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 >>
JUNE 2013: Elvin Bishop And Charlie Musselwhite Featured In Born In Chicago, Directed By Emmy-winner and Grammy-nominee, John Anderson
Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite are featured in Born In Chicago, a feature-length blues documentary by Emmy-winning and Grammy-nominated director, John Anderson. Born In Chicago addresses the role of the young white musicians in the Chicago blues scene who changed the course of music history after learning to play from African-American blues legends such as Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon (both Rosebud artists until their passing), Howlin' Wolf, and Buddy Guy. The documentary includes archival and contemporary performance footage as well as interviews with music greats including B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Steve Miller, Jack White, Sam Lay, Eric Burdon, Hubert Sumlin and Marshall Chess in addition to Elvin and Charlie. The film, which first premiered back in March 2013 as an Official Selection at SXSW, had its Chicago premier during this year's Chicago Blues Festival on June 6, 2013. The Chicago event also featured performances from Chicago Blues Reunion (Barry Goldberg, Nick Gravenites, Harvey Mandel, and Corky Siegel) joined by special guests including Eric Burdon, Sam Lay, Charlie and Elvin. Michael Simmons of the Huffington Post and MOJO proclaimed about the film, "Finally! Born In Chicago sets the record straight about the mighty and tough urban blues scene that exploded from the Windy City in the 20th Century. The film also proves that many of the same musicians are still blowing harps and minds in the 21st. This is soulful stuff -- exactly what America needs to remind itself of what it used to be."
Marcia Ball and Charlie Musselwhite were each nominated for awards for Blues Artist of the Year and Most Outstanding Musician (for their respective instruments). Marcia has won both of these categories three times since 2009 with additional wins for Most Outstanding Musician in 2007 and 2008, and Charlie has won the Most Outstanding Musician category a total of nine times.
Also nominated for Most Outstanding Musician this year were Jon Cleary, Duke Robillard, and James Cotton for keyboard, guitar, and harmonica, respectively, while Mavis Staples was nominated for Most Outstanding Blues Singer.
Ruthie Foster scored two nominations for Blues Artist of the Year (her third year in a row) and for Best Blues Album of 2012 for her 2013 Grammy-nominated album, Let It Burn. Bettye LaVette garnered a nomination in the Best Blues Book of 2012 category for her tell-all, unapologetic biography with David Ritz, A Woman Like Me.
Elvin Bishop was nominated for Best Blues DVD of 2012 for That's My Thing, and Muddy Waters, a Rosebud artist until his passing, was nominated in the same category for his collaboration with The Rolling Stones, Live at the Checkerboard Lounge 1981. Live at the Checkerboard Lounge 1981 also features Stones drummer Charlie Watts who Rosebud represents for his rare jazz performances.
Voting is now open to the public until July 15, 2013. Please vote at livingblues.com.
JANUARY 2013: Elvin Bishop on Prairie Home Companion This Week!
Elvin Bishop and his band were featured on this week's Prairie Home Companion, taped live at San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House on January 5. The entire show repeats January 6 in many markets on NPR (check your local listings). Other guests on the show included the renowned conductor of the San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas singing and playing piano, as well as Bay Area singer, songwriter and fiddler, Laurie Lewis plus The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band. Watch for a new collaboration CD from Elvin this Spring with more details coming soon.
DECEMBER 2012: Rosebud Artists Nominated For 2013 Blues Music Awards
Congratulations to Bettye LaVette, Ruthie Foster and Elvin Bishop who were all honored with nominations for the 2013 Blues Music Awards. Elvin Bishop was nominated for Best DVD for That's My Thing: Elvin Bishop Live In Concert, giving him a total of seven BMA nominations since 2006 alone. In that same category was Muddy Waters, a Rosebud artist until his passing. Muddy shared a nomination for the DVD, Muddy Waters & The Rolling Stones, Live at The Checkerboard Lounge. Ruthie Foster was nominated for this year's Koko Taylor Award (Best Female Traditional Blues Artist). This marks Ruthie's sixth consecutive year of BMA nominations, with a total of eight nominations and four wins to her credit. This comes directly on the heels of her GRAMMY nomination last week for Let It Burn. Bettye LaVette's nomination for Best Female Contemporary Blues Artist this year is her fifth BMA nomination. Bettye won this category in 2010. Bettye also won in 2004 for Best Comeback Blues Album for her Album, A Woman Like Me.
The 34th Annual Blues Music Awards ceremony will be held May 9, 2013 at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis, Tennessee. For more information and a complete list of nominees check out blues.org/bluesmusicawards. Congrats to Elvin, Ruthie, Bettye and Muddy on their nominations and best of luck to all the artists involved!
To Catch Bettye LaVette, Ruthie Foster or Elvin Bishop Live, See Tour Dates >>
OCTOBER 2012: The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, with Founding Member Elvin Bishop,
Nominated for Induction into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the groundbreaking group which featured founding member and Rosebud Artist, Elvin Bishop, along with Mike Bloomfield, Jerome Arnold, Mark Naftalin, Sam Lay and Billy Davenport, has been shortlisted for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, class of 2013. The acts joining the band in the nominee shortlist include Rush, Deep Purple, Heart, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Albert King, Public Enemy, Donna Summer, N.W.A., Procol Harum, Randy Newman, Kraftwerk, The Meters, The Marvelettes and Chic.
