Calling All Blues Bands: This year's TBS Talent Search will take place at Nathan Phillips Square on August 14th from 12-2pm. The Toronto Blues Society invites Canadian blues acts who have not made a nationally distributed or major label recording to enter the Toronto Blues Society Talent Search.

Now in its thirteenth year, this event has proved a launching pad for outstanding emerging talent - previous winners include JUNO and Maple Blues Award nominee the Rockin' Highliners, New Artist of the Year nominees Jake and the Blue Midnights, and Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards winners, the Ronnie Douglas Blues Band, CBC/Galaxie Rising Star David Rotundo, and Maple Blues Award nominees Wickens-Knight.

For the 2008 edition, a screening panel will choose six acts, each of whom will perform one live showcase set in the finals. The winning act will receive a professional development package including a performance at the Southside Shuffle in September, a showcase at the Blues Summit in January 2009, and studio time at Euphonic Sound in Toronto. More prizes to be announced soon!

To enter send a cassette or CD with three songs (material must have been recorded within the past two years.) Make sure the recording is clearly labeled, and include a bio (200 words max), photo and contact information, including mailing address and phone number. Enclose entry fee of $15 (cheques payable to the Toronto Blues Society. Please don’t send cash), and mail to: Toronto Blues Society Talent Search, 910 Queen St. W., Suite B04, Toronto, ON M6J 1G6. For further information contact the Toronto Blues Society at (416) 538-3885 or e-mail info@torontobluessociety.com.

Healey's Roadhouse Closes: While the Toronto blues community is still reeling from the loss of our favourite son, Jeff Healey, we have received the word that Jeff’s home-away-from-home, Jeff Healey’s Roadhouse on Blue Jay Way has closed its doors and is slated for demolition (as is the neighbouring Diesel Playhouse – formerly Second City). The club had recently been taken over by the group that owns the Sound Academy (formerly Docks) and the upcoming shows that were booked into the Roadhouse (Pinetop Perkins, Sonny Landreth and others) have been moved to the Sound Academy (see ad elsewhere in this issue).

TBS Board member Sarah French was working the merchandise table for The Jeff Healey Tribute Concert at The Sound Academy Saturday May 3rd. She writes. “A young man approached the counter and asked to see a Jeff Healey poster. I pointed out the poster behind me and explained it did not come with a matt as shown but came in a tube. I placed the tube on the counter and then a couple came up and asked for a large Jeff Healey T shirt. When I turned back to the picture guy he was gone and so was the poster. I spotted him halfway through the crowd heading for an exit - Too far to attempt to stop him. Just unbelievable. The next day, while selling merchandising at The Healeys Roadhouse Jazz Tribute I was handed this letter: ‘Dear Sir, I was fortunate enough to attend last night's celebration at The Sound Academy. What an exceptional concert! My reason for leaving this note is as a result of having witnessed an unfortunate event. I actually saw someone steal from your kiosk and just walk away. As I know the proceeds were going to charity this brazen act left me dumbfounded. I also saw the distress on the vendor's face. As someone who believes that people are inherently good and that this individual was an isolated aberration, I am enclosing $20 towards the cost of that item and for your charity. May it help you in reaching your goal. Sincerely, Anne."

Anne: From The Daisy's Eye Cancer Fund, the cast and crew, all the fans and Jeff Healey, We thank you for lifting our spirits and regenerating our faith in mankind.

More Blues on the Radio: Gary Tate, regular MapleBlues contributor has made his way onto the radio to further share his extensive knowledge and huge music collection. Fans of old country and blues and everything in between will love this show called Howdy Neighbour Howdy. You can hear it Saturdays at noon, and again Wednesday at 6:00pm. Listen to Whistle Radio at CIWS 102.7FM or online at www.whistleradio.com.

Meanwhile, David Barnard (aka Dr Feelgood) will *not* be at the mic for his Wednesday broadcast of Lowdown 2 Uptown on CKLN. He and 15 other volunteers have been summarily dismissed without explanation. If an explanation is forthcoming, we will pass it on. David has a long history at that station and is understandably dismayed. L2U alternate host "Blues Doctor" Julie Hill is out of the country but is expected to return to L2U on June 18.

On the national front, DAWG FM has applied to the CRTC for FM Radio stations in Ottawa/Gatineau, Kawartha Lakes/Peterborough, Abbotsford Chilliwack , Vancouver, Edmonton and Guelph. A Canadian company, Skywords, has applied to the Canadian government to open six FM stations in major markets, all 100% blues. But it needs the public's help, and given that it will be available south of the border as well on the internet, pretty much anyone's help would probably be appreciated. There are several ways to support the venture -- and its license application to the government -- available at www.bluesincanada.com.

King Eddy Saved: It was announced today that the Cantos Music Foundation won the bid to restore and revitalize The King Edward Hotel, Calgary’s legendary “Home Of The Blues” from 1985 to 2006. Cantos' vision for the King Edward Hotel is firmly rooted in the music arts – they have one of the finest keyboard museums in North America.

