Vizztone artist: Long Tall Deb - Raise Your Hands - New Release review

I just received the debut release, Raise Your Hands, by Long Tall Deb (Deb Landolt). Deb opens the release with What Would a Good Woman Do, a soul strut featuring a vocal duet with Phil Pemberton and guitar work from Sean Carney. Hush Your Mouth gets a funk groove going with backing vocals by Nikki Scott and Melvin Powe sets the stage with some smooth bass lines. Let's Get Lost is a strong radio track and one that should fir well with strong vocals. Married To The Blues, a track talking about independence, features Jimmy Thackery on guitar along with Bart Walker and Matt O'Ree with a R&B style track and featuring vocals by Big Llou. Finally Forgot Your Name, a solid soul track sets up nicely as a blues ballad, with guests the Roomful Of Blues Horns (Mark Earley, Rich Lataille and Doug Woolverton). Raise Your Hands blends gospel, soul and rock for another airplay geared track. There is quite a bit of guitar work on this track courtesy of Sean Carney, Dave Clo and Brent Pennell. Ian Moore's Muddy Jesus has a real funky sound but blues based actually reminding me of Jack the Toad by Savoy Brown. JP Soars and Damon Fowler exchange guitar riffs on this track and Victor Wainwright plays some nice keys on this track. Cool track. To Find His Home opens with some cool slide playing on a resonator guitar. This is actually a really tasty track with Deb showing the depth of her vocal talents sharing the lead with Shaun Booker and Phil Pemberton. John Popovich plays some nice piano on this track and Reese Wynans plays some great organ on this track that turns into a full blown gospel track. Torch blues track by Tom Waits, New Coat Of Paint features Deb and Popovich on piano. Really nice finish.   

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Long Gone Records artist: Cathy Ponton King - The Crux - New Release Review

I just received the new release, The Crux, by Cathy Ponton King. King has assembled a who's who of contemporary blues artists including Jimmy Thackery, Ronnie Earl, Butch Warren and Ron Holloway. The release features 10 new blues ballads covering the spectrum from the zydeco influenced I Want You To Be Happy to the jazz infused Little House In The Country. Opening with Sugarface, a horn filled track with cool guitar riffs from Thackery and nice key work from Bill Starks King sets the groundwork for the release. I'm Just A Woman has a bit of country blended into the blues again featuring Thackery on guitars. The riffs on this track are right out of Thackery's bag of country tricks. Cerulean Blues is a pure ballad featuring the beautiful guitar phrasing of Ronnie Earl. Blues Companion, again featuring Earl, is a standard 12 bar blues track. Tattoo On My Heart, a country folk style ballad, features some really nice acoustic guitar work from Jason Byrd. Holloway has a nice sax run on this track as well. Sweet Change To My Heart really has some exceptional guitar riffs by Earl. This is my favorite track on the release. With it's Bossa Nova beat, Little House In The Country touches on the light jazz fare and could easily make airplay. Earl and Starks each play some really sweet riffs on this track making it quite memorable. Bridges That You Burned has some really nice guitar work by Dave Hovey and Mike Lessin. Finishing up with funky track, I'm Suffering, CPK leads the band through another jazzy track featuring Thackery on guitar. Other musicians on the release include Chris Battistone on trumpet, John Jensen on trombone, Bruce Swaim on sax, Antoine Sanfuentes on drums, Jim Roberson on bass, John Priviti on bass, Tom Corradino on accordian, Butch Warren on Bass and Jeff King on Vocals. This is a smooth blues/jazz CD for a mainstream listener. If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

Ventura Co. Blues Society Sunday Matinee II Benefits Moorpark Arts Foundation

Ventura County Blues Society

Presents Its....

