Kath Bloom joins Damon & Naomi at Chicago's Astral Autumn Daze this weekend

Kath Bloom, Damon & Naomi, Spiral Galaxy, Powers/Rolin and others hit the Hideout on Friday and Saturday. Check the clips!

Watch Memphis '69: The Memphis Country Blues Festival

Check out performances by Mississippi Fred McDowell, Furry Lewis, Rufus Thomas, Bukka White, Son Thomas and others. 

Jeremiah Lockwood puts a Chanukah spin on John Fahey's yuletide classic

Guitar picker deluxe Jeremiah Lockwood is releasing A Great Miracle on November 22, just in time for Chanukah celebrations.

Here's the scoop...

Reboot Records and musician Jeremiah Lockwood present a Chanukah record that is sure to become a standard in holiday’s lexicon. A Great Miracle: Jeremiah Lockwood’s Guitar Soli Chanukah Record – out November 22 – is a beautiful solo guitar tribute to the holiday. With heartfelt appreciation of the 1968 classic The New Possibility: John Fahey’s Guitar Soli Christmas Record, Lockwood has sweetly crafted eight songs, one for each night of Chanukah, to celebrate the dancing candlelight with his new, blues-inspired takes on the most beloved melodies of the holiday’s cannon. From the prayers for lighting the candles to the kids’ songs that are sung around the burning menorah, Lockwood paints the light through the darkness with his instrumental creations. Check out Jeremiah's recording of "Ritual" right here.

Lockwood’s career has followed a unique path, with deep musical inspiration coming from two mentors. His grandfather Cantor Jacob Konigsberg (1921-2007) infused in him the melodies of the Jewish liturgy, with Lockwood performing in his choir. Lockwood credits his career as a guitarist to a decade-long apprenticeship with the legendary blues musician Carolina Slim, a.k.a. Elijah Staley (1926-2014), who passed down to Lockwood the Piedmont blues tradition of Brownie McGhee and Buddy Moss. Lockwood also leads the band Sway Machinery, which features Jordan McLean of Antibalas and at one point Brian Chase of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

A Great Miracle is the ultimate realization of both sides of Lockwood’s learning, as he translates the major Chanukah melodies into a blues language, through his fingers and the strings of his Gibson guitar. For more information about Jeremiah's album and to sign up for notifications of upcoming releases and events, visit the Reboot Records site right here.  

As Chanukah arrives early this year – commencing November 28th and staying illuminated until December 6th – there's a well-timed release party for Jeremiah Lockwood's new album to celebrate the festival of lights in New York at Relix Studio (116 E 27th St.) on Tuesday, November 30 – doors at 6:30 pm, show at 7 pm Eastern. The event will feature a full performance of the album, followed by a set by The Sway Machinery, Lockwood's long running rock band (featuring members of Antibalas, Barbez, Arcade Fire, an incredibly accomplished set of musicians), called "unclassifiable, uplifting" by The New Yorker. The album release concert will also be streamed live on Twitch.

Get your tickets to the November 30 live streamed album release party here. Listen to Jeremiah's spin on "Little Dreydl" below. 

Watch the Memphis '69 concert film

Memphis '69 features performances by Rufus Thomas & The Bar-Kays, Furry Lewis, John Fahey, Bukka White and many others. 

Here's the scoop...

Fat Possum Records to release the concert film, MEMPHIS ’69, via YouTube August 6th followed by DVD release on September 17th, featuring sweat-stained performances by Rufus Thomas & The Bar-Kays, Bukka White, John Fahey, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Johnny Winter and other luminaries.  Premiered at Slamdance, the documentary spotlights the landmark 1969 Memphis Country Blues Festival and is made up entirely of previously unreleased footage. 

Fat Possum Records will release the Memphis ’69 documentary film, capturing three days and two nights of the sweltering, interracial 1969 Memphis Country Blues Festival. Full song performances include a number of iconic Blues Hall of Famers such as Rufus Thomas & The Bar-Kays; slide guitar great Booker “Bukka” White; Sleepy John Estes with Yank Rachel; Texas’ Johnny Winter; Memphis’ own Furry Lewis, Beale Street sweeper who opened for the Rolling Stones; and North Mississippi bluesman Mississippi Fred McDowell. There are no talking heads, just the unfiltered shots of the concert and its surroundings from the time. Memphis ’69 will be available from Fat Possum on DVD September 17th. Preorder it right here. 

Other highlights include cult American primitive guitarist John Fahey; Moloch, with a young Jim Dickinson before his sessions with Bob Dylan and the Stones; Rev. Robert Wilkins—whose “Prodigal Son” was covered by the Stones—and family; Nathan Beauregard, introduced as estimated to have been born just a year after the Civil War; visual artist, grave digger, and bluesman James “Son” Thomas, whose clay sculptures has been featured in the National Gallery of Art, Brooklyn Museum, and the Studio Museum in Harlem; two-time Billboard R&B chart top ten artist Piano Red, whose songs were later covered by the Beatles and the Lovin’ Spoonful; and John D. Loudermilk, who saw versions of his tunes recorded by the Everly Brothers, Marianne Faithfull, Johnny Cash, and Eric Burdon & War and who wrote the now-standard “Tobacco Road.”

