EntertainmentMagazine.net / AZentertain.com
Summer 2004
Musical Notes
ROB STONE
JUST MY LUCK
Earwig Music
ALTHOUGH THEY'RE SOLIDLY ROOTED IN POSTWAR CHICAGO TRADITION, (spiced with a serious tendancy to swing), labeling Rob Stone & the C-Notes a traditional blues band would be an injustice to their imagination. This young Windy City combo is charting its own direction.
The band has paid plenty of dues in its short life, as an integral member of the touring band of Sam lay-the blues shuffle master drummer-from 1994 to 1998. Prior to that, Rob played harmonica in various bands in his home town of Boston, after picking up the instrument at age eighteen, inspired by seeing Charlie Musselwhite in concert.
Chris James, lead guitarist in the C-Notes, at age thirteen started playing harmonica with San Diego's Tomcat Courtney. After ten years with Tomcat, Chris took up guitar, eventually moving to Chicago and hooking up with Sam lay in 1991. He and bassist Patrick Rynn currently also tour with Jody Williams. Patrick came up early in the blues too, playing bass for the Griswold Brothers and Big Jack Reynolds- the mainstays of the Toledo blues scene for many years. Chris and Pat formed a musical unit in 1990, and have played together since.
On this Earwig debut album, this dynamic trio is joined by Sam lay on seven cuts, and by Dave Myers on guitar on three numbers. These are the last recordings of Dave Myers, who along with his guitarist brother louis Myers and drummer Fred Below were instrumental in modernizing the Chicago blues sound in the 1950s.
Since 1998, Rob, Chris and Patrick have been working as the C-Notes, forging a fresh sound with solid songwriting by Rob and Chris, while remaining true to the Chicago blues tradition.
EARWIG'S 25TH YEAR OF THE BLUES
The new cd, Just My Luck, by Rob Stone and the C-Notes marks the 50th recording released on the Earwig label. November 6, 2003 marked the 25th anniversary of the first Earwig recording session, Earwig LP490 1, The Jelly Roll Kings - Rockin ' The Juke Joint Down. The sessions were recorded in Memphis, Tennessee at Ardent Studios. They were produced by label founder and President Michael Robert Frank, with production coaching ITom Bob Koester, owner ofDelmark Records and the Jazz Record Mart in Chicago, and by Jim O'Neal, co-founder of Living Blues Magazine. Over the past 25 years, the Earwig label has released debut albums by Big Jack Johnson, Lester Davenport, John Primer, H-Bomb Ferguson, Johnny "Yard Dog" Jones, (who won a W.C. Handy Award), Liz Mandville Greeson and Johnny Drummer.
Earwig also has reissued masters produced by Sunnyland Slim, Little Brother Montgomery, Lovie Lee and Johnny Drummer on their own labels, as well as reissued material by Honeyboy Edwards, Louisiana Red, Little Willie Anderson, Big Leon Brooks, and Pinetop Perkins. Producer Michael Robert Frank is also known for putting unusual band combinations together, such as Willie Kent, Little Ed and Eddie C. Campbell; Big Jack Johnson with the Chicago Fire Horns; the classic Chicago blues quintet of Sunnyland Slim, Honeyboy Edwards, Floyd Jones, Walter Horton and Kansas City Red; and Louisiana Red backed by an all star Chicago blues band on Millennium Blues (nominated for four Handy Awards). The label also released widely acclaimed albums by Jimmy Dawkins and the last recordings of Louis Myers and Dave Myers, two of the founders of the electric Chicago blues sound.
During its 25 year history, Earwig also has recorded eight albums of folktales by international storytellers Jackie Torrence, Laura Simms, Bobby Norfolk and Alice McGill; two jazz albums by Pittburgh, Pennsylvania legends pianist Carl Arter and vocalist Tiny Irvin; and a gospel album by the traditional gospel nonet The Gospel Trumpets of North Carolina.
Label owner Michael Robert Frank, also a licensed clinical social worker, has fom the beginning taken an activist role in facilitating artist bookings, special concerts and promotion. He has managed the career of David Honeyboy Edwards since 1973, and has played hannonica with Honeyboy on tour worldwide. Frank is the co-biographer of Honeyboy's life story The World Don't Owe Me Nothing, a winner of a Blues Foundation Award KeeDinl! The Blues Alive in Literature. This book is considered to be one of the most important books in blues oral history. Frank also advised independent filmmakers Scott Taradash and Kenan Bakirci on their documentary film Honeyboy, (www.honeyboyfilm.com) which will be released on DVD in February 2004. An abbreviated version of the film was broadcast on National Public Television as an add- on after the Martin Scorcese Year of the Blues film series.
During 2004, Earwig Music Company, under Frank's direction, is expanding its artist management and booking roster. In addition to booking Earwig artists Honeyboy Edwards, Aron Burton, Johnny Drummer, Rob Stone and the C-Notes, Johnny "Yard Dog Jones, Louisiana Red, Dave Weld and Liz Mandville Greeson, Earwig will be representing Aron Moore, Charles Wilson, Dennis Binder, Eb Davis, and Earnest Roy, Jr. Earwig artists will be touring the world on their own and as part of an Earwig 25th anniversary revue.
For more information on Earwig recordings and artist activities, contact Michael Robert Frank at: Earwig Music Company, Inc. 1818 W. Pratt Blvd., Chicago, IL 60626 www.earwigmusic.com.