Issue 6-45, November 9, 2012 |
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Featured Blues Interview - Zac Harmon
The list of great Mississippi Bluesmen reads like a Who’s Who. In the early days there was Charley Patton, Robert Johnson, Lead Belly, Pinetop Perkins, Son House, Elmore James, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Howlin’ Wolf. The list is endless. Jackson, Miss. native Zac Harmon can now add his name to this roster. “I was born and raised in Mississippi,” Zac said in a recent interview. “I didn’t even know it was called Blues, we just played that music. We didn’t say we going to play the Blues. Other people called it the Blues. Even if I wanted to get away from it, if I wanted to change the Blues in me, I couldn’t ‘cause it’s part of my DNA. If you put me in a pot and boiled me down, all that would be left is the Blues.” Like any Mississippi Bluesman worth his salt, Zac had his heroes and mentors as a young man learning his craft. “Musically Sam Meyers was my biggest teacher,” Harmon says. “He was a strict disciplinarian and a great player. He taught me a lot. Mel Brown is another one I learned from. (Jackson guitarist) Jesse Robinson was another big influence. These guys played around Jackson when I was a kid and I couldn’t help but learn from them. “Nationally it was Howlin’ Wolf,” he said. “I adored him. He was such a man’s man. He was very smart and way ahead of his time. How many band leaders thought about insurance and union pay for his players? He was one of the first to do that for his guys. He always believed in working for what was his. No hand outs. “He rubbed off on me,” Zac says. “He didn’t believe in spending his money lavishly. Instead he bought land in Mississippi where he could hunt and fish. He was a country boy at heart and never became a city boy. I’m the same way today. Even after living in LA for 26 years I’m still a country boy. As long as I’ve got a pickup truck I’m good to go.” As a modern, 21st century player in a genre that is many times dissected, misinterpreted, under-appreciated and often neglected, Zac has his own philosophy about the future of the Blues, where it came from, and where it is headed. “Real Blues is real music that makes you feel good,” he says. “It’s the most basic form of music there is. Music is medicine. If you’re feeling bad and want to feel better, you listen to the Blues. If you’re feeling good and want to feel better, you listen to the Blues.” Zac recently coined a term “progressive Blues” that casts an interesting perspective on the age- old traditions of early Blues songs. “By progressive Blues I’m just trying to say it’s Blues that doesn’t follow traditional Blues patterns. There’s a place for it all and it’s still whatever makes you feel good.”
It doesn’t have to revolve around
the drinking and hard-living format of the early artists to fit his
definition of progressive Blues, Zac says. “Ask them if they know who Robert Randolph is? Derek Trucks? Susan Tedeschi? John Meyer? Most likely they’ll tell you ‘Yes,’ but they’re not aware that these are Blues players. Everything has become so bottom-line oriented that the (record) labels have labeled the Blues away from us. They don’t advertise that these people are the next generation of Blues players and that’s a shame. It’s also causing there to be fewer and fewer places for good Blues players to play.” As a young man Harmon played guitar for Z.Z. Hill, Dorothy Moore and Sam Myers among others. After settling in Los Angeles in the early ‘80s, Zac worked as a studio sideman and then branched out into writing and producing. During that time he wrote songs for the O’Jays, Whispers, Karyn White, Alexander O'Neal and Black Uhuru, his bio information states. After a while he got the itch to return to his first love, the Blues, and recorded his first project in 2002. “Live at Babe & Ricky’s Inn” was his tribute to Mississippi Blues and garnered him enough attention to be included in the “next generation of Blues” category. In 2004 Harmon and his band, The Mid-South Blues Revue, entered and won the International Blues Competition sponsored by the Blues Foundation every year in Memphis, Tenn. They were named “Best Unsigned Band.” Since then he has never looked back. “The IBC put me on the map,” Zac says. “I wasn’t really known outside Mississippi as anything other than a sideman. I was pretty well known in LA but only as a sideman. I played lots of kinds of music. IT (IBC) gave me a chance to make a statement worldwide. It’s the best thing going for up and coming Blues musicians. “Sometime you’re at a disadvantage doing your own music at IBC because they are judging the Blues of the 2000s