Obviously this will be mostly blues-related, 'cause I'm a bluesman, born and bred. But blues is more diverse than you might think. In fact, it's kind of everywhere. Prepare yourself for an onslaught of linkage! So, beer in hand, tonight we're going to play a musical association game, similar to "6 degrees of Kevin Bacon", but without a consistent element like Kevin Bacon.
#1- Dirty, dirty, dirty blues!
Seriously. This is the dirtiest blues you will ever hear. An artifact of the shit they played in after-hours clubs that was too taboo to record. Fun fact- at one point, Lucille Bogan started recording under a pseudonym (Bessie Jackson), presumably because she'd earned a reputation singing songs like This.
#2-Asylum Street Spankers
These guys are awesome. And they do a version of the last tune. They came to the ABQ not long ago, but of course I didn't get to see them. I was introduced to their music by my sister, whose favorite song (mine too) is This'n.
#3-Scott H. Biram
I met him. Seems like a nice guy. Scott plays what's known as Blues-Punk, or Hellbilly. Here's another song about drinking!
#4-Canned Heat Blues
Yet another drinking song- this one's done by a brilliant delta blues man by the name of Tommy
Johnson.
Robert Johnson is the delta blues guy everyone knows (the Robert Johnson Foundation likes to pompously claim "no Robert Johnson, no rock and roll!"), and most people know the "sold his soul to the devil" legend, but guess what... that was Tommy's legend first.
Canned heat is Sterno. Apparently it's basically made of grain alcohol, and there was a way of rendering it back that left you with a cheap and effective way to get 'faced during prohibition. And blind. It made you go blind, too. Here's Tommy Johnson's Canned Heat Blues.
#5-Mojo Hand
Like I said, Robert's legend was Tommy's first. Many blues guys have legends about how they got so awesome, and I am no exception. My own involves a key and a mojo hand... if you come to one of my shows, maybe I'll tell it for you sometime.
What's a mojo hand? Well, my blues name, to begin with. But in the broader scope, a mojo hand is a hoodoo charm. Most often a love charm (but not always), a mojo hand is the hoodoo equivalent of a medicine bag- a bunch of powerful objects tied up in a red flannel bag with spells and whatnot. I'm hoping to get one permanently applied to my flesh in tattoo form when I go to New Orleans. You'll see why in a minute (listen to the lyrics). Anyone know any tattoo artists in Louisiana?
Anyway, here's another great great (Texas) blues man by the name of Lightnin' Hopkins playing one of his songs, Mojo Hand.
#6- Silky Smooth
Since Lightnin' can be held responsible for inspiring almost as many people as Robert, I can pretty much go wherever I want from here. I'm gonna switch back to the more modern age and tell you about a few contemporary musicians who inspire me. First up is Gaby Moreno. I heard an NPR interview of hers in my dad's car, and looked her up 'cause she releases multi-genre albums, which is kind of what I wanna do. Her voice is indeed silky smooth. And she's cute. I think I'm in love...
#7-Dan
Did you actually think we would get through an epic music sharing session without talking about Dan Auerbach? Silly rabbit. I don't believe in idolizing people, but Dan is my fucking idol, man. What a badass. I've been listening to TBK since I was 16, and they are the reason I started playing blues to begin with. His voice, and his guitar, are silky smoother even than Gaby's. Most of you have already heard The Black Keys, and if you haven't... shame. You might not have heard dan's solo stuff though, which, in my opinion, is just as awesome. Dan gets two links 'cause I think he's that cool. In a totally non-gay way.
#8-I need a dollar too! Where's MY goddamn dollar?
My sister turned me on to this guy. For someone who listens to as much obnoxious happy-hardcore techno as she does, Amy sure does display some impeccable taste sometimes. Aloe Blacc is another totally awesome vocalist who may be singing in a town near you. And apparently, he really, really needs a dollar.
#9-That old Mississippi sound
Blues is changing again. Now it's not so much with the Chicago and Texas dudes, trying to imitate SRV and BB King... we're going back to the delta, baby. I like that. A lot. I think I already linked you to Ben Prestage (clearly, I need a cigar box guitar). This next dude's music was introduced to me by a friend who runs a guitar store here in town (Grumpy's). He (the next guy) is the only contemporary musician I know of who's clearly studied Skip James , one of my own delta blues idols. I'm not sure how I feel about this, since that was gonna be my thing. Here's an awesome delta bluesman by the name of Mississippi Gabe Carter. He's 26, and white, by the way. Why do I feel like I'm already falling behind, before I've fairly begun?
That's it, for now. As inadequate as I may feel about my own musical endeavorings, I would like to once again hammer in the fact that I finally booked a decent gig, all on my ownsome. It's not much, but certainly a bit of a milestone in my own slowly budding career.
I will leave you with a bit of a musical blessing. This is a Bob Dylan song I found on an episode of a badass show called Sons Of Anarchy. I mean it, for all you who care enough to follow my silly ramblings.
May you stay forever young.
-Mojoe
No comments:
Post a Comment