A1 Artist Spotlight Podcast

November 2009

Monthly Archive

Thu 26 Nov 2009

115 – Marquise Knox – Man Child

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Hear Marquise Knox talk about his new CD Man Child and some of the famous blues artists he may be related to. Michael Burks and his band back up Marquise.
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This week we are digging deep down into the blues for a talk with Marquise Knox. Marquise explains in the show that he has been surprised by some of the old blues artists he has spoken with that think they are related to each other. Marquise also talks about how he got to join St. Louis blues legend Big George Brock’s band. Big George is 77 years old he and worked the cotton fields with another boy named McKinley Morganfield aka. Muddy Waters. Big George owned a club that Ike & Tina Turner were the opening for Albert King every Sunday and had made plenty of good records himself. (To hear my show with Big George Brock click here.)

So why would someone like Big George Brock want Marquise Knox to play in his band. It’s simple, Marquise is young, eager to learn, and has proven he really knows the blues and only wants to play just the blues. Having someone like Big George Brock as your mentor has to be really good for a new blues artist. Another blues artist that has stepped forward to work with Marquise is Michael Burks. Whenever Michael comes to St. Louis the whole blues community turns out. A lot of people have told me they think some day Michael Burks’ name will be up there with BB & Albert King as one of the figure heads of the blues world (hear the interview Michael Burks click here).

In this weeks show Marquise talks about how he and Michael, well really the whole band are good friends. They have talked about working together for a long time and Man Child is the result of that desire. As more and more artists are moving away from blues into blues rock Marquise Knox is planting his feet firm on the ground of deep southern blues. Marquise is working with a blues artist of the past, Big George Brock, a blues artist of the present, Michael Burks, and Marquise is the future of the blues.

As you will hear in the show Marquise Knox’s Man Child is truly a wonderful blues record. Keep the blues alive, buy a blues CD, Marquise Knox’s Man Child.

Songs played in this week’s show:
She’s the One
Clock on the Wall
Living to Die
Juke Joint Blues

Marquise Knox Website

Marquise Knox MySpace

Buy Marquise Knox Man Child from Amazon.Com

Check our APO Records for other great pillars of the blues world like Big George Brock, Jimmy D. Lane, Jimmy Rogers, Henry Townsend & many more.

I’d like to thank Marquise Knox for taking the time to talk to me.
Thanks to Michael Dyson for setting everything up for us, check out his Blues Shoe Project.
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Blues Music and Interviews
A1Blues.Com
formerly A1 Artist Spotlight. Com
by A1 Mark

Thu 19 Nov 2009

114 – Tommy Castro – Hard Believer

Posted by A1 Mark under Podcast
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Blues Music Award Winner for 2008 Entertainer of the Year was Tommy Castro. You will be hearing Tommy talk about how he got started in music as well as songs from his new Alligator Record Hard Believer.
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The first day I was to interview Tommy Castro he was just getting ready to go pick his kids up from martial arts classes. Tommy apologized for not being able to do the interview so we rescheduled for another day. He was in a very happy fun mood and talked like we were old friends. Tommy said his kids really liked taking martial arts classes and were doing real good in it. He joked that this was going to pay off because his daughter was getting near her teens and those boys won’t know what hit them. So my first interview went a little short but boy what a cool guy I thought as I hung up the phone . Our phone interview ended up being a few days later while Tommy was at a blues festival. As he walked around he told me about what was going on there till some rain started and he went inside. One thing I really noticed about Tommy is how much he enjoys life. I don’t remember interviewing anyone who laughed so many times while we were talking.