Additional performances include mesmerizing turns from a young Joann Kelley and “Backwards” Sam Firk; delta bluesman Lum Guffin; Memphis’ own Jefferson Street Jug Band joined by Fahey; the electric Insect Trust; and gospel group The Salem Harmonizers.

The footage was originally filmed by Adelphi Records founder Gene Rosenthal, who drove down from Maryland with a crew, shooting undaunted even as the heat reached 106 degrees. With over 40,000 feet of film, he spent his entire budget and just to process it, having to sell the cameras he had just acquired and leaving him with no ability to craft it into a finished film. Fat Possum’s Bruce Watson came on board in 2016, bringing with him filmmakers Joe and Lisa LaMattina, who have also done film work for Green Day, Rihanna, the Cold War Kids, Snoop Dog, Florence + The Machine, and Tom Morello. The LaMattinas then edited the footage, crafting it into the finished film. This was no easy task given that the audio engineer in 1969 was tripping on acid. Award-winning author and filmmaker Robert Gordon also served as a consultant. 

Watch Memphis '69 while it's temporarily available on YouTube... 

Guitarist Matthew J. Rolin previews The Dreaming Bridge

Hear Ohio fingerstyle guitarist Matthew J. Rolin plays 3 songs from The Dreaming Bridge feat. sweet sleeve art by Steven Krakow. 

Here's the scoop...

“We are living in something of a golden age of fingerstyle guitarists. This glut can be both a blessing and a curse, as it becomes increasingly difficult for even the most discerning of fans to distinguish one player from the next, however capable these players might be.

It is always a pleasure, then, to hear the ways in which the braver and brighter guitarists re-think the tradition from the ground up and recast it in their own image. Enter guitarist Matthew J. Rolin, who plays as if he was born with a dreadnought in his hands. The Ohio-based guitarist’s artistic leaps in recent years are rivaled only by those of Daniel Bachman, another once-precocious player formerly in the John Fahey / Jack Rose mold who has over the years transcended the idiom to create his own singular, deeply personal music. Rolin’s latest LP, the double album The Dreaming Bridge, makes similar strides.

For many practitioners of this style, the first and perhaps most challenging feat is to escape the gargantuan shadow of Fahey. Some do this by adding other instruments or field recordings to their DADGAD ruminations; some opt to play electric. Of course, Fahey did all of those things, too. Better still to have not been directly influenced by Fahey in the first place: Rolin’s initial embrace of the acoustic guitar was inspired not by Fahey himself, but rather by Fahey-influenced guitarists like polymath Jim O’Rourke and trickster prodigy Ryley Walker.

This vicarious influence is exemplified by Rolin’s distinctive, at times irreverent approach to guitar soli. While the influence of Walker’s nimble 12-string probing is evident on tunes like Rolin’s impressionistic “10:30 AM,” and while the guitarist’s patiently unfolding, contemplative “Weeping Willow” indeed recalls O’Rourke’s masterpiece Happy Days, Rolin remains very much his own man, with his own idiosyncratic approach. This is clear from the first notes of The Dreaming Bridge’s opening track “Pinhole,” which introduces Rolin’s affinity for shimmering, almost choral, reverb, the effect doubling as a compositional element. Similarly, on the overtone-rich “Drown,” Rolin’s virtuosic playing is practically a duet with its own echo, an effect deployed not to obscure, but to buoy. This deep attention to atmosphere serves a crucial function on The Dreaming Bridge, which sparkles throughout with a strident, Zen-like focus

Then there are the tunes themselves. Terrific tunes! Like William Tyler—another possible influence—Rolin, despite largely working from the necessarily limited palette of instrumental solo guitar music, thinks like a songwriter. This more traditional approach can be heard on tracks like “Moonlight” and “Backyard Blues” which follow a compositional logic complete with verses and choruses. Rolin performs these compositions beautifully; as a player he is dexterous and dynamic, with a light and agile touch reminiscent of early Will Ackerman or Alex De Grassi.

Album highlight “Hallucinations” features saxophonist Patrick Shiroishi’s keening, double tracked reed work, which at times simulates the sound of a two violins playing cat and mouse between the stereo channels. Rolin wisely cedes center stage to Shiroishi for the track’s first third, supplying gently supportive arpeggios beneath, before the sax fades and Rolin responds. There is something about the unexpected combination of sax and acoustic guitar—not exactly easy bedfellows—that brings to mind both postmodern chamber ensemble Entourage and progressive new age pluralists Shadowfax.

Rolin is joined by partner and collaborator Jen Powers on the meditative and marvelous “When I Could See,” a painterly duet for two dulcimers (one Appalachian, one hammered) that is as rich and transporting as their excellent Powers/Rolin duo LP released last year.

