Shari Puorto – Hold On

Self Release

www.sharipuorto.com

8 songs time – 33:55

Although Shari Puorto is hyped as a blues and roots singer, this is mainly a singer-songwriter effort. Shari co-wrote all of the songs.

A bit of blues and blues-rock can be found in the musical accompaniment. Her songs eschew melody. Great backing musicians supply the musicality here.

“Hold On” contains a good guitar riff and solos by Ryan Ball. “Where Is All The Great Music Going?” had me until the song’s end.  More good riffing on “Cyclone” with its’ echoed vocal.

Co-producer Doug Woolverton adds his trumpet to the funky beat and wah-wah guitar of “In The City”. She makes an emotional plea for her man on “Why Not Me?”, a song Shari co-wrote with the great Barry Goldberg. Scott Chasolen contributes piano and organ.

“Forever More” is a tender ballad enhanced by chiming guitar, piano and organ. Things get funked up on the bouncy “You’re Right, I’m Wrong For You”. A nice organ solo is the icing on the cake. The gentle funky vibe of “Home Bound” wraps up the proceedings.

Well played music supporting the vocals. It is all presented in a matter-of-fact style. Some folks will find much to like here.

Reviewer Greg “Bluesdog” Szalony hails from the New Jersey Delta.

Hughes Taylor – Roasted

The Bent Note Records

www.hughestaylormusic.com

11 songs – 43 minutes

Don’t let the pastoral image on the cover of this one fool you. Guitarist Hughes Taylor is a blues-rocker who simply blazes from the jump of this all-original CD. The sixth full-album release in his career, it’s a welcome and always under control follow-up to his 2024 EP, Roasted Vol. 1.

A native of Macon, Ga., Hughes was already writing and recording demos in his parents’ basement at age 14 while polishing his talent as a performer anywhere he could. At age 18, he was already touring across the Southeast, and he made his recording debut in his with the CD Hear My Melody in 2016, when he was in his early 20s.

Recorded at the legendary Capricorn Sound in his hometown, this set fuses tunes from another EP, Dark Roast — which earned a 2024 Blues Blast Music Award nomination in the best video category for the song “Ballad of Bill McGuire” – with songs he’s labeled Light Roast, more energetic and upbeat material inspired by the work of Gov’t Mule, Joe Bonamassa and the late Steve Gaines of Lynyrd Skynyrd. It features explosive and steady-driving fretwork atop a heavy beat. And, fortunately, Hughes has a voice to match.

Macon, Ga.,  is a native of A native of Macon, Ga., who’s been a fixture across the Southeast since debuting with Hear My Melody in 2016, guitarist Hughes Taylor simply blazes from the jump of his sixth, all-original CD. It’s a blues-rock offering that’s loaded with explosive, steady-driving fretwork, a heavy beat and a voice to match. He’s backed throughout by bassist Ben Alford, drummer Nich Gannon and keyboard player Zach Wilson, and Emily Lynn and Evie Somogyi provide backing vocals.

The first of five songs that comprise Dark Roast, which was previously released on Bandcamp, “Moondance Baby” opens the action in style and celebrates his lady, who proves almost everything he needs but becomes something more as soon as the sun goes down and the moon rises. The extended mid-tune solo shines, featuring powerful, single-note runs before allowing the full band to work out. The aforementioned “Ballad of Big Bill McGuire” follows. Built atop a simple, powerful guitar hook, it describes a hard-drinking man from Alabama who’s on the run after shooting someone in cold blood.

The mood changes with jazzy “Until It Hits,” a minor-key number that describes the realization that it’s impossible to quit loving a lady who’s no longer part of the singer’s life. Distorted fretwork opens “Midnight Angel,” a dark ditty that describes the title siren’s call. It casts a spell before the listener realizes what’s happening. The darkness continues from the downbeat of “From the Other Side,” which offers a better view. It opens as a ballad but erupts into a powerful rocker mid-tune.

The six-song Light Roast segment carries forward the intensity of what’s preceded it. It opens with the fiery “(In the Morning) When It’s Over,” which comes to terms with the fact that Hughes isn’t the first lover his lady’s had, nor will she be the last to let him down before yielding to “Beautiful Stranger,” someone who elicits passion from the singer, but – in truth – is looking for something more.

