LOUISIANA RED HOT RECORDS

Posts in the BLUES category

KIPORI WOODS: Blues Gone Wild

LRHR1201 kipori insert“Clean guitar-picking and lyrics that sometimes wound their way into risque territory” – Laura McKnight, Times-Picayune

Blues gets wild in New Orleans…it will always be that way. For proof, look no further than the Big Easy’s current, premier blues guitar practitioner, Kipori “Baby Wolf” Woods and Blues Gone Wild, his new album, being released nationally on Louisiana Red Hot Records. What else would you expect from a New Orleans born and bred bluesman, whose name means ‘wild’ in Swahili?

Eleven years in the making, Blues Gone Wild is the very, long-awaited followup to Kipori’s initial national release Big Black Cadillac. That 2000 debut gained Kipori widespread recognition as one of the South’s best young blues guitarists.

Then…some real blues ensued. Katrina swallowed his beloved New Orleans home. All earthly possessions were destroyed. Partially finished recordings were lost. Two marriages failed. The gig scene withered. The band broke up.

But, as New Orleans knows so well, resilience triumphs over disaster. Kipori rejoined his old friends the Dirty Dozen Brass Band for a year and a half of world touring and soul repairing. Rejuvenated, Kipori returned to his roots in New Orleans.

Those roots led back to the man who raised Kipori, his grandfather “Luscious” Lloyd Lambert, the legendary New Orleans bass player. “Luscious” worked with the likes of Ray Charles, Little Richard, Danny Barker, and Doc Cheatham and led the band for the most outrageous performer in New Orleans history, Guitar Slim. It was Lloyd who nurtured the adolescent Kipori in jazz, R&B, gospel and, most importantly, the flamboyant blues style of Guitar Slim.

Today you can see that flamboyant Guitar Slim performing style still alive in Buddy Guy. You can hear those stunning Guitar Slim runs in the work of his successors, Earl King and Jimi Hendrix. And you can experience the entire package in Kipori Woods and his bonafide blistering Big Easy Blues Gone Wild.

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THE BLUEBIRDS

THE BLUEBIRDS

BIO

Blues-rockers the Bluebirds consisted primarily of brothers Buddy and Bruce Flett, Louisiana natives who formed the group in their hometown of Shreveport in 1987. The siblings — Buddy on guitar, Bruce on bass, and both on vocals — cut their teeth in A-Train, an outfit popular among Louisiana and Texas club patrons throughout its ten-year existence; immediately after the group’s dissolution, the Fletts reunited as the Bluebirds, originally a Tuesday night jam band which became a far more serious concern with the 1995 release of their debut LP Swamp Stomp. South from Memphis followed a year later.

The Bluebirds is a band that plays: high energy, fun-filled fusion of Louisiana rock ´n roll, good old fashioned blues and rockabilly, sprinkled with a bit of tex – mex and garnished with soul. The Bluebirds genuine musical mix has taken the band all over the world: Australia, USA, Europe and the Nordic countries.

The band is now almost back to the original setting, since the start in 1989. Or as Michelle for the Live Magazine (U.S.A) has written:“The irony of having a band from Sweden play American blues music better than nearly any group I had ever heard before was not lost on me”. Blues association of Queensland, Australia says:“Have you been waiting ´round for another band like The Fabulous Thunderbirds to come along? Well, your wait is over, the Bluebirds have arrived”, and they are ready to rock the house!

www.bluebirds.se

DUMPSTAPHUNK

Dumpstaphunk 2BIO

Dumpstaphunk stands out among New Orleans’ best as one of the funkiest bands to ever arise from the Crescent City. Born on the Jazz & Heritage Festival stage, and descended from Neville family bloodlines, these soldiers of funk ignite a deep, gritty groove that dares listeners not to move. Their performances combine ingenious musicianship and complex funk and jazz arrangements with soulful melodies that are simple enough for anyone to enjoy. In Big Easy tradition, dueling baselines from Tony Hall and Nick Daniels III set off one of the dirtiest rhythm sections on the planet, while Ivan Neville lights up the Hammond B3 keys and cousin Ian Neville’s funky guitar riffs send the groove into overdrive. The band recently welcomed their newest member, Alvin Ford Jr. to the quintet, a New Orleans born and raised powerhouse drummer. Dumpstaphunk tosses around lead vocals and four-part harmonies the way Sly & the Family Stone did, but with three studio albums under their belt, Dumpstaphunk stands on the merit of their own material. Songs like “Dancin’ To The Truth” off their latest record, Dirty Word (July 30, 2013, Louisiana Red Hot Records), offer an escape into the funky sublime, sharing the true spirit of New Orleans with every note.