with a 1950s format. You can’t regulate a person’s feelings. It all depends on the judges. It’s purely the luck of the draw. “Early programmers and music promoters understood the music because they were in many cases a creative part of it. So the music was free to grow,” Harmon says. “ Today too many of our programmers are really simply Blues enthusiasts who really love the music of the ‘50s and ‘60s and really think that they can now replace the creative spirit that has driven the evolution of the Blues with their love for a window of time. “They pretty much control all the outlets where Blues can be found today and my fear is that what does not evolve will die. Because of this the people (fans) now get a very small rationing of anything that’s progressive in the Blues. Basically what they get is the same thing re-hashed over and over and over and over. What this has done – just by attrition – is limit the Blues fan base by refusing to let it grow. So what happens is that you got “Stormy Monday” recorded a million times and finally it ain’t so great anymore.” Although Zac has enjoyed critical and commercial acclaim with his latest CD, the aptly titled “Music is Medicine,” he says 2012 has been a difficult year for him. “It has been a very, very difficult year,” he says. “We were down to about the last third of the CD when my father had a stroke. Then he passed away. He and I were really close. Then, my best friend (Bluesman) Michael Burks passed away. We both have had health issues and we spent time checking on each other. He’d go for some kind of treatment and I’d call and ask him how it went. I’d go for some kind of treatment and he check on me. I had just done a tour in Europe and he was just leaving for one when he passed away at the airport as he was getting ready to leave. So, it was kind of a double whammy for me. I’ve spent the last few months getting my father’s affairs in order. I just didn’t work a whole lot this year. I’m looking forward to next year. It’ll be an opportunity to let the music heal me.” More and more Blues festivals are springing up all over the place in recent years and Harmon thinks they are one of the best outlets to get like-minded people together in a peaceful setting. “Blues festivals are almost like a big tent revival,” he said. “What you find is the people are really a true definition of the folks in America. I’ve played them for years and have never seen any fighting, any negativity. You find real Americans at festivals. Blues music is part of the healing process in America.” To really get a grasp of the power of the music, one needs to travel to Europe and witness first- hand the love and respect people outside the United States share with the artists. “The first thing people ask you when they find out you’re an American musician is ‘Do you play Blues?’ “ Zac says. “I was the second Blues artist to ever play in front of the Great Pyramid of Egypt. I had 5,000 Egyptians going wild and they couldn’t understand a word I said or sang. To them it’s not about the notes, it’s the feeling in the music. “The music bypasses the ears, goes straight to the heart and rests in the soul. They understand that. We’re spoiled here in America. Good Blues has always been just right around the corner and we’ve taken it and marginalized it. There are the professional players and then there are so many playing who are hobbyists. It’s hard to find real Blues any more, much less a place to play. “So now you got new fans coming to see the Blues and this is what they hear and they say ‘Oh my God, I don’t like that.’ That is why I ask the question “does the Blues eat it’s young?” This is a real problem. So we really have to ask ourselves the question: Do we really love this music? Do we really want the Blues to survive? That is the question. In Europe you don’t have that. If they go to the trouble of bringing you over there it’s because they truly love you and love what you’re doing.” Regardless of the state of the Blues, Harmon vows to keep playing until “I draw my last breath.” “As far as getting rich in the Blues,” he says, “you’ve got a better chance of hitting the lottery. You play it ‘cause you love it, not for the money. The love for the music is where the riches lie. It’s the unconditional love for the music. I don’t ever want it to die.” To download a FREE music track from Zac's latest album Music Is Medicine, CLICK HERE Visit Zac's website at www.zacharmon.com. Photos by Bob Kieser © 2012 Blues Blast Magazine Interviewer Jim Crawford is a transplanted Texan and the current president of the Phoenix Blues Society. He’s a fan of lots of different types of music but keeps his head mostly planted in the Blues today. He received his first 45 rpm record, Jimmy Reed’s “Big Boss Man,” at about age 8 and it stuck. He hosted the “Blues Cruise” on KACV-FM 90 in Amarillo for many years and can be found on many nights catching a good show at the Rhythm Room, Phoenix’s Blues Mecca. For other reviews and interviews on our website CLICK HERE. |
