The iPhone lasted through the first two miles. Through the first two miles, my average pace was 10:05. I finished the run in 30:56. Using the Cool  Runnings’ Pace Calculator. My average pace calculates to 9:58 min/mile. http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/4/4_1/96.shtml

Tuesday’s Run

On Tuesday though I made sure that my iPhone was all charged up before my run. Initially, I thought I would run four miles,  it since I got a late start in the early afternoon I stuck with 3.1 miles. I was a typically normal run. My pace bo weed around 9:53 min/ mile throughout the run. With a slight sprint at the end my overall pace dropped to 9.47 min/mile. One of my best times of the year.

The Soundtrack – Keep on Turning – Seth Rosenbloom

Keep on Turning the debut album release from blues guitarist Seth Rosenbloom was supposed to be the soundtrack for Sunday’s run. Not! However, it was the soundtrack for Tuesday’s run and a good one it was.

i have actually listened to the album several times and it is a terrific album. While I find Rosenbloom’s vocals a little above average. It’s his searing guitar that sold me on the album.

About Seth Rosenbloom

According to his website biography Rosenbloom was born and raised in….

….Waltham, Massachusetts, he began playing classical violin as a child and subsequently took up guitar at age eleven. Initially inspired by the music of Elvis and The Beatles, he earned a performance merit scholarship from Berklee College of Music by the time he was 16.

I don’t know about you but I do believe that those who go to the  Berklee College of Music tends to know just a little about music!

Keep on Turning

The tracks on Keep on Turning are great from the opening track which is the title track!! Many of the songs are composed by Rosenbloom. Several of the songs were written solely by Seth. While others were songs co-written with Sonya Rae Tayloor.

.The album also contains classic covers of B.B. King, Elmore James and Freddie King.

Joining Rosenbloom on the album are: Travis Carlton on bass (Robben Ford, Scott Henderson), Scott Kinsey (Tribal Tech) on keys and Gary Novak (George Benson, Chick Corea) on drums.

Keep on Turning was produced  by Josh Smith, a world renowned blues guitarist in his own right. Keep On Turning was recorded at Smith’s Flat V Studios in Reseda, California.

Final Thought

The bottom line is Keep on Turning is a winner. The tracks are varied the vocals are fine and the guitar is exceptional.

quote …….

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Updated: December 2025 – added new links and cleaned up the post.

The High Cost of Low Living by the Nick Moss Band. was the soundtrack  for the run. The album has been in my rotation for a couple of weeks now and I really like the album.

One of the reasons is that in addition to Nick’s great guitar work there is some really good blues harp on the album. After listening to the album a few times, I looked more closely at the album cover and saw that it says the Nick Moss Band featuring Dennis Gruenling! And it is Dennis Gruenling who provides the amazing harmonica on the album.

It seems that Gruenling and Nick Moss have known each other for more than 20 years and have jammed together several times. But they didn’t really decide to join forces until 2016. The High Cost of Low Living is the pair’s debut on Alligator Records and is a dream come true for both artists.

About Nick and Dennis

Alligator president Bruce Iglauer says the following about the union..

Nick and Dennis are a natural fit for the label. “It’s very exciting to bring artists to Alligator who are so deeply rooted in the Chicago blues tradition, but creating fresh new songs to carry that tradition forward. Nick’s a thrilling guitar player, a gritty, honest singer, and his band is tough as nails. Dennis is a blues harmonica master and a terrific showman. This is a partnership of two world-class talents in one band. These are artists that any fan of the blues has got to love.”

 While Blues Revue says….

….“Nick Moss is at the top of the blues world….ambitious and intense…He can play traditional blues with the best.” New Jersey’s Dennis Gruenling is considered among today’s best blues harmonica players. His high-energy, full-throttle playing has earned him comparisons to the late James Cotton. Living Blues says, “Dennis Gruenling is a contemporary harmonica master…impressive, genuine and fresh-sounding.”

About The High Cost of Low Living

The High Cost of Low Living consists of thirteen tracks. Of those tracks Moss wrote nine original songs while Gruenling wrote two. All of the tracks are deeply roots in the blues tradition with a touch of old school rock ‘n’ roll. Guitarist Kid Andersen and Moss produced the album. The album was recorded at Rancho de Rhythm in Elgin, Illinois.

