News:

"Mississippi Flatland Blues", the opening track from Eden Brent's new album Mississippi Number One, has been nominated as one of five finalists for "Blues Song of the Year" in the 2008 Independent Music Awards. The general public is invited to vote for their choice of best song in the IMA's "Vox Populi" award -- visit this link to check out the song and vote!

In other news:

• "Mississippi Flatland Blues" will also be featured as "Blues Breaker" song of the week on the nationally syndicated House of Blues Radio Hour over the weekend of December 13-14 - check out station listing and air times at http://www.thebluesmobile.com. Eden recently returned from a tour of the West Coast where visited the House of Blues Radio Hour studios in San Francisco and was interviewed by Elwood Blues - we're told that the interview might air on the Radio Hour in February - we'll keep you posted!

• Eden will be profiled in a feature article "New Women of the Blues" in the upcoming (Feb/Mar 2009) issue of Blues Revue magazine. The issue mails to subscribers in mid-Dec so keep an eye out for your copy!
  

Labels: Blues Revue, Eden Brent, Independent Music Awards House of Blues Radio Hour

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We were delighted by the announcement that Eden Brent and The Soul of John Black are both nominated in this year's Blues Blast Music Awards, sponsored by the Illinois Blues Society and their weekly Blues Blast Magazine.

Eden is nominated for the "Sean Costello Rising Star Award" while The Soul of John Black's recent album The Good Girl Blues is nominated for "Best New Artist Debut Recording".

JB's nomination follows on the heels of his nomination for "Best New Artist Debut" in this year's Blues Music Awards, while Eden's recognizes the buzz around her new album Mississippi Number One, which has earned a raft of great reviews and radio play - reaching #1 on XM Satellite Radio's Bluesville, #1 on the Roots Music Report Blues chart, and charting for 4 consecutive months on the Living Blues Radio Chart.

To preview these artists' albums in more detail, please visit their artist pages at Yellow Dog Records. Chicago-area radio station WGLT has also put together a page with sound samples of all BBMA nominees at http://www.wglt.org/programs/blues/blues_blast.phtml.

Voting closes on August 31st, so please visit http://www.illinoisblues.com/bbmavote today to support these artists with your vote! While you're there, we can recommend Blues Blast Magazine as a high-quality source of blues-genre music news.

Labels: Blues Blast Music Awards, Eden Brent, The Good Girl Blues, The Soul of John Black

On the eve of this year's International Blues Challenge, we're thrilled to announce the signing of 2006 IBC winner Eden Brent, a masterful blues and boogie pianist and vocal stylist. Dubbed "Little Boogaloo" by her mentor and duo partner, the late Abie "Boogaloo" Ames, this Mississippi Delta native holds a degree in music performance but credits Ames' down-home tutelage with teaching her how to "really play."

Described by one critic as "Bessie Smith meets Diana Krall meets Janis Joplin," other reviewers have compared her to Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughn and Norah Jones (our favorite line, though, involved something about "an angel on Viagra.") Never mind the comparisons. Eden's fresh voice is one-of-a-kind, and her distinctive style, fusing elements of blues, jazz, soul, gospel and pop, is turning the heads of roots music lovers nationwide.

Eden's new album, Mississippi Number One, is a tribute to her home and the "blues highway" that passes nearby. It will be in stores in April, but we'll have advance copies available in late February!

• More details and sound samples
• Taking pre-orders now! Visit the Order page to reserve your advance copy, shipping later in February.
  

Labels: Eden Brent

Yellow Dog Records is well-represented in this year's Blues Music Awards, with three artists recognized with award nominations. The Soul of John Black and his Yellow Dog Records debut album The Good Girl Blues are nominated for "Best New Artist Debut", while Mary Flower is nominated for "Acoustic Artist of the Year". Fiona Boyes becomes a two-time nominee with this year's nomination for "Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year".

The Blues Music Awards (formerly known as the W.C. Handy Awards) are universally recognized as the highest honor given to Blues artists. And best of all, you can vote in the awards process! Visit The Blues Foundation to join, and then this link to vote once you are a member. Voting is open now until Feb 29, 2008.

Labels: Blues Music Awards, Fiona Boyes, Mary Flower, The Good Girl Blues, The Soul of John Black

Posted recently -- a couple of videos for JB aka The Soul of John Black:

• I Got Work
• Deez Blues
• a great mini-documentary that shows what JB is all about

Labels: The Soul of John Black, videos

William Lee Ellis appears on the nationally syndicated Mountain Stage radio program this week, as part of a star-studded lineup including Leon Redbone, Tracy Nelson, and Marie Knight. WLE performs songs from his critically acclaimed albums God's Tattoos and Conqueroo. The program airs on NPR stations nationwide in a timeslot scheduled by each local station. Check here to see when the show airs in your town this week!

• Reviews, sound samples, and more information about William Lee Ellis
• Three albums by William Lee Ellis available! Visit our Order page to get yours
  

Labels: Conqueroo, God's Tattoos, Mountain Stage, William Lee Ellis

The Good Girl Blues, the new album from The Soul of John Black, has been nominated as one of five finalists for "Blues Album of the Year" in the 2007 Independent Music Awards. The other finalists are rarified company indeed, including new albums from Koko Taylor, Ike Turner, Watermelon Slim, and Big Pete Pearson. Visit this link to vote in the IMAs!


