Jack de Keyzer - Tribute

Bitrate: 320K/s

Year: 2020
Time: 49:03 
Size: 112,5 MB 
Label: Self Released
Styles: Blues/Electric Blues/Blues Rock
Art: Front 

Tracks Listing:
 1. Are You Ready? - 3:22
 2. On the Money - 3:29
 3. Let's Do It - 3:51
 4. That's How We Make Love - 4:20
 5. Coming Up - 4:42
 6. Supernatural - 4:32
 7. Shake What Your Mama Gave You - 3:26
 8. You Turned My World to Blue - 4:47
 9. Just for the Funk - 3:50
10. If My Baby Left Me - 4:06
11. Keep the Fire Burning - 4:03
12. Forever - 4:31

"I’m really excited to announce the upcoming Sep 22 release of my 12th album, Tribute. Twelve new original blues, rock and soul songs, recorded with my band in Feb, right before the lockdown."

Jack de Keyzer is a 2 X Juno (Canada's Grammy) and 7X Maple Blues award winning artist, blues guitarist, singer, song writer and producer and one of the finest blues guitarists on the scene today. The British born, Canadian resident’s career has spanned over three decades. De Keyzer has released 7 CD's and 1 DVD as a leader and appeared as a session guitarist on hundreds of recordings. As a session guitarist he has appeared with many artists including Etta James, Otis Rush, John Hammond Jr., Ronnie Hawkins, Duke Robillard, Robert Gordon, Willy Big Eyes Smith, Bo Diddley & Blue Rodeo. Jack de Keyzer’s songs have also appeared in video; rock & blues radio charts; other artists CD's (Prairie Oyster's Platinum CD Everyone Knows); TV soundtracks and in Motion Pictures. In 2010 and 2003 de Keyzer was awarded Canada's highest musical honour the Juno award for Blues Album of the Year, for "The Corktown Sessions" (2010) and "6 String Lover" (2003). In addition to the Juno, de Keyzer has won 7 Maple Blues Awards and in 2007 won the International Songwriting Competition's first place prize for the song "That's the Only Time". Jack's most recent accolades came from two very Canadian institutions. First, Prime Minister Steven Harper's son Ben received a guitar lesson from Jack at the request of Canada's first lady Laureen Harper (a fan) at the Prime Minister's residence in January of 2009 . Jack was also awarded Great Canadian Blues Artist of the year from a poll of CBC radio listeners in 2009.  He performs across Canada and internationally (US, Mexico, France, Portugal, Greece) over 160 shows per year. Juno Award winning artist Jack de Keyzer is a masterful, electric blues guitarist, soulful singer and song writer of the first order. 

Tribute

Adam Sweet - Sink Or Swim

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2020
Time: 47:56
Size: 109,9 MB
Label: Self Released
Styles: Rock/Blues Rock
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. Working On It - 3:21
 2. You Or Me - 3:10
 3. Like It Or Not - 4:01
 4. Something From Nothing - 3:59
 5. Good Enough - 5:06
 6. Miss You So - 5:03
 7. Devil's Lake - 2:55
 8. Not A Moment Too Soon - 3:48
 9. Fall From Grace - 3:47
10. Trouble - 3:44
11. Here To Nowhere - 4:51
12. Something'll Happen - 4:04

