Bluesman David Gogo Says “Yeah” to the Rock on Electrifying New Album

Even if a guy has given his life to the blues, there are times when he just can’t resist the primal urge to rock out. Especially when his friends are there to egg him on. That’s where David Gogo finds himself on his new album, YEAH!—a dizzying compendium of career bests that pulses with the kind of energy that only comes from just the right combination of commitment and camaraderie.
 
Song like “One More Day” and “Moose Hall Brawl” have the raw, zealous abandon of a boys’ night out. And that’s the kind of prospect that gets all the more inviting when your boys happen to be some of the greatest players on the Canadian blues scene. Leadoff track “Diamond In The Rough” sets the tone in no uncertain terms, absolutely storming out of the gate with a fiery declaration of passion both musical and lyrical:
 
She’s my sugar, she’s my spice
I still love her when she’s not playing nice
She’s my diamond in the rough
And I can’t get enough of that stuff
She really perks me up
She’s my diamond in the rough
 
“I wanted a good, solid rock and roll song to kick this album off, and I believe that this one delivers,” Gogo says. “I love the fantastic ’70s rock bands like Bad Company and T-Rex, and we had a gas laying this track down!”
 
It sure sounds like it. The track has all the guitar bite of classic FM, with some insanely catchy chants to push it over the finish line into “crowd favorite” territory. Close your eyes, and you can practically see the band’s own heads nodding and their fists pumping between riffs.
 
“I have recorded many albums, worked with many talented people and had a lot of fun, but this album is my favourite to date,” Gogo enthuses. For that, the Nanaimo, BC-based singer/guitarist can thank his decision to leave his comfort zone and travel to snowy Ontario to work at The Ganaraska Recording Co., under the trusted production guidance of fellow Canadian blues great Steve Marriner. Gogo even restricted himself to bringing one guitar of his own, recording the rest of the album on the studio’s collection of vintage axes. With Marriner and fellow blues mainstays Jimmy Bowskill and Gary Craig forming his backup ensemble, Gogo had all the ammo he needed to create something truly special.
 
“This group was a pleasure to create with—top-notch performers and super cool to hang with,” he says. “I feel that the new songs are very strong, and there was such a great vibe in the studio. Though it was a relaxed and supportive environment, we worked at a quick rate and utilized plenty of first or second takes to keep the live energy happening.”
 
The result is 10 tunes that positively quake with power, Gogo’s guitar reaching levels of string-bending expressiveness that need to be heard to be believed on the nine originals and one cover (a shimmying rendition of Shuggie Otis’ “Hurricane” you could absolutely frug to).
 
The whole project is a more-than-worthy addition to a CV that’s already seen its share of highlights. Over the course of his illustrious career, Gogo has been nominated for six JUNO Awards, won Guitarist Of The Year three times at the Maple Blues Awards, been named Musician Of The Year at the West Coast Music Awards, won Blues Recording Of The Year at the Western Canadian Music Awards and received the Great Canadian Blues Award  (as voted by the listeners of CBC’s Saturday Night Blues) for his lifetime contribution to the blues in Canada. Whew! And even if you don’t own one of his records, you’ve probably heard his songs in films and on TV, or heard them covered by a panoply of fellow artists like Buddy Guy.
 
Perpetually in demand as a live performer, Gogo has played alongside the likes of BB King, Johnny Winter, Albert Collins, Bo Diddley and Otis Rush. And he’s opened shows for ZZ Top, George Thorogood, The Tragically Hip, Little Feat, Jimmie Vaughan, Robert Cray, Robin Trower and Wishbone Ash.
 

Blues Rock Artist Mark Wihlidal and Producer Chris Birkett Collaborate on Age-Defying "One More Time" Single

The adage about time is that it remains undefeated. Everyone has to go at some point. But with today's musical landscape, artists continue to defy Father Time (and the Grim Reaper) by performing well into their sixties, seventies and beyond. From the Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen to Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson, age is just a number. And Oshawa-based blues rock artist Mark Wihlidal and producer/guitarist Chris Birkett are taking that idea to the masses with the great, engrossing single "One More Time."
 
