NOVEMBER 2013: John Hammond Set To Release Live CD, Timeless - Marking 50 Years As A Recording Artist
John Hammond is set to release his new CD, Timeless, in January 2014. Its release will mark Hammond's fiftieth year as a recording artist, thirty seven years of which he has spent as a Rosebud artist. The new CD adds to an already incredible career, having released thirty-five solo albums since 1964's Big City Blues. Timeless, following on the heels of 2010's Grammy nominated CD Rough and Tough, was recorded live at Chan's in Woonsocket, RI (one of Hammond's favorite venues in the world). The album honors a host of legendary and hugely influential blues artists including Chuck Berry, Elmore James, Howlin' Wolf and Bobby "Blue" Bland, as well as the living legend and longtime collaborator and friend of Hammond's, Tom Waits.
Timeless includes tracks such as "No One Can Forgive Me but My Baby", which was specifically crafted by Tom Waits for Hammond. Hammond originally recorded and released the song on his 1992 studio album Got Love If You Want It. The new CD also includes a live rendition of Hammond's own song "Heartache Blues" taken from his 2007 CD Push Comes To Shove. Following on from these tracks, Hammond performs songs written by some of the greats in blues: Jimmy Rodgers ("Going Away Baby"), Lightnin' Hopkins ("Last Night"), Cliff Carlisle ("That Nasty Swing"), Skip James ("Hard Times") as well as by those musicians noted before.
Over the course of Hammond's career just some of his accomplishments have included being a Grammy Award winner and five-time nominee; an eight-time Blues Music Award winner; and inductee into the Blues Hall of Fame. According to The New York Times, Hammond is "a blues legend with a voice like Robert Johnson's and a demeanor that belies his tear-it-up might before an audience." Most recently Hammond has appeared in the new documentary, Sweet Blue, about legendary guitarist Michael Bloomfield (the first client signed to The Rosebud Agency). One of John's earlier albums was a collaboration with Bloomfield and Dr. John entitled Triumvirate. The documentary also features Rosebud artists Charlie Musselwhite and Elvin Bishop.
To pre-order Timeless, please visit amazon.com
To catch John Hammond performing live, see Tour Dates
OCTOBER 2013: Elvin Bishop In Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Nominations. John Hammond, Charlie Musselwhite And Elvin Featured In Sweet Blues Documentary
Elvin Bishop, as a founding member of the groundbreaking Paul Butterfield Blues Band, has again been nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with other Paul Butterfield Blues Band members Michael Bloomfield, Jerome Arnold, Mark Naftalin, Sam Lay and Billy Davenport. This is the second year in a row the band has been nominated. Other acts joining the band on this years nominee shortlist include Chic, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, Hall and Oates, KISS, LL Cool J, The Meters, Nirvana, N.W.A., The Replacements, Linda Ronstadt, Cat Stevens, Link Wray, YES, and The Zombies. The inductees will be chosen by a secret ballot of over six hundred individual voters consisting of all past inductees of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, musicians, historians, critics and membe
rs of the music industry. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has also opened voting to the public and the top five artists, as selected by the public, will comprise a "fans ballot" that will be counted along with the other ballots to choose the 2014 inductees. To cast your vote (through December 10 at 5 p.m. EST) click here.
John Hammond, Charlie Musselwhite and Elvin Bishop are all featured in Sweet Blues, the new documentary about Paul Butterfield Blues Band guitarist Michael Bloomfield. The documentary, which filmmaker Bob Sarles spent twenty-five years working on, also features music legends such as Carlos Santana, B.B. King, Bob Weir, Bill Graham and Al Kooper. The film's Mill Valley Film Festival premiere on October 11, 2013 was commemorated by a tribute concert at Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley, CA where both Charlie and Elvin performed with world class musicians such as Jimmy Vivino (of Conan), Harvey Mandel, Nick Gravenites, Barry Goldberg, Maria Muldaur and Barry Melton. Of special note for us, Michael Bloomfield
was the first new artist signed to The Rosebud Agency. Founder, Mike Kappus, was already managing John Hiatt and booking Eddie Harris at the time but Bloomfield was the first new signing to Rosebud on Day One.
To watch interview clips from the documentary featuring Charlie, John and Elvin, click here.To Catch Charlie Musselwhite, Elvin Bishop and John Hammond Live See Tour Dates >>
Catch recent Blues Hall of Fame inductee John Hammond on tour - see tour dates >>
MAY 2012: John Hammond Inducted Into New York Blues Hall of Fame
One of the world's premier blues artists, New York native John Hammond was inducted into the New York Blues Hall of Fame on Sunday, May 20, 2012. The New York chapter of The Blues Hall of Fame gathered at New York's legendary Kenny's Castaways to celebrate John Hammond and the other inductees for their tireless work and dedicated and ongoing contributions to this treasured American art form. This latest honor comes just one year after John was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Blues Hall of Fame.
