The City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events has announced the Petrillo Bandshell line-up for the 33rd Annual Chicago Blues Festival taking place June 10–12, 2016 in Grant Park. The free admission three-day festival opens on Friday, June 10 with a celebration of Alligator Records’ 45th anniversary, and concludes on Sunday, June 12 with a special tribute to legendary bluesman Otis Rush featuring notable friends and other musicians he has influenced throughout his career. Other festival headliners include Fred Wesley & The New J.B.’s, Irma Thomas and Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters. The full schedule will be announced later this spring.

Friday, June 10 – Alligator Records 45^th Anniversary Celebration
The festival opens on June 10 with a salute to Chicago’s Alligator Records who, in 2016, celebrates 45 years of “Genuine Houserockin’ Music.” The Chicago Tribune says Alligator is “America’s most revered blues label.” Rolling Stone says, “Alligator Records has reached dizzying heights in celebrating the blues.”

6:00pm – Tommy Castro & the Painkillers. The San Francisco Chronicle says Castro plays ““funky Southern soul, big city blues and classic rock… silvery guitar licks that simultaneously sound familiar and fresh.” DownBeat calls the band’s new album, Method To My Madness, “a high water mark in their career.” Castro will be joined by special guest, Chicago bluesman Tornozo Cannon. He’ll unleash songs from his Alligator Records debut, The Chicago Way.

7:00pm – Longtime favorites Lil Ed & the Blues Imperials will bring their raw and rowdy blues back to the main stage. The Chicago Sun-Times says, “A party band in the best sense of the word…the hottest purveyors of bottleneck boogie to come out of Chicago since Hound Dog Taylor.” The band’s most recent CD is 2012’s Jump Start. Harmonica master Corky Siegel will join the band as a special guest for an unforgettable collaboration.

8:15pm – Shemekia Copeland, whose 2015 album Outskirts Of Love received a Grammy nomination, will headline the tribute. USA Today says, “Shemekia captures the timelessness of the blues while spinning it forward with remarkable maturity.” She will be joined by guest Curtis Salgado, the award-winning vocalist and harmonicist whose new Alligator CD, The Beautiful Lowdown, will be released on April 8, 2016.

Saturday, June 11 – Soul/R&B Night
6:30pm – Grammy-winner Irma Thomas’ career has spanned over five decades since her first hit in 1960, You Can Have My Husband But Don’t Mess With My Man.

8:15pm – Fred Wesley & The New J.B.’s. Wesley is best known as the music director, arranger, trombonist and a primary composer for the legendary James Brown from 1968 to 1975.

The evening’s opening performance begins at 5:30 p.m. and will be announced at a later date.

Sunday, June 12 – Tribute to Otis Rush
Legendary blues guitarist Otis Rush arrived in Chicago from Mississippi in the 1950s after seeing Muddy Waters perform while visiting his sister. Rush worked tirelessly to establish himself as an innovative blues guitarist, bandleader, singer and songwriter by playing with the legendary bluesmen of the day. Rush set new standards and influenced countless blues and rock musicians, including Carlos Santana, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Led Zeppelin and many others. A fearless electric guitarist, Rush was a leader in creating the modern, R&B influenced Chicago blues we know today as the West Side Sound.

5:00pm – Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters open the night. As an award-winning blues guitarist, Ronnie Earl learned from Rush and considers him to be the greatest musical influence on his career and life.

6:30pm – Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater brings his West Side blues to the main stage.The New York Times says, “Clearwater is equally adept at Chuck Berry-style guitar as he is at deeper blues style. He’s a fine singer who puts on a wild, exciting show…the sort of exuberant entertainer who can turn a concert into a party.”

8:00pm – Friends, artists and surprise guests will come together to celebrate Otis Rush with a special tribute featuring the confirmed artists to date: Jimmy Johnson, Abb Locke, Brian Jones, Carl Weathersby, Bob Stoger, Sumito Ariyoshi, Big Ray, John Kattke, Mike Wheeler, Lurrie Bell, Shun Kikuta, Eddie Shaw, Sam Burton, among others. The entire lineup and additional guests will be announced at a later date.  

A complete line-up and schedule for all stages, as well as preview events, will be released this spring.

For more information, please visit chicagobluesfestival.us.

Northport N.Y. – M.C. Records is proud to announce the signing of modern blues harmonica sensation Sugar Blue. The new release Voyage will be all originals except for one Ray Charles cover, “Mary Ann.” The recording is full of what makes Sugar Blue and his band so special; passionate song-writing, tight arrangements and of course Sugar Blue’s out of this world harmonica playing. Voyage is due out in the spring and will mark Blue’s first studio album in over five years.

