Damon Fowler – Devil Got His Way

Grazie a casa Blind Pig, ritorna questo chitarrista di Tampa, Florida, che ha lasciato un segno quanto nel pubblico del rock quanto in quello del blues. Una conferma a livello nazionale ed internazionale per un’autentica promessa dello slide-guitar sound di matrice rock-blues accostato dalla stampa specializzata a personaggi del calibro di Johnny Winter, Jeff Beck e Duane Allman ossia puro Southern rock, swamp blues and lightning slide

Fowler's guitar work has been compared to Johnny Winter and Jeff Beck, while his slide guitar has a hint of the late Duane Allman. He can play fiery guitar runs with the best of them, but it's his lyrical work on lap steel and Dobro that makes him stand out among the legions of guitar heroes.
On Devil Got His Way, Damon fulfills the tremendous potential that his acclaimed Blind Pig debut, Sugar Shack, promised. His remarkable songwriting skills and vocal expressiveness are maturing, and his instrumental voice, by turns incendiary and deeply lyrical, is even stronger. Damon and his band have been touring extensively since the release of Sugar Shack, and there is quite a buzz already about this release.

"Make way for the next big-time guitar slinger, wire-walking Tampa, Fla., native Damon Fowler. This kid can play... Even better, he shows no need to kill you with pyrotechnics on his major-label debut for San Francisco's Blind Pig." -Chicago Sun Times

"After three self-released albums, Florida native Damon Fowler makes his Blind Pig debut with this notable project. Fowler oscillates between country, electric blues and Americana. He's a formidable slide guitar player... He has also mastered lap steel and dobro as well as electric guitar, and his playing throughout the album is deft. Indeed, Fowler may be so skillful that he prefers pickin' tasty to larger-than-life guitar heroics. Fowler wrote nine of the 12 tunes on the album, and his original material is solid. Billboard

"Sugar Shack is lean and slinky, powered by Fowler's exceptional work on electric guitar, slide, Dobro and lap steel...On Sugar Shack, Fowler is first-rate all the way." - Orlando Sentinel

"In the Blues world - or any other genre, for that matter--the complete package is hard to come by...to combine facile fervor on a Tele, a lap-steel, and a flattop with a truly compelling vocal style and soulful songwriting -- that's something rare in an artist of any age. It's even more impressive when such maturity and authenticity come from a 25-year-old like Damon Fowler." - Guitar Player

Aaron Neville - I Know I've Been Changed

When the storm of life is raging Lord

Stand by me

When this old world is tossing me like a ship on a raging sea

Will thou, Mary’s baby…Shelter in the time of storm…

Stand by me.

—–Charles A. Tindley




In his opening notes on I Know I’ve Been Changed, the artist known to millions of devoted fans worldwide as Aaron Neville stands before the microphone not as a musical legend, but as an ordinary man appealing to an eternal God. His signature vibrato rises and dips in a musical prayer full of passion, utterly sincere.

It is perhaps the most powerful moment on a uniquely moving album—his first gospel recording since Hurricane Katrina ripped through the city he cherished, destroying his personal home, and forever altering so much of the life he knew.

Despite that tragic backdrop, the project plays not as a mournful reflection, but rather as a hopeful celebration of the three things that have shaped Aaron Neville most of all—his hometown, his music and his faith.

In grand New Orleans style, I Know I’ve Been Changed celebrates Aaron Neville’s 50th year in recorded music. The album brings the artist’s career full circle, returning him to the music he loved first—gospel music—and reuniting him with Allen Toussaint, the legendary songwriter, musician and producer who produced Aaron’s first recording session in 1960.

Toussaint, who grew up in a nearby New Orleans neighborhood and attended the same school as the Neville brothers, has been a frequent collaborator with Aaron over the years. “Aaron gives the song, the arts, the fullness of his heart and soul every time,” Toussaint says. “He has always been that way. It’s good to know that when something is that good, it’s good forever—the velvet voice of Aaron Neville.”

Producer Joe Henry and Neville recorded I Know I’ve Been Changed over a period of five days, using a stripped-down production approach to showcase the strength of the twelve handpicked songs, as well as the beauty of Neville’s unmistakable vocals.

In true old-school fashion, the musicians played along with Neville’s vocals in-studio to capture the feel of a live set. Arranging and recording such a large amount of material over such a short period, required masterful focus and teamwork. “When I go to the gym, I go to work out. When I go to church, I go to pray.When I go to the studio, I go to sing,” Neville explains.

To handle the challenge of that level of performance, the producer assembled some of the top players. “I call them hard hitters at the bat,” Neville says. “With them playing, there weren’t too many mistakes.”

After four days of working on the instrumentation and lead vocals, Neville pulled together a group of singers who had worked with him on tour and in-studio for many years. They followed Aaron’s vibe, creating classic background arrangements to match the era in which most of the songs were originally recorded.

“It was like a labor of love for everybody. They loved all the songs and they put their all into it,” Neville explains. “It was a fun album, working with those guys.”

