A1 Artist Spotlight.Com interviewed Jim King of Aunt Kizzy’z Boyz about their recorded It’s Tight Like That.  Excerpts of the interview are also in the podcast.
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Aunt Kizzy’z Boyz is a Delta Chicago blues band that is high energy. The boyz are preaching the gospel of good time blues, with Sugaray as the get in your face preacher that is going to tell how it’s going to be. You’d better have had a couple energy drinks in you or you’ll never keep up with the band.
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Aunt Kizzy’z Boyz have two great cd’s out. The first one Truck Full of Blues and the live cd I’ll play in the podcast It’s Tight Like That. The title really describes the music because it is very tight. You can’t help but to get up and have a good time when listening to this music. They played at a juke joint in Mississippi that B.B. King had just bought called Club Ebony. As expected Aunt Kizzy’z Boyz tore the house down. Club Ebony is a place that really knows the blues and expects to get a top notch artist to play there. For Aunt Kizzy’z Boyz to be so well recieved means they really are a good blues band
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Aunt Kizzy’z Boyz is based in California. They were formed in 2000 after guitarist Jim King and drummer Dwane Hathorn had played together on and off, and in different projects for about fourteen years. Dwane came up with the name for the band reading the book “Roots”. For the next few years different members passed through the band. In 2003 they ran in to Sugaray, at that point Jim and Dwane knew they had found the singer they needed. The current band includes Bastos Moenho who is from Angola, Africa and is the percussionist. Surprisingly his favorite artists are all guitarists Albert Collins, Albert King, and B.B. King. Joe Schiavone is the bass guitarist however, he does sing lead at times. Joe’s favorite artists are B.B. King, Buddy Guy, and Junior Wells. Drummer Dwane Hathorn grew up on blues, jazz, big band, and R&B which gives him an opportunity to practice his favorite quote “It’s all about the groove”. Michael Mack is the classically trained keyboardist who likes Herbie Hancock, Samuel Barber, Jimmy Smith, Patrick Moraz, and Dr. John. His favorite quote is by Bob Dylan, check out the website to see what it is.  
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Sugaray (Caron Rayford) is the charismatic jump shouting preacher of the blues from Tyler Texas. Raised in the church on gospel music you can feel the gospel roots in the blues he sings. One of his favorite songs is “Smokestack Lighting” and whether it’s Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Willamson, or The Yardbirds doing it, you can bet Sugaray can do it better. Some of Sugaray’s favorite artist are Son House, B.B. King, Muddy Waters, and Howlin’ Wolf. Jim King is the guitarist and writes the song with Sugaray. Jim has a solo cd When The Blues Are Green which is songs written by his favorite guitarist Peter Green. 
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Jim says there are no egos in the band, they all get along like family. If there is a problem they all work together to help each other. Jim’s wife, Kimberly and Sugaray’s wife, Pam do all the booking of shows, drawing up contracts, and making the band’s website. They have their own recording company, SugarKing Records, which has put out the two Aunt Kizzy’s Boyz cds as well as Jim King’s solo cd When The Blues Are Green. The band also does work with Blues in the School. They go out to schools and play music for the kids as well as teach the kids about where this music comes from. While on tour in Europe they called up schools to visit on their off days.
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The cd kicks off with Sugaray saying this is for all my people out in Texas. The band kicks in as Jim’s guitar screams out some great lead lines. You know from the start this is going to be a lot of fun. Sugaray is a “Texas Blues Man” and he is paying tribute to his home state of Texas.
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“Bad Girl” (but in a good way) is a great swinging Chicago shuffle. Lyrics to “Bad Girl” are fun just like the music, you just can’t help but have a lot of fun listening to these two lead off songs.  
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“Sugar Mama” is a Howlin’ Wolf song that was also covered by Rory Gallagher’s band Taste and Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac.  All versions are quit different as is this version. While I like all of the other versions this one by Aunt Kizzy’s Boyz is the best by far to me. The song is more laid back with really great clean guitar playing, the organ playing adds a very nice dimension to the song. Having a full band really helps this over Rory Gallagher’s version with just a three piece band. Wolf’s version is 2:38, Mac’s is 4:14, Gallagher’s is 8:11 and Aunt Kizzy’s Boyz is 9:10 each one very much in a style of there own. Wish I could have played this cover because it real is a highlight of the guitar playing on this cd.”I Still Remember” is kind of a old time county blues chant.
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“Bundalogy” reminds me of something Santana would have in one of his records with all the percussion instruments on it. This was written by the drummer Dwane Hathorn and percussionist Bastos Moenho.  Since Bastos Moenho is from Africa these probably aren’t Spanish but African rhythms.
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“Juke Joint” was written after playing at Club Ebony in Mississippi. Jim said he had the music for a long time and Sugaray added the lyrics and hey we have another great song. This is another great upbeat fun party song.
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What can be said about a song like “Thrill is Gone” everyone knows this song by B.B. King. Others have recorded this classic like Aretha Franklin, Luther Allison, Willie Nelson and even Leslie West of Mountain fame. Aunt Kizzy’s Boyz do a more blue version with a little jazz in it. Like always the Boyz come through with a wonderful version. Almost everyone in the band cited B.B. King as one of their favorite blues artist it makes good sense to record this one.
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“Jelly Roll” like “Juke Joint” is a upbeat party song, little more on the side of rock than blues, definitely on the side of a fun time.  
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“Annie Mae’s Cafe” is a slow heartfelt blues song. One exception is about 7 minutes into the song Jim’s guitar gets stronger and stronger with a fabulous lead.
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The song is about a old man thinking back on his life and how he met his wife in “Annie Mae’s Cafe”. This is the only sad song on the cd. They prove here there can be more to Aunt Kizzy’s Boyz than just a fun time. This is a wonderful song of both deliverance of the words and music. “Annie Mae’s Cafe” would have been in the podcast but the song is ten minutes long. By playing this two other songs would have to be left out. Guess you’ll have to buy the cd, it’s well worth the money.
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With songs like a Texas Blues Man, Bad Girl, Sugar Mama, Juke Joint, Thrill is Gone, Jelly Roll, and Annie Mae’s Café this is a very strong cd. A six piece band that is this tight with strong vocals and soaring guitar is hard to find. Take the time to rewind the podcast to the start of the songs, play them over again, you’ll see this is a band with a bright future a head of them.
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That would be all if it just wasn’t for the fact that Jim King has a solo cd you should also check out. When the Blues Are Green is a cd of Peter Green songs, some he wrote, some he just defined with his interpretation. Peter Green as most of you know was the guiltiest that started Fleetwood Mac back in the late 60’s and pinned the song “Black Magic Woman” that became a big hit for Santana. Jim King does a great job on guitar and vocals with songs everyone should know, but sadly do not in most cases. Some of the eleven songs on When the Blues Are Green are “Rollin Man”, “Rattlesnake Shake”, “Long Grey Mare”, “Drifting” and still another good version of “Sugar Mama”
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Thanks to Aunt Kizzy’z Boyz for letting me play their songs and to Jim King for a great interview. Jim thanks for all the great stories about when you saw The Rolling Stones with Brian Jones, Jeff Beck Group with Rod Stewart, Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green, B.B., Albert, and Freddie King in concert. Sorry I did not have time to share all the stories. This man knows what a good concert is and is out there over 250 days a year making it happen for others to remember what a great concert is. Aunt Kizzy’s Boyz with Sugaray and Jim King.  
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Aunt Kizzy’z Boyz Website
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Aunt Kizzy’z Boyz - MySpace 
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CD Baby Website - to buy Aunt Kizzy’z Boyz cd It’s Tight Like That
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CD Baby Website - to buy Aunt Kizzy’z Boyz first cd Truck Full of Blues 
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CD Baby Website - to buy Jim King’s cd When the Blues Are Green
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Check out The Rollover Rock Show
Great Rock n’ Roll for everyone.

