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 120 - Best of 2009 pt. 2 [57:55m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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This like last week will be some of the best songs from artists that have been on the show this past year.

January 7th I’ll be back with a new interview and great music.
The first show will be about someone who has had more to do with keeping the blues alive for the last forty years than probably any one else. This will be at least a four-part show airing the first Thursday of each month. You will love the stories he’ll be telling this is a must hear show.

If you have been wondering who to vote for in this years Blues Music Awards be sure to check the links at this website under “Past Shows”. Many of the artists have been interviewed here and more are coming in the next few months.

Have a happy New Year and always keep the blues alive.

A1 Mark

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 119 - Best of 2009 pt.1: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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This week and next will be some of the best songs from artists that have been on the show this past year.

January 7th I’ll be back with new interviews and great music.
The first show will be about someone who has had more to do with keeping the blues alive for the last forty years than probably any one else. This will be at least a four-part show airing the first Thursday of each month. You will love the stories he’ll be telling this is a must hear show.

If you have been wondering who to vote for in this years Blues Music Awards be sure to check this website many have been interviewed here and more are coming in the coming months.

Have a merry Christmas, a happy New Year and keep the blues alive.

A1 Mark

This week hear David Gerald talk about his new record Hell and Back.

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 118 - David Gerald - Hell & Back [42:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Recently Breeze who also does a blues show on KCOR Kansas City Online Radio called Kool Breeze & Sizzlin Blues (7pm CST USA time) was telling me about this new cd she was getting good response on by an artist named David Gerald. I had never heard of David but always on the lookout for good blues artists for the show I went to his website. There David has videos of five songs he is performing live. All five songs are covers of pretty much standard blues songs. What got me was how good he did these songs. I was not hearing someone just doing a good copying of a song. It was someone who was feeling the emotion of the songs. It was like you were hearing the songs for the first time. The first one is “I’ll Play the Blues for You” which most people know by Albert King, David’s version is right up there with the King’s. Most of you will remember Taj Mahal or The Blues Brothers doing “She Caught The Katy”. Then “Cold Shot” you will know from Stevie Ray Vaughan’s 1984 record Couldn’t Stand The Weather. David’s version of “Red House” is good but it’s when he does “The Thrill Is Gone” you really get to hear some wonderful music. It’s nine minutes of joy you’ll love. David does some really hot guitar solos on this song.

In this weeks show David Gerald talks about growing up in Detroit and how he started out loving the music of Prince, Michael Jackson and Eddie Van Halen. After having his heart broken over a girl or girls he started understanding the blues more. It was also people like Z.Z. Hill and remembering the artists his parents listened to that got him listening to the blues more and more.

David Gerald’s CD Hell and Back not only has those good live covers I was telling you about but really good studio tracks too. Like “My Guitar” an upbeat blues rockin’ song that will get people out on the dance floor. “Postman” has a steady thumping beat that delivers all the goods to your door. David will tell you about “Hell and Back” in the show but you should know this is a dark and haunting song that will get you wanting to play it over and over again. So the best solution is to go to one of the links below and buy David Gerald’s CD Hell and Back.

Songs on this weeks show:
My Guitar
Stay
How I Feel
Postman
Hell and Back

David Gerald Website

David Gerald MySpace

David Gerald Facebook

Buy David Gerald’s CD Hell & Back from his Website

Buy David Gerald’s CD Hell & Back from Amazon.Com

Thanks to David for taking the time to let me interview him.
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Blues Music and Interviews
A1Blues.Com
formerly A1 Artist Spotlight. Com
by A1 Mark

Hear Mac Arnold talk about some of the big names he’s worked with. He will talk about his new record Country Man and you will hear some songs from it too.
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 117 - Mac Arnold - Country Man [35:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Mac Arnold’s new record Country Man is just his latest accomplishment in a life of accomplishing good things. In Mac’s home of South Carolina, USA he and his brother Leroy made his first guitar out of an old gas can when he was only ten years old. Later in high school he played in a band that had James Brown as the piano player. Mac talks in the show about what James Brown was like way back then and about working in Muddy Waters band. Mac is also on John Lee Hookers Live At Café Au Go-Go, most people consider it John Lee Hookers’ best record ever.

In the 70’s he lived in West Hollywood while going to college to learn about working in television. Mac worked on the Soul Train television show and did some work with Quincy Jones as well as Bill Withers (“Lean On Me”). Mac decided to retire to South Carolina in 1989 but as he says in the show “Retirement is not all it’s cracked up to be with me, I couldn’t stand not doing anything ” so he started driving a truck. Mac keep running into Max Hightower (mechanic & harp player ) who for the next ten years keep asking Mac to start a blues band. In 2005 they put out their first record. Backbone & Gristle followed in 2008 and now in 2009 we have Country Man.

