Blues legend Taj Mahal has put out a finely crafted album mixing blues and pop like he's never done before. The album starts up with a screaming harmonica on "Blues Ain't Nothing," one of two tunes that Taj penned. Bill Payne and Richie Hayword (from Little Feat) help out on Howlin' Wolf's "Sitting on Top of The World." Good ol' rock n' roll can be heard on Fats Domino's "l'm Ready." Etta James (who was recently in Ann Arbor at the Blues & Jazz Festival) belts out a hot duet on "Mockingbird....
May 27, 2024•1 hr 18 min•Season 4Ep. 19
Recorded in 1971, but unreleased in the U.S. until 1999, B.B. King's Live in Japan deserves high marks for exuberance alone… Live in Japan may not have the long-standing reputation of Cook County Jail or Liv e at the Regal but it's an excellent album, with a decidedly different feel from these two classics. King's obvious enthusiasm for his music and for his audience is infectious, and you can hear the sheer joy of it in every note. Genevieve Williams I’ve had BB King on my mind for weeks and I ...
May 20, 2024•1 hr 34 min•Season 4Ep. 18
The Blues Music Awards brings together Blues performers, industry representatives, and fans from all over the world to celebrate the best in Blues recordings and performances from the previous year. The BMAs are generally recognized as the highest honor given to blues musicians and are awarded by vote of Blues Foundation members. The Renasant Convention Center was packed with blues musicians, fans, and music-world luminaries on May 9th, anxious to see who would be the winners at the 45th Annual ...
May 13, 2024•1 hr 26 min•Season 4Ep. 17
“AUSTRALIA! After five years away, we're coming back this May and we're bringing the New Orleans funk with us! Join us all across your fine nation” Less than a week now till Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentleman arrive here in Australia so I’m bringing the funk on this weeks show by featuring the bands incredible recorded here in Australia live set Mo Hoppa. Plus new releases from Cedric Burnside, Rick Estrin & the Nightcats, Sue Foley, Chris O’Leary, The Fabulous Thunderbirds and ...
May 06, 2024•1 hr 38 min•Season 4Ep. 16
“Grammy award winning multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and producer Jon Cleary returns for his first Australian tour in five years with his band The Absolute Monster Gentlemen, to celebrate twenty years since the band’s inception and first album. London born, but a longtime resident of New Orleans, Jon has enjoyed a dizzying career, having graced stages alongside Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, Allen Toussaint, Dr John, Brian May, Robert Plant, D’Angelo, Eric Clapton, Mavis Staples, Boz Scaggs...
Apr 29, 2024•1 hr 37 min•Season 4Ep. 15
“I am an American world musician, Texas drive.” Brown has roots in the hard-swinging big-band blues ‘n’ boogie he recorded for Aladdin and Peacock in the 40s, but today his music is a kaleidoscope of western swing, Cajun, hard-core country, funk, rock, and jazz. His guitar style still echoes T-Bone Walker–even at its most emotive, it stays pristine and precise. Chicago Reader Its 30 years since Clarence Gatemouth Brown went into the studio to record this classic 1994 Verve Records release and I’...
Apr 22, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Season 4Ep. 4
“Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials are the hottest purveyors of bottleneck boogie to come out of Chicago since Hound Dog Taylor.” – The Chicago Sun-Times “Raw-boned, old-fashioned Chicago blues has a new young master –Lil’ Ed Williams.” – The New York Times With Lil Ed Williams enjoying a birthday on April 8, I’ve pulled a classic album for this weeks show, the bands debut release for Alligator Records “Roughhousin” For all your houserockin needs, down miss this Chicago Blues classic. Plus new r...
Apr 15, 2024•1 hr 18 min•Season 4Ep. 13
“Mooney is one of a handful of younger blues players who has forged his own style, a jarring juxtaposition of angular Delta guitar and funky New Orleans backbeats. He explores the dark sides of those traditions in Against the Wall, a harrowing and stark work. Mooney's voice and guitar, both quivering, conjure up the image of a lost soul at a Delta crossroads at midnight; his shadowy bass- and-drum rhythm section evokes the ominous powers of voodoo.” All Music Overdue for a classic album feature,...