Calgary bluesman Johnny V was part of a steering committee that formed The Friends of The Eddy Society in order to try and save the Eddy. They built a website, registered a domain name and put a petition on the website. They received many signatures from all over the world, which ended with the city's planning committee voting to save the structure and having it declared a Heritage Building to preserve the place for life. You can visit their website at www.friendsofthekingeddy.com. Johnny reports “Friends Of The King Eddy T-Shirts are coming soon...”

Stony Plain News: Rayanne Doucet, who has been working behind the scenes at Stony Plain Records for the last five years. Peter Chapman will be taking over where she leaves off. Rayanne writes “I'd like to extend my thanks to all of you for making my time here so enjoyable. Peter is an exceptional individual and has been with Stony Plain for over a year. I know you are being left in good hands.” Peter can be reached at peter@stonyplainrecords.com.

2008 Blues Awards:

1. DVD - Kenny Wayne Shepherd – 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads (Reprise/Warner)
2. Traditional Blues Male Artist - Hubert Sumlin
3. Traditional Blues Female Artist - Koko Taylor
4. Acoustic Artist - Bobby Rush
5. Acoustic Album Bobby Rush - Raw (Deep Rush/no Canadian distributor)
6. Pinetop Perkins Piano Player - Honey Piazza
7. Instrumentalist-Guitar - Bob Margolin
8. Soul Blues Male Artist - Bobby Rush
9. Soul Blues Female Artist - Irma Thomas
10. Soul Blues Album - The Holmes Brothers – State of Grace (Alligator/Fusion)
11. Historical Album–Muddy/Winter/Cotton - Breakin’ It UP, Breakin’ it DOWN (Epic/Legacy)
12. Contemporary Blues Album - Tommy Castro - Painkiller (Blind Pig/Stony Plain/Warner)
13. Contemporary Blues Female Artist - Bettye LaVette
14. Contemporary Blues Male Artist - Tab Benoit
15. Instrumentalist-Harmonica - Kim Wilson
16. Instrumentalist-Bass - Bob Stroger
17. Instrumentalist-Drums - Sam Lay
18. Instrumentalist-Horn - Deanna Bogart
19. Instrumentalist-Pedal Steel- Robert Randolph
20. Best New Artist Debut - Diunna Greenleaf & Blue Mercy – Cotton Field to Coffee House (INDIE)
21. Song - “Gonna Buy Me a Mule” – Koko Taylor (Alligator/Fusion)
22. Traditional Blues Album - Koko Taylor – Old School (Alligator/Fusion)
23. Album of the Year - Watermelon Slim & the Workers – The Wheel Man (NorthernBlues/Outside)
24. Band - Watermelon Slim & the Workers
25. B.B. King Entertainer - Tommy Castro

A hearty congratulations to TBS Board member and NorthernBlues label owner Fred Litwin for Watermelon Slim’s double win (best album and best band) – a phenomenal achievement for a (relatively) new artist. NorthernBlues also received the 2008 Keeping the Blues Alive Award for top blues label. Other Canadian winners were Edmonton's Labatt Blues Festival for festival and Holger Petersen for radio.

- Brian Blain, John Valenteyn

Tate's Vintage Gallery

Here is another in our ongoing series of revealing portraits of relatively obscure artists who dared to be different written by Blues aficionado and reporter Gary Tate. Gary welcomes your comments at gmtgt@yahoo.com.

Magic Sam: In the mid-fifties, a dramatic sound was emerging from Chicago’s West Side clubs. Its leading proponent was a brash 20-year old named Sam Maghett. He acquired the sobriquet “magic”----a wordplay on his surname. Sam’s contemporaries included Eddy Clearwater, Jimmy Dawkins, Otis Rush, and Freddie King, but Sam stood out with his vibrato-soaked guitar, combined with a gut-wrenching soulful delivery.

What was captured on his 4 Cobra singles was so different, and indeed so magical, they represent the essence of West Side Soul. His first 1957 release “All Your Love” b/w “Love Me With A Feeling” became an instant sensation. The next haunting 45 was “Everything Gonna Be Alright” b/w “Look Whatcha Done”

His tremolo-rich staccato finger-picking, combined with his soulful tenor put him at the cutting edge of bone-chilling Blues. There were two more 1958 Cobra releases. “All Night Long” contains some spine-tingling guitar work, while his swan song was the masterful “Easy Baby”.

Magic Sam’s two Delmark albums cemented his legacy: 1967’s “West Side Soul” followed by “Black Magic”. “West Side Soul” displayed the full breadth of Sam’s vision, featuring such gems as “That’s All In Need” and “I Feel So Good”. “Black Magic” included “What Have I Done” and Freddy King’s “San-Ho.Zay”.

With his blossoming reputation, the rumour mill had him about to sign with Stax Records when heart problems stilled the magic of Sam at only 32. Magic Sam was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame in 1982.

- Gary Tate

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Tate's Vintage Gallery

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