Blue Skies Calling introduces music fans to a largely undiscovered stellar guitarist and musical master in Boy Wells. Wells is a veteran of the southern rock scene that was rooted in the geographical and multi-stylistic pocket around the nation’s capital, who now resides in the artistically fertile hills of Central Texas. 

Blues Skies Calling is a harmonic and sonic – as well as personal and spiritual – journey through the musical tradition at the heart of the American roots idiom that bloomed below the Mason-Dixon Line. With the guitar of Boy Wells as the guide, Blue Skies Calling travels through blues, rock ‘n’ roll, country, bluegrass, jazz and more to reveal a rare and brilliant instrumentalist, songwriter and singer steeped in the musical real deal. A friend and protégé of the late, great guitar legend Danny Gatton, Wells made his bones with countless gigs, many road miles and uncounted hours in the studio, and now steps into the spotlight to share all that he knows and feels about music and life as well as his instrumental prowess, touch and emotive power.

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SISTA MONICA : 2012 Best Soul Blues Female

BMA nominee

Vote Now!  www.blues.org

Best new CD:Living in the Danger Zone!

Booking festivals for 2012 now!

Sista Monica Parker – internationally known as “The Lioness of the Blues” is a s gifted singer and songwriter of contemporary blues, soul, R&B and gospel music.  She wrote, sang, and produced her 11^th highly anticipated CD "Living in the Danger Zone" on indie label Mo Muscle Records.  It is distributed by City Hall Records in San Rafael, California.

Sista Monica is a 2012 BMA nominee for “Best Soul Blues Female Artist of the Year” by the Blues Foundation in Memphis, TN.   “She is the real deal!”  Parker carries the baton for the great blues women. Crafting her own style, Sista Monica sings, croons, shouts, and belts with power and adds sass, sultry and heartfelt phrasing on this CD.  The “Living in the Danger Zone” CD release tour, with the Sista Monica Band is on a west coast now. They are scheduled to perform the Reno Blues Society’s Annual Mardi Gras Dance Saturday, February 18, 2012 at the Ballroom of the Ramada Reno Hotel.  Then, sista Monica Band will fly overseas perform two festivals,  Le Meridian Jazz Club in Paris, France. They return to her birthday celebration April 27^th is at the premier blues club Biscuits & Blues in San Francisco, CA. In the summer they go Midwest to The Cincy Blues Festival Aug 10^th. For more dates go to www.sistamonica.com

The Sista Monica Band consists of veteran sidemen: Danny Sandoval - tenor sax, Bill Vallaire –blues guitar, Leon Joyce Jr. - drums, Artis Joyce “AJ’ - bass,  Danny “B” Beconcini – piano/ Hammond B3, and the powerful vocals of Sista Monica Parker.

Downloads are available here

For booking availability and fees, contact Jim Douglas (925) 449-1724 at Prime Time Entertainment.  Interviews call (831) 425-3192. Website: www.sistamonica.com 

What Jake and Elwood started, Illinois Finishes

 Wrecking ball going to shopping mall trashed in 'The Blues Brothers' Movie

HARVEY, Ill. — A suburban Chicago mall made famous for its high-speed demise in "The Blues Brothers" movie 30 years ago is meeting its real-life end.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn announced Wednesday that demolition has officially begun at Dixie Square Mall in south suburban Harvey. The vacant mall has been an eyesore ever since cars unceremoniously smashed through it in the iconic film.

"The demolition of the Dixie Square Mall will help revitalize the local economy and create much needed jobs," Quinn said in a statement. "Although we will always remember the Dixie Mall as the location for one of the most iconic scenes in 'The Blues Brothers' movie, it is time for this now vacant building to be torn down to make way for more economic development for the Harvey community."

Quinn set aside $4 million in federal disaster recovery funds for the project in 2010. Work to clear the property had previously stopped when Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan sued Harvey over asbestos removal in 2005.

Ed Paesel, executive director of the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association, said the initial investment for the project is "critical to Harvey's future."

The 39-acre site was recently condemned over concerns about its structural stability and the presence of asbestos. The governor's office said the cleanup and demolition project will support 42 jobs, including 18 new full-time positions.

The mall, which opened in 1966, closed in 1979, then shortly thereafter was featured in "The Blues Brothers."