Lyme’s own blues rock guitarist and singer-songwriter Adam Sweet launches his 2020 album ‘Sink or Swim’ at his hometown theatre. Here with his full band he’ll be performing his stunning new album in full, plus favourites from his acclaimed back catalogue and the occasional nod to some of his blues guitar heroes too.
Adam first picked up a guitar aged 7 and maintained a smoldering interest until his early teens when he was taken to see his first live show at the Marine Theatre! Blues rock band The Hamsters were in town that night, and their opening Hendrix number provided the spark needed to set Adam on his way. At 15 he began performing as a guitarist, steadily honing his skills and finding his voice and is now successfully carving out a solo career. His debut album ‘Small Town Thinking’ received 5 stars and the Album of the Month award from Guitar Techniques Magazine. His follow up acoustic EP ‘Take Your Time’ received equally glowing reviews praising his “soulful vocals and expertly piercing guitar work” and featured regularly on BBC Introducing. Adam’s new album ‘Sink or Swim’ showcases a big step forward in his career with a sound that has developed from working closely with new band members Ian Jennings on bass (Jeff Beck, Robert Plant, Ronnie Wood, Mick Fleetwood) and Garry Kroll on drums (Mark Ronson, Joss Stone, Sandi Thom, Andrea Bocelli). With producer Josiah J Manning at the helm at Momentum Studios, Plymouth, the album captures the raw energy and excitement of the band whilst always serving the richly detailed songs crafted by Adam and his long-standing writing partner Steve Black. With brooding ballads and rollicking rootsy rock, Adam’s new album will see him continue to carve out his own territory between classic rock, blues and Americana. The launch show will see the new album performed in its entirety by Adam’s full band with special guests.

Sink Or Swim

Brian Blain - I'm Not Fifty Anymore

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2020
Time: 35:16
Size: 80,8 MB
Label: Self Released
Styles: Blues
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. I’m Not Fifty Anymore - 3:06
 2. You Are Also His Son - 4:50
 3. Le Blues Des Cantons (Goodbye Sherbrooke) - 4:21
 4. The Mother I Never Knew - 3:57
 5. Not Worried Blues (An American Dream) - 3:36
 6. Water Song - 5:26
 7. Tai Chi Ten (A Meditation) - 9:56

Brian Blain was born Sept. 11, 1946. I’ll let the mathematics enthusiasts figure out his age, but Blain is old enough to know that there’s no sense putting out an album if one doesn’t have something worthwhile to say.
With I’m Not Fifty Anymore, Blain offers topical and occasionally personal middle-of-the-road blues in accessible, avuncular ways.
The album-opening title track boogies to a rocking-chair rhythm, with wry observations on growing old. Young (ish) Steve Marriner plays a blazing harmonica in accompaniment. He’ll fully understand the song in 20 years or so.
If Blain’s humour and lumbago are acting up on the opening track, he’s more limber and serious on Water Song, a stylish statement on a world-wide crisis of thirst. Sadio Sissokho (kora) and Harry Manx (mohan veena) add an exotic flair; wailing backing vocals from Ruth Mathiang convey sorrow in a vaguely Middle Eastern manner.
The Not-Worried Blues (An American Dream) is a full-band effort sung from the blithe, oblivious point of view of a suckered blue-collar rube. The piano solo comes from Julian Fauth. Downchild’s Gary Kendall, Mike Fitzpatrick and Pat Carey are also on board.
The Mother I Never Knew burns in a sensitive minor key. It was inspired by the recent discovery of Blain’s birth mother: “A kind-hearted woman, a person of very deep faith / only thinking of others, some might even call her a saint.”
The last track is an acoustic journey and meditation. Recorded with Michael Jerome Browne for Blain’s 2006 album Overqualified for the Blues, the 10-minute Tai Chi Ten goes nowhere in particular – an excellent destination and peaceful exhale.

I'm Not Fifty Anymore

Harry "Big Daddy" Hypolite - Louisiana Country Boy

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2001
Time: 59:34
Size: 136,4 MB
Label: Blues
Styles: APO (Analogue Production Originals)
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. The Sun Is Shining - 3:38
 2. Milk Cow Blues - 5:13
 3. Colinda - 5:22
 4. Someday - 6:38
 5. Wine Spodee-O-Dee - 3:44
 6. For Better Or For Worse - 6:24
 7. Just A Little Bit - 4:49
 8. You Used To Call Me - 2:37
 9. Hog For You Baby - 4:44
10. Louisiana Country Boy - 6:53
11. Big Bad Girl - 3:45
12. I'm Coming Home - 5:42

