Born Emmit Ellis, Jr. in Homer, LA, on November 10, 1940, he and his family relocated to Chicago in 1953, where he emerged on the West Side blues circuit of the 1960s, fronting bands which included such notable alumni as Luther Allison and Freddie King. However, as Rush began to develop his own individual sound, he opted to forgo the blues market in favor of targeting the chitlin circuit, which offered a more receptive audience for his increasingly bawdy material; he notched his first hit in 1971 with his Galaxy label single “Chicken Heads,” and later scored with “Bow-Legged Woman” for Jewel. He appeared on a wide variety of labels as the decade progressed, culminating in the 1979 LP Rush Hour, produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff for their Philadelphia International imprint. During the early ’80s, Rush signed with the LaJam label, where he remained for a number of years; there his work became increasingly funky and deranged, with records like 1984′s Gotta Have Money and 1985′s What’s Good for the Goose Is Good for the Gander often featuring material so suggestive he refused to re-create it live. During the mid-’90s, Rush moved to Waldoxy, heralding a return to a soul-blues sound on LPs including 1995′s One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show, 1997′s Lovin’ a Big Fat Woman, and 2000′s Hoochie Man. In April 2001, his tour bus crashed, injuring several bandmembers and killing one, Latisha Brown. Rush was hospitalized for a short time, then returned home to recuperate. Rush returned to action in 2003 with the release of the Live from Ground Zero CD and DVD on his own label, Deep Rush, followed by Folkfunk, also on Deep Rush, in 2004. Rush released two albums in 2005, Hen Pecked and Night Fishin’, and continued his prolific activity with 2008′s Look at What You Gettin’, which offered a mix of ballads, soul, and bluesy double entendres. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Born and raised in San Jose, California, Castro started playing guitar at the tender age of ten. Initially inspired by Mike Bloomfield, Eric Clapton, and Elvin Bishop, he started the inevitable journey into the roots of his heroes and discovered and quickly became enamored of B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Elmore James, Muddy Waters, and Freddie King. His vocal styling came from constant listening to Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, James Brown, and Otis Redding. After playing with numerous Bay Area groups honing his chops, he landed a gig playing guitar for the San Francisco band the Dynatones, who were then signed to Warner Bros. The two-year stint augured well for Castro, playing to the biggest crowds he had seen up to that point and backing artists as diverse as Carla Thomas and Albert King.

Returning to San Francisco, Castro formed his own group and in 1993 released his first self-produced album, No Foolin’, on the dime-sized Saloon label. That same year also saw him winning the Bay Area Music Award for Best Club Band, an honor he duplicated the following year. In 1997, he won Bammies for Outstanding Blues Musician and for Outstanding Blues Album for his debut release on Blind Pig Records, Exception to the Rule. Also in 1997, Castro and his band began a three-year stint working as the house band on NBC’s Comedy Showcase, which aired after Saturday Night Live.

Live at the Fillmore was released in early 2000, and with everyone from industry insiders to B.B. King singing his praises, Castro appeared to be headed for bigger and better things. It was not to be, however, as in 2001 he left Blind Pig Records and recorded Guilty of Love for the small 33rd Street label. Blind Pig closed the books on their association with Castro in 2002 by releasing the career retrospective The Essential Tommy Castro. Gratitude appeared from Heart and Soul in 2003, followed by Triple Trouble (with Jimmy Hall and Lloyd Jones) later that same year from Telarc. In 2005 Castro returned to the Blind Pig label for the release of Soul Shaker, followed by Painkiller in 2007. The relatively smooth and polished Hard Believer appeared from Alligator Records in 2009, followed in 2011 by The Legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue: Live!, a collection of highlights from Castro’s recent live performances, also on Alligator Records. ~ Cub Koda, Rovi

Sharing May 13 as the date of his birth with Stevie Wonder (1950), Mary Wells (1943), Peter Gabriel (1950) and Ritchie Valens (1941), Magic Dick was born in New London, Connecticut in 1945.

