Archie Lee Hooker

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Official Website: http://www.archieleehooker.com/

Built on a foundation of authenticity, passion and innovation, Archie Lee Hooker & The Coast to Coast Blues Band is a spearheading group that has established itself in the world of music. Formed by Archie Lee Hooker, the nephew of John Lee Hooker, Archie and his leading hand-picked team are highly recognized for creating compelling, soul-enriching productions that leave their audiences wanting more.

Archie was born on Christmas Day of 1949 in Lambert, Mississippi, just 20 miles from the crossroads where Robert Johnson supposedly sold his soul to the devil.

He was the son of a sharecropper, and up until age thirteen, that was the life he was accustomed to. That all changed when he headed up north and found himself standing in the big city of Memphis, Tennessee. The paved roads and city lights felt like a new world to Archie, one that was filled with opportunities. Inspired by the Memphis music scene, it didn’t take long for Archie to begin singing with his first gospel group called “The Marvellous Five.” However, December of 1989 was when his passion for Blues started to surface. During this time, Archie lived with his uncle, John Lee (the Boogieman himself) until his death in 2001. Being surrounded by him and other committed, talented, and influencing musicians is what became the catalyst for Archie to crave sharing his own life experiences through music and leave his lasting impressions.

Though Archie left for France in 2011 to join Carl Wyatt & The Delta Voodoo Kings to tour Europe, he eventually chose to seek the right musicians to have on his side. He wanted a team that resembled family, chemistry, and a bond unlike any other. Once he found them, Archie founded the Archie Lee Hooker & The Coast to Coast Blues Band, which was specially named after the late John Lee’s Coast to Coast Blues Band. Since then, the crew has done nothing but thrive and impress. They released their first album called ‘Chilling’ under the French label Dixiefrog in 2018, which received a 5-star review in Rolling Stone Magazine. Fast forward to today, they have recorded a new 12 song CD called ‘Living in a Memory’, and this all-original playlist of storytelling art is set to be released through Dixiefrog worldwide on April 16th 2021.

In the end, every song and performance that Archie Lee Hooker & The Coast to Coast Blues Band creates paints an incredible picture that inevitably provokes uplifting emotional influences and invested attraction. They are entirely passionate about delivering remarkable music, and continuously provide fully authentic productions that have shaped them to become what they are today. With their immense drive and determination, it is exciting to see what they will launch next.

Blackcat Zydeco featuring Dwight Carrier

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Website: https://blackcatzydecomusic.com/

Dwight Carrier popularly known as, “The Black Cat” has become one of the most exciting Zydeco Accordionist of this era. He is deeply rooted in the “Carrier” family tradition, where music has always been a passion and implemented into much of their families past time. He embraces both his family tradition as well as his Cajun Creole Culture. Dwight has always had a unique style that infuses his zydeco, blues, country and R&B influences.

Growing up in the small town of Church Point, La in a time where rap music was gaining momentum, Dwight’s friends would laugh when he and his brother Joseph chose not to take that route. Initially, Joseph played the accordion while Dwight played the drums. It was after many relentless hours of practicing with his brother that Dwight grew restless. He yearned to play the accordion. It was with much practice, passion and determination that Dwight not only learned to play the accordion but was he able to play it well. He and Joseph switched instruments and it Dwight Carrier & the Zydeco Rockers was created.

In 1988, at the age of 14, Dwight recorded his R&B 45 record entitled “My Baby Left Me”, earning him local status, playing frequently on the zydeco circuit at trail rides and dance halls in and around the state of Louisiana. He realized that his friends were no longer laughing, but instead, were asking him to teach them to play.

In 1991, Dwight Carrier was asked to become a member of the Creole Zydeco Snap Band headed by Creole & Blues musician Warren Ceaser. He accepted the opportunity and became the groups’ accordionist. Dwight traveled with the band extensively around the world and for several years making appearances at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. On the 1995 CD entitled “The Crowd Pleaser”, Dwight released two more recordings, “Zydeco Coteau (Going Down South)” and “Zydeco Shuffle”.

After taking an extended absence from music, Dwight was able to work his way back into his music, playing with his uncle Zydeco Legend, Roy Carrier & the Night Rockers. He is has also had the privilege of playing with cousin Troy “Dikki Du” Carrier & the Zydeco Crew, Andre Thierry & Zydeco Magic, Hugh Robertson & Zydematics, Tony Trahan & Blue Krewe just to name a few while still being the front man for the Ro Doggs. Dwight “Black Cat” Carrier and The Ro’Doggs released their debut full length CD titled “It Ain’t My Fault” in early spring of 2009.

Dwight is one of the few Zydeco musicians with the ability to travel to a city, pick up a band of local musicians and produce a sound equivalent to that of artist working together for years. The ability to do this allows him the ­flexibility to perform in places that may otherwise, not be economically feasible and still able to share traditional zydeco along with treating people to a great time. Dwight is a party band leader and his shows have been rated high energy fun. “The Black Cat”, is not the typical zydeco artist as, he draws from a wide variety of influences bringing it all home to the most exciting danceable night you’ll ever experience! He looks forward to playing that “Old Thyme Zydeco”, with just an accordion and a rubboard.

