| Hello John, HAPPY NEW YEAR, Y'ALL!! Hope y'all made it through the holidays in one piece. Now we've got a whole new year to either enjoy or endure. We'll see. I more or less grew up with Kim Wilson, being a devout T-birds fan since I can remember, we all followed those guys a long way. Besides being the T-bird front man he fronts his West Coast Blues revue, with an assortment of top shelf players. I'vehd the opportunity to visit with Kim on several occasions and I can say he's the real deal. Kim's 70th is Thursday. Happy Birthday!! CROS is staging a fundraiser to raise fundsfor theit upcoming Memphis trip, starting at NOON on Sunday at the Rhythm Room. Lots of prime talent lined up. Gonna be a biggie. BE THERE!! Looks like our week of winter might have finally passed. Get out and see for yourself. Lots going on Stay safe and have a week!! Jim Crawford Phoenix Blues Society phoenixblues.org/ |
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Blues To Use
Cold Shott & The Hurricane Horns www.coldshott.com The Sugar Thieves www.sugarthieves.com Gary Zak & The Outbacks Facebook Hans Olson www.hansolson.net Rocket 88s www.rocket88s.net JC & The Rockers www.thejukerockers.com Carvin Jones www.carvinjones.com Hoodoo Casters www.hoodoocasters.com Rhythm Room www.rhythmroom.com
Westside Blues & Jazz https://westsideblues.com/ Nina Curri www.ninacurri.com Paris James www.parisjames.com Mother Road Trio www.motherroadtrio.com Blues Review Band Reverbnationbluesmanmike
Big Daddy D & The Dynamites Facebook www.bigdadddyd.com Cadillac Assembly Line Facebook https://cadillacassemblylineband.com/ Innocent Joe and the Hostile Witnesses Facebook Chuck Hall Facebook Pop Top Facebook Tommy Grills Band Facebook Sweet Baby Ray SweetBabyRaysBlues.com Thermal Blues Express Thermal Blues Express.com
Common Ground Blues Band Facebook
Out & About Tuesday, January 4 Carvin Jones, 6 p.m., Copper Penny, Sun City Gypsy & Hooter’s Blues JAM, 6 p.m., Pho Cao, Scottsdale Wednesday January 5 Sugar Thieves, 6 p.m., Jolie’s Place, Chandler JC & The Rockers, 6:30 p.m., Fuego@ The Clarendon, Phoenix Ramsey/Roberson, 7:30 p.m., Janey’s, Cave Creek Tool Shed JAM, 7 p.m, Blooze Bar, Phoenix Johnny Miller JAM, 7 p.m., Coop’s, Glendale Thursday, January 5 Carvin Jones, 7 p.m., BKD’s Backyard Joint, Chandler Hans Olson, 6 p.m., Handlebar Pub, Apache Junction Friday, January 7 CK’s, Tavern, 8:30 p.m., Phoenix Blues Review Band, 7 p.m., All-American, Fountain Hills Sugar Thieves Trio, 6 p.m., Hyatt Regency, Scottsdale JC & The Rockers, 5 p.m., River Bottom Bar, Florence Saturday, January 8 Sugaray Rayford Band, 8 p.m., Rhythm Room, Phoenix Cold Shott & The Hurricane Horns, 7:30 p.m., Westside Blues & Jazz, Glendale Big Daddy D & The Dynamites, 8 p.m.. The Pointe, Prescott JC & The Rockers, 2 p.m., 10-12 Lounge, Clarkdale Eric Ramsey, 9 a.m., Village Coffee Roastery, Scottsdale Innocent Joe (solo), 7 p.m., Divided Wine, Gilbert Carvin Jones, 5 p.m., Rack, Scottsdale Sugar Thieves Duo, 3 p.m., Bell Bank Park, Mesa Sunday, January 9 CROS Memphis Fundraiser (see poster), NOON, Rhythm Room, Phoenix Carvin Joees, 4 p.m., Ground Control, Litchfield Park Rocket 88s JAM, 4 p.m., Chopper John’s, Phoenix Monday, January 10 Hans Olson, 7 p.m., Time Out Lounge (Every Monday), Tempe |
| CROS Fundraiser SUNDAY The Rhythm Room DOORS 11am/ Music at NOON |
BLUES BLAST Tickets https://www.brownpapertickets.com/nomob?event=5333098
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Note: If you did NOT request a refund for your 2020 tickets, your 2022 tickets will be available at Will Call. We'll be in touch with you to confirm.