"Sunday Blues Concert Matinee Series Event II" - Benefits

Moorpark Foundation For The Arts

AUGUST 5TH EVENT FEATURES A TRIO OF TOP BLUES GUITARISTS - HEADLINER JIMMY THACKERY - PLUS ALASTAIR GREENE AND MIKEY MO

(MOORPARK, CA) - If you love the guitar - and let's face it, who doesn't? - then this is a show that can't be missed, as the Ventura County Blues Society (VCBS) presents veteran blues guitar great Jimmy Thackery along with Socal/Ventura-based guitar aces Alastair Greene and Mikey Mo at their Sunday Blues Concert Matinee Series Event II, Sunday, August 5 at the High Street Arts Center, 45 East High Street, Moorpark. Doors open at 12 noon, music starts at 1 p.m. Tickets $20. (VCBS members), $25. (General Public). Purchase tickets in advance online at www.venturacountybluessociety.org. Great music plus tasty barbeque, beer, wine, cocktails, snacks, soft drinks and water available at the shows, plus a raffle between bands. Proceeds benefit the Moorpark Foundation For the Arts.

The first VCBS Sunday Blues Concert Matinee in July was a standing-room-only, high-energy affair featuring noted bluesman Chris Cain, female-fronted act Kellys Lot plus blues jam band Tommy Marsh & Bad Dog that drew a sellout crowd, and came on the heels of the Society's highly successful Simi Valley Blues Festival this past April. Read about the Sunday Matinee Concert series in articles from the Ventura County Star; Simi Valley Acorn; and Moorpark Patch (click on the links).

Jimmy Thackery

Veteran bluesman Jimmy Thackery is truly the definition of a 'road warrior,' performing nearly three-hundred nights a year and acting as a true inspiration to today's musicians half his age. Thackery has thrilled audiences worldwide fronting his own band since departing the popular Nighthawks (whom he recorded over twenty albums with) in 1987. Whether Jimmy Thackery headlines a festival in South Dakota or jams for hours in one of numerous blues bars that dot the musical landscape, he'll always unleash an intense volley of rockin' blues guitar guaranteed to leave crowds emotionally spent. His double-edged guitar dynamics allow him to fire off tracer missiles, bend a note so it will fit under a limbo bar, run off dive bomber riffs, and find space within the trembling of one stinging note. "I put all my senses on hold and find the zone and follow what's inside," Thackery says. "There's an electricity from your mind to your heart to your fingers. You just try and remember to breathe."

Alastair Greene Mikey Mo

Opening for Thackery and making this event a true guitar lovers nirvana: popular Ventura County blues-rock guitar maestro Alastair Greene, who, in addition to enjoying a decade-plus solid solo career with his Alastair Greene Band, is also the touring guitarist for prog-rock greats, the Alan Parsons Live Project (read a terrific recent L. A. Examiner review of Greene's latest acclaimed album "Through The Rain" here); ; and the Mikey Mo Band, fresh off their standout performance at the Simi Valley Blues Festival this April and featuring one of SoCal's up-and-comers, Mikey Mo, on lead guitar and vocals. Mikey Mo has toured with respected blues guitarist Coco Montoya and has been playing guitar since the age of five.

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IT'S MY OWN FAULT - JIMMY THACKERY

Jimmy Thackery (born May 19, 1953, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States) is an American blues singer and guitarist.
Thackery spent fourteen years as part of The Nighthawks, the Washington, D.C. based blues and roots rock ensemble. After leaving the Nighthawks in 1986, Thackery toured under his own name.

Born in Pittsburgh and raised in Washington, Thackery joined The Nighthawks in 1972 and went on to record over twenty albums with them. In 1986 he began touring with The Assassins, a six-piece original blues, rock and R&B ensemble which he had previously helped start as a vacation band when The Nighthawks took one of their rare breaks. Originally billed as Jimmy Thackery and The Assassins, the band toured the U.S. Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, South, and Texas regions. The Assassins released a variety of recordings on the Seymour record label, two on vinyl (No Previous Record and Partners in Crime) and the 1989 CD Cut Me Loose.

