Posted on: Monday, Apr 9, 2012
Here is a great band from the Birmingham area, looking for some high quality work in the area.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLT_fJnc72Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w91U6lzM3K4
brothersgroove@hotmail.co.uk
Posted on: Sunday, Apr 8, 2012
USA born livewire Guitarist and singer Billy Walton and his band play the Brickyard on Saturday 14th April. This is a quick return for the dynamite trio following an excellent gig in the city last year.
Walton has played with a host of big names since he started playing gigs when only 15. Among those names are none other than Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny, Double Trouble (the backing band of Stevie Ray Vaughan) and Gary US Bonds. Now aged only 30 he has toured extensively throughout Europe and the USA and Canada from his home base in New Jersey – the Garden state of the USA.
The Billy Walton Band’s sound is a combination of hard blues / rock reminiscent of Hendrix, Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan mixed with Warren Hayes and Derrick Trucks. Those who saw him in the Brickyard two years ago reported that they heard a healthy dose of early Springsteen in his performance.
Support is from the excellent Pennyrose Heights.
Tickets are £8 in advance and £10 on the door.
It’ll be a great night. Tickets can be purchased from The Kings Head, Fisher Street which incidentally has some great acts booked for April to September.
Posted on: Sunday, Apr 8, 2012
What a fantastic weekend there is approaching the TRUE BLUES CLUB!
Friday 13th April - Midnight Johnny Band Tickets £10 or 2 for £15 Doors 7.15pm
http://www.midnite-johnny.com/
since starting playing in 1975 Midnite Johnny has worked extensively throughout the USA and has
established a reputation as one of South Florida’s most powerful Blues and Rock guitarists.
Sunday 15th April - Billy Walton Band Tickets £10 Doors 7.15pm
http://www.billywaltonband.com
From JERSEY CITY USA and on a UK 3 week tour!
Search our page True Blues Club on Facebook and give us a like!
Posted on: Saturday, Apr 7, 2012
CLASSIC CLAPTON
CLASSIC CLAPTON the World’s No1 Eric Clapton Tribute Band featuring front-man Mike Hall will be making their first ever appearance in Settle in April, and they will be making a welcome return to The Cavern in June.
The band will be performing at:-
Settle Victoria Hall, Kirkgate, Settle, North Yorkshire on Saturday 14 April. Doors open at 7.30pm. Band on stage at 8pm. Tickets priced £13 are available from the box office – Tel: 01729 825718. www.settlevictoriahall.co.uk This is the band’s first ever appearance in Settle.
The world famous Cavern Club, Mathew Street, Liverpool on Friday 1st June. Doors open at 8pm. Band on stage at 8.30pm. Tickets priced £10 are available from the box office – Tel: 0151 236 4041. www.cavernclub.org The band’s previous appearances there in 2010 & 2011 were a great success.
Fans are therefore advised to book early for both gigs.
They will perform all of EC’s classic songs including Crossroads, Sunshine of Your Love, Hideaway, Hoochie Coochie Man, Cocaine and of course Layla! There will even be an “UNPLUGGED” segment.
NEARLY 2 HOURS OF CLASSIC CLAPTON
The band was formed in 1985 in Newcastle upon Tyne long before the term “tribute band” was invented, and named themselves ”After Midnight” after Eric Clapton’s first solo hit. In guitar/vocalist Mike Hall, they have a front man who not only looks like Eric, he sings and plays guitar like him too!
In 1999, Mike won a national look-alike competition held at Madam Tussauds in London. Mike has met Slowhand twice, and even received a message of encouragement from the guitar maestro (written on a Concorde menu).
TYNE TEES TELEVISION were so impressed, they made a programme about them, called ‘COVER THEIR TRACKS’. It was shown in August 2000 and received rave reviews, leading to national recognition.
In 2001 they embarked on an extensive tour of UK Theatres. They called the tribute show “CLASSIC CLAPTON”. Since then, they have continued to perform all over the UK & Europe including concerts at The Royal Festival Hall and Glastonbury Festival. In the past few years they have performed numerous concerts in Europe including Spain, Estonia and Holland.
Posted on: Saturday, Apr 7, 2012
The WT Feaster Band have begun to make waves on both sides of the ‘pond’ over the last couple of years . . . led by the fiery guitar of WT Feaster – aka Travis Feaster – and capably supported by Austin Shearer (bass), Chris Taylor (drums) and Kevin Anker (Hammond B-3 organ and Wurlitzer). The ten cuts on “Juggling Dynamite” comprise nine orginal songs and just one cover.
The band have just completed a UK tour, including some dates supporting Walter Trout, who has also championed them. They probably drop into the blues/rock category, but their is plenty of variation here to appeal to all. The strutting rocker “The Road Is Mine” kicks things off in fine style, with the band augmented by some lovely lap steel from Gary Burnette.
