Blues Matters! Publication

THE SUNDAY TIMES GET THE BLUES...AND 'GETS' BLUES MATTERS!

Blues fans may want to check out the recent feature on the genre, which ran in the Sunday Times. "Blues now is in some unexpected places. Like Bridgend, South Wales, home to the genre’s equivalent of Kerrang!, Blues Matters."
The genre's equivalent to Kerrang!

MUSIC LOVER?

You’ve happened upon our MySpace site but, before you start scrolling down, we need to make a few things clear – we don’t want to mislead you or waste your time, do we?
Okay, if you love honest, real music and you want to read about the bands/musicians from the opinion of fellow music lovers, then read on…
If you’re looking for celebrity elevation or the entertaining, off-the-point ramblings of a well-paid journalist who has been commissioned to write an entertaining piece on an act they have little personal interest in, then you’re already well-catered for. We honestly don’t care what groceries anybody buys, even if they can play the guitar!

BLUES LOVER?

So, you’re still here, which tells us you love music and the Blues (hey, it’s in our name!), but there’s something else we must make clear…
We aren’t interested in confining the Blues, we aren’t just paying our respects to a dead or archaic genre and we definitely aren’t about defining how the music must be played, by whom, from which background or where…
The clue is in the name, Blues Matters! We are a magazine looking to show how the Blues has mattered in forming the basis of great music and how it continues to do so today, and the various tangents/off-shoots that entails. So, we are a music magazine, the root of all our coverage being the Blues, the most vital form of music, yet the most overlooked and unappreciated by the media today!

WE’RE INDEPENDENT!

At Blues Matters! we are proud of our independence – it ensures our editorial integrity.
We aren’t dictated to by the requirements of our publishers or the need to satisfying the hefty investment of advertisers. We’ve not even set ourselves up as a charity to draw decent salaries and attain a comfortable lifestyle. In fact, we must be pretty naïve, after all, why keep struggling?
Well, Blues Matterts! started because of a passion for this music, and a frustration with what was being offered elsewhere. We recognise that to ensure our publication is representative, we need to rely solely on the people who feel the same as us to keep us going – if you want us around, we will be, if you don’t, we’ll sink into crippling debt and disappear…

LOVE WHAT WE’RE DOING?
WANT US TO STICK AROUND?
SO, YOU’RE A SUBSCRIBER?

The only way we can keep going is through the support of fellow Blues/music lovers… We can’t keep helping the acts being ignored by the rest of the media, and to keep showcasing the Blues in the positive manner we do, otherwise….
A subscription to Blues Matters! is just £25, yet every subscription is vital lifeblood for us. If you feel we are doing something worthy of supporting, please do subscribe, whether you are simply a music fan who agrees with our ethos, or part of the industry in someway, equally frustrated with how the Blues is not fully appreciated.
Together we can build a community, and together we can look to keep great music prominent in the celebrity-skewed culture of today. Simply telling us we are doing a great job or that you are pleased we are around, is not enough, unfortunately – it doesn’t help us and ultimately it’s not going to help you.

ALBUM OF THE WEEK!

Each week (well, when we have time to update) we’ll profile an album that’s really impressed us at BM! HQ. This week we’re going to be enjoying more of Dani Wilde’s debut, “Heal My Blues”.
“I intend to keep the album recording as live and raw as possible because for me that’s what the Blues is all about. It’s gonna be a great mix of up-tempo and slow songs, Chicago Blues and more contemporary songs. I always wanted to make an album where every track could be a single - where there are no so called 'album fillers'. It's a piece of art which I hope will capture, hold, and take my audience on a journey from the first track to the last.”
(Dani Wilde, talking to Blues Matters! ahead of the album’s recording)
PREVIOUS SPOTLIGHT ACTS:
Ian Siegal: Swagger
The White Stripes: Icky Thump
Gwyn Ashton: Prohibition
Ana Popovic: Still Making History
Dave Arcari: Come With Me
Matt Schofield: Ear To The Ground
Johnny Mastro: Take Me To Your Maker
Michael J Sheehy: Ghost On The Motorway
Joan Armatrading: Into The Blues
Tom Mansi & The Icebreakers: Holly
Jim Byrnes: House Of Refugee
Cold War Kids: Robbers & Cowards
Otis Taylor: Definition Of A Circle
Seasick Steve: Dog House Music

THE INTERNATIONAL AWARD-WINNING* BLUES MAGAZINE!