Thank you for your support of our Annual Blues Blast and Phoenix Blues Society!
Blues Blast 2022 Saturday March 19th, 2022 Margaret T. Hance Park
Visit the PBS WEBSITE for TICKET DETAILS: https://phoenixblues.org/
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| Kim
by Bruce Walker
Blues harmonica player, singer, and songwriter Kim Wilson is most often associated in the minds of critics and music fans as the lead singer, harpist, and principal songwriter of the Austin, Texas, blues-rock band the Fabulous Thunderbirds. A founding member of that band along with guitarist Jimmy Vaughan, Wilson is the one constant member after the departure of Vaughan and the band's other founders, drummer Mike Buck and bassist Keith Ferguson. After fronting different lineups of the band for nearly two decades, Wilson embarked on a dual career as a solo performer. As a solo artist, Wilson has been lauded by critics and audiences as a diligent archivist of undeservedly obscure blues songs by such songwriters as Tampa Red, Roosevelt Sykes, and Lonnie Johnson. This reputation is in stark contrast to his role as leader of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, which has served as a vehicle for Wilson's blues-rock songwriting talent. Both careers have featured Wilson's distinctive singing and harmonica playing. Born on January 6, 1951, in Detroit, Michigan, Wilson moved to Los Angeles in 1960 with his family. His father, an executive with General Motors, later moved the family to Goleta, in northern California. Both of his parents also sang songs on the radio. As a high school student, Wilson studied trombone and guitar, but abandoned both after discovering the blues in his senior year. For a time he flirted with the idea of becoming a professional football player, but abandoned the notion when he found his love for performing. Wilson dropped out of college in 1970 and relocated to the San Francisco area. Billing himself as "Goleta Slim," he added to his early blues harmonica education by playing with George "Harmonica" Smith, Charlie Musselwhite, John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, and Jimmy Reed. "I turned off my radio in 1972 and withdrew into my closet to play every kind of low-down thing," he told Phil Sutcliffe of Sounds. Wilson later moved to Minnesota, where he played in a group named the Aces of Straights and Shuffles. The band's reputation was enhanced by its manager, blues legend and Chess Records' producer and songwriter Willie Dixon, who had penned and performed such blues classics as "Wang Dang Doodle," "Back Door Man," and "Spoonful." The band's burgeoning success took them to the Texas musical mecca of Austin in the mid-1970s, where Wilson sat in on a jam session with guitar virtuoso Stevie Ray Vaughan. Vaughan's older brother, Jimmie, heard Wilson's performance and invited Wilson to join a band he was forming. This band, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, earned accolades from critics as well as blues and rock fans, with a series of albums that spotlighted Wilson's growing talent as a songwriter, blues harmonica player, and singer. Wilson's tenure in the Fabulous Thunderbirds gave him the opportunity to play with some of his blues heroes, including Muddy Waters. The band earned a reputation as a dynamic live act, which resulted in an invitation from performer Eric Clapton to support him on his 1981 tour. Although Clapton's tour was cancelled due to the guitarist's perforated ulcer, the Thunderbirds were able to open for Clapton the following year. Alongside Clapton and second lead guitarist Albert Lee, keyboardist Gary Brooker from Procol Harem, Joe Cocker sideman Chris Stainton, and Booker T and the M.G.s and Stax house bass player Duck Dunn, the Fabulous Thunderbirds acquitted themselves nicely. Wilson's constant touring with the Thunderbirds increased his visibility as well as his musical abilities. He was invited to guest as a vocalist or harmonica player on albums by artists as diverse as Carlos Santana, Paul Simon, and Albert Collins. In 1990 the Thunderbirds took a break from recording and touring. Wilson took advantage of the hiatus to join Dave