News

Shemekia Copeland Named Blues Artist Of The Year (Female) 

Also Wins Album Of The Year For Outskirts Of Love

Chicago Bluesman Toronzo Cannon And Alligator President Bruce Iglauer Win Producer Of The Year For The Chicago Way

Living Blues magazine has announced the winners for the 2016 Living Blues Readers' and Critics' Awards. Shemekia Copeland was named Blues Artist Of The Year (Female) in both the Readers' and Critics' Polls. Her 2015 CD, Outskirts Of Love, won the Critics' Poll for Album Of The Year. Copeland has received seven previous Living Blues Awards. Chicago bluesman Toronzo Cannon, along with Alligator Records president Bruce Iglauer, won the prestigious Critics' Poll for Producer Of The Year--New Recording for Cannon's label debut, The Chicago Way.

Copeland'sOutskirts Of Love received a Grammy Award nomination in the Best Blues Album category. The prestigious United Kingdom publication, The Blues magazine, named the CD the 2015 Album Of The Year. In the magazine's review of the record, writer Rev. Keith Gordon says, "Shemekia Copeland is one of the best singers performing today. A rich blend of blues, soul and roots-rock that will astound the casual listener while rewarding Copeland's longtime fans. Pure joy." Editor Ed Mitchell calls it "a mature masterpiece of modern blues."

The Chicago Way is comprised of all self-penned songs, inspired by Cannon's deep, homegrown Chicago roots and powered by his blistering guitar playing and soul-baring vocals. Cannon’s songs – from searing blues anthems to swinging shuffles to soulful ballads to roof-raising rockers – tell timeless stories of common experiences in uncommon ways. Living Blues writer David Whiteis says, "He bursts with youthful fire in his guitar work and his tough and deep vocals. This is a first-rate, major label debut from an artist whose long-endured “well-kept secret” status should now be a thing of the past."

Cannon has played the Chicago Blues Festival on ten separate occasions, either as a sideman, a special guest or, most recently in June as a main stage headliner. He's been featured on Chicago's WGN-TV and WTTW-TV. When he’s home, Cannon drives a Chicago Transit Authority bus by day and performs by night. It isn't easy, but, like all of the Chicago greats who have come before him, blues is his calling. "I am proud to be part of a movement,” he says, anxious to hit the road and bring his music to new fans in new places. “I’m proud to be standing on the shoulders of every great Chicago blues musician who came before me."

”Electrifying, raucous, pure Chicago blues….Lil’ Ed is a guitarist extraordinaire….slashing slide and flamboyant stage persona." –Chicago Tribune

"Rough and ready blues played with unmitigated intensity…Swirling, snarling, riveting slide….The Blues Imperials pound out riffs and rhythms like they’re overdosing on boogie juice.  Scorching and soulful, joyous and stomping." –Living Blues

 

Alligator Records has set a September 23 release date for The Big Sound Of Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials, the new CD from one of Chicago's most iconic blues bands. Mixing smoking slide guitar boogies and raw-boned shuffles with the deepest slow-burners, Lil' Ed Williams and his Blues Imperials -- bassist (and Ed's half-brother) James "Pookie" Young, guitarist Mike Garrett and drummer Kelly Littleton -- deliver gloriously riotous, rollicking and intensely emotional blues.

Currently celebrating 27 history-making years together, Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials ply their musical talents with skills that have been honed to a razor's edge. In 2013, the band was awarded the Living Blues Critics' and Readers' Awards for Best Live Performer. The band won this same distinction in the 2012 and 2011 Living Blues Critics' Poll. The group won the coveted 2009 Blues Music Award for Band Of The Year, the same honor they received in 2007. The Chicago Sun-Times says, “Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials are the hottest purveyors of bottleneck boogie to come out of Chicago since Hound Dog Taylor.”

The Big Sound Of Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials is musically electrifying, emotionally intense and downright fun. It features Lil’ Ed Williams' incendiary guitar playing and soulful, passionate singing, with the ragged-but-right Blues Imperials cooking like mad alongside him. Produced by Williams and Alligator president Bruce Iglauer, it is a tour-de-force of authentic, deeply rooted Chicago blues. Williams wrote or co-wrote all but two of album’s 14 songs (those two being written by Lil' Ed's legendary uncle, Chicago slide guitar king and master songwriter J.B. Hutto). The Chicago Reader says the band’s music “is a soundtrack for dancing and celebration infused with a sense of hard-won survival. Williams attacks his lyrics like he attacks his guitar: with bare-bones intensity that makes each word sound like a matter of life or death.”

