Lightnin' Hopkins News

It seems every time Aftermath encounters Justin Townes Earle live, the guy has peeled another layer off himself revealing another astounding bit of his promise.

These rare early recordings of the great blues guitarist and singer Lightnin' Hopkins were recorded in Houston between 1947 - 1950 and remastered from acetates and 78 rpm records in the early 1990's. Capturing Hopkins in his purest form, mostly unaccompanied with just his wry voice and guitar, this makes for a fascinating listen.

Make the juice run down my leg. Wednesday, August 12, 2009 Kicking Mule In the folk and country blues revival of the 1960s he was listening to Broonzy, Brownie McGhee and Lightnin' Hopkins and beginning to collect old 78 rpm records from the 1920s and 1930s.

Joe Lewis is much smaller, more wiry and slippery than his near-namesake, America's iconic heavyweight champ.

Make all the Guitar Hero jokes you want. Whatever it is that's kept ZZ Top and Aerosmith in the public eye for almost four decades - video games or beards-n-babes videos, Back to the Future cameos or Michael Bay ballads, bee-stung lips or cheap sunglasses - they've never forgotten that eventually it all circles back around to the stage.

U.S. rock and roll royalty was in the Bluesfest house last night. Steve Earle returned to downtown London for the first time in many years, bringing the Bluesfest London crowd to its feet with stories, one-liners and plenty of beautiful blues.

Marquise Knox is a young blues artist who comes out of the St. Louis area. The guitar is his instrument of choice on which he says he can best express himself.

SELMA -- Jazz isn't the only musical genre born in America, and a Selma native has been working hard to see that rhythm and blues isn't forgotten in an era of rap and hip-hop. When Chuck Strong isn't repairing cars out in Los An geles, he's flying to gigs around the country where he sings about lost loves, in fidelity, hard times, meager wages and ...

About 15 years ago, G. Love found the right mixture for his Special Sauce, and it hasn't needed a whole lot of tweaking since.

Much is made of Justin Townes Earle's honky tonk chops, which are formidable. But the young singer-songwriter is a wicked guitar picker, due in no small part to his father, Steve Earle, who introduced him to the work of Texas bluesmen Mance Lipscomb and Lightnin' Hopkins.

Highlights of the festival's history, courtesy of festival organizers: 1970 - First Sinking Creek Film Celebration held in Greeneville, Tenn., at Tusculum College.