Over 70 minutes of ground-breaking blues!
Includes 2 Unreleased Watermelon Slim track.
Our new sampler has a ton of great stuff - including tracks of several CDs that haven't been released yet.
Here is a track listing:
1. Watermelon Slim "Blues for Howard"
2. Doug Cox, Salil Bhatt & John Boutte "Make a Better World"
3. Homemade Jamz Blues Band "Penny Waiting on Change"
4. Moreland & Arbuckle "Tell Me Why"
5. Samuel James "Baby Doll"
6. Watermelon Slim "Blue Freightliner" (unreleased track from the No Paid Holidays sessions)
7. Paul Reddick "Breathless Girl"
8. Eddie Turner "Mr. Blues"
9. Carlos del Junco "Diddle It"
10. JW-Jones "Tickets on Yourself"
11. The Twisters "Going, Goin', Gone"
12. Mason Casey "Chesterfield County Jail"
13. Watermelon Slim "Dumpster Blues" (Unreleased track from the upcoming Slim DVD).
14. Zac Harmon "Hattie Mae"
15. Mem Shannon "Phunkville"
The sampler is now available from better stores for $7.98
Here’s a review of our sampler from Blues Bytes:
http://www.bluenight.com/
Personally, I love “samplers” – they give you a chance to listen to a lot of different artists and get an idea of their style etc., before you decide on buying their CD. The Future of the Blues, Vol. 3, from Canadian label NorthernBlues, is no exception – unless you count the fact that it will probably persuade you to buy CDs by most of the artists featured, if you don’t already have them! In the US it comes out at $7.98, which is unbelievably good value for a CD of really excellent blues.
Some of the songs on the CD are from albums already reviewed in Blues Bytes, so you only have to go to the previous reviews to find out what they’re like – others are new and maybe haven’t been reviewed yet.
Watermelon Slim has three tracks on the CD, and all of them are up to his usual high standard – one, "Blue Freightliner," is a track that was recorded for the album No Paid Holidays but didn’t make it onto the CD, so there’s a bonus for his fans! I’d love to know why the track wasn’t included on No Paid Holidays because I think it’s a great one.
I’ve reviewed the recent CD’s by Homemade Jamz Blues band, Moreland & Arbuckle, Samuel James and Carlos del Junco, and there are tracks on this CD from all of them, and all of them are good picks – whoever put this sampler together knows his (or her) stuff.
Tracks that really stands out to me are “Mr.Blues” by Eddie Turner, from his album Miracles & Demons. So far I don’t have this CD, but that’s about to change after listening to this track! There’s a nice jump-jive blues style track from J.W. Jones, “Tickets On Yourself,” and a downhome blues from Zac Harmon, “Hattie Mae.”
This CD has so many styles of blues that it’s difficult to classify, but it is very good value (as I said above) and it gives a good insight into what NorthernBlues is about and how good their stable of blues stars is – Watermelon Slim, Mem Shannon, Homemade Jamz Blues Band, Moreland & Arbuckle, Samuel James, Eddie Turner, the list just goes on – this CD has 15 excellent blues tracks.
--- Terry Clear
2. Carlos del Junco returns with Steady Movin'....
Steady Movin' - An incendiary blast of harmonica virtuosity from one of the greatest diatonic harp players in the world!!! Featuring Kevin Breit. Available on September 2nd.
"Havana-born, Canada-raised del Junco has elevated the status of the humble 10-hole diatonic mouth harp to the equivalent of a Stradivarius violin."
Greg Quill, Toronto Star
"Thanks to artists like Carlos del Junco and Kevin Breit, the blues will continue to live and breathe for the foreseeable future."
Michael Ross, Puremusic
Here’s a review of Steady Movin’ from Blues Bytes:
http://www.bluenight.com/
Born in Cuba and raised in Canada, Carlos del Junco is one of the outstanding harmonica players in the world. While he is comfortable playing the blues, his style envelopes many different genres, including jazz, country, funk, and roots rock. He plays a ten-hole diatonic harmonica using the recently developed “overblow” technique, which gives him a more expressive tone. All of this technical talk may not mean a lot to some of you, but listening to del Junco’s latest release, Steady Movin’ (NorthernBlues Music) will tell you all you really need to know……this cat can blow some serious harp!!
