Americana Archives - Page 13 of 67 -

Music Archive by category "Americana" (Page 13)

Today in Music – B B King was born!!

Riley B B King (September 16, 1925- May 14, 2015)

So today is the anniversary of birth of probably the greatest blues musician of all time. Certainly he was one who was at the top of his craft the longest – B.B. King!!

Here’s the obligatory background information from Wikipedia, like he needs an introduction:

Riley B. King (born September 16, 1925- May 14, 2015), known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American blues musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No. 6 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time (previously ranked No. 3 in the 2003 edition of the same list),[1] and he was ranked No. 17 in Gibson’s “Top 50 Guitarists of All Time”.[2] read more

“Into the Morning” with the progressive bluegrass of Greensky Bluegrass – “Demons”

One of the albums that has been in my rotation since it’s release last week, is If Sorrow Swims from Greensky Bluegrass. Greensky Bluegrass is one of my favorite progressive bluegrass bands. I discovered their music a few years back and loved the album Live at Bells, on that album the band really displays their musicianship. I liked their last album Handguns, but not as much as the earlier albums. If Sorrow Swims reminds me more of their earlier albums. Here’s a statement from the band’s website about the band… read more

High Marks for The High 48s’ Great Northern Railroad – Check them out!!

Yesterday, I was reviewing the Roots Music Bluegrass Chart and way down near the bottom, I came across a band whose

name was unfamiliar with, The High 48s. Their latest release Great Northern Railroad was fittingly #48 on the chart. Since the album obviously had a train song on it, I thought it would be a good album to check out!! So I headed over to Spotify, found the album, listened to a few of the songs, and since my foot hadn’t stopped tapping since the album began, I knew this one was a winner!! read more

Otis Gibbs presents some great – Souvenirs of a Misspent Youth!!

Otis Gibbs’ latest release Souvenirs of a Misspent Youth has been in my rotation for about a week now and the Indiana native, East Nashville resident has crafted another fine album. For my money, Gibbs is one of the best songwriters out there today and this collection of songs may be his best effort yet! Gibbs’ songwriting talents rank right up there with the best, comparisons have been made to Woody Guthrie, TomT.Hall, Kris Kristofferson and Townes Van Zandt. His story-songs tell tales of everyday life. read more

How about some Charlie Robison “Barlight” on his birthday? (September 1, 1964) Happy Birthday, Charlie!

Charlie Robison is celebrating one of those big birthday years today, September 1st! He is turning 50 years young today!! Charlie is one of the Texas Country music artists that I discovered through the Texas Country Music list on Yahoo in the late 1990s. Among that group were Charlie’s brother Bruce, Jack Ingram and Pat Green…. Some background about Charlie from Wikipedia…..

After an injury in college ended a potential football career, Charlie Robison came to Austin, Texas in the late 1980s and had stints in the bands Chaparral, Millionaire Playboys, and Two Hoots and a Holler.[1] He went solo with his album “Bandera” in 1996. He subsequently signed with Sony and released “Life of the Party” on Sony’s subsidiary Lucky Dog Records. The album gave him three of his biggest hits including “My Hometown.” His next release was a live disc called “Unleashed Live,” which is credited to Charlie, brother Bruce, and Jack Ingram. He then signed with Columbia Records for “Step Right Up” and another live album Read More read more

British Blues 2014 – Standing in the Shadows from King King

British Blues 2014 Album of the Year winner – Standing in the Shadows from King King congrats!

The British Blues Music Awards were held last Sunday night. I will review the total list at some point today and write about the winners.But for now here is a post I wrote after listening to the album Standing in the Shadows from King King, which won the award for Blues Album of the Year. I have also reviewed the two runners up Aynsley Lister’s Home and Shake the Walls from Marcus Bonfanti!!

