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Preserving Country Blues through Education, Performance and Technology.
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Lay Down My Burden - Grant Dermody |
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Written by Simon Field
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 Lay Down My Burden - Grant Dermody
Independent
Cards on the table. This is only the second harmonica album I have ever bought. That said, calling it a Harmonica album doesn't do it justice or properly describe it. This is a country blues album, with a huge cast of fantastic musicians, in which the focal point happens to be a fine harp player and singer. There's barely a shuffle in sight, and you certainly won't find any 72 bar harp solos.
Crucially (and perhaps unusually) Grant Dermody's harp never dominates the songs here; it serves them tastefully. Perfectly even. Its all about the songs.
Back to the huge cast- the CD kicks off with Eric Bibb on guitar, delivering a subtle finger picked rendition of Gary Davis' I'll Be Alright to accompany Grant's gentle vocal and laid back harp.
Amazing Grace is a standard (and perhaps a cliché) but hits the right spot. Full of atmosphere but somehow unsentimental, the track features Orville Johnson's unique dobro sound, partnered with lap steel and held together by John Miller's acoustic guitar. The smooth beginnings grow into an unexpected crescendo and a good deal of life is breathed into what is a very familiar old hymn.
John Cephas' last recording, a rendition of Hard Time Killing Floor, sees Grant take a back seat to Cephas' vocals and guitar, but as ever the harp is perfectly measured and exactly compliments the song.
Waterbound deserves a special mention. Sparse banjo and a beautiful haunting melody, delivered by Grant with passion and intensity. I'm not familiar with the song, but its one of those tunes that sounds like I've probably known it forever, without happening to realise it.
What I quickly realised on listening to this music, is just how much I enjoy Grant's vocals. He readily switches from soft to booming, but the latter is never ill judged or overdone. The tone is pure and absolutely natural. There are no affectations here, no attempts to try to sound like an old black bluesman. Just Grant Dermody singing loud and clear, from somewhere deep down in the gut.
First Light is another early favourite for me. A Dermody original with an agreeable thumping groove (driven by acoustic bass) and infectious rhythmic mandolin from Orville Johnson.
Notable further contributors to the generous 16 tracks include Frank Fotusky, Louisiana Red, Rich Del Grosso and Del Rey, among many others.
I can do no better in summing up the essence of this CD, than to borrow Grant's quote from the sleeve:
“Eileen said to me once that our life is a poem and a prayer and a love song. Not too surprisingly, so is this recording.”
Hugely enjoyable and highly recommended.
http://www.grantdermody.com/index.html
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Craig Ventresco Plays the Guitar |
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Written by bluesmiked
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 Craig Ventresco Plays the Guitar is the latest CD by, you guessed it, Craig Ventresco. Craig is a San Francisco-based guitarist who came to real prominence when he was lifted off the street corner by filmmaker Terry Zwigoff to record the soundtrack for the film "Crumb." He is known for his encyclopedic knowledge of late 19th and early 20th Century rags, pop and vaudeville tunes, jazz and blues. He manages to rediscover long lost music from old 78s, piano rolls, cylinders and manuscripts. I think most Weenies are familiar with Craig's unique style of playing with a flatpick and ring finger, so I won't go into that. There are a fair number of Craig's videos on YouTube where you can experience his amazing playing.
As one would expect, the songs on this CD are an eclectic collection, many, if not most, were new to me. After some digging on the internet, I found a bit of the history behind some of these tunes. Where Craig got them is anybody's guess. Here’s a brief sample of what's on the CD:
"The Blues Have Got Me", by Roy Turk and Abner Silver, was first recorded in 1924. I found a brief clip of Warner’s Seven Aces doing it for an album called Jazz From Atlanta, 1923-1929.
"Take 'Em To The Door" is a tune written by Henderson-Rose-Davis, performed in 1925 by Gus Van and Joe Schenck. Apparently they were a comedy duo, and the song has piano accompaniment.
"Downhearted Blues" was recorded by Bessie Smith in 1923.
"Low Down Blues" is a Eubie Blake-Noble Sissle tune from 1923. I found a version of it by Eddie Heywood and the Blues Singers on a Document CD.
I credit Todd Cambio of Fraulini Guitars for introducing me to the artistry of Craig Ventresco. While sitting in Todd's workshop, discussing music, he asked me if I'd heard of Craig. I hadn't, and I'm now grateful we had that talk.
Listening to this CD is how I imagine it must have been for those folks lucky enough to have heard Blind Blake or Broonzy playing live for a party or dance. Craig plays this music the way it was meant to be played – rough, raucous, aggressive. There's a rawness, a liveliness, to it that you just don't hear in a lot of folks who play this music. His playing is not genteel. It's real.
I got my CD directly from Craig, which, as far as I know, is the only place it can be purchased.
And it’s a Fraulini Guitar that Craig is playing on this CD. So we got that going for us.
www.craigventresco.com
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Barely in Time for the Holidays |
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Written by WeenieCampbell
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 It is a pain. Console yourself this Christmas with these Weenie favorites, hand-picked by members who either have them or want them.
