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The holidays are upon us! And The Soul of John Black has baked up some new treats for this holiday season, a few homemade jams, if you will. He’s mixed up his own style of blues, R&B and soul to give a new interpretation to that old holiday cheer. Take a listen and get ready to enjoy The Soul of Christmas.
The Soul of John Black’s “Strawberry Lady” is the featured “Blues Breaker” track on the nationally syndicated House of Blues Radio Hour this weekend. As the music staff’s favorite new song of the week, the song will be intro’ed by Elwood Blues. Visit TheBluesmobile.com to find stations and broadcast times near you.
“New York to LA”, from The Soul of John Black‘s new album Good Thang, is featured on the home page of NPR.org as NPR’s Song of the Day. Critic Marc Silver picks up on the song’s theme, which nods to a Duke Ellington composition, writing, “the roots of the seductive “New York to L.A.” extend all the way back to the jazz age.”
This comes on the heels of USA Today’s pick of the album’s title song as one of ten “intriguing tracks” in their Playlist feature.
Read today’s article and hear the track at NPR Music . To download or get your CD copy, visit our music page for The Soul of John Black.
Twenty-first-century soul man John “JB” Bigham blends the sounds of Stax and the space age on Good Thang, the latest from his musical alter-ego The Soul of John Black.
Good Thang explores R&B, rock, pop, and electronica, but it’s all about love: JB’s love for classic soul and blues, love of driving old-school synth-funk bass, and, most important, love for his family. At the heart of this collection of feel-good grooves are the title track and “Lil Mama’s in the Kitchen” — graceful essays on the joys of domestic bliss that capture Good Thang‘s distinctive mix of organic sounds and cutting-edge production.
Good Thang follows 2009′s Black John, which yielded the radio hit “Betty Jean,” and 2007′s The Good Girl Blues, a funky blend of classic and modern blues, soul, rock, funk and hip-hop. JB’s unique stylistic fusion has won praise from Rolling Stone, NPR and others. And he’s toured and recorded with fellow trailblazers Miles Davis, Dr. Dré, Nikka Costa, and Eminem, but his experimental roots go back to his eight years on guitar and keyboards in pioneering ska-funk-punk band Fishbone.
Here’s a heads-up on three upcoming projects we’re excited about.
Good Thang, the new disc from The Soul of John Black, is just around the corner with a June 7 release. The album explores R&B, rock, pop, and electronica, but it’s all about love: JB’s love for classic soul and blues, love of driving old-school synth-funk bass, and, most important, love for his family. Check out a “first listen” preview track below.
Mary Flower is also in the studio recording a new album of her inimitable blend of acoustic blues, folk, and ragtime, which will be available in late summer. The session sees Mary joined by a series of duet collaborators in what is shaping up to be her most intimate recording yet.
And the Asylum Street Spankers’ swan song, a CD/DVD combo entitled The Last Laugh, is in the works for a fall release. Stay tuned for a near-future post with details of the Spankers’ finale extravaganza shows next month in Austin.
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 “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.
Voice of America gives some love to the Yellow Dog Records roster, which they note “boasts some of today’s best blues and Americana performers.” Read the article here, or listen to the audio of the piece:
Yellow Dog Records boasts some of today’s best Blues, Americana
“The Hole” by Yellow Dog artist The Soul of John Black has been named in the prestigious Indie Acoustic Project’s top ten songs of the year. The purpose of the award is to give well-deserved recognition to outstanding works of innovative, independently produced acoustic music, and to generate interest in independent music in general.
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.
Posted recently — a couple of videos for JB aka The Soul of John Black: