Cover photo © 2023 Reed R. Radcliffe

 In This Issue 

Marty Gunther has our feature interview with Oscar Wilson. We have six Blues reviews for you this week including an album of 21st Century Juke Joint Blues plus new music from Doug MacLeod, Lauren Anderson, Bluesdad, Mark Cameron Band and Ray Cashman. Scroll down and check it out!

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One glance at Oscar Wilson – front man for this year’s Blues Blast Music Award-winning band of the year, the Cash Box Kings — and the way he enthralls the crowd via his deeply personal, easily approachable stage presence and you’d believe the man known as Mr. 43rd Street was born to sing and play the music he adores so much. And you’d almost be right.

The youngest and sole surviving child of H.S. Wilson, a South Side Bluesman, who played mostly on the West Side . He was guitarist and vocalist who played in the style of Lightnin’ Hopkins, Oscar came into the world in the Windy City and is definitely the real deal. But he didn’t start singing professionally until his mid-50s – and only started doing it after a fit of boredom!

Wilson doesn’t know much about his dad because he died two months before he was born in 1953. But because of DNA research and long conversations with his large, extended family, he possesses a much better understanding of his roots than the great majority of the ancestors of former slaves.

“My dad was born in 1905, and I only ran into one person, Henry Gray – Howlin’ Wolf’s old piano player – who remembered him,” Oscar – the last surviving child of nine in the family — told Blues Blast recently. “He came up from Vernon, Ala., and went through both World War I and World War II. My mother didn’t talk much about him and never let me go around his family.

“She was pregnant when he died, and there was whispers goin’ that I was none of his goin’ round. But I finally began to learn more about him by talkin’ to his family in 1971 when I went down to Alabama for family funeral.”

The first of 17 or 18 children in his family, H.S. was born close to the Mississippi border in Alabama while other siblings began life in Jackson, Tenn. – where Wilson’s parents met – and Hickman, Ky. A DNA search revealed that his mom Maxine’s family – with the unusual name Chrisp- all traced back to the Jackson area, where many of his antecedents lived and died in bondage.

On the Wilson side, Oscar’s great-grandparents, Isaac and Rebecca, were North Carolinians who were lovebirds, but were separated when her owner moved her to the cottonfields of Alabama. Desperate, Isaac ran away to join her. Despite living on different plantations in the years that followed, their enduring passion resulted in the huge family Wilson adores today.

“My uncle told me my mom met my daddy when he was comin’ across the hill playin’ his guitar and singin’ ‘I don’t want no woman whose hair ain’t longer than mine,’” Oscar says. “And she said: ‘I’m gonna marry him!’”

Questions about his parentage plagued Oscar until the early ‘90s when he started looking more and more like his dad, found some acceptance and started attending reunions. It was a pain Wilson carried for decades.

And after his dad died, life was hard to the extreme.

“We were poor,” Oscar says. “I would have to run home for tea cakes and powdered milk or biscuits for lunch when I was in school. I had hand-me-down clothes. My mother could make the best somethin’ outta nothin’! She’d buy bushel baskets of peaches, apples or pears…whatever come through…and she’d make homemade preserves. We’d have homemade biscuits and flour gravy every day.

“I like to do songs about eatin’ and food now because I never went to McDonald’s until my sister — who was two years older than me — got a boyfriend. He took us to McDonald’s, I was in heaven. We ate skillet burgers at home, and we couldn’t run to the truck to get ice cream. We ate cheap cereal. When we started gettin’ Kellogg’s when my stepfather came along…oh man, we was raisin’ hell!

“Chicken was our staple. Even today, as long as I got some chicken, I’m happy.”

Oscar grew up on Wells Street just a block south of 43rd Street. It was a booming entertainment district at the time with a tavern on every corner and years before Buddy Guy and a business partner opened the legendary Checkerboard Lounge. Some of the Bluesmen came to my house, Elmore James, Honeyboy Edwards, Little Mack Simmons and Big Smokey Smothers – “my sister had a baby by him,” Oscar says. And many of them would play at the fish fries Maxine hosted to make ends meet.

“That’s where my story began,” Wilson notes. “My mom would have fish fries, and I’d see these people comin’ over. I didn’t know they were this’n that. The one I knew best was Big Smokey. We called him ‘the Ice Cream Man’ ‘cause he had a wagon. He’d bring us treats, and we looked forward to seein’ him.

“My mom was raisin’ us by herself and she wasn’t educated at all. Raisin’ kids was all she knew. We split a six-room apartment with my cousins. They had the front part and we had the back. They had a lot of kids, too, and we all had to share one washroom.