As J. Geils told AMG, he, Dick, and Danny Klein jammed with James Cotton, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and other blues legends in the mid-’60s Boston music scene. The J. Geils Band also performed with Buddy Guy and Junior Wells on an Atlantic album in 1972 titled Buddy Guy & Junior Wells Play the Blues — with two tracks that included pianist Joe Liggins’ chestnut “Honeydripper.” It was an event that was both fortuitous and justified, because in the character of Magic Dick, the harp player became as well known in rock circles as the revered Junior Wells already was as a blues master.

Magic Dick is a collector of trumpets whose heroes include Louis Armstrong and swing trumpeter Roy Eldridge. Richard became a friend of Eldridge’s in the jazz clubs of New York City, and fans of the J. Geils group would occasionally see Magic Dick switch from harp to alto sax and trumpet on-stage, the sounds of the latter instrument showing up on albums from their 1970 eponymous debut to the 1984 disc without the vocals of Peter Wolf, You Were Getting Even While We Were Getting Odd.

Though he only wrote a handful of songs with his famous rock group — “Cruisin’ for a Love,” “It Ain’t What You Do,” and the classic “Whammer Jammer,” among them — he is also one of the only members of that band to show up on side projects by other fellows in the group. Magic Dick’s unique sounds can be found on the Seth Justman 1986 production of Debbie Harry’s Rockbird, Peter Wolf’s 2002 Sleepless release, as well as 1994′s Bluestime and the 1996 Little Car Blues — both Rounder Records’ releases by his first, post-original J. Geils Band, created with guitarist and longtime friend J.. His harp also graces the Del Fuegos’ Smoking in the Fields disc from 1989, and 1991′s Heartbeat CD from Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Bluestime manager Jim Donnelly, longtime road manager for the J. Geils Band, made notes of information from the official biography from Rounder Records, also available from Bluestime’s web page (with contributions from Dave Perry of The Lowell Sun newspaper). Salwitz “spent a good deal of the past ten years (post-J. Geils Band) with Pierre Beauregard working on a harmonica invention that would revolutionize the instruments tunings. A U.S. Patent was awarded Magic Dick and Beauregard, and the sounds of two of those harmonicas can be found on the instrumental “Full Court Press” on the 1994 Bluestime album, Dick’s only co-write on that recording. The official bio also notes that Magic Dick was invited by Dutch cartoon artist Peter Pontiac to front a band at a cartoon festival in the Netherlands before starting Bluestime, and it is that third venture with J. Geils that has kept Dick’s creative and vital sounds in the public eye. Bluestime’s second guitarist and mandolin player Jerry Miller has formed Francesca Records and that label plans on releasing more music from various members of the J. Geils Band. Handling vocals on Bluestime makes Magic Dick the third other J. Geils Band musician to take Peter Wolf’s place front and center, with Seth Justman and Stephen Bladd doing the duties and getting the honors on the You’re Getting Even While I’m Getting Odd disc. ~ Joe Viglione, Rovi

Growing up in Rochester, New York, Mooney took to the guitar as a ten-year-old and quickly became obsessed with the instrument, initially learning to play tunes by the Beatles and Rolling Stones. When he was 11, a neighbor who worked at WHAM, a Rochester radio station, gave Mooney some recordings by Scrapper Blackwell and Robert Johnson. These recordings turned his head and life around and he soon discovered other great bluesmen, including Muddy Waters, Freddie King, Albert King, and B.B. King. Collecting, repairing, and playing National Steel resophonic guitars became his obsession. He began his professional performing career at 13, at first playing many shows with Rochester area blues guitarist Joe Beard. By his mid-teens, Mooney had worked out a few Son House tunes on his guitar, using his slide. House had moved to Rochester to “retire,” but one day Beard suggested that he get Mooney over to House’s residence. “Joe said to me, ‘You play so much Son House, you really ought to meet him,’ so he introduced us. I was 16 at the time. Son and I would get together at his house. At his house, you couldn’t play blues; we’d have to go outside or do a gig in a club somewhere. Even if his wife wasn’t there, he still wouldn’t play blues in the house.”