Dwight has been able to share his musical talents all over the world including places such as; Italy, Sicily, Paris France, Central America and many parts of Canada. His influences include everyone from Clifton Chenier to James Brown with a little old time Zydeco and R&B for good measure. The “Black Cat” has recently returned from a nationwide tour with 2013 Grammy Nominated Artist, Andre Thierry. He has also performed with; “The Red Rocker” (Sammy Hagar), former bass/guitarist for James Brown “Robert Watson” and world class musician, Bobbie (Spider) Webb to name a few.

The Boneshakers

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Official Website: www.OfficialBoneshakers.com

No holds barred funk, blues, and rock that marries the sounds and spirits of Detroit Rock City, Memphis, and Mussel Shoals. In the remarkable 25-year career of The Boneshakers, the iconic band has always been led by world-renowned guitarist Randy Jacobs of Was (Not Was). The band and members have toured and recorded with Bonnie Raitt, BB King, Keb Mo, Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Bootsy Collins, Tears 4 Fears, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Gov’t Mule, and Iggy Pop…just to name a few. They have built a substantial following among blues, jazz, and funk audiences with their powerhouse style.

Producer John Wooler, who originally signed The Boneshakers in 1997, connected Randy and the incredible Jenny Langer- a powerhouse singer who was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame (NYC and VA) at the age of 28 and won the 2020 Int’l Blues Challenge for Best Self-Produced Album. What started as a few tracks for her project quickly morphed in a new album with The Boneshakers which together they married the sounds and spirits of Detroit Rock City, Memphis, and Mussel Shoals. Produced by Wooler, it is back to the original vision of The Boneshakers’ fiery sound, with the vocal dynamo Jenny Langer behind the mic and original musicians from “The Book Of Spells” Sergio Gonzales (Drums), Nathan Brown (Bass), Jon Gilutin (Keys), The Texacali Horns featuring Joe Sublett (Sax) and Mark Pender (Trumpet), and Randy’s former band mate from Was (Not Was) Sir Harry Bowens on vocals.

Cassie Taylor

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Official Website: cassietaylormusic.com

Tour Dates

Cassie Taylor was born in 1986 in Boulder, Colorado, where she was raised by her parents Carol Ellen Bjork and blues musician Otis Taylor. She has one younger sister. Despite being born during a period when her father was on hiatus from the music industry, he did expose her to blues music and teach her piano when she was young. She only became aware of his previous career around age 8 or 9. At around age 12 she began playing electric bass, impressing her father with a rendition of “Hey Joe.”

When Taylor was 16 her father asked her to tour as the bassist in his band. Since his usual bassist Kenny Passarelli had a conflicting schedule she joined his summer tour, playing for twenty dollars per gig. According to Taylor, her father didn’t build her up as a prodigy, but rather “I think I was just cheap child labor. Plus, he knew I wasn’t going to get drunk on the road or go missing. Some people have the fear of God in them. I had the fear of Otis.”

She toured multiple countries with the band, picking up vocals and keyboards as well. She went on to appear in eight of his albums, including lending bass and vocals to his 2007 album Definition of a Circle. She is also on the Board of Directors for the Blues Foundation.

Crystal Thomas

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Website:  CrystalThomasBlues.com

Crystal Thomas is big and she’s bluesy, and she’s raw. She can grind a note and use it any way she wants to. After all, she grew up listening to Muddy and Jimmy Reed and Johnnie Taylor and rapped a little, too. Raw and gritty music is in her blood.

And she loves her musical life. Crystal sang before she talked. She sings in her car at red lights. And she belts it out in church, in juke joints, and around the world in Japan, Spain and Hong Kong wowing the crowds. This woman’s voice makes you glad you are alive even if your girlfriend dumped you.

Ask Crystal about where she came from. She’ll lean back and smile and tell you about growing up in Mansfield, Louisiana in the deep country. She remembers her favorite hog turned into supper. Mostly, she remembers playing DJ while her family played cards and learning the trombone in fifth grade because her brother had given up on it and her mom didn’t want to pay for another instrument.

Having Crystal step out front with a super-star band that includes Lucky Peterson on keys, he allows her to lean into the mic and sing with abandon. Lucky has played with everyone. Otis Rush, Etta James, Bobby Bland. Brothers Johnny and Jason Moeller offer up guitar and drums – Johnny finding time between tours with the Thunderbirds and Jason with the cred that comes from backing artists from the Thunderbirds to Jewel Brown and Little Joe Washington. Bass player extraordinaire, Chuck Rainey, starts the list with Aretha, Fats Domino, Barbara Streisand, and quite literally hundreds more. Crystal takes full advantage of the grooves they lay down and even plays a little trombone here. Something she did working with Johnnie Taylor just before he passed on. Johnnie didn’t know she sang until near the end. He’d decided to take her to Malaco to record but ran out of time. Thankfully, Dialtone finally made that record. Hallelujah!

