The tiny bandstand in the Roadhouse lights up with a range of blues broad enough to suit everyone. Big Jack Johnson & The Oilers, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Kelly Joe Phelps, Sugarcane Collins, and John Nemeth take the stage as the bartender pours shots, scowling at anyone who leaves the bar without leaving a tip. Before the waitresses put the chairs up on the tables, you'll have no doubt you've experienced another hour of the finest blues you've never heard - the 211th Roadhouse Podcast.
Mar 01, 2009•1 hr 1 min
The 210th Roadhouse Podcast takes on a medicinal quality. Super Chikan, John Nemeth, Robert Lockwood, Bobby Jones, and Mitch Kashmar bring sunshine and warm temperatures to The Roadhouse even as the snow continues to fall outside. It's a perfect cure for late winter cabin fever - another hour of the finest blues you've never heard.
Feb 21, 2009•58 min
The fifth year opens for The Roadhouse with a great variety of blues. Joanne Shaw Taylor, Elvin Bishop, Charlie Musselwhite, Paul Rishell & Annie Raines, and Rod Piazza & The Mighty Flyers peg the meters in the 209th Roadhouse Podcast. And, they'll keep you chair-dancing with another hour of the finest blues you've never heard.
Feb 14, 2009•1 hr
208 shows, 2000 songs, 175 hours of music, 33 hours of talk, 1400 hours of show preparation, 1,463,000 downloads, 90 gigabytes of shows. It all adds up to the 4th anniversary edition of The Roadhouse. Candye Kane, Rod Piazza, Watermelon Slim, Siegel-Schwall, and Marie Knight are among the favorites in this special edition. Their music and your words comprise the 208th Roadhouse - 4 years of the finest blues you've never heard.
Feb 07, 2009•1 hr 3 min
The 207th Roadhouse is a good mix of past and future. I dig into the vault of the early shows, warming up for next week's anniversary show, and come up with some real gems. There are also four tracks from new releases and requests from Twitter and Facebook, the future of Roadhouse interaction. Joanne Shaw Taylor, Paul Rishell & Annie Raines, Ian Siegel, Toni Price, and Lonnie Brooks crank things up for the 207th Roadhouse Podcast, another hour of the finest blues you've never heard.
Jan 31, 2009•1 hr
Though I often mix blues styles in a show, I don’t often mix blues eras. The 206th Roadhouse brings in a few more pre-war blues cuts, mixing them with artists who are clearly influenced by these early blues. Sparks Brothers, Bo Carter, Muddy Waters, Kim Wilson, and Willie Kent highlight the hour. We’re sticking a few pre-war milemarkers in the ground to mark our passage up the long road of the blues in the 206th Roadhouse Podcast.
Jan 24, 2009•59 min
We've got the sawdust on the dance floor, the spots shining on the little stage in the corner, the bartender pouring drafts and mixing drinks, and everyone dressed to the nines. It is Saturday night in The Roadhouse and we're going back to the roots of the show. Albert Collins, Elmore James, Jr., Jimmy Burns, Mighty Joe Young, and Saffire-The Uppity Blues Women headline the bill from that little stage in the corner, inviting you one by one to get up and dance in the 205th Roadhouse.
Jan 18, 2009•58 min
In this edition of The Roadhouse, we go completely green, eschewing alternative fuels for a full hour of acoustic blues. Orville Johnson, Dion, Freddie King, Carey & Lurrie Bell, and Mississippi Fred McDowell power the hour - an hour of green blues, if you will - completely unplugged and acoustic in the 204th Roadhouse.
Jan 11, 2009•58 min
The 203rd Roadhouse welcomes 2009 with a mix of blues from both the center and the edges. Frank Morey, The Holmes Brothers, Ryan Reardon & The Levee Breakers, Delbert McClinton, and Sleepy John Estes provide some great tracks. It's all in a year's work - a new year and a new hour of the finest blues you've never heard: the 203rd Roadhouse Podcast.
Jan 03, 2009•58 min
The 202nd Roadhouse Podcast closes out the year on a high note. Johnny Dyer, Canned Heat, Kinsey Report, Sue Foley, and Chris Cain lead the charge out of 2008 and into 2009. And, everyone gets an ad-free version of the show, as has been the tradition for the past few years. It's another hour of the finest blues you've never heard - the 202nd Roadhouse Podcast.
