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Pittsburgh: How Blue are We in December? By Monica Yasher
May everyone find themselves with a joyous holiday behind them and looking forward to a great 2010 New Year! I know here at American Blues News we are all looking forward to 2010. Each and every one of us realize that we are blessed to have the year 2009 with our blues friends. We have attended some great American Blues Festivals, talked to some interesting, passionate artists and have heard some really fantastic music! It has been an amazing year for each and every one of us!
I just want to share some things for the upcoming year. We are making changes to our blues newswriting lineup. We have switched some writers around and you will find them on the following days:
Nelson will still be offering those great pictures every Sunday.
Nighthawk, our traveling musician, will still be holding up the fort on Mondays.
J.Blake will continue to share his reviews and interviews every Tuesday.
I will be moving from Friday to Wednesday.
Gatorman will be changing from Wednesday to Thursday offering coverage of Chicago.
Bluesman, our new addition from Washington, DC, will be offering thoughts every Friday.
Our Saturday lineup in January is as follows:
1st Saturday - Scottsdale: Bob Corritore
2nd Saturday - Houston: Abby Owen
3rd Saturday - Pittsburgh: CR Bennett
4th Saturday - LA: Jerry Rosen
5th Saturday - We will share our first guest of the new year!
Don't forget the IBC's are in January! We look forward to sharing all of that news with you.
Now the question is how blue were we in December?
First, we introduced three new writers this past month. We have Abby Owen from Austin, TX, Bluesman from Washington, DC and CR Bennett from Pittsburgh. We are glad they have joined us and we look forward to hearing what they have to say!
Probably the most blues newsworthy item was the announcement of the 2010 Handy Award Nominees. We at American Blues News had the priviledge of speaking with many of the nominees this past year and were happy for all of the nominees.
Gatorman talked to Al Stone and Bruce Iglauer of Alligator Records.
This interview offered a lot of information about Bruce and Alligator Records that we offered a Part I and Part II. Our new writer, Abby Owen, talked to Seth Walker for us. I had a nice conversation with Tinsley Ellis, who was just nominated for a blues award in 2010. When I spoke with Lefty Williams, I had no idea that Tinsley and Lefty were collaborating on a few songs. Just a reminder of what a small world it is. I spoke with Teeny Tucker who will be releasing an album very soon. And J. Blake had the chance to catch up with Tommy Casto, another blues nominee.
Speaking of Blake, there seemed to be much todo about the article of Derek and the Dominos.
We did a few reviews. The first being a performance review of an extremely young upcoming artist named Michaela Rae. Bluesman offered his views of Michael Burks. And Blake caught the show of Hubert Summlin. Nighthawk shared the Celebration of Life Concerts.
Blake kept up with the CD reviews offering his findings on Steven Seagal's blues album.
We did get caught up in the holiday spirit this year. We offered a week worth of gift giving ideas for your blues fan such as a USB turntable. And, how could I not share at least one of my favorite Christmas Albums with you? So, I chose Ray Charles Spirit of Christmas. Blake offered a book review of Strange Brew. And Nighthawk is our gadget guy.
Did you know that every year in Memphis there is the Blues Ball? Why don't you take a read on that one and don't forget to view those awesome guitars!
I personally was touched by how the artist, Eric Bibb, could affect a life and wrote about that in my Christmas story, Christmas Connections. Nighthawk shared the workings of his friends in Memphis and the Christmas Kindness that Southern hospitality has.
Gatorman was quite creative this holiday season and shared a Blues Christmas poem with each of you.
We told the following stories in pictures: Duke Robillard, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Big Bill Morganfield, Shemekia Copeland, who just got married in December. Lastly, the great Sonny Landreth was captured in photos. +for+ABN.jpg)
We also brought on board another exciting photographer, CR Bennett who shared his coverage of Candye Kane, who has been nominated for a few blues awards for 2010.
And, we had one tribute piece of Ozell Roberts.
That was a pretty busy December!
I wish all of you a Happy New Year! Time doesn't seem to wait for anyone, does it? I put together the following slideshow for you. It's me singing 'Wait for Me' with my friend, Michael Bellava, playing acoustic guitar in the living room of our friend known as Musicman. I hope you enjoy! I'll talk to you next year!
Monica
If you found this helpful, you may wish to read the summary for November.
Copyright © 2009 Copyright Monica L. Yasher. All Rights Reserved.
Photo Copyright © 2009 Copyright Maureen Ceidro. All Rights Reserved.
Photo Copyright © 2009 Copyright Nelson Onofre. All Rights Reserved.
Photo Copyright © 2009 Copyright Terrance Lape. All Rights Reserved.
Photo Copyright © 2009 Copyright Charles R. Bennett. All Rights Reserved.
