So it was a pretty mice day today in the Delaware Valley, temperature somewhere in the mid-40s, light almost until 6, no excuses for not running! So I hit the road, I ran the same course as the last time almost a week ago, but this time I went a little farther and the run was a little easier! I averaged around 10:!4 per mile, but again I’m just starting to build some miles again, so I’m not worried about time, just as long as I’m little faster and can go farther I’m fine! The soundtrack for the run was a little over half of the new album from Kevin Selfe Long Walk Home.
I first became aware of Selfe’s music about two years ago, when his second album Playing the Game was released. At that time, I couldn’t find that album, so I listened to his first release Selfe-Contained and really liked it!. Well, like many artist that I listen to you hear their music here or there, when the iPod is on shuffle or in Kevin’s case, I think the music gets lost because it was a download from Rhapsody! Anyway I hadn’t thought about Kevin Selfe until saw his new album, his first on the Delta Grove Productions label,(which is a helluva’ label by the way) Long Walk Home debuted this week on the Roots Music Report at Number 43. This time I found the album on MOG and gave it a listen and wondered, how I forgot about Selfe’s music! He and his band mate’s are just flat-out great! According to his website the new album:
includes 11 original compositions demonstrating Selfe’s musical depth and diversity with forays into West Coast, Texas, Chicago and Delta blues. Long Walk Home features bandmates Jimi Bott on drums (formerly with The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Rod Piazza) and Allen Markel on bass, with guest appearances by veteran blues and roots musicians including Delta Groove labelmate Mitch Kashmar on harmonica, Gene Taylor (The Fabulous Thunderbirds, The Blasters) on piano, and Doug James (Roomful of Blues, Jimmie Vaughan) on baritone sax.
Since he graduated Magna Cum Laude from North Carolina in 1995 with a degree in meteorology, he has been the blues his career path. Again from his website:
In 1997 at the age of 23, he joined the regionally popular Fat Daddy Band based out of his hometown of Roanoke, VA. During his tenure with them, the Fat Daddy Band won the Charlotte Blues Society’s 2001 Talent Competition and was a finalist at the Blues Foundation’s 2002 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN, thus being named one of the top 6 unsigned blues bands in the world.
Kevin left Fat Daddy after six years of touring the South and recording 3 CD’s In 2003 he and fellow Virginia bluesman Rodger Crowder, formed Little Rodger and the Cheap Thrills. (who incidentally was also a finalist at the IBC in 2008). By 2005, Kevin decided to go out own his own and formed Kevin Selfe and the Tornadoes. After the 2006 release of Self-Contained, Kevin relocated from his Virginia home to Portland, Oregon and formed a West Coast version of the Tornadoes with drummer Don Shultz and Allen Markel on bass. From the website:
In September 2009, Kevin Selfe and The Tornadoes released their highly anticipated second CD, Playing The Game, ten original compositions that highlight the band’s depth, virtuosity, and humor. The CD reached #33 on the Roots Music Reports National Blues Chart, and was a #3 “Pick To Click” on Sirius/XM Radio’s Bluesville. Playing The Game was selected by a group of judges to represent the Cascade Blues Association for the Best Self-Produced CD competition presented by The Blues Foundation.
Heck just go to the website and you can read his whole biography complete with a neat story about Muddy Waters’ guitar! All I know is that Long Walk Home is a helluva’ good blues album with some fine vocals and guitar playing from Kevin. So check it out!!! Oh, by the way, I also listened to Playing the Game tonight and that’s a keeper, too! So this time, Kevin Selfe’s music well stay on the iPod, and get a lot of playing time!!
Here’s one my favorite tracks from Long Walk Home “Moving Day Blues”