Carolyn Wonderland – Truth Is

Alligator Records

www.carolynwonderland.com

12 Tracks – 48 minutes

Carolyn Wonderland was born in Houston, Texas, growing up in a house full of musical instruments. She started making music at age six and had decided she would be a musician by age eight.  After scratching her mother’s vintage Martin guitar by imitating Pete Townsend’s famous windmill stroke, she was forbidden to use a pick. As a result, she developed her distinctive fingerpicking style. She started performing in Houston clubs at age 15 and her band The Screaming Monkeys started touring as far as Utah and New York.

In 1999, Doug Sahm urged her to come to Austin where she became a Texas musical heroine. She has performed with many acclaimed artists including Townes Van Zandt, Bob Dylan, Doug Sahm, Buddy Guy and many more. in 2018, John Mayall chose Carolyn to be the guitarist in his band, The Blues Breakers, the first woman chosen for that honor, and following in the footsteps of previous iconic guitarists including Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, Peter Green, Coco Montoya, and Walter Trout. She toured with Mayall and recorded with him on his final two studio albums, Nobody Told Me and The Sun Is Shining Down. The latter album was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Carolyn’s solo recording career started in 2001 with the first of two independent releases, Alcohol and Salvation and Bloodless Revolution. In 2008, Roy Benson, a founder of Asleep at the Wheel, produced the first of four successive albums for her. In 2021, she joined Alligator Records and debuted her album, Tempting Fate, produced by Dave Alvin, famed guitarist for The Blasters and currently The Third Mind. Dave also produced this new album, co-wrote four songs with Carolyn for the album and plays guitar on those songs. The previous album won the Austin Music Award for Best Blues Artists and Best Guitarist, and she was inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame. She has been nominated for the Blues Foundation’s Blues Music Award three times.

Bassist Naj Conklin and drummer Giovanni “Nooch” Carnuccio joins Carolyn and vast array of guest performers for ten original tracks and two covers. Her friend Shelley King provides harmony vocals on 8 tracks, and acoustic guitar on 6.  Red Young also plays the B3 and piano on many tracks. The opening track “Sooner or Later” features Dave Alvin on guitar, Bukka Allen on piano and Kevin Lance on percussion. Carolyn’s lap steel burns up the song and her sharp Texas twang delivers a strong message with “The gift you’ve been given is in fact to keep on living to share your memories and pass the lessons along”.  Marcia Ball and Ruthie Foster team up on backing vocals for the next two tracks. She proclaims “I Ain’t Going Back Again” “My will’s too strong to break or bend. Step aside or lend a hand”.  The song immediately blends into the title song with Red Young’s B3 accenting the song as she tells “Truth is right there in the very air we breathe. So why is it so hard to believe it”.

She slows things down on “Let’s Play a Game” as she delivers a pointed message, “We’ve marched to the capitols. We’ve sang in the holler. Dined with the kings. And lo, Lord, how hard we’ve tried but peace without justice that’s just freedom denied.” “Whistlin’ Past the Graveyard Again” gets a little Texas swing into the mix with Cindy Cashdollar on lap steel and a rollicking piano from Red as she tells “I work hard every day, so if I piss it all away. I’ve been whistlin’ past the graveyard all along”. Her guitar stands out on the song, and the song concludes with her actually whistling to its end. Henri Herbert guests on piano on “It Should Take” as she again offers words of wisdom as she acknowledges things that require patience and advises “Stop and plant some roses, honey. What’s your rush?”.

Bukka Allen adds piano and organ with Stuart Sullivan providing percussion on the first of two covers, “Wishful Thinking”, written by Greg Wood and Eddie Hawkins. The song starts with a quiet piano lead and Carloyn assumes a soft voice as he wistfully sings “I wish that everything that ever fell apart could come back together again exploding backwards into perfection but that’s just wishful thinking”. The second cover is The Band’s Richard Manuel’s “Orange Juice Blues” with Cindy and Carolyn trading leads and Ruthie and Marcia providing vocals with Marcia on piano.  Dave again adds his guitar with Bukka Allen joining on piano and organ on “as Carolyn warns “You should never cross my friend with his “Tattoos as his Talisman”.