Scott M. Bock
Living Blues Magazine

Eden Brent

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Official Website: edenbrent.com

Nicknamed “Little Boogaloo” by her Mississippi mentor Boogaloo Ames, Eden Brent is much more than her signature boogie-woogie piano and juke-joint blues holler. She is a celebrated songwriter and dynamic performer, with numerous nominations and awards including eleven Blues Music Award nominations since 2009 and three BMA trophies. Her most recent Yellow Dog Records album, Jigsaw Heart was nominated for BMA Acoustic Album of the Year, continuing a streak of nominations for her last three albums.

Born in the heart of the Mississippi Delta in Greenville, to a family of riverboat captains and guitar pickers, Eden’s story could’ve been written by Tennessee Williams or any number of Mississippi’s colorful authors. The Greenville bridge is named for her grandfather Jesse, the Waterways Journal “Riverman of the Century”. Her father, Captain Howard, famous for his Hank Williams renditions and grand story-telling, is a bona-fide living “River Legend”, and her mother Carole was born a sharecropper but became a big band singer and fashion model, working at Chicago’s Chez Paris in the 1950’s.

A life-long piano enthusiast, Eden was surrounded by music and learned her first notes at age three. “Grandma could read and play beautifully,” Eden explains, “She taught me Middle C and my first simple tunes. I had an ear for music and was pecking out my brother’s recital piece before I was old enough to go to school.” Piano lessons were part of her education from primary school through graduation from the University of North Texas and beyond. “I always loved to play, but I hated to read and I really hated practice until I started hanging around Boogaloo. He put the music right in my hands.” She continues, “Daddy jokes he could’ve saved a lot of money on my college tuition had he introduced me to Boogaloo a few years earlier.”  The duo traveled and worked together for 16 years until Boogaloo’s death in 2002.

Eden is featured in three documentary films: Boogaloo & Eden: Sustaining the Sound; Forty Days in the Delta; 180 Degrees: Changing Lives in the Mississippi Delta, has appeared in print publications like USA Today and Garden & Gun, has been highlighted on national radio broadcasts including NPR Weekend Edition, House of Blues Radio Hour, and American Routes, and her music continues to delight both critics and live audiences alike.

Since launching her career, Eden travels the United States and abroad performing in festivals like Notodden, the Chicago Blues Festival, Cognac’s Blues Passions, and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. She’s a frequent piano bar host aboard the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise and  has been a special guest aboard the American Queen Steamboat, a performance that celebrated her Mississippi River heritage.

She has released four solo albums: Something Cool 2003; Mississippi Number One 2008; Ain’t Got No Troubles 2010; and Jigsaw Heart 2014, and is currently on the Yellow Dog Records label. In addition to her four solo albums, Eden recorded The Brent Sisters Party Dress with sisters Jessica and Bronwynne, also songwriters. Released in 2012, the album is a collection of songs written by their late mother, Carole Brent.

Eden lives in her hometown with her husband Bob Dowell, a musician and arranger from the U.K., and their three very naughty dogs.

Joe Krown Quartet Featuring Papa Mali

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OFFICIAL WEBSITE: joekrown.com

Joe Krown is a resident and is based out of the city of New Orleans. He is a New Orleans styled piano and Hammond B-3 player. He has been nominated twice and won a New Orleans Big Easy Award in the Blues category in April 2001. His blues trio, Sansone, Krown & Fohl won a 2004 Big Easy Award. Joe’s third compact disc, Buckle Up, was picked #4 CD, “Best of 2000CDs” in the Times Picayune, and “Best CDs of 2000” in OffBeat magazine. Joe was also selected “Best Keyboardist, Editor’s Choice” at CitySearch.com for New Orleans. Joe’s fourth CD, Funkyard was picked #4 CD in Gambit Magazine and #15 in the Times Picayune “Best CD’s of 2002” and “Critic’s Choice Best of 2002” in Offbeat Magazine. Joe’s CD, Livin’ Large (2005) clocked in at #11 in overall sales for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival 2005. His trio with Walter Wolfman Washington & Russell Batiste Jr. won a 2009 Offbeat Award for “Best R&B/Funk CD” (Live at the Maple Leaf) and a 2009 Big Easy Award in the “Best Rhythm & Blues Band” category. He is currently touring all over the U.S. and the world as the organ/piano player for the award winning Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band.

Papa Mali has been a touring musician and recording artist for decades. Yet, he is probably best known as the front man for 7 Walkers, a band formed in 2009 that includes three musical icons: Grateful Dead founding member and drummer Bill Kreutzmann, The Meters’ founding bassist, George Porter Jr. and lyricist Robert Hunter, co-writes much of 7 Walkers material with Welbourne. Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, Matt Hubbard completes the lineup. Their self-titled debut was released to critical acclaim in November of 2010. Papa Mali is also known for his own live performances and recorded output, most notably his two albums for Fog City Records (2000′s Thunder Chicken and 2007′s Do Your Thing) produced by Dan Prothero and featuring some of New Orleans’ most legendary musicians. His work as a producer includes 7 Walkers (Response, 2010), The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster (Blue Corn, 2007) and records by Lavelle White, Omar and the Howlers, Wendy Colonna, The Greyhounds and others.

