Thank you for all your support of me and Big in China

Dear Friends, As we near the end of 2011, I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has helped this be an absolutely tremendous year for me. Big in China was released March 1 and it’s been a fun and wild ride. The latest…
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Best blues albums ever: Joe Bonamassa and the Black Crowes pick their 30 Vital Titles

Originally published in Guitar World, February 2010 As Guitar World’s 30th anniversary celebration continues, Joe Bonamassa and Black Crowes guitarists Rich Robinson and Luther Dickinson pick their 10 essential blues rock albums. Joe…

Occupy Beijing?

There's a really interesting Chinese take on the Occupy Wall Street movement posted in translation on the China Geeks blog. In sharp contrast to the official Beijing view, which is that the Occupy protests show the decadence and crumbling of…

Welcome the Winter solstice in NYC 12-16

I just received this press release from a good, reliable friend and wanted to share. I have not attended any of these events and can not personally vouch for them, but hear nothing but excellent things from those that have. So if you're in metro…

Freddie King and Tom Dowd are finally in the R & R Hall of Fame

I don't really give rats-ass about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but I'm happy that blues titan Freddie King has finally been admitted, along with the great producer Tom Dowd. This item from the Dallas Observer captures the Freddie thing pretty…

RIP Hubert Sumlin, video edition

I have spent some fruitless time searching for the audio tape of my interview with Hubert and wishing that I had some photos or, even better, video of the night. Finding this on YouTube made me feel better. The interview really captures Hubert's…

RIP Hubert Sumlin. An interview from the Archives

The Sky Is Crying. RIP Hubert Sumlin, 1931-2011 I was deeply saddened to hear that Hubert Sumlin passed away today at age 80. One of my favorite guitarists, Hubert was also one of the all time great guys, as I learned when I interview…

Joe Gilliam: What Could Have Been But Never Was

I'm not endorsing this whole premise and there are things even in this short segment that I don't agree with, but Joe Gilliam is a fascinating character deserving of being better and I'm happy about this movie. Have a look. You have to…

World B. Free – Greatest Interview Ever?

In 2000 I went down to Philly and interviewed World B. Free, then the Sixers community Relations man, for a Slam Old School. Slam recently posted it and I really enjoyed re-reading. This is a contendor to be my favorite story ever. It ran in…
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Greatest Blues albums ever, as chosen by Haynes, Perry and other guitar greats

I collected these lists of everyone's five favorite blues albums of all time for a Guitar World story in approx. 1997. As you can see, some people took the request for 5 seriously...some just couldn't limit themselves...and some just ignored…