<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Blues Music Magazine <\/span><\/i>is a quarterly publication I have subscribed to for many years.\u00a0 I have been a fan of all types of music for years but it was former WOAS-FM General Manager Mike \u2018Zenith\u2019 Bennett\u2019s over the top love for the genre that got me deeper into the blues.\u00a0 <\/span>BMM<\/span><\/i> is published quarterly by the Blues Music Group LLC in Henderson, Nevada.\u00a0 The <\/span>BMM <\/span><\/i>group also hosts their own online store at BluesMusicStore.com.\u00a0 Editor-in-Chief Art Tipaldi does a masterful job of assembling issues covering all topics related to the blues.\u00a0 The magazine covers new artists, pays homage to legendary bluesmen (and women), and reviews recently released music.\u00a0 Over the years, there have been reviews of artists who have appeared in Ontonagon Country like Measured Chaos (Al Jacquez\u2019s most recent band), The Rusty Wright Band, Rev. Peyton\u2019s Big Damn Band, and The War & The Treaty.\u00a0 Many of the albums reviewed are available via the music store along with a good number of older records being sold at discounted prices.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Blues artists have to qualify as some of the hardest working, down home musicians on the planet.\u00a0 I greatly enjoy hearing their back stories about getting started, forging a career, and life lessons learned on the road.\u00a0 Before I forget to mention it, it has become my habit to donate my copies of <\/span>Blues Music Magazine <\/span><\/i>(and <\/span>Guitar World <\/span><\/i>as well) to the Ontonagon Township Library when I finish with them.\u00a0 If you have a casual interest in the musicians and music covered in these publications, donating them to the library is not only a good form of recycling, it helps bring others into the fold.\u00a0 If this helps these hard working folks sell more music, that is a bonus.\u00a0 This edition of <\/span>FTV <\/span><\/i>will cover some of the highlights of Issue NO. 45 from the Spring of 2025 (which, by the time you read this, will be on the magazine shelves at the OTL).<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As far as featuring legendary bluesmen, one couldn\u2019t do better than Issue NO. 45\u2019s cover artist Charlie Musselwhite.\u00a0 The harmonica virtuoso\u2019s newest album (<\/span>Look Out Highway – <\/span><\/i>Forty Below Records) drops in May of 2025, so <\/span>BMM<\/span><\/i>\u2019s Matt MacDonald sat down with him to find out what has been going on in the 81 year-old musician\u2019s life.\u00a0 The new album was recorded at (guitarist) Kid Anderson\u2019s Greaseland Studios in San Jose, California just as the COVID-19 Pandemic began shutting down the live music business.\u00a0 According to MacDonald, the album, \u201cis full of music that touches on life-spanning, career-defining themes, while looking and moving forward with the ease, sense of purpose, and feeling that so identifies his music.\u201d\u00a0 With a COVID delayed release of nearly five years, the LP doesn\u2019t sound dated.\u00a0 Musselwhite\u2019s universal musical themes come with a long shelf life.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Musselwhite reminisced about his first record in the <\/span>BMM <\/span><\/i>interview<\/span>:\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>\u201cI remember my first album – which was recorded in Chicago in 1966.\u00a0 We did that in under three hours because that is all the time they said we had.\u00a0 [Chuckles at the memory] \u2018You\u2019ve got three hours!\u00a0 Knock it out!\u2019 And it has never been out of print and it\u2019s been out for over 50 years!\u201d\u00a0 The album in question is <\/span>Stand Back!\u00a0 Here Comes Charlie Musselwhite\u2019s Southside Band.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>Charlie still marvels at how much he accomplished in the five years he lived in the Windy City, but he also attributes that prolific time to his age then:\u00a0 \u201cWhen you’re 18 you can do more than when you are 80.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Musselwhite\u2019s debut album was recorded when he was 22 years old, four years after he relocated to Chicago from Memphis.\u00a0 The legends in the making on the Chicago blues scene took to the \u201cwhite kid from down home who was brave enough to come out and see them play.\u201d\u00a0 It is an unusual origin story to say the least, as Charlie told MacDonald:\u00a0 \u201cThey were really flattered that I was there, and they were eager to get me to play with them, and they pushed me to sing.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t want to sing.