2018 Blind Raccoon Holiday Sampler - 18 Seasonal Blues Tunes.
Brigitte Purdy ~ I’m Your Holiday Baby
Brigitte was born and raised in Los Angeles. From an early age, her family cultivated her artistry by immersing her in the rich sounds of blues and gospel. Her father was a blues guitarist and would often showcase her talents at family gatherings. At the tender age of five, she was hand-picked by the choir director to perform her first solo. At the age of 13, her mother heard an announcement on the radio for auditions at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Brigitte competed against hundreds of young hopefuls for a chance to enter the Dorothy Chandler Conservatory. She was selected and subsequently trained by the best in the business.
Brigitte began performing at the Ahmanson Theater and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. She has been blessed to share the stage with talents such as Dionne Warwick, Marilyn McCoo, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton and Tierra, among many others. She also enjoyed working with Hal Davis of Motown Records. Among her many vocal gigs, Brigitte was a background vocalist for Paul Rodgers on the Jimi Hendrix/Muddy Waters Tour. She was given the incredible opportunity to tour the globe with The U.S.A. Girls, entertaining the troops overseas for the U.S. Department of Defense.
Brigitte is forever grateful for the opportunities she has been given. She loves people and loves to give of her time and talents. Believing strongly in the power of mentoring, she obtained her bachelor’s degree in the humanities and enjoys giving back to her community. Brigitte uses her sultry, powerful and emotive range to captivate an audience. She can go from a gentle purr to a sonic boom within seconds, while pouring her heart into every note. Her incredible versatility ranges from classical to blues, funk, rock, jazz and soul, each delivered with her unique and passionate style.
Benny Turner ~ I Want Some Christmas Cheer
Buddy Guy ~ Home For Christmas
The recipient of the 2015 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, Buddy Guy’s incredible career spans over 50 years with just as many albums released. Career highlights include 7 Grammy Awards, 37 Blues Music Awards, Kennedy Center Honors, NARM Chairman’s Award for Sustained Creative Achievement, Billboard Music Awards’ Century Award for distinguished artistic development, Presidential National Medal of Arts, and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to name a few.
At 81 years young, Guy proves that it gets greater later as he continues to record and tour around the world with recent performances at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater and more.
Chris Daniels & The Kings ~ Cool Yule
Davis Coen ~ Love Grows For Christmas
Delta Moon ~ Christmastime In New Orleans
“I couldn’t imagine life without being able to play music,” says Delta Moon’s Mark Johnson. “We call ourselves lifers. We will play until we simply can’t do it anymore.”
He and bandmate Tom Gray have been doing it a while now, laying down double slide guitar improvisations that often seem downright telepathic. It has been two decades since they started playing together — Mark on bottleneck slide and Tom on lap steel — first in Tom’s studio, and then in clubs, coffee shops and barbecue joints around Atlanta. The name Delta Moon came to Mark on a pilgrimage to Muddy Waters’ cabin near Clarksdale, Mississippi, when a brilliant full moon rose over the highway.
With the addition of bass and drums Delta Moon quickly gathered a wall-full of local “best” awards. After winning the International Blues Challenge in Memphis in January of 2003, the band went on that year to play the prestigious Montreal Jazz Fest and other festivals, theaters and clubs across America and England. They have worked steadily on the road and in the studio ever since, recording critically acclaimed albums and crisscrossing the United States, Canada and Europe. Bassist Franher Joseph joined Delta Moon as a permanent member in 2007, adding a solid pocket and rich bass vocals.
Diane Durrett ~ Please Come Home For Christmas
“She’s good. She’s damn good.” Sting’s summation of his duet with singer songwriter producer Diane Durrett speaks for anyone who’s ever heard her perform. “One of those rare female singers that you’ll always remember as soon as you hear her for the first time,” writes the Nashville Blues Society Review.
