Reviews

Message Delivered

Chicago blues man DAVE SPECTER is back with his first album in four years, MESSAGE IN BLUE, and it's a keeper in the blues, soul and R&B categories all. Soul singer OTIS CLAY makes his Delmark label debut in spectacular fashion here.

Reviews

Thinkin’ About LIvin’, Thinkin’ About Life

EG KIGHT returns from a serious illness with the triumphant A NEW DAY and co-produces (and writes some of) LISA BIALES's BELLE OF THE BLUES. Let's think about liven', let's think about life.

Reviews

A Solid Sender

KENNY 'BLUES BOSS' WAYNE is back with ROLLIN' WITH THE BOSS, a cool album of Kansas City boogie-woogie and New Orleans grooves that won't stop rockin'.

Reviews

Ain’t That Good News? Man, Ain’t That News!?

Fresh off being named Best Guitarist at the 35th annual Blues Music Awards in Memphis in early May, Ronnie Earl delivers a most personal and moving album in Good News,

Spotlight Album

Joy To the World

Bluegrass Buddhist PETER ROWAN examines his personal spiritual journey on DHARMA BLUES and offers some insights we should all take to heart.

Spotlight Album

Singing Little, but Saying Oh So Much

In Newfoundlanders DUANE ANDREWS and CRAIG YOUNG the guitar duo is alive and well, even more so than the ivory-billed woodpecker, and their CHARLIE'S BOOGIE album is the undeniable proof.

Reviews

Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Beautiful Bones

On her sixth album, Kansas City-born and –bred soul/blues chanteuse and pianist Kelley Hunt puts it all together—the writing, the singing, the playing—and says what’s in her heart and on her mind in compelling fashion.

Reviews

The Flame Burns Bright

A terrific record by any standard, On Down the Line illustrates Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper's elevated cohesion and vibrant interplay even as it highlights the selflessness the bandleader brings to his calling.

Spotlight Album

Nobody Wins

Five years after his last batch of original songs saw the light of day, RADNEY FOSTER returns as strong as ever on EVERYTHING I SHOULD HAVE SAID. The moral of the story: Nobody wins.

Reviews

It’s Small’s World After All

Adhering to a '1 guitar, 1 voice, one foot format,' MARK T. SMALL's solo acoustic collection of mostly blues songs, with a taste of country and bluegrass for variety, is a low-key, honest effort that leaves a good feeling in its wake.