News
Cassie Taylor kicks off Europe tour
She’s only in her mid-20s, but Cassie Taylor is already a bona-fide road dog, having been in planes, trains and automobiles with her father Otis Taylor since her teen years. The soulful vocals and rock-solid bass skills she brought to her dad’s shows are now front and center as Cassie embarks on a sizable swing through Europe that will find her belting out her songs all across Germany and in Austria, Denmark, Luxembourg and Switzerland.
It all starts today at Das Bett in Frankfurt and winds down at Bluesiana in Velden, Austria on April 11. That, right there, is a tour, folks. Cassie is NOT messing around, on her latest album Out of My Mind (available on CD or white vinyl) or on her 44-day European tour that begins today!
- Full list of tour dates: 2/27 — 4/11
The Claudettes Are Elwood Blues’ “Blues Breaker of the Week” on Bluesmobile!
Who loves the blues more deeply, more enduringly, more outwardly than Elwood Blues — a.k.a. Dan Aykroyd? Mr. Aykroyd has been “on a mission from God” to spread the word about his favorite records for many a decade… most recently with his award-winning BluesMobile Radio Hour.
Each week, Aykroyd picks his favorite song — his Blues Breaker of the week — and shines a bright light on it; this week, his spotlight is squarely on The Claudettes and their killer cut “Tide Pool” from their Yellow Dog Records debut Infernal Piano Plot…HATCHED! .
Read what Mr. Aykroyd had to say about the band (and their too-bizarre-not-to-be-true back story) right here. Thanks for the shout-out, Elwood!
The Claudettes Redeemed by Buddy Guy’s
Johnny Iguana has been playing piano at Buddy Guy’s Legends since his days in the Junior Wells Blues Band. He’s been on stage there with Buddy himself countless times and with a host of other Chicago blues royals, too.
And so Johnny was taken aback when some of the staff at Buddy’s reacted with, shall we say, bemusement when Johnny brought his Claudettes to Buddy’s legendary stage on Friday the 13th of September of last year. The band’s unorthodox stage show ruffled certain feathers at Legends that night — but now, the official Buddy Guy word on The Claudettes’ music is out… and the word is good.
Check out this positively glowing review of The Claudettes’ Yellow Dog debut Infernal Piano Plot…HATCHED!– in Buddy’s own music-news magazine, BG. This piece not only raves about the record, but also places it within the continuum of the constantly evolving sound of Chicago blues. Right back ‘atcha, BG!