Collectively Joe Krown and Papa Mali are taking Joe’s latest release “Tribute” on the road. It is a curated collection of songs from many of New Orleans’ gifted musicians: Allen Toussaint, Walter ‘Wolfman’ Washington, and many more. Joe showcases his piano expertise while showcasing the plethora of friends who joined him in making this release a true work of art. With a little bit of help from his friend, Papa Mali, the songs will come to life. This show is must for all who love New Orleans music. Specifically, New Orleans piano.

Joe is currently touring all over the U.S. and the world as the organ/piano player for the award winning Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band.

Available for limited dates only.

Jonathan Ellison

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Website: https://JonathanEllisonMusic.com

Jonathan Ellison was crowned the new “King of Beale Street” in 2019. He released his debut album, “Guitar Cry for Me” to rave reviews from Living Blues Magazine and other outlets. Jonathan plans a summer 2023 release for a new single as well as a full album, “Rhythm and Soul Blues Man” in 2024.  He is the recipient of the WC Handy Heritage Award. Jonathan is currently nominated for Contemporary Blues Album for “Changing Times” with the group Silent Partners. Jonathan, along with Silent Partners, is also nominated for the prestigious Sean Costello Rising Star Award.

“The Ellison Family was performing in churches in the South. My dad couldn’t afford to buy us a tuner. He taught us to tune to Eb, the black keys on the piano. I didn’t use a tuner until I was in college.” -Jonathan Ellison

“We were like the gospel version of The Jackson Five.” Jonathan Ellison has a resonant, eloquent way of speaking about his musical upbringing in Brownsville, TN. The Ellison Family gospel group, established in the 1970s, featured Jonathan’s Mom, Ella Wee Ellison on vocals and his Dad, Ivory T. Ellison, played lead guitar. Ivory Ellison taught each of his children to play instruments. Jonathan learned to play multiple instruments by the time he was ten.

The Ellisons lived on a country road in Brownsville built beside a cotton field. “It was a musical melting pot,” says Jonathan. “Most everybody living on that road played an instrument. We’d put a couple guitar amps outside under the carport and play music. I learned to play from my father, brothers and neighborhood fellas as well.”

Jonathan is the youngest of eight children. “Dad always told us we were not better than anybody and no one was better than us. He always said, ‘Just be yourself.’ Dad looked at music as a joy. He worked several jobs so we could travel to churches and perform. He also had his own radio show. I started going to the station with him when I was five. When I was twelve, a spot became available, and I had my own radio show that I hosted until I was nineteen.” 

“Keep your car full of gas. Don’t be broke and hungry and caught on empty….” Ella Wee Ellison

Jonathan played in the “family business” until college. A student at the University of Memphis, he was only sixty miles away from home. “I always kept my gas tank full.  Memphis allowed me to be independent, but also close to family.”

Immersed in the Memphis scene, Jonathan started playing with community choirs and solo artists. He played for workshops and gospel recording sessions. His reputation as a musical artist led to playing lead guitar at BB Kings Blues Club. 

Jonathan was also part of the BB King Allstars in conjunction with Tommy Peters and the Beale Street Music Company. He performed in over sixty-two countries with The Allstars at The BB King Clubs on the Holland America Cruise ships.

Jonathan was the Musical Director and lead guitarist for the Queen of the Blues and Southern Soul, Ms. Denise LaSalle, until her death in 2018. Jonathan says the experience profoundly influenced his musical direction, but not his heart and soul and musical ministry.

“I knew I could not make a living at gospel. The first secular gig I did, I made money. Gospel is my heart, my foundation, and I don’t feel I’m just a blues artist. I’m a rhythm and soul blues man.”

“I believe no matter what kind of music I’m playing, I’m still in my ministry…I want to positively affect the hearts and minds of the audience.”

Jonathan’s gospel roots are always evident, no matter the venue in which he’s performing. “My ministry is God first. On stage, God in me is going to reflect out and onto an audience. Being on stage is my mission.”

Jonathan explains, “When you walk into a club, there’s an audience. That doesn’t happen by accident. They bought a ticket to be there. There may be someone dealing with depression or a broken relationship. I hope my music can change minds and uplift spirits. My music comes from my heart and reaches their heart and says a prayer.

A person’s mind may be in a better place after my performance.”

Jonathan’s unique musical perspective make him an unforgettable performer. His rich history, dedication to his craft, core beliefs and love of performance are a reflection of his inspiring soul.

Kat Riggins

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Official Website: http://www.KatRiggins.com

Kat Riggins was born Katriva Riggins in Miami, Florida on February 7, 1980. She grew up in a household where there was always background music. Because of the wide range of genres in her parents’ collection, Kat developed a love for all types of music from gospel and soul to country and rock and everything in between.