 

 035 - Aunt Kizzy's Boyz - Delta Chicago Blues At It's Best [34:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

                            This is the Tuesday Bonus Show
                          
                            
                           
Below is an email I reserved from John Walker of Lochinvar a few days ago.
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Sorry to be the bearer of such awful news, but Paula Smith, aka Paula Blade, lead singer and founder of Lochinvar, was killed in a car accident in Marlow, Oklahoma on April 24. There are details on our MySpace page and also our home page. Lochinvar the band is no more. There’s no way I could continue this without Paula, and I wouldn’t want to even if I could. She is irreplaceable. I’m going to keep the MySpace and website up as a tribute to her.I have some of our CD’s left and I’m going to sell the remainder and then that will be it. Any proceeds are going to Paula’s family. She also wanted people to donate to the American Cancer Society if they were so inclined.The CD’s are on CD Baby:
To buy Lochinvar cd “Fire Eyes” from CD Baby
To buy Lochinvar cd “Lochinvar” (first cd) from CD Baby
    
I’ll (John Walker) be back at some point, and if anyone is interested in what I’m up to I have a new website.
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Thanks to John Walker for taking the time to email us about Paula.
Todays Bonus Show is in memory of a very talented singer, Paula Smith.
Songs are:
Behind my intro. the instrumental “Free Fall”
1. Midnight Woman
2. Amazon
3. Captive Love
4. Fire Eyes
                                                         
To hear the spotlight show I did on Lochinvar, click here.

