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CONTENTS
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This week The Blues Festival E-Guide has decided to focus on one of our favorite people.... Michael "Hawkeye" Herman, because quite frankly, he and his music deserve it.
2006 marks Hawkeye's 26th year of "Blues in the Schools" programs. He began this effort long before most blues support organizations and festivals even existed. Since that time he has helped to initiate educational programs for many blues societies and has single-handedly introduced blues music workshops to major festivals including the San Francisco Folk Festival, The Northwest Folklife Festival (Seattle), the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, the Sonoma County Folk Festival (CA), the Tumbleweed Music Festival (WA), and most recently, the Rogue Valley Blues Festival (OR).
To learn more about Hawkeye, his music and his quest visit his website: www.hawkeyeherman.com
| Michael "Hawkeye" Herman- It's All Blues To Me | |
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Here's one of those
sensational albums that proves that even the most hidebound, constrictive
traditions can find fully meaningful and authentic expressions without copying the founding fathers in style and substance.
Hawkeye Herman, veteran bluesman out of Ashland, Oregon, has turned a dozen
jumpin' rhythm 'n' blooz classics into something new and sinister: they're
quite.
This is an unplugged album, sure, but Hawkeye's messin' wit' ya. He
sings coolly, low, often at a whisper ... the kind of whisper Clint
Eastwood uses when he has to explain something to the bad guys. The
acoustic guitar is well played, not assaulted and the rest of the
backing musicians keep things toned down, creating an atmosphere of
subversion, collusion and bad fun. What flat out makes this record
though, is the reduction of percussion to just washboard, with the odd
thump on a countertop or splash of a tiny cymbal. Washboard Chaz is Herman's
ace and he's a wonder. |
| Michael "Hawkeye" Herman - Everyday Living | |
| This terrific album first appeared in
1988 to launch Hawkeye Herman as a full-time, professional blues player.
Ensconced on the banks of the Mississippi in his youth, he would later begin
soaking up the history and mojo from his mentors, the great showman Cool
Papa Sadler and the legendary singer, writer, bandleader, pianist, Charles
Brown. Ready to graduate, he waxed this mix of standards (Robert Johnson,
Big Bill Broonzy, Charles Brown) and originals, establishing his coolly
powerful acoustic sound that has grown into one of the idiom's benchmarks.
The album gets off to a loud, swingy start on "Big Road Blues," propelled
by some extra guitar from Herman's luthier, Ralph Novak. Sadler and Brown
are along for tunes they wrote, the former characteristically hopping while
the latter has a deep, smooth, sound. The rest is just Hawkeye alone and
while we don't need to be reminded that he passed his test, it's sure nice
to hear those "A" grades again. |
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"WHY I LOVE BLUES"
Tell us....tell the world. Win great prizes!
Contest Extended until April 5th
email to e-guideBluesFestivalGuide.com
in 75 words or less "I love Blues because...."
The world's biggest blues labels have contributed some terrific prizes for the 5 winners. Each winner will receive "35X35" Alligator Records 35th anniversary double CD, plus Bernard Allison's "Energized" double CD from Ruf Records and from Blind Pig Records, Magic Slim and the Teardrops "Anything Can Happen" on DVD. All 5 winners will have their essays published in the annual Blues Festival Guide Magazine, due out April 24th.
35 X 35-35 Songs, 35 Years Years of Genuine Houserockin' Music Alligator Records celebrates their 35th anniversary with a double CD collection highlighting some of their most popular recordings over the years as well as some hidden gems.
Bernard Allison 2-CD-set
from Ruf Records. Recorded
live at the MUSA in Göttingen/Germany, 20th October 2005. Fans
everywhere have been begging him to put out a new live project. ENERGIZED
was certainly worth the wait. Bernard Allison keeps the famous family name
alive and delivers an outstanding live show.
Magic Slim & the Teardrops
"Anything Can Happen" DVD from Blind Pig Records.
Magic Slim is the greatest living proponent of the intense, electrified,
Mississippi-to Chicago blues style that spawned much of the music played
by modern blues artists and rockers alike. It's no wonder that Magic
Slim & The Teardrops, considered by many to be "the last real Chicago
blues band," have become one of the busiest and best-loved touring units
today. This live recording, taped in 2005 at the Sierra Nevada Brewery,
showcases Slim's slashing, vibrato-drenched guitar and mountain-moving
vocals, and presents an authentic South Side, back-alley excursion into
the true blues. The DVD includes extra selections and an interview.
JUDGING - Our judges will be looking for point-of-view. There's a million reasons to Love the Blues, so be a little unique, and speak from your heart. (Almost like writing a blues song, but you don't need to find the rhyme). Put a little time into your answer. The prizes are worth it.