\u00a0 \u2018You gotta sing.\u00a0 Come on, come on.\u00a0 You can do it\u2019.\u00a0 They would make me sing and it was fun for them and it was a learning situation for me, and I was having fun.\u201d\u00a0 After seeing Big Walter Horton, Charlie asked him about the different harmonica positions he was using and it opened up a whole new world for him:\u00a0 \u201cThat was\u2026.\u2019Wow!\u00a0 It was eye opening.\u00a0 A whole \u2018nother way to play!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Another encounter, this time with Little Walter Jacobs, taught him another lesson.\u00a0 He wanted to show Jacobs what he had learned from Horton (about the different positions) and Little Walter shrugged his shoulders.\u00a0 He told Musselwhite, \u201cThat ain\u2019t nothin\u2019.\u00a0 You can play in \u2018E\u2019 on a \u2018C\u2019 harmonica, too.\u201d\u00a0 Charlie\u2019s mind was now fully blown:\u00a0 \u201cWow – a fifth position!\u00a0 E!\u00a0 God!!\u00a0 From them, I realized that any octave I could find, there\u2019s got to be a way to get from the low note to the higher note and have a phrase there of some sort and put you in that key.\u201d\u00a0 Putting this knowledge to work helped Musselwhite form his own identifiable style that he has stuck with for nearly sixty years.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Charlie hasn\u2019t forgotten the legacy of his old friends and mentors.\u00a0 He told MacDonald, \u201cIn a way, they\u2019re still with me.\u00a0 They are memories.\u00a0 I can see \u2018em.\u00a0 I can hear \u2018em. So I carry them with me.\u00a0 You know, we are all just walking each other home.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Legacy bluesmen covered in Issue NO. 45 also include bassist Bob Stoger and guitarist \u2018Steady Rollin\u2019 Bob Margolin.\u00a0 At the age of 94, Stoger is the oldest actively gigging blues musician in the world.\u00a0 Having played 70 gigs around the world in 2024, he surpasses other \u2018old guys\u2019 like Buddy Guy and Bobby Rush (who only tip the age scales at 88 and 91, respectively).\u00a0 Stoger arrived in Chicago in the 1940s with a simple Kay guitar which he eventually turned into a four string bass.\u00a0 It would take until the late 1960s before he would own a Fender Precision Bass.\u00a0 He gave the following sage advice to other players:\u00a0 \u201cThe younger kids got the fancy stuff in their minds, so I tell them, \u2018You have to be disciplined to play the blues.\u00a0 You can overplay the blues because it is so simple\u2019.\u00a0 Mostly I teach them the dos and don\u2019ts when you are on the bandstand.\u00a0 Music is a very fast lane, and you can get hung up very easily.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Bob Margolin is a regular columnist for <\/span>BMM <\/span><\/i>penning his <\/span>Around the World <\/span><\/i>feature.\u00a0 Like Musselwhite, Bob was a white kid who got the opportunity to play in the Muddy Waters Blues Band from 1973-1980.\u00a0 In his Spring 2025 article (titled <\/span>Road Stories<\/span><\/i>), he mentioned that Muddy\u2019s band split from him in June of 1980 over problems caused by Waters\u2019 manager.\u00a0 There were no hard feelings and Margolin found himself opening for Muddy at The Bayou in D.C. in November of that same year.\u00a0 Bob says, \u201cAfter, I had a long talk with him, not the last before he passed on April 30, 1983, but certainly the deepest.\u00a0 Muddy looked old, sad, and tired.\u00a0 He told me, \u2018It took a lot of spirit out of me when Bo (Diddley) passed.\u2019\u00a0 Blues the feeling, not the music.\u201d\u00a0 Also like Musselwhite, Margolin has a new album out simply called <\/span>Thanks.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>The album aims <\/span>Thanks <\/span><\/i>to be a celebration of his legendary blues friends and also a tribute to the 50 years that have passed since he joined Muddy\u2019s band.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As far as the younger side of the blues talent pool, <\/span>BMM\u2019s <\/span><\/i>Karen Nugent introduces readers to new talent Delanie Pickering whom she calls \u2018Vinyard\u2019s Secret\u2019.\u00a0 Pickering grew up in a \u2018musically inclined family\u2019 in Concord, New Hampshire.\u00a0 She picked up guitar at the age of 16 but after a couple of \u2018unnecessary lessons\u2019, she found, \u201cIt was more fun NOT to take lessons.\u201d\u00a0 She also discovered her father\u2019s record collection in the basement that included some blues albums, but with no local scene at that time, she got bored and moved on.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0She didn\u2019t abandon the genre.