Catalog includes songs by Maria Muldaur, Ronnie Earl, Colin Linden, Amos Garrett, Kevin Breit, Doug Sahm,  Sonny Rhodes, Harry Manx, Paul Reddick, Sue Foley, Big Dave Maclean, Tim Hus, Charlie Angus, Jay McShann, Rita Chiarelli, Walter ‘Shakey’ Horton, Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne, and Cindy Church, and songs recorded by Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, Jeff Healey, Long John Baldry, Downchild, Dutch Mason,  Monkeyjunk, & Jr Gone Wild

TORONTO, ON   Curated by respected blues historian and long-time host of CBC Radio’s Saturday Night Blues, Holger Petersen and Linus Entertainment today announced the acquisition of the Stony Plain music publishing catalog.   

“It’s been just over two years since Linus Entertainment acquired the Stony Plain Records catalog, things have gone so smoothly and they have done such a good job with the recordings it felt like the right home for the publishing catalog as well,” commented Holger Petersen, who started Stony Plain publishing 49 years ago from his home base in Edmonton, Alberta with longtime partner Alvin Jahns.

“These songs are part of the history of North American roots music, written by Grammy, Juno, and Blues Music Award winners, and we couldn’t be prouder to be their music publisher,” stated Linus Entertainment CEO Geoff Kulawick.   

The New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers return with Volume 2 from the famous sessions that produced last year’s Top 20 Billboard and Top 10 Living Blues album Volume 1.

“NMJRFR, Volume 1 lays out a musical feast at which we relish every course. By the end, we want more, of course.”

– Henry L. Carrigan Jr. Living Blues

“In true rock-and-roll tradition, NMJRFRs were born in the back of a tour bus, and they’re everything their name implies: Raucous, rattly, raw, and magnificently loose… a group of road-tested wanderers turned loose for a rip on what they dubbed a potluck session.”
– Grant Britt No Depression

This album crosses the generations of new Blues-Rockers and Classic Blues Statesmen. It is a testament to the great experience and talent of these esteemed performers that they could casually conjure a recording of this quality out of the ether in a casual jam session — sounding as if you are right there in the room with them with between-song banter and commentary, the classic structures of the Blues, being pulled together and teased apart by some of the most award-decorated members of the Blues Elite.

Alive In Italia

Released July 20, 2020

Listen Here

Alive in Italia is an album of far flung friends playing music together at a beautiful theatre in the Piemonte region of northern Italy. The album title reflects the inspired spirit of the recording, it is a celebration of the magic of people and place. The live band is made up of Paul Reddick, vocals and harmonica, Steve Marriner, guitar, and Tony D, guitar, who live in Canada and “The Gamblers”; Gab D, bass and Andrea Costanzo, drums, who both live in Italy.

Paul has been accompanied by the Gamblers (also featuring, Guitar Ray Scona) on many European tours since 2010, and they have become close friends through the years. Steve Marriner and Tony D are members of the Canadian blues rock band “MonkeyJunk”, who Paul has collaborated with as writer of on both of their Juno Award winning albums.

Both Paul and MonkeyJunk were on tour in Europe in 2018 and decided to extend their visits and put together the band featured on Alive In Italia, and a beautiful friendship was born. One year later they were back together again, and a live album was dreamt of, then recorded in concert at Museo Tornielli, Ameno, Novara, Italy; November 10th, 2019.

Featuring Charlie Musselwhite, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Jimbo Mathus, Jim Dickinson, Luther Dickinson, and Cody Dickinson.

Available September 4, 2020

Click Here to Listen to the First Single “Blues Why You Worry Me?”

The New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers originated back in January 2007 when musician brothers Luther & Cody Dickinson sat down for a guitar jam with ex-Squirrel Nut Zippers leader Jimbo Mathus along with Blues Greats Charlie Musselwhite, Alvin Youngblood Hart and the late Memphis pianist, producer and all around musical stylist Jim Dickinson gathered for a recording under the group name of the New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers.

For more than 12 years that recording’s existence was mentioned only obscurely in interviews, and referenced as a great old-school recording by those few witnesses. It was done in one take off the floor over a couple of late nights, where they all sat in one big circle in the studio and played quietly amongst the microphones, taking turns singing out in the room and improvising on the spot. Despite the fact that Jim Dickinson finished production before his death in summer 2009, that album just hung out in the archives, waiting. It is a testament to the great experience and talent of these esteemed performers that they could casually conjure a recording of this quality out of the ether this way. Sounding as if you are right there in the room with them with between-song banter and commentary, the classic structures of the Blues, being pulled together and teased apart by some of the most award-decorated members of the Blues Elite. This album crosses the generations of new Blues-Rockers and Classic Blues Statesmen.

