Beldon's Blues Points 3/1/2012

Here is a formula for a Saturday well-spent:

Head on over to the Barebones Grill and Brewery in Ellicott City, Maryland on Saturday, March 3, to hear singer Nadine Rae and her All Stars perform. The Brewery is located at 9150 Old Baltimore National Pike. The show starts at 9 p.m. with food, lots to drink, free places to park your car, and lots of other things to make your evening easier and more fun.
Keep in mind....Nadine is good!!! If you want to know what you'll be missing if you don't show, check out this video:

Beldon's Blues Points-Readers Songs 10/15/ 2011

It is time for a new crop of songs from our readers. We've delved into other genres in the past, but this collection is more from the traditional blues/R&B/Gospel mode. Most of these musicians are veterans with lots of experience under their belts so it's going to be interesting stuff. Information on the performers was gathered through e-mails and from biographies accompanying their songs.

We start with Wily Bo Walker, whose album cover sits at the top of this post. Wily Bo hails from the United Kingdom where he is the frontman for Rattlin’ Bone, a festival band which regularly tours across Europe. Rattlin’ Bone’s debut album, “The Life and Death Of…” is out and the band is now working on a second.
Wily Bo is also frontman for the guitar-based the Mescal Canyon Troubadors. He is now recording an album for the group, which is to be called “Stone Cold Beautiful.” The group has already released three singles: “Storm Warning,” “Loan Me a Dime” and “Model Blues.”
He is also working on an album with vocalist and songwriter Karena Kelly, who performs with Rattlin’ Bone and the Mescal Canyon Troubadors. The two have already released the single, “Angels In the Night.”
Walker also plays traditional jazz through the Wily Bo Walker Quintet, which at the beginning of 2011 recorded a cover of the popular Billie Holiday classic “You Don’t Know What Love is.”
Here are some Wily Bo Walker tracks:
http://www.reverbnation.com/wilybowalker.html

Back in the states, singer/guitarist Sharon Newport, known to the music world as SharBaby, is keeping busy with gigs, albums and the Alabama Blues Project, for which she teaches guitar to children.

Now playing out of Birmingham, Alabama, SharBaby was born and raised in South Bend, Indiana, where she received her nickname from an aunt when she was six years old. She comes from a musical family: her father was a gospel singer who sang with the Evening Lights, The Lambs Quartet and the Revelators during the 1950’s and 1960’s and over the course of his career opened for Sam Cooke, the Soul Stirrers, the Dixie Hummingbirds and the Alabama Blind Boys.
SharBaby herself first became interested in music when she was six, and, inspired by Howlin’ Wolf guitarist Hubert Sumlin, began learning guitar at 11. As a child and teenager, she sang with her sister Marilyn under the name The Braylock Sisters. “We sang together for about 15 years around South Bend, Indiana at parties,” SharBaby recalled in an email. “As we got a little older, we did some clubs.”
She moved to Pensacola, Florida where she joined a group called “The Big Fat Lie.” The group eventually came to be known as “SharBaby and the Real Blues Band.”
After that group she went on to play venues such as Rumboogies’ on Memphis’ Beale Street, the Ground Zero in Clarkesdale, Mississippi and Memphis’ Blue Worm Club, where she recorded live with Big Jerry’s Juke House band. She has shared the stage with Willie King, Oteil Burridge, Sam Lay, Honey Boy Edwards, Denise LaSalle, T-Model Ford, Jerry Portnoy and Cedric Burnside, among others.
She has also released several albums, including “My Life” in 2006, “Chicago Blues Alabama Style” and “Just Jukin” in 2009 and “SharBaby’s 11 O’Clock Blues” in 2011.
She has been influenced by a variety of musicians, including Tina Turner, Chuck Berry, Howlin’ Wolf, Sumlin, Little Walter, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Little Richard, The Beatles and Ray Charles.
Here are some of SharBaby’s songs:
http://www.reverbnation.com/sharbaby.html