Wihlidal says "One More Time," produced by Chris Birkett and featuring Birkett's guitar work, was inspired by the idea of equating one's age to one's self-worth or ability as an artist. "This song is about an aging artist who wants to keep getting on the stage and performing as they always have," Wihlidal says. "They don't want to be left behind or forgotten. They want their music to live on and not fade away. They feel that even though they are aged, they still have lots to give as an artist."
 
"One More Time" is a thoughtful, slow-building song as Wihlidal's powerful and passionate delivery shines while the electric guitar works its magic thanks to both Wihlidal and Birkett. Think of some combination between Canadian artist Tom Cochrane and the earthy, roots feel of John Hiatt and "One More Time" comes into full view over nearly four and a half enjoyable minutes.
 
Please let me sing one more day
Please let me play before I'm cast away
One more time, before I leave it all behind
Please don't let me fade away.
 
Although Wihlidal says the inspiration for "One More Time" wasn't initially coming from personal experience, he realized that aging and performing is "a hot topic" for him. "It has been implied that my age has lost me a few performances," he says. "I was told that I cannot be an 'emerging artist' because I am older.
 
"Why is it that the music business only wants youth and beauty? When we listen to a song, do you think about the age of the artist or how they look? NO...Never. Music is ageless. Performing is great for the soul at any age."
 
Wihlidal, whose work has been featured in various Ontario daily publications both in his hometown of Oshawa and as far west as Niagara Falls, released the single "Life Can Be A Mystery" in 2022. In 2023 he released "You and Me" with the Doctors of Music, a group Wihlidal amicably parted company with earlier in 2024. Wihlidal has also been featured on several music sites ranging from Cashbox and Tinnitist to Record World and Canadian Beats.
 
Now with a new single and having recently performed dates in Alberta, Mark Wihlidal looks forward to new material and music in 2024 and beyond. He also hopes to collaborate with Birkett again. "He's a true gentleman and boy can he play guitar," Wihlidal says.
 
And just like the message heard loud and clear in "One More Time," Wihlidal isn't putting his feet up and retiring anytime soon. "Personally, you will have to drag me off a stage to put me in the grave. Aging artists deserve more attention. Artists AT ANY AGE have lots to share."
 
It's a timeless message for a song that sounds timeless.

Seeing Is Believing: Boston Blues Rocker Scott Albert Johnson Holds Tomorrow Up To The Light On “Invisible”

You can treat the future as a daunting mystery to shrink from, or as a challenge to run toward with arms outstretched. Boston Singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Scott Albert Johnson opts for the latter on his current single, “Invisible,” a moving exhortation to jettison one’s fear of the unknown and bravely shoulder on through uncertain times, and now on over 60 radio stations across North America.
 
In a compelling, worldly voice that pinpoints his hopefulness as anything but youthful naïveté, Johnson lets us know he’s standing on the cusp of … well, something … and has made up his mind to find out what’s on the other side.
 
[I’m] staring at the invisible
I’m going to find a way to see
I’m looking straight ahead into the eyes
Of who I’m going to be
 
"With ‘Invisible’, I wanted to create a song that captured the nervous sense of foreboding that seems to be enveloping all of us right now," Johnson says. "Between the rise of AI and similarly advanced technologies, climate change, and a seemingly intractable sense of ‘us against them’ in our own backyard, it’s easy to feel hopeless. In spite of the heavy subject, however, the song is ultimately about optimism emerging from darkness.”
 
Taken purely as music, the track is sweet vindication of the St. Louis-born, Jackson, MS-raised Johnson’s diverse background and tastes. Its sonic palate confirms his trajectory as a Dylanesque, socially and spiritually conscious balladeer, but also nods to a host of other influences that includes Peter Gabriel,  Radiohead, U2, the Police, Daniel Lanois, Pink Floyd, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Miles Davis and Bruce Hornsby.

