Robert Finley – Hallelujah! Don’t Let the Devil Fool Ya

Easy Eye Sound

www.robertfinleyofficial.com

8 tracks – 45 minutes

Born in the small town of Bernice, Louisiana, Robert Finley started playing guitar at age 11 on a guitar he bought from a thrift store. He learned to play by watching the fingers of guitar players in gospel quartets. Born in 1954, he joined the US Army in 1970 to train as a helicopter technician. He was sent to Germany to train, but upon arrival he was brought into the US Army band as a guitarist and ultimately as the band leader. He stayed with the band and traveled Europe in concerts until his discharge.

Upon returning home, he worked as a street performer and a carpenter while fronting a gospel group, Brother Finley and the Gospel Sisters. He was forced to retire from carpentry when he was determined to be legally blind. In 2015, the non-profit organization Music Maker Relief Foundation that supports aging musicians discovered Robert busking on the streets of Arkansas. They packaged him in touring acts including Robert Lee Coleman and Alabama Slim.

In 2016, he released his first album, Age Don’t Mean a Thing, which kicked off a new musical career for him. He became a semi-finalist on America’s Got Talent.  Dan Auerbach, the leader of The Black Keys band and owner and producer for the Easy Eye Sound Studios heard the record and immediately sought Robert for a collaboration that has now lasted through this current release, the fourth album on Auerbach’s label.

The album launches Robert into a return to his gospel blues roots. Robert provides all vocals and plays guitar on the album and is joined by his daughter, Christy Johnson, for call and response vocals. Dan Auerbach produced the album ad also adds some guitar. The rest of the band include Barrie Cadogan on guitar, Malcolm Catto on drums, Tommy Brenneck on bass, and Ray Jacildo on keyboards. The album was recorded in a single day of impromptu jams and improvised on the spot vocals. Although with its album cover and the obviously titled songs definitely establishes the gospel theme, the album steps away from that sole presentation and presents a soulful and powerful blues inviting you to join in the celebration even while Robert is testifying.

“I Wanna Thank You” starts off with a very smooth groove as the gruff-voiced Robert sings “Don’t make me make a fool of myself…But I can’t help what I feel. I am so glad I am here”. “In the morning if I wake, Lord I pray for forgiveness for all of my mistakes.”  “Praise Him” cites “that I want to write a book, but I am running out of time” “I want to tell somebody how he helped a blind man see”. “Holy Ghost Party” opens with the rhythm of a ticking clock and generates into free form jazz guitar runs as Robert cites that he wants to party.

He declares “His Love” is forever” and moves into a classical soul song with Ray’s piano lead and Robert sharing his love for the Lord that could just as easily have swayed into a routine love song. “Helping Hand” starts with Ray’s tinkling piano and builds into a funky groove as he demands “Young man, I ‘ve got to talk to you…telling you something you really need to know”. “Stop wasting your time…you are only in this world; you only live for so long. Everybody is going to die someday, right or wrong”. The rhythm section drives the funky groove with Ray’s organ, and a stinging guitar build on “Can’t Take My Joy” as Robert loudly proclaims like a maddened preacher that no one can take his joy or glory.

“On The Battlefield” introduces a harmonica into the mix as Robert tells he is out here battling for the Lord as Malcolm’s drum delivers a military beat and Dan’s guitar swells into the funky beat as Robert asks “Take me Lord. I am working as hard as I can to save my fellow man” and ends in a dynamic turmoil. The 8-1/2 minute ” I Am a Witness” closes the album with a more laidback groove as Robert tells “I saw a grown man down on his knees begging the Lord” in a seeming autobiographical story related to his Daddy and returning to the point that he “gave my eyes to you but he tells me what I need to do”.

Robert delivers a fiery and passionate testimony supported by the somewhat repetitious underscore of Christy’s vocals. I kept hoping to hear her reach out into some additional soaring vocals similar to what would be heard in a gospel choir. Nonetheless the funk-filled instrumentals drive the songs along with Robert’s fervent declarations.

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.