Look for Sugar and his band to be taking their own brand of contemporary blues from coast-to-coast and around the world.

The 25th anniversary of M.C. Records is off to a strong start. We will not only be releasing a new Sugar Blue effort, also a new Joanna Connor recording both in the spring. In addition, look for an announcement of our third release coming later in 2016 with one of the great blues/roots guitarists of the past 30 + years!

“One of the foremost harmonica blowers in all of Modern blues…” – Rolling Stone

“…an extravagantly lyrical harmonica player” – New York Times

The Karp-Foley Band is excited to announce the release fo a double live CD to benefit the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (www.OCRF.org). The double CD set, Live for Hope, features live performances by acclaimed blues/Americana musicians, Peter Karp and Sue Foley.

The September, 2015 release date coincides with Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. The first CD in the set, Peter Karp’s The Arson’s Match, was originally broadcast live on Sirius Satellite Radio during a 2004 performance at the historic Bottom Line in New Tork City to a sold out audience. Backed by a glowing ensemble of consummate talent, Karp, a masterful slide guitarist and exhilarating vocalist, teams up with gruitarist Mick Taylor of the legendary Rolling Stones. Together, Karp and his Roadshow Band put forth an inspired performance of some of Karp’s finest original songs.

The second CD, Change by Sue Foley, is an awared-winning, live acoustic blues CD recorded in 2004 at Toronto’s preeminent listening room and live music venue, Hugh’s Room. Change is a notable departure from Foley’s distinguishable high energy, soulful blues-rock sound and reveals her softer and more playful side. This CD earned Foley three Maple Blues Awards including Recording of the Year. All proceeds from the sale and download of the CD set will benefit the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund in loving memory of Peter Karp’s late wife, Mary Lou Karp, who died from the disease in 2009.

“Mary Lou Bonney Karp was a remarkable writer, a poet, a daughter, a mother and my wife of 25 years. In June of 2009 she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She died 9 months later on February 17, 2009. While she had vague and disconnected symptoms for years, no one saw it coming. She was misdiagnosed (which happens often) with a back problem. This CD is to honor her memory. Before Mary Lou became sick, we knew nothing about ovarian cancer. Now I know that it is a vicious, silent killer of woman and that the only way to stop it is to spread the word about early detection.” – Peter Karp

“We are really happy to be able to donate our two live CD’s to raise money and awareness for ovarian cancer research. Knowing the loss that Peter and his family suffered through brought the pain and destruction of this devastating desease to light. This is the beginning of our pursuit to give back through donating our music and organizaing concerts and fundraisers, with the ultimate goal of stamping out ovarian cancer for good.” – Sue Foley

Get your copy today; support a worthy cause:
OCRF.org Download Live4Hope

A Summer Celebration – The Peterson Brothers Release Their First CD on Blue Point Records

Talented, young musicians Glenn and Alex Peterson release their first recording, The Peterson Brothers on Blue Point Records. The eleven tracks display the brothers’ diverse influences, some first forays into their own compositions and some solid adaptations of traditional and contemporary works. The brothers recorded with veteran producer Michael Freeman to achieve a sound which is both original and respectful of the blues. The release date is August 4, 2015. (www.petersonbrothersband.com)

“Young bluesmen take up the torch for a musical tradition…the crop of younger black blues musicians who can take the tradition and transform it with their own identity is relatively slim…emerging up-and-comers include…The Peterson Brothers of Austin.”

– The Washington Post

For the past five years, since Freeman saw their debut performance at the Pinetop Perkins 97th Birthday Celebration at Antone’s in Austin, Texas, The Peterson Brothers have performed for enthusiastic fans at clubs and blues festivals across the country, including the prestigious Chicago Blues Festival and The King Biscuit Festival in Helena, Ark. They have also opened shows for B.B. King, Los Lonely Boys, Michael Burks, Pinetop Perkins & Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Marcia Ball, and The Fabulous Thunderbirds. Buddy Guy invited them to share the stage with him during one of his shows at ACL Live at the Moody Theater in Austin and Willie Nelson had them open his show, the brothers being the only nonrelated act on the bill.

“Bastrop blues siblings got their mojo workin’… as long as youngsters like the Petersons keep the flame burning, the genre will never die.” – The Austin Chronicle

Glenn and Alex live near Austin, in Bastrop, Texas the sons of supportive parents Glenn Sr. and Deanna Peterson. There they live as any normal teenagers would, going to school where they consistently receive high grades, play in the school band and do volunteer work. Every other waking hour is spent playing their instruments and working towards their dream. “Music for us is like soccer or football for someone else,” Glenn explained. “We just love what we do and this is our life.”