Mooney left Rochester in 1973 and hitch-hiked his way across the country or hopped freight trains to get to California, Arizona, and Texas. He finally settled in New Orleans in 1976 and a year later, by the spring of 1977, he was playing the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, which was then getting off the ground. Blind Pig released Mooney’s debut album, Comin’ Your Way in February, 1979, and he’s been actively recording ever since. His other releases include Late Last Night for Bullseye/Rounder in 1980, Telephone Blues in 1984 for Powerhouse Records, and Telephone King in 1991 for the same label, run by D.C.-area blues-rock guitarist Tom Principato. His other albums include Testimony (1992, Domino), Sideways in Paradise (with Jimmy Thackery, Blind Pig, 1993); Travelin’ On (1995, CrossCut); Dealing with the Devil (1995, Ruf Records) Against the Wall (1996, House of Blues); Gone to Hell (2000, Blind Pig); All I Want (2002, Blind Pig) and Big Ol’ Fiya (2006, Live Music Lives). Mooney continues to tour the U.S., Europe, Japan, and Australia. Anyone who’s seen him can tell you how powerful his trio concerts are. ~ Richard J. Skelly, Rovi

“I believe that I have a message,” says McClellan. “It’s simple: be yourself, love yourself, always be honest, and let the rest come naturally. That’s the way I live my life and make my music.”  And that’s the easygoing Zen she applied to the recording of Fear Nothing at Los Angeles’ House of Blues studios with producer David Z. (Prince, Fine Young Cannibals, Billy Idol, Buddy Guy) and the superb rock and roots session players he assembled: guitarist Josh Sklair, keyboardist Jimmy Pugh, bassist Hutch Hutchinson and drummer Tony Braunagal — all noted producers in their own right. McClellan also brought along her own longtime guitar foil Billy Vazquez, and a stack of mostly upbeat and entirely heartfelt new songs.

“Making Fear Nothing was as smooth as melting butter on a oven-hot slice of bread,” the veteran of the south Florida club scene recounts. “I showed the songs to the guys and then we played them together in the studio and that was it. We played some of them two or three times, but a lot of performances on the album are first takes, so they have that edgy, live feeling just like on stage.”

McClellan’s anthemically rocking “I Can’t Hide Me” is a bold declaration of purpose. Its rollicking roadhouse feel buoys a sweetly snarling vocal performance — dappled with her rich vibrato and skyrocketing notes that fly to the heights of her astonishing register — that celebrates her “what you see is what you get” attitude.   And with McClellan, there’s plenty to see. For the past 15 years, from the day she left her job as a dentist’s assistant for a lunch break and never returned, she’s kept her head shaven and added a series of tattoos that help tell her life story. Her orca and bear body art speak of her part-Native American heritage. McClellan’s colorful peacock-and microphone sleeve was acquired during her time on The Voice, where she was a wildly popular “Final 4” contestant earlier this year.

Fear Nothing is McClellan’s fifth CD and the first she didn’t have to make in fits and starts as she’d save enough money from performing five nights a week in clubs around her Fort Lauderdale base to pay for more studio time.  “It was so much fun to just go in and record all the songs at once, and I think that joy got caught on tape, too,” she relates.              It’s palpable in the romantic ballad “Come To Me,” where McClellan’s flowing piano melody carries verses that brim with promises of devotion until the choruses provide their soaring crescendos. “It Ain’t Me” is equally ardent, albeit in spinning a tale of lies and their consequences over a funky, blues powered arrangement that taps McClellan’s strong background in roots music. The latter runs even deeper in “Nobody’s Fault But Mine,” a tune by early Delta bluesman Blind Willie Johnson that McClellan discovered on an album by one of her inspirations, the late jazz and blues giant Nina Simone.  “Tender of the Most” is another song that captures her ongoing celebration of life, blending her piano with a catchy, percolating drum beat. And “I See Love” is a pure shot of joy, celebrating the power of the sweetest of emotions. “When I played the Atlanta Pride Festival in October, nobody out of those 50,000 people had heard this song before, and they all started singing along,” McClellan says. “It was beautiful.”

