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Febuary 13, 2009
Volume 4 Issue 5













Special Announcements
CD or DVD Releases
News Flash
Record Label News
Blues Artists on the Rise
Roots Blues Airplay Charts
Blues Festivals
About Us
HI FELLOW BLUESERS

Hi Fellow Bluesers:
Greetings... It's Michele Lundeen, "Queen of Steam," and Editor of the Blues Festival Guide magazine. Last year we asked and you answered! Some of you shared your treasured, unique and memorable Blues festival moments with us and some fab photos, to boot. We published many of these in our 2008 Guide
"You Tell Me" article and had so much fun with it we thought we'd just do it again!
So, how about it?
In 100 words or less we'd love for you to describe the most truly UNIQUE thing you've witnessed or experienced at a Blues festival that you've attended or been an integral part of. Not just "they had the best hotdogs" or "we got to sit up close"... Get creative, don't be shy... and YES, look for those quality photos to accompany.

Please email your responses right away to michele@bluesfestivalguide.com
 The sooner the better! Include the festival name, date and location, plus your full name and your location.

Your submission may be used in the Blues Festival Guide 2009 magazine!
Bring it on!
Michele Lundeen
Magazine Editor

 

WHERE ARE THE BEST BLUES JAMS?

The Blues Festival E-Guide needs your help as well. We are putting together a list of some of the best Blues Jams around the country or world for that matter. Let us know where the best jam nights are and we will try to include them on our list. Please make sure they have been ongoing at least 1 year and let us know where, when, and what makes that jam night one of the best. Tell us about how it's run, if any special guest show up to play or whatever you think makes your local jam night the best. Send your responses to Gordon@BluesFestivalGuide.com under the heading "Jam Night"

Thanks for you help and I will see you at Jam Night.

JOHN NEMETH : : LOVE ME TONIGHT
Since John Nemeth burst upon the scene with his dazzling debut album, fans and critics have been buzzing about this highly talented newcomer. Love Me Tonight confirms the acclaim he's received as one of the most gifted artists on the modern blues scene.

Drawing on the classic soul, blues, and R&B influences that inform his stunning vocal style, John has crafted a timeless slice of American music. He re-visits the inspired sounds of the 50s and 60s, when Chicago blues were adding funk and rock to the mix that got him hooked on music in the first place.

Brimming with energy, his new CD is tougher and edgier, and continues Nemeth's penchant for reinvigorating the sound of vintage American rhythm and blues with his spine-tingling vocals, acute melodic sensibilities, and considerable skill as a songwriter. Frequent collaborator Elvin Bishop guests on two tracks.

In an early review, All Music commented on Nemeth's artistic development since his debut, saying, "His singing has gained confidence and presence for a relative newcomer. Better still, his songwriting has also advanced a few notches." The review goes on to conclude, "Whether he's singing or working the harp, Nemeth is one of the finest young additions to the soul blues scene...his future is assured if he keeps releasing albums as powerful and consistent as this."

For more: CLICK


DELTA WIRES : : LIVE @ 105 DEGREES
This is the 5th CD from these Bay Area Blues Veterans, recorded live in the 105 Degree heat of the Northern California Blues Festival in June 2008. The day was HOT and so is this CD!  

The Delta Wires are an Oakland/San Francisco Bay Area seven-piece blues big band that dedicates itself to modern blues while paying tribute its origins in the rural south. The band was conceived by vocalist and harmonica player, Ernie Pinata, as a college arts project. Pinata established that the blues was art, that all its components were highly sophisticated elements of a culturally-derived art form created in the Mississippi Delta and rural southern America and developed to high art in northern, urban cities... a unique perspective that lends serious credence to how one can view and hear the blues. That was over 30 years ago, and the Wires have continued to perform and to keep their original vision alive. 

In 2008, the Delta Wires were FINALISTS out of hundreds of bands in the Blues Foundation's International Blues Challenge in Memphis. Both Oakland Magazine and the East Bay Express voted them Best Live Band of Oakland and the East Bay. The San Francisco Chronicle called them a "tough, rocking, socking band, knocking out crowds" and Blues Access magazine wrote, "They blow hard from the get-go, a tight horn section blending comfortably with the spirited, intense harmonica from lead man Ernie Pinata...as fierce a Sonny Boy Williamson-influenced harp as you will find".