All artist have been past Spotlight Artist.
Check the “Links” box (on the right side of the page)
to hear the full show on each artist.See you Thursday for a new the Spotlight Show.

 

 Lochinvar – Fair Well and Thank You To Pauls Smith [20:43m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Lillian Axe is a hard rock band that released it’s first cd in 1988,
since then they have released seven cd’s. Most people feel their 1993
cd Psychoschizophrenia was their masterpiece with vocalist Ron Taylor.
The newest cd “Waters Rising” is a perfect mix of heavy metal, hard
rock, and softer acoustic pieces that some times get near classical
music but still has a heavy feel to it.
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Before we talk about this new masterpiece “Waters Rising” lets get
some back round on Steve Blaze. He is the leader of Lillian Axe as
well as producing, engineering, song writer, keyboards and guitar
wizard.

Steve started out listening to Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Kiss,
Scorpions, and Judas Priest among others. The First record he bought
was Alice Cooper’s “Schools Out”.
Steve started playing guitar before he was a teenager and by nineteen
was playing guitar on a record for Jim Dandy (former singer for Black
Oak Arkansas).

A few years later Steve formed Lillian Axe. They made four cd’s,
touring around the world and had four videos on MTV. For those of you
too young to remember MTV, it was a cable channel that had 24-7 rock
videos. With none of the #rap they have today, sorry I’ve digressed.
After their 1993 Psychoschizophrenia cd and tour it was finely time to
take a hiatus.

Lillian Axe cd’s
1988  Lillian Axe
1989  Love and War
1992  Poetic Justice
1993  Psychoschizophrenia
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1995 Steve Blaze had a new band called “Near Life Experience” This
time he would be the lead vocalist as well as guitar wizard and
songwriter. They recorded five cd’s but only three are still in print and
you may want to order them soon before they sell out. They are only
available through their website or at concerts.

Near Life Experience is:
Steve Blaze - lead vocalist and guitar
Richard Kendrick – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
Eric Morris – bass
Rob Hovey – drums

1999 Lillian Axe releases “Fields of Yesterday” (B sides)

2000 Steve Blaze joins an old 1970’s/80’s rock band he had loved as a
teen called Angel.
They are working on a cd and do concerts from time to time.

2002 Lillian Axe releases “Live”
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2005 Steve Blaze releases his first solo cd “Random Acts of Blindness”
The cd is dedicated to his father, who passed away in 2002.
Steve sings and plays all the instruments.  It’s soft and mellow with a lot
of acoustic guitars.
Steve said it’s still very touching for him listen to.

2007 Lillian Axe releases “Waters Rising”
Steve Blaze said Lillian Axe had spent ten years recording and touring
with very little time off. After 12 years of no new studio recordings
“Waters Rising” is the first studio record since their highly
acclaimed 1993 cd “Psychoschizophrenia”. They have gone through many
changes both personal and with solo projects. The record industry
has changed very much in the last 12 years plus there is no MTV for
their videos. For Lillian Axe to reestablish themselves would take a
lot of hard work. After four years of working on and tweaking “Waters
Rising” it was finely released. The wait is well worth it as “Waters
Rising” is a masterpiece. Steve says this was a new beginning for the
band. He tried to get the songs to work off each other. Sometimes
there were melodic theme, a dynamic theme, or even a lyrics theme so
Steve spent a lot of time to get all songs to work together to take
you on a journey from the start to the end. When you were done you
don’t feel you heard disjointed songs but one big piece that works
together. One of the great things about “Waters Rising” after you get
past just getting to know the killer songs, is all the hidden sounds
and layering. Put head phones on and check out “Fields of Yesterday”,
“Until the End of the World”, or really any song. You will find what I
call the hidden song. Most bands put out bonus tracks. Lillian Axe’s
bonus is the deepness of each track. Steve said they layered the music
with keyboard pads, another guitar part, and neat sound effects. Some
thing’s showed up that they didn’t even plan on or know how they got
on the song. If it sounded good they left it in.