The next songs are from B.J. Estares and Route 61, a Colorado Springs, CO group featuring B.J. Estares on guitar and vocals (he’s also listed as a songwriter); Randy “The Hawkenator” Hawke on bass, guitar and backup vocals; Lenny “Boom-Boom” Perreault on percussion and back-up vocals and Doug Stepanek on drums and backup vocals (he’s also credited as the sound engineer). A San Diego native, Estares grew up with the big band music he heard his dad listening to. His interest in music started with the drums. He took up acoustic guitar after moving to Los Angeles when he was 12, and his love for the blues began at age 14 after his brother turned him on to Janis Joplin's "Turtle Blues." He then started listening to British artists like John Mayall and Eric Clapton, which led him to American notables such as Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Albert King, B.B. King, Freddie King and others.
Route 61 formed in the mid-2000's after Estares came to Colorado Springs and started writing songs and gigging with Hawke.
The group lists John Coltrane, Shelly Mann, Wes Montgomery, Miles Davis, Sergio Mendez, Willie Dixon, B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Robert Johnson, Duane Allman, John Mayall and Joe Cocker as influences. Here is some of its work:
http://www.reverbnation.com/bjestaresroute61.html

We next hear from Jonah Reuben and Accidental Proffit, a Christian music group that works in the rhythm and blues mode. The group, which plays around the Omaha, Nebraska area, has made some personnel changes since the release of "Heavenly Blues," its latest CD. The group now features Paul Koski on lead guitar, Gordon Kruse on bass, and Jonah Reuben on guitar and lead vocals. Here is some of Accidental Proffit's work:
http://www.reverbnation.com/accidentalproffit.html
The group never charges for their shows but relies on donations to their ministry. To book them, send an email to jonah@accidentalproffit.com or call: (402) 827-1991


As anyone who follows this blog knows, I'm a serious, longtime Hendrix fan. Here's Tommy Katona and Full Blast with their take on Hendrix's "Who Knows?"


Born in Memphis and raised in Clarkesdale and Tutwiler, Mississippi, David “Big Daddy” Griffin has been around music since he was a toddler. At five he used to entertain family gatherings by standing on top of dressers and singing Merle Haggard, Jimmy Rogers and Johnny Cash.
Griffin’s mother bought him an acoustic guitar and three months worth of lessons when he was ten, and at 14 he worked his first paying gig, playing rock before junior high school children at a private school in Marks, Mississippi. “I still remember a girl smiling big at the guitar player—ME,” he recalled.
A year later, he heard the group Pink Floyd for the first time and found himself drawn to the bass lines.
“I decided that it was time to go from rhythm guitar to bass,” he recalled. “I saved up some money, bought a bass guitar and an amp, and spent the next three years in the bedroom with records, tapes, and this new thing called a compact disc. I started playing in garage band jams for 3 more years, and an occasional backyard party.”
He joined his first bar band when he was 21, playing country, rock, the “Muscle Shoals sound” and blues. He also began learning stage production, how to work with sound and public address systems.
In 1991, while a member of a band called Phoenix, he met Prentis Goodwin, who had won the Jimmie Rogers festival in Meridan, Mississippi. Over the next year Phoenix worked as Goodwin’s backup band. Griffin then took off the next two years from playing bars to work with Andy Tanas, a one-time bassist for Krokus and Black Oak Arkansas. At one time he and Tanas opened for Charlie Robinson and Commander Cody.
Griffin then started playing with a Memphis-area band called the Ecclectics, working with drummer Phillip Dale Durham. He went on to play for Thump, a classic rock and 80’s pop band he joined after hearing its version of Mother’s Finest’s “Truth Will Set You Free.” He has played for the Mississippi Delta-area band the Shakerz and now plays bass for the Bouffants, a Memphis area band.
In addition to playing, Griffin works has worked as a sound person, crew chief, spot-op, lighting assistant, opening act and monitor engineer for Keith Anderson; Sinbad; Keith Sweat; ESPN2; Rick Braun; Boney James; Kirk Whalum; Pieces of a Dream; Earth, Wind and Fire; Bobby “Blue” Bland; Jerry Lee Lewis; Amy Grant; Too Short; Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown; Super Chikan; Jethro Tull and Bill Cosby, among others.
Here is Griffin performing with the Shakerz:

We have to take some time to announce a couple of music-related events:

One is the D.C. Blues Society's Annual Battle of the Bands, scheduled for TONIGHT (October 15, 2011) from 6 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. at the American Legion Post 268, located at 11225 Fern Street in Wheaton, MD. Competing are The Brothers Bone, Clarence "The Bluesman" Turner, Fast Eddie and the Slowpokes, The Justin Pietrowski Trio, The Steve Remy Blues Band, Terry Oates and the Mudcats and the Unruly Blues Band. JP Reali will perform as the area's solo/duo contestant. The winner will represent the Washington Area in the International Blues Challenge, held Jan. 31-Feb. 4, 2012 in Memphis.