Born in Chicago on April 8, 1955, in the heart of Chicago’s tough West Side, Ed grew up surrounded by music. He was playing guitar, then drums and bass, by the time he was 12. Growing up, Ed and his half-brother Pookie received lessons and support from their famous uncle, who taught the boys how to feel, and not just play, the blues. “J.B. taught me everything I know,” says Ed. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without him.”

Adding to the legend is Ed's storybook rise, taking him from working at Chicago's Red Carpet Car Wash to entertaining thousands of fans all over the world. A two-song recording session for Alligator in 1985 quickly turned into an on-the-spot full album contract (and 28 more songs) when the band floored Alligator president Bruce Iglauer with their raw and raucous sound. Twelve of those songs became the band’s debut album, Roughhousin’, released in September of 1986.

Since then, Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials have toured virtually non-stop, have been celebrated by press and radio, and have earned new fans -- known internationally as "Ed Heads" -- with every performance. They have even made multiple appearances on Late Night With Conan O'Brien. According to The Chicago Tribune, "Williams represents one of the few remaining authentic links to pure Chicago blues."

Live, Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials simply can't be beat as Ed breaks out the deepest back-bends, the highest toe-walks, and the most authentic electric slide-guitar blues being played today. Garrett's risk-taking rhythm guitar work and Littleton's unpredictable, old school drumming perfectly complement Lil' Ed's and Pookie's rambunctious playing. Their energetic and spontaneous live show remains legendary among blues fans worldwide.

They have played the Chicago Blues Festival multiple times, and have appeared at The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Portland’s Waterfront Blues Festival, The Tampa Bay Blues Festival, The San Diego Blues Festival, The Pennsylvania Blues Festival and dozens of other festivals around the country. Satisfying worldwide demand, they have performed at festivals in Canada, Great Britain, France, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Japan, Australia, India, Turkey and Panama.

With The Big Sound Of Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials (the group's ninth Alligator release) the band continues to bring their blistering Chicago blues to “Ed Heads” new and old. After almost three decades, Lil’ Ed, Pookie, Mike and Kelly have seen sports stars and presidents, musical fads and fashion trends come and go. Meanwhile, their fiery music has more than stood the test of time. “We’re not band members,” says Williams, “we’re family, and families stay together.” Night after night, gig after riotous gig, the musical family called Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials bring their big, dynamic sound to fans across the country and around the world.

Chicago bluesman Toronzo Cannon appeared at a private, invite-only Democratic National Committee event hosted by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and other dignitaries on Wednesday, July 27 at Philadelphia's World Cafe Live. In addition to performing a full set with his band, Cannon sat in with Blues Traveler for a crowd-pleasing Sweet Home Chicago. According to Chicago Magazine, the event, dubbed Celebrate Chicago, “is the buzz, the one everyone wants to go to. It’s the hot party."

Cannon -- a full-time Chicago Transit Authority bus operator -- has become one of Chicago's most recognized and most popular bluesmen through the sheer force of his music, his songs, his live charisma, and most impressively, his passion for what he is doing. He’s battled his way to the top of the ultra-competitive Windy City blues scene, has already played multiple tours of Europe and continues to deliver roof-raising performances around the U.S.A.

His label debut, The Chicago Way, is comprised of all self-penned songs, inspired by his deep, homegrown Chicago roots and powered by his blistering guitar playing and soul-baring vocals. Cannon’s songs – from searing blues anthems to swinging shuffles to soulful ballads to roof-raising rockers – tell timeless stories of common experiences in uncommon ways.

He’s played the Chicago Blues Festival on ten separate occasions, either as a sideman, a special guest or, most recently in June as a main stage headliner. He's been featured on Chicago's WGN-TV and WTTW-TV. When he’s home, Cannon drives a Chicago Transit Authority bus by day and performs by night. Using every vacation day and day off and working four ten-hour shifts a week, Cannon arranges his schedule to gig out of town as much as possible. It isn't easy, but, like all of the Chicago greats who have come before him, blues is his calling. "I am proud to be part of a movement,” he says, anxious to hit the road and bring his music to new fans in new places. “I’m proud to be standing on the shoulders of every great Chicago blues musician who came before me."

"Raw, potent blend of roots rock …Droning stomps shot through with straight-ahead, Hill Country-style rhythms. Moreland pours molten, furious, bloodcurdling fretwork. Arbuckle’s lyrical harp licks and clear, full-throated vocals shine. -- Living Blues

Roots rockers Moreland & Arbuckle, called "raw, primal and infectious" by USA Today, will appear on the nationally syndicated radio program World Cafe on Friday, July 29. World Cafe can be heard on over 200 stations nationwide. Fans can tune into their local affiliate station at the scheduled World Cafe broadcast time (check local listings). On the web, the WXPN stream can be heard at 2:00PM EST at XPN.org. At approximately 5:00PM EST on the day of broadcast, this episode will be featured as the current show and archived for on-demand streaming at WorldCafe.NPR.org.

