Dallas/Fort Worth Blues News 2023
Last Update  6/2/2023
  

Check out my NEW old radio show on KNON's internet streaming station, KNON NOW.  We will stream old cassette recordings of my show, The Best of the Blues, from the 1980's on Fridays from 10 pm to midnight on KNONNOW.org.  Here's the link:  Don O.'s KNON Blues Vault       The first show is available on the KNON archive for 2 weeks.  Original air date, March 4, 1988.  The second show is now available in the KNON archive.  Original air date, December 2, 1983.

Scott sent me a note about a benefit for guitarist Kirby Kelly who has been fighting cancer.  Here's the gofundme:   https://www.gofundme.com/f/kirby-kelley-kickin-cancer-fund



Scott reports Fort Worth blues and R&B man J.B. Wynn has passed.  Here's an interview with J.B. I did for Southwest Blues back in 2000.  R.I.P. J.B.  3/29


Dylan Bishop will be in the studio soon cutting a new album with Wes Race.  3/8

Christian Dozzler will be in the studio in Vienna, Austria in June with Rusty Zinn on guitar.  3/3

I heard a rumor Chuck Nevitt's legendary studio recording of Doyle Bramhall may soon be released.  Stay tuned!

Smithsonian/Folkways Records has just announced an upcoming release from the vaults of the Mack McCormick collection.  The first release will include 66 field recordings from dozens of Texas artists including Lightnin' Hopkins and Mance Lipscomb.    Here's the link:  https://folkways.si.edu/playing-for-the-man-at-the-door   2/24  

I've added a link to the front of this website showing the latest playlist from my radio show on KNON and a link to the two week online archive.  Click on the armadillo. 


Dallas/Fort Worth Blues News 2022

E.J. Mathews has a new open jam session Mondays at The Free Man starting at 7 pm.  Thanks Jimbreaux!  11/21

JMac's annual Stevie Ray Vaughan birthday tribute will air on Monday, October 3rd at 6 pm on KNON 89.3 FM and streaming live at KNON.org.

Fort Worth guitar legend and former Record Town proprietor Sumter Bruton passed away on September 30th.  A celebration of life will be held at the Ridglea Theater Lounge in Fort Worth on Saturday, October 8th, from 1 pm to 4 pm.    Obituary is here.


Shawn Pittman has released his new CD, Hard Road.  He has scheduled a CD release party at the Kessler Theater on November 3.


Are you ready for Freddie?  My annual Freddie King birthday tribute show will air on KNON 89.3 FM on Friday, September 2nd from 6 pm to 8 pm.  Two hours of The Texas Cannonball, Freddie King!


Congrats to Larry Lampkin on the 6 page feature article in Living Blues #280.  9/1

Aaron Burton has released his new CD, Homesteader's Delight.  8/26

  
Hash Brown reports Fort Worth bass player Randy Cates passed away on August 12.

Guthrie Kennard is undergoing cancer treatment and there will be a big benefit for him on September 11th at the Plaza Theater in Garland.  Guthrie spent many years as the go-to blues bass player in Fort Worth before making the switch to become a singer songwriter/country artist.  He was in Smokin Joe Kubek's band among many others.  There is a gofundme  at http://gofundme.com/benefit-guthrie-kennard



I have put up a photo tribute for Terry Montgomery here:  https://terrymontgomerygrofftributepage.blogspot.com/

Hash Brown reports that Terry Montgomery Groff, long time member of the Hash Brown Band, has passed away.  Terry along with drummer Bobby Baranowski played literally thousands of gigs with Hash Brown over 15 years including long runs at jam sessions at Schooners and The Bone.  R.I.P. Terry.  Thanks to Scott for the heads up.  8/10


Congratulations to R.L. Griffin, Bobby Patterson, and Gregg A. Smith for their honors at the Jus Blues Music Awards in Tunica, Mississippi.  8/4

Mike Morgan's latest CD, The Lights Went Out in Dallas, will be released domestically by MC Records in September.  7/22

E.J. Mathews has released his new CD, Smokin' and Drankin' on State Fair Records.  7/8


Zac Harmon is headed over to Europe at the end of June.  They will be playing the Montreaux Jazz Festival on July 8. 

Reo Casey will be giving up his KNON Texas Blues Radio show on Thursday nights after June 16th.  Monta will take over the Thursday time slot of Texas Blues Radio.  Reo will still sub on KNON occasionally.  6/10

Grammy winner Christone "Kingfish" Ingram will play a FREE show at Garland's Sounds of Summer 2022 concert series at Audobon Park on Thursday, May 26th at 7 pm.  Details here: https://www.visitgarlandtx.com/soundsofsummer22

Hash Brown has scheduled his CD release party for Sunday, June 5 at 5 pm at Poor David's Pub in Dallas. 


