Dallas/Fort Worth Blues News 2001 archive
Last Update 1/1/02
Keep James Cotton in your prayers. He was very sick at J&J on
New Years Eve, was very ill, and was taken to the hospital. 1/1/02
There's a nice review of K.M. Williams' Texas Country Blues Preacher CD
in the current issue of Blues Access (#48, p. 67). 12/29
Randy McAllister is self-releasing his new CD, Givers and Takers, and
has a CD release party scheduled for Saturday, January 26 at the Hole
in
the Wall. 12/29
Texas Slim is working on a new CD. 12/29
Smokin' Joe Kubek and Bnois King have a new website at:
http://smokinjoekubek.home.att.net/ They plan to cut a new
CD in early 2002. 12/23
K.M. Williams has a new web page up at MP3.com and has been
successfully selling lots of CDs there. 12/22
Andrew "Jr. Boy" Jones has a new website.
http://geocities.com/jrboyjones/ 12/20
J&J Blues Bar will no longer book live blues on Thursday.
Rumor is they will have a tejano DJ on Wednesday and Thursday
nights.
That club used to have live blues 5 nights a week. It is now down
to Friday, Saturday, and a Sunday jam. 12/20
Gregg Smith's Celebrity club has closed. 12/15
Andrew Jr. Boy Jones has released his new CD, Mr. Domestic on his
own Galexc label. 12/15
Beth Garner now has her own domain name website. http://bethgarner.com/
Just confirmed, Mem Shannon will be appearing at the Boar's Nest
on December 1. 11/29
Johnny Mack will not have final copies of his CD at his release party
this Friday. However, he will have a few burned copies for sale
that may be traded in for the real Topcat Records release, which is now
estimated for January. 11/29
The Mem Shannon gig scheduled for J&J on December 2 has been
cancelled. 11/27
Beth Garner has released her new CD, Much Later for You. 11/23
HashBrown has a new jam on Sunday, 4 pm to 8 pm, at The Boar's Breath
Saloon at 2115 W. Lover's Lane between Empire Central and Regal
Row in Dallas, (214) 634-2192. 11/23
Jay's Cafe in Deep Ellum has closed. 11/18
Cricket Taylor has released her new CD titled Let Your Mama
Drive. She also has a new website at
http://crickettaylor.com/ 11/17
Andrew Jr. Boy Jones new CD should be out in about 2 weeks. It is
titled Domestic Man and is on Jr's own GalexC label. 11/17
The Soul Patriots have a new CD single out called When Liberty Sings
the Blues. The Soul Patriots are Gregg Smith, Bernita Arteberry,
and Jerry Ross. 11/17
Wow! There's a flood of new local blues releases all
of a sudden. Josh Alan, Betty Lewis, and Tommy Hill all have
new CDs out. 11/10
The Sista Monica gig scheduled for J&J on Nov. 8 has been
cancelled. Miss Blues from Oklahoma will perform
instead. 11/3
Paul Byrd reports he is no longer associated with Cold Blue Steel or
the Byrd Dogs. 10/31
Holland K. Smith reports that Milan's Hideout is closed. 10/31
Beth Garner's new CD is being pressed with release planned for December
1. 10/27
Doug Swancey reports Kenny Traylor has been very sick with a mysterious
illness. He has had to cancel several gigs. Please keep him
in your thoughts and prayers. 10/27
Lee McBee's new CD, Soul Deep, is finished and is being shopped.
10/27
There's a nice interview with Tutu Jones in the new Fall issue of Blues
Access. 10/19
The Jerry McCain gig scheduled for December at J&J has been
cancelled. Jerry has been having health problems
and will not be touring. 10/15
Look for J&J Blues Bar to cut back on booking major road acts and
start booking more local bands due to poor attendance. Several
road acts tentatively scheduled have already been cut. 10/14
K.M. Williams has released his new CD, Sanctified Boogie. K.M. Williams website
10/14
Local blues TV show Da Blues has moved to 1:30 am Sunday morning on
channel 21 and is FINALLY airing new episodes.