The stop-time rocker “When Love Comes Home,” meanwhile, states that there’ll be a time in a relationship when the woman returns from who-knows-where, smelling of another man’s cologne. The realization that it’s time to take action comes in the tension-filled “Before You Fall” before “Hanging On” stresses that Hughes truly needs his lady and that he believes she truly needs him before the bright instrumental, “Rochester,” concludes the set.

If you’re tired of over-the-top blues-rockers but still like rock with your blues, you’ll love what Hughes Taylor puts out. He walks the razor’s edge between the two worlds in style.

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.

The Kerry Kearney Band – Self Titled

Paradise Records

www.kerrykearneyofficial.com

10 Tracks – 36 minutes

Kerry is a recognized slide guitar master. He got his first guitar at age ten and discovered the blues shortly thereafter. In 1998, former Jefferson Airplane vocalist Marty Balin heard Kerry play and immediately invited him to join his band for a tour. That tour extended to a five-year stint.  In 1996, Kerry released his debut album. In 1999, the Long Island Voice voted him Best Guitarist. The Long Island Blues Society named him “Bluesman of the Year” in 1999. In 2013, he was inducted into the New York Blues Hall of Fame. Kerry toured with The Allman Brothers Band and Dickey Betts and shared the stage with BB King, Robert Cray, Sonny Landreth, Robert Randolph and The Blues Brothers.

Kerry describes his music as Psychedelta, a term he utilized in his 2020 album release, Tales from the Psychedelta”. Kerry leads the band on electric, acoustic and slide guitar, mandolin and lead vocals. His band members include Jack Licitra on keyboards, Gerry Sorrentino bass, Mario Staiano on drums, and Nydia “Liberty” Mata on congas and percussion. Guests on this album include Mark Mancini on keyboards, Bill Lifford on harmonica, Camryn Quinlan on vocals, and Jeff Namoli on percussion.

Seven originals and three covers kick off with a cover of Bobby Rush’s 1986 song “All Your Love”.  Bobby’s guitar work is on strong display in the song with Bill Lifford’s harmonica also getting a workout. “Harder to Breathe” features Camryn on lead vocals as she says, “love makes you crazy but I have already lost my mind”. Kerry’s slide guitar drives the song with some nice piano riffs and organ backing. “Walk Right out The Door” is a bouncy tune as he states he is ready to leave if everything is not right.

Warren Zevon’s 2003 song declares “These blues gonna “Rub Me Raw” again features Kerry’s slide with an organ accompaniment.  “Voodoo Ways” rocks out as he cites “going house to house, there’s a party tonight. All the Cajun neighbors want to get it right. There’s chickens running around and one on the stove.” She curses you in her voodoo ways. I will be the one who refused to stay.” “A slide guitar by the fire light, a drum beating rhythm that feels so right, an owl calling out from a nearby tree, there’s something in these swamps that’s an enemy”, all with Kerry’s slide guitar slipping along again.  “The “Bobbique Romp” is a peppy instrumental co-written with Jack Licitra and with Bill’s harmonica again in a featured role.

A cover of Bob Dylan’s 1975 song “Meet Me in the Morning” from his Blood on the Tracks album follows as he declares “the darkest hour is right before the dawn”. “Hear the rooster crowing, must be something on his mind. I feel just like that rooster; you treat me so unkind.” The words might be Dylan’s, but the song is pure Kearney. Kerry switches off to an acoustic guitar on a folksy instrumental “West of the Ashley”. On “Off to the Jubilee” he tells her to “put on your dress and shake it with the best, we won’t be home until two or three”.  Camryn takes the lead vocals again on the seasonal “Santa’s Got a Brand-New Bag” noted as having been written by the whole band. She cries, “Santa took back all the presents we had”.

Kerry’s band is tight, and his slide guitar work certainly worth the price of admission. His vocals are sometimes slightly gruff but fits the music well and his lyrics catch your attention and can captivate. The music is generally high energy blues rock with a tinge of the delta passing through on occasion.

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.