Ana Popović – Dance to the Rhythm

Electric Heel Records

www.anapopovic.com

10 songs – 39 minutes

A genuine force to be reckoned with, nothing can stop Ana Popović, the seven-time BMA-nominated slide guitarist. She continued performing while battling breast cancer during the pandemic, a battle she documented with the award-winning CD, Power, in 2023. Now victorious two years later, she has plenty of reasons to celebrate, and she does it in style with this flawless flow-up.

The daughter of a blues-loving graphic artist, guitarist and bassist, Ana was born in Belgrade in what was formerly Yugoslavia, now Serbia, and now calls Los Angeles home. While you might be more familiar with her assertive voice and fretwork, which ranges from tight grooves to smoking funk reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix, she’s also a student of jazz, having studied at a conservatory in the Netherlands.

And all of that training comes through in this fluid set, which is guaranteed to have you up and moving from the down stroke to the last note.

Captured by Jeff Bates at Kona Town Recording Studio in Redondo Beach, Calif., Popović co-produced and arranged the album with Buthel, who contributes bass guitar and sings background vocals.

They’re joined by keyboard players Michele Papadia and Jeremy Thomas, drummers Chris Coleman and Donnel Spencer along with horn players Claudio Giovagnoli, Davide Ghidoni, Jordan Carr, Evan Knight and Brett Lamel. Karl Vandenbosche and Frank Moca sit in on percussion. And Traci Nelson, Skyler Gordon, J Sabin and Jordana Kelley take turns on backing vocals.

From the sweeping, uptempo opening of “Dance to the Rhythm,” you know you’re in for something special…a spirited, soul-filled mix that’ll power you out on the floor to strut your stuff. “I’m gonna groove you and slide you/Move you up and down/Dance you all the way to the finish line.” And, boy, she’s not kidding!

The cautionary “Worked Up” kicks off with horn flair as Ana warns a lover that he’d better be careful because he’s awakened on the wrong side of the bed. Her mid-tune solo drives the message home. It gives way to the only cover in the set, Paul Simon’s “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover,” which gets a bluesy, 21st century makeover with Popović inserting Latin accents atop a bongo beat.

Living in the Golden State isn’t all peaches and cream, as she enumerates in the bluesy “California Chase,” noting “It’s rough but it’s pretty” and that you have to be tough because every diamond with your name on it is buried in the dirt.

Ana’s guitar comes to the fore in “Hurt So Good,” the first of consecutive numbers penned by Sabin, delivering another funky sermon about how not to mistreat you woman. It gives way to “Sho Nuf,” a uptempo, syncopated toast to perseverance in reaching your goals before the tempo slows for a moment for the love song, “Dwell on the Feeling,” which finds Ana enjoying a world where she doesn’t feel “trapped, subdued or just passing though.”

The heat kicks up a notch and the funk does, too, for “Soulution,” which cautions not to be vain, chasing things you really don’t want, before “Hottest Ticket in Town” serves as a memory of a band from Ana’s youth that “disturbed the peace beating on pots and pans to the roar of fans. The Latin-flavored “Sisters and Brothers” urges fans to love one another through these days of trouble because there are better times ahead.

Sure, this isn’t you’re straight-ahead, one-four-five blues outing. Blues runs through it, but it’s something else entirely…and it’s, oh, so go-o-od! Grab your significant other and give it a spin.

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.

Hudspeth & Taylor – Kimuziki: Live in Des Moines

Independent

www.brandonhudspeth.com

9 tracks – 34 minutes

Brandon Hudspeth was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma. He started taking guitar lessons after watching Johnny Cash play on Sesame Street. He became heavily influenced by the blues and after high school he moved to Kansas City where he started his own band, Levee Town. That band twice represented the Kansas City Blues Society at the International Blues Society in Memphis and placed in the top ten finalists in 2009. He has received many nominations for blues awards, including both the Blue’s Foundation’s Blues Music Awards and the annual Blues Blast Music Awards. His finger-picking guitar style stands out on the recordings. He has played with vocalists and percussionist Jaisson Taylor for over twenty years including their well-received 2020 debut collaboration, Folle a deux, which also received multiple nominations. The provided notes advise that “Kimuziki” is a Swahili word meaning musical.