10/14
The tentative Charlie Musselwhite gig at J&J has been
cancelled. 10/2
Andrew Jr Boy Jones is at Audio Dallas this week working on
his new CD. 10/2
The Dallas Blues Fest scheduled for November has
been cancelled. 9/25
Tommy Tucker reports Betty Lewis has released her first CD, Betty
Lewis Live. Jake Crawford has also released his second CD,
Nothing to Lose. 9/13
Although the Blue Cat is now closed, there will be a few additional
shows at that location between now and January. Their liquor
license expires in January. Check the Blue Cat website for
details.
There's a new blues club in the Fort Worth stockyards called Bobby
Blue's Club. Live local bands on Saturday and Sunday. 9/1
Dave MacKenzie will make a rare DFW appearance on Sunday, November 11
at J&J Blues Bar in Fort Worth. 8/30
Mike Morgan's latest CD, Texas Man, will be
reissued in the U.S. for the first time on Severn Records.
8/30
Topcat Records has reissued Bob Kirkpatrick's Drive Across Texas
CD. They have also reissued a self-released CD by Johnny
Nicholas. 8/30
Well the rumors are true. The Dallas Morning News reported today
the Blue Cat is closing after
September 8.
http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/456011_bluecat_28ove..html
8/28
Rumors are flying that the Blue Cat is set to close soon. The
most recent mailing from the club says to watch for their e-mail and
Observer ad this Wednesday 8/29
for a "big announcement". There is a large sign on the outside
wall of the club advertising Space for Lease and when I was there
last week the large portraits of EC Scott, Henry Qualls, Lucky
Peterson, and Shemekia Copeland were noticeably absent. 8/27
For any of you other old farts who grew up around DFW, here is an
amazing site dedicated to KLIF radio. Not the lame current KLIF,
the classic Gordon McClendon KLIF. Don't go to this site unless
you have about 3 hours to kill! History Of KLIF
My annual Freddie King birthday tribute
show will happen Friday, August 31 from 6 pm to 8 pm on KNON
89.3 FM. Two hours of nothing but Freddie King!
For those of you outside the DFW area, you can hear it streaming live
at KNON.org. 8/20
Here's the site for the 4th annual Denton Blues Festival: http://www.dentonbluesfest.com/
8/12
K.M. Williams reports he was informed
by Gregg Smith that the live Monday blues shows at the Celebrity Club
have been cancelled. 8/12
Tutu Jones called to say he will NOT
be appearing at the Celebrity Club August 10 and 11. 8/9
Jim Suhler has released his new CD, Bad Juju.
The Caravan of Dreams will close September 29 to make way for the new
location of the Reata restaurant. 8/6
Looks like the Dallas Blues Festival has been moved back to November
9-11. Still no line-up or further information. Recent
e-mail enquiries to MEI have gone unanswered. 7/30
Christian Brooks is back in town
visiting and working on his first CD. 7/25
Johnny Mack's missing "Como-wear"
has returned. 7/25
Hash Brown's Sunday jam at Borrowed Money is no more. 7/23
I finally got to visit Gregg Smith's new Celebrity Club last night and
had a great time. It's a small, cozy room with good food.