Paul Steward – You Can Dance to My Music

2XG Records

www.paul2xg.com

8 Tracks – 30 minutes

Paul was born on December 20, 1984, in Wine County, California.  His family are Native Americans, members of the Pomo Indians. He was raised on the Elem County Indian Colony Sulphur Bank Ranchera and moved to Santa Clara as a teenager. Paul keeps his Native American heritage in front of his music and has a major fanbase in the Native American community. His albums have been nominated three times for the Native American Music Awards.

His dad, Richard, gave him a toy piano when he was little and then taught him to play guitar at age 13. The twosome joined together and released multiple albums as a duo, Twice as Good. Unfortunately, his father passed away earlier this year. Richard studied music at the University of Nevada, Reno, Santa Rosa Junior College, and Sonoma State University. In addition to vocals and guitar, he also plays the bass, sax, harmonica, keyboards, drums, trumpet and violin.  He cites his influences as B.B. King, Luther Allison, Magic Slim, George Benson, Joe Louis walker, Robert Randolph, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Santana and vocalists like Wilson Pickett and The Temptations. He has performed with Charlie Musselwhite, Big Bill Morganfield, and the Bay Area Blues Society All Stars among others. He was a semi-finalist at the 2016 International Blues Challenge in Memphis. On this album he plays the guitar, drums, bass, keyboards and provides the vocals on all but two songs.

The title song opens the album with smooth vocals and some slick guitar as he calls out to his girl “I feel good. I sing my song. Play my guitar all night long”. Artist Mike Paul produced and provided the beat for “808” Blues” with Paul providing the lyrics, guitar and vocals. The song slows things down in a soulful biographical tale citing his family’s encouragement “to chase my dreams. The way was hard, and it drove me mad. This is the message, this is the blues, you can never quit, and you can never lose”.  “It takes hard work.” “Only the strong survive and I did it.”

“Ride With Me (Paul Mix)” was composed and produced by Omo Phola, a South African artist. The song is a remix of an originally released version on Omo’s 2023 album partially in Phola’s native language.  “Aishiteru” is Japanese for I love you. The song is a slow waltz again partially sung in a foreign language but concludes with the declaration that “I love you with all of my heart”. “Mth’alal (Hey Ay, Ah Ho Ho)” offers a rhythm clearly from his heritage with his guitar prominent against the beat. Paul plays the Pomo clapper stick on the song. With A little on-line investigation into the University of California’s Southeastern Pomo Language Project I discovered that Mth’alal means summer. With Paul’s help, the further translation of the Pomo language song means to “eat blackberries in the summer”. Paul said the song is based on a childhood memory of picking blackberries in August and early September when they were ripe. 

His guitar kicks into a rocking groove as he declares “Everything’s Gonna Be All Right” “as I got you and you got me” and exclaims “that everywhere I go they like my blues”.  Next, he proclaims ” I am so tired sitting home alone. “Going Down to the Club” to find someone”. “They better play the blues and they better play it right.”  Ronnie K. Stewart, who is the bandleader for West Coast Blues Society Caravan of Allstars and the Director of the West Coast Blues Society, guests on lead guitar on the song. The album concludes with “Number 9 Train” as he tells “Number 9 took my baby up the line. When I hear that lonesome whistle, I just can’t keep from cryin’.”

Paul’s guitar playing is constantly awesome and intriguing. Blend that with his soulful mix of soul and blues, it is a winning combination. His Native American language and other foreign language songs can easily be compared to some of Santana’s Spanish incursions into his songs. Every song on the album is a comfortable listen and should be heard by everyone who likes the blues.

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.

Luther Dickinson is a talented songwriter who is so skilled on the guitar that in 2007, Rolling Stone Magazine labeled him as a “New Guitar God”.  He is also the kind of musician who is involved in so many fascinating projects that it makes one wonder how it’s even physically possible.  Although best known for his work with the five-time Grammy nominated and Blues Music Award-winning group, The North Mississippi Allstars (with his brother, Cody), or as the former guitarist with the Black Crowes, Luther has also been in “super group” acoustic bands, a country blues band with four women, tours with the Allman Betts Family Revival, has recorded a sacred steel music album, has released a children’s album, has played on the jam cruises, hosted a website providing on-demand guitar tutorials, and most recently partnered with JD Simo for an album and tour.  He also designs guitars.  Blues Blast Magazine had the opportunity to catch up with Luther Dickinson recently to learn more about these varied interests.

