The Robert Cray Band

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“I’ve known Richard for 40 years,” Cray says. “We go back to 1969, and we grew up in the same area together. We’ve always had a really good rapport together stage-wise. Richard and I have remained the best of friends ever since he departed way back in ’91.  I’d still see Richard, whether it was in the States or in Europe – where he still lives. He’d always come to see us at the gigs. We always remained close. We talked on the telephone all the time.

“It just so happened that last year, I wanted to make personnel changes in the band. So I asked Richard to come back.”

Cousins’ return to the Cray fold bonds him once again with keyboardist Jim Pugh, a cornerstone of the guitarist’s group since 1989.

In the hunt for a new drummer, Cray – with encouragement from Cousins -- struck on a musician whose style and experience perfectly complemented his own: the road-tested Tony Braunagel, whose résumé includes work with Bonnie Raitt (including her Grammy-winning Nick of Time and Luck of the Draw), Taj Mahal, Keb’ Mo’, and B.B. King.

Cray recalls, “I’d seen Tony work in a lot of different situations before. My first real opportunity to play with him was three years ago, when we did a benefit up in Portland, Oregon, for our friend Curtis Salgado. Tony was playing drums there, and Richard was there, too – they were the rhythm section. Richard was working really well with Tony, and they were kind of fronting the whole jam. It was great. I was talking to Richard after he’d rejoined the group, and I said, ‘We need to find a drummer.’ He just went, ‘Tony!’”

The refreshed lineup of Cray, Cousins, Pugh, and Braunagel came together at Santa Barbara Sound Design in Santa Barbara, California, to record what became This Time. Cray produced (though he notes, “Every time I produce, it’s like a communal effort”), with Don Smith engineering.

Cray says of the sessions, “I really looked forward to it -- to how Richard and I were going to gel together after having not played together for a long time, and to bringing Richard back to work with Jim, because we did all get a chance to work together for two years, before Richard left -- and then having Tony come in.

“Richard and Jim and myself have all known each other for a while, but when we added Tony to the mix, it was like, ‘Hey, where you been?’ We all get along really, really well. It was fun, and everybody brought something to the table. Tony’s interpretation of what we were doing was just spot-on, and of course, with his background, all the music that he’d listened to and played coincided with the music we’ve listened to and played over the years. It was like the perfect hand in the glove.”

All of the band members contributed fresh material to This Time. Cray brought in the title track, “Chicken in the Kitchen,” “I Can’t Fail,” and “Trouble and Pain,” and co­wrote “Forever Goodbye” with his wife Sue Turner-Cray. Pugh authored “Love 2009” and “To Be True.” Cousins and the Swiss soul/blues musician Hendrix Ackle collaborated on “Truce.” And Braunagel and guitarist Johnnie Lee Schell co-authored “That’s What Keeps Me Rockin’.”

As ever with Robert Cray’s undefinable sound, the music on This Time remains stubbornly beyond category. He has been internationally admired as a stylist whose innovations have brought new life to the blues, and such punchy outings as “Chicken in the Kitchen” and “That’s What Keeps Me Rockin’” should satisfy the most demanding blues fans. But the new album’s barrier-busting material – whether it’s the soulful “Love 2009” or the profound balladry of “This Time” and “Forever Goodbye” – demonstrate once again that attempting to slot Cray in a single genre is an exercise in futility.

“Blues is one of the foundations of our music, but it’s not all that we play,” Cray says. “When I first started playing guitar, I wanted to be George Harrison – that is, until I heard Jimi Hendrix. After that, I wanted to be Albert Collins and Buddy Guy and B.B. King. And then there are singers like O.V. Wright and Bobby Blue Bland. It’s all mixed up in there.”

He continues, “Every time somebody asks me about where my music comes from, I give them five or six different directions – a little rock, soul, jazz, blues, a little gospel feel. Then there are some other things that maybe fall in there every once in a while, like a little Caribbean flavor or something. You just never know. I always attribute it to the music we grew up listening to, and the radio back in the ‘60s. It’s pretty wide open. It’s hard to put a tag on it.”

