This week, we pay respects to the artists who passed in 2011. Big Jack Johnson, John-Alex Mason, George Mojo Buford, Doyle Bramhall, and Eddie Kirkland light up the little bandstand in the corner in this edition. With all due respect, the 357th Roadhouse really is another hour of the finest blues you’ve never heard....
It’s the final Christmas edition of The Roadhouse for 2011, with a holiday track in every set. I’ve also got music from the Blues Music Awards nominations list that was released this week. Big Pete, Mac Arnold’s Blues Revival, Johnny Rawls, Mary Flower, and Jackie Johnson lay down great blues around some great holiday blues tracks. It’s an ad-free hour fit for celebration and another hour of the finest blues you’ve never heard....
The 355th Roadhouse takes on holiday blues in more ways than one. I include several blues Christmas tracks. And, we express our own holiday blues at the passing of Hubert Sumlin with a full Sumlin set. Omar & The Howlers, Roomful of Blues, Savoy Brown, Oz Noy, and Tracy Nelson stand right out in this edition of The Roadhouse. Yet, they manage to leave plenty of room for a full stable of great blues tracks that fill another hour of the finest blues you’ve never heard....
Time flies in The Roadhouse. Matt Woods & The Thunderbolts, CC Bronson, Johnny Winter, Gary Smith, and Grandpa Elliott fill the hour with tracks that will move us closer to 2012 in great blues style. The end of the year is nearing, but one of the few remaining hours in 2011 is filled with the finest blues you’ve never heard: the 354th Roadhouse....
On a US holiday weekend, a Roadhouse Replay fills the plate. Super Chikan, John Nemeth, Robert Lockwood, Bobby Jones, and Mitch Kashmar escort Thanksgiving into The Roadhouse. And, we're always thankful for the blues. The 353rd Roadhouse is the 210th hour - another hour of the finest blues you've never heard....
The 352nd Roadhouse contains a pile of blues. As always, that pile is comprised of new stuff and a pretty wide mix of music. J.C. Rico, Louisiana Red & Little Victor’s Juke Joint, Harrison Kennedy, Oz Noy, and Eric Lindell round out the hour with debut music you haven’t heard in the show. And, it’s that freshness that makes this hour of The Roadhouse another hour of the finest blues you’ve never heard....
The 351st Roadhosue takes a look at what’s coming down the blues pike with future blues releases. Alexis P. Suter Band, Son Seals, Larry McCray, David Philips, and Eden Brent step up to lead the way. As always, there’s a good variety of styles in the hour, as well. You’re bound to hear something you like in the 351st hour of the finest blues you’ve never heard....
We’re stepping away from the strife and misery of the world to have a ball in the 350th Roadhouse. Keith B. Brown, The Kinsey Report, Matthew Curry & The Fury, Buster Brown, and Nick Moss provide the shelter. Dress to the nines and join the Roadhouse crowd on the dance floor for a wordly escape and another hour of the finest blues you’ve never heard....
The 349th Roadhouse mixes up artists on small labels and large. Many of the tracks are also less than a month old, or less than a month ahead of release. Big Pete, Cash Box Kings, The Sugar Prophets, Sista Monica Parker, and Big Walter Horton pave the way for an hour of blues that I think you’ll find to be a winner - and, of course, another hour of the finest blues you’ve never heard....
We’re finding blues all over in the 348th Roadhouse. From the South, to the Midwest, West, East, and Europe, we fill an hour with great music. Carolyn Wonderland, Popa Chubby, Mike Zito, Big George Brock, and Snooky Pryor light up the map with pushpins from all over in the 348th Roadhouse. It’s a big world of blues, and a big hour of the finest blues you’ve never heard....
This edition of The Roadhouse is clearly upbeat. Nick Moss, Monster Mike Welch, Matt Hill, Mighty Lester, and Monkeyjunk make the point loud and clear that blues is more than just a man with a guitar on a porch. Contrary to what strangers to the form might think, blues can be upbeat, too, as evidenced in this hour of the finest blues you’ve never heard - the 347th Roadhouse....
The 346th Roadhouse is all about music that’s got legs. Each and every track in this edition has an arc and a self-propulsion all its own. Lazy Lester, Johnny Winter, Maria Muldaur, Junior Kimbrough, and Joe Bonamassa & Beth Hart represent a really wide swath of the blues highway and will help hold your attention for the full 60 minutes. It’s another hour of the finest blues you’ve never heard - the 346th Roadhouse....
The variety of blues in this edition is matched only by its newness. Carolyn Wonderland, Joe Bonamassa & Beth Hart, Ian Siegal & The Youngest Sons, Muddy Waters, and Tab Benoit help fill the hour with blues so new it has to be another hour of the finest blues you've never heard - the 345th Roadhouse....
This edition of The Roadhouse is an hour of variety, with new music, pre-release tracks and a wide range of styles. Sugar Ray & The Bluetones, Diana Braithwaite & Chris Whiteley, Rod Piazza & The Mighty Flyers, Eric Bibb, and Johhny Big Moose Walker paint a soundscape of blues that'll stay with you for awhile. The 344th Roadhouse is, as we say around these parts, another hour of the finest blues you've never heard....
Some of my favorite artists and tracks fill the hour in Roadhouse 343. It's an hour in Chicago with Walter Horton, Koko Taylor, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, J.B. Hutto, Hound Dog Taylor, and a full stage of other artists who helped make Chicago the home of the blues. They're just a slice of that sound, but they're a big enough slice to fuel another hour of the finest blues -- in the 343rd Roadhouse....