Plus, the recording itself is a tour de force for Johnson: He played all the instruments except the drums (which were performed by his longtime collaborator, Kenny Graeber) and sang every vocal line save a backing part by his son, Charlie Johnson. There are also some highly satisfying blasts from the elder Johnson on his trademark instrument, the harmonica—his proficiency at which has made him the toast of music connoisseurs far and wide.
 
“Scott Albert Johnson manhandles his harmonica with a master’s flair,” Goldmine has raved. “He is a triple-threat artist who can sing, write and blow his emotions clear on out of his harmonica like nobody’s business.”
 
The musical and lyrical pull of “Invisible” takes on an added dimension in its haunting music video, which shows Johnson in both his full, corporeal form and as a stylized, sketch-like animation. The loose and highly symbolic narrative finds the artist standing at the edge of an ocean, initially hesitant to enter but ultimately immersing himself in the water, baptized and ready for whatever lies ahead.
 
The entire project was borne of the pandemic, a pressurized situation that inspired Johnson to hone his skills at playing various instruments and learn how to record himself properly at home. The result pushes him even farther into the uncharted territory he began to explore on his previous single, “Float,” which ended up getting airplay on more than 75 stations throughout the U.S. and being named "Pick of the Week" by Ann Delisi at WDET in Detroit. “Invisible” shows all the signs of connecting on an even deeper level, as it likewise mines the emotional unease we’ve all felt over the last few years. To Johnson, both songs are equally cathartic from a personal standpoint, since they were worked up at a time when he was facing a serious health scare.
 
“A few times, it looked like it could be life-threatening,” he reveals. “Fortunately, that has turned out not to be the case. But it’s been life-changing in terms of just getting through the day, although things have improved since I wrote these songs.”
 
Then again, pretty much Johnson’s entire life has been a case study in taking leaps of faith. He’s lived not only in St. Louis and Jackson, but in Canada, Washington, D.C., and Boston as well. And he’s done everything from study at Harvard to work in the Office of Management and Budget in D.C. to provide full-time counseling to students at his old high school. Although his musical career didn’t truly begin in earnest until he finally decided to master the harmonica in his late 20s, the payoff has been rich indeed: He’s been featured as a guest artist with the Boston Pops, won a performing-arts fellowship from the Mississippi Arts Commission and been named one of the “Hot 100” harp players worldwide by The Harmonica Company in the U.K.
 
So who better to preach the virtues of taking a chance and staring the world’s potentially confounding future square in the eye?
 
“I kind of say, ‘Bring it on,’” Johnson says. “I’m not making light of it; I think there may be some dark times ahead. But I am sort of a short-range pessimist and a long-range optimist. I think we’ll make it, eventually.”

Multi-Grammy Nominee and 4x Blues Music Award-Winner Duke Robillard's Lost Album 'Roll With Me' Is Out NOW

Stony Plain Records has officially released Roll With Me, the new album from two-time Grammy nominee and four-time Blues Music Award-winning guitarist Duke Robillard.
 
“Back in the early 2000’s I was given the OK to start a new blues album for Stony Plain,” Duke Robillard explains about the new album’s genesis.  “It was a very prolific period for me, and somehow after recording nine hot blues tracks, I got another album concept and we started another album session. I said we’d get back to the blues album soon after finishing the new project. As things sometimes go, we got busy with gigging, touring and life, and the blues album we cut kept getting put aside and we kept coming up with new album concepts within months of release of the last one.
 
“Finally, after two decades and dozens of recordings, we got to the place where it was time for my final Stony Plain record.  All this time, I knew we had to get back to the album we had started back in 2005. I knew those tracks were really strong, but until I listened to them again, I didn’t realize just how strong they really were.”
 
On  Roll With Me, Robillard pays blazing tribute to Texas immortal Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown on “You Got Money” and the instrumental “Boogie Uproar;” legendary blues shouter Big Joe Turner on a piano-driven “Boogie Woogie Country Girl” and New Orleans kingpin Fats Domino on the rumba-rocking “Are You Going My Way.” There’s also a trio of Chicago blues classics from the respective songbooks of Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Eddie Boyd. Duke’s vocals connect with the same power as his razor-sharp guitar (Chris Cote takes over at the mic for “Look What You’ve Done” and “You Got Money”).
 