This album features six covers and three original songs that were selected from songs that they performed at the Central Iowa Winter Blues Society’s Winter Blues Festival held in February 2025. The album opens with Jimmy Reed’s 1959 song, “Going To New York”, a fitting song for Brandon as he has traveled to many places in his career as the song cites “I’ve been here ‘n’ I’ve been there…but I’m Goin’ to New York, I ‘m goin’ if I have to walk.” Mance Lipscomb’s 1959 song “Run Sinner Run” is next with Brandon’s guitar picking a standout with Jaisson warning “If I was you, I would stop right here and pray”. “I am so glad I found my religion in time”. Muddy Water’s “Honey Bee” from 1951 was one of his signature songs. Hudspeth & Taylor deliver a version that is completely their own. The song delivers a declaration of love .

They return to Jimmy Reed with another classic song “Bright Lights, Big City” which he cites as having “Gone to my baby’s head”.  The original “Silly Billy” tells the tale of a “dancing fool who drives the girls insane, too bad you had to go”. Jimmy Rogers’ 1957 song “Walking by Myself” gets a calm rendition as Jaisson proclaims ” I just want to be your loving man”.

Th next two songs are originals starting with “Daddy Baby” opening with some hot percussive sound by Jaisson and a unique guitar run from Brandon. “I want to be your daddy baby. I would like to build a house around this family.” I just want to build my life with you.” Next, Jaisson states that “the pressure might subside, but “I Know It’s Going to Rain Again” as Brandon pulls out his slide guitar. The album concludes with Willie Dixon’s well-known “Spoonful”, which was first recorded by Howlin’ Wolf in 1960.

The duo keeps the music close to the traditional blues as performed by the cited greats, while adding their own touch to every song. Their original songs also fit well against the better-known covers.  Taylor states in the notes that “Music, in general, is basically borrowing from what’s happened before and trying to expand on it. There’s just two of us, so we try to make it interesting”. Well accomplished!

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.

Ross Neilsen – Within Tension

Under Pressure Records

www.rossneilsen.com

10 songs – 41 minutes

Within Tension is Saskatoon-based Ross Neilsen’s 11th release, but first since 2016’s Elemental, recorded in four days at Sam Phillips Recording Services in Memphis when Neilsen was competing at the International Blues Competition in the city in January 2025. Produced by Neilsen, Kevin Houston and John C. Stubblefield, the result is a powerful blues-rock statement of intent.

Featuring nine songs written or co-written by Neilsen, together with a great cover of Eddie Hinton’s “Something Heavy”, the album is a gritty, muscular, mature release, with some stellar songs and great performances. Neilsen plays all guitars and provides all lead vocals, aided and abetted by some top drawer Memphis talent. Stubblefield plays bass, Jay Sheffield III is the drummer and Rick Steff handles all keyboards. In addition, the horn section of Marc Franklin and Art Edmaiston (Gregg Allman, Little Feat) add some serious soul to two tracks.

Neilsen is a superb vocalist, exhibiting emotional depth whether on the finger-picked acoustic closer, “Bold And Beaten”, or the raucous opener, “Rock Ranger”. He’s also a more than handy guitar player, laying down a series of great riffs (Deep Purple would have killed to come up with “Devil’s Picasso”, while the hypnotic drone of the verse of “Road To Memphis” is as subtle an ear worm as you’ll hear all year), fingerpicking in the likes of “Bold And Beaten”, or strumming an acoustic guitar in “Come To Be”. He’s a fine soloist as well, particularly on the slide solos in “Rock Ranger” and “Road To Memphis”, but it’s clear that Neilsen’s primary focus is on serving the song rather than demonstrating his prowess on the six-string.

This is traditional blues-rock but with a modern zing. While “Rock Ranger” may sit at the rockier end of spectrum, a track like “Salt And Sea” has one foot in the blues but the other firmly in experimental rock (as well as some lovely, airy keyboards from Steff).  The organ in “Troubled Mind” has hints late-60s bands like the Doors or the Zombies, although Neilsen’s guitar tone is significantly more modern.  And the blue-eyed soul of “Good Enough” is greatly enhanced by Franklin and Edmaiston’s horns.