Glenn, 18 years old, plays guitar and sings lead, delivering the blues with a heavy influence of funk in his rhythm guitar playing. Through a smooth, jazz-influenced style he combines a traditional blues approach to his leads reaching inspiration from blues greats BB King, Albert King and Freddie King, Buddy Guy, Albert Collins, Hubert Sumlin, T-Bone Walker and Lightnin’ Hopkins and borrowing from contemporary players like Robert Cray, Michael Burks, Ernie Isley, Eddie Hazel and jazz icons Wes Montgomery and Kenny Burrell.

Alex, 16 years old, plays 5-string bass, violin and sings. He holds down their sound with supportive bass lines then breaks out with distinctive melodic riffs, often with a funk and jazz style that transcends his young age. Like his brother, he has a wealth of knowledge about his instrument and the musicians who have influenced him. They include Victor Wooten, Marcus Miller, Jacob Pastorius, Larry Graham, Bootsy Collins, Ron Carter, Ray Brown, Quintin Berry, Louis Johnson, Adam Blackstone, Stanley Clarke, Rocco Prestia Bob Stroger, and James Jamerson.

Together the brothers discovered the likes of B.B. King, Howlin’ Wolf and Stevie Ray Vaughan at an early age around the house. The bond between the brothers is apparent. “It comes naturally to us,” says Glenn. “We just seem to know and feel what the other is thinking instinctively.”

Blue Point Records is Michael Freeman’s independent record label. Freeman’s credits are extensive and include Pinetop Perkins and Willie “Big Eyes” Smith’s Grammy and Blues Music Award winning album Joined At The Hip.

“They delve into both traditional and contemporary blues, “old school” and contemporary R&B;, Soul, – some Rock – and a hint of Jazz. Elements from each of those styles can be found in both their choices of material and performances today. It was very apparent that if they stayed the course and worked at their craft, they could become a prominent and exciting part of the new and young generation of up and coming artists with roots in the blues,” says Freeman. (www.bluepointrecords.com)

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival will soon begin. And when it does, it’s important not to forget the annual Sync Up Conference. A free industry conference presented by the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation. Sync Up brings together leaders in music, film and digital media for education and networking events – all designed to help independent artists navigate the ever-changing landscape of new media. This year the conference has been moved to the George and Joyce Wein Jazz & Heritage Center. A state-of-the-art education and performance facility located at the gateway of the Treme neighborhood.

Sync Up Music will host sessions  on the mornings of the Friday and Saturday of both weekends of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Sync Up Cinema (organized by the New Orleans Video Access Center and the New Orleans Film Society) will present film screenings and workshops on the Monday-Wednesday between Jazz Fest weekends. And once again, Launch Fest – which connects technology start-ups with venture capital – will take place on the Thursday between weekends.  

This year Tina Terry will be sitting in on the Booking Agents Roundtable to be held on:
May 2, 2015
9:00 am – Registration Opens
10:00 am – Panel Discussion Begins
It’s long been said that getting a booking agent can be harder than getting a record deal – especially these days, now that even indie releases are getting Grammy nominations. So, what does a musician – whether a newcomer or a veteran – need to have before a booking agent will take them on? And once an artist signs with an agency, that means they’ll never have to hustle for gigs ever again and their performance fees will always be in the mid-five figures – right? Maybe, maybe not. We’ve assembled a group of agents with long experience working with up-and-coming as well as established acts, including many from Louisiana. 
Tina Terry, Tina Terry Agency (Charlotte, NC)
Mark Lourie, Skyline Music (Whitefield, NH)
Page Stallings, Vice President, Blue Mountain Artists (Charlotte, NC)
Pat May, Crossover Touring (Portland, ME)
Jon Bell, New Frontier Touring (Nashville, TN)

Being a free event, seating is limited. Advance registration is required.
Link to register for Sync Up Music: http://www.jazzandheritage.org/sync-up/registration.

The conference will be streamed in live video at www.WWOZ.org

Sync Up MUSIC Highlights At a Glance
Music Publishing: A keynote interview with Matt Pincus, CEO and founder of Songs Music Publishing, which with artists like Lorde, DJ Mustard and Q-Tip is one of the hottest boutique publishers in the business.
Touring: Two panels featuring booking agents with long experience helping up-and-coming as well as established acts build profitable careers on the road.
Independent Distribution: A keynote interview with David Macias, co-founder and CEO of Thirty Tigers, who is helping independent artists top the charts and score Grammy nominations while owning their own masters.
Crowdfunding: A panel with local artists who can share lessons from working with various platforms, including Indiegogo, Pledge Music and Kickstarter.
Case Studies: Sturgill Simpson and Aaron Watson, two artists who have hit the big time on self-released records, will be the subjects of special presentations.
Digital Distribution: Top leaders from Bit Torrent will discuss why their platform – once known only for file sharing (stealing) – is now the first choice for rappers like Curren$y and rock stars like Thom Yorke of Radiohead.
E-Commerce: The drummer Stanton Moore shares his creative ideas for making money over the Internet.
Music In Film: Music coordinators for three TV shows that are filming right now on the streets of New Orleans will explain how best to get local music into their shows.