The title cut, “Juggling Dynamite” has a soulful, funky feel to it, underpinned by Kevin Anker’s keyboards and some very tasteful guitar work from Feaster himself and a smooth, assured vocal. The tempo is raised on the riff-heavy “Nickel Soul”, a co-write with Erick Sims, which leads into a nice, bluesy shuffle, “Found Yourself”, driven along by the rhythm section of Shearer and Taylor.
The sole cover is a rocking take on Bob Marley’s classic “Is This Love”, with fine vocal again from Travis Feaster. The band take a directional swerve again for the lovely ballad “I Can’t Let You Go”, before the heat is taken up with the excellent “Love With A Lie”, with more guitar fireworks from Feaster.
Elsewhere, “Make It Alright” rides on a funky keyboard and bass groove; with the following “Blues Comes Around” in similar territory and shows that the band are not just about rocking out, but have a lot of variation to offer. This most enjoyable album ends with some Texas-inspired ‘roadhouse rocking’ on the blues shuffle of “About Time”, with more fine work from Anker and fluid solo from Travis Feaster.
GRAHAME RHODES
Posted on: Saturday, Apr 7, 2012
15 years or so ago, back when I was playing harmonica regularly. My friends in the north east always used to tell me that Lyndon Anderson was the best harmonica player around in that region.
I see that in the 15 or so years that have passed he has not been easing back. He is an awesome performer, a fantastic vocalist, songwriter, bandleader and an amazingly good harp player.
Here is Lyndon and Davey from the band performing as a solo duo, live on The Blues Show on BishopFM.
Easy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnXMhKLb16I
Posted on: Friday, Apr 6, 2012
Simon McBride is a singer/guitarist/songwriter from Belfast. His high standing is underlined by the calibre of artiste that he has supported in recent years: Jeff Beck, Joe Bonamassa, Joe Satriani and Derek Trucks. Having cut his teeth from the age of sixteen with metal band Sweet Savage, he toured for six years with Andrew Strong of The Commitments before setting out on his solo career.
On the first nine tracks of this album, which were variously recorded live at Robin 2, Bilston, The Stereo, Glasgow and The Barfly, London, McBride is backed by Paul Hamilton on drums and Carl Harvey on bass. The final four acoustic tracks were recorded at The Big Room, Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland.
The album opens with the slow and bluesy “Down To The Wire”, which features some brilliant, Gary Moore-like guitar work. The fast-moving, meaty foot-tapper “Take My Hand” drifts into the significantly slower but equally substantial “Hell Waters Rising” on a composite second track before the pace is energetically cranked up again on “Fire Me Up”. “Rich Man Falling” has a deceptively slow start but soon re-establishes the previous momentum, which is maintained by “Fat Pockets”, another gutsy rocker.
“Down To The River” and “Change” both deliver a driving beat, the latter with a generous helping of wah-wah. There follows a cracking rendition of Hendrix’s “Power Of Soul”, which owes much to the terrific underpinning provided by the excellent rhythm section. “Devils Road” is played at a blistering pace, which borders on manic rockabilly, to complete the trio-based section of the album.
The final four tracks, which comprise acoustic versions of three of the previous tracks (“Down To The River”, “Rich Man Falling” and “Devils Road”) and “Coming Home”, fully demonstrate McBride’s mastery of acoustic guitar mode. Overall, the album showcases his versatility, his powerful, gruff vocals and his phenomenal dexterity and confirms his status as a force to be reckoned with in the pantheon of blues-rock exponents.
Lionel Ross
Posted on: Friday, Apr 6, 2012
Posted on: Friday, Apr 6, 2012
Lap slide guitarist and blues/folk singer-songwriter Tom Doughty is undertaking a unique workshop and concert tour, visiting all the Spinal Injury Units in the UK and Ireland. He plays in concert at Southport District Hospital, Town Lane on Tuesday 10 April at 7.30pm. Tickets at £5 are available from Julie Jones on 01704 547471.
It would be great if you were able to help promote this event for Tom! A poster is attached.
www.tomdoughty.com
http://www.southportandormskirk.nhs.uk/news/news_item.asp?NewsID=348
Posted on: Friday, Apr 6, 2012
Time: 8:00pm. Admission: £5 in advance (£6 on the door). Location: Brook Street Club, Brook Street, Knutsford, WA16 8EB.
From Alabama USA The ever touring delta blues maestro stops off in Knutsford with a 2 hour show of traditional soul wrenching blues and tales of the great delta bluesmen and women that he has played with. Expect a night of authentic blues, great stories and audience participation.
