bluesinthenorthwest.com

Vintage L.A. Garage Rock band The Morlocks are releasing their take on the output from the legendary Chess Records.  The Morlocks Play Chess.

Check it out.

http://www.popantipop.com/themorlocks/

The Morlocks Play Chess by popantipop

Jimmy Reed 1975

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhRZha7ULWg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhRZha7ULWg

I have installed a new theme for bluesinthenorthwest.com to make us look a little more modern and fresher.

Let me know what you think.

This years Colne Festival features an all Northwest lineup for the Friday night on the British stage.  This event is being sponsored by BBC Radio Lancashire and for those of us not able to go will be broadcast live on the station.

8.00pm  -  Forty4
9.00pm  -  Tipitina
10.00pm  -  Junkhouse Dog Blues Band
11.00pm  -  Atlanta Roots

In my opinion Forty4 are the most underrated band in the region at the moment; right now they are in sparkling form and will kick of this excellent evening’s entertainment in fine style.

Don’t forget the other northwest band; The Tommy Allen band, featuring the stunning Johny Hewitt, one of the country’s finest harmonica players.  Tommy will play Sunday at 9.30pm.

http://bluesfestival.co.uk/

The next in the popular Wyre Blues sessions at The Marine Hall, Fleetwood is on Thursday August 26th and features The After Hours Blues Band. They are a three piece blues rock band based in Preston in the North West of England.  The band has been around since the late nineties and has an established following in the area that appreciate electric blues, blues/rock material.

The Band members are (L to R); Doug Long, bass and backing vocals, Lee Wharton, guitar and lead vocal, Pete Mundy, drums.

The current line up was established in early 2007 following the departure of the original bassist. This led to the band taking a sabbatical from playing and gigging on a regular basis whilst the new line up reviewed the existing repertoire, and new songs were written.
The band play a mixture of covers from artists likes Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan, their own reworked versions of blues classics from people like Albert King and BB, plus a growing collection of their own original songs.

They have appeared at both the Burnley R&B and Colne Great British blues festivals. They have appeared on BBC local radio on several occasions, and have been featured in the international Blues Matters magazine.

Doors open 8.00pm, 9.00 showtime and admission is £2.50. Tickets can be bought in advance from The Marine Hall box office on 01253 887693 or on line from www.marinehall.co.uk.

There is a nice article in this week’s Independent on Sunday about music in New Orleans.

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/americas/aint-no-city-like-new-orleans-2058675.html

Blue Funk
The Krissy Matthews Band
Alex McKown
26 August 2010
Bluefunk@the WMC
Park Lane
Poynton Northwest SK12 1RG

The future of the Blues? Very possibly. Another alarmingly young (17yrs) lad with a huge talent on guitar, fronting his own band of veteran players who can barely keep pace!! I just adore this huge groundswell of young raw talent that is keeping the blues alive. This kid is playing half the venues/festivals on the planet this year.
Support is from the Alex Mckown Band. Remember the first time Bernie Marsden played for Bluefunk at the British Legion. Well I used a trio called Inside to support him. A trio comprising 2x 11yr olds and a 10 yr old. Everyone thought I’d gone out of my mind including Bernie…… and then they blew us all away!!! including Bernie. Alex is now 13yrs old fronts his own blues band and is a veteran of several major blues festivals (Colne x3) Think I got that one right? Aah….to be young again. Tickets £8 from Garry on garrywhite10@yahoo.co.uk or 07818884324

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m17eY8hvELc

In the Beginning…

“The Natural Order of Musical Instruments”

In the beginning there was a bass.  It was a Fender, probably a Precision, but it could have been a Jazz – nobody knows.  Anyway, it was very old …definitely pre-C.B.S.  And God looked down upon it and saw that it was good. He saw that it was very good in fact, and couldn’t be improved on at all (though men would later try).  And so He let it be and He created a man to play the bass.  And lo the man looked upon the bass, which was a beautiful ‘sunburst’ red, and he loved it. He played upon the open E string and the note rang through the earth and reverberated throughout the firmaments (thus reverb came to be). And it was good.

And God heard that it was good and He smiled at his handiwork.  Then in the course of time, the man came to slap upon the bass.  And lo it was funky. And God heard this funkiness and He said, “Go man, go.”  And it was good. And more time passed, and, having little else to do, the man came to practice upon the bass.  And lo, the man came to have upon him a great set of chops.  And he did play faster and faster until the notes rippled like a breeze through the heavens.  And God heard this sound which sounded something like the wind, which He had created earlier.  It also sounded something like the movement of furniture, which He hadn’t even created yet, and He was not so pleased.

And He spoke to the man, saying, “Don’t do that!”  Now the man heard the voice of God, but he was so excited about his new ability that he slapped upon the bass a blizzard of funky notes.  And the heavens shook with the sound, and the Angels ran about in confusion.  (Some of the Angels started to dance, but that’s another story.)  And God heard this, how could He miss it.  And lo He became bugged. And He spoke to the man, and He said, “Listen man, if I wanted Jimi Hendrix I would have created the guitar.  Stick to the bass parts.”

And the man heard the voice of God, and he knew not to mess with it.  But now he had upon him a passion for playing fast and high.  The man took the frets off of the bass which God had created.  And the man did slide his fingers upon the fretless fingerboard and play melodies high upon the neck. And, in his excitement, the man did forget the commandment of the Lord, and he played a frenzy of high melodies and blindingly fast licks.  And the heavens rocked with the assault and the earth shook, rattled and rolled.

