New Blues Review 4-1-2025
By Jack Roy
Shari Puortz – Hold On (Self Produced)
Bio – “Shari Puorto is an award-winning American singer, songwriter, and performer known for her dynamic blend of rock, roots, and blues. With six releases to date and a new album, Hold On, coming March 1, 2025, she continues to captivate audiences with her raw, high-energy performances. Shari has collaborated with top blues artists, contributed to commercial soundtracks, and even starred as a singer/actor in The Killers’ music video Blowback. Her live album, Live at Bogie’s, won Best Live Release at the L.A. Music Critic Awards, and her music has charted internationally. A powerhouse vocalist with a deeply expressive voice, Shari’s performances are immersive and unforgettable. She’s shared the stage with icons like Tommy Castro, Slash, Robben Ford, Ruthie Foster, and Walter Trout. Whether performing in clubs, festivals, or studios, she brings passion and authenticity to every note. Her co-written project (released during COVID), Lightning’s Lessons, Vol. 1, introduces young audiences to blues music, featuring legends like Shemekia Copeland, Duke Robillard, and Curtis Salgado. Shari’s mission is clear: to create powerful, meaningful music that connects across generations.”
Review – Shari has such a rich voice and her song writing is beautiful. I wouldn’t put her down as a solid Blues Singer, she floats between Pop, a little Country with Blues tendencies. Such a wide variety of music styles, “Hold On” is one of their strongest songs. “In The City” has that Shaft feel to it, arranged very well. “Why Not Me”, a typical slow blues arrangement, but really shines Shari’s voice. Backing Shari is Ryan Ball on Guitar, Scott Chasolen on Keys, Doug Woolverton on Keys, Byron Isaacs on Bass and Randy Schraner on Drums. I think my favorite is “Cyclone″, a real cool guitar lick at the beginning and probably the most Rock/Blues song on the CD, listen here. I will give this an 8 on Blues Content and a 10 on Music Content.
Max Hightower – Nothing’ But The Truth (Momojo Records)
Bio – “Max Hightower was born and raised in the Upstate of South Carolina. At age 12, he bought his first Blues cassette tape, ‘Muddy Mississippi Live’ by Muddy Waters. The new and mysterious sound of the music had such an immediate impact on him that in no time he was banging around on his Grandmother’s Silvertone guitar. However, it was the Harmonica that became his instrument of choice. He found that there was something almost spiritual about having an instrument that close to his voice, giving every breath meaning. That little 10 hole harp led him down the path of composing his own songs, playing the piano, bass, guitar, singing, teaching and producing. As one of the founding members of Plate Full O’ Blues, he now tours the USA, Canada and Europe. He has even shared the stage with some of the very legends that fueled his passion for the music, like Hubert Sumlin, Willie Smith, Bob Margolin, Eddie Shaw and Leon Everette to name a few.”
Review – I really like this album, it’s got a lot of grit and Max has the voice to match! Max floats between singing and rapping on this album, which really works. All the songs are written by Max and is strong on the Blues. Max’s core band is Max on Vocals, Guitar and Harmonica, Brandon Phelps on Drums, Steadman Williams on Bass, Big Jon Atkinson on Lead Guitar (really good guitarist), James Beaumont on Sax and Rob Davis on Keys. “Here She Comes” is a funky little Blues number that is a great change up in the Song flow. Other stand outs include “Double Bubble”, “Thick Jello” and “Assmograph”. I think my favorite is “Damned If I Do″, listen here. I will give this a 10 on Blues Content and a 10 on Music Content.
Tony Holiday – Keep Your Head Up (Nola Blue Records)
Bio – “There’s something about Tony Holiday that draws people together. In fact, community has been at the core of Holiday’s young career from the beginning. Since relocating from Salt Lake City to Memphis in 2017, Holiday has been at the center of a soul blues revival in Memphis, anchored by a contingent of young, savvy well-schooled musicians with a “family-like” attitude and a strong belief in one another. Mentored by past legends, Holiday and this loose Memphis collective are building on the city’s rich traditions and carrying them forward. Motel Mississippi, Holiday’s 2nd solo album, was recorded about an hour outside Memphis in Coldwater, Mississippi, at Zebra Ranch, the studio of the late great Memphis legend Jim Dickinson (The Rolling Stones, Big Star). Combining the sounds of North Mississippi Hill Country, Delta Blues, and Memphis soul, Motel Mississippi is equal parts hypnotic blues, driving soul, and juke joint stomper. The album consists of six originals and two covers, “Rob & Steal” by Paul Wine Jones and “Nobody But You” by Asie Payton. Like with previous projects, Motel Mississippi began as a collaborative effort, this time between Holiday, guitarist/songwriter A.J. Fullerton and guitarist/producer Dave Gross who shared production duties with Fullerton. Rich sonic layers provide a forward-thinking quality to these productions, conjuring up a vibe that’s modern and retro at the same time. The drone and drive of songs like “Rob & Steal” and “Get By” contrast with juke joint grooves like “Just As Gone” while diving into new territory with the Cajun-infused double harmonica instrumental “Yazoo River.” The album was recorded by another mainstay of recent Memphis recording, Kevin Houston (Southern Avenue, North Mississippi Allstars, G. Love). Other musicians on the album include Lee Williams Jr. on drums, Terrance Grayson on Bass, Aubrey McCrady on guitar, Jake Friel on Harmonica, and Mikey Junior on backup vocals.