I’m not going to give you a history of Tommy Castro here because all you have to do is listen to the show. Tommy does a good job of explaining how he got to where he is today. The new Tommy Castro record Hard Believer is his first one for Alligator Records. It starts off with horns blowing then you hear Tommy’s soulful voice and an all too short scorching guitar solo from Tommy. “The Definition of Insanity” starts you off with a bit of an upbeat soulful Latin sound. Followed by another upbeat song called “It Is What It Is”. It is the song all radio stations should be playing. The title track “Hard Believer” slows things down a bit with Tommy doing a soulful blues song. Tommy co-wrote five of the twelve songs with “Monkey’s Paradise” being the only one he wrote by himself. It may not have you swinging from tree to tree but you will probably be singing along with Tommy. Fellow Alligator Record’s artist Rick Estrin from Rick Estrin & the Nightcats co-wrote the song “Backup Plan” with Tommy. It kicks off with a cool intro then moves into a smooth blues with Tommy giving a good vocal delivery. Tommy Castro’s version of Bob Dylan’s Grammy award winning song “Gotta Serve Somebody” is the best cover of a Dylan song I’ve heard. Oh wait, Jimi Hendrix did “All Along the Watchtower” ok let’s just say Tommy does a really, really good job on “Gotta Serve Somebody”. The songs “Trimmin’ Fat” and “Make It Back To Memphis” are both good songs and covered in the show. Like most of what Tommy has done in the past this is a very good record that you should be hearing a lot of on the radio these days. Actually this is a record you should be hearing a lot on your CD player or iPod, hint hint.

Songs played in this weeks show:
Backup Plan
Trimmin’ Fat
Make It Back To Memphis
It Is What It Is

Tommy Castro Website

Tommy Castro MySpace

Buy Tommy Castro’s Hard Believer from his website

Check out some of the other fine artists on Alligator Records
like Tinsley Ellis, JJ Grey & Mofro, Rick Estrin & The Nightcats,
Buckwheat Zydeco, Eric Lindell & Michael Burks

Thanks to Aigars Lapsa for the use of all his great photos of Tommy Castro.

Thanks to Tommy Castro for taking the time to do the interview during his Blues Festival. Thanks to Bruce Iglauer for setting everything up.

Blues Music and Interviews
A1Blues.Com
formerly A1 Artist Spotlight. Com
by A1 Mark

Thu 12 Nov 2009

113 – Sandy Mack – Still Going Strong

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Hear Sandy Mack’s brand new record, as well as Sandy talking about the songs.
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Ever sense Dennis Gruenling turned me on to Sandy Mack about a year ago. I’ve wanted to do a show on Sandy Mack unfortunately his last record That’s What I’m Talkin’ About came out in 2001. In trying to do shows on newer records I waited and hoped he would come out with another record soon. Of course Sandy teased me about this because the record I used for the Dennis Gruenling show was a year older than Sandy’s last record. Up All Night is a Dennis Gruenling record that featured Sandy Mack on vocals. If after you hear this show and would like to listen to why I liked Sandy so much on Up All Night, click on this to hear that show.

Sandy Mack’s new record Still Going Strong surisingly starts off with a slow grove called “Drunken”. Now, you and I know you never start a record off with a slow song. You start it off with a bang. Someone at Blue Leaf Records must have thought if you start it off with a really strong slow grove you can save your hard hitters for latter. They were absolutely right! “Drunken” is a wonderful song. Sandy said they had the song recorded when Kid Ramos showed up at the studio to add in his part on guitar. The Kid said just play the song and he added his part flawlessly. Sandy, who likes to have a good time, added some humorous lines that make “Drunken” seem a bit drunken. That is the first track and the first reason to buy this record, the second reason is the next track “Never Enuff Rockin”. You’ll hear that in the show. “Let’s Work” is an old cover of a song by tenor sax player Big Jay McNeely, with some fine piano work by John Pittas. It’s a good uplifting song. “It’s My Life, Baby” is the same song Junior Wells did on his second solo record. It’s well done, but the Little Walter song “Shake Dancer” is even better. Sandy on harp and Ron Rauso on guitar really makes Sandy’s song “Turn My Luck Around” sparkle. Again, Sandy adds some of his humor into this song about turning his luck around after seeing some infomercials. This is a really cool song and one more reason you need to buy this record, in fact you can add in all the songs played in the show as good reasons why you will want to own this record. The record ends with another Sandy Mack song called “Love Explosion”. This is the type of song most records would start off with, but hey it’s nice to end on a real high note.

