Backalleyblues

Central New York blues band, playing a mix of Chicago blues, West Coast swing, old school jump,and killer originals. Instruments are guitar, bass, drums and harp (with keyboards on the CD). CD, entitled "Love Recession", was released in 2001. The band has played all over Central New York and out of state (including the Cape Fear Bluesfest in North Carolina). They have also toured India three times.

The Skyla Burrell Blues Band is a hard working full time traveling blues band playing local, regional, national and international venues. The band averages 200 shows a year. With co-founder Mark Tomlinson on lead guitar and Skyla Burrell on vocals and lead guitar, the band's live show consists of all original high energy electric blues. In July of 2004 the band released their debut studio CD, "Working Girl Blues", containing 12 original songs - several of the cuts topping the charts on independent music websites and internet radio stations. "Working Girl Blues" has received local, national and international airplay on blues and mainstream radio. http://www.skylaburrell.com/

in 1925, banjoist Papa Charlie Jackson’s “I’m Alabama Bound” showed the links between all three titles. “Elder Greene” would be featured on later recordings by Blind Lemon Jefferson Charlie Patton(1920s) and in 1958 by Mississippi singer/guitarist “Cat-Iron”. “Alabama Bound” was recorded by Leadbelly in 1935 and 1940 and cropped up c.1956 by Lonnie Donegan during the British skiffle craze! Whilst “Don’t Leave Me Here” was first recorded in 1927 by a Mississippi group who were sometimes billed as “Sunny Boy And His Pals” or “Long Cleve Reed” and “Little Harvey Hull”. Tampa Red and Georgia Tom backed each other’s vocals on “Mama Don’t Leave Me Here” (1931) and “Don’t Leave Me Here”(1932), respectively; but are 2 versions of an unrelated blues.

Like many destitute people with physical disabilities at the time, Blind Willie Johnson earned his living from music. He quickly picked up the twelve-string guitar, and his father would often leave him on street corners to sing for money, where his newfound powerful voice left an indelible impression on passersby (legend has it that he was arrested for nearly starting a riot at a New Orleans courthouse with a powerful rendition of "If I Had My Way I'd Tear the Building Down", a song about Samson and Delilah). This song was performed hundreds of times by the Grateful Dead, and the live recordings of their version of the song have helped preserve it for decades. At age 25, Willie married a young singer named Angelina, who was the sister of blues guitarist L.C. Robinson. His wife sung with him in some of his 30 recordings with Columbia Records from 1927-1930. Some examples of which Angelina Johnson sung with him were songs such as "Church I'm Fully Saved Today", "When the War Was On", "John the Revelator", and

Robert Timothy Wilkins was a seminal blues guitarist and vocalist. Of African American and Cherokee descent, he was born January 16, 1896, in Hernando, Mississippi, 21 miles from Memphis, Tennessee. He died May 26, 1987. Wilkins worked in Memphis during the 1920s at the same time as Furry Lewis, Memphis Minnie (whom he claimed to have tutored), and Son House. He also organized a jug band to capitalize on the "jug band craze" then in vogue. Though never attaining success comparable to the Memphis Jug Band, Wilkins reinforced his local popularity with a 1927 appearance on a Memphis radio station. Like Sleepy John Estes (and unlike Gus Cannon of Cannon's Jug Stompers) he recorded alone or with a single accompanist. He sometimes performed as Tim Wilkins or as Tim Oliver (his step-father's name). His best known songs are "That's No Way To Get Along" (covered as "The Prodigal Son" by The Rolling Stones), "Rolling Stone" (covered by Muddy Waters and which inspired The Rolling Stones very name), and "Old Jim Canan'

Phillip Chapman Lesh (born March 15, 1940 in Berkeley, California) is a musician and a founding member of the band Grateful Dead; he played bass guitar in that group throughout their entire 30-year career. Lesh started out as a trumpet player with a keen interest in avant-garde classical music and free jazz; he also studied under the Italian modernist Luciano Berio (a classmate was the minimalist composer Steve Reich). While still a college student he met then-bluegrass banjo player Jerry Garcia. They formed a friendship and eventually Lesh was talked into becoming the bass guitarist for Garcia's new rock group, then known as the Warlocks. He joined them for their third or fourth gig (memories vary) and stayed until the end. Lesh had never played bass before joining the band, which meant he learned "on the job", but it also meant he had no preconceived attitudes about the instrument's traditional "rhythm section" role. Indeed, he has said that his playing style was influenced more by Bach counterpoint than

one night after a late night jam session, a group of fishin' musicians, led bu a guy nick-named "Chummy", put down there instruments, and picked up their gear for a fishing trip. A few hours later, and a few sharks later, an inspiration, a song, and Chumslick Nick and the Sharks were born."

Charley Patton (May 1, 1891–April 28, 1934) is best known as an American Delta blues musician. He is considered by many to be the "Father of Delta Blues" and therefore one of the oldest known figures of American popular music. Charley Patton is one of the first mainstream stars of the Delta blues genre. Patton, who was born in Hinds County, Mississippi near Edwards or Bolton, lived most of his life in Sunflower County, in the Mississippi Delta. He was extremely popular across the U.S. South, and (in contrast to the itinerant wandering of most blues musicians of his time) was invited to perform at plantations and taverns. He is credited with creating an enduring body of American music and personally inspiring just about every Delta blues man (Robert Palmer, 1995). Palmer considers him among the most important musicians that America produced in the twentieth century. Long before Jimi Hendrix he was the entertainer's entertainer with dazzling showmanship, often playing guitar on his knees and behind his head,

Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1909/1912 to August 16, 1938) can arguably be considered as the most famous Delta blues singer and guitarist in history, even though he didn't live to see his thirtieth birthday and didn't start recording until three years before his death. Johnson died of pneumonia a week after being poisoned and shot for fooling around with a married woman.