After learning from and collaborating with blues giants like Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Otis Rush, Magic Sam and Howlin' Wolf in Chicago's neighborhood blues clubs, Bishop and Butterfield, together with Jerome Arnold and Sam Lay, founded the racially diverse band at the height of the civil rights movement in the early 1960s. Bishop remained with the band for the first three releases including the innovative East-West album, on which his and Mike Bloomfield's intertwining guitars set a precedent for many bands that followed such as the Allman Brothers Band.
For the first time in The Rock And Roll Hall's history, fans can cast their vote for the nominated act they most want to be inducted. Fans will be voting alongside artists, historians and music industry insiders that make up the Rock Hall's voting body. The public can cast their vote from now until December 3 at The 2013 Nominees Online Fan Poll. The inductee announcement is set for mid-December. Cast your vote today.
JUNE 2012: Elvin Bishop on A Prairie Home Companion, Saturday June 16
Elvin Bishop will feature as a special guest on A Prairie Home Companion on Saturday, June 16. Saturday's show will be broadcast live from the Cuthbert Amphitheater in Eugene, Oregon. This is Elvin's fourth appearance on the show since January 2010. Also guesting on this week's show is Bluegrass star, Sam Bush.
Hosted by Garrison Keillor, A Prairie Home Companion today has 4 million listeners each week on more than 600 public radio stations across America. To find your local radio station listing for A Prairie Home Companion, please go to prairiehome.publicradio.org/stations.
APRIL 2012: Elvin Bishop's "What The Hell Is Goin' On?" Featured as Title Track for Paul Thorn's New CD out May 8
Blues-Rock icon Elvin Bishop's song "What The Hell is Goin' On?" is featured as the title track for Paul Thorn's newest CD out May 8 on Perpetual Obscurity/Thirty Fingers Records. On his new album, Paul Thorn takes a break from songwriting and covers songs he loves that are written by others. Noting their artistry, Thorn states that the songwriters he chose to cover "don't just write songs in an effort to become popular or follow trends...they write with their hearts. They all have real depth, which is very appealing to me."
Choosing Elvin Bishop's song as the title track and the first single is a clear example of Paul's respect for the legendary guitarist. "He sang this song ["What The Hell is Goin' On?"] for me on his front porch one day and it blew me away," Thorn recalls. Reflecting on his friendship with Elvin, Paul also notes, "I sometimes visit him at his house...and he always gives me a jar of his homemade jelly that he makes with fresh kiwis from his garden." Bishop also adds a poignant guitar solo to the record that Paul describes as "wonderfully raw and dirty." Elvin's album, Hometown Boy Makes Good! also makes a cameo in the single's upcoming music video.
Elvin Bishop is the newest addition to the Rosebud roster. His illustrious career spans over forty years. An original member of the seminal Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Elvin honed his playing in Chicago while absorbing the music of all the greats including Howlin' Wolf, Little Smokey Smothers, Muddy Waters and Otis Rush.
The respect Elvin commands among his peers is exemplified on his recent CD, The Blues Rolls On, where he is joined by B.B. King, Warren Haynes, James Cotton, Kim Wilson,Tommy Castro, George Thorogood, Derek Trucks, and many more. With over thirty records in his catalog, the Grammy nominated Bishop continues to play his distinct flair of the blues around the world. Catch Elvin live on stage, please see Tour Dates >>
The Rosebud Agency is proud to welcome Elvin Bishop for exclusive worldwide booking representation. Elvin's enviable resume includes a GRAMMY Nomination and 7 Blues Music Award (BMA) Nominations as well as mainstream pop success with his classic hit, "Fooled Around and Fell In Love" which reached #3 on The Billboard Hot 100. The list of musicians who joined him on his GRAMMY and BMA nominated album, The Blues Rolls On (2008) exemplifies the respect he commands in the Blues world. These greats include B.B. King, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, George Thorogood, James Cotton, Kim Wilson, Tommy Castro, John Németh, Angela Strehli and Ronnie Baker Brooks among others.
Elvin's path to the Blues took a much different route than most blues legends. His migration to Chicago from his family's home in Oklahoma was made possible by his National Merit Scholarship to the University of Chicago in 1959. Once there he immersed himself in the Chicago Blues scene. He absorbed Blues from masters like Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, learning his blues guitar chops directly from Howlin' Wolf's guitarist Little Smokey Smothers (the two continued to play together until Smokey's passing in 2010). Soon after, Elvin helped spearhead a mainstrteam breakthrough for the blues as a founding member of the groundbreaking Paul Butterfield Blues Band in 1963. He went on to form the Elvin Bishop Group in 1968.
Elvin's latest albums are Red Dog Speaks (2010) and the live album Raisin' Hell Revue (2011), recorded on the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise. Elvin's roots are deep and sincere and his guitar playing has been a significant influence on others but an Elvin Bishop show may be, above all, a rocking good time. His deep mix of roots rock, R&B and barroom boogie, steeped in heavy blues, with no shortage of humor, connects with audiences like no one else. Catch Elvin live on stage, please see Tour Dates >>
