This past March was a very special month for me both personally and professionally. On a personal note, I actually took a few days off for the first time in a very long time. My work is a true labor of love so time away from it is not something as important to me as it is for many folks. I took what is called these days a “stay-cation”. I am very fortunate to live in a place where people come from all over the world for real vacations so maybe this is why time off isn’t as important either. What made this time so special was it was spent with someone who is one of my favorite humans on the planet, my daughter. She was visiting on her spring break from the University of Massachusetts where she will be graduating next fall. We did what we had done many times, although not in many years, and that is go to the beach and Disneyland.  She also did a surprise attack by dropping in on me at the happiest place on earth, at least on this Saturday night, The Tiki Bar.

On March 16, 2013, from 7:15pm until 1:20am the Tiki Bar became a virtual blues festival in an intimate venue. The Tres Trios Concert, featured the Rick Holmstrom Band along with Nathan James and the Rhythm Scratchers as well as Black Cat Bone. The show’s special guests included Big Al Blake sitting in with both Rick and Nathan’s fine bands. The show closed with an extended set with what Holmstrom referred to as a ‘herd of elephants’. During this segment members of all three bands joined forces and brought the six hour extravaganza to a thrilling climax. They were even joined on stage by San Pedro Slim at one point, who played some very wicked guitar. A veritable who’s who of blues luminaries were there and enjoyed an incredible program.  Enjoy a photo essay by Alex Gardner documenting this unforgettable evening of music.

On March 13^th, a blues concert took place at the Segerstrom Performing Arts Center in Orange County. It was a program celebrating the music of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. Enjoy a photo essay by Mike Lovato. I would like to also congratulate Alex and Mike as they are credited in the liner notes on the upcoming Delta Groove Records release entitled, Flyin’ Home From Memphis by The Mighty Mojo Prophets. I am always proud to share their art with a large worldwide audience and am humbled to be associated with such talented individuals.  

As many of our loyal readers know, BLUES JUNCTION goes online on the first Monday of every month. When that Monday is the first day of April, I felt it was time to do an interview with the man who practically insists on being called, Blooze Dawg. His band, Bobby “Blooze Dawg” Jones and the Bad Ass Blooze Hounds are taking the blues world by storm and are doing so in a very predictable way. Read an interview that took place a few days ago with the man behind the brand new pair of Raybans, Bobby “Blooze Dawg” Jones. He is the subject of our April Monthly Artist Spotlight.

The antithesis of Mr. Jones is a man whose music I have admired for as long as I have been listening to blues in earnest. He is the prolific Duke Robillard from the great state of Rhode Island. Enjoy a conversation I had the other day with one of the phenomenal musicians of this or any generation.  

Visiting with Duke on the phone the other day reminded me of an article that originally appeared in this ezine in September of 2011. It was written by Alex Gardner and also features his stunning photography. It is one of my favorite pieces to appear in BLUES JUNCTION. The name of the piece is The Out of Towners and it discusses a Duke Robillard concert that took place in August of that year. I thought it would be fun to pull it out from under a pile of articles, interviews, reviews and editorials in the archive section of the site and run it next to the Duke interview in this month’s ezine.

One of our other featured  artists, who like Duke is an extraordinarily versatile guitarist, is the Chicago based, Joel Paterson. Paterson has no less than three new projects in which his guitar is featured, starting with last fall’s release of an album by his band, The Modern Sounds, his own brand new solo project, as well as the March 16^th release of the Cash Box Kings latest CD on Blind Pig Records entitled, Black Toppin’.

On March 6^th, I attended the premiere of a film entitled, Time Brings About A Change...A Floyd Dixon Celebration.  Yes, we have a Mac at the Movies column believe it or not.  Don’t worry. Coverage of movie premieres and film reviews will not be an ongoing feature of this ezine but this film and event were something special.

As April signals the beginning of the baseball season, I trotted out an old war horse which I do each and every April.  The piece entitled Hope Springs Eternal is an homage to one of my biggest heroes, Jackie Robinson. This might explain to some of you that blue ball cap with a “B” that often sits above my dome. On the 12^th of April a feature movie entitled 42 opens in theatres nationwide. Maybe it will be the first time in many years that I will go to the movies twice in one year. 

Something else has happened this past March that has been an absolute kick in the pants. Over the past several weeks there has been some excellent music that has or will be coming out very soon. Our April Jukebox at the JUNCTION is loaded up with ten songs from ten brand new and soon to be released albums from mostly veteran artists who have made some terrific brand new recordings. Additionally there are also a couple of bonus tracks from two brand new and very interesting re-issues. This is the best batch of new material to make its way into my ear holes in recent memory. It is wonderful to hear such great new music.

For our readers in Southern California or those inclined to travel, there are two events taking place on concurrent weekends of which I would like you to be aware. First, on Sunday afternoon the 14th there will be a special benefit concert for John “Juke” Logan.

The following weekend, Art Martel and the good folks at Straight Up Blues Productions are bringing to the Southland, Chicago Blues veteran Lurrie Bell. This represents a very rare West Coast appearance from this blues star from the windy city. Bell is a true talent and this performance is one that our readers will not want to miss.

By now you have noticed that BLUES JUNCTION received a face lift of sorts. We rolled out a new corporate logo that is adorning our masthead. The graphic design came from Mark Mumea of Demea Printing in San Pedro, California. He, as you can see, is a graphic artist of the highest order and a real pro. His company’s website can be found on the links page of our site.  

You will be seeing this new logo on stage banners of shows which we help to produce. We will also be making short and long sleeved t-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, as well as baby dolls and woman’s t-shirts. Baseball style hats will also be made available to our very loyal readers. These will come in a variety of sizes and colors. Any blues fans with a sense of fashion is welcome to contact us so you can receive any of these items before the festival season which starts in earnest in May.

Finally I would like to thank all the folks from Houston, Texas, who were so incredibly generous with their comments as it related to the articles that appeared in last month’s ezine relating to blues music in your great city. As you have gathered from reading those pieces, the relatively short time I spent in Houston left a great impression on me. I am truly grateful for all the very kind words. I enjoyed corresponding with so many of you and appreciated our exchange of thoughts as it relates to this music we love. I don’t very often take a trip down memory lane, but this recent excursion to Houston was a very enjoyable experience for me.

Thanks to Gail Singer of the Houston Blues Society for sharing the piece entitled, Big Blues in the Big H with the Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau. Thanks also to James Nagel of KPFT 90.1 FM for blasting 100,000 watts worth of blues every Sunday afternoon all along the upper Texas Gulf Coast. I look forward to visiting with you from time to time. It has been, and I hope it continues to be, a kick in the pants. To my new and not so new friends in and outside the Lone Star State, be well and be in touch.

-  David Mac