Cover photo © 2023 Marilyn Stringer

 In This Issue 

Marty Gunther has our feature interview with D.K. Harrell. We have four Blues reviews for you this week including new music from Blackburn Brothers, Billy Jones & The Delta Blues Outlaws , Parchman Prison Prayer and Raphael Wressnig & Igor Prado. Scroll down and check it out!

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The term “overnight success” has always been one of the most overused phrases in the music world, but it’s never been more true in the case of guitarist DKieran Harrell, a soft-spoken young man who’s gone from total obscurity into sharing some of the biggest stages around the world and trading licks with the biggest names in the blues in the past few years.

He possesses a playing style that emulates B.B. King right down to the highly emotive vibrato technique on the strings that the Beale Street Blues Boy produced without compare. But one listen to DKieran’s attack and you’ll recognize instantly that he’s already found his own voice and that he’s a prodigy destined for greatness.

A larger-than-life presence with a sweet personality, he writes songs with a maturity far beyond his years. And his silky-smooth vocals – which are a perfect match with his confident, precise attack on the six-string – are chockfull of honest emotion that only someone with blue-to-the-bone sensitivity can express.

It’s an amazing achievement for the 25-year-old who never played out in public until four years ago – something that’s even more amazing when you consider that he’s completely self-taught and has always been able to hear music in his head but has difficulty reading and writing music charts. But one thing’s certain: DKieran Harrell was born to play the blues.

He’d just returned home after playing the main stage at the Calgary Blues Festival with backing from one of the best rhythm sections in the business — drummer Tony Coleman and bassist Russell Jackson — and catching his breath before setting off on more whirlwind travel when Blues Blast caught up with him.

Harrell came into the world on April 24, 1999, in Ruston, La., a city best known for producing star athletes – football and basketball hall of famers Terry Bradshaw, Fred Dean, Willie Roaf and Karl Malone, country singer Trace Atkins – all of whom attended Louisiana Tech — and even more from Grambling University a few miles to the west.

Hip-hop, rap and Southern soul dominated the airwaves then and now, and blues was an afterthought if anything. Fortunately for DKieran, however, he spent plenty of time with his grandparents out in the country in Spearsville – a hamlet of 121 close to the Arkansas border – where blues ruled the day and where he makes his home today.

“My grandfather, C.H. Jackson, would play a lot of blues records,” he remembers, “from Little Johnny Taylor to B.B. King, Sam & Dave and James Brown, too. If you name ‘em, he played ‘em. There was hip-hop and rap in the house, but I wasn’t really fond of it. I liked the blues and soul.”

DKieran got his unusual name, he says, because C.H’s mom – who was only 13 at the time of his birth – didn’t give him a name, only initials. “When I was born and he saw my name, he told my mother: ‘I’m gonna call him D.K.,’” he notes. That’s were D.K. comes from.”

By the time he was eight, Harrell already knew he future would be in music – something that his mom Christal, a phlebotomist who spent a couple of decades drawing blood during 12-hour shifts at Ruston’s Lincoln Jenner Hospital, knew much earlier.

The realization came when D.K. was about 18 months old and sitting in a car seat when Christal and her sister were traveling from Spearsville to Monroe about an hour to the east to shop at the mall. Before they left, C.H. handed her a copy of Deuces Wild, B.B.’s Grammy-nomination compilation of duets, telling her: “If you put this on, he’ll be okay the whole trip” – something that Harrell insists today would never have been an issue, adding: “My mama said I was so quiet, she used to worry about me even when I’d be sittin’ right next to her.

“So we’re drivin’ down the road, and the album gets to B.B. and Tracy Chapman singin’ ‘The Thrill Is Gone,’ and my mama starts hearin’ this noise, thinkin’ there’s something wrong with the CD player. She turned it up and down, but it wouldn’t go away.”

Finally, she turned around and saw that her son was swinging his head from side to side with his eyes closed and singing “the thrill is gone, the thrill has gone away, the thrill has gone…”

“That’s actually when I started talkin,’” he says. “She was so excited, she pulled the car over and tried to get me to say other stuff…‘mama’…‘daddy’…but all she was gettin’ was ‘the thrill is gone.’ Now, she tells people in a joking way: ‘Ever since he started singin’ in that car seat, I can’t get him to shut up!’”

By the time he was in first grade, Harrell was a huge Ray Charles fan thanks to hearing his songs “What’d I Say,” “Hard Times” and “Hit the Road, Jack” in trailers for the movie Ray. “I remember standin’ in front of the TV and sayin’: ‘Man, I wanna go see that,’ and my stepfather, Brent Brooks – who also played a big part in me hearin’ a lot of great artists – said: ‘Then we’re gonna go see it!’ We go, and I was just giddy in the movie theater.”

There were two soundtrack CDs for the film, and D.K. was such a fan that they were in regular rotation in his home. “I’d be playin’ ‘em loud while sittin’ at my great-grandmother’s piano in my Hanes white T-shirt and underwear, wearing some shades,” he remembers, “and impersonating him as I banged at the keys.”

When YouTube launched in 2005, Brent was in the first wave of users, and he quickly turned his stepson onto Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, Jerry Butler & the Impressions, Curtis Mayfield and Gene Chandler – a love affair that endures today. “He was playin’ the hits, man!” Harrell insists. “He was playin’ some heavy stuff!”

