Homemade Jamz Blues Band

 

 

Homemade Jamz Blues Band’s (HJBB) unique sound and style is a product and compilation of the trio’s hunger and thirst for the music (blues) that they so love. Their passion and dedication has proven to be electrifying and energetic to witness. HJBB’s astounding sound blends Mississippi, Chicago, and Contemporary juke joint blues that will surely get you on your toe tapping, knee bending, and foot stomping stance, copping the gritty slickness of the former and the dirty soul of the latter—never betraying its authors’ age. The trio exudes nothing but confidence and attitude as they sing of betrayal, love, hard times and other bad things gone down as if they've lived a life rich in strife. They are sure, a veritable blues explosion poised to continue making the big sound.

HJBB started in Baumholder, Germany.  Young Ryan found a Stratocaster copy among dad’s, (Renaud Perry’s) bags and wanted it. A week later, Ryan had composed a short instrumental tune, (which he’d play at his school talent show) and was playing along to commercials. When the family relocated to Tupelo, MS, the passion stayed with him. Returning home, Ryan, dove head first into the blues.  “I heard and emulated B.B. King, Albert King, Jimmie Hendrix, and Stevie Ray Vaughan,” he recalls.  Having found his passion and direction, Ryan progressed like tenfold.

Ryan Perry, now 23, the oldest of the trio, has vocals that are mind blowing and beyond his years.  It’s almost as if he was an old soul, reincarnated into a new generation of the blues.  Some of his early music influences are Howlin’ Wolf, Albert King, BB King, and Junior Kimbrough, while modern blues influences includes the likes of the late Michael Burks, Bernard Allison, and Gary Clark, Jr.  Ryan has managed to captivate and mesmerize the minds and hearts of his followers with his raspy and gritty vocals.  His electrifying and soulful guitar picking is sure to entice and seduce your most inner soul.

Two years later, Ryan was joined by little brother Kyle, then nine years old, wanted in on the action.  Kyle, now 20, first took up piano and guitar before he found his calling playing the bass, teaching himself the nuances of the instrument, and its role in the blues. Before long, he was performing with his brother Ryan in small venues and local restaurants, as confident as any wizened old pro and digging his role. “[I] keep the timing and lock down the beat along with the drummer, which allows the lead guitar player to do his own thing while everyone is juking to the beat.”

Little sister Taya, then seven years old, was not going to be left out.  Her determination to give the drums a shot came after Ryan and Kyle reluctantly allowed her to play along during practice.  Taya, now 16, already possessing a rhythmic sense from playing tambourine, settled onto the stool, and in no time was providing the beat behind Ryan and Kyle.  Learning by ear, she taught herself the beat and rhythm that binds the complete sound of the trio.  “I love being a drummer, especially being a girl drummer. I feel energetic when I’m playing the drums,” she says.

It’s likewise energizing and invigorating to watch Homemade Jamz perform; the exhilarating trio was a hot ticket, and well on their way to becoming one of the youngest blues bands actively traveling the blues music trail. Ryan’s raspy, gruff vocals along with visceral, stinging, guitar licks, Kyle’s solid rumble and Taya’s cool stomp have electrified festival goers across the country, Canada, Europe, Legendary Blues Cruise, and music festivals all over. 

The trio saturated their local media, appearing numerous times in several local papers and national blues magazines, and on local and national TV—including feature segments on CBS Sunday Morning Show, The Today’s Show, The Monique Show, and The Tavis Smiley Show.  As well, HJBB won the 3rd Annual MS Delta Blues Society of Indianola’s Blues Challenge (2006), were the youngest band ever to compete in the 23rd International Blues Challenge (2007), taking 2nd in a field of 93 seasoned bands, youngest blues band to sign with a major blues label (NorthernBlues Music) (2008), and the youngest Blues Music Award Nominees for Best New Artist (2009).  

 http://www.allsaintmalohotels.com/hmjamzbluesbandcom/

Sam Maghett

 

No blues guitarist better represented the adventurous modern sound of Chicago's West side more proudly than Sam Maghett. He died tragically young (at age 32 of a heart attack), just as he was on the brink of climbing the ladder to legitimate stardom, but Magic Sam left behind a thick legacy of bone-cutting blues that remains eminently influential around his old stomping grounds to this day.

