De volgende band komt – Straight from de Limburgse Maasdelta! – valt er in het programmaboekje te lezen. The Ragtime Rumours staan garant voor een wervelende melange van hillbilly, swampy blues en natuurlijk ragtime. The Ragtime Rumours werden in 2017 uitgeroepen als winnaars van de Dutch Blues Challenge maar ook werden zij in het Noorse Hell tot winnaars van de European Blues Challenge gekroond!
Dit bonte gezelschap bestaat uit frontman/zanger/gitarist Tom ‘Howlin Stone’ Janssen, gitarist/pianist/double bass speler Thimo Geijzen, drummer/kazoo/washboard Sjaak Korsten en de lieftallige dame heet Niki van der Schuren zij bespeelt de dwarsfluit/double bass/saxofoon en tekent ook voor een aantal lead-vocalen. Ook deze keer word ik weer naar het podium ‘gezogen’ als de band ‘Wade In The Water’ met de zeer warme vocalen van Tom Janssen het inmiddels toegestroomde publiek omhelzen.
Net als vorige maand op Blues Peer zijn de oh’s en ah’s niet van de lucht als ze Niki van der Schuren’s ‘Swing With Me’ horen. Werkelijk een zeer mooie balans die deze jonge band aan de dag legt.
Van Jimmy Rodgers horen we ‘In The Jailhouse Now’, ‘Faker’ is weer een eigen song in de trant van Tom Waits op de tekst van het door Korsten geschreven gedicht, een nummer waar ik iedere keer weer door geraakt word mede door de wonderschone dwarsfluit-solo van Niki en Thimo’s effect met de gitaar en de versterker.
Niki is niet alleen een zeer goede zangeres maar kan ook een instrument als de bariton-sax met gemak aan als ik getuige ben van de uitsmijter ‘Hoodoo Everywhere’.
The Ragtime Rumours, een heerlijk kollektief jongeren met als back-bone de ‘oudere jongere’ Sjaak Korsten hebben ook hier in Wespelaar weer hun visitekaartje afgegeven!
Elles Bailey has a talent for crafting and seamlessly weaving rootsy blues, country, and soulful rock, with a contemporary edge. What’s more fate has blessed her with a ‘smoky vocal’ style that perfectly fits her music, after a stint in hospital as a child changed her voice forever.
Her debut album Wildfire (Sept 1st 2017) which debuted at no.2 in the iTunes blues Charts was tracked in Blackbird studios Tennessee. Produced by Brad Nowell ‘Wildfire’ assembled a host of Nashville’s finest, including Grammy Award winning guitarist Brent Mason and three-time ‘Musician Hall Of Famer’ Bobby Wood. Blended together back in the UK with the likes of Jonny Henderson (Robyn Ford, Matt Schofield) on Hammond organ and Joe Wilkins on blistering guitar, the result is a unique trans-Atlantic coming together of styles.
Reviewers have been wowed by Elles and her debut album with Maverick Magazine gave ‘Wildfire’ top marks (5/5) calling every song ‘Fresh & Original’ and Blues In Britain reminding us that ‘It’s a fact that very few make it to the big stage but Elles Bailey has the necessary talent, the drive, and now the product.’
2018 continues to be a busy, successful year for this talented singer-songwriter with Elles nominated for four different U.K. Blues awards, an upcoming European tour, appearances at key Country and Blues festivals, and a recent return to the studio in Nashville to record some eagerly-anticipated new material. Watch this space for news of a new album coming soon.
“It’s a fact that very few make it to the big stage,” Blues In Britain reminds us, but “Elles Bailey has the necessary talent, the drive, and no) the product.”
Guitar Slim, Jr. began experimenting with creating music at a very young age by pulling rubber bands over the knobs on a dresser drawer imitating guitar and bass sounds and later, playing a ukulele that was given to him by one of his uncles. Growing up on the mean streets of the inner city, Guitar Slim Jr. developed a tough, workman like approach to music and life. With the harsh life experiences dealt to him from early on to present, Guitar Slim Jr. has persevered. Slim’s music career has spanned from the venues of New Orleans to Jackson to Memphis to Los Angeles to the bright lights of New York City.
Guitar Slim Jr. became good friends with Stevie Ray Vaughan in the late 1980’s. They joined forces at the Great Woods Blues Festival in the 1980s and then subsequently toured with SRV and Double Trouble where plans were in the works on recording a duet album. One time, Guitar Slim Jr. and Stevie, after SRV finished playing at the New Orleans Blues and Heritage Festival, walked around on the festival grounds, joking with one another and fans with Slim Jr. wearing SRV’s legendary hat with the feather soaring out of one side. Guitar Slim Jr. continues to relishes those days. Guitar Slim Jr. remained close until Stevie’s death on August 27, 1990 and still to this day remains loyal blues soul mate with the late SRV.
Slim Jr. is known as generous with his time, talent, and advice. If you ever have to chance to meet with Guitar Slim Jr., do so. You can ask him any questions and just sit back and enjoy the time. Guitar Slim Jr. is truly a fans musician!
