From The Archives Of Something Blue 2023-12-03

Thanks Marty, today we’re going to hear some blues guitar recorded at the Craighead Forest Bandshell.

Steve Wages was an exceptional blues guitarist and it was always a pleasure to hear him perform at the bandshell. The Bad Habit Band was a top cover band so they played everything, rock, country, and blues but you could always tell that Steve would get really cranked up for a blues song.

Also playing in Bad Habit were Braden Byrd, bass, and Billy Spence, drums. All three of them played for years in Northeast Arkansas. So this is the real blues, homegrown in the Delta.

From The Archives Of Something Blue 2023-11-11

Thanks Marty, today we’re going to hear a piano trio playing the blues at KASU Jazz Thursday.

I met Paul Richardson at the piano store hanging out flyers for Blue Fest 91, the first Blues Fest. He said he had a group that would like to play, Jonesboogie Blues, so I booked them on the spot. I wasn’t really expecting him to bring a grand piano but he did and they played a great set. I have recordings, somewhere in the archive, so now I’m going to have to dig them out for a future podcast. Like a lot of jobs, the more work I do the more work I have to do.

Paul continued helping us with Blues Fest through all 25 years. He was also a frequent guest with Hairy Larry and The Flying Hungarians. He even came and played at the church one Wednesday night. So when I started booking KASU Jazz Thursday I got in touch with him right away.

On June 24, 2010, he was our featured act. Then he stayed to play with the Adhoc Combo. Playing with Paul, that night, was Corey Emerson, bass and Carl Abraham, Drums. All three were living in Northeast Arkansas at the time, each with storied music careers in the area.

DJ Hairy Larry Presents Bebop Beatniks Playing Low Earth Orbit
From The Archives Of Something Blue 2023-11-20

Thanks Marty, today we’re going to hear some honky tonk jazz recorded live at Blues Fest.

I just finished our new jazz album, Bebop Beatniks Live At Blues Fest, so I’m featuring Bebop Beatniks on From The Archives and on Something Blue this week. Just remember, you heard it here first, on KASU. I dug way forward in the archives to bring you these songs, pre-release.

I wrote “Low Earth Orbit” in 2018 and NJHB played it on September 1, 2018 at New Jazz In Jonesboro in the Jonesboro Public Library’s Round Room.

I liked the song so much I moved it into my streaming repertoire and then onto the Bebop Beatniks short list. We’ve been playing it about a year but I don’t think we ever played it as good as we did at Blues Fest.

Featuring the incomparable Tyler Remagen on saxophone he nails it. Listen as he plays. Sometimes his tone is so strong that the sax just jumps right out of the radio and into the room.

DJ Hairy Larry Presents Lisa Ahia Singing My Romance
From The Archives Of Something Blue 2023-09-03

Thanks Marty, today we're going to hear a female vocalist accompanied by a female pianist recorded in 2011 at Bebopalooza!

This Saturday I have a great show featuring top jazz pianists and female vocalists. So I got to thinking about what I have in the archives of Something Blue that will complement the show. And I came up with Lisa Ahia. I love the way she sings the song "My Romance" and I do have several recordings of it. But when I heard the version recorded right here at ASU, on October 15, 2011, I knew I had found what I was looking for. With Joy Sanford accompanying Lisa on piano the resulting recording is very sparse and perfectly rendered. A great song to go with a great show.

This is Hairy Larry inviting you to enjoy Something Blue every Saturday night at ten. This week we’re featuring Taper’s Choice and Circles Around The Sun. For more about the show visit the Something Blue website at sbblues.com.
Don’t miss Something Blue, Saturday night at 10:00 PM CST, at kasu.org.

Taper’s Choice Live at Spoke Bicycle Cafe on 2023-08-05
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Circles Around The Sun Live at Bowery Ballroom on 2021-08-27
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DJ Hairy Larry Presents Larry Donn And Wildfire Willie Playing "Wild One"
From The Archives Of Something Blue August 27 2023

Thanks Marty, today we're going to hear a rockabilly star from Sweden playing with The Great Larry Donn.

I had recorded Larry Donn before at Blues Fest so I knew how good he played. My friends Terry Carter and Philip Jackson were playing with him at the VFW and Terry told me that Wildfire Willie from Sweden was going to be at the show. I got permission from Larry Donn to record for Something Blue and the rest, as they say, is history.

