Check the operatic talent of this amazing nine-year-old OK, I’m a few months late getting onto this one, but since this is primarily a blues and rock blog, I’m sure you’ll understand why I missed this amazing piece of television history that took place in December last year. If you missed it too, and you… Continue reading Who said kids can’t sing opera?
Month: March 2014
Texan band, Down To Friend – worth getting down to, friends
Down To Friend: party boys from Texas. Check their video link below In the wake of my spiel on Great Blues City No 4, Dallas, Texas, comes news of a hot new alternative band from the home of J.R. Well, they’re new to me anyway: a crazy six-piece outfit from the Dallas suburb of Plano… Continue reading Texan band, Down To Friend – worth getting down to, friends
Helping blues slide pioneer, Casey Bill Weldon, get a headstone
Updated: 26th January 2019. It seems only yesterday that the esteemed blues guitarist and singer-songwriter, Bonnie Rait, forked out the cash to put a headstone on the unmarked grave of an equally-esteemed female blues artist from earlier times. The headstone was for the great Memphis Minnie (1897 – 1973), that pioneering blues singer-songwriter who could play the guitar as well… Continue reading Helping blues slide pioneer, Casey Bill Weldon, get a headstone
How the first blues guitar record inspired western swing
BLUESMUSE52. In my last post, about Louisville’s historic contribution to the development of the blues, I possibly inundated you with too much information. But, then again, Louisville had one massive story to tell. If you were overwhelmed by the wordage, however, you might have overlooked the bit about The grave of the first recorded blues… Continue reading How the first blues guitar record inspired western swing
Great blues cities No. 6: Louisville.
Updated: August 2nd, 2019. “Such a tradition that has been forgotten with different genres. Thank U for what YOU are doing to preserve that, Paul.” Western New York Blues Society (@WNYBluesSociety), March 19, 2014. Most people tend to associate Louisville, Kentucky, with bluegrass music, rather than the blues, but blues has far deeper roots in bluegrass country than… Continue reading Great blues cities No. 6: Louisville.
Why you can’t get pop songs out of your head
Kylie ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’ Minogue Have you ever wondered how those pop songs you just can’t get out of your head got into your head in the first place? Believe it or not, there’s a unit at London’s Goldsmith University researching just that. Goldsmith’s Music, Mind and Brain Group has compiled… Continue reading Why you can’t get pop songs out of your head
Great blues cities No. 5: Memphis.
Handy’s Memphis Orchestra in 1918. Handy is third from right, back row Just as the first blues ever published (in 1912) was titled, “Dallas Blues”, so the first blues ever recorded (in 1914) was, “The Memphis Blues.” Unlike Dallas Blues, which was written and published in Oklahoma City, The Memphis Blues was actually written in… Continue reading Great blues cities No. 5: Memphis.
Great blues cities No. 4: Dallas.
Who would have guessed they had tea rooms in Deep Ellum, Dallas, back in the 1930s “Thanks for sharing.” Wasser Prawda Online Magazine @wasserprawda Greifswald, Germany. 25 May 2015. “LOVED your (How Blues Evolved) eBook series! Learned so much! Got me started off in many other directions of research and interest.” Steve Lane, srlane@consolidated.net Charleston, IL,… Continue reading Great blues cities No. 4: Dallas.
How old blues re-inspired a jaded Beck
It’s been six years since Beck last released an album, but a week or so ago, he released his twelfth studio album, Morning Phase. Now, Beck is far too well known to need an album review from me, but what I would like to remind those who didn’t know, or have forgotten, is how Beck… Continue reading How old blues re-inspired a jaded Beck