Over the past five decades, the indelible spirit of New Orleans has been synonymous with the musical dynasty known as the Neville Brothers. For Aaron Neville the solo artist, there is an equally intimate connection between his music and the faith that has sustained him for his entire life. Through challenge and tragedy, he’s managed to thrive, protecting both his heart and his voice. Ask him how and he says simply this: “He who sings once, prays twice.”

“My Momma, Amelia Landry Neville, always taught the golden rule to us—to treat others as we would like to be treated,” he shares. “One of her favorite sayings was this: ‘I’ll only pass this way once.Therefore any goodness or kindness I can show let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.’”

That perspective served him well in the months after Hurricane Katrina. “Right after the storm we’d go places to perform and run into displaced people from New Orleans everywhere,” Neville reflects. “So when we go sing we’re singing for them and letting them know they’re not by themselves. There’s hope.”

The spirit of New Orleans is marked by an undying hope. On this project Aaron Neville captures that spirit—reflecting the hope of his hometown, drawing hope from his faith, spreading hope through his music.

Charlie Musselwhite - The Well

Harmonica master Charlie Musselwhite è l'emblema di ciò che noi chiamiamo bluesman: nato in Mississippi, cresciuto a Memphis ha fatto la propria gavetta e creato il proprio sound nella Souithside di Chicago. Dal 1967 la sua voce e la sua armonica sono sinonimo di blues. Ha registrato 30 albums in carriera, di cui tre dei più significativi su Alligator tra cui questo affascinante “The Well”, primo album di cui Charlie è autore o co-autore di tutti i brani interpretati che ha il sapore ed il profumo di un “ritorno a casa”. Posisamo quindi considerare The Well una bella produzione Losangelena fortemente autobiografica dove Musselwhite è accompagnato da musicisti importanti quali Dave Gonzalez (Paladins, Hacienda Brothers), chitarra, John Bazz (Blasters), contrabbasso, Stephen Hodges (Tom Waits, Mavis Staples) batteria. La produzione è di Chris Goldsmith (Ruthie Foster e Blind Boys of Alabama). Imperdibile e nominato ai Grammy

Harmonica master Charlie Musselwhite’s life reads like a classic blues song: born in Mississippi, raised in Memphis and schooled on the South Side of Chicago. A groundbreaking recording artist since the 1960s, Musselwhite continues to create trailblazing music while remaining firmly rooted in the blues. His worldly-wise vocals, rich, melodic harmonica playing and deep country blues guitar work flawlessly accompany his often autobiographical and always memorable original songs. Living Blues says, “Musselwhite’s rock-solid vocals creep up and overwhelm you before you know it. He plays magnificent harp with superb dexterity and phrasing. The results are amazing.”


Over the last 43 years Musselwhite has released over 30 albums. Three of those — 1990s Ace Of Harps, 1991’s Signature and 1993’s In My Time — were recorded for Alligator Records and remain among his best-selling titles. Now, Charlie Musselwhite returns to Alligator with The Well. With musical flavors from Mississippi to Memphis to Chicago, The Well is steeped in the music of Charlie’s youth — country and city blues as well as rockabilly and gospel — the music that inspired his signature sound. The fresh, new songs speak from his decades of experience, hard living, and his triumph over adversity.

The Well is the first full-band recording in Musselwhite’s long career for which he wrote or co-wrote every track on the album, and it is the most personal and the emotionally deepest cycle of songs he has ever created. The Well was recorded at Los Angeles’ legendary Sunset Sound with guitarist Dave Gonzales (Paladins, Hacienda Brothers), bassist John Bazz (The Blasters) and drummer Stephen Hodges (Tom Waits, Mavis Staples), and was produced by Chris Goldsmith (Ruthie Foster, Grammy-winning Blind Boys of Alabama). The revealing, autobiographical songs recall specific events and places in Musselwhite’s amazingly colorful life. His conversational vocals and masterful harmonica work are perfectly matched with the stories he tells and the near-telepathic musicianship behind him. Simply put, The Well is Charlie Musselwhite at his very best.

Central to the album are stories looking back at hard times and personal healing. “Dig The Pain” recalls his drinking days, while “The Well” tells of his recovery. In “Cook County Blues,” he wryly remembers his short stint behind bars. The most poignant song on the album, “Sad And Beautiful World” — a duet with Charlie’s close friend, legendary vocalist Mavis Staples — is his response to the tragic murder of his 93-year-old mother in her own home (and the house Charlie grew up in) during a burglary. Each track on The Well is a chapter from Charlie’s life, and in the liner notes to the CD he offers some very personal insights into the meaning behind the songs.

Musselwhite’s personal history is the kind of story a novelist would sell his soul for, but his indomitable spirit is crafted by him alone. Tough times have been a huge part of his life, and have shaped him into a true working-class hero. His fans include young hipsters, Vietnam veterans, convicts, bikers, jazz aficionados, aging hippies and hard-core blues fans. He is a larger-than-life musical legend, writing and singing what he calls, “music from the heart.” According to Musselwhite, “It’s about the feeling, and about connecting with people. And blues, if it’s real blues, is loaded with feeling. And it ain’t about technique, either. It’s about truth, connecting to the truth and communicating with the people.”

