As Joe Bonamassa grows his reputation as one of the world’s greatest guitar players, he is also evolving into a charismatic blues-rock star and singer-songwriter of stylistic depth and emotional resonance. His ability to connect with live concert audiences is transformational, and his new album, Black Rock, brings that energy to his recorded music more powerfully than ever before. The tenth solo album and eighth studio release of his career – as well as his fifth consecutive with producer Kevin Shirley (Led Zeppelin, Black Crowes, etc.) – the disc adds an enlivening dose of ‘world’ vibes to Bonamassa’s virtuoso mix of ‘60s-era British blues-rock (à la Beck and Clapton) and roots-influenced Delta sounds.

The album was recorded at Black Rock Studios in Santorini, Greece. “With this album, we wanted to explore a ‘world’ feeling, and this was the inspiration behind going to record in Greece and using some of the best Greek musicians to add a little flavor to a couple of the tracks. But it’s by no means a ‘world’ album. We wanted Joe’s usual youthful and energetic tones to play alongside the worldly vibes of the Greek bouzouki and clarino,” said Shirley. Bonamassa adds, “It was the kind of record Kevin and I wanted to make. We needed to rock again a bit like on my first album. It’s youthful, like going back to your childhood.” Throughout, Bonamassa is again backed by the stellar players Carmine Rojas (bass), Anton Fig, Bogie Bowles (both on drums) and Rick Melick (keyboards).

2009 was a big year for Bonamassa. He was awarded the Breakthrough Artist of the Year Award at the U.K.’s prestigious Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards and Classic Rock magazine has said, “They’re calling him the future of blues, but they’re wrong – Joe Bonamassa is the present; so fresh and of his time that he almost defines it.” He was also named Best Blues Guitarist in Guitar Player Magazine’s 2009 Readers’ Choice Awards for the third consecutive year. Guitar Player writer Matt Blackett has said, “He’s an old soul, and that comes through in his bends, vibrato, singing voice, and note choices, which – which each passing year – get more restrained and refined.”

In May ’09, he played to a sold out crowd at London’s Royal Albert Hall, arguably the most prestigious concert venue in the world. During the show, Bonamassa’s hero, Eric Clapton, joined him on stage for a joint-performance of Clapton’s hit “Further On Up The Road.” London’s The Independent said about the show, “The man has arrived, and there’s no turning back.” Shortly after, Bonamassa released a 2-DVD live set – Joe Bonamassa – Live From The Royal Albert Hall – which captures the night in full. Guitar Edge gave it five stars and also said, “It is the wallop of his emotional expression, fueled by the rocking energy he derives from that trans-Atlantic connection and driven by his devastating technical ability, that elevates him about his peers and makes him a certifiable blues guitar hero and the face of his blues generation.”

Last year also coincided with Bonamassa’s twentieth year as a professional musician, an extraordinary timeline for a young artist just into his ’30s. A child prodigy, Bonamassa was finessing Stevie Ray Vaughan licks when he was seven and by the time he was ten, had caught B.B. King’s ear. After first hearing him play, King said, “This kid’s potential is unbelievable. He hasn’t even begun to scratch the surface. He’s one of a kind.” By age 12, Bonamassa was opening shows for the blues icon and went on to tour with venerable acts including Buddy Guy, Foreigner, Robert Cray, Stephen Stills, Joe Cocker and Gregg Allman.

Bonamassa reunites with King for a duet on Black Rock. The song they perform together is a rendition of the Willie Nelson-penned song, “Night Life,” which appeared on King’s 1967 album Blues Is King. Shirley says about the experience, “This is a rollicking Stonesy-vibe version of the Willie Nelson song on which B.B. duets with Joe, both vocally and on his famous Lucille guitar. What a joy and an honor to work with the legend who is possibly the pivot point and unifying musician between blues and rock.”

Other tracks appearing on Black Rock include Jeff Beck’s “Spanish Boots,” a lively version of Leonard Cohen’s poetic “Bird On A Wire,” Otis Rush’s “Three Times A Fool,” as well as Bobby Parker’s “Steal Your Heart Away,” a song recommended by Robert Plant, who said Led Zeppelin rehearsed it in their earliest days. Also, Blind Boy Fuller’s “Baby, You Gotta Change Your Mind,” John Hiatt’s “I Know A Place,” and James Clark’s “Look Over Yonder’s Wall,” as well as the Bonamassa-penned originals “When The Fire Hits The Sea,” “Wandering Earth,”

“Athens To Athens,” and “Blue and Evil.”

Bonamassa’s recording career began in the early ’90s with Bloodline, a hard-charging rock-blues group also featuring Robby Krieger’s son Waylon and Miles Davis’ son Erin. His 2000 solo debut, A New Day Yesterday, was produced by the legendary Tom Dowd; Bonamassa’s rendering of the title track, originally a Jethro Tull hit, was called, “a jaw-dropping performance” by allmusic.com.