In the wake of the Assassins 1991 break-up, Thackery has been leading a trio, Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers, whose early recordings were for the San Francisco, California based Blind Pig Records. In 2002 Thackery released, We Got It, his first album on Telarc and in 2006, In the Natural State with Earl and Ernie Cate on Rykodisc. In 2007, he released Solid Ice again with The Drivers. His latest album 'Feel the Heat' was released in April 2011.
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Jimmy Thackery - Live in Phoenix, AZ

Jimmy Thackery played live in Phoenix, AZ last night at Bob Corritore's Rhythm Room. First, as most of you know, I think that this is a terrific place to see a band (with Rolling Rock in stock) and it was standing room only. Jimmy and the Drivers, Mark "Bumpy Rhodes" Bumgarner (bass) and George "Bam Bam" Sheppard (drums) put on an absolutely excellent show. Now I'm not the kind of guy who takes a pencil to a concert so don't ask me what the track list was. I did talk with Sheppard between sets to see if they had a written set list and he indicated that Jimmy cues them for each and every song. I just gotta tell you, Jimmy knew exactly what to play to keep the crowd on it's heels. Jimmy opened the show with a barn burner blues rocker and the crowd reacted likewise. I think that it really pumped Thackery up because as many times as I've seen them, this was the most consistently excellent performance that I have seen. Tunes that I remember for sure that they played include Apache, Cool Guitars, Land Locked, Blind Man In The Night, T-Bome Shuffle, Bullfrog Blues and a ripping version of the Star Spangled Banner. he did play two full sets and I'm guessing over 3 hours. First I want to make a couple of comments about the surf tune selections like Apache and Land Locked. I think that Jimmy handles these tunes masterfully and I'm glad that he does them. They are written for great guitar players and I'm glad when a guitar virtuoso takes one on and pushes it out. Jimmy has some of the most lush, fat, shimmering tones you'd ever want to hear and that coupled with his subtle use of the trem bar makes for a great combination. Jimmy has about every guitar trick in his bag and he doesn't appear to feel the need to jam every one into every song but pulls them out sparingly at just the right moment to give the track the texture that it needs. Each of the band members was right on and I found myself watching Bumgarner a bit of the time. He really put me in mind of Leo Lyons of Ten Years After. Similar stature as well as style. He played really well and understated but actually played quite a bit of fill. Conversely, Sheppard almost stayed out of the way of the band, laying back with a minimal touch but did have a fairly long drum interlude which included his adopting a civil war style marching drum and leaving the trap set for a short while as he marched around the stage. Most impressive was his handling of the cymbals both during the routine performance as well as his solo work. Really nice job. But back to Jimmy. I saw some things in Jimmy last night that I hadn't seen before in that he looked to have his guitar by the throat. There are very few guitar players that I feel have a mastery of their instrument where they can actually take their guitar by the throat. Jimmy was sticking his fingers in places that the guitar really didn't like (up it's backside) and it was squealing like a baby. He was using the trem bar like "the master" and really pulled some terrific harmonics... and this is all during the contained part of the show. Jimmy did have one unconstrained part of the show where he did a rendition of the National Anthem... and he didn't copy Jimi... he played his own version of what can this guitar do, how can it do it, how bad can I make it hurt and can I taunt it till it screams. He had the guitar by the throat and it was gasping to keep up. He shows excellent fingering technique,beautiful chord control and selection, a fluttering picking style at the fretboard and some strange harmonic bends that had everyone watching in awe. I will also mention that I sat with 4 people that I didn't know and all 4 ended up being musicians. This was a show for musicians and everyone went home really satisfied. i did shoot a bit of film with my phone (in process of upload) but due to hard use during the day, I only got a short bit of footage . I spoke with the bandmembers and Jimmy briefly and they were all very gracious and gentlemanly. I thoroughly enjoyed the show and hope that you get the chance to see him when he comes your way. See the tour schedule below.


May 03, 2012
Highway 99 - Seattle, WA
Jimmy Thackery & The Drivers
May 04, 2012
Jazzbones - Tacoma, WA
Jimmy Thackery & The Drivers
May 05, 2012
Upstage - Port Townsend, WA
Jimmy Thackery & The Drivers
May 10, 2012
Rhythm Room - Phoenix, AZ
Jimmy Thackery & The Drivers
May 11, 2012
Café Boogaloo - Hermosa Beach, CA
Jimmy Thackery & The Drivers
May 12, 2012
Boulder Station Casino - Las Vegas, NV
Jimmy Thackery & The Drivers
May 13, 2012
Anthology - San Diego, CA
Jimmy Thackery & The Drivers
May 27, 2012
Santa Cruz Blues Festival - Santa Cruz, CA
*Jimmy Thackery SOLO with Coco Montoya

June 01, 2012
George's Majestic - Fayetteville, AR
June 02,2012
Knucklehead's - Kansas City, MO
June 09, 2012
Dauphin County Wine & Jazz Festival - Harrisburg, PA
* With special guest JP Soars!

