Welcome to the 2021 version of Dave’s Top Ten List of Top Ten Lists.

Here as part of our annual “Best of…” edition of BLUES JUNCTION, we continue our tradition of bringing you the top ten blues albums of the year, as submitted by ten individuals who have been part of the blues scene for many years.

This feature remains one of my favorite projects that I work on each year. In pulling together this annual celebration of achievement in the blues recording field, I get a chance to interact with other like-minded individuals who share my love and passion for this music.

As many aspects of our social lives came to a screeching halt with our ongoing world-wide pandemic, we heard people discuss binge watching the myriad of viewing options we have available to us. These ten individuals, like myself, do what we have always done, engage in binge listening.

Regardless of any of these individual’s involvement with this music, the one thing each has in common with the others is that they are true listeners, connoisseurs, and lovers of the music.

We have participants coming from four separate continents and as many countries. In the U.S. we have participants from all over the country.

My question to them was simple: “What are your ten favorite blues albums of 2021?”

How we do things around here is pretty simple. The only criteria for these recordings are that they must be made up of new material which was released in the calendar year of 2021. They also must be available in a physical format.  The lists are presented in alphabetical order.

Now, the fun part is hearing from you, our readers, and your thoughts on any or all of this. What is your favorite blues album(s) of 2021?

Derrel Alexander Campbell – Redding, California (USA)                                                  

“I got the blues bug when I saw Junior Wells at the Fillmore in December of '66, with Buddy Guy, Otis Spann, Jack Myers, Fred Below and A.C. Reed. I went to the first San Francisco Blues Festival in 1973 to hear my eventual namesake, L.C. "Good Rockin" Robinson, but I became a logger and didn't come back to the city until 1982, when Little Charlie and the Nightcats knocked me out. By '86 I was back at Humboldt State and on the air for KHSU. I've been steady at it since then, in Humboldt and Shasta Counties, on commercial and public radio. I'm very thankful to be able to share the music that resonates with me and proud to have this connection to the blues”.

Chris Cain - Raisin' Cain

Tia Carroll - You Gotta Have It

Tommy Castro - A Bluesman Came To Town

Johnny Tucker and the All-Stars - 75 & Alive

Bob Corritore & Friends - Spider in My Stew

Sue Foley - Pinky's Blues

Teresa James & The Rhythm Tramps - Rose-Colored Glasses, Vol. 1

Curtis Salgado - Damage Control

Crystal Thomas - Now Dig This

Wee Willie Walker - Not in My Lifetime

Chico Blues - Sao Paulo, Brazil                                                                        

I first became aware of Chico in 2007 when Lynwood Slim told me about this cat from Brazil who was hip to the blues. Even though I don’t speak Portuguese, Chico’s native tongue, we speak the same language of music. He was interviewed here in BLUES JUNCTION way back in 2011 with the help of his daughter. We first met in person a couple of years later when he joined The Igor Prado Band on a tour of Southern California where they backed up Lynwood Slim. Chico is the founder and president of Chico Blues Records out of Sao Paulo, Brazil. He is widely recognized as the leading blues authority in South America. His label and extensive roster of artists has continued to produce some of the finest blues recordings in recent years. Some of the most renowned blues musicians in the world have traveled to Brazil to record with the numerous world class blues players on his own label.

Altered Five Blues Band - Holler If You Hear Me

B.B. & The Blues Shacks - Breaking Point

The Black Keys - Delta Kream

Chris Cain - Raisin' Cain

Tia Carroll - You Gotta Have It

Chris Corcoran - Inferno

Gov’t Mule - Heavy Load Blues

Guy King - Joy is Coming

Jason Ricci and Joe Krown - City Country City

Raphael Wressnig & Igor Prado - Groove & Good Times

Don T-Bone Erickson - Des Moines, Iowa (USA)  

Don is a long-time blues journalist. Back in the early 2000s he was a founding editor of one of the first online blues journals entitled BluesWax. It is where I first became aware of his work in the blues field.  He is the former editor for the Central Iowa Blues Society Newsletter and author of 76 monthly feature articles entitled Legends of the Blues. Don is the host of T-Bone's House Rockin' Blues Party and The Groove Zone at KFMG 98.9 FM, Des Moines (see our links page). His program is featured on the station rated ‘Best Radio Station’ in Cityview’s ‘Best of Des Moines’ reader's survey for the last several years. T-Bone continues to garner recognition for his broadcasts. Don also served as the Chairman of the Iowa Blues Hall of Fame for 15 years. He has been an occasional contributor to BLUES JUNCTION and has participated with this feature since its inception a few years ago.