Another--a very important one--is an all star concert led Thursday, October 20 at the D.C. area's Surf Club Live by singer/guitarist Memphis Gold to raise money for Living Blues magazine co-founder Jim O'Neal, who is suffering from lymph cancer. O'Neal, who also authored The Voice of the Blues, a collection of interviews with blues musicians, is now the chief executive officer of Stackhouse Records, Memphis' current label. Memphis Gold has joined with bluesman Kenny Neal to hold fund-raisers at various locations around the country.
Also scheduled to perform Thursday are Bobby Parker, whose work is said to have influenced musicians from John Lennon to Santana; singer Shirley Lewis, singer Ida Campbell, singer Stacy Brooks, guitarist Robert Lighthouse, guitarist David Cole, David Akers and Rick Blue Steele. Surf Club Live is located at 4711 Kenilworth Avenue, Hyattsville, Maryland.
Those who can't attend the fund-raisers but want to help can send checks to: Jim O’Neal Blues Fund, P.O. Box 10334, Kansas City, MO 64171. They can also donate at www.paypal.com to the account onealbluesfund@aol.com.

Still another is a performance by singer Nadine Rae at the Barebones Grill and Brewery in Ellicott City, MD at 9 p.m. on Saturday, November 5. Reservations are "highly recommended" for this event. The Brewery is located at 9150 Old National Baltimore Pike in Ellicott City. The number is 410-461-0770 and the website is http://www.barebonesgrill.com. If you want to know what you'll be missing if you DON'T go, check out Nadine at last month's D.C. Blues Festival:


Now here's harmonica player Bob Corritore with a bio of former Muddy Waters harmonica player George "Mojo" Buford, who passed away Tuesday:

RIP George "Mojo" Buford - November 29, 1929 - October 11, 2011. Best known as the longtime harmonica player in the Muddy Waters Band, George "Mojo" Buford was well known for his beautiful, raw-edged harmonica style, and his rich, emotional vocals. He died in a hospital in Minneapolis this morning after suffering with various health issues since early this summer. He was 81 years old. Born in Hernando, Mississippi in 1929, Mojo relocated to Memphis, Tennessee at an early age, then landed in Chicago in 1952, and in 1962 he would find a home in Minneapolis. He had numerous periods of employment in the Muddy Waters Band spanning 4 decades; first in 1959, again in 1967, again in the early 1970s, and was part of Muddy's final band lineup of 1980. Mojo Buford was a sensitive ensemble harmonica player and could provide a gorgeous textural backing for any Chicago blues song. Mojo was also a master of the more difficult Chromatic harmonica. He would record many fine sides as both a leader and as a frontman. His own albums appear on Mr Blues, JSP, P-Vine, Blue Moon, Blue Loon, Fedora, Rooster, Blues Record Society and other labels. Mojo and Luther "Georgia Boy" Johnson were also featured vocalists for two albums on the Muse label that showcased the Muddy Waters Band of the 1960s. There was also a notorious LP on the Vernon label titled Ray Charles / On Stage At The Palladium, which actually only had 2 Ray Charles songs with the remainder by "Mo Jo & The Mo Jo Chi Fours." Collectors marvel over this false advertising - and the Mojo sides are just great! In addition to appearing on numerous sides by Muddy Waters, Mojo's harp graced recordings by Jo Jo Williams, Otis Spann, and Texas Red. Mojo was also responsible for helping Bob Margolin land his job in the Muddy Waters Band. Special thanks to drummer/manager Doug McMinn, who's efforts in the later part of Mojo's career kept him working and in the public eye. Mojo's passing, along with the recent deaths of fellow Muddy Waters alumni Pinetop Perkins, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, and Calvin Jones, leaves us with a huge void in our hearts as we remember the sound of that glorious band. Mojo was a sweet and generous individual with a beautiful toothy grin and a kind word for every situation. He will forever be remembered in blues history as one of the great harmonica masters of the Muddy Waters Band. To hear Mojo performing "Don't Go No Further" click:

To hear Mojo's great harmonica backing on Jo Jo Williams "All Pretty Woman" click:

To see a photo of Mojo. Pinetop Perkins and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith at last year's King Biscuit Blues Festival, courtesy of Bob Margolin, click here http://www.bobcorritore.com/images/Willie Smith 02.jpeg.html
God bless you George "Mojo" Buford.

We again thank Bob for that. We'll have more songs coming, so if we didn't get to you this time around, we'll hit you on the next. Take care.

Nadine Rae: Gaining momentum like a slow locomotive.....