“Flowers In Bloom” is a slow waltz with Red’s piano and organ as Carolyn struggles with a relationship citing “You and your self-imposed burdens, me and my big mouth, I don’t suppose we read writing from the same walls, I doubt we’ll ever figure it out”. “Deepest Ocean Blue” has a Caribbean, reggae lilt to it as she says “Come take my hand. We can dance across the sands while music plays a moonlight serenade”. “Blues for Gene” is a tribute to Gene Taylor, a pianist friend of Carolyn who died during the 2022 big freeze and power failure in Texas. Gene played with the James Harman Band, was briefly a touring member of Canned Heat and played with The Fabulous Thunderbirds.  This is a pure blues song with Henri Herbert absolutely killing it on piano and Carolyn letting her guitar sail through the song.

Having seen Carolyn playing with John Mayall and also as a solo performer, I can attest that she is definitely one of the best female guitarists around and holds her own amongst the men as well. It is obvious that Mayall only selected the best guitarists to play with him. Her emotional and sometimes driving vocals are also equal to every style of music with her songwriting offering elements challenging the listener and providing a stated truth for those of us on the sidelines to ponder.

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.

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Johnny Rawls – Make Them Dance

Catfood Records

10 tracks/36 minutes

Johnny Rawls is a soul blues legend. Produced by Jim Gaines, who unfortunately passed away last year, in his Bessie Blue studio in Stantonville, Tennessee, this was Gaines last album that he produced. Having produced Santana, SRV, Steve Cropper, Booket T. Jones, Huey Lewis, Steve Miller, John Lee Hooker and many other greats, his deft hand helped forge this new effort by Rawls into a fine set of tunes. All are originals by Johnny and/or his band mates; track four was co-written by Gaines’ wife Sandy Carroll.

Rawls handles all the lead vocals and rhythm guitar. A superb cast of musicians supported the effort. On lead guitar is Will McFarlane, Steve Pots is on bass, Bob Trenchard is on drumss and Dan Ferguson is on keys. Jamie McFarlane is on bass for a track, Clayton Ivey is on keys for that track, Justin Holder is also on drums for that song. Kimberly Horton and Trinecia Butler provide backing vocals. The horn sections is Mike Middleton on trumpet, Andy Roman on sax solos, Nick Flood on bari, tenor and alto sax, and Frank Otero on trombone.

“So Cold” gets the album kicked off. Rawls sings with his typical soulful tones and at 74 is still bringing the fire to his live performances and recordings. The band is tight behind him as he bemoans to his woman how she’s gotten so cold. A solid  sax solo is offered up to enjoy, but it’s Rawls smooth and soulful vocals that make this a winner. “Dreams Of You” opens with big horns and then Johnny gets into his slow and cool soul delivery. Backing vocals help out, the piano is a nice addition as is the organ solo.

The title track is next.  It’s got an almost Latin vibe to it as Rawls sings with passion. It’s got a slow, funky groove and offers up more great vocals and another sweet sax solo. The slow and soulful “Move In My Direction” follows. Here Rawls gives us a sublime performance with emotion and deep feeling. The alto sax, guitar and tenor sax solos, horns and backing vocals help set the tone for the piece. Sexy, sultry and just cool stuff on this one.

Next is “Costs Too Much,” a mid tempo cut with Rawls complaining about the price being too high to be in love. It’s a pretty and cool number with steady horns and organ that help sell this one. “Give It To Me” is a funky and slick track with guitar fleshing things out nicely and slick horn work.

“Rip Off The Bandage” begins with some nice guitar  which continues throughout. Rawls comes in with the organ and horns backing him and it’s a soul party. Johnny sings with feeling and the band backs him as the lead guitar gives us a excellent performance. “Say That You Love Me” is a nice, slow soul blues with solid horns and another winner guitar solo.

“Swimming With The Sharks” is a cut with a vibrant feeling to the groove as he sings about his woman living over her head. Johnny gives us another passionate performance, the organ delivers another fine solo, the backing vocalists continue to excel, the horns blare and the lead guitar lays out some sweet licks. “The Long Road” is the finale that is another super slow to midtempo soul blues cut featuring Johnny and the band working together to deliver a final emotional cut.

Rawls  delivers soul ballads and love songs as few can. When he’s not in the throes of passion he’s giving us something to get up and dance to. Johnny has been nominated for many Blues Music and other awards and has been the recipient of many of them. This road warrior continues to travel the nation and globe to spread his great music to his many fans. This is another winner for Rawls and long standing and new fans will appreciate the ten exceptional performance on this album. I highly recommend it!

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.