 "LIVE @ 105 Degrees" is definitely a high-energy collection from seven great musicians. The tracks range from new burning-hot arrangements of old standards that have taken their original inspiration to new levels, such as Willie Dixon's "Monkey Man", and Rice Miller's "Pontiac Blues", to Delta Wires originals like "Lonesome Blues" and the Oakland Funk-inspired "Mechanic". The arrangements are intricate and with a tightness which is an obvious result of their years of "Dues Paid" performing with the likes of Van Morrison, John Lee Hooker, Freddie King, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, Bo Diddley, Little Milton, Lowell Fulson, Boz Scaggs, and many other great blues artists. 


The Delta Wires are: Ernie Pinata, harmonica and lead vocals; Tom Gerrits, bass; Richard Healy, guitar; Tony Huszar, drums; Larry Jonutz, trumpet; and Jim Orsetti and Danny Sandoval, saxophones. 

ENJOY!

http://www.deltawires.com

Click on button to hear Pontiac Blues



IBC WINNERS
From the Blues Foundation

25th IBC Results:
We're not sure how Cassie Taylor and Jason Ricci, the two magnificent young MCs of the Band finals, would say it, but for some of us, a back in the day description of the 25th International Blues Challenge would be "It Was a Gas! Can You Dig It?" Big thanks to all the musicians, fans, judges, volunteers and Joe Whitmer, the MacGyver of the Blues !

Thanks to all the Blues societies, all the fans and all the IBC acts for making this 25th IBC such a special time. On Beale Street Friday afternoon during the Smokin' Bluz Youth Showcase and the FedEx International Showcase, Jack Sullivan surveyed the scene and jokingly noted in alarm "Look what you've done!!!" Walking out of The Orpheum Theatre after the band finals, one Blues fan complained "Thanks a lot. Now I have to come to the IBC every year for the rest of my life." As "Big Daddy" Rob Hecko, owner of B.L.U.E.S. on Halstead Club, Chicago, IL and 2009 Keeping the Blues Alive recipient, said "You call it Keeping the Blues Alive. I think the Blues is keeping us alive." As Walter Cronkite would have said "And that's the way it was."

Band
1st place
South Florida Blues Society--JP Soars & the Red Hots

J.P. Soars

2nd Place

Cascade Blues Association--Ty Curtis Band

3rd Place
Ottawa Blues Society--MonkeyJunk


Best Guitarist Award
JP Soars


Solo/Duo
1st place
Blues Society of Tulsa--Little Joe McLerran
Little Joe


2nd Place
Crossroads Blues Society of Mississippi--Alphonso & Richard

Nathan James & Ben Hernandez took home the Best Self-Produced CD Award for their current effort Hollerin'! Many of you will recall, this duo won the 2007 International Blues Challenge.

Hollerin
Last, but not least, Micah Kesselring, Columbus Blues Alliance, who participated in the Youth Showcase was awarded a scholarship to the Centrum Blues Workshop this coming summer. This scholarship was secured by Board member Cassie Taylor.

For More: CLICK

Sirius preparing possible bankrupty filing
NEW YORK, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Sirius XM Radio Inc has been working with its advisers to prepare for a possible bankruptcy filing, the New York Times reported on its website on Tuesday, citing people close to the company.

The move could put pressure on satellite television company EchoStar Corp , which reportedly holds a substantial amount of Sirius XM debt. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that EchoStar chief Charles Ergen made an offer to take control of the satellite radio company late last year, but he was rebuffed.

Sirius officials did not respond to several telephone and email messages, and EchoStar declined comment.

Sirius has been working with restructuring expert Joseph A. Bondi of Alvarez & Marsal and bankruptcy lawyer Mark Thompson of Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett to help prepare a Chapter 11 filing, the New York Times reported, adding that a filing could come within days.

A Simpson, Thacher spokeswoman declined comment, and Bondi was not immediately available for comment.

Sirius has also been working with investment bank Evercore Partners, the newspaper said. Evercore could not be reached immediately.

 

LEGENDARY RHYTHM AND BLUES CRUISE

From the Editor:

Once again the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise has come and gone and every year we go on and on about how great the cruise was and about how much we love going along. Well, this year was no exception, as a matter of fact, this years cruise could best be described as exceptional. Lets see, where should I start, the food, the ship, the music, the workshops, the shore excursions, the late night jams, and of course,  all the great people and the sense of camaraderie that you get when everyone on board is there to have a great time and enjoy the best blues music in the world.