Hinton’s “Something Heavy” (previously also recorded by Shemekia Copeland) is one of highlights of the album, based around a simple, repetitive groove but letting Neilsen let loose vocally.

Exploring lyrical themes of mental health, identity, isolation and belonging, Within Tension is a very impressive, very enjoyable release from Neilsen. Well worth exploring.

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

In 2017, Moreland & Arbuckle was a rising blues band on Alligator Records. They were just nominated Blues Music Awards and Blues Blast Awards. They were praised for their gritty juke joint sound. The band played hundreds of shows around the world over 15 years and opened for some of the biggest names in blues like Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, ZZ Top, George Thorogood, and the like. Then they called it quits. Dustin Arbuckle wanted to keep playing and stay in the game, so he did. It hasn’t been easy.

Wichita, Kansas is 90 miles east of the geographic center of the United States. It’s from this small city, where Arbuckle lives and operates his many musical pursuits. It’s proven to be a good central hub.

“We can basically be anywhere in the lower 48 and parts of southern Canada within a fairly easy day’s drive or a hard day’s drive. This is a part of the country where cost of living is pretty low. When you’re making a living as a full-time musician that definitely helps. More work is available in some other markets, so that compensates for it,” Arbuckle said.

Having played gigs since his late teens, Arbuckle has been there and done that and knows the reality of a working musician’s life and the current landscape.

“It’s become more difficult. In my touring career, which is basically 20 years, I’ve seen it decline from a club show standpoint. We have our network of regional clubs that we play a couple, three times a year. It’s gotten much more difficult to string together longer runs. It’s really hard to do more than long weekend regional runs, unless you have two or more festivals or special events that you can anchor a tour around. You need special events to bankroll a tour. The vast majority of our touring schedule is now two to four-day regional run stuff around the Midwest. We do some European stuff as well, every couple of years we have a chance to go over there. I’d like to build the band’s footprint over there. We do great in Poland. It helps that there are people in that part of Europe, a specific agency Delta Touring based in Poland, that has a really good group of venues and festivals they work with in Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia, Austria, which has made that a solid part of Europe. M & A (Moreland & Arbuckle) did really well in Spain, Italy, in the U.K., Switzerland, Austria, a little bit in the low countries. There are great audiences for blues-based music in those territories as well. It’s just a question of getting there because overhead is a thing and you need to make enough money to make it work.”

The harp ace is busy these days juggling multiple acts in multiple genres, including Dustin Arbuckle & The Damnations and bluegrassy outfit Haymakers.

“I split my time pretty evenly between The Damnations and Haymakers. Our bass player, Caleb Drummond, is also in both bands. The Damnations is a blues, roots-rock kind of a thing. Haymakers is an acoustic string band. Myself on lead vocals and harp, Tom Page on acoustic guitar, Caleb on upright bass, and Evan Ogborn on mandolin, so it’s more oriented toward folk, bluegrass, old school country and western swing, and blues is a component in that band. In The Damnations, a guy named Brandon Hudspeth is our guitar player. He’s also with a duo called Hudspeth & Taylor, they’ve been award-nominated. He’s had a Kansas City-based band called Levee Town. I frankly think he’s the most underrated guitar player on the blues scene. Our drummer is Colby Aiken, he’s been with us since about 2021. The Damnations started in 2017 and it’s been a thing ever since. Haymakers began around 2011-12 as a side project during the M & A years, but Tom and I had always wanted to build it up being a touring act, so it’s been great to have that opportunity the last seven or eight years. Each band kind of tours as they can. I also do a harp-guitar duo with a great guitar player from Iowa, Matt Woods. We were proud of that record. It got nominated for a BMA and a Blues Blast award. I also have a duo here in Wichita with Wayne Long, who’s a good Mississippi John Hurt-style finger picker, and we put a record out that got nominated for a Blues Blast award. That’s another necessity of the modern touring world. You have to have different things going. In both of my bands, everyone had multiple touring acts that they work with. It can get complicated. That’s another balancing act that we’re trying to perform.”

All of those acts have had some modicum of success in recent years and the records are all of high quality. The Damnations in particular had some good exposure in 2025.

