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Daytrotter Radio - Wednesdays on WXPN at 10:30pm!
Blues Show
The Blues Show
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Comin up on The Blues Show:
Saturday, May 10, 2008
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We'll feature the new album "Detroit Is My Home" from Alberta Adams, a 90-ish blues singer joined by several great pianists on her new release. This album is also the subject of our most recent Blues File. In the midnight hour on "The Blues & Beyond" it's a tribute to Lonnie Johnson. Our guest Aaron Levinson will talk about Lonnie and the tribute album he has produced "Rediscovering Lonnie Johnson."

About The XPN Blues Show and Jonny Meister:
It's been said that rock, pop, country, jazz and R&B are just branches of a tree whose roots are buried deep in the mud of the Mississippi Delta. To honor those roots 88.5 WXPN presents The Blues Show with host Jonny Meister every Saturday evening from 7PM to 12 midnight.

Catherine Russell and Jonny
Jonny Meister with Catherine Russell

The Blues Show covers the entire history of the blues from 1920 to the present, from the best-known to the most obscure blues, with an eye both on the rich history of this music and its current vitality.

Host Jonny Meister has been playing the blues on WXPN since March 1977. Meister grew up with old blues records in the house. His father played boogie woogie on the piano, which Jonny learned at about the age of 12. Later he played in rock bands and did a few solo gigs as a singer-songwriter. His interest in blues grew and he became especially interested in the history of the music, a history not always revealed by the rock musicians who drew heavily on the blues and their promoters.

Jonny spent a week with the family of the late, great blues musician J. B. Lenoir in 1979, and he was one of the consultants for the Wim Wenders film The Soul Of A Man which featured Lenoir, in the recent PBS film series The Blues. He won the "Keeping The Blues Alive" award for work in Public Radio for The Blues Show in 2000 and a "Best of Philly" award from Philadelphia Magazine in 1996 for "Best Local Radio Show".

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Clarksdale Mississippi bluesman Wesley "Junebug" Jefferson is battling lung cancer. His album "Meet Me In The Cotton Field" with Terry "Big T" Williams has been played much on The Blues Show. An online benefit is in progress through May 23rd sponsored by his record label, Broke & Hungry Records, and LiveBluesWorld. "Meet Me In The Cotton Field" is available along with other Broke & Hungry label CDs as "thank-you" gifts for contributions from Broke & Hungry Records.

Listen to Jonny's report on The John Coltrane Reference, a new 800+ page book devoted to Trane, his life, and his music.

Hear Jonny's review of Leni Stern's album Africa.

A Blind Blake record that had never been found has turned up after all these years. Listen to a bit of it here.

Check out Jonny Meister's Top Ten Blues CDs for 2007 at National Public Radio's music page.

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Area Blues Concerts & Events
For more detailed information please visit our concert calendar or a venue's website.


Saturday, May 10, 2008: Chris Cain @ The Hill Scenic Studio
sponsored by Blues Nite Productions
Paulsboro NJ
6PM

Sauce Boss @ The Hop
333 Arsenal Road
York PA
7:30PM
sponsored by Amish Parrotheads

Sunday, May 11, 2008
Chris Cain @ Brewpub
4120 Main Street
Philadelphia (Manayunk section), PA
215-482-8220

Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Tuesday night Blues Jam at Temptation's
218 West Chelten Avenue
Philadelphia (Germantown section), PA
215-849-7000

Saturday, May 17, 2008
Eric Steckel afternoon show @ Havana, New Hope, PA

Sunday May 18, 2008
Catherine Russell @ Philadelphia Book Festival, Philadelphia PA

Eric Steckel afternoon show @ Havana, New Hope, PA


Thursday, June 12, 2008:
Tinsley Ellis @ Sellersville Theater
Sellersville PA
215-257-5808

Saturday, June 14, 2008: State Street Blues Stroll, featuring E. C. Scott, Rory Block, Lonnie Shields, Deb Callahan, and MANY others @ Media Theatre, and at venues and outside stages throughout central Media PA, 7P - 1A, $20 advance, $25 on June 14, discounts to WXPN members, info: 610-566-5039

Sunday, June 22, 2008:
Buckwheat Zydeco @ Sellersville Theater
Sellersville PA
215-257-5808