Maghett (one of his childhood pals was towering guitarist Morris Holt, who received his Magic Slim handle from Sam) was born in the Mississippi Delta. In 1950, he arrived in Chicago, picking up a few blues guitar pointers from his new neighbor, Syl Johnson (whose brother, Mack Thompson, served as Sam's loyal bassist for much of his professional career). Harpist Shakey Jake Harris, sometimes referred to as the guitarist's uncle, encouraged Sam's blues progress and gigged with him later on, when both were Westside institutions.

Sam's tremolo-rich staccato fingerpicking was an entirely fresh phenomenon when he premiered it on Eli Toscano's Cobra label in 1957. Prior to his Cobra date, the guitarist had been gigging as Good Rocking Sam, but Toscano wanted to change his nickname to something old-timey like Sad Sam or Singing Sam. No dice, said the newly christened Magic Sam (apparently Mack Thompson's brainstorm). His Cobra debut single, "All Your Love," was an immediate local sensation; its unusual structure would be recycled time and again by Sam throughout his tragically truncated career. Sam's Cobra encores "Everything Gonna Be Alright" and "Easy Baby" borrowed much the same melody but were no less powerful; the emerging Westside sound was now officially committed to vinyl. Not everything Sam cut utilized the tune; "21 Days in Jail" was a pseudo-rockabilly smoker with hellacious lead guitar from Sam and thundering slap bass from the ubiquitous Willie Dixon. Sam also backed Shakey Jake Harris on his lone 45 for Cobra's Artistic subsidiary, "Call Me If You Need Me."

After Cobra folded, Sam didn't follow labelmates Otis Rush and Magic Slim over to Chess. Instead, after enduring an unpleasant Army experience that apparently landed him in jail for desertion, Sam opted to go with Mel London's Chief logo in 1960. His raw-boned Westside adaptation of Fats Domino's mournful "Every Night About This Time" was the unalloyed highlight of his stay at Chief; some other Chief offerings were less compelling. 

Gigs on the Westside remained plentiful for the charismatic guitarist, but recording opportunities proved sparse until 1966, when Sam made a 45 for Crash Records. "Out of Bad Luck" brought back that trademark melody again, but it remained as shattering as ever. Another notable 1966 side, the plaintive "That's Why I'm Crying," wound up on Delmark's Sweet Home Chicago anthology, along with Sam's stunning clippity-clop boogie instrumental "Riding High" (aided by the muscular tenor sax of Eddie Shaw). 

 Delmark Records was the conduit for Magic Sam's two seminal albums, 1967's West Side Soul and the following year's Black Magic. Both LPs showcased the entire breadth of Sam's Westside attack: the first ranged from the soul-laced "That's All I Need" and a searing "I Feel So Good" to the blistering instrumental "Lookin' Good" and definitive remakes of "Mama Talk to Your Daughter" and "Sweet Home Chicago," while Black Magic benefitted from Shaw's jabbing, raspy sax as Sam blasted through the funky "You Belong to Me," an impassioned "What Have I Done Wrong," and a personalized treatment of Freddy King's "San-Ho-Zay."

Sam's reputation was growing exponentially. He wowed an overflow throng at the 1969 Ann Arbor Blues Festival, and Stax was reportedly primed to sign him when his Delmark commitment was over. However, heart problems were fast taking their toll on Sam's health. On the first morning of December of 1969, he complained of heartburn, collapsed, and died.

Even now, more than a quarter-century after his passing, Magic Sam remains the king of Westside blues. That's unlikely to change as long as the subgenre is alive and kicking.

Janiva Magness

 

Singer-songwriter-author Janiva Magness makes a forceful return on June 24 with the release of Hard to Kill, the Los Angeles-based musician’s first new collection in three years, on her own label Fathead Records.

The seven-time Blues Music Awards recipient (and the 2009 B.B. King Entertainer of the Year, the Blues Foundation’s highest honor) and 2016 Grammy Award nominee will simultaneously release the Fathead audio book edition of Weeds Like Us, her frank, profoundly moving 2019 memoir. Los Angeles composer and musician Matt Cartsonis produced.