“We had a couple of really solid festival dates with The Damnations in the late summer months. We had a great set at the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival. We had a great audience and sold a lot of merch. That’s very encouraging. We did the Waukesha Rotary Blues Fest up in Wisconsin, that was another good one. Every time you’re able to get in front of those bigger audiences and get a good response and get in a position to do that more often it helps you know that the band has the appeal to level-up in that way.”

It sounds like The Damnations are the act that is closest to putting out a new record, with Haymakers to follow in the back half of 2026.

“The Damnations are in the process of getting a new album recorded now. All the bed tracks are down, we’ll recut lead parts and get the vocals done. We’re planning on having something out in the first half of 2026. Haymakers is also in the process. I would like to find a good label to work with again. A lot of people will try to tell you a label doesn’t matter anymore, but good labels have resources. If you can work with a label with whom you can form a good partnership and they have the resources to promote and get your music out to outlets and publications, that might be harder for you to do when you’re self-releasing or cost you more money if you have to hire publicity. I think that can be helpful. Some booking agencies may be a little more interested in you if you’re in a solid label situation because they know you have that publicity assistance and things like that. Not to say that you can’t do it independently. It’s a lot to balance. It’s a lot of hats for whoever in the band is doing the administrative and business work. You try to delegate those responsibilities. Different people have different strengths. Being with the right label can help alleviate some of that, but if the right situation isn’t there, I’m happy to self-release.”

Arbuckle has been playing the harp for almost 30 years and is ultra-conversant in the classic and modern practitioners of the instrument.

“I got started on the harmonica when I was 16. I had a different route into it than a lot of modern blues fans have, I didn’t come into it through the classic rock angle. I got into blues because my Dad was into blues and frankly because we had a tumultuous relationship it was something that I think I hoped would be a good connection for us and it was. When I started listening to blues, it was the more traditional stuff that lit me up and still does. Pretty soon I started listening to a lot of early Chicago blues stuff and traditional country blues.”

“The guy who got me started was an old friend of my Dad’s who played around the Wichita area named Bill Garrison. There was another good, local harmonica player named David Graham who really helped me out a lot in the early days. As far as the iconic classic guys, the first guy who really lit me up and whose playing I first remember trying to emulate was Sonny Boy Williamson II, Rice Miller. I think he has a very vocal quality to his harmonica playing and maybe that appealed to me. Sonny Terry was another early one.”

“As far as amplified harp players, Little Walter was huge. The stuff that caught me first with Little Walter was the stuff he did with Muddy Waters. I love Muddy, a tremendous influence on me musically and he always had good harp players. He also reigned Walter in a little bit. If you hear some of Walter’s own stuff, it might have been over my head. You hear a song like “Roller Coaster” and if you’re not there yet, that’s pretty mind blowing, some of the stuff he did. George “Harmonica” Smith, Big Walter Horton, (Paul) Butterfield’s stuff I enjoyed a lot, Kim Wilson, Charlie Musselwhite.”

“Even guys who have been big contemporaries of mine, I love Brandon Santini, Brandon’s a great harmonica player. Steve Mariner, I love his stuff. I’m really encouraged by that kid Harrell Davenport, man. He’s a good player and it’s cool to see a younger guy picking up stuff in that style.”

“As far as one more guy who was a big direct influence on me, was a cat named Lee McBee, we lost him about eleven years ago. Lee was a great, great singer and harmonica player, a fellow Kansan. He played a lot around Kansas City, but also toured with Mike Morgan and The Crawl, a Dallas-based act. Lee was the front man of that band from the tail end of the 80’s off and on through the early 2000’s, so he toured North American and Europe with Mike. Maybe not as technical as Kim Wilson, but a great singer and Lee had his own thing.”