Harry "Big Daddy" Hypolite has long deserved to make a recording in which he's the featured artist. And now he has, thanks to the indefatigable efforts of Chad Kassem. Harry is a consummate musician, a phenomenal guitar player, an enthusiastic singer, a real crowd pleaser, and an extraordinary but modest human being. I know, because I was at Chad's place to see him perform. And now Chad has issued the first recording to feature Harry, in a wonderful set of performances on SACD. Chad Kassem is doing as much as anyone alive today to preserve the blues. His Blue Heaven Studios, in a beautiful old cathedral in Salina, Kansas, is a place where blues artists can be recorded in state-of-the-art sound in a relaxed, inviting atmosphere. Chad has become justifiably famous for his efforts to record aging blues masters for posterity. I had the distinct pleasure of getting to know Harry Hypolite while covering Chad's third "Blues Masters at the Crossroads" festival in October, 2000 (see show report by clicking here). As a young child in Louisiana, Harry dropped out of school in the fourth grade, after which he chopped sugar cane, dug sweet potatoes, and picked cotton. He's had a hard life, but you'd never have known it from the upbeat, friendly, nearly radiant person he proved to be in Salina.During the concert, Harry's personality just beamed out from the stage. He was grinning, grimacing, and clearly having a ball, and the crowd just ate it up. I called Harry a "modern Cajun Chuck Berry... a guitar picker extraordinaire" in my article "Livin' With The Blues in Salina" elsewhere in this publication. Harry has some flashy moves on his solid-body Gibson 335, including some crowd-pleasing behind-the-back picking. The guy is an amazing performer. With this SACD, you will get a tremendous dose of what I got when Harry was playing mere feet in front of me, minus the crowd noise. The sound is clear, immediate, live and real. Harry is all but in your room in the flesh. This was a pure analog recording made in 2000 at Blue Heaven studios, translated via Sony's DSD (Direct Stream Digital) process to SACD. Harry, on acoustic and electric guitar, is ably accompanied by Jimmy D. Lane on electric guitar and dobro, Big John Amaro on Hammond B-3, Loui Villeri on bass, and Bruce Cahoon on drums. The Hammond B-3 in Chad's place is a fine example of the instrument. Jimmy D's playing is as fluid as what I experienced live in Salina. If this album doesn't get you up and dancing around the room, something's wrong somewhere, and it ain't in this SACD. Harry alternates up-tempo numbers with slower ones, and he sings both in English and in his native Creole. The selection of pieces for this first release is inspired, and it includes several that I heard live in concert in Salina. I am truly thankful to have had the chance to spend time talking to Harry, and to have seen him perform live about four feet in front of my nose. Harry has indeed had a hard life, but he'll make yours a little bit better with this recording.

Louisiana Country Boy

The Kinsey Report - Powerhouse

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 1990
Time: 42:13
Size: 97,6 MB
Label: Pointblank
Styles: Rock/Blues Rock
Art: Full

Tracks Listing:
 1. Image Maker - 4:43
 2. Teenage Rage - 4:01
 3. I'll Be Singing The Blues - 3:12
 4. Bad Talking - 3:31
 5. Hit The Spot - 4:29
 6. Heart's On Fire - 4:40
 7. Keep On Moving - 4:18
 8. Walk With Balance - 3:38
 9. Jammin' Out Tonight - 4:21
10. Good Mornin' Mississippi - 5:17