His last studio album, The Ballad Of John Henry – with no shortage of its own jaw-dropping moments – debuted at #1 on the Billboard blues chart and stayed there for six months. The album marks a more confessional approach to songcraft than he’s previously employed. “Making the first half of the album,” Bonamassa says, “I was in the happiest place I’d ever been in my life. The second half found me in completely the opposite state. I’ve come to the conclusion that experience makes for better art. I had more to say, and it’s the first time I’ve personally opened up the book on my life.”

Previous studio sets include 2007’s Sloe Gin, which debuted at #1 on Billboard’s blues chart and received a 2008 nod for Album Of The Year from the Classic Rock Roll Of Honour Awards. Sloe Gin careens between heavy electric blues-rockers and acoustic, folk-etched cuts in a flow that Bonamassa says was partly inspired by Rod Stewart’s classic 1969 solo debut LP. Modern Guitars Magazine wrote, “If calling Sloe Gin a Bonamassa sampler isn’t graphic enough, think of the album as a musical buffet in which unrelated entrees share a single trait: they taste good.” The Boston Phoenix called it, “an elegant and brawny guitar-hero album.”

In 2008, he released the 2-CD set Live From Nowhere In Particular, which Guitar Player said, “finds Joe playing with soul, intensity and savage tones.” It features 13 songs recorded live in concert on the artist’s 2007 North American tour – at shows like the one at New York’s Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center reviewed for www.hamptons.com by Lon S. Cohen: “In a thousand years, when archeologists dig out Joe Bonamassa’s guitar from the strata of the earth, it will still be smoking…He holds the guitar like a shotgun but what comes out of it is poetry, color, and a story is told in notes.” A review of a show at Alexandria, VA’s Birchmere drew similar sentiments from writer Paul Roy on blogcritics.org: “I have flirted with the opinion that Bonamassa may be the overall best guitarist on the planet these days, and after seeing him perform live again…I am now totally comfortable with that opinion. He is simply mesmerizing to watch.”

Bonamassa circles the globe playing an average of 200 shows a year, and his mind-blowing guitar wizardry and electrifying stage presence are selling out progressively larger venues all the time. The OC Register’s Robert Kinsler has written, “Whether in a club or outdoors at a festival, something magnetic happens when Bonamassa steps to the front of the stage, leans his head back and simply lets loose.”

Ongoing journeyman touring is a given, and looking beyond Black Rock, Bonamassa will continue his recording collaboration with producer Kevin Shirley, who says, “It’s great working with Joe and seeing him enjoy the discovery of all these places he can go. He’s an artist who can play anything, there are so many facets to him.” Bonamassa adds, “Kevin comes up with fantastic ideas outside the box. He appreciates the blues, but pushes me, the only person besides Tom Dowd who’s done that.”

On top of touring, recording and overseeing the independent label J&R Adventures with his entrepreneurial partner and manager Roy Weisman, Bonamassa is a spokesperson for the Blues Foundation’s respected Blues In The Schools program, volunteering his time during tours to speak with groups of high school students about the heritage of blues music – the first pure American music form. Recently, he was chosen by Channel One, the largest in-school news network, to host an ongoing segment called “Know Your Roots with Joe Bonamassa” in which he traces the musical roots of Channel One’s weekly “Hear It Now” featured artist.

And, 2010 has already started with a bang – Guitar World dubbed Bonamassa “The Blues Rock Titan” and his song, “Lonesome Road Blues,” is a part of Guitar Hero V’s New Blues Masters Track Pack. Keeping with his blues roots but fluently moving between rock n’ roll and international sounds, 2010 is not only a new decade but a new era for Bonamassa.

Among those who value originality, inspiration, eccentricity, and character - as well as talent that hovers somewhere on the outskirts of genius, the story of Paul Thorn is already familiar. Now, Thorn reveals another layer of his fascinating history on the album Pimps & Preachers, addressing that subject on the title cut and in the intriguing “family portrait” he painted for the cover, which highlights his daddy the preacher and his uncle the pimp.

The cover depicts a teeming street scene at the unlikely intersection of Redemption Lane and Turn Out Boulevard. Two figures dominate: a pimp and a preacher, both dressed to the nines beneath broad-brimmed hats, surrounded by hookers, holy rollers and hangers-on, and all on their paths to salvation or perdition. Nearly lost in this tumult is a small boy banging a tambourine branded with the name of Jesus, but backed up against a streetwalker holding a fistful of greenbacks.

“That little boy represents me,” says Thorn. “I’m in the church group, but my eyes are looking back to the street where all the sin is going on. It shows me being intrigued by the broad world. That’s why I made this my album cover. It describes who I am.”

Born in Tupelo, Mississippi and raised among the same spirits (and some of the actual people) who nurtured a young Elvis generations before, Thorn has rambled down back roads and jumped out of airplanes, worked for years in a furniture factory, battled four-time world champion boxer Roberto Durán on national television, signed with and been dropped by a major label, opened for Bonnie Raitt, Mark Knopfler, and John Prine among many other headliners, and made some of the most emotionally restless yet fully accessible music of our time.