“Alastair should be out playing with the biggest bands in the world, I believe it’s just a matter of time.”
– Alan Parsons

Alastair Greene was born and raised in Santa Barbara, California and has been the resident guitar hero of this sunny seaside town for many years. That is, up until five years ago when he was asked to join the Alan Parsons Live Project, who he has been touring the world with since. Greene’s band, a blues rock trio aptly named Alastair Greene Band, was recently signed to Eclectic Groove Records and released the critically acclaimed blues rock album TROUBLE AT YOUR DOOR in June of 2014. In addition to playing Alan Parsons Project hits in arenas around the world and touring with his own band, Greene recently filled in for some prime tour dates with Starship, featuring <stronghttp://>Mickey Thomas.

Greene has just returned from a sold out show in Tel Aviv, Israel with Alan Parsons and is set to embark on tour again with the British prog and pop legend this March. Tour stops will include shows in Canada, England, Switzerland, Germany, and Italy (tour dates listed below).

Santa Barbara, California has been home to many well known music business figures over the years. One of Greene’s earliest supporters was legendary tone-guru and Santa Barbara resident Seymour Duncan, who said early on, “Alastair is a guitarist I enjoy listening to, whose style includes the fire of Texas Blues.”

Chris Shifflet of the Foo Fighters, who spent his early days in Santa Barbara, said recently, “I’ve known Alastair since we were kids, and he’s always been a ripping guitarist. Glad to hear he’s still going strong.”

The Alastair Greene Band was formed in 1997 and has remained a blues rock trio much in the vein of early Gov’t Mule, Cream, and Rory Gallagher. Their new album, TROUBLE AT YOUR DOOR, recently garnered the attention of Johnny Winter‘s former booking agent, Tina Terry. The Alastair Greene Band was signed as one of the flagship acts to the Tina Terry Agency in January 2015 (tour dates TBA).

“Imagine a meld of Cream, Johnny Winter, The North Mississippi All-Stars, Jimi Hendrix, and Santana, and you will have some idea of the music laid down by the Alastair Greene Band. Surely one of the finest Blues Rock bands on the scene today.” – Blues in Britain

Greene first met Alan Parsons doing a session for a country rock band at Parsons’ home studio in 2003. A few months later, Parsons called upon Greene to contribute guitar solos to his 2003 release, A VALID PATH. The only other soloist on this record was, as Parsons comedically told Greene, “Oh, just some guy named David Gilmour.”

How does a blues rocker feel about touring with a prog rock legend such as Alan Parsons, or a pop rock band such as Starship, or his own blues rock trio, the Alastair Greene Band?

Greene puts it simply. “I’ve always enjoyed so many different types of music and feel lucky that I’ve had the opportunity to play a lot of it. My roots are in blues, southern, and classic rock, but I’ve always loved so many other types of guitar playing. Getting a chance to play a wide variety of music with such high caliber artists really keeps me on my toes and keeps me growing as a player. I welcome a good challenge. As long as I’m playing my guitar, I’m a very happy camper.”

http://www.alastairgreene.com/

ALAN PARSONS LIVE PROJECT MARCH 2015 TOUR DATES

Mar 12   Le Grande Theater              Quebec City, Canada
Mar 13   The Oakville Center             Oakville, Canada
Mar 14   The Oakville Center             Oakville, Canada
Mar 18   Shepard’s Bush Empire      London, UK
Mar 20   Volkhause                             Zurich, Switzerland
Mar 22   Ruhr Congress                     Bochum, Germany
Mar 25   Linear 4 Kiak                         Milan, Italy
Mar 26   Gran Teatro                          Padova, Italy
Mar 27   Teatro Obihall                      Florence, Italy
Mar 28   Auditorium Concilazione   Rome, Italy

Alvin “Youngblood” Hart

The cosmic American love child of Howlin Wolf and Link Wray! Known as a “musician’s musician,” Alvin Youngblood Hart’s praises have been sung by everyone from Bob Dylan to Brit guitar gods Eric Clapton & Mick Taylor.