She was drawn to the smoky gritty sounds of artists like Bessie Smith, Sam Cooke, Nina Simone, Tina Turner, Denise LaSalle, Ray Charles, Koko Taylor, Mavis Staples, Tracy Chapman, Janis Joplin and the list goes on. She grew up singing in local programs, church events, and family gatherings with her sister and cousins. At age 23 Kat landed a gig singing jazz and blues standards in a small lounge in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida with the accompaniment of only a piano player. Fast forward to today, and she has since performed with extraordinary musicians throughout the United States, Southeast Asia, the U.A.E., the Dutch Antilles and Europe.

In 2018 and 2019 Kat was featured in the Johan Derksen Keeps the Blues Alive tour, which stole the hearts theatregoers in sold out shows throughout The Netherlands. She has also appeared on two of the highest rated prime time television shows on Dutch TV (Voetbal Inside and PAUW) where she mesmerized millions of viewers and helped to introduce the Blues to hordes of new fans!

Kat’s own musical style is a blend of the Blues with elements of all of the genres born from it. Aside from the hip shakin’ fun stuff…Kat writes songs that hope to uplift, enlighten and inspire. Her approach is refreshing and unapologetically authentic.

With her first two works (an EP called “Seoul Music” and an original album called “Lily Rose”), Kat penned each song with subtle hints of her love of the blues. Her follow-up album, aptly named after her movement “Blues Revival”, however, is a loud and proud declaration of that love!

“Blues Revival” is a clever mash-up of Gospel-Blues, Blues-rock, Blues- soul, funky Blues, contemporary and traditional Blues, with BLUES being the operative word! Her third album (“In the Boys’ Club”) is an homage to the Blues women who came before her, a shout out to those who walk beside her and encouragement for those women in Blues who will come after.

In January of 2020 Mike Zito and Guy Hale welcomed Kat Riggins to their Gulf Coast Records family! Kat’s debut album on the record label earned the artist her first Blues Music Award nomination. In addition to the BMA nod for Contemporary Blues Album, the “Cry Out” project won Kat two Independent Blues Awards (Contemporary Blues Album and Contemporary Blues Band) and it continues to receive rave reviews! Kat was honoured to score her 2ND BMA nomination the following year for Blues Soul Artist female!

Kat’s second release on the label, “Progeny”, debut at #13 on the Billboard Blues charts to critical acclaim! The album got Kat her first Blues Blast Awards nomination and 5 MORE Independent Blues Award nominations! Progeny continues to be well received worldwide, and is said to be the singer- songwriter’s best to date, by critics and fans alike. With these and albums to come, Kat Riggins’s Blues Revival Movement endeavours to be a part of this musical revolution that aims to awaken the masses and introduce them to the sincerity behind Blues music!

Mike Morgan & the Crawl

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Website: www.mikemorganandthecrawl.com

Mike Morgan was born in Dallas on November 30, 1959, and grew up in nearby Hillsboro, Texas. Morgan displayed an avid interest in music as a youngster, listening intently to the impassioned soul sounds of Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett on local radio stations. He received his first guitar while in the third grade, but didn’t begin to take playing seriously until he discovered Stevie Ray Vaughan’s album, Texas Flood, in 1985.

“When I heard Stevie’s first album, that was it,” Morgan recalls. “I already knew how to play the guitar, but Stevie showed me a lot of things I didn’t know. After that, I dove headlong into playing the blues.”

As his prowess on the guitar developed, it became clear that he was not merely a Stevie knock-off, but rather an original player with a sound and style all his own. Mike moved to Dallas in 1986 and soon hooked up with experienced vocalist Darrell Nulisch (formerly with Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets) to form The Crawl (named after an old jukebox hit by guitar great, Lonnie Brooks). Darrell had a tremendous knowledge of blues and a deep collection of blues records, and he exposed Morgan to the music of the Chicago blues scene and many of its key players.

Mike Morgan and The Crawl quickly made a name for themselves as one of the best contemporary blues bands in Texas, writing original songs that were on a par with the classics they chose to cover. After Nulisch left the band in 1989, Morgan set out to find a vocalist who would fit his desire for a broader-based R&B sound. He found the perfect match in Kansas City native and blues veteran Lee McBee, whose smoky, seasoned vocals were reminiscent of the legendary 1960s soul singers Morgan listened to while growing up. The fact that McBee was also an accomplished and revered harmonica player added more fuel to The Crawl’s fire.

Mike and Lee’s collaboration proved popular with blues fans and appearances at the Benson & Hedges Blues Festival, the Dallas Blues Festival, the Atlantic City Blues Festival, and the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival soon followed. As the profile of the band continued to rise, Mike’s friend Anson Funderburgh recommended them to Blacktop Records owner Hammond Scott. Scott first saw the band at a show at The George Street Grocery in Jackson, Mississippi. He was so impressed he met with the band at their hotel immediately after the show to discuss signing with the label.

Mike Morgan and The Crawl found a national audience with the release of their debut recording, Raw & Ready, in 1990. Backed up by extensive national and international touring, Mike Morgan and The Crawl continued to amaze their fans throughout the 1990s by releasing five highly regarded albums, Mighty Fine Dancin, Full Moon Over Dallas, Ain’t Worried No More, Looky Here!, The Road, and I Like The Way You Work It. Morgan even kept a high profile during some downtime away from the band in 1994 by recording Let The Dogs Run, a highly acclaimed record that paired him with fellow Dallas guitarist Jim Suhler.

