A1 Artist Spotlight.Com did a phone interview with Mike Onesko about his band the Blindside Blues Band and their CD Keepers of the Flame. Listen to the Podcast with the interview and music of the Blindside Blues Band.
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Blindside Blues Band is led by Mike Onesko who is the lead guitarist and vocals for the band. Mike grew up in Cleveland Ohio were he remembers his parents playing the popular music of the day. He loved Elvis and even had a windup Elvis guitar. Mike’s real journey began when he moved to California. After playing in a bunch of different bands Mike Varney discovered Mike Onesko playing in a club. The two of them started the Blindside Blues Band. Mike Varney is now best known for being a record producer, publisher, and founder of record labels like Shrapnel Records, Tone Center, and Blue Bureau. Mike Varney also discovered Yngwie Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert, Tony MacAlpine, Greg Howe, Marty Friedman, Vinnie Moore and Jason Becker. Onesko and Varney went on to make four records together as the Blindside Blues Band before Varney decided to move on. This did not hold Mike Onesko back at all. Mike has gone on to make two more Blindside Blues Band records as well as numerous other recording projects. Perhaps one of his most interesting one is Cream of the Crop with Tim Bogert on bass guitar and vocals and Emery Ceo on drums and vocals. They do live shows playing Cream songs. If you’re like me and never got to see Cream, this may be the next best thing.
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Blindside Blues Band new CD Keepers of the Flame is a heavy blues rock sound with a lot of energy and fun. The CD opens with “Keepers of the Flame” which is like a car spinning its tires on take off, it’s full speed ahead no looking back. Mike said the song is about how Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan are gone. Eric Clapton and Robin Trower are getting older, who will be the keepers of the flame? Who will carry on this kind of heavy blues-rock we grew up on? It will be the Blindside Blues Band. This is a good thing because they do a good job of it. Now if we can just get radio stations to play this style of music once again. The CD continues on with “Sonic Love” and “Jagged Edge” two more classic rock style songs with a guitar driven sound. “Maybe I’m A Leo” everyone will know from the Deep Purple record Machine Head. I think it’s very hard to take a classic rocker like this and update it because we all know this song so well. Blindside Blues Band made the song better. They keep it a lot like the original, yet made it a little more powerful, a little more solid. An interesting note, Mike Varney returned to play on this song. Joe Romagnoia the owner of Grooveyard Records, the label Blindside Blues Band is on, asked the band to do this song. Joe and Mike Varney both take turns playing guitar solos, Joe’s first then Mike’s. How cool is that, two record company owners will work together because they love the music. “Lonesome Road” is more of a laid back song that fits very nicely in the middle of the CD. The guitar strumming reminds me of “Friends” from Led Zeppelin III. It’s not the same song but there are some nice similarities. Mike said he wrote this about being on the lonesome road of touring. Check out the very nice instrumental part in the middle along with drummer Jeff Martin’s fine Harp playing. “Back Stabber”, “Electric Wave” and “Bad Luck” are back to a harder classic rock style. “Back Stabber” has a sound like Cream, maybe “Sunshine of Your Love” I’m not quite sure. It’s not obvious, just kind of a subtle riff from time to time. Davey Patterson who was with (Ronnie) Montrose and now sings for Robin Trower’s band joined in on this CD too. Davey is the singer on Blindside Blues Band’s remake of the Robin Trower’s song “Hannah” originally on the 1973 Twice Removed From Yesterday CD, Robin’s first solo record. Again, I think Blindside Blues Band does a better job on this song than the original. The real treat for me came in the song “I Wanna Be Free” from Uriah Heep’s Look At Yourself record. Sandwiched between “Look At Yourself” and “July Morning” I kind of overlooked the song. Mike said that was one of his favorite records and always liked that song a lot. Uriah Heep’s version is good but Blindside Blues Band’s version is great. The keyboards, (by Barry Prior) the guitars, and Jeff Martin’s vocals all have a fuller and more powerful sound. I would think trying to do a Uriah Heep song and make it sound good would be very hard to do. How many people can you think of that have even tried to pull this off. These guys not only tried to pull it off but made it better. “I Wanna Be Free”, “Keepers of the Flame”, and “Lonesome Road” are worth the price of the CD, still there are eight more songs. Keepers of the Flame is well over an hour long. Yes that’s right Grooveyard Records let Blindside Blues Band put out a CD that’s one hour and fifteen minutes long, that’s a bargain. If you like the sound of Cream, Hendrix, Deep Purple, Robin Trower and the others of that time you have just found a new band with that kind of great sound. The Blindside Blues Band are the keepers of the flame.
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Cream of the Crop with Tim Bogert on bass guitar
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Songs in podcast are:
Keepers of the Flame
Lonesome Road
Back Stabber
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Guitar solo of the week is from “Electric Wave”
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Blindside Blues Band Website
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To buy Keepers of the Flame from CD Baby
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To buy their last CD Long Hard Road from CD Baby
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Check out other great artist on Grooveyard Records
“Keep Rock Alive”
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I would like to thank Joe Romagnoia of Grooveyard Records for his help & setting up the interview.
