Living Blues #290 (May/June 2024) features 38-year-old Hubby Jenkins on the cover. Jenkins is one of the best of the recent wave of young African American musicians doing a deep dive into pre-war blues, string band, and other roots music, and developing their own sound based on these acoustic styles. An early member of the …
Living Blues #287 features Houston singer Diunna Greenleaf. Greenleaf grew up immersed in gospel music. Encouraged by the likes of Katie Webster and Teddy Reynolds, she began to sing the blues. Now, with more than 25 years in the blues, Greenleaf has become one of its strongest voices. Danva Johnson is the son of James …
Living Blues #282 features Chicago bluesman Jimi “Primetime” Smith. His first gig at age 13 was backing his mother, Chicago drummer Johnnie Mae Dunson’s, friend Jimmy Reed at the 1973 Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival. Smith’s journey in the blues has certainly been atypical. Now, at age 63, he has absorbed all of the …
Living Blues #278 features bluesman Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne on the cover. Wayne is one of the few remaining piano-playing frontmen in the blues. He talked with Living Blues earlier this year about his journey on the keyboard into, out of, and back to the blues. Iowa may not be known as a hotbed of …
Living Blues #274 (September/October 2021) is an Old School Southern Soul special. Mississippi bluesman Sam Mosley has spent his life making music. Now 75, Mosley looks back on his long career, which includes multiple bands with his partner, Bob Johnson, and their decades of successful songwriting for Malaco Records. Billy Ray Charles has been singing …
Living Blues #273 is the third in the history of LB that is dedicated to drummers—looking at the important roles played by blues drummers, including the first two female drummers ever covered by the magazine. The ten artists anchor the backbeat of the genre. Artists featured include Rodd Bland, Jamiesa Turner, Joe “Iceman” Williams, Greg Gordon, …
In this issue: the list of SouthTalks events for spring, a Southern Studies alum puts his degree to work researching New Orleans street names, and Zaire Love interviews Brian Foster about his new book. Click here to access the full publication and read about news from the Center for the Study of Southern Culture. …
Living Blues #270 features Chicago bluesman Mike Wheeler. The guitarist has been building a career for himself for over 30 years. He plays his blues with ease and an obvious joy in what he is doing. Jackson, Mississippi–based Stevie J has been a go-to guitarist for gospel bands and blues acts in the City with …
Living Blues #269 (November /December 2020) concludes the 50th Anniversary celebration with a look forward at the future of the blues with the “Next Generation of the Blues” special issue. At age 38 multi-instrumentalist Dom Flemons has spent the last 15 years taking a deep dive into the roots of African American music eager to …
Written by Martha Grace Mize Event Details When: Saturday, Sept. 12, broadcast at 7 p.m. on Mississippi Public Broadcasting and 9 p.m. on Alabama Public Radio; rebroadcast Thursday, Sept. 17 on local station WUMS 92.1 Author: Diane Williams, author of “The Life and Legacy of B.B. King: A Mississippi Blues Icon” Guest Musicians: John Wilkins …