blues rock | Musicosity

Walter Trout Band

On his latest single “Waiting For The Dawn,” released today via Provogue/Mascot Label Group, the
iconic blues-rock guitarist Walter Trout urges fans – and himself – to stay strong, in light of all of the
challenges we’ve faced over the past few years. “There were times in this pandemic where I have sunk
into some pretty deep depressions, sitting around, wondering whether life has a point,” Trout recalls.
It’s the latest single from Trout’s new studio album ‘Ride,’ out August 19th. Written in his beloved and
often-missed home in Huntington Beach, California, the album is filled with pointed reflections from
Trout, informed by his decades of stardom in the blues world.
As long-standing Trout fans know, the Golden State has been the bluesman’s home for 47 years. Trout
joined John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers lineup in ’85, before embarking on an acclaimed solo career from ’89 onwards. But before that came

Photo by Austin Hargrave
his chaotic, self-destructive years as a jobbing lead guitarist, whether for
revered-but-tricky blues pioneers like John Lee Hooker and Big Mama Thornton, or an unhinged tenure
in an ’80s Canned Heat line-up controlled by the Hell’s Angels.

Trout’s well-documented excess in this era was darker than a young rock star cutting loose. It could all
be traced back to his troubled childhood in New Jersey, he explains, where an unstable stepfather –
himself the victim of shocking cruelty as a prisoner of war – was a terrifying presence. As 'Ride' took
form, such memories couldn’t help but flavor the music. “This album is obviously what I was going
through mentally and emotionally,” he considers. “All I did was express it. I spent a lot of time crying,
because I would dig down into my emotional core. I want my songs to have some sort of truth to them.”
Some memories that Trout examines on 'Ride' are long-distant but eternally poignant. Try the
deceptively upbeat title track, another song that began as a poem, recounting the locomotive that
rattled past his childhood home each night and enticed him to freight-hop to freedom. “That song is
about what it felt like to lay there in bed and dream about escaping on that train. I also wanted to
express that music has always been another sort of virtual escape for me.”
The stormy "Hey Mama" takes inspiration from the same period, with Trout debating whether his
trauma could have been averted. “I’m not pissed off with my mom and I love her memory,” he says,
“but my wife says, ‘Your mom probably could have done more to protect you from your stepdad’. Yeah,
maybe she could have. But it’s easy to say that looking back.”
Walter Trout is the beating heart of the modern blues rock scene. Respected by the old guard. Revered
by the young guns. Adored by the fans who shake his hand after the show each night, and after five
decades in the game, Trout remains a talismanic figure.
But, however fast or far a man travels, he can never truly outrun his past. On the new album he found
himself eyeing the horizon and the green shoots of his triumphant late career. There was a new record
deal with Mascot/Provogue. A temporary move from California to Denmark to be with his beloved
family. Even now, aged 70, Trout was still writing fresh chapters of his life story.
By now, Trout knows that nobody ever really leaves their old selves behind. But with 'Ride' providing an
emotional release-valve – both for its creator and his loyal listeners – perhaps this veteran artist can
reconcile with his past, accept his future and live in the present as it unfolds. “I think you can interpret
this album title a few different ways,” he concludes. “I mean, this album is definitely a musical ride and I
certainly tried to cover a lot of ground. But, really, life is kind of a ride too, isn’t it? And I want to live
mine to the fullest.”