\u00a0 By 18 she had taken part in several festivals and blues challenges in her home state.\u00a0 She ended up representing the New Hampshire-based Granite State Blues Society at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis.\u00a0 She decided to van herself around the East Coast and ended up on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.\u00a0 Her family had vacationed there and she decided to hang around for a while.\u00a0 Eventually, Delanie caught the ferry seven miles out in the Atlantic Ocean to visit the island of Martha\u2019s Vineyard.\u00a0 She checked out the music scene there and the first band she saw was Johnny Hoy and the Bluefish.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Living on the Vineyard, Pickering worked as an UPS driver and at a local coffee shop, but she didn\u2019t tell anyone she played guitar.\u00a0 At some point, she slipped a copy of a CD she had recorded earlier to a fellow coffee shop employee who also happened to be the Bluefish\u2019s drummer.\u00a0 She also helped Hoy with his commercial fishing business and building chimneys.\u00a0 Hoy heard her CD and was astonished how good she was.\u00a0 He encouraged her to start sitting in with some other local musicians, including his band.\u00a0 Bluefish pianist Jeremy Berlin says, \u201cShe is a very interesting person.\u00a0 She is a private person – she was around for months, just listening to bands at clubs and not playing music.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In March of 2024, Berlin invited her to come with him and play with a French rhythm section at a festival in Europe.\u00a0 It went so well (Berlin says, \u201cthe cat was out of the bag\u201d) that she was invited to play at the prestigious Lucerne Blues Festival with Berlin and the same rhythm section.\u00a0 Berlin continues, \u201cNobody had heard of Delanie but she fronted the band.\u00a0 It was interesting to witness people literally dropping their jaws.\u201d\u00a0 Doug Deming of Doug Deming and the Jewel Tones was one of the \u2018jaw droppers\u2019 and was so impressed, he successfully recommended Pickering for the 2025 Winter Blues Festival in Des Moines, Iowa.\u00a0 Deming says, \u201cI really liked her style and loved her voice.\u00a0 She had a cool, quirky vibe on stage that was interesting and unique.\u00a0 Her own sound and modest vibe shines through onstage and is inviting.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Longtime Bluefish guitarist Buck Shank was planning to retire and Pickering had already been tabbed to replace him, even before he announced he was leaving.\u00a0 Hoy told <\/span>BMM, \u201c<\/span><\/i>We figured we would give her a safe place to learn the ropes of the music biz.\u00a0 Let her develop at her own pace.\u00a0 Of course, the day would come when she\u2019d start moving on up.\u00a0 She\u2019s ready to fly now.\u201d \u00a0 I am betting we will be hearing a lot more about Delanie Pickering in the future.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0With all the political rumblings going in the first months of 2025, I was surprised to learn a few things from Art Tipaldi about American-Canadian relations in terms of the music business.<\/span><\/p>\n Tipaldi opens each issue with his thoughts under the banner <\/span>Riffs & Grooves<\/span><\/i> and in Issue NO. 45, he reported some interesting information he picked up on January\u2019s Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise.\u00a0 The LR&B Cruise operates just like all the other themed cruise events (like the Kiss Kruise) and gives fans a chance to spend time with a host of blues artists who perform throughout the trip.\u00a0 The January cruise featured a bevy of Canadian bands and musicians like Colin James, Sue Foley, The Blackburn Brothers, Dawn Taylor Watson, Steve Mariner, and U.S. ex-pat Kenny \u2018Blues Boss\u2019 Wayne.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0During a panel discussion Tipaldi held to discuss the roots of Canadian blues, Watson brought up a subject that most American fans (including the Editor-in-Chief of <\/span>BMM <\/span><\/i>himself) were not aware of.\u00a0 In order for Canadian musicians to work in the United States, they must first obtain a P-2 Work Visa.\u00a0 The P-2 has specific requirements that must be met, according to Tipaldi:\u00a0 \u201cThe artists must have concrete plans to perform in the U.S.\u00a0 The musicians have to provide an itinerary of dates and places he or she will be working in the States for the duration of the visa.\u00a0 That means if you have plans to be in the U.S. for the entire duration of the visa, one year, you have to outline every gig or show or festival in your plans.