Still, Thorn’s story has never been complete. If you follow it back through his songs, at some point near the beginning the mysteries gather like a mist, obscuring the picture and leaving unanswered the question of how he acquired his ability to find brilliance buried in shadows, darkness in daylight, poetry in the mundane, and truth in the brutal beauties of life.

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Pimps & Preachers addresses this lingering riddle. On Thorn’s ninth album, released on his own Perpetual Obscurity label (through Thirty Tigers/RED), the answer begins in the title and the cover image, painted by Thorn with the same power, paradoxes, rough edges and passions that animate his writing and performance. Specifically, it takes us to a central theme of Thorn’s youth: the pull of polar opposites - one representing the severe ecstasies of fundamental faith and the other, the pleasures stigmatized and yet glamorized by the church.

Similar ambiguities fuel the work of other artists to whom Thorn can be compared, from Tom Waits and Lucinda Williams all the way back to Robert Johnson and Hank Williams. What stands Thorn apart from this august company is how personally this dichotomy guided his formative years. In his seminal albums, particularly his landmark Mission Temple Fireworks Stand, his upbringing as the son of a Church of God pentecostal minister became a matter of record. What hasn’t been clear, though, is the parallel impact of his father’s brother, who showed up suddenly from California when Thorn was 12 years old.

“He was a pimp back in the day,” Thorn says. “I had never met him before, so when he came back to Mississippi he had all this street wisdom and I started hanging around him as well as my father. My father was my mentor, but I learned a lot from my uncle too. Everything I’ve accomplished has been influenced by the time I spent around these two men.”

Thorn remains close to his father and his uncle today, closer than ever since his uncle has long abandoned his former livelihood. Yet the qualities that so strongly affected Thorn endure in the lyric to the title track, which honors them both; one for teaching him to love, and the other for teaching him to fight. For all the moral questions raised by the choices each man made, Thorn came to accept what they represented as essential and complementary. His embrace of opposites leads to a unity of spirit in Thorn’s music, which is brought fully to life by his gift as a narrative writer.

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This message rings throughout much of Pimps & Preachers, perhaps most intimately on “I Hope I’m Doing This Right.” The confession implicit in its title is tempered by Thorn’s conviction that life is a full-color proposition.

“The song says ‘Hank Williams was in the darkness when he sang I Saw the Light. I believe there’s good in everyone, I hope I’m doing this right’,” Thorn reflects. “I was talking to somebody the other day about this and they said, ‘As big an alcoholic and a screw-up as Hank Williams was, how did he ever write a song that beautiful?’ And I said, ‘He was able to write it because he was an alcoholic and a screw-up. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have even recognized where the darkness and light were.”

Elsewhere on Pimps & Preachers, Thorn conveys this theme through brief but epic vignettes - parables, almost - in the tradition of his father’s Biblical exegeses. “Love Scar” grew from a conversation Thorn had with a woman backstage at London’s Royal Albert Hall shortly before he would open for Sting. He noticed that her shoulder bore a tattoo of an eye shedding a tear. When he asked what it meant, her answer was sadder and deeper than he had expected.

“She told me about how she met a handsome guy and they had some drinks together,” Thorn recalls. “She had a one-night stand with him and got so distracted by his charm that she went out and got this tattoo because of his opening line when he had started to hit on her: ‘If I could be a tear rolling down your cheek and die on your lips, my life would be complete.’ Unfortunately, that tattoo is with her forever, even though he was gone the next day.”

Each track recounts its own story while clarifying and reinforcing Thorn’s broader vision. The comic yet unsettlingly candid account of romantic opportunity lost too soon on “Nona Lisa,” the immeasurable intensity of love captured in the artfully offhand lyrics of “That’s Life” (taken entirely from words spoken to Thorn by his mother), the assurances extended to all who suffer through uncertain times in “Better Days Ahead” - every moment on Pimps & Preachers speaks universally but with a fluency that stems from the earthy blues, haunted old-school country, and stripped-down urgency of the gospel music that surrounded Thorn throughout his Mississippi upbringing.

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But Thorn’s knack for using snapshots from everyday routine as the elements of this exquisite writing owes entirely to his distinctive abilities and commitment to linking these elements into a profession of mercy and forgiveness - ultimately, the real message of Pimps & Preachers.

“Look, there’s nothing wrong with songs about holding hands or sitting by the phone and waiting for a girl to call,” he says. “But I wrote songs like that when I was 15. I’m trying now to sing about things that mean something to me, for people who want something real, who not only want forgiveness but are willing to give it.”

“Besides,” he concludes, bringing Pimps & Preachers back home. “If I came back to my dad or my uncle with songs like that now, they’d both kick my ass! So I’m still just trying to follow their lead.”

Randy McAllister is one of the premier singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist to emerge from Texas. Heartbreak, humor, high hair and tall Texas tales all play a part in the song writing of Randy McAllister. His music has been hailed as some of the most original and innovative being made today. While comparison’s are not easy, it has been said that his music is a cross between Doug Sahm, John Hiatt and Delbert McClinton, with a blues man’s background and sensibilities thrown into the mix.

