A1 Artist Spotlight.Com did a phone interview with Mark Knoll about
his CD High Time. Excerpts of the interview are also in the podcast.
                                      *
This is the second week in a row I’ve had a knock out CD.  The very
first time I heard this CD High Time I was in love with it. It’s great
rock & blues with loads of great guitar solos.  Everything about this
CD seems so natural and in the right place. It’s like Mark Knoll looked
at my top twenty records and spit out something new as a result of
hearing those.  Did I tell you about all the guitars and great solos?
Oh, how about the unexpected surprise of keyboardist Ricky Peterson.
Ricky just got off the road with Fleetwood Mac and had a week off
before going on tour with John Mayer.  Mark was laying down the basic
tracks that week so Ricky came over to play keyboards.  If you
remember Brian Auger’s record, Closer To It!, Ricky Peterson’s
keyboard playing reminds me a lot of that.  What makes this so much
better than most of Brian Auger’s records is that this is not a lot
of keyboards.  Ricky does his parts very tastefully and then we’re back to
guitars. Mark said he just let Ricky break loose and do what he wanted
on the five songs he plays on.
                                      *
 
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Mark Knoll was born in North Dakota where he started playing guitar
around six years old. Mark started listing to The Beatles as well as
The Rolling Stones, The Allman Brothers, and then the roots of their
music. This led to Mark falling in love with the old blues artist like
B.B., Albert, and Freddie King and his favorite Albert Collins.  Mark
played in bands all through high school.  He ended up at Musician
Institute in California, which was a great learning experience.  Mark
played in a lot of different kind of bands as well as backing up other
musicians like Little Richards, Chuck Berry, played with Bonnie Raitt
a few times.  He always was content to be a guitar slinger while
staying in the background.  After a while he found this was not really
furthering his career.  Mark decided to make his own CD.
                                      *
High Time took Mark Knoll about two months to write. Then he went into
the studio where the recording took about two months.  Mixing was done
on down time over about three months in order to save on money.  The
creation of High Time took a little over half a year to write and
record.  Mark calls the CD “rippin’, bluesy, rock, and
fusion…high on energy…with good old fashioned song craft”.
                                      *
  
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The first song is “Gotta Give It Up”. Mark described this as being kind of
like a Steve Winwood song from Back in the High Life days
(1986).  This came together from two other songs he had been working
on and combined the two.
The song is about drug addition and how he has known people that have
had problems with it. As the song says “You gotta give it up, you
gotta put it down”.
Right from the very start of the CD, Mark is playing a great guitar
intro to “Gotta Give It Up”.  As soon as I heard this song I knew this
was a keeper.
                                      *
The next song is a little faster and more upbeat, good lyrics about
all the problems we see in the world and how “It’s Gotta Matter
To Ya”.  Part way into the song Mark does a solo that any of the
top-notch bands of the early seventies would have been highly praised
for. Then Ricky Peterson does a cool organ solo. A few minutes later
it sounds like Jeff Beck showed up with the last solo.
                                      *
Mark Knoll told me that the song “High Time” was inspired by Jimmie Vaughan.
It’s like something the old blues artist would have done. Mark will
sing a line, then play a line, then sing a line, and so on.  Kind of like
what B.B. King is so good at doing.  With Mark’s guitar playing it’s a
real treat to hear.  The song is about people looking for more meaning
in their life in a spiritual way.
                                      *
  
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“They Don’t Cry” is about the problems going on in this country.  How
the politicians are lying to the people about why we are at war then
give you something to divert your attention as they pad their pockets.

                                      *
Mark said he really liked Jeff Beck’s Blow By Blow and that style influenced his
song “The Bird Flew”.  Robben Ford is someone else who
inspired Mark on this instrumental track.  This really will remind you
of Beck in his jazz-fusion days.
                                      *
Stevie Ray Vaughan’s  ”The House Is Rockin’” is the last great old
time rock song Mark could remember someone doing.  He felt it was time
for a new one so he wrote, “It’s A Ball”.  Great upbeat fast rockin’
song to end the CD with.
                                      *
Just like last weeks show on Smokin’ Joe Kubeck & Bnois King I could
go on and on about how good this CD is and why you should buy it.
Hey, just play the podcast Mark Knoll’s guitar playing and song
writing abilities are all you need to hear to get you to buy this CD.
If you’re like me and like that early seventies rock and blues sound
you’re going to love this.  Did I tell you about all the guitars and
great solos, Oh, guess I did.
                                      *
            