Celebrity Judges from the world's top Blues Record Labels will pick 5 winners.
From Alligator Records, Mr. Bruce
Iglauer
from Ruf Records, Mr. Thomas Ruf
and from Blind Pig Records,
their judge is "to be announced"
Guitar Shorty and the Sopranos While playing a gig at Buddy Guys Legends club in Chicago in Chicago last weekend. Guitar Shorty was joined onstage by Miami Steve Van Zandt with the leading cast members of the Sopranos cheering him on. James Gandolfini, Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa and several lovely female companions stayed the entire last set. It was great fun and "Miami Steve" can rock the blues with the best of them. Songs from Shorty's last Alligator release have been played in recent episodes of the Sopranos.
The 23rd International Blues Challenge (IBC) will be February 1-3, 2007, but the Keeping the Blues Alive Awards may return to Sunday The IBC has evolved into the nation’s biggest and most respected showcase for Blues musicians ready to take their act to the national stage. The IBC is a judged “Battle of the Bands” in which competitors take the stage and play a short set for a panel of judges. The acts are judged based on an established set of criteria.
The list of blues greats that have competed in the IBC over the years is impressive indeed: Slick Ballinger, Michael Burks, Tommy Castro, Albert Cummings, Delta Moon, Larry Garner, Diunna Greenleaf, Zac Harmon, Richard Johnston, Matthew Skoller, Susan Tedeschi, John Weston and Michelle Wilson.
Meeting B.B. King is dream
fulfilled for Michigan boy, 12 It's not the kind
of lifelong dream you would expect to find smoldering in the
imagination of a 12-year-old Charlotte MI middle-schooler.
Nonetheless, that's what Mathew Dawson wanted and, on Thursday
night, that's what he got.
"I couldn't believe it was happening," Mathew said, after being led
backstage at MSU Auditorium following the concert. "I couldn't even
speak." Mathew recovered in time to ask the 80-year-old King what
drew him to the blues. King replied that he aspired to sing gospel,
and the blues found HIM.
But how does a 12-year-old boy growing up in a small town in
Michigan find a connection to B.B. King?
"My dad plays his music all the time," Mathew explained.
It was Mathew's teacher, Linda Huber, who told the boy that King was
coming to East Lansing. During a social studies unit, Huber talked
about the influence of the blues on American culture. In that
context, she mentioned King's gig at Michigan State University.
Mathew decided on the spot to spend his life savings on two tickets
to the show - and take his mom.
"The tickets were $47.50 each," Huber said. "For a kid to spend that
much of his own money to see an 80-year-old musician ... "
Huber was so touched by Mathew's devotion to King that she called
MSU and asked how a kid might go about arranging a handshake with
the guitarist. Have him write a letter, she was told, so that's what
Mathew did. It said, in part: "It's my dream to meet B.B. King
because he is the king of the blues. I started listing to BB. King
when I was 7 1/2. I spent my birthday money on my tickets because I
thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance." He signed his letter,
"Mathew Frank Dawson."
BB King spent 20 minutes with Mathew, urging him to choose a worthy
goal in life and to stick with it.
Shemekia is taking her music SIRIUS
On Thursday Shemekia Copeland signed a contract with the SIRIUS
Radio Network for her own weekly radio show ...6 hours every
Saturday afternoon. This is a first for any blues artist especially
one as young as Shemekia.
Obviously she will be doing a lot of recording on the road which should add to the excitement. The first show is scheduled for April 1st appropriately before her performance that night at Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago. Shows in the next few weeks will be broadcast from Lisbon and Paris before returning to the States.A more formal announcement will be coming soon from SIRIUS and Shemekia's record label, Alligator.
Featured Artist: North Mississippi Allstars 
ELECTRIC BLUE WATERMELON is the fat, juicy new album from the North Mississippi Allstars. Join Allstar Luther Dickinson in conversation with Elwood Blues, and great music old and new. The North Mississippi Allstars, this weekend on House of Blues Radio Hour.
Blues Play Charts
Courtesy of Roots Music Report "where only the music matters". This chart reflects the radio airplay spins of some of the most prominent people in the genre, worldwide. Reporters to the chart include over 100 radio stations who are playing blues; record stores and distributors selling the blues; clubs booking blues artists; and key music correspondents throughout the world.
For further information about the Roots Music Report, visit www.rootsmusicreport.com
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Friday-Sunday, March 17-26, 2006 Wednesday-Sunday, March 22-26, 2006 Sunday, April 2, 2006 Friday-Sunday, April 7-9, 2006 Attn: Festival Promoters -- get your festival listed here visit www.BluesFestivalGuide.com click on "Post Blues Festival (FREE)" |
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