Southern Blues Comes To NDMOA

Traditional blues musicians from the drink houses, front porches, kitchen tables and churches of the Deep South soon will perform in the elegant galleries of the North Dakota Museum of Art in Grand Forks. 

 Blues man Ironing Board Sam will be at North Dakota Museum of Art in Grand Forks on Feb. 25-26.

(grandforksherald.com)Traditional blues musicians from the drink houses, front porches, kitchen tables and churches of the Deep South soon will perform in the elegant galleries of the North Dakota Museum of Art in Grand Forks.

Ironing Board Sam will swap his homemade keyboard for the Museum’s piano for a 7 p.m. Feb. 25 concert, followed by singer Big Ron Hunter accompanying himself on his acoustic and electric guitars. Both compose their own music.

A Blues Brunch with Ironing Board Sam and Hunter will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 26 at the North Dakota Museum of Art.

Ironing Board Sam and Big Ron Hunter are beneficiaries of the Music Maker Relief Foundation out of Hillsborough, N.C., begun in 1994 through the close relationship between its founders, Tim and Denise Duffy, and many elderly African-American musicians.

The Duffys realized major record labels only would concentrate on the next new thing and knew many Southern Blues musicians barely broke even on gigs alone, a news release said. So, the Duffys began soliciting friends of the family for financial and needed in-kind donations.

They knew there was little opportunity for artists who were too old to tour, so the Duffys worked quickly to try and preserve the area’s music by producing numerous field recordings before it was too late. Within the first two years, the Duffys aimed to assist Southern blues, gospel, Appalachian and American roots musicians who were 55 or older through programs such as Life Maintenance, Emergency Relief, Tour Support and Instrument Acquisition.

“We started helping the blues artists in the Winston-Salem area like Guitar Gabriel, The Snake Lady, Captain Luke, and Macavine Hayes,” a statement from the foundation said. “One of our first contributions was a pallet of Ensure (a nutritional drink) donated by Humana Inc. We bought shoes for artists, paid heating oil bills, and bought groceries. The rest of our time was spent doing intensive fieldwork to meet artists throughout the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. We followed the cold trails of folk life fieldworkers that had located artists 25 years earlier and were surprised both at how many we found, and saddened by how many had passed on. Everywhere we went we heard the same requests: they needed gigs, their own CDs, instruments and any assistance to reduce the strain of their poverty.”

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John D’Amato

“Inventive and original while true to the genre.”

Mark S. Tucker, F.A.M.E.

He started playing guitar at age 10. At 15 was the first contemporary blues guitarist accepted into The Educational Center for The Arts. There John honed his blues craft as well as developing into a well seasoned guitarist capable of expertly performing any genre of music. D’Amato relocated to Nashville to pursue his production, songwriting and performing goals. John performed on many Nashville recording sessions but, it wasn’t until he began regularly performing at the world famous “Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge” in Nashville, TN and received such a positive response to his blues music that he realized that was what he needed to be doing.

John D’Amato officially entered the blue scene in 2010 with the release of his debut CD “Ain’t No Big Deal”. His guitar prowess and soulful vocals have landed him on stage with many notable musicians. Such as: B.B. King; Billy Cox; Eric Gales and Joe Louis Walker. Joe Louis Walker was so impressed with John’s abilities he asked John to perform on his new Alligator Records Release “HellFire”.

Here are some quotes that capture the essence of John’s live performances: “He just keeps spewing out wilder and wilder phrases until you succumb to giddy delight or vertigo.” Guitar Player Magazine;” John D’Amato and Eric Gales, amazing blues playing.” Guitar Jam Daily; “John D'Amato can sing the Blues up a storm.” C.M. Jazz and Blues; “John D'Amato and his band knocked it out of the park. Rocking Greenwich Village with a blast of super-charged blues.” Jon Sobel Promoter, Soul of The Blues Festival.

John is booking for 2012. If you’re looking for show stopping, high energy, supercharged blues you’ve found it.

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 BILOXI MISSISSIPPI’S GOT THE BLUES…SOME GOLF…AND A WHOLE LOT OF FUN!

For one week in mid April (15-21) the Biloxi area will take center stage for a number of blues and golf enthusiasts. Last spring 96 people enjoyed the sun, sand and a warm southern welcome.