Guitarist Aaron Moreland describes the music on Promised Land Or Bust, their Alligator label debut, as “gritty blues and roots rock from the heartland.” Moreland, harmonicist/vocalist Dustin Arbuckle and drummer Kendall Newby bring fierce electric fury and unrelenting punk rock energy to their original songs, inspired by raw Delta and Mississippi Hill Country blues. Their songs are expertly executed with musical muscle and fifth-gear urgency. When they perform more traditional blues, they play with the same decisive command. With each of their six previous releases, the band has grown musically and lyrically, creating a signature sound while earning a large and loyal worldwide fan base. The new album turns everything up a notch. Popmatters says Promised Land Or Bust is "dynamic and glimmering, Arbuckle emotes more deeply and passionately than in in the past. Moreland’s playing crackles with inventiveness." The New York Post says Moreland & Arbuckle have “a raw juke joint exuberance with a dirt-under-the fingernails garage band attack.”

Blues star Selwyn Birchwood, who recently performed at the legendary Montreux Jazz Festival, appears in a Montreux Jazz video highlighting his lap steel guitar playing. The video can be seen here. Birchwood, still touring in support of his Alligator Records debut CD, Don't Call No Ambulance, is currently at work on a follow-up, set for 2017 release.

Birchwood is a guitar and lap steel playing bundle of pure energy who delivers his original songs with a revival tent preacher's fervor and a natural storyteller's charisma. He plays high-octane blues -- at once deeply rooted, funky and up-to-the-minute -- with true passion and honest emotion. Rolling Stone declares, "Birchwood is a young, powerhouse guitarist and soulful vocalist. Don't Call No Ambulance is a remarkable debut by a major player. A damn fine listen through and through. Highly recommended." Living Blues says, "Selwyn Birchwood is making waves, surprising people and defying expectations. Be on the lookout. He revels in the unexpected." 

Alligator Records has set an August 26 street date for the 180g vinyl reissue of Texas guitar icon Albert Collins' label debut, Ice Pickin'. The original album was released in 1978. The new version has been lovingly remastered by label president Bruce Iglauer. When first released, the album won the Montreux Jazz Festival's Best Blues Album Of The Year award in addition to being Grammy nominated. Collins, who died in 1993, left behind a blues legacy that continues to amaze and delight fans around the world. The New York Times describes the album as "stunning...mercurial guitar playing...unpredictable imagination."

The Sun Is Shining Down, from JJ Grey & Mofro's 2007 Alligator debut CD, Country Ghetto, is featured in one local and one nationally televised sports videos.

 

San Antonio's WOAI-TV News 4 used the song in a tribute to retiring San Antonio Spurs basketball star Tim Duncan. That piece can be seen here.

 

On July 31, the song will be heard in a feature on Olympic swimmer and gold medalist Michael Phelps set to run on ESPN's Sportscenter program.

Voting is free and open to the public at www.bluesblastmagazine.com beginning July 1 and running through August 15. Winners will be announced at the 2016 Blues Blast Music Awards ceremony, held at The Fluid Events Center in Champaign, Illinois on September 23rd, 2016.

Alligator nominees are as follows:

SHEMEKIA COPELAND:

Contemporary Blues Album - for Outskirts Of Love
Female Blues Artist


CURTIS SALGADO:

Soul Blues Album - for The Beautiful Lowdown
Male Blues Artist

 
TORONZO CANNON:

Contemporary Blues Album - for The Chicago Way
Male Blues Artist


LIL' ED & THE BLUES IMPERIALS:

Blues Band


TOMMY CASTRO & THE PAINKILLERS:

Rock Blues Album - for Method To My Madness

“Raw, dirty, primal and infectious…sizzling guitar, sturdy vocals and rude harmonica” –USA Today

“Deeply satisfying...gritty soul and blues with garage overtones and fire-and-brimstone vocals"–Living Blues

Wichita, Kansas' blues rockers Moreland & Arbuckle have released a new video for their original song, Take Me With You (When You Go). They have previously released videos for the songs When The Lights Are Burning Low and Mean And Evil, all from their Alligator Records debut album Promised Land Or Bust.

