James 'Yank' Rachell isn't a name commonly mentioned or referred to in the blues community but he really should be. It might have been his instrument of choice; it wasn't a guitar but rather, the mandolin. Born Northeast of Memphis near Brownsville, Tennessee, on March 16th 1910, Rachell grew up as a farm laborer working alongside his family. The story goes he traded a pig for his first mandolin when just a child and lucky for us, he never put it down. Yank became an accomplished musician and also played guitar, banjo and the fiddle, but he always came back to his first love, the mandolin.

I miss Willie Dixon. I had the tremendous good fortune to sit and talk with him on several occasions during the 1980's, and he never failed to amaze, entertain and enlighten me. During those years you couldn't go into a Southern California club, blues venue or attend a music festival without seeing the man surrounded by an entourage of adoring friends and fans.

Nathan James is a work-aholic! Yeah for us! His latest release is entitled ‘I May Crawl’ and it is everything you’d expect from the San Diego musician. Eleven original songs; some reflective, all meaningful, but always looking at life through an open and more positive lens. His style of play is so eclectic, incorporating blues with a cadenced funk, an acoustic flair or a dreamy slide. James plays all the instrumentation, guitars, percussive footboards, washboard, kazoo, harmonicas and he does it ‘all at once!’

They say one of the only activities that can activate and stimulate the use of the entire brain…is music. If that is indeed true; my nomination for their blues poster child is Laurie Morvan. I have my reasons. Whether you're a left-brain analytical and methodical person or a right-brain creative and artistic individual; everyone has their comfort zones. Not Laurie Morvan, she taps the intellect of both sides and she does it all the time.

It's a city where anything goes, where everyone feels comfortable. A city of contradictions. It's a city that's part Left Bank, part island getaway. A town where tacky sits comfortably with tropical vegetation on the same barstool, Bacchus, blues and beignets share the same plate.

I don't know what's in the water up in the Northeast portion of the U.S., but we need to ensure it never stops producing. I'm talking about the incredible guitar talent that comes from the State of Massachusetts. From Black Francis and Dick Dale to Little Steven and Susan Tedeschi; the richness and depth of talent is beyond belief. One of the latest prodigies is a 22-year old New Bedford guitarist named Quinn Sullivan.

His own discography includes more than twelve solo albums; he was a featured artist in the Spielberg film, 'The Color Purple' and his songwriting credits include compositions with George Jones, Joe Louis Walker and Ray Charles to mention but a few. Roy Gaines was more than a bluesman, he was a musical innovator.

If someone even mentions Russia in conversations these days I find myself looking for the nearest exit and a way out. But not Sue Palmer. Sue has chosen to look beyond the socio-political posturing in order to find a way IN… keyboard first! Known the world over for her prowess on the 88’s, Palmer has long been ordained as royalty …

The 1993 Long Beach Blues Festival was a phenomenal tribute to the blues of the Delta. It featured Robert Jr. Lockwood and Pinetop Perkins on stage, recreating a live presentation of radio station KFFA’s ‘King Biscuit Time.’ There was also an outstanding homage to the work of Robert Johnson; brought to life by Lonnie Pitchford, Keb’ Mo, Rory Block, and …

James Cotton was born into a Mississippi farming family in the middle of the summer, 1935. As the youngest of eight children, his prospects in the Tunica cotton fields held few opportunities beyond hauling water buckets for laborers or endless hours on a plantation tractor seat in the sweltering Delta sun.