In 2017 she was a Global Peace Song Award winner for ‘The River Sings’ co-written with Melissa Junebug. Winner of the 2015 ‘Peoples Choice Award’ by the Atlanta Blues Society, as a well as awarded the ‘Best Self-Produced Album’ representing Atlanta in the International Blues Challenge. “Soul Suga’ & Diane Durrett” received national & international attention charting in the Top 10 of the Roots Music Report Contemporary Blues chart. In 2018 Diane was re-elected to the Atlanta Board of the Recording Academy best known for the Grammys.
With a blend of raw soulful vocals, sultry tones and strong original songs Durrett has sung with Sting, Gregg Allman and Chuck Leavell (Rolling Stones). Durrett has opened shows for Tina Turner, KoKo Taylor, Tinsley Ellis, Delbert McClinton, and Derek Trucks. As well as lending her vocals to recording sessions for Grammy award winning producer Brendan O’Brien. Durrett is a down-to-earth-diva. She sings from her soul, writes with heart & humor. Diane brings her southern wit and charm to every event. She’s pure entertainment!
Jim Koeppel ~ Slim Down Santa
Kelly’s Lot ~ Colours Of December
Lawrence Lebo ~ (I’m Your) Christmas Present, Baby!
Daughter of a Sears & Roebuck shoe salesman, Lawrence grew up in a suburb of Los Angeles, far away from the entertainment industry. She worked into the business the hard way, by singing in bands in every gritty little dive bar, all the while struggling as a single mother. While her recordings receive airplay internationally, raising a family kept Lawrence’s performance schedule mostly local. She is well known and loved in Los Angeles. The LA WEEKLY awarded her BEST BLUES SINGER in their annual BEST OF LA 2014 special addition and wrote “Lebo remains one of this country’s greatest living blues singers.”
In 1985 Lawrence was working in a duo act at a little bar on Venice Blvd in West Los Angeles. On her break she walked down the street to another bar to hear their band and met bassist Denny Croy (Doug MacLeod, Fiona Boyes, Brian Setzer Orchestra, Moon Martin). “We had this up and down the street romance,” says Lawrence. A year later they were married and playing music together, with Lebo writing material and fronting the band! Over 30 years later they are still performing and recording together. That is so Old School!
Lawrence has always relied on the strength of her music. In a career that has lasted several decades Lawrence was a successful self-releasing artist long before any artist ever dared consider doing such a thing! In 1989, before everyone had a computer and access to the internet she released her debut EP on her label On The Air Records from the kitchen of her tiny rent-control apartment, using just a typewriter and her Rolodex. All of Lawrence’s body of work contains the element of Old School.
Lawrence is a consummate performer and entertainer who takes her audiences along on a magical journey. In their live concert review Music Connection wrote “Ms. Lebo took complete control of the stage. She was a comfortable performer who worked her audience well, often at times offering humorous as well as educational explanations for her choices. She had style, spunk and charisma! This was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.”
Likho Duo ~ God Rest Ye Merry Bluesmen
Mindi Abair and The Boneshakers ~ All I Got For Christmas Is The Blues
One of the most recognized and sought-after saxophonists/vocalists, two-time GRAMMY nominee Mindi Abair has been electrifying audiences with her dynamic live performances and utter command of the saxophone since her debut album in 2000. No one since Junior Walker has brought saxophone and vocals in one package to the forefront of modern music, with a raucous tone and dynamic stage presence. Her solo work has sold over half a million records and has garnered ten #1 radio hits, a #1 Best Blues Album RMR, six Top 5 Billboard solo records, two #1 spots on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz and a #3 spot on Billboard Blues. In 2014, Mindi received her first GRAMMY® nomination in the Best Pop Instrumental Album category, followed by a 2015 GRAMMY® nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for her solo LP Wild Heart featuring the late Gregg Allman, Joe Perry, Trombone Shorty, Booker T. Jones, Keb’ Mo’, and Max Weinberg.