Awards for King King

So it’s always pretty neat when I listen to an album, like I did with Standing in the Shadows from the blues band King King, are blown away. Then go to their website and read that they were the winners of the Best Band & Best Album at the British Blues 2012 Awards!! They are also Winners of ‘Best Band’ & ‘Best Album’ – Blues Matters Writers Poll in 2011!! Hailing from Glasgow King King is fronted by guitarist Alan Nimmo, formerly of the award-winning Nimmo Brothers. As I listened to the album, I heard tracks that went from all out blues ballads to funky blues… from the band’s Facebook page.. read more

Exploring the Jazz Piano of Jaki Byard – One Two Five…..

So yesterday I had some office work to do, typing the soil logs for the test pits that were excavated on Thursday. Since I need to stay focused while I complete the logs, the soundtrack for the morning became jazz. There are two jazz albums on the iPhone that I’ve been listening to over the last few weeks, so they became the soundtrack! The first was an album titled One, Two Five from Jaki Byard and the second Why? from former rock drummer Ginger Baker.

The current release from Jaki Byard is titled The Late Show at it’s currently No 36 on the JazzWeek Chart. (August 25, 2014) Since I never have heard of Jaki Byard I first went to Spotify to have a listen. Typically, after listening I then go and read about the artist. The Late Show was not at Spotify the latest album that was there was an album titled One Two Five (2014).That album went on the iPhone and what I found was some really fine and interesting solo piano. This morning I went to Wikipedia and then several other sites and this is what I found out about Jaki Byard…… (once again I prove that I have a LOT to learn about jazz) Jaki Byard in his brief biography at Amazon is described as ” Art Tatum, Earl Hines, Bud Powell, Ran Blake, Cecil Taylor and Bill Evans, all in one”. From Wikipedia….. read more

John Lee Hooker’s birthday!! (August 22, 1917)

Let’s Have One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer to Honor John Lee Hooker

On this day – August 22 – in 1917 in Coahoma County near Clarksdale, Mississippi John Lee Hooker was born. He was one of the most influential blues musicians across several generations. From Wikipedia

John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1917 – June 21, 2001) was a highly influential American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.

Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally a unique brand of country blues. He developed a ‘talking blues’ style that was his trademark. Though similar to the early Delta blues, his music was metrically free. John Lee Hooker could be said to embody his own unique genre of the blues, often incorporating the boogie-woogie piano style and a driving rhythm into his blues guitar playing and singing. His best known songs include “Boogie Chillen'” (1948), “I’m in the Mood” (1951) and “Boom Boom” (1962), the first two reaching #1 on the Billboard R&B chart. Continue Reading read more

British Blues from Marcus Bonfanti – Shake the Walls

Marcus Bonfanti – Shake the Walls – and he does!!

When I first reviewed the nominees for the 2014 British Blues awards, one of the many nominees whose name I was unfamiliar with, was Marcus Bonfanti. So I downloaded and put his most recent album, the one that is among the nominees for Blues Album of the Year Shake the Walls, on the iPhone. Where it has been in my regular rotation ever since. If I had a vote for the Best British Blues album, it would most likely get my vote! While Bonfanti may be unfamiliar to me, he certainly isn’t unfamiliar to the lovers of British Blues. Bonfanti won the award for Best Acoustic Performer in 2013 and took home the Best Songwriter award in 2012! This year in addition to his nomination for Blues Album, Bonfanti is also nominated for the following awards….. read more

Love the Way You Roll from The Alexis P. Suter Band – You’ll Love the Way She Does!!

Some voices are made for the blues among them is Alexis P. Suter leader of the aptly titled Alexis P Suter Band! Alexis who calls Brooklyn NY has IT when it comes to the blues and it on display in full force in the band’s sixth release Love the Way You Roll The Blues Music Association agrees, in 2012 she was a nominee for the Soul Blues Female Artist of the Year. I don’t think that the nomination will be her last and it won’t be too long before she wins the award!! The first time she shared the stage with B.B. King he said this about Alexis… read more

Category: Americana