“The stairs were in the front, and they’d come up and be playin’ those box (acoustic) guitars, blowin’ harmonicas and stuff like that. Wasn’t no amplifiers back then. And me, as a little boy, while the other kids would be playin’, I would be standin’ there listenin’. I was attracted to it.

“All of my life, with all of my brothers and sisters bein’ older than I was, I was into doo-wop, R&B, Motown…I came up through all of that. A lot of people pigeon hole me today, thinkin’ I’m just a Muddy Waters/Howlin’ Wolf bluesman. But my favorite blues player was Lightnin’ Hopkins. After my dad died, my mom played him all the time when my pop was on her mind.”

Growing up in that neighborhood, music constantly filled the air. Crowds would gather multiple times a day as someone picked at a guitar or another instrument and played on the street, and house parties were a regular feature, too.

Oscar’s first experience as a singer came at age eight or nine, he says, when he walked to the corner store to get a treat and he heard music emanating from a building on the opposite side of the street. “I crossed the street and Honeyboy – we called him ‘Mr. Honeyman’ – was playin’ a house party. I went over and was standin’ in the door,” Wilson remembers. “He said: ‘Hey, little boy, you like blues?’

“I said: ‘Yessir!’

“’Can you sing the blues?’

“’Yessir!’

“He said: ‘What do you wanna sing?’ and I said: ‘Still a Fool.’ He played it, and I sang it. That’s how it all began. When I was comin’ up, there was always somebody playin’ and I was singin’. And the man would be wonderin’: ‘Hey, little boy, how you do know all these blues?’

“I done forgot more than most people ever know! I could do it all night long. And I was so-o-o good at it, too.”

“In Tilden Tech (high school), one of my brothers, Wolf – his real name was John, was a legend at that school…basketball, football, baseball.

“I went out for football and the coach looked at my application and said: ‘Are you Wolf Wilson’s brother?!? I said yes. You’re gonna play on my team!’ But I got out there and he said: ‘Ah…nah!’ I was a fat boy and wanted a uniform, but I couldn’t play football or basketball for shit. So I joined the band.

“I advanced on baritone so fast durin’ my freshman year, I was in the intermediate band. And by my sophomore year, I was in the concert band. A year later, they recruited me for trombone in the jazz band even though I’d never taken a private lesson. I went: ‘Hell, yeah…’cause you got some nice uniforms.’ And once I got that slide down, I was gone…off to the races!

“It was nice. I was in the marching band, too. Those uniforms got the girls! We had a little bitty ol’ band, but I could never play worth shit even though I was all-city jazz trombone.”

Wilson’s dream was to be a band instructor, something that might have been a possibility because he had scholarship offers from Grambling University, Tennessee State and Florida State, but life simply got in the way. Instead, at his mother’s insistence, he took out loans to attend DeVry University in order to support her with a goal of becoming a TV repairman.

“But she passed that Christmas, and I never went back,” Oscar remembers.

His dream shattered, he spent the next 40 or so years running the street and as a family man, working at whatever job he could find…everything from a barman and bouncer to a maintenance mechanic, from a postal employee – a job he held three times — to mental health worker and more. But it didn’t stop him from sitting in to sing with bands when he finally caught the bug.

That began in the ‘80s, when J.W. Williams – the longtime bass player for the Sons of Blues/Chi-Town Hustlers – invited him to the bandstand at the Cermak Lounge at a time when he was working at a neighboring liquor store. He and his co-workers regularly closed shop and whet there for a drink or two, and they urged him to do it.

“J.W. let me sing a song I even do now, B.B. King’s ‘Just a Dream,’” Wilson remembers. “That was that. And then I started goin’ with this girl whose brother was Bassman Pete (Peterson), who was playin’ with Johnny B. Moore and other folks around town. Bassman Pete and Johnny would come over to my house to practice…and Johnny – oh, man, he was a great guitarist — and I would mess around doin’ some Lightnin’ Hopkins and stuff like that.

“Then Johnny would come by and say: ‘Hey, Hank – my nickname…a lot of folks call me that, do you know that new Johnnie Taylor song? Would you come out and do it with us tonight?’ I’d be like: ‘Yeah, okay…’

“At that point, I did it to just have some fun, and folks would tell me: ‘Hey man, you’re in the wrong business.’ I’d do a song here and there, and then Melvin Taylor – another great guitarist — comes along, and I’d do ‘Cadillac Assembly Line’ and some Jimi Hendrix and Albert King with him.