A Grammy winner and six time nominee, Hammond's illustrious career includes collaborations with John Lee Hooker, Tom Waits, Dr. John, JJ Cale, Duane Allman, Jimi Hendrix, and Eric Clapton among many many more. Catch John Hammond on stage as he continues to tour the world, please see Tour Dates >>
NOVEMBER 2011: Charlie Musselwhite and John Hammond Top Blues Matters International Writer's Poll - Jon Cleary and Tommy Castro Score Among The Best
Blues legend Charlie Musselwhite was named Best Harmonica Player in this year's Blues Matters (UK) International Writer's Poll. In Search of Robert Johnson (2000/US Release, 2006/UK Release), hosted by and starring John Hammond, was selected as one of the Best Blues DVDs. Jon Cleary and The Tommy Castro Band were also named among the best in the Best Keyboards and Best Band categories, respectively.
Musselwhite's latest CD, The Well, received a 2011 Grammy nomination, the 7th overall for Charlie. A 26-time Blues Music Award (BMA) Winner and Blues Hall of Fame Inductee, Charlie is also featured on Cyndi Lauper's latest, Memphis Blues, a 2011 Grammy Nominee as well. Charlie can also be heard on five tracks of the new Tom Waits CD, Bad As Me.
John Hammond is an eight-time BMA winner and 2011 inductee into the Blues Hall of Fame. Hammond also received a 2010 Grammy Nomination - his seventh as well - for Rough & Tough (Best Traditional Blues Album). Hammond won a GRAMMY in 1985 for his performance on Blues Explosion, a compilation from the Montreux Jazz Festival also featuring Stevie Ray Vaughan, Koko Taylor and others.
With four BMA wins in 2010 (including Band of the Year), Castro's Hard Believer album (produced by John Porter (B.B. King, Elvis Costello, Buddy Guy, Keb' Mo', The Smiths, Roxy Music)) received the Living Blues Awards Readers' Poll Award for Best Blues Album of 2009.
Jon Cleary was born in the UK but has now established himself as one of the top artists in New Orleans where he was nominated in Offbeat Magazine's 2011 Best of the Beat Awards for Best Piano/Keyboardist. Cleary has worked with the likes of Bonnie Raitt, John Scofield, Taj Mahal, Keb Mo, India Arie, and Ryan Adams among others. Jon has made several appearances on the hit HBO series, Treme, playing himself.
Congratulations to Charlie, John, Tommy and Jon. Catch all of these artists live on a stage near you, please see Tour Dates >>
MAY 2011:Congratulations to Rosebud's 2011 Blues Music Award Winners: John Hammond, Charlie Musselwhite, Ruthie Foster, Irma Thomas, Dr. John
Congratulations to John Hammond, Charlie Musselwhite, Ruthie Foster, Irma Thomas and Dr. John, who were all honored with 2011 Blues Music Awards! John Hammond, Inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame the night before, won Acoustic Artist of the Year. This is John's 8th Blues Music Award (BMA). Blues Hall of Fame Inductee Charlie Musselwhite won two awards, for Best Instrumentalist - Harmonica and Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year. Charlie is now a 25-time BMA Winner!
Ruthie Foster won the Koko Taylor Award for Traditional Blues Female of the Year; last year she was honored with the Contemporary Blues Female Artist Award. Blues Hall of Fame Inductee Irma Thomas won Soul Blues Female Artist of the Year, her 9th BMA and a category she won last year. Blues Hall of Famer Dr. John won the Pinetop Perkins Piano Player Award, his 2nd BMA (Dr. John joined Rosebud recently for International booking representation outside the U.S. and Canada). In addition, the DVD of the Year was awarded to Songs from the Road by The Late Luther Allison, a Rosebud artist until his passing. The performance captured on the DVD was recorded live in Montreal, July 4, 1997, shortly before Luther's death.
The 2011 Blues Music Awards were held May 5, 2011 at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis, Tennessee and it was broadcast live on Sirius XM's B.B. King's Bluesville. Congratulations to all the Winners! Check out these artists performing live on stage, please see Tour Dates >>
FEBRUARY 2011: Thanks To Mountain Stage (NPR) Encores For Loudon Wainwright III, Pieta Brown, David Lindley, John Hammond, Mavis Staples, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
Thank you to Mountain Stage, who are re-broadcasting six Rosebud artists' performances, from mid-February through the beginning of April. Loudon Wainwright III and Pieta Brown are both featured in an episode airing the week after February 18th (the "week after" runs from Friday to the following Friday). David Lindley and John Hammond are both featured in a program airing the week after March 11th and 2011 GRAMMY Winner Mavis Staples is featured in the show airing the week after April 1st. Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue's performance was recently re-broadcast in an episode which aired after February 11th.
