Billy Joe Green, Osawi Kinew (Brown Eagle) of the Mahkwa Dotem (Bear Clan) is from the Anishnaabe Aki-ing Territory. His escape from residential school was through his guitar. The Winnipeg nightclub scene was hot and Billy Joe soaked it all up, playing every kind of music imaginable.
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John’s Blues Picks January 2018 – Crystal Shawanda
After the hard rocking Fish Out Of Water last year, Crystal Shawanda returns to the blues with Voodoo Woman. She’s Ojibwe and this time out she’s paying tribute to the blues women she grew up listening to on the Wikwemikong reserve on Manitoulin Island, in sparkling new arrangements.
John’s Blues Pick December 2017 – Emily Burgess
The lead guitarist for the Women’s Blues Revue Band and formerly filling that role for the now-defunct 24th Street Wailers, Emily Burgess has been working recently with Peterborough’s Weber Brothers. They are here with her for her first solo disc. Sam Weber plays guitar; Ryan Weber, bass; Ryan “Rico” Browne, keys and Marcus Browne, drums.
John’s Blues Pick December 2017 – Layla Zoe
Born in Nanaimo and starting her career in BC, Layla Zoe moved here for a time and then on to Montreal. She found so much work in Europe that she moved there and now lives in Germany where she is also signed to its major blues label, Ruf Records. Her recent albums have been collaborations with a guitarist who is also a songwriting partner.
John’s Blues Picks December 2017 – Mike “Mudfoot” McDonald
Mike “Mudfoot” McDonald has lived in Kitchener for quite a while now but he was a fixture of our scene before that. He played guitar in many of the bands you remember and occasionally led his own with Pat Rush. He led the Sunday Jam at Grossman’s for thirteen years and put together a couple of famous compilation LPs, Grossman’s Live! Vols. 1 & 2, that captured the scene in ’87 & ’88 in a way that no one else has ever done.
John’s Blues Pick December 2017 – Cootes Paradise
Named after a conservation area around Dundas ON, this new grouping of like-minded individuals was created at Lily’s Pad. Lily Sazz, the keyboard player in the Women’s Blues Revue Band lives nearby and her basement is the focal point of the group. Joining her are five veterans: Sue Leonard and Wayne Krawchuk on lead vocals supported by Mark Volkov on flute, sax and violin; Lily on keys; Amy Di Nino on drums and Ian Taylor on bass.
Top Blues – December 2017
This month’s recommended listening by Brad Wheeler, music writer for the Globe and Mail