More about the Teaneck New Jersey native Dennis Gruenling “Go Jersey!”

Through the years, Gruenling has shared the stage with many top names in the blues & roots world, such as Pinetop Perkins, Snooky Pryor, Homesick James, Nappy Brown, John Mayall, Little Sammy Davis, A.C. Reed, Mick Taylor, and Jimmy Dawkins, as well as contemporary blues masters such as Rod Piazza & The Mighty Flyers, Rick Estrin/Little Charlie & The Nightcats, Kim Wilson, Rusty Zinn, Steve Guyger, Greg Piccolo, Mark Hummel,

That is a virtual who’s who of blues harp and puts Mr Gruenling in some great company. Well, actually his great playing puts him in that company!!

The remainder of the band is none too shabby either and includes: Michael Archer on bass, Patrick Seals on drums and Taylor Streiff on piano/organ.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that the album is a joy to listen to if you like me love both guitar and harp! So Check It out!!

The Video

Here is the Nick Moss Band performing the title track “The High Cost of Low Living”

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Originally Posted July 2012 Reposted and Updated Nov 2025

The other band that I’ve been listening to over the last few days is Molasses Creek and their new album An Island Out of Time.  The island in question is Ocracoke Island, NC. which according to their website is:

Only accessible by ferry, Ocracoke is an enchanting step out of modern times into a world of captivating natural beauty, rich maritime history, ghostly shipwrecks, heroic lifesavers, crafty pirates, and a community of 900 independently minded residents.

 An Island Out of Time is  the twelfth albums they’ve recorded over the past 19 years. In April of 2012, An Island Out of Time  reached the #4 spot on the National Folk Radio DJ Charts! (It is now at number 61, which is where  I spotted it)

About Molasses Creek

Molasses Creek’s is a collaboration of some great musicians including:  Gary Mitchell (guitar/vocals), Fiddler Dave Tweedie (fiddle/vocals), Lou Castro (dobro/bass/vocals), Marcy Brenner (mandolin/banjolin/bass/vocals), and Gerald Hampton (mandolin/upright bass). Their musicianship is for me the highlight of the album and their vocals and harmonies are not far behind!  

What others say about the band:

 The band’s combination of harmony, humor, and love for the island they call home gives their work a distinct sound and vision.
~ Sing Out Magazine

Molasses Creek seamlessly blends traditional sounds with a contemporary vibe. They are extraordinary musicians with an uncanny blend.
~ Sandy Oxx, Executive Director of the Carroll Country Arts Council

My Thoughts

So if you haven’t heard them check them out, as for me as always I have their back catalog to check out!!

Well, you know I love the fiddle player in most bands and Dave Tweedie joins my ever growing list of favorites, so here is a video that features Dave and some great fiddling! (oh, and I always enjoy the instrumentals on most albums)

Post Update

Usually this point in a post there is a video or playlist. But tonight I want to add some extra thoughts. Since I’ve written this post I have listen to less and less folk and bluegrass music. Actually, when I first started this post I didn’t really remember Molasses Creek. But once I saw the album cover memories of the band came floating back. Finally, when I listened to the album I said “Yes” I remember the band now! Great vocals and songs and even better instrumentals. You yes I still thinks Dave’s fiddle playing is outstanding!

So here instead of a short playlist of the tracks on An Island Out of Time here’s the whole album!

An Island Out of Time

My Last Words

Molasses Creek’s music is like a fine wine — it can be savored long after it was first poured. And as for me, I fully intend to keep enjoying every drop.

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Folk Monday kicked off with Endless Wire spinning on the turntable — Gordon Lightfoot sounding as warm and familiar as ever. Something about Lightfoot always puts me in a good place, and today it set off a whole chain reaction.

While the album played, I started revising older posts, and the first one that surfaced was my write-up on Dave Gunning’s Lift. I’d forgotten how much I liked that record — and how many East Coast voices Gunning pulls into his work. Here’s the updated post if you want to take a look:

👉 Link to the Dave Gunning / Lift post

All that got me thinking…

The Canadian Connection

Lightfoot led to Gunning, and suddenly I realized how many Canadian voices have shaped my listening over the years. They’re not all alike, but they share that same mix of storytelling, heart, and wide-open Northern landscapes:

• Gordon Lightfoot – the foundation
• Dave Gunning – modern East Coast voice with Stan Rogers’ storytelling DNA
• Ian Tyson – I may need to pull out Cowboyography next
• James Keelaghan – one of the finest storytellers working today
• Stan Rogers – I knew I had one of his albums somewhere… turned out to be two

And just like that, I was all the way down the Canadian folk rabbit hole — the good kind — which led naturally to putting Stan Rogers on the turntable next.