They are starting a Blue Monday traditional blues night in
August. 7/23
Beth Garner hopes to have her new CD out in October. 7/23
Johnny Mack reports Froggy's has reopened with new owners and will
honor the gigs already booked. 7/19
The North Texas Blues chat group has a new website at: http://www.northtexasblues.org
7/17
The Silvertones will record a
live CD at The Hole in the Wall on July 20. 7/16
Patti Coghill reports local blues TV show Da Blues has moved to Channel
21 and a 3 am Sunday morning time slot. It will move to 2:30 am
after September 29. 7/16
Richard Chalk reports Topcat
Records will soon reissue Bob Kirkpatrick's UK CD, Drive
Across Texas. 7/13
Johnny Mack reports his new CD is due out on Topcat Records in
November. 7/13
Froggy's in Fort Worth has closed. 7/10
I made it out to Hash Brown's new Sunday jam at Borrowed Money last
night and had a nice time. It is a very nice country bar that is
giving blues a try. Roomy and plenty of free parking. The
jam starts at 5 pm and a buffet is available for a small
donation. 7/9
The annual Blind Lemon Jefferson Blues Festival in Wortham, Texas has
set their line-up for their September 8 fest. Robin Bank$, Andrew
Jr. Boy Jones, K.M. Williams and others will perform. Blind Lemon Jefferson
blues fest website
Gregg Smith has opened a new blues and R&B club in Grand
Prarie called Celebrity. See Gregg's website for line-up and
info. http://www.spmedia.com/
Jim Suhler is releasing his new CD, Bad Juju, on Lucky 7/Rounder on
July 31. The band has scheduled a CD release party for August 4
at the Blue Cat. Jim
Suhler website 7/3
As expected, the NBCi site is going away July 16 so I will no longer be
maintaining the site at that address. I am looking for another
free website provider (other than Homestead or Fortune City) which I
can use as a mirror for when/if Geocities goes away. There is a
lot of dot com reorganization/retrenchment going on right now so this
will be a continuing process. All I can say is
I will try to keep you posted on moves as they are required. If
you know of another free web based site provider with a minimum of 10
megs free space, please e-mail me! 6/27
Robin Bank$ Monday jam at the Hurricane Grill has already blown
away after only one month. 6/26
Patti Coghill reports Hash Brown has a new Sunday blues jam at Borrowed
Money
13930 Trinity Blvd Arlington. Jam starts at 5pm with free BBQ
(Sonny Bryan). $5 cover with $3 going to the Ann Simon Reeves Childrens
Aids Center. Starts this Sunday, June 24. 6/22
The Boogie Man, John Lee Hooker, passed away on June 20. 6/21
Nick Curran has released his new CD titled Nitelife Boogie. Nick
is heading out on a 2 month tour to promote the new CD so this is your
last week to catch him locally for awhile. 6/20
The tentative August appearance by Louisiana Red at J&J Blues Bar
has been cancelled. Red found more lucrative gigs on the east
coast on the same dates. 6/20
Fort Worth blues
musician Johnny Mack is alive and well. That was a different
Johnny Mack who was reported shot and killed. 6/12
Patti Coghill, and no one else, reports that Cozy's has closed.
6/7
Shame on you DFW. Guitar Shorty drew about 10 paying customers at
the Blue Cat 6/3. No wonder it has been 2 years since he has been
through. No wonder the DFW blues scene gets no respect from the
local media. In case you haven't noticed, live music is in
SERIOUS trouble around here. If this is the kind of response a
major touring act receives from the DFW blues community, it makes me
seriously question
whether it is worth my time to maintain this website or not. 6/3
Here's a new Yahoo! group for discussion of North Texas blues:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/northtexasblues 6/3
Gregg Smith has a new website at http://www.spmedia.com/ 6/3
The City
of Bedford has their website up for the City of Bedford Blues
Festival. Even more country acts than usual. City of Bedford Blues Festival
website MEI still has their Dallas Blues Festival listed for
the same weekend but there is no information on this year's festival,
yet. Dallas
Blues Festival website 5/30
Robin Bank$ reports: "The HURRICANE Grill located right beside the GBG,
2831 GREENVILLE AVE, is having LIVE BLUES EVERY MONDAY with The ROBIN
BANK$ Blues Band starting this Monday June the 4th. The 1st
Monday in June will
feature Robin, Marc, Drew and Hash Brown on guitar and vocals. 8:00 pm
start." 5/29
Shawn Pittman is finishing up his new CD with Double Trouble and plans
to self release in June. I caught his gig at J&J on May 24
and he was sounding awesome. 5/25
Here's a Yahoo! club I set up for the fabulous Farmersville Blues
Society.
