Blues with a Feeling - The Official Podcast

“Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials are the hottest purveyors of bottleneck boogie to come out
of Chicago since
Hound Dog Taylor.”
– The Chicago Sun-Times

“Raw-boned,
old-fashioned Chicago blues
has a new young master
–Lil’ Ed Williams.”
– The New York Times

With Lil Ed Williams  enjoying a birthday on April 8, I’ve pulled a classic album for this weeks show, the bands debut release for Alligator Records...

“Mooney is one of a handful of younger blues players who has forged his own style, a jarring juxtaposition of angular Delta guitar and funky New Orleans backbeats. He explores the dark sides of those traditions in Against the Wall, a harrowing and stark work. Mooney's voice and guitar, both quivering, conjure up the image of a lost soul at a Delta crossroads at midnight; his shadowy bass- and-drum rhythm section evokes the ominous ...

“A welcome ray of sunshine…Ball is a killer pianist, a great singer and songwriter. Potent blues, sweet zydeco, soulful, fast and furious Texas boogie…heartfelt, powerful and righteous.” – Billboard

“Rollicking, playful, good-time blues and intimate, reflective balladry…her songs ring with emotional depth.”
– Rolling Stone

I’ve cooked up a very cool show this week, celebrating Women in Blues in general and Marcia Bal...

“Consisting of tapes recorded live over two nights in March of 1985 at the Belly Up Tavern in Soldano Beach, California, this captures James Harman and one of his best bands in full cry…

Harman and the boys kick hard and heavy through half a dozen of his better-known numbers…

The guitar interplay between Hollywood Fats and Kid Ramos is textbook in its accuracy and passion, and the rocksteady rhythm section of Stephen Hodges on dr...

“Myers is no stranger to irony, as his ballad "Shedding Tears of Laughter" attests, and he covers tunes by Little Walter, B.B. King and Elmore James with considerable authority. Yet it's mostly Funderburgh's far-ranging but always tasteful guitar work -- check out his evocative homages to James, Albert Collins and Freddie King -- that make "Live at the Grand Emporium" sound really grand.”

Washington Post

A modern blues...

“The ultimate “blues brother”, Eric Bibb, is known and revered globally as a fiery singer-songwriter with true soul, grounded in the folk/blues tradition but with contemporary sensibilities.

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Testament to his endurance as one of the most relevant, leading bluesmen of our time, Eric’s most recent album, Ridin’, has received a Grammy nomination in the Best Traditional Blues Album category.”

After an extensive sell-out tour in ...

I’ve put together a great collection of new release tracks this week. There’s some incredible blues hitting the shelves at the moment and I’m looking forward to blessing your ears with just some of the very best.

Featuring songs from the late great James Harman, Jon Cleary, Cedric Burnside, Eric Bibb, Sue Foley, Taj Mahal, DK Harrell, Checkerboard Lounge, John Primer, JJ Grey & Mofro, Mike Wheeler, Jason Ricci & The ...

“Jimmy Rogers was very much a musician's musician -- the kind of guitarist that earned accolades from contemporaries and successors alike -- yet one who never wins a wide, mainstream audience. Blues Blues Blues was designed as the album that would find Rogers a larger audience, and as such, it has all the bells and whistles of a big-deal blues album.”

                                                                        All M...

"a set of scorching performances that remind us not of what she might have been, but what she is—a natural-born singer who's learned hard lessons by living them.”

                                                            The Rolling Stone Album Guide

With legendary Austin Texas based singer Lou Ann Barton celebrating a birthday last week, I’ve dug deep into the catalogue of Antones Records for this absolute gem from 1989 “Re...

With the 2024 Grammy award winners announced just a week ago, Shaun’s highlighting winners in a couple of categories that are right up Blues With A Feelings alley.

You’ll hear tracks from Best Traditional Blues winner Bobby Rush, Best Contemporary Blues album winners Larkin Poe, The winner of the Best Large Jazz Ensemble The Count Basie Orchestra and one of two that tied for Best Regional Roots album Buckwheat Zydeco Jr and The...

Shaun's pulled together an awesome mix of songs for this weeks New Release spotlight.

Featuring some of the very best new releases to hit the BWAF desk in the last little while, you'll hear tracks by Taj Mahal,  Tracey Nelson, Chris O’Leary, Tom Hambridge, Jason Ricci & the Bad Kind, Danielle Nicole, Tinsley Ellis, JJ Grey & Mofro, Steve Freund, Candice Ivory, John Primer, Monster Mike Welch, The Wicked Lowdown, Joel As...

“Etta James has worked in countless styles throughout her long career, and she is equally at home singing gospel, R&B, soul, jazz, and even rock & roll, but her roots have always been solidly planted in the blues, and she is arguably the finest living singer active in the genre. Perhaps because she doesn't sing only the blues, however, when she does, it sticks out as something special” All Music

With Etta James birthday...

Legendary blues guitarist Luther Tucker celebrated a birthday this week and Shaun’s celebrating by featuring his Antones records release Sad Hours.

Plus with the announcement of the Blues Foundations Hall of Fame class of 2024, he’s featuring tracks by a selection of the artists that will be inducted in May. Including Lurrie Bell, Jimmy Rushing, OV Wright, Odetta and Lil Ed & The Blues Imperials.

See omnystudio.com/lis...

"He's a seminal force, a guru, and original creator of the New Orleans piano style...the teacher of great players like Fats Domino, Allen Toussaint, Mac Rebennack, James Booker and Huey Smith.  All acknowledge him as The Great Master."--Jerry Wexler

With the great Professor Longhairs birthday this week, Shaun’s pulled another classic album feature for you “Crawfish Fiesta”. Featuring Dr John on guitar and Johnny Vidacovich on d...

“All Over You is a forgotten gem, remastered and presented here for the first time on vinyl, nearly 25 years to do the day after its original release. Recorded raw with a band pulled from the ranks of Austin's legendary Antone's Nightclub, this session finds an older, laid-back Lester revisiting his classic Excello sides and distilling them to their essence.”

With the re-release of this wonderful record a cpl of weeks ago, Shau...

Greg “Fingers” Taylor passed away on November 23, 2023 at the age of 71. 

Greg “Fingers” Taylor was an American harmonica and blues artist best known for his work with Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band.

In addition to appearing on tour for over 30 plus years and on the majority of Buffett’s albums. Fingers also recorded with James Taylor, Chris LeDoux, Jerry Jeff Walker, Mac McAnally, Little Milton, Al Kooper, Jimmy Hall, T...

Rosco Gordon  was an American blues singer, pianist, and songwriter.

He is best known for his hit songs "Booted," "No More Doggin', and "Just a Little Bit". Gordon was a pioneer of the Memphis blues style.

 He played piano in a style known as the "Rosco rhythm," with the emphasis on the off-beat.

 This rhythm was an influence on later musical styles such as Jamaican ska and reggae. (Wikipedia)

Don’t miss this wonderful show ...

“A guitarist almost without peer, Spiegel deconstructs how the blues guitar is supposed to operate, makes sweet love to it, then kicks it out the back door” – Australian Guitar Player Magazine

With Lloyd Spiegel in the final weeks of his Bakehouse Dozen Australian tour, he joins Shaun for a chat about life on and off the road, about his new 3 piece band, about guitars and the evolution of the Lloyd Spiegel Cole Clark signature ...