“I saw him the first time when I was 19 at a club here in Wichita called The Roadhouse and it was a life-changing show for me. Random club show, but prior to seeing Lee live, I was a singer who also played harmonica. There was something about seeing Lee that was really inspiring for me. It was one of the first times I had seen a truly great harmonica player in-person. He also was really nice to me. He was gracious with his time talking to this young dorky kid who was super-engaged with what he was doing”

“I bought a copy of his CD called 44 Blues (Lee McBee and The Passions) and it’s an outstanding old-school blues record and that thing didn’t leave the CD player in my car for a couple weeks. I immediately started trying to figure out what he was doing. Over the course of the next couple years, we got to be friends. He had a residency every Sunday night at B.B.’s Lawnside BBQ in Kansas City and every few weeks for a while I would drive up to Kansas City, a three-hour drive, to see Lee McBee and the Confessors, which was a killer band and tried to soak it. He was that living, breathing (chokes up) musical hero for me. Little Walter was dead. Lee was a guy I could talk to on the phone or see live. He was a big musical mentor to me and his style was influential on me. I loved Lee.”

This journey that started in a Wichita bar and has taken Arbuckle around the world has been both joyous and grueling. He’s a successful touring musician who is slugging it out and wearing many hats. “Roller Coaster” could be the theme song for this ride.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time and it’s been an interesting journey. The Moreland & Arbuckle thing lasted a long time and I’m still very proud of the music we made in that band and the experiences we got to have. Right around the time that was splitting up and I was transitioning into my new life touring with multiple acts and exploring and expanding what I was doing musically…at the same time I was also becoming a father for the first time. I was in the first few years of my marriage. I’m really lucky, my wife Michelle is tremendously supportive and has always understood why I need to do this and gets it. I could not do this without her support and love.”

“It was a time of a lot of transitions for me in my life and also coming into middle age and the pandemic. It’s been a really crazy journey the last decade or so. More juggling and more things to manage in my life that I never had to before and figure out how to balance those things. I’ve had a lot of pretty heavy mental health issues come up over the last few years and things that I’m really trying hard to cope with right now. The reason I am talking about this is that I know from talking to my contemporaries and friends on the scene that these are things that a lot of us deal with and the place that the live music world is in right now and the music business is in just exacerbates all of that.”

“This is kind of a dark joke, but it’s real and this is a big thing for me. The music industry kind of runs on mental illness. Very few of us are doing this because we’re OK. I think most of us are doing this because (pause) we need help. We need it to help or cope with something on a mental and emotional level. Music can help you do that, whether you’re an artist or fan, it’s kind of what music is for. It’s a very emotional thing. It can become a big part of who you are and help you through those things.”

“There’s a lot of us out there that are really struggling these days. It’s gotten harder and harder to make a living off of it. It just exacerbates the mental health struggles and for a lot of people that leads to substance abuse issues. I see so many of my friends and other people out there dealing with a lot of this stuff. It’s important for us to not be afraid to talk to each other and to get help, in whatever way you can. Don’t be afraid to compare notes and empathize with each other about the ways we’re all struggling and the life in general and to lean on each other. We don’t need to lose more people out here, man. There’s a lot of really not OK things going on (in the world) and it’s just hard on all of us. Just come together and try to help each other. Hopefully through that we can build community and not feel like we have to be competitive with each other.”

Arbuckle is concerned for the genre of the blues, but also sees glimmers of hope and has opinions about the way to increase its popularity.

“The traditional audience for this music is shrinking, the blues audience. We haven’t seen the influx in young people in the last 20 to 30 years that happened in the 20 to 30 years prior to that. I’m encouraged by the younger artists and their inclination toward more traditional blues. We’ve tried so long to value blues because of its influence on other things. That’s fine if it helps people connect to the music, but I want people to value the genre for what it is, the greatness of this music in and of itself. I would love if we could find a way to communicate that without having to build that on the connection to rock ‘n roll. When we get in front of those (younger) audiences they dig it, but they dig the traditional kind of stuff because maybe it’s less like this classic rock stuff my parents listen too.”

“You see it with a band like GA-20. It’s a cool mix of 50’s and 60’s style blues and some soul and that intersection of the early garage rock-vibe, that makes that band so cool. I think you see that they have been able to appeal to a younger audience. There is this big audience for roots-Americana music. That’s a massive tent that covers so much musical ground. You can appeal to those people with the more traditional stuff and I think more people need to lean into that and I hope they do. Allow yourself to be cross-genre in a way that connects those things. That’s what we’re trying to do with The Damnations and Haymakers, is allow those other influences to come in in tasteful ways that you’re not trying to throw everything but the kitchen sink in there.”