Folks on Facebook are reporting Phil Bennison, better known as Homer Henderson has passed away.  R.I.P. Homer.  4/15


Mike Morgan reports his new CD, The Lights Went Out in Dallas, will be released in Europe by CRS Records in May.  He's still looking for a domestic label.  4/14


The Allgood Cafe will hold a music benefit for Poor David's sound man Carlos on Saturday, April 16 at 7 pm.  Thanks to Scott for the heads up.  4/12


E.J. Mathews has recorded a new CD for State Fair Records.  Look for release around September.  4/7

Poor David reports sound man Carlos's apartment has burned and he is raising funds through GoFundMe.  Here's the link:
https://gofund.me/03d735fa

The Texas Blues Guitar Summit, featuring Anson Funderburgh, Mike Morgan, and Shawn Pittman, is headed to Europe for 2 weeks at the end of April.  You can catch them here at The Kessler for 2 dates in June.


Congrats to ZAC HARMON for the cover feature in Living Blues Magazine, #277.  3/1


The Texas Music Office announced a free webinar on March 9 at noon to explain the basics of copyright law and registration of recorded works.  Musicians, check it out!  It's FREE. 
Register here:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/copyright-essentials-for-musicians-tickets-267919383087

Hash Brown has released his new CD, Stop Your Evil Ways, on Feffrey Records.  2/14


Congrats to Larry Lampkin on the new interview (with yours truly) in issue 367 of Blues and Rhythm magazine in the U.K.   Larry has been recording some new songs for his 5th CD.


Dallas/Fort Worth Blues News 2021

Shawn Pittman has been in the studio recording a new CD.

Aaron Burton has been in the studio recording a new CD.

Sorry for the downtime on this site, but 2 weeks of vacation were followed by a crashed desktop computer and it took awhile to get all the ghosts out of my machine.  10/10

Congrats to R.L. Griffin on a major feature article in Living Blues Magazine issue #174.

My 36th annual Freddie King birthday tribute is available for streaming for the next 2 weeks here:   https://spinitron.com/KNON/pl/14036724/Friday-Texas-Blues-Radio     9/3
 

Are you ready for Freddie?  My annual birthday tribute to Dallas Blues man Freddie King will be broadcast Friday, September 3rd, from 6 pm to 8 pm on KNON 89.3 FM.  Freddie is ready!


"Gentleman" John Street, long time member of Anson and the Rockets, underwent open heart surgery on August 13th.  There's a GoFund me set up to help him out here:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/open-heart-surgery-recovery-fundraiser

R.L. Griffin's Blues Palace #2 has reopened.  5/7

The City of Bedford has announced the Bedford Blues and BBQ Festival will not return.  They have decided to "reimagine and create a new signature event for the community."  Sad to hear.  I had a lot of fun at those festivals since back in the mid 90's.
https://www.bedfordbluesfest.com/p/getconnected/festivalcancelled

Mike Morgan and the Crawl  are at Palmyra Studio cutting some new tracks.  Mike is doing this CD himself, with no label support, and is asking for contributions to help cover costs.   You can send a donation direct to his paypal account at mm27@SBCGlobal.net.    2/26

Monta reports that Beer Belly Slim has passed away.  Lewis was a constant fixture at J&J and other blues joints all around Fort Worth for many years.  He made the rounds of the jams and often appeared onstage playing maracas in support of Homer Henderson.  One of the friendliest guys you could ever meet with a big voice and an everpresent smile.  We'll miss him.    2/26


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Dallas/Fort Worth Blues News 2020

Former KNON blues DJ "Gentle Ben" Prothro passed away on December 27th after a long illness.  Ben did a show called Tuesday Bluesday on the station between 1995 and 1999.