Allison August – August Moon

MoMojo Records MMJ 377

www.allisonaugust.com

12 songs – 47 minutes

When you grow up in a family that includes three grandparents who were orchestra conductors, first-chair violinists and country guitarists and parents who taught jazz theory and were celebrated concert pianists, there’s no doubt that you have music in your blood. And that’s the case with West Coast vocalist Allison August who’ll knock you out with this powerful blast of soul-drenched blues.

Growing up in a home filled with diverse sounds ranging from Billie Holiday to Ray Charles and Bessie Smith, Allison started composing songs at age nine. And by the time she reached high school, she was already in bands that gigged professionally at private parties, proms and local bars.

As an adult, her first band, Barebones, was signed to Monster Music in 1996 and released one album, For the Mind, to critical acclaim. The group went their separate ways shortly thereafter. But, encouraged by one of her idols, Little Feat’s Paul Barrere, she reunited with three former bandmates a decade later for her debut release, Holy Water, which featured guest appearances from guitarists Coco Montoya, Josh Smith, Lance Lopez and Greg Liesz.

This almost all-original follow-up was produced by Grammy-winning percussionist Tony Braunagel and in the works prior to the COVID 19 epidemic and features an equally impressive roster that includes appearances from Barrere on guitar, Bob Glaub (Rod Stewart, Stevie Nicks) on bass, Maxayn Lewis and Teresa James on backing vocals, Lenny Castro on percussion and the late Mike Finnigan on keys throughout.

The deep lineup also includes guitarists Sam Meek, Billy Watts, Buzzy James and John Sklair, keyboard player Phil Parlapiano, horns from Joe Sublett, Les Lovitt and Dino Soldo, bassist David J. Carpenter, drummer David Head, harp player Jimmy Z, violinist Don Teschner, backup vocals from Jen Castonon and Gregg Sutton and a special guest appearance from Sugaray Rayford, who shares the mic on one cut.

The funk kicks in from the opening drumbeat of “Afraid of Love.” And Allison’s honeyed, mid-range voice will grab you from the moment she opens her mouth. She’s so afraid of romance, she notes, that she’s got Kevlar wrapped around her heart for protection, warning prospective suitors: “If you let me in, you might not like what you find.”

The pace slows into a percussive shuffle for “Dashboard Madonna,” which describes her love/hate relationship with Los Angeles and the title object which protects her on the highway, before the heat kicks up again for “I Won’t Say No,” a duet with Sugaray, which deals with the push and pull of a couple’s relationship. The music lightens for “What Would Mama Say” but the funk remains the same as Allison looks back fondly on her mother and everything she hit from her during her youth.

The subject turns to motherhood with “Blue Eyed Boy,” a tune heaps love on her son as the recounts the difficulties raising him during his teen years. Penned by the Wood Brothers and the only cover in the set, Honey Jar” will send you to the dance floor before August pays tribute to a beloved, long-lost cousin in the ballad “Desiree.” But the quiet ends immediately with the funkified “Dog in You,” which offers up another love/hate view…this time with her man.

You might think that “Blues Is My Religion” is another anthem to the music, but it deals with the disappointment Allison fears about folks who take the Bible and misinterpret it to suit their means. And it definitely comes with a bite. A cancer survivor, Allison gets serious about her struggles in “The Cure” before the originals “I Ain’t Lyin’” – which advises to keep things simple in a relationship – and “Born Yesterday” – which urges folks to strive for the heavens in whatever they do – bring the album to a close.

This one’s strongly recommended. It’s chockful of powerful music, powerful music and a sugar-coated, in-your-face voice that’ll warm your heart.

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.

Tim Gartland – Right Amount Of Funky

Self-Release – 2025

www.timgartland.com

8 tracks; 31 minutes

Tim Gartland is a singer and harp player who has played in Chicago and Boston and now lives in Nashville where this, his sixth album was recorded. The band is an experienced group of musicians: Robert Frahm is on guitar, Jody Nardone keys, Mike Joyce (Delbert McClinton) bass and Jack Bruno (Curtis Salgado, Joe Cocker, Tina Turner) drums; studio owner and co-producer Andy Peake adds percussion and backing vocals, joining Nalani Rothrock, Jolie Grace Wareham and Dennis Drummond. Tim wrote all the songs here, with assistance on two from Karen Leipziger.