Born into a blue collar family in Kosciusko, Mississippi on January 31, 1944 and raised by a single mother, Musselwhite grew up surrounded by blues, hillbilly and gospel music on the radio and outside his front door. His family moved to Memphis, where, as a teenager, he worked as a ditch digger, concrete layer and moonshine runner. Fascinated by the blues, Musselwhite began playing guitar and harmonica. It wasn’t easy growing up a poor, white boy in Memphis, even among the rich musical influences the city offered. He felt like an outcast and a stranger (themes that have informed, inspired and haunted his music to this day). As a teen, Musselwhite attended parties hosted by Elvis Presley and hobnobbed with many of the local musicians, including Johnny Cash and Johnny Burnette, but the celebrities young Charlie sought out were Memphis’ veteran bluesmen like Furry Lewis, Will Shade and Gus Cannon.

Following the path of so many, Musselwhite moved to Chicago looking for better paying work. While driving an exterminator truck as a day job, Charlie lived on the South Side and hung out in blues clubs at night, developing close friendships with blues icons Little Walter, Big Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Big Joe Williams, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. Before long, he was sitting in at clubs with Muddy and others, building an impressive word-of-mouth reputation. Soon after, Charlie was being paid to play in the same South Side neighborhood. Noted blues journalist Dick Shurman says, “The black Chicago blues artists all liked Charlie as a person. They felt that he was one of them — a southern country boy with a deep affinity for the blues.”

His first recording, under the name Memphis Charlie, was with Big Walter Horton on the famous Vanguard Records series, Chicago/The Blues/Today!. Signing with Vanguard, Musselwhite (along with Paul Butterfield who was as urban as Charlie was rural) brought the amplified harmonica blues to a new audience of young, white rock and rollers, who discovered that Charlie personified the cool and hip counter-culture icons they admired.

After the release of his first full-length LP — Stand Back! Here Comes Charlie Musselwhite’s South Side Band — he was embraced by the growing youth counter-culture and the newly emerging progressive rock FM radio stations, especially on the West Coast. His iconic status established, he relocated to San Francisco, often playing the famed Fillmore Auditorium. Over the years, he has released albums on a variety of labels, ranging from straight blues to music mixing elements of jazz, gospel, Tex-Mex, Cuban and other world music, winning new fans at every turn. He has been touring nationally and internationally for four decades and is among the best-known and best-loved blues musicians in the world.

Musselwhite has guested on numerous recordings, as a featured player with Tom Waits, Eddie Vedder, Ben Harper, John Lee Hooker, Bonnie Raitt, The Blind Boys of Alabama, INXS and most recently Cyndi Lauper. He has shared stages with countless blues and rock musicians. He was inducted into the Blues Foundation’s Blues Hall Of Fame in 2010, has been nominated for six Grammy Awards and has won 24 Blues Music Awards. The San Francisco Chronicle says, “Charlie Musselwhite’s harmonica playing shows taste, bite, restraint and power. He’s one of the best, and as a bluesman, he’s as real as they come.”

Charlie Musselwhite today is as vital and creative as at any point in his long career. DownBeat calls him, “the undisputed champion of the blues harmonica.” In addition to his always-busy schedule, he hosts a weekly radio show, “Charlie’s Backroom,” on KRSH-FM in Santa Rosa, California (streamed at KRSH.com Sundays at 10:00am PST). He considers himself a lifelong learner and is constantly perfecting his craft. With The Well, Charlie Musselwhite returns with the strongest, most intimate album of his career — a powerful, personal collection of songs. Musselwhite’s blues, imparting his hard-won knowledge and working class wisdom, are a window into the deep well of his Mississippi soul.

Smokin Joe Kubek And Bnois King - Have Blues Will Travel

Of all the blues legends the great state of Texas has produced, none sounds quite like Smokin’ Joe Kubek and Bnois King. The two Lone Star guitarists—one a hard-edged, hard rocking blues player and the other a jazzy, elegant rhythm player who delivers raw, spontaneous solos-—have taken their dual guitar attack from the heart of Texas to fans around the globe. Kubek and King’s twin-frontman lineup is unparalleled on the blues scene. Backed by their rock-solid rhythm section, Kubek’s fiery fretwork is perfectly matched by King’s sophisticated rhythm playing and rough-edged, down-home soloing and his soulfully conversational vocals. For more than 20 years and thousands of live shows, the duo’s scorching blues and telepathic interplay has been thrilling fans all around the world. Their new CD (their second for Alligator and the 14th of their careers), Have Blues, Will Travel, is a collection of fresh original songs played with passion, taste and a white-hot intensity. Billboard said the band plays “hard-hitting, original blues. Kubek is one of the fiercest Texas blues guitarists…his fiery leads are complemented by King’s adroit rhythm guitar and classic vocals.”
The band’s Alligator Records debut, 2008’s Blood Brothers, brought the long-time musicians to their largest audience yet and earned the band accolades all across the country. The Chicago Sun-Times declared, “Genuine houserockin’ blues…they boogie till the break of day.” Allmusic described the album as “tough, robust, soul-blues that is as hot as they’ve ever gotten in the studio. Impressive.”


