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Grant Britt

Giant Box Set Commemorates John Mayall’s Beginnings

Giant Box Set Commemorates John Mayall’s Beginnings

If you ever wanted virtually every musical utterance John Mayall made on his way to becoming the Godfather of British Blues, your homework is already done. The staggering 35-CD box set The First Generation: 1965-1974 features many of the Brit blues supergods — including Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, John

Album Companion to ‘Hanging Tree Guitars’ Book Offers Raw Look at Race Relations

Album Companion to ‘Hanging Tree Guitars’ Book Offers Raw Look at Race Relations

EDITOR'S NOTE: As album releases slow down in December, we like to catch our breath and write about albums that came out earlier in the year that we didn't get a chance to review but we think are worthy of your attention. The Hanging Tree Guitars

Dave Alvin Looks Back Across Time, Genres, and Instruments on ‘From an Old Guitar’

Dave Alvin Looks Back Across Time, Genres, and Instruments on ‘From an Old Guitar’

It ain’t easy to drop a lasso around Dave Alvin’s neck and rope him into a musical corral. Since 1979, Alvin’s been a rockin’ county-western folkie soulful bluesblaster, first with brother Phil and then on his own. Alvin was the chief songwriter for the brotherly Blasters and

Randall Bramblett Hits Home with ‘Pine Needle Fire’

Randall Bramblett Hits Home with ‘Pine Needle Fire’

If you were a top-tier touring musician in the last four decades, Randall Bramblett had your back. His career as a sideman included backing such notables as Steve Winwood, Gregg Allman, Levon Helm, Elvin Bishop, Bonnie Raitt, Delbert McClinton, Rick Nelson, and B.J. Thomas. He also lent his talents

Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite Offer a Tour Through Their '100 Years of Blues'

Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite Offer a Tour Through Their '100 Years of Blues'

You can't call this stuff unplugged. It's stripped down, but there's too much electricity crackling around the pairing of Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite to contain in an acoustic environment. For 100 Years of Blues, their first studio pairing, Bishop and Musselwhite left the

Watermelon Slim Plays Blues Shaped by Life as a ‘Traveling Man’

Watermelon Slim Plays Blues Shaped by Life as a ‘Traveling Man’

Bill Homans looks as rugged as the blues he plays. As his alter ego, Watermelon Slim, Homans honed his rough-and-tumble, bare-bones blues style bouncing around the country in a variety of blue-collar jobs . A Vietnam vet, he recorded an anti-war protest album, Merry Airbrakes, in 1973, learning to play slide

Lost Radio Recordings Give Picture of Hank Williams in Final Years

Lost Radio Recordings Give Picture of Hank Williams in Final Years

A few weeks before his death in 1953, Hank Williams was having a problem getting through a matinee performance in San Diego due to an over-serving of what iconic country comedian Minnie Pearl referred to in her account of the incident as “help from outside causes.” Tasked by the promoter