PRESS

“I don’t expect to hear anything funkier this year.” – Jon Pareles, New York Times

“[A] jackpot of a funk record from Dumpstaphunk.” – WNYC

“Dumpstaphunk’s self-produced sonic approach feels live, nasty, and greasy. The band’s writing celebrates community, self-reliance, and social responsibility.” – iTunes

“Dumpstaphunk’s ‘If I’m In Luck’ brings the bass… boasts a fiery lead vocal from drummer Nikki Glaspie” – USA Today

“Funksters and those who relish solid musicianship and incredible vocal harmonies can just be glad that an album like Dirty Word is still being made — that the ‘one nation under a groove’ remains vital. It’s a head noddin’, booty shakin’ disc…” – Louisiana Weekly

“If Dumpstaphunk was a 3 course meal it would start with a juicy rhythm section, then move on to a beautiful arrangement of guitars and keys, seasoned with some soulful vocals and add a pinch of Cosmic Slop for good measure.” – Austin Chronicle

“Dirty Word offers a remarkably fresh update on a sometimes neglected genre.” – Mix Magazine

“[Dirty Word] stands on its own as the harbinger of a new style of 21st century funk.” – The Vinyl District

“Dumpstaphunk has grown from a small side project into one of New Orleans’ most prestigious modern funk ensembles.” – Rolling Stone

www.dumpstaphunk.com

BURTON GAAR

Burton GaarBIO

Cajun bass player and singer Burton Gaar grew up listening to the sounds of great blues artists such as electric guitarist B.B. King and vocalist Bobby “Blue” Bland. Before he hit his teen years, he decided he wanted to become a musician and play the blues, too. Within a couple of years, as the ’50s were drawing to a close, he got his chance when he started working in his hometown of Baton Rouge, alongside blues legend Slim Harpo. Frequently, they worked the city’s Glass Hat Club. Gaar also played for a short time with the Boogie Kings. During the ’60s, Gaar went on to form a band of his own and they found work playing backup for visiting artists to Baton Rouge, a list that included zydeco artist Rockin’ Sidney and soulful singer Percy Sledge. Gaar drew such inspiration from Rockin’ Sidney that in the future he would dedicate one of his albums, Mighty Long Road, to the zydeco musician. Despite the fact that Gaar made music for almost four decades, he didn’t record a solo album of his own until 1996, when the Cajun-influenced Still Singing the Blues was issued with the Mudcats. The following year in Holland, he recorded One Hundred Pounds of Trouble, an album that performed well internationally. He is one of the musicians featured in the book Blues: Keeping the Faith by Keith Shadwick.

William Burton Gaar, Sr., age 68 of LeCompte, passed away Sunday, July 10, 2011, at Grace Home after a brief battle with cancer. He is survived by the love of his life of 47 years, Faye Clark Gaar; his two sons, William Burton Gaar, Jr. (Becky) of Tupelo, Mississippi, and Steven Louis Gaar (Marla) of Alexandria; brothers, Massey Gaar, Pensacola, Florida, Jack Gaar, Henderson, Nevada, John Gaar (Saundra), Austin, Texas, sister, Mary Gaar Myers (Brent), Woodworth; nine grandchildren, and a host of nieces and nephews and musician friends.

