This edition of The Roadhouse proves strong evidence that, despite highs and lows, the blues lives on. Elvin Bishop's Raisin' Hell Revue, Grady Champion, Lucky Peterson, Harry Manx & Kevin Breit, and Eric Bibb make the case that the blues is stronger than ever. It's a vibrant and enduring hour of the finest blues you've never heard - the 327th Roadhouse....
There's a special convergence in the 326th Roadhouse - music that's both new and guaranteed to induce chair-dancing. Elvin Bishop, Morry Sochat & The Special 20s, The 44s, Quinn Sullivan, and Theodis Ealey leave barely enough time to catch your breath before the next track rolls in. It's definitely another hour of the finest blues you've never heard - the 326th Roadhouse....
This edition of The Roadhouse features winners from the 2011 Blues Music Awards, held May 5th in Memphis. And, it's a show that honors those who passed in 2010, as well. Robin Rogers, Matt Hill, Bob Corritore & Friends, Pinetop Perkins & Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, and Irma Thomas headline the 325th Roadhouse - the 2011 Blues Music Awards edition of the finest blues you've never heard....
The 324th hour of The Roadhouse is consistent with the plan - a mixture of instruments, regions, tempos, and styles. Tab Benoit, Too Slim & The Taildraggers, Los Fabulocos, Lloyd Jones, and Memphis Gold make up and hour that may not always strike you as blues. But, that might just be part of the fun of spending another hour deep in the finest blues you've never heard....
The 323rd Roadhouse has legs. You'll know what I mean when you hear how the hour propels itself down the dusty road. Super Chikan, Tab Benoit, Tracy Nelson, Ruthie Foster, and Johnny Rawls will have you moving for another hour of the finest blues you've never heard - the 323rd Roadhouse....
In this edition of The Roadhouse, the music clearly does the talking. Rather than set a theme in the intro, I let the music create its own. Johnny Rawls, Doug MacLeod, Long John Hunter, Hound Dog Taylor, and Trampled Under Foot share the little bandstand in the corner. They set the stage well for all the others who follow in the hour - another hour of the finest blues you've never heard....
This edition of The Roadhouse proves the statement we've been making for six years of Saturdays - that the blues isn't just about the old guy on his porch, an acoustic guitar in his lap. Blues can be upbeat, too. The Chris O'Leary Band, Kelley Hunt, Hamilton Loomis, Janiva Magness, and The Juke Joints set the tone for a chair-dancin' hour of the finest blues you've never heard - the 321st Raodhouse....
This edition of The Roadhouse contains chunks of music that make sense when standing on their own. Lurrie Bell, Billy Boy Arnold, Hamilton Loomis, Ben Prestage, and Carolina Chocolate Drops help fill out the hour. There's a chunk of urban, a chunk of youth, a chunk of acoustic, and it's all up to you to make the connections - that is, of course, beyond being another hour of the finest blues you've never heard....
We walk the line between traditional and contemporary this week with Byther Smith, Rory Block, John Mayall, Earl Thomas, and Son Seals. They give a nod to the ancestors by shoving the old right in with the newand draw the links from one to the other by the music alone. It's another hour of the finest blues you've never heard - the 319th Roadhouse....
We mark the passage of blues legend Pinetop Perkins in this edition of The Roadhouse. Shaun Murphy, Todd Sharpville, Robert Nighthawk, Earl Hooker, and Joe Bonamassa help fill out the show around a set of Pinetop and his blues friends. It's another hour of the finest blues you've never heard - the 318th Roadhouse....
Spring cleaning in The Roadhouse means new tables and chairs, and new sawdust on the dance floor. But appearances don't matter too much, as The Roadhouse is really all about the music. Big Jack Johnson, Marcia Ball, Pauyl Lamb, North mississippi Allstars, and The 44s will suffle on and off the bandstand in another hour of the finest blues you've never heard....
The 316th Roadhouse features more female blues artists than you'd normally expect, and these ladies in blues keep the hour moving right along. Diana Braithwaite & Chris Whiteley, Byther Smith, The John O'Leary Band, Peter Green Splinter Group, and Kelley Hunt propel the '57 Cadillac convertible of the blues about another hour down the road - another hour, of course, of the finest blues you've never heard....
This edition of The Roadhouse outdoes itself for diversity of blues. Tab Benoit, Gina Sicilia, Morry Sochat & The Special 20s, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Melvin Taylor all deliver the variety of blues you look for each and every week. It's another hour of the finest blues you've never heard - the 315th Roadhouse....
This edition of The Roadhouse is in full recovery mode from the 6th anniversary, two more snowstorms in Iowa, and a half-century birthday. Shaun Murphy, Matthew Stubbs, Kelley Hunt, Los Fabulocos, and Colin James help set a tone I think you'll find compelling. It's another hour of the finest blues you've never heard -0 the 314th Roadhouse....
The 313th Roadhouse marks another milestone - the show's 6th anniversary. On the suggestion of a listener, we celebrate with a full show of opening songs. Paul Reddick, Curtis Salgado, Phillip Walker & Lonnie Brooks, Johnny Jones, and Kilborn Alley Blues Band guarantee that this celebratory show is an hour of uncontrollable chair-dancing, and another hour of the finest blues ... period....
