The News Review:
- Meet the fastest-rising star of the blues John Németh
- Music marches on for spring season
- Blues Moon
Meet the fastest-rising star of the blues John Németh
Seattle Times
Contrary to the widely held assumption the blues isn’t about wallowing in sorrow and misery. The music’s essence is a celebratory communal response to life’s vicissitudes and Németh seems to be hitting his stride just as the nation’s need for succor is reaching a crest. “Blues is music of perseverance” says Németh 33 who celebrates the release of his stellar new album “Love Me Tonight” (Blind Pig) on Saturday at the Highway 99 Blues Club. “A lot of people tell me ‘h the blues is sad. ‘ I say ‘Have you ever listened to it?!’ But I don’t mind. That’s just another person I get to go out and grab and bring them in to the music. Since he signed with the San Francisco-based label Blind Pig in 2007 Németh has been bringing in new fans by the bushel.
Music marches on for spring season
Cherry Hill Courier Post
Copeland is touring in support of her just-released album “Never Going Back” which was produced by liver Wood who also co-wrote five of the 12 songs. Wood is one half of the singer-songwriter duo the Wood Brothers (the other half Chris Wood of jazz trio Medeski Martin & Wood also appears on the album). Highlights include two older blues songs (“River’s Invitation” by Percy Mayfield and the Johnny Copeland-penned “Circumstances”) along with the edgy “Never Going Back to Memphis. “”I want to keep growing and I think I really did that with this record. I’ve always sung full-voice but for this one liver — who I have such respect for — had me lay back sometimes; rein it in a little and it shows a different side of me as a singer” Copeland said by phone recently. And for the first time she addresses politics in some of her songs: “The way things are in the world right now I felt like it was impossible not to talk about it. “Heir to the rich tradition of soul-drenched divas like Ruth Brown Etta James and Koko Taylor Copeland’s passion for singing matched with her huge blast-furnace voice is unmistakable — especially onstage.
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Blues Moon
Dubuque Telegraph Herald
com Although "Live at the BBC" was released by Mercury in 2008 it was a compilation of material from the late 1980s-early 1990s and released under an agreement so old that Cray said he wasn’t aware of the album until friends commented on it. 1978 "Who’s Been Talkin’" 1983 "Bad Influence" 1985 "False Accusations" 1986 "Strong Persuader" 1988 "Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark" 1990 "Midnight Stroll" 1992 "I Was Warned" 1993 "Shame & Sin" 1995 "Some Rainy Morning" 1997 "Sweet Potato Pie" 1999 "Take Your Shoes ff" "Heavy Picks" 2001 "Shoulda Been Home" 2002 "The Millennium Collection" 2003 "Time Will Tell" 2005 "Twenty" 2006 "LIVE from Across the Pond" He toured with BB King’s "Blues Music Festival" in ’97 and won a Grammy for "Take Your Shoes ff" in ’99. There have been five Grammys altogether and 13 nominations including the full-length concert CD "The Robert Cray Band: Live from Across the Pond" released in 2006. Its recordings were made over the course of seven performances at London’s Royal Albert Hall with Pugh bassist Karl Severeid and drummer Kevin Hayes. "Across the Pond" was the group’s first live album although Cray has said the members have tried to do so before but found themselves "too psyched up" to make it work. "We’ve done some recording on a new album" he said.