*Blues Matters! is proud to announce that The Blues Foundation in Memphis has awarded us the Keeping the Blues Alive (KBA) Award for 2007, in the Print Media Category.
This is only the second time a British publication has won the prestigious award. Previous recipients have included major-titles such as Rolling Stone, so a huge achievement given we are a fans-contributed independent!
“The genre's equivelant to Kerrang!”
The Sunday Times
“Simply an awesome magazine”
Sound Nation Music Magazine
“Should be on every Blues lovers’ shelf as required reading”
Larry Cohn (Former A&R, Epic)
“More information than the Great Library of Alexandra and enough photos to open an exhibition”
Record Collector
“By far the best Blues publication in the UK”
Martin Vowles (The Wildcards)
(we have so many more comments of this ilk, but you'd be scrolling for an hour, and I'm sympathetic to your fingers ;))
Ok, my name isn’t actually Blues Matters! Publication , it's Darren; I just edit, design and write for the best fans-magazine around, who are achieving for an often ousted genre, by taking the seemingly bold step of showcasing the music as alive and not archaic and dying!
If you love quality, honest music, and have had enough of the over-diluted/manufactured music scene that finds prominence across mainstream media today, then isn't it time you started to...
WANT TO CONTACT US? I get so many mails at my work e-mail, I rarely get chance to reply to mails sent to me here (at best, just a quick read over and to push comments through). If you want to get in touch please email me on: [email protected] . If you do mail me here you may get a reply in, say, er...6 months! ;) I will, however, ensure your comments go through on a regular basis!
Before I go any further, and explain a little more about the latest issue of Blues Matters! and its history, please remember our website is a great resource for Blues fans. You can read and post latest Blues-related News, as well as chat to like minded individuals and find a host of relevant information. www.bluesmatters.com

ISSUE 43 MAY/JUNE'08!