Meanwhile, praise for Morgan and the band came flooding in. Guitar World Magazine called Morgan “a genuine blues guitar hero!!”

Blues Access Magazine raved, “Mike Morgan and The Crawl crank up an irrepressible mix of fresh gritty blues and romping Stax/Volt-era soul.”

New Years’ Eve 1999 saw an end to the Morgan /McBee era of Mike Morgan and the Crawl. As Lee ventured out to do his own band back in his home state of Kansas, Morgan decided it was high time he took over as front man. After years of great frontmen such as Lee McBee, Darrell Nulisch, Chris Whynaught, and Keith Dunn, Mike was ready to take on the new challenge.

In 2000, Texas Man, Mike’s first vocal outing was released on Severn Records. Texas Man met rave reviews and was followed up in 2004 by Live in Dallas. Stronger Every Day was released by Seven Records in 2007 and had guest appearances by Lee McBee and Randy McAllister.

Mike did not tour much after 2006. While he still played local gigs and a few scattered tour appearances, he spent most of his time with his other love, motorcycles. As the sales manager of a Mesquite, TX-based motorcycle dealership, he was not able to tour often, but always found time to play and jam around DFW..

“Basically I didn’t write any new songs between 2007 and 2018,” says Morgan. “I just quit writing and I got into that work slump. I came home from work, turned on the TV, had dinner, maybe a drink, and went to bed. The difference was I got to sleep in my own bed every night and I got paid every day I worked. I didn’t have to cold call bars in far-flung places, no booking hotel rooms, and no rushing around the country trying to get to gigs on time. In comparison, a regular day job was almost a vacation.”

When that shop closed, Mike once again felt the draw of the music business. He landed a new job at another motorcycle shop but he now hopes to get out and tour again.

“When the motorcycle shop shut down, I made myself start writing again,” says Morgan. “Once I got going I came up with a bunch of ideas for songs. I do plan on touring if it makes sense financially,” says Morgan. “I want to tour. I want to play. The last time we went out was a midwest tour with 12 or 13 nights in a row back in 2019. We made money on that tour, but it’s very hard to get that many dates together anymore. And that was before Covid. People think you’re just partying out on the road but it’s supposed to be WORK. If I have to sit around a hotel room for days between gigs I’d rather be at the motorcycle shop, making money every day, and sleeping in my own bed.”

In addition to his own band, Mike has been working with some of his old friends, Anson Funderburgh and Shawn Pittman, as The Texas Blues Guitar Summit. Fresh off an incredible European tour in 2022 and just signed to M.C. Records finds Mike is reinvigorated and feeling the call of music once again. His new CD on M.C. Records is expected out in September 2022. With his years of experience, knowledge, skills, and talent, we can look forward to a lot of great new music from Mike Morgan and the Crawl.

Rory Block

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2023 Blues Music Award nominee for Acoustic Blues Album, Acoustic Blues Artist & Traditional Blues Female Artist (Koko Taylor Award)

Heralded as “a living landmark” (Berkeley Express), “a national treasure” (Guitar Extra), and “one of the greatest living acoustic blues artists” (Blues Revue), Rory Block has committed her life and her career to preserving the Delta blues tradition and bringing it to life for 21st century audiences around the world. A traditionalist and an innovator at the same time, she wields a fiery and haunting guitar and vocal style that redefines the boundaries of acoustic blues and folk. The New York Times declared: “Her playing is perfect, her singing otherworldly as she wrestles with ghosts, shadows and legends.”

Born in Princeton, NJ, Aurora “Rory” Block grew up in Manhattan a family with Bohemian leanings. Her father owned a Greenwich Village sandal shop, where musicians like Bob Dylan, Maria Muldaur and John Sebastian all made occasional appearances. The rich and diverse Village scene was a constant influence on her cultural sensibilities. She was playing guitar by age ten, and by her early teens she was sitting in on the Sunday jam sessions in Washington Square Park.

During these years, her life was touched – and profoundly changed – by personal encounters with some of the earliest and most influential Delta blues masters of the 20th century. She made frequent visits to the Bronx, where she learned her first lessons in blues and gospel music from the Reverend Gary Davis. She swapped stories and guitar licks with seminal bluesman Son House, Robert Johnson’s mentor (“He kept asking, ‘Where did she learn to play like this?’”). She visited Skip James in the hospital after his cancer surgery. She traveled to Washington, DC, to visit with Mississippi John Hurt and absorb first-hand his technique and his creativity.

“This period seemed to last forever,” Block Recalls nearly forty years later.” I now realize how lucky I was to be there, in the right place at the right time. I thought everyone knew these incredible men, these blues geniuses who wrote the book. I later realized how fleeting it was, and how even more precious.”

By the time she was in high school, her family had splintered in different directions. With nothing holding her down, she left home at 15 with her guitar and a few friends – heading for California on a trip marked by numerous detours and stops in small towns. Along he way, she picked her way through a vast catalog of country blues songs and took her first steps in developing a fingerpicking and slide guitar style that would eventually be her trademark.