Steve said “Waters Rising” is about the pressure we have in our lives
due to all the responsibility we have as we get older. Water rising is
how you either drown or get strong and swim through it. These are some
of the lines from the song.

Waters Rising – Music and Lyrics by Steve Blaze
I felt the waters rising up on me
I drowned a thousand times but washed up from the sea
Well I can take it, so I can break it
Melt it slowly
Fireflies paint the skies
Do we really need to burn?

And everything I see
Is jaded from the light that I used to follow
And everything I need
Slips right through the cracks as I watch it wash away
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“Fields of Yesterday” Steve said is kind of the song that defends Lillian Axe.
It has many different elements in the song that all have to work
together to make this epic like song. The song is about how mankind
has evolved spiritually, mentally and emotionally. Now we have evolved
up to this point but it looks like were ready to heading right back
down. Steve feels we as humans have great potential but we’re it messing
up.

Fields of Yesterday – Music and Lyrics by Steve Blaze
Then I saw a sign near the corners of my mind
In the fields of yesterday

Looking back it’s been so long
My burning passion keeps my hunger going strong
But, I still can’t see something’s stopping me
From the lake of knowledge I thirst for desperately
Just to drink of easily

Steve’s diversity in music goes beyond heavy metal, hard rock and pop.
It goes in to classical music and new age which he likes very much and
can even deal with some country. This is very evident in the music
Steve writes with portions of all in his songs (except country). His
listening taste has continued to grow over the years. Some of the
newer bands Steve likes now are My Chemical Romance, Chevelle and Type
O Negative. By far his favorite new band is Muse, he loves the guitar
work of Matt Bellamy.

Steve’s diversity has now moved into writing and performing all the
music as well as the  narration to a five part documentary. The
documentary is being written by author Dr. Alfred Adams who has
written books about the “End Times” biblical prophesy (Nearing
Midnight I & II). Steve Blaze said as a Christian he hopes to spread the
word and reach more  people, and be able to create more music. They’re
hoping this will be on TV or maybe picked up by 1200 theaters.
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Steve Blaze has teamed up with Guilford Guitars to create the new
Blaze model guitar.  The guitar features an alder body with hand
carved figured maple top and a rock maple neck.  Original Floyd Rose
Tremolo, Buzz Feiten tuning system, and Seymour Duncan Blackout
humbucker pickups make this guitar ready to rock.  For more
information click here.
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Steve Blaze is an accomplished guitarist as anyone can tell after
listening to Lillian Axe, Near Life Experience or his solo record.
Recently (Dec.2007) “Guitar Player” magazine rated Steve Blaze as one
of the most underrated guitarists. Among some of the others who shared
the list with Steve are Rory Gallagher, Ronnie Montrose, Robbie
Krieger (Doors), Rick Darringer, Andy Powell/Ted Turner (Wishbone Ash)
and the one Steve was the most proud of being on the list with Matt
Bellamy of Muse. Muse of course being the band he loves the guitar
work of the most. If you really would like to hear Steve give his
guitar a work out, listen to the song “5″ on Waters Rising. This is a
song from his solo cd that was added on to Waters Rising just to
satisfy all the fans who have asked him to do a shredding record
over the years. Steve said he is more into the songs than just a
record of shredding. What Steve did was to make one song of all the
shredding styles he knew and put them into the song “5″. “Five” has a
lot of guitars on it, I mean a lot of guitars with so many different
styles you will not be able to keep up with as they blaze by.
This is a killer end to a great cd but it is just one example of the
reason Steve Blaze is in “Guitar Player” magazine as one of the most
underrated guitarists. The rest of the reason is for what he has done
on all the other songs in the last 20 years.

Currently Lillian Axe is working on a new cd for release some time
around September 2008 and will follow it with a tour.
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In my opinion Lillian Axe’s Waters Rising is a masterpiece. It has set
a new level for bands to try in reach. From the opening of the first
song to the close of the last song this record takes you on a great
journey.

The songs played on the podcast:
1. Quarantine
2. Fields of Yesterday
3. The 2nd of May
4. Waters Rising

Lillian Axe Website

Lillian Axe MySpace page

Steve Blaze Website

Steve Blaze MySpace page

Near Life Experience

 

 031 - Lillian Axe - Waters Rising Is The Masterpiece The Grammies Must Not Have Heard [32:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download