                                      *
Songs in the podcast:
1. Gotta Give It Up
2. High Time
3. The Bird Flew (This Bird Has Flu)
4. They Don’t Cry
5. That’s A Ball
                                      *
Guitar solo of the week is from “It’s Gotta Matter To Ya”
                                      *
Mark Knoll Band Website

Mark Knoll Band MySpace page

Buy Mark Knoll Band’s CD High Time at CD Baby Website
                                      *
Thanks to Mark Knoll for taking the time to do the phone interview and
making this show possible.
                                      *
Thanks to our good friend Barry McCabe who turned me on to the Mark
Knoll Band by way of Barry’s newsletter.  Hey Barry,  Mark said Mick Taylor
was a big influence on him in the early days.
                                      *
 
                                      *
Check out this podcast I found, BluzNdaBlood really good blues music.
Dave’s been doing this show for two years.  Some of the people he plays songs by are
Michael Burks, Eddy Clearwater, Kenny Neal, Hubert Sumlin, Koko Taylor,
Tommy Castro, Marcia Ball, Mike Zito, and many many more great blues people
you will love to hear.
Don’t miss his show # 27 interview with Watermelon Slim.
As you probably know Watermelon Slim won two awards at the May 8th 2008 Blues Music Awards
(formerly W.C. Handy Awards) one year after Dave did the interview with
Watermelon Slim. 
                                      *

 

 039 - Mark Knoll Band - Warring! You Will Want To Buy This CD If You Listen [35:59m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

A1 Artist Spotlight.Com did a phone interview with Smokin’ Joe Kubek about his CD Blood Brothers. Excerpts of the interview are also in the podcast.
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This CD is 55-minutes long, with 14 songs of pure joy. There is not one song I’d want left out. After listening to Blood Brothers for the first time, I liked every song. After a few more listens, I was in love with Blood Brothers. Smokin’ Joe Kubek’s Texas blues/rock guitar playing cuts through everything and gets you hopping. Then you have the rich full sound of Bnois King’s (pronounced buh-noyss) guitar that really compliments Smokin’ Joe’s guitar sound. Bnois also handles all the vocals, which is good because you would not want someone getting in the way of his great voice. Bnois could be a hit just as a singer. His vocals are so rich and full. Stop Drinking is a Lightnin’ Hopkins song. The other songs are written by Kubek, King, or another collaborator. The songs are full of great hooks, great guitar, and great vocals. Hey, it’s a great CD! The best review for this CD is to just listen to the songs. They sell themselves.
                                                        *                                                        
  