Cray, who began 2009 with concert appearances in Brazil and Japan, will support This Time with shows around the country with his reconfigured band.

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Charlie describes this give and take between himself and performers from other generations and different genres as, "a conversation." It is an ongoing one that has been a key reason why his music remains so vital. "Every situation has something to offer and can spark new ideas," he explains. "Something new comes out of it." Musselwhite sums up: "It's like... I know what I know. What do you know that can make things even more interesting?"

Charlie also finds inspiration in diverse cultural experience. An avid traveler, Charlie loves to investigate all music "with feeling / music from the heart." He and his band go wherever the gigs are — including China, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Brazil. Even though Charlie has already racked up thousands of miles on tour buses and still spends a great deal of time away from his current Sonoma County, California home, he still books tour itineraries that would wear out performers half his age. Charlie finds that these journeys allow him, "to get beneath the surface of the place."

These treks reinforce Musselwhite's belief in music's universality. No matter that they were half a world away from the American stages that gave birth to the genre, Charlie remembers hearing, "people playing blues in their own way, their own version." Like some Jungian archetype, Musselwhite calls this a global "music of lament from the heart," with, "different takes," from country to country.

Musselwhite's most recent album, 2006's critically praised Delta Hardware (released by Peter Gabriel's Real World imprint), runs a wide emotional gamut from the hip-shaking boogie of, "Church Is Out," to the haunting Katrina lament, "Black Water." Charlie's electric brand of roots music, drawing equally from rock and blues traditions, permeates the disc. But, in addition to the traditional, Delta Hardware finds Musselwhite stretching out and exploring new sounds, including bits of samples and drums loops. When asked if he is writing any new material, Charlie replies, "I'm constantly working on new stuff. It's an ongoing process."

As if touring the globe, releasing acclaimed albums and embarking on major collaborations wasn't enough for Musselwhite's to-do list, he even found time to act in his first feature film, Pig Hunt. A bold, jarring and independent slice of horror dubbed, "cinematic punkabilly," Pig Hunt isn't for the faint of heart. But, for Charlie, whose part was created specifically with him in mind by script writer Robert Mailer Anderson, the shoot was, "Very professional… fun, serious work."

Musselwhite was born in the Mississippi - the cradle of the blues. He spent his formative years in another musical hothouse, Memphis, Tennessee. Fortuitously, he arrived during its burgeoning postwar ascent, a vibrant cross-pollenization of down-home country, swinging jazz and soulful R&B. Charlie remembers, "I just figured every place was like Memphis. In the neighborhood, I could take a walk a couple blocks in any direction and come across some guys playing blues, hillbilly, gospel or rockabilly literally on the front steps, or in the yard. You could hear the music, and follow the sound." Some of the young hotshots just getting their start in the city's nightclubs at the time were Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash. Charlie often found himself at Elvis' parties or watching Johnny and Tommy Cash styling through the Memphis streets. Heck, Johnny and Dorsey Burnette lived right across the street from Charlie. Slim Rhodes lived only a couple blocks away.

Music had sunk its teeth deep into Charlie, but economic necessity made him move to Chicago in the mid 60's. Now on his own as a young adult, Musselwhite looked for a good job and a better life. But, inevitably, the South Side scene, filled with legendary players like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and John Lee Hooker , drew him in. Soon, Charlie was living in the basement of Delmark records with Big Joe Williams and meeting the era's greats. Musselwhite's prodigious talent and laidback attitude soon won him a place at their sides both on stage or sharing a bottle in the alley out back of the bar.

During the course of the remarkable career that followed, Musselwhite has collected a treasure trove of awards and accolades, including 18 W.C. Handy trophies, and six Grammy nominations. Amazon.com named Delta Hardware the best blues album of 2006. Musselwhite has also been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from The Monterey Blues Festival, the Mississippi Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts and a prestigious Brass Note plaque on Memphis' Beale Street (prominently placed outside B.B. King's Club). The latest in this list is the Mississippi Trail Marker on the square of his birthplace, Kosciusko Mississippi.