LA Weekly named the volume its “Book of the Month,” while No Depression said, “[Magness] plumbs her own emotional depths, carrying us with her through her own hells and back to the other side. Ultimately, Magness’ memoir is a story of hope and the refusal to let the worst experiences of life kill you.”

Magness, who co-wrote four of the dozen new compositions on Hard to Kill, says of her boldly honest and affecting new collection of songs, “I feel like it’s a retrospective — not just of my musical life, but of my life. At this point, with what I’ve been through in my life, top to bottom, you know what, the gloves are off, and the rules are, there really aren’t any rules.”

The musician sees a direct link between her new album — which leads off with the autobiographical track “Strong As Steel” — and her book, an unflinching and shattering look back at a life shaken by physical and sexual abuse, the suicides of both her parents, years in foster care, drug addiction and alcoholism, and teenage pregnancy and motherhood. It also details the beginnings of her distinguished musical career, for which she found early inspiration in the work of such blues titans as Otis Rush and Etta James.

“I like true stories,” Magness says. “My dad said something to me a long time ago; the meaning of it has changed over time, as things like that do, if we wake up. He said, ‘The truth will set you free.’”

Sitting on the bedrock of blues, soul, and funk, the music on Hard to Kill is so tough and assured that it comes as a surprise when Magness says she was initially uncertain about undertaking the making of a new album.

She recalls, “Coming out of the pandemic, I had gotten to a pretty dark place.” She chuckles, adding, “I laugh, because how is that a surprise? Is this news of some kind? I’d gotten there just as many of us had, and I had lost myself.”

Magness turned the corner creatively after her husband suggested that she should talk things over with Dave Darling, her longtime producer, guitarist, and friend.

“He’s a scrapper like me,” Magness says of Darling. “He’s pragmatic. I said, ‘I don’t know if I can do this again. I don’t know if I should.’ And he goes, ‘Of course you should.’ I said, ‘But why?’ And this sounds really simple and stupid, but he said, ‘Because it’s what you do. Because it’s what we do, as artists, and you are a f___ing artist. So cut it out.’”

Magness began writing new material in the spring of 2021. Looking back, she now realizes that her new songs were tied to the intense memories and feelings she had exposed in Weeds Like.

 https://www.janivamagness.com

Debbie Davies

 

Debbie Davies’ rise to the upper echelon of blues music started at an early age as she absorbed the music heard constantly in her home. Her (professional) musician parents were either sitting at the piano or spinning discs on their turntable, filling the air with the sounds of big band jazz, harmony vocal groups, or the pop icons of the day. But the young Davies was particularly attracted to the bluesier sounds of her father’s Ray Charles records, and by the age of 12 realized that her affinity for an instrument was not for the piano, but for the guitar.

​Growing up in Los Angeles in the 1960’s, she found that being a female guitar player meant only one thing: acoustic guitar. Electric guitars were still toys meant only for boys. But when Debbie heard the sounds of the British blues-rock bands, particularly the electric guitar of Eric Clapton with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, she became completely captivated. Going against the grains of society’s accepted roles of the time, Debbie pursued her dream with the passion of an artist and the soul of a rebel.​

Davies cut her teeth playing in blues and rock ‘n roll bands in the San Francisco Bay area before returning to Los Angeles in 1984, where she landed the lead guitar spot in Maggie Mayall and the Cadillacs, an all-female band led by wife of British blues pioneer, John Mayall. In 1988 she was recruited by Albert Collins to join the Icebreakers, and for the next three years she was a featured guitarist performing behind one of the most innovative bluesmen of all time. “I stepped through a door into the real blues world when I joined Albert’s band,” Davies says. “It’s one thing to listen to the records and pull off the licks, or sit in the audience watching these artists play. But actually going out and touring with one, turned the blues into something completely three-dimensional for me. I knew then what a special opportunity this was, but I know it even more now.” During her tenure with Albert, Debbie was invited to perform on John Mayall’s 1990 album, A Sense of Place, and in 1991 she recorded with Albert Collins and the Icebreakers on the Grammy nominated self-titled release for Point Blank/Virgin Records.