Fear Nothing also marks the first time McClellan has written songs with other artists. Most notably there’s “Love Will Find A Way Out,” co-written, produced by and recorded by Keb’ Mo,’ who also plays scalding blues guitar on the track, in his Nashville home studio. “He was the one person in the world I most wanted to write with, and as luck had it he’s a friend of my manager,” McClellan explains. “Keb  made everything so easy because he is such a pro. Some people are just born with it and he definitely was.  I am honored to have worked with him. Keb and his family are a sweet clan, and I felt warm to he welcomed into their home. I went in with no expectations and came out with a song that drives itself with just a little help from Keb and me….”

In that sense, the song returns McClellan to her beginnings in music. She was born in East Tennessee and raised in Virginia’s hilly south.  Today, McClellan plays more than 10 instruments, including guitar, trumpet, French horn and a host of other fretted and percussive devices.  She shares, “It was kind of inevitable that I’d be a musician.  I started writing my own songs when I was 13, but it just took me a while to make up my mind and really go for it.”

After recording four solo albums on her own, McClellan received an email from a friend goading her to submit a video performance for a show that NBC was adding to its roster. “He wrote me that he knew I was not into the corporate scene at all, but he dared me so I had to send them a YouTube link,” she recounts, “and in an hour they got back to me and asked me to audition.” Within weeks she was making her national television debut, and both Christina Aguilera and Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine wanted McClellan for their teams. McClellan chose Aguilera, and the rest — including a duet with Aguilera on the superstar’s hit “Beautiful” and five other singles — is history.

Now McClellan is ready to write a new chapter all on her own with Fear Nothing. “I’m just flying by the seat of my soul like I always do,” McClellan says. “I’m so ready to go out on the road and bring these songs to the world in a way I’ve never been able to before. It’s like the title says — I want the people who hear my music to fear nothing, and to feel the love, get inspired, and spread it around.”

Norcia first began playing blues harmonica in high school in his native Rhode Island. The Blue Tones were founded after Norcia moved to Providence, and they became a house band at a small club there. They further developed their skills while backing up visiting musicians like Walter “Shakey” Horton, Big Mama Thornton, Joe Turner, and Roosevelt Sykes in nearby Boston-area clubs. Beginning in the late ’70s, the band worked exclusively with Ronnie Earl as its lead guitarist until he left to play with Roomful of Blues.

Norcia’s music comes from an eclectic set of influences, and it probably shows most in his original tunes. He cites musicians like Nat King Cole, Joe Williams, Muddy Waters, and Bobby “Blue” Bland as important, but equally important to him are country music stylists like Ernest Tubb and George Jones.

With his quiet, cheerful, unassuming personality, Norcia is the kind of person people go to with their personal problems, and some of this (as well as his own life experience) provides fodder for his songs.

Norcia’s recordings under his own name include the EPs Sugar Ray & the Blue Tones for Baron Records in 1979; Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters Featuring the Sensational Sugar Ray in 1982 for Leopard Records, as well as his two Rounder releases, Knockout (1989), and Don’t Stand in My Way (1991). Both Knockout and Don’t Stand in My Way are stylistically diverse records showcasing a range of harmonica styles as well as blues styles, including urban Chicago, Texas shuffle, Memphis soul, and R&B, as in a cover of Bobby Bland’s “I’m Not Ashamed” on their debut, and Boston-area big guitar blues. The Blue Tones’ Don’t Stand in My Way served as the inaugural release for Rounder’s then-new Bullseye Blues label. The Blue Tones also accompanied Miki Honeycutt on her debut for the Rounder label, Soul Deep.