She recorded an instructional record called How To Play Blues Guitar in the mid-60s (she was billed as Sunshine Kate on the original recording), but then took a decade off from music to start a family. In the mid- and late ‘70s, she made a few records that ran counter to her inherent blues instincts, and the result was frustration. “Eventually disgusted with trying to accommodate a business which never seemed to accept me or be satisfied with my efforts,” she says, “I gave up totally and went back to the blues.” The result was a record deal with the Boston-based Rounder label, which released her High Heeled Blues in 1981. Rolling Stone referred to the album as “some of the most singular and affecting country blues anyone – man or woman, black or white, old or young – has cut in recent years.”

Back in a groove that felt comfortable and fulfilling, Block threw herself headlong into an ambitious touring schedule that helped hone her technical and vocal skills to a razor’s edge, and at the same time nurture a distinctive voice as a songwriter. She stayed with Rounder for the next two decades, making records that simultaneously indulged her affinity for traditional country blues and served as a platform for her own formidable songwriting talents.

The world finally started taking notice in the early 1990s, and Block scored numerous awards throughout the decade. Her visibility overseas increased dramatically when Best Blues and Originals, fueled by the single “Lovin’ Whiskey,” went gold in parts of Europe. She brought home Blues Music Awards four years in a row – two for Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year, and two for Best Acoustic Blues Album of the Year. Then in 1997, she won the Blues Music Award for The Lady and Mr. Johnson, a tribute to Robert Johnson, taking home Acoustic Album of the Year.

Today, after more than twenty highly acclaimed releases and five Blues Music Awards, Block is at the absolute height of her creative powers, bringing a world full of life lessons to bear on what she calls “a total celebration of my beloved instrument and best friend, the guitar.” Her newest project, titled “The Mentor Series,” is a growing collection of tribute albums to the blues masters she knew in person. Her recent release “Blues Walkin’ Like A Man/A Tribute to Son House,” will be followed by “Shake Em On Down/A Tribute to Mississippi Fred McDowell,” due out in early 2011 on the Stony Plain label.

Tony Holiday

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Website: https://tonyholidaymusic.com/

Tony Holiday is a multi-talented, award winning musician and entertainer hailing from Memphis, Tennessee.

Originally from Salt Lake City, Utah, Tony moved to Memphis in 2017 and has attached himself to the North Mississippi style of music. Tony infuses his traditional roots into a melting pot of different styles which covers multiple genres of music.

Tony’s drive and his incredible talent on the harmonica has earned the soulful singer opening spots with people from many genres including Willie Nelson, BB King, Steve Miller Band, Jason Isbell, Blind Boys of Alabama, and Charlie Musselwhite to mention just a few. Tony has also performed with legends such as Bobby Rush, John Nemeth, Guitar Shorty, Samantha Fish, Victor Wainwright and Southern Avenue.

Touring nationally and internationally, Tony is a family man and an entertainer who loves connecting with people and above all, bringing people together. The Memphis Flyer described Tony’s show as “Electric Hill Country, three part harmonies, and a heap of Memphis Lightning that is flat out ENTERTAINING!!”

Tony has released 3 critically acclaimed records on Vizztone and Nola Blue Records, (Nominated for 2 Blues Blast Awards) and 2 volumes of his Porch Sessions, as well as an EP called “Soul Service” produced by Ori Naftaly of Southern Avenue at the legendary Zebra Ranch recording studio in Coldwater, Mississippi. Tony is currently signed with the renowned Forty Below Records.

Tony has played the Legendary Blues Cruise multiple times and has played festivals and shows all over the world. So whether you catch the “Prince of the Porch,” as dubbed by Blues Blast Magazine, sitting with blues icons on porches across the world, on a cruise to paradise, or watching him play at a local club or festival, Tony is sure to entertain!

Trudy Lynn

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2023 Blues Music Award nominee for Soul Blues Album and Soul Blues Female Artist

Trudy Lynn was born Lee Audrey Nelms in Houston’s Fifth Ward, where she began singing as a teenager. After high school, Lynn went to visit her aunt in Lufkin, where a club called the Cinderella needed a singer. She decided Lee Audrey Nelms wasn’t going to cut it as a stage name. The club had a bunch of cartoon character names painted on the wall and she noticed “Trudy,” which she quickly paired with Lynn. “Lynn was something in those days,” she says. “Gloria Lynne, Barbara Lynn. I thought, ‘I’m going to be one of those Lynns, too, baby.'” Prior to striking out on her own, Trudy was the vocalist for such Texas greats as I.J. Gosey and Clarence Green, where Trudy spent five years as the vocalist for his band. Green was a stern mentor, but Lynn credits him with helping her become a professional. “He molded me well,” she says. “He’s still in me because of what he taught me. It takes that.” After leaving Green’s band, Lynn began performing on her own. Since joining forces with harmonica wizard Steve Krase and the Connor Ray Music label in 2014, Lynn has played curator for herself. She has written her own songs that blend nicely with the vintage songs, mostly about good times and bad men. “Each one of these songs means something to me,” she says. “I truly understand something about each one of them.” I’ll Sing the Blues for You is Trudy Lynn’s 12th solo album and the third release on the Connor Ray Music label following up on 2014’s Royal Oaks Blues Café, which hit #1 on the Billboard Blues Chart and 2015’s Everything Comes with A Price which spent 4 months on the Living Blues Radio Chart. Trudy is also a five-time Blues Music Award nominee and was inducted into the Houston Music Hall of Fame in 2015. I’ll Sing The Blues For You peaked at #6 on the Billboard Blues charts. Her 2018 release Blues Keep Knockin’ was recently named one of the top 50 Blues recordings of 2018 by Living Blues magazine. In 2023, Trudy was nominated for Soul Blues Album and Soul Blues Female Artist Blues Music Awards.