Raised in the small Texas town of Novice, McAllister is a fifth-generation Texan, whose father was both a fireman and musician. His father was a drummer in a band called “The Flames”. At a very young age, Randy followed in his fathers foots steps. He began to take up drumming, but the drums were just the beginning for Randy, as he began to develop as a singer and songwriter.

“If Mark Twain had envisioned a 21st century roots musician, he might have created a character like Randy McAllister, with an easy-going persona and a wry, and an observant wit. McAllister weaves material in the singer/songwriter tradition, with nods to a variety of styles. He is one of those rare artists who is able to meld genres such as gospel, blues, country, Tex-Mex, rock and zydeco together and come away with something that is uniquely him.

**In performance, his songs combine an uncontainable energy and intensity with lyrics that dig into the tough topics. From urban violence, homelessness and other harsh realities to more common concerns like love and dating, McAllister’s songwriting approach is particularly skillful, able to be both truthful and funny. McAllister takes universal feelings and translates them into today’s reality, with his own pointed style expressed through his distinctive, soulful voice.”

McAllister has released 7 critically praised albums beginning with his debut “Diggin’ for Sofa Change”, followed by “Grease, Grit, Dirt and Spit”, the much heralded “Double Rectified Bust Head”, 2002 GRAMMY NOMINEE “Givers and Takers”, “Temporary Fixes” and A “Little Left of Center” all built on a firm foundation that is his songwriting. His much anticipated Compilation CD, “Flying High While Staying Low Down” was released in late 2006. Most recently Randy released, “Dope Slap Soup” in June of 2007.

Mighty ORQ - Guitars/Vocals
Terry Dry - Bass/Vocals
Matt Johnson - Drums/Vocals

For almost nine years The Mighty Orq have been playing relentlessly around the South
and Europe releasing five albums, their last two on Pepper Cake Records, and developing
a distinct, recognizable sound as well as a tremendous grassroots following.  Their music is a blend of classic rock energy, Gulf Coast blues, R&B, and pop with gospel undertones that
are as unique as they are powerful.

They started out playing the local haunts in their home town of Houston in late 2002,
and over the last decade have developed into an internationally touring workhorse.  Everywhere the band plays the sentiment among audiences is the same; ‘Why aren’t these
guys famous?!’ “It’s something we don’t think about too much because, honestly, we’re too
busy,” says Mighty Orq, front man and guitarist for the trio.

The band just returned from their sixth European tour in May 2011 in support of their latest release, Lost In Germany.  This album is something of a retrospective.  It is a live recording capturing a night in Germany from 2010 at the intimate venue, Kornbrennerei.  In addition there are tracks taken from an earlier live recording in 2003 at Houston’s famous blues venue, The Big Easy Social & Pleasure Club.  Lost In Germany offers a singular insight into group’s musical evolution; from its early inception as a traditional Blues band to a more song-writing oriented, southern rock and pop sound.  Along with songs from the last four albums, Lost In Germany also features four new unreleased tracks, “The Possum Song,” “So Sad,” “Cold Hearted,” and the Freddie King classic, “Pack It Up.”

Over the summer the band plans to record not one but two albums.  The first will be a band effort showcasing all the new material that has been written over the last three years of non-stop traveling and performing.  The second recording, sponsored by a grant from the Houston Arts Alliance, will be more in the solo vein showcasing Orq’s acoustic guitar and dobro acumen.  The theme for this second CD will be ‘Houston Music’ highlighted with performances and songs by prominent Houston musicians both past and present.

The future is busy and bright for this talented and hard-working band from Houston.  To find out about upcoming events and listen to some mighty tunes visit the band at  www.MightyOrq.com.

Standing at the crossroads of King’s X, Arc Angels, and Gov’t. Mule, The Mighty Orq’s muscular music is the sound track for driving through a rainstorm with the windows down.”
- Bob Ruggerio, Houston Press

Discography:
The Mighty Orq Live: Lost In Germany - 2011

To The Bone (2008)
Milk Money (2005)
Ghost Train (2004)
Prayer Book (2002)

Matt O’ree Band

Biography
Matt O’Ree has been cranking out the blues-rock since he was an early teen. With all the trappings of a genuine guitar hero, he plays with fire in his fingers and blues in his soul.

In 1997, Matt began writing and recording material that evolved into his debut CD, “88 Miles”. It was released in 1998 and gained national reviews and airplay, pushing the band to a higher level which included opening shows for national recording artists like Kansas, Buddy Guy, Leslie West and Mountain, The Outlaws, Marshall Tucker, Gov’t Mule, Robin Trower, Johnny Winter, Dickie Betts, Gretchen Wilson, The Screamin’ Cheetah Wheelies, Bernard Allison, Chris Duarte, Indigenous, Robby Kreiger, Bill Perry, Walter Trout, Labamba’s Big Band, and Smokin’ Joe Kubek.

The completion of his second CD, “Chalk It Up” was the breaking point of blending blues and rock together to form a unique sound of his own. This was released in June 2001 and also received rave reviews with regional and national press recognition and airplay.