In other news:

• International interest has been building, with both Japan's Blues & Soul and France's Soul Bag magazines requesting tracks from The Good Girl Blues for inclusion on sampler CDs distributed to their subscribers
• Great airplay continues, with The Good Girl Blues reaching #2 on XM Satellite Radio Bluesville's Picks to Click

Labels: Independent Music Awards, The Good Girl Blues, The Soul of John Black

It's been called "the freshest-sounding blues album of this new century," "one of the year's most ambitious and sophisticated projects," and "one of the best listens of the year". The Good Girl Blues, by multi-instrumentalist John "JB" Bigham, aka The Soul of John Black, is a "funky blend of blues, soul, and rock" that merges rootsy, bluesy fundamentals with modern soul, funk, and hip-hop influences.

Bigham jammed on guitar and keyboard for the pioneering rock-funk-ska band Fishbone for eight years and has toured and recorded with artists as acclaimed and diverse as Miles Davis, Eminem, and Dr. Dre'. Now he's taking center stage with his own The Soul of John Black.

From "The Hole," a wailing 21st century re-imagination of a 100-year-old field holler, to the old-school, uptown soul vibe of "I Got Work", to "Slipin' and Slidin,'" an instrumental with a mysterious backbeat highlighted by DJ Phizz Ed on turntables, Bigham's sly, intimate vocals and unique guitar technique on acoustic, electric and slide provide the unforgettable groove.

• More details and sound samples
• More press raves for The Good Girl Blues
  
• Album shipping now! Visit the Order page to get your copy.

Blues piano legend Big Joe Duskin passed away at home Sunday morning at age 86.

A boogie-woogie piano player, Duskin may have been part of the generation that produced legends like BB King and Muddy Waters, but his background was far from typical: he fought as a soldier in World War II and became a Cincinnati Police Officer before becoming a professional musician at age 43.

His relatively late start in professional music was due to a promise made to his father, the Reverend Perry Duskin, who believed that blues was "the devil's music". Joe promised to stop playing blues and boogie until after the death of the elder Duskin, who lived to age 105.

But in the early 1970s, at the urging of a young Ohio blues scholar, Steve Tracy, Big Joe began playing again and was soon a hot ticket at festivals around the US and Europe. He released his debut LP, Arhoolie's Cincinnati Stomp, in 1979.

Joe is beloved in his hometown as a mentor who never refused any musician's request to sit in. In 2000, he received a Lifetime Achievement Cammy (Cincinnati Area Pop Music Award), and in July 2004 the Mayor of Cincinnati presented him with a Key to the City, proclaiming "The City of Cincinnati acknowledges and honors Big Joe Duskin for giving his hometown - and the world - a lifetime's worth of great music."

The release of Duskin's last studio recording, Big Joe Jumps Again! by Yellow Dog Records in 2004 brought further recognition. The album was nominated by the Blues Foundation for "Comeback Blues Album of the Year" in the annual Blues Music Awards, and Duskin was featured in June 2005 with the cover story in Living Blues Magazine. Later that year Duskin became the first African-American honored with the Ohio Heritage Fellowship Award from the Ohio Arts Council.

Big Joe's remarkable legacy and sharing of his talent in his aging years, in spite of pain and poor health due to complications from diabetes, continues to be an inspiration to us all.

• Free Download: "The Preacher and The Devil's Music" from Big Joe Jumps Again!
• Free Download: "Just A Closer Walk With Thee" from Big Joe Jumps Again!
• Video story: Fox 19, Cincinnati
• Interview of Big Joe Duskin by Jeff Harris of Bad Dog Blues
  

Mary Flower is renowned for her springwater-clear vocals, beautiful original compositions, and above all, mastery of fingerpicking and lap-slide guitar styles. In fact, she’s the only woman to place twice at the National Fingerpicking Guitar Championship in Winfield, KS.

In response to frequent requests for recordings featuring her guitar playing, Instrumental Breakdown compiles the instrumental tracks from her critically acclaimed albums Honey From the Comb, Ladyfingers, Ragtime Gal, and Bywater Dance, along with a couple of newly-recorded tunes.

These tracks feature Mary's intricate guitar - both solo as well as with backing from a who's who of roots notables, including Jon Cleary, Tony Furtado, Fritz Richmond, Pat Donohue, Woody Mann, and Dr. Michael White.

• More details and sound samples
• Album shipping now! Visit the Order page to get your copy.

We're thrilled that Lucky 13, the debut album for Yellow Dog Records by Fiona Boyes, has been nominated for a Blues Music Award for Contemporary Blues Album of the Year!

The Blues Music Awards (formerly known as the W.C. Handy Awards) are universally recognized as the highest honor given to Blues artists. And best of all, you can vote for Fiona in the awards process! Visit The Blues Foundation to join, and then this link to vote once you are a member.

To celebrate Fiona's nomination and to encourage membership in the Blues Foundation, Yellow Dog Records has teamed with Maton Guitars to offer a free reward pack to all Blues Foundation members who contact us before the end of February! The reward pack includes two free sampler CDs, one free DVD, and a chance to win a Maton Mastersound MS500LS electric guitar (valued at more than $1,500) autographed by Fiona and legendary guitarist Hubert Sumlin. To learn how to request your free reward pack, please read here for instructions.

• Press release about the album's nomination
  
• Hear sound samples from Lucky 13
• Read a bunch of great reviews about Lucky 13
  
• Get your own copy by visiting our Order page!