By this point, I was fully down the Canadian folk rabbit hole — the good kind.

Stan Rogers First on the Turntable

Once I dug a little deeper into my shelves, I found the two Stan Rogers albums I’ve picked up over the last couple of years. First on the turntable: Fogarty’s Cove.

Fogarty’s Cove was Stan’s debut, released in 1977 on Barnswallow Records — a label he later purchased and turned into Fogarty’s Cove Records. My copy is the 1979 pressing on that very label, which feels just right for the music.

While the needle dropped, I realized I never really knew how young Stan was when he died — only that I’d heard Gene Shay mention it years ago. A quick stop at Wikipedia filled in the gaps:

About Stan Rogers

Before his death in 1983, Stan — with his brother Garnett often co-producing — released five albums. He stayed a staple of the folk community long after, with live releases, tribute concerts, and, of course, the annual Stan Rogers Folk Festival up in Canso, Nova Scotia.

• Fogarty’s Cove (1977)
• Turnaround (1978)
• Between the Breaks … Live! (1979)
• Northwest Passage (1981)
• For the Family (1983)

Listening again, it’s easy to be reminded why Stan’s music has stuck around. His baritone, that hint of Celtic phrasing, the DADGAD-tuned guitars — and the songs themselves. “Northwest Passage,” “The Mary Ellen Carter,” “White Squall,” “Make and Break Harbour”… they all still land.

Barrett’s Privateers – from Fogerty’s Cove – Stan Rogers

But the one that always leaps out, no matter how many times I hear it, is “Barrett’s Privateers.” Before I wander any farther down this Canadian trail, here it is — the perfect way to wrap up this Rogers detour.as Remembering Stan Rogers, which peaked at number 36 on the RPM Country Albums chart.

If the day stays at this pace, who knows where I’ll end up — maybe ending the night with Tyson’s “Four Strong Winds” or Keelaghan’s For now, I’m calling this the first stop on what’s turning into a full-on Canadian Folk Monday. I’ll circle back soon with Tyson, Keelaghan, and maybe a few vinyl surprises I dig out of the stacks.

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Omar’s Blues – David Olney

Amazon     Website

David Olney was one of the myriad of artists who left us in 2020. He died in January of 2020 prior to the start of the pandemic. He was giving his third performance of the day at a folk festival in Florida when he became still dropped his head. It took several minutes before anyone realized he had passed.

David was a world class storyteller and songwriter. Note I say storyteller first because that to me was where he stood head and shoulders above most songwriters.

The late Townes Van Zandt famously said of Olney: “Any time anyone asks me who my favorite music writers are… I say Mozart, Lightnin Hopkins, Bob Dylan and Dave Olney. Dave Olney is one of the best songwriters I’ve ever heard — and that’s true. I mean that from my heart.”

About Omar’s Blues

Charlie Hunter writes the following about Omar’s Blues on the David Olney page at mysongwiters.com

Olney is unafraid to salt his narratives with historical figures, with lines overheard and lives assumed. In OMAR’S BLUES, Olney introduces us to a fantastical orbit of outcasts, misfits and shadowy characters whose lives may not be all they dreamed of, but who take a seedy comfort in what they do have. Some of the characters are literally historical, some biblical, some archtypal–the existential wanderer of “Lazlo” who comes to life only during the course of the song or in dreams, Inspector LeGarde and criminal Jean Paul Levesque whose grudging acquaintanceship and mutual suspicion form an uneasy pas de deux. “Those two are sort of like characters from ‘Casablanca’ who just wandered into my mind one day,” laughs Olney. “They wouldn’t leave until I wrote a song about them.”

Inspector LeGarde and Jean Paul Levesque appear in my favorite song “The Paris Incident” on Omar’s Blues.

Final Thoughts

Most of the David Olney albums that are in my music library were released between 1995 and 2005.   was released on the Dead Reckoning label in 2000.