With Have Blues, Will Travel, they take another giant step forward. Kubek and King wrote or co-wrote all twelve songs, and, along with their road-tested rhythm section, they ignite a blues fire with enough heat to fuel an all-night party. The chemistry between Kubek’s blistering fretwork and King’s savvy vocals and unpredictable, multifaceted guitar work creates a roadhouse blend of muscular blues-rock, hip-shaking shuffles and slow-burning blues that is simply impossible to resist. Each song is infused with deep, from-the-heart musicianship, carefully crafted, true-to-life lyrics and delivered with the occasional wry smile. King calls Have Blues, Will Travel the best record the band has ever made. “I’ve been listening to this album over and over again,” he says, “and I don’t get tired of it. In fact, I’ve become a big fan of it, and I start thinking, ‘man, I wish we had made this record.’ And then I remember we did.” Kubek agrees. “We challenged ourselves, went into new territory both musically and lyrically, and came out the other end with something we’re extremely proud of.”

On the surface, it would seem hard to imagine two of the most stylistically disparate guitarists joining forces and creating such a signature sound. Joe Kubek was born in Pennsylvania in 1956 but grew up just outside of Dallas. He was leading his own bands and gigging in clubs all around Dallas when he was only 14. Bowled over by the blues a short time after first hearing Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck, Kubek soon discovered the music of Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and other early blues masters including Freddie King, Johnny Copeland and Lightnin’ Hopkins. By the time he was 19, he was backing many famous blues players in the area, including legend Freddie King. In 1976, Kubek was about to head out on tour with King when King died suddenly of a heart attack. “I was in awe any time I was around him,” Kubek recalls. “I learned a lot about feeling and execution. He always came onto the stage hot. You have to entertain people from the second you start.”


Kubek next worked with R&B singer Al “TNT” Braggs and made a host of new friends, including Albert King, Stevie Ray Vaughan (with whom Kubek became close), B.B. King and many other blues icons. He often found himself jamming with these larger-than-life blues stars, while playing constantly around the Dallas area. He not only learned tips and techniques, but also soaked up stories and the lessons of being a professional touring musician. One night, he even had the chance to play B.B.’s guitar, Lucille. “B.B. admired my enthusiasm and he encouraged me, which really meant a lot. When times got hard, I always remembered how B.B. King had given me some encouragement.”


In 1989, Kubek met guitarist/vocalist Bnois King at a Monday night Dallas jam session. The two became fast friends, and melded their seemingly divergent styles—Kubek a rocking and fierce picker and slider, King a subtle, fat-chord rhythm player whose solos are spontaneous and unpredictable—into one of the most potent guitar combinations the Southwest had ever produced. Kubek explains the relationship succinctly: “Bnois fires me up. We are constantly pushing each other higher, complimenting each other’s solos. But it’s not planned. We never know what we’re going to do until it’s done. I pull the blues out of him, and he pulls the jazz out of me. Bnois knows so much about jazz it’s amazing.”


Bnois (pronounced Buh-noice) King was born in Delhi, LA in 1943. He was inspired to play guitar by his high school music teacher. Before long, Bnois was playing blues cover songs with a local band. On his own, he traveled through Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado, finding local bands to gig with and also performing with carnival tent show groups. King made his way to Dallas in 1979, gigging with jazz combos until he hooked up with Kubek ten years later. A master storyteller, King didn’t start writing and singing until he joined forces with Joe, when both duties fell on him. “We needed a singer so I sang,” King recalls, “and every time I did the crowds went wild. We needed songs so I wrote about things that happened to me, to people I knew. That’s what I still do today.” As for his guitar work, King is similarly modest. “Joe inspires me a lot,” King says. “When I solo, it’s a spur of the moment thing. I don’t have a plan. I react to what I hear on the bandstand.”


On the strength of their huge local following, Kubek and King signed to Bullseye Blues and released their debut CD, Stepping Out Texas Style, in 1991. After conquering the Dallas scene, the band began touring clubs, concert halls and festivals nationally and internationally. Following a successful series of eight Bullseye releases, they signed to Blind Pig Records in 2003. As their popularity continued to build on the strength of their recordings and the energy of their live shows, the band’s touring schedule grew to over 150 dates per year all across the United States, Canada and Europe (where they have toured more than a dozen times), solidifying their place in the blues world with one jaw-dropping show after another.