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/farmersvillebluessociety Mainly
just a place to share photos from their 2001 annual Blues Soiree
featuring Randy McAllister, Texas Slim, and more great food than anyone
can eat in one day. 5/22
There's a nice one page article on Hash Brown in the new issue of
Living Blues Magazine. 5/21
K.M. Williams has released his new CD, Texas Country Blues
Preacher. K.M.
Williams website 5/19
Congratulations to Andrew "Junior Boy" Jones who has a new record deal
with Severn Records. 5/18
Congratulations to Jake Crawford who is
graduating from Corsicana High School on May 25. Boy, do I
feel old! 5/18
A
new Robert Ealey tribute site is in the works at: http://www.robertealey.com/
5/18
Here's a new Yahoo! club for fans of Anson Funderburgh:
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/ansonfunderburgh 5/16
K.M Williams has completed a new CD of all original material. 5/14
Beth Garner is set to go in the studio in Austin next week to cut her
first CD. Phil Bennison (the artist formerly known as Homer
Henderson), Nick Curran on drums, jim lehnert on horns, and kevin
smith (austin upright bass player) will be on board for the
festivities. 5/10
Dave Jeffery, former "harptender" and booking agent for J&J Blues
Bar has moved over to Froggy's in West Fort Worth.
Froggy's is now booking live blues with plans to bring in a few
roadshows. 5/1
Tutu Jones is seeking a drummer to go on the road with him in
June. Call his beeper at: 214-865-1005 5/1
I attended part of the live Betty Lewis recording session at the Blue
Cat on Tuesday April 24 and enjoyed what I heard. Betty cut a
whole live CD of original material. 4/25
From Bobby Rush's management:
Five of Bobby's band
members still remain hospitalized. Bobby is now convalescing at home
and seeing a physical therapist to treat his injuries. Updates on the
bands health status are being posted by the Blues Foundation at
www.blues.org and on http://www.tigerink.com/bobbyrush/
Blues Aid has
established the Bobby Rush Band Fund in order to help cover the
overwhelming costs of the horrific accident. If you would like to help
with a fund raising effort contact:
Beverly Tatum - btatum3143@aol.com
Phone: (404) 373-8803
Fax: (404) 373-3414
If you would like to make a contribution please make your check payable
to
the Blues Aid / Bobby Rush Band Fund and send them to:
Blues Aid
P.O. Box 237
Helena, AR 72342
Jack Smith reports J&J Blues Bar in Fort Worth will now open at
7:30 pm on Thursday and Sunday nights with music starting at 9 pm
on those two nights. 4/25
Those of you (old folks) who remember Marc Tuton's blues show on KNON
may find this story interesting in today's Dallas Morning News:
http://www.dallasnews.com/metro/columnists/348108_blow_25met.html
4/25
The Randy McAllister/Joey Love benefit for KNON scheduled for Friday,
April 27 at the Sons of Hermann Hall has been CANCELLED. 4/23
From the Blues Foundation:
Bobby Rush’s tour bus was involved in a one-car accident en route to
Pensacola, Florida in the early morning hours of Thursday April
19. Details are still emerging, but we can report some facts as
well as a request from Bobby’s family.
The most tragic news is that band member Latisha Brown was killed in
the accident. Virtually every other band member suffered
injuries, some serious, and several band members have gone or will
undergo surgery. None of the injuries is life threatening, but
several band members suffered major broken bones.
Bobby himself was kept overnight in a Florida hospital with head and
neck injuries, but he will return home today, April 20. According to
his wife Jean, the first order of business will be for Bobby to rest
and recuperate. Thus, the family has asked all those concerned fans who
have Bobby’s phone number NOT to call the house for the next week or
so. Your concern is appreciated, but the family has been
overwhelmed by the volume of calls, and simply cannot keep up with
them. Bobby is doing well, and is expected to fully recover.
No official cause of the accident has been reported, but the current
theory is that the driver suffered a heart attack that caused him to
lose control of the vehicle and strike a tree.