“Most folks don’t know it because the Cash Box Kings do mostly ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s-style blues, but I’ve only revealed the tip of the iceberg of what I know and can sing. With the Kings, I’m just the side show. I just show up and they tell me what to do. I don’t control what’s in our sets or what goes in or off our albums.

“But Joe Nosek (the Kings’ harp player and co-founder) is my friend and his kids are my godsons. I love ‘em. It’s his band and he gets to call what goes down.”

Wilson’s professional singing career actually began in the 2000s after he’d moved to Janesville, Wis., a town of 60,000 in the south-central part of the state — in order to provide a safer environment and better education for his youngest, high-school age daughters, a place where they could take part in art and dance programs they wouldn’t have been able to join in Chitown. An older son was already living and working in Madison, a short drive to the north, told me to move up there because it was the land of milk and honey. Lmao.

The girls eventually graduated and moved back to the Windy City shortly thereafter, leaving Oscar – who was working in a mental health facility at the time – behind to fend for himself.

“I was sittin’ at the crib one night, and I read the Janesville Gazette newspaper,” Oscar recalls. “It said: ‘Blues jam at the VFW Monday night…James Tate and the 008 Band/Cash Box Kings.’ I went up there. And of all the people that was there, this guitar player came over to me and said: ‘My name’s Travis Koopman of the Cash Box Kings. This is half my jam here, do you play?’

“I said: ‘Yeah. I sing and play a little harmonica…’

“’You wanna come up?’

“’Yeah. No problem.’

“I went up there, and we slayed it…knocked ‘em off their feet, man! He said: ‘Come back next week.’ I did and…the same action. He said: ‘Hey, man, whatcha wanna do?’

“I said: ‘I’d like to play at Buddy Guy’s Legends in Chicago…back home.’

“’Okay,’ he said. ‘Give me a couple of weeks…we’re gonna be there. Meet us there.’”

The time passed quickly, and as promised, Koopman invited him to the stage. Wilson sang three songs that night, and each of them received a standing ovation. Oscar’s been a regular presence in the Kings’ lineup ever since.

“It must have been divine intervention or somethin’,” he says, “’cause I wasn’t lookin’ to be in no band. I was just bored. Sometimes Joe makes it sound simple, but I don’t think it really was. I don’t think we really hit it off at first ‘cause he, Travis and (drummer) Kenny (“Beedy Eyes” Smith) had been doin’ all the singin’, and then they had me, too.

“But then Travis left for the Cayman Islands. He’s a union plumber, and he started workin’ down there. Then Joel Paterson joined The Cashbox Kings, Joel opened up stuff for me that I didn’t know I had, too. He got me into a Percy Mayfield style or somethin’ like that. And Sunnyland Slim, too.

“I never knew how important he was. They’d bring me the songs, and I’d learn ‘em. I didn’t get to meet Sunnyland and all them people. The people I did meet, I met when I was little. And when I was an adult and Sunnyland and all the others were up on the North Side, I wasn’t into it like that. Durin’ that time, I was discoin’, I was dancin’ all night long!

“I think things happen when they’re supposed to. Back then, I was drinkin’ too much, for sure, and nobody couldn’t tell me nothin’. I was havin’ too much fun. I’m a lot more mature now. And I love this business, man!”

Wilson’s first recording with the Kings — Cuttin’ Heads: Live at the Cuda Café — came about six months after he joined the lineup. “Man, that was a fantastic night, and a shaky night,” Oscar admits. “I was shakin’ like a dog shittin’ Persimmon Seeds ‘cause I thought I was gonna mess up.

“I knew the lights was on me now. But I did okay. And when I heard the songs, I was like: ‘Wow, that’s me!’ It was awesome, man.

“And then the one we did after that…I-94 Blues, I know that (current guitarist) Billy Flynn didn’t write ‘Tried So Hard’ for me, but I love him for it ‘cause I was goin’ through the same shit the song was about at the time – my woman walkin’ out. I did that song straight from my heart.

“And as I’ve gone on, I’ve noticed I’m really gettin’ better and better. I feel the progression.”

Wilson’s been a key cog in the six releases that have followed on Blue Midnight, Blue Bella, Blind Pig and Alligator, most recently Oscar’s Motel. He’s also manage to squeeze in a solo CD, too, One Room Blues, which appeared on Sunnyland’s old label, Airway, in 2017 when the Cash Box Kings were on break and between recording deals.

Co-produced by Sam Burchhardt, Slim’s longtime sax player, and Joel Paterson, who lays down sensational guitar and is one of several talents who’ve held down six-string duties in the Kings, it was conceived to support Oscar’s trip to Lucerne, Switzerland – his first-ever European appearance. It delivers a taste of Wilson’s other influences, which span jazz and blues.

