Outstanding original mix of folk and electro tunes. Dance in trance!

One More For Me, named for our recording process, was recorded live in the studio, in Luxembourg between tour gigs.  We performed a couple full takes of dteach track, settling on versions we thought best; often we'd do one more take in an effort to somehow improve on a great performance, just for our own satisfaction.  Along with new songs, this album reaches far back into my catalogue, 15 years in two cases, but is wholly contemporary in its articulation.  I count myself lucky to have stood onstage with artists like John Primer, Lurrie Bell, Jimmy Johnson, Nick Moss, Andrew Duncanson, Barrelhouse Chuck, and Carl Weathersby.  In equal measure, I've drawn invaluable immediate influence from Lil' Ed, Joel Paterson, Oscar Wilson, Billy Flynn, and Glenn Davis.  Each of these tracks holds something special for me, not the least of which is collaborating with bassist/harmonica ace Renaud Lesire and drummer Tom Lehnert, whose love and knowledge of the music continually inspires me both to revisit my roots and push forward into something new.

Performing as Big Harp George, former law professor George Bisharat has reached his eighth album. George is nopt only a master of the chromatic harmonica but also an exceptionally talented songwriter.
He kicks off with the swinging instrumental ‘Come Out Swinging’, followed by the delightful ‘Supplement Life’, which features surprising tempo changes.
He returns to instrumental territory later with the bluesy ‘Sun Drifting’, while ‘Last Trip To Itaipu’ is a Latin-inspired instrumental. On the track ‘Mista Boins!’—also an instrumental—George engages in a musical duel with organist Chris Burns.
Across these 16 original tracks, Big Harp George explores a variety of musical genres; ‘Struck Out Again’, for instance, is a gem of a slow blues song.
A standout in terms of originality is the Eastern-sounding ‘I Will Find You’, where George once again demonstrates his ability to handle any style on the chromatic harmonica.
He takes a stand on ‘Rusty Spoon’ (dedicated to political prisoners), the shuffle ‘Death Rattle Of The Republic’, and ‘One Day’—a song about the day, justice will finally be served.
Kid Andersen handles guitar duties on all 16 tracks. His wife, Lisa Leuschner Andersen, provides backing vocals on the Dixieland-infused ‘Be Adorable’ and shines alongside George in the duet ‘Do You Remember?’. The album is further elevated by a superb horn section.
‘No Shortcuts’ is well worth discovering!

​Astonishing psychedelic and emotional songs. A sublime blend of (psych) rock and tradition. Love it!

With 'Used Parts', Halford reveals a deeper inclination towards soul, while simultaneously remaining firmly rooted in Americana, blues, and rock. Central to the album is the title track, a poignant meditation on self-healing. Instead of focusing on the idea of reinvention, Halford explores something more earthly: the reality of rebuilding a life with what remains. Highly recommended! 

 In the ‘Rocks’ series, Bear Family Records has already profiled a large number of legendary artists. One artist who was still missing and who certainly deserved to be featured was Ray Campi. Well, now he receives a well-deserved release featuring no less than 34 tracks.
You can safely label Ray Campi the ‘King of Rockabilly’. Born on April 20, 1934, he made his first recordings in the fifties. This compilation also starts with that, bringing together his songs up to 1990. Campi did not need those major chart successes to make himself immortal. His impressive performances, his raw energy, and his lively and danceable songs took care of that. In short, Ray Campi can be described in one word as ‘authentic’.
The tracks on this compilation include his explosive fifties recordings, songs from the Rollin’ Rock period of the seventies, as well as previously unreleased live recordings.
To make a living, Ray worked as an English teacher for many years. Although his career began as early as the 1950s, he garnered his greatest fame in the 1970s when the rockabilly revival took off. The person who helped him with this was the Italian emigrant and great music lover Ronny Weiser, whom Campi met while working as a teacher in Los Angeles. Rockabilly was Weiser’s great love, which is why he had just founded the legendary and independent record label Rollin’ Rock Records. Weiser listened to Campi’s recordings from the 1950s and immediately fell for Ray’s wild and energetic style. From then on, Ray recorded for Weiser’s label. These recordings usually took place in Ronny’s living room with equipment stripped down to the essentials, resulting in a lo-fi, energetic, and raw sound. You can witness this on this compilation, which, in addition to Campi’s classics, also contains a number of previously unreleased live recordings, such as ‘I’m Comin’ Home’, ‘Honky Tonk Man’, ‘Pan American Boogie’, ‘Born To Rock’, and two live recordings of his classic ‘Caterpillar’, of which you also get the single version. Furthermore, ‘Rockabilly Man’, ‘How Low Can You Feel’, and ‘Play It Cool’ naturally have a rightful place on this album. Another one that certainly could not be missing is ‘Rockin' At The Ritz’, a song Ray recorded in 1977 that certainly boosted his status during the rockabilly revival.
Ray Campi had the gift of putting his own spin on other people’s work as well. He demonstrates this convincingly in his version of ‘Long Tall Sally’. Also briljants is his tribute to the Big Bopper, namely the predominantly spoken ‘The Man I Met’. Ray Campi was not only a formidable performer, but as a songwriter he was also on par with the very greatest. It is therefore not surprising that energy and dynamism reign supreme on these 34 tracks.
In the luxurious 38-page booklet, you get the story of Campi and a number of sublime black-and-white and color photos.
‘Ray Campi Rocks’ is a release that is indispensable for rockabilly fans.

Kirri Valvekens is a man of many musical facets. He has been touring for over 15 years with Kirri’s Travelin’ Kitchen Jam, his singer-songwriter project, sometimes with a full band, sometimes solo or as a duo. You recognize his raw and dark vocal sound immediately, and that voice served him extremely well on ‘Diamond On The Rocks’, his tribute to Neil Diamond, alongside Bob Dylan, one of his great role models.
The lyrics of Kirri’s songs always have something to say. He sets those lyrics to beautiful melodies that always carry influences of rock, blues, or country somewhere within them. In short, roots music like only Kirri can make, and which is embraced by many.
Between his various projects, Kirri still finds the time to compose new songs, 12 of which found their way onto this album. These songs saw the light of day between 2021 and 2026 and convincingly showcase Kirri’s craftsmanship. The album is largely acoustic, and Valvekens returns entirely to his roots in opener ‘A Song Or Two’, armed only with his voice, guitar, and harmonica. But it doesn't stop there, as the singer-songwriter gradually surrounds himself with fantastic musicians, such as guitarists David Piedfort, Stef Paglia, Luc Canters, and Rocco Di Turi, saxophonist Hugo Boogaerts, Niels Verheest on piano and Hammond organ, and singer Arturo Belinni. He provides vocal support on ‘Most Common Way (Non Sono Come Gli Altri)’, a track that you also get in the English version as the closing piece.
The album is bathed in a calm atmosphere, immediately drawing the listener into Kirri's story. The tempo is picked up once, namely in the somewhat bluegrass-infused ‘Staring At The Sunrise’, where Kirri demonstrates that he can hold his own on bass and banjo as well. After ‘One/1’ and ‘Little Somethings’, ‘Lalala… And Other Stories’ is Kirri’s third album of original work. An album that is more than worth discovering!