There's a good variety of blues in the 312th Roadhouse, with a stronger-than-usual emphasis on Chicago blues. The hour features Luther Allison, Big Bill Morganfield, Smokey Wilson, Todd Wolfe Band, and a great live track to remember Gary Moore. From Chicago to New Jersey to Georgia to Ireland, it's a well-rounded hour of the finest blues you've never heard....
There's no question about the blues in the 311th Roadhouse. Nancy McKean Bluez Machine, Diana Braithwaite & Chris Whiteley, North Mississippi Allstars, Doug MacLeod, and Paul Reddick deliver a range of styles I think you'll find appealing. It's obviously all blues and definitely another hour of the finest blues you've never heard - the 311th Roadhouse....
The 310th Roadhouse is filled with music that might not immediately strike you as blues - but you'll catch up. Walter Trout, Damon Fowler, Kirsten Thien, Otha Turner, and Chainsaw Dupont take us right to the outer edge of the blues. Along with tracks that leave no doubt about their origins, they'll definitely help propel you from the core on out, and straight through another hour of the finest blues you've never heard....
The 309th Roadhouse features blues you've never heard, both from well-known and relatively unknown artists. Chris Cain, Geoff Bartley, Blind Boy Fuller, Roomful of Blues, and Buddy Guy provide a very solid foundation for that premise. But whether they're new artists or old, known or unknown, every one provides a solid chunk in another hour of the finest blues you've never heard....
The broad range of blues in this edition includes The Johnny Max Band, Shemekia Copeland, Jimmy Bowskill, T-Model Ford, and Roomful of Blues light up the stage in the 308th Roadhouse. The beauty of blues is that you don't have to like all of it, but there's enough of some of it to keep people listening for a lifetime. And it makes the 308th Roadhouse another hour of the finest blues you've never heard....
It's an in-between week in The Roadhouse - a week between the start of the year and the first batch of new releases for 2011. But I manage to get quite a bit of new music in, anyway. James Kinds, Chicago Rhythm & Blues Kings, Elmore James, Jr., Jay Gaunt, and Homemade Jamz Blues Band help fill the hour in a fine way. Not even the lack of new releases can prevent another hour of the finest blues you've never heard in the 307th Roadhouse....
Though blues has made many migrations, few are quite as distinctive as the one that started primarily in Texas and ended up on the West Coast. That's where we're headed in the first 2011 edition of The Roadhouse. Tommy Castro, Pee Wee Crayton, Big Mama Thornton, Roy Hawkins, and Frank Goldwasser take the stage front and center. The big sound and great entertainers make for another hour of the finest blues you've never heard....
We're continuing the theme we started last week of looking back at the new blues releases from 2010. All in all, I think you'll walk away from this hour with a good feeling about the blues and the state of blues this year. Pinetop Perkins & Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, Kilborn Alley Blues Band, The Nighthawks, Magic Slim & The Teardrops, and Nick Moss provide a great mix of older blues artists and new. They also deliver on the promise of another hour of the finest blues you've never heard as...
It's the last show of the Christmas season for 2010. I've got plenty of holiday blues and we're looking back at the year in blues releases. Chris James & Patrick Rynn, Robin Rogers, Jimmie Vaughan, Mannish Boys, and Junior Wells set the stage for a holiday revue in the 304th hour of the finest blues you've never heard - The Roadhouse....
The 303rd Roadhouse is a free-form mix of blues of all types. Eddie Turner, Dave Specter, James Cotton, Johnny Max Band, and Eric Bibb stay right up front in this edition, with other great artists filling out the hour with great tracks. It's definitaly another hour of the finest blues you've never heard - the 303rd Roadhouse....
We kick off this holiday season with several great Christmas blues tracks. Unlike other Christmas songhs, they're not light as the snow, but do reflect the realities of life. Joe Louis Walker, Buddy Guy, The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band, The Preston Shannon Band, and The Holmes Brothers help decorate the blues tree with another hour of the finest blues you've never heard....
The 301st Roadhouse stays true to the tagline. Independent artists and a listener request make up the bulk of this edition. Darren Watson, Marshall Lawrence, Phantom Blues Band, Patrice Moncell, and Wes Jeans round out the show. It really is another hour of the finest blues you've never heard....
A big thanks to all who have made the 300th Roadhouse possible - listeners, labels and artists. This milestone edition stretches things out with fewer songs but plus-size creativity. The Chris O'Leary Band, Mel Brown, Lance Lopez, Lucky Peterson, and Buddy Guy provide more than enough propulsion to move through the hour with toes tappin', hands slappin', and full-on chair-dancin'. There's another hour of the finest blues you never heard in the 300th Roadhouse....
The 299th Roadhouse focuses on one of the bigger slices of the many blues genres - contemporary blues. Mississippi Heat, Roomful of Blues, Lynwood Slim & The Igor Prado Band, Jay Gaunt, and Monkeyjunk showcase some of the best contemporary blues going and provide the basis for another hour of the finest blues you've never heard.
In the 298th Roadhouse, you're encouraged to haul yourself out onto the sawdust-covered dance floor to generate some heat and sweat. But that's not much of a task. Biscuit Miller, Jackie Scott & The Housewreckers, Cash Box Kings, Buddy Guy, and Joe Louis Walker make it hard to resist the urge to dance in another hour of the finest blues you've never heard.