Tuesday, June 24, 2008:
Robben Ford @ Sellersville Theater
Sellersville PA
215-257-5808

Friday, July 26, 2008:
Pocono Blues Festival Juke Joint Night
Lil' Dave Thompson
Teeny Tucker
Root Doctor

Saturday, July 27, 2008:
Pocono Blues Festival(Saturday)
Sugarpie DeSanto/Jimmy McCracklin,
Kenny Neal
Nappy Brown
Michael Burks
Sharrie Williams
Kinsey Report
Joey Gilmore
also: Michael Roach & Johnny Mars, Byther Smith

Sunday, July 28, 2008:
Pocono Blues Festival (Sunday)
Bobby Rush
Ronnie Baker Brooks
Trudy Lynn
Lurrie Bell
Holmes Brothers
also: Eric Bibb, Geno Delafose

Friday, August 8, 2008:
Riverfont Blues Festival (Wilmington DE)
The Mannish Boys
Gary Allegretto
Homemade Jamz

Saturday, August 9, 2008:
Riverfont Blues Festival (Wilmington DE)
Koko Taylor
LiL' Ed & The Blues Imperials
Larry McCray
Sharrie Williams & The Wise Guys
Michael Burks
Anson Funderburgh & The Rockets with James Harmon

Sunday, August 10, 2008:
Riverfont Blues Festival (Wilmington DE)
Elvin Bishop
Sugar Blue
Jimmy Thackery & The Drivers

Friday, August 15, 2008:
Mark Hummel's Blues Harmonica Blowout featuring Kenny Neal,
Magic Dick (of J Geils Band), & Steve Guyger @ Sellersville Theater
Sellersville PA
215-257-5808

Saturday, August 16, 2008:
Craug Thatcher Band @ Sellersville Theater
Sellersville PA
215-257-5808

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Saturdays, 7pm-1am

Thursdays, 8:30am
Listen to our blues feature, The XPN Blues File, which airs on The Morning Show with Michaela Majoun.

Robert Johnson Charlie Musselwhite
Charlie Musselwhite Shemekia Copeland

The XPN Blues File, produced by Jonny Meister, is a weekly look into the world of blues, keeping you up-to-date on the latest developments in this essential musical form, as well as exploring the long and rich history behind it. Listen to The Blues File online too, by subscribing to The Blues File Podcast.

Click an icon below to subscribe to The Blues File podcast using iTunes or MyYahoo:

Or copy & paste this address into your preferred podcasting application:
http://www.npr.org/rss/
podcast.php?id=510165

The XPN Blues File
MP3 Download

(listen to "out-of-print" Blues Files here):

Miss a show? Want to hear one again? You've got two weeks to catch it after it airs, through our streaming service. Give it a try!

Contact the Show:
Drop Jonny an email about the show.

Blues Concert Listings:View Blues Concert Listings in the XPN Listening Area

2007
Feb | Mar | Apr | May
Jun | Jul | Aug | Sept
Oct | Nov | Dec

Blues Links:
Visit these links to explore the Blues, learn about live events and to take part in the culture of this American art form.

Alligator Records
One of the leading Chicago blues labels. Alligator is Koko Taylor's label and also home for Lonnie Brooks, Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials, and many more. Recent releases include The Holmes Brothers Simple Truths and Kenny Neal & Billy Branch Double Take.

Delmark Records
A venerable Chicago blues & jazz label now celebrating 50 years in the business. Many of the blues greats of the past, like Junior Wells, have recorded for Delmark, as have a number of fine contemporary singers and players, like Bonnie Lee and Lurrie Bell. One of their finestrecent releases is a compilation of women blues singers called Wild About My Thing featuring Bonnie Lee, Dinah Washington, Big Time Sarah,and many others.

Diamond State Blues Society sponsors many blues events, notably regular day-long shows at Gators in New Castle DE and summer events in Wilmington.

Bucks County Blues Society is America's oldest blues society. Among the performers they have presented are folks like Willie Dixon and Albert Collins. They have regular events and a big Blues/R & B picnic every summer, and they sponsor "Blue Thursdays" every Thursday night at A. J.'s in Levittown, PA.

When you are shopping at Amazon.com, be sure to start here. Your purchases support WXPN!