One of my favorite tunes off of Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s “The Way I Go” is Backwater Blues.
Written back in 1927 by Bessie Smith about a flood (some argue it is the great Mississippi flood but others will suggest her song was written prior to the great flood), numerous artists have recorded and performed this great blues tune…which brings me to Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s treatment.
Now I absolutely love the tone and style of KWS…many people see him as a disciple of Stevie Ray Vuaghan’s and sometimes the similarity is too close for the die-hard blues guitar fans.
Others will criticize him for his lack of singing…to me he is just a damn fine guitar player that has carried on the tradition of Southern Blues and continues to both stay true to the music and give credit where credit is due.
“When It Rains For Five Days…And The Sky Turns Dark As Night” – a great intro to a brilliant blues tune.
The song begins with approximately 1-minute of traditional piano treatment, then we get the slow burn of Kenny Wayne’s Texas Shuffle guitar, from there I would have to say this is one of my favorite KWS Band songs…
Here’s a performance – judge it for yourself:
Can’t wait to see Kenny Wayne and the band this July at Ottawa Blues Festival…a highlight for sure.
Have you caught Kenny Wayne recently? How was the show?
Filed under blues guitar by on Mar 22nd, 2013. Comment. 
Started recording some stuff this afternoon, intended on laying down a clean version of Freddi King’s Hideaway on my recently purchased Blues Deluxe Amp, but it just wasn’t happening. Then I ended up in this G Blues Shuffle that sounds not bad – a few mistakes along the way, but not a bad version – what do you think?
[mc id=”205″ type=”audio”]Blues Shuffle In G[/mc]
Filed under blues guitar, Jeff Smith by on Aug 19th, 2012. Comment.
I happened to be on Twitter (why not connect over at http://www.twitter.com/highertrust ) this past week heaping some praise on local legend in the making JW Jones for some of his latest work when we started exchanging posts about how he constantly seems to be linking up with blues legends in the process of carrying out his own blues guitar and music career.
In the process of our exchanges he pointed me to the video below where he explains how persistence, patience, focus, and some networking led to the opportunity working with Kim Wilson (front-man for the Fabulous Thunderbirds – one of the top Texas blues bands EVER!). If you have dreams of building your own blues or music career, listen to the lessons that JW shares in the intro of this video – oh yes, and the song isn’t bad either.
By the way – “Time To Move On” is from his 2002 CD “Bogarts Bounce”, you can also check out his latest work
Here’s a great promo video for Seventh Hour – his latest hot CD, you’ll definitely want to pick this one up.
Filed under blues guitar by on Aug 19th, 2012. Comment.
Great local Ottawa, Ontario blues guitar talent JW Jones released his new video for “Aint Gonna Beg”, shot in Ottawa it features a ton of local Ottawa scenes in the background including: Classic Mayfair Theatre, Metropolitan Brasserie, Karters Corners Go-Carting…pretty cool when you can fit your hometown landmarks into your own video.
Oh ya, pretty darn good song too with some nice guitar work. If you haven’t hear of JW before, he is definitely one of Ottawa (and Canada’s) premiere blues guitar players…here’s the video:
Filed under blues guitar by on Aug 12th, 2012. Comment.
What ever happened to things getting quiet over the summer?
This year there have been some very good quality blues CD’s and DVD’s released, two great blues guitar greats I wanted to point out here…can’t see anyone being disappointed in either of these great pieces of work.
1. Everybody’s Talkin – Tedeschi Trucks Band Live:
I recently caught the husband and wife Blues giants Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi at Ottawa’s Blues Festival where they impressed me with new material that was tight, well thought out, matched very well with respective talents of Tedeschi and Trucks and showed an evolution of their band into many different areas always coming back to the blues as their foundation. As terrific as the Ottawa show was, the material caught live on Everybody’s Talkin is even better.