By the time he was eight – still in his undies but now wearing socks, he was so enthralled by James Brown that he was doing his best to impersonate the Godfather of Soul at family gatherings. A year later, another TV promo – this time for Cadillac Records – truly brought him into the belly of the blues through actor Columbus Short’s depiction of Little Walter.

“I was like…I like that!” Harrell says. “‘I wanna play harmonica!’

“My mama took me to Matt’s Music in Monroe and bought me a C and B-flat. And me bein’ a kid, I was dumfounded how to play. People would tell me I had to learn about cuppin’ and bendin’, but I didn’t care about that stuff. I just liked the sound it made. I tried to play Little Walter songs, and people enjoyed it for some reason, sayin’ I had potential. But I gave it up.”

Three years later – in 2011 – his life began to change for the better when he decided to try his hand at guitar. “I told my mom, and she said okay,” he remembers. “I told my father’s father, Ezekiel Harrell, and he said: ‘I’ll get you a guitar for Christmas. I’ll go to the pawn shop and get you one.’

“Christmas comes around and he buys me a really beat-up Synsonic Pro Series model, which is a really, really, really cheap off-brand model. And he bought the wrong amp…a bass amp…to go with it. But I was still happy as hell when I got my hands on that guitar. And, believe it or not, I still have it!”

His second axe was a First Act acoustic that his mom picked up a few days later for $60 at Walmart.

“I played on ‘em, but didn’t know anything about tunin’,” DKieran admits. “I’m playin’ with all this confidence and stuff, and my mom says: ‘You know, you’d sound good if you had lessons.’ I said: ‘Whatcha mean? That sounds good to me!’

“She says: ‘Well, I think you gotta tune it,’ and I just blew that off, playin’ all outta key. It was horrible! My stepfather has videos of me playin’ at family functions. I told him: ‘Delete it…you’re gonna ruin my career.’ But he was like: ‘No, man! I can’t. It shows the potential that you had at that time and the big difference of where you are now and where you started.’”

Fast forward to 2013 and Harrell finally bought himself a tuner along with five sets of strings, which led to even more problems. “For the life of me,” he says, “I thought putting strings on a guitar was the most difficult thing anyone could do. I used to have a stroke tryin’ to do it. I’d put ‘em in the holes and wind and wind and wind until the string broke, not understanding that there was only a certain amount of tension you needed to get it to be in tune and to get the sound that you wanted.”

At the time, DKieran was cutting the lawns of Grandpa JoJo, one of his mom’s co-workers, and one of his neighbors, too, making $20 a pop during the summer. “But I spent it all on more strings,” he admits, “because I kept breakin’ em. I was dyin’ tryin’ to learn how to do it the right way, and finally got the hang of it. And when I did, I told Grandpa JoJo: ‘I don’t need to cut lawns no more. I can put the strings on right myself’ – and he started laughin’.”

At that point, Harrell says, “I needed to teach myself how to play-play…how to really get some music out of this thing.”

His initial attempt was to try to cop licks off of John Lee Hooker, which was a total failure. Unbeknownst to D.K., Hooker usually tuned down his guitar to open-G while he was trying to copy him in standard E tuning. “I’d be watchin’ John Lee’s fingers playin’ ‘Boom Boom’ and his sound would be different than my sound,” he admits. “It’s awfully hard to find the notes playin’ like that.”

He didn’t understand the error of his ways until a couple of years ago, when another musician finally clued him in.

DKieran says he’s always been a loner. He always carried a lot of weight and has been easy to pick on during childhood. It didn’t help that Harrell was pretty flamboyant, doing splits at a high school pep rally, when he impersonated James Brown with a couple of friends – his hair in a tall perm, doing splits, high-pitched screams and more — after the release of Get on Up, the biopic starring Chadwick Bozeman.

“To show you how judgmental teenagers are,” he says, “they thought I was gay…several people said: ‘D.K.’s gay.’ I’m like ‘no, no, no, I’m not!’ They said: ‘Oh, yes, you are…’cause you got your hair like that!’ I said: ‘It don’t make sense! I’m pretty sure your grandfather had hair like this at one time!’

“What broke my heart wasn’t bein’ called a homosexual, it was the lack of cultural understanding in my own community of young, black Americans. They don’t know anything about how our style was 50, 60, 70 years ago. They just lack the education.”

And even though he’s had multiple girlfriends, women have been especially hard on him, too – twice, in fact, bringing up his weight and telling him to “go kill yourself because no one wants you.” Lately, he’s been comfortable being solitary because most of the ladies in his life have found it impossible to be in a situation where they have to share his love with his unabating affection for music.

“But that’s okay,” DKieran adds, noting he’s concentrating totally on his career right now “because a woman can be a distraction.” He’s also philosophical about the abuse he’s endured, adding: “If a person mistreats you, of course it hurts. But you have to learn to cope with it to the best of your ability to regain your sanity, self-respect and self-awareness and then move forward in life.”