Motel Mississippi follows 2020’s Soul Service, produced by another regular collaborator, Southern Avenue’s Ori Naftaly. This followed two volumes of Tony Holiday’s Porch Sessions, which saw Holiday traveling across the United States and throughout Europe recording blues musicians on their very own front porches, in front of juke joints, in the countryside, and even on the front stoops of raucous night spots in bustling cities, resulting in two critically acclaimed albums. The guestlist struck a balance between older legends like Grammy® winners Charlie Musselwhite and Bobby Rush, former Muddy Waters guitarist John Primer and the iconic Lurie Bell, alongside some of Holiday’s peers Southern Avenue, Victor Wainwright, and John Németh. The latter two have served as important mentors for Holiday since his move to Memphis. There’s something in the water in Memphis, and Tony Holiday has tapped into it to contribute to an exciting new chapter unfolding in this storied region.”
Review – I loved Tony’s previous album, “Hotel Mississippi”, I think this CD is a little more polished than the last, which is good and bad for that reason. Tony brought in the big guns for this album with guitarists like Albert Castiglia, Eddie 9V and Laura Chavez. Tony sings on all the songs, but shares vocals with both Albert and Eddie on this album. While a strong Blues album, I can see some of these tunes showing up on Pop radio as the song writing is top notched. The first song on this album is really a special gem that can slide between genres, “She’s A Burglar with Eddie 9V playing and singing. “Drive It Home” is happy feel good tune with Albert Castiglia on Guitar, so good. I think my favorite is “Shoulda Known Better″ with Laura Chavez on guitar, listen here. I will give this a 10 on Blues Content and a 10 on Music Content.
Popa Chubby & Friends – I Love Freddie King (Gulf Coast Records)
Bio – “Popa Chubby, born Ted Horowitz, has been hard rocking the blues in his fierce and soulful way for more than 30 years. Over the course of a career that dates back to 1994, he has been a force of to be reckoned with on the guitar, and his tempestuous, soulful playing has never been more powerful. An imposing figure with a shaven head, tattooed arms, a goatee and a performance style he describes as “the Stooges meets Buddy Guy, Motörhead meets Muddy Waters, and Jimi Hendrix meets Robert Johnson,” Popa Chubby is an endearing character who is one of the genre’s most popular figures. His career has always been about moving forward and carving a place for himself in the imposing terrain of the music business, overcoming odds to continue growing and maturing as a creative force. He has built a constantly increasing base of fans across the world, where in many territories he is a star. A native New Yorker, Horowitz’s first gigs were in the NYC punk scene as a guitarist for what he reflects was a “crazy Japanese special effects performance artist in a kimono called Screaming Mad George who had a horror-movie inspired show.” Right from the start he was immersed in rock ‘n’ roll as theater, and learned from George and others playing CBGB’s at the time that included the Ramones, the Cramps, Richard Hell, whose band, the Voidoids he joined that rock ‘n’ roll should be dangerous. He reflects, “Musicians like the Ramones and the Sex Pistols weren’t just bands. They were a threat to society.” The Blues however was the foundation of his playing style. He recalls, “Since I’d grown up on Hendrix, Cream and Led Zeppelin, when I started playing blues in New York clubs I understood that the blues should be dangerous, too. It wasn’t just from playing in punk bands. Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters were dangerous men. They’d cut or shoot you if they thought it was necessary, and Little Walter packed a gun and wouldn’t hesitate to use it. That danger is a real part of the Blues and I keep it alive in my music.” Popa Chubby is his own man for better or worse. He reflects, “I’m living in a wild time, and that is where the inspiration is drawn from. There are my issues, but the picture is much bigger than me and my situation. Everything is breaking down in the world. The lines are being redefined. We all need something.””
