(Memphis, Tennessee0 After a quick trip to Greenwood, Mississippi, to play a little Blues show with Danny Lancaster we explored the wonder of life in the middle of a cotton field…Tallahatchie Flats. like the Shack Up Inn at Hopson Plantation in Clarksdale, these good folks have made the once drafty and uncomfortable shacks quite cozy [...]
Archive for Category: "Robert “Nighthawk” Tooms"
Patrick Dodd Future Blues
(Memphis, Tennessee) The first time I stumbled upon the sound of Patrick Dodd I was walking down Beale Street on the way to a gig. After walking past the Rumboogie Cafe at Third and Beale, a seasoned, well-controlled and downright raspy cool vocal swarmed into my ears. Wondering if Bob Segar or Joe Cocker was [...]
2012 Keeping the Blues Alive Award Winners Announced
The Blues Foundation will honor 17 individuals and organizations with its 2012 Keeping the Blues Alive (KBA) Award during a recognition brunch Saturday, February 4, 2012, in Memphis, Tennessee. Each year, The Blues Foundation presents the KBA Awards to individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to blues music. The KBA ceremony will be [...]
Elvis Friend George Klein Rocks On
(Memphis, Tennessee) This week we travel to Elvis Presley Boulevard, across the street from Graceland mansion, home of Elvis Presley, to visit Memphis celebrity and lifelong friend of Elvis, TV and radio personality Georlge Klein. George was a good friend of Elvis back in the days before he was a household name, way back in [...]
Blues Foundation Cuts Ribbon on New Home
(Memphis, Tennessee) The Blues Foundation has had the ribbon-cutting ceremony and officially moved into their new home in the South Main Street Arts District in Memphis (photo by historian Jimmy Ogle). “In the printed program of the third annual Blues Music Awards in 1982, there are drawings of a proposed Blues Hall, so this indeed [...]
Enjoy the Old Bluesmen While You Can
(Memphis, Tennessee) With the death of harmonica player and singer, Mojo Buford, last week, it seems a good time to remind our dear readers that the Blues show you pass up this year might very well be your last chance to see some of this country’s greatest talents. As one of the last surviving [...]
Perfect Weather and Legit Blues at 26th King Biscuit
the great Bobby Rush – Michael McMinn, harmonica player with The Three Generations of McMinns Papa Don McMinn on stage at the 2011 King Biscuit Don is the only man who had raised his own band, brothers Rome and Doug McMinn, and Doug’s son Michael. Bubba Sullivan and the author. Bubba has worked hard [...]
King Biscuit Kicks Off Wednesday in Helena
The late Ray Galloway, protagonist of the King Biscuit Blues Festival for decades (Memphis, Tennessee) The King Biscuit lineup is formidable as always with great entertainment on six stages. This year the Reba Russell band will be dedicating the day to our dear departed, sorely missed friend, Ray Galloway, who passed this year. The [...]
Paul Revere and the Raiders
(Memphis, Tennessee) American Blues News witnessed an incredible performance by Paul Revere and the Raiders, one of the most famous and continually successful American bands to be heard in the past 50 years. As the concurrent phenomena of the British Invasion and the Blues resurgence of the 1960′s took place, this band proudly took the [...]
5th Annual Smoke on the River BBQ & Blues Fest!
(Memphis, Tennessee) The Illinois State Barbeque cooking contest and accompanying musical events took place this year at beautiful Kesler Park on the Quincy Riverfront. There during a full moon, the Reba Russell band performed and enjoyed perfect weather and lots of fine friends. As we arrived, B. J. Allen and Blue Voodoo were entertaining the [...]
B B’s Jazz Soups and Blues in St. Louis
(Memphis, Tennessee) This week the Reba Russell Band ventured north to play one of America’s great blues clubs, B B’s Jazz, Soups and Blues, which is located in the shadow of the arch in St. Louis. We were greeted by owner John May, a true Blues lover, musician and friend. This place has GREAT food, [...]
Labatt Blue Blues Festival in Edmonton
(Memphis, Tennessee) After a drive to Little Rock, Arkansas, to catch a plane to Edmonton, Alberta, the Reba Russell band arrived at the Chateau Louis in this beautiful city. When changing planes this day the weather in Houston airport was a hot 100 degrees F. In Edmonton it was beautiful and 68 degrees. The weather [...]
Neil’s Bar in Memphis Suffers 2 Alarm Blaze
(Memphis, Tennessee) Like so many nights in the past, the author played Neil’s Music Room on Saturday night with the Reba Russell Band. It was our last spot in Memphis where we performed with any regularity because of the good crowds and the kindness of owner Neil Heins and his staff. Sunday night at Neil’s [...]
Memphis Blues News
(Memphis, Tennessee) Reba Russell Band will tours Canada(Edmonton Blues Festival), New Jersey, New York State (Bluestock this month) and then drive south to the XM radio studios to play on the air for our dear friend, Bill Wax, whose B.B. King’s Bluesville is well known to blues fans around the world. Photo above of Reba [...]
Classic Old Hammond or A Shiny New One?
(Memphis, Tennessee) The debate over whether to use the classic old, heavy mechanical tonewheel Hammond or the newer lightweight ones still rages among keyboardists and enthusiasts. Here’s a few points of comparison in case you ever wondered about the differences between these organs. Portability: New Hammond-Suzuki wins by a mile. Above the Hammond SK-1… the [...]
