Happy Birthday, Paul Kantner

So according to my Avalon Ballroom calender today is not only St. Patrick’s Day but also, Paul Kanter’s birthday! Paul was born in 1941 so that makes him 69 years young, just remember 60 is the new 40 so says the man approaching 60! Anyway Jefferson Airplane was always one my favorite bands and 3/5 of a mile in 10 seconds – the live version from Bless It’s Pointed Little Head along with enjoy Grace Slick and Marty Balin’s  vocals I always loved Jorma Kaukonen’s guitar work. I also am a fan of Hot Tuna! A few years ago Jorma…

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Old Friends – Ten Years After

One of my favorite bands from the 60’s and early 70’s was Ten Years After and not just because of Alvin Lee’s guitar wizardry. No, while I liked the overall blues rock feel of the band and loved tracks like “Good Morning, Little School Girl” and “Woke up this Morning”‘ I also liked that the rest of the bands members could play and  the strong  jazz influences on their early  albums particularly on the second release  Undead. I loved the track  “Woodchopper’s Ball”. A cover of the Woody Herman hit. The band was the first band booked by the  Chrysalis…

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Ten Years After – Then and Now

Ten Years After –  Then and Now One of my favorite bands from the 60’s and early 70’s was Ten Years After and not just because of Alvin Lee’s guitar wizardry. No, while I liked the overall blues rock feel of the band and loved tracks like “Good Morning, Little School Girl” and “Woke up this Morning” ‘ I also liked that the rest of the bands members could play and  the strong  jazz influences on their early  albums particularly on the second release  Undead. I loved the track  “Woodchopper’s Ball”. A cover of the Woody Herman hit. Ten Years…

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Forgotten Friday Set List

So the first album that came out of the stack of vinyl here next to the old USB record player was Tom Paxton’s 1983 release Bulletin. While Tom is one of my all-time favorites this album never got a lot of spins. I guess because a few other things were happening in those years like Andrew being 1 year old and Nick being 4 and other stuff. Anyway Track 1 was “It’s Only a Game” a song about that wonderful Rubik’s Cube and the way it can frustrate you and leave you shaking your head saying  “It’s Only a Game!”….

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Blues Wednesday – Sean Costello

So like Joe Crookston, I’ve always seen the name Sean Costello as a hot new bluesman but I’ve never really sought out his music.  So the other day as I was thinking about what I would listen to today his name popped into my head. So I went to emusic to see what they had there and they had most of his releases. Then I did some research and discovered that he died from an accidental drug overdose on April 15, 2008 the eve of his 29th birthday. His family later revealed that he suffered from bipolar disorder and set…

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Mid-day Report Twangy Tuesday

So today we will visit the land of bluegrass. Bluegrass music has one job to set my feet a tappin’ and make me feel good. I first visited the bluegrass charts on  Roots Music Report and looked for names that looked interesting… ah number one Michael Murphey’s new CD Buckaro Blue Grass, yes the Michael Martin Murphey of “Wildfire” fame though my favorite is “Geronimo’s Cadillac” and number 27  Last Train to Kitty Hawk Balsam Range ah Front Range is one of my favorite bluegrass bands so I’ll try this one. So I put both on the mp3 player via…

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Blues Wednesday – Mike Zito

So I was thinking about what to listen to yesterday on blues Wednesday a little Tab Benoit, Dave Hole, Buddy Guy – well maybe I’ll check out the Blues Radio Chart and see what looks good number 23 looks interesting Mike Zito so I went to Rhapsody and downloaded his 2009 release Pearl River and was not disappointed!  Pearl River is Zito’s second major record release following on the heels of his first Eclecto Grove Records release Today. The St. Louis native Zito has had several independent releases and toured and shared the stage with some of my favorites  Tab…

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Blues Wednesday – Moreland and Arbuckle

So, I was on the No Depression website the other day and on the sidebar was an advertisement for a new CD  Flood by Moreland and Arbuckle, it looked interesting so I headed over to emusic.com and searched for the CD and found it and downloaded several of the songs and all I can say is WOW! Mississippi Delta Blues at its finest! The trio consists of leaders Aaron Moreland on guitars, Dustin Arbuckle on harp and vocals and drummer Brad Horner. You can read the band’s bio at their website. While they are from Wichita, Kansas they live in…

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Moreland & Arbuckle – Flood

Because I listen to so much new music, I rarely take the time to listen to some of the stuff that I’ve discovered and really like, like this album  from Moreland & Arbuckle……. So, I was on the No Depression website the other day and on the sidebar was an advertisement for a new CD  Flood by Moreland and Arbuckle, it looked interesting so I headed over to emusic.com and searched for the CD and found it and downloaded several of the songs and all I can say is WOW! Mississippi Delta Blues at its finest! The trio consists of leaders…

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Belated Blues Wednesday – Corey Stevens

So I started Wednesday thinking about the blues musician I was going to listen to and choose Corey Stevens. A couple of weeks ago I had downloaded Corey Stevens  new live CD called Myth Live. Actually a two disc CD/DVD of a concert at a new state of the art venue the Myth in Maplewood Minnesota. The album is a good mix of some of the tracks from his early albums which are the two I have Blue Drops of Rain and The Road to Zen. On the CD he plays both of the these title tracks.  They have always…

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