Thanks also to Mike Onesko of Blindside Blues Band for doing the interview & all his help in putting this together.

 

 047 - Blindside Blues Band - From Cream to Robin Trower They're Keeping Rock Alive [34:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

A1 Artist Spotlight.Com did a phone interview with Aaron Moreland of Moreland & Arbuckle about their new CD 1861. Listen to the podcast with the interview about Moreland & Arbuckle and hear songs from this great CD. Just click on the red play button above this and enjoy.
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Moreland & Arbuckle’s music transports me to another time and place. Perhaps I’m riding the rails as a hobo while Aaron Moreland is playing blues on an old Parlor guitar. As the box car click clacks the time going down the track Dustin Arbuckle joins in singing and playing his harmonica. This is the sound of country roots blues at it’s very best. Imagine Son House or Mississippi Fred McDowell playing delta music in this dark boxcar. Wait, no, that’s not right we’re in Kansas not the delta. I know that scarecrow we just pasted, that yellow road. Oh no we’re not in Kansas any more I think were in Oz. The music sounds better than it ever has. There are beautiful bright colors radiating out of the music. If you think I’ve gone mad it’s because you have not started the podcast yet. When you hear Moreland & Arbuckle you will understand what I mean. The music takes you back to another time period yet at the same time it’s a wonderful new twist.
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Moreland & Arbuckle have been playing together in various forms for about 6 years. The various forms mean bass players and drummers have come and gone. The drummer Brad Harner was the original drummer who has returned to the band. Their first project was a band called the King Snakes in 2004. An all-acoustic CD came out in 2005 followed by an all-electric CD in 2006. Now in 2008 they have put out their first CD 1861 on the Northern Blues label. They are from somewhere in Kansas but not Oz, 1861 refers to when Kansas became a state.
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Aaron Moreland plays Electric, Parlor, Resonator, & Cigar Box Guitars
Dustin Arbuckle plays Harmonica & Sings
Brad Harner plays Drums
Guests:
Jeffrey Eaton plays Gas Tank Bass on “The Legend”
Chris Wiser plays Hammond B3 Organ on “Diamond Ring” & “Wiser Jam”
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Other than the one song Jeffrey plays on there is no bass guitar on the CD. This may be one reason for the unique sound on 1861. Of the twelve songs about five are acoustic, the rest are electric. As I tried to explain earlier the songs have a traditional country blues root sound to them. Even the electric ones have an old time sound. Like most blues songs the songs deal with problems in peoples lives. The music on most of the songs is upbeat, not slow or depressing. The CD did take a while to get into but when it clicked it was like a wave of joy. Like the time I first understood Bob Dylan’s vocals on the LP Street Legal. I can’t go to bed, I want to hear more. The first few days of being into the CD there was a big smile on my face as I listened, it was so much fun. At times I felt guilty playing 1861 knowing there was other artists I should be getting to know for a future show. I just wanted to hear more of Moreland & Arbuckle. 1861 starts off with a Hound Dog Taylor song “Gonna Send Ya Back to Georgia”. Aaron Moreland’s slide guitar starts off the song then Dustin Arbuckle’s Harmonica comes in and we’re off and running. As with the whole CD when Dustin is playing Harmonica I’m in heaven. This is a good example of what I was talking about before. In the song he wants to send her back to Georgia before she breaks up his happy home. Shouldn’t this be a sad song? Musically it’s a festival of fun you can almost see people dancing around. “Fishin’ Hole” came about from Aaron taking his young boys fishing one day. One day at rehearsals the kids were talking about it. Dustin picked up on it, wrote some words. Aaron was tuning up and fell into the guitar riff. The song was done in five minutes. “Tell Me Why” was a result of going down to Mississippi to visit Mississippi Fred McDowell’s grave. It’s a drone, one cord song like the kind of style McDowell played. “See My Jumper Hangin’ out on the Line” is a R.L. Burnside cover. This is much more of an upbeat version than R.L. Burnside’s studio version. With the Harmonica, clean guitar playing and Brad Harner nice drumming this is a fine cover everyone will love. For me the best song lyrically is “The Legend”. Dustin Arbuckle wrote this about the problems his father had after coming back from the Vietnam War. “The Legend” covers a long time period in his dad’s life. Dustin used precise words to explain what went on in his dad’s life as a result of going through that terrible war. These lyrics are up to the high standards of a very good Bob Dylan song. Musically this song is good and the lyrics are prefect. “Never Far Behind” and “Please, Please Mammy” are nice songs about family life in the country. “Never Far Behind” tells a very enjoyable story and musically like “Gonna Send Ya Back to Georgia” if you look closely you may even see them dancing around. Call your radio station to request songs from 1861. As you can tell I’m really crazy over Moreland & Arbuckle’s 1861. I’ve been very lucky this year to review a lot of great CD’s. 1861 is really up there and should be nominated for CD of the year. If you like traditional country blues but would like something new, exciting and fun. Moreland & Arbuckle’s 1861 will not let you down. This is a must buy CD.