Ok, this (above) is the latest issue (you can find out who contributed, and who featured, by running down the left hand column...well, er, if I've updated it on time!) I would think its the best one yet...and it is!
Below is a brief intro (a full issue breakdown will be found in the blog and on our store-site www.bluesmatters.com/catalog ).
EDITOR’S WORDS
“May is arguably the biggest month in the international Blues calendar, with The Blues Foundation announcing their winners at the illustrious Blues Music Awards ceremony - this year being the 29th anniversary for the annual event, and the first to be staged in Mississippi...”
ERIC BIBB
GROWING PLEASURES
“Every time I hear the new record, my soul shouts for joy! That's how pleased I am with the way it sounds and what it has to say. With ‘Diamond Days’, I felt that I had succeeded in consolidating my various influences into a personal style. I feel that the new record, ‘Get Onboard’, is an even stronger expression of that personal style.”
JAMES HAMMOND
DROPPING THE NAMES
“John Lee Hooker and I met in 1963 at the Newport Folk Festival. It was my first big gig ever. I'd imagined John being seven feet tall. Much to my surprise, there was a real-life human being, about five foot five or whatever. A real nice guy, and when he opened his mouth to sing, it was like…forever.”
ALEX TINTINALLI
TALENTED GUITARIST ENJOYS EARLY REWARD
“I play guitar when I wake up in the morning, and when I come home from school pretty well everyday, and any other time I can. I have never had a problem getting my school work done and playing my guitar. I usually attend a local jam one or two nights during the week. So far so good with my school marks."
FRUTELAND JACKSON
IT’S THOSE THAT CAN DO THAT TEACH
“The purpose of the Blues In The Schools programmes is to create a deeper appreciation, and a greater awareness of Blues music. The young kids, they don't really care when W.C. Handy was born; they just want to hear some boogie-woogie, so I tell stories.”
JAMES BLOOD ULMER
A FRESH CHALLENGE
“I think the Blues needs to be stripped down and the people who have participated in the Blues, who have taken it away from its original state, they need to be extracted. The Blues is something cultural; it's about a people and a personal situation, to me. It needs to always exist, but it doesn't need to exist as it is.”
THE MALCHICKS
GET THE BLUES AGAINST ALL ODDS
“To be a true musician you have to be driven by what you love and what means something to you - not purely by what is commercial. That is why we're playing the Blues and not modern pop.”
ASH GRUNWALD
UNIDENTIFIED BLUESMAN
“Not many of my fans are Blues listeners. At the end of the day, it's about making music. The labels are something we use to try to help us understand it. I tend to talk about Howlin' Wolf and Son House, and other guys, at the gigs and sometimes fans end up checking the stuff out and digging it.”
GINA SICILIA
HAS BEEN LIVING THE HIGH LIFE
“I am a young woman in a business that is male-dominated. This is true. What disturbs me, as it does most Blues fans, is that there are a good share of experienced women and men in the business, but few young Blues musicians looking to enter it.”
DOWNCHILD
A WORTHY CONTRIBUTION
"When I started my band thirty-nine years ago, the only real Blues scene, that I was aware of, was in Chicago, and I guess the money was so bad there that a lot of those bands came to Toronto whenever they had a chance. The money must have been better because we used to see people like Muddy Waters, B.B. King, James Cotton, Albert King, Luther Allison, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells."
CD REVIEWS
Listening for your Blues lovin’ ears
The most COMPREHENSIVE Blues review section you’re likely to find anywhere! In for review this issue: CHRIS REA, TOM MANSI & THE ICEBREAKERS, ERIC SARDINAS AND BIG MOTOR, HONEYBOY EDWARDS, THE KILLS, NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS, SMOKIN' JOE KUBEK & BNOIS KING, CATFISH KEITH, C.R. AVERY, FREE, THE BLACK KEYS, RON HACKER, TAB BENOIT, JACK BRUCE, ROBIN TROWER, B.B. KING, NICKY MOORE AND THE BLUES CORPORATION, MIKE BLOOMFIELD, JOHN-ALEX MASON, SON OF DAVE, DANI WILDE, SEAN COSTELLO, DANNY BRYANT’S REDEYEBAND, TAJ MAHAL, LITTLE MILTON, THE YARDBIRDS, THE DIRTBOMBS, JEFF HEALEY, BLACK LIPS, ROBERT CRAY, NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS, THE BLACK CROWES, THE MUSTANGS and many, many more…
HAPPENIN’
Latest news from our Blues world
So what has been going on in the Blues world (both here in the UK and further away) in the last two months – well get a reminder (or find out) here…featured in the news this issue are CANDYE KANE, BLACK DIAMOND HEAVIES, JOOLS HOLLAND, PINETOP PERKINS, BEYONCE KNOWLES, ELVIN BISHOP, LITTLE WALTER, WALTER TROUT, DAVE ARCARI, THE HOAX, IAN SIEGAL, MICK HUCKNALL, SOLOMON BURKE, KIM SIMMONDS, BOB HALL, THE PACK A.D., NAUGHTY JACK, ANDY FAIRWEATHER LOW, CHICKEN SHACK and many more…
... MORE HERE!

ABOUT THE MAGAZINE THAT MATTERS!

