ROOM WITH A VIEW of the blues..... Paul Rishell & Annie Raines "Goin' Home" Tone Cool Records It is not surprising that what we once listened to not only shaped our musical tastes but also those musicians of our generation. Today these musicians are influencing the next generation and so on it goes. One of the first blues I ever heard was Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. There “duo” style of an acoustic guitar and harmonica is often referred to as “Piedmont Blues”; Mississippi Blues before it migrated to Chicago. Their music was without a doubt some of the finest I’ve ever heard. Almost all blues musicians start out playing “folk” blues around a campfire. Some guy with a harmonica begins to play along; this is “Piedmont Blues”. There are very few successful “Piedmont Blues” artists. For awhile “Satan & Adam” were disciples of this genre but Satan found god and returned to preaching. “Cephas & Wiggins” are the most prominent duo playing this style today and they remain almost the sole representatives of this genre of the blues, with one other exception, Paul Rishell & Annie Raines. Paul Rishell was born in Brooklyn in 1950. He played with blues masters Son House and Howlin Wolf, and released his first cd “Blues on a Holiday” in 1990. He is an accomplished country blues guitarist, and vocalist. He resides in the Boston area and there met Annie Raines, an accomplished harmonica player who recorded with Rory Block, Pinetop Perkins and Hubert Sumlin. She was once in band with Susan Tedeschi. Paul Rishell & Annie Raines’s first album as a duo was released in 1996. The terrific “Moving to the Country” cd won a Handy award for Acoustic Blues Album of the year in 2000 and they just released their newest “Goin Home”, also on the Tone-Cool label. Obscure pre-war blues is mostly featured as Paul Rishell, is both performer and historian. The modern update sounding versions are a joy to hear. As singers they both possess fine clear voices and ultimately create a sound that is instrumentally and vocally superb. His guitar and her harmonica are perfect together. Chestnut’s include “Hunkie Tunkie Blues’ written by Charlie Jordan, “Washington Phillips “I Had a Good Mother & Father” and Charlie Patton’s “I’m Goin’ Home”. Other highlights include “Candy”, Leroy Carr & Scrapper Blackwell’s “Memphis Town”, and William Moore’s “Ragtime Millionaire”. Also included is Magic Sam’s “Lookin Good”. Paul Rishell & Annie Raines contribute two originals which they co-wrote “You’ve Got It Made” and “It Ain’t Right”. This is a wonderful album and certainly one of the best new releases of 2004. Please check them out at their website www.paulandannie.com. Richard Ludmerer Director, NY Blues & Jazz Society ricdale2@yahoo.com