Guitarist Aaron Moreland — co-founder of the groundbreaking Kansas-based trio — describes their music as “gritty blues and roots rock from the heartland.” On their recording and live on stage, Moreland, harmonicist/vocalist Dustin Arbuckle and drummer Kendall Newby bring fierce electric fury and unrelenting punk rock energy to their original songs, inspired by raw Delta and Mississippi Hill Country blues.

According to Arbuckle,"Take Me With You (When You Go) is our ode to going on a journey, physical, spiritual, or otherwise. Inspired by a series of experiences that may or may not have actually occurred. We had a lot of fun writing and recording this song. The writing process was a little different than usual with Kendall writing the main guitar riff, Aaron and I collaborating on the lyrics, and Aaron contributing the trippy outro. We were able to add some extra layers in the studio that helped transform this from a gritty swamp rocker into a more psychedelic production. It was Bayles' favorite. Can't think of a better tune to kick off the album."

Since the 2016 release of  Promised Land Or Bust (available on CD and vinyl), produced by Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Botch, The Sword), Moreland & Arbuckle have hit the road hard, playing clubs and festivals around the country and receiving copious amounts of critical praise. In June, they made their debut at the world famous Chicago Blues Festival, helping Alligator celebrate its 45th anniversary. They will spend much of the summer touring the UK and other parts of Europe before heading out to the West Coast.

AllMusic.com recently wrote, "The beauty on Promised Land or Bust is that Moreland & Arbuckle approach their spiritual and carnal as inseparable, bound together in their rowdy, soulful, infectious sound; it’s all killer, no filler. What really sets this band apart from virtually every modern blues act is that their energy, rawness and virtuosic instrumental skill are matched by their songwriting. Brilliant...considerable firepower…roots inspirations of Mississippi Delta and Hill Country blues, electric roadhouse boogies and heartland hard rock. The emotional depth in Arbuckle’s vocal is underscored by his haunted harmonica and Moreland’s supercharged guitar breaks…Squalling, scorching slide…grungy, gritty, bluesy country-rock. Smoking and scorching."

Living Blues magazine has announced the nominees for the 2016 Living Blues Readers' Awards. Four Alligator Records artists received a total of six nominations. Shemekia Copeland received three, including Blues Artist Of The Year (Female), Best Blues Album Of 2015 (New Recordings) for Outskirts Of Love and Best Live Performer. Marcia Ball, Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials and Tommy Castro each received one nomination.

The public -- subscribers and non-subscribers alike -- can vote at www.livingblues.com or by mailing in the ballot in the current issue of the magazine (#243), by July 15, 2016.

Winners will be announced in August.

SHEMEKIA COPELAND:

Blues Artist Of The Year (Female)
Best Blues Album Of 2015 -- Outskirts Of Love
Best Live Performer

TOMMY CASTRO:

Blues Artist Of The Year (Male)

LIL' ED & THE BLUES IMPERIALS:

Best Live Performer

MARCIA BALL:

Most Outstanding Musician (Keyboard)

Blues/R&B singing sensation Shemekia Copeland won the Blues Music Award for Contemporary Blues Female Artist Of The Year on May 5 at the 37th Annual Blues Music Awards, held in Memphis at the Cook Convention Center. This is Copeland's ninth Blues Music Award and her fifth in this category. She has received 34 total nominations.

Copeland's latest CD, the celebrated Outskirts Of Love,received a Grammy Award nomination in the Best Blues Album category. The prestigious United Kingdom publication, The Blues magazine, named the CD the 2015 Album Of The Year. In the magazine's review of the record, writer Rev. Keith Gordon says, "Shemekia Copeland is one of the best singers performing today. A rich blend of blues, soul and roots-rock that will astound the casual listener while rewarding Copeland's longtime fans. Pure joy." Editor Ed Mitchell calls it "a mature masterpiece of modern blues."

With a voice that is alternately sultry, assertive and roaring, Copeland’s wide-open vision of contemporary blues, Americana, roots and soul music showcases the evolution of a passionate artist with a modern musical and lyrical approach. Whether she’s belting out a raucous blues-rocker, firing up a blistering soul-shouter, bringing the spirit to a gospel-fueled R&B rave-up or digging deep down into a subtle, country-tinged ballad, Shemekia Copeland sounds like no one else.

MOJO magazine says, "It is Copeland’s thrilling voice, part Koko Taylor, part Mavis Staples and capable of incredible expression, that makes Outskirts Of Love so super-special. Spectacular, stirring, sanctified and sassy…at the crossroads where funk meets blues rock. Her band, led by producer Oliver Wood, and featuring guests Billy F Gibbons, Robert Randolph, Alvin Youngblood Hart and Will Kimbrough, is faultless throughout."

