The Trophy Life
The 22nd Annual W.C. Handy Blues Awards have come and gone, after much fanfare, and local artists have to be popping a few shirt-buttons with pride over the returns: this was one of the best years New Orleans blues and soul artists have ever had at the awards. The awards, presented by the Blues Foundation [...]
Bobby Rush Convalesces
Life on the road is an amazingly difficult proposition; for every megastar who has his own bus with a DVD player and a bar, there are two or three thousand musicians traveling, out of necessity, around the country while packed like sardines in vehicles you wouldn’t go to the corner store in. The dangers of [...]
Got Rice?
In the multi-cultural gumbo that is Jazz Fest, the blues are like rice; it’s never the main dish, but it’s present in absolutely everything. There’s no Blues Tent or Blues Square, but nearly every performer touches upon the legacy of the blues at some point. Seeking the real pure stuff out is always difficult, what [...]
The Handy Awards
Spring is here again, and a young man’s fancy turns lightly to one thing: the W.C. Handy Awards. (Okay, bear with me.) It’s the blues industry’s most prestigious awards ceremony, and one that can single-handedly turn an unknown into a blues star overnight, if not necessarily a household word. Unlike some roots-music awards that got [...]