In 1991, Sugar Ray joined the legendary jump blues-based Roomful of Blues and became their lead vocalist. Roomful released three successful records during Norcia’s tenure and toured incessantly. Norcia also kept busy outside of the band: he can be heard on a Bullseye Blues release by trombonist Porky Cohen, Rhythm and Bones, (1996) and on the album Little Anthony and Sugar Ray: Take It From Me, (1994), for the Tone-Cool subsidiary of Rounder. Sugar Ray left Roomful of Blues in 1998 and released Sweet & Swingin’, an eclectic record that featured songs by Hank Williams, Arthur Alexander, Big Walter Horton, and an appearance by the Jordanaires. 1999 found Sugar Ray contributing to the Grammy-nominated album Superharps, a project that also included James Cotton, Billy Branch, and Charlie Musselwhite. Lately he has been keeping busy contributing harp on records by Pinetop Perkins, Doug James, and others as well as touring with the Sugar Ray Norcia Big Band. ~ Richard Skelly, Rovi

“Mean” Willie Green has been the drummer for the Neville Brothers band since the 1980s. His unique attack has defined funk drumming for a quarter of a century. Yet, he is not a one-dimensional player. His taste in music spans the gamut of modern rock styles and he is as comfortable driving the beat as he is holding down the groove.

Reggie Scanlan’s career has been defined by his thirty-three years playing bass in the Radiators, the longest running rock act in the history of New Orleans. But his resume is far deeper. As a young musician he played with blues musicians on the west coast chitlin circuit before returning to his hometown to back up legends like James Booker and Professor Longhair.

Jake Eckert is the sterling-toned lead guitarist in the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Before joining the quintessential New Orleans funk/brass band, he honed his chops as part of the thriving southern rock scene in Atlanta, cutting his teeth with the likes of Derek Trucks and Col. Bruce Hampton. While living in Los Angeles, he played in the band New Soul Underground along with jazz great Larry Carlton. He has had a chance to perform with Warren Haynes, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, & Dave Matthews to name a few.

CR Gruver is a classically trained pianist who was bitten by the bug known as New Orleans music after stints touring with nationally known bands such as Outformation and the Atlanta-based singer/songwriter Angie Aparo. Since moving to New Orleans he has immersed himself into the scene and has become a well-regarded sideman adept at James Booker-style piano machinations and the swelling B-3 stylings of Art Neville. Besides playing with many of the city’s local luminaries he also leads his own local band, Funkifry’d.

Kevin Harris is a founding member of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. His tenor saxophone work has graced recordings across the gamut from pop stars Elvis Costello, Dave Matthews and the Black Crowes to zydeco legend Buckwheat Zydeco, jazz songstress Norah Jones, and Modest Mouse, Widespread Panic and many more.

Together these five musicians create music that is firmly rooted in the modern New Orleans sound with compelling originals and tasteful covers. The rhythm section of Scanlan and Green are as comfortable together as red beans and rice. Gruver tickles the ivories or soars into the stratosphere on the organ. Harris provides stellar saxophone fills and solos with great aplomb. Eckert’s rhythm guitar work neatly complements his razor sharp solos. Though the band can clearly jam, with Eckert and Gruver trading off on lead vocals they are no simple jam band

Homemade Jamz Band—Mark…I am sending separate bio to use for them…

“These young kids have got energy, talent and do the blues proud with their own flavor. I believe they’ve got a GREAT future ahead.” – B.B. King

How does a seven-year-old kid get the blues? Ryan Perry, now 16, laughs heartily at the notion—like he’s a father himself, maybe even a grandfather, as if fondly recalling his precocious past self. “We haven’t had any bad xperiences as a family,” says Perry, who sings and plays guitar in the Homemade Jamz Blues Band (HJBB) with his brother Kyle (14, bass) and sister Taya (10, drums). He understands the irony of a world-weary anklebiter but more importantly the simple, youthful concept of doing what comes naturally.