Through it all, he managed to find both solace and joy while teaching himself how to master the six-string by studying YouTube and Vimeo clips of B.B. and other six-string wizards for hours on end and playing along as best he could until he was getting their licks down pat. “There’d be days when I’d be studying John Lee, Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy, and I’d get frustrated and so angry,” he remembers. “And my mother would say: ‘Just calm down and take your time. It’ll come to you.

“Then I saw all these other artists…the Rolling Stones, the Animals, the Yardbirds, Mud Morganfield…and I said: ‘Well, I can’t play like these people because all of them have my influences’ skills and techniques down. I need to get to the roots, but where do I start?’”

Harrell’s choice was easy…B.B. King.

“For the next seven years, I dedicated myself to studying B.B. King’s style and technique,” he notes. “Everybody wants his vibrato, but what I really wanted was his tone.”

He was 15 when he saw – and met – the master for the first time. After opening his presents at Christmas in 2012 – usually a couple of books and a couple of toys, mom Christal told he had another gift coming that hadn’t arrived yet. The day after New Year’s, she handed him an envelope. “I open it and it’s two tickets to B.B. at the Baton Rouge River Center Theatre in downtown Baton Rouge,” he remembers. “I just exploded!”

A seminal moment in his life, he says, “I had on my grandfather’s brown leather jacket, light green/gray long-sleeve shirt and black jeans. And I had my hair combed into a conk back then, too, ‘cause I liked the way B.B.’s hair looked on those 1950s album covers. We sat in Row S in the orchestra pit, and Lil’ Ray and Tyree Neal (Kenny’s brother and nephew) opened the show — and I was a little disrespectful.

“‘That’s enough of that,’ I said. ‘Bring on B.B.’ But my mama said: ‘Boy, just shut up!’

“Twenty or 30 minutes later, (trumpet player/emcee) Boogaloo Bolden gets on the mic and says: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for the world’s greatest blues singer…B…B…King!’” D.K. notes, recounting the lineup: Stanley Abernathy on trumpet, Walter Rodney King on sax, Ernest Van Trease on keys, Charlie “Tuna” Dennis on guitar, Reggie Richards on bass and Coleman on drums.

“I remember it like it was yesterday, and B.B. was rockin’ that night! When the show was over, I asked my mama if she wanted to go down and try to meet him. But she doesn’t like crowds. She said: ‘No…but you can.’

“I pushed my way to the front, and I went ‘Mr. King, Mr. King…’ — and felt butterflies build up in my stomach real fast – ‘I was the young man who was shoutin’ at you during intermission…’

“‘Yeah, I saw you out there…’”

“‘I love you…’ ‘I love you, too, and I really appreciate it…’”

“’And I wanna be just like you…’”

“He shook my hand, handed me a pick and we said good night. I ran up the ramp to get outside, and as soon as I hit the door, I cried and cried and cried.”

A few months later, Christal and DKieran made a three-hour pilgrimage to the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola. Coincidentally, it was the same day that B.B. entered hospice care in Las Vegas. The center was deserted except for its director, Robert Terrell. “I told him I was tryin’ to learn how to play like B.B.,” D.K. remembers, “and showed him a video on my mom’s iPhone. ‘You got potential,’ he said. ‘You got that vibrato down. Here’s my card.’

“I won’t lie…it was bad out of tune…but he encouraged me!”

From that day onward, Harrell says, he downloaded every B.B. King video he could find of him in action between 1968 to the time of his death in order to study his hand movement, equipment and tone. It became a labor-turned-obsession that eventually gave him the same warmth and intensity of his idol along with a voice that’s truly his own.

The key, he says, is – like B.B. – to make the guitar do the singing “because it gives you the ability to take advantage of time and space. Like Albert and Freddie King, Sonny Boy Williamson…their instruments had voices of their own…like Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Mahalia Jackson…they were very melodic and they didn’t have to play fast to be that way.

“There are a lot of guitar players today who (are playing a million notes) and thinking that’s melodic – and that’s okay. But to me, all they’re doin’ is showin’ off. But you’ve gotta have tone when you hit those notes to make people cry.

“It’s somethin’ I’ve experienced on multiple occasions where I’ve just gotten on stage and played with joy. People come up to me cryin’ and tell me that was ‘the most beautiful thing I’ve heard.’ They’re tears of joy, but I feel pain because I don’t like to make ‘em cry.”

It’s an event that Harrell felt for the first time four years ago when he was at home on the sofa next to his mom a few months before he even played a gig. He playing a slow-blues backing track, when his Christal started weeping. “‘How can you do that?’ she asked. ‘How can you teach yourself to do that (express so much emotion) without sayin’ anything?’” he recalls. “’You’ve got a gift, and I don’t know where it comes from. But you got the gift!’”

Shortly thereafter, D.K. and Terrell crossed paths again.

The Harrells were living in Bossier City, an hour west of Ruston, at the time and D.K. had graduated to a black Epiphone ES-345 he named “Deja” after his first girlfriend in an attempt to keep reminding himself “to never lose somebody I love again.

“I dug out Mr. Terrell’s card and sent him some up-to-date videos. A little while later, he called and says: ‘What are you doin’ the first weekend in September?’

“‘Nothin’.’”

