Live, Uncut & Unscripted Conversations With
"Musicians You Should Know
MUSIC ON THE COUCH
Live, Uncut & Uncensored Conversations With
"Musicians You Should Know"
SHOW ARCHIVES
DECEMBER 2014
Click On Image To Listen To Show
SHOW # 245 - 12/01/14
HOWARD & THE WHITE BOYS
Howard & the White Boys (Howard McCullum, Rocco Calipari, Pete Galanis and Jim Christopulos), got together for a little jam in 1988 and the magic of what they brought to the table was evident. Their 6th album, Rosa's Lounge, is their second live release. I sat with guitarist Rocco Calipari and we discussed his career and his time with this band and also his other band he has with his son, Rocco, Jr.
BLUES411 REPORT - Segment Begins At The 49:14 Mark
Chefjimi Patricola slid onto his Couch Seat for the last time in 2014. We reviewed the year and previewed the coming year in the Blues.
BILLY BOY ARNOLD - Segment Begins At The 1:15:40 Mark
Billy Boy Arnold has released a new album, entitled The Blues Soul Of Billy Boy Arnold. He released his first album in 1952 and has been thrilling audiences ever since. The new album was produced by Duke Robbillard and features a group of incredible musicians backing him.
I spoke with Billy Boy about his career, which did not always go smoothly, his take on the blues, being inducted into The Blues Hall of Fame in 2013 and his BMA Nomination this past year. What an honor to have this legend sit on The Couch.
NIECIE - COUCH KID NEW MUSIC - Segment Begins At The 2:07:07 Mark
Niecie has a new album entitled The Other Side, and she returned to The Couch to discuss this collection of songs and what her life has been like since she first became a Couch Kid.
SHOW # 246 - 12/08/14
We had a technical issue and lost the entirety of the Angel Forrest Interview. She will be back the beginning of February. Also, Mike Zito had to cancel at the last hour due to a conflict.
FATHEAD
Fathead is John Mays, Al Lerman, Omar Tunnoch, Papa John King and Bucky Berger and they have been together since 1992. They have multiple Maple Blues Awards and many other honors and have just released Fatter Than Ever. I spoke with the guys about their individual travels to get to the band and the new album. We also discussed the health of John Mays who is having an operation in January for cancer. During our talk we got the guys to speak about themselves as they have not done before.
MADISON SLIM - Segment Begins At The 49:30 Mark
Madison Slim found the Blues while serving in the Air Force back in the late 60's. He fell in love with the harmonica and bought his first one back then (listen to find out what key it was!). Since then he has performed with Sam Lay, The Legendary Blues Band, Jimmy Rogers and is now a member of Doug Deming's Jeweltones when they perform in Florida. The information on Slim is spread out, but if you listen to our chat, you will learn much about this wonderful musician and fabulous man. Doug and Mark Thmpson also chimed in during our interview. We played music from Slim's album Close...But No Cigar - Slim has hit the target dead on!
SHOW # 247 - 12/15/14
CAROLYN FE - COUCH KID NEWS
Carolyn Fe came by for the segment to give some thanks for her album being named "International Release Of The Year" for the Jimi Awards.
GEORGIE BONDS - Segment Begins At The 5:57 Mark
A Philadelphis, PA native who has battled many obstcles to get to where he is today. Georgie and I spoke about his twisted journey and his success in his battles. He released his debut album in 2001. It took until 2013 for his second, Stepping Into Time to be released. I spoke with Georgie and co-producer Buddy Cleveland about Georgie's road to today.
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GEORGE TAYLOR - Segment Begins At The 52:13 Mark
From Virginia to the delta to Austin and back to Virginia, George's travels have each added new layers to his music. His album, Rain Or Shine, is a collection of 10 originals that show the depth of Taylor's lyrical style and his wonderful melodies. We discussed how he found music and his exploration of the blues and so much more.