Review – Wow, what an impressive gathering of musicians on this album to tackle the songs of probably one of the greatest guitarist of all time in my humble opinion. While the songs on this CD are great, they sure do fall short to me as a super fan of Freddie, but still impressive attempt. Popa covers many of the greats of Freddie including “I’m Going Down”, “Big Legged Woman”, “Hideaway” and “The Stumble” but also includes a few not as popular songs too. With musician like Joe Bonamassa, Alber Castiglia, Eric Gales, Kingfish, Mike Zito, Arthur Neilson, and VD King, this album is a super star project. It is great to hear each of the artist’s rendition of each song. With the backing band of Pop Chubby on Guitar and Vocals, Mike Merritt on Bass, Andrei Koribanics on Drums, Mike DiMeo on Keys, Harold Horowitz on Trumpet, Curtis Hotgrefe on Sax and Backing vocals by Eliza Neals. I think “Hideaway” with Arthur Neilson on Guitar, “Big Legged Woman” with Kingfish and “Same Old Blues with VD King are my standouts on this album but my I think my favorite is “My Credit didn’t Go Through″ with Eric Gales on Guitar, listen here. I will give this a 10+ on Blues Content and a 10+ on Music Content.
Janiva Magness – Back For Me (Bluelan Records)
Bio – “The seven-time Blues Music Awards recipient (and the 2009 B.B. King Entertainer of the Year, the Blues Foundation’s highest honor) and 2016 Grammy Award nominee will simultaneously release the Fathead audio book edition of Weeds Like Us, her frank, profoundly moving 2019 memoir. Los Angeles composer and musician Matt Cartsonis produced. LA Weekly named the volume its “Book of the Month,” while No Depression said, “[Magness] plumbs her own emotional depths, carrying us with her through her own hells and back to the other side. Ultimately, Magness’ memoir is a story of hope and the refusal to let the worst experiences of life kill you.” Magness, who co-wrote four of the dozen new compositions on Hard to Kill, says of her boldly honest and affecting new collection of songs, “I feel like it’s a retrospective — not just of my musical life, but of my life. At this point, with what I’ve been through in my life, top to bottom, you know what, the gloves are off, and the rules are, there really aren’t any rules.” The musician sees a direct link between her new album — which leads off with the autobiographical track “Strong As Steel” — and her book, an unflinching and shattering look back at a life shaken by physical and sexual abuse, the suicides of both her parents, years in foster care, drug addiction and alcoholism, and teenage pregnancy and motherhood. It also details the beginnings of her distinguished musical career, for which she found early inspiration in the work of such blues titans as Otis Rush and Etta James. “I like true stories,” Magness says. “My dad said something to me a long time ago; the meaning of it has changed over time, as things like that do, if we wake up. He said, ‘The truth will set you free.’” Sitting on the bedrock of blues, soul, and funk, the music on Hard to Kill is so tough and assured that it comes as a surprise when Magness says she was initially uncertain about undertaking the making of a new album. She recalls, “Coming out of the pandemic, I had gotten to a pretty dark place.” She chuckles, adding, “I laugh, because how is that a surprise? Is this news of some kind? I’d gotten there just as many of us had, and I had lost myself.” Magness turned the corner creatively after her husband suggested that she should talk things over with Dave Darling, her longtime producer, guitarist, and friend. “He’s a scrapper like me,” Magness says of Darling. “He’s pragmatic. I said, ‘I don’t know if I can do this again. I don’t know if I should.’ And he goes, ‘Of course you should.’ I said, ‘But why?’ And this sounds really simple and stupid, but he said, ‘Because it’s what you do. Because it’s what we do, as artists, and you are a f___ing artist. So cut it out.’” Magness began writing new material in the spring of 2021. Looking back, she now realizes that her new songs were tied to the intense memories and feelings she had exposed in Weeds Like”
Review – Alright Janiva’s voice is so good on this album, song writing is incredible. Janiva has just such an attitude with her singing, one of my favorite female voices in Blues today. I think her voice really shines on the slow songs, but love her voice as it gets raspy on the faster tunes. Main part of her band includes Dave Darling on Guitar, Ian Walker on Bass, Sasha Smith on Keys and WF Quinn Smith on Drums. The first tune on this album is killer, “Masterpiece” with Joe Bonamassa on Guitar, his lead in the middle of this song is killer. “The Same Love That Made Me Laugh” and “Hittin’ On Nothin” are some of my favorites but I think my top favorite is “Holes″ with Sue Foley on Guitar, listen here. I will give this a 10 on Blues Content and a 10+ on Music Content.