FEBRUARY 2011: John Hammond To Be Inducted Into Blues Hall of Fame on Wednesday May 4th, 2011
The legendary John Hammond will be inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Memphis, TN on Wednesday May 4th, 2011, the night before the 32nd Blues Music Awards. John is also nominated at this year's Awards for Acoustic Artist of the Year, a category he was won 5 times, as well as being featured in The Mississippi Sheiks Tribute Concert, nominated for DVD of the Year. To date, John has been honored with a total of 7 Blues Music Awards and an additional 10 nominations. John is also a Grammy winner and 6 time nominee (Rosebud founder, Mike Kappus, having executive produced or co-produced four of his Grammy nominated CDs.) John has the distinction of having played well over 4,000 shows on five continents since signing to Rosebud in 1977 and has shared the stage with basically every post-war blues legend one can think of including Muddy Waters, BB King, John Lee Hooker and all the rest, while in recent years he has collaborated with artists from G Love to Tom Waits who produced John's Wicked Grin CD. Among his many career highlights, Jimi Hendrix's solo career was sparked in 1966 when he was discovered while sitting in with John Hammond's band in New York - also sitting in with John and Jimi that week was Eric Clapton, making for an amazing supergroup. John has also recorded with The Band (prior to their joining Bob Dylan and assuming that name), Bill Wyman (in the first instance of a Rolling Stone guesting on another artist's CD), JJ Cale (who also produced 4 of Hammond's Grammy nominated CDs), Duane Allman, and with Dr John and Michael Bloomfield for John's Triumvirate CD on Columbia Records. John also performed the soundtrack for Dustin Hoffman's classic film, Little Big Man.
Following the election of his father, the late John Henry Hammond (who, in his role at Columbia Records, famously helped introduce to the world Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Count Basie, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Bruce Springsteen among others) to the Blues Hall of Fame in 2008, the Hammonds become the Blues Hall of Fame's first father and son inductees. Congratulations John! Catch John live on stage as he performs across the U.S, please see Tour Dates >>
DECEMBER 2010: Charlie Musselwhite Leads Blues Music Awards With 5 Nominations, Two Noms For Duke Robillard, Plus Dr. John, Irma Thomas, John Hammond and Ruthie Foster Nominations
We are proud to announce that Rosebud Artists have been honored with 11-plus nominations for the 2011 Blues Music Awards. Blues Hall of Famer and 23-time BMA Winner Charlie Musselwhite ties for most nominations of any artist with 5 nominations including Album of the Year and Traditional Blues Album of the Year for The Well; Best Instrumentalist - Harmonica; Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year and Song of the Year for "Sad and Beautiful World." Duke Robillard scored 2 nominations: Traditional Blues Album of the Year for Passport to the Blues and Best Instrumentalist - Guitar, a category he has won previously 4 times. John Hammond, a 7-time BMA Winner, is nominated for Acoustic Artist of the Year and is featured in The Mississippi Sheiks Tribute Concert, nominated for DVD of the Year. Ruthie Foster, who won for Contemporary Blues Female Artist last year, is this year nominated for the Koko Taylor Award for Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year. Blues Hall of Famer Dr. John, who recently joined Rosebud for International representation (outside the U.S. and Canada), is nominated for Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year. Blues Hall of Fame Inductee Irma Thomas is nominated for Soul Blues Female Artist of the Year, a category she won last year for her 8th BMA overall.
Other Rosebud related nominations include: for Best Instrumentalist - Horn, longtime Tommy Castro Band saxophonist Keith Crossan; the late Luther Allison, a Rosebud artist until his passing, was recorded live in Montreal, July 4, 1997, shortly before his death. The performance has been released as Songs From The Road and is nominated for both DVD of the Year and Best Historical release.
The 2011 Blues Music Awards will be held Thursday May 5, 2011 at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis, Tennessee and will be broadcast live in their entirety on Sirius XM's B.B. King's Bluesville (Sirius / XM). Congratulations to all! Check out the nominees live on stage, please see Tour Dates >>
FEBRUARY 2010:John Hammond, Mavis Staples and Tommy Castro Named Among The Decade's Best In Blues Revue Critics Poll
"...some of [Mavis'] most emotionally fervent work... A legendary singer, flawless material, and superlative production [by Ry Cooder] combined to yield a masterpiece..."
