It wasn’t that long ago that Ray Wylie Hubbard allowed to an acquaintance that he wouldn’t mind being a hybrid of Guy Clark and John Lee Hooker. Now, I’m no seer or mystic, but my instincts suggest that wish came true. And then some. A. Enlightenment, B. Endarkenment (Hint: There is no C) confirms it.Ray Wylie Hubbard writes the kind of songs that make you want to ride along no matter where he’s going, because you know it’s gonna get strange somewhere along the way. The references to Muddy Waters being as deep as William Blake (“I really do believe it,’’ Ray says) and lipstick pickups, resonator slides, the dreams of drunken poets, deceased call girls, opium, wasp’s nests, clouds growing a tail, his ability to segue seamlessly from primal exclamations of carnal lust into songs about salvation without pausing for irony;
and a craftsmanship that manages to rhyme mescaline and gasoline and Volkswagen with dragon while painting vivid portraits of characters both real and unreal, all evoke a sense of place that is larger than life but in no way made up.
Anyone who’s followed Ray Wylie Hubbard over the long and winding path he has traveled already knows he possesses the kind of exceptional gift for observation that any songwriter yearns for. His sense of wonder is tempered by an accumulated wisdom and knowledge that comes with experience that has elevated him into the Wylie Lama of Texas Music, freely imparting songwriting verities to all kinds of aspiring musicians, which allows him to lay all his cards on the table and let the listener decide what it all
means.
In case you’re wondering where he’s been since his last album Snake Farm, Ray’s been writing, only he moved out of the song category to test his chops as a screenwriter, conceiving an outlaw western straight out of the Peckinpah school of blood and vengeance (“set in 1912 so we can have a Buick and a motorcycle and automatic weapons well as horses”). That his first screenplay actually got funded, filmed and slated for release is a testament to the caliber of his writing, the fact that Kris Kristofferson, Dwight Yoakam, and Lizzy Caplan appear among the ensemble of accomplished actors speaks volumes of the respect he has earned among his peers.
Besides the movies, a weekly Tuesday radio show and constant touring as well as producing other artists, his focus remains fixed on the song - constructing and performing stories set to music that resonate like no one else’s. Not for nothing is he the dark literary, cat daddy of Americana songsters who was outlaw long before it was cool.
But don’t take my word for it. Ray Wylie is far better versed explaining how the sacred and the profane, the yin and the yang, the eternal and the now, the hippies and rednecks, the saved and the damned are all part of the same conversation.“I like to look at both enlightenment and endarkenment,” he declares. “I feel comfortable observing each.
Now I really feel like I gave up the right to judge anybody a longtime ago. With my behavior back in my twenties and thirties, I don’t have that right. I really don’t.” That doesn’t stop him from taking note of what’s going on around him. “It’s so turbulent right now,” he says. “Like the idea of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. That’s pretty strong and scary stuff, especially since I try to stay here in this Pollyanna world of hope and idealism I’ve created, but I’m able to get in that mind set and look at it and write it from the point of view of one who believes it.”
“In ‘Rise Up,’ I can go in there and see the need for that kind of Salvation and understand why that need is there but then read about Chet Baker and heroin and think, yeah, man, it does make the deep things appear (which he captures in ‘Opium). “I feel very fortunate, being able to see that, but not really go there.”
“Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” and “Rise Up,” two straight up gospel pieces that could be sung in a four square church are “straight, basic fundamental Pentecostal Bible,” Ray explains with a sly grin. “Then all of a sudden I write about a naked woman in ‘Drunken Poet’s Dream.”
So what’s up with the unusual title song? “It is my honoring Edgar Allen Poe’s ‘The Raven,’” he says, breaking into a conspiratorial smile. “That is my favorite poem of all time. It still is. I re-read it and as I was going to bed I thought, I should write something like this. I couldn’t use a raven so I used a black sparrow. And it started. It was so weird, just laying in bed thinking, OK, here’s Edgar Allen Poe, he’s drinking, he’s just lost the most precious thing in his life and all that. What would happen if I was in that frame of mind and suddenly this bird lands by my bed? What would it say? 'A. Enlightenment, B. Endarkenment (Hint: There Is No C).' ''
He continues “ Finally, a little bit later, came the line I’d heard my grandmother say when I was a kid, ‘Heaven pours down rain and lightning bolts’– that line kind of sums it all up for me as far as everything, really... Heaven is this beautiful place and yet it pours down rain and lightning bolts on both the just and the unjust. So being mindful of this, I was reminded of one of my wife Judy’s spiritualisms ‘the days I can keep my gratitude higher than my expectations, those are good days,"’
“When it’s all said and done and the record is released whether I ride through the streets in a chariot with rose pedals falling upon me and thousands cheering my name or I find myself standing against a wall being asked if I want a cigarette and a blindfold, I am extremely grateful for each of these songs. And if the truth be known, after every song I write I always say, 'thanks' '' With a keen eye of observation and a wise man’s knowledge, Ray Wylie Hubbard composes and performs songs that couldn’t spring from anywhere else but out of his fertile rock and roll bluesy poet-in-theblistering- heat southern noggin.