The general style of the album is enjoyably relaxed. Tim sings in a mellow vocal style that suits the songs and plays harp without excess. Tim lays out his philosophy in the opening track, asking people not to “Waste A Worry” on him, regardless of what he is going through. The harp and guitar fit like a glove, as they do on the title track where Tim declares that he has found just the “Right Amount Of Funky” in his music and, by extension, in life: “The groove that feels true and makes you move is the one to use. You know, this funk right here is the right amount of funky for me”. The two songs written with Karen Leipziger follow: “A Better Life” adds a hint rhumba rhythms to a song about immigrants, people who were so desperate to improve their lives that they crossed oceans to come to America, bringing the diversity and blend of cultures we have today: “They left home, all they’d ever known, with little more than a pocketful of dreams. A chance of a better life, a promise of what could be”; “Walk Away” moves along well with the backing vocals gently supporting Tim’s lead vocal and a fine guitar solo.

Tim plays some higher register harp on the next tune which has a slight reggae feel, as Tim sings that “If This Ain’t Heaven, it’ll do”. The reggae influence shows even more clearly on “Alone Times”, a song that reflects on the pleasures of a close romantic relationship and is sure to find you nodding your head and tapping your toes to the music. Tim’s mournful chromatic harp and semi-spoken, deep-toned vocal make “About To Cry” a really sad listening experience as he reflects on a broken relationship. To offset that, the final track is the most upbeat on the album, though lyrically Tim is still having problems as he asks the girl to “Stop Working Me”, some good harp and slide guitar choruses on this one.

Overall this is a solid album with plenty to enjoy with the thoughtful lyrics and avoidance of musical excess.

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.

At any moment, there are thousands of musician playing around the world. Music is indeed the universal language. For many of those who do it for a living, life is about playing in a band backing the star, the person out front that everyone came to see. If they are lucky, these backing musicians may get a brief moment or two in the spotlight at each show, enough glory to keep them grinding away night after night.

That role is not for everyone, but it is one that Lewis Stephens managed to turn into a storied career that has seen him play with major artists in several musical genres for audiences around the world. It would have been hard to imagine the arc of his career back in the early days when he passion for music was formed.

Stephens started piano lessons at the age of five, shortly after the youthful American classical pianist Van Cliburn had traveled to Moscow in 1958, where he won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition.

“I studied with the best piano instructors in the Fort Worth area, mainly because my mother so wanted me to grow up to be another Van Cliburn, like most mothers in Texas at the time. After ten years, I got interested in the Beatles after they were on Ed Sullivan show, so I got a guitar when I was in sixth grade and started learning some of the material of the day, had a little three piece band that played at school functions, doing songs like “I Fought The Law,” “96 Tears.” and other songs that were going around in that era.

“So I played the guitar for three or four years, and then as The Doors came out, I went back to keyboards. I got an old Farfisa organ and learned a lot of the Doors music and, of course, “In A Gadda Da Vida.” Once the band Santana hit, it was time to get a Hammond B-3 organ. It was a natural progression. I’d been going into clubs at 16, 18 years old, so I could sit in and play. The night I graduated high school, I went to a club in Dallas called Gertie’s, sat in with the band Nitzinger, and was asked to join the band. That band had John Nitzinger and Bugs Henderson on guitar plus Linda Waring on drums.

“After a few months, I got a call from Jack Calmes, who managed Nitzinger as well as Freddie King. Freddie was looking for a new piano player. Jack asked me to get the three albums that Freddie did for Shelter Records, learn ’em, and then fly to Lake Spivey in Atlanta and play with the band the next weekend.

“I used the old school method of picking up the needle off the turntable and trying to get to the place in the song that I needed to listen to. I learned the songs, and then flew out, got picked up by a limo at the airport. I ended up meeting Freddie and the band at the top of the stairs getting on the stage. We followed Lynyrd Skynyrd. That’s how that went.

“I started with Freddie in September of 1973 and stayed with him for three years. We did some great tours. We did Tower of Power tours with Santana. We were on an American Eric Clapton tour, then played with Clapton at the Crystal Palace Bowl outside of London. It was a pretty heady time for an 18-year-old from a small town, having as much fun as we could without getting into trouble. We did a really good Australian blues tour that had Hound Dog Taylor, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee, and Alexis Korner, who was kind of the father of English Blues

“Playing with Freddie, we traveled an awful lot, like 250 days a year. It was a very tiring three years. It was rewarding, but still I got a little weary of it. In October of 1976, I was home, in between tours with Freddie. I got a call from Delbert McClinton asking if I would join his band. I agreed  and went to work with him in, I think, October of 1976, shortly before Freddie passed away unexpectedly. I was a big fan of those early Delbert and Glen albums. They were so good, I was getting worn down, and Delbert was a hometown town guy. I lived close to him, so it was comfortable.