The daughter and granddaughter of working musicians, Abair continues to captivate fans while evolving her sound. In 2014, after two seasons as the featured saxophonist on the hit series American Idol, Abair released Wild Heart. This LP showcased a compilation of grittier rock and soul tracks featuring some of the biggest names in music. To help translate this sound to her live shows, Mindi enlisted longtime friend and The Boneshakers founder Randy Jacobs (Bonnie Raitt, Was Not Was, Willie Nelson) to inject his brand of Detroit Blues Rock. The collaboration was undeniable, and it led to an almost immediate decision to join forces creatively.
Mindi Abair and The Boneshakers features band leader Mindi Abair (Saxophone, Vocals), Randy Jacobs (Guitar, Vocals), Rodney Lee (Keys), Ben White (Bass, Vocals), and Third Richardson (Drums, Vocals). Their first record together Mindi Abair and The Boneshakers LIVE in Seattle was recorded at their first live show and was released September 2015. Their 2017 release Mindi Abair and The Boneshakers The EastWest Sessions debuted #3 on the Billboard Blues Album Chart and reached #1 on the Blues Rock Album RMR chart. In 2018, the band won an Independent Music Award for Best Blues Song Fan Award for “Pretty Good For A Girl” featuring Joe Bonamassa and received 8 Independent Blues Awards including Best Artist of the Year and Best Contemporary Blues Band.
Professor Louie & The Crowmatix ~ Santa Loves To Boogie
The Reverend Shawn Amos ~ Santa Claus Is Gonna Make It Right
Tiffany Pollack & Eric Johanson ~ River
Tomislav Goluban ~ Christmas Blues / Ho Ho Christmas
After a 20-year music career and 10 studio albums, the proverb “The older – the crazier” definitely applies to Croatian harmonica player Tomislav “Little Pigeon” Goluban, whose songs and performances burst with energy, passion, humor and above all, fantastic music. Goluban has been playing harp since 1997, inspired by old school masters such as Sonny Terry, Slim Harpo, Paul Butterfield, Gary Primich, Kim Wilson and Joe Filisko to name just a few, whom he still admires to this day.
Performing solo/duo and with a band, Goluban has played in the U.S. and across many European countries at festivals and events such as the Notodden Blues Festival (Norway), Amal’s Blues Festival (Sweden), Blues sur Seine (France) and International Blues Challenge (USA).
Looking back at his discography reveals delta, country & Chicago blues, zydeco, rock ‘n’ roll and world music. He’s been recording his music in a wide span from raw delta duo sound to the full instrumental arrangement with 20 musicians playing one song.
Wily Bo Walker ~ For The Children
From his New-York based blues and soul review productions and recording projects to his UK based, New Orleans themed ”Rattlin’ Bone Theatre Show,” and from his solo acoustic swamp ‘n’ stomp shows through to his stripped-down four-piece rockin’ blues and Americana themed Wily Bo Walker Band, Wily Bo proves why he has been recognized as an artist who can twist genres into new forms.
Never one to be pigeon holed, Glasgow-born guitarist Wily (pronounced Whiley) Bo Walker is a solo artist, songwriter, composer and performer and gifted storyteller, who is one of a very few independent blues artists from the U.K. to be inducted in to the U.S. Blues Hall of Fame, pushed the boundaries with his latest release “Almost Transparent Blues” working across many styles and genres including, blues, gospel, soul, classic R&B, jazz, rock, and Americana. The new eleven song collection reflects the renowned career, spanning more than 40 years, of a man, who has performed worldwide with many award-winning musicians and been featured on hundreds of recordings.
| FolkWorld's Advent Calendar 2018 |
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Photo Credits:
(1) Benny Turner,
(2) Buddy Guy,
(3) Delta Moon,
(4) Mindi Abair,
(5) The Reverend Shawn Amos,
(6) Tomislav Goluban
(unknown/website).
© 