Although he’s never thought of himself as a songwriter, Wilson’s really honed his talent in that area, something that’s come to the fore in recent Cash Box Kings albums – both with solo creations and in partnership with Nosek.

“My Mom and Dad’s blues was different than mine,” he notes. “I’ll put out somethin’ like ‘Blacktoppin’’ was about bein’ down in West Lafayette, Ind., and they had them old bobtail dresses and it was mostly young white guys and girls, and I was the only black guy. After we finished, they were askin’ what I was gonna do after the show, and I said: ‘Man, I’m figurin’ to go blacktoppin’’…and I went and wrote it. I put in there some things that actually happened when I was in high school about goin’ across the tracks.

“’Bluesman Next Door’ dealt with prejudice and was true, sayin’ you can dig me on stage but it doesn’t mean you want me bein’ your neighbor. ‘If You Got a Jealous Woman, Facebook Ain’t Your Friend’ says it all. And ‘Move Out to the Suburbs’ was about 43rd Street the way it used to be.

“If you go there now, it’s not the same. We used to walk everywhere we’d go. It was long before the Checkerboard Lounge opened…Theresa’s Lounge, Florence’s, all over the city. There wasn’t no drivin’. Walkin’ and talkin’, and the next thing you know, you’re there.”

And your skin color didn’t matter. At some of the joints, the moment you stepped out into the dark of night in those neighborhoods, you could be putting your life in your own hands because of the possible dangers.

“Gentrification has changed everything…high-end housin’, Starbucks and all that stuff,” Oscar notes. “I went over east by Muddy’s house no too long ago and I thought I’d gone into the Twilight Zone.”

Real-life people and images frequently appear in Wilson’s lyrics in such songs as “Down on the South Side” – which describes many of the folks who used to populate the taverns in the neighborhood, and downhome philosophy appears in numbers like “Ain’t No Fun (When the Rabbit’s Got the Gun).”

The band’s latest effort, Oscar’s Motel, is a somewhat of a departure for the band in that it’s far less political than some of their previous releases. Written during the pandemic – often via Zoom, it delivers upbeat, good-time messages along with material that’s a whole lot of fun, especially “I Can’t Stand You,” Wilson’s make-believe feud with vocalist Deitra Farr, who shares the mic on the tune.

“That started when I first met her,” Oscar says. “I have to give a lot of credit to Billy, and he introduced me to a lot of people. He introduced me to (harp player) Mark Hummel, telling him: ‘This is Oscar…he’s a human jukebox.’ And Mark invited me to go on a little tour with Deitra, Billy and an all-star cast.

“When I met her, she was feisty, and I was goin’ ‘yes, ma’am, yes, ma’am, yes, ma’am.’ We really hit it off. But during the pandemic, she started sayin’ on the internet ‘I can’t stand you!’ And I started sayin’ ‘I can’t stand you either!’ And people started laughin’ and lookin’ forward to us sayin’ somethin’ every day.

“And she’s such a computer-magic person that she’d just jam me up every time, make a billboard or find some pictures side-eyin’ at me. And people looked forward to that soap opera. She’s so-o-o funny, man! All my brothers and sisters are gone, but she acts like my sister, Bebe.

“We did that song on one take, and everybody loves it.”

What’s next?

“I dunno,” Wilson admits. “Like I say: I dunno what’s gonna happen ‘til it happens. We have other songs, and Bruce (Iglauer, Alligator’s owner) says we’re gonna do another album. But I’m always the last to know.”

Meanwhile, he remains frustrated that the Cash Box Kings aren’t getting the bookings they deserve for big festivals and events. “It totally irks me right now that they’ll have a ‘blues’ festival and no blues on it,” Oscar says. “Or if they do, it’s most often someone who’s more of a rocker. You can get a guy who’s playin’ all of them damn notes, and he does all of that for what now?

“Or you can get a two-string playin’ motherfucker, and he’d kill it.

“The blues is a feelin’ and it touches somebody’s heart. Minor blues, slow blues…that’s what I’m all about…cryin’ in your beer…or happy…’cause the same song that’ll make you cry can make you happy, too ‘cause it can bring back a memory or somethin’…like ‘C’mon in This House,’ which reminds me of my mother.

“When she was playin’ that song, we knew we’d either be gettin’ our Zoom-Zooms and Wham-Whams (candies) and watchin’ ‘Thrillerama’ on TV or some blood would flow ‘cause there was gonna be a fight.