​In the summer of 1991 Debbie became lead guitarist for Fingers Taylor and the Ladyfingers Revue, which served as the opening act for Jimmy Buffett’s “Outpost” tour. In September 1993 she came out with her debut solo release, Picture This, on Blind Pig Records, which featured a cameo by Collins on “I Wonder Why.” People like to ask Debbie if she learned her technique from Collins, to which she gently points out that she had to play well from the start to hold her own with Albert at every performance. However, the experience taught her lessons in being a better musician, both onstage and off. Says Davies, “It was the most powerful band I had ever played with, so I learned to dig even deeper into myself to pull out the music. Albert was a man of so much grace and kindness, so I can only hope that I was able to absorb some of his humanity too.”

​Since 1993, Debbie has produced 13 solo recordings and two collaborative CD’s, one with guitarists Tab Benoit and Kenny Neal, and another with guitarists Anson Funderburgh and Otis Grand. The roster of other artists who have joined Debbie in the studio on her recordings reads like a who’s who of the blues: Albert Collins, John Mayall, Ike Turner, James Cotton, Mick Taylor, Peter Green, Coco Montoya, Duke Robillard, Tommy Shannon, Chris “Whipper” Layton, Sugar Ray Norcia, Mudcat Ward, Charlie Musselwhite, Bruce Katz, and Noel Neal.

​In 2009, Debbie Davies released the ground-breaking and acclaimed all instrumental CD, HOLDIN’ COURT on Vizz Tone Records. That year also found Davies teaming up with blues singer and harp player, the late Robin Rogers to tour the country with performances at many festivals, until Robbin passed away in 2010.

​Davies then joined Tommy Castro’s Legendary Rythym and Blues Cruise Revue that same year, performing both on the land and at sea with fellow guest artist, Joe Louis Walker.  Debbie Davies is featured on the 2011  Alligator Records release of THE LEGENDARY RHYTYM and BLUES REVIEW performing the tune ALL I FOUND. 

 https://www.debbiedavies.com/

Sam Watkins

 

Nashville Recording Artist Sam Watkins is a Country/Rock/Blues Singer-Songwriter who currently resides in Las Vegas. He recorded his second single “No Shame’ in the world-renowned Music Row in Nashville, with some great musicians including Chris Leuzinger who tours and records with Garth Brooks. The song is based on a true love story.

Sam Watkins was born and raised in Texas by his grandparents. His influences were: George Strait, Waylon Jennings and Stevie Ray Vaughn.

Sam’s band “Sam Watkins & Fate Train” have a set list of over 1000 originals and covers of various genres, but consider themselves a Country / Rock / Blues Band, Sam knows all songs by memory.

He is known by his friends and family as the “Walking Jukebox”

 https://itnsradio.com/sam-watkins

Mark Ruebery

 

 

Pandemic blues having become a trope of our times, it’s not surprising that seasoned artist Mark Ruebery’s new single, "Get Away", his own pandemic tune, penned on a cruise ship stuck for a month between Southampton and Oz, lacks despair, conversely celebrating positive escapism!

There again, Mark Ruebery has a lot to be happy - and proud - about. Graduating in style from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Mark wasted no time racking up notable kudos, debut album "Because of You" rocking BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio Wales. Mark’s talent, honed onstage from London to New York and Shanghai, and an award-winning songwriter, since his last album "One Night One Chance" en route to his next, Mark knocked out this cabin fever mini-classic and continues to 'get away' with his show on the biggest cruise liners in the world. Unsinkable? You could say!

 https://www.markruebery.com/

Scott Van Zen

 

 

Guitarist Scott Van Zen has released his debut solo EP "Trouble" on Love Conquered Records. Co-produced by Scott, John Hopen and Grammy winner Khaliq (Khaliq-O-Vision) Glover, he has co-written for rock legends Kiss; won a Dove Award with Ken Tamplin; toured with top artists, and had over 1,000 songs placed in films, TV, and commercials (everything from The Green Hornet and Cars movies to McDonald’s ads).