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Tropical F Storm

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Rob Caudill

People stop Rob Caudill in airports for autographs. They stare at him in restaurants. And when he struts on stage, women scream themselves hoarse. Why? Because Caudill is a dead-on Rod Stewart Impersonator. He's got the high-definition jawline, the shock of spiky blonde hair, but most importantly, he has the nose. Vocally, his distinctive, naturally-raspy voice sounds like the legendary Stewart, and his range easily nails every high note from Stewart's younger days. So, it's no surprise this singer has carved out a career 'recreating' Rod Stewart. From kicking out soccer balls to spinning mic stands, to belting out all of Rod's greatest hits - Caudill's high energy show is a must-see event for people of all ages. When Rob was just seventeen, people started telling him that he looked like Rod Stewart - a phrase Rob would hear repeatedly from almost everyone he met for the rest of his life. He began his musical career after graduating high school and moving to Memphis, TN to study music at MSU. "I've got the greatest job in the world, making a living doing something I love." While in Memphis, Rob began playing bass for local bands around town and doing session work. As bass player for a band called "The Breaks" Caudill got his first major opportunity when they signed to RCA Records. The Breaks' first single, "She Wants You", was played in heavy rotation on MTV music television which caught the attention of Bugle Boy Clothing, who used The Breaks for their first commercial on MTV. After a few years, The Breaks disbanded, so Rob put together a group called "The Willys" that included legendary guitarist Shawn Lane. They quickly became one of Memphis' hottest bands. Rob also began doing session work with Joe Walsh of the Eagles and jammed with many others such as John Entwhistle of the Who, along with members of Cheap Trick, Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Survivor and Red Hot Chili Peppers just to name a few. In 1996, he realized he couldn't escape the remarkable natural resemblance to Rod Stewart so he heeded the advice of Joe Walsh and began his tribute career. Rob put down his bass, bought some wild clothing and diligently studied lots of Rod's videos, vocals and mannerisms.Now, more than a 15 years later, he is still spinning his mic stand and kicking soccer balls out to audiences everywhere. When he leaves town he is armed with his "Tonight's the Night Band," a repertoire of more than 100 Stewart songs (covering everything from the beginning years of The Faces to the Great American Songbooks), and a wardrobe of loud, mostly custom made suits that match Rod Stewart's attire to a tee. He has been working with the world famous Legends in Concert show out of Las Vegas for the past 15 years. He also works independently doing a high energy two hour show and claims "I've got the greatest job in the world, making a living doing something I love." A true international sensation, Rob has performed:•For The Sultan of Malaysia•At a wedding for a Malaysian Princess•At the Miss World Philippines Beauty Pageant•At Autoracing's MotoGP event in Sepang Malaysia•At the AFF Suzuki Cup Football (Soccer) Matches between Malaysia and Indonesia in Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta Rob’s performed his Tribute to Rod Stewart all over the world including: Australia, Cambodia, Canada, China, Finland, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Thailand, and theUnited States

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Joni Mitchell

Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell CC (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her starkly personal lyrics and unconventional compositions, which grew to incorporate pop and jazz influences.[1] She has received many accolades, including ten Grammy Awards and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Rolling Stone called her "one of the greatest songwriters ever",[2] and AllMusic has stated, "When the dust settles, Joni Mitchell may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century".[1]

Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and throughout western Canada, before moving on to the nightclubs of Toronto, Ontario. She moved to the United States and began touring in 1965. Some of her original songs ("Urge for Going", "Chelsea Morning", "Both Sides, Now", "The Circle Game") were recorded by other folk singers, allowing her to sign with Reprise Records and record her debut album, Song to a Seagull, in 1968.[3] Settling in Southern California, Mitchell helped define an era and a generation with popular songs like "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Woodstock". Her 1971 album Blue is often cited as one of the best albums of all time; it was rated the 30th best album ever made in Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time",[4] rising to number 3 in the 2020 edition.[5] In 2000, The New York Times chose Blue as one of the 25 albums that represented "turning points and pinnacles in 20th-century popular music".[6] NPR ranked Blue number 1 on a 2017 list of Greatest Albums Made By Women.[7]

Mitchell switched labels and began exploring more jazz-influenced ideas, by way of lush pop textures, on 1974's Court and Spark, which featured the radio hits "Help Me" and "Free Man in Paris"[8] and became her best-selling album. Mitchell's vocal range began to shift from mezzo-soprano to more of a wide-ranging contralto around 1975.[9][10][11] Her distinctive piano and open-tuned guitar compositions also grew more harmonically and rhythmically complex as she melded jazz with rock and roll, R&B, classical music and non-Western beats. In the late 1970s, she began working with noted jazz musicians including Jaco Pastorius, Tom Scott, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, and Pat Metheny as well as Charles Mingus, who asked her to collaborate on his final recordings.[12] She later turned to pop and electronic music and engaged in political protest. She was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards in 2002[13] and became a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2021.[14]

Mitchell produced or co-produced most of her albums. A critic of the music industry, she quit touring and released her 17th and last album of original songs in 2007. Mitchell has designed most of her own album covers, describing herself as a "painter derailed by circumstance".

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Cold Irons Bound

"Cold Irons Bound" is a Grammy Award-winning song written by Bob Dylan, recorded in January 1997 and released on September 30, 1997 as the eighth track on his album Time Out of Mind. The song was produced by Daniel Lanois.
Dylan was inspired to write the song in the studio after hearing drummer David Kemper, who had arrived early one day, playing an unusual beat. As Kemper explained in an interview with Uncut:

I heard this disco record with a Cuban beat, and when I got to the studio, I sat back at the drums and I slowed the beat down, and turned it upside down, and I was just playing, and there was nobody there. No one was expected for a half hour. So I was playing this drum beat, and then Bob snuck up behind me and said, "What are you playing?" I said, "Hey Bob, how are you today?" He said, "No, don’t stop, keep playing, what are you playing?" I said, "It’s a beat, I’m just writing it right now". "Don’t stop it. Keep doing it". And he went and got a yellow pad of paper and sat next to the drums, and he just started writing. And he wrote for maybe ten minutes, and then he said, "Will you remember that?" And I said, yeah, I got it. And then he said, all right, everybody come on in, I want to put this down".