For the last three years, Arbuckle has curated a blues festival in his native Kansas and it’s given him a chance to put his taste to the test and give back to deserving artists.

“I book a small festival in a tiny town called Wilson, Kansas. It’s the last weekend in September. The Midland Roots and Blues Festival. It’s at a really cool place called the Midland Railroad Hotel. It’s a historic place. It was built in the 1890’s for railroad travelers and it’s been kept up. It was a big part of the movie Paper Moon back in the 70’s. I’d love for the Midwestern blues community to check out this festival. We’ve tried to incorporate some people that aren’t exactly the kinds of acts you see on the blues festival scene, though we definitely have those bands. I think structuring some of these festivals a little more like that is not a bad thing. Maybe a country act or string band that has a little more blues flavor to it or a soul band. I’d love to see more of that. I feel like they do more of that in Europe. The festivals that are called blues festivals, but they’re really cross-genre. Blues-centric festivals that also incorporate other things that are very much connected to the blues. The Telluride Blues and Brews Festival does a really good job at that. Waterfront does that well in Portland. I think those are good blueprints. Let’s break down some of those walls.”

Check out Dustin’s website and catch a show when he is in your area at: www.dustinarbuckledamnations.com.

Writer Dave Popkin is a Music News Reporter for WBGO FM in Newark/New York. He is a regional judge for The Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge and is a singer in the NJ-based band, Porch Rockers.

James “JB” Barnes – My Mississippi Roots

Independent

www.jbkeepingthebluesalive.com

13 tracks – 63 minutes

Cleveland born and New Jersey raised James ‘JB’ Barnes traces his roots back to Mississippi dating to the Barnes Plantation where his ancestors were slaves and then to 1928 when his father was born.  His father than moved north in the 1950’s seeking work and shifted eastward in 1965.  His exploration of his family’s history also extended to a look at the region’s blues artists. This search and studies of those past artists all come together in this mixture of originals and covers for this new release. While he has been performing for many years, this is only his second recording. His debut album, “J.B.’s Favorite Things” was released in 2023. Despite the lack of album releases, JB has long been a favorite performer in his region, which led to him being inducted into the New Jersey Blues Hall of Fame in 2016.

JB plays bass and provides the backing vocals for most tracks and his son Jarred “ARKTKT” Barnes plays keyboards. Anthony Krizan from The Spin Doctors produced the album, plays guitar and provides lead vocals on most tracks. Carmine Diorio is the drummer.

“Get Up and Go Blues” opens the album with a tale of struggles to move on from a bad situation all the while trying to find any positives for the situation as he notes “I know it’s not going to change”.  Steven Braxton guests onlead vocals for the song.  JB takes the lead vocals as he exclaims I “Gotta Make a Change” in a slow, classic blues citing his recognition that “If I keep living the way I am living, nothing is going to change”. “When I was a young man, I walked the straight and narrow every day. Now I’m an old man and I battle the devil every day.”  Anthony Krizan takes lead vocals with Will Wilde guesting on harmonica for the “Brown Eyed Blues Man”, who is “just looking for love”.

JB then makes a pointed statement with a humorous touch as he asks, “When Did Crime Become Legal?”.  and follows with “When did politicians become so evil? followed by a chorus of “Lies, lies, lies, cheat, cheat, cheat, why, why, why”. “Southern Girl” chronicles his father’s search for love and meeting his mother in a slow, moving and romantic blues story. “My Mississippi Roots” continues the story of his father’s journey facing prejudice in the 1940’s leading to his move north. He says, “My daddy made a living working dawn to dusk. My mama drove a school bus to take care of us”. “Our family stayed strong, but with the world still knocking at the door.” “Hard times in the darkness and never calling out my name.” “The JB Shuffle” is an airy instrumental mixture of jazz and blues with Will again on harmonica and marks the shift into the covers that follow.

Steven Braxton takes the lead vocals on Hall and Oates’ soulful “Sara Smiles” from 1975 converting the song into a blues ballad giving it a new depth. Carey Bell’s 1959 “Lonesome Stranger” pays homage to the Mississippi harmonica master with Krizan again taking the vocal lead. The song addresses the lonely life of a traveling musician. Braxton takes the lead on a slower blues version of The Rolling Stones’ 1969 “Wild Horses” giving ties to his family history as he dedicates it to the devotion his father had for his mother and family.