In the March 2006 issue of “Guitar World Magazine”  there is a review of Matt O’Ree’s latest release “Shelf Life”, appearing alongside numerous rock legends including Audioslave, Aerosmith, Jimi Hendrix, and The Deftones, that claims that “New Jersey Matt O’Ree is quickly carving out a name for himself as 2006’s new guitar hero.”

Some of Matt’s most recent accomplishments include:

*Won the competition to represent the Jersey Shore Blues Foundation at the International Blues Competition in February 2009

*Chosen to Play Winter NAMM 2009

* Matt O’Ree releases new DVD/CD Combo On April 12, 2008 which was filmed by 6 time Emmy Award Winning Porducer, Mike Pomarico.

*Chosen to Play Winter NAMM 2008

*Chosen to appear on the new Discovery Channel Series “A Biker Lifestyle…The Savage Roads” starring Sony Recording Artist, Pat Savage.

* Winner of “Best Blues Band” at the 2007 Asbury Music Awards

*Winner of two 2006 Asbury Music Awards at the Legendary Stone Pony for Best Guitarist and Best Blues Band for 3rd year in a row.

*Winner of Guitarmageddon “King of the Blues” 2006 hosted by BB King and John Mayer on 6/8/06

*Winner of the Acoustic Showdown on 5/23/06 sponsored by Upstage Magazine

*Winner four 2005 Asbury Music Awards at the Legendary Stone Pony for:

Best Blues Band
Best Guitarist
Best Local Release - “Shelf Life”
Best Song of the Year - “Saints & Sinners”

*Sharing the stage with world famous drummer Buddy Miles

*Invited to play at Les Paul’s Birthday Party

*Finalists in the Jimi Hendrix Electric Guitar Competition.

*Performed at the first NYC tribute to legendary blues-rock guitarist Rory Gallagher, winning him a standing ovation from a sold out crowd.

After getting into the music promotion business with inspiration from my chance discovery of Joe Bonamassa in 2002. I did the music bookings for a friend of mine’s bar in Oklahoma City. I was contacted by the management of the Steepwater Band. They had a routing opportunity on their way to boarding the Give me Three Steps Cruise. I would have to say they were one of the best bands that ever stepped foot on my stage during the time I booked that room. Others that graced the Road House stage during that time besides hosting Joe Bonamassa for his 30th Birthday celebration was BX3 Stu Hamm  Billy Sheehan and Jeff Berlin’s project as well as Robben Ford. Check these guys out.

The Steepwater Band

the Steepwater Band’s forthcoming studio release, “CLAVA” (pronounced CLAY-va) finds the band hitting their most creative and focused point of their careers. The new record was recorded this past March on the South Side of Chicago at the studio of the same name. Also known as a trinity of stars, CLAVA is a fitting name for the new record produced by the trio along with Colin Sipos, a young, up-and-coming producer/ engineer who has worked with the critically acclaimed Iron & Wine and Califone. Sipos also recorded TSB’s “The Stars Look Tonight/My Back Pocket (2010)” single and mixed “Live at the Double Door (2010).” The ten new songs feature some of their most blues-infused, heavy and psychedelic tunes to date. Each song takes you on a musical journey, steeped in tradition, while not being overly nostalgic. On “CLAVA” the band honors their heroes and pays them the highest compliment – continuing the Rock n’ Roll lineage while creating paths not yet explored. This release exemplifies the musical trinity that is The Steepwater Band.

Monte Montgomery with Band

August 19^th 2011

9pm opener TBA

Oklahoma City Limits

4801 S Eastern Ave

Tickets

You can call it prescient or predetermined, but when Terry Lickona, undisputed tastemaker and producer of Austin City Limits, plucked a then relatively unknown guitar talent to tape a segment of the legendary show, one had the sense that this was just the beginning.

Since that jaw dropping performance, Monte Montgomery has embarked on an almost fantasy like rock and roll roller coaster ride filled with dizzying accomplishments and mind blowing accolades.  Named one of the “Top 50 All-Time Greatest Guitar Players” by Guitar Player Magazine, he’s been called everything from “guitar-god” to the “answer to the Fermi Paradox”.

Still, despite the six-string notoriety, Monte is not content to rest on his musical laurels. “I’ve resisted temptation to be just that guitar gunslinger from Austin, Texas,” says Monte. “I strive to have more depth, to be more layered as an artist, songwriter and singer.”

With the release of his latest CD “Monte Montgomery”, he is cementing his place as not just some blazingly electrified acoustic guitar playing freak of nature, but also a rare and true triple threat; songwriter, singer and master musician.

“I want my music to be accessible to everyone,” says Monte.  Accessible it is, but he’s still managed to make a record that is uncompromising.  The virtuoso-like trademark guitar licks and arrangements you’d expect from Monte are there, forming the rich and colorful aural backdrop for his insightful songwriting and amazing voice.