Well I got it in my head, and by then everyone had arrived and tuned up. And take one, he stepped up to the microphone, and "I’m beginning to hear voices, and there’s no one around". And I think we did two takes, and then he said, "All right, let’s move on to something else". I remember Daniel Lanois wasn’t happy; he didn’t like it. It was one of his guitar breaking incidents. He said to Tony [Garnier] and I: "The world doesn’t want another two-note melody from Bob". And he smashed a guitar. So I thought, well, there goes my chance of being on this record. Next time I saw Daniel was at the [Grammys] because we had performed that night, and all of a sudden, Male Vocal Performance of the Year, came from that song – the one that Dan was adamant wouldn’t get on the record.

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The Dead Amigos

Formed in early 2016 from a most unlikely late night encounter, The Dead Amigos have been unrelenting in spreading their unique blend of bluesy stoner rock with underlays of psychedelic and funk across the Melbourne and St Kilda music scenes.

The Vineyard, Prince of Wales, the Espy, Cherry bar, Revolver, Evelyn hotel, Brunswick hotel and the Tote are among the many iconic venues the boys have frequently graced in their short time together. On top of this, the St Kilda rockers ‘Lets Get Twisted’ tour brought the new gospel of their sound to rocking places such as Frankies Pizza in Sydney and the Bearded Lady in Queensland.

Now preparing to unleash their debut album with producer Tyson Fish (The Living End, Dropkick Murphys, Bad//Dreems), The Dead Amigos are showing no signs of slowing down as they continue to bring a unique blend of St Kilda rock n roll to the masses.

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Persecution Blues

After a two-year stint living and working in Sydney, Van Dungen returned to Melbourne just as The Tote was celebrating its 21st anniversary. Van Dungen had already taken note of Melbourne’s vibrant live music scene, and hatched an idea to document various live music venues in their natural, thriving state. “Initially I thought it might be good to do a documentary on the Rainbow, which I used to go to, and which was threatening to close because of noise complaints,” Van Dungen says. “Then the next day I was going through the street press and realised it was The Tote’s 21st anniversary, so I thought I’d seize the moment and do some filming in The Tote.”

Van Dungen approached then-licensee Richie Ramone to film a Magic Dirt gig. “Richie said it was fine, as long as the venue didn’t have to do anything to set up,” Van Dungen says. Van Dungen gradually realised that, rather than a collage of Melbourne venues, she should concentrate on the legendary Tote. “I did a lot of research on The Tote, and started shooting bands and interviewing people,” Van Dungen says.

The original concept – a long-form documentary celebrating The Tote in all its festering rock ‘n’ roll glory – took a sharp turn when Bruce Milne announced that the venue would be forced to close in the face of Milne’s escalating debts. Van Dungen took her camera into The Tote to witness The Tote staff, past and present, come together to provide a suitable send-off. As a former Tote staff member herself, filming the last days and hours was a particularly emotional activity. “It was hard because I was pointing a camera at the staff as they went through it,” Van Dungen says. “It was hard watching the grief that went through the community. But I was hoping it would re-open, because there was so much grief going on, and it seemed wrong that The Tote was being taken away from this community,” she says.

But as the local music community grappled with the shock of The Tote’s impending closure, a rear guard action – in the form of the Save Live Australia’s Music (SLAM) community action movement – was being conceived. Van Dungen took her cameras to the SLAM Rally in January 2010, an outpouring of support for live music that took the state government by surprise. Having previously been given a distribution deal and the use of an edit suite by Madman, Van Dungen approached the ABC for funding support to finalise the documentary, now recalibrated to narrate the events leading up to, and immediately following The Tote’s closure.

The final product, Persecution Blues – named after the Powder Monkeys song featured on the wall of The Tote as a poetic tribute – premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival last month. “At the first screening I was looking out into the crowd and seeing all these familiar faces,” Van Dungen says. “Having spent seven years making it, it was tremendous to be able to share it – but it was also quite nerve-wracking!” she laughs.

Persecution Blues has now secured a feature run at the Cinema Nova in Carlton, with a DVD release slated for early 2012, shortly after the film is shown on ABC. “With the DVD I’d like to use as much footage as we can that didn’t appear on the final documentary,” Van Dungen says. “It’s pretty hard to cram 400 hours of film into 57 minutes, so there’s still a lot more to show.”