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The visa is by no means free and there is a strict timeline that must be followed.\u00a0 The shorter the time period when filing, the more expensive it becomes.\u00a0 To get a permit 90 days out from entry, the cost is $460.\u00a0 If the turnaround time is only 30 days, the price rises to $2960 because there is a $2500 \u2018expedited processing fee\u2019 added.\u00a0 Fees are all in U.S. dollars so the cost for Canadian artists are actually higher with the monetary differential north of the border.\u00a0 The fees double when technicians and crew members are added to the bill.\u00a0 Colin James further explained:\u00a0 \u201cAnyone touring with you has to be on the application.\u00a0 If your light man, your sound man, your guitar tech is not on your list, they are not allowed in [to the U.S.].\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Tipaldi reminds readers that there is an arbitrary line called the border separating our two countries.\u00a0 In recent days, the talking heads on the various news channels have been reminding us that it is the longest, unguarded border in the world as they wrestle with trying to explain why the United States has seemingly declared an economic war with our closest ally and neighbor.\u00a0 Those promoting this extremely dangerous economic agenda of placing ridiculously high tariffs on everything from soup to nuts keep saying, \u201cCanada has been very unfair to the United States.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n I would point out that the requirements of the P-2 Work Visa show just the opposite is true.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Brian Slack (a Canadian promoter, agent, manager, and artistic director) points out, \u201cFor American acts to come to Canada, they don\u2019t have to worry about a visa.\u00a0 All they have to worry about are tax waivers.\u00a0 That\u2019s the most complicated thing they have to do.\u00a0 Our acts have to get a P-2 visa, which means U.S. artistic directors who work four or five months out have to commit to the artist way in advance.\u00a0 Otherwise, the artist is paying almost $7,000 out of pocket to expedite the process.\u201d\u00a0 Up to now, I have often read about bands popular in Canada and wondered, \u201cHmm, why haven\u2019t they been in the states?\u201d\u00a0 The answer to that question is quite clear – U.S. acts have much fewer impediments to tour north of the border than their Canadian counterparts have to break into the U.S. market.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Watson confirmed this very fact:\u00a0 \u201cOne thing about playing in the States is that in order to play and tour in the U.S., you have to have that visa.\u00a0 It seems to be a lot easier for an American artist to come and play in Canada.\u00a0 If I have a show months from now in the States, I have to put in all the paperwork now.\u00a0 And it is pricey.\u201d\u00a0 If the United States does not come to grips with the damage being caused by the application of these willy-nilly tariffs, it won\u2019t take long to trickle down to the music industry.\u00a0 If we thought the shutdown of the live entertainment industry by the COVID 19 Pandemic was bad, these cat-and-mouse economic policies will prove to be just as detrimental to those who try to make a living creating and performing music.\u00a0 That, in turn, will make it more difficult for fans to see some of their favorite artists live.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Tipaldi underscores this recent revelation at the end of his <\/span>Riffs & Grooves:\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>\u201cUnfortunately with the current border situation, there appears to be no concessions for Canadian musicians or their American fans.\u201d\u00a0 Good policies help create and maintain good neighbors.\u00a0 I am not the only one who thinks this reshaping of the American – Canadian relationship is a big mistake.\u00a0 Let us all push for common sense to rise to the top before permanent damage to our relations with our neighbors to the north (and the rest of the planet) upsets the whole apple cart.<\/span><\/p>\n Top Piece Video:\u00a0 Delanie Pickering performing at the festival in Lucerne in 2024.\u00a0 She is going to go places!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Blues Music Magazine is a quarterly publication I have subscribed to for many years.\u00a0 I have been a fan of all types of music for years but it was former WOAS-FM General Manager Mike \u2018Zenith\u2019 Bennett\u2019s over the top love for the genre that got me deeper into the blues.\u00a0 BMM is published quarterly 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