However, probably more meaningful for a true bluesman like Charlie has been the love and respect from his fellow musicians, which he has received in spades. The artists that Musselwhite has worked with reads like a veritable Hall of Fame honor roll: In addition to Eddie Vedder, Charlie has collaborated with Tom Waits, Ben Harper, Bonnie Raitt, The Blind Boys of Alabama , Gov't Mule, INXS, Mickey Hart, George Thorogood and personal friend and best man at his wedding John Lee Hooker.

Ultimately, though, for Charlie Musselwhite the thrill and challenge of engaging an audience fuels his artistry. "It's about the feeling, and connecting with people," he explains, "And blues, if it's real blues, is loaded with feeling." Charlie continues that, "it ain't about technique either, it's about truth, connecting to the truth and communicating with people."

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"Rock-tinged blues guitars ruled the day . . . Morvan, who opened the show, also stole it. . . in a scorching set of original blues rock that left the early arrivals staggering to the CD sales booth." (2009 Coloma Blues Live! review, Mountain Democrat, Placerville, CA)

Laurie Morvan’s unique, fiery guitar style has been highlighted in feature articles in Guitar Player, Vintage Guitar and Modern Guitars magazines. “Stunning California axe slinger . . . exhilarating electric blues guitar style” (Modern Guitars). “Morvan singes the strings” (Guitar Player). “Fearless and fresh . . . Morvan plays with plenty of imagination” (Vintage Guitar).

Not just a wailin’ guitar slinger, Laurie is a compelling lead vocalist and songwriter who writes from personal stories filled with pain, triumph, hope, and her characteristic humor. Laurie Morvan Band concerts feature the beautiful harmonies of Laurie and backup singer Lisa Grubbs, as well as dueling solos between Laurie and bassist Pat Morvan. Driving this powerful train is drummer Kevin Murillo who lays down an intense blues rock foundation. The latest and very welcome addition to the line up is keyboardist Jordan Clover whose flare and passion are igniting audiences.

The band’s newest CD, Fire It Up!, is also getting great reviews. "A guitar fest of major proportions. . . with Fire It Up! she enters the upper echelon" (Vintage Guitar). "Poised on the edge of a major breakthrough . . . sultry vocals, imaginative songwriting, and smoldering fretwork" (Blues Revue).

Coloma Blues Live! has a very special place in the hearts of the Laurie Morvan Band . . . catch the band at this year’s festival!

Laurie Morvan Band concerts feature the beautiful 3 part harmonies of Laurie and backup singers Lisa Grubbs and Carolyn Kelley, as well as dueling solos between Laurie and 6-string-bassist Pat Morvan. Driving the train is drummer Kevin Murillo who lays down an intense and powerful blues rock foundation.

The Laurie Morvan Band was a Top 10 FINALIST at the 2008 International Blues Challenge. Clearly an audience favorite, Laurie and the band performed in the finals of the annual event, dubbed the “biggest event in blues”, held at the historic Orpheum Theater in Memphis, TN.

Cures What Ails Ya, the Laurie Morvan Band’s third CD, was named a Top 5 FINALIST in the 2008 Blues Foundation worldwide competition for Best Self-Produced CD. It was also selected as a House of Blues Radio Hour Blues Breaker. “It’s slammin’!” exclaimed Elwood Blues (Dan Aykroyd). The CD has also benefitted from incredibly positive reviews in both national and regional press. “Superior pop-blues” (Downbeat). “It’s about time the labels took notice of this blazing singing/songwriting guitarist" (Elmore).

Illinois Blues raves, “The Laurie Morvan Band is the most unique five piece troupe I have seen...I cannot wait for her Midwest return”. The Catalina Islander’s front page story reviewing the 2008 Catalina Island Blues Festival said, “Morvan, who can play rockin’ blues with the best of men and make it look easy… captured the hearts and ears of blues fans...a humble but powerful talent”.

Don’t miss this opportunity to see a world class rising star at Coloma Blues Live during the Laurie Morvan Band 2009 National Tour!