August 04, 2012
Blues for the Zoo - Big Bear Lake, CA
August 05, 2012
High Street Theatre - Moore Park, CA
August 07, 2012
Bluesdays Concert Series - Olympic Valley, CA

Sept 01, 2012
Illinois State Blues Festiva'l - Peoria, IL
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Tab Benoit on 2011 Blues Cruise

Jimmy Thackery with Tab Benoit Lionel Young and Curtis Salgado. Pro Jam on Last night on the October 2011 Bluescruise. Main Stage
Tab Benoit (born November 17, 1967, Baton Rouge, Louisiana) is an American blues guitarist, musician and singer. He plays a style that is a combination of blues styles, primarily Delta blues. He plays a Fender Telecaster electric guitar and writes his own musical compositions. Benoit graduated from Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma, Louisiana in May, 1985. In 2003, he formed an organization promoting awareness of coastal wetlands preservation known as "Voice of the Wetlands."

A guitar player since his teenage years, he appeared at the Blues Box, a music club and cultural center in Baton Rouge run by guitarist Tabby Thomas. Playing guitar alongside Thomas, Raful Neal, Henry Gray and other high-profile regulars at the club, Benoit learned the blues first-hand from a faculty of living blues legends. He formed a trio in 1987 and began playing clubs in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. He began touring other parts of the south two years later and started touring more of the United States in 1991- and he continues to this day.

He was featured in the IMAX film, Hurricane on the Bayou.

On May 16, 2010, at the LMHOF Louisiana Music Homecoming in Erwinville, Louisiana, Benoit was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.
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You Upset Me Baby - Jimmy Thackery

Jimmy Thackery (born May 19, 1953, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
is an American blues singer and guitarist.

Thackery spent fourteen years as part of The Nighthawks, the Washington, D.C. based blues and roots rock ensemble. After leaving the Nighthawks in 1986, Thackery toured under his own name.

Born in Pittsburgh and raised in Washington, Thackery joined The Nighthawks in 1972 and went on to record over twenty albums with them. In 1986 he began touring with The Assassins, a six-piece original blues, rock and R&B ensemble which he had previously helped start as a vacation band when The Nighthawks took one of their rare breaks. Originally billed as Jimmy Thackery and The Assassins, the band toured the U.S. Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, South, and Texas regions. The Assassins released a variety of recordings on the Seymour record label, two on vinyl (No Previous Record and Partners in Crime) and the 1989 CD Cut Me Loose.

In the wake of the Assassins 1991 break-up, Thackery has been leading a trio, Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers, whose early recordings were for the San Francisco, California based Blind Pig Records. In 2002 Thackery released, We Got It, his first album on Telarc and in 2006, In the Natural State with Earl and Ernie Cate on Rykodisc. In 2007, he released Solid Ice again with The Drivers.
His latest album 'Feel the Heat' was released in April 2011.

Cool Guitars

Thackery spent fourteen years as part of The Nighthawks, the Washington, D.C. based blues and roots rock ensemble. After leaving the Nighthawks in 1986, Thackery toured under his own name.

Born in Pittsburgh and raised in Washington, Thackery joined The Nighthawks in 1972 and went on to record over twenty albums with them. In 1986 he began touring with The Assassins, a six-piece original blues, rock and R&B ensemble which he had previously helped start as a vacation band when The Nighthawks took one of their rare breaks. Originally billed as Jimmy Thackery and The Assassins, the band toured the U.S. Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, South, and Texas regions. The Assassins released a variety of recordings on the Seymour record label, two on vinyl (No Previous Record and Partners in Crime) and the 1989 CD Cut Me Loose.

In the wake of the Assassins 1991 break-up, Thackery has been leading a trio, Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers, whose early recordings were for the San Francisco, California based Blind Pig Records. In 2002 Thackery released, We Got It, his first album on Telarc and in 2006, In the Natural State with Earl and Ernie Cate on Rykodisc. In 2007, he released Solid Ice again with The Drivers.