“I went back to riding around in vans, doing it the hard way. It was great band. The drummer, Darrell Norris, was just top notch. Delbert had just done some albums for ABC Records albums. It was his first outing as a single act away from Delbert and Glenn, so he was motivated. It was crazy times. We played the Lone Star Cafe in New York City about every six weeks. All the Saturday Night Live people would come out. John Belushi loved to get up, sit in and sing.”

Stephens stayed with McClinton for several years before leaving as the grind got to him one more time. But Lady Luck was waiting right around the corner.

“I was playing at some local Country & Western clubs, just kind of licking my wounds as it were. Then I got a call from Vassar Clements’ wife asking if I’d be interested in moving to Nashville and playing with him. I was familiar with his work. He was riding pretty high at that time after the album, Will The Circle Be Unbroken, with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, his collaboration with the Grateful Dead, and an album with Dickey Betts. Vassar had a tour bus and a great band.

“Marty Stuart was the guitar player. Buzzy Meekins on bass and Jimmy Charles on drums had a place in the southern music scene before they joined the band. Vassar was self-taught, didn’t know anything about reading music, but he could play in any genre We did everything from bluegrass to jazz fusion in a set. It was challenging and very rewarding.

“It was a big jump from Delbert. I had to learn the rhythms of the bluegrass music. Everything was very fast and there’s some different rhythm patterns. Vassar did a little bit of blues, and Marty would do his bit as the lead singer, so he would do some blues songs. That got me back to what I was used to. But there was a learning curve.”

That gig lasted about 18 months before Clements’ wife, who was also his manager, decided to make some changes to the band. Stephens was idle for a short time, until once again, the phone rang.

“I first heard Tracy Nelson at the New England Blue and Jazz Festival when I was up there with Freddie King. It was a tough ride in an SUV to get in, but once we parked and got out, I could hear this beautiful voice singing that song, “Down So Low.” I mean, it just put chills down my spine hearing it. I had to walk around and see who it was. And it was Tracy.

“Later, she somehow got my number and called, offering me a tour. At that point, I was trying to figure out if I was going back home to Texas or stay in Nashville. That’s when Tracy Nelson called. She had gone back to playing live. I went out and played with her all down the East Coast, maybe six months or so. Playing “Down So Low” was really something. She would go to the acoustic piano while I accompanied her on the Fender Rhodes piano. That was always one of my favorites. Still is.”

Stephens wasn’t without work for very long. It was a familiar tale – somebody says something to somebody and somebody gave his name to somebody else.

“I think it was Mitchell Stewart, the road manager for country star Bobby Bare, who called and asked if I’d come and audition. We went to SIR rehearsal studios in Nashville and played around for a couple hours, then I was asked to start playing with Bobby full time. That went on for a couple years.

“Bobby was one of a kind, very popular in Nashville with everyone. He was the “songwriter’s best friend.” That’s what people called him because he did the first cuts on Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson songs when they moved to Nashville. That got them over the hump as far as songwriters go. Bobby was a lot of fun, a funny guy with lots of funny songs. I recorded one album with him, Drunk And Crazy. Shel Silverstein wrote most of the songs. We did a lot of touring coast to coast, and always had a grand piano for me at every event.”

By 1981, Stephens had worn out his welcome in Nashville, He had left Bare’s band, waiting for a few months to see what might come his way. This time the phone didn’t ring.

“Yeah, that was pretty much the drinking thing. I slept through a bus call with Bobby, who had bailed me out a lot of times on different situations, and that was the last straw with him. The final night I was in Nashville, I played with singer Marshall Chapman at a really nice club. I had all my stuff loaded in the back of my friend’s El Camino. I didn’t have much. As soon as we finished, we drove to Texas and he brought me home. It was good to be back. We moved  in with my parents and chilled for a while. I quit drinking maybe six months after my son was born, and haven’t looked back on that.