“I want you to leave my performances knowin’ that I’ve touched your heart and touched your soul while tellin’ you what’s happenin’ with me at that time. I’m not a verbatim guy. I may do the same song, but it wouldn’t come out the same way. I give 110 per cent every night, but I don’t feel the same way every time, and people in the audience don’t feel the same way either.

“I’m just a bluesman in my heart and soul. It’s somethin’ that can’t be explained. You’ve got to know it.”

And one thing that Oscar wants everyone to know is that “I love my fans for stickin’ with me through the good times and when times were bad. And I love my job!”

Check out Oscar Wilson and the Cash Box Kings’ music by visiting their website, www.cashboxkings.com, and find out where they’ll be playing next. 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.

Doug MacLeod – Raw Blues 1

Sledgehammer Blues

www.doug-macleod.com

7 songs – 31 minutes

Doug MacLeod has been releasing consistently excellent recordings since the early 1980s, and Raw Blues 1 is no exception. He has always had a knack for writing great songs that also tell memorable stories, even when mining traditional blues themes of love and loss. His lyrics often stick in the mind for their sharp wordplay or distinctive similes, as evidenced on “I’m Gone”: “Trying to love you is just a waste of time. Love is a two-way street but you’ve got a one-way mind…. Just like a fox with a chicken, I ain’t stickin’ – I’m gone.” He is equally comfortable however dealing with societal issues on a song like “Children Like You” (with its haunting closing lines of “What you’ve seen is surely true, we need love and compassion to see us through. Remember my words for my words they true, they once was children, just like you”) or recounting a wry tale of trying to track down a cheating lover in “Plaquemine.”

Raw Blues 1 is solo acoustic blues at its best. MacLeod’s voice is warmth and impassioned while his guitar playing is a thing of rare beauty, combining technical prowess with emotional depth. His command of dynamics on tracks like “Hey Bartender” or the Delta blues of “What’s Been Heard (Maybe Ain’t Been Said)” draws the listener in and refuses to let them go.  His jaunty finger-picking on the instrumental “Walking With Mr. Smith” recalls the dexterity of Robert Lockwood Jr., while his ferocious slide guitar work drives tracks like “Unmarked Road”

Producer Andreas Werner has captured an excellent sound to match the outstanding performances by MacLeod.

The only disappointing thing about Raw Blues 1 is that it is so short, with the seven self-written songs lasting just over half an hour. But there isn’t a wasted note in that time. Let’s hope that a Raw Blues 2 is in the pipeline. In the meantime, this is a really enjoyable release from one of the masters.

Reviewer Rhys “Lightnin'” Williams plays guitar in a blues band based in Cambridge, England. He also has a day gig as a lawyer.

Lauren Anderson – Burn It All Down

Self-Release – 2022

www.laurenandersonmusic.com

12 tracks; 42 minutes

Lauren Anderson’s third full-length studio album, Burn It All Down, continues her journey of powerful, yet intimate, storytelling, along with highlighting Anderson’s sensationally soulful singing style.

Burn It All Down features several of Anderson’s bandmates from her previous albums: Will Elliot on trombone, Johnathan Smith on organ, drummer Matt Doctor, guitarist Dan Wecht, and Hutch on bass guitar. In addition, Jon and Liz Estes, experienced session musicians out of Nashville, lend their musical talents on saxophone and flute, respectively.

Taylor Lonardo, a Memphian now based in Nashville, engineered and mastered the new album, which includes appearances by veteran guitarist Albert Castiglia (on “Zombie Blues”) and the multi-talented Nashville-based musician, John Salaway, who shows off his guitar flair and shares songwriting credits on “Hit the Spot.”

Originally from Chicago, Anderson began (in 2012) gigging around the Kansas City area, where she worked as a music therapist in a pediatric setting. After cutting her first full-length cd (Truly Me) in 2015, Anderson started working as a full-time musician and eventually moved to Nashville in early 2017. She released her second album, Love on the Rocks, in the summer of 2021to immediate acclaim. The album debuted at #14 on the Billboard Blues Chart.

That soulful singing style combined with the hard-edged feistiness of a blues rocker, clearly places the spotlight on Lauren Anderson as a gifted musician, singer, and songwriter.

Where Burn It All Down shines is when Anderson takes a few risks and “changes up” her style and musicianship. “Lose My Head” has a country vibe mixed with a boogie-woogie piano-style and a foot stomping beat. As Anderson sings “lose my head…” in the refrain, you can imagine hearing a Nashville-club crowd singing along with her. “Never Too Late” with its hypnotic, almost Calypso-like, melody is also a great change of pace. Will Elliot’s trombone, with the Estes’ backing on sax and flute, provide finger-snapping fun on a musical message of hope and determination.