The club will be sending out a special offer for this gig to their mailing list so make sure you head over to http://www.brookstreetclub.co.uk and sign up for the newsletter at the top of the page.
Brook Street Music Club is a non-profit club run by volunteers with a passion for bringing great music to Knutsford and supporting the upkeep of the historic BrookStreet Club.
Photo by Ian Williams
Posted on: Thursday, Apr 5, 2012
Bill Mitton writes to inform us that he has a show called “Folk,Jazz &Blues Emporium” on WFM97.2 (Wythenshawe FM) every Monday night 7-8pm.
He also has a show on ALLFM 96.9 (LevenshulmeFM) “The A6 Folk and Blues Road” every Tuesday 4-5pm.
Bill is looking to help to promote local acts and would welcome live sessions or CDs from local bands.
Bill Mitton
197B Errwood Road
Burnage
Manchester M191JB
Lancashire
Home Phone: 01614320337
Mobile: 07779192828
Station 01619354086
Bill Mitton C/O
Wythenshawe FM (Forum Learning, Room G24).
Forum Centre, Forum Square, Wythenshawe,
Manchester M22 5RX
Lancashire,
Posted on: Thursday, Apr 5, 2012
The line-up has been announced for the main stage at this years Maryport Blues Festival, 27th-29th July:
Posted on: Thursday, Apr 5, 2012
RIP Jim Marshall – the founder of Marshall amplification – has passed away at the age of 88.
http://www.clashmusic.com/news/jim-marshall-passes-away
Posted on: Wednesday, Apr 4, 2012
The great man of the blues was born on this day, 4th April in 1913 (or 1915 according to some sources). Robert Gordon’s excellent book, “Can’t Be Satisfied” – The Life and Times of Muddy Waters – has it as 1913. Here’s a superb “Long Distance Call” from German television, with Jerry Portnoy on top form.
Posted on: Tuesday, Apr 3, 2012
The new album from L.R. Phoenix sees him again in North Mississippi hill country and Delta blues territory, on a terrific 13-track collection, recorded in The White Room in Tartu, Estonia, with some wonderful musicians helping out, such as Andres Roots, Indrek Tiisel, Peeter Piik and Martin Eessal, and more – with himself on vocals and acoustic guitar on all tracks.
The British bluesman, now resident in Finland, possesses a big voice that at varying times recalls Howling Wolf and Tom Waits, and is perfectly suited to his material – which is, as he admits “written, borrowed or stolen by L.R. Phoenix” . . . . a refreshingly honest confession, with indeed many of the songs being covers or influenced by old songs. The nice booklet with the album has a short story to accompany each song, which adds to the enjoyment.
Proceedings open with the (sort of) title cut, “Hollow Log”, based on an old Mississippi Fred McDowell guitar riff, which leads into the Canned Heat-flavoured boogie of “Bedroom”, with some fine harmonica from Indrek Tiisel and Andres Roots stabbing electric guitar. The solo piece, “Crying”, is based on Blind Willie Johnson’s “Lord I Just Can’t Keep From Crying Sometimes”, and sees Phoenix playing the slide parts with a pocket knife.
You can’t beat a good ‘train’ blues, and “Morning Train” fairly rattles along, with a full band on it, with some fine Jew’s harp from Tiisel; he takes his version of “The Cypress Grove” from Skip James first recordings of it, but adds his own guitar riff to it. He next adapts R.L. Burnside’s “Going Down South”, for “Down South”, with himself adding ‘axe & grunts’, to give the song an almost prison chain gang feel.
The excellent “Hobo” has more fine harmonica and some nice bowed bass from Peeter Piik; the next song, “Streets Of Lohan” is driven along by Martin Eessalu’s banjo – and is about “a place I went to and never want to go back”! Another highlight here is “Death” . . . based on a brace of Son House songs, “Death Letter/My Black Mama”, with touches of Willie Brown and Charley Patton for good measure.
L.R. Phoenix’s music is honest, straight forward blues, delivered with no lack of musical proficiency and it would be great to see him bring it back to his native shores sometimes, be it solo or with these great Estonian musicians on board.
GRAHAME RHODES
Posted on: Tuesday, Apr 3, 2012
The long-running “Living Blues” magazine has just launched an on-line digital edition. The first one, April/May is currently free to view and is well worth checking out, via a link on the right hand side of the home page.
bluesinthenorthwest.com is your one stop shop for blues information for the northwest of the U.K.
We feature news, reviews and a comprehensive gig guide. Contribution, discussion and feedback is positively encouraged.
RSS feeds are provided for posts and comments. We publish a comprehensive gig calendar, this can be accessed using the CALENDAR page above or by using the shortcut in the links menu.
Latest Comments