When a blues band works together as long as the Kinsey brothers have, they develop a special kind of musical communication. On stage or in the studio, each member seems to instinctively know where the others are going, and the entire unit responds like a perfectly-tuned Porsche. The Kinsey Report plays scalding contemporary blues with exactly that sort of intuitive teamwork. Brothers Donald (guitar and vocals), Ralph (drums) and Kenneth Kinsey (bass) have been making music together for most of their lives, and their incendiary attack is a product of those years of unity. Ralph has been playing the drums since he was 5 years old and Donald started playing guitar in clubs around their hometown of Gary, Indiana when he was 13, and was 19 when he hit the road with Albert King. Donald later went on tour and recorded with both Bob Marley and Peter Tosh before returning to the blues and reuniting with his brothers in 1984. Big Daddy Kinsey fronted the band and Kenneth assumed his role as bass player. After coming to the attention of Alligator Records in 1988 the brothers released their first solo album (without Big Daddy), "Edge Of The City," and burst upon an unsuspecting blues world leaving fans and critics open-mouthed with amazement. Their remarkable success led to three W.C. Handy Award nominations that same year. With the release of their 1998 Alligator album, "Smoke And Steel," featuring their blistering brand of street smart, modern, funky blues-rock, the Kinsey Report has blazed a modern trail of powerful, original music that grabs both die-hard blues fans and rockers who love supercharged guitar and boneshaking vocals.

Powerhouse

Hybrid Blues - Hybrid Blues

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2020
Time: 38:33
Size: 88,5 MB
Label: Self Released
Styles: Blues/Blues Rock
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. Adios - 3:06
 2. Ain't Got Time - 2:56
 3. Devil Within - 4:24
 4. English Lady - 3:31
 5. Forsaken - 4:01
 6. Go With The Flow - 3:47
 7. Leaving On A Train - 3:32
 8. Little Boat - 2:49
 9. Lonely Man - 3:22
10. Rich On Love - 3:36
11. Sunshine - 3:25

Recently signed by SGNB Records USA, from "The Land of the Long White Cloud" Aotearoa (New Zealand) Hybrid Blues are a 4-piece band, Mike Everard, Adam Pendred, Mark Schaumann fronted by award winning singer-songwriter Roy Hudson. After Roy's impressive musical career in the UK/Europe he has returned to his Home Land in furthering his passion for the DNA to all modern music today, the Blues. Their Long Awaited New Self-titled Album due for release September 2020 with 11 tracks from Blues, Blues Rock, Country Rock, Latin, Stoner Blues, Rock, Soft Rock fulfills the pallet of a Wild Range of Music Lovers throughout the World with a Genre that can only be described as... "Hybrid".

Hybrid Blues

Fat Jeff - Feelin' Wood

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2020
Time: 47:56
Size: 109,9 MB
Label: Self Released
Styles: Blues/Dirty Blues/Blues Rock
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. French Fries - 5:50
 2. Boring Winter - 4:49
 3. Feelin' Wood - 4:32
 4. Goin' To The Radio - 4:26
 5. Good Old Day - 4:44
 6. Mojito Blues - 5:12
 7. Rust, Coffee and Cigarettes - 3:54
 8. Pleasures - 5:11
 9. Blue Van Blues - 4:19
10. Your Song - 4:53

Fat Jeff is not alone. With his guitars, tight throat and kick, he will bring you to the dirtiest places in Texas or Mississippi. Trippin' in rust and dust with the Fat's dirty Blues. With ''Tales From The road'' in 2018, Fat Jeff is releasing ''Feelin' Wood'', made with depth and honor. A new 10 songs record, massive and powerful.

Feelin' Wood

Cootes Paradise - Downstream

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2020
Time: 28:13
Size: 64,7 MB
Label: Self Released
Styles: Blues
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. The Same Love That Made Me Laugh - 4:13
 2. The First Time - 4:41
 3. You Gotta Make It Through The World - 4:06
 4. Knack For That - 3:00
 5. Scratching Post - 4:04
 6. Meant For Something More - 4:11
 7. Until The Rain Stops - 3:54

Cootes Paradise specializes in original roots based music that is bluesy, funky, and filled with soul. Their music is an infectious, groove-based sound with a mix of super cool covers and originals that easily stand up to the rest of the repertoire. This is Cootes Paradise's 2nd release, following up their Maple Blues Nominated self-titled CD from late 2017.