The end result, in a day of homogenized, digitalized, and processed music, is that this new project stands out as a throw back to the great pop rock records of the past.  Recorded live at the legendary Masterlink Studio, the textured, deep, rich, nuanced and just plain rocking 12 tracks run the gamut, showcasing Monte’s stylistic diversity beginning with the opening album track “River”, an almost primal seven minute dark bluesy roots rocker, and ending with “Midlife Matinee” a wistful ballad that soulfully explores the turning points and crossroads of life, love and loss.

In between, it’s a mix of dark, edgy rock to light, breezy pop-like melodies.  There’s the pure rocker “Can’t Fool Everyone” and the jazzy, vibey “Could’ve Loved You Forever”.  And just when you think you’ve got him pegged, Monte changes it up to leave you breathless with the sensual, lyrical, Latin-tinged “Moonlight Tango.”

“All of these songs are road tested,” laughs Monte when you ask him to explain how he chose what to record for this record.  “I don’t write with a project in mind.  I write to play live, for my fans.  My audience is great, they tell me what to record. It’s like having a built-in focus group.”

Long a big draw on the live music scene, Monte’s non-stop touring schedule this year has included ParkPop (one of the largest music festivals in Europe).  A Monte Montgomery show is likened to a musical religious experience.  “I wanted to capture what I do live on this record.  I want people to close their eyes and envision themselves at one of my concerts.”

To do that Monte enlisted the help of the hip, rock producer John Billings and Rob Clark, Grammy nominated Neil Young and CSN&Y recording engineer.  “In the past my records were made in my hometown of Austin”, says Monte.  “We went to a larger [studio] room in Nashville for this one which, with some very clever microphone placement techniques from Rob and John, enabled us all to set up in the same room and just play each song straight through.  These are live takes, band tracks and no overdubs, with the only exception being some different instrument parts (string section and B3) added later to some tracks.”

All the songs were written by Monte, with the exception of “Little Wing”.  Monte’s blistering interpretation of the Jimi Hendrix classic is a fan favorite but has never been recorded in a studio environment.  “I never play it the same way twice,” says Monte. “So when making this record we planned for “Little Wing” to be the last thing we attempted to track every night in the studio and if we get it, we get it.  If not, we would just leave it to the live performances.   On the second night, after a long day in the studio, the track we got was like, wow.  We knew it was magic.”

Ironically, it’s the cover of another rock pop classic that is bringing Monte a high profile fan and opening up new doors.  After seeing Monte’s version of Sara Smile on YouTube,Daryl Hall (Hall & Oates) was so blown away he invited Monte to be the featured artist onLive From Daryl’s House,the popular web-based music show.

These accomplishments are quite a distance from Birmingham, Alabama where Monte learned to play piano and trumpet.  At the age of 12 Monte moved to Texas to live with his mom, a singer/songwriter who instilled in him a passion for music and a taste of the life he was destined to lead as he sang and performed with her in Hill Country picking parlors.

It was the eventual move to Austin where you could say he earned his musical baccalaureate from that city’s highly competitive music scene (earning him seven consecutive Austin Music Awards).  That led to the current fulfillment of his musical destiny; a dedicated fan base, critical acclaim and an ever growing touring circuit in the U.S. and Europe.  It’s no wonder that when Terry Lickona introduced him on that Austin City Limits’ stage some years ago he uttered these words: “Monte Montgomery blows people away. There is no other way to describe it.”

May 9th 8pm, Freede Little Theater @ Oklahoma Civic Center Music Hall

This will be the Robben Ford Trio with Travis Carlton, son of Larry, bass guitar and Toss Panos, drums

May 10th Masterclass/clinic Open to the public limited seating available.

ACM@UCO Performance Venue 323 East Sheridan Ave

The Clinic will be open to the general public with very limited seating tickets available through Ticketstorm.com

Students of ACM will be the guests of The Oklahoma Blues Society limited to the first 50 to sign up contact your teacher or administrator.

The class will focus on the basic building blocks of music theory, chord progressions, the use of voicings, listening and improvisation.
There will be an emphasis on the importance of the blues in building a strong musical foundation, as well as the understanding and usage of advanced harmony to add dimension to simple music forms and chord progressions. The guitar will be featured, but beginning and mid-level students of any instrument would
benefit from this class.

Robben Ford is one of the premiere electric guitarists today, particularly

known for his blues playing as well as his ability to be comfortable in a

variety of musical contexts. A five-time Grammy nominee, he has played

with artists as diverse as Joni Mitchell, Jimmy Witherspoon, Miles Davis,

George Harrison, Phil Lesh, Bonnie Raitt, Claus Ogerman, Michael

McDonald, Bob Dylan, John Mayall, Greg Allman and many others. (See

Discography)

Born in 1951 in Woodlake, California, and raised in Ukiah, Robben was

the third of four sons in a musical family. His father Charles was a

country and western singer and guitarist before entering the army and

marrying Kathryn, who played piano and had a lovely singing voice.

Robben’s first chosen instrument was the saxophone, which he began to

play at age ten and continued to play into his early twenties. He began to

teach himself guitar at age thirteen upon hearing the two guitarists from

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Michael Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop. In

the late 1960’s, Ford frequented the Fillmore and Winterland Auditoriums

in San Francisco to see Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Cream, Led Zeppelin,

Albert King, B.B. King and all of the progenitors of blues. “It was an

incredible time for electric guitar,” Robben recalls.

