Pat Blythe – The Women of Blues Revisited, Part I….

I am swamped with another project that is sucking up all my time during the waking hours. I have less than two weeks to complete it and it’s seems to be growing arms and legs I wasn’t expecting. So…..just to rehash a bit of blues history, specifically the ladies, I thought I’d have my editor post this again as many of you have probably not seen it. I wrote three series, Women of Rock, Women of Blues and Women in Song. The Women of Blues was actually inspired by a contemporary whom I saw for the first time a couple of years ago. She had dedicated her latest album to a female blues artist I had never heard of. Read all about her and the women who contributed so, so much to the genre we call the blues. The famous and not so famous. They were tough, talented, single-minded, sexually liberated, passionate and most of them had more balls than the men. Read on, you might even learn something.

Roxanne Tellier: When Love Takes You By Surprise

I have a friend who’s been bit by the love bug. He wasn’t looking. Meeting her was unexpected, … a bolt out of the blue that could not have come as more of a surprise to him.

“It whapped me upside the head,” he told me.

Pat Blythe: The Women of Blues

Prologue….

Anyone heard of Memphis Minnie? How about Ida Cox, Victoria Spivey, Lucille Hegamin, Julia Lee or Maxine Sullivan? Me neither. How about Bessie Smith, Etta James, Sarah Vaughan, Aretha Franklin, Big Momma Thornton, Dinah Washington or even Janis Joplin. The latter are a smattering of the ladies most frequently thought of or mentioned when we think of great female blues singers….the former, not so much.

Pat Blythe: Yesiree! CMW 2015 Continues….

 

Yessirreee….it’s that time once again. My dawgs are barking, my body’s aching and wondering what the hell I’m doing to it. Ahhhh….CMW. It’s been such a busy four days and the party hasn’t even started yet.

Pat Blythe: Toronto Scrapbook – Chapter Two

Well…. This was supposed to be Part Five of The Women of Rock. However, I’m going to take a break and fill you in on some of the sights and sounds of this dynamic city I call home….Toronto…. Hogtown… Muddy York…. The Big Smoke…. Tdot…. where I’ve been going, who I’ve been seeing, what I’ve been drinking (G&T w/lemon if you must know. Bombay Sapphire is the chosen one.) AND update you about an exciting event that’s coming to Toronto. Yep….it’s another Toronto Scrapbook!

Nadia Elkharadly: My Toronto

I’ve often called myself a Toronto snob.  I was born and raised in this city, and no matter where else I go in the world, I’ll always think of it as home.  I love Toronto so very much.  There’s no better reminder of how much I love this city than when visitors from far away places come to the city, and I get a chance to show them my Toronto.  Not the CN Tower, the Skydome (I will never call it by its other corporate name thank you!)  I’m talking about the fun little places that I have come to love, and love showing off to people who come to town.