“Blues Falling Down Like Rain” was originally written and recorded by Bill Chinnock in 1974 but gained popularity with Kenny Neal’s 1998 rendition. Braxton again takes lead vocals. The song reflects that like rain, the blues can reflect the hard times but also like rain, it can turn into a restorative source. Jeff Beck’s 2014 “Brush with the Blues” is an instrumental tribute to Beck and a challenge for the musicians who recorded it live with no overdubs. The album concludes with a final original with JB on lead vocals and declaring it’s time to “Stand Up and Give Peace and Love a Chance” in a throwback to a 1970’s funk sound.

JB’s roots successfully cover a lot of ground both from a personal narrative but also with an extension of the music of his ancestors showing how it fits a modern narrative.

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.

Wailin’ Walker – Blues Lightnin’ 

Jitterbug Records – 2025

https://wailinwalker.com

14 tracks; 48 minutes

Al “Wailin’” Walker – a Canadian blues veteran mentored by legends like Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, Pee Wee Crayton, and Otis Rush—has spent five decades forging a searing brand of rockin’ rhythm and blues that has packed dance floors since his first Houserockers recording in 1978.

Blues Lightnin’ (2025) delivers finely honed guitar work, emotionally charged lyrics, and a deep, soulful sound. It marks Walker’s seventh release since forming The Houserockers, and on this studio album he unveils electric guitar solos shaped by decades of mentorship and immersion in the Chicago and West Coast blues traditions. Crayton and Rush stand out as chief inspirations.

“Palace of the King” opens the LP with groovy guitar lines and crisp percussion, telling the story of a world traveler returning home. The track erupts into fiery, wailing solos—evocative of Cream at their most blues-driven—as Walker sings, “I’m living in the palace of the king… Nothing makes me satisfied but the blues that I can sing.”

Twangy guitar and melodic piano define “Hungry Country Girl,” a playful, sensual tune about a woman who “gets evil” when she gets hungry. The rhythmic piano anchors the song while Walker’s warm, expressive vocals bring the double entendre-filled story to life.

“Trying to Tell You” is built for the stage—a fast-paced, funky track driven by sharp electric guitar, where Walker laments, “You’re so mean and evil, baby, and you treat me like a fool.”

The band kicks off “Cheaper to Keep Her” with Albert King–style guitar lines. The track offers a humorous take on domestic strife, powered by off-beat rhythms and layers of sound. Walker leans into the humor, singing, “You didn’t pay but two dollars to bring the girl home, now you’re about to pay the girl two thousand to leave the girl alone,” over a tight, rocking groove.

“Natural Disaster” is a high-energy rocker, packed with muscular guitar solos that drive the song forward. With a celebratory edge, Walker belts out, “She loves funky music, she’ll burn you down to the ground. She’s a natural disaster,” amid a whirlwind of electric guitar.

“Three O’Clock Blues” simmers with slow blues intensity. Tense guitar chords and gritty, emotional bends shape the track, with Walker crying, “Since you left me baby, I found out I was nothing but a fool.”

The acoustic influences of Blind Lemon Jefferson and Mississippi John Hurt emerge clearly on “Blues Lightnin’,” the album’s title track. Here, Walker’s vocals take on a deeper, grittier, country-tinged tone, complemented by bursts of harmonica. He sings, “It’s a dark night tonight… Storm on the horizon, I ain’t telling a lie… I’ve got to leave this god-forsaken place,” while tender, rhythmic acoustic guitar lines carry the song.

With Blues Lightnin’, Wailin’ Walker offers a fresh, dynamic album shaped by a wide spectrum of inspirations—delta blues, Chicago blues, blues rock, and country. Strong songwriting and seasoned guitar work stand out throughout, reaffirming Walker’s place as one of Canada’s enduring blues voices.

Writer Jack Austin, also known by his radio DJ name, Electric Chicken (y Pollo Electrico en Espanol), is a vinyl collector, music journalist, and musician originally from Pittsburgh.