After listening to David Olney last week Ana again today I also listened to his 2018 release This Side or the Other and loved it! I definitely want to listen to the album again and hopefully after which I’ll tell you about it!

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Ally Venable Band Starts This Week’s Blues Music Rotation

Yesterday, I had a chance to take a good look at the Roots Music Report Blues Charts. After reviewing the charts I listened to a few minutes of many albums to see if they match my taste. I ended up with thirteen albums to listen to over the rest of the week. The album that intrigued me the most yesterday was Puppet Show from the Abby Venable Band. Currently, the album is number 23 on the Contemporary Blues Album Chart.

Evidently I have been doing a lousy job of keeping up with hot new blues artists from Texas.  Because Abby  is one of th hottest.t young blues artists (she’s 19 years old) in the Lone Star State.‘Ms Venable was named East Texas Female Guitarist of the Year in both 2014 and 2015. And her band was named East Texas Music Awards Blues Band of the Year in 2015,2016 and 2017.

About the Ally Venable Band

Ally Venable is both the leader, and lead vocalist and of course lead guitarist. Ally started  singing in church at your  age. In recent years though she picked up the guitar and found her passion.

Ally’s band mates Bobby Wallace and Elijah Owens provide a solid rhythm section. Wallace is the bassist and Owens the drummer. Wallace has tons of experience and is a master at his craft. While Owens is a classically trained musician.

Puppet Show is the band’s  third album. Train Wreck Blues was the band’s debut album and No Glass Shoes was their sophomore release. There are some helping hands on Puppet Show. Guitarist Gary Hoey provides his great guitar work on track one “Devil’s Son”. While Ally’s mentor Lance Lopez adds his guitar to “Bridges to Burn” track two. Steve Krase plays harmonica on the album and Eric Steckel adds some keyboards.

Final Thoughts

Bottom Line : Based on a limited number of listens Puppet Show is a winner and will stay in my rotation for a while, so check it out!

Links for the Further Exploration of the Music of Ally Venable Band

Artist’s Website
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Amazon

Here’s Ally Venable Band performing “Gas Monkey” at the Dallas International Guitar Festival in 2017….

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Today I listened to Lift the new album from Canadian singer-songwriter Dave Gunning. I first listened to Gunning’s music a few years ago, I listened to his 2012 album No More Pennies. Dave’s music fits in that niche of folksinger’s who write great story songs. Guys like fellow Canadians James Keelaghan and Gordon Lightfoot….from the Toronto Star…

Gunning is the next big thing in the True North of Song, an artist as compelling, as assured and attentive to every nuance of the writing process, as Lightfoot, Cockburn and Stan Rogers before him.”

Dave Gunning’s Career

The recording career of rootsy East Coast singer/songwriter Dave Gunning now spans 21years and 10 earlier albums.

Dave Gunning’s Award‘s

two Canadian Folk Music Awards and eight East Coast Music Awards,

2012 Juno Award nomination for his acclaimed album … a tribute to John Allan Cameron.

He was the winner of the Indie International Song Contest (for his song, “Hard Workin’ Hands,” co-written with Ron Hynes) and has been a finalist in other major international songwriting contests.

About Lift

Lift is Gunning’s 11 th album and was leased on his own imprint Wee House of Music . All 13 tunes are Gunning originals ,though 9 of the songs were co-written by a variety of talented friends/peers. The co-writers list includes fellow East Coasters Matt Andersen, Catherine MacLellan, and Thom Swift, plus American Sally Spring.

Gunning also recruited a list of musicians to help on the album. The list include:

• Jamie Robinson –  mandolin on track 10, hammertone^] on track 5, acoustic guitar on track 9, electric guitar on track 6
• Asa Brosius –  pedal steel
• Darren McMullen –  mandolin, mandola and bouzouki
• JP Cormier –  fiddle, banjo on track 2, 3, 7
• Thom Swift –  resonator guitar on track 3
• Sara DeLong Gunning –  harmony vocals on track 10
• Sing It Louder Choir – John Parker, Julie Gunning, and Sara DeLong Gunning

I particularly liked the pedal steel from Asa Brosius!

Dave writes this about Lift .……

Gunning acknowledges that “this album has more personal and introspective songs than my past recordings. I do still love songs that are about things and tell a real story, like the songs of Stan Rogers. They inspire me.”

