Beth Kohnen - Knee Action Blues

Album: Knee Action Blues
Size: 84,3 MB
Time: 36:22
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2006
Styles: Electric blues, harmonica blues
Art: Front

1. Jukin' With Walter (3:33)
2. Can't Hold Out Much Longer (3:06)
3. Rambler's Blues (3:15)
4. Don't Get Around Much Anymore (2:03)
5. Don't You Know (Can't Stand Your Evil Ways) (4:35)
6. Tell Me Daddy (Tell Me Mama) (3:13)
7. Trouble In Mind (4:30)
8. He Ain't Nowhere (She Ain't Nowhere) (2:10)
9. Honest I Do (2:06)
10. Jelly Roll Baker (2:54)
11. Got To Get To My Baby (2:10)
12. Easy (2:42)

San Francisco based blues harmonica player, vocalist, songwriter and band leader Beth Kohnen has a sound that is both thoroughly traditional and utterly personal. Her Chicago style blues is fresh, valid and meaningful. She writes verses from her own story into the old songs the way blues artists did in the past. Beth plays as a duo with guitarist Rusty Zinn for intimate settings or with a full dance band.

Beth grew up in the wilds of South Portland, Maine and studied music, art, and literature at Syracuse University. She has released two well received CD's and is in process of recording her third with Rusty Zinn. In 2008 she played blues in Paris and in the South of France and is eager to return. Rusty Zinn was nominated for the very prestigious W.C. Handy Award and his own discography includes 5 critically acclaimed recordings.

Personnel: Beth Kohnen (harmonica, vocals); Rusty Zinn (guitar); Chris Burns (keyboard); June Core (drums); Willie Riser (bass).

Knee Action Blues mc
Knee Action Blues zippy

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Beth Kohnen & Rusty Zinn - Ease My Worried Mind

Size: 138,1 MB
Time: 58:56
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2011
Styles: Harmonica Blues
Art: Front

01. Ain't Easy (3:20)
02. Trouble In Mind (5:05)
03. Honest I Do (2:43)
04. Can't Hold Out (3:29)
05. Sad Hours (3:11)
06. Bad Break (2:54)
07. Evil Ways (4:27)
08. Raining In My Heart (2:33)
09. In The Mood (3:11)
10. Don't Get Around (2:12)
11. Bright Lights Big City (2:58)
12. Easy (3:00)
13. Walter's Jump (2:45)
14. Messin' Round With The Blues (3:06)
15. Hard Hearted Woman (3:01)
16. Red Quilt Blues (3:31)
17. Key To The Highway (2:55)
18. Mr Jelly Roll Baker (4:26)

A blues lover's delight. Tasty, soulful harmonica blues.
Beth Kohnen is a full time musician based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has also taken her music to Paris, the South of France, and New Orleans. "Ease My Worried Mind" is her third album and offers an hour of mellow blues with Beth on harmonica and vocals accompanied on guitar by WC Handy nominee Rusty Zinn.

From Beth on the making of this CD:
"Ease My Worried Mind" contains mellow blues good for thinking or day-dreaming or really listening. It's a great CD to play in the car. I like to play it on the way home from high adrenaline gigs to come back down to earth. It was a pleasure to work with Rusty --- we recorded all the tracks at my home studio. Then I took everything to Wally Sound to be mixed and mastered. Wally took the time to understand my vision and at once offered to use a vintage plate reverb effects monster machine taking up an entire wall of his studio. Consequently the reverb on the CD is not an emulation - it is the real thing used in the 20's and 30's. He also used a touch of real echo effects on the vocals which totally blew me away.

Ease My Worried Mind

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VA - Blues Harp Women

Size: 163,2+152,3 MB
Time: 69:46+64:53
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2015
Styles: Harmonica Blues
Art: Front

CD 1:
01 Paula Rangell - Harmonica Girl (4:25)
02 Roxy Perry - Roadmaster (4:16)
03 Stacy Jones Band - Heavy Water (5:45)
04 Big Mama Thornton - Down Home Shake Down (3:33)
05 Lynnann Hyde - 32-20 Blues (4:44)
06 Trina Hamlin - Down To The Hollow (4:26)
07 Tracy K - Stop! Wait A Minute (3:33)
08 Teresa 'T-Bird' Lynne - One More Lie (5:08)
09 Octavia - Naughty Girl (4:39)
10 Kat Baloun - Why You So Mean To Me (4:50)
11 Beth Kohnen - Ain't Easy (3:19)
12 Jane Gillman - Stuck On You (2:47)
13 Zola Moon - Mechanical Beast (4:06)
14 Mattie Phifer - Please Call Daddy (5:18)
15 Dorothy Jane 'DJ' Gosper - Sadder Than Sad (8:50)

CD 2:
01 Jenny Kerr - Cash Is King (3:35)
02 Cheryl Arena - Blues Got Me (6:24)
03 Annie Raines - Lookin' Good (7:32)
04 Marion Turner - He's Gone (3:17)
05 Terry Leonino - Meet Me Where They Play The Blues (3:59)
06 Dana Dixon - Crazy Maisie (4:28)
07 Beata Kossowska - Everybody's Dancing (3:02)
08 Jilll Fromewick - Take The Lead (3:26)
09 Diana Redlin - Never Leave Me Home (3:07)
10 Christelle Berthon - Summertime (4:25)
11 Judy Rudin - Hit The Road (4:22)
12 Cecilia Loforti - Doctor C (4:01)
13 Maria Coyote - Rikers Island (3:35)
14 Jackie Merritt - Fast Food Mama (2:50)
15 Big Nancy - Bring It On Home (To Me) (3:30)
16 Rhonda Rucker - Rhonda Alla Blue (3:13)

Big Mama Thornton is responsible for this album. I played one of her tracks on my radio show, heard a nice harmonica solo and checked the liner notes to see who it was. It was Big Mama! It was the first time I recall hearing a woman playing blues harp and it set the wheels turning in my head. I started wondering if there were other women who played the harmonica and why they are virtually unknown. I began searching. Eventually I found others, then more. I was inspired to create a website. As I was discussing it with a friend, he mispronounced harmonica as “hermonica”. “That’s it!” I shouted. “That’s the name for the website!”
So hermonicas.com was born and became what Adam Gussow called “the definitive site on women harmonica players.” We discovered and contacted almost 200 players around the world. There was some discussion on putting an album together. As far as we know, it had never been done before. A label-owning friend suggested I try Ruf Records and (bless his heart) Tom Ruf agreed to back the project.
It has taken a few years and numerous obstacles to overcome, (working with 30-plus artists can get very complicated) but finally the album is finished and is about to become a unique part of music history; the very first women’s blues harmonica compilation album ever made!
I hope this album will shed some light on what has been a black hole in the blues universe. It proves that as with other instruments, women are the equal of men on the harmonica. Perhaps this will help them get the attention that has passed them by in the past. I am delighted to have been a part of this project.

Blues Harp Women CD 1
Blues Harp Women CD 2

Thanks to Red Rooster
Covers

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