Home Articles posted by Ekreader (Page 68)

Twang Tuesday – Sierra Hull and Highway 111

So a while ago I wrote about the great young fiddler Amanda Shaw. When the post was on No Depression one of the comments was that maybe she could team with equally young Sierra Hull, who plays mandolin to form a wunderkid band! So never having heard of Sierra Hull I visited her website and one of the first things that stood out were these quotes” “Sierra Hull is without doubt my favorite mandolin player!” – Adam Steffey – pretty high praise from a great mandolin player! “Every so often, a talent comes along that makes us sit up and…

Continue reading

Exploring ProgRock – Dream Theater and The Flower Kings

So last night I decided that maybe I would take a look at Andrew’s CD collection and explore the world of progressive rock. Now I knew that in the past I’ve listened to some of the bands in his collection and liked groups like The Flower Kings, Dream Theater and Evergray. First I did Google “Best progressive rock bands”. The results turned up a site with the 100 Greatest Progressive Rock Artists , So looking at the list and comparing the list to bands in my music collection. King Crimson (2), Emerson, Lake and Palmer (4), Jethro Tull (7), Traffic…

Continue reading

Blues on a Rainy Thursday – Swississippi Chris Harper

So what do you get when you mix a Swiss blues harp player with some of the most distinguished Chicago blues players? You get a damn good blues album from Swississippi Chris Harper Four Aces and a Harp. The Chicago blues men include Willie “Big Eyes” Smith and John Primer who played in both Muddy Waters’ and Howlin’ Wolf’s bands and Bob Stroger who was Otis Rush’s bassist. Vocals are provided by some more modern bluesmen like Jimmy Burns of the Jimmy Burns Band, Tail Dragger and Kenny “Beady Eyes” Smith (Willie “Big Eyes” Smith’s son), along with Smith and…

Continue reading

Twang Tuesday – .357 String Band – Lightning from the North

So a while back I downloaded and have been listening to .357 String Band’s album Ghost Town.They are a strong progressive bluegrass band that plays a fast and furious brand of bluegrass that they call “Streetgrass”. From their website: ……..The .357 String Band pays homage to both the dark roots of Americana – the fatalistic murder ballads, sneering Outlaw Country and unforgiving Gospel – as well as their own background coming of age in Milwaukee’s Punk and Rockabilly scenes. The result is a faster, meaner folk music – something the band calls “Streetgrass.” What I hadn’t listened to yet was…

Continue reading

Running with Town Mountain!

So this morning No Depression posted a link on Facebook for the lineup at the 2011 Merlefest. So I went to the site and checked out the line-up a few of the bands I’ve mentioned on this blog. Folks like Balsom Range, Sam Bush Band, Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper, Casey Dreissen and many I know but haven’t mentioned. Then there’s that fairly large segment that I don’t know and over the next few weeks I know I’ll be listening to some of these bands. The first one that caught my attention was Town Mountain. I listened briefly to them this…

Continue reading

Forgotten Music Friday – John Mayall – Chicago Line

So a few weeks ago as I was researching for a post about Walter Trout’s latest album Common Ground ,I discovered or rediscovered that Walter had played on John Mayall‘s 1988 release Chicago Line. I say rediscovered because I probably knew in 1988 that Walter played on the album, but by the time I listened to Walter’s solo albums a few years ago, it was something I didn’t remember! Anyway I went to the CD shelf and pulled out Chicago Line and listened to it. I haven’t listened to it for a while because it currently is not on the…

Continue reading

Blues Wednesday – Jason Ricci – Done with the Devil

So tonight I was checking out the artist page at Delta Groove Records and came across an artist that I hadn’t heard before Jason Ricci and New Blood Hum, silly me! I checked out their most recent album Done with the Devil and after the title track which is the opener I knew this was a blues rock album for me and that Jason was a damn good harmonica player. A trip to his website told me that in 2009 Ricci and company picked up their second nomination for “Band of the Year” by Blues Wax Magazine. (They were also…

Continue reading

Cajun Twang Tuesday – Amanda Shaw – Good Southern Girl

So it started quickly with a little 12 second fiddle piece called “Interlude” then went right into a rollicking Cajun song “Johnny Can’t Dance” again the great fiddle was that the artist playing that fiddle?? Yes, it was Amanda Shaw on her new album Good Southern Girl which debuted at 33 on the Americana Music Chart this week! And after that first song she had me. But then came “Meek Maids Reel” and I knew that this album was going to be something special! So I quickly went to Amada’s webpage and discovered that at 19 years old: Amanda Shaw…

Continue reading

Cajun Twang Tuesday – Amanda Shaw – Good Southern Girl

So it started quickly with a little 12 second fiddle piece called “Interlude” then went right into a rollicking Cajun song “Johnny Can’t Dance” again the great fiddle was that the artist playing that fiddle?? Yes, it was Amanda Shaw on her new album Good Southern Girl which debuted at 33 on the Americana Music Chart this week! And after that first song she had me. But then came “Meek Maids Reel” and I knew that this album was going to be something special! So I quickly went to Amada’s webpage and discovered that at 19 years old: Amanda Shaw…

Continue reading

Thursday Music Part 1 – JP Blues Band and Hill Country Review

So today was a mixed listening day – two blues albums followed by a jazz great and then some Native American flute! FIrst up was a blues album by an artist I was unfamiliar with the JP Blues Band, followed by more of a blues rock album from Hill Country Revue. Then The Essential Oscar Peterson. The day concluded with Bill Miller’s latest instrumental album Spirit Wind East The JP Blues is a power blues trio led by John (JP) Pagano and their latest album I Will Not Go Quietly is a strong album. JP is a fantastic guitarist who…

Continue reading