A fine example of that here is “I Robbed The Co. Store,” which tells the true story of a group of British settlers in Nova Scotia in the 1770s forced to steal from a storehouse reserved for troops just so they could feed their families. A more contemporary song with a Pictou County setting is “They Don’t Do That No More.” “That one is inspired by the fight we have here against a pulp mill that is just an environmental disaster,” explains Gunning. The mournful sound of the pedal steel punctuates his lament that “there’s poison on the harbour floor.” It’s a song one of Dave’s key inspirations, the late folk great Pete Seeger, would have been proud to call his own. Read More

So Check Out Dave’s Music!

Here’s Dave performing “Sing It Louder” from Lift – Dave says this about the song….

The Video

 “Sing It Louder,” is actually a tribute to Seeger. “My goal was to write a song you could imagine him singing,” says Gunning. “As folk singers we should all aspire to carry the torch of Pete Seeger and his message of social justice.”

I do believe, Pete would be proud!

Links

Artist’s Website
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube
Amazon

About Dave Gunning

Dave Gunning is a Canadian folk singer-songwriter born in Pictou County, Nova Scotia. Gunning credits the first live concert he ever observed, a 1981 double bill of John Allan Cameron and Stan Rogers, to be a major driving force in shaping the direction his life would take as a musician. That show changed my life. Wikipedia

Born: Pictou County, Canada

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Lurrie Bell: Carrying On the Chicago Blues Tradition of His Father, Carey Bell

I’ve mentioned before that I often use the birthday listings over at AllAboutJazz.com as a springboard to discover new music. That’s how I first really dove into the music of Lurrie Bell, a Chicago bluesman with deep roots and a guitar tone full of grit and soul.

Blues in My Soul – A Breakthrough Album

Back in 2013, Lurrie Bell had a banner year. He released what would become one of his most acclaimed solo albums, Blues in My Soul, on the Delmark label—a return to electric blues after a few more acoustic and spiritual outings. The blues world noticed.

Blues in My Soul earned Lurrie five nominations at the 2014 Blues Music Awards:

• Blues Album of the Year (Blues in My Soul)
• Blues Song of the Year (“Blues in My Soul”)
• Traditional Blues Album of the Year (Blues in My Soul)
• Blues Guitarist of the Year
• Traditional Male Blues Artist of the Year

He took home the Blues Song of the Year award, and also won the 2013 Living Blues Award for Male Blues Act of the Year.

Lurrie Bell – Born December 13, 1958

Lurrie Bell was born in Chicago, the son of legendary blues harpist Carey Bell. He picked up the guitar at six, and by his teens was already playing with the likes of Eddy Clearwater, Big Walter Horton, and Eddie Taylor. In the mid-1970s, he spent four years touring and recording with Koko Taylor’s Blues Machine. His recording debut came in 1977 on his father’s album Heartaches and Pain, as well as King of the Jungle by Eddie C. Campbell.

Over a career now spanning more than four decades, Bell has released more than a dozen solo albums, collaborated often with his father, and contributed to numerous other blues records. I first heard his scorching guitar work on Live at Chan’s: Combo Platter No. 2 from Nick Moss & The Flip Tops, where he shines on a 13-minute version of Eddie Boyd’s “Five Long Years.”

If you’re a fan of Chicago blues and haven’t checked out Lurrie Bell yet—start now. Here are some great places to explore his music:

Links exploring the blues of Lurrie Bell…

• Official Website
• Wikipedia
• AllMusic
• All About Jazz
• Amazon

And here’s a great live performance of “Everyday I Have the Blues” from Bluesfest Eutin 2014:

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🎶 Update: Set Me Free (2024)

As for me? Lurrie Bell is still going strong. His 2024 collaboration with saxophonist Frank Catalano, Set Me Free, is now spinning as I write—and it’s a bold, soulful mix of blues and jazz that pushes the boundaries without losing the heart.

Between Lurrie’s expressive guitar and vocals, and Catalano’s blazing sax work, the album is a testament to two seasoned musicians still hungry for musical exploration. Set Me Free proves the blues isn’t stuck in the past—it’s still moving, still evolving, still alive.

Check it out—you just might find yourself set free too.

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