If you wish to send a card or flowers, the family asks that you send
them to Bobby’s son, Carl Ellis, at 2615 Harriotte Avenue, Jackson,
MS 39209. Bobby and his family will be in contact with The Blues
Foundation, and we will
pass along information as we receive it. Bobby’s wife asks that
everyone please keep them in their prayers and to pray for a full
recovery for all band members. That is all that can be done right
now, but there may be a
medical fund set up - The Blues Foundation will keep you posted.
4/21
I have finally finished transferring files (over 500!) to the new
site at Geocities. It should be fully functional now and will be
updated as regularly as the NBCi site. If you find a dead link
there, let me know. For now the new site will function as a
mirror. I dread changing the address at all the search engines so
I'll rock along with the main site at NBCi until they decide what
is up. The FTP server at NBCi was down almost a week, but is
finally working again. Their counters seem to
have have disappeared though, just as I was approaching 50k hits.
:'( For now, it is important that all users visit and
bookmark the new site. If NBCi pulls the plug there is no
guarantee that they will give any advance
notice. Better safe than sorry if you are a regular user.
If you notice the NBCi site seems to be idle, check the news section
of the Geocities site for updates. When NBCi decides what's
up I'll decide whether or not to maintain NBCi as the main site.
Once again, here's the address for the new mirror: http://geocities.com/bluesdfw/
Robin Bank$ new CD is now available at her gigs and will soon be
available via her website.
http://www.geocities.com/robinbanksblues/ 4/20
John Zakoda writes:
Seasoned guitar player in the Fort Worth area looking to form original blues band. Hoping to meet a bass player, drummer and possibly a keys player
wanting the same. Please be dedicated, talented and enthusiastic. No egos needed. Must be willing to rehearse and gig asap. Looking forward
to your reply!
Thinline9@hotmail.com
Paul Williams from The Netherlands reports:
Hi don.o, just thought you needed to inform the d/fw crowd Mike
Morgan& the Crawl will play Ospel friday 04 May. Saturday 05
May has Lee Mcbee & the Passions feat Johnny Moeller &
Hash Brown, Johnny Bradley, Wes Starr. Also paul size is to play in
a tribute to lester butler with zach zunis & mason casey,
Johnny moeller will be touring here
with memo gonzales for a gig 01 june in belguim. then he
has a week touring the benelux with a belguim combo. 4/17
Wes Race has had Robin Syler, Homer Henderson, Johnny Moeller and
others in the studio recording for
Race Records. 4/14
Smokin' Joe Kubek says they don't plan to record again til late this
year and release in 2002. 4/14
Here is the URL for my NEW Dallas/Fort Worth Blues website:
http://geocities.com/bluesdfw/ I am currently in the
process of moving all files to the new site. Both the NBCi
(current site) and this new site will be maintained for now.
Since the future of NBCi is very uncertain right now, I STRONGLY
SUGGEST that all regular visitors to this site visit and bookmark
the new site in case NBCi goes away with no warning. It is going
to take me
awhile to get everything moved so be please patient, (hopefully NBCi
will not evaporate immediately). 4/12
Nick Curran is set to release his new CD in June on Texas Jamboree
Records. After checking his contract, he found he owed them a
second CD so he will delay his move to a larger label. 4/12
Tommy Tucker reports: There has been a small change on the
BETTY LEWIS live CD at the BLUE CAT. The club has made a small error.
The date is on TUES. the 24th NOT the 17th. PLEASE mark it on your
calendar that it is TUES. the 24th. Betty and her band will start
around 8:00 P.M........... So bring your voices and be part of this
spectacular event. It will be a lot of fun to see if you can hear
yourself on the finished product. 4/11
Scott gave me the cheery news that NBC is planning to sell or shut
down NBCi.com, home of this website. That means I will be looking
for a new internet home, most probably at Yahoo!/Geocities before too
long. Here is the article referenced by Scott:
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/10/technology/10NET.html?ex=987914369&ei=1&en=a89d8b145516174a
Don't change your bookmarks just yet, but watch this
space. 4/11
Alan Wiggins reports about Alan McDaniel's Monday night jam at
Bandera's: "Alan McDaniel has become an official endorser of the
custom made Rowan Guitars built by Dallas luthier Mike Rowan.