Kubek and King signed with Alligator in 2008 and released Blood Brothers. The fresh approach, the smoking hot playing and the original, lover’s slice-of-life lyrics all added up to a blues delight. The Dallas Observer said, “An electric blast of twelve-bar heaven…they blow the roof off.”
More than anything else, Smokin’ Joe Kubek and Bnois King love to perform live. With Have Blues, Will Travel and another massive tour planned, the band will hit the ground running as they gig from coast to coast, bringing their no-holds-barred brand of soul-charged, rockin’ Texas blues to old fans and newcomers night after night. Have Blues, Will Travel is not just the name of the new album. For Smokin’ Joe Kubek and Bnois King, it’s a way of life.

Watermelon Slim - Ringers

“A blues hero goes country....the country of the seventies, before the homogenization of the Garth ages, the sound owes as much to Lynyrd Skynyrd as to Merle, Hank, and Waylon.”
-Blues Revue

"Slim's vocals - grittier than a country dirt road, tender when they need to be - are framed by excellent Nashville musicians"
- MOJO Magazine

Watermelon Slim is Back ans He is back with another incredible batch of country blues as only Watermelon Slim can do. Recorded in Nashville with some of the best musicians alive this cd is an amazing experience. Great songs, incredible musicians an the teffific sound coming from Slim's harmonica, dobro and face made this cd something our of the ordinary.

A blues artist singing some of the best country around is something special. This time around, Slim is a bit more bluesy and a bit more rocky. What riches for everybody.

We are sure that we are holding in our hand a terrific package, great music, great songs , great artwork and we are sure that this cd will be listening to for decads to come.

Visit Also : Watermelon Slim - Escape From The Chicken coop

Musicians :

Watermelon Slim - Lead vocals & lead slide guitar.
Studio Electric Band
Gary Nicholson - Acoustic guitar.
Kenny Greenberg - Electric guitar.
Steven Mackey - Electric bass.
Lynn Williams - Drums.
Kevin McKendree – Grand piano & Hammond B-3 organ.
Paul Franklin - Steel guitar.

Studio Acoustic Band
Darrell Scott - Acoustic guitar & mandolin.
Kevin Malone - Drums.
Charlie Chadwick - Upright bass.

On Selected Cuts
Stuart Duncan - Twin fiddles.
Kristin Wilkinson - String arrangement & viola.
Pam Sixfin - Violin.
Lucas Leigh - Organ.

Additional Vocals
Rebecca Homans
Verlon Thompson
Jonell Mosser
Suzi Ragsdale
Vivkie Carrico
Miles Wilkinson

Track List

1. Good Old Boys Never Change 2:45 - William Homans, aka Watermelon Slim
2. Tight Fittin' Jeans 3:10 - Huffman
3. Truck Drivin Buddy 2:47 - Mary Wolfe & Brownie Wilder
4. He Went To Paris 3:54 - Jimmy Buffett
5. If There Is Any Heaven 3:54 - William Homans
6. Please Take This Cup 4:32 - William Homans
7. No Way To Reach Nirvana 5:45 - William Homans
8. End Of The Line 2:37 – William Homans
9. Cowboys Are Common As Sin 5:19 - Max Barnes
10. Soft Lights And Hard Country Music 2:50 – Shafer
11. I Appreciate That 3:58 - William Homans & Gary Nicholson
12. And So Our Song Ends 4:19 – William Homans
13. Living With A Lie 4:07 - William Homans & Gary Nicholson
14. Letter To Stoney 4:18 - William Homans

Moonlight News : Thorbjorn Risager - Magic Slim - Fred Chappelier with Billy Price

THORBJORN RISAGER - TRACK RECORD

The time has come for Thorbjorn Risager’s fifth CD. Ever since the debut, this great Danish vocalist and his equally outstanding band is delivering new albums with about a year’s interval, full of new compositions. How they find time for this – especially the composing – in spite of their intense touring, is a bit of a mystery. But life on the road is definitely a source of inspiration, which some of the songs, and even the cover photos, are reflecting – even though they don’t do so much of their travelling by train…

So far they have played live in 15 countries and their CD’s have been played and reviewed in 20 and they are getting enthusiastic reactions everywhere which proves that their music is truly convincing!


But the 38-year-old Dane had other plans for his life. He studied to be a school teacher, and worked in this profession for some years, before he decided to let the music take over. He studied at the Rhythmic Conservatory in Copenhagen, a quite unique education where many of the teachers are jazz or rock musicians, and where the emphasis is on Rhythmic music of all genres.
In 2003 he started his band, selected musicians he liked both musically and personally, and the fact that up until today only one of them left and was replaced, at an early stage of the band’s career, proves that the choice was excellent. But of course Thorbjørn’s musical interest started long before this. He played the saxophone from the age of 12, then guitar – but the singing was more of a coincidence at first. He was exposed to the blues through a neighbour, a middle-aged gentleman who was friends with his parents, and who started playing blues records to the young Thorbjørn. That’s how his life-long love story with the blues started, with B B King as his biggest hero. Ray Charles is one of his other obvious influences, but today, with almost 40 recorded songs from his own pen, he has definitely defined his own sound and style. His mixture of genres (blues, soul, gospel, rock, R&B and funk) is something that is sometimes mentioned by critics, who are looking for something of more homogenity. But this is Thorbjørn’s deliberate choice.