Dec 27, 2008•1 hr
As the end of the year rolls closer, the mood of The Roadhouse shifts to one that's completely laid back. Aaron Morre, Mel Brown & The Homewreckers, R&B Bombers, Koko Taylor, and Shannon Boshears lead us through this edition with piano, guitar, harp, and great vocals. That makes for another hour of the finest blues you've never heard - the 201st Roadhouse Podcast.
Dec 20, 2008•1 hr
The 200th edition of The Roadhouse Podcast marks a strong year in the blues, with a look at my top 10 blues releases of 2008. We hold the milestone show celebration for the 4th anniversay in February and, instead, keep the spirit festive with more great blues Christmas cuts. It’s a celebration of the holidays and the best of 2008 in the 200th Roadhouse Podcast.
Dec 13, 2008•59 min
We mark the passing of a musical treasure in the 199th Roadhouse. In style and substance, we're making connections to Odetta. We also pick up the December Roadhouse tradition of holiday blues music. We feature Braithwaite & Whiteley, Frank Morey, Scrapper Blackwell, Sue Foley, and Charlie Musselwhite in this edition. Folk blues and Christmas blues make for another hour of the finest blues you've never heard - the 199th edition of The Roadhouse.
Dec 06, 2008•58 min
After two weeks of blues rock shows, The Roadhouse returns to basics this week with a strong hour of pure blues. Mighty Lester, Paul Rishell, Dave Fields, Cedric Burnside, and Aaron Moore are all part of the big broad picture of the blues and make for another hour of the finest blues you've never heard: the 198th Roadhouse Podcast.
Nov 29, 2008•58 min
The response to last week’s blues rock edition was so strong, I’ve got a follow-on this week. With some warm leftovers from last week and a few additional cuts from the library, the 197th Roadhouse is another strong blues rock edition. Omar and the Howlers, Bernard Allison, Robin Trower, Stephen Dale Petit, and Webb Wilder and the Beatnecks will propel you through 60 minutes with hardly any room to take a breath. Blues had a baby, you know, but it’s pretty much grown up into the music in this ed...
Nov 23, 2008•56 min
It's a blues rock edition of The Roadhouse, complete with some great harder cuts from Jason Ricci, Elvin Bishop, Tommy Castro, Oli Brown, Time Bomb. This is about as rock as we're ever gonna get in The Roadhouse, but it does make for an upbeat and pretty powerful hour of the finest blues -- rock -- you've never heard - the 196th Roadhouse Podcast.
Nov 16, 2008•57 min
It's been a big week in the US. The election of a new president would put smiles of surprise and joy on the faces of many of the artists who laid the foundation of our favorite musical genre. With new music from Dave Gross, Super Chickan, Paull Reddick, and Shannon Boshears, the 195th Roadhouse is a celebration of the musical form that's truly and originally American, but played and loved throughout the world. It's another hour of the finest blues you've never heard - The Roadhouse Podcast.
Nov 08, 2008•59 min
The 194th Roadhouse Podcast is another high-variety edition, with a full hour of new and interesting blues. Son Seals, Matt Schofield, Super Chickan, Scrapper Blackwell, and Eddie "The Chief" Clearwater mark the diversity of this edition. It features artists who are new to The Roadhouse as well as a few old friends. It's another hour of the finest blues you've never heard - the 194th Roadhouse Podcast.
Nov 01, 2008•1 hr 1 min
The 193rd Roadhouse Podcast is one solid groove; a show that came together as if struck by a muse. With Elvin Bishop, Byther Smith, Smokey Wilson, Cedric Burnside, and Marie Knight, the pieces all fit together seamelssly for another hour of the finest blues you've never heard.
Oct 25, 2008•1 hr
The 192nd Roadhouse features blues that transcends a region or a specific time. Consistently popular and continuously updated, swing blues was the early basis for The Roadhouse. This edition features some of the best, including Big Joe Turner, Jackie Payne, Johnny "Big Moose" Walker, The Paladins, and Jay McShann. Just like me, you'll be grinning like a fool and chair-dancing throughout as the 192nd Roadhouse Podcast swings another hour of the finest blues you've never heard.