Golf and blues is the theme but really playing golf during the day is just a past time to get us into the blues. Playing golf is not a necessity it is an option and is priced accordingly for non golfers. Home for the week is the beautiful IP Casino Resort and Spa and the entire group is welcomed pool side on arrival day for a few complimentary cocktails.

Golfers will play 4 rounds of world class golf on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

After Monday’s golf round the evening will include a dinner at The Dock with the blues sounds ringing out over one of the coasts back bayous.

After Tuesday afternoons round of golf at Shell Landing Course blues tunes will be accompanying dinner on the courses back deck.

No golf Wednesday as we prepare for a sunset sail on the Gulf of Mexico. We will take you to the Gulfport Harbor where you will board a schooner for a dinner cruise including all refreshments and yes more blues.

After Thursday’s round at the Bridges Golf Club we will all hook up at Shaggy’s on the Beach for a few cocktails to get the evening on the right track.

Friday’s noon shotgun start will be followed by the week’s closing ceremonies prizes and live music at the world renowned Shed BBQ & Blues Joint,

Your celebrity host Chuck Jackson lead singer of the award winning Downchild Blues Band will be entertaining you all for the week and welcoming local performing artists to all venues.

We are finalizing details in the very near future so if you are planning on joining us don’t delay book today!!!

www.golfandblues.net

U.S. Blues Museum Planned For St. Louis Riverfront

(Reuters) - A few blocks from the Mississippi River levee where a homeless W.C. Handy composed "St. Louis Blues" more than 100 years ago, the first national blues museum in the United States is taking shape.

While several regional blues museums have popped up around the country -- Memphis, Tennessee; Clarksdale, Mississippi; and Helena, Arkansas -- the St. Louis institution will be the first to tell the national story of the unique American musical form.

Organizers say it's time that St. Louis -- a city with a long musical tradition but without the high profile of Chicago, New Orleans or Memphis -- stepped up its visibility in the music world.

The National Blues Museum, which Museum chairman Rob Endicott said he hoped would open next year depending on the final design, would be a part of an ongoing public and private effort to revitalize the St. Louis riverfront.

"It's going to be kind of space-agey. The idea is to make it a technology-driven, interactive experience. We will have the memorabilia, too, but it won't be a museum of just artifacts," he said.

The museum group, which is using private donations, obtained space in an 1892 department store building that is part of the 1.5 million-square-foot, $250 million Mercantile Exchange District whose development is funded by private businesses that receive state and federal tax credits.

An 11-day Bluesweek celebration that will help support the museum was announced last week. It includes a three-day Memorial Day weekend concert at the downtown Soldiers' Memorial and a blues pub crawl in Soulard, the neighborhood where the blues in St. Louis were revived in the 1980s.

Headliners for Bluesweek include national blues acts Shemekia Copeland, Bobby Rush, Kelly Hunt and Arthur Williams plus regional acts from St. Louis, Kansas and Mississippi.

RIVERFRONT REVITALIZATION

Groundbreaking on the St. Louis riverfront is set for this year for a $500 million Gateway Arch park rehabilitation aimed at getting more people to walk around the city's downtown, long a maze of highways and empty blocks that discouraged pedestrians.

"Tourists come to the Arch and they park and they look at the Arch and they drive away," Endicott said. "We want to give them something to walk to."

In the past 10 years, thanks in part to a $100 million state tax credit, the area near the river has grown through loft sales, resulting in a new district of restaurants and bars along Washington Avenue.

The Mercantile Exchange complex being developed on Washington is about three-quarters finished. It includes a hotel, office buildings, the first downtown movie theater since 2003, and residential and retail space within walking distance of the Cardinals and Rams stadiums as well as the Convention Center and several monumental buildings on Market Street.

"The National Blues Museum is one of the retail anchors," developer Amos Harris said. "We need to put down a stake for St. Louis music -- to leverage its remarkable history into tourist flow and into the businesses downtown, like Memphis and Chicago have done."

"St. Louis has at least as deep a history as these other places -- perhaps deeper -- and we need to inculcate that history into both the people who live here and those from elsewhere," he added.

Another boost to the area is a plan by St. Louis University Law School to move to a nearby building downtown, bringing 1,100 faculty, students and staff.