On his interest in jazz, Robben says,” I fell in love with the sax-playing of

Paul Desmond and The Dave Brubeck Quartet, and before long found

Ornette Coleman, Archie Shepp, Yusef Lateef, Roland Kirk, John Coltrane,

Wayne Shorter, and of course, Miles Davis.” These influences have stayed

with Robben, playing a large part in his particular blend of jazz and blues

that define him as a guitarist and allow him to play in a wide variety of

settings.

After high school, Robben and his brothers Patrick (a blues drummer) and

Mark (a blues harmonica player) formed The Charles Ford Blues Band

(named after their father), and recorded for the Arhoolie label. Robben

(on sax and guitar) and Patrick went on to tour the U.S. with Chicago

harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite, again recording for Arhoolie.

Robben’s first attempt at forming his own jazz quartet was picked up by

legendary blues singer Jimmy Witherspoon, which brought Robben to L.A.

He toured the U.S. and Europe with Witherspoon and was seen by Tom

Scott and members of The L.A. Express, who were about to begin a

promotional tour with Joni Mitchell for her recording “Court and Spark.”

Robben was invited to play guitar on the tour and played on two

recordings with Mitchell and The L.A. Express. “The two years I spent with

Joni were the most formative of my musical life. Joni was just brilliant and very accessible, and the members of The L.A. Express became good

friends and teachers. It was great.”

Beatle George Harrison invited Robben to join him on his “Dark Horse”

tour of the U.S. and Canada, raising his musical profile even further.

Shortly after the two month stint with Harrison, Robben moved to

Colorado to take a much-needed break from music and to study with

Buddhist teacher Chogyam Trungpa. In 1977, he was approached by

Elektra Records, which produced his first solo recording “The Inside

Story” with a group of musicians who went on to become The

Yellowjackets.

Elektra closed their doors in the early 1980’s, leading to a time of

uncertainty.  Robben moved to San Francisco to be close to family and his

early musical history. Soon his career would take another upward swing,

recording and touring with Michael McDonald, securing a recording

contract with Warner Brothers Records, and meeting his soon-to-be wife,

actress Anne Kerry. After moving to New York with Anne, he was called to

play with musical icon Miles Davis. “Producer Tommy LiPuma played Miles

my work with the Yellowjackets, then three days later, Miles called me

personally to join his band. Shocking!” Robben lamented having to leave

Miles after only six months because of recording commitments with

Warner Brothers, but was told by Miles that if he ever wanted to come

back, “just come back.”

Robben’s 1988 release for Warner Brothers, “Talk to Your Daughter”

brought his first Grammy nomination (Best Contemporary Blues

Recording) and he started touring the world under his own name. Still

based in New York, he backed David Sandborn on the television show

“Night Music,” in which Sandborn hosted a variety of musical acts.

Robben toured with Sandborn in 1990, then moved back to southern

California shortly thereafter to be closer to his own band.

After leaving Warner Brothers, Robben signed with Stretch/GRP records,

where he finally found a real home for his creativity, recording three CDs

for them with his band “The Blue Line” (Tom Brechtlein on drums and

Roscoe Beck on bass). After a very fruitful eight years, Robben disbanded

the group and recorded two more CDs for the label which had then

become Stretch/Blue Thumb: “Tiger Walk” (an instrumental recording

produced in New York with Keith Richard’s rhythm section) and

“Supernatural,” his most accomplished work up to that point as a

songwriter.In 2000 Robben was invited to tour with Phil Lesh and Friends on a cobill with Bob Dylan, reuniting him with Billy Paine and Paul Barrere of

Little Feat, as well as drummer John Molo. “This experience gave me new

respect for Jerry Garcia as a musician and songwriter. The songs and

musical context were pure pleasure–real guitar music!

When his contract expired at Stretch/Blue Thumb, Robben signed with

Concord Records, the largest independently-owned record company at

the time. In 2002, he released “Blue Moon” and in 2003 “Keep on

Runnin,” a recording full of the 60’s blues/R&B feeling with which he

grew up. His third release for Concord was entitled “Truth”. “I feel this is

the best work I have done in terms of a solo recording. It is my most

realized work as a songwriter, and I feel like I am reaching higher ground

as a guitarist. “Truth” represents the blues as they are today; some of the

songs are sociopolitical in essence, but not without humor, and the

musical setting is fresh.”

Robben’s fourth release for Concord, Soul on Ten” is a “live” recording

performed in San Francisco. “People had been requesting a live recording

for years and I had the right band, music, and venue to pull it o”.” The

CD also includes two studio tracks which feature Larry Goldings on B3

organ and John Button on bass.

Most recently (2010) Robben released “Renegade Creation,” with a group

of musical friends who have played in di”erent combinations and

contexts over the years and decided to focus on a project together

recording for Mike Varney’s Shrapnel label. This is a rock band, Robben’s

first, and the results have people talking: “Dare I say everyone who hears

it, loves it!” The other members are guitarist Mike Landau, bassist Jimmy

Haslip and drummer Gary Novak.

