Little Johnny is an alias of Australian satirist Pauline Pantsdown. Famed for his cutup parodies of conservative firebrand Pauline Hanson, Pantsdown recorded the track "I'm Sorry" in 2004 using voice samples of Prime Minister John Howard.
Black Devil Yard Boss (BDYB) was borne out of the need to explore the expression of freedom through music, and by leaning on such influences as The Band Of Gypsy's and Cream, BDYB form a 3 piece powerhouse live! BDYB is Pete Williamson (Mammal and Pete Murray's Stonemasons) with Zane Ronsanoski (Mammal and Jika) and Michael 'Big D' Davids (Pete Murray's Stonemasons), who share an undeniable chemistry forged during years of touring, friendship, and making music together. Tight? Check.
Rocking? Are you kidding? Check.
Band of Skulls is an alternative rock band that formed in 2008 in Southampton, England. It consists of Russel Marsden (guitar, vocals), Emma Richardson (bass, vocals), and Matt Hayward (drums), who formed a band after they all met in college. Initially, they played at night clubs in the greater London area and recorded some demos under the name of Fleeing New York before changing their name to Band of Skulls in November 2008.
Dire Straits was a british rock band, formed in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (guitar and vocals), his brother David Knopfler (guitar), John Illsley (bass), and Pick Withers (drums), and subsequently managed by Ed Bicknell. Dire Straits emerged during the post-punk era of the late '70s, and while their sound was minimalistic and stripped down, they owed little to punk. If anything, the band was a direct outgrowth of the roots revivalism of pub rock, but where pub rock celebrated good times, Dire Straits were melancholy.
Ash Grunwald is an Australian blues musician.
While it’s true that his music is steeped in the Delta blues tradition of the legendary acoustic musicians who proliferated in pre-World War II America’s deep South and the giants of electric blues who shaped rock and roll, it’s the young Victorian’s willingness to combine these influences with grooves and sounds common in contemporary music that sets him apart.
A soulful singer and guitar player, Grunwald immediately drew attention with the release of 2002’s ‘Introducing … Ash Grunwald’ a collection of originals and blues standards that included ‘Smokestack Lightnin’ (Howlin’ Wolf) ‘The Sky Is Crying’ (Elmore James), and ‘Rolling and Tumbling’ (Robert Johnson) recorded live with only acoustic guitar and foot percussion consisting of a stomp box and tambourine.
The positive response to Grunwald’s debut resulted in two Victorian Blues awards for Emerging Talent and Album of the Year.
The following year he scored two Australian Blues awards for Male Vocalist of the Year and Best New Talent in addition to the MBAS’ Blues Performer of the Year. He also reached the final of the International Blues Performer of the Year in Memphis.
In 2004 Grunwald released his follow up album, I Don’t Believe, once again recorded solo and live.
Since his initial release he’d been made aware of two Tom Waits albums, Swordfishtrombones and Bone Machine. In a daring move he emulated Waits’ experimental bang and clang percussion using hammers, spanners, pots, etc, in addition to a boss loop station as a bed for his lap steel, dobro, and acoustic guitars.
The album included six originals, two of Waits’ compositions, "Going out West" and "Jesus Gonna Be Here" (a-cappella with handclaps) and blues standards "Walking Blues" and "Cross Roads" (Robert Johnson), "Empire State" (Son House), and "How Many More Years" (Howlin’ Wolf).
On the strength of this release Ash won an ARIA award nomination for Best Blues And Roots Album, and the Victorian Blues award for Male Vocalist Of The Year (equal with Lloyd Spiegel) and in 2005 the MBAS Vic / Tas award for Solo / Duo Of The Year (equal with Dave Hogan).
For the ‘Live At The Corner’ album (songs from his first two releases plus Willie Dixon’s ‘Spoonful’ featuring Ian Collard on harmonica) Ash won the 2005 MBAS Vic / Tas and Australian Blues award’s Album Of The Year in addition to being nominated once again for the Best Blues And Roots album at the ARIA’s.
Ash has built a substantial following performing at countless live venues around the country and at major festivals including Byron Bay, Port Fairy, Falls, Apollo Bay, Fremantle, Cockatoo Island and Margaret River.
In May 2005, Ash was invited to take over the reins as host of Triple J’s popular Thursday night show Roots ‘N All.
Ash Grunwald continues to forge his own identity with the release of twelve original songs on album number four, ‘Give Signs’ recorded on his own label Delta Groove Records. As usual it will be live and solo. And as usual, it is another terrific offering from this talented performer.
Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
Bob Log III was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Arizona. Growing up, Log listened to musical artists such as AC/DC, Screaming Jay Hawkins, Bo Diddley, Hasil Adkins and Chuck Berry, later commenting that "That's what rock'n'roll is to me. You take a guitar, turn it up, make the ladies dance, and have a good time.” [1] Bob Log got his first guitar at the age of 11, and by the age of 16 he had moved to slide guitar, playing Delta blues, modeling his slide guitar style on that of Mississippi Fred Mcdowell.
The Derek Trucks Band is a band started by slide guitarist prodigy, Derek Trucks, who began playing guitar and touring with The Allman Brothers Band, as early as eleven years old. Raised partly on tour with them throughout his youth, meeting and playing with famous musicians, Trucks was still unsure about his own future. He resolved to start his own band while still an adolescent. What first began as a side project, and a way for Trucks to explore his own creativity, has evolved into an eclectic band with some of the most talented musicians from the southeastern United States.
Sol Carroll - Singer/Guitarist
OJ Newcomb – Acoustic & Electric Bass
Mark Henman - Drums
Byron Bays ‘Band of Frequencies’ bring together elements of soul, psychedelic rock, funk and reggae, blending them all into a hearty roots stew fit to satisfy the hunger of the soul. Sol Carroll fronts the band on guitar and vocals. He plays effortlessly and intuitively, with an almost percussive style at times, and has a unique approach to creating sounds on guitars that has been widely acclaimed by audiences and fellow musicians alike, both at home and abroad.
Syl Johnson (b. July 1, 1936) is an American blues and soul singer and music producer. Born Sylvester Thompson in Holly Springs, Mississippi, Johnson sang and played with blues artists Magic Sam, Billy Boy Arnold, Junior Wells and Howlin' Wolf in the 1950s, before recording with Jimmy Reed for Vee-Jay in 1959. He made his solo debut that same year with Federal, a subsidiary of King Records of Cincinnati, backed by Freddie King on guitar.
Kenny Wayne Shepherd and his group exploded on the scene in the mid-'90s and garnered huge amounts of radio airplay on commercial radio, which historically has not been a solid home for blues and blues-rock music, with the exception of Stevie Ray Vaughan in the mid-'80s. Shepherd was born June 12, 1977, in Shreveport, LA. The Shreveport native began playing at age seven, figuring out Muddy Waters licks from his father's record collection (he has never taken a formal lesson).