival.

The Mississippi Valley Blues Society presents the Holmes Brothers on Friday May 7 at the Capitol Theatre, 330 W. 3rd Street, Davenport. The show starts at 8:00 p.m., with doors opening at 7:00. Admission is $20, $15 for MVBS members or in advance through the Capitol box office (www.thecapdavenport.com or 563-326-8820). The Brothers are touring the Midwest for the first time in three years to advance their recent release on Alligator Records, Feed My Soul.

For more info call the MVBS office at 563-32-BLUES or visit our website at: http://www.mvbs.org .

Columbia College - Chicago, IL

The Friends Of The Blues - Watseka, IL

Spring 2010 Friends of the Blues shows- May 6 - Ivas John Band, 7 pm , Legacy Bar & Grill, May 11 - Chicago Blues Angels, 7 pm , Bradley Bourbonnais Sportsmen’s Club, May 27 - Moreland & Arbuckle 7 pm , Kankakee Elks Country Club, June 15 - Albert Castiglia 7 pm , River Bend Bar & Grill, June 22 - Al Stone, 7 pm , River Bend Bar & Grill and August 10 - ean Chambers, 7 pm , River Bend Bar & Grill For more info see: http://www.wazfest.com/JW.html 

Illinois Central Blues Club - Springfield, IL

BLUE MONDAY SHOWS - Held at the Alamo 115 N 5th St, Springfield, IL (217) 523-1455 every Monday 8:30pm $3 cover. April 26 - Rockin' Jake, May 3 - The Mojocats, May 10 - Steve the Harp

Reviewer Steve Jones is secretary of the Crossroads Blues Society in Rockford. IL.

For other reviews and interviews on our website CLICK HERE.

Rice Moorehead - You Make Me Feel

Self Release

www.myspace.com/ricemooreheadband

time-34:48

"No Blues For You"....If you need a label you can call this release from Austin, Texas native Rice Moorehead roots-Texas-soul-alternative-rock-punk covering the topics of love, lust, sex and cowgirls. Oh, did I mention sex? This guy is a horndog. A horndog in possession of a pleasing and throaty set of Texas tinged pipes. His guitar skills equal his vocal abilities, supplying crunchy chords, slide accents or acoustic strumming as needed. The assorted players throughout provide snappy drumming, pronounced bass and that patented Texas cheesy organ ala Augie Meyers.

"Unlearn", "Drivin' By" ,"Molly The Cowgirl" and "Somewhere On I-35" can almost pass for Chris Issac with a slight cold. On "Molly" he professes his love and lust to the cowgirl he met at the bicycle rodeo. Don't ask me, we don't have bicycle rodeo's in Joisy. Ol' Molly must be in good shape, she carries him up to her room. "Unlearn" and "Drivin' By" are the kind of Issac-y, slow, moody songs that pop-up in tv dramas. The later has a bit of that Stones spacey late night feel with weeping slide over acoustic and vibes adding background seasoning. "I-35" is a Texan version of Johnny Mathis' "99 Miles To LA". Hold on....It gets stranger....but in a fresh way that works.

The music portion of this Tex-Fest is well thought out and made more appealing by the crystal clear sound not often heard on a self made production. The one instrumental "Honky Soul" kicks in with a throbbing bass line into a chiming guitar riff. First call saxman Kaz Kazanoff adds the honky part. Oh lest I forget.....why haven't I heard the drums of Jill Csekitz before?.....She's all over the place adding drive to many songs.

Ok.......where was I? Oh, yeah......One Texacala Jones is listed as doing vocals on what else?....."Tex Pants". She uses her voice, mostly unintelligible....her multi-tracked screaming, moaning......and a few 'babies!' thrown in for good measure. Rice's slide and regular guitar come in-and-out over his crunchy guitar riff. Ok here's an over used cliche' for you......This song is a breath of fresh air. Crank this puppy up and blow out yer' speakers.

"No Air Play For You".......Rice F's up his real chance for a potential hit with the Texas-soul of the title track. You guessed it kiddies......"You Make Me Feel Like ( F'ing)" starts off as a sentimental love song......then Wammo!(pun intended). It's up to you. I'll make no judgements. It's a great song on a very good CD.

Not a bum track on this exploration of Moorehead's bag of tricks. And many of them make an appearance given the short playing time. Take Chris Issac, Delbert McClinton, Texas punk-rock, Texas-white boy-soul, alternative-rock, slide guitar and blend to a frothy fare-thee-well and see if this concoction dosen't grow on you like a soothing fungus. Ok another silly pun......But this record is really growing on me. I'll admit at first it sounded like a mess. I think there's a quiet semi-genius lurking here. Wouldn't be surprised at all if we hear more of this Texas horndog in a big way. As for me I'm no fool........I'm riding off on Molly's handlebars into the Texas-punk sunset before I make another silly analogy.....Adios mi cowpunks......

