Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal
In September 2014, some 50 years after moving to Los Angeles to form the band Rising Sons with fellow blues musician Ry Cooder and Jessie Lee Kincaid, Taj Mahal hightailed it to Nashville to receive an honor he called “one of the most powerful and wonderful things that could ever happen in my life.” Celebrating decades of recording and touring that have nearly singlehandedly reshaped the definition and scope of the blues via the infusion of exotic sounds from the Caribbean, Africa and South Pacific, the two-time Grammy winning singer, songwriter, film composer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist was feted with the Lifetime Achievement for Performance Award at the 13th Annual Americana Honors and Awards.
Samantha Fish
Samantha Fish
A blues musician from Kansas City, Missouri, Samantha Fish impressed industry professionals as a teenager before scoring her first Billboard blues number one in her mid-twenties. Fish grew up in a musical family with a variety of genres, including a steady diet of classic rock radio. Her father played guitar and would sometimes jam with friends at home. Young Samantha started out as a drummer but switched to guitar at the age of 15. As a teen, she would sneak into local blues landmark the Knuckleheads Saloon to hear touring musicians, and she began sitting in with them from time to time after she became legal at 18.
In 2009, Fish recorded the live album Live Bait as the Samantha Fish Blues Band, and the rock-edged guitar work brought her to the attention of Ruf Records. The label featured her alongside Cassie Taylor and Dani Wilde on the 2011 release Girls with Guitars, which featured covers of the Rolling Stones and the Steve Miller Band as well as original material from the three guitarist/singer/songwriters. Later that same year, Fish released her solo debut, Runaway, also with Ruf Records. It was produced by mentor and frequent collaborator Mike Zito.
She saw her first chart success with her sophomore LP, Black Wind Howlin’, also produced by Zito. It hit the Billboard Heatseekers chart and reached the Top Ten of the blues albums chart upon release in 2013. She followed it with Wild at Heart in 2015, which became a blues number one. In 2017, she returned with her fourth studio album, Chills & Fever. Recorded in Detroit with members of the Detroit Cobras it featured covers of obscure pop and soul tunes.
Also in 2017, Fish issued Belle of the West, recorded in Missouri with Luther Dickinson and featuring musical contributions by guitarist/harmonica player Lightnin’ Malcolm, former-Squirrel Nut Zipper Jimbo Mathus, violinist Lillie Mae Rische, and others. The album helped the guitarist pick up a 2018 Blues Music Association award for Contemporary Female Artist of the Year. Fish‘s seventh studio album, Kill or Be Kind, arrived in 2019 and found her working with producer Scott Billington in Memphis.
Artist Biography by Marcy Donelson
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Lawrence Block
Lawrence Block
Lawrence Block is an American crime writer best known for two long-running New York–set series about the recovering alcoholic P.I. Matthew Scudder and the gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr. Block was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America in 1994. Wikipedia
Why & How You Should Support Artists During COVID
It’s time to support artists
The music industry and local musical artists have had to navigate their careers differently since the Covid-19 lockdown. It’s very important for us as consumers to continue to support our favorite music artists, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. People throughout the United States are struggling during this time. Millions of people are unemployed and are unable to return to work. Thousands of businesses have shut down and even music artists are having trouble making money during this time. Music artists are unable to make money while on a tour which is greatly affecting their ability to earn income. Many bands and hip-hop artists have pointed out in the past that the majority of the money they make is on tour. Even indie artists make a large portion of here money touring local areas to keep the band going. Consumers should try to support their favorite artists so they can stay intact. Artists are unable to have in-person events and signings which can be so exciting and beneficial to the artist. Spotify and streaming services do not pay artists large amounts of money. In 2020 physical albums are almost non-existent and most music is available for free. Roaming the Arts has an online community that supports musicians, artists, and writers. Now is the time for consumers to stand up and support artists during this difficult time!
Ways to Support Artists During Covid
- Branding and promotion can be so beneficial to musical artists. Spreading your favorite artist’s music on social media can be so helpful to them. Retweets and posts on Instagram can during this time will e greatly appreciated.
- You can share music and resources within your circle of friends
- Encourage your friends to support their favorite artists. Buy and stream most as often as you can.
- Tweet and reach out to your favorite artists and tell them how much you love and appreciate their music. Bands and rappers need to know their fans still want them to keep releasing must and that they will be first in line to buy their tickets once they can go on tour again. If you are employed or cannot work it’s fully understandable if you cannot financially support your favorite artists. The smallest things such as a tweet or direct message will always be appreciated. This can potentially help boost sales.
- Music streaming sites don’t pay large amounts of money but they still make up nearly 20% of an artist’s income. If you consumers can accumulate enough stream it definitely can be beneficial to an artist. Streaming sites are even introducing tipping options. If you would like to you can support artists by sending them money directly. Establishing more revenue flow can be so helpful to struggling indie artists.
- Many artists have YouTube channels and live streams where you can come support them I’ve seen many artists focus more on making content and releasing music on youtube to make a living.
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It’s time to support artists!!!
Mike’s Basement
Mike Marrone formerly the creator/director of SiriusXM “The Loft” doing what he does. Putting together great sets of music available for streaming.
Paul Levine
Location-South Florida
Paul Levine
Author Paul Levine is an American born writer who loves to write in the genre of crime fiction and legal thriller. He was born in Williamsport in the state of Pennsylvania on 9th January, 1948. He completed his graduation in the year 1969 from Pennsylvania State University. Soon for The Daily Collegian newspaper he became the editor in chief, while his stay in Pennsylvania State University. In the year 1973 from the University of Miami, he received his J.D. Before becoming a writer, author Paul Levine was a lawyer and was a partner along with other positions at Lewis & Bockius, Morgan and was also working on television as a legal commentator. He started writing from 1990 onward and since then he is an active member and has written 19 novels and the translation of his novels have been done in 21 languages. There are two series that he has written so far. The first one is Jake Lassiter and the other one is Solomon & Lord. Both of the titles of the series are based on the main protagonist in the books.
Jake Lassiter has appeared in 10 novels of the American author Paul Levine. Jake is shown as a lawyer who was an ex-Penn State linebacker once. Booklist has described the character of Jake Lassiter as among the characters that are most entertaining in the genre of contemporary crime fiction. Perry Mason was good, but he didn’t have as much charisma as Jake Lassiter, says The Miami Herald. Steve Solomon and Victoria Lord are two arguing lawyers who have appeared in four novels of author Paul Levine. Both characters have been loved by many people and have been praised by many critics. Los Angeles Times named To Speak for the Dead by author Paul Levine as among the 10 best mysteries of the year. The character of Jake Lassiter was described as of Travis McGee holding a law degree. A movie was made by adapting the book in the year 1995 and the named was “Jake Lassiter: Justice on the Bayou” The actor in the leading character was played by Gerald McRaney in the role of Jake Lassiter and it was produced by Stephen J. Cannell. He has written 9 Scorpions and in the year 1999, he moved to Los Angeles from Florida after his friend Don Bellisario gave him an invitation. He came and became a writer of JAG, a CBS military series. The show aired from 1995 to 2005 and he has written 21 plays in it. For excellence in Florida fiction, he has been given John D. MacDonald Award. (Book Series in Order)