Jammers who stop by at the Monday night jam at Bandera's will be given
the opportunity to play one of the Rowan Guitars during their portion
of the jam. Also, any jammer that would like a recorded copy of
their jam performance at Bandera's should bring a blank cassette with
them the next time they stop
by. We will record their performance on a 4 track recording system."
Tommy Tucker reports: "I am producing BETTY LEWIS's LIVE
CD. We are RECORDING the CD LIVE
at the BLUE CAT. On TUES. the 17th of this month (APRIL). If ya want to
come and be a part of that audience on the 17th, and hear yourself
scream on the finished product, and show your support, come out to the
BLUE CAT on TUES. the 17th and SCREAM. We should be kicking the show
off around 8:00 p.m. ish"
Robin Bank$ new CD, Honestly, is now being pressed with delivery
expected in 2-3 weeks. Honestly! 4/5
Johnny Mack hopes to have his new CD, Gave Myself the Blues,
available to the public in May. A preview copy is currently
getting play on KNON. 4/5
From Steve Meek: "U.P. Wilson is in Ft Worth for likely his
only US appearance this year the 14th of April at The Captains Den on
Calmont. Currently gathering ex-band members and friends to turn it
into a farewell jam. He goes back to Paris the
26th where he plays French spring festivals, cabarets and dinner
theaters thru June with more European dates coming in that will carry
him thru the fall. By which time I
expect he will marry his French fiancee and make Paris his
residence."
From Joanna Iz: "Lady Lotion was in a car wreck. She had to
have surgery and 2 people were killed but all I know so. In Baylor/John
Roberts hospital intensive care right now." 4/2
Alan McDaniel, has started a Monday night blues jam at Bandera's
Club in
northeast Dallas. 4/2
Lucky Peterson has been booked as one of the headliners for the 2001
Chicago Blues Festival. 3/29
Apologies to those who tuned in to hear Gayle Dean Wardlow on Hal's
show on Tuesday. Gayle got
caught in traffic in south Fort Worth then got lost twice and never
made it. If you tuned in you did get to hear two nice live tunes
from K.M. Williams. Thanks K.M.! I have put
up a small website for Wardlow at:
http://www.geocities.com/deltabluesdetgdw/
From Patti Coghill: Rory Block will be performing in Dallas
April 7th at Uncle Calvin's Coffee house at 9555 N. Central
Expressway at the Presbyterian Church (www.unclecalvins.org). Tickets
will be $15 adv & $18 door. This is a non-profit place working with
the church and they have so graciously decided to donate the profits to
the new Southwest Blues Heritage Foundation.
J&J Blues bar in Fort Worth has confirmed Roy Gaines for April
21. His last appearance there in December was the best live blues
show I have seen in 5 years or so. Outstanding and highly
recommended!!!!! 3/26
Hash Brown's Monday jam at The Pub on Main is no more. 3/26
When is an apology not an apology? Read the Fort Worth
Weekly's "sort
of" apology to James Hinkle here
. Personally, just reads like more crap
to me. Read some of the letters generated by the original crap
here
(including mine) but page down to the "Go to Hell Hearsay"
part. Anyone else think "Colin Maycock" is just another pen name
for Robert Wilonsky? My opinion, just think of those guys
as "Dallas Observer Junior" and you will have it right. Use 'em
both to line the cat box and pick up Southwest Blues or Buddy if you
want to read about music in these parts. Ha hah!! Be sure
to read the "letters policy" at the bottom of this
page at Fort Worth Weekly dot com. Note carefully the addresses
and name? You thought I was kidding about Dallas Observer
Junior! Ha hah!!!!! Don't tell 'em. Our little inside
joke. 3/21
Gregg Smith reports he is set to go in the studio soon to cut a new,
all blues CD with Lucky Peterson
producing. 3/20
Bob Kirkpatrick is hosting a new Tuesday night blues jam (9 pm to 1
am) at Moose and Vinny's in Dallas. 3/20
Congratulations to Patti and Joanna at Southwest Blues Magazine for
putting on a great show on Sunday, March 18. It was well attended
and hopefully raised a bunch of money for their new foundation.