Oct 18, 2008•1 hr
The 191st Roadhouse is another edition featuring the physics of wire and wood. Elvin Bishop, Otis Rush, Ronnnie Earl, Paul Reddick, and Guitar Shorty pour pure physics into pure blues and, like alchemists, create pure gold. It's another hour of the finest blues you've never heard - the 191st Roadhouse.
Oct 11, 2008•59 min
The 190th Roadhouse features music from Canada to San Francisco, from Minneapolis to New Orleans, Chicago to Arkansas. Also, quite a bit of new blues - including 5 cuts that were either released in the past two weeks or have actually yet to be released. Keep you right out at the cutting edge of the blues. It's another hour of the finest blues you've never heard - The Roadhouse Podcast.
Oct 04, 2008•1 hr
With the equinox occurring in the past week, The Roadhouse moves into its sixteenth season. And, consistent with years past, autumn and spring seem to bring the most new blues releases. Chris Juergensen, Magic Slim, Glen Terry, Elvin Bishop, and Rory Block supply new tracks to a show that's nearly all new tracks. Another season rolls in and The Roadhouse rolls on with the 189th hour of the finest blues you've never heard.
Sep 27, 2008•1 hr
After a trip to Chicago, The Roadhouse takes on a nice relaxed feeling. Albert Cummings, Carlos Del Junco, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Big Jack Johnson & The Oilers, and Curtis Salgado reflect a certain distance from the world and a nice revitalization. It's another hour of the finest blues you've never heard - the 188th Roadhouse Podcast.
Sep 20, 2008•1 hr 2 min
The Roadhouse takes on the feel of a smooth shuffle beat like a steady guitar with a little harp for coloration. No big bumps and no sharp edges. We've got Smokin' Joe Kubek and Bnois King, new music Albert Cummings and Eddie Turner, Corey Stevens, Sean Costello. It's another hour of the finest blues you've never heard - the 187th Roadhouse Podcast.
Sep 13, 2008•1 hr
This week, we dig back into the vault for music from early editions of The Roadhouse. Artists from Garageband.com (now iLike ) take a prominent role and prove to be as strong as ever. David Rotundo, Steve Johnson, Carlos Del Junco, Son House, and Eric Bibb propel us through this edition. Some old, some new but all blue in the 186th Roadhouse.
Sep 06, 2008•1 hr
As summertime in the US winds down and the presidential election season gears up, we build a little shelter from the world in the 185th Roadhouse. Jay McShann, Elvin Bishop, Lil Ed, JJ Grey, and Carlos Del Junco are the mortar between those bricks in that shelter, helping to hold together a solid hour of the finest blues you've never heard. Come on in - the blues will protect you in the 185th Roadhouse Podcast.
Aug 30, 2008•1 hr 1 min
This hour of The Roadhouse is chock full of great blues by artists you've heard of and artists you haven't. It's music from Chicago and Dockery Farms, from St. Louis and Dallas, from the 1920s and 2008. Sometimes the essence of a thing is so clear it needs no further explanation or exploration. That's the deal in the 184th Roadhouse - it's blues, unaffected, pure and simple. Big George Jackson, Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials, Magic Sam, Charley Patton, and EG Kight paint the deepest shades of...
Aug 23, 2008•1 hr 1 min
The 183rd Roadhouse Podcast is an hour of brand new music. Music from the past few months and the months ahead make up a nice snapshot of the state of blues during four months in 2008. The hour includes Walter Horton, Alexis P. Suter Band, Carlos Del Junco, Legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue, Big Dave McLean and some other surprises, including a few pre-release cuts from the Roadhouse family of participating blues labels. It's an hour of the finest blues you've never heard - the 183rd Roadhouse ...
Aug 16, 2008•1 hr 2 min
We hop on a train in Chicago's Union Station this week, heading for points west. Crossing through the plains, the mountains and the desert, we arrive at the place where the Pacific meets the land, and blues meets jazz. West Coast blues fill the hour of the 182nd Roadhouse Podcast, with Jimmy McCracklin, Lowell Fulson, Johnny Otis, T-Bone Walker, and Sonny Rhodes welcoming us to the fine tradition of show blues. It's an hour of the coolest blues you've never heard on the California Zephyr - the 1...
Aug 09, 2008•1 hr 1 min
