Dar He: The Lynching of Emmett Till

Joey Gilmore's first release in ten years following his victory as the winner of the International Blues Challenge. A recording career that spans over 35 years from his first single in released in 1969. This release is a Soulful, inspired session of modern electric Blues with Soul. Opening with "Ghosts Of Mississippi", a brilliant piece written by Graham Wood Drout, with Gilmore and band hitting thick and muscular ala Albert King's "Born Under A Born Sign". Gilmore's pinched, slightly raspy voice and tart guitar licks get All Star support from Drout on bass, Cam Robb's skins and icy keyboards courtesy of Bob Abernathy on this cut. Other songs on the disk incorporate the songwriting duo of Gilmore and George Caldwell, his touring bass player backed by Darrell Raines on guitar and Lionel Harrison on Drums. The compositions include four Soul Blues pounders plus the moody, provocative "Things Have Not Changed", chronicling 48 years of racially-motivated crimes beginning with the lynching of Emmet Till up through the Rodney King episode. What makes "Ghosts" special beyond superb playing and strong songs is Jim Nestor's warm, organic production wraping the CD's theme, chronicling the transition of the Blues into the next millinum from the opening note throughout the disk.

"The Earls of Leicester" is a tribute to legendary bluegrass artists Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. The new group is the product of veteran Dobro master Jerry Douglas’s lifelong passion for the music of bluegrass pioneers Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs and their band the Foggy Mountain Boys, whose seminal work in the ’50s and ’60s created the template for what we know as contemporary bluegrass, and transcended traditional genre barriers to popularize the music with an unprecedented mass audience.