Ginger St. James began her career singing in small town Ontario bars and now headlines shows as one of Canada’s top roots rock / rockabilly / country artists. Good stuff.
16 Horsepower was a Denver-based group that mixed rock, bluegrass and Appalachian gospel. They released four studio albums before egos got in the way: they disbanded in 2005, citing “mostly political and spiritual” differences.
“David is a great blues player. I like his style!” – Johnny Winter Canadian singer, songwriter and bluesman David Gogo began playing guitar at the age of five; at 15 he met and was encouraged by Stevie Ray Vaughan; a year later he formed his first band. He’s won numerous awards, including three JUNOs (despite EMI spiking his solo album in the US).
Been watching a lot of police body cam videos lately, and after a while I began noticing behavioral patterns of those who eventually get hauled off to the hoosegow. The ones who squeal the loudest are usually guilty of more egregious crimes than just expired license plate tags.
I also notice that the same applies to politicians when they’re exposed as unethical grifting frauds. Keep that in mind as you watch current events unfold.
Any Way The Wind Blows, Los Brujos (1996)
From Unmatched – Tributo A Zappa Vol. 1, a collection of covers of Frank Zappa songs, de grupos y artistas españoles. There are 9 such compilations in the series.
OK Go outdid Rube Goldberg in this sequence from 2010, all filmed in one take. Their website features behind-the-scenes clips of the set ups.
Professor Louie & The Crowmatix was founded by frontman Alan Hurwitz: “While performing as a duo with Rick Danko on stage, Rick would start calling me Professor Louie, and it was really a great honor.” Hurwitz produced three studio albums for The Band, and went on to form Woodstock Records.
Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse is a roots rock blues Americana country soul band from California, featuring vocals by documentary filmmaker, television producer, business entrepreneur and Louisiana native Greta Valenti.
The Terraplanes Blues Band is a relative newcomer to the scene. Having released their debut EP in 2020, they’ve already won recognition as “Emerging Blues Act of the Year” at the UK Blues Awards 2023.
Have a reverent Easter, an irreverent egg hunt, and stop in if you’re passing by – the porch is never closed.
Homemade Jamz Blues Band made music history as the youngest blues band to achieve a record deal. Based in Tupelo, Mississippi, the group features siblings Taya Perry / drums, Kyle Perry / bass, Ryan Perry / guitar & vocals. Their father Reynaud Perry sits in occasionally on harp, while their mother manages the band. The guitars were designed by their father and are made from mufflers and exhaust pipes, with lug nuts for volume and tone controls.
Laura Cox is a French-born multi-instrumentalist who started out playing solos and cover versions of classic rock tunes for her YouTube channel. She built a fan base and formed the Laura Cox Band in 2013.
Based in Liverpool, England, The Heavy North plays what has been described as “dirty scuzzed up dive bar blues”. The band consists of Kenny Stuart / vocals, Jose Ibanez / guitar & producer, Jack Birch / guitar, Andrew Horrocks / bass, Ste Penn / keyboards, Mark Rice / drums.
Only two months into the year and the news cycle is spinning so fast the bearings fused, the wheels are gone and now it’s airborne. WWIII has either been averted or is about to begin, and there ain’t much any of us can do about it except for one thing: Porch Time. It coincides with Show Up Time tomorrow, so see you when you get here.
You Keep On Worrying Me, Ike Turner & the Kings of Rhythm (1959) “Turner maintained strict discipline over the band, insisting they lived in a large house with him so he could conduct early morning rehearsals at a moment’s notice. He would fire anyone he suspected of drinking or taking drugs, and would fine band members if they played a wrong note.”
Croatian harp player Tomislav Goluban teamed up with ocular alignment specialist Crooked Eye Tommy Marsh to promote virtual refreshments with virtual classic cars of questionable makes and models.
“Jimmy Vivino(aka Jimmy V) has always considered himself ‘a blues man with a job’. Although best known for serving 26 years as Conan O’Brien’s musical director, guitarist and bandleader, his experience in the music business predates that by 20 plus years.” – YouTube
Julian Sas : “I was born and raised in the Centre of The Netherlands in 1970 and grew up In a small town and had a normal childhood… The first years I spent my life living on a boat on the river. In fact I was born on that river.”His website cover photo is quite Kinison-esque.
Super Bowl Licks tomorrow, with chili on the menu and TV on the porch. You know what to do. See you by kickoff time.
Besides being guitarist for Supertramp, Carl Verheyen is “one of LA’s elite ‘first call’ session players for the past 40 years, playing on hundreds of records, movie soundtracks and television shows.” Unfortunately Verheyen’s videos don’t credit the band, but that’s Dave Marotta on bass, John Mader / drums, Troy Dexter / keyboards and Hollye Dexter / vocals.
Message to 2025: Please STFD and STFU. We’ve had just about enough of your shit. Take a breather. Message to everyone else: Porch time commences at the crack of noon. See you there.
HeavyDrunk: “Sippi Dupree was my bus driver when I was a kid. He helped me through an emotional crisis when I was in 3rd grade, and became my friend. He disappeared the next year. This is his story.”
Nuno Mindelis (aka “The Beast from Brazil”) is an Angolan-born Brazilian blues guitarist and singer-songwriter. (His website’s bonky, gotta scroll down.) This song is sung in Kimbundo dialect according to the Utoobage notes, Google Translate says it’s Zaptotec, and it seems to be about bears.
19 Twenty is a roots blues / rock / punk band from Australia with a sizeable fan base who know all the words to Tramp Stamp.
Fires are still burning in California, people are still recovering from Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, news of just about everything is breaking hourly, and I hope 2025 stops dicking around and shows at least some respect. Meanwhile, I’ll be on the porch talking to dogs, see you at half past whenever you show up.