The title track, “Burn It All Down,” begins Anderson’s blues-rock party with terrific keyboards from Jonathan Smith. “Zombie Blues” has an intense rockabilly beat, featuring Castiglia’s thrashing slashing guitar licks—appropriate descriptors for a “zombie” song. The gritty hard-edged tone of “Hit The Spot” showcases Anderson’s tremendous vocal range. With John Salaway on guitar, the song’s powerful refrain and pounding backbeat make it one of the best tracks on the album.

Both “Still Here” and “Rain Down On Me” slow down the party and give Anderson the opportunity to bring a little country and a little soul to her vocal style. “Rain Down…” captures that soulful intensity and “Still Here” reinforces Anderson’s storytelling bonafides.

The album ends with “Like A Woman,” reminding us that Lauren Anderson is truly a blues rocker with enough versatility and hard-edged feistiness to make the listener stand up and take note.

Writer Ken Billett is a freelance writer based in Memphis. He is a Blues Foundation member and former docent/tour guide at the Blues Hall of Fame. Originally from Tampa, Florida, Ken writes about travel, music, and the Mississippi Delta.

Various artists – Tell Everybody! 21st Century Juke Joint Blues

Easy Eye Sound

http://www.easyeyesound.com

12 Tracks – 45 Minutes

Dan Auerbach has had much success with his group The Black Keys, his side group The Arcs, and also with his own solo recordings. That success has allowed him to create his own studio, Easy Eye Sounds, in Nashville. His studio was named Billboard’s Label of the Year in 2022 and Dan won a grammy in 2103 as Producer of the Year – Nonclassical. The Black Keys has had a long penchant for the blues of the Delta and Hill Country. Dan’s productions have tended toward performers that shared that passion for that style of music or as he calls it in the title – Juke Joint Blues. The album features 12 exclusive tracks recorded in his studio,

The album opens with R.L. Boyce’s “Coal Black Mattie”. The song sometimes also called “Poor Black Mattie” was regularly performed by R.L. Burnside, who Boyce lists as one of his mentors alongside of Mississippi Fred McDowell. Boyce started as a drummer for Otha Turner and Jesse Mae Hemphill, but later switched to guitar with his own solo recordings. Auerbach cites similar influences on his own career.

Next up is Robert Finley’s “Tell Everybody”. Finley is a 69-year-old native of Louisiana and is featured on the album’s cover. He has released two albums to date and has a third scheduled for release in October. His music is certainly rooted in the Hill country sound. Auerbach provides electric guitar on the song as Finley invites everyone to “come on out to the shack, you might not ever come back”.  “The party has started now.”

Dan Auerbach adds his own song “Every Chance I Get (I Want You in the Flesh”. A thumping ride pushing a synthesizer mix into a powerful blues points to a direction into the 21st century for the genre. The song is an exclusive available only on this cd.

Bentonia, Mississippi’s Jimmy “Duck” Holmes’ “Catfish Blues” was originally recorded in 1941 by Robert Petway and was later popularized by Muddy Waters. Holmes recorded his own version of the song on an album produced by Dan for the artist in 2019 and here is presented in its original mono form.

Aaron Frazer of Durand Jones and The Indications discovered Gabe Carter busking on the street playing an electric guitar and singing with just a drummer. Aaron showed a video of Gabe to Dan who became fascinated with his sound and invited him to his studio. “Anything You Need” is an original song written by Carter and a result of that session. A second song, “Buffalo Road” from that session appears later on this album.

Korean American and Kansas native Nat Myers has roamed across the country but has finally settled with his wife in Northern Kentucky. Dan heard his music online and invited him to come record at his studio. The resulting song “Willow Witchin'” is some quiet porch style music featuring just Nat’s vocals backed by his dobro.

Mississippi’s Leo Bud Welch’s “Don’t Let the Devil Ride” was a song included the artist’s “The Angel in Heaven Done Signed My Name” which was released on the Easy Sound Label in 2017 slightly after Welch’s death at age 85. The song is also presented in a mono form. The singer has a deep moan with burning guitar work.

The Black Key’s offer another song exclusive to the compilation. “No Lovin'” certainly comes from the Hill Country sound with Auerbach’s guitar ripping through behind Patrick Carney’s steady drumbeat and added percussion by Sam Bacco.