Sandy told me he feels he is just an ok singer, harp player, and songwriter, and that his real strength is his ears in hearing how the songs should sound. While I think he is much better than he gives himself credit for he is probably right about knowing what sounds right in a song. There is no real band here Sandy has pulled different musicians to play on the songs he felt they would work best on and has done a very good job of this. The real strength of Still Going Strong is the incredible musicianship and music. Some of the artists play on only a few songs while others play on most of the songs. Below is a list of some of the artists that made Still Going Strong so wonderful.
Sandy Mack – lead vocals and harmonica
Ira Kaye – drums
Kid Ramos – guitar
Andy Reidel – guitar (was also on the CD Up All Night)
Rod Rauso – guitar
John Pittas – piano
Jumpin’ Jack Strobel – organ
Dave Post – bass
Angelo Mancuso – bass
Wilbo Wright – bass

Jason Ricci says of Sandy Mack : “Sandy’s a great player and a super guy he’s responsible for not only playing some of the best blues in New Jersey but also nurturing local talent and bringing in the best Nationals.”

Songs played this week:
“Never Enuff Rockin’”
“Life Boat”
“Get Right”
“Ghost Stories”
“That’s Not Right”

Sandy Mack’s MySpace

Buy Sandy Mack’s Still Going Strong at Amazon.Com

Check out other blues records like Albert Castiglia, Todd Wolfe, Nicole Hart, Anni Piper, Steve Guyger, and our friend Jon Paris at Blues Leaf Records

Thanks to Sandy Mack for such a fun time in our interview.
Thanks to Rick Lusher for setting everything up.

Blues Music and Interviews
A1Blues.Com
formerly A1 Artist Spotlight. Com
by A1 Mark

Thu 5 Nov 2009

112 – Larry McCray – Larry McCray

Posted by A1 Mark under Podcast
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Hear Larry McCray talk about his self titled CD Larry McCray. If you like Albert King you will love Larry McCray.
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This record of Larry McCray’s came out in August of 2007. Normally I don’t do a show on a record this old but after hearing it there was no way I could wait till Larry puts out another record to do a show on him. Even though this is his seventh record it is simply titled Larry McCray. As Larry says in the show after hearing the three Kings and Albert Collins he just wanted to learn more more and more about playing the guitar. He then started listening to every Blues artist he could find.

Larry’s voice is solid and full of emotion as is his guitar playing. The band is just Larry on guitar and vocals, Noel Neal on bass, Steve McCray on drums and backing vocals and Tony Z. on keyboards. I was surprised because it sounds like a bigger band than what it really is. The lead off track “Run” is a good hard hitting song. “Get My Blue’s On” is more of a R&B song with a bit of a reggae sound mostly due to Larry’s use of the wah-wah pedal on the guitar. Larry does some fine soloing on “Don’t Need No Woman”. “Broken Promise” and “No More” are both in the show so you’ll hear those. Then comes “Big Black Hole”, this was one of the songs I really had trouble leaving out of the show. It’s a good hard-hitting tough song with Larry giving a good emotional performance. “Buck Naked” is an instrumental that works well at showing of Larry’s guitar abilities. It also has some nice keyboard accompaniment from time to time. “Really Knock Me Out” has more of a funky sound with Larry working good leads over a wah-wah rhythm.

Some artists tend to do their guitar solos out in front of everything to be noticed. Larry tends to mix it in with the music more. You’re listening to the songs as a whole and he is just one part of the song. This is not to say he does not have a lot of solos on this record he most certainly does but they are not in your face they are a very important part of the whole song.

The night I saw Larry McCray play he had a different band than on this record but this didn’t matter at all because they were great. The bass player (sorry I don’t remember his name) used a five string bass and was as much fun to watch as Larry was. He was all over that bass laying down some great sounds. The keyboard player was real new to the band and the bass player would give him cues as to when changes were coming up. All the time Larry is standing in front pouring out waves of great guitar licks. If you never saw Albert King or would like to see him again, and who wouldn’t. This is one of closest chances you will ever get. This show went over so good that a few weeks later Larry McCray was asked to come back and be one of headlining acts at the Big Muddy Blues Festival. Please get out and see Larry McCray in concert, it will well be worth your time and until then buy his CD Larry McCray.

If you like the show please go to iTunes store type in A1Blues.Com and write a revue for the show.