Now God’s wrath was great. And His voice was thunder as He spoke to the man. And He said, “O.K. for you, pal.  You have not heeded My word.  Lo, I shall create a soprano saxophone and it shall play higher than you can even think of.”  “And from out of the chaos I shall bring forth the drums.  And they shall play so many notes thine head shall ache, and I shall make you to always stand next to the drummer.”  “You think you’re loud?  I shall create a stack of Marshall guitar amps to make thine ears bleed. And I shall send down upon the earth other instruments, and lo, they shall all be able to play higher and faster than the bass.”

“And for all the days of man, your curse shall be this; that all the other musicians shall look to you, the bass player, for the low notes.  And if you play too high or fast all the other musicians shall say “Wow” but really they shall hate it.  And they shall tell you you’re ready for your solo career, and find other bass players for their bands.  And for all your days if you want to play your fancy licks you shall have to sneak them in like a thief in the night.”  “And if you finally do get to play a solo, everyone shall leave the bandstand and go to the bar for a drink.”  And it was so.

Flickr photo sonyadee

I missed this on in the post holiday backlog.

It’s TONIGHT!

http://www.myspace.com/junkhousedog

Check out the brilliant line up of the 2010 Carlisle Blues Festival.  The best line up of any Festival in the UK this year.  Michael Burks alone is worth the admission price and there are some amazing other artists on there  Trust me!  You won’t be disappointed.

Swallow Hotel

Carlisle

12-14 Nov 2010

www.carlislebluesfestival.com

Check these out.

Aretha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bScWLXAN1v8

Little Esther Phillips

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqL0JEwKhbs

Hi all,

This week we experienced some technical issues on bluesinthenorthwest.com.

The issues were around the all new bluesinthenorthwest.com Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/bluesinthenorthwestcom/130273283651577

All should now be fixed, thanks for your support

An interesting piece on the resurgence of vinyl.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/arts/music/08jazz.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all

ANDY COHEN

“Built Right On The Ground”

(Earwig Records – CD 4959)

This one is squarely in the mode of the early days of the blues revival, back when it was still closely linked to the folk boom of the early sixties. Boston-born singer/ guitarist Andy has been around a long time; in his youth he associated with Blind James Brewer, harmonica player Reverend Dan Smith and (briefly) Reverend Gary Davis, and he obviously paid attention to their teachings. He has that ease with his guitar picking that only comes from years of practice, his voice sounds appropriately mature, and he is comfortable enough with his style to essay jazz (Jelly Roll Morton’s ‘Grandpa’s Spells’), and both Jimmie Rodger’s (The Singing Brakeman)’s blues-based country music and his forays into sentimental popular music (‘Miss The Mississippi And You’). He plays knockabout piano on two tracks too, but mostly he inhabits the world of pre-war guitar blues, deftly played and with a knowing self-confidence. It would be good to see him on this side of the pond…

Norman Darwen

Intense!  Blogged by Ben Felten

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iYdFNkEq0Y

Although published by Armadillo Music in the UK, this first solo album by Stevie Nimmo was recorded at the Zone Studios, Dripping Springs, Austin, Texas. Stevie is backed on the album by a fine collection of American musicians: Lloyd Maines on pedal steel, Dobro and slide guitars, mandolin and banjo; George Reiff on bass guitar, bass piano and percussion; Michael Ramos on Hammond B3, Wurlitzer and accordion; and Pat Manske on drums and percussion. In addition, guitarist David Lee Holt guests on two tracks.

The fourteen tracks of the album comprise ten of Stevie Nimmo’s own compositions, two by Boyd Tonner (the drummer and main songwriter of The Stumble) and two cover versions. Stevie is best known as the elder of the hugely popular Nimmo Brothers, who are widely regarded as the leading British exponents of the blues-rock genre. The mood of this album, however, is a far cry from that idiom and largely comprises a mixture of ballads and love songs, many of which have a distinctly country flavour.

Tonner’s “You’d Be On It” provides a lively opening track, which is followed by a splendid rendition of Marc Broussard’s “Lonely Night In Georgia” and the original country ballad, “Morning Sun, Midnight Rain”, complete with a tasty helping of pedal steel guitar. “Dreams” is a tender lullaby, embellished with an effective accordion backing and exuding a middle-eastern ambience. “Eye Of The Storm” is full of poignant and highly emotive lyrics and boasts some lovely guitar riffs. A superb version of David Grissom’s “Good Day For The Blues” makes way for the second Boyd Tonner composition, the remorseful ballad, “Make It Up To You”.

The final seven tracks, all penned by Stevie Nimmo, comprise the blues-tinged “Long Road To Heaven”; “Coming Home To You”, another country ballad imbued with more pedal steel flavouring; the gentle love song, “In Your Arms At Night”; “Winter”, a folksy instrumental; “Sometimes” a ballad with a prominent banjo accompaniment; and a couple of philosophically optimistic numbers: “It’s A hard Life” and “Everything Is Gonna Be Alright”.

It will come as a surprise to the many fans of the Nimmo Brothers that this is not remotely a blues album. If it needs to be categorised, it would fit most comfortably into the Americana classification. Nevertheless, it is a magnificent compilation, which showcases Stevie’s sensitive side, particularly in respect of his vocal delivery and his songwriting skill. It is an absolute must for the Nimmo collection.

www.bluearmadillo.com

Lionel Ross