ARTIST PROFILES

I haven't seen a woman play guitar like this artist in a very long time. Meet Samantha Fish from Kansas City, Missouri and she is fire on that guitar. She didn't take to the guitar right away as a child. She started out playing drums but then by age 15 she made the switch to guitar. Her dad played guitar with his friends and her mother was an instructor for the church choir. Music runs in her veins for sure. Her musical influences are Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Ray Vaughn and it

This talented jazz pianist from Bilbao, Spain is one funky musician. Since age 4 he began his musical studies and has not stopped since. A child prodigy if you will and boy can he play a mean piano. I love his mix of jazz with some blues and there's funk in there as well. When I first heard about him it was 2012 and the song, A Dog Called Jazz, loved its swing and I have been a fan ever since. Juan Ortiz is also an educator and teaches master classes at certain schools. He is

I love this British singer-songwriter's smokey voice, which is perfect for the Blues. Meet Elles Bailey from Bristol, England who has been winning audiences around Europe. She says when she was about 3 years old she became very sick with pneumonia and had a tube put down her throat. She says this accounts for her smokey voice. One of her favorite singers and who she counts as an influence is Janis Joplin. Janis was known for being one of the hardest-working women on the rock

After listening to this jazz group's latest songs I was completely blown away. Matters Unknown is the project of jazz composer and multi-instrumentalist, Jonny Enser. The music is a mix of jazz with Afrobeats that brings you into a spiritual awakening for your soul. Based in between Leeds and London this artist has been a part of the jazz-funk band, Nubiyan Twist but has played with many others. He is not only a musician but also has been teaching for the past 4 years. Jonny

From the first guitar riff on his latest song, The Devil's Daughters, I was hooked. Singer-songwriter and guitarist Shawn James makes the type of music that makes you stand up and take notice. Originally from Chicago, Illinois, and now residing in Fayetteville, Arkansas, his music is a mix of Blues/Folk with a lot of soul. When he was growing up in Chicago he was singing gospel music at his church choir and it wasn't until later that he started playing guitar and piano. When

Rockabilly music had always been around but became widely popular during the '80s when the band The Stray Cats burst onto the scene. Since then there are plenty of Rockabilly bands playing the club circuit around the country. I first heard about Al Dual when I came across one of his videos for the song, Cadillac Funk and I had to check out this talented singer. Alfonso José Martínez Martínez from Murcia, Spain, and professionally known as Al Dual fell in love with American m

You may not have heard of this talented pianist, composer, and bandleader but you will soon. Lisa Hilton from San Luis Obispo in California taught herself to play the keyboard at age six. It was a color-coded one and started writing songs at an early age. As with all pianists, she studied classical music but that all changed when in her teens she fell in love with jazz and the blues. She loved the music of Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, and Jellyroll Morton. She first composed

When I first heard this singer I was blown away. The smoothness of his falsetto had me at hello. Meet Curtis Harding from Saginaw, Michigan who is making the kind of soul music that makes you reminisce about days long gone. His mixture of gospel, blues, R&B, psychedelia, with some sprinkles of rock in his soul music is a perfect blend. Growing up music was very prevalent in his household. His mother was a gospel singer and he and his family would go on tour with her. As a you

This singer-songwriter from Bloomington, Illinois is an interesting character. Pokey LaFarge born Andrew Heissler loved reading about history and literature when he was growing up. Music is also in his blood since his grandfather was a musician and played the banjo. One of his first guitars was a tenor banjo that his grandfather gave him. This set the stage for his career. He says he gets his nickname, Pokey from his mom who would scold him as a child to hurry up. Somewhere a

This talented up-and-coming guitarist has been making the rounds in the jazz world. Dan Wilson grew up in Akron, Ohio, and was active in his church. This is where his musical roots started. He graduated from Youngstown State University from their music program and wrote his thesis on Brazilian music. He says his musical influences growing up were Wes Montgomery, George Benson, Charlie Christian, and more. This guitarist can flow easily from jazz to blues, R&B, and gospel with