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Featured Blues Review 1 of 5
Kerry Kearney – Ghosts Of The Psychedelta DWAZ Entertainment 8 tracks; 23.47 minutes Kerry Kearney comes from New York state and has been around for 15 years, making a number of CDs in his own name and performing both solo and in a band. He is primarily known as a slide player and included in his CV is a five year stint in former Jefferson Airplane vocalist Marty Balin’s band. His mix of slide-driven roots and rock bears the name ‘Psychedelta’ and this latest CD is the fourth to work the term into the title! Joining Kerry who handles all lead vocals and guitars are Frank Celenza (bass), Mario Staiano (drums), Ken Korb (harp, penny whistle), David Bennett Cohen (keys), Nydia Liberty Mata (percussion) and Elizabeth Seton (backing vocals). A different set of musicians play on the final track, a cover of Dylan’s “Girl From The North Country”. The CD opens brightly with the only original tune “Mississippi River Stomp”, a real slide-driven rave-up which reminded me of Sonny Landreth. Arthur Crudup’s “Mean Old Frisco” is an acoustic number and is effectively handled. Robert Johnson’s “Stop Breaking Down” is a personal favourite of mine and this version is great, Kerry’s slide ringing out in a very catchy and upbeat treatment with an excellent piano solo. “Louise, Louise Blues” by Big Bill Broonzy is done acoustically with Kerry’s dobro supported by gentle bass and drums. The Beatles would seem to fit uneasily with the rest of the album but Kerry’s choice of “One After 909” actually works well in this interpretation. The piano is again a key component in an uptempo version. A second RJ tune is attempted in a very short (1.34) “Last Fair Deal Gone Down” in a similar trio version as we heard on the Broonzy tune before the band covers Elmore James’ “Baby Set A Date” in an unusual version with less slide than one might have imagined, but with additional percussion, harp and keyboards. The final track is the Dylan cover which is delightful, all delicate dobro, banjo, penny whistle and vocal harmonies. There are many great versions of “Girl From The North Country” but this one stands comparison with the best of them. My only real criticism is that it is far too short! At just 23 minutes it is more like the old EP than an LP. However, I enjoyed this CD a lot. Reviewer John Mitchell is a blues enthusiast based in the UK. He also travels to the States most years to see live blues music. For other reviews and interviews on our website CLICK HERE |
Featured Blues Review 2 of 5
Albert Cummings - No Regrets Ivy Music Company, Inc. and SKH Music 12 songs; 50:20 minutes Styles: Blues Rock, Rock and Roll, Country-Influenced Blues We all want to live our lives with “No Regrets,” and this is how Massachusetts bluesman Albert Cummings plays on his newest CD. Released in August of this year, his sixth collection takes no prisoners! The musician and master house-builder candidly shares, “This album is really who I am, as an artist and a man. It’s a return to my true musical roots and the first step in really defining my identity as a mature artist. I am a Blues man, and I will always be one, but inevitably that foundation now reveals a couple of other floors being constructed as the house rises.” For blues fans, this means that Cummings’ blues is not of the traditional sort. Country and rock suffuse all twelve tracks on “No Regrets”-- eleven originals and one cover (the Bo Diddley penned, Muddy Waters popularized “Mannish Boy”). The three Cummings exclusives that shine the most highlight his mastery of electric guitar: Track 04: “Checkered Flag”--This rocking low-down, throw-down ode to automobile racing is “No Regrets’” first earworm. On the chorus, our narrator cunningly taunts his opponents: “Well, you won’t catch me; this ain’t no game of tag. I’ll see you at the finish line--I’m ready for the checkered flag!” One can almost smell the gasoline fumes and see the smoke billowing off of the racers’ car tires as Cummings lets his Stratocaster rip. Rick Steff pounds the piano powerfully as the lead guitar engine revs, especially at the end of the song. Track 05: “She’s So Tired”--After the adrenaline rush of the previous track, it’s time for a poignant and mellow, countrified blues ballad. “She’s So Tired” fits the bill perfectly, featuring