Here's the new Texas Blues Radio t-shirt design.  11/1


Reports are circulating that "Big Daddy Hal" Pittman passed away today.  Hal did a blues radio show on KNON between 1993 and 2015.  As with most volunteers at KNON, Hal started out as a substitute DJ before earning his own time slot at 1 am -4 am on Friday Mornings.  He called the show Stark Raving Blues.  He later moved to a Tuesday evening time slot in the Texas Blues Radio format before moving to Thursday evenings in 2006.  He left the station in 2015.  For more than 20 years, "Big Daddy" made the long drive from Burleson to play the blues on KNON.  My deepest sympathies to Lois, Jackson, and his many friends and fans.  R.I.P. "Big Daddy Hal".  10/22


KNON's online show archive is available again.  You can listen back to any show for 2 weeks after broadcast.  10/8
https://spinitron.com/KNON/calendar

The long awaited Jimmie and Stevie Vaughan art project in Kiest Park has finally been completed and unveiled.  There was no official ceremony due to Covid 19 protocols, but plans are to celebrate once the pandemic has passed.  Here's the official video from the City of Dallas.  Congrats to Kirby Warnock on all his hard work getting it done!!    https://youtu.be/a_qJWbPRJXk          10/3

Joe Nick Patoski has just issued a book of interviews centered around Robert Ealey.  Available at Record Town in Fort Worth or direct from Joe Nick.


"Daddy Jack" Chaplin has finally released the CD he recorded with Sam Myers almost 20 years ago.  It's titled My Pal Sam and is on his own Jack Daddy Records.  The CD features Lucky Peterson on Keyboards, Butch Bonner on Guitar, Brent Nance on drums, Big Will Harris on bass, and guest appearances by Gregg A. Smith and Joe Jonas.

R.L Griffin has released a new CD titled I'm Back Again on his own Blues Palace Records.

The Steve Hill Trio has released their new CD, Fields of Blues.  

The Dallas Observer picked KNON as Best Radio Station for Music for 2020.  The Fort Worth Weekly also gave the station their Survivor Award (pre-Covid) for surving the October 19th tornado.  

Dirk Cordes reports Tyrone Starks passed away in September.  Tyrone was a a favorite among the DFW blues scene for his smooth voice, great drumming, and the biggest smile on any stage.  


Are you ready for Freddie?  My annual Freddie King birthday tribute will happen Friday, September 4th, from 6 pm to 8 pm on KNON 89.3 FM.


Jon Hay plays guitar on several tracks of the new J.T. Taylor CD.  Jon has recently moved to Memphis.

Congrats to Tutu Jones on a cover feature in Living Blues Magazine #267.  7/2

Governor Greg Abbott has ordered all bars closed again due to increasing  Covid numbers.  6/26

Larry Lampkin has released his new CD, Funky Blues Man.  6/21/

Ann Armstrong & Steve Hughes will be streaming live from the Poor David's Pub facebook page on Wednesday, May 27 at 7:30 pm.

Chef Ivan's Buckey Moonshines will resume limited live music events on Saturday, May 30th. Chef Ivan leading the way!

The City of Bedford has announced the 2020 Bedford Blues & BBQ fest has been cancelled.  The festival will return in 2021.
https://www.bedfordbluesfest.com/

Lucky Peterson's Facebook page has reported he passed away on May 17th.  My sympathies to Tamara, his family, many friends, and bandmates.  A giant talent gone way too soon.  R.I.P. Lucky P.    5/18


John Nemeth with Jon Hay tomorrow, Sunday, March 22, 11 Am Central time, on Nemeth's facebook page.  If you haven't seen young Jon play this is a good opportunity.  Plus they will have an online tip jar.
https://www.facebook.com/events/2748979251896323/

If you hear about a live stream event with a local DFW blues musician, PLEASE let me know at donoblues AT KNON dot ORG and I will post it here.

Following the lead of Dallas County, all live music events in Texas have been cancelled by Governor Greg Abbott. due to the Coronavirus.  Strange times we live in.  3/17

The Bobby Patterson/Cookie McGee show scheduled for tonight at Poor David's has been cancelled.  3/13

All 5 of KNON's Texas Blues Radio DJs showed up at the KNON Bluesfest on January 26th.  It's a rare occurrence for us all to be in the same place at the same time, so we just had to take a photo.


Our mixing board is back at KNON's new studio.  Hopefully they will flip a switch and we'll start broadcasting from our new control room next week sometime.   1/24


Here's an update article on KNON from the Dallas Morning News.  1/16

KNON R&B DJ Louisiana Red passed away last week.  Condolences to his family, friends, and fans.  

KNON's 21st annual Dallas Blues Festival has been scheduled for January 25th and 26th at Poor David's Pub in Dallas.  

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Dallas/Fort Worth Blues News 2019

KNON's new studio is starting to take shape.  Still lots to do.  12/27
 

KNON's rebuild is coming along at our new address on Coit Road. Most of the furniture is now in the building.  We still need a new phone system installed and a whole lot of wiring and electronic equipment.


