2008 Blues Music Award Winners

The 2008 Blues Music Awards Winners announced by the Blues Foundation:

1. DVD - Kenny Wayne Shepherd "10 Days Out: - Blues from the Backroads "
2. Traditional Blues Male Artist - Hubert Sumlin
3. Traditional Blues Female Artist - Koko Taylor
4. Acoustic Artist - Bobby Rush
5. Acoustic Album Bobby Rush - Raw
6. Pinetop Perkins Piano Player - Honey Piazza
7. Instrumentalist-Guitar - Bob Margolin
8. Soul Blues Male Artist - Bobby Rush
9. Soul Blues Female Artist - Irma Thomas
10. Soul Blues Album - The Holmes Brothers – State of Grace
11. Historical Album - Epic/Legacy – Breakin’ It UP, Breakin’ it DOWN
12. Contemporary Blues Album - Tommy Castro - Painkiller
13. Contemporary Blues Female Artist - Bettye LaVette
14. Contemporary Blues Male Artist - Tab Benoit
15. Instrumentalist-Harmonica - Kim Wilson
16. Instrumentalist-Bass - Bob Stroger
17. Instrumentalist-Drums - Sam Lay
18. Instrumentalist-Horn - Deanna Bogart
19. Instrumentalist-Pedal Steel- Robert Randolph
20. Best New Artist Debut - Diunna Greenleaf & Blue Mercy – Cotton Field to Coffee House
21. Song - “Gonna Buy Me a Mule” – Koko Taylor
22. Traditional Blues Album - Koko Taylor – Old School
23. Album - Watermelon Slim & the Workers – The Wheel Man
24. Band - Watermelon Slim & the Workers
25. B.B. King Entertainer - Tommy Castro

Saddest Songs Ever

For this week's Galesburg Register Mail "Rating Game" feature, we were asked to list our three "saddest songs ever." Here are my picks, which include one awesome blues tune from B.B. King and a true "blue" song from John Prine:

"There Must Be A Better World Somewhere", B.B. King
This song blends heat-wrenching sadness with just a hint of tragic optimism. While the lyrics are sad in and of themselves, the gut punch of this song comes from the interplay of the wailing saxophones and B.B. King's crying guitar.

"Hallelujah", Jeff Buckley
Buckley's cover of this Leonard Cohen song weaves an emotional tapestry of inner sorrow and confusion, at once both tragic and beautiful. The enigmatic lyrics blend flawlessly with his ethereal singing voice to create an unforgettable emotion experience for the listener.

"Angel From Montgomery", John Prine
The emotional power of these lyrics almost commands you to toss back a shot of hard liquor and to cry quietly in your beer. This masterpiece of lonely sorrow, also covered by Bonnie Raitt, paints a picture of a desperately broken life in sparse, powerful prose.

Click here for a link to the full article.

Online Music Teaching

I'll be trying something wholly new for me this spring. I've signed up for a 12 week online class from the Berklee College of Music. It's a Blues Guitar Workshop, and I'm psyched to dive in and spend 12 weeks increasing my blues knowledge base.

Folks tell me I'm not a bad blues guitarist, but I feel like my musical knowledge is built on a pretty shaky foundation, and hopefully this class will help shore up that foundation (and give me some new licks and tunes to boot!).

I'm very curious to see how online teaching works for something like guitar. We'll get videos of instructor demonstrations and we will submit our work as MP3 files. I think it could be quite effective. The semester starts in early April--I'll be sure to report on how it goes.

A Simply Awesome Honor

Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of being the logistical guru of the Old School Guitar Heroes Blues Festival, as well as act as the event's emcee. It was a ball and the event was simply amazing (see monmouthblues.com for more info and photos). The night wrapped up with an ad hoc set featuring Charlie Hayes, Joe Price, Brian Daw and Joel Flemming. They were smoking! My "moment in the spotlight" came after their set, when I got to close down the fest by playing five songs on the Rivoli stage. I played both a normal acoustic (in standard tuning) and my single-cone chrome resonator (tuned to open D). It was really a dream come true to hear the screams of the crowd. What an awesome day!

Sounding Good!

I stopped by Arthur Fowler's house today to drop off some Blues Fest marketing swag and got to hear Fred Dixon practice a few songs for next week's Old School Guitar Heroes Blues Fest. Fred will be joined onstage by Arthur, his two sons and Josh playing congas. They take us from jazz to deep blues. It'll be a great set!

Festival Less Than Two Weeks Away!

The Old School Guitar Heroes Blues Festival is less than two weeks away! I've been working frantically to get the word out via posters, press releases, the web and local radio. This week, the Rivoli now sports the Blues Fest on the marquee. It was put up a few weeks ago, but the freak storm that hit our area blew the letters down less than two hours after they were put up!

Festival Posters

We're nearing the final month before the Old School Guitar Heroes Blues Festival and posters were sent to the printer today. In a few days, we'll distribute the posters locally, as well as tickets for purchase. If you don't have your tickets yet, grab them online or where you see the posters!