Brandon Santini

He hales from Memphis, has been blowing the harp and singing since age 15. His live shows will flat out get your feet moving and knock your socks off! It's traditional blues with a side of soul that Brandon Santini specializes in. The Band is tight, turns on a dime and entertains the audience with non -stop music from start to finish. Brandon's harmonica licks capture the essence of James Cotton and Paul Butterfield wrapped up into one as Santini lays down some spellbinding modern renditions of Blues Standards. Timo Arthur is The Man on lead & rhythm guitar and complements Brandon's harp and singing in a way that showcases his immense talent as they feed off of each other on every song! Rounding out the rhythm section is Steady Nick Hern on bass guitar and David Green is a force to be reckoned with on drums.
The current album out for only a few months is: Live And Extended! - Nicely produced it captures the dynamic energy of a Live Santini show and is the next best thing to being there front row and center. Brandon's rendition of Slim Harpo's ; Got Love If You Want It - nails it!  Elevate Me Mama satisfies the listeners craving for sultry slow blues. My Backscratcher is a stand out as well.
To sum things up, I urge you to give Brandon Santini a serious listen - download Live And Extended then get out and see him when he comes to your town! It's definitely a win win situation.

The Betty Fox Band

On the heels of her upcoming album release; "Slow Burn"- Betty Fox is poised to become a very hot commodity in the ever-changing climate of Blues Music. In the process, The Betty Fox Band has once again, put Central Florida in the spotlight- which, in case you hadn't noticed, is a hotbed for the blues of late.
Blues, Soul & Funk, are the main ingredients that makes her music cook, and Betty is the Master Chef  that delivers the appetizing and delectable sounds to the listeners ears. Not an overnight success, Betty has honed her craft, paid her dues and continues to evolve as an emerging artist. Wisely, she has surrounded herself with a talented group of veteran musicians who complement her wide range of vocal talent and this troop is spot on with impeccable timing and precision. On guitar; Kid Royal; unequivocally knows his way around the fretboard. Barry Williams on bass guitar is without a doubt the backbone of the rhythm section. Finally, Sam Farmer on drums, the man who ties everything together by laying down steady shuffles and accents, old school style.
The Betty Fox Band takes it to another level while on stage. They are definitely in their element when preforming live. Betty's vocal range soars and her emotion, soul and power are something to behold front row and center. At the recent Sea Blues Festival held in Clearwater, Florida, Betty & the band captivated the large crowd with 45 mins of non-stop, knock your socks off, down and dirty soul -blues, earning them a standing ovation from the audience of knowledgeable blues fans who literally begged for more!
To put things into perspective, I see good things in the immediate future for The Betty Fox Band. The 2012 release: Too Far Gone was a milestone and just a beginning of things to come. Slow Burn is an analogy for her musical career. Ms Betty Fox is about to illuminate as an artist and realize her dreams come true.

Benji's BluesDoggle

Date: March 20 -22nd 2015
Location: Airport Field / New Smyrna Beach, FL


Three Days of Blues Music, 18 artists with their bands for one great cause -Benefiting The Childhood Cancer Foundation. What an event! The Bluesdoggle is amazing! The blues flowed like the mighty Mississippi for three days. Up and coming blues artists as well as established veterans  gave freely of their time and energy on the stage . . fans showed up from all over the country to enjoy the music, the weather, great food and drink. I obtained a media photo pass and tried to capture the raw emotion and unbridled talent from those who graced the stage. Here is a small sampling . . .

Jarekus Singleton

Jarekus Singleton

Jarekus Singleton

Jarekus Singleton

Brandon Santini

Brandon Santini

Brandon Santini

Brandon Santini

Timo Arthur

Victor Wainwright

Sean Chambers

Sean Chambers

Skyla Burrell

Monkeyjunk

Date: March 21, 2015
Venue: Benji's Bluesdoggle
Place: New Smyrna Beach, Fl


Earlier that day, the three members of  award winning blues band from Canada, Monkeyjunk  boarded a plane in below freezing temps and snow falling in Ottawa, Ontario. When Steve,Tony, and Matt arrived to their destination in Florida, as usual there was plenty of sunshine, sandy beaches and ice tea was mandatory. We Americans need to pay more attention to Blues Artists of our neighbors to the north, simple as that. Blues is alive and well in Canada and Monkeyjunk is proof of that. They took the stage in the heat of the late afternoon and absolutely delivered an hour long set of Killer Canuck Blues!  The band has been playing together for seven years -it shows. They are tight, vocals are outstanding and the guitar and harp work is impeccable. Steve Marriner is a triple threat with powerful vocals, guitar and harp. Tony D is an exceptional lead guitarist, doubles on vocals and whips out the telecaster for slide work that was music to my ears! Matt Sobb lays down the beat with percussion that brings it all together.
Monkeyjunk won the prestigious Juno Award for Blues Album of the Year in 2011 with their album: To Behold. Their set borrowed heavily on that release as well as 2009's Tiger In Your Tank and the current recording: All Frequencies. I circled Benji's Bluesdoggle to see them and was anticipating their first Floirda appearance. So glad I did. With a Photo pass to the festival I was able to capture a few images that will accompany this article. Please check out the video posted as well and remember the name: Monkeyjunk, you will be hearing more of them in the future.