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The start of Joe Kubek & Bnois King’s lives are pretty much the same as the lyrics to the song Coleman Avenue. Even though Bnois wrote the lyrics, the story is pretty much the same for both of them. At a young age they heard the blues and knew that would be their calling in life. Many years later they would be on many stages trying to recapture that feeling of their youth. Joe made it clear that music is the only thing that really mattered to him. At the age of 14, Joe was playing in bands and touring throughout Texas. At 19, Joe was backing Freddie King and ready to go on tour, when Freddie passed away from heart failure. Joe also jammed with Albert King and on other occasions with Stevie Ray Vaughan who he became good friends with. In the late eighties Joe asked Bnois to sit in with his band and was amazed by how good they sounded together. Bnois has more of a jazz sound which works very nicely with Smokin’ Joe’s more blues/rock sound. From then on the two have been working together. From 1991 to 2008 they have put together 13 records on 4 different labels. Blood Brothers is an album released by Alligator Records. They tour a lot like Dylan’s “Never Ending Tour”. For the last 17 years or so they have been on tour. The songs on Blood Brothers were written during the last tour. When they got to the studio it was more of a fine tune job on the songs.
                                                        *
Blood Brothers opens with “My Dog’s Still Walkin’”. Joe pointed out that there was a lot of musical influence from Jimi Hendrix. After Joe told me that, I replayed the song and could see what he meant about Hendrix’s roots. The great thing about the song is that it isn’t a Hendrix song with new lyrics. To me it sounds like a great new song with an awesome opener too. 
                                                        *
“Don’t Lose My Number” is their beefed up Texas version of Jimmy Reed’s song “Going To New York” with Joe on slide guitar. The song is hard kicking with great lead guitar and Bnois voice is tough sounding. 
                                                        *
In the early years, Joe and Bnois would listen to a cassette tape of Lightnin’ Hopkins which had the song “Stop Drinkin’”. They always liked the song so for years they’d play the song live. Now for the first time you’re going to get to hear Smokin’ Joe Kubek & Bnois King do this on their CD. Their version is eight minutes of great electric guitar picking. It’s like the first time you heard Cream do “Crossroads”. Yes, it’s Robert Johnson, but it’s really souped-up. This is more like Smokin’ Lightnin’ Hopkins and may very well become the definitive version of “Stop Drinkin’”.
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In my opinion, “Must Be Karma” should be a crossover hit with any station that plays adult rock. While the song is blues and rock, it’s not real strong on either. It’s the perfect blend of both. A song that should reach out to a much larger crowd than would normally listen to the blues. This song, to me, has hit written all over it, the hooks, the beat, and the story. Bnois voice so wonderful. I can’t imagine anyone hearing this song and not liking it. Then again I think most of the people nominated for Grammy Awards are not good enough to be on this show.
                                                        *
While I’m talking about great hit songs “Coleman Avenue” must not be overlooked. This is much more of a blues song than “Must Be Karma”, but just play it for someone. They can’t help but love this great song. “Coleman Avenue” really creates a feeling of being out on the streets late at night. The mood is set just right for a story about Bnois falling in love with the blues as a young man and how this is the feeling he is trying to recreate throughout his life. This is something most people can relate to. Finding something in their youth that they love so much (music, cars, sports, whatever). It’s the driving force of their adult life. The only thing I’d change on this song is to make it twice as long, maybe in concert they will.
                                                        *
“That Ring Don’t Mean A Thing” Bnois sings about a friend having an affair with someone who they know had a wedding ring on and how they should have known better. The song is a hard stomp with nice piano work by John Street and a great guitar solo.
                                                        *
Like “Coleman Avenue” they set a bluesey mood for “The Pleasure Was All Mine”. I almost feel like I’m walking through a foggy dream. There are also two very contrasting lead solos. One at 2:10 and the other at 3:57.
                                                        *
Blood Brothers closes with “Troubled Dreams” which contains one of Joe’s favorite guitar solos. This is another hard kicking song. Almost like an encore to the CD. One last chance to stand up and cheer. 
                                                        *

                                                        *
While I left out some songs to talk about, it does not mean they are not good songs. Just trying to keep you from being here all night when you could be listening to the podcast. 
“Flame Thrower” is a good upbeat song.
“Freezer Burn” is a firey instrumental with a lot of guitar, in tribute to Albert Collins (The Iceman).”Midlife Crisis, Midnight Flight” is a fun, upbeat song. If you’re getting a little older like I am you’ll relate to the somewhat funny lyrics. Love this song.
“Bumpy Ride”, “Cold Folks Boogie”, and “Out On A Limb” all good songs.
                                                        *
Like I said before, Blood Brothers is 55-minutes long without any songs you’re gonna want to skip over. I’ve only been listening to this for about three weeks and there are also a bunch of other CD’s I need to get to know for the show as well as others I’d just like to hear. Yet, Smokin’ Joe Kubek and Bnois King is who I want to listen to over and over.
                                                        *
The songs played in the podcast are:
1. “My Dog’s Still Walkin’”
2. “Don’t Lose My Number”
3. “Coleman Avenue”
4. “Must Be Karma”
                                                        *
The band is:
Smokin’ Joe Kubek - Guitar
Bnois King – Guitar and Vocals
Paul Jenkins – Bass
Dave Konstantin – Drums
John Street – Keyboards
                                                        *
                      
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Smokin’ Joe Kubek and Bnois King - Website
Smokin’ Joe Kubek and Bnois King - MySpace page
To buy Smokin’ Joe Kubek and Bnois King’s CD Blood Brothers
                                                        *
                                        
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Check out other great CDs on Alligator Records
Like new ones by Michael Burks, Eddy Clearwater, Janiva Magness, Roomfull of Blues, and Marcia Ball
                                                        *
I’d like to thank Joe Kubek and Bruce Iglauer for their time and help in putting this show together.
                                                        *

 