While the rest of the country was in a deep freeze that week, we were basking in the warm sun on the Islands. In addition to  the shipboard activities, our stops in the Dominican Republic, Tortola, and  Dominica, gave us plenty of time to enjoy the natural splendor of the Islands as well as some exciting moments along the narrow mountain roads. But the main reason we all go on the cruise is for the music and if you did not get your fill of great shows it was your own fault. This years cruise was also special because we were all able to witness the wedding of Blues Great Kim Wilson to his longtime girlfriend Amanda. What a great moment. We were also blessed this year with a a great number of talented cruisers on board who were ready to show there stuff at the Pro/Am Jams. Some players even got to jam on the big stage with the pro's.

I dont know how Roger Naber and his staff do it but every year the cruise just seems to get better and better. That can only mean one thing, dont wait another second to reserve your spot on next years cruise.

http://www.bluescruise.com

To see more cruise photo's CLICK

BLUES GRAMMY AWARDS

At the 51st Grammy Awards, B.B. King took the Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album (his 15th), while Dr. John won the Best Contemporary Blues Album Category.

The Blind Boys of Alabama took home a Lifetime Achievement Award. Congrats to all ten nominees in the two main categories:

Best Traditional Blues Album
* Elvin Bishop- The Blues Rolls On
* Buddy Guy- Skin Deep
* John Lee Hooker, Jr.- All Odds Against Me
* B.B. King- One Kind Favor
* Pinetop Perkins & Friends- Pinetop Perkins & Friends

Best Contemporary Blues Album
* Marcia Ball- Peace, Love, and BBQ
* Solomon Burke- Like a Fire
* Dr. John & the Lower 911- City That Care Forgot
* Taj Mahal- Maestro
* Irma Thomas- Simply Grand

Buddy Guy .... Movie Star?

Five-time Grammy winner Buddy Guy has an acting part in a soon-to-be-released movie starring Academy Award winner Tommy Lee Jones. See for yourself:

CLICK HERE FOR TRAILER

In the Electric Mist, which also stars John Goodman, Peter Sarsgaard and Mary Steenburgen, is set to hit theaters on Feb. 20. Buddy Guy plays the role of Sam 'Hogman' Patin. Levon Helm also has a role in the movie. (Correction: The movie will be shown in theaters only in New Iberia, Louisiana, where it was shot, and then will be available on DVD and Blu-Ray beginning March 3.)

Buddy also plays on the soundtrack, as you can hear on the trailer. While he has a
long list of movie soundtrack credits, as far as I know, this is his first time in an acting role.

The movie is set in Louisiana, where Buddy was born and grew up. The movie is based on a novel by James Lee Burke. Here's a plot synopsis from the YouTube link above:

Academy Award winner Tommy Lee Jones leads an all-star cast in this psychological thriller based on the bestselling novel by James Lee Burke.

While on an investigation into a series of grisly murders, veteran detective Dave Robicheaux (Jones) navigates his way through the Louisiana bayou and the dark, sultry world of New Orleans mobster "Baby Feet" Balboni (John Goodman). Layers of corruption and long-dead secrets reawaken grudges and a lethal alliance A tangled web of killings, past and present, converges in a shocking showdown with stakes that become deeply personal to Robicheaux and his family. Featuring music from five-time GRAMMY Award-winner Buddy Guy, this film takes you deep into Cajun country's hidden worlds. *Best Supporting Actor: The Fugitive, 1993.

Buddy is not the first bluesman to appear in movies. If you recall, Albert Collins played himself in Adventures in Babysitting. Billy Branch has been in a couple of movies. He played a preacher in Next of Kin, a Patrick Swayze movie.

 

BLUES FESTIVAL GOES UNDER
Monroe Lions cancel annual blues fest

MONROE, Wis. - The annual Berghoff & Blues Festival in Monroe is the latest victim of the economic recession.

The Monroe Lions Club said the event that's been held the past 11 years won't happen this year.

Dick Tschanz is one of the founders of the music festival. He blamed the decision on the rising cost of staging the event and the difficulty of raising enough funds at a time when people have less money to spend on entertainment.

Tschanz said the weather is another factor, because a rainout could threaten to bankrupt the club.


DONT MISS OUT-7TH ANNUAL BLUES FESTIVAL GUIDE 2009
MAKE YOUR FESTIVAL STAND OUT! -

Order a Highlighted Festival Listing!

