Photos and story by Tim Van Schmidt

I'm very thankful for the Blues Blast. A couple of issues ago, I read about a show by Phoenix blues guitarist Carvin Jones- the "King of Strings." I thought that sounded pretty good but the thing that sold me was the venue- Club Tico, located in Fort Collins in City Park. That's right in my neighborhood and I couldn't resist.

Club Tico is a venerable multi-purpose facility that has been the site for area events for decades- from wedding receptions and ballroom dancing to, well, raucous blues shows.

When I arrived I thought it was strange that the vocal mike was down on the floor rather than on the bandstand- and I found out why as soon as Jones began his set. Jones is an in-your-face performer- quite literally. Throughout the show, Jones left the mike often and stepped right into the midst of the audience, his fingers flying up and down the fret board, all the while grinning and engaging everybody in his path.

Jones is a seasoned showman who knows that even more than owning his guitar like a pro, owning the audience with a positive attitude seals the deal.

Speaking of "owning his guitar," Jones owned his set list completely- from Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan tunes to John Lee Hooker and Chuck Berry classics and more. And here's the part I liked most of all- there was no fooling around in between songs. When one tune was done, Jones plowed into the next one without hardly skipping a beat.

I've been to countless concerts over the decades and one of my pet peeves is musicians who waste valuable performing time by talking about what they had for breakfast. Not Jones- apparently when that man plays, he plays hard. I appreciate that as a live music fan.

And thanks to the Blues Blast, I am now a brand new Carvin Jones fan.

Make sure when you receive the Blues Blast each week from the High Plains Blues Society that you check it out in full- it's a comprehensive digest of everything blues and your key to very cool events that you might not hear about anywhere else- like the Carvin Jones concert.

Here's a video I posted from the show- Jones performing John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom."

Carvin Jones Live in Colorado 2026 (Boom Boom)  https://youtu.be/yY8Ppv1i_is

story and photos by Tim Van Schmidt

After 39 years as a band, there's still a good dose of heavy blues in the music of Big Head Todd and the Monsters.

At Red Rocks on June 8, one of the mightiest tunes of the evening - and the one that had the crowd howling the most - was BHTATM's "Boom Boom", a roiling rockin' blues number based on the lyrics by John Lee Hooker. Everybody was involved, from shouting out "boom, boom, boom, boom" to countering with "bang, bang, bang, bang" and then going nuts when guitarist Todd Park Mohr let loose on his guitar.

Blues is only a part of the band's music, which has more than a touch of soul in it - here, think "Bittersweet." Or then there's just the magnificent, showstopping power of rock anthem "Circle." Still, blues is in there.

I remember back in the 1980s when BHTATM was still a struggling regional band, playing the old Washington's for free.

I then started covering the band in the local press, reviewing an early record release available only on cassette at the time, and met up with Mohr in the back hallway of the Old Town Ale House (now Lucky Joe's). He said something interesting at the time, telling me that places like the Ale House were just too small for them. I thought that was pretty arrogant at the time, but the next time I saw the band, they were playing to a full house at Fort Ram - and they haven't looked back since.

Flash forward to 2024, and BHTATM are playing to a packed house at Red Rocks, a venue they have played more than 20 times over the years. And it was like a gathering of old friends - a rocking gathering.

Even opening act, The Wallflowers, featuring Jakob Dylan, put out an energetic set at Red Rocks. After seeing them last year at Chautauqua Auditorium in Boulder - a set plagued by interruptions and kind of a lousy attitude - I wondered how that was going to go. But The Wallflowers apparently were willing to step up at Red Rocks and make the best use of their time.

What a night at Red Rocks. You can't really get more Colorado than that - one of Colorado's most successful bands ever at one of the world's finest concert venues nestled in the hills above Denver. And there it was, "boom, boom, boom, boom" echoing up the rocks, underscored by snarling guitar. A perfect live music night.

https://youtu.be/p_mt-1HKBrs

Tim Schmidt is a longtime Colorado writer and photographer, and contributor to The Weekly Blues Blast. Some of his history was as the co-founder of Scene magazine and a weekly column for North Forty News/New Scene Weekly. Tim's YouTube channel is "Time Capsules by Tim Van Schmidt". His channel has a bunch of great blues interviews he did during the 1990s. This first one that I have in The Blast is with the incomparable KOKO TAYLOR. Koko's style encompassed Chicago blues, electric blues, rhythm and blues, and soul blues.  She was known as Willie Dixon's "Wang Dang Doodle Girl" as well as  "The Queen of the Blues",  and was known for her rough, powerful vocals. Koko left is in 2009 but here she is once again.

Just click the link below for Tim's interview.

Koko Taylor 1995 by Tim Van Schmidt 
https://youtu.be/OvikGEyANQY

by Chick Cavalerro

GRAMMY-winning guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Christone “Kingfish” Ingram has quickly become the defining blues voice of his generation. I first saw Christone “Kingfish” Ingram at the Delta Blues Visitor Center on the road between Memphis and Clarksdale, Mississippi doing a concert in the parking lot, he was ’maybe’ 15 and jeezus, even then he was an amazing guitarist. The following year I caught him in Memphis playing with United By Music, a unified performance-based program and band for both neuro diverse and neuro-typical people with exceptional musical talent.  In roughly 5 years since that time, he rose to the top of the blues guitar ranks, and his name is always mentioned when listing the best of the current blues guitarists.. Since 2019, Kingfish has been nominated for 10 Blues Music Awards and won them all, including his first BMA for Blues Guitarist of the Year.

Kingfish is a part of the growing young Black performers who are restoring the Blues back to Black America. He has used his take on the blues exploring systemic racism, and what it means to grow up Black in America. 

Last March was his first tour thru Colorado, so this show at The Lincoln in Cheyenne, Wy is a prefect chance to catch him if you missed him then, or catch him again. 

Christone has a sizzling guitar style that stays true to pure blues and at the same time his can only be described as jaw-dropping! He isn’t a senseless ‘shredder’ this is a real bluesman. His blues honor the music and are full of emotion as he reaches out and grabs you by the throat with his powerful vocals. Every note and word is full of passionate blues feeling.  Here’s what others are saying about this amazing guitar blues talent.

“Kingfish is one of the most exciting young guitarists in years, with a sound that encompasses B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix and Prince.” –Rolling Stone

“Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram has already made his mark as one of the best, and undoubtedly most exciting, blues guitarists in the world.” –Guitar World

"Ingram plays guitar with dramatic, searing tone and sure-handed authority. And that’s just in the studio; he’s even scarier live." –NPR Music

And for a little taste of Kingfish:

https://youtu.be/1JKTwgujXlA?si=hU8v68bUKyxltDQ7

https://youtu.be/bOeJE2N5j3Y?si=4CbZf1jyLW0ST4JN