Welcome to BluesRow

I was in Chicago for a conference and had Friday night free. So naturally I was up for blues in the best blues city on the planet. I had to choose between seeing Michael Burks at Buddy Guy’s or Magic Slim at Kingston Mines. Slim won.

The Mines is a club that features great blues, excellent food, and as they say, “loud talking.” And the sign says, “Dancing Aloud”. There are two stages, so you get at least two acts an evening. What’s not to love?

As a lot of clubs do, they feature an acoustic act early in the evening, so we were treated to a nice set from Nigel Mack. Trading off between his old Martin and his older National steel resonator (1929!), Mack delivered a tasty set of standards ranging from Muddy Waters and Junior Wells to some nice original stuff. I especially enjoyed his simple but classy slide work on the reso. Originally from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, he headed for Chicago (the subject of one of his original songs). When asked how someone from Saskatchewan ended up playing the blues, he said, “If you grow up on the prairies and survive the 40 below zero winters, you understand the blues.”

Next on the north stage was Linsey Alexander’s Blues Band. He had added a sax player and a new guitarist since I saw him in February, and I thought the band sounded better this way. Linsey did his usual act, complete with blistering solos and his trademark walk through the crowd, singing to the best-looking females in the audience “up close and personal.” He isn’t called the Hoochie Man for nothing, lacing his in-between song patter with all kinds of colorful language that I can’t report in a family blog like this. He did ask if there was anybody underage in the house before he started his set!

But the highlight of the night was the headliner, Magic Slim. Slim is a large man with huge hands who doesn’t play the guitar so much as attack it. Playing his Fender Showmaster through his Bassman amp, he gets a sound I can only describe as “distorted twang”. Because he uses a thumb pick and another pick on his index finger, his sound has a distinctive snapping tone as he rages up and down the fretboard. His backup band, the Teardrops, was totally in the groove. The end result? Some ferociously hard-rocking blues delivered by one of the real originals in the field. If you ever get a chance, catch his act (it’s a lot better than what I’ve heard on his albums). I’m glad I was there to witness this.

The audience had people from all over: Texas, California, PA (me), Belgium, England, Holland,and France. I met a very nice couple from Paris named Eric and Veronica, so this is a shout out to them. It was a pleasure meeting you guys, and I hope you enjoyed your evening of blues in the blues capital of the world.

Can’t wait to get back!