ALTERED FIVE BLUES BAND - Segment Begins At The 1:35:07 Mark
The band is Jeff Taylor, Jeff Schroedl, Mark Solveson, Scott Schroedl and Raymond Tevich and they've released their third album, Cryin' Mercy, produced by Tom Hambridge. The two Jeff's joined me and we discussed their individual lives getting to Altered Five, the goals they had at the beginning and the places they are heading in the future.
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ERIN HARPE & THE DELTA SWINGERS - COUCH KID NEW MUSIC
Segment Begins At The 2:22:02 Mark
Erin, Jim Countryman, Bob Nisi and Richard Rosenblatt have a new album entitled Love Whip Blues and Erin came by to share the music, talk about what they have been up to and their upcoming visit to the 2015 IBC. I also asked her to discuss their last visit and share some insights to those who are coming to Memphis in Janaury to compete against them!
SHOW # 248 - 12/22/14
BILL KENTON - "THEY'RE ALIVE"
Bill Kenton runs Blues102.com and does a show that is totally IBC entitled "They're Alive". The music is only from those who have competed in the local or International Blues Challenges. Bill explained that an act does not even have to win their local challenge to be featured on the show, just compete! he gave the information needed to get your music on "They're Alive"
BENNY TURNER - Segment Begins At The 7:30 Mark
Benny Turner has released his third album entitled Journey. Growing up in Texas, Benny snuck peeks under the door to watch his relatives play country blues. Benny has been sharing his love of the Blues ever since. He and I discussed his travels with his brother Freddie King and also his performing with Dee Clark, Marva Wright and Big Joe Young among others. A fasinating gentleman who deserves the love he is receiving from the Blues community at this point in his career.
JW-JONES - Segment Begins At The 49:30 Mark
JW-Jones is from Canada and can play some Blues guitar. His new album is entitled Belmont Boulevard and it is a collection 12 fantastic tunes, some co-written by producer Tom Hambridge. JW and I spoke about his finding the Blues at about 16 and how it took hold of him. He descrbed walking away from college to pursue music and the one thing that he feared most about doing so. We spoke about the award nominations h has garnered over the years and his band lineup and how he has gotten so many icons to perform on his albums.
DARREN WEALE & PAUL LAMB - British Blues Exhibition
Skype would not let us connect. This segment has been rescheduled to February 9, 2015
SOUL STEW RECORDS CHRISTMAS - Segment Begins At The 1:56:57 Mark
Soul Stew Records Owner Eric Selby came off stage from a performance and joined me to discuss the new Christmas album featuring three Couch Kids on his label, Billy Thompson, Norman Taylor and Bob Eike, along with Little Bit O Soul. We played a few cuts from the album, and talked about the past year and the coming year for Soul Stew Records.
SHOW # 249 - 12/29/14
GHOST TOWN BLUES BAND - WORLD PREMIER
Matt Isbell from Ghost Town Blues Band finally took an official Monday Night Seat On The Couch! And to make it even better, he brought along the WORLD PREMIER of Hard Road To Hoe their new album which will not drop for a few weeks. We talked about Matt's journey from playing acoustic shows to touring as an opener for Daddy Mack Blues Band to forming Ghost Town as a trio and the changes the band has gone through over the years. He also shared some thoughts on the IBC, which the band appeared at twice, making the final stage both times.
BOBBY RUSH - Segment Begins At The 50:42 Mark
I was blown away when I met Mr Bobby Rush and he told me he would love to come on the show and we arranged for him to be the last guest of 2014. He and I talked about his early life and getting to Chicago and the musicians he met while there. Throughout the interview, Mr Rush was as open and honest as anyone can be. He spoke of his feeling toward artists who have disowned the Blues because they feel it is beneath them. He gave his thoughts on why most festivals are more White people and fewer Black fans. He spoke about the Blues Hall Of Fame and how excited he is to it. He was gracious when I made two errors in the first 15 minutes or so of our talk! We also listened to some songs from the albums Down In Louisiana and Decisions.
I ended the show with a brief recap of 2014 and also announced a contest we will be holding in 2015 and then ended the show with a song that I just love from 2014, "The Letter" from Mick Kolassa's wonderful album Michissippi Mick...