It kicks off with “Everybody’s Talkin” featuring a special binding of Tedeschi’s soulful voice and Truck’s rock solid “Motownish” guitar riff’s…the greatness builds.
“Midnight in Harlem” hits you right between the eyes with an astounding evolution of Trucks guitar playing toward the Santana Latin + Blues tradition – you will get caught up in this one.
“Learn How To Love” shows us Tedeschi and Trucks roots in hard rock (a’ la’ Joe Bonamassa) on this track
Next we get into a couple of core blues guitar tunes “Bound For Glory” and the “Rollin & Tumblin’ – a traditional blues number that (in its current incarnation) is most often attributed to Muddy Waters and was covered by everyone with perhaps most famously, the Rolling Stones.
There’s also some slow, sweaty blues with “That Did It” and “Wade In The Water” and another Motown Soul number “Uptight” – a delightful crowd pleasure when it was played near the end of their set in Ottawa.
This is a CD that you will not soon get tired of, and even with all of this fabulous music you still are left wondering what they will come out with next.
2. “Driving Towards Daylight” – Joe Bonamassa
I’m a huge fan of the talent Joe Bonamassa brings to the guitar, his mastery of the instrument reminds me allot of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimmie Hendrix even though his style is quite different.
Joe has been pumping out material at quite a pace over the last few years, some of the works have not been 100% solid, I would argue the same of this one, but it is near the 90% range and because of that, I would have no hesitation recommending it to anyone.
The CD starts off with “Dislocated Boy” – a Bonamassa standard rock ballad in the same style as “The Ballad of John Henry” from his 2009 CD of the same name
Next comes a version of “Stones In My Passway” that first appeared on Robert Johnson’s great “King of the Delta Blues Singers” CD back in the late 1930’s. I have to admit, this is the number I like least on this CD, to me it strays too far from the original and sounds over-produced. You may think differently, I’ve talked with others that quite like it.
Joe knows how to drive a shuffle and there’s a good one on this CD in “I Got All You Need” where he gets the groove going very well and the CD begins to really heat up.
“A New Coat of Paint” gives us a high-powered, slow blues from Bonamassa that melds his wonderful vocals with high-octane blues guitar.
The CD finishes out with one of the stronger numbers…a slide guitar rocker “Somewhere Trouble Don’t Go” and a soul/slow blues “Too Much Ain’t Enough” with an exceptional vocal by Jimmy Barnes (Australian singer ex Cold Chisel) that just works.
Some really interesting collaborations and some very good shuffle and slow blues numbers make this one of the best Joe Bonamassa CD’s since John Henry in 2009 – well worth the pick up for sure.
Filed under Blues CD Review, blues guitar by on Aug 3rd, 2012. Comment.
I’m sorry to say I’ve just HAD to pin myself to my TV and audio system this past weekend as I listen/watch two new releases that are well worth bringing to your attention.
1. Robert Cray – Cookin In Mobile (as in Alabama) includes an extremely rare DVD video of Cray pumping out some of his best blues, guitar work and soul singing. Cray never seems to age and his guitar playing gets juicier as time goes on. It takes Cray a few numbers to get amped up, but he really shows some virtuoso blues guitar – and for a music DVD junkie like me, I loved this DVD. For those of you who have attended Robert Cray concerts, you know he is not a flashy guy…you won’t get a huge stage show, but rather a basic (yet phenomenal) drummer, base, keyboard 4-piece band. The show was taped in Saenger Theatre in Mobile Alabama with some of the best sound and video quality I have seen in concert DVD’s – you can hear every note and every bend as Cray squeezes out his emotional tunes. Definitely a 5-star performance and a 5-star production…get this if you love music DVD’s, blues, soul or just great music
Filed under blues guitar by on Jul 25th, 2012. Comment.
I like to think I’ve immersed myself in blue (past and present) pretty thoroughly over the last couple of decades…not to say that I haven’t missed someone along the way for sure.
