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Award winning Blues guitarist and singer Super Chikan and the Fighting Cocks made the trip from his home in Clarksdale, Mississippi to Philadelphia last Thursday, May 16 in a double header Mississippi Blues Project concert as part of WXPN’s Non-COMMvention with the Homemade Jamz Blues Band. Born James Louis Johnson in Darling, Mississippi in 1961, Johnson got his name from working with chickens on his family’s farms, moving around the Mississippi Delta until they settled in Clarksdale. You can listen to the entire performance of Super Chikan and the Fighting Cocks here via the WXPN media player. Photos by Mike Lynch, mikelynchphoto.com

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Last Thursday during XPN’s Non-COMMvention, the Tupelo, Mississippi brothers and sister trio, the Homemade Jamz Blues Band, performed in concert with Super Chikan for the final Mississippi Blues Porject concert series. The band performed songs from its new album, Mississippi Hill Country. The band, featuring Ryan (guitar/vocals), Kyle (bass) and Taya (drums), played a fun and spirited set. You can listen to the band’s full set here via the XPN media player. Photo by Mike Lynch, mikelynchphoto.com.

Homemade Jamz Blues Band set list
1. Blues Train
2. Buy One Get One Free
3. Burned Down the House
4. If Home is Where the House Is
5. Voodoo Woman
6. Red Eye Flight
7. Ain’t No Sunshine
8. Mississippi Hill Country
9. Pay Me No Mind
10. Washing Clothes
11. So Many Tears

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Rory Block performed a special concert at World Cafe Live during the XPN Music Film Festival on Saturday, April 13th. Listen to the concert here.

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Mississippi blues legend Robert “Wolfman” Belfour performed a concert at World Cafe Live for WXPN’s Free At Noon on February 15th, 2013. You can see photos and listen to the audio of the full sets here. Below, watch Belfour perform “Big Road Blues” from the show.

Robert Belfour performs “Big Road Blues” from WXPN FM on Vimeo.

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Download a free 17 song Blues and Roots sampler from Alligator Records

April 23, 2013
Download a free 17 song Blues and Roots sampler from Alligator Records

April is Public Radio Music Month. To celebrate, Alligator Records is offering a free 17 song download of a Blues and Roots music sampler with some great artists that you hear on XPN including, The Holmes Brothers, Jesse Dee, Koko [...]

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Mississippi Blues: The Reverse Migration of Adam Gussow by Jonny Meister

April 13, 2013
Satan & Adam from the cover of their debut album

Adam Gussow is one of the world’s finest blues harmonica players. He became known, and celebrated, in the 1990s as part of a duo that was one of that decade’s most exciting and intriguing acts, Satan & Adam. “Mr. Satan” [...]

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Coming This Fall: A Mississippi Blues TV Reality Show     by Jonny Meister

April 13, 2013
Coming This Fall: A Mississippi Blues TV Reality Show     by Jonny Meister

In 2008, it was “M For Mississippi: A Roadtrip Through The Birthplace Of The Blues.” Jeff Konkel and Roger Stolle visited clubs and homes in Mississippi to bring us the music, and the stories, of a number of modern rural [...]

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Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup Recordings Issued After More Than Four Decades     by Jonny Meister

April 13, 2013
Arthur

Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup shares with Robert Johnson and some other blues greats the unfortunate fact (from a blues-centric perspective anyway) of being known today primarily because of their influence to rock stars. Johnson is known for his influence to [...]

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WXPN presents Rory Block in a free concert with a screening of We Juke Up In Here

March 29, 2013
Rory Block photo by Sergio Kurhajec

The 2nd annual WXPN Music Film Festival is happening April 11th-14th. On Saturday, April 13th there will be a free screening of We Juke Up In Here, the documentary by filmmakers Jeff Konkel and Roger Stolle about the juke joints [...]

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Stream: “Six Little Puppies” by Jimmy “Duck” Holmes”

March 29, 2013
Stream: “Six Little Puppies” by Jimmy “Duck” Holmes”

The 5th anniversary release of Back to Bentonia by Jimmy “Duck” Holmes includes the song “Six Little Puppies.” Recorded on November 17th, 2005 at the Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, Mississippi, the anniversary edition of the album is available here [...]

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Listen to two songs from Terry “Harmonica” Bean from the Broke & Hungry Records “Mistakes Were Made” compilation

February 26, 2013
Listen to two songs from Terry “Harmonica” Bean from the Broke & Hungry Records “Mistakes Were Made” compilation

Listen to two songs by Terry “Harmonica” Bean from the Broke & Hungry Records compilation Mistakes Were Made

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Magic Slim 1937-2013 by Jonny Meister

February 22, 2013
Magic Slim 1937-2013 by Jonny Meister

Few Philadelphia blues fans were aware that Magic Slim was in Philadelphia in February, in the intensive care unit at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where he died on February 20. The great bluesman had been hospitalized in January when he [...]

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