Album Review: Johnny & The Mongrels – You Ain’t Ready

September 3, 2016

Singer Johnny Ryan, Bassist Jeff Bostic and Guitarist Jeff Mere are the trio behind the Fort Collins blues outfit Johnny & The Mongrels. The three met at an open blues jam sometime in 2015, officially starting The Mongrels in April of last year, then lucked into the SpokesBuzz Springboard Program, playing live shows and recording You Ain’t Ready, their debut album that dropped earlier in 2016.

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Blues Jam Spotlight: Davy Knowles

June 6, 2016

Growing up in the Isle of Man, 29-year-old blues musician Davy Knowles learned to play guitar by listening to records he’d find in his father’s collection, which included artists like Irish guitarist Rory Gallagher, Oasis and Eric Clapton. At 19, after sharpening his skills in the local music circuit, he opted to split for America, where he toured with his band, Back Door Slam.

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Blues Jam Spotlight: North Mississippi Allstars

Bringing a little taste of Mississippi country blues to the Greeley Blues Jam, Luther and Cody Dickinson are the two brothers behind North Mississippi Allstars, celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year. Both are the sons of Memphis institution Jim Dickinson, who, along with fronting Mud Boy and the Neutrons, also worked along Aretha Franklin, Kris Kristofferson and Bob Dylan as a pianist and producer. So Cody and Luther have an enviable background. They describe their sound as “blues-infused rock and roll.”

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Blues Jam Spotlight: Chubby Carrier and The Bayou Swamp Band

Blues music is not a homogenous genre. The various sub-genres of blues music are very much shaped by the location they come from. Zydeco, for instance, hails from Louisiana, shaped by French Creole speakers and taking its inspiration from blues, R&B and indigenous music from both Louisiana Creoles and Native Americans. And Grammy Award Winner Chubby Carrier is bringing some Zydeco to the Greeley Blues Jam.

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Charlie Musselwhite “Play Your Own Heart”

Born in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Charlie Musselwhite was exposed to music early on in his life. His father played guitar and harmonica, his mother played piano and one of his relatives was a bonafide one-man band. When he was 3-years-old, Musselwhite moved to Memphis. At the time, Memphis was experiencing the period when rockabilly, western swing, and electric blues and other forms of African-American music forged together to birth rock and roll.

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