by Sharon Gissy

Riot Fest has announced its final lineup for their festivals in both Denver and Chicago. In both Denver and Chicago Julian Marley, son of Bob Marley, will perform the classic album Exodus in its entirety, which should prove timely in today's social and political environment.

Other notable additions to the Riot Fest & Rodeo in Denver include gypsy-punk band Gogol Bordello, unconventional pop/rock act DeVotchKa, hip-hop artist 2 Chainz and Colorado-based pop-punk outfit The Lillingtons. Notable additions to Chicago's Riot Fest & Carnival include The Flaming Lips, some legendary riot-grrl action with Sleater-Kinney and The Julie Ruin, The Bronx, and more.

Final lineups were introduced just minutes before single-day tickets went on sale for the show yesterday, June 28th. Single and multi-day tickets, as well as full lineups, are available at the Riot Fest website.

by Sharon Gissy

Blackfoot, the Southern American rock band formed in the 1970s by Rickey Medlocke, the current lead guitarist of Lynyrd Skynyrd, will release their newest record Southern Native on Loud & Proud Records August 6th. 

The newest incarnation of Blackfoot includes Jacksonville, Florida-based lead guitarist/vocalist Tim Rossi, guitarist/vocalist Rick Krasowski, bassist Brian Carpenter, and drummer Matt Anastasi. This ensemble carries on the band's legacy of southern Americana and a hard-driving sound.

“Rickey bridged the generations by having his grandfather Shorty Medlocke play on those early Blackfoot records,” said lead guitarist/vocalist Tim Rossi “so having Rickey play slide and other guitar with us on this record bridges the modern gap. It’s a full-circle kind of thing.” The band's continued legacy can be found in the proud heritage of its titular track, the slide-driven "Take Me Home," and a spirited harmonic cover of "Ohio" by Crosby, Stills & Nash.

Blackfoot has relentlessly toured over the past few years to appeal to their fan base and to introduce the new lineup to fans of other Southern rock bands such as Skynyrd. They will continue to tour during the summer to support Southern Native. Their tour dates are as follows:
​une 15 - Westland, MI @ The Token Lounge
June 16 - Saint Charles, IL @ Arcada Theatre
June 18 - Brooklyn, MI @ Jerry’s Pub
June 19 - Louisville, KY @ KFC Yum Center
July 2 - Guntersville, AL @ Lake City Amusement Park
July 8 - Bonner Springs, KS @ Providence Medical Center Amphitheater (w/ Lynyrd Skynyrd)
July 9 – Fremont, NE @ John C Fremont Days
July 15 -  Mebane, NC @ Whiskey Sours
July 16 - Greenville, SC @ Gottrocks
July 21 – Salisbury, MD @ Headquarters Live
July 22 - Poughkeepsie, NY @ The Chance Theater
July 24 - Long Branch, NJ @ Brighton Bar
Aug 13 - Ringle, WI @ Q and Z Expo
Aug 19 – Dallas, TX @ Trees
Aug 20 – San Antonio, TX @ Cadillac Bar
Aug 27 - Oxford, AL @ Rumble Motorcycle Rally
Sept 2 - Tazewell, TN @ Smoke In The Valley
Sept 17 - Bainbridge, GA @ Flint River Jam
Sept 23 - Stafford Springs, CT @ Palace Theater
Sept 24 - Kent Narrows, ND @ Island Bay Day

by Sharon Gissy

On June 17th, Jimmy "Duck" Holmes will release It Is What It Is, the inaugural record on his self-created Blue Front Records. The label was named after the cafe opened by his parents in 1948 and run by Jimmy since 1970, which hosted such influential Bentonia blues musicians as Skip James, Jack Owens, and Henry Stuckey. The intimate cafe atmosphere also served as a recording space, capturing the haunting sounds of Jimmy's tenor voice, an electric Harmony Stratotone, a 12-string, and an acoustic Epiphone. A few songs are also overlaid with a harp with the distinctive Bentonia blues sound of minor tuning. With the unique acoustics of the cafe's cinderblock walls, the listener can easily imagine they've stopped at the oldest juke joint in Mississippi to pull up a chair and listen to Jimmy play.