Apr 08, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Season 4Ep. 12
“A welcome ray of sunshine…Ball is a killer pianist, a great singer and songwriter. Potent blues, sweet zydeco, soulful, fast and furious Texas boogie…heartfelt, powerful and righteous.” – Billboard “Rollicking, playful, good-time blues and intimate, reflective balladry…her songs ring with emotional depth.” – Rolling Stone I’ve cooked up a very cool show this week, celebrating Women in Blues in general and Marcia Ball in particular with this killer live set from the 2005 Alligator Records releas...
Apr 01, 2024•1 hr 30 min•Season 4Ep. 11
“Consisting of tapes recorded live over two nights in March of 1985 at the Belly Up Tavern in Soldano Beach, California, this captures James Harman and one of his best bands in full cry… Harman and the boys kick hard and heavy through half a dozen of his better-known numbers… The guitar interplay between Hollywood Fats and Kid Ramos is textbook in its accuracy and passion, and the rocksteady rhythm section of Stephen Hodges on drums and William Campbell keeps things totally in groove territory e...
Mar 25, 2024•1 hr 28 min•Season 4Ep. 10
“Myers is no stranger to irony, as his ballad "Shedding Tears of Laughter" attests, and he covers tunes by Little Walter, B.B. King and Elmore James with considerable authority. Yet it's mostly Funderburgh's far-ranging but always tasteful guitar work -- check out his evocative homages to James, Albert Collins and Freddie King -- that make "Live at the Grand Emporium" sound really grand.” Washington Post A modern blues classic for you this week as Shaun delves back into the mid 90s for this wond...
Mar 18, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Season 4Ep. 9
“The ultimate “blues brother”, Eric Bibb, is known and revered globally as a fiery singer-songwriter with true soul, grounded in the folk/blues tradition but with contemporary sensibilities. Testament to his endurance as one of the most relevant, leading bluesmen of our time, Eric’s most recent album, Ridin’, has received a Grammy nomination in the Best Traditional Blues Album category.” After an extensive sell-out tour in early 2023 and with a new Grammy nomination in hand, blues legend Eric ...
Mar 11, 2024•1 hr 36 min•Season 4Ep. 8
I’ve put together a great collection of new release tracks this week. There’s some incredible blues hitting the shelves at the moment and I’m looking forward to blessing your ears with just some of the very best. Featuring songs from the late great James Harman, Jon Cleary, Cedric Burnside, Eric Bibb, Sue Foley, Taj Mahal, DK Harrell, Checkerboard Lounge, John Primer, JJ Grey & Mofro, Mike Wheeler, Jason Ricci & The Bad Kind, Tom Hambridge and plenty more. See omnystudio.com/listener for...
Mar 04, 2024•1 hr 26 min•Season 4Ep. 7
“Jimmy Rogers was very much a musician's musician -- the kind of guitarist that earned accolades from contemporaries and successors alike -- yet one who never wins a wide, mainstream audience. Blues Blues Blues was designed as the album that would find Rogers a larger audience, and as such, it has all the bells and whistles of a big-deal blues album.” All Music Its been 25 year since the release of Jimmy Rogers final album release Blues Blues Blues and Shaun’s celebrating by featuring this album...
Feb 26, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Season 4Ep. 6
"a set of scorching performances that remind us not of what she might have been, but what she is—a natural-born singer who's learned hard lessons by living them.” The Rolling Stone Album Guide With legendary Austin Texas based singer Lou Ann Barton celebrating a birthday last week, I’ve dug deep into the catalogue of Antones Records for this absolute gem from 1989 “Read my Lips”. Plus new releases from Tinsley Ellis, Sue Foley, Chris O’Leary, Dillion James and the Allman Betts Band. See omnystud...