 038 – Smokin' Joe Kubek and Bnois King – Release Their Must Have CD Blood Brothers [31:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

A1 Artist Spotlight.Com did a phone interview Mark Farner (Grand Funk Railroad) about his cd For The People. Excerpts of the interview are also in the podcast.
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Mark Farner was the lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist for one of the biggest American rock bands of the seventies, Grand Funk Railroad. Grand Funk Railroad sold 25 million records and played to sold out arenas around the world, they accumulated 17 gold and 11 platinum records. Some of their big songs are “Closer To Home (I’m Your Captain)”, “Mean Mistreater”, “Time Machine”, “Inside Looking Out”, “Footstompin’ Music”, “Rock & Roll Soul”, Walk Like a Man”, “The Loco-Motion”, “Shinin’ On”, “Some Kind of Wonderful”, “Bad Time”, and “We’re An American Band”.  In the interview (podcast) I did with Mark Farner he talks about his time in Grand Funk Railroad, but this article is going to deal with his solo record. For more information about Grand Funk Railroad listen to the podcast or go to Mark Farner’s Website.
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                                         *
Mark Farner’s newest CD is called For the People.  He is the self proclaimed Rock Patriot.  As a proud citizen of the United States of America, Mark Farner is telling the Americans that there is a big problem going on in this county and you better wake up to it before all your freedoms are taken away. The title track “For the People” and “Where Do We Go From Here” in my opinion should be required listening by all American citizens. These two songs are the most important songs any American can hear this year. If Bob Dylan put these songs out the media would be screaming about what Dylan has written.  They’d be telling you in the papers, on the radio, and on TV, “this is the most important song Bob Dylan has written since “The Times They Are A Changing”. Well this may be the most important song since “The Times They Are A Changing”, but Mark Farner The Rock Patriot wrote it, and hardly anyone is playing it. Thanks to Mark Kerr’s Blues Nation podcast, I’ve got to hear the song “For the People”, a lot. What’s wrong with the radio stations?  Why have they not taken the time to play these important songs?  This is not some guy their listeners have never heard of, this is Mark Farner the man who gave us “I’m Your Captain”, “Footstompin’ Music” and “We’re An American Band”. The leader of Grand Funk Railroad, one of the biggest American bands of all time. The media has ignored this record but you can save the day. Call your local radio station and demand them to play these songs. Mark said the reason he wrote “For the People” is to provoke people to think about where we are as a nation and how we got here. Mark’s tired of the media and the government telling us lies about everything. The war, the oil, the money.  Who is really in control of these things? Why are we as a nation doing what the people of America do not want our government to do?  Who is really running this country, the government or rich Europeans that control our banks?  What ever happened to “by the people and for the people”?
                                         *