Ohio’s Glenn Schwartz got his start playing guitar for The James Gang but was replaced by Joe Walsh. He then shifted to L.A.’s Pacific Gas & Electric in the 70’s. That was followed by a stint in the Christian rock group All Saved Freak Band. Dan first heard him at a bar in Cleveland and his Cream-flavored sound influenced Dan’s own direction in music. Joe Walsh also cited that he had been influenced by Glenn’s sound. Dan brought Glenn in to record in his studio with Joe and Dan’s Band, The Arcs. A resulting song” Daughter of Zion”, which Glenn had previously performed with the All Saved Freak Band and an original song “Collinwood Fire” featuring Glenn in a solo performance on acoustic guitar and vocals are both included on the album. The latter song commemorates a horrible event that occurred in 1908 which resulted in the death of 172 school children following a fire at the Lake View School in Cleveland. Glenn died at the age of 77 in 2018.

The album offers a mixture of classical blues and new artists in the style of the older Hill Country musicians. It is a great introduction to some of the modern artists that are still carrying on the sound, but perhaps with some modern twists. Dan said the mono recordings of Holmes and Welch were included as mono simply enhances the sound of some of the older artists.

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.

Bluesdad – Songs For My Wife

306 Buell Records

www.bluesdadmusic.com

12 tracks and accompanying book of photos, lyrics and more

Bluesdad is John Cook and this is his debut album that was 30 years in the making. Hailing from Durand, Michigan, he married his college sweetheart from Eastern Michigan University, a woman of Indian descent who intended to marry a well-to-do man from India (or at least with a good tan as Cook tells us in one song) who was also a Christian as she was. They net and served as residents assistants in the same dormitory, later married and they’ve produced a pair of now-adult sons in the ensuing 30 years. The album celebrates their successful endeavor with 11 new songs and one traditional cover.

Cook, or Bluesdad as he calls himself, mixes a good degree of schmaltz with his music. He handles the guitar, harmonica and piano and sings on the album. His friend Evan Haywood helped on writing some songs and doing a few backing vocals here and there as Cook delivers some nice instrumental performances and sings about his life.

The album begins with Cook’s first song he wrote and recorded with Evan Haywood. It’s a tune asking the woman’s booty that he’s glaring at and lusting after. It’s a funny cut with vocals and acoustic guitar accompaniment by Bluesdad who is asking this woman to notice him. Now that he’s succeeded, he sings and plays “My Baby” and says she’s so good lookin’. The looks and love center on her affects on his digestive track as he tells us what a great cook she is. “Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad” is not Meatloaf’s tune, but the Bluesdad telling us the criteria his wife had in selecting a mate. She wanted a rich man to be a kept woman. She wanted a good-looking brown man. She wanted a faithful man who believed as she. While two out of three ain’t bad. She got only the latter. He adds harp to his musical accompaniment here.

“Woke Up This Moring” is next. This has Cook doing the Mose Allison thing with some fingerpicking on this song. He continues that fingerpicking on the instrumental “All Right Now.” “How Sweet the Sound” mixes “Amazing Grace” with some “Sweet Home Chicago “ addition and turns it into a fun blues cut.

30 years of marriage is summed up on “Oh Darlin’”. He gives the listener insights to where the three decades have gone. “I Love You Woman But Man You Give Me The Blues” highlights the difference between he and his wife and how he gets the blues from the disparities in their personalities. “Front Porch Girl” is next, an invitation to his wife to share life together on their front porch in their ensuing years.

The piano piece “You’re Right Blues” follows. Bluesdad strides and romps up the keys on the long intro to his testimony that his wife strives to get him to admit error The old standard “When The Saints Go Marching In” gets gussied up by Cook and his friend Haywood. Bluesdad plays harp and the two harmonize. The album concludes with “Gospel Song” where Bluesdad invites his wife to another 30 years with him.

The CD is accompanied by a Shutterfly produced photo album, lyric book, and explanation for each song. The lyrics range from fun to fully over the top sentimentality, but it’s delivered with love, deep feeling, and a little humor. This project is truly a tribute to his love, faith and devotion to his wife and boys.

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.

Mark Cameron Band – Nasty Business

Blue Heart Records, 2023

www.markcameronmusic.net

10 tracks, 42 minutes

Minneapolis based singer/songwriter and guitarist, Mark Cameron, has been recording albums for a long time.  His band won the Road to Memphis challenge in 2017, and his 2019 album, On a Roll, was voted best independently produced CD by the Minnesota Blues Society.  The current composition of his band includes Rick Miller on harmonica/vocals, Scott Lundberg on bass/vocals, Dan Schroeder on drums, and Cameron’s wife, Sheri Cameron, on saxophone, flute, and percussion.  He has also invited numerous guest artists for this recent project, with the most famous being Grammy-nominated singer, Teresa James.