Waylon Thibodeaux

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Website: www.waylonthibodeaux.com

“Waylon Thibodeaux is a master at his instrument! He is a true and authentic voice of South Louisiana. He genuinely embodies what the old folks in the old country used to call a real ‘Music-man’” ~
Anders Osborne

“It’s a mixture –it’s Cajun, but not too traditional, it’s Zydeco with a pinch of New Orleans’ sound, a small pinch of South Louisiana “Swamp Pop”, a taste of Country and a little Rock ‘n’ Roll that’s sure to get you on your feet and dancing.” – Waylon Thibodeaux

Out of the Bayou and off Bourbon Street, Louisianan musician Waylon Thibodeaux struts his rocking blues roots side with Here We Go Again, released on the famed Rabadash Records label headed by John Autin.

Here We Go Again is Waylon’s third album with Rabadash, and for a change, the native Louisianan wanted to explore his Blues side with some of his original songs. “I call it blues with a Cajun accent,” laughs label owner John Autin. It was recorded and produced by Autin at his studios in New Orleans with musical guests Johnny Sansone, Josh Garrett, and Autin on keys. John called on Benny Turner, brother of Freddie King, and other more Blues-based musicians to help flesh out the sound. “Waylon’s happy tenor voice, and fiddle playing doesn’t belie a down, and dirty blues feel, but I think in a way we have created something quite new and interesting and unequivocally “WAYLON.” Songs that talk about bad luck on “Smoke Signals,” personal decisions “Fail, Fail, Fail” and time sliding away, “Funny How Time Slips Away,” are all on Here We Go Again and the gumbo rue magic is in Waylon’s fiddle and tenor vocals. He is always working on expanding his sounds through guitar pedals to create different textures in his music. Everyone loves a steamboat whistle sound from a fiddler, right? His thoughts on “The Riverboat Song”: “I’ve seen the steamboats pass by the Riverwalk in New Orleans, and that whistle has always intrigued me. It’s a very loud, obnoxious sound, but it gets the job done to warn people of the passing of the steamboat.”

Waylon’s influences run wild like the Mississippi River from Cajun to Swamp Pop, blues to rock to country, but not many know he started as a drummer playing the old country music. Then one fateful night, when he was a kid, he saw Bob Wills on TV with fiddler Johnny Gimble, and down the road, the young Thibodeaux went; “I wish I’d had the chance to tell him how much he influenced me.” Then he started to dig around a little more, and he discovered Stephan Grappelli from Paris and Rufus Thibodeaux (no relation) of Neil Young’s band, then up to Nashville for some Conway Twitty then back to Pete Fountain in NOLA.

Waylon Thibodeaux (pronounced Thib-ah-doh) was born on the Bayou, down in Houma, LA, which is located about 100 miles southwest of New Orleans. At the age of eight, he picked up the violin, and by 16, he was crowned Louisiana State Fiddling Champion. He spent decades (started at 13) on Bourbon Street playing in various bands along the famed avenue in the clubs. The only equivalent to this type of musical culture would be Lower Broadway in Nashville, TN, where top touring and session players are known to play the city’s honky-tonks.

Over the years, Waylon has played festivals and shows in Canada, France, and South America and is a member of Voice of The Wetlands All-Stars, a group of some of Louisiana’s best musicians, advocating awareness on the eroding wetlands that run along the state’s coastline. Members include Voice of The Wetlands founder Tab Benoit, Anders Osborne, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, and Cyril Neville. During a show at the Democrat National Convention in Minnesota, Waylon sang with Randy Newman on his 1974 song, “Louisiana 1927,” that vividly recalls the great flood that hit the area, and that was a wow moment for him.

Having played New Orleans Jazz Fest, French Quarter Festival, and every other Louisiana Music Festival in between, they all seem to center around music and food, and Waylon has a gumbo recipe that is to die for. He has no formula on file, but he puts it all in an iron pot; “Start with a chocolate-colored rue, throw in the onions, peppers, and the sausage…” and he compares cooking gumbo with being in a band, “the lead singer is the sausage cause he’s such a ham!” he laughs.

When Waylon pulls out his white custom-made electric fiddle from Sal DiGerano out of Metairie LA, you know it’s time to hit the dance floor with Here We Go Again!