| (c) 2007 Blues-Finland.com |
| News In Brief 6 May 2007 On Thursday, May 10th, The Blues Foundation will be presenting this year’s Blues Music Awards in Memphis – ‘The Awards Formerly Known As W.C. Handy Awards’ have gone out annually since 1980. There will be 25 categories, with 5-7 artists competing in each category. The list of nominees planning to attend the ceremonies includes Big George Brock, Bobby Rush, Charlie Musselwhite, Chris Thomas King, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Dr. John, Duke Robillard, Guitar Shorty, Guy Davis, Irma Thomas, Janiva Magness, John Mooney, Johnny Rawls, Kim Wilson, Magic Slim, Mark Hummel, Otis Taylor, Paul Oscher, Rory Block, Sam Carr, Tab Benoit, and dozens of others. |
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| On Saturday, May 12th, The Blues Funnel, a Finnish blues band founded in 1996 who actually do sing the blues in Finnish, will be releasing their new single, “Anna Mun Mennä (Let Me Go) / Tuu aina uudestaan (Keep Coming Back)”. Hailing from the band’s 4th studio session, the songs were recorded at the Be Bop Studios in Pirkkala, just like those of the preceding EP “Nokun”. The sessions for a full-length album are to commence in early 2008. After their year with Erja Lyytinen on the Blues Caravan tour, British artists Ian Parker and Aynsley Lister have been touring together under the “Double Vision” moniker in support of their new solo albums, both seemingly still shaken by their Mississippi experiences. While Parker claims he really found himself on the Caravan tour and that his musical focus is sharper than ever, the bulk of his creative “Where I Belong” album is best described as a mixture of soul, jazz, and pop. Lister’s “Upside Down” CD sounds even more confusing, combining top-grade Lister such as "Disorderly Me" and "Find My Way Home" with pop tunes of little merit. Joan Armatrading, the famed British singer-songwriter from the West Indies, has fulfilled her promise to record a blues album - “Into the Blues” hit the European record stores on April 9th and the US ones on May 1st, to be followed by an extensive American tour this summer. “Joan Armatrading has come to Muddy Waters relatively late, but better late than never,” London’s Evening Standard critic Jack Massarik opines. "I've wanted to make an album that truly reflected me and I think this does,” Armatrading says. “I love the blues and while each song is very different there's a cohesive thread that runs throughout". While some reviewers have questioned her use of synthesizers and multi-layered vocals on this CD, most agree that her new-found chops as an electric blues guitarist are outstanding. A remarkable set of parallels between the 18th century Scotland of Robert Burns and current state of the nation was drawn by a BBC Radio Scotland special on Friday, May 4th, the day after the Scottish parliamentary & local government elections – the programme charted Glaswegian alt.blues artist Dave Arcari’s travels round Scotland as he was putting music to Burns’ “Parcel of Rogues” poem and searching for the poet’s influences and history behind the piece. The resulting track will be released by Buzz Records on Monday, May 7th through iTunes, eMusic and other download stores; the full-length radio special can be heard in the “Listen Again” section of the BBC Scotland website until Thursday, May 10th. While late June/early July will see Scotland’s Dundee Blues Bonanza rolling into it’s 13th year with over 130 live performances spread across 32 venues, Arbroath Smokie Blues Festival that reportedly had been in negotiations with several Finnish blues acts has just been cancelled. “We had asked for the Arbroath Common Good Fund to act as underwriter but, when they finally got round to discussing it properly, they decided to defer any decision till after the election - despite the fact that we had warned that we were now up against a final deadline,” the organizers explain in their official announcement. “You simply cannot organise a festival at this level inside two months.” More bad news for British blues: The Spitz in London that just hosted the hugely successful Spitz Festival of Blues has been given six-month notice to quit its current site in Old Spitalfields Market by its landlords – which could mean that after 12 years in the business, the venue will cease to exist by the end of September 2007. As a further blow to the blues scene there, the owners of the legendary Red Lick Records are rumoured to be retiring: this beloved specialist mail order company of the past 25 years may soon be gone, too. But that’s Britain; here in Finland, the results of the public opinion polls among the readers of Blues-Finland.com are just in. 220 questionnaires were returned with answers, and based on that, the characteristics of our readers are: 87% male, 60% over 40 years of age, 16% professional musicians, 84% amateur musicians or simply listeners. Other music genres our readers are most interested in are classic rock (58 %), soul (53%), jazz (48 %) and country/bluegrass (48 %). Most people seem more or less happy with Blues-Finland.com (on the average, 3,6-4,3 on a 5-point scale), but of course, we shall strive to improve. To start off, 15 lucky winners were picked from everybody participating in the poll: Jandres, Davide Floreno, Mika, Rene Söderman, and Jari Härkönen have won tickets to the Lakeside Blues Festival main concert, and Heikki Muhonen, Juha Holm, Veijo Malmström, Hannu Järvenpää, Riku Rassi, rr4e, RL, Petri Halonen, jro, and LauriPetteri will be taking a ride on the Mississippi Blues Boat – congratulations! Live This Week: Helsinki: Bloodshot Eyes @ Storyville on Wednesday, Micke Björklöf & Blue Strip (new album ”Whole 'Nutha Thang” out in June!) @ Storyville on Friday. Boogie Machine @ Helsinki Blues Club/Kantis, Pepe Ahlqvist @ Idänpiste, The Siberian Blues Huskies @ Rock & Roll House, Blues Bastards @ Käpygrilli, Hasse Walli @ William K – all on Friday. Honey B & T-Bones with the UMO Jazz Orcherstra @ the Senaatintori Eurovision Song Contest happening on Saturday (5.15 p.m.). Pietarsaari: Jo´ Buddy & Down Home King III @ After Eight on Thursday. Tampere: Ice Cream Twelve Bar Band @ Down Home Kivi/Teatterikahvila Kivi on Thursday. Riihimäki: Steve Webb @ Hotelli Linnea on Friday. Petäjävesi: The Blues Funnel single release party @ Ravintola Kanttari on Saturday. Tuusula: Hasse Walli @ Finnegans on Saturday. Forssa: The Siberian Blues Huskies @ the Blue Pool on Saturday. Virkkala: Steve Webb @ Ravintola Petteri on Saturday. Vantaa: Pepe Ahlqvist Duo @ Steinerkoulu on Sunday. |
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