Downstream

Dione Taylor - Spirits In The Water

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2020
Time: 36:40
Size: 84,6 MB
Label: Matay Records
Styles: Blues
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. Water - 3:53
 2. Workin' - 3:55
 3. Where I Belong - 4:23
 4. Down The Bloodline - 3:47
 5. One More Shot - 3:36
 6. Spirit - 4:27
 7. How Many Times - 2:29
 8. Darkness - 3:40
 9. Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around - 3:39
10. Running - 2:44

On an album of shimmering gospel and swampy Americana sounds, the chanteuse Dione Taylor has got those restless dropped-G blues.
Take, for example, the existential questioning of Where I Belong, in which the Regina-born, church-raised singer is runnin’ and searchin’ and has to “keep on movin’.” On the acoustic-slide-driven Down the Bloodline, the song’s protagonist is “runnin’ and runnin’ down the line.”
There’s a chugging, clapping Slim Harpo groove to Workin’. Taylor sings about cookin’, cleanin’ and “always dancin’ for the man.”
And on the defiant anti-racism of Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around, Taylor is fightin’, walkin’, marchin’, pushin’, prayin’, believin’ and resistin’. So, there’s much of a muchness to Spirits in the Water, an album inspired by a Yuchi Indian legend of a singing river and motivated by a road trip to Tennessee. “Legendary stories and family history travel through us, flow into the waters and down the bloodline,” Taylor says in the album’s press release. If Taylor is a repetitive lyricist, she’s a believable, pitch-perfect singer on these songs of perseverance. Her main collaborator is Joel Schwartz, who produced and co-wrote most of the album while pitching in on guitar and banjo. For fans of slick, cinematic river-bank blues, Spirits in the Water is your ticket. And, one might say, essential listenin’.

Spirits In The Water

Tony Mathews - Condition: Blue

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 1981
Time: 40:24
Size: 92,6 MB
Label: HMG/HighTone Records (1997)
Styles: Blues/Modern Electric Blues
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. I Really Got The Blues Today - 3:07
 2. White Powder - 3:46
 3. Coming Home To You - 2:46
 4. Uncle Joe - 4:37
 5. Lovely Linda (So True) - 4:08
 6. Ann Marie - 3:56
 7. Laid Off - 4:22
 8. Let Me Know When You're Comin' - 4:16
 9. The Changes - 5:34
10. Arkansas Bennie - 3:48

Tony Williams was a sideman for Little Richard and Ray Charles, where he finely honed his guitar chops. This album is his solo debut on Alligator Records. It features great songs, soulful vocals and some really smooth jazz-inflected blues guitar. A very strong album from start to finish. Stand out tracks are White Powder, Ann Marie and Let Me Know When You're Coming.

Condition: Blue

Blue Pearl - Bamalam

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2020
Time: 54:41
Size: 125,4 MB
Label: Self Released
Styles: Blues/Blues Rock
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. Bucket List Blues - 3:41
 2. Three Steps Forward - 3:36
 3. Old Snake Eyes - 6:07
 4. Codependence Blues - 4:40
 5. The End Of A Dream - 6:07
 6. Road To Damascus - 8:15
 7. Bamalam - 3:05
 8. Snowbound - 5:03
 9. Happy - 3:42
10. A Good Man Knows - 5:45
11. Sweet Honey Bee - 4:36

The new album of the group. Let's listen.

Bamalam

The Lizzard Kings (featuring Charles Ponder) - Jim Crow's Shadow

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2020
Time: 37:35
Size: 86,2 MB
Label: Inside Sounds
Styles: Blues
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. Love Shuffle - 2:41
 2. Jim Crow's Shadow - 3:24
 3. Curve Appeal - 2:37
 4. So Gone, So Long - 4:12
 5. Pennsylvania Avenue Blues - 3:00
 6. It's Over Now - 4:50
 7. Big Money - 3:36
 8. Highway Blues - 3:40
 9. Red, White, Blue, & Green - 3:30
10. Black & Blue - 3:03
11. Easy Lovin' Man - 2:57

Memphis songwriter Wally B Ford founded The Lizzard Kings back in 1995 and has now collaborated with Eddie Dattel and Charles Ponder to bring you album Jim Crow's Shadow. The band gained a coveted spot at Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale back in 2019.