The Bentonia blues originated when musician Henry Stuckey began playing using open D-minor and E-minor tuning that he learned from meeting some British soldiers in France during World War I. Stuckey introduced the tuning to the isolated Mississippi town of Benton and taught it to Skip James, Jack Owens, Jacob Stuckey, and Cornelius Bright. While these musicians further defined the sound by pairing this tuning with dark imagery, Mary and Carey Holmes started the Blue Front Cafe next door to Henry Stuckey. Jimmy "Duck" Holmes is known as one of the last blues men Stuckey ever taught, and when he took over the cafe in 1970, it became the heart of the Bentonia blues scene, with Jack Owens, Bud Spires, Jacob Stuckey, and more regularly meeting and playing there.

The Blue Front Cafe is still in operation, and those who are lucky enough can sometimes stop by and see Jimmy "Duck" Holmes perform a few songs there. However, those who can't make it by can listen to this record when it is released on 180g vinyl, CD, and digitally on June 17th and easily imagine they are there.

Jimmy's upcoming tour dates:
June 10 -             National Ave. Block Party – Lexington, KY
June 13 – 18        Bentonia Blue Festival – Bentonia, MS
June 23                Iron Horse – Jackson, MS
June 24                Private Event – Greenwood, MS
June 25                Ponderosa Stomp Event - New Orleans, LA
June 28                4th of July Reception – U.S. Embassy – Santa Cruz, Bolivia
June 30                4th of July Reception  - U.S. Embassy – La Paz, Bolivia
July 1                  Master Class – Festiblues Bolivia – La Paz, Bolivia
July 2                  Festiblues Bolivia – La Paz, Bolivia
July 8                  Briggs Farm Blues Festival – Nescopeck, PA
July 9                  Briggs Farm Blues Festival – Nescopeck, PA
July 28                Iron Horse Bar & Grill – Jackson, MS
July 31 – August 7  Centrum Blues School – Port Townsend, WA
​August 8             Woodsong’s Old Time Radio Hour – Lexington, KY
August 13           Sunflower Blues Festival – Clarksdale, MS
October 1            Mighty Mississippi Music Festival – Greenville, MS
October 15          Crescent City Blues & BarBQ – New Orleans, LA

The new LP will be a deluxe CD and double LP. The standard edition will be August 12, 2016. It has been over seven years since the band released a record.
This year is the 30th anniversary of the band. Rosenthal was making music for three years before that.

"For this one, musically I decided to make an album that goes back and touches upon the band’s 90s sound. The ethereal, gothic, heavenly voices sound.
Plus more instrumentals than on the last few releases," says Rosenthal. "I’ve been doing a lot more crowdfunding over the last few years, and this choice is somewhat inspired by what I’m hearing from the people who support my music: the aspect of the band they are really excited about. But it also just feels right to me at this moment. 10 Neurotics was pretty much as far as I could go in writing melodic, concise songs. I wanted to go back and create textural, moody, expansive music, with lyrics."

Singer Oscar Herrera is with the band again. Herrara was the male voice of the group for 13 years and seven releases. Herrara's daughter Dani also sings
on the LP.

"Running a record company (Projekt) is good to stay away from having 'a real job;' but ultimately, it’s my own music that people care about," he says. "And that’s where I’ve been putting my energy lately. The world is shaped however you are conceiving it; I decided to look at it in a way that encourages the things
I want to exist."

Rosenthal says he plans to keep creating and be more consistant about it.

"I had created my own downward spiral there for a while in the beginning of this decade. 'Free music, bah! Nobody cares, why bother?", he says. "But crowdfunding reconnected me with the people who care, and that motivated me to think about my art in new ways. A positive, and explorative way. And to make albums like this, again."

This Kickstarter will have some "stretch goals" assuming the project funds. One of these is colored vinyl and other additions to make this deluxe release even
more deluxe.