It was a long time ago on August 18, 1993, at the VFW in Jonesboro, Arkansas. I was already recording and Wildfire Willie and I were talking in the green room while we listened to the show. Wildfire Willie said, "I can't believe that I'm in Jonesboro, Arkansas, listening to the great Larry Donn."

DJ Hairy Larry Presents NJHB Playing Cold Fusion
From The Archives Of Something Blue 2023-08-20

Thanks Marty, today we're going to hear one of my compositions recorded at HairyLarryLand.

NJHB is the house band for the New Jazz In Jonesboro concert series. We were starting up the concerts again in the fall of 2018 and I had written a number of songs titled after concepts of contemporary physics.

So on July 28, 2018, we got together to read and record three of these pieces, "Cold Fusion", "Quantum Blues", and "Entanglement". These songs make up the NJHB, "Quantum Blues" album.

We had Tyler Remagen on tenor sax; Spencer Rawlins, bass, and I'm on piano. We all live in the Jonesboro area and we were all students in the ASU jazz program at the time.

From The Archives Of Something Blue 2023-08-07

Thanks Marty, today we’re going to hear The Bluescaster playing acoustic blues at KASU Jazz Thursday.

Paul Nunis is The Bluescaster. I met him at Blues Fest. He played so well I immediately started playing his music on Something Blue. He was also active at The Arts@311 and a regular performer in the Jazz Thursday Jam Sessions.

Later Paul was a founding member of Bebop Beatniks, playing bass in my band for years until his solo career didn’t leave him with enough time to play as a sideman. He wrote “At The Speed Of Love”, the hit on the Bebop Beatniks album, “Leaves”.

He wrote songs all the time and we often shared new material at Angie Owens’ Songwriters Workshop.

Now, about that name Bluescaster. Electric blues is often played on a Telecaster or a Stratocaster so that’s one way of looking at it.

Paul and I both read a lot of Science Fiction and Fantasy so that opens up another way to look at it.

He’s like a spellcaster, a bard who casts spells with his blues. That works for me because he’s a guitar wizard.

DJ Hairy Larry Presents Jay Shepherd Playing Blue Bossa
From The Archives Of Something Blue 2023-07-30

Thanks Marty, today we're going to hear a bossa, featuring two of my friends, recorded at the Delta Jazz Workshop.

Besides being a jazz clinic the Delta Jazz Workshop is a mini festival with five jazz concerts from Monday through Friday. You can't learn jazz without listening to jazz and since there's no music like live music you can't play jazz without listening to live jazz. So the nightly concerts are actually an integral part of the learning experience.

The concerts were also a great opportunity for me to record Northeast Arkansas jazz musicians for Something Blue. I mean, I was going to the concerts anyway so I might as well roll tape, I mean fill flash cards, the modern day equivalent of tape.

On July 12, 2016, it was Jay Shepherd's turn to bring his band and play. I've known Jay for years and he's played guitar with Bebop Beatniks and with NJHB. He plays stand out performances on the new Bebop Beatniks album, "Church" and he is also featured playing with NJHB on "Bop Soup" recorded at my Senior Recital.

Also featured on "Blue Bossa" is my friend Tyler Worsham on piano. He helped me many times at my recitals. He played at Trilogy For The Arts and he is featured on the NJHB album, "Blue Goose", recorded at New Jazz In Jonesboro in the Jonesboro Public Library.

Also playing on "Blue Bossa" are Terrell Montgomery, bass and Keyven Dunn, drums. All of these musicians were students at ASU.

DJ Hairy Larry Presents The Cruize Brothers Playing Born Under A Bad Sign
From The Archives Of Something Blue July 23, 2023

Thanks Marty, today we're going to hear an Albert King song played at KASU Blue Monday.

When I first met Mike Dollins we were both promoting the blues on myspace. That's right. We're old.

Pretty soon he was contributing to Delta Boogie, keeping me up to date with the Little Rock Blues scene. Next thing you know he was coming up to Jonesboro to play at the Craighead Forest Bandshell and bringing his friends. Who soon became my friends.

I booked Hairy Larry and George in Little Rock and Mike Dollins was in the audience, enjoying the show. It was one of our best shows, too, with Suzanne and Fred joining us during the second set. I'll include a link on the Something Blue website at sbblues.com.

Mike Dollins plays blues and jazz guitar. Playing with Mike at Blue Monday were Guido Ciardetti, bass and Brad Messer, drums. Their band name was The Cruize Brothers.