Jeff Pitchell — “Brown Eyed Blues” — Deguello Records Jeff Pitchell is, among other things, a talented singer/songwriter from Connecticut whose eclectic musical style revolves around the blues, in all of its myriad shapes and sizes. When he was just 15, Pitchell won a Best Guitarist contest in his home state. In the four decades since, he’s been making the kind of music that fills his latest album, “Brown Eyed Blues.” Pitchell, with his band Texas Flood, is talented enough to hold his own here, but a stellar musical cast adds considerable punch to these sixteen tracks (yes, that’s sixteen, a ..read more

Jennifer Lyn — “Live from the Northern Plains — J&R Collective Jennifer Lyn & the Groove Revival make good old-fashioned rocking blues, fronted by passionate vocals from Lyn, who fearlessly tackles classic covers and writes her own originals in the same spirited style. Lyn kicks off her latest album, “Live from the Northern Plain,” with her own hard-rocking “Gypsy Soul.” The band is tough and tight behind Lyn’s powerhouse vocals. Next is a slow-burning electrified version of Chris Smither’s “Love Me Like a Man,” raised to extraordinary popular heights by Bonnie Raitt. The Revival’s ke ..read more

Christone “Kingfish” Ingram was the big winner at the 2024 Blues Music Awards last night (May 9, 2024) in Memphis, with four awards, including “Album of the Year” for Live in London (video at end of list). The Blues Foundation announced all its winners for the 2024 Blues Music Awards at last night’s celebration. Other multiple award winners included Mike Zito, Bobby Rush, Ruthie Foster, and John Primer. Here’s the complete list of nominees and winners: B.B. King Entertainer of the Year Beth Hart Bobby Rush (WINNER) Lil’ Ed Williams Mr. Sipp (Castro Coleman) Vanessa Collier Album of the Ye ..read more

Anthony Geraci — “Tears in My Eyes” — Blue Heart Records Anthony Geraci has been playing blues piano gigs since the mid-1970s, when he opened for a week of Muddy Waters’ shows in Boston. That’s about half a century of music-making experience that’s available for Geraci to pour into his latest album, his second for Blue Heart Records, “Tears in My Eyes.” The result is a session filled to overflowing with fine piano-centric blues from this veteran musician and his guests. Geraci and his band, the Boston Blues All-Stars, are joined on his ninth album by violinist Anne Harris and old friend and f ..read more

Living Blues Magazine has announced its 2024 award nominees. Here is a list of the nominees, although voters have a write-in choice in each category. You can vote using the online ballot by clicking here. The deadline to vote is June 15. Best Blues Album of 2023 (New Recordings)  Eric Bibb: Ridin’ Taj Mahal: Savoy Cash Box Kings: Oscar’s Motel D.K. Harrell: The Right Man Nick Moss Band feat. Dennis Gruenling: Get Your Back Into It! Bobby Rush: All My Love for You Mike Zito & Albert Castiglia: Blood Brothers Ally Venable: Real Gone Selwyn Birchwood: Exorcist Buffalo Nichols: The ..read more

Sue Foley — “One Guitar Woman” — Stony Plain Records Sue Foley’s latest, “One Guitar Woman,” is a magical expression of traditional songwriting, compelling guitar work and vocal prowess by — one guitar woman. Foley has shifted from her usual potent electric blues work to just a single acoustic nylon-strung guitar for this ambitious project, allowing her to transform it into a platform for these vital songs honoring women folk and blues artists. The album’s twelve cuts (eleven thoughtful covers and one original) range from the pure folk of Elizabeth Cotton’s “Oh Babe It Ain’t No Lie” through t ..read more

John Primer & Bob Corritore — “Crawlin’ Kingsnake” — VizzTone Records If you’re a true-blues fan, there’s nothing quite like a dose of old-school blues to satisfy your soul. “Crawlin’ Kingsnake,” the fourth and latest collaboration between harp-master and album-producer extraordinaire Bob Corritore and veteran guitar-slinger/singer John Primer, is so old school that you can smell the eraser dust in the 12 vintage tracks on this outstanding collection of Chicago-style blues. Primer and Corritore get stellar help from sidemen Bob Stroger on bass, Jimi “Primetime” Smith on second guitar, Ant ..read more

Various Nola Blue artists — “Breakin’ News – 10 Years of Blues” — Nola Blue Records Blues music has been around for a long time — it’s been nourishing souls for well over a century. Nola Blue Records has been around for just ten years by comparison, but founder/president Sallie Bengston has already found plenty of great blues to keep that nourishment flowing from her Pennsylvania headquarters. In celebration of those first ten years, Nola Blue has released a compilation of some of the label’s finest tracks, designed to provide, in Bengston’s words, a “soulful selection of milestones from the ..read more

Various Artists — “The Blind Raccoon and Nola Blue Collection Vol. 6” — Blue Heart Records For the past several years, the music-loving folks at Blind Raccoon and Blue Heart / Nola Blue record labels have been releasing annual collections of music from some of the excellent new and veteran artists they represent. These collections have all been filled with exciting music from a talented array of performers. Now it’s time for another smartly curated compilation of 15 performances from this constantly expanding talent base of independent and label artists – “The Blind Raccoon and Nola Blue Coll ..read more

If you’re interested in how the Grammys deal with blues music, here are this year’s winners in the two categories (out of 94) that Grammy gives to America’s classical music. It’s the music that Willie Dixon would describe by saying, “The blues is the roots, everything else is the fruits.” I like that Bobby Rush won in the traditional category; he deserves the award for both his impressively long career and this fine album. Larkin Poe is a winner for their stylish approach to a classic genre. And just FYI, these winners are available before the awards show begins tonight, because they couldn’t ..read more