“He goes: ‘I want you to come to the B.B. King Day Symposium (at Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena)…and I want you to send me a (IRS) 1099 (form) ‘cause you’re gonna get paid!’”

With no car of his own, DKieran rode a Greyhound bus to the gig and met up with Terrell in the lobby of his hotel. Robert insisted he ride along to pick up Walter Riley King – for DKieran, an overwhelming exciting proposition because Walter was B.B.’s nephew.

From that date — Sept. 5, 2019 — to today, Harrell’s life has never been the same.

The festivities began with a discussion keynoted by revered producer/composer/author Benjamin Wright about the British invasion and its effects on the blues. Harrell’s debut as a bluesman – and first public appearance ever – came shortly thereafter in a lineup that included Teeny Tucker, Lil’ Ray, Walter, Jimmy Mayes, Coleman, Jimmy “Duck” Holmes and others. And Eric Clapton was supposed to be there, too, but couldn’t make it.

As special as that was, for D.K., things got even better.

“I’m sittin’ there and I see ‘em bringin’ up this guitar case and hand it to Lil’ Ray,” he remembers. “I said: ‘Ray, you already got two guitars out…what’s this third case?’ He says: ‘Well, today’s your day! You’re gonna play Lucille!’

“He hands me the guitar, and a photographer took this picture of me holdin’ Lucille right before I started cryin’. Honestly, the reason I was cryin’ was that I was thinkin’ about all the bad things that had been said about me in the past.”

The pain of that moment quickly passed. Harrell soared into action that afternoon and has never looked back, and he’s built momentum ever since. Thanks to the management of the late Dan Ferguson – who passed just a few weeks prior to this interview, he got to play at B.B. King’s on Beale Street in Memphis, where he’s built a strong friendship with B.B.’s granddaughter, Crystal.

“I played there on April 23, 2021, the day before my birthday,” he notes. “’You play just like my grandfather,’ she told me, ‘and there’s tears in my eyes. You look and even act just like him, too.’ She’s beautiful people, and we’ve been in contact ever since.”

Other decent gigs followed, and he subsequently was chosen to represent the Mississippi Delta Blues Society of Indianola’s representative in the 2022 International Blues Challenge, where he finished the band competition in third place behind The Wacky Jugs, an ensemble from France, and CROS, a group from Arizona fronted by former Lucky Peterson and James Cotton bassist Charles Mack.

Through it all, Harrell has always been a hard worker. His grass-cutting career is far behind him, but he’s always held day jobs prior to the release of his first CD a few months ago. Beginning at age 13, he worked alongside his cousins during the summer at their company, Hills Brothers Lumber, cutting wood from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. and making $20 a day – backbreaking labor, he says, but important work because many folks in the area are so poor they rely on fireplaces and wood stoves in winter to keep the chill at bay.

“I thought that was a lotta money,” he jokes. “’This is gonna add up – and I’m helpin’ the people, too!’”

After graduating high school, he did taxes for a financial company for a while before enrolling into Louisiana Delta Community College in Monroe, where, he admits, “my heart wasn’t in it…I just gave it a shot.” Then he spent two years toiling for a telecommunications company before moving on to Quest Diagnostics, the medical testing firm, where he worked the phones scheduling diabetic screenings and bone-density scans for senior citizens.

He left that job last year when trying to resolve his own medical issues…a pinched nerve in his neck that’s improved considerably but still remains a little problematic, robbing him of a little less feeling in his left hand than he had in the past.

“Doctors told me it was from my guitar bein’ heavy,” D.K. says, “and they told me I’d have to play a smaller guitar. I told ‘em I’ll be damned if I ever play a smaller guitar ‘cause I can’t get the same sound out of a (Gibson) 339 that I get out of my 355. But I’m gettin’ better, so I’ll be fine!”

Always a go-getter, Harrell attempted to secure some festival dates last year by contacting Hill Country bluesman Damion “Yella P” Pearson, who partners with Cameron Kimbrough in the duo, Memphissippi Sounds. Pearson subsequently hooked him up with Michael Kinsman, a longtime promoter of the San Diego Blues Festival and other major events.

Kinsman was no longer in that side of the business, but met with D.K. and expressed a desire to help him fulfill another dream: to record a CD, saying he’d  reach out to Jim Pugh, the keyboard player who founded Little Village Foundation, a 503c non-profit set up to produce albums for artists who’ve been missing out in the exposure they deserve.

Months passed and DKieran was about to leave to make his international debut at the Mississippi Delta Blues Festival in Caxias do Sul, Brazil, when he called Coleman – who was already in the LVF stable as a member of group Silent Partners. “I told Tony: ‘I’m stressed. I’ve been doin’ this stuff for three years, and everybody’s tellin’ me I need a record. He goes: ‘Man, stop complainin’! You want a record? Okay…let me talk to Jim. We’ll talk when you get back.’”

Fortunately, Pugh was already well-aware of Harrell’s talent after having been in the audience at the IBCs. When D.K. and Tony spoke again, Coleman asked: “What are you doin’ in January?”

“I said: ‘Nothin’…I just have one or two gigs.’’

“’Well, we’re gonna get you on the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise. You’ll get to talk to Jim Pugh then and we can all play together, too – and see how it works out.’

