Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar are a soul / gospel / R&B / blues group from Toronto, whose musical influences come from way past the Canadian border. The full band consists of 10 members plus singer / songwriter / guitarist Samantha Martin.
Multi-instrumental blues / roots rockers Rebecca & Megan Lovell, aka Larkin Poe, are amazing. Multiple Grammy Award winners from Georgia, the sisters named their group after their great-great-great-great-grandfather, a cousin of that other Poe guy.
Selwyn Birchwood is an American blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter from Tampa, Florida. He was the winner of the Blues Foundation’s 2013 International Blues Challenge (band category), as well the winner of the Albert King Guitarist of the Year award. [Wiki]
From Boogie Beasts‘ website: “Dirty beats, hypnotizing slide, screaming harmonica riffs and plenty of fuzz: all of these will be served by this four man band from Liège-Limburg-Namur, Belgium. […] The drive is infectious, the noise is pure filth, yet highly irresistible.”
Stuff happened this week – some good, some bad, most of it just plain absurd. It’s also the time of year where we ignore resetting the clock in the dashboard and set our sprinklers and calendars ahead instead. As always, the change doesn’t affect porch time. Be there or be somewhere else.
The True Loves are an Afro-beat funk and soul group out of Seattle. Formed in 2014 by Jabrille “Jimmy James” Williams / guitar, Bryant Moore / bass) and David McGraw / drums, they’re backed by Iván Galvez / congas, aux percussion, Gordon Brown / tenor sax, Greg Kramer / trombone, and Skerik / baritone sax. [h/t Chuck S.]
An amazing version of Motörhead’s classic by Brass Against, a collective led by guitarist Brad Hammonds for purposes of protesting everything you can imagine with song covers. (Fun Fact: They are banned from playing at NASCAR events and Daytona Speedway’s Rockville Festivals because of an “incident” in 2021.)
I see that the winter storm isn’t done messing with you folks east of the Mississippi and south of everything. I don’t envy you – I did my time long ago. Remember to steer in the direction of the skid, and we’ll see you on the other side. For the rest of us, heavy porchtime is expected to blow in by noon o’clock tomorrow. See you then.
I Can’t Stop Dancing, Archie Bell & The Drells (1968)
Soul / R&B group from Houston, Texas, Archie Bell & The Drells had a string of hits in the late 60s-70s. They are best known for their 1968 dance hit Tighten Up which shot to No. 1 on the charts while Bell was recuperating from a leg injury he suffered while in the U.S. Army.
Can I Change My Mind, Tyrone Davis (1968)
In the 1950s, Davis was a popular R&B singer in the Chicago area, began recording in the late 1960s. A DJ friend in Houston played the the B-side of one of his singles on the air, and Can I Change My Mind made both the Billboard R&B and Top Pop charts. It eventually sold more than 1 million copies and his career took off. (In 1969, Joyce Jones recorded Help Me Make Up My Mind as an answer song.)
The end of a long year deserves a playlist to bring in the new one, so here’s a compilation of tunes that tugged on my earballs in 2025. Each set is in chronological order by date of recording.
Set 1 – January, February, March & April
Set 2 – May, June, July & August
Set 3 – September, October, November & December
I omitted seasonal tunes from the Halloween and Christmas playlists. Last year’s playlist (2024) is here, and the 2023 EoY list is here.
And one more thing:
May You Have a Happy & Prosperous New Year!
[Caveat: I don’t own the copyrights to any of these recordings. They are presented here for entertainment purposes only.]
Beau Gris Gris & The Apocalypse is a roots rock blues Americana country soul punk psychobilly band from California, featuring vocals by documentary filmmaker, television producer, business entrepreneur and Louisiana native Greta “Gris Gris” Valenti. (The nice lady dancing in the background is Kitten De Ville.)
Winners of the 2024 UK Blues Band of the Year, The Cinelli Brothers (Marco and Alessandro) revive 1960s – 70s vintage electric blues, R&B and soul with a modern vibe.
Castro Coleman, aka Mr. Sipp is smooth. A recipient of many prestigious awards, Castro was the first bluesman to have his handprint inducted into the Wall of Fame in Fredrikshavn, Denmark.
Another week and world news is still splattering all over the pavement and splashing in the swales. Every major story is both good news and omens of disaster depending upon the time of day and which town crier is coming through the village. The 48 hour rule is officially null and void.
My plan is to sleep in until Porch Time so I can be fashionably late. See you then and/or there.
Help Me Make Up My Mind, Joyce Jones (1969) Born in Mississippi in 1949, Joyce Jones, (along with Reginald Hinesinger) wrote Help Me Make Up My Mind as an answer song to Tyrone Davis‘ Can I Change My Mind (1968). Jones was a member of the Philadelphia soul/disco group First Choice from 1972-75.
Formed in 2007, The Heavy are a rock / soul / R&B band from Bath, Somerset, England. Kelvin Swaby / lead vocals, Dan Taylor / guitar, Spencer Page /bass, Chris Ellul / drums.
From Wikipedia: Eric Johnson (born August 17, 1954) is an American guitarist, vocalist and composer. His 1990 album Ah Via Musicom was certified platinum by the RIAA, and the single “Cliffs of Dover” won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
R.I.P. Steve Cropper (1941-2025) Booker T. & The MG’s opened this Creedence Clearwater Revival concert at the Oakland Coliseum, 1/31/70. Seen offstage are John Fogerty, Doug Clifford (w/beard), and Stu Cook (w/glasses).
Thanksgiving leftovers are almost gone, Christmas is just around the corner, and I’m still on Halloween. Guess I’ll have to reset the calendar one of these days, but not tomorrow. I plan to have some QPT (Quality Porch Time) at precisely sometime o’clock. See you then.
“A shot rang out in the name of love” is one hell of a lyric.
Brooks Mason was born in Georgia in 1996, focuses on classic southern soul, blues, rock and funk. “A lot of people wanted me to be the Brooks Mason Blues Band, but that’s been done. I wanted to start from scratch, and I ain’t never heard of no bluesman named Eddie 9V.”
The girl pounds bass. Finnish band RelaxTrio is Linda Teränen (Vocals & double bass)
Oskari Nieminen (Vocals & guitar)
Vilho Voutilainen (Drums & backing vocals)
Award winning group from Milwaukee, Altered Five Blues Band features frontman Jeff Taylor with Jeff Schroedl / guitar, Mark Solveson / bass, Alan Arber / drums and Steve Huebler / keyboard.
Bywater Call is a Toronto-based group formed by singer Meghan Parnell and guitar player Dave Barnes. They were nominees for the Southern Rock & Soul Independent Blues Awards in 2021. In 2024 they were nominated for International Blues Artist of the year (UK Blues Awards).
Lotta weather this past week, but it didn’t freeze, didn’t flood and nothing important fell over. Thought about getting a hair cut, but I filled up the tank instead and fed the cat a few times. Life is good. See you tomorrow, some time around porch o’clock.
Tacky Raccoons 