HONEY ISAND SWAMP BAND

Honey Island Swamp BandBIO

Great music begins with great songs, and great songs are what the Honey Island Swamp Band is all about. The band came together after Aaron Wilkinson (acoustic guitar, mandolin, vocals) and Chris Mule’ (electric guitar, vocals) were marooned in San Francisco after the levee breaches following Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, and had a chance encounter with fellow New Orleans evacuees Sam Price (bass, vocals) and Garland Paul(drums, vocals) at John Lee Hooker’s Boom Boom Room on Fillmore Street. They knew each other from having all played together in some form or another in various New Orleans bands, and with the great unknown regarding their return to their underwater hometown looming in the distance, they decided to put together a band and get some gigs going. Fortunately, the Boom Boom Room’s owner Alex Andreas offered the band a weekly gig on the spot.

Sunday nights at the Boom Boom Room soon became a favorite of Bay Area roots music lovers, who have a long-standing affinity for New Orleans music and musicians. Two months into the residency, sound engineer Robert Gatley approached the band with a rare opportunity — he wanted to record a Honey Island Swamp Band album at the legendary Record Plant studios in Sausalito, where he worked. The 7-song eponymous debut “Honey Island Swamp Band”came together beautifully, with Wilkinson and Mulé both contributing favorite originals, and was received so well that they all decided to continue the band upon moving back to New Orleans in 2007.

Honey Island Swamp Band‘s music has been described as “Bayou Americana”with timeless songs from Wilkinson & Mulé, highlighted by Mulé’s searing guitar, Wilkinson’s sure-handed mandolin, and 4-part vocal harmonies, all anchored by the powerful groove of Price & Paul’s Louisiana stomp rhythm section. The addition of Trevor Brooks on Hammond B-3 organ to the HISB family in 2010 has rounded out the band’s sound, which draws from a variety of influences in the world of roots music, including artists such as Lowell George & Little Feat, The Band, Taj Mahal, Gram Parsons, Jerry Garcia, Johnny Cash, Jimmy Reed, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, and New Orleans’ own Earl King and Dr. John.

In April 2009, the band released its first full-length album entitled Wishing Well. The album was well-received and based on the strength of such songs as “Natural Born Fool”, “Till the Money’s Gone”, and the  title track, Wishing Wellwas awarded 2009′s “Best Blues Album” by OffBeat Magazine, which also named HISB as 2009’s “Best Emerging Artist” and 2010’s “Best Roots Rock Artist”. Most recently HISB won the award for “Best Roots Rock Artist” of 2011 at the Big Easy Awards, New Orleans’ most prestigious arts and entertainment honors.

2010’s Good To You was named to several “Top Ten CDs of 2010″ lists, and has quickly become a staple on the Crescent City’s legendary radio station WWOZas well as on Sirius/XM Bluesville. It features the southern strut of songs such as “Be Good”, “300 Pounds” and the album’s first single “Chocolate Cake.”

Now the band is gearing up for their first nationally-distributed studio recording, Cane Sugar, on Louisiana Red Hot Records in late July 2013. Produced by Grammy-winning producer John Porter, the 12 new songs illuminate the mix of country-inflected rock, New Orleans funky blues and infectious songwriting that makes Honey Island Swamp Band‘s music so familiar yet unique at the same time. Cane Sugar is by far their most fully-realized recording to date and reflects the finely tuned unit the band has become after incessant touring.

PRESS

“Somewhere, there exists a dark, smoky bar with a jukebox that spins George Jones, Gram Parsons, Delbert McClinton, and Little Feat. And if that fantasy honky-tonk lights your Marlboro, you need to know about Honey Island Swamp Band.” – Broward-Palm Beach New Times

“Vintage country meets Gulf Coast boogie-woogie blues.” – Bthesite, Baltimore Sun

“The Honey Island Swamp is a real place. It resides near the border of Louisiana and Mississippi. It’s therefore a fitting name for this band that draws inspiration from the music of those two states. With the Honey Island Swamp Band, soul, country, R&B and blues are all on equal footing. The two man songwriting/guitarist team of Chris Mulé and Aaron Wilkinson produce expressive, hook-laden tunes that honor songcraft while respecting the groove.” – Jambase.com

“What a fine band this is – an utterly refreshing, unpretentious group of first-rate instrumentalists who also sing engagingly. Their music is as delicious as their name.” – Susan Peña, The Reading Eagle

www.honeyislandswampband.com

 

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