Better to Give than Receive Dept.:
Bring This Home to Mama. Stay out of jail by supporting the Music Maker Relief Foundation holiday gift program. You can be rewarded with calendars, CDs, and DVDs for donations made to this foundation that supports musicians rooted in the Southern musical tradition.
Books
Devil at the Confluence - The Pre-war Music of St. Louis, Missouri - by Kevin Belford. Artwork, photography and history of blues in St. Louis, plus a CD from Delmark including recordings by Barrelhouse Buck, Speckled Red, Roosevelt Sykes, Big Joe Williams and more.
Barrelhouse Blues: Location Recording and the Early Traditions of the Blues - by Paul Oliver. The latest from the always interesting blues author.
Chicago Folk - Images of the Sixties Music Scene - Ronald D. Cohen, Bob Riesman, and Raeburn Flerlage. Raeburn Flerlage photos of old-time, blues revival and folk revival musicians.
Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Blues - by William Ferris. Based on interviews with James Son Ford Thomas, Willie Dixon, B.B. King and others, includes a CD/DVD.
Linthead Stomp: The Creation of Country Music in the Piedmont South - by Patrick Huber. Not blues, but certainly of interest to many here.
CDs
Texas Sheiks - Geoff Muldaur, Suzy Thompson, Stephen Bruton, Johnny Nicholas, Jim Kweskin, Bruce Hughes and Cindy Cashdollar bring us some great stringband blues.
Mary Flower - Bridges. The latest from this consummate picker includes a wide variety of blues, rags and roots songs with guests playing banjo, piano, fiddle, mandolin, accordion, tuba, clarinet and more. Tim O'Brien appears.
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Blues Images 2010 Calendar |
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Written by Weenie Campbell
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 Last Go Round?
Once again, Blues Images have come out with a calendar full of period artwork from our favorite era to remind us it is not 1929. Or is it?
Collector-in-Chief John Tefteller writes in this year's edition that the 2010 calendar could be their last if business doesn't pick up. The CDs accompanying these calendars have been one of the only vehicles for country blues fans to hear some of the latest finds from 78 collectors, like the Blind Blake record "Night and Day Blues/Sun to Sun" reissued last year. This year, there are two versions of Blake backing Irene Scruggs on "Married Man Blues" - not available elsewhere to our knowledge. Other tracks include Robert Wilkins, Charley Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Skip James, Ida Cox, the Mississippi Sheiks, Ma Rainey, Papa Charlie Jackson, Ramblin' Thomas, Frank Palmes (gotta be Jaybird Coleman), Henry Townsend and more.
All Weenie Campbell members are encouraged to support this much appreciated Blues Images endeavor and keep the calendars coming. You can order from the Blues Images site, Red Lick, Roots and Rhythm and Amazon (order using the Amazon search boxes on the Weenie Juke page and Weenie gets a cut), to name a few places stocking the calendar.
You can also order previous editions of the calendar at the Blues Images site. And while you're there you can buy posters of the Beale Street Sheiks, Victoria Spivey, Sam Collins and others, plus t-shirts of Patton, Lemon and Blake. |
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Fetch It! - Steve Cheseborough |
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Written by Andrew Mullins
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 Fetch It! - Steve Cheseborough
Independent
Portland-based musician and author Steve Cheseborough has put together a strong set of country blues for his latest CD, Fetch It!, which was released in January. The author of the guidebook Blues Traveling: the Holy Sites of Delta Blues, Cheseborough is a part-time blues historian, but never comes across sounding like one on this CD. He takes a laid back approach to the music that is very appealing - it's always a pleasure for the listener when the performer sounds so relaxed and sure of their material. Just sit back and enjoy.
The record opens with "Hear Me Talking to You", an arrangement of a Ma Rainey song with a beautiful melody that provides the title for the CD in its lyric, "you got to fetch it with you when you come." The pace sets the tone for much of the rest of the disc. Cheseborough adapts the song - originally played by a jug band - for solo guitar in Vestapol tuning to great success. His arranging talents are in evidence throughout the record, but particularly on Little Brother Montgomery's "Vicksburg Blues", a slow blues that transfers surprisingly effectively from piano to guitar, and the wonderful Georgia Tom Dorsey song "Been Mistreated", which sounds a little like it's gone through a Bo Carter machine.
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Written by Weenie Campbell
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 It rose, it rose, it rose from the dead
It rose, it rose, it rose from the dead
It rose, it rose, it rose from the dead
And the Juke shall bear my spirit home.
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Just in Time for the Holidays |
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Written by Weenie Campbell
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 The past year or so has seen a number of new releases from members and friends of the Weenie Campbell community. We've collected them here as a few gift ideas for your holiday season. Talented Weenies and Weenie favorites have their own kind of joy to bring to the world. Here is some music to save you from relatives who insist on spinning Josh Groban's Noël or the soundtrack from A Charlie Brown Christmas yet again. Along with a couple other suggestions. Let us know if we've missed your release. Share the list with friends and relations who are stumped each year when shopping for a country blues fiend. Or buy yourself a present.
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