“I had a few years off, then in 1985, Delbert asked me to play in his band again . At that time, he had a hit with “Givin’ It Up For Your Love,” so things were going well for him, playing better gigs and festivals. I was with him for a year and a half, until Chris was born. Traveling back then was not like it is now. There were no cell phones, no FaceTime. When you were gone, you were gone. I missed home and missed my son. We were in New York City and I went to Delbert and Wendy, his wife, went into their hotel room to tell them I was going home to be a daddy. That was the end of that. I pretty much stopped playing for 10 or 15 years, completely.”

Needing to find work, Stephens eventually ended up in the offices of the Texas Employment Commission, learning that his years out on the road left him with seemingly few prospects.

“They told me they didn’t know what they could suggest. They said, you’re really not qualified for anything except maybe demonstrating pianos and organs in a mall. I kind of thought, well shit, my life’s all come to an end at 28, 29 years old!

“Thankfully, my wife DeeDee had a good job. I started real estate school, aiming to get a real estate license. One of my teachers was the vice president of the big Colonial Savings and Loan here in Fort Worth. This was at the start of the savings and loan collapse in the mid eighties. All the lenders were getting houses back by handfuls every month. This VP was talking about how they were trying to remodel their foreclosures to get them ready for resale. I thought, hell, I can do that. So I went and got a pad of those office supply proposals, looked at one of the houses, and got the job.

“That started the business, Property Rehab Services, that we still run. It has provided a good living for our family as one of the most respected, high-end building and remodeling firms in the area. We did the foreclosures at first. I didn’t know about the private sector and the remodeling work. It was a great training ground to go in and rehab these torn up houses or neglected houses that people had stopped taking care of because they knew they were on their way out.

“I got to repair just about every circumstance as far as home repair. It was a great training ground. We developed a group of subcontractors that worked with us, some still with us all these years later. Then I got asked to do a couple of kitchens, which got us into the private market for remodeling just as the foreclosure work kind of dried up.

“We’ve had our son Chris working with us ever since he graduated from college. It’s very gratifying to be in business with him. We’ve also been fortunate enough to keep both granddaughters during the day because we work out of our house, so Chris comes through here every morning, drops the girls off. That’s been a real blessing. He’s able now to run things when I’m out of town or traveling. So that takes a load off and let’s me go out and have some fun.”

In the mid-nineties, McClinton started discussions about having Stephens rejoin his band. Ultimately, Delbert decided not to make a change. However, he did invite the Stephens family to join him on his second Sandy Beaches cruise.

“That cruise got me reconnected with a lot of people that I’d known in my other life. We’ve done the cruise almost every year since. It’s been very good to our family. I guess about 13, 14 years ago, Mike Zito was on the cruise. We jammed a little bit, talked, and got closer. He was pretty much into Freddie King. I think that helped me get the gig with him.

“The first thing I did was go in and record that first Mike Zito and the Wheel album, Gone To Texas, at Dockside Studios in Louisiana, the beginning of our collaboration. He’s been very kind to our family, including me on some great projects. I played on a lot of sessions he produced before he had his record label, Gulf Coast Records, and more since. We were also busy with some great European tours and plenty of festivals. I guess you’d call it my second childhood.”

Stephens has been a part of the Blood Brothers project that features Zito and fellow guitarist Albert Castiglia along with a stellar rhythm section comprised of Scot Sutherland on bass with Matthew R. Johnson and Ray Hangen on drums. The band was an immediate hit on the festival circuit. But they really blew up when another celebrity joined the fun.

“Bill Murray, I mean, just his name value! It wasn’t one of those exponential increases. It was at one level, then skipped about three levels. We’re now playing 1,000 to 2,000 seat theaters, giving the Blood Brothers a fine showcase to do some of their music, then back Bill up on some songs that let him have some fun. Bill just loves it. He’s become really close with Mike. He’s asked for advice on how to do some things. I think he’s really enjoying being around the group of really qualified musicians that can push him. So what began as a skit on Saturday Night Live once again has become a mainstream, national touring blues group.

“Lately we’ve had Jimmy Carpenter on saxophone, so that is 4/5ths of the Wheel back together. And we have Jimmy Vivino over there on organ. He’s a very talented organ player. We had two keyboards going sometimes in Freddie King’s band – a Hammond B-3 organ played by the great Deacon Jones and me on grand piano. That’s the thing I’ve always enjoyed about Delbert’s cruise, getting to play with the great Kevin McKendree a lot. That’s something you don’t normally get to do, play with another keyboard player, so it it’s always fun to double up on that.”