Feb 19, 2024•1 hr 18 min•Season 4Ep. 5
With the 2024 Grammy award winners announced just a week ago, Shaun’s highlighting winners in a couple of categories that are right up Blues With A Feelings alley. You’ll hear tracks from Best Traditional Blues winner Bobby Rush, Best Contemporary Blues album winners Larkin Poe, The winner of the Best Large Jazz Ensemble The Count Basie Orchestra and one of two that tied for Best Regional Roots album Buckwheat Zydeco Jr and The Legendary Ils Sont Partis Band. 4 superb albums from 4 incredible ac...
Feb 12, 2024•1 hr 22 min•Season 4Ep. 4
Shaun's pulled together an awesome mix of songs for this weeks New Release spotlight. Featuring some of the very best new releases to hit the BWAF desk in the last little while, you'll hear tracks by Taj Mahal, Tracey Nelson, Chris O’Leary, Tom Hambridge, Jason Ricci & the Bad Kind, Danielle Nicole, Tinsley Ellis, JJ Grey & Mofro, Steve Freund, Candice Ivory, John Primer, Monster Mike Welch, The Wicked Lowdown, Joel Astley, Kevin Burt and Bernard Allison. See omnystudio.com/listener for ...
Feb 05, 2024•1 hr 27 min•Season 4Ep. 3
“Etta James has worked in countless styles throughout her long career, and she is equally at home singing gospel, R&B, soul, jazz, and even rock & roll, but her roots have always been solidly planted in the blues, and she is arguably the finest living singer active in the genre. Perhaps because she doesn't sing only the blues, however, when she does, it sticks out as something special” All Music With Etta James birthday on January 25, Shaun's throwing another classic Blues With A Feeling...
Jan 29, 2024•1 hr 32 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Legendary blues guitarist Luther Tucker celebrated a birthday this week and Shaun’s celebrating by featuring his Antones records release Sad Hours. Plus with the announcement of the Blues Foundations Hall of Fame class of 2024, he’s featuring tracks by a selection of the artists that will be inducted in May. Including Lurrie Bell, Jimmy Rushing, OV Wright, Odetta and Lil Ed & The Blues Imperials. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jan 22, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Season 4Ep. 1
"He's a seminal force, a guru, and original creator of the New Orleans piano style...the teacher of great players like Fats Domino, Allen Toussaint, Mac Rebennack, James Booker and Huey Smith. All acknowledge him as The Great Master."--Jerry Wexler With the great Professor Longhairs birthday this week, Shaun’s pulled another classic album feature for you “Crawfish Fiesta”. Featuring Dr John on guitar and Johnny Vidacovich on drums, its ‘Fess at his very best. Plus new release from The Allman Bet...
Dec 18, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Season 3Ep. 46
“All Over You is a forgotten gem, remastered and presented here for the first time on vinyl, nearly 25 years to do the day after its original release. Recorded raw with a band pulled from the ranks of Austin's legendary Antone's Nightclub, this session finds an older, laid-back Lester revisiting his classic Excello sides and distilling them to their essence.” With the re-release of this wonderful record a cpl of weeks ago, Shauns put together another Blues With A Feeling classic album feature. P...
Dec 11, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Season 3Ep. 45
Greg “Fingers” Taylor passed away on November 23, 2023 at the age of 71. Greg “Fingers” Taylor was an American harmonica and blues artist best known for his work with Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band. In addition to appearing on tour for over 30 plus years and on the majority of Buffett’s albums. Fingers also recorded with James Taylor, Chris LeDoux, Jerry Jeff Walker, Mac McAnally, Little Milton, Al Kooper, Jimmy Hall, Tim Krekel, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Michael Nesmith, Bo Diddley, ...
