Welcome to the February edition of BLUES JUNCTION and a return to our more traditional format. After our annual holiday extravaganza in December and of course our always popular "Best of…" January edition we get back to do what we hope we do best and that is offer up a handful of brand new features, interviews, editorials and album reviews.

Late last year we received an album from our friend in São Paulo Brazil, Chico Blues. It was entitled, Let Me In by Bia Marchese. She is an exciting young singer whose debut album was so strong that she captured the BLUES JUNCTION Productions' Etta James Award for Best Female Vocalist for 2017.

Upon hearing the record for the first time I knew this talent would be someone who our readers would like to get to know a little better. So here she is, Bia Marchese…in our Monthly Artist Spotlight this month.

Our Monthly Album Spotlight shines on the brand-new album by blues veteran Sue Foley. Her album, The Ice Queen, is a true return to form for this talented blues musician. 

While on the topic of new music, we have a whole new batch of brand new and soon to be released albums which we discuss in our Recommended Listening feature, most of which are currently available at Bluebeat Music.

This past month we had the annual National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) convention and trade show come to nearby Anaheim, California. As always, I have some thoughts on the NAMM experience from the perspective of a blues journalist and general curmudgeon.

We have another interview feature to share with you this month. It is with a man who is as modest as he is talented. His name is David Kiefer and he is known throughout the blues world as San Pedro Slim. Enjoy a conversation I had with this multi-talented blues man, artist and raconteur in a feature entitled Two Davids Walk into a Bar: A Conversation with San Pedro Slim.

San Pedro Slim is a featured artist at the third annual Winter Blues Spotlight. Check out that poster, for all the info on a true blues festival brought to you by the proprietor of Sweet Lou’s BBQ.

Our newest feature is something called One Year Ago in BLUES JUNCTION. Since we are a feature driven and not a news oriented monthly, on-line magazine, these pieces have a shelf life and like great music, no expiration date. It is also a way to remind our readers that we have amassed a massive treasure trove of features that sit in the Archive section of our site 24/7/365.

So, for all of our new readers and or those who might have missed this one last time around ‘One Year Ago…’ for February is a feature on T-Bone Walker and his recorded legacy.

As we turn the page on our annual January Best of Edition of BLUES JUNCTION, I want to welcome all of the new readers who have visited the site as a result of the interest the BJP Awards generate. Even though these features will end up in our archives, I left them here on the top shelf for those who might have missed them last month. In my view it is important to honor and recognize true talent in the blues field. Here at BLUES JUNCTION we leave popularity contests, politics in music and any other commercial considerations to others. We honor excellence…period.

As always, I would like to thank all of those readers who have contacted me over the past month. I get a real kick out of hearing from you. Your thoughts on what we are doing around here is appreciated. If any of you have any ideas on a future subject or individual you would like to see interviewed, shoot me an email. Our contact info is on the site. Many of the features you read here at the JUNCTON had their nexus in conversations I have had with you. So, thank you for that.

Until we meet again…be well and be in touch.

- David Mac



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