Since the release of his 1996 debut recording, the all-acoustic BIG MAMA’S DOOR, Hart has relayed his eclectic musical message around the world. A devout follower of the “no barriers” approach carved out by veteran performers like Gatemouth Brown and the late/great Doug Sahm, Hart aims to delight the masses and points to challenge the so-called blues purists.

Website: AlvinYoungbloodHart

Facebook: Alvin-Youngblood-Hart

Twitter: @MotivSpkr6L6

Damon Fowler

After spending much of the past year touring with the band Southern Hospitality, Damon Fowler is back with his third solo project for Blind Pig Records, Sounds of Home. Damon chose swamp blues master Tab Benoit to produce and record him at Tab’s rural Louisiana home studio, and their collaboration has resulted in Damon’s strongest effort to date.

On the strength of his hybrid of roots rock, blues, and sacred steel, the Florida native started wowing audiences with his musical exploits as a teenager, building a reputation as one of the hottest young players on the scene. Adding songwriting and vocal skills to his repertoire over the years has brought him many accolades, with critics extolling his originality and maturity as well as his technical guitar expertise.

Website: DamonFowler

Facebook: damonfowler

Twitter: @damonfowlerband

Alastair Greene Band & Todd Wolfe Band sign with the Tina Terry Agency for exclusive world-wide representation.

Blues and rock have met at many different crossroads. From Cream and Johnny Winter to Stevie Ray Vaughan and Gov’t Mule these blues rock recipes are often boiled down to a simple trio. Such is the melting pot of influences and presentation of the Alastair Greene Band.

Not only is Greene a blues rock guitar slinging and singing front man, but he has also served many years as a side man to some legendary musicians. Currently, Greene is the touring guitarist with Alan Parsons and has been touring internationally with the English pop/ progressive rock veteran since 2010. After Greene played on Parsons’ 2004 release A Valid Path, Alan was quoted as saying, “Alastair should be out playing guitar with the biggest bands in the world. I believe it’s just a matter of time.” Heady praise indeed coming from the man who engineered Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, served as second engineer on the last two albums by the Beatles, and has also sold millions of albums with his own Alan Parsons Project. When the guitar slot for Parsons’ band opened in 2010, Greene got the call. Alastair has also appeared on albums by high profile artists such as drum legend Aynsely Dunbar as well as Toad the Wet Sprocket front man Glen Phillips.

Alastair Greene Band is touring worldwide in support of “Trouble at Your Door.” (Eclecto Groove Records).

WEBSITE: http://agsongs.com/
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/AlastairGreeneOfficial
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/AlastairGreene

The Todd Wolfe Band recall the days when “men were men and amps were amps,” real tubes crackling with a blues-adelic sound reminiscent of the best rock and roll bands of the ‘60s. This band jams and rocks, but their music is deeply soaked in blues. Todd Wolfe, Roger Voss and bassist Justine Gardner have established themselves as one of top power trios by relentless international touring and spreading their legend from coast-to- coast and beyond.

In the ‘80s, Todd formed Troy & the Tornados, and they opened for many acts constantly performing in the New York metro area. Todd also met two women in this time period that would eventually play a part in his guitar playing experience: Carla Olson of the Textones and Sheryl Crow, who at the time was an unknown back-up singer. By the late ‘80s, Sheryl had sat in several times with Todd in New York City after being introduced to him by the man who would eventually manage both of them. Todd decided to fly out to Los Angeles and write with Sheryl and showcase their new band in hopes of a record deal. Nothing came of this particular venture, but these two would find each other again on the same stage. Todd decided to re-locate to Los Angeles with revamped line-ups and began to perform in small clubs in southern California while also scoring music for the Playboy Channel and eventually joined up with old friend Carla Olson and her latest band. But it wasn’t long until Todd was back with Sheryl Crow, as she had just completed her soon to be released debut album, the multi-platinum Tuesday Night Music Club. Crow needed a touring band, including a lead guitarist that could add some extra excitement to the live shows and Todd filled that role for almost five years, touring the world!

After Todd left Sheryl’s band he had a varying lineup of players including Eric Massimino, Michael Lawrence, Rich Pagano, Dave Hollingsworth and other players of merit to where he settled in with the current lineup of Roger Voss on drums and Justine Gardner on bass. Todd’s eighth release since leaving Sheryl’s band, “Miles To Go” in a short time has garnered much praise and great reviews are still rolling in. The band has kept busy with constant tours of Europe and across the USA and Canada.

WEBSITE: http://www.toddwolfe.com/
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Todd-Wolfe/139054892800438?fref=ts
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/toddwolfeband