It will be highlighted in 4 different media sources: website, E-Guide, print magazine, and digital magazine!

Cost: $75/annual fee

Step 1. Post your festival in the festival calendar on our top-ranking website: www.bluesfestivalguide.com; do it today! Easy and free and we get a million hits per month!

Step 2. Let us know you want your festival HIGHLIGHTED (colorful box around it with HIGHLIGHTED FESTIVAL tag) in the festival calendar so it stands out among the hundreds of others.

Step 3. Your Highlighted Festival will be copied, highlight, tag and all, into the weekly E-Guide festival calendar (weekly electronic newsletter with 17,000 subscribers) several weeks before your event date.

Step 4. Your Highlighted Festival will then be copied into the back section of the print magazine (annual magazine with 100,000 free circulation throughout U.S. and Canada) in the festival calendar.

Step 5. Your Highlighted Festival will then be hyperlinked to your website from our Digital Issue of the magazine for worldwide exposure!

All for only $75! The very first step starts with you wanting your event to be a big success and to give your sponsors, cause, and bands, BIG EXPOSURE.
Contact us today to order: advertising@bluesfestivalguide.com
775-337-8626

ALLIGATOR RECORDS SIGNS RICK ESTRIN & THE NIGHTCATS
AlligatorRecords is proud to announce the signing of Northern California-based blues band, Rick Estrin & The Nightcats. For more than 30 years and nine albums, singer/ harmonica player/ songwriter Estrin co-fronted the jumping, swinging Little Charlie & The Nightcats, along with guitarist Little Charlie Baty. Now, with Baty's recent retirement from touring, Estrin -- along with the Nightcats longtime rhythm section of J. Hansen and Lorenzo Farrell and fiery young guitarist Kid Andersen -- has taken the lead on his own. Rick Estrin & The Nightcats' sound, while still swinging the blues, is a harmonica-driven, rocking, guitar-fueled rave-up. The band performs new material as well as the well-known, well-loved classics from Estrin's massive catalog.

Rick Estrin ranks among the very best harp players in the blues world. His work on the reeds is at once deep in the tradition of harmonica masters Sonny Boy Williamson II and Little Walter Jacobs whie at the same time pushing that tradition forward. The Associated Press called his harp playing, "endlessly impressive." The great guitarist Robert Lockwood, Jr. (who was schooled by Robert Johnson and who played on most of Little Walter's Chess recordings) told Estrin, "Little Walter would be very proud of you." 

Rick's seemingly effortless command of the harmonica is matched by his distinctive, soulful vocals and remarkable original songs. Ever since he started performing his own material, it has become increasingly clear that Rick Estrin is a songwriter of unparalleled skill. His quick wit, self-assured disposition, coifed hair, pencil-thin mustache and sharp attire inform his songs in a way that has led critics to compare him to Cab Calloway, Louis Jordan and Willie Dixon.

 http://www.alligator.com/



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CJ Vaughn & Highway 58:






















Flashback! It's 1991 and Ray Charles smiles from behind his black grand piano,tips his head back to drink from his Diet Pepsi can and croons, "You got the right one, Baby, Uh huh!" At that moment a lightning bolt of soul hit a little boy from Michigan with a life-changing jolt and the music of CJ Vaughn was born.

His influences are many; Allen Collay, The Meters, The Temptations, Jimi Hendrix, Jack Pearson, Dr. John and the late Rich Mullins to name a few But perhaps none more than the great Ray Charles!

You can hear Ray in CJ's vocals, his styling and most of all in his SOUL!

The soulful rendition of "Baby Blue", a CJ Vaughn original, and his version of the classic "Drown In My Own Tears" are the blending of these and other great influences in the music world.

A CJ Vaughn show will leave you on the edge of your seat wanting more. He will take you on a musical journey from blistering rock 'n roll to the softest jazz with the tightest dynamics and purest respect for the music.

The Music City Blues Society nominated him in 2005 for Blues Guitarist, Blues Vocalist and Electric Blues Act of the year. He was selected unanimously by the judges of the Kentucky Blues Society to represent them at The 2007 International Blues Challenge. He returned to "The IBC" in 2008 with The Yesterday & Today Rhythm & Blues
Society.

He has played at Stevie Ray's Blues Bar (Louisville), Buddy Guy's Legends (Chicago), and BB King's Blues Club (Nashville & Memphis). The Hard Rock Café in Memphis, Sassy Ann's House Of Blues in Knoxville,and Nashville's Bourbon Street Blues & Boogie Bar have all had CJ Vaughn on their stages and have had him back many times!
His fan base is growing, don't miss this show!