What impresses me more than anything else is how incredibly deep, rich and divergent the talent is…at its root, the I,IV,V (with some slight variations) put to a slow, shuffle, delta or jump style can be the start of millions and millions of different sounds, ryhthms and soul that makes up the blues.
But what about the greatest blues guitar players of all time?
This is subjective, but I really want to get your input on this list…do you agree, disagree? Leave us a comment.
1. T-Bone Walker
2. Son House
3. BB King
4. Jimmie Hendrix
5. Freddie King
6. Albert King
7. Robert Johnson
8. Buddy Guy
9. Stevie Ray Vaughan
10. Eric Clapton
How many do you agree with? Anyone else you would add to the list?
Filed under blues guitar by on Jul 18th, 2012. Comment.
It’s hard to imagine any band lasting 50-years largely still intact but it is especially incredible when that band is a rock & roll band and even more fascinating when you consider it is the Rolling Stones!
Though not nearly the vital influence on Rock & Roll they once were, the Stones have managed to continue their legacy respectfully, still managing to stay in the top tier of bands (not relegated to playing festivals, country arenas and fairgrounds as many of the “had their day” rock bands do today).
You can thank leading man Mick Jagger for that as he is singly responsible for navigating the Stones through the last decade (some would argue their entire career) from a creative but mostly business, publicity and marketing point of view.
It is rare to see a passionate and capable creative rock & roll star rooted properly in the blues who also is educated and smart with money, business savvy and has the balls to stand up for what he knows to be right.
What I personally would really like to see from the Rolling Stones put some of their energy toward in the next few years is helping to boost the blues…after all, that’s where they have come from.
It was great to see Mick and the Presidential Gala a few months back helping to give celebration to Black History Month…but there is much more that the Stones can (and should) be doing to help boost the profile of some of the last living blues icons AND ensure the future of the blues so the next generation of rock&roll bands can be steeped in the same deep musical foundations that led to the incredible success of the Rolling Stones.
In any case, happy 50th Birthday to the Stones. Rock on…Mick, Keith, Ron, Charlie
Filed under blues guitar, rock and roll by on Jul 12th, 2012. Comment.
I always make it a top priority to catch Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi each time they come to town, happily each time I am more impressed.
Formed back in 2010, this Royal Couple of the guitar blues combines skill, dedication and passion to their craft…definitely a situation where 1+1=3
Two things I noticed at this year’s show from previous years…
1. Tedeschi’s guitar work is now a more featured part of the act – even though the band is now an 11-piece juggernaut, there is still more room for Tedeschi to shine with her passionate vocals and gritty guitar work. Nice job!
2. Derek Trucks is evolving even further into other guitar (and song) styles with the addition of horns, a flute and some very entrancing (is that a word?) guitar work (think Santana!) he is clearly not a man that lacks creativity. Some of it missed, but much of it hit BIG time.
Here is a clip of Rollin and Tumblin that features the considerable talents of Susan Tedeschi…hope they come back next year.
Leave us a comment if you have had the chance to listen or see Trucks or Tedeschi…let us know your thoughts.
Filed under Blues Festival, blues guitar by on Jul 12th, 2012. Comment.
As Ottawa Bluesfest continued this past weekend I had the chance to catch Lukas Nelson, the son of country superstar Willie Nelson. Definitely shades of the old man, soul filled voice, story telling writing, a love of music and his audience were shouting “chip off the old block”…then the band picked up tempo and turned into a rocking blues band and Lukas showed us his blues guitar techniques.
On this clip you can you see him playing with his teeth, the showman was front and center
Found this clip of him performing a sweet version of “Flooding Down In Texas…” the firmly played anthem of another Texas son – Stevie Ray Vaughan.
There’s no doubt Lukas Nelson is finding his way, he has all of the tools it will be fascinating to see how he puts them all together as the months and years go by.
Filed under blues guitar by on Jul 10th, 2012. Comment.