HJBB started in Baumholder, Germany when father Renaud Perry returned from military service in Korea. Young Ryan found a Stratocaster copy among dad’s bags and wanted it. A week later, Ryan had composed a short instrumental tune (which he’d play at his school talent show) and was playing along to commercials. When the family relocated to Tupelo, the passion stayed with him. Returning home, Ryan, now 11, dove head first into the blues.

“I heard B.B. King, Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan,” he recalls, “and I would listen to them all the time and try to emulate them.” Having found his muse, Ryan’s playing progressed “like, tenfold. As soon as I knew which direction to go, it really took off.”

Two years later, Ryan was playing live with a drum machine and little brother Kyle, then nine years old, wanted in on the action. After first trying piano and becoming frustrated that he didn’t progress as fast as Ryan, Kyle switched to bass, teaching himself the nuances of the instrument and its role in the blues. Soon he was playing out with his brother, as confident as any wizened old pro and digging his role. “[I] keep the timing and lock down the beat along with the drummer, which allows the lead guitar player to do his own thing while everyone is juking to the beat.”

Eventually proud papa Renaud called Robert Stolle of Clarksdale’s storied Ground Zero Blues Club and insisted on an audition, HJBB—Ryan, Kyle and an unrelated drummer wowed Stolle enough to get a booking. When that drummer didn’t work out, seven-year-old Taya wanted to give it a shot. Already possessing a rhythmic sense from playing tambourine, Taya settled onto the stool and in two months was providing the beat behind Ryan and Kyle. “It’s very exciting to play drums,” she says.

It’s likewise energizing to watch HJBB work out, and soon the cherubic trio was a hot ticket. Ryan’s gruff vocals and visceral, stinging, guitar licks, Kyle’s solid rumble and Taya’s cool stomp have electrified crowds across the country, up and down Memphis’s famed Beale Street and on the festival and blues cruise circuit. The band saturated their local media, appearing numerous times in several local papers and national blues magazines, and on local and national TV—including a feature segment on CBS Sunday Morning when the band played the WC Handy Festival last July. Even B.B. King said in a YouTube video, “In my 82 years, I’ve never seen something musically… so remarkable.”

As well, HJBB won the 3rd Annual MS Delta Blues Society of Indianola’s Blues Challenge (2006), and were the youngest band ever to compete in the International Blues Challenge (2007), taking 2nd in a field of 157 bands. Fred Litwin, president of the esteemed label NorthernBlues Music, was a judge for the event. Fred called HJBB and announced he was keen to make them the youngest blues band to sign with a major record label. “Mister Fred,” as the Perrys call him, made it happen. True to their name, the band recorded Pay Me No Mind at home, over three days in January 2008.

Rife with powerful, puissant songs (lyrics by Renaud, music by HJBB) that lyrically and musically epitomize the blues, Pay Me No Mind blends Chicago and Mississippi juke joint blues, copping the gritty slickness of the former and the dirty soul of the latter—never betraying its authors’ age. The trio exudes nothing but confidence and attitude as they sing of betrayal, love, hard times and other bad things gone down as if they’ve lived a life rich in strife. They are, to be sure, a veritable blues explosion poised to make the big sound.

Which again begs the question: how do a seven-year-old and his younger siblings get the blues? Ryan says they just “connect” with the music, like it’s hard-wired into them. He and his siblings don’t think in those terms. “We all love the blues,” he says matter-of-factly. “For some reason it just comes naturally to us.”

He made his professional debut in 1990 when he joined the Miami Blues Authority. He was named ‘Best Blues Guitarist’ in Miami in 1997 by New Times magazine, a local alternative paper.

Unlike so many blues and rock ‘n’ roll musicians, Castiglia completed his four-year college education and then worked for four years as a social services investigator for the state of Florida. He continued to fine-tune his guitar playing, songwriting and singing chops at nights and on weekends in the Miami area.

