Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dion will release Blues With Friends on June 5.The album, which features a who’s-who of guests including BruceSpringsteen, Paul Simon, Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Billy Gibbons and severalothers, “represents the fulfillment of a lifelong vision,” says the singer in apress release.

In the announcement, Dion (whose full name is Dion DiMucci) explains thealbum’s impetus: “’I wanted an album of songs that were strong andmemorable and told stories that were worth telling…The blues have been atthe heart of my music since the early 1960s. ‘The Wanderer’ is a 12-barblues and I was covering Willie Dixon and Jimmy Reed in my early years atColumbia — much to the dismay of my corporate masters.’”

Continues the release, “The blues songs therein are not ‘covers’ nor Dion’sversions of blues standards. These compositions are, in fact, blues originals,destined to become classics in their own right. He came up with the musicand words for 12 of them and finished those with co-writer Mike Aquilina.The two exceptions are ‘Hymn to Him,’ which Dion wrote with Bill Tuohy,and ‘Kickin’ Child,’ written with Buddy Lucas.”

In addition to the guests cited above, the album includes Joe Bonamassa,Brian Setzer, Sonny Landreth, Samantha Fish, John Hammond Jr., Joe LouisWalker, Rory Block , Jimmy and Jerry Vivino, Joe Menza, and Steve VanZandt.

For this outing, Dion, who turns 81 on July 18, worked with producer WayneHood, in whose Florida studio the basic tracks were recorded. “From the first day, I was at home. We hit it off like brothers on a mission,” says Dion inthe press release. “We caught the same vision and sound and off we went.”

Blues With Friends will be released through Keeping the Blues Alive Records,a new label, started by Bonamassa and his manager Roy Weisman, that is an off shoot of Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation, Bonamassa’s non-profit that aims to conserve the art of music and the rich culture and history of the blues.

The label’s objective is to provide a platform for musical talent in blues andblues-rock based music and to help encourage the careers of extraordinarymusical talent. Ten percent of all profits from the label will be donated backto the non-profit for promoting music education to students and schools inneed.

CREDITS: Best Classic Bands Staff

The event took place live on 3 May in a virtual ceremony from Memphis.Steve Miller, Bonnie Raitt and Dion were among the music greats whose videomessages were part of the Blues Foundation’s 2020 Blues Music Awards.

Big wins for Christone “Kingfish” IngramThis year’s big winner was Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, the 21-year-old from theauspicious blues stamping ground of Clarksdale, Mississippi. The rising star wonno fewer than five awards for his debut 2019 album on the revered blues labelAlligator, KingFish. It won Best Emerging Artist Album, Best Contemporary BluesAlbum and Album of the Year. Ingram also won the Instrumentalist – Guitarcategory and Best Contemporary Blues Artist.

The entire, near-two hour event has been posted on the Blues Foundation’sYouTube channel. It can be seen here, including video messages throughout theshow from a succession of blues-oriented stars. Steve Miller, Bonnie Raitt, Dion,Robert Cray and Little Steven Van Zandt all sent words of support.The show was hosted by Shemekia Copeland, who also won the ContemporaryBlues Female Artist award. Other presenters included Charlie Musselwhite,Warren Haynes, Fantastic Negrito, Ruthie Foster, William Bell, Beth Hart and Keb’Mo’.

Sugaray Rayford’s double triumph. Texas-born soul-blues singer Sugaray Rayford, who was last year’s biggest winner,retained the Soul Blues Male Artist award and took the prestigious B.B. KingEntertainer of the Year title. Chicago native Nick Moss and his band claimed threeawards, for Band of the Year, Traditional Blues Album for Lucky Guy! and Song ofthe Year for Moss’ title track composition.

Mavis Staples won the Vocalist award, fellow great Bobby Rush claimed the SoulBlues Album award for Sitting on Top of the Blues and Bettye LaVette won theSoul Blues Female Artist award. Traditional Blues Male Artist went to anotherTexan hero, Jimmie Vaughan.

Credits: udiscovermusic.com - Paul Sexton

Pink Floyd’s official and verified Twitter account has shared a new postand made an official statement about their Youtube channel.In the announcement, Pink Floyd stated that the fans, who are bored inisolation and quarantine amid coronavirus outbreak, would be able tocheck out or join to their Youtube channel.

Pink Floyd has 2 million followers on their Youtube channel, and theyare pretty active on that platform by sharing a lot of priceless materialsfrom their history. You can find the band’s live concerts, iconic songsand albums, exhibitions, and more on their channel.

Here’s what Pink Floyd stated:“To help pass the time if you are in lockdown or isolation, why not jointhe now two million other Floyd fans on our official YouTube channel?”

Credits: By Berk Uykucuoglu - Metal head Zone

The eighth season of AXS TV’s acclaimed celebrity sit-down series The BigInterview With Dan Rather is well underway. Rather will be joined by the co-founder of The Band, Robbie Robertson, on Wednesday, May 6 at 8 pm. ET/ 5p.m. PT.

It’s been a particularly busy period for Robertson. The musician released a soloalbum, Sinematic, last Sept. 20, and wrote the score for Martin Scorsese’sacclaimed film, The Irishman. And on Nov. 15, a 50th anniversary edition of TheBand’s 1969 self-titled, second album arrived.

The documentary feature film, Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and TheBand, was released in theaters in 2020. It arrives on DVD and Blu-ray on May 26.In the May 6 episode, Robertson talks about bonding with Bob Dylan while beingbooed by folk purists during their first electric tour in 1965, why The Band didn’ttour to support their debut album, and their final concert, The Last Waltz.

He also addresses his relationship with The Band’s Levon Helm. “Ten years ormore [after The Band], Levon hit some hard times,” he says. “He became angryand turned his anger towards me. For all the years we were together, we neverhad a cross word. Ever.”

In another clip from the episode, Robertson tells of working with his Band-mateswhile they were living together in Sammy Davis, Jr.’s home in 1969, and creatingsuch classics as “Up on Cripple Creek,” “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,”“Rag, Mama, Rag,” and more.

“It was when people starting referring to our music as ‘Americana,'” he says, “andnow there’s a whole category called Americana. It all came out of Sammy Davis,Jr’s pool house.”

CREDITS: Best Classic Bands Staff