The opener, “Diddle It,” is an enticing funk workout featuring del Junco, Kevin Breit (Norah Jones) on guitar, and bass player Marc Rogers. “Dull Blade” plays like a spy movie theme, with Denis Keldie’s keyboards bubbling in the background, while “Jersey Bounce” is a loose jazzy piece, with del Junco taking a relaxed approach. “Mashed Potatoes Canada” is a light-hearted Canadian tribute to James Brown, featuring veteran blues singer John Dickie on vocals and del Junco pays loving tribute to the legendary Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller) on the dazzling “Movin’ Down The River Rhine,” which also features a playful vocal turn.
The breezy “Paradise” has a country feel to it. “Amazing Grace” is a solo track that really shows del Junco’s virtuosity on the diatonic harp. “Bailey’s Bounce” is another tribute, this time to one of the pioneers of the harmonica, Deford Bailey. The album closes with “Doodle It,” a jaunty reprise of the opening cut.
Speaking of pioneers, Carlos del Junco is taking the harmonica in astonishing directions. Though the harmonica has long been underappreciated in most musical genres (excepting blues), del Junco promised to change all that and gets closer to doing so with each release. Steady Movin’ should remove all doubt that he is one of the finest harmonica players ever.
--- Graham Clarke
3. New Paul Reddick Release, Sugar Bird, Now Available
This innovative CD pushes the boundaries of the blues with special guest Garth Hudson of The Band.
"Over the last two decades, Paul has been making some of the most consistent, daring and expressive music by any artist in any genre.”" -Larry LeBlanc, Billboard Magazine
4. Homemade Jamz is on Fire....to be on The Today Show on Oct. 17th
The Homemade Jamz Blues Band will be featured on NBC’s The Today Show on October 17th. The band was filmed at home and at festivals. Get ready for the demand from this show
As well, the Homemade Jamz Blues Band was recently featured on NPR's All Things Considered. Here's a link to the story, including audio and video clips of the band.
And, here's a look at their incredible homemade guitars:
Homemade Jamz Blues Band and the Muffler Guitar
by Michael Shea.
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| Ryan Perry playing Lightning, a homemade electric guitar, at the 2008 Monterey Blues Festival. Photo by Michael Shea.
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While the relationship between guitars and cars has been well documented over the years, in numerous songs, music videos, and even in the form of a guitar trophy for the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 NASCAR race, we have a new addition to guitar lore – a functional guitar and bass built out of car parts. At the 2008 Monterey Blues Festival, brothers Ryan and Kyle Perry of the Homemade Jamz Blues Band played instruments made from car mufflers. The instruments were designed by their father, Renaud Perry, and were built by Renaud and his sons at their home.
The Homemade Jamz’ Blues Band is a family affair, featuring 16-year old Ryan on guitar and vocals, 14-year old Kyle on bass, and their 9-year old sister Taya on drums. Although father Renaud plays harmonica with the band, he keeps to the background to encourage the younger Perrys to stand on their own as a band.
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| 9-year-old Taya Perry, drummer for the Homemade Jamz' Blues Band, performs at the 2008 Monterey Blues Festival. Photo by Michael Shea. |
Ryan’s guitar, Lightning, is a unique blend of automotive and instrumental parts – a regular guitar neck, pickups, electronics, and a Bigsby vibrato, but with a muffler for the body and lug nuts for the volume and tone controls, a license plate to cover the cutaway for the electronics, and a seat belt out of an old truck as a guitar strap! Dual chrome tailpipes attached to the guitar’s body provide an added touch of realism. Like a car driven after dark, the guitar lights up for night shows. Lightning was constructed by welding and bolting on its various components.
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| Closeup of Lightning, a homemade six-string electric guitar. Photo by Michael Shea. |
Kyle’s 6-string bass, Thunder, is a newer, more refined model, and was created without any welding. Kyle wanted it painted black, which also helps keep the finish from tarnishing. Kyle favors a 6-string bass for its extended range over a traditional 4-string instrument. The guitar and bass both use an AKG GuitarBug wireless system, that lets the boys move around the stage and allows Ryan to play the guitar behind his head.