DELIVERING TO MUSIC FANS THAT MATTER!
Blues Matters! was founded 1999 as a fanzine to give enthusiasts a voice. Intended to support and promote the Blues in all forms, and so provide a service to music fans everywhere, of "Blues Without The Blinkers". Blues Matters! represents every aspect of the Blues with all the seriousness, humour, depth, belief, and enthusiasm it deserves. By doing so, we bring together the music, artists, publications, creators, industry, and fans, who enjoy, and therefore help sustain, the Blues for further generations.
Each issue offers a refreshing blend of information, fact, honesty, and humour. Blues Matters! brings a wide-range of topics to our readers with exciting and diverse content. Our readers are delighted with pages brimming with interviews, previews and reviews of a whole range of Blues and related music; recording artists, albums, singles, EPs, demos, DVDs; festivals, live gigs and events; associated products; books; and other music information.
We are a totally independent music magazine! (no money bags, unfortunately!...plenty of bags, though, spending as much time as we do on these PCs!).
ACHIEVING FOR THE MUSIC SCENE THAT MATTERS!
Blues Matters! has become the UK's leading Blues magazine. This success is attributed to our many loyal readers that have supported the magazine through rapid growth, and our dedicated team of professionals, staff, writers, contributors, and supporters - all committed to promoting the Blues in the UK and beyond.
Readers appreciate the fact that Blues Matters! is entirely contributed to by independent music fans and not paid/professional journalists influenced by anything more than a genuine desire to find great Blues music (whether traditional or contemporary). We make no apologies for retaining a fanzine value (including many spellos and mistakes, ha ha! well, spotting them adds extra value surely? ;)) whilst producing a magazine worthy of any high street store (and we pride ourselves on the fact we are focused on, and about, the music and NOT celebrity!...yes, really, there are still a few of us out there!)
Our un-blinkered view and representation of the genre ensures we give a fair representation of Blues music past, present and future. The exciting and honest way we showcase the genre has made us an influential and authoritative music publication.
We are currently distributed throughtout the UK in independant Record Stores, Borders, Virgin and HMV

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE MUSIC MAG THAT MATTERS?!

JOIN THE MISSION!
If you want to support Blues Matters! continued efforts in promoting the Blues, in all it's forms, then simply subscribe today! Without the support of Blues fans, musicians, promoters, labels etc. we can't continue producing this "awesome magazine" (Sound Nation) and can't keep helping to give everyone associated this "much needed" positive showcase!
Don't forget, if you subscribe , we aren't just going to give you this awesome magazine every 2 months but well give you a host of member benefits, including: delivery direct to your door, reduced prices on all our BM!-related products (including record label releases), entry to exclusive competitions, discount on the cover price (currently over 12%) and much more.
A years subscription (currently 6 issues) to Blues Matters! costs from just £25 (UK). Please visit: www.bluesmatters.com/catalog to subscribe. Alternatively you can email: [email protected] or telephone: +44 (0) 1656 743406.
Rates/information for subscribing outside the UK is also available on our website .
Remember, everyone who subscribes to the magazine gets entered into a prize draw for the chance to win a host of prizes. See the latest issue breakdown for details of the current Sub To Win prizes.
SPREAD THE WORD!
We are currently working on pushing our magazine into more and more record stores throughout the UK (so, if you don't want to subscribe you can buy instore). If your local store doesn't stock our magazine make sure their customers aren't missing out for much longer!
If you would like to buy our magazine in your local store, but you can’t find it, please visit here . Just print out the page and hand it into them. Alternatively, if you would like to stock our magazine in your store please click here for more details.
HELP YOURSELF!
Obviously, if you're in a band, or represent an artist, and you've got a new release there's no better way to help yourself, and us at the same time, than to advertise with us (our rates are set super low to cover costs and no yachts!) because, with the help of the website, we offer the opportunity to showcase your products/services to a large customer base - like no other Blues magazine can! Our prices are low, our readership is high and our readers are loyal! For more details on advertising with the UK's leading Blues magazine, please check out our detailed media and sponsorship packs available here .
Alternatively you can email: [email protected] or tel: +44 (0) 1656 745628 for more information and to discuss options/availability.
CONTRIBUTING!
Of course, if you are interested in contributing to our magazine, either through written material or taking some lovely pictures to show off to our readers, you are welcome to get in touch! We can't pay you big bucks (well anything!) but as long as you're a genuine Blues fan, and can express that clearly, we can give you that opportunity (and maybe you'll get some nice perks - free CDs, gig/fest passes etc). You don't have to be a superb writer or well trained hack to contribute to our little mag! (although, if you are, you're equally welcome!).
Just drop us a mail: [email protected] .

