Welcome to the May edition of BLUES JUNCTION. This month’s ezine has a decidedly California feel to it. Even though we cover blues music globally around here, I don’t mind spending time in my home state.

I don’t apologize for it either, for three very good reasons...1) California has the best blues musicians anywhere in the world. Residing up and down the coast from the Bay Area to San Diego and everything in between are more world class blues musicians than any place on the planet; 2) California has a rich blues history that is second to none; and 3) Both of these facts has been largely ignored for decades by revisionist blues “journalists” outside of the Golden State. I realize it is not easy to see over the Rockies and Sierra Nevada, so I am just here to help.  

With this in mind our Monthly Artist Spotlight feature includes a rather timely interview with my fellow Orange County native David “Kid” Ramos. The accomplished guitar player is well on his way to a healthy recovery from a nearly two year battle with cancer. He will be performing down the road a piece at the Doheny Blues Festival in Dana Point, California, on May 17^th.

Our Monthly Album Spotlight shines on a long time Californian, by way of Oklahoma, singer, guitarist, harmonica player and song writer Al Blake. Blake just released his first solo album in thirteen years. It is entitled, Blues According to Blake...a Road Less Traveled.   

A few months back Otis Grand, who was featured in the February edition of BLUES JUNCTION, provided our readers with a list of what he considers essential blues recordings by musicians who have impacted his perspective and approach to this music. This month Al Blake stepped up to bat and did the same thing. Enjoy some recommended listening from the very talented blues musician and student of the genre, Al Blake.

Further on up the road in Santa Cruz resides a California native and ongoing contributor to BLUES JUNCTION, Charlie Lange. Charlie of course is the founder of Bluebeat Music and he has again assembled ten very recent reissues and shares his thoughts on these recordings. Read about these recordings in a feature we call, Charlie’s Reissue Rodeo.

If we head north from the Monterey Peninsula a ways up Highway One we would find one of the great blues mecca’s, the San Francisco/Oakland Bay area.  One aspect of this rich history is brought to life by Sam Andrews. Andrews was a founding member of the 1960’s era band Big Brother and the Holding Company. He helped introduce a San Francisco resident and native Texan, Janice Joplin, to a large audience at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. He has contributed a wonderful historical piece to our ezine entitled, Bay Area Blues Women. I would like to thank Sam for this fine contribution.

There is another Texas born blues singer named Lou Ann Barton who still is a resident of the Lone Star State. She has a wonderful career retrospective that was just released entitled, The Best. Enjoy my thoughts on this career defining work by one of my favorite singers to come down the pike or I-35 as it were.

A Southerner made his way out to California just a few months ago. He is a 24 year old phenom named Jon Atkinson. Big Jon was featured in the October, 2013, edition of our ezine.  He just completed making his debut album and it is extraordinary. Read my review on the soon to be released CD, Boogie With You Baby. 

Also for those of you in the Southern California area or who are planning a vacation to our beautiful part of the planet, Big Jon Atkinson will be having a CD release party at O’Donovan’s Restaurant and Pub in Pomona’s historic arts district on Saturday, May 24th.

I think you will be happy to know that last month we had more folks visit the JUNCTION than at any time during our four year run. This was largely as result of an interview I conducted with drummer Tony Coleman. That piece can be found along with hundreds of others in the archive section of our site.

It should be gratifying to know that you are not alone out there. I know how frustrating it can be to feel like we are surrounded by the boorish, childish blues industry that touts every clap trap recording and performance as greatness. It can be almost embarrassing to be identified as a blues fan in the midst of the publicity machines that get behind the stench some of the blues labels are foisting in our direction. The good news is that there are more of us real blues music fans out there than I ever imagined. It is wonderful to be in touch with so many of you on a regular basis. Your feedback and support of our endeavors here at the JUNCTION is invaluable to me.

I would like to thank all of our readers who shared this piece on Facebook and emailed it to friends. It was great to meet a whole host of new readers. It is very gratifying that so many people have found their way to the JUNCTION despite my feeble marketing efforts. I loathe self promotion, so your word of mouth, grass roots campaign to let others know we exist is so very much appreciated.

I also enjoyed hearing from so many of you regarding this interview. Tony’s candor moved many people to write letters to the editor and to comment on Facebook posts. I captured and “published” some of these of these as well as the thoughts our readers had on other subjects in our Letters to the Editor.

On a personal note, in a couple of days I will observe what I consider a milestone birthday. I plan on celebrating by writing a blues haiku. You see, I was born in Los Angeles on 5/7/57 and on Wednesday I will turn 57. It has been said that blues music is American haiku. I think there is something to that actually.

Like haiku, the blues deals with the notion that seemingly disparate concepts or ideas can be resolved in a poetic way and within the context of an agreed upon structure.  Oh, who am I kidding? I have written just about everything I can imagine, except a haiku. There is probably a good reason for that. So the best I can do with respect to this east meets west concept is to look forward to seeing all my friends from back east out west here in California this month at the Doheny Blues Festival.

In the meantime, be well and be in touch.

- David Mac