Duke invited some heavy hitters to back him up. Pianist Matt McCabe is on all but two tracks (those feature Bruce Bears), while bassist Marty Ballou and drummer Mark Teixeira keep the rhythm section cooking. Doug James and Rich Lataille are among the muscular saxophonists; Sugar Ray Norcia guests on harp for “Look What You’ve Done.” Duke cools the tempo down to lights-out level for an elegant “Give Me Back My Money,” but the title track sums the mood up: this album hurtles forward like a hard-charging midnight express.
 
Recorded at Duke's Mood Room in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, by Thom Hiller and Lakewest Recording in West Greenwich, R.I. by John Paul Gauthier, Roll With Me is the latest in a long and distinguished series of albums the guitarist has made for Holger Petersen’s Canadian indie Stony Plain. Their working relationship harks back to 1993, when the two met at a folk festival in Winnipeg. Petersen was the executive producer on Robillard’s album, Duke’s Blues the next year. Duke developed into a Stony Plain mainstay with Stretchin’ Out Live (1998), Living with the Blues (2002), Exalted Lover (2003), Blue Mood—The Songs of T-Bone Walker (2004), Guitar Groove-A-Rama (2006), Duke Robillard’s World Full of Blues (2007) and The Acoustic Blues of Duke Robillard (2015). 
 
“I’m traveling and playing all over the world still, so this is definitely not a farewell record,” Robillard happily reports.  Now it’s time to roll with Duke!

PAT FULGONI BLUES EXPERIENCE

A live review of Pat Fulgoni over at SXSW in Austin, Texas in Billboard Magazine declared that “Fulgoni could sing a pearl from its oyster”. They ain’t wrong and Blues Matters adds "completely blown away because he can sing, I mean really sing, ridiculously well”

In his time Pat has sung across many genres and worked with award winning producers as well as touring the world as a live artist. As far as the blues goes, he cut his teeth over in the Czech Republic with various greats from that scene, performing on breakfast TV and playing the Blues Alive Festival, Sumperk. Returning to that festival in 2021 with new UK blues band Pat Fulgoni Blues Experience one Czech reviewer wrote it was "like meeting up with an old friend” as the outfit blazed their way onto the national TV highlights.

Pat's new blues journey with the Pat Fulgoni Blues Experience started when a local food bank fundraiser in his home town of Huddersfield demanded a set having seen his performances on YouTube Fulgoni obliged and cobbled together a local line up just before Covid kicked in. The gig was awesome and left him wanting more especially after the grim months of lockdown.

Pat’s previous release "Dark Side of the Blues (Pat Fulgoni Live In Prague)’ was very well received, Chicago Blues Guide saying  “a collection of impeccably reworked blues and rock cover.” And now after 3 years of gigging at shows including festivals like Colne Blues, Buxton Blues, Blues Alive (Czech), Beatherder, Leeds Unity, venues and clubs including Pat’s own beloved Huddersfield Blues Club and Bluesbury festival efforts, the Pat Fulgoni Blues Experience band is clearly a sought after live booking, and the time is very right for an album release!

Sit back and listen to this rocked out and funked up blues opus! From the originals like “Drifter" and “Keep The Blues Alive” through to the covers like “Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven” and “Midnight Train” its a soulful, funky, psychedelic take on the blues rounded off by the epic original 12 bar “Stickin The Knife In Blues” with its deep, dark but conscious lyrics.

Fantastic musicianship is on display here with young guitar slinger Jacob Beckwith, the seriously tight bass and drums combo of Rory Wells and Zebedee Sylvester and the lush piano skills of Sam Bolt underpinning Pat’s unique soulful blues vocal. This album is honest, vibey and full of soulful dynamics, 2 of these cuts are just piano and vocals and the album is mixed by Crosscut Saw’s Alex Eden who also contributes some amazing harmonica.

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/7Gogzwu5zALopGXhnAqbrv?si=E4q6gswgSg2tCXkhORCIoQ