Edmunds' Rock & Roll Revue with Graham Parker, Steve Cropper, and Dion DiMucci. "Wilson saw the Revue as a good opportunity to get his own name out," wrote Scott Isler in Musician. "We were kinda layin' low until we had a record out," Wilson explained to Isler. "People really don't know who I am, just as the singer from the Thunderbirds. And it just sounded like a lot of fun." The tour was modeled after the Dick Clark and Winter Dance Party road shows that were popular in the 1950s and featured such acts as Dion and the Belmonts, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Richie Valens and Buddy Holly. Wilson's affiliation with Edmunds had derived from the latter's producing the Fabulous Thunderbirds' breakthrough album and single of the mid-1980s, Tuff Enuff. Edmunds had formerly been in the band Rockpile, which featured Nick Lowe, the man responsible for producing early Fabulous Thunderbirds' material. Wilson had also played harmonica on Lowe's album Pinker and Prouder than Previous. Wilson's solo recording career commenced in 1993 with the album Tigerman. He followed with That's Life in 1994. In 2001 he released Smokin' Joint, which was nominated for a Grammy Award and several W.C. Handy Awards. Smokin' Joint featured bassist Larry Taylor, an original member of the blues-rock band Canned Heat, along with drummer Richard Innes as the core group, which had played behind such guest musicians as guitarist Rusty Zinn, Billy Flynn, Kirk Fletcher, Troy Gonyea, and keyboardist Mark Stevens. Music journalist George D. Graham wrote on his website: "There's something about a live blues performance, especially with a sympathetic band, that can sometimes transcend even the best studio recordings. Smokin' Joint captures a live ambience well, with little touches like the inclusion of the sound of the band getting ready to play each tune. With both personnel lineups in excellent form, that liveness definitely makes the CD a highlight of Wilson's recording career." Wilson's harmonica prowess has made him a highly sought-after guest musician. Besides playing on Carlos Santana's Havana Moon and Paul Simon's Rhythm of the Saints, Wilson also appeared on Daddy-O Daddy! Rare Family Songs of Woody Guthrie. According to School Library Journal critic Beverly Bixler, "Kim Wilson gives outstanding, vigorous renditions to 'New Baby Train' and 'Bigger.'" A critic for Sing Out! declared, "Kim Wilson's harmonica playing successfully evokes the railroad on a very long 'New Baby Train,' while his blues band's full-tilt treatment of 'Bigger' supports the song's sense of strength and confidence." In 2003 M.C. Records released an earlier recording Wilson made with guitarist Big Jack Johnson in 2000, titled The Memphis Barbecue Sessions, which also included a guest appearance by blues pianist Pinetop Perkins. In the same year the label also released Lookin' for Trouble, featuring nine songs written or co-written by Wilson, and five cover songs by such blues masters as Snooky Pryor, L.C. McKinley, and Willie Dixon. Although his playing is sometimes compared to that of Chicago blues legend Little Walter, Wilson insists that he has been more influenced by guitarist Muddy Waters. "I think that you have so many influences and you steal so much stuff that finally it just gets mixed up into you," he explained in a National Public Radio interview. Wilson added that it would be impossible to imitate other great harmonica players because "the notes you're playing only happen once."
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| Moved? Changed email addresses? Please let us know of any changes in your address, email, or phone number so we can keep you informed about the Blues community in Arizona. Email us at: info@phoenixblues.org or write to: Phoenix Blues Society P.O. Box 36874 Phoenix, Arizona 85067 PBS WEBPAGE: https://phoenixblues.org/ |
| GOT BLUES? If you are a Blues musician, a group, or a club that features Blues music, and would like to be listed, please send your info to info@phoenixblues.org and we'll be happy to list your event in our weekly Out & About section of the newsletter.
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