Taking the stage Monday for “Blue Monday,” the series of weekly blues performances held at Washington, D.C.’s Westminster Presbyterian Church, singer Nadine Rae showed fans and supporters that she is “gaining momentum” in her recovery from serious injuries she sustained in a car crash last December.
The three-hour concert, in which she appeared with saxophonist/keyboardist Deanna Bogart, was the latest in a series of performances and dates that have brought the respected blues and gospel singer back to the local music scene.
Rae had to stop performing after the accident, but has been playing at local clubs and festivals since May, when she shared the stage with singer Patty Reese at this year’s Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival.
"We opened for Buddy Guy and Chuck Berry and Chuck Berry started singing 'Nadine' to me," she said. "I got pictures of that! I'm looovin' that!"
In June, she opened for Bobby Parker and Chuck Brown when they played together in suburban Virginia. And in September she participated in a blues workshop held at the D.C. Blues Society's annual festival.
Since then, she has played the Greenbelt Blues Festival, the Eastport Democratic Club in Annapolis and the Old Bowie Towne Grill, among other places.
“I’m gaining momentum, you know, choo-choo-choo, like a slow locomotive,” she said.
Also joined on Monday by Michael Pryor on bass, John Bell on guitar, Andy Hamburger on drums, Anthony “Swamp Dog” Clark on harmonica and David Ylvisaker on keyboards, Rae delivered renditions of “Mustang Sally,” “Nighttime is the Right Time,” and “At Last.”
Rae also performed “Heartbreak Savings Time,” a song written by former band mate Sam Miller. She will include the song on her next CD, she said, the music list for which is almost complete.
“It’s just a matter of when I go to the studio and start paying those men and women to be engineers and do the thing and get the musicians in there," she said of the project. “I already got lined up who's going to be in there with me. But I don’t want to tell it too quick, because then there’s nothing to look for.”
Rae was hurt after her car rolled over several times while she was in Anne Arundel County.
Her comeback has not been easy.
The medication she took after the accident created a fluid build-up around her heart, causing her to gain weight, she said. “It was to the extent that I had congestive heart failure,” she said. “So the bottom line was, I had to change my lifestyle. So now I’m dieting and I’m eating what I want, but it’s just watching what I eat and counting my calories and exercising.”
Though nothing in her performance Monday night reflected such a problem, Rae said she has trouble breathing. But her weight loss is improving her breathing, she said.
She said she may require more cosmetic surgery. Still, people tell her they “are amazed at the level of expertise” in the reconstructive surgery done so far, she said.
Many musicians have supported Rae through her recovery. Some, including Clark, have helped organize fund-raisers for her.
Musicians on Monday talked about how much they enjoy working with her. “I get a side view of her, so I always see her face, I see where she’s going, I see what she’s feeling” said Ylvisaker. “Then she looks over at me with these sort of demure little eyes, and sort of winks at me, sticks her tongue out at me or whatever and we have a blast on stage.”
Bogart, who enlisted Rae to back her up on Home Run Holiday, an album she produced that features holiday songs sung by former Baltimore Orioles catcher Rick Dempsey, said the recovering singer called her a few weeks ago to ask if she would join the gig.
“I said ‘I’d love to, I’ll bring my horn, I’ll do whatever you want,” she said.