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Gwyn Ashton

In Sydney, Australia in the 80s Gwyn Ashton was one-time lead guitarist for Stevie Wright and Swanee and in the 90s he moved to Melbourne and played on two of The Masters Apprentices Jim Keays' solo albums. Ashton opened for Rory Gallagher, Junior Wells and various blues bands from the USA when they came to Australia. Asked by Billy Thorpe if Mick Fleetwood could sit in with his band, Ashton was instantly on the short list as lead guitarist with according to Mick's sound engineer "something big but we can't say who it is", but he was told to get his passport together! One can only imagine...

After relocating and playing the European circuit for three years by 2001 the now Virgin Records France recording artist Gwyn Ashton was nominated at third position as ‘Guitarist of The Year’ in Guitar Part Magazine. First and second positions were Jeff Beck and Gary Moore, fourth was Popa Chubby, fifth was Guns N Roses Izzy Stradlin. Ashton’s first gig in France was opening for Buddy Guy with ex Rolling Stones Mick Taylor on before Gwyn. Ashton questioned this and said 'we don't deserve to be on after Mick. It's the wrong way around' but the organisers insisted on this as his popularity in France had grown. Ashton then played the Paris Music Trade Show where Fender France presented him with a new Stratocaster.

With numerous worldwide radio appearances under his belt, in the '90s Ashton appeared live on a radio show in Kent, England with Bert Jansch. He played on a derelict Dutch train carriage on the pirate station Radio London in the Netherlands and networks in Australia including various ABC stations and public radio. He was also interviewed and played a live performance in France on Paris Inter.

Ashton then co-headlined Garden Blues Festival in Marseille with Robben Ford and on the bill with Ray Charles at Cognac Blues Passions. At this time Ashton had two of his albums simultaneously in the Amazon France Top 100 charts. He has played many guitar and blues festivals including two appearances at the Acoustic Festival of Great Britain, Popkomm in Berlin, Guitar Heroes Festival in Germany with Mick Taylor and has conducted blues masterclasses at London’s Guitar Institute, Guitar X and Academy of Sound in Birmingham and Exeter, England. Ashton also played the 10th annual ’Thanks Jimi’ Festival in Wroclaw, Poland onstage with Bernie Marsden and Jimi Hendrix’s brother Leon Hendrix, leading 8000 guitarists playing ‘Hey Joe’ in the market square setting a new ‘Guinness Book of World Records’.

For five years Ashton was Gerry McAvoy’s choice for fronting the Rory Gallagher celebratory group Band of Friends, replacing Thin Lizzy/Motorhead guitarist Brian Robertson. They headlined the first two Ballyshannon Rory Gallagher Festivals with members of The Dubliners opening for them. Rory’s brother Donal was taken aback by Ashton’s interpretation of his late brother’s guitar playing stating ‘I like the way you put your own slant on Rory’s music, you don’t just copy him’. The band consisted of Gerry, Lou Martin, Brendan O’Neill, Mark Feltham and Dennis Greaves, all who at the time played in the band Nine Below Zero. Gerry and Brendan played on Ashton’s ‘Fang It! album with Greaves producing it. The album received great reviews and won many awards for ‘Album of The Year’ in a host of magazines.

Italian guitar company Liutart then asked Ashton to design his own signature guitar which he uses to this day with the configuration based on his favourite classic guitars - Gibson Firebird, Danelectro and Fender Telecaster pickups. Ashton called this 'the ultimate slide guitar'.

Since then Ashton has been touring Europe with many acts including The Yardbirds, Johnny Winter, Peter Green, Slade, The Sweet, Canned Heat, Magnum, The Troggs and headlining his own shows. He has also played dates in England with Van Morrison, Robin Trower, Jeff Healey, Tony Joe White, Walter Trout and 15 arena shows, including Wembley, with the legendary Status Quo with Francis Rossi asking him about co-writing and Rick Parfitt wanting some slide guitar tips. Ashton has shared the bill twice with Joe Bonamassa, once at Birmingham NEC for Music Live and once at a guitar festival in Sweden. Ashton has performed at guitar shows appeared twice on Czech National TV, ZDF TV in Germany and in Bulgaria on Slavi's Show, Slavi being the 'Bulgarian Jay Leno' with an audience of two million. This coincided with Ashton's concert for the American Chamber of Commerce celebrating American Independence Day, 50 years of Bulgarian occupancy and the 50th anniversary of the Stratocaster, the show being organised by Fender Bulgaria July 4 2004.

