North Jersey Blues Society

Side 2, Track 2 is where the kingmaker, the blockbuster, the firebreather lived.

Live-to-tape went these 11 performances, each one twitching away like a raw nerve—just the way Nature meant for blues to be experienced. Zero polishing. Zero fine tuning. Zero cosmetic surgery. Only: Ready! Set! BOOM! Done.

Stones: This album’s got ’em.

Down into the gutbucket we go.

Piney sure had the voice. That special kind of voice perfectly suited to his line of work: shouting the blues, starting in its 1940s heyday.

This Wayback Machine—set for New York City, 1978—drops you off inside The Bottom Line at the most opportune time: right as the deep-blue funk begins flying.

Now it is official: Please welcome Young Rell into the blues fold on the strength of his self-titled, long-play debut, Young Rell.

Four cement steps beneath 4801 S. Indiana Avenue, on the South Side of Chicago, an underground magnet operated.

Once a boneshaker, always a boneshaker.

Eliza Neals doesn’t ease into Thunder In The House — she kicks the door open.

There is a problem. A major problem.

It was a Tuesday. Much like any other Tuesday in Hackensack, New Jersey, in 1956.

All that is needed is an acoustic guitar and a heart full of strife.

The North Jersey Blues Society lit up Crossroads in Garwood on Saturday, May 2, with an unforgettable Local Blues Competition featuring eight incredible acts—four bands and four solo/duo performers. With a packed room and an energized crowd, the day showcased the depth, diversity, and passion of our regional blues scene.

Soul to Soul airdrops you into Accra, Ghana, a couple of days before the 14-hour concert kicks off.

During a temporary lull in an 18-minute public evisceration of “Have You Ever Loved a Woman?,” a deep voice booms into the centerstage microphone: “This is the blues … I’m a bluesman and I’ve got a blues band.” Sounds simple enough. But by that evening on October 10, 1975, such a humble statement of fact seemed like a massive understatement of the legend standing before everyone.

Many a high-profile project has been seared by Rick Vito’s bottlenecking.

Were you there at the traveling guitar event of ’75?

Heavy weighs the blues.

Prior to Blast Off!, here’s a quick pre-flight checklist to run through.