Reo Casey will be the new Thursday host of KNON's Texas Blues Radio starting December 12th.  12/6


KNON is hard at work building out  the new studio space. 11/28


KNON has a new home at 13154 Coit Road.  11/20

Larry Lampkin is working on his 4th CD and is hoping for a January 2020 release.

There will be a celebration of life for Sonny Collie on Sunday, December 8th at 2 pm at Bucky Moonshine's in Deep Ellum, Dallas.

Sonnyboy Mark, who has volunteered at KNON for over 20 years, has left the station.  Blue Lisa's Thursday show will move to Tuesday on KNON's Texas Blues Radio beginning November 12th.

Rest in Peace Sonny Collie who passed away last week after a long illness.  Sonny played with just about everybody through the years and was a fine
singer, song writer, and guitarist in addition to his usual fine bass playing.  https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/waller-collie-obituary?pid=194356883


KNON's new t-shirt for pledge drive.  Get one now for a $50 pledge at http://www.KNON.org and using the PLEDGE NOW button.  
Please select Don O. from the drop down menu under the pledge amount!


KNON coverage from the Dallas Morning News.  https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/music/2019/10/25/heres-how-knon-got-back-on-the-air-one-day-after-storms-destroyed-its-north-dallas-studio/

KNON tornado coverage from Art and Seek.  https://artandseek.org/2019/10/24/tornado-wont-stop-the-music-at-knon/

Dallas Observer article on the destruction at the KNON studio.  https://www.dallasobserver.com/arts/sunday-nights-tornado-destroys-dallas-radio-station-knon-893-11784732

D Magazine coverage of the tornado at KNON.  https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2019/10/inside-knon-fm-the-tornado-damaged-station-that-vows-to-return/

KNON coverage from the Dallas Morning News.  https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/music/2019/10/21/tornado-knocks-knon-off-the-air-leaves-station-searching-for-a-new-home/

KNON is broadcasting again from a temporary site at the transmitter shack at our tower site in Cedar Hill.  We had to evacuate our current building on Central Expressway.  
All of our equipment and CDs are being stored until we can find a new home.   PLEASE support KNON NOW by going to the main KNON website at http://www.KNON.org
and using the PLEDGE NOW button.  We will NOT have a gofundme or other fee charging site.  10/22


KNON's main studio suffered heavy damage in the October 20th tornado.  KNON is off the air until the building can be stabilized and power restored.  10/20


My buddy DJ Dave will be joining me in the KNON studio on Friday, October 11th.  He will be bringing along 2 hours of contemporary Austin blues.  
You can hear his show through October 25th here: https://www.radiofreeamerica.com/show/texas-blues-radio-2-knon


There will be an all-star benefit for Richard Chalk's family at The Sons of Hermann Hall, Sunday, October 20th.


Look for a new CD from Lucky Peterson on 10/25.

MoJoanna will be taking over the Wednesday edition of Texas Blues Radio from 6 pm to 8 pm on KNON 89.3 FM as of October 2nd.

Scott, who has done the Wednesday edition of Texas Blues Radio for the last 23 years, will be leaving KNON after his show on September 25th.  Thanks to Scott for a lot of mighty fine blues for a mighty long time!


Funeral and visitation information for Richard Chalk can be found HERE.    Visitation is Friday, September 27 from 4-8 pm and services are Saturday, September 28 at noon.  9/23

Richard Chalk, who founded and ran Topcat Records in Dallas, passed away suddenly Saturday evening at his home.  Richard founded the label in 1993 and later sold his catalog to Blacktop.  He then re-started the label and continued to release both new recordings and authorized bootlegs.  His latest project was a 6 or 8 CD set of the Hollywood Fats Band made from audience recordings made by Fat's band members.  Richard helped a lot of folks with his label and loved playing blues guitar himself.   He put out a lot of cool music that had otherwise languished forgotten on closet shelves or in shoe boxes.  His diverse catalog can be seen  here  https://www.topcatrecords.com/cd-catalog/.  Funeral arrangements are pending.


I've added some photos from The 2019 Bedford Blues & BBQ Festival to my DFW Blues Scrapbook blog.  9/6
 

Looks like the old Texas Musicians Museum building in downtown Irving is going to have live music once again.  It's now called Mainstage 222 and is at 222 East Irving Blvd.  The first show is September 7th and features 4 blues bands including Bnois King, Hash Brown, Andrew "Jr. Boy" Jones and Kerrie LePai Jones.   BYOB, bring your lawn chairs.

 
Dylan Bishop has been recording a new CD in Austin.

