Steve Knopper

Nineteen years after Texas' Fabulous Thunderbirds smeared the dark-and-dirty R&B groove "Tuff Enuff" all over Top 40 radio, frontman Kim Wilson is still inclined to make exactly the same kind...

Nineteen years after Texas' Fabulous Thunderbirds smeared the dark-and-dirty R&B groove "Tuff Enuff" all over Top 40 radio, frontman Kim Wilson is still inclined to make exactly the same kind...

The sad problem with the blues these days is that even the best singers--Shemekia Copeland, Buddy Guy, John Hammond Jr.--can't find new material to match their voices. Thousands of country-music...

Remember this name: Erika Wennerstrom. She's the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of this Cincinnati garage-rock trio, and her deep, sturdy voice canleap to a breathtaking falsetto. Although the Bastards...

Remember this name: Erika Wennerstrom. She's the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of this Cincinnati garage-rock trio, and her deep and sturdy voice leaps occasionally to a breathtaking falsetto. Although...

Although it's not quite "Love Stinks!" or anything else from Geils' old namesake rock-and-blues band, "Plays Jazz!" is a snappy tribute to big-band jazz, western swing and pop standards. It...

For fans of 36-year-old Roomful of Blues, this meeting of electric-guitar heroes is a little like Eric Clapton and his Yardbirds replacement, Jeff Beck, finally making a record together. When...

Like Charlie Musselwhite and Willie Dixon, veteran blues singer Rick Estrin has one of those deep, rubbery voices that gains power and personality over time. As leader of his 29-year-old...

Having tackled the songs of Tom Waits, the Rolling Stones and Stevie Wonder on recent albums, this 66-year-old traditional gospel act expands to hip-hop--a timely decision given Kanye West's 2004...

Unbelievably, the great honky-tonk pianist Marcia Ball has never released a live album until now. And while the Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. in tiny Chico, Calif., wouldn't be our first...