Track Record was recorded in Medley Studios in Copenhagen, which has an excellent reputation. And so does the producer, Lars Skjærbæk (and you thought that Thorbjørn had a strange name…? By the way, after having received many inquiries about the pronounciation of Thorbjørn’s name, we added a link on www.risager.info to an audio file where he pronounces his own name…)

As usual, nearly all the songs are written by Thorbjorn and/or the band. The only exception is a brilliant version of the classical « Baby Please Don’t Go ». As usual, Thorbjorn displays a wide range of blues styles, but the opening track, « Rock And Roll Ride », brings him into a heavier, more rootsy sound, which can also be found on « Let’s Go Down ». The soul influences are, as always, obvious, especially on the ballad « Stand Beside Me ». And the energetic « scorcher » type of songs are always present, here represented by tracks like « Eyes That Turned Away ».

Influences from many great blues, R&B and soul artists can be detected, but with each new CD, Thorbjorn is taking several steps towards defining a genre that’s completely his own. Well, many listeners would agree that he is already there, together with his fabulous band!

MAGIC SLIM - RAISING THE BAR

Magic Slim is the greatest living proponent of the intense, electrified, Mississippi-to-Chicago blues style that spawned much of the music played by modern blues artists and rockers. It’s no wonder that Magic Slim and the Teardrops, considered by many "the last real Chicago blues band," have become one of the busiest and best-loved blues bands around. As Blues Revue wrote, "Whoever the house band in blues heaven may be, even money says they’re wearing out Magic Slim albums trying to get that Teardrops sound down cold."

Magic Slim was born Morris Holt in Torrence, Mississippi, on August 7, 1937. He took an early interest in music, singing in the church choir, and fashioning a guitar for himself with baling wire from a broom, which he nailed to the wall. "Mama whooped me for that," recalls Slim. His first love was the piano, but having lost the little finger on his right hand in a cotton gin accident he found it difficult to play properly. Undaunted, he simply switched to guitar, working in the cotton fields during the week and playing the blues at house parties on weekends.

When he was 11, Holt moved to Grenada, Mississippi, where he met and became friends with Magic Sam, who gave him a few pointers on guitar. Slim recalls, "We used to sit up under the tree Sunday afternoons and play our little acoustic guitars. Magic Sam told me don’t try to play like him, don’t try to play like nobody. Get a sound of your own." And that he did - a trademark guitar tone, featuring the meanest vibrato in blues, coupled with the raw, earthy power in his vocals.

Years later the two would hook up again in Chicago, where Sam would have a major influence on Slim’s career. When Slim made his first trip to Chicago in 1955, Sam offered his friend encouragement, letting Slim play bass in his band and even giving the then lanky Magic Slim his nickname. But Slim found it rough going on the highly competitive blues scene and returned, discouraged, to Mississippi to perfect his craft. Demonstrating his characteristic determination, Slim spent the next five years practicing guitar and teaching his younger brothers, Nick and Douglas (Lee Baby) to play bass and drums respectively.

Confident in his abilities, Slim returned to Chicago and established himself as a formidable player on the scene. In 1967, Slim put his own band together called the Teardrops, which included his younger brothers. In 1972, he began playing regularly at a tiny South Side club called Florence’s, initially filling in for Hound Dog Taylor on occasion, and eventually taking over the gig when Hound Dog left the club for a safer and more lucrative career on the road. Slim’s aggressive, boisterous style was the perfect compliment to the often rowdy atmosphere at Florence’s.

In the mid-70’s Slim began to hit his stride as a guitarist, performer, bandleader, and recording artist, launching a career that has taken him across the country and overseas to national and international recognition and acclaim. He began touring Europe, where his rough and tumble authenticity was well appreciated. Today he’s one of the most sought-after headliners for festivals in the U.K., Poland, Scandinavia, France, Holland, Belgium, and Greece. By the late 80’s he was also touring Japan and South America. On his first trip to Brazil in 1989, he became an instant hero, appearing on television, in a dozen magazine articles and every major newspaper in the country. The press said he stole the show from the likes of Buddy Guy, Etta James, and Albert Collins. He’s returned several times to Brazil, easily selling out all venues. Slim’s live shows are so electrifying that Eddie Vetter invited Slim to open Pearl Jam’s concert in Chicago after catching the Teardrops’ performance at a local nightclub.

Slim’s recording career began with the 1966 recording of the song "Scufflin’," followed by a number of singles in the mid-70’s. He recorded his first album in 1977, Born Under A Bad Sign, for the French MCM label. During the 80’s, Slim released titles on Alligator, Rooster Blues and Wolf Records and won the first of his five W.C. Handy Awards. Critics often remark on the consistency of Slim’s performances, reflected in his band’s yearly nominations for W.C. Handy Award as "Blues Band of the Year."

