From The Archives Of Something Blue October 9, 2022

1. DJ Hairy Larry presents Houston Steele and Bad Habit
2. Something Blue – Anyday – 29 second spot

Thanks Marty, today we’re going to hear a Keith Sykes song played at the Craighead Forest Bandshell.

When Houston Steele started playing with Braden Byrd and Billy Spence we started getting them to perform at the bandshell. He’s a fantastic guitarist and vocalist with a wry sense of humor that he uses to connect to his audience. He’s been playing around Jonesboro and all over the country for decades doing mostly country and rock hits. He can also deliver on the blues as we’re about to hear today.

From The Archives Of Something Blue October 16, 2022

1. DJ Hairy Larry presents Bebop Beatniks
2. Something Blue – Turn – 29 second spot

Thanks Marty, today we’re going to hear some Creative Commons Jazz played on the Twitch Porch.

Happy Birthday Creative Commons. Creative Commons licenses are 20! At creativecommons.org they say “Honoring 20 years of open sharing using CC licenses, join us in 2022 to celebrate Better Sharing — advancing universal access to knowledge and culture, and fostering creativity, innovation, and collaboration.”

It seems like only yesterday but I have been using Creative Commons licenses for 20 years.

From The Archives Of Something Blue October 23, 2022

1. DJ Hairy Larry presents John Shepherd and Happy Hour
2. Something Blue – Friends – 29 second spot

Thanks Marty, today we’re going to hear a band from Wynne singing a Muddy Waters song.

It was Blues Fest 2010 and John Shepherd and Happy Hour were closing the show. It was a special performance because Kyle Harrison had played earlier in the day and he joined John for the last half of the set. This gave us two amazing blues guitarists from Wynne, Arkansas, on the stage playing together.

Thanks Marty, I have so much fun doing From The Archives for Arkansas Roots.

Billy Jones is a bluesman. A genuine Arkansas bluesman. But he also plays country, funk, gospel, and soul. When I went to record him at KASU Bluesday Tuesday in Newport, Arkansas, on October 8, 2013, I never thought he would be playing the Temptations. Yet here’s the proof, Billy Jones Bluez playing the classic Motown hit, “Papa Was A Rolling Stone”.

Thanks Marty, this week I’ve got a special performance of a great song that is From The Archives of Something Blue.

In 2019 KASU sponsored New Jazz In Jonesboro held in the Round Room of the Jonesboro Public Library. On February 9, 2019 we featured the Ken Carroll Quintet, Ken Carroll on EWI; Hairy Larry, piano; Gabe Waters, bass; Chris Isom, drums; and Joseph Curtis, trumpet. Ken Carroll is Director Of Jazz Studies at ASU. Joseph Curtis is the band director at Hoxie High School. The rest of us are jazz students at ASU. We love the Bossa Nova standard, “Recordame”, and that love for this music shines through in this performance. Now, here’s the Ken Carroll Quintet playing “Recordame”.

From The Archives Of Something Blue November 13 2022/December 27, 2020

1. DJ Hairy Larry presents Delta Legends
2. Something Blue – Changes – 29 second spot

Thanks Marty, I’ve got a great blues song this week performed live at the Fall Ball by Delta Legends.

On September 30, 2017 Delta Legends took a road trip down to the Mississippi Hill Country to play at the Fall Ball. We originally booked to busk on Saturday morning but they offered us a slot early Saturday afternoon so we got to play that too. “All Over Again” is a blues standard made famous by B.B. King and Paul Butterfield. It’s one of our best songs and inspired by the festival stage we nailed it.

From The Archives Of Something Blue February 7, 2021/November 11, 2020

1. DJ Hairy Larry presents John Spencer
2. Something Blue – Run – 29 second spot

Thanks Marty, It’s great to be here on Arkansas Roots sharing songs from the archives of Something Blue.

I met John Spencer at Blues Fest and it wasn’t long before we had John and Tommy, The Spencer Brothers, on stage. John came to me with some songs that he and Tom Turner wrote, Tom was the lyricist and John put them to music. John is a regular at KASU events, both playing and in the audience and Tom Turner was raised at Burnt Hill, just down the road from me.

Thanks Marty, I’m Hairy Larry and I’ve got the blues for you.

Kyle Tims got in touch with me about playing at Blues Fest and we were glad to have him perform in September of 1997. I was talking to some of my friends who had played at Blues Fest, Sonny Burgess, Doug Greeno, and Larry Donn, and they told me that Kyle’s father, Tommy Tims, was a rockabilly drummer back in the day. Music runs in the family in Northeast Arkansas so I expected Kyle to put on a good show but everyone was just knocked out by his fantastic blues guitar work following in the footsteps of Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Thanks Marty, this week on Something Blue we’re featuring some fine blues women including Suzanne Michell.

Suzanne played at the first Blues Fest in 1991 and she was a regular performer in Jonesboro, both solo and in groups, playing at Blues Fest, Sunday In The Park, Bebopalooza, and other venues around Jonesboro. She has dedicated her life to music, teaching and performing, playing blues, jazz, and folk music.

On May 23, 2010, she brought the Suzanne Michell Trio to the Craighead Forest Bandshell and gave us a brilliant set. Playing with her were Fred Wilson and Will Taylor. The entire trio are Arkansas musicians from Little Rock.

Thanks Marty, this week on From The Archives we’re featuring some jazz recorded right here in Jonesboro.

I was enjoying a Jazz Alliance performance at The Edge Coffeehouse after I retired and on break I was talking to Janie Overall who told me that at ASU the state pays the tuition for senior citizens, 60 or over. So I can say that it was Jazz Alliance that brought me back to ASU where I took Percussion lessons from Craig Collison and Jazz Improv from Ron Horton. Soon after that I resumed my composition studies and resumed hosting Something Blue at KASU.

Ron Horton wrote some great songs and I began recording their live performances collecting the tracks that ended up on their “Partly Cloudy” CD. Playing on the CD are Ron Horton, trumpet; Craig Collison, vibes; David Eckert, bass; and Mike Overall, drums. They helped me start the KASU Jazz Thursday concerts and also played at Bebopalooza! Their personnel have strong connections to ASU and the public library.