Vickie Adkins, Kimberlie Helton, and Kevin Paige on background vocals. Albert Cummings’ songwriting skills can hardly be underestimated here: “She’s always been the one to pick up the pieces. She’s always been the one to make things right. She’s tired of thinking about everybody else, but that’s all going to change tonight...” Track 08: “Drink, Party and Dance”--Employees at a loss for what to do on Friday night should heed this shuffle’s title. “We ain’t coming home till our blues are all gone!” Cummings exclaims. His posse pulls no punches, including bassist Dave Smith and drummer Steve Potts. Also notable are Steff’s keyboards, sounding like a Hammond B-3 organ. The highlight is Cumming’s bluesiest guitar work propelling the song. Without a doubt, when listeners “Drink, Party and Dance” along, workday blues are banished. This album was produced by Jim Gaines, who has had a long-standing alliance with Albert Cummings since 2004. “At the end of the day,” Albert says, “you have to be yourself or you don’t have anything to offer as an artist.” He has “No Regrets” about this release, and neither will rocking blues fans! Reviewer Rainey Wetnight is a 33 year old female Blues fan. She brings the perspective of a younger blues fan to reviews. A child of 1980s music, she was strongly influenced by her father’s blues music collection. For other reviews and interviews on our website CLICK HERE |
Blues Society News
Send your Blues Society's BIG news or Press Release about your not-for-profit event with the subject line "Blues Society News" to: Maximum of 175 words in a Text or MS Word document format. Mississippi Valley Blues Society - Davenport. IA Chicago singer and educator Maggie Brown will be returning to the Quad Cities for Blues in the Schools sponsotred by the Mississippi Valley Blues Society. Brown will be the MVBS Blues in the Schools artist-in residence in Quad City area schools during the week of November 26-30. She will also appear at four open-to-the-public performances:
Monday Nov. 26, 6:30 p.m.—Davenport Public Library 6000 Eastern
Ave., Davenport, IA For More info visit http://www.mvbs.org Suncoast Blues Society - Tampa, FL The members of the Suncoast Blues Society are proud to join the many sponsors, including the Realize Bradenton organization in sponsoring the first annual Bradenton Blues Festival. The inaugural fest will be held on Saturday, Dec.1, in downtown Bradenton in the newly redeveloped Riverwalk area along the Manatee River. Gates open at 10 a.m and music starts at 11 a.m. with the Steve Arvey Horn Band. Additional acts include Ben Prestage, Homemade Jamz, Southern Hospitality, Johnny Sansone, Dave "Biscuit" Miller, Kenny Neal and Ruthie Foster. Tickets are only $25 and can be purchased at the festival website. For more information, please go to : www.suncoastblues.org River City Blues Society - Peoria, IL The River City Blues Society presents Jimmy Nick & Don't Tell MaMa at 7:30 PM Friday Nov 23th at Goodfellas 1414 N. 8th St. Pekin, Illinois Admission: $7.00 general public or $5.00 for Society Members For more info visit: www.rivercityblues.com or call 309-648-8510 Illinois Central Blues Club - Springfield, IL The Illinois Central Blues Club presents "Blue Monday" every Monday night for the last 25 years - BLUE MONDAY SHOWS - Held at the Alamo 115 N 5th St, Springfield, IL (217) 523-1455 every Monday 8:00pm $3 cover. November 12 - The Blues Deacons, November 19 - Harper, December 3 - Andrew "Jr Boy" Jones, December 10 - Hurricane Ruth, December 17 - R. J. Mischo, December 23 - Blue Sunday With The Blue Suns, December 30 - Blue Sunday With Mojo Cats And Tombstone Bullet Open Jam. More info available at icbluesclub.org |
Featured Blues Review 3 of 5
The Lone Crows Self-Released http://thelonecrows.bandcamp.com/ 10 tracks This is the debut album for this young quartet from Minneapolis. Featuring Tim Barbeau (Guitar, Vocals), Julian Manzara (Guitar), Andy Battcher (Bass) and Joe Goff (Drums, Percussion), this band is a throwback to early 70's rock with a dose of 60's psychedelic and maybe a little grunge from the last decade. Is it blues? Hell no. Track 10, simply entitled "Blues" is, but the rest is an all out, rocking assault. So let's get the blues out of the way since this is a blues magazine. "Blues" represents the Lone Crows doing a Jimmy Page sounding instrumental. It reminds of a raw Led Zeppelin guitar attack. The guitars wail, the backline throbs and we are back in 1969 with some blues shuffle transformed by a rock band in front of a heavily medicated crowd with heads bobbing up and down to the beat. Nice. Have I heard it before? Perhaps. It builds into a big finish, and at 4:13 