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Songs played on the podcast:
1. Never Far Behind
2. Diamond Ring
3. Fishin’ Hole
4. The Legend
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Please, Please Mammy – Was the Guitar & Harp solo of the week.
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To buy 1861 from Moreland & Arbuckle Website
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To buy 1861 from Northernblues Music
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Moreland & Arbuckle - Website
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Moreland & Arbuckle - MySpace page
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You Tube - Jumper On The Line
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Northernblues Music is their record label
Check out some of the other fine artist on Northernblues Music like Homemade Jamz Blues Band, JW-Jones, Watermelon Slim & Mac Arnold.
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I would like to thank Michael McClune at Northernblues Music for his help in putting this podcast together also thanks to Aaron Moreland for taking time to do the interview.
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 045 - Moreland & Arbuckle – Awesome Modern with Traditional Country Blues Roots – Must Buy [31:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

A1 Artist Spotlight.Com did a phone interview with Big George Jackson about his career as a blues singer & harp player. Listen to the interview of Big George Jackson and hear Big George Jackson songs on this podcast.
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Big George Jackson said he heard the blues while he was growing up from family members playing records. George’s dad played a little harmonica, which influenced George to play around with it a little while in his teens. It wasn’t until his mid twenties that he really started taking the harp seriously. Inspiration on playing the harp came from Sonny Boy Williamson, Walter Horton, Little Walter, Junior Parker, and Paul Butterfield. By his late twenties he was a sideman playing harp in several bands over the next seven or eight years. The first CD he made was with some friends in 1994 (Nothing Like The Rest) but this was not a blues CD. Big George finely started putting together his own blues bands, then around 1995 Big George put together the band he has now. They’ve put out three CDs on Black & Tan Records. He calls his style of blues traditional blues and tries to be really true to the spirit of the original music. Big George even said “When I write a song or do a song I have to actually ask myself is this a song I could have heard somebody like Muddy Waters doing or someone like Walter Horton or someone like Lazy Lester doing”. One of the songs on Southern In My Soul he found he was not in the traditional style so he had to change the song to be more traditional. A few years ago in Switzerland he met Lazy Lester, who asked Big George and his group to be his back up band for a few gigs. As a result the two of them have become good friends and still work together once in a while. Lazy Lester told Big George he should learn guitar. Big George has gotten so good he will be doing some of the guitar work on their next record.
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What drew me to Big George Jackson was his traditional style of blues with a very solid band as well as solid voice of Big George, plus great harp playing. These guys really work together to make the over all sound of the song the number one priority. Sonny Boy Williamson like others from the past have no depth (or high fidelity) in their music. I know this is not anyone’s fault. The recording equipment just was not that good then. For me it does take away from enjoying these records as much as I should. That’s one of the other things I really liked about The Big George Jackson Band. The songs were in a great traditional blues style, yet the sound quality was modern. To be honest I was confused when first hearing the songs. Was this an old or new blues artist I just discovered. As a Bob Dylan fan I love good stories in songs. The stories are good, plus he loves to tell stories before playing the song.
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The song “I’m A Big Man” starts off with a cool little talk about being big and something dumb someone says to him. There is good harp playing with a tight band. George said “Friday Evening” is about when he was young he would get paid on Friday then get all dressed up before going out on the town. There is very nice drum work that keeps this song running along. “Amtrek”, “St. Paul Girl” and “Big Shot” all tell good stories.
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I was very happy to hear their music is getting played on satellite radio. Their tours of Europe have done well also. Please call your local radio stations and request music by Big George Jackson. Don’t forget to go to Black & Tan Records as well as iTunes to bye CD’s by Big George Jackson. They’re working on a new CD that will probably be out around the end of the year (2008).
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Songs used in the podcast:
1. St. Paul Girl
2. Big Shot
3. Friday Evening
4. Amtrek
5. I’m A Big Man
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Harp Solo “The Daddy”
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Big George Jackson’s CD’s are all on Black & Tan Records
2003 - Southern In My Soul
2001 – Big Shot
1998 - Beggin Ain’t For Me
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Big George Jackson MySpace page
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George’s Record Co. is Black & Tan
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Thanks to Jan Mittendorp at Black & Tan records for setting up the interview and Big George Jackson for taking time to do the interview.
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It’s free to subscribe to the shows and it will be delivered to your computer when ever a new show comes out. See link in upper right corner.
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 044 - Big George Jackson – The Traditional Blues Sprit, Done Right [34:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download