A Winter Storm

With today's health problems crippling him to a chair onstage, not able to stand anymore and tilt his head back like he used to in his hayday Johnny Winter still has the blues. He lived the blues probably more than any beat down black man from the south could ever live in a hundred years. Being persecuted at first for being not only a white man singing the blues but an albino man singing the blues. But the persecution came to a halt as soon as Winter starting playing his guitar. Fast fingers and pin point accuracy alongside that sharp bluesy voice made him what he was and still is today, one of the greatest blues rockers of all time. Drug addiction has been painfully a monkey on the back of Winter, even his manager would pump him full of drugs just to steal money from him. But after all the hardships and troubles Winter is still pressing on today playing the halls and bars all around the country. Winter was the first musician to break the million dollar mark for an album from Columbia records on his debut self titled album Johnny Winter. Which I am currently right now listening to on vinyl and can never get sick of. This video is a testament to Winter's ability to silent crowds with his playing. At one point you catch a glimpse of Eric Burden of The Animals admiring just how can a man play the blues so well effortlessly. Today's music does not have the same impact as it was back in the 60s. Today you cant go to some random club with just a few dozen people and watch an artist like Johnny Winter put on a performance of a lifetime with smoke filling the room and booze flowing like a river. It gives the ambiance that just cant be redone today unfortunately. These days you will have to crowd into a stadium or large venue, uncomfortably crammed into a tight space, forced next to people you dont even know and pay over priced tickets to do so. Gone is the day where musicians play just to play and for the fun of it, today its all about the big dollar. Only places like Austin Texas can you see legends any night of the week either playing a show at a small bar or walking the streets enjoying the street music alongside everyone else. These places cant go unrecognized and the same goes for the great Johnny Winter.

Make You Satisfied

Austin Texas has always been a home away from home for musicians. From Stevie Ray Vaughan to Daniel Johnston. Playing gigs like Austin City Limits to South by Southwest. Today a new talent has struck the scene with a force. A blues/folk musician by the name of Scott H. Biram. As soon as you hear his slide you can be taken back to the days of Robert Johnson or Elmore James. He's striped down and as rough as they come but that is what makes him great. Using the traditional neck of a glass bottle to slide his guitar his sound is that matching any classic country blues singer. Biram started his music career in a punk band. He always grew up on blues constantly listening to old Leadbelly, Mance Lipscomb or Lightning Hopkins. His style of blues has that blues fell to it but he adds the punkish attitude. Biram was highlighted in the documentary movie The Folk Singer with Posessed By Paul James. The movie chronicles their travels through the honkey tonks and dive bars around Texas and Louisiana. It put Biram on the music map and showcased his talent. I can't wait to see more from Biram and see what new music he comes up with, stick to the roots. Its what made us and should never fade.

The Devils Folk Singer

They used to say that blues was the devils music, it turned young men and women into demons. Contorting their bodies in ways you wouldn't usually see, dancing as if dancing to a flame lit by the devil himself. But in my mind music is a way to get out your anger in a non physical way. It releases your feelings all in one ball of speech. You can go down the wrong path or make a better path just the same. Its not music that chooses the path, its yourself. In this documentary The Folk Singer a young aspiring folk singer named Jon aka Possessed By Paul James was riddled by religion and possesed by anger and doubt. About to have a child he embarks on a journey through Louisiana and Texas. Playing small honkey tonks and bars he meets up with other musicians playing the music that they love. Throwing their heart into the crowd every night they drink with the best of them, shoot guns with the best of them, smoke with the best of them but more importantly play with the best of them. Its an uplifting documentary about a young man struggling through the hardships of life in the music industry. The ups and downs on the way and the characters they meet along the way. Folk, Blues and Country are prominent in this movie. Its Americana at its best.