Bluesfest: Mama Kin

@011 must have been Bluesfest's Year of the Australians. I saw three myself. Well, okay, three isn't a lot, but Australia's quite far away, isn't it? We had the reggae act, the ska act, and now the slightly bohemian jazz department pops up in the shape of Mama Kin. Known as Danielle Caruana to her folks, she's the wife of John Butler, a fairly big name in Oz musical circles.

Some precise drumming from George Servanis.



It's a stripped down outfit - here's Brother Michael on keys and Ms. Caruana.



It's all about the snap brims, you know.



Mamma sings!



Gripping action!



George brushes up.



Caja action!



More Mama!



Looks like she's touring again in March - in Australia and New Zealand, anyway.

• Show reminder: There are New Year's Eve shows hither and yon, the heaviest is probably Alaskan, Rough House, Currents, Shahman and We Fled Cairo at 446 Lisgar. Monkeyjunk rings in the New Year at The Rainbow; Electric Six does the same at Mavericks; The Ya-Yas do it Stones style at The Elmdale; Dry River Caravan is at Irene's.

Bluesfest: Ben Cooper

Back in the depths of 2005, I chanced to see a pleasant performance at Zaphod Beeblebrox by Stone Melodies. I noted in my writeup that they had one a slot at the previous year's Bluesfest. This year I had a chance to see guitarist Ben Cooper on his own.

Harmonica adjusting action! (That's bassist Dan Joseph to the left of Cooper)



The omnipresent Tyler Kealey lends a hand on the keys.



Hail Satan!



Ben sings!



Extra drumming from Dan Loach!



And so on!



He'll be at Grace O'Malley's on Ogilvie Rd. for a New Year's Eve show with The Jackson Miles Band.

• Show reminder: Critical Convictions, Avon Dealer and Spilt Guts rock Cafe Dekcuf; Holy Cobras, Roberta Bondar, Grime Kings and Boyhood play the Capital Rehearsal Hall at 240 Bank St.; Mark Crissinger and some other folks will perform at Irene's; Maria Hawkins is in the house at The Rainbow; Old Stereo with opener Sean Duhaime Trio are at the Elmdale.

Bluesfest: The Brothers Dube

The Brothers Dube have done a lot of good work with their fundraising efforts, gigging outside the Bluesfest gates and elsewhere - I hear their latest tally is in the $135,000 range. They also got quite a bit of attention after last year's Bluesfest when Arcade Fire went out to jam with them (the brothers reportedly had no idea who they were). For this Bluesfest, they got some stage time (and also a big check from the Claridge Homes folks earlier in the festival).

Them brothers! Guitarist Liam, drummer Quinn and bassist Jan.



Jan chats up the crowd.



Quinn mans the traps.



Liam frets!



Jan sings!



Then I once again took a powder, this time to check out Ben Cooper. You can check out their website for the latest news and to give them a hand.

• Show reminder: There's furious fundraising action at the Elmdale with Furious Gord and Dirty Little Secret.

Bluesfest: Amanda Rheaume

Amanda Rheaume's another Ottawa performer who I only seem to ever catch at Bluesfest; I didn't see her last year but have been able to catch her upward arc in previous years.

Amanda strums and sings!



Steely action!



Bass action!



More Amanda!



Organ action!



Faceoff action!



Extra bass! And you can tell it's sunny out by the fare ... that didn't last!



Guitar action!



Harmonica action!



It was just a quick stop, then I rushed off to see The Dube Brothers do their thing. Edit, Dec. 30: So quick I forgot I came back to watch more of the show and take a few more photos ... here's some clapping action with sundry guests and tots.



Olympian action!



Amanda's next big scheduled gig in town is April 21 at the Masonic Hall, but I suspect they'll be more on her calendar in the New Year.

• Show reminder: The Super Awesome Club rocks Irene's; The Late '94s, Aardwolf and Cope Only Cope are at The Rainbow; Megan Jerome, Rebecca Muir and Kaleigh Watts play the Elmdale.

Bluesfest: Mother Mother

Mother Mother have been around for almost seven years, based aroubd the songwriting and guitar of Ryan Guildemond and have garnered quite a bit of attention from the young'uns, and have released three albums, the latest Eureka on the Last Gang label.

Jasmin Parkin gets things in order.



Jeremy Page gives the order.



Ryan rocks the quiff.



That's Guildemond's sister Molly at left.



The whole lot, including a mostly obscured Ali Siadat on drums.



Singalong action!



Bonus Ryan!



They're currently prepping for a trio of shows at Vancouver's Commodore Ballroom December 29-31.

• Show reminder: Take Down Frosty and 3MD perform at The Rainbow.

Bluesfest: Nicole Atkins

Nicole Atkins and The Black Sea are a Brooklyn-based combo with a serious jones for the cool-yet-sultry sounds of 1970s female singer-songwriters. I compared her to Stevie Nicks. Roy Orbison has also been cited as an influence. I can't disagree with that, but live the addition of guitarist Irina Yalkowsky changes the formula a bit: Yalkowsky definitely likes to stray from the straight and narrow when it comes to the slide.

Black and white tambourine action!



The sunny side of Atkins.



Iria slides!


Irina Yalkowsky and bassist Jeremy Kay. Along with drummer Ezra Oklan

Bassist Jeremy Kay. Well, mostly a microphone stand, but also Kay.



Drummer Ezra Oklan.



It was quite sunny.



Nicole goes acoustic!



Irina does not go acoustic.



Guitar action!



Bonus Jeremy!



Extra Ezra.



The whole lot!



It's all quiet on the Black Sea front right now.

• Show reminder: USS, Fire and Neon and Zoo Legacy play Ritual.

Bluesfest: Thornetta Davis

Detroit's Thornetta Davis first came to my attention as a backing singer for Big Chief (a post she's also filled with Kid Rock), but ever since her first album she's hewed more closely to traditional R&B and blues. She does it so well, who could complain?

Guitar action with Paul Carey!



Conga action with James “Jamalot” Anderson! (Also Davis's husband, as it happens.)



You can't say Paul doesn't enjoy his work.



"And now, the lady we've all been waiting for!" (Or words to that effect.)



I'm not sure who was manning the kit for her this go-around.



Thornetta Davis, at last!



Hmm ... I'm not sure tie-die is her thing.



Scarf-waving action!



Black and white blues action!



And a wee bit more Paul.



No word on recent activity.

• Show reminder: It's Christmas, for Christ's sake! Although apparently there is Spagnog at Zaphod's ...