Three years running he played at Deep Purple keyboardist Don Airey’s charity show near Cambridge, England with members of Whitesnake Bernie Marsden, Mickey Moody and Neil Murray, plus Uli John Roth, Robert Hart and Jimmy Page’s first choice for Led Zeppelin vocalist Terry Reid. Don has played on two of Ashton’s albums ‘Prohibition’ (alongside Chris Glen and Ted McKenna from Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Ian Gillan, Michael Schenker Group) and ‘Radiogram’ which also features guest appearances from Kim Wilson (Fabulous Thunderbirds), Robbie Blunt (Robert Plant), Mark Stanway (Magnum, Phil Lynott’s Grand Slam) and Mo Birch (Robert Plant, Go West, Paul Rodgers, Culture Club). Ashton has recorded eight albums, some with special guests mentioned above.

Ashton has been invited onstage with some of the greatest blues and rock musicians including ex Black Crowes Marc Ford who also asked him to play lap steel on a studio session in Los Angeles. They also played three duo shows together. He jammed with Walter Trout, the legendary Canned Heat and Hubert Sumlin at blues festivals in England and Germany, bassist extraordinaire Jerry Jermott (BB King, Aretha Franklin) and Cactus and former Vanilla Fudge bassist Tim Bogert in Los Angeles and he even sat around David Crosby's dining room table trading licks on acoustic guitar with the former Byrd's legendary singer, songwriter. Jackson Browne and Robert Plant have both commented favourably on Ashton's playing and both been part of his audience. Ashton has even been known to sit around former Rainbow and Alcatraz singer Graham Bonnet in his living room, playing and singing Beatles songs together! He's also played with Steely Dan's Elliott Randal and former Jethro Tull's Mick Abrahams at a fund-raising show in England. Tull's former drummer Clive Bunker was Ashton's first UK drummer and Ashton played two shows with ex Rick Wakeman singer Gary Pickford-Hopkins.

During a tour of Spain, Ashton found himself jamming with former Wings drummer Geoff Britten who played on ‘Venus and Mars’. In Austin Texas, he was invited onstage with the hierarchy of the Austin scene including Derek O’Brien, Malford Milligan, Chris Duarte, Roscoe Beck and Frosty.

Eric Johnson’s bassist Chris Maresh joined Ashton on a 2018 German tour with Welsh drummer Chris Sharley from the 70s band Sassafrass. Budgie’s Burke Shelley gave Ashton a CD to learn their songs as they were possibly looking for a replacement guitarist at one stage. Shelley’s blues band opened for Ashton at a Christmas party at Tawe Delta Blues Club in Swansea, Wales. They were introduced by Dire Straits and Rockpile drummer Terry Williams.

Ashton’s first Czech Republic gig was with BB King at Golem Blues Festival, where he was the only other musician apart from King's entourage allowed in the dressing room prior to his

performance. Ashton has recorded nine albums, some with special guests mentioned above.

Gwyn Ashton’s critically-acclaimed release ‘Solo Elektro’ saw him reinvented as an alternative progressive blues-rock solo artist with elements of 60s garage rock, psychedelia, acoustic roots and some good old-fashioned rock 'n' roll influences. The follow-up power-duo album - 2019's Sonic Blues Preachers features ex Bon Scott Fraternity drummer John Freeman.

An inductee into the South Australian Music Hall of Fame for recognition of his contribution of sharing original Australian music with the world, Ashton's show is retro with a modern evolution as he crosses the boundaries between indie rock and the blues, mixing his electric set with acoustic lap side and steel-bodied resonator guitars along the way. His two-hour show takes his audience on an eclectic musical mesmerising story-telling journey, as he engulfs and engages them in a hypnotic musical adventure, showing music has no boundaries.

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Brad Cook Trio

Gear up for a captivating night of Psychedelic Blues Rock as the ‘Brad Cook Trio’ hits the Cherry Bar stage on Friday, February 9, 2024. Celebrating the EP ‘Time to Fly,’ the evening highlights Brad‘s retro guitar finesse and classic rock influences, showcasing the band’s genuine love for psychedelic rock and power blues.

Joining the lineup is ‘War Birds,’ fresh back from their recent UK tour. With catchy riffs and powerful vocals, they promise a memorable performance.

Round up your friends, grab a drink, and immerse yourself in the authentic essence of rock ‘n’ roll. Looking forward to seeing you there!

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The Opals

The Opals, a blues influenced rock band that has been in hibernation since last year with their work in the studio, have finally woken up from their slumber, headlining a matinee show at The Workers Club for their re-entry into the live scene.

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