For months, area musicians and music fans have organized benefits to help D.C. area singer Nadine Rae, who put her career on hold to deal with serious injuries she received from an automobile accident last winter.
Rae attended the latest benefit to thank supporters in person—with a song.
Rae, whose required reconstructive surgery after her car flipped over in Anne Arundel County several times on Christmas Eve, performed briefly at a benefit held for her on April 11 at the Silver Spring American Legion Hall. The event was organized by the D.C. Blues Society and by Barbara Chandler, wife of blues guitarist Memphis Gold.
The benefit offered its guests a rare D.C. area treat: a chance to hear a show featuring both Memphis Gold and legendary blues guitarist Bobby Parker, who joined the benefit after learning of it for the first time that day. Performances by B.T. Richardson, Stacey Brooks, Dr. S.O. Feelgood and Lady Rose made the requested donation of $15 even more of a bargain
But, despite the formidable array of talent, Rae was the definite star of the evening, particularly when, backed by Memphis Gold and his band, she sang a brief set that ended with a energetic rendition of “The Thrill is Gone.”
As she sang, it was obvious in her face how much she loved being in front of an audience.
Still, once she stopped singing, she made it clear later that her fight for good health is not over.
“I want to tell you something, I did get broke up in that car accident, but I also just out of the house two weeks ago for congestive heart failure,” she said. “The medicine that they gave me, I was already fighting a weight problem and the medicine they gave me just might add to it. So they took fluid off my heart.”
But, when the guests reacted to her words with sighs of pity, she reminded them that the occasion was meant to be joyous, not sad. “No, don’t say ‘aww,’ ” she said. “because I’m here!”
Rae, who will perform with the Patty Reese band at the Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival on May 22 and will open for Parker and Chuck Brown at the State Theatre on June 10, later explained what has kept her going throughout the ordeal.
“It’s like the old saying, music soothes the savage beast and it’s therapeutic for me,” she said.” I love the art. So, getting paid and having gigs, all of that is great but I love the art and I enjoy making people happy and giving them hope and giving myself some encouragement. It’s a ministry, you know what I mean?”
Memphis, who injured his back in a fall a few years ago, recalled that Rae had sung at a benefit for him. Their performance of “The Thrill is Gone” earlier in the evening was “a spur of the moment thing,” he said. “But we had done it several times together, you know, and we just do what we do,” he added.
Musicians overall said they were glad to help. “It’s a good thing to help somebody that’s in need,” said bassist Michael “Judge” Farrell, who joined Brooks and Lady Rose for sets. “Nadine had an accident. She doesn’t have medical insurance. It’s too bad. It’s unfortunate,” he said. ”So those of us who are more fortunate can share and spread around the wealth, help somebody out. It’s a good thing to do this.”

Nadine Rae

With the power and beauty of her performances, Nadine Rae is sure to draw a crowd from any stage she steps on.
And the respect and affection that people have for the legendary blues and gospel singer have never been more evident than since Christmas Eve, when a bad accident left her unable to work.
Supporters organized benefit concerts for Rae around the D.C. area.
Anthony “Swamp Dog” Clark and his Blues All-Stars, the Dru Lore Band and Stacy Brooks, among others, took the stage for an event held January 16 at the Old Bowie Town Grille. A second concert featuring the Michael McHenry Tribe, Patty Reese, Dean Rosenthal, and Rae’s old group, the Rich Chorne Band, was held at The Whiskey in Annapolis on March 7.
And guitarist singer Memphis Gold said he will host one on April 11 at the American Legion in Silver Spring
Why such an outpouring of support?
"Nadine is a legend around here,” said Clark, one of the organizers of the Old Bowie Town Grille event. ”She’s done a lot of events for people so I just assumed....I knew people would turn out for her event."
Clark and other performers also cite the respect area musicians have for Rae as a singer.
"Great performers can project their emotions through the air and the audience receives them and they're not just playing in front of people, they’re playing for the people," said Dru Lore. "And she's one of those."
“She’s a great singer,” said Memphis Gold. “I think she’s got the potential to be a blues diva. She’s kind of a jazzy blues singer.”

The accident, in which Rae’s car flipped over multiple times after she hit a patch of ice while driving in Anne Arundel County, left her with serious eye injuries, said her friend, Rita Mansfield-Green. Eye surgery such as the type Rae underwent tends to effect the sinuses, said Mansfield-Green , coordinator of “Blue Monday,” a series of blues concerts held weekly at Washington’s Westminister Church. That in turn hampers breathing, impairing one's singing ability, she said.
“She’s struggling because she’s not getting any money for gigs,” said Mansfield-Green.
Born in Baltimore, Rae made her first recording when she was ten, singing with the Recording Choir of the First Mt. Olive Freewill Baptist Church. She later sang with several gospel groups in the D.C-. Baltimore area.
Gospel artists she has worked with include Olivia Branch Walker, the Hawkins family, the late Hardie Clifton of the Brooklyn All-Stars, the late Willie Neal Johnson & the Gospel Keynotes, and the late Gloria Spencer, among others.
As a blues singer, she has worked with many of the best, including Ronnie Baker Brooks, Bobby Parker, Ron Holloway, Charles "Big Daddy" Stallings, Tom Principato, Tommy Castro and Deanna Bogart. She has opened for Shemekia Copeland, Kenny Wayne Shepherd & Double Trouble, B.B. King, Jennifer Holliday, the late Oliva Branch Walker and the Rev. Timothy Wright.
Ida Campbell, a blues singer who also hosts a blues show on WPFW-FM radio, said any full time artist could find themselves in Nadine's current situation.
Full time artists don't have any other means of income," she said. "Their performance and entertainmentship is what they do and that's how they get paid. They're not able to work, they don't get paid they don't have money to meet their necessities and their bills.”