St. Louis music burst onto the national scene at the time of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, with the popularity of St. Louis resident Scott Joplin's ragtime compositions. Handy's "St. Louis Blues," published in 1914 years after it was written, is one of the most recorded blues songs.

Endicott, an attorney who plays trumpet for the Voodoo Blues band in his spare time, said St. Louis needed to come out of the shadows for U.S. music tourists.

"We want to attract the people making the blues pilgrimage, up through the Delta, Memphis, then St. Louis and Chicago," he said.

Blues artists such as Lonnie Johnson, Peetie Wheatstraw and Big Joe Williams were headliners in St. Louis in the 1920s and 30s.

Miles Davis got music training in the city in the 1940s and in the 50s, and Chuck Berry worked on the same stages where Ike & Tina Turner launched their careers. Another wave of St. Louis blues players included Oliver Sain, Henry Townsend, Albert King, Johnnie Johnson and Bennie Smith. 

Video of the Week

 Living At Walmart by Pat Pepin

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The Shed Barbeque & Blues Joint Destroyed By Fire

OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- The original Shed Barbeque & Blues Joint, which in just over 10 years became an iconic eatery that spread around the Gulf Coast, burned to the ground early Sunday morning.

For Brad Orrison, who founded the restaurant with his sister Brooke Orrison Lewis, the reality of what had happened was hard to grasp on Sunday.

"I still haven't cried," said Orrison, who built much of the original structure from scratch and watched it burn in the wee hours on Sunday."I don't sing the blues or play the blues, but I can say I'm right in the middle of living them."

Investigators had no early indications Sunday as to what might have caused the fire. The investigation will continue today.

"We're waiting on a guy to bring some pans," Orrison said. "It's so weird. I've always had so much stuff and usually I leave pans at places, and now I'm the one who needs pans."

The Shed BBQ and Blues Joint posted on its Ocean Springs Facebook page: "SHEDHEDS! We WILL rebuild and we WILL start slingin some QUE! The Original Shed may be gone, but it's alive and well in the hearts and bellies of everyone that walked through those doors over the last 10 years."

Also on its Facebook page, The Shed asked for donations of junk, license plates and pigs to help in their rebuilding efforts. The Shed has locations in Gulfport, Mobile, Lafayette, La., and Destin, Fla.

The only portion of the Ocean Springs restaurant to survive was the original, tiny shed Orrison built from what he described as "stuff that I found.

"All the rest of the materials came from Lowes, but this little shed was built out of the most inferior materials, and it's the only thing left. Which is crazy sad."

Employees and customers slowly walked around the charred remains on Sunday, sharing hugs, tears and stories. Some people looked dazed and shocked, as if someone close to them had died.

Orrison said that earlier Sunday, a family brought their kids by before church to mourn the loss of their favorite place to eat.

"It's like, this definitely hurts our family, but it touches a lot of souls here, too," Orrison said.

Besides being famous for its barbecue, the original Shed was known as a place where people young and old gathered to listen to music, dance and have a good time. Its first and most frequent customer, Jim "Happy Legs" Groves, who lives across Highway 57 from the restaurant, was among those trying to take it all in on Sunday.

Michael Belton, chief of the Central Jackson County Fire Department, said 10 units and 35 personnel responded to the blaze, which spread to the woods behind the structure. The response included the Mississippi Forestry Commission, Singing River Power, and Vancleave, Fontainebleau, Fort Bayou and Gulfport fire departments.

Firefighters battled for about eight hours to put the fire out, Belton said. Orrison said it's hard to put a dollar figure on the loss at this point.

While he said that there is "no doubt in my mind" that the family will rebuild, their next step will be to meet with employees and form a game plan. The Shed has 65 workers.

Orrison said when he arrived on the scene, the building was engulfed and flames were shooting about 40 feet into the frigid air.

He said the firefighters fought the blaze with dedicated passion. "There were guys outside spraying and literally spraying the firefighters that were on their hands and knees crawling through trying to get to the original building because they didn't want the original sign to be destroyed.

"They protected it like it was their own."

What did survive, ironically, were 20 pork shoulders and 20 briskets that were in the smoker when the fire happened.

On Sunday afternoon, friends and supporters were busy fetching ice, beverages and serving equipment in preparation for a bittersweet, impromptu picnic.