The Atomic 44’s - Volume One

Lindsay Beaver & Brad Stivers - self-titled

The Cinelli Brothers - Villa Jukejoint

Eddie 9V - Little Black Lies

Sue Foley - Pinky’s Blues

Scott Hamilton & Duke Robillard - Swingin’ Again

Nathan James - Soul Count

The Kokomo Kings - Drive-By Love Affair

The Lowdown Saints - Hit Me Hard

Malcolm Wells & the Two-Timers - Hollerin’ Out Loud

Jeff Scott Fleenor - Garden Grove, California (USA)

I first met Jeff when I returned to California after living abroad (Texas) for twelve years. This was in the mid-90’s and by then he was already developing a fairly sophisticated aural palette. In those intervening twenty-five years Jeff has become a blues historian and archivist of the highest order and is universally recognized as the world’s leading authority on the international blues scene. He spent a decade employed by the Virgin Megastore as a Southern California Specialty Music Buyer and hosted his own radio show "The Blues Disease" on KUCI 88.9 FM for 15 years (1996-2011). From 2000-2003 he was involved as the talent buyer and M.C. for the prestigious Blues on the Bay Festival in Newport Beach, California, and has held a role as talent adviser to the Doheny Blues Festival for 20 years, with particular respect to helping create and establish the import slot. Additionally, he has written liner notes for dozens of albums, as well as produced numerous projects for Delta Groove Music, including the Mannish Boys' Double Dynamite, BMA winner for Traditional Blues Album of the Year. Jeff has become an invaluable resource to me, as we discuss this music for hours at a time every week of the year.                                                                                                                                                                                          

B.B. & the Blues Shacks - Breaking Point

Vidar Busk & His True Believers - The Civilized Life

Catfish Keith - Land of the Sky

Chris Corcoran – Inferno

Scott Hamilton & Duke Robillard - Swingin’ Again

Rick Holmstrom - See That Light

Jo’ Buddy & Down Home King III - Soul ‘N’ Roll Jubilee

Cat Lee King - The Quarantine Tapes

The Lowdown Saints - Hit Me Hard

Roger C. Wade - Cookin’ at Home

Lee “East Side Slim” Howland - Saint Louis, Missouri (USA)

Lee is a former South Dakota resident who moved to Saint Louis in 1989. It was in the Gateway City where he fell for the blues hard. This historic blues hot bed is a DJ and Programmer at KDHX 88.1 FM in Saint Louis and world-wide at kdhx.org. East Side Slim hosts a program entitled Rhythm Highways. Tune in to hear blues, R&B, gospel, swing, soul, rock 'n' roll, jazz and roadhouse, even the occasional honky tonk and western swing. (see our links page) Thanks Lee for returning to Dave’s Top Ten List of Top Ten Lists.                             

Big Creek Slim – Twenty-Twenty Blues

Eric Bibb – Dear America

Chris Cain – Raisin’ Cain  

Don Diego - The Guitar Album Volume #1: The Twanging Touch Of Don Diego

Corey Harris – The Insurrection Blues

Elizabeth King – Living In The Last Days

The Kokomo Kings – A Drive-By Love Affair

Johnny Tucker featuring Kid Ramos and The Allstars – 75 and Alive

Wee Willie Walker and The Anthony Paule Soul Orchestra – Not In My Lifetime 

Raphael Wressnig & Igor Prado – Groove & Good

Ken Johnson  Sewell, New Jersey (USA) 

I first met Ken Johnson and his wife Linda a few years ago in a coffee shop in Dana Point, California. We were directly across the street from the site of the Doheny Blues Festival which was scheduled to take place in a few hours. I was having breakfast with David Kiefer aka San Pedro Slim who was singing and blowing harp with Mark Mumea (g/v) and Jerry Carega (b) of the Silver Kings at the festival.  Ken walked by our table and introduced himself and knew David, Mark and Jerry by name. He told us he was from Baltimore (his home at the time) and was in California to attend the festival. I reached out my hand to introduce myself. Ken interrupted me and with a broad smile said “I know you Dave and know these guys because of you and BLUES JUNCTION”. Needless to say, Ken, Linda and myself remain friends. They have since gotten to know Tracy and we get together when they come to California. Ken remains a loyal subscriber to BLUES JUNCTION and is a true friend of the blues.