With some songwriters it can take a repeated times listening before their original songs are fully appreciated, but this is not the case with Mark Cameron.  All the songs on Nasty Business were written by Cameron, and he has a gift for making his original songs sound instantly familiar. And, his catchy choruses will get stuck in your head, but will be welcomed. (Such as, “What’s the combination to unlock your heart?)  Additionally, Cameron’s lyrics are often quite clever.  For example, in “What’s for Supper” he notes, “looks like someone else showed up to eat.  Now I go hungry…All that love that tastes so good you’re saving for another…the main course was unsatisfying.  Half-baked excuses on the side…you didn’t get what you ordered—didn’t know it would hurt.  Back for seconds on the pain with heartbreak for dessert…now the whole things boiling over and blowing off the cover. The blues is what’s for supper.”

One of the best tracks on Nasty Business is the slow number titled “That’s a Fact”, which describes the pain of a breakup.  “We broke into little pieces.  I guess we weren’t that strong…that’s a fact—you ain’t here.  I don’t know when you’re coming back.”  What stands out the most in this song are the emotive vocals, ending with spectacular background vocals that have a gospel-feel and are provided by guest artists Sara Renner and Tonia Hughes.

Cameron’s vocals are strong and soulful but, of course, Teresa James can make a great song sound even better.  Her contribution of background vocals to the song “Combination” does not disappoint, although this song would likely also sound incredible if they equally shared the verses as a duet. “Combination” also contains a guitar solo that is pure with a beautiful tone.

The talent of the Mark Cameron Band is consistently evident throughout this album, and listeners will be unlikely to be skipping any of the tracks.  Nasty Business is definitely worth adding to your collection.

Writer Anita Schlank lives in Virginia, and is on the Board of Directors for the River City Blues Society. She has been a fan of the blues since the 1980s. She and Tab Benoit co-authored the book “Blues Therapy,” with all proceeds from sales going to the HART Fund.

Cashman – Delta Sound

Pistol Blues Productions – 2023

www.raycashman.net

12 tracks; 41 minutes

Texan Ray Cashman has released nine albums, toured across the states and Europe and lived in Austin and Nashville and now resides in the Sam Houston National Forest near Montgomery, Texas. This is stripped back electric blues and all original material, Cashman accompanying himself on guitar and foot stomp, with Gary Vincent’s steady bass throughout and Stan Street adding harmonica and occasional drums; guests include Austin Walkin’ Cane on dobro and Charlie Barath on harmonica, on a track each.

Cashman and Vincent set a strong pace on opener “Checking Out”, Cashman taking a cynical look at the way things are going in the world, offering the view that we will “nosedive straight to hell”. Cashman’s riff starts off before drums and harp join in on a tale of love gone stale, Cashman now being “Just Another Man”, rather than the burning love of the early days, before the pace drops on “Come On”, Cashman seeking the attention of a girl in the street. Cashman doubles up on guitar and dobro on “Flesh & Bones”, a tragic tale of a town destroyed by floods, an incident that, as he sings, “you never think about till it hits close to home, but we’re all really just the same, made of flesh and bones”. With a driving beat from the drums and Charlie Barath’s harp, “Roll Away” rocks along well before Stan Street plays harp on a slow blues in which Cashman grits his teeth against the rigors of life, thanking God that “I Have You”.

Cashman is “Feelin’ No Pain”, possibly because he has taken a “little yellow pill”, a jaunty country blues with slide to the fore. He is also fully aware of his own personality flaws on the driving “Narcissistic Blues”, the third and final track with drums: “Being with myself is my best company”! Austin Walkin’ Cane’s dobro adds an ominous feel to Cashman’s description of justice in a small town: “Around Here we don’t dial 911, we take care of it ourselves, me and my gun”. Cashman concludes that some people are simply “Too Young To Sing The Blues” as his guitar and the bass set a steady pace before they give us a classic country blues sound with loping rhythm and slide on a song that asks people what it must be like to be homeless and have to put on your “Walkin’ Shoes”. The album concludes with another piece of social commentary as Cashman decides that these days it is hard even to “Hustle & Flow”, Street adding some appropriately tough harp.

This is an album with interesting songs and, although it is mainly duo and trio performances, Cashman and his friends produce a full sound.

Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer John Mitchell is a blues enthusiast based in the UK who enjoys a wide variety of blues and roots music, especially anything in the ‘soul/blues’ category. Favorites include contemporary artists such as Curtis Salgado, Tad Robinson, Albert Castiglia and Doug Deming and classic artists including Bobby Bland, Howling Wolf and the three ‘Kings’. He gets over to the States as often as he can to see live blues.