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| Kyle Perry playing Thunder at the 2008 Monterey Blues Festival. Photo by Michael Shea. |
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| Closeup of Thunder, a homemade six-string electric bass guitar. Photo by Michael Shea. |
A double-neck muffler guitar, Twin Turbo, should be completed by the time this article is published. The double neck will permit Kyle to add slide to his repertoire on an alerted tuned bottom neck. Hoopty, the first muffler guitar the Perry’s made is scheduled to be displayed at the new B. B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center, which opens this September in Indianola, Mississippi.
Their unusual guitars certainly catch one’s eye, but make no mistake, these kids can play regardless of their instruments' novel good looks. In 2006, they won third place at the 3rd Annual MS Delta Blues Society of Indianola’s Blues Challenge, took second place at the 2007 International Blues Challenge (this out of a field of 157 competitors), and recently were voted Best New Artist of the year at the 2008 West Coast Blues Hall of Fame. They already have a comfortable stage presence and a sense of humor about their youth. Ryan, while introducing a song told the crowd, “I wrote this song when I was 11 and my voice was higher. Now I’m 16 and things are starting to happen. So if you hear a pig squeal, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
I wondered how the band juggled school and the demands of a music career. Ryan, Kyle, and Taya are home schooled and, according to their parents, practice after dinner each evening. All that practice no doubt helped polish the chops you hear on their CD, Pay Me No Mind, released on the NorthernBlues Music label.
When Debbie Davies took the stage after Homemade Jamz’ Blues Band’s set, she called the group “the future of the blues” and, judging from the band's impressive list of “friends” on their MySpace page, a lot of other blues artists feel the same way.
5. Rave Review of Watermelon Slim's "No Paid Holidays" on Blurt online - formerly Harp Magazine
No Paid Holidays
Blues music is thinking man's music, but Watermelon Slim's blues… well, that's rocket-science, genius-level stuff, a cut above your average Grade-A filet in both sound and taste. You would think that it would be tough for Slim to follow up a Blues Music Award winning effort like last year's The Wheel Man, yet here he is again, with his superb houserockin' band The Workers – also Blues Music Award winners – delivering another phenomenal effort in No Paid Holidays.
For the uninitiated, Slim's half-slurred, half-growled vocal patois (equal parts Carolina soul and Okie drawl) takes some getting used to hearing. But throw in Slim's haunting National Steel slide guitarplay, which hangs across these songs like vines dripping down from the limbs of a Cypress tree, combine it with his shotgun harp work, include a band that knows when to be quiet and when to be loud, and you have a lethal chemistry. Slim's whipsmart lyricism is backed up by real-life bumps-and-bruises… all a beautiful shade of blues… and enough skilled wordplay to entertain listeners for hours.
No Paid Holidays follows Slim's tried-and-true formula – a couple of gutbucket blues romps ("Gearzy's Boogie," "Blues For Howard"), a romantic tearjerker ("You're The One I Need" ), a mournful field holler with sparse instrumentation ("This Traveling Life"), and a couple of greasy juke-joint slides (Lee Roy Parnell drops by to add some bottleneck breaks to "Bubba's Blues," while "I've Got A Toothache" is just downright scary). Slim displays his storytelling skills with the entertaining "Max The Baseball Clown," while "Archetypal Blues No. 2" covers a lot of historical ground with name checks of giants like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and John Lee Hooker delivered above a raging boogie beat. A cover of Laura Nyro's "And When I Die" is stripped down from its better-known Blood, Sweat & Tears arrangement, reduced to a raw, emotional country-blues stomp.
The bottom line: the blues just don't get any better than No Paid Holidays — making Watermelon Slim and the Workers a true musical force of nature.
Standout Tracks: "I've Got A Toothache," "Archetypal Blues No. 2" REV. KEITH A. GORDON
NorthernBlues Music
290 Shuter Street
Toronto, Ontario M5A 1W7
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