“And,” D.K. says proudly, “it worked out well! Jim says: ‘So, you want to make a record…’ and I said: ‘I want to, but if you guys don’t want me to, that’s fine. I’ll just wait…’

“‘No-no-no-no. No!’ he says, ‘That’ll work! We’re gonna make a record…but it’s all about what you want.’

“I told him: ‘I want it to have horns, have strings, and I want my songs to tell stories.’

“He said: ‘Okay, we can make that happen. We’ll do it in March. I’m gonna bring ya to Greaseland Studios in California and Kid Andersen’s gonna produce it.’”

The end result, The Right Man — which debuted in June and has been embedded at the top of the charts ever since – features three Grammy honorees – Pugh, Coleman and Jerry Jemmott in a lineup that includes a six-piece horn section and appearances from Tia Carroll, Lisa Leuschner Andersen, Quique Gomez and Alabama Mike.

“A lot of the other bluesmen my age and a little older were like ‘how the fuck did you get Jerry Jemmott – one of the best bass players ever – on your record?’” Harrell says proudly. “The funny thing is…we pick Jerry up and we’re talkin’ and he’s holdin’ this manila envelope. I’m thinkin’ it’s sheet music. But it’s the new issue of Living Blues that has an article about me!

“He brought it from home for me to sign – and I’m thinkin’ to myself: ‘How in the hell is Jerry Jemmott goin’ to ask me…a nobody…for my signature?’ That just surprised the hell outta me. So I got him and Jim, Kid and Tony to sign my Gibson guitar case. Now that sits in my home ‘cause I don’t want nothin’ to happen to it.

“And what’s really cool is that my record is the first time that Tony and Jerry have ever worked together (despite having about 80 years of combined history between them). They’d met each other, but they’d never done a gig together before either. Tony pointed that out on the first day.”

When they finally stepped into the studio, Jemmott — who played on the original version of B.B.’s “The Thrill Is Gone” – pointed out to D.K. that he was playing the same model Gibson that King had used on the song.

A horn flourish opens the title track, “The Right Man,” prior to Harrell’s stinging, single-note guitar run, which hits like a hurricane before his rich tenor voice addresses his lady: “I know you’re gonna cry when I leave this broken home…keep asking yourself: ‘Why did I wrong the right man?’”

Recorded in one take during their very first session, that song immediately establishes Harrell in the forefront of the blues and sets the tone for the ten emotion-packed originals that follow, beginning with “You’re a Queen,” which sings praise of any woman who carries herself in a regal manner.

“The way I wanted it to go in my head, the bass line was supposed to be the horn part of Casey & the Sunshine Band’s ‘I’m Your Boogie Man,’” he notes. “But Jerry had a better idea and told us a secret: ‘When I play bass, all I do is take a samba and apply it to what I’m doin’.

“‘You listen to “Say a Little Prayer for You,” and that bass line’s a samba. Of course, when I’m playin’ “Look Over Yonder Wall” for Freddie King – it’s all straight blues. But if I’m playin’ anything unique, it’s a samba…even B.B.’s “Why I Play the Blues.” If you go to the four-minute mark, I’m playin’ samba blues.’”

Other high points include “Get These Blues Out of Me” — in which Harrell describes himself sitting at home with nervous jitters before a gig but vowing to sing until he’s hoarse and play with a force that will free him of his inner turmoil, “You’d Be Amazed” – which celebrates the need to do your homework in whatever you attempt in order to succeed, “Leave It at the Door” – which suggests celebrating your successes rather than obsessing about past trouble or failures and “While I’m Young” – which is a moving tribute to his grandfather.

“Everyone keeps tellin’ me the pressure’s really on to follow up on this one,” he admits. Considering DKieran’s work ethic and creativity, however, the future is bright – something that’s amplified because he’s already got an arsenal of several notebooks full of originals to consider for the future with more on the horizon.

A multi-faceted talent with a strong desire to keep this music alive, he serves as the first president of the Ouachita River Blues Society in West Monroe, La., which he launched earlier this year. And he recently signed with the Intrepid Artists Management team, one of the most important booking agencies in the business.

As this story were being finalized, D.K. was about to play the East Side Kings Festival in Austin with upcoming dates at the Bogalusa, King Biscuit and Crescent City festivals, among others, before he sails on the October blues cruise. And his 2024 is already shaping up to be an even busier year ahead.

Check out DKieran Harrell’s music and where he’ll be playing next by visiting his website, www.dkblues.com. You’ll be glad you did!

Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer Marty Gunther has lived a blessed life. Now based out of Mason, Ohio, his first experience with live music came at the feet of the first generation of blues legends at the Newport Folk Festivals in the 1960s. A former member of the Chicago blues community, he’s a professional journalist and blues harmonica player who co-founded the Nucklebusters, one of the hardest working bands in South Florida.

Blackburn Brothers – Soulfunkn Blues

Electro-Fi Records

www.blackburnbrothersmusic.com

11 tracks – 53 minutes

Per the liner notes of this album, “The Blackburn Brothers are 4th generation Canadians. Descendants of Elia Earls, an enslaved man born in Kentucky, who escaped slave owners and found freedom traveling north though the underground railroad and settling in Northern Ontario. Blues historians tell us that the Blues are from, and belong to, the African American tapestry that covers America…but what happened to the music that travelled north, carried in the hearts and minds of those who escaped or migrated to Canada in search of freedom, acceptance, or just a better life? I believe there is a gap within the history of the blues.”