CJ Vaughn & Highway 58 is a versatile act from a power 3-piece to a larger show with B3, horns and percussion. You can be sure that a CJ Vaughn show is worth bringing to your town.

One great veteran Nashville musician describes CJ Vaughn like this:
"He plays like Jimi Hendrix and sings like Ray Charles".

High praise but check out a CJ Vaughn show and you'll know that "You got the right one. Baby, Uh huh!"


Instrumentation
CJ Vaughn - Lead Vocals, Guitar, and Keyboards
Ron Vaughn - Bass Guitar
Don Kendrick - Drums & Percussion
Ross Lester - Percussion & Drums
Larry Van Loon - Keyboards

Discography
Check It Out - KYSOTI Records-2009

Links
http://www.cjvaughn.com/



Click on festival name to click through to festival website.
Homestead Blues Festival

Sunday, 15 February, 2009

Point Cook, Victoria, Australia
www.bluespointcook.com

St. Augustine Bluz Festival
Thursday-Sunday , February 12-15, 2009

St.Augustine, Florida, U.S.
www.bluzcompany.com
904-540-1449
Australian Blues Music Festival
Thursday-Sunday, February 12-15, 2009
The National Festival of Australian Blues Music
Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia
www.australianbluesfestival.com.au
+61 2 4823 4492
Knology Clearwater Sea-Blues Festival

Friday-Sunday, February 20-22, 2009

Clearwater, Florida, U.S.
www.clearwaterseablues.com
727-562-4700

Broadstairs Blues Bash

Friday-Sunday, February 20-22, 2009

Broadstairs, Kent , United Kingdom
www.broadstairsbluesbash.com
00441843 600999

The Phoenix Blues Society Presents "Blues Blast 2009"

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Mesa, Arizona, U.S.
www.bluesblast.info
602-252-0599

3rd Annual Blues-B-Q

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Orlando, Florida, U.S.
www.cityoforlando.net/bluesbq
407-246-3104

Calgary Mid-Winter Blues Festival

Monday-Saturday, February 23-28, 2009

Calgary, Alberta, Canada
www.calgarybluesfest.com
403-668-7144

Saskatoon Blues Festival

Thursday-Sunday, February-March 26-1, 2009

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
www.saskatoonbluessociety.ca
306-343-9587

Traditional Acoustic Blues Festival

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Worthington, Ohio, U.S.
www.columbustradfest.com
614-486-4575

Pickle's Blues Extravaganza

Friday-Saturday, March 6-7, 2009

Lima, Ohio, U.S.
www.bluescommittee.com
419-221-3897

Lake Havasu "Bluegrass on the Beach"

Friday-Sunday, March 6-8, 2009

Lake Havasu City, Arizona, U.S.
www.landspromotions.com
209-480-4693

Mississippi Blues Fest

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Greenwood, MS, U.S.
662-453-4065
www.greenwoodms.orgm

Bonita Blues Festival

Saturday, March 14, 2009

The Blues, Jazz & Folk Music Society
Bonita Springs, Florida, U.S.
www.bonitablues.com
239-947-0715

St. John Blues Festival

Wednesday-Sunday, March 18-22, 2009

St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands
www.stjohnbluesfestival.com
340-643-6475

19th Annual River City Blues Festival

Friday-Saturday, March 20-21, 2009

The Blues, Jazz & Folk Music Society
Marietta, Ohio, U.S.
www.bjfm.org
304-295-4323

Tampa Bay Blues Festival

Friday-Sunday, March 20-22, 2009

St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S.
www.tampabaybluesfest.com
727-502-5000

3rd Blues & Arts Fiesta

Saturday, March 28, 2009
Presented by SF Lions Club & Mexico Living Guide
San Felipe Ball StadiumSan Felipe Baja California Mexico
www.bluesandarts.com
1-800-576-0919 Ex.5

Jasper's "Blue's on the Marsh"
Saturday, March 28, 2009 Ridgeland, SC, U.S.

www.instituteatpalmkey.com
843.726.3277
Blues Cafe'
Saturday, March 28, 2009

Wausau, WI , U.S.
www.gnbg.org/gnbs/pages/blues-cafe-2009.php
715-536-7600
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