The 342nd edition of The Roadhouse features an effortless arc from beginning to end. Mighty Mojo Prophets, Steve Gerard & The National Debonaires, Suzie Vinnick, JP Soars, and Elvin Bishop help us move through the hour. And, the pieces all fit together nicely from front to back. If ever there was one, this is it: another hour of the finest blues you've never heard....
The 341st Roadhouse shows off all the colors of the blues. Even with old and new, acoustic and electric, male and female, it's all music that comes from the same place. Solomon Burke, Lurrie Bell, Garty Primich, Son House, and The Fabulous Thunderbirds lead the hour. That'll tell you a little something about the variety in the 341st Roadhouse. Of course, variety is just one of many elements in another hour of the finest blues you've never heard....
The dog days of summer roll into the 340th Roadhouse, and slow things down just a bit. The heat of the day plays thief to the clock, but it also brings on a more luxurious feel. Jimmie Vaughan, Brandon Santini, Mississippi John Hurt, Catfish Keith, and Eddie Taylor lead the way in an hour of blues that just has the feel of late summer. They also provide a good excuse to kick up your feet, crack open your favorite cold beverage, and wrap yourself in the respite of another hour of the finest blues...
The 339th Roadhouse is stacked with tracks - more tracks than any previous edition of the show. Fourteen or fifteen tracks fill out this edition, with three self-released track and five that have been released in the past two months. If you came looking for the finest blues you've never heard, you found it in the 339th Roadhouse....
After a week off, it's good to be back in The Roadhouse Studios rested and refreshed. We move forward this week with another fun blues variety hour. Steve Cropper, Candye Kane, Hadden Sayers, Matt Woods & The Thunderbolts, and Ana Popovic propel an hour that's full of new blues and full of blues styles. Maybe you'll get a refreshed set of eyes on the blues yourself after the 338th hour of the finest blues you've never heard - The Roadhouse....
August means vacation in The Roadhouse and I've vacated The Roadhouse Studios for a week of R&R. Never fear, though - it's one of those joints that never really sleeps. I've dug into the vault this week and pulled out Roadhouse 175 for a fun replay from Roadhouse history. Susan Tedeschi, Downchild Blues Band, Watermelon Slim & The Workers, Oliver Buck, and Rosco Gordon keep the pace moving, with some surprises along the way. It's a vacation edition of The Roadhouse, but still another hou...
In the midst of a brutal Midwestern US heat wave, we're cooling with blues in the 336th Roadhouse. Big Daddy Wilson, Monkeyjunk, The Jeff Golub Band, Larry McCray, and The Alexis P. Suter Band provide blues diversity, but never a diversion from being another hour of the finest blues you've never heard....
There's no special theme in this edition of The Roadhouse. It does, however, stay true to the tagline. The hour is full of new releases, lesser-known cuts from legends, and music submitted directly by the artists themselves. Snooky Pryor, Mike Zito, C.C. Bronson, Johnny Adams, and W.C. Clark lead a no-frills hour of the finest blues you've never heard - the 335th Roadhouse....
Get your chair-dancing cushion adjusted before settling in for the 334th Roadhouse. The blowout ahead includes Terry Hanck, Mighty Sam McClain, Monkeyjunk, Chris Thomas King, and Jimmy Dillon. With a featured artist set plunked into the middle to give your heart a rest, this edition has a little of everything and a lot of upbeat. It's another hour of the finest blues you've never heard - the 334th Roadhouse....
This edition of The Roadhouse brings 27th annual Mississippi Valley Blues Festival into the spotlight, with an hour of music from artists who performed at the festival. Sherman Robertson, Dwayne Dopsie & The Zydeco Hellraisers, Linsey Alexander, Harper, and Chocolate Thunder keep the hour moving right along with the headliners from the festival. The 333rd Roadhouse is another hour - a festive hour - of the finest blues you've never heard....
In the midst of a summer heat wave in the Midwest, the 332nd Roadhouse delivers a big batch of hot blues. Texas Slim, Guy Davis, Lightnin' Malcom, Roy Rogers & Ray Manzarek, and James Harman push the mercury to the top of the thermometer. It's definitely one of the hottest hours in the blues and certainly another hour of the finest blues you've never heard....
In celebration of the blues festivals filling weekend from now until Labor Day, the 331st Roadhouse contains a nice mixture of live and studio blues. Trampled Under Foot, The Jeff Healey Band, Ruthie Foster, Harmonica Shah, and Harry Manx & Kevin Breit are part of a lineup that will help prime the pump for your attendance at your own local blues festival. There's lots of live music in this hour, and it's another hour of the finest blues you've never heard....
The 330th Roadhouse explores the twisty rood of the blues. Outside the city limits, that road leads to our little club in a way that will keep you guessing. Buckwheat Zydeco, Matt Schofield, South Memphis Sting Band, Taj Mahal, and Sister Monica Parker provide the fuel to get us down the road. It's not necessarily high energy fuel but it is genuine blues and genuinely another hour of the finest blues you've never heard....
The 329th Roadhouse is an exercise in discovery. But, that's what's made it easy to pull together 329 hours of great blues. Eugene "Hideaway" Bridges, Nine Below Zero, Grayson Capps, Eric Bibb, and Super Chikan & Watermelon Slim provide the joy of new blues discovery in this edition. And if it's new you know it's another hour of the finest blues you've never heard - the 329th Roadhouse....
Out on the edge of town, The Roadhouse is feeling a little crowded and dangerous this week. Johnny Copeland, Rosco Gordon, Aretwork Jamal & The Acid Blues, Paul Rishell & Annie Raines, and Matt Schofield take the little bandstand in the corner. Regardless, or perhaps because of the underlying danger, the 328th Roadhouse is truly another hour of the finest blues you've never heard....