His first big break came about when legendary harmonica player Junior Wells heard him sing and play and immediately hired him for his touring band. Castiglia accompanied Wells on several world tours. After Wells passed away in 1998, Castiglia, then living in Chicago, found work with Atlanta-based blues belter Sandra Hall, accompanying her on regional and national tours through the late 1990′s. Aside from Hall and Wells, Castiglia has shared stages and jammed with Aron Burton, Pinetop Perkins, Melvin Taylor, Sugar Blue, Phil Guy, Ronnie Earl, Billy Boy Arnold, Ronnie Baker Brooks, John Primer, Lurrie Bell, Jerry Portnoy, Larry McCray, Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater and Otis Clay, among others.

He struck out on his own and released his debut, “Burn,” in 2002, collaborating on the album with his friend Graham Wood Drout. He followed up with his 2006 release for New Jersey-based Blues Leaf Records, “A Stone’s Throw.”

Castiglia’s second release for Blues Leaf, “These Are The Days,” was released in April, 2008. The album demonstrates Castiglia’s mature guitar stylings and soul-filled vocals, which some say are reminiscent of Van Morrison. The album includes five originals, including his tribute to mentor Junior Wells, “Godfather of the Blues,” but also select covers, including “Catfish” from Bob Dylan, “Night Time Is The Right Time,” from Nappy Brown, Fenton Robinson’s “Somebody Loan Me A Dime,” and Little Willie John’s “Need Your Love So Bad.”

Given that he’s young by blues standards and has a depth and breadth of live, studio and life experience, it is possible Castiglia may yet become a major force behind another blues and blues-rock rebirth. ~ Richard Skelly, Rovi

- B.B. King

HOMEMADE JAMZ BLUES BAND got its start in Baumholder, Germany, when military dad Renaud Perry

came home with a Stratocaster replica (guitar) and young Ryan, 8, discovered it. A week later, Ryan

composed a short instrumental tune and performed it at his school’s talent show. By the time the

family returned to Tupelo, Mississippi, Ryan had found his passion…music.

After listening to B.B. King, Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan then trying his best to emulate them

Ryan emerged a blues artist with skyrocketing talent. Two years later, little brother Kyle, 9, wanted in

on the action. After first trying piano, Kyle settled in on the bass learning for himself the nuances of

the instrument and its role in the blues sound. Soon he was out on the concert circuit performing with

his brother. Not long afterwards seven-year-old Taya locked in on the blues vibe. Already playing

tambouring, Taya situated herself on the stool behind a drum set and in two months was holding down

the beats behind her big brothers Ryan and Kyle. Ryan’s gruff vocals, visceral stinging guitar licks,

Kyle’s solid rumble and Taya’s cool-bare-footed stomp have electrified millions around the world.

Making

HOMEMADE JAMZ BLUES BAND

“a trifecta” in the blues world!

The

HOMEMADE JAMZ BLUES BAND

has been featured in all major media: NPR, PBS, CBS Sunday

Morning, NBC Today’s Show, BET, internationally distributed blues magazines and of course in local

papers everywhere they go. The young Band performs all over the US, Canada, & Europe; as well as

the Caribbean Islands and on the Legendary Blues Cruise.

In 2006, the

HOMEMADE JAMZ BLUES BAND won the 3rd

Annual MS Delta Blues Society of Indianola’s

Blues Challenge, and became the youngest band to compete in the International Blues Challenge, in

2007. Out of 93 bands, Homemade Jamz took 2

nd

place, their first time in a major competition. And

have gone on to be nominated for the “Best New Artist Debut,” Blues Music Award, 2009; and to win

the Jus’ BMA “Band or Combo of the Year,” in 2010. Giving them the significant accomplishment of

being the youngest blues band, in history to be nominated for these, or any major blues award…that’s

why they are now considered the “Trifecta of the Blues World.”

The

HOMEMADE JAMZ BLUES BAND

performs the blues with the confidence of knowing their

Mississippi history, firsthand, redirecting the love, hard times, betrayal and strife into their music. How

do they do it? They “connect” with the ancestral sounds…it are hardwired within them. They know

the blues…it comes naturally from their souls.