Jim Crow's Shadow

Sean Webster Band - Three Nights Live

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2019
Time: 73:01
Size: 167,3 MB
Label: KNM Music
Styles: Blues/Blues Rock
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. Give Me The Truth -  4:46
 2. Hands Of Time -  4:46
 3. Slow Dancing In A Burning Room - 10:30
 4. Heart Still Bleeds -  6:59
 5. Hear Me Now -  8:28
 6. Don't Feel The Same -  8:09
 7. The Mayor -  5:02
 8. "Til Summer Comes Around -  9:22
 9. Highway Man -  9:25
10. You Got To Know -  5:30

Musicians:
Sean Webster - Vocals, Guitar;
Floris Poesse - Bass Guitar;
Hilbrand Bos - Keys;
Ruud Gielen - Drums.

Every artist needs a definitive live album in their catalogue, where the stars align, the right audience is present to inspire the performers, the right set of songs, the chemistry of the band members firing on all cylinders, 'Three Nights Live' is the culmination of those factors for Sean Webster and his band. Recorded across three nights back in March 2019 'Three Nights Live' sees Sean and his fantastic band play their way through some of Sean's excellent original material.
Many of the songs performed taken from the critically acclaimed albums 'Leave Your Heart At The Door' and 'See It Through'. This live album wouldn't be complete without a couple of Sean's mesmerising cover interpretations, for this album they appear in the form of 'Slow Dancing In A Burning Room' by John Mayer and 'Til Summer Comes Around' by Keith Urban, both beautiful renditions showcasing Sean's incredible voice, an instrument capable of both power and delicate emotional expression. Sean's band following their band-leader through these songs and the rest of the performances with almost telepathic ability. To capture the lightning in a bottle, Sean enlisted Superfly Studios and its resident engineer Andy Banfield on recording duties and House Of Tone's Wayne Proctor to take on the mix and mastering role. From the opening count-in of 'Give Me The Truth' through to the final audience response of the last track, 'You Got To Know' the listener is hooked and taken on many an emotional journey. The audience in attendance these three nights in March 2019 knew they were present for something exceptional and saw the album captured in all its glory, just as Sean intended it, he and his band playing their absolute hearts out.

Three Nights Live

J.T.Lauritsen & The Buckshot Hunters - Blue Eyed Soul Vol. 2

Bitrate: 320K/s

Year: 2020
Time: 41:32 
Size: 95,1 MB 
Label: Hunter
Styles: Blues/Soul Blues
Art: Front 

Tracks Listing:
 1. Blues Never Feel That Bad - 4:01
 2. Hold You One More Time - 3:38
 3. Don't Wan't to Lose You Now - 3:52
 4. You're Gonna Make Me Cry - 4:32
 5. Going Back Home - 3:50
 6. Friday Night Ride - 2:52
 7. You Better Come Home - 3:22
 8. Like You Do - 4:10
 9. I'll Carry the Key - 4:11
10. Southbound - 3:24
11. Woman In My Life - 3:36

JT Lauritsen & The Buckshot Hunters are out with the sequel to Spellmann — nominated Blue Eyed Soul Volume 1.
On Blue Eyed Soul Vol2. the band has gone further into the soul and found more rawness and soreness. The band has worked steadily since the previous release and has this time found a more homogeneous soundscape. Borge-Are S. Halvorsen and Jens Petter Antonsen have delivered strong wind arrangements on all the songs that contribute to a powerful sound. JT Lauritsen & The Buckshot Hunters celebrate 25 years this year and the ninth album will be a terrific celebration of the band's position in the Norwegian blues scene.

