Tony Holiday

/in , , , /by

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

/in , /by

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

/in , , /by

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!