Slim’s first album on Blind Pig Records, Gravel Road, was released in 1990. Its title track was one of the first tunes he learned to play on his baling wire guitar in Mississippi. The album was well received by the press, garnering a passel of glowing reviews and landing on several year-end Top 10 lists. Billboard magazine said, "The well-traveled Chicago blues singer/guitarist is near the top of his form on this delightful album, which comes close to capturing the late-night ambience of Slim’s live set."

In 1996, Slim’s career came full-circle with the release of Scufflin’ on Blind Pig, the title track being a remake of the song which began his recording career thirty years earlier. Living Blues said the album "should bring a smile to the face of even the most jaded listener." 1998’s Black Tornado was released to similar accolades in both the blues and mainstream press. An Associated Press review noted that "Magic Slim has never been better than on Black Tornado and that is a lot to say." Downbeat called Slim "a true all star; a guitarist of considerable authority whose lines snap like a crocodile’s mighty jaw and a singer with a persuasive capacity for wrenching every bit of emotion out of his lyrics."

Snakebite, Slim’s fourth album for Blind Pig Records, was released in 2000. Critical reaction was typified by this quote in Jazz & Blues Report: "Slim sings and plays at a level that makes this among the best albums in a career spanning over three decades" Perhaps Living Blues said it best: "A Magic Slim disc is the next best thing to a Saturday night in a backstreet juke along with a half-pint of whiskey, a pig-ear sandwich, and a sexy companion. It’s best if you can gather together as many of these accessories as possible - but the only indispensable one is the music, and this disc delivers it in force."

With the release of his newest CD, Raising The Bar, Magic Slim and his label Blind Pig (often represented by Dixiefrog in Europe) are celebrating their twenty year collaboration. The album proposes an outstanding collection of older and newer songs culled from Slim’s vast repertoire. From R&B gems like "Breaking Up Somebody’s Home" and Little Milton’s "4:59 A.M." to Roosevelt Sykes’ "Sunny Road Blues" and J.B. Lenoir’s "Mama Talk To Your Daughter" to his own perennial crowd favorites, "Shame", "Do You Mean It" and "Treat Me The Way You Do", Slim once again proves that when it comes to complete mastery of the blues in all its aspects and truly genre defining power of performance, he has few if any equals on the scene today. The title’smeaning is double-edged; over the last two decades, Slim and the Teardrops have been constantly raising the bar for other blues bands with their consistently incendiary performances, and whether it’s a college town tavern, out of the way roadhouse or international blues festival, patrons go home feeling like the joint was razed - Slim and the boys give their all every night.

FRED CHAPPELIER - BILLY PRICE - LIVE ON STAGE ( CD +DVD )

Billy Price was the featured vocalist with the Roy Buchanan band for many years, winning over audiences everywhere with his soul-drenched blues tenor. A studio album recently chronicled his encounter with Fred Chapellier, one of the top French guitarists today. Their music has now been captured live on this high-octane energy set. For the same price, you also get to see them in action on the free DVD!

Blue-eyed soul man Billy Price has been a high-profile singer on the Pittsburgh PA scene for the past three decades. Billy was the lead singer with the Roy Buchanan band for three years, appearing on the late Buchanan’s legendary Livestock set (recorded in New York City in 1975) and That’s What I’m Here For album. Price then went on to record several blues/soul sets under his own name, pocketing a handful of awards on the way.

Fred Chapellier is hardly an unknown in blues circles. One of the best guitar players on the French scene today, he was awarded the “Electric Guitar Player” Prize at the French Blues Trophies in 2004, and he has shared the stage with major stars at various festivals in the past. Many considered his recently published Tribute to Roy Buchanan CD the best French blues recording of 2007. In addition to a long list of celebrated guests (Tom Principato, Neal Black, Gib Wharton…), Fred insisted on the presence of Billy Price for this project.

This encounter led Fred and Billy to program concerts together in Europe and the US, especially after Billy toured France with Fred’s band following the release of Tribute to Roy Buchanan.

After the tour Billy and Fred decided to record an album together. After several months of writing for this new project, Fred Chapellier joined Billy Price and his band in June of 2008 at the Mojo Boneyard studio in Pittsburgh. Fred was back in Pennsylvania for the mixing sessions three months later, just before making the rounds of East Coast clubs with Billy. In the meantime, soul legend Otis Clay and Mark Wenner of the Nighthawks had made their own imprint on the record.

The resulting was Night Work. Now, here is “Live on stage” the live version of this fruitful collaboration and true friendship including the Night Work songs plus a lot of other little gems…!

