It is with a heavy heart that I present to you the August edition of BLUES JUNCTION. I suspect that most of our readers are aware that we lost one of the truly great bluesmen of our generation, Lynwood Slim. Born Richard Dennis Duran on August 19, 1953, he was just a couple of weeks shy of his 61^st birthday.

Slim passed away this past Monday on the day our ezine was to go live. We decided to dedicate this edition of BLUES JUNCTION to his memory, his family and to his close friends and musical colleagues, many of whom are our close friends as well. My heart cries out to all of you.

Slim was a genuinely personable human being. He made everyone he came in contact with feel better for the experience. It is virtually impossible not to be as moved by his music, as it was to be touched by his personality, warmth and the real human affection he had for others.  

Many of our readers have personal stories and anecdotes involving Slim. I have a few as well. If you will indulge me, I would like to share just one of mine.  

The last time I heard Slim play and sing was not at a nightclub or festival. It was in the midst of one of those mid-afternoon phone calls where we bounced around from one topic to another, one old story to another and so forth. My arm was getting tired from holding the phone up to my ear for so long, so I put him on speaker. As the subject switched (or switched back) to some old movie, Slim pulled out the flute and started playing the theme music to a show with which I wasn’t familiar. Just then my dog Rosco came flying out of the other room and hit the brakes right in front of me and stood there with his ears darting around like radar dishes and his tail wagging furiously. He was mesmerized.  Rosco has heard some of the greatest harmonica players ever play into a telephone and out the speaker of my phone. It of course was pretty distorted and didn’t impact the little pooch one way or another. Tough audience...I know, but Rosco had never heard a flute. When Slim stopped playing Rosco started whining. Slim immediately started singing Rosco Gordon’s ‘No More Doggin’.  I busted up of course and Rosco who was thoroughly unimpressed, strolled back to his doggy bed in the other room. I wanted to tell my pooch, ‘Don’t you know that is the greatest blues singer on the planet?’

The person who stands in our Monthly Artist Spotlight is Lynwood Slim. In the August edition of our ezine we have three features dedicated to him. First is an appreciation I wrote yesterday. Up next is a feature called, Lynwood Slim: In His Own Words. This comes from an interview I did with Slim in June of 2012 on the eve of his return to the concert stage. It was his first performance in two years. To go along with that is a photo essay from that concert held at the Tiki Bar in Costa Mesa.

Thanks to Alex Gardner for his fine photography which he shares with our readers almost each and every month.

Our Monthly Album Spotlight shines on a wonderful new release by vocalist and harmonica great Jim Liban and the Joel Paterson Trio. Joel was kind enough to share with our readers his insight into the career of a very underappreciated Jim Liban and this great new album.

My interview with John Stedman of JSP Records continues with the second installment of our conversation. For point of reference, continuity and for those who missed part one of our conversation, I included that piece which originally appeared in last month’s ezine.

I also did an interview with an artist with whom I wasn’t familiar. He has a terrific new album that made its way to the JUNCTION. It is by a blues musician who goes by the moniker Big Harp George. The album is called Chromaticism. It was recorded at Kid Andersen’s Greasland Studios with some of the best musicians on the planet.

Speaking of Kid Andersen, he along with Rick Estrin and their fellow Nightcats will be appearing at the 2014 San Diego Blues Festival. I thought it might be fun to re-visit the conversation I had with the one and only Kid Andersen, which took place last summer.

The beneficiary of that event is the Jacob Cushman San Diego Food Bank. They are one of the very few organizations that have been given an official endorsement by BLUES JUNCTION Productions. We urge our readers to try and make it out to this event as it should be a lot of fun and the proceeds go to a very worthwhile cause. We will post additional information soon.

With that event in mind I conducted an interview with the producer of the San Diego Blues Festival, Michael Kinsman. He is a long time Southern California based writer, blues ombudsman and a raconteur of the highest order. That interview will appear in our ezine next week.

My sanity was called into question this week. Yeah, I know what else is new? I attended the Mammoth Lakes Festival of Beers and Bluesapalooza. A quick check of the festival poster would, on the face of it, justify any concerns over my mental stability. However, I have a good explanation. Read about that under the tab that reads Micro Brews and Micro Blues.

We also have another one of our semi reoccurring features which is the recommended listening from Bluebeat Music’s Charlie Lange. Enjoy the most recent installment of Charlie’s Re-Issue Rodeo.

Last month also saw the passing of rock-blues icon Johnny Winter. I wrote an appreciation of the Texas guitarist and producer.

I also urge you to check out an editorial I wrote entitled, Stop It! I Mean it! Knock That Shit Off! Your thoughts on this are not only welcome but encouraged. In the meantime, Be well and be in touch.

- David Mac