When asked why he thinks so many notable artists have sought him out to get his help in realizing their musical vision, Stephens takes a minute to gather his thoughts.

“I think it goes back to my classical training as far as technique, learning how to play piano correctly. Technically, I could pretty much do anything once I learned the different styles. Another important milestone was playing guitar by ear instead of by written music like I did when I was playing classical music. I could improvise, I could stretch out and explore different things without being bound by a fixed piece of music. That was a real important development point, learning to play music without music.

“My goal is to try to play the music of the artist, serve the song, serve the artist, make the band better. It’s a good mentality to have being a side man, just not wanting to be up front. Just go and do the job, and whenever somebody points at you, let it go! You play a couple of turnarounds for a solo and then go back to getting down in the rhythm section with the bass player and a drummer to make the sound a little wider than it would’ve been without you. That may not be a tangible that everybody can recognize, but I think it’s an important thing that I do that is recognized by the people that really know what’s happening.

“I’m grateful that my mom decided when I was five years old that she was going to buy the neighbor’s piano, have four or five strong men move it across the yards of both houses and set it in our house, then start me on piano lessons. It’s given me a great life. I wouldn’t have done any of it if my mother hadn’t been inspired by Van Cliburn winning the Tchaikovsky medal.

“When I went on the road with Freddie, it was hard on her. I was an only child and so we were kind of tied together at the hip. She was having trouble with me leaving. My dad understood, having gone to war and he said, “Mama, you gotta let him go.” I’ll never forget watching them on the front porch when Freddie King’s bus pulls up in front of our house in white settlement, Texas. She was still standing there looking when that bus drove away. It was quite a moment.

“They really knew that I was doing well when Crystal Gayle played at Six Flags Over Texas. My dad was always a Loretta Lynn fan, and subsequently a Crystal Gayle fan. Her road manager had been Vassar’s road manager when I was in his band. So I called him for help getting my parents backstage where they sat in the dressing room with Crystal, her husband, and the band and visited. That’s when my Dad and Mom figured out that I was doing okay, because they got to go sit backstage with Crystal Gayle! In the end, it’s been a great life, well lived.”

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!

Austin Jimmy Murphy with Curt Bushaw – Recorded Live at The Black Orchid Lounge

BLBM Publishing

www.jamesrobertmurphy.com

8 Tracks – 39 minutes

James Robert “Jimmy” Murphy is a native of Syracuse, New York, where he was the principal founder and the director of the New York State Blues Festival in Syracuse from 1992 to 2003 and again in 2014. He also was a founder of the Guiness Irish Festival, now known as the Syracuse Irish Festival, from 1998 – 2003. He hitchhiked across the US for more than a decade after his high school graduation in 1972 always with guitar and songbook at hand. He holds an MA from the University of Oklahoma in administrative leadership. The Austin part of his title was given to him after returning to Syracuse from a three-year stint in Austin in the 80’s. He now resides in El Paso, Texas where he became a founding member of the El Paso Blues Society. In 2003, he received the Keeping Blues Alive Award from the Blues Foundation for Best Promoter/Festivals. His recordings range from jazz to a Spanish language album to folk and blues.

Curt Bushaw is a jazz bass player from North Dakota who also now resides in El Paso.  He studied education at the Valley City State University in North Dakota and subsequently became a teacher at Ysleta ISD in El Paso. He presently is the Director of Bands Desert Winds at Socorro Independent School District. Although a jazz player, Curt’s bass finds the right connection to Jimmy’ guitar work on the recording.

The album is a live unfiltered recording from October 6, 2018, which Jimmy recently re-discovered. The Black Orchid was a small club in a strip mall in El Paso that closed following COVID. Jimmy notes that the shaker that you sometimes hear in the background is a not a percussionist out of time with the music, but rather is the bartender mixing drinks. Jimmy’s guitar and Curt’s bass are the sole instruments on the album.

The album opens with a cover of Lowell Fulson’s 1981 song “Reconsider Baby”. Jimmy’s liner notes indicates that he presently plays this song as a jazz/swing track but here presents it from a blues perspective noting Eric Clapton performed it on his From the Cradle album. Jimmy’s guitar starts with a jazz flourish before it moves into a blues vocal. Curt does provide a solo bass lead midway through the song. An original song from Jimmy, “The Funky Thing”, he says was originally written in 1995 which he says has been modified many times over the years. He asks her “to come on back” and in a throwback in history, tells her, “If you want to talk to me, take out a quarter and stick it into the slot”. Next up is a cover of Big Joe Williams “Baby Please Don’t Go”, first recorded by Joe in 1935 and since recorded by many other artists including Muddy Waters and Lightnin’ Hopkins.

