Michael Van Merwyk – Blues Everywhere I Go Timezone Records www.timezone-records.com 9 songs time – 42:44 Just when I thought real heartfelt blues had gone the way of the dinosaur, along comes this blazing mountain of a man from of all places Germany putting out a mostly ferocious and raw brand of blues. Unbeknownst to me Michael Van Merwyk has been at the music game for forty years now. With his booming growly voice and sinuous slide he creates atmospheric magic. He also wrote all but one song and assistance with lyrics on one song. His crew includes another slide guitar guru in Abi Wallenste ..read more

Cover photo © 2024 SweetMusicChica Life can be full of surprises. For guitarist Louis X. Erlanger, the journey had started playing with a blues legend at a young age before getting recruited for a band that ended up on a major record label, and toured the world. Later, Erlanger decided to concentrate on his family, finding work that gave him an education in another aspect of the music business. He continued to play, record, and produce with a number of blues artists, finally cutting some records of his own, albeit under an assumed name The sum total of those experiences made him uniquely qual ..read more

Roger “Hurricane” Wilson – Somebody Had to Say It Blue Storm Records http://bluestormrecords.com/ 9 songs, 44 minutes It is an accomplishment if an artist can live a life full of music. Those people who can hustle and put together a career even if they never get the name recognition of a super star. Roger “Hurricane” Wilson is that type of artist. A prolific musician and Blues force, Wilson is an educator, disc jockey, writer, and promoter among other things. Hurricane’s record Somebody Had to Say It is an all original showcase of his highly fluid guitar chops and at times skewed writing style ..read more

Dustin Arbuckle and the Damnations – Live at the Shamrock Self Released www.dustinarbuckledamnations.com 9 songs, 49 minutes The Blues is a music that is most engaging live. Many Blues studio albums are recorded with all the musicians playing together live. The true magic comes when the connection between musicians is then shared with an audience, each person feeding off each other’s energy in a communion. That is what happens on Dustin Arbuckle and the Damnations new record Live at the Shamrock. A home town institution in Wichita, KS, “The Sham” is a perfect venue for the Damnations to displa ..read more

Paul Oscher – Live at the Tombs House of Detention Blues Fidelity Records www.pauloscher.com 12 songs – 50 minutes Here’s a treat for you! Paul Oscher died of COVID in 2021. But before his passing, he bestowed a huge catalog of unreleased performances to Blues Fidelity Records in the hope of continuing his legacy for future generations. And that’s exactly what the label is doing with this stellar CD, the first of several planned Oscher releases to follow. Paul was still a teenager when Muddy Waters hired him to play harp in his band. The first white musician ever to be part of Muddy’s organiza ..read more

Cover photo © 2024 SweetMusicChica  In This Issue  Mark Thompson interviews Louis X. Erlanger about managing the music legacy of Paul Oscher. We have six Blues reviews for you this week including new music from Paul Oscher, Dustin Arbuckle and the Damnations, Blind Lemon Pledge, Roger “Hurricane” Wilson, Michael Van Merwyk and Rickey D Hayes. Scroll down and check it out!  Featured Blues Review – 1 of 6  Paul Oscher – Live at the Tombs House of Detention Blues Fidelity Records www.pauloscher.com 12 songs – 50 minutes Here’s a treat for you! Paul Oscher died of ..read more

The WyattChristmas Five – Are You Ready? Part Records www.wyattchristmas.com 13 songs time – 43:53 The clearest description for this German outfits’ music is cabaret music tempered with 50s rock, rockabilly, swing, show tunes, boogie woogie and a taste of blues. It is mainly light fluff in lyrical content and presentation, although the instrumentation is first rate. Andy WyattChristmas handles guitar and most vocals The songs were penned by various combinations of Andy, piano player Miss Martini and vocalist-guitarist-harmonica player Grandpa Pete. Olaf Schumacher on upright bass and Philip Fl ..read more

Cover photo © 2024 Bob Kieser For decades blues fans and older blues musicians have lamented the fact that young people seemed uninterested in their chosen style of music.  The typical demographic at blues concerts tends to be the 55–64-year-old age range, and it had been hypothesized that the youth were simply not exposed to it enough or associated it with a stigma as “old people’s music” which represented a time of oppression of minorities. In recent years, however, there have been an encouraging number of young artists who embrace the blues, such as Quinn Sullivan, Mathias Lattin, Chr ..read more

Bart Bryant – Backstage II Horizon Music Group – 2024 www.bartbryant.com 12 tracks; 51 minutes Baltimore born Bart Bryant has played on his native East Coast as well as in Texas. This set, recorded in New Haven, Connecticut, with Vic Steffens mixing, mastering and producing, contains eight covers and four originals. The key musicians involved are former Johnny Winter bassist Scott Spray, pianist Floyd Domino, multi-instrumentalist Bill Holloman on all horns and occasional keys and drummer Alex Giosa who play on most of the tracks. Others involved are drummers Tyger MacNeal, Ernie Durawa, Liviu ..read more

Shawn Kellerman – Kell’s Kitchen Songsurfer Records http://www.shawnkellerman.com 14 Tracks – 61 minutes Waterloo, Ontario native Shawn Kellerman is recognized as one of Canada’s top bluesmen. Now moving into his third decade of recording, this latest album of blues rock includes twelve original songs and two covers. This album is only his third solo release, and his second, Blues Without A Home, was released fifteen years ago. He started his career as a teen working with a female Detroit blues singer who goes by the moniker Zoom, who had performed vocals with Billy Branch.  He did a ..read more