"...the tracks soar; Castro sounded consistently inspired... It's a nonstop party and arguably Castro's finest, most focused set."
Both Mavis Staples and John Hammond were honored with 2010 GRAMMY nominations in the Blues category. Tommy Castro has received four nominations in the upcoming 31st Blues Music Awards taking place in May 2010.
Congratulations to all. Catch these artists live on stage, please see Tour Dates >>
Rosebud Artists Score Year and Decade End Honors ... read more >>
DECEMBER 2009:Rosebud Artists Nominated for 10 Blues Music Awards
Duke Robillard and Tommy Castro both have four nominations each. Duke is nominated for Album of the Year for Stomp! The Blues Tonight, Band of the Year, Best Instrumentalist - Guitar and Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year. Tommy is nominated for B.B. King Entertainer of the Year, Band of the Year, Contemporary Blues Album of the Year for Hard Believer and Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year. Bettye LaVette and Ruthie Fosterare both nominated for Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year. In addition, Duke produced 10 of the 12 tracks and guests on one song on Album of the Year / Contemporary Blues Album of The Year nominee Between a Rock and the Blues by Joe Louis Walker.
Other Rosebud related nominations are, in the Instrumentalist - Horn category: longtime Tommy Castro Band saxophonist Keith Crossan and Deanna Bogart, who plays in the Rosebud booked Legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue with Tommy Castro. Nominated in the Historical Album of the Year category are: Muddy Waters' Authorized Bootleg and Little Walter's The Complete Chess Masters, featuring hit compositions by Willie Dixon. Both Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon were Rosebud artists until their passing. Nominated in the Acoustic Album of the Year category is: Things About Comin' My Way - A Tribute to the music of the Mississippi Sheiks, which features songs by Rosebud artists John Hammond and Bill Frisell.
Congratulations to all the nominees!
DECEMBER 2009:10 Grammy Nominations for Rosebud Artists!
Other CDs honored with nominations include the collection Oh Happy Day, nominated for Best Traditional Gospel Album which features a song by Mavis Staples with Patty Griffin. True Blood, nominated for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album, features a song by Allen Toussaint. Buckwheat Zydeco's Lay Your Burden Down features a guest appearance by Rosebud artist, Trombone Shorty. Ann Savoy of The Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band is also a member of The Magnolia Sisters whose Stripped Down CD was nominated. And Elvis Costello's Secret, Profane & Sugarcane features Rosebud artist, Jim Lauderdale. Jim also co-wrote the title track to George Strait's Twang.
In other Grammy related news, Grammy nominated CDs, Cadillac Records - Music From the Motion Picture and Little Walter - The Complete Chess Masters also include songs written and made famous respectively by former Rosebud artists, the late Willie Dixon and Muddy Waters.
Rosebud has been fortunate in that generally our artists score between 4 and 6 Grammy nominations every year but 10 is definitely a new record and we are Thrilled, especially considering the fact that Rosebud artists only released 14 eligible CDs this past year. Congratulations to all the nominees!
SEPTEMBER 2009: The Blind Boys of Alabama Release New CD, Duets, October 27, 2009
The Blind Boys of Alabama will release their new CD, Duets, on October 27, 2009. This special project features tracks that the Five-Time Grammy winners have recorded with high profile admirers Lou Reed, Bonnie Raitt, Ben Harper, Susan Tedeschi, Randy Travis, Solomon Burke, Marva Wright, Jars of Clay, Timothy B. Schmit (The Eagles), Asleep At The Wheel, Dan Zanes and Toots Hibbert (Toots & The Maytals) as well as with fellow Rosebud artists, Charlie Musselwhiteand John Hammond. Of the 14 tracks on the compilation, four are from Grammy winning albums, three are from Grammy nominated discs and three songs have never before been released. See The Blind Boys of Alabama live on stage, including shows in Europe and Canada later in the Fall.
MAY 2009: John Hammond Releases New CD, Rough & Tough
Grammy winner and four-time nominee, John Hammond has just released his new CD, Rough & Tough. This is his 32nd album since his 1962 self-titled debut. The disc was recorded live in November 2008 at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in NYC, not in front of an audience, but for the acoustic benefits of the space. John performs here solo and acoustic, playing National Steel, Guild 12-String and Stubbs 6-String guitars and harmonica. Included are songs written by Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Blind Willie McTell and Tom Waits among others, as well as two of his own. He has performed or recorded with Jimi Hendrix (discovered while playing in John's band), Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Duane Allman, JJ Cale, Tom Waits, The Band, John Lee Hooker and many more. He remains one of the world's premier acoustic blues artists. A tireless performer, Hammond played his 4000th date as a Rosebud artist last year and continues to tour world-wide on an annual basis.