Reviewer Greg 'Bluesdog' Szalony is from the New Jersey Delta. He is proprietor of Bluesdog's Doghouse at http://bluesdog61.multiply.com.

For other reviews and interviews on our website CLICK HERE.

For other reviews and interviews on our website CLICK HERE.

Barrelhouse Chuck - Combo Classics

Viola Records

www.barrelhousechuck.com

13 tracks/44:34

When I was growing up a lower middle class Irish-Italian kid in New York City, few families could afford big Wurlitzer or other in home organs. Much to their chagrin, many an Italian kid who had aspirations to play something with a keyboard were awarded an accordion. But then came the combo organ. Vox, Farfisa and others took the concepts of the organ, accordion, transistors and bright colored plastic to create a portable organ that musical combos could use. Those were heady days; with the advent of the transistor replacing the old vacuum tubes, equipment and electronics got lighter and easier to move and transport. No longer would keyboard players have to rely on the old out of tune house piano at their gigs. A new age was upon us musically.

Blues musicians embraced and adopted this new fangled device as did the rockers like the Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, the Doors and others. In the liner notes Chuck comments on the fab song of his youth, ”96 Tears”, by ? and the Mysterions that he played in every juke box he saw. Later on, Otis Spann became his Farfisa role model with his recording of “Ain’t Nobody’s Business” with drummer S.P. Leary. Chuck includes a passionate and lilting version of this (with S.P. again on drums!) on this album.

Barrelhouse Chuck pays homage to that 1960’s classic instrument by packing up all his great songs featuring the combo organ and giving us this great new CD “Combo Classic”! A very 1960’s looking photo of a combo organ adorns the CD cover, and inside and on back we have a beautiful, bright red compact combo organ of Chuck’s. Behind the CD in the jewel box we have a classic advertisement for “the new Rheem stereo compact combo electronic organ.” What a cool package, but cooler yet is what’s on the silver disc inside the package.

Chuck offers up thirteen prime and classic cuts of his combo organ virtuosity. He’s got hot newer stuff along with some of his older works on the combo and they are all hot stuff. The Spann classic includes Billy Flynn on guitar along with exquisite vocals by Chuck and Bethany Thomas. He lends his unique Farfisa sound to the Ventures “Walk Don’t Run 69” where he, Flynn and Kenny Smith give us that beach classic Lake Michigan styled!

“Depression Blues” gives us some relevant commentary on today’s economic woes, where Chuck laments about people being laid of by the thousands as he makes the Farfisa sing also to us. Backing him again are Flynn and Leary along with Hash Brown on guitar, Todd Levine on harp and Rick Holmes on bass. He offers up the Farfisa on two newer cuts with the Swedish Trickbag group to open the album. Earl Hooker’s “Hot and Heavy” and what I like to call an original Swedish-Chicago surf tune called “Pacific Blue”. Good stuff just oozes from all over this CD.

The Goering-Flynn original “Chuckabilly-Live” features two amazing instrumentals where the instruments actually seem to talk to us. Chuck’s organ and Flynn’s guitar seemingly sing out to and grab us in this cut. Chuck goes to the Lowry organ to do the “Bright Sound of Big Moose”, a super Johnny “Moose” Walker cut. Nick Moss joins Chuck on three tracks and sings on two of them, his own “Porchlight” and James Cotton’s “Slam Hammer.” Curtis Salgado’s wicked harp adds so much to these tracks, too. Lynwood Slim does the singing on the other song, the J. Haliday-Ray Charles classic “I Choose to Sing the Blues”. Chuck hits us with an R.M.I. and Rheem on the first two and a Vox on the third. Classic stuff done by a man who has exerted full mastery over the combination organ, perhaps even more so than he has the piano! Space does not permit comments on every track, but suffice it to say all thirteen are equally special. I do have to mention, though, the Barrelhouse Chuck tribute to the great Stevie Winwood that he closes with, where Chuck plays the Farfisa on his “Farfisa B3 Boogie for Winwood”; classic stuff!

Run, do not walk, to the CD store (or even faster, run to your computer) and get this CD today. You won’t regret it. This is blues and early rock organ at its’ finest and no one- NO ONE!- does it better than Barrelhouse Chuck!!

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