Robben has been touring the world o” and on with the legendary

guitarist Larry Carlton, the two producing “Live in Tokyo”, and an

“unplugged” DVD from Paris. Collaboration seems to be the current M.O.

– projects with John Scofield, Michael McDonald, and touring and

recording with fellow Miles Davis alumni saxophonist Bill Evans, as well as

Randy Brecker and Rolling Stones bassist Darryl Jones.

Robben also collaborates with his wife Anne on various musical projects

including her recent CD “Weill”, which Robben produced on their own

Illyria label.

Grammy Winner Stanley Clarke Reflects On His Win And Two Nominations, His New Record Label And

Roxboro Entertainment Group

Jazz bass legend Stanley Clarke is thrilled to win 2011 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album with his most recent CD, The Stanley Clarke Band. He was also nominated in the category of Best Pop Instrumental Performance, “No Mystery.” Clarke is especially pleased because he feels that this album’s music is fresh and different from just about anything he’s done before. He realized early on in the recording process that the range of collaborative material he was creating with fellow band members would allow him to venture to new levels of experimentation utilizing his arsenal of bass instruments.

On hearing the news while in Australia on tour with his seminal group Return To Forever, Clarke stated, “I’m grateful on behalf of the whole band for this honor. It’s humbling to be in such strong company. It’s so gratifying to see that jazz and instrumental music remain such vibrant and exciting musical forms, and that we could contribute to their vitality. I’d like to thank the members of the Stanley Clarke Band: keyboardist Ruslan Sirota; drummer Ronald Bruner, Jr.; pianist Hiromi Uehara and the rest of the performers on this album. I’d also like to thank my wife Sofi, who’s been such a strong supporter of my career, and my children, who are also making their paths in the arts.”

Other players on the Grammy-winning album include vocalist Cheryl Bentyne; guitarists Charles Altura, Rob Bacon and Armand Sabal-Lecco; saxophonist Bob Sheppard; bass synthesizer Lorenzo “Larry” Dunn; keyboardist Felton Pilate; horn players Andrew Lippman and John Paperbook; and drum programmers Chris Clarke and Jon Hakakian.

The album has garnered outstanding reviews since it’s release in June 2010. J. Hayes of Examiner.com states, “Stanley Clarke makes an album of great music with this new band. This is what I believe jazz always should to be: progressive, improvisational, sophisticated music influenced by the experiences, ears, hearts and spirits of the artists

Stanley Clarke Grammy/REG Release – Page 2

making it.” Damian Erskine of Bass Musician Magazine adds, “This newest release from icon Stanley Clarke is poised to impress in every way. This may be my favorite of Stanley’s lineups. It’s got some great grooves, get’s funky as hell and shreds just enough (but not too much).”

Not one to rest on the laurels from his various pursuits as a composer, performer and recording artist of 40 albums and 60 film scores, the Fall of 2010 marked Clarke’s launch of his own record label, Roxboro Entertainment Group, named for his Philadelphia high school. This business venture includes music publishing for his own and other musicians’ work, as well as the development of various projects aimed at music education.

“When you are starting a record company, diversity plays a major role,” says Clarke. “All of Roxboro’s artists come from various locations in the world and offer remarkable cultural differences.”

Roxboro Entertainment Group, unveils its first two releases this month with guitarist Lloyd Gregory’s self-titled CD Lloyd Gregory and multi-instrumentalist Kennard Ramsey’s Somos. The next two albums on the Roxboro Entertainment Group label are scheduled later in the year. They will be the CDs of keyboardist Sunnie Paxson with Jazz Divertido and Ukrainian-born Ruslan Sirota, pianist, arranger and keyboardist, who collaborated on The Stanley Clarke Band with self-titled Ruslan.

Of the first two releases, Ramsey’s new world music inspired Somos is an exploration of various music genres. It is influenced by the arrangements and orchestrations that personified the innovation of Verve, CTI and Blue Note era recording artists. Ramsey, an eclectic and often enigmatic Los Angeles based composer/musician, presents compositions that are distinguished by his innovative use of live orchestra, synthesizer and other digital audio media, integrating contemporary music genres with traditional.

A master of both acoustic and electric guitar as well as a musical director who has played and recorded with artists as diverse as Martha Reeves and Gerald Albright, San Francisco-based Lloyd Gregory’s smooth, soulful, melodic, and flowing sound evokes unique hints of his extensive R&B roots. In Clarke’s words, “He is a sweet warm guy, which comes out in his music. His music reminds me of a modern-day Wes Montgomery.”

Clarke looks forward to developing unique avenues of exploration with the Roxboro Entertainment Group. Noting the numerous changes in the music industry from when he began forty years ago—he feels “the sky’s the limit!” Clarke’s favorite quotation, “A society is only as great as its dreams, and its dreams are dreamed by artists…,” is Roxboro Entertainment Group’s working model.