3/20
In case you haven't heard about it, check out this piece of crap in
the Fort Worth Weekly (now also
known as The Dallas Observer Junior) trashing James Hinkle:
crap
The mystery writer seems to be outraged that Hinkle
got paid for hosting the Sunday jam at J&J, a gig that was booked
weeks before Robert Ealey died. I have sent a letter to the
editor and I understand others are doing the same. 3/17
I have started a Robert Ealey tribute page and welcome contributions
and links: Robert Ealey Tribute Page
Here is updated info on Robert Ealey's services:
Funeral: 11 a.m. Monday at the Pilgrim Valley Missionary Baptist
Church, 4800 South Riverside Drive. Rev. Landon Spradlin will
officiate.
Burial: 2 p.m. Monday in the Dallas/Fort Worth National Cemetery.
Visitation: 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday and 4 to 6:45 p.m. Sunday at the
Veronica Chapel of
the funeral home, Gregory W. Spencer Funeral Directors, 4000 Miller
Ave., Fort Worth, (817) 531-8666.
Wake: 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home.
The family will gather and receive friends after 8 p.m. Sunday at the
Caravan of Dreams, 312 Houston St. in
downtown Fort Worth. Doors open at 7 pm.
Here are a couple of articles about the passing of Robert Ealey:
http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/306839_ealeyobit_09me.html
http://www.fwweekly.com/issues/2001-03-08/hearsay.html
Fort Worth blues legend Robert Ealey passed away on March
7. 3/7
Holland K. Smith reports: OK, jammers, this is to let you know
about my new regular jam starting
this Wednesday 3/7 in downtown Fort Worth at the Black Dog Tavern, 903
Throckmorton..ph# 817/332/8190. Free Parking after 9:00, and a free
beer or 2
from the management if you show up to jam. 3/5
Homepage.com has announced they are terminating free webpages at the
end of March. Therefore the mirror for the main site will cease
to be available. The main site at nbci.com will not be
affected. This is probably the start of many shake ups on the
web. Remember, somebody, somewhere is paying for all this free
hard drive space, servers, etc. that all these free web pages exist
on. The
idea that banner ads would pay for everything has proved to be a dream
and reality is starting to come crashing down on the dot coms.
For now, I will no longer maintain a mirror site. nbci.com seems
to be fairly stable right now so that should
not be a problem for most users. Again, this affects ONLY
the mirror site, not the main site. At least not yet. 3/2
Here's a nice article on Kenny Neal in this week's Fort Worth
Weekly. They use a couple of my photos for the story. Kenny
is at J&J March 3. Kenny
Neal Story 3/1
The Fender Benders have a new website at: http://www.thefenderbenders.com
The Mem Shannon gig scheduled for March 7 at Stumpy's was
cancelled. A real shame. Mem hasn't played around here in 2
years or so. 2/24
Nick Curran has just completed recording his new CD with tentative
release due in June. Reportedly a special 45 rpm record will also
be pressed from the recordings. 2/22
Hash Brown reports that bass player Pat Whitefield has also left
Anson and the Rockets and will be replaced by Johnny Bradley.
2/20
Danny Cochran, who has played drums with Anson and the Rockets for
the last 11 years, played his last show with the band on 2/17.