Local studio musicans from several band decided to form a partnership to write and record original songs. We offer our time and talents free of charge to other musicians involved in this project. We plan to develop into a publishing company, and possibly a full time band.

Hi...I'm Robbie King, blues guitarist and song writer.My music is both retro and modern..sort of Ottis Redding meets Robert Cray meets Stevie Ray Vaughan! This isn't by copying someones style either...I was born in Witchita FallsTexas and grew up listening to some of the greatist R&B and Blues artist there were at the time..artist such as Ray Charles to BB King and everyone in between. As I grew into the Blues, my sights were set high. I wanted to play on stage with the likes of Eric Clapton ,BB King,Jeff Beck and others...I felt that one day I would have the maturity as a Blues guitar player, to be able to stand on the same stage with my hero's and be noticed and appreciated by these great artist's. My wish to play with these wonderful people seem to be coming true.. To date I have played on stage with Bonnie Riatt ,Johnny Neel once a song writer and keyboard player for the Allman Brothers Band, just to name a few... My music is no doubt Blues, but with a very original twist I'm sure will please blues fans e

Started out like everyone else scrambling for gigs. Hosting mid-week jam nights. Playing every chance we got sometimes for the "exposure". We lost our (at the time) female lead singer,which definately was a set back! Now this was with "Delta 88" with Rhonda Monge (Frenchy) one of the finest vocalists I've, in my 35 years of playing,had the chance to play with. Well when she left I thought what the hell I'm horny to play so I'm putting together a new band and I'm gonna sing till I find someone better. This tune has my buddy DC Black on vocals and harmonica,Crash on drums Ramero on bass with me the writer and lead guitar, Philvis Jackson!

TITLE: Country Woman Blues MATRIX NO.: 13718-1 SINGER: Will Batts V, with prob Jack Kelly, prob Dan Sain (Dan Sane, Dan Sing), g/sp COMPOSER(S): DATE OF REC.: New York, 2 August 1933 ORIGINAL ISSUE(S): Vocalion 02531 REISSUE(S): Yazoo 2008, Blues Documents BDCD-6005

The year 1999 will mark what is believed to be the 125th anniversary of the birth of Henry "Ragtime Texas" Thomas. When Thomas first recorded for the Vocalion label in the late 1920s, he was already over 50 years old and most assuredly was the eldest African-American performer ever to lay down tracks considered Blues music at the time. Thought to have been born in 1874 in Big Sandy, Texas, Henry was one of nine children by parents who were former slaves and sharecroppers raising cotton. Having a strong dislike for farming, Henry Thomas ran away from home as a teenager and struck upon the life of a hobo and street musician. He traveled by foot with his guitar slung over his shoulder or by the rails throughout most of Eastern Texas, occasionally making his way as far as Chicago. He was also believed to have performed at two World's Fairs crossing over the centuries, the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago and the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.

Public domain music Phil Lesh & Friends featuring Joan Osborne, Jimmy Herring, Barry Sless, Rob Barraco and Jeff Sipe along with the John Mayer Trio will be performing on December 29 at The Fillmore, December 30 at The Warfield Theater, and on December 31 at the Bill Graham Civic Center. We are planning a New Year's Eve show that would make Bill Graham proud including a special midnight set featuring Phil and John Mayer.

Born William Samuel McTell in 1901, Blind Willie lost his sight in late childhood, yet earned the status as one of the most accomplished guitarists and lyrical storytellers in Blues history. Blind Willie became an accomplished musical theorist, able to both read and write music in Braille, through an encouraging family and strong faith. While few of his recordings ever earned mainstream popularity, his influence on the modern music and art scene is widely known. His songs (Statesboro Blues, Broke Down Engine Blues, etc...) have been recorded by famous artists such as the Allman Brothers, Taj Mahal and others. He left the music scene for the pulpit in later life and the details of Blind Willie's death remain nebulous; nonetheless, his legacy grows exponentially each year. You have to maintain a certain tolerance for ambiguity to understand how a disabled African American from central Georgia in the early part of the 20th century could inspire the likes of the most successful and influential Blues, Jazz and

THE BEGINNER — Bob Walkenhorst When a great rock n’roll band comes to an end, where does the music go? Bob Walkenhorst, lead singer and songwriter of The Rainmakers, answers that question on his first solo CD, The Beginner. “I didn’t want to make a record where I set out to prove that I could single-handedly make up for the absence of the Rainmakers. Instead, I wanted this to be a discovery of what I truly sounded like without them.” In thirteen new (and very short) songs, Walkenhorst has pared his already elemental approach to song arrangements down to a skeletal acoustic guitar, bass, and drums, most often played by his one-man-band. Harmonica is the lead instrument of choice, with the notable exception of a honking sax solo by Johnny Reno on “Jan Vermeer,” a Chuck Berry-style rocker about the great Dutch painter. The only lead guitar solo on the CD is played by Kansas City guitarist Jack W. Hayhow, Jr., on another retro-rocker, “J-Walkers,” about the first band Walkenhorst ever heard. Vocal harmonies a

All songs Public domain Paul Barrere plays guitar and slide guitar, and sings lead and background vocals for Little Feat. Paul Barrere joined Little Feat for the band's third album Dixie Chicken, and has been with the band since. During Little Feat's early 80's hiatus, Paul led the group Chicken Legs. Since Little Feat's return with "Let it Roll", Paul has stepped more into the spotlight.