Luther is the son of musician, songwriter and music producer Jim Dickinson, so was exposed to an impressive array of musical talent from a very early age.  However, he reports that playing music did not come naturally to him, and he had to work hard to become accomplished.  Knowing that people don’t often stick with a path that does not come easy to them, he was asked what motivated him to keep practicing.

“The thing is I don’t remember ever not knowing that I was going to be a guitar player.  I am a big believer in manifestation and visualizing, even as a kid, and I could just see it.  I was going to play guitar.  I wasn’t a natural, like my brother was, but I just kept practicing.  I still practice all the time.  I did naturally have a creative process, though.  There is a natural creative process that I can apply to anything, whether it’s producing someone else’s record, writing songs, doing set lists, or even doing dishes.  I was fortunate to have that, and it’s helpful. It’s funny, my dad discouraged me in my youth.  As a musician, he was brutally honest, and he said, ‘you’re going to have to practice because you really can’t play at all’.  But then I started writing songs and he responded to that.  He saw something in my songwriting and that is when he started encouraging us and teaching us and recording us.  That’s when he finally started a family band and taught us his repertoire, as he was a song collector and a music historian.  He taught us how to work with a band leader and a keyboard player, which was a very valuable lesson.   He would help teach me about song structure and taught me not to be precious about the idea that originally sparked the song, because sometimes that’s the part that gets chopped out later.  He taught me to be fluid and open to interpretation.  I still go by what he taught me when I craft my songs, so even though he is gone it is like we’re still in collaboration.”

Growing up with access to so many outstanding musicians led to a multitude of influences and lessons learned.  But Luther was able to identify two role models that stood out as the most significant.

“Definitely my dad.  He was not only a musician but a songwriter and a producer and he worked on films.  And he just had cool taste.  His record collection was a fantastic curation of cool music.  Then I would say Otha Turner was the second.  He played the bamboo cane fife, but in a very funky, African, very free manner.  He represents all the Hill Country elders and took me to meet Junior Kimbrough for the first time. His style was what separates Hill Country Blues from other types.  To me, it is all about the rhythm and the melody, and the harmony is simplified, which makes it sound more modern.  The lack of harmony adds to the trance-like quality of the sound. When Otha heard me play guitar, he couldn’t believe it because I had been studying Fred McDowell, and he hadn’t heard anybody play that style since his friend had passed away.  I was a teenager when I met Otha, and we would sit and I would play, and he would sing.  I had this little video recorder back then.  He would improvise the lyrics.  I spent more time with Otha than any other musician.  He was 94 when he passed. “

In 2000, Luther collaborated with Robert Randolph, “Ray Ray” Holloman, John Medeski, Chris Chew and his brother, Cody to form “The Word”.  This instrumental sacred steel/gospel blues jam band recorded an album and also briefly toured.

“The Word was so much fun.  You know, sometimes you get an album that changes your life.  The first sacred steel compilation was put out by Arhoolie Records, and I got ahold of that in 1996, and it literally changed my life.  I didn’t know about sacred steel records—nobody did back then.  It led to us becoming friends with Robert Randolph and we started talking about doing a project together.  I love musicians and if we have a connection we will start plotting and scheming.  My favorite music is just the artifact of the friendship, of the hang.  And Robert is the most loveliest super-human!  He is “extra human”—a wonderful person!”

In 2012 Luther organized a collective of female musicians from Memphis and Northern Mississippi to form a group they called “The Wandering”.  He played guitar, mandolin and banjolin on the recording, and was joined by Shannon McNally, Amy Lavere, Valerie June and Sharde Thomas, who is the granddaughter of his mentor, Otha Turner.

“Right after my dad passed, we had a tribute show, which was great.  For example, John Hiatt came, and I was touched by how many wonderful female artists came to it.  In my dad’s book (I’m Just Dead, I’m Not Gone), there were passages that talked about how female musicians appreciated that he was a gentleman who would protect them from the predator types in the industry.  I had grown up in kind of a rock-n-roll ‘boys club’, but then I had two daughters, and my first daughter was born right after dad passed.  She responded immediately to female voices and that changed my listening habits.  Also, seeing those cool, great singers just opened my mind to the possibility.  I followed it up in 2019 with the album Solstice which I did with Amy Helm, Allison Russell, the Como Mamas, Amy LaVere and Sharde Thomas.”