Scott is Influenced by six-string greats like Eddie Van Halen, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck, Rory Gallagher, and Johnny Winter – but also appeals to fans of Jimi Hendrix, Joe Bonamassa, etc.

"Trouble" is a raucous virtuoso romp to survive through life’s dark desires and dilemmas. Songs like "Devil on Both Shoulders" and "Born in Darkness" tell gritty stories fueled by Van Zen’s fast and furious fingers.

Scott has also been a first-call session player and sideman for decades plus a world-class songwriter.

 

Official website: https://scottvanzenofficial.com

New Releases of the week.

 

This week we release new music from : BJORN HELGE KURSETH, TODD BARROW, YOU ARE AMONG FRIENDS, THE METAL BYRDS, MARCO DROETTO, CHRISTIAN PETERMANN and others.

The Blog of JAM 66 Radio, is the blog of the radio that plays rock, country, blues, blues rock, music of route 66 and the newest.

Every day new stories on radio, new posts, new bands, blues, blues-rock , country, folk and rock music are posted on this blog. Also, updated news on the blog in real time.

Tune in and hear us on this blog or through the links on the right column. https://jam-radio.blogspot.com/

Also you can hear us on https://bit.ly/3xAefB1 Stream https://bit.ly/3gZ6caI

Muddy Moonshine

 

Muddy Moonshine was founded in summer 2014. Original idea for this project was to have a small three person blues band (Jonne Rytkönen, Tero & Jarmo Ikala), to perform few pub shows. Moonshiners quickly developed own material and they needed to add some man power, so Saku Manninen joined to play drums and Jaakko Ruusulampi on bass guitar. 3rd guitarist slot was for Niko Turunen. This lineup  recorded the bands first EP “ Distilled in Finland” in Porvoo Magnusborg studios 2015. 

Muddy Moonshine continued to make their own music and played shows in good pace. Jaakko decided to left the group and was replaced by Kim Sandström. Niko was replaced by Stefan Granroth. Just before Moonshiners were about to start recording their debut album, Tero’s health issues started and he was replaced by Aleksi Ahokas.

Debut album Muddy & Wild” 2016 was recorded in Porvoo Magnusborg studios and was published via Inverse Records affiliated company Secret Entertainment worldwide.

Due to musical differencies Aleksi left the group to follow his own path in music and Muddy got an experienced former frontman of: Iconofear, Doperman, Hedonist & Zombie Rodeo Thomas Vee in vocals. Transition was easy and natural, since our paths had crossed before and there had been talks about collaboration before.

Moonshiners made more material and gig pace was good. It was almost time to enter the studio and publish their second album. Stefan decided to focus on family. Muddy Moonshine didn’t recruit anyone to replace him. 2 track single “Charm of Drinking Hard” was released in september 2021.

Sencond single “Crystal Riders” leads this path for the forthcoming album “Are We There Yet?” which will be released on March 18th 2022 via Secret Entertainment.

 

LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/officialmoonshine
http://www.muddymoonshine.com
https://www.instagram.com/muddy_moonshine
https://muddymoonshine.bandcamp.com

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Marco Luponero & The Loud Ones

 

 

Finnish hard rockers Marco Luponero & The Loud Ones return with the second single from their upcoming debut album. ”I would describe ‘The New Dark Ages‘ as a straightforward punk rock banger with a strong message”, says Marco. 

”I wrote it while reflecting on the current state of the world.”

In spirit of the track’s title, the band collaborated with Frank Berger of folk music act Ratatosk, who brought some true medieval flair to the song with the help of a hurdy-gurdy. ”It’s a fascinating instrument. It has a massive sound, at times very reminiscent of a bag pipe”.

The hurdy-gurdy has a rich history and is associated with several different parts of the world, perfectly fitting for Marco’s original idea. ”I knew I wanted the song to have some Old Norse flair, but I also wanted the sound to resonate with other cultures, because that’s what I was after lyrically, as well. The basic message is that no matter who we are and where we’re from, one thing is for sure: If we succumb to ignorance and fundamentalism, we’re on a dark path.”

 https://marcoluponero.com/