Another original, “Hello”, was written in 1977 “in his finger-picking days while living in New York City” and is a welcome to a young woman he met in Alexandria Bay at the Canadian border. “When The Morning Comes” again features his fingerpicking style. He asks her “won’t you come” as he is ready to hit the road. He says he wrote this when he was traveling in his old Dodge van. A cover of Little Walter’s 1959 version of “Everything’s Going to Be Alright” (title as shown, but the original recording from Walter shows as “Everything Gonna Be Alright”).

“My Baby She Loves Me” was written in 1988 after he had been married a couple of years. He notes that 36 years later she again does have a “brand new car”, but she does not have “the pile of cash” he cites in the song. They close the album with Louis Jordan’s 1945 song, “Caledonia”.  Curt offers a second bass lead during this song.

While there is some slight noise from the cited bartender and some minor crowd talking, this a fairly clean recording and the noise level is never such that it takes away from the performance. Jimmy has a smooth vocal approach and his guitar wavers from pure blues to a slight jazz touch. Curt’s bass blends in nicely with Jimmy’s guitar. Jimmy’s discovery of the album was certainly an excellent find and well represents his talents.

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.

Amy Ryan Band – Brighter and Brighter

Self-produced CD

www.amyryanband.com

11 songs – 45 minutes

A New Hampshire native now based out of upstate New York, vocalist Amy Ryan made her debut with the self-released album Shimmy and Shake in 2022, spending three months on the Roots Music Report’s soul-blues charts. And she follows it up with this set, which adds a little Delta and blues-rock to the mix, too.

Formed in 2014, she and her band quickly established a strong following in the Albany region. They subsequently represented the Capital Region Blues Network (CRBN) in the 2016 International Blues Challenge after winning the local competition. Amy and her British-born guitarist, Richard Green, share the mic here. They also repeated the BMA accomplishment in the solo-duo category, teaming as the group 2 Blue. As a full band, they’ve been nominated for blues band of the year in CRBN’s Thomas Edison Music Awards on four occasions.

This all-original set was produced and engineered by Frank Kennedy and features Ed Stein on keys. Mark McKay handles drums on eight of the 11 cuts, yielding to Finn Green on the others. Dave Imbarrato handles bass on seven tracks, sharing duties with James Alanson Kirk. And special guests include guitarist Mark Tolstrup, sax players Chris Ferrone and Kris Jensen, trumpeter Jeff Stevens and trombonist/horn arranger Peter McEachern.

A Delta blues, “Hold That Train,” opens the action with Tolstrup’s slide in call-and-response with Ryan’s window-rattling soprano before the sound softens, the pace slows and Ferrone’s horn kick in for the soulful “Won’t You Tell Me,” which finds Amy questioning her man about why he’s not loving her the way he should. Green’s solo hits a sweet spot in the midst of the torment.

The funk kicks up big time with “I Got Eyes” as the full horn section drives the action as Amy wonders how soon her lover’s going to bid her goodbye before Green’s guitar takes center stage on “Hold My Heart,” in which Ryan proclaims that she needs her guy’s good lovin’, but also needs to protect herself, too. Unfortunately, his response isn’t what she expected because the number that follows is a driving shuffle, “Outta My Life.” She’s simply tired of his excuses and notes: “It’s time to put you down.” But Amy realizes she’s broken all of the rules the relationship, too, something she reveals in “Digging Myself Out of a Hole,” a silky smooth, soulful ballad in which she describes herself as striving to better herself one step at a time.

The languorous, soul-infused title track, “Brighter and Brighter,” finds Amy farther along in her recovery, something that progresses through the final four songs in this one — “How Dumb Do You Think I Am,” “Take It or Leave It” – with Green on vocals, “You Don’t Get To” and “Love Is a Fool’s Game.”

There’s a lot to like in this one, and you certainly want to wish that Ryan wins out at romance in the end. Amy’s got a sweet set of pipes. That said, her in-your-face vocal intensity throughout somewhat diminishes the effectiveness of the set. The ballads are fine. But if there had been more of a difference between them and the tunes that come at you at high volume, everything would have stood out.

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.