The Blackburn Brothers have been nominated for the Juno Award; Canada’s equivalent of the Grammy and has won the Maple Blues Award.  Their music is authentic soul blues, or as they call it “soulfunkn”. The lyrics reflect the stories of Black Canadians and “is a tribute to all of the trailblazers and all of the ancestors and forgotten tribes who taught the Blackburn Brothers the importance of history, blues, soul, groove, rhythm and life. It’s a tribute to 231 years of Canadian Roots and Blues”.

Their father, Bobby Dean Blackburn, was a seminal figure on the R&B scene in Toronto. He still travels regularly in performances through Canada and other countries. He regularly brought home tapes of recordings and had other musicians in the house frequently. That atmosphere obviously influenced the brothers to become a band. The Brothers are Duane on lead vocals, organ, piano, and vocoder; Brooke and Robert on guitar and backing vocals; Cory on drums and percussion; and Nathan on bass. Neil Brathwaite on tenor sax and Ted Peters on trombone also perform on a large number of the songs. The group has been the opening act for Sharon Jones & Dr. John. This is their third release from Electro-Fi Records and contains ten original songs penned by the brothers and one covers.

The album kicks off in high funk mode with “Bobby’s Blues” as they sing about their father who “started playing the blues in 1955” and “did it my way”.  The horns intermingle with some excellent guitar leads and a piano run.  “She’s A Heartbreaker” is a blues rocker citing “she will let you in, play you for a fool.” “Let The Devil Play” keeps the funk rolling as “the devil is calling your name, but that’s okay, let the music play”. They say “that the end is coming, nothing you can do but kneel down and pray”.

“Soul Brother” sounds like something that might have been written by Sly Stone or Marvin Gaye and they cite “the Soul Brother grew up in the 70’s”. Duane then says, “every day I am walking by myself” and asks “Won’t You Let Me Go”? “There is no future for you and me.” The Neville   Brothers’ “Sister Rosa”, which tells the story of Rosa Parks, is the first cover on the album and features a very jazzy sax solo.  On “Why Do I Do (What I Do)”, they slow the pace as Duane sings about the woman in his life and says “I can never forget you. I am here if you need me.”  He then states, “I want you to “Be My Wife” and asks that she “please say yes to my sweet request”.

“Freedom Train” sounds like a song from a previous era with the vocoder mix as Duane sings “listen to the struggles of our people…peace and love together …make a change…show the world love can last”.  “Little Sister” gets the funk going again as he asks, “what is wrong with you, looks like you are lonely”. and tells Little Brother that “I hear you just go out of jail” but tells both “it is going to be all right before the night is done…a change is gonna come”.  The album ends with a slow stroll as Duane declares “I Don’t Ever Want to Be Alone”. and he says, “I think of you until the day is through.” Duane delivers another beautifully played piano run in the song.

The Blackburn Brothers deliver excellent soul blues laced with funk. Neil and Ted’s horns blend well into most of the songs on the album with “Soul Brother” and “Sister Rosa” the only songs that do not include horns. They certainly demonstrate a talent with their instruments and Duane’s vocals are constantly strong, drawing you into every song.

Writer John Sacksteder is a retired civil engineer in Louisville, Kentucky who has a lifelong love of music, particularly the blues. He is currently the Editor of the Kentuckiana Blues Society’s monthly newsletter.

Billy Jones & The Delta Blues Outlaws – Welcome to the Blues Highway

Self Released/Billy Jones Bluez

https://billyjonesdeltabluesoutlaws.bandcamp.com

12 tracks

Bay area guitarist, singer and songwriter Billy Jones released his first recording in 2001 and has followed that with five other albums over the years. Something of a child prodigy, he studied under Little Johnny Taylor, Rufus Thomas, and Larry Davis. He hit the road running hard and delivered music in the styles of Chaka Khan, Chocolate Milk and the Bar-Kays. He sees his music as a modern, natural progression of where the blues need to go. His band here on this live recording are Rico Smith on drums, Reverend Keith Tucker on bass, Corey Bray on keys and backing vocals and Uncle Daddy Billy on lead vocals and guitar.

“Shadetree Mechanic” gets things rolling. Jones sings about how he’s going fix his woman up in a cut with a bunch of automotive repair double entendres.  Jones growls, the guitar is funky, the groove is deep, the organ blares and it’s fun. Next is “Please Come Home for Christmas,” a holiday cover tune of Charles Brown’s 1960 classic. Jones sings with emotion and there is another cool organ solo. “Running Out Of Lies” is a heavy, soulful cut with Jones expressing his dissatisfaction with his lying woman. “Trying To Get Next To You” features some honky tonk piano and Jones bellowing and bemoaning his desire to get to his woman. Another organ solo is featured here as the guitar and backline drive the tune along.