The first 10 tracks will be available finally on September 4, 2020 on Stony Plain Records, with the next 11 songs coming in spring 2021 on volume 2.

Rise Up

Available September 11, 2020

Click Here to Listen to the First Single “Albert’s Stomp”

Ronnie Earl, a four-time Blues Music Award winner as “Guitar Player of the Year,” follows up the critical and commercial success of last year’sBeyond the Blue Door album with another blockbuster disc of music,Rise Up, set for release September 11 on Stony Plain Records. Created to heal and move bodies and souls alike, the majority of the album’s value-packed 15 tracks were recorded in “Living Room Sessions” at Earl’s house, with a vibe that puts the listener right in the room with Ronnie & The Broadcasters. A special bonus is the inclusion of several tracks recorded live from a set at a “Daryl’s House Club” show.

 In Rise Up, Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters —Dave Limina on keys, Diane Blue on vocals, Paul Kochanski on bass and Forrest Padgett on drums — take listeners on a journey through a wide swath of musical influences, Ronnie’s passions and concerns. Rise Up was created a bit differently than his other recordings. While recuperating from back surgery to alleviate a stubborn case of sciatica, Ronnie decided to hold the session at his modest home west of Boston. It took place in March, just before the coronavirus hit.

 In a world of rampant commercialization, computer-derived music and diminishing standards, the 67-year-old continues to produce top-quality emotionally satisfying music his way, pleasing listeners and audiences wherever he goes. Rise Up is Ronnie’s 13th album on Stony Plain Records and 27th of his career. It’s another gem from a prolific artist who for over 45 years has created a deep lasting body of work.

Canadian ball-of-fire beacon of the blues scene Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne is set to add to his stack of multi-award winning albums with the release of Go, Just Do It! — available June 12, 2020 via Stony Plain Records. 

Fans of his internationally sold-out shows know what they’re in for: smooth, robust piano and cool, soulful vocals injected into a cannon that blasts quite the sonic sensation. With Wayne, it’s about preparing for a multi-faceted ride, as the musical terrain can shift just as quickly as the lyrical inspiration. 

“I’m not looking for a different path,” the 75-year old man of the hour asserts. “I love that jump blues and boogie-woogie. That’s where my heart is at. 

“I’m just trying to keep that style alive,” he adds. “That’s classic stuff, and I’m at that classic age so it all works out.” 

Inducted into the Boogie Woogie Piano Hall of Fame in Cincinnati, Kenny Wayne also lines his shelf with seven Maple Blues Awards, a JUNO Award, three Living Blues Magazine Keyboard Awards, and more. 

And if that critically acclaimed 11-album catalogue resembles a swirling, savoury pot of musical gumbo, richly layered with flavours of Ray Charles and Duke Ellington, to ingredients of gospel, jazz, Latin, R&B, soul, and dashes of bebop and swing for good measure, Go, Just Do It! hits the table as his spiciest serving yet. 

There are guests on Go, Just Do It! and they garnish the already greatness with finesse. Wayne’s son SeQuel — Cory Spruell — infuses rap cadence and a fresh verse into Percy Mayfield cover of “Don’t Want To Be President,” and GRAMMY Award-winner Diane Schuur helps create a show-stopping duet in “You’re In For A Big Surprise.” 

There’s also former B.B. King bassist Russell Jackson, powerhouse horn players Jerry Cook and Vince Mai (both mainstays with Powder Blues, Colin James, and more), plus Boogie Patrol guitarist Yuji Ihara, JUNO Award-winning former Parachute Club-er Julie Masi, award-winning Montreal vocalist Dawn Tyler Watson, Joey DiMarco on drums, and Incognito band and harp ace Sherman “Tank” Doucette. 

On Go, Just Do It!, Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne originals come in at 10 of the 13-song set, each artfully dovetailing soul-tinged sounds with the funkiest of sojourns. 

“I was playing the T-Bone Walker Blues Festival in Longview, Texas a few years ago and we drove down to Marshall, Texas to see the train museum,” Wayne recalls about one in particular — “T & P Train 400,” and how sounds of new steam trains in that region influenced rhythms that piano players would employ in the 1920s. “Those trains carried so much history, musical or otherwise.” 

An American expat by way of Spokane, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New Orleans, Wayne long credits Canada for partly shaping him into the artist he is today. “I didn’t know what I was in store for except that the people were great,” he recalls of his move decades ago. “My blues career started in Canada, and I think this country really helps people create their art — whether it’s painting, theatre, or music. 

“Why would I leave?!” 

Go, just listen.

Go, Just Do It! is available June 12, 2020 via Stony Plain Records.