it's respectable and not over done. The rest? Well, it ranges from 13+ minutes of heavy psychedelic grunge in "Runnin' Through My Head" to the title track (which is 70's rock laced with nitroglycerine). Anders Nelson adds some massive organ sounds to "Runnin' Through My Head" for effect, too. "Hear You Call" gives us a little Carlos Santana approach to the guitar sounds, with Santana's trademark style evident in the piece."You Got Nothing" is psychedelic and incendiary. "Moonshine" gives us more of the stratospheric strat sounds, with the big guitar solo and some echo enhanced vocals a la 40 year ago. "The Ghost" is a 70's guitar instrumental, throbbing and ringing for 6:12; we are spared a 30 minute jam and at just over six minutes I was ready to finish up. "When I Move On" is more Zeppelin sounds as is "The Crawl," although the latter perhaps is more of a guteral early Townsend than Page. All in all, the album grew on me a bit. It reminded me of my late HS and early college days. These guys can play, but they sound a lot like other bands we've heard. Lots of improvisation and one take stuff here. Primal, raging, distorted, and fuzzed out. It's cool and I bet these guys are fun to watch live. If you need a throwback album that sounds a lot like early Zeppelin stuff, this is for you. Reviewer Steve Jones is president of the Crossroads Blues Society and is a long standing blues lover. He is a retired Navy commander who served his entire career in nuclear submarines. In addition to working in his civilian career since 1996, he writes for and publishes the bi-monthly newsletter for Crossroads, chairs their music festival and work with their Blues In The Schools program. He resides in Byron, IL. For other reviews and interviews on our website CLICK HERE |
Featured Blues Review 4 of 5
Bonnie Bishop – Free Self released - Be Squared Records 7 tracks / 28:26 If you Google Bonnie Bishop you will find out that she is a country rock singer and songwriter out of Nashville, so you will be in for quite a surprise when you listen to her new CD, Free. This is not country music, but it certainly does rock in a soulful and bluesy way. Bonnie earned her stripes in the Texas club scene and cut four albums before heading to Nashville to make a run at being a songwriter. She has developed into quite a good songwriter, and recently had one of her songs recorded by Bonnie Raitt (one of her inspirations, by the way). This latest CD is really more of an EP, with seven tracks and a total play time of less than thirty minutes, but they are all original tunes and she had a hand in writing all of them. She is joined on this recording by Jimmy Wallace on keys, Steve Mackey on bass, Fred Eltringham on drums. The electric and acoustic guitars were played by Rob McNelley and Sam Hawksley. This tight group of musicians illustrates why so many artists choose to record in Nashville, where the talent pool is so very deep. “Keep Using Me” is the first track, and we get a strong dose of Jimmy Wallace on honky-tonk piano and B3 and some tasteful bass work from Mackey on the bass, but the real star is Bishop’s voice. I have seen other writers compare her to Janis Joplin and Bonnie Raitt, and though I do not think she sounds like them I do think that she has the same energy and presence as these iconic singers. I do not know exactly how to categorize this song, but the backing vocals and the story of a woman done wrong tip it over into the realm of soul for me. Next up is another song that is hard to fit into any one genre, “Shrinking Violet.” This one is equal parts funk and country rock. The distorted slide guitars on this one are brilliant, and Eltringham really keeps this one moving with his driving drums. There is continuity of the lyrics that carries over from the first song to this one, and you will find that Bonnie Bishop is not afraid to approach personal subjects and that she has quite a lyrical way of stringing words together. The title track is a beautifully arranged ballad that slowly builds with piano, strings and a background choir. As “Free” starts out, we get to hear Bonnie’s voice with a lot of the background stripped way, and it is breathtakingly emotional. If a household-name artist had recorded this song, you would hear it every 10 minutes on pop radio, and tomorrow’s stars would be covering it on some reality television talent show. That is how good it is. Halfway through Free the mood lightens up for “Bad Seed,” the only real country tune on the CD. This one uses the country music time-honored tradition of telling a story as a song, interspersed with a nifty chorus here and there. This is a super catchy tune, and with Bishop’s