Very few lucky fans were able to witness a supergroup in 2017 called “Southern Soul Assembly”.  That band consisted of Luther, J.J. Grey, Marc Broussard and Anders Osborne.  However, they only toured for approximately one month.

“I didn’t conceive that one, but I was happy to do it.  It was just a group of friends put together by the agents, although I think JJ was behind it.  We were all friends already, so it was a very natural combination.  It’s the strategy of touring, working musicians to find different strategies, so you don’t wear out your brand.”

In 2024, Luther joined up with JD Simo to tour and they also recorded an album called Do the Rump!.  He explained how this came to be.

”JD and I were already friends, and we weren’t even trying to make a record, it’s just that JD records everything.  JD keeps lyrics on his iPad and we were just improvising the music.  He’s such a great singer.  He grew up around Chicago and the feeling he pulls from is so real and so deep.  He’s so soulful.  He really moves me.  And he’s a sweetheart—a soulful musician and just a beautiful cat.  I grew up playing in duos and trios, but I had always avoided playing with other guitar players.  Now, in this new phase of my life I find I am enjoying playing with other guitar players.  It is kind of sad I didn’t meet him earlier, but it’s never too late.”

Luther is no longer hosting the Guitar Xpress tutorials, although he misses them sometimes because he loves teaching.  He also made some changes to the guitars that he plays most often.

“We designed two different signature guitars with Gibson, but that was a long time ago.  My friends and I have been designing and making guitars, and we are making more fender style guitars, with the bolt on necks. We call them Vibratone Guitars. We’ve put together multiple ‘partscasters’ that I’ve played and sold and designed our own model ‘Rufus’ and built them from scratch. They are more road-worthy and sturdy.  And I love DR strings.  I’ve been playing lighter and lighter, I’m using .09’s now.  I like high action with light strings.  I have a really light touch.  I play soft.  Billy Gibbons plays light and BB King played light, so I’m not the only one.”

Interspersed between all of those intriguing projects over the last 25 years have been shows by the North Mississippi Allstars, a group inspired by their father and their neighbors, the Burnsides.  The touring lineup of NMA has changed at various times over the years, sometimes including artists such as Cedric and Garry Burnside, Berry Oakley Jr, or Chris Chew.  They have described their “recipe” for their sound as “Mississippi Hill Country with Sacred Steel crossbred with our stoner/punk/low-rent psychedelic jams,” resulting in what they refer to as “Modern Mississippi Music”.

“We are about to release a new album, a celebration of the 25^th anniversary of the release of our first album.  That was called Shake Hands with Shorty, so this one is called Still Shakin’.  Joey Williams from the Blind Boys of Alabama is featured, along with “Ray Ray” Holloman, Duwayne Burnside, Robert Kimbrough and Graham Lesh.  We definitely have the community represented.”

A preview of that album revealed that audiences will definitely not be disappointed. The excellent musicianship that is expected from every show or album by the North Mississippi Allstars is accentuated even more by the contributions of their impressive guest artists.  Luther has written that, to him, “music is an act of communion with the elders that transcends time and space”, and this recording manages to capture that vibe. Two tracks stand out as even more exceptional than the rest.  One is a very funky version of “Don’t Let the Devil Ride” (featuring Joey Williams), and the second is an important song lamenting the backsliding of human rights that is occurring in our society, “Pray for Peace” (also featuring Joey Williams).  The lyrics of that song note “I think my grandmother would be broken-hearted seeing her children’s children right back where they started…I wish we could be color blind…we gotta pray for peace.”

Luther noted that the North Mississippi Allstar’s 25^th anniversary is extremely meaningful to him.

“I’m so filled with gratitude to keep scuffling by and living my dream.  I’m grateful to anyone who supports us in any way.  I appreciate every person.”

To find out more about this intriguing musician, purchase his albums and to find out where you might catch him in a live show, visit www.lutherdickinson.com

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.