My good friend, Earl Douglas from the Black Rock Coalition happened to post about this band and I was intrigued. I'm always searching for new music to discover and have people check out. In listening to this rock band out of East London, England, I was elated when I heard their music. They call themselves The Daybreakers and the band formed in 2019. In such a short time they have been making quite a name for themselves. Singer-songwriter, Aidan Connell who is a Blues-rock gui

I first discovered this talented singer-songwriter/guitarist several years ago. Back then he had a beautiful song called, Passionflower. What fascinated me about him was how he uses his guitar as his bass, drums, and percussion all at once. You can say he is a one-man-band, literally. Jon Gomm is from Blackpool, U.K., and started playing the ukelele when he was 2 years old. He began taking classical guitar lessons at age 4 and later when he was a teenager joined his father wh

You'd like to hear some blues? Well, I think I found one of the most talented young blues players around today and his name is Marcus King. The young guitarist, singer-songwriter, originates from Greenville, North Carolina, and is the lead singer and frontman for his namesake band. The band's music can go from hard Rockin Southern rock to some deep Blues licks that will knock your socks off. Marcus first picked up the guitar practically as a baby in diapers but was destined t

As a lover of music in all its genres, nothing makes me happier than meeting indie artists from the start of their career and meeting them again years later and seeing their progress. Singer-songwriter, composer, educator, Lenora Zenzalai Helm, I have known for 3 decades. I remember when she started performing at many of the New York Jazz clubs. She has performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center, JVC Jazz Festival, and many others. She was born on the south side of Chicago like our

Every so often an artist catches your attention and you need to know.... who is that? Abraham Alexander is an artist to watch. Born in Greece to parents of Nigerian descent and raised in Texas this talented singer-songwriter has a story to tell. His parents moved stateside to escape the racial tensions they experienced in Athens, Greece. He started playing around with the guitar at age 8 and by age 22 was fully committed to teaching himself to play the guitar. While in coll

If you have been following the Jazz scene then you know that there is a huge resurgence happening in the United Kingdom. I came upon this soulful Jazz singer, Georgia Cecile from Uddingston, Lanarkshire in Scotland who has been shaking up the jazz scene lately. Growing up in a family of jazz musicians and jazz singers it was instilled in her to follow musically with jazz. When you first listen to Georgia Cecile you think she's a mature or older seasoned jazz singer because o

Featured Artist - February 2020 In 2015, Black Crowes guitarist Rich Robinson announced the group was done, for good this time. He then decided to focus his efforts on a new band, the Magpie Salute. Familiar faces Marc Ford (guitar) and bassist Sven Pipien (bass) joined Robinson, along with vocalist John Hogg, Matt Slocum (keyboards) and Joe Magistro (drums), recording High Water and High Water II. Of course, the Robinsons can’t stay mad at each other, so the Black Crowes an

High school chums Tarek Jafar (Lead Vocals, Guitar) and Justin Tessier (Drums, Backing Vocals) formed the Blue Stones in Windsor, Canada in 2008. The pair has been releasing music for several years, with an eponymous EP issued in 2011, the EP How’s That Sound (2012), and a full-length album, Black Holes, in 2018. Upon the latter’s release, Atwood Magazine raved, “The Blue Stones make good ole dirty rock n’ roll, and they do it well.” Canadian Beats noted, “ The Blue Stones ha

The Teskey Brothers are a rhythm and blues band from Melbourne Australia. Formed in 2008 by brothers Josh ( guitar and vocals) and Sam Teskey (lead guitar) with bassist Brendon Love and drummer Liam Gough, the group is firmly ensconced in a Motown-era tradition they definitely do justice to, yet they also add some jazz and blues for good measure. After years of relatively low-key gigs, the band finally got some traction when they recorded their debut album, Half Mile Harve

Singer/songwriter Alice Phoebe Lou spent her formative years on the Cape Peninsula of South Africa. Growing up in an artistic family (her parents are documentary filmmakers), she was drawn to music early. She started out on piano but eventually learned to play guitar. Summer trips to Paris visiting her aunt inspired her to head to Europe after school, and she lived in Amsterdam and finally made her new home in Berlin. Once there, she began performing as a street musician,