Andrew "Jr. Boy" Jones and Kerrie LePai Jones have been recording a new CD.  They hope to have it out early this fall.  8/25

Are you ready for Freddie??  Time for my annual Freddie King birthday tribute show on KNON 89.3 FM on Friday, August 30th,  from 6 pm to 8 pm.
2 hours of nothing but The Texas Cannonball.  Available for listening HERE until September 9th.


Cookie McGee is just back from a series of shows in South America.

E.J. Mathews has released his new CD, I Didn't Choose the Boogie, The Boogie Chose Me.  7/19

Zac Harmon has released his new CD, Mississippi BarBQ.   6/19

The Trinity River Blues Society will hold their local IBC competition on Sunday, June 23rd at 1pm at Six Springs Tavern.  More info HERE.

Here's an internationl blues chat group I belong to.  It's a fun little group of blues fans and musicians where talking about politics is NOT ALLOWED.  Come join the fun and tell 'em I sent ya.
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/blindmanfr/

Congrats to the Paul Byrd Band who will be representing the San Angelo Blues Society in the 2020 IBC competition in January.  

If you missed the broadcast of KPFT Houston's "Blueshound" on KNON on June 7th, the show will be archived until June 21.   https://www.radiofreeamerica.com/show/texas-blues-radio-2-knon
 

James "The Blues Hound" Nagel from KPFT in Houston will be a guest on my radio show on Friday, June 7th from 6 pm to 8 pm on KNON 89.3 FM.  James has been playing the blues on KPFT for over 20 years and he will be bringing 2 hours of contemporary Houston blues to play on my show.  Tune in on June 7th and learn about the wonderful and active Houston blues scene!  I visited Houston to do the same with contemporary DFW blues artists on Sunday, June 2nd.  We are calling it the Texas Blues Cultural Exchange Project!
If you missed the DFW Blues version on KPFT on Sunday, June 2nd, it will be archived for listening until June 16  HERE:  https://kpft.org/programming/music/howlin-blues/



Congratulations to Lucky Peterson who is the cover feature on the latest issue of Living Blues magazine.  6/1

The Trinity River Blues Society is looking for acts who want to compete in their 2019 North Texas Blues Challenge event on June 23rd.  DEADLINE IS JUNE 9TH.  Info HERE.  

Aaron Burton has released his new CD, Blues is Beautiful.  4/26

Invest 55 minutes in this film.  It is excellent.  
https://www.pbs.org/video/two-trains-runnin-r3lng1/

508 Park will host a Spring Festival on Saturday, March 30th in their amphitheater.  Three bands will play blues and western swing with free admission.  Collections will be taken to support the work of The Stewpot and their community outreach program.  More information at the link HERE.  3/21

The Frisco Heritage Museum will feature a collection of life masks of famous blues artists by Sharon McConnell-Dickerson from April 6-May 25.   A reception featuring Hash Brown will take place at the museum on April 4th at 6 pm.  Saturday, April 6th at 10 AM, the museum will host a talk on Zuzu Bollin, who was born in Frisco.     https://www.facebook.com/events/1324776344343740/   3/20

Here's a video postcard from visiting Sam Myers' grave near Paulding, Mississippi, complete with a map of how to get there.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tnwrMgXWF4&t=1s     2/26

Look for a new Jimmie Vaughan CD in May.   https://www.lastmusic.co.uk/artists/jimmie-vaughan

Sonnyboy Mark reports Hash Brown's Wednesday jam session at Mac's has been cancelled.  2/16

Tone Sommers has reported that Fort Worth blues and soul singer Suzy Q Maben has passed away.  There will be a remembrance gathering at the Keys Lounge on Sunday, March 3.  2/16




Ok, so this happened on January 25th in Memphis. The Blues Foundation presented me with a Keeping the Blues Alive award.  It is not my award, it is OUR award.  
Without the support of  KNON listeners, the wonderful musicians of DFW, and the many volunteers at KNON, I would not have been on the radio for over 35 years.  
It is a great honor, and I share that honor with everyone who supports the blues in North Texas.    

Zac Harmon will be in the studio cutting a new CD for Catfood Records soon.  1/26

Congrats to Anson Funderburgh for yet another nomination for the Blues Foundation's Blues Music Awards in Memphis.  Anson is nominated in the category Best Instrumentalist - Guitar.  The winners will be announced on May 9th in Memphis.  1/8

The Bedford Blues and BBQ Fest wants your input on their line-up for this year.    Tell 'em here:    https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5YH8QSN

The 20th annual KNON Blues Festival is happening January 26th and 27th at Poor David's Pub in Dallas. 



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