“Someone New – Before I Let Go” is another deep soul cut with Jones playing some heavy licks on guitar and sings with passion as he tries to work things out with his woman. Up next is “No Diggity,” a driving cut piece with lots of wah wah and Jones getting really funky. “Love’s Train” follows with a big guitar intro. Soulful and cool mellow stuff delivered on this cut. “Barefootin’” is a dance tune with a funky and bouncy beat. Jones and Company give a rousing version of this classic. More great organ work here on this cut.

“Can We Talk” is a slow and downtrodden piece about a relationship in trouble. Jones wears his feelings on his sleeve as he wails and moans about getting back together. “Everyday Will Be Like A Holiday” is a slow soul blues about returning from being separated from his woman. A cover of “Tennessee Whiskey” is next. Jones gives it a soulful makeover with his emotive and impassioned tones. “Keep On Rolling” ends the live show and CD. A slow paced and cool cut about life on the road.

Billy and his band deliver a dozen good performances here. The sound suffers a bit with some of the instruments sounding a little thin from the live recording, but Billy and the band give it their all and are fine, soulful bluesmen who know how to entertain. A dozen inspired performances of a mix of originals and covers makes for a fun album to enjoy over and over again.

Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer Steve Jones is president of the Crossroads Blues Society and is a long standing blues lover. He is a retired Navy commander who served his entire career in nuclear submarines. In addition to working in his civilian career since 1996, he writes for and publishes the bi-monthly newsletter for Crossroads, chairs their music festival and works with their Blues In The Schools program. He resides in Byron, IL.

Parchman Prison Prayer – Some Mississippi Sunday Morning

Glitterbeat Records

16 tracks

Parchman Prison is a notorious, 28 acre prison farm in Mississippi, not far from Clarksdale. In February 2023, the three year plus approval process to record prisoners singing finally made its’ way through a sea of bureaucracy and was approved for a short notice visit for Grammy winner Ian Brennan to record at the facility. Alan Lomax first visited there in 1933 and returned many times to record music there. Brennan’s visit was the first in many years

The prison had had some notable music figures as inmates since its’ 1901 establishment. Son House, Booker “Bukka” White, Mose Allison, R. L. Burnside, John “Big Bad Smitty” Smith, Terry “Big T” Williams, Elvis’s father Vernon Presley and, reportedly, Aleck “Rice” Miller (Sonny Boy Williamson No. 2) all did time there. The prison has been the subject of many blues songs including “When Can I Change My Clothes” and “Parchman Farm Blues” by Bukka White and Mose Allison’s “Parchman Farm” which has been done by Johnny Winter, John Mayall and many others.

Brennan was given a short window of opportunity to record. He hurriedly caught a red eye flight and the chaplains of the prison whipped up a special service of prisoners who normally sang and performed at about a dozen various services held at the prison each Sunday. The prisoners were a bit shy and reticent at first, but finally opened up and finally laid down acapella tracks, sometimes doing more than one take.

The finale was a completely unplanned musical ensemble, a “full-band free for all as the musicians traded off the chapel’s instruments on-the-fly.” Brennan noted, “I had a blind faith that the voices would be compelling. But the men exceeded my expectations astronomically with the depth and nuance – and often downright virtuosity – of their singing.”

The album begins with “Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord” featuring the 29 year old prisoner L. Stevenson.  It is a superb song of praise. This rendition, done acapella, is raw and cutting. One can feel the singers’ emotion in his voice.

Next is “I Give Myself Away, So You Can Use Me” This is a haunting spiritual done simply with solo voice and piano. Later in the cut, harmonies and other voices join in. It is a moving and touching prayer delivered with conviction and emotion. The singer and pianist chose to remain anonymous.

Kyles is featured on “Break Every Chain.” He is a 52 year old inmate; the opening note of this song told me this was going to be a spiritually enlightening experience. Kyles sings with power and true feeling as he tells us of escaping the chains that bind us.

“Jesus, Every Day Your Name is the Same” features the 73 year old C.S. Deloch backed by singers, organ and the rest of a band. Not even a minute and a half long, it left me wanting more. It’s a wonderful Gospel number.

“Step into the Water” is performed by N. Peterson (aged 63) with many hands clapping to keep the beat. Another outstanding spiritual piece!

Sixty year old M. Palmer is up next with “Solve My Need.” His deep bass voice emanates from the bottom of his soul and reaches down to the bottom of the listener’s soul. Recorded with some reverb, it is gripping and truly haunting. I don’t believe I have ever heard a deeper voice. It was amazing!

“Falling in Love with Jesus Was the Best Thing I’ve Ever Done” is performed by A. Warren, a younger inmate aged 28.  He knocks on a wooden surface to provide percussive accompaniment and his performance is gripping and moving.

‘You Did Not Leave Me, You Bless Me Still” is next, a great spiritual by 63 year old J. Sherman. His voice quivers with great feeling as he sings praises to the Lord. He fades out and back in as he finishes this impressive performance. The bass voice behind his (obvious Palmer’s) offers an interesting backdrop. A second version of the song is included in the download I got with just Sherman’s vocals. Both were equally impressive.

Up next is “If I Couldn’t Say One Word, I’ll Just Wave My Hand.”  It features the choir band and backing singers with L. Brown, age 36, up front. Guitar and piano along with percussion are in the forefront as Brown sings with an amazing depth of emotion.

