Updated 1 June 2016. Seasick Steve Describing Oakland-born Californian Steve Wold as a national treasure in the UK might be over-egging the pudding a bit; but for many British rock and pop fans, the 74-year-old American guitarist is certainly a blues icon. Steve first sprang to prominence aged 65 on Jools Holland’s New Year’s Eve BBC TV rock music…
Updated 1 June 2016 A few posts ago, I promised to shed light upon one of the earliest influences on the origin of the blues that remains untold. The time has come to reveal all. (These clues, of course, were also later revealed in my book, America’s Gift.) My clue was found buried away in an 1882 edition of…
Updated 1 June 2016 The internationally acclaimed concert pianist, Percy Grainer Down Under this week, I visited Melbourne University’s Percy Grainger Museum. You’ve probably never heard of Percy Grainger, an Australian, but he was one of the more interesting composers that ever lived. Born in Melbourne in 1882, Grainger was an internationally-famous concert pianist, musical maverick and one of…