Copeland’s return to Alligator Records with Outskirts Of Love (she recorded four albums for the label from 1998 through 2006) finds her at her most charismatic. She mixes freshly written material with thrilling reinventions of songs originally recorded by Solomon Burke, ZZ Top, Jesse Winchester, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jesse Mae Hemphill and her father, the late Johnny Clyde Copeland. The result is Copeland’s most musically adventurous album of her still-evolving career.

NPR Music says, "Shemekia Copeland extends her definition of modern blues. She has crafted an album that speaks to the times. Copeland’s genre-melding fluidity would be for naught if she didn’t have such a powerhouse voice. She brings a perfect balance of authority and understatement to each song."

“Raw, dirty, primal and infectious…sizzling guitar, sturdy vocals and rude harmonica”

–USA Today

“Deeply satisfying...gritty soul and blues with garage overtones and fire-and-brimstone vocals”

–Living Blues

Wichita, Kansas' blues rockers Moreland & Arbuckle, whose Alligator Records debut CD Promised Land Or Bust will be released on Friday, May 6, perform live in Philadelphia that same day on NPR tastemaker radio station WXPN's Free At Noon concert series. The show, taking place at 12:00pm EST at World Cafe Live, will be video streamed live by music discovery site VuHaus.com. Through its website and mobile app, VuHaus aggregates performance videos and interviews from leading public radio stations from markets across the U.S.

Last month, Moreland & Arbuckle released a video for their original song, When The Lights Are Burning Low, the first single from Promised Land Or Bust. Of this song, Arbuckle says, "The track is an unabashed, celebratory rock 'n' roll stomper. "[Guitarist] Aaron [Moreland] brought the dirty guitar riff into rehearsal and the tune came to life very quickly. The vibe of the song really screamed for lyrics in tribute to one who drives you crazy in all the right and wrong ways. The energy that gets generated on the big crescendo at the end always makes this tune one of the highlights of the night."

Later this week, Popmatters.com will host the video premiere for the original song Mean And Evil. According to harmonicist/vocalist Dustin Arbuckle, "There are people in this world so bad that even the Devil himself wants nothing to do with them. The heavy, menacing cigar-box guitar riff called for lyrics about someone or something evil, so the song all but wrote itself and came out as a bit of a modern bad-man ballad. As one of the first songs written for this album, Mean And Evil got a lot of road-testing. It quickly found a place in the set as one of our favorite ass-stompers."

Moreland — co-founder of the groundbreaking Kansas-based trio — describes their music as “gritty blues and roots rock from the heartland.” On their recording and live on stage, Moreland, Arbuckle and drummer Kendall Newby bring fierce electric fury and unrelenting punk rock energy to their original songs, inspired by raw Delta and Mississippi Hill Country blues.

Their songs are expertly executed with musical muscle and fifth-gear urgency. When they perform more traditional blues, they play with the same decisive command. With each of their six previous releases, the band has grown musically and lyrically, creating a signature sound while earning a large and loyal worldwide fan base. Their legendary raw and raucous live shows are played with wild abandon. The New York Post says Moreland & Arbuckle have “a raw juke joint exuberance with a dirt-under-the fingernails garage band attack.”

Promised Land Or Bust (available on CD and vinyl) was produced by Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Botch, The Sword). From the howling cosmic opener Take Me With You (When You Go) to the stomping Mean And Evil to the plaintive Mount Comfort, Promised Land Or Bust is a far-reaching musical showcase. The instantly-memorable, slice-of-life songs paint scenes of double-crossed lovers, women meaner than the devil, and isolated loners beaten down by careless love. According to Moreland, “The new album is consciously traditional but still has the signature drive and power that we have crafted over the past thirteen years.”

Over the course of their career, Moreland & Arbuckle have played hundreds of shows and have logged hundreds of thousands of road miles (recently replacing their van after driving it over 400,000 miles), performing in the United States, Canada and across Europe. In 2008 they spent 10 days in Iraq, playing for the troops. They’ve shared stages with ZZ Top, George Thorogood, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray and Los Lonely Boys. They’ll return to the road in support of the new album, with dates in the United States, Europe and beyond. No Depression says, “These guys have kegs full of talent. Their songs will keep you driving fast and long.”

Now, with Promised Land Or Bust, Moreland & Arbuckle are ready to bust it all wide open. Arbuckle calls the new album “our best yet,“ and says, “we continue to evolve musically outside of the box we started in, but the bedrock—the blues —is always there.” Moreland adds, “We consciously went back to where we started and it took us to a brand new place.”