This is a man who is truly down to earth. In his slow reflective song “Farmer” he talks about living on the land. “This Old Tractor” is a upbeat song about working on his farm and driving by his baby’s house on the tractor. “Country Man” again has that rural theme plus it shows off Max Hightower’s harmonica playing. “If Walls Could Talk” is a fun song that almost makes you feel your in some small bar listening to the band and having a good time. “Holdin’ On To Lettin’ Go” is a pretty song with a nice guitar solo, you’ll hear this in the show. In the song “I Ain’t Sugar Coatin’” Mac does a little preaching about what people are doing wrong. He sings
“Some folks lean to the left, some lean to the right,
some lean to for keep truth out of sight,
we gotta to stop fighting, fussing and hate,
we need to come together before it’s to late,
I ain’t sugar coatin’
I ain’t sugar coatin’
I ain’t sugar coatin’
just telling you like it is”
Good job Mac thanks for telling it like it is. The record ends with a fun jazzy-blues instrumental called “Swing Me Back Home”. Mac Arnold & Plate Full O’ Blues have made a very enjoyable down home country-blues-rockin’ record. Below are some links to where you can buy this CD as well as some of their others. The CD Backbone & Gristle has a wonderful song about kids staying in school called “I Can Do Anything”

Country Man was produced by another Muddy Waters alumni Bob Margolin. Bob said of Mac Arnold & Plate Full O’ Blues
“Crafting an album can be a very artificial process but Mac and his band are truly a musical family. Each player contributes and cooperates. They came in prepared enough to know what they wanted to play but still open to inspiration in the moment and changing arrangements. I enjoyed that very natural creative process and I think the results are very evident and audible in their music.”
11-07-09

Songs heard on this weeks show:
I Ain’t Sugar Coatin’
This Ol’ Tractor
Holdin’ on to Lettin’ Go
Too Much
Mule for a Chevrolet

Go to Mac Arnold’s Website

Go to Mac Arnold’s MySpace

Buy Mac Arnold’s CD’s at his website

Buy Mac Arnold’s CD Country Man at Amazon.Com

Buy Mac Arnold’s CD Backbone & Gristle at Amazon.Com

Buy Mac Arnold’s CD Nothin’ To Prove at Amazon.Com

See more photos of Mac Arnold taken be Brian S. Kelley

Thanks to Mac Arnold for taking to talk with me.
Thanks to Max Hightower for setting everything up.

Thanks to Brian S. Kelley for letting us see some of his wonderful photos.
Thanks to Bob Margolin for giving the nice quote to use.
You can hear an interview Bob Margolin click here.
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Blues Music and Interviews
A1Blues.Com
formerly A1 Artist Spotlight. Com
by A1 Mark

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Hear Lil’ Dave Thompson talk about his history and his CD Deep In The Night.

 

 116 - Lil’ Dave Thompson – Deep In The Night [37:22m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Lil’ Dave Thompson’s name starts with Lil’ but there is nothing little about Dave’s sound. If you love Albert King like I do you’re in luck, Deep In The Night is like getting a brand new Albert King record with all new songs. Dave’s sound is big, bold and heartfelt.

The CD leads off with the title track “Deep In The Night”. Dave’s powerful blues guitar leads off with a little bit of a horn accompaniment. Dave described the song as a soulful blues song. You will make no mistake in knowing that everything is based around the guitar. “You’re Going To Need Me” brings in more horns with some nice organ work done by John Lee. “Standing At The Bus Station” is blues with a very nice jazzy feel to it. Wish there was one or two more of these because he does such a good job on “Standing At The Bus Station”. On “I Need Your Love” Dave really pulls out some good long guitar solos. “She Didn’t Say Goodbye” is a slower blues song but with the same story as all the rest. I even joked with Dave about how all his songs are about losing in love. Hoped this wasn’t how your life is he assured me it was just a blues theme. The last song is “Dave’s Groove” a pretty instrumental with a nice flow of music. A good ending for a powerful blues guitar CD. Albert King would have been proud to know that people like Lil’ Dave Thompson are still making good blues in a style he helped make popular.

When I saw Lil’ Dave Thompson a few months ago he was playing a lot of good guitar solo’s. There was only a three-peace band, no horns. The bass player did a good job of keeping the groove going so Dave could go off on his solos. You could tell the audience was there to hear his playing because in the middle of the solo’s there was a lot of applause and cheering. If he is playing somewhere near you, you really owe it to yourself to go hear Lil’ Dave Thompson. Bring a friend too, they will love you for it.

The songs played are:
You’re Gonna Need Me
No Good Woman
Standing at the Bus Station
Deep in the Night

February 14, 2010

It is with immense regret that we inform you of the passing of Lil’ Dave Thompson at 7am this morning (Feb. 14, 2010) as the result of an automobile accident outside of Augusta, Georgia, while touring with his band. The other band members were not seriously injured. A dynamic artist, widely acknowledged as one of the very best of the current generation of Mississippi Blues Artists, Lil’ Dave will be sadly missed by his family, friends and blues music lovers world wide.

Andrew Galloway Electro-Fi Records

Lil’ Dave Thompson Website

Lil’ Dave Thompson on YouTube

Check out Electrofi Records, they have some other good blues artists like Andrew “Jr. Boy” Jones, Harrison Kennedy, Harmonica Shah and Enrico Crivellaro

Buy Lil’ Dave Thompson Deep In The Night from Amazon.Com

Buy Lil’ Dave Thompson CD Got to Get Over You

Thanks to Lil’ Dave Thompson for taking the time to do this interview.
Thanks to Andrew Galloway at Electro-Fi Records for his help.
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Blues Music and Interviews
A1Blues.Com
formerly A1 Artist Spotlight. Com
by A1 Mark