Stevenson returns next with “I Gotta Run” featuring hand clapping and some more great vocal work. Another inspiring performance.

“Hosanna” is sung by L. Brown (age 36) with the voice of an angel. He sings acapella and delivers a truly memorable cut for us.

Mixing Gospel and rap we next have “Locked Down, Mama Prays for Me” with 33 year old Robinson and singer A. Warren from an earlier track. A gospel tune with a sacred rap laid over it, the duo hits a spiritual home run with this one.

“It’s in My Heart” has the track 3 artist M. Kyles giving us another beautiful cut with his excellent voice. He is amazing.

“I’m Still Here: has D. Thomas (age 30) giving his emotive vocal solo with some echoed responses to his calls.  It’s another great track.

“Lay My Burden Down” features the Parchman Prison Choir once again with C.S. Deloch and M. Palmer sharing the lead of a raucous performance with the inmates clapping, some honky-tonk piano playing and hot singing and praising to the Lord. It’s an exceptional finish to an outstanding album as the group takes us home.

Due to prison restrictions, only the sounds of the event were allowed to be recorded. No photos or videos were allowed. The voices are quite haunting to begin with, and this makes the sound even more ethereal. The songs are pretty much Gospel standards but there are personal twists and transformations to the lyrics that add to the uniqueness and feeling. Black and white inmates were allowed to participate together which is not normal due to racial tensions at the facility.

Brenna reports that the men beamed, hugged and hi-fived one another in celebration and, Chaplain Sidney proudly said, “The making of this record has brought much needed encouragement and hope to the men here at Parchman.” These few hours were a beacon of hope for the participants.

Recorded completely live without overdubs at Parchman Prison Farm, all profits from the album benefit the Mississippi Department of Corrections Chaplain Services. I encourage all blues and gospel lovers to download or pick up a copy of the soon to be released CD or record. You will not be disappointed.

Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer Steve Jones is president of the Crossroads Blues Society and is a long standing blues lover. He is a retired Navy commander who served his entire career in nuclear submarines. In addition to working in his civilian career since 1996, he writes for and publishes the bi-monthly newsletter for Crossroads, chairs their music festival and works with their Blues In The Schools program. He resides in Byron, IL.

Raphael Wressnig & Igor Prado – More Groove, More Good Times Live

Pepper Cake Records

www.raphaelwressnig.com

8 Tracks 43 minutes

Many Blues Blast readers may be unfamiliar with Raphael Wressnig. That is a true shame, as the Austrian is a monster on the Hammond B-3 organ. Twice nominated by Downbeat Magazine as “Best Organ Player of the Year,” Wressnig has more than 15 albums under his name, full of his exciting keyboard excursions that cross musical boundaries with equal aplomb.

His latest release finds him working with the Prado brothers, two Brazilian musicians who also are deserving of wider recognition. Igor is one of the finest blues guitar players around, with a fiery left-handed style that injects plenty of passion into the music. His brother Yuri is a rock-solid drummer, adept at handling the variety of rhythms that Wressnig employs. They have recorded two other albums together, so they are well-versed in making the most of the trio format, with Wressnig’s left hand taking care of the bass lines.

Just as they did on their previous studio album, Groove & Good Times, the trio starts off with a cover of “Kissing My Love,” taking the Bill Withers song into the land of funk, just like you might hear from some of the best bands from New Orleans. Of the disc’s eight tracks, five more tunes are reprised from the studio album. The New Orleans connection returns on a smoldering rendition of a Meters tune, “No More Okey Dokie,” with Wressnig’s swirling organ washes creating a palpable sense of excitement. Their version of  Reese Wynans “Crossfire” gives Igor plenty of room for his blistering guitar licks that expound on Stevie Ray Vaughan’s legacy.

Equally fine is a jaunty rendition of ‘Drive It Home,” with more splendid guitar from Igor, who also contributes a hearty vocal that pays tribute to guitarist Snooks Eaglin, the song’s composer and another New Orleans legend. Listeners may recall Bobby Blue Bland’s memorable version of “Ain’t No Love (In The Heart Of The City)”. For their version, the trio wisely foregoes the vocal, content to establish a solid groove as the foundation for more top-flight improvisations. The final cover finds the trio digging into the Isley Brothers “I Know Who You Been Socking It To,” giving Wressnig plenty of space to demonstrate the extent of his considerable organ chops.

“Born To Roam” was co-written by the organist, who contributes a talking vocal highlighting his worldly travels before turning it over to Igor, who makes his strings sing. Wressnig adds his own soul-wrenching solo to finish things off in grand style. The closing track, “Faceslap Swing No. 5” is indeed a swinging affair thanks to Yuri’s fine stick work, his brother’s frenzied guitar workout, and Wressnig pulling riff after riff from the organ, constructing a soulful strut that radiates with the the joy of the moment. The response from the appreciative audience leaves no doubt that the trio’s bold musical statements hit home, making this release well-worth a listen.

Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer Mark Thompson lives in Florida, where he is enjoying the sun and retirement. He is the past President of the Board of Directors for the Suncoast Blues Society and a former member of the Board of Directors for the Blues Foundation. Music has been a huge part of his life for the past fifty years – just ask his wife!