Wes Starr will join the Rockets as their new drummer. Danny had
tired of the road and will pursue other projects around
DFW. 2/17
From the blues-l newsgroup: "Martin Scorsese will serve as executive
producer for a multi-part PBS television series documenting the
evolution of blues music. Directors Michael Apted, Charles Burnett,
Spike Lee, Marc Levin and Wim Wenders are expected to contribute to the
series. No word on whether Scorsese will do any directing himself for
the project, which is expected to premier in the fall of 2001." 2/15
Robin Bank$ now has a website up at:
http://www.geocities.com/robinbanksblues/
Robin's new CD will be mixed soon
and will be titled "Honestly". 2/15
Tommy Tucker reports guitarist Matt Snow passed away on Sunday,
February 11. I have no further details at this time. 2/13
Hash Brown reports that his Monday jam at The Pub on Main is in
trouble and needs your support: "BASICALLY WHAT IS HAPPENING IS IF WE
DO NOT GET SOME PEOPLE TO COME OUT IN THE NEXT THREE WEEKS, THE JAM
WILL NOT CONTINUE, AND WE FEEL THIS WOULD BE AN UNFORTUNATE THING FOR
THE BLUES COMMUNITY." 2/12
HERE is the new T-shirt design for KNON's
Texas Blues radio shows for 2001. Designed by Sandra Harris. 2/7
Nick Curran is set to go in the studio to cut his first CD for his
new label, Hightone Records. 2/7
Lee McBee will cut a new CD for the Pacific Blues label in
April. Hash Brown, Johnny Moeller, Johnny Bradley, and Wes
Starr will be backing. 2/4
Stumpy's has a new website a: http://www.stumpysbluesbar.com
From Johnny Mack: Just wanted to thank everyone that
came out
to J&J's for Robert's benefit last Wed. We had a standing room only
crowd
& lots of great musicians. I know we raised over $800.00 alone just
passing
the tip jar around. The money was given directly to Robert & Helen
the
next day, & they too said a big thank you to everyone that helped
out.
Remember to Robert in your hearts & prayers y'all. 1/29
Scott Ferman reports: The KNTU Blues Revue is no more. They now run
the 'Beale Street Caravan' on Sunday nights from 9PM to 10PM. No other
blues shows. 1/29
Thanks to all who came out to the second annual KNON Blues festival
on January 20 and 21. It was the most successful blues benefit KNON has
ever had. Thanks also to all the great bands who played for
us! Click HERE for some photos!
From Lisa DuPré: A Tribute & Benefit for Robert Ealey.
Emceed by Lisa DuPré. Co-sponsored by Caravan of Dreams, Buddy
Magazine & Brook Mays Pro Shop. Featured Artists Include: Mike
Morgan Cricket Taylor, Johnny Red & the Roosters, Joe Jonas, David
"Bottlehead" Miller, Betty Lewis, Richard "Mr. Topcat" Chalk, John
Nitzinger and other special guests. 8-12pm, Friday, February 9, 2001 at
Caravan of Dreams, 312 Houston St., Fort Worth, Texas. Metro
(817)429-4000 $10.00 Donation at the Door. 1/25
From Candy: "J&J's Blues Bar is combining the Wed and Sun jams
on Sunday
nights. Wednesday nights they will be closed unless they have a special
show.
Starting Feb 1, J&J's is only open Thurs-Sun." 1/24
Johnny Mack reports that Robert Ealey was injured in a car wreck in
December and now requires dialysis. There will be a big benefit
for Robert at J&J Blues Bar on Wednesday, January 24 at 10
pm. 1/21
Congratulations to Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets featuring Sam
Myers for their nomination as Blues Band of the Year for the 22nd
annual W.C. Handy Awards. 1/16
Johnny Mack reports: "James & Betsy Hinkle had a little girl
last Tues.
night (1/9), Evelyn Clair. Also, we are having a benefit for Robert
Ealey
at J&J's on Wed. the 24th featuring my band, James Hinkle, Kenny
Traylor,
Rollo Smith, Dave Milsap & all the cat's we play with. The money is
going
to help take care of bills that piled up when he was in the hospital."
Jim Suhler had a gig with George Thorogood pop up in Las Vegas so
Keri LePai and Harold Walker will play the 4 pm slot at the KNON Blues
Festival on Sunday, January 21. 1/6
DFW Blues News for 2000