HOW TO "GET IN" THE MUSIC MAG THAT MATTERS!

KEEP US POSTED!
If you play Blues/Blues-influenced music, or represent someone who does, then you want to feature in our magazine and on our website! Please add [email protected] to any mailing lists and keep feeding news and gig information to this address for us to use in the magazine and/or the website.
Remember to send your CDs in for review (F.A.O. Alan Pearce): Blues Matters! Reviews, PO Box 18, Bridgend, CF33 6YW, UK. Please send two copies where possible!
If you think you deserve something more (an interview/feature) then get in touch with me on [email protected] . Mind, if we like what you've sent in for review, we'll be in touch soon enough, don't worry!

SPECIAL FEATURES IN THE BLUES MAG THAT MATTERS!

HELPING UNSIGNED/NEW BANDS!
We understand it's difficult for new/unsigned artists to gain exposure (no matter how good they are), and it seems even harder if this artist has chosen to play the Blues or Blues-based music...so, with this in mind, we have decided to give an opportunity to new artists to increase their profile in the UK's leading Blues magazine, Blues Matters!
Click here to find out more!
GETTIN’ THE BLUES
Blues Matters! has recently introduced a new section/series into the magazine, which allows Blues & non-Blues recording artists to express their appreciation of the Blues genre and the music it has produced…
If you, or an artist you work with (have to be a signed act/artist!), have a genuine love/appreciation of Blues-music you can submit, by e-mail, a top 10 favourite Blues tracks (with a few lines for each chosen track to explain why you/they love that song). So far we’ve had an alternative/mix of artist submitting including influential dance-act Underworld, much touted indie/pop band Mohair and critically lauded contemporary Blues/rockers, the Soledad Brothers.
If you think this feature would be of interest to you/any artists you work with/represent please let us know by emailing: [email protected] for more information.
EASE THOSE BLUES
Blues Matters! wants to know which Blues album you most-regularly pick-up in a bid to ease your Blues!
It might be a compilation – after all many of the genre’s originators never had the opportunity to cut an LP. Maybe you have an affinity with a record produced by one of the British bands who showed their appreciation of American Blues artists during the ‘60s? The ‘70s saw us Brits adding extra weight to the genre, whilst American jam-bands began to fuse the Blues with jazz & rock – is there a particular release from this influential decade? The ‘80s, through the ‘90s, saw the Strat, and showmanship, taking more of the spotlight – it also saw many of Blues’ most significant releases. The millennium was ushered in by a number of commercially-successful albums from artists, again, wishing to show their gratitude of the genre’s founding fathers, both here and in the States – have any gained prominence on your CD player?
This new feature/series is open to anybody/everybody to submit. For more details head over to the website’s forum .

DON’T FORGET BLUES MATTERS ON RECORD!

As well as showcasing the Blues in the only mag that Matters!, Blues Matters! also releases great Blues music through it’s record label division.
ABOUT THE LABEL
For more information on Blues Matters! records and it’s artists/releases, please head over to the website .
The label also now has a myspace account. Please head over and make friends with them!
If you’d like to listen to music from the Blues label that Matters! you can on our Radio Player .
PURCHASE ONLINE
Blues Matters! artists are available to download online through the likes of tunetribe and iTunes (we've already reached number 2 on the UK Blues album chart and number 14 on the US singles Blues chart, amongst other notable entries)