Dec 04, 2023•1 hr 40 min•Season 3Ep. 44
Rosco Gordon was an American blues singer, pianist, and songwriter. He is best known for his hit songs "Booted," " No More Doggin' , and " Just a Little Bit ". Gordon was a pioneer of the Memphis blues style. He played piano in a style known as the "Rosco rhythm," with the emphasis on the off-beat . This rhythm was an influence on later musical styles such as Jamaican ska and reggae . (Wikipedia) Don’t miss this wonderful show as Shaun features the great Rosco Gordons classic Duke Robillard prod...
Nov 27, 2023•1 hr 31 min•Season 3Ep. 43
After the release of the full list of nominees in the two blues categories in the 2024 Grammy Awards last week, Shaun’s presenting a great mix of tracks from the nominated albums. Featuring Christone Ingram, Eric Bibb, Tracey Nelson, John Primer, Bobby Rush, Ruthie Foster, Larkin Poe, Betty Lavette and Samantha Fish & Jesse Dayton. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nov 20, 2023•1 hr 31 min•Season 3Ep. 42
“A guitarist almost without peer, Spiegel deconstructs how the blues guitar is supposed to operate, makes sweet love to it, then kicks it out the back door” – Australian Guitar Player Magazine With Lloyd Spiegel in the final weeks of his Bakehouse Dozen Australian tour, he joins Shaun for a chat about life on and off the road, about his new 3 piece band, about guitars and the evolution of the Lloyd Spiegel Cole Clark signature model. Featuring his latest live record Bakehouse Dozen. Plus new rel...
Nov 13, 2023•1 hr 26 min•Season 3Ep. 41
”Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, musical heir to a long line of blues greats from the Mississippi Delta, has been compared to the likes of BB King. But while the legendary guitarist is one of Ingram's favorites, "I kinda think I have my own thing going." The guitar phenom won a Grammy last year and is a key part of a burgeoning blues revival in his hometown of Clarksdale, Mississippi, bringing the licks and wails that define the genre to a new generation. And this is at just 24 years old.” 60 minut...
Nov 06, 2023•1 hr 26 min•Season 3Ep. 40
“Elvin Bishop’s 2007 release Booty Bumpin’, captures the blues legend at home in front of a live audience, doing what he does best; stirring up a party with a bluesy stew of slide guitar and groovin’ rhythms. With a set featuring both old favorites and recent triumphs, the album exemplifies why Elvin has become one of the most respected and beloved artists to come out of the 60’s blues-rock explosion.” allaboutjazz.com Shauns pulled a ripping life set from Elvin Bishop this week to get your week...
Oct 30, 2023•1 hr 37 min•Season 3Ep. 39
“Jackie Venson is truly an Austin legend in the making” FORBES MAGAZINE With Jackie Venson added to the lineup for then 35th Bluesfest at Byron Bay in 2024, Shaun’s joined by this incredible artist for a chat about her life in music, cut together with tracks from her 2021 release “Love Transcends”. Plus new releases from Sue Foley, Robert Finley, Nat Myers, Christone Kingfish Ingram, DK Harell, Jason Ricci & The Bad Kind and Nick Clark. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Oct 16, 2023•1 hr 37 min•Season 3Ep. 38
“When Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’ met in the studio to record this album, the synergy was akin to a supernova, pairing two of the biggest stars in the blues world, and this release, which combines the efforts of two of the music universe’s brightest lights, is certain to be essential listening for perpetuity.” Bluesblast magazine 2017 With Taj Mahal announced last week as set to appear at Bluesfest 2024 and Keb Mo celebrating a birthday last week, Shaun’s featuring this celebrated album, the 2018 Bes...
Oct 09, 2023•1 hr 21 min•Season 3Ep. 36
“Mike was an extraordinary talent, as at home with bluegrass and old-time fiddle music as he was with the blues. He was a superb blues harp player too.” Mark Knopfler With the sad passing of the great Mike Henderson just over a week ago, Shaun’s joined by master singer/songwriter Kevin Welch to remember this remarkable talent. With tracks from four incredible albums. Edge Of Night, First Blood, Thicker Than Water and If You Think It’s Hot Here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information...
Oct 02, 2023•1 hr 53 min•Season 3Ep. 36