Hint: the answers are all within A. Enlightenment, B. Endarkenment.
"I always heard about a musical encounter between Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis, which unfortunately never occurred. Likewise, I always wondered what may have resulted, happened, emerged, if it had really occured. 
Rita Marcotulli was born in Rome in 1959. She studied the piano from a very early age at the Santa Cecilia Academy. At first attracted to Brazilian music she turned towards Jazz at twenty… with great success. Her career got of to a flying start. Right from the start of the 1980s she had the chance to play with the cream of European jazz: Chet Baker, John Christensen, Palle Danielsson, Peter Erskine, Steve Grossman, Joe Henderson, Hélène La Barrière, Joe Lovano, Charlie Mariano, Tony Oxley, Michel Portal, Enrico Rava, Michel Bénita, Aldo Romano, Kenny Wheeler... 
The Holmes Brothers' Feed My Soul, produced by platinum-selling artist (and longtime friend) Joan Osborne, is a joyous and moving blend of blues, gospel, soul, R&B, rock 'n' roll and country. Their amazing, signature three-part harmony singing, mixing Wendell Holmes gruff and gravelly vocals with Popsy Dixon's soaring falsetto and Sherman Holmes' rich baritone brings the soul and spirit of gospel music into everything they perform. Over the course of their 30-plus year career, The Holmes Brothers have been feeding the souls of their devoted and ever-growing fan base. Sherman's bass playing and Popsy's drumming perfectly complement Wendell's blues-soaked guitar solos and church-inspired piano playing. The band easily blends Saturday night's roadhouse rock with the gospel fervor and harmonies of Sunday morning's church service.
Twenty years ago I was just getting started as a music publisher. I had written a few songs that had been recorded by Blues artists like Johnny Winter and The Kinsey Report. I went looking for someone to do the administration for my publishing company and collect royalties overseas. I approached Buzz Cason at Southern Writers Group because he was outside of Nashville mainstream and understood R&B. He welcomed me aboard. Another of the writer/publishers there at the time was a very talented guy named Richard Carpenter. He'd actually had a few hit records. I was impressed, but more importantly we shared a love of Roots Rock, Soul Music and the Blues. We began writing together on a regular basis and soon were getting our songs cut by Blues artists like Koko Taylor, Sam Lay, Lonnie Brooks, Son Seals, Charlie Musselwhite and a host of others just as fast as we could write them. We also had free run of the 24 track recording studio Creative Workshop that was part of the SWWG organization. This meant that our demo recordings were actually state of the art master recordings. 
Vittorio Mezza, is considered one of the most interesting and original pianist on the new italian jazz scene. With the help of two “supermusicians” as Massimo Moriconi and Ettore Fioravanti gave birth to a musical project of extraordinary artistic depht, great novelty both stylistic and of ideas. It’s remarkable a strong component of swing and interplay, a quality is becoming rarest. 
>"New Orleans is a record that manages to feel deeply peersonal, soulful and uniquely American; with 29 year old Bucaro's voice sounding like the perfect cross between Ben Harper and Brett Dennen." 
" I refuse to celebrate death. My life has been a miracle of more than I ever expercted or deserved. I have gone father and done more than I had any right to expect. I leave behind a beautiful family and many beloved friends. Take reassurance in the glory of the moment and the forever promise of tomorrow. Surely there is light beyond the darkness as there is dawn after the night. I will not be gone as long as the music lingers. I have gladly given my life to memphis music and it has given back a hundredfold. It has been my fortune to know truly great men and hear the music of the spheres May we all met again at the end of the trail."
Singer-songwriter Dirk Hamilton was born in Indiana and raised in Northern California. He picked up a guitar as a youth and was writing songs and playing live performances by the time he was in high school. He moved to Los Angeles in the late 70s and recorded four critically acclaimed albums: two while at ABC Records, and two while at Elektra/Asylum Records. A poet and musician known for his uniquely intelligent lyrics and passionate performance style, Hamilton creates music that can't be pigeon-holed into one genre or another, so indie rock, alt-rock, roots music, americana and folk-rock are often used. For his lyrics and performance style he is most often compared to Dylan, Van Morrison, and John Hiatt. 
DAVID ESSIG was introduced to Canadian audiences in 1971 as a "talented newcomer" at the legendary Mariposa Folk Festival. Now, over 30 years later, he is considered one of Canada's finest interpreters of original, contemporary folk music. Always paying homage to his roots in Bluegrass and Country Blues, David uses these traditions to create new songs that are both timely and timeless. His intense energy and incisive wit have made him a favourite with audiences around the world...