rip-roaring vocals it should also be very radio-friendly. “World Like This” is a hopeful ballad that gets a dose of Hammond and choir to make this a fresh gospel tune. By slowing things down the listener a chance to hear the message of the lyrics, and to consider the context of love in today’s society. “The Best Songs Come from Broken Hearts” builds on this, starting slowly and gaining momentum with her voice sounds time-worn that adds an extra shot of honesty to this song. The Album finishes up on an inspirational note with “Right Where You Are,” which is a lively tone with hammering drums and a rocking bass line. This song is soul, gospel and rock, and with the way it was recorded it almost comes off as a live track. If she was looking for work as a songwriter, Free is the best resume that Bonnie Bishop could submit. The lyrics are personal and poignant, and the music is rich and catchy; it does not hurt that she has a great voice, a terrific band and good studio production. I am glad that she produced a shorter release with consistently good content rather than adding obligatory cover tunes or songs that were not ready for prime time. This is a winner and you should give it a listen. Reviewer Rex Bartholomew is a Los Angeles-based writer and musician. His blog can be found at rexbass.blogspot.com. For other reviews and interviews on our website CLICK HERE |
Featured Blues Review 5 of 5
Ian Siegal and the Mississippi Mudbloods - Candy Store Kid 11 Tracks; 45:21 Ian Siegal is the only Brit blues man to have been nominated in the Blues Foundation's Blues Music Awards for Best Contemporary Blues Album. That accolade came in 2012 and related to the release of his much acclaimed last album The Skinny, recorded in North Mississippi with Cody Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars as record producer who also played on the album. The album was recorded at the Dickinson Zebra Ranch Studio in Coldwater, Mississippi. Backing Siegal were the sons of some notable Mississippi blues men, including on guitar Robert Kimbrough, on guitar and bass Garry Burnside, and on drums Rod Bland. Also guesting were Alvin Youngblood Hart and Duwayne Burnside. Collectively the band was known as The Youngest Sons. This time, Siegal has gone back to Zebra Ranch again with Cody Dickenson as producer but now with a band featuring Alvin Youngblood Hart on guitar and bass, Luther Dickinson, Cody’s brother on guitar and bass and with Cody Dickinson behind the drum kit, this time under the collective name of the Mississippi Mudbloods. Siegal has acknowledged himself that this is a ‘very different’ album from the last one, although there are tinges of Mississippi Hill Country it does take a very different path. Always in danger of being over enthusiastic let me say that the music here is simply sensational. The CD starts with ‘Bayou Country’ a really enjoyable track with a contemporary country music tinge, and then moves to the first song written by Siegal himself. Called ‘I Am The Train’, the song is outstanding and will be IMHO, the subject of awards nominations (as will others on this CD – for example check out Rodeo - outstanding. The guitar work throughout the album is exemplary: as for example on ‘Kingfish’; slide with a real fire to it and great vocals from Siegal. Whatever else this is, it is NOT Mississippi Hill Country music. More like a mix of Louisiana swamp music and electric country blues. ‘The Fear’ is outstanding, with dark vocals and excellent production values. Strangely it is a cover of a little known Little Richard song that makes the album for me. To us in the early 21st Century the name ‘Green Power’ has an eco-sound to it – but it is about the greenback, not the green fields! The CD ends with Hard Pressed (subtitled What Da Fuzz)...The subtitle gives the funk away! All in all a real winner here. It is my belief that in years to come, people will be referring to this one as a classic like they do Electric Ladyland or Texas Flood. I will eat my hat (as they say) if this one does not rack up a slew of well-deserved awards. Ian Siegal and his vision are where the blues is at in the second decade of the twenty first century. This is a MUST Reviewer Ian McKenzie is English and is the editor of Blues In The South, a monthly blues information publication. He is the producer/ host of two blues radio shows Blues Before Midnight on KCOR (Kansas City Online Radio: www.kconlineradio.com) Fridays 12noon Central; and Wednesday's Even Worse on Phonic FM (www.phonic.fm) alternate Wednesdays at 6pm UK time (12 noon Central). For other reviews and interviews on our website CLICK HERE |
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