Johnny Moeller - Bloogaloo

Johnny Moeller’s guitar playing is full of voodoo and lighting. The floating bent notes, delicately singing phrases, bursts of staccato picking, and ringing piano-like chords that he sculpts into vibrant solos bring all the beauty, power, and mystery of the blues to life. Yet he’s impossible to pigeonhole. Although Moeller’s the latest in a long line of six-string wizards to hail from Austin, he upholds the Texas music tradition not by imitating the licks of legendary Lone Star State players who’ve influenced him — like Albert Collins, Lightnin’ Hopkins, the Vaughan Brothers — but by being a maverick. “The truth of the matter is I’ve never really tried to emulate anybody else,” explains Moeller, who’s wrapping up a daring new solo album. “There are lots of great guitar players who inspired me, and singers and saxophone players, too. But I don’t like to limit myself to purely one style of music. I have my own thing, which is blues based, and then I like to mix in everything else I love: soul, jazz, funk and rock ‘n’ roll.” That amalgamation comes naturally to the Fort Worth native who grew up on his father’s blues and soul record collection, the classic rock he heard on radio and the albums by everybody from elegant jazz guitarist Grant Green to down ‘n’ dirty boogie architect John Lee Hooker that he bought in high school with his paychecks from the local Piggly Wiggly. But the blues is always Moeller’s compass. It’s been that way since he stumbled on an old Lightnin’ Hopkins album while he flipped through the bins at Record Town. “When I got that album home, the minute I played it I knew that was what I wanted to do,” he recounts. “It was so raw and wild and original that it totally blew my mind.” Since then Moeller’s developed into one of the genre’s most stunning and soulful six-string stylists with an uncanny ability to support heavy hitters. Although his most visible gig is backing Kim Wilson in the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Moeller’s also the Severn Records house guitarist. In that role, he’s lent artful licks to albums by stellar vocalists Darrell Nulisch and Lou Pride, harmonica ace Steve Guyger and others. He’s also been a long-time member of fellow Texan Nulisch’s band and has toured with the Severn Soul Revue backing singers Nulisch, Pride, and Tad Robinson. Moeller says the essential elements of his style — a blend of cool relaxed phrasing and greasy grooves balanced by razor-wire runs and howling tones — have been in place since the days when he landed his first professional gig backing Denton, Texas bluesman Pop Carter with a group that included his brother Jay, who is also in the Thunderbirds, and their lifelong pal Paul Size, another Austin-based guitar legend in the making. “My brother and I were visiting my father in Austin one summer and we went to Antone’s to see Little Charlie and the Nightcats, who we love. My brother told Clifford I played guitar, and before I knew it he was telling the band, ‘Hey, let’s get this kid up there.’ It was surreal, but Clifford was big-hearted. He helped so many musicians in Austin, from giving them gigs to flat-out paying their rent.” Moeller says his upcoming album represents an important step in his evolution. “It’s really an outgrowth of my learning how to be a better frontman,” he explains. “I’m blossoming as a singer, songwriter, and leader. Part of that’s just what I feel I need to do as an artist, and part of that’s inspired by working with the bandleaders I’ve worked with — especially Kim, who really knows how to run a show on stage.” The new Johnny Moeller Band album he’s been recording in bursts for the past four years is more fine-tuned than his previous two releases, 1996’s The Return of the Funky Worm and 2001’s Johnny Blues Aggregation. Those discs were off-the-cuff affairs, built around in-studio jams and produced by the Dallas Blues Society. “This album’s come together at a slower pace because I’ve really been concentrating on the songwriting and arranging, and not just rushing into the studio when I’m off the road,” says Moeller. “I also sing lead on four numbers, which is a whole ’nother world for me, but one I’m becoming more and more comfortable with. The CD’s got boogaloos and dirty blues, and half is originals including some funky instrumentals. The vibe of some of the songs is ‘James Brown meets Frankie Lee Sims’.”Funky Worm and Aggregation alums Jay Moeller and Paul Size appear, plus their fellow Texas bluesman Sean Pittman and the legendary Austin blues siren Lou Ann Barton. Miss Lou Ann’s lush voice pilots a version of Earl King’s “Everybody’s Got to Cry Sometime.” Moeller also leads a swampy boogaloo stomp through King’s classic “Trick Bag.” “On this album and in my live sets these days it feels like I’m really finding myself,” Moeller says. “So even I’m curious about what I’m going to do next.”

MUSICIANS:
Johnny Moeller: Vocals & Guitars
Steve Gomes: Bass & Guidance
Matt Farrell: Piano & Organ
Rob Stupka: Drums & Smiles
Kim Wilson: Vocals/Harmonica (4,9)
Louann Barton: Vocals (5,7)
Shawn Pittman: Vocals (2)
Gary Clark Jr: Background Vocals & horns (8)
James Bullard: Background Vocals (8)
Dave Finnell: Trumpet
Frank Mitchell: Saxophone
Mike Barfield: Maracas & Hollerin
J. Moeller: Bangin & Hollerin


TRACK LISTING
1. Bloogaloo
2. I'm Movin' On Up
3. Trick Bag
4. Got A Feelin'
5. I'm Stuck On You
6. Theme From The One Armed Swordsman
7. Everybody's Got To Cry Sometime
8. Raise Your Hands
9. Well Goodbye Baby
10. Shufflin' Around
11. Tease Me Baby