Altered Five Blues Band – Holler If You Hear Me  

B.B. & The Blues Shacks – Breaking Point   

Big Creek Slim – Twenty-Twenty Blues

Bob Corritore & Friends – Spider in My Stew  

Jo’ Buddy & Down Home King III – Soul ‘N Roll Jubilee

The Kokomo Kings – A Drive By Love Affair 

The Lowdown Saints – Hit Me Hard 

Martin Lang – Bad Man 

Little Hat – Wine, Whiskey and Wimmen 

Curtis Salgado – Damage Control     

Michael Kinsman Memphis, Tennessee (USA)  

I first met Michael at a private event for which he was largely responsible. He assembled young music students from the San Diego area who wanted to learn to play blues music. He put together a band with Scottie Blinn who lent his home to host this tutorial. Guitarist Anson Funderburgh flew out from Texas to perform, visit with the kids and share with them some pointers he has accumulated in a lifetime of playing blues music at the highest level. For more than three decades, Michael has written about blues and roots music for various publications, including the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper, Blues Revue Magazine, Blues Music Magazine and VH1.com. He has interviewed more than 500 roots and blues music artists and written more than 800 hundred CD reviews. He is the founder and producer of the San Diego Blues Festival, which has emerged as one of the premier blues festivals in the country. He now resides in Memphis. Michael and I remain good friends. I cherish those evenings after his San Diego Blues Festival where after parties included kicking back with Michael (a world class raconteur) in a hotel room. Those stories would go on ‘til all hours of the morning.                                                                                                     

The Black Keys - Delta Kream

Chris Cain - Raisin' Cain 

Tommy Castro - A Bluesman Came To Town 

Joanna Connor - 4801 South Indiana Avenue

Eddie 9v - Little Black Flies

Robert Finley - Sharecropper's Son

Sue Foley - Pinky's Blues 

Natalia M. King - Woman Mind Of My Own

Christone "Kingfish" Ingram - 662

Memphissippi Sounds - Welcome To The Land

Craig Lawrence - Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia                                            

Craig is a native of Perth. This is Western Australia’s capital city. He is a blues music fan. The blues bug, as they say, hit him back in 1961 when he was still a child. He has continued to pursue this music which has led to a lifetime of discovery and joyful listening. He recently moved thousands of miles away from Perth, Western Australia to Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. We welcome Craig back into the JUNCTION.  

B.B. & The Blues Shacks - Breaking Point

Elias Bernet Band - Better Off With The Blues

Dave Brewer - Long Road Back Home   

Chris Cain – Raisin’ Cain   

Chris Corcoran - Inferno 

The Lowdown Saints - Hit Me Hard

Curtis Salgado - Damage Control 

Crystal Thomas - Now Dig This 

Wee Willie Walker & The Anthony Paule Soul Orchestra - Not In My Lifetime  

Raphael Wressnig & Igor Prado - Groove & Good Times    

John Mitchell Farnham - Surrey, United Kingdom                                

John is a UK-based blues enthusiast who contributes reviews and interviews to a wide range of publications including Blues Blast, The Crossroads Blues Society (Illinois), Blues & Rhythm and Blues in Britain.

B.B. & the Blues Shacks - Breaking Point

Chris Cain – Raisin’ Cain

Colin James - Open Road

Teresa James and the Rhythm Tramps – Rose-Colored Glasses, Vol 1.

Curtis Salgado - Damage Control

Gabe Stillman - Just Say The Word                                                                                      

Tedeschi Trucks Band - Layla Revisited  

Johnny Tucker featuring Kid Ramos and the All Stars - 75 and Alive

Wee Willie Walker & the Anthony Paules Soul Orchestra - Not In My Lifetime

West Side Joe & The Men Of Soul - Keep On Climbing

Mark Thompson - Bradenton, Florida (USA)                                                                               

Mark has been listening to blues music for more than fifty years. Growing up in the Chicago area, he got to experience many of the legendary blues musicians live and in-person. He served for twelve years as the president of the Crossroads Blues Society, based in Rockford, Illinois. After relocating to Florida in 2016, Mark served as the president of the Sun Coast Blues Society, based in Tampa, Florida. Mark writes for Blues Music Magazine and Blues Blast as well as the Chicago Blues Guide. Mark is a veteran of this feature. We welcome him back and feel honored to be able to “publish” his contribution. 

Big Creek Slim - Migration Blues

Chris Cain - Raisin’ Cain

Tia Carroll - You Gotta Have It

Bob Corritore & Friends - Spider in my Stew

Eddie 9V - Little Black Flies

Sue Foley - Pinky’s Blues

Scott Hamilton & Duke Robillard - Swingin’ Again

Crystal Thomas - Now Dig This

Wee Willie Walker & The Anthony Paule Soul Orchestra - Not In My Lifetime

Carolyn Wonderland - Temping Fate