                                         *
These are the words to Mark Farner’s song
                  “For the People”
There’s a ghost in the White House
The memory of a man,
A man who loved his people,
A patriot for this land
But we no longer prosper,
We just try to scrap up the dough,
We can’t even pay the interest
On the money these idiots borrowed,
                                         *
People waking up there’s a question I’ve got to ask,
I want to know what happened to,
All the people, by the people, for the people
We let it slip away to the government,
Money spent, can’t pay the rent,
And it’s just another day in America,
It’s just another day in America,
It’s just another day in America,
Another day back home.
                                         *
Apathy in the people,
Brained washed by TV, …
                                         *
It makes me want to just throw up
When I think about the IRS,
People waking up there’s a question
I’ve got to ask,
                                         *
I want to know what happened to,
All the people,
By the people, for the people
We let it slip away
Too much government, money spent,
Can’t pay the rent,
And it’s just another day in America,
It’s just another day in America,
It’s just another day in America,
Another day back home.
                                         *
Now do these words make sense to you, do you agree with what Mark is saying? Then get out there and call your radio station and demand “For the People” so other people can hear these words.
                                         *
“Cry Baby”: This is about when you had a spat with your wife, and you want to talk to her with out getting smacked in the head with a frying pan.  It’s much more palatable in a song than coming right out and saying it.
                                         *
“Same Ol’ Feeling”: This song is about freedom and the love that is in our heart. Our desire to make things better for people around the world despite what our government is doing.
                                         *
“This Time” was performed live for a while and will have a video at http://www.markfarner.com/
Mark’s wife says this song makes her feel a movie is going on.
                                         *
“You’re My Girl” has had some radio play as well as a great guitar solo, that yells that Mark Farner still has it in him.
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“Symptoms” is the wresting match between out spirit and flesh. Mark gave the example of two Indians talking.  The father explains there are two wolves inside you, the good wolf and the bad wolf. His son ask which wolf will win, the father says the one you feed. So it is with us.  The spirit will only win if we free it.
                                         *
“Where Do We Go From Here” is another very powerful message.
These are just some of the lyrics to the song
                                         *
There’s got to be a reason, I feel so bad inside,
Can anyone else see, we’re a nation facing suicide,
How could they take them, the freedoms that our fathers won.
There’s got to be a reason, it’s not too late to be undone.
We better take a new direction, but Where Do We Go from Here,
I’m thinking about my soul perception, they’ve lied to my people, here
                                         *
I asked Mark if it takes longer to write a song like this with such deep lyrics. He said no, the songs just come as a wave and most get written in less than a half an hour. Mark writes some of his music like “Where Do We Go From Here” on the keyboards. He likes to write songs with other people just to learn more about how to write songs. There is a large back catalog of songs he has written over the years.  These songs have never been recorded and  may be put out for other artist to record soon.
                                         *
Even though I spent more time talking about the lyrics of the songs, I do not want to skip over the music. “For The People” is a rock anthem song, plenty of guitar and pounding drums. The kind of song that makes you want to get up and pump your fist in the air.
The CD, For The People, has hard rocking songs, rock ballads, love songs like “Nadean”, (a song for his wife), and even some pop rock the could be big hits if the radio stations would just let you hear them.  Mark Farner’s guitar playing is as good as ever and his singing is still very soulful. Just because this does not have Don or Mel on it does not mean it cannot sound like Grand Funk Railroad. Even though Mark was just one third of Grand Funk Railroad he was the lead singer, writer, and guitarist for the band. Maybe one third of the members but more like two thirds of what the band was doing. Lawrence Buckner, the bass guitarist, and drummer Hubert Crawford, on this CD, do a great job on their instruments. If you ever liked the sound of Grand Funk Railroad you will love this cd, Mark is moving on up.
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I saw a Mark Farner concert in 2006 he did one hit after another with two or three songs from this CD. The concert was just as good, probably better than when I saw the We’re An American Band tour. The concert had a lot of power and energy, Mark was all over the stage playing better than ever and his voice was in great shape. Mark took time to talk to the audience about the old days of Grand Funk Railroad and what was going on in his life now. He talked about some of the songs he was playing and how they came about. Hearing Mark’s stories was just as important to me as hearing the songs. Halfway through the show I leaned to my wife and said “How is Dave Mason going to top this, he’s doing one big hit after another”. Julie shrugged her shoulders and said, “I don’t know it makes no sense to me.”  Now Dave Mason was good when he came out and we in enjoyed his show, but you could tell everyone was there to see Mark Farner. A lot of people stood all the way through Mark’s show then sat the rest of the night. If you have a chance to see the Mark Farner tour this year don’t let it pass you buy. You will really have a good time. Mark and his band put out 100%.
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The Band is:
Mark Farner – Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards, Percussion
Lawrence Buckner – Bass
Hubert Crawford – Drums
Paul O’Jibway – Keyboards, Sax, Percussion
                                         *
For The People was recorded at the famous “Swamp” where most of the Grand Funk Railroad records were recorded.
*                                        *
On the inside cover it states this is a tribute to:
“The Spirit of Liberty, the men and women of the Armed Forces of the United States of America and to the Patriots of this country who are the hope of freedom.”
God bless what’s left of America!”
                                         *
Mark Farner still rocks just as good as ever, don’t miss his tour or the CD For The People. It really does have the two most important songs you will hear this year or next.
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Songs played on the podcast are:
1. Cry Baby
2. For the People
3. Same Ol’ feeling
4. Symptoms
5. Where Do We Go From Here
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Mark Farner Website
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Mark Farner MySpace page
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I’d like to thank Mark Farner for taking the time to be on this show as well as Mark Bowsher for all his work in setting this up.
Mark Bowsher is also the one who gave us this rare photo of Grand Funk Railroad.
From Mark to Mark and Mark, Thank You Very Much.

 

 037 - Mark Farner – From Grand Funk Railroad To The Rock Patriot [41:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download