In Living Blues #202
July 2009

Dear Friends, As I’m sure you all know, my dear friend, Alligator’s senior artist and blues icon Koko Taylor died on June 3 as a result of internal bleeding....

In Living Blues #201
May 2009

Dear Friends, I just returned from the 2009 Blues Music Awards in Memphis. It was a very exciting night —lots of great music (about six hours of it) and plen...

In Living Blues #199
January 2009

Dear Friends, Welcome to a new year, hopefully a better one than 2008. But I’m concerned that these tough economic times are really hurting the touring blues...

In Living Blues #198
November 2008

Dear Friends, I’m writing this the day after the Presidential election. It has been an amazing event in American history, hopefully a turning point for our c...

In Living Blues #197
September 2008

Dear Friends, I’m writing from Fredericksburg, Virginia, where we’re starting a new album with my old friends, Saffire—The Uppity Blueswomen. They’ve got a h...

In Living Blues #196
May 2008

Dear Friends, A couple weeks ago I had the great pleasure of attending the Springing The Blues Festival in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. Sam Veal founded this...

In Living Blues #194
January 2008

Dear Friends, Happy New Year! I’m sure hoping 2008 will be a good year for the blues; we lost way too many of our elder statesman in 2007. Our first piece of...

In Living Blues #193
November 2007

Dear Friends, I’m very honored to learn that in February I’ll be receiving the Blues Foundation’s “Keeping The Blues Alive” award for my work as a Producer. ...

In Living Blues #192
September 2007

Dear Friends, The summer has sped away in what seems like a moment. I haven’t had a chance to get to many festivals, but the Chicago Blues Festival was excep...

In Living Blues #191
July 2007

Dear Friends, A big chunk of sorrow for my world on May 6, when my old pal Carey Bell died. I had known Carey since 1969, when we met at Bob Koester’s Jazz R...