Steve Winwood - Jb&S "Some Bad Ass" Guitar Award Winner

No offense, just couldn't resist...

John Hiatt - The Best of Advice

One for the good guys looking out for others...



Kickin' and a-screamin'
Only way I learn
I'm afraid of my own shadow
Not the bridge around the turn

Well I lost myself and found myself
While you were kissin' ass
And I know it's not your nature
Just to let me pass

I'm gonna go down swingin'
Singin' till the end
I'm gonna go down swingin'
You and me and your best friend
I'm gonna go down swingin'
Upper cut and two left jabs
I'm gonna go down swingin' with everything I have

Sometimes I am a predator
Prowlin' for my life
Other times I am a field mouse
Running for the sides
Of the biggest, flattest corn field
Bigger than my Indiana home
'Til the harvest comes along
And I leave my tiny bones

I'm gonna go down swingin'
Singin' till the end
I'm gonna go down swingin'
Like the Duke recommends
I'm gonna go down swingin'
For the bleachers in left field
I'm gonna go down swingin' like a blade of steel

There's a scarecrow scarin' nothin'
Trumpet player in the barn
And he's puffin' both his cheeks out
And he's liftin' both his arms

As he blows his notes to heaven
As the preacher dunks you in
And all along the river
The air is sweet as sin

I wanna go down singin'
Hallelujah Gabriel
I wanna go down singin'
Oh, you play the blues so well
I wanna go down swingin'
Three sheets to the wind
I wanna go down swingin', punch drunk to the end

Mel Melton on Sonny Landreth's Down In Louisiana

Harmonica and vocals served up right...

Sixteen Tons - The Don Harrison Band

Featuring the rhythm section of Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Des'ree - You Gotta Be

One for Alexis Lily, forever no matter what...

Grayson Capps - In Good Company

My ten year old daughter does a great imitation of Grayson Capps. "Yesterday was a very fine day indeed..."

Both the neighborhood and the characters here are all too familiar. Just wish I had seen Scarlett Jo on UNO's campus while I was there.

For What It's Worth - Louisiana Style

Good to find something going on at the Louisiana Music Factory while I enjoy my second cup...

the subdudes - from back in the day

If only we could go back just One Time...

Last Train to Memphis - Beth McKee

"The King is gone but he still lives on..."

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue - Better Than This?

I don't think so... Something serious going down midway through this one. T's a lock. Check out one Joey Peeples on the drums with "Cousin" Pete on guitar in the background.

Janiva Magness - You Were Never Mine

One to remind us that some things just weren't meant to be... You might want to turn this one up to "11."

Scotty Moore & Eric Clapton

Nothing better than a little EC just before daybreak. One for SL over at Anderson Layman.

Deuce and a Quarter - Levon Helm & Company

One for my bucket list - A long road trip with my good friend, DeucE, in an old Buick. Now, you're talking...

Rush - An Introduction

So "J," my son's friend says just today that he really doesn't know any rock bands and that he doesn't have a favorite. Turns out he has a drum kit but he's never heard of "the Professor." Methinks he might just be pulling my leg but just in case - Here you go, kid. You can thank me in ten years.

Susan Tedeschi - Rock Me Right

This year's Jb&S "Father's Day Tune" Music Award winner. One for the Big Daddys the world over...

John Hiatt - Almost Fed Up With The Blues

Of two things I am certain - Hiatt can write and Sonny can play. Proof positive.

Atlanta Rhythm Section - Spooky

ARS keepin' it tight...

Tony Joe White & Eric Clapton - Old School

Simply as good as it gets...

Louisiana Blues - Shreveport's John Campbell

We were sitting on the front porch on what was just another one of those all too hot summer days of my youth. Three, four neighborhood kids taking turns banging on a couple of beat up guitars making a terrible racket when out of nowhere, an old hobo of a man appeared and asked if one of us would be so kind as to fetch him a cold drink of water. As I handed him the glass, the old man thanked me for my kind hospitality.

He mentioned that he had been known to play a little guitar in his day and offered to tune our guitars for a little pocket change if we could spare it. You know teenagers, especially the motley crew that we were, just can't resist and we were no exception. "Do we look like we have money to spare?" "Didn't you tour with Jethro Tull?" "How about playing The Song Remains the Same by Zeppelin?"

Just then my Mom appeared with a brown sandwich bag and a small fist of change and inquired, "Sir, are my boys troubling you?" Mind you, I was her only boy in the group but she was always willing to accept responsibility for any kid in our neighborhood. "No ma'am not at all and may God bless you for your kindness." "Ma'am, will this side road take me to the bus line to Canal Street?" "Yes sir, it will. Best to you."

You know that uncomfortable feeling of guilt that you once got when one of your parents put you in your place without saying a word to you? Next comes silence. We then jockeyed for position to hand him a guitar to tune.

Before he left, he tuned those two guitars and played some lightning blues in the process, unlike anything we had ever seen before. "Boys, that might not have been your style but if you ever get a chance to see Slim Campbell play a show, do yourself that favor." And, off he went toward the cut-through without a look back.

It didn't take long for the banter to start up again. "You don't suppose that was Slim Campbell?" "He'd have to lose thirty or forty pounds before anyone would call him Slim." "I still say I saw him on tour with Jethro Tull." "Who the hell is Slim Campbell, anyway?"

To my regret, I never got to see Slim Campbell play and I never saw the old man again.

To John Slim Campbell, RIP. To the old man, a true fan if I ever saw one, hope you're resting easy too.