Blue Eyed Soul Vol. 2

Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters - Rise Up

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2020
Time: 78:52
Size: 190,7 MB
Label: Stony Plain Records
Styles: Blues/Electric Blues
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. I Shall Not Be Moved -  2:20
 2. Higher Love -  5:53
 3. Blues for George Floyd -  3:40
 4. You Don't Know What Love Is -  4:31
 5. Blues for Lucky Peterson - 10:19
 6. Big Town Playboy -  4:03
 7. Albert's Stomp -  4:42
 8. In The Dark -  6:11
 9. All Your Love -  8:12
10. Lord Protect My Child -  6:11
11. Mess Around -  3:42
12. Talking to Mr.Bromberg -  3:28
13. Black Lives Matter -  6:22
14. Blues for J -  6:00
15. Navajo Blues -  3:12

Musicians:
Ronnie Earl – Guitar
Dave Limina – Piano and Hammond B3
Diane Blue – Vocals
Forrest Padgett – Drums
Paul Kochanski – Bass
Peter Ward - Guitar and Liner Notes.

Four-time Blues Music Award-winning guitarist Ronnie Earl gives the world another set of blockbuster blues on his new album Rise Up. The record comes out September 11th, 2020 thanks to Stony Plain Records and contains tracks literally recorded in Earl’s living room as well as live cuts from a Live at Daryl’s House Club performance. The 15 songs here were created to both heal and move the bodies and souls of Earl’s listeners and clearly convey the passion he’s always had for the power of the blues. Earl and his band, Dave Limina on keys, Diane Blue on vocals, Paul Kochanski on bass, and Forrest Padgett on drums, recorded the “studio” material in March just before the COVID-19 pandemic began while Earl was home recovering from back surgery. The Daryl’s House Club selections are from a gig there in January 2019.Ronnie Earl has been at the forefront of the blues world since he first appeared in Boston bars in the 1970s. His Strat-into-a-Super Reverb tone has become legendary along with his concern for the human condition. He’s the son of two Holocaust survivors who is also celebrating 30 years of sobriety this year. He’s intuitively focused on the pain people suffer, especially from depression and human indignity, and, in 2020, Earl felt the need to respond urgently to Coronavirus and racial strife. He touches on Black Lives Matter, George Floyd, Native American issues, and the general state of our modern existence on Rise Up, drawing from the deep well of emotion that has always driven his music. Rise Up begins with a graceful solo acoustic rendition of the traditional “I Shall Not Be Moved” that comes directly from Earl’s house to your ears. Ronnie’s touch is always masterful and he puts this tune down with genuine emotion and the economy of motion only a fully-matured artist can conjure. Earl has no need to showboat at this point in his timeline and simply lets the melody and the mood of the song do all the talking.
The live electric shuffle “Higher Love” follows and takes us to Daryl’s stage just in time for Ronnie and the band to school us all. Diane Blue’s voice is emphatic and strong over the easy mid-tempo shuffle and Earl’s tone and playing are perfect and beyond reproach. His rhythmic comping is as compelling as his lead work and his ever-present soulfulness is in full effect. The band shadows and supports Earl and Blue beautifully and makes each moment of the song one to be savored.“Blues For George Floyd” is a new, mournful slow blues instrumental that rings of sadness and respect all at once and shows Earl at his most eloquent. His phrasing and bends are confident and wise and Earl tells us how he feels the best way he knows how. His live version of Fenton Robinson’s “You Don’t Know What Love Is” is funky, raw, and gives Diane Blue more time to shine on the microphone. Earl’s reverb-soaked tone nails the classic Fender sound of the mid-1960s and will turn every guitarist listening Fiesta Red with envy.“Black Lives Matter” is another expressive slow blues that hovers in the intrinsic pain of this year. Dave Limina’s ghostly piano playing sets much of the mood of this unusual talking blues voiced again by Diane Blue and Earl’s guitar work is what pushes it into your consciousness. “Navajo Blues,” “Big Town Playboy,” and “Lord Protect My Child” are equally amazing and will pay big dividends on your investment of listening time. Ronnie Earl remains a true master of blues music and is one of the most heartfelt musicians working today in any genre. Give Rise Up a chance and it will make this year seem just a bit better and brighter.

Rise Up