“Bells” (not an Albert Ayler cover), a tone poem for singing bowls, crickets, water, and the ringing of various small bells, eventually gives way to the massive sidelong title track. Structured a bit like a canon, “The Dreaming Bridge” inventively and somewhat impishly simulates aspects of post-Takoma guitar music using some unlikely tools: electric guitar, a looper, and various fuzz and distortion pedals. Note the way the tube-rattling distorted guitar begins substituting for the reverberating whole notes that would typically be the job of the thumb in a traditional Travis picking tune. The sidelong piece, its mood somewhere between apocalyptic and oddly triumphal, gradually builds and crests for over 15 minutes before its waves of stoner tumult and slo-mo tremolo twang begin to recede. We are left with nearly three full minutes of the sound of rushing water cascading from rain gutters. It’s as if the guitarist, satisfied with the web he has just spun, has placed his instrument in its case and has stopped to listen to that other music all around us, and invites us to do the same. You’d be wise to accept this challenge, but not before listening to The Dreaming Bridge, an early candidate for one of 2021’s best guitar records, and Rolin’s finest work to date. Keep two eyes on this guy.” – James Toth

Matthew J. Rolin's new double-album The Dreaming Bridge is slated for release in a pressing of 300 copies on April 30th from Feeding Tube Records which you can pre-order from the label right here. Check out performances of "Drown," "Weeping Willow" and "The Dreaming Bridge" below. 

Quarantunes: Gwenifer Raymond

Welsh guitarist Gwenifer Raymond knocked out a sweet version of John Fahey's arrangement of the gospel hymn "Uncloudy Day" 

Robbie Basho doc DVD and 5-CD set of unissued recordings on the way

Voice of the Eagle, Liam Barker's 2015 film about avant-folk guitarist Robbie Basho is out Dec 13 followed by a massive set of unreleased material.  

Here's the scoop...
Before his bizarre death at the hands of a chiropractor, Robbie Basho was sure that his compositions would not outlast him. Orphaned during infancy, diagnosed with synaesthesia (a union of the senses that caused him to interpret sound as colour) and claiming to be the reincarnation of a 17th century poet -- the Baltimore-born guitarist and singer's musical output was as equally as outlandish as his persona.

In his brief and troubled life he laid the foundations for radical changes to the musical landscape of America during the 1960s and 70s but reaped little more than a sparse (if fervent) following during his lifetime.

Voice of the Eagle: The Enigma of Robbie Basho (MVD Entertainment) is a journey into the heart of an artist's lifelong struggle -- designed to illuminate and satiate existing fans while serving as a perfect starting point for the uninitiated.

Featuring interviews with Pete Townshend and Country Joe McDonald as well as Basho's former students, contemporaries, religious associates and few close friends, Liam Barker's documentary integrates new information and anecdotes on Basho with previously uncovered archival material and photography of the natural phenomena and landscapes that informed his work. Voice of the Eagle is out on Blu-Ray/DVD December 13th. Watch the trailer below. Pre-order it right here.





ABOUT THE BOXED SET:

Robbie Basho (1940-1986) is widely regarded as one of the progenitors of what's commonly known today as American Primitive guitar. Growing up in Maryland alongside neo-traditional guitar explorers John Fahey and Max Ochs, Basho's path would take a decidedly different turn, bringing Hindi, Indian, Japanese and Native American musical traditions into his work. His albums for Takoma and Vanguard have left an indelible trail of influence across generations of musicians, from William Ackerman and Pete Townshend to Ben Chasny and William Tyler.

Liam Barker first became aware of Basho having purchased Tompkins Square's reissue of Venus in Cancer, released in 2006. This led him on an incredible fact-finding expedition, unraveling the many layers of mystery surrounding Basho's life and death, all deftly compiled and depicted in his documentary film, Voice of the Eagle : The Enigma of Robbie Basho.

During the research process, Barker came across a large cache of unheard Basho tapes recorded throughout his career, ranging roughly from 1965-1985. By arrangement with Basho's Estate and the original custodians of the tapes, Tompkins Square is putting together a 5CD set of previously unreleased material to be called Song of the Avatars: The Lost Master Tapes. The label plans to release a single disc vinyl LP as well. The set includes notes by Barker, Henry Kaiser, Steffen Basho-Junghans, Glenn Jones and Richard Osborn, as well as many unseen photographs. Release date TBA.

Watch a clip of Robbie Basho performing live on KQED-TV in 1971...

Watch John Fahey in Santa Monica in 1981

Filmmaker Erik Nelson shot this footage of John Fahey picking solo for an hour to be used on MTV News.

Read Amanda Petrusich's Celebration of John Fahey and American-Primitive Guitar right here.

Watch Bukka White, Furry Lewis, John Fahey, Rev. Robert Wilkins @ Memphis Country Blues Festival 1969

Here's a short clip of a few stellar performances that took place at Overton Park in Memphis back in 1969.