RECOMMENDED (10/22/06 @ Antone's)
“Keith and I didn’t go to the studio; we recorded at the house. At his house. I been knowin’ the Stones for a long time. We did The London Sessions with Wolf, you know. And Blondie, he’s on my CD, too. Child, we had a good time!”

Hubert Sumlin cackles and relates the lively details of recording his acclaimed 2005 CD, About Them Shoes, which featured Keith Richards, Blondie Chaplin, Eric Clapton, James Cotton, and Levon Helm. For Sumlin, one of the last classic-era bluesmasters walking the Earth, playing with the Stones guitarist is as much a highlight as his years with Howlin’ Wolf.

Sumlin was born in the blues-fertile country of Greenwood, Miss., 1931. His youthful friendship with harpman James Cotton paid off when Howlin’ Wolf brought both into his band in 1954. Sumlin’s incendiary guitar was the omega to Wolf’s alpha on classics such as “Shake for Me” and “Killing Floor.” Ironically, Wolf died before playing his 1976 Antone’s booking. Clifford Antone brought Sumlin to the club anyway, beginning decades of friendship.

Sunday, after the Rolling Stones bang through Zilker Park, Sumlin’s performance, along with Cotton, Double Trouble, Gary Clark Jr., and Derek O’Brien, will mark the first celebration of Clifford Antone’s birthday without the club owner there. Talking about his late friend, with whom he lived locally for several years in the Nineties, Sumlin is introspective.

“We did a lot of playing together,” he says. “I miss him so much. We all miss him. What can you do? But he would want this show to happen. It’s gonna be one of the greatest nights there, just like he’d want. He’s gonna be there, too, child. I know my brother Cliff. I can see it, and I can see him watching. It’s gonna be a good one. There’s only one thing I’m worried about, child: Why am I not there right now?” - Margaret Moser

RECOMMENDED (08/20/06 @ Carlos'n Charlie's)
With Kenny Wayne Shepherd, John Lee Hooker Jr., Lou Ann Barton, and, inexplicably, Soul Asylum. Visit www.lakeaustinbluesfestival.com for full lineup. -

RECOMMENDED (05/20/06 @ Antone's)
Absorb the guitar wizardry from his latest, The Place You’re In. -

RECOMMENDED (09/25/04 @ Antone's)
Word on the street is that Chicago bluesman-turned-Texan James Cotton’s benefit for longtime friend Hubert Sumlin will be "like the old days." That means guests like Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon of Double Trouble, Derek O’Brien, Miss Lavelle White, Denny Freeman, Paul Ray, Darrell Nulisch, Gary Clark Jr., and Eve Monsees will likely perform in various combinations. Will the guest of honor attend? If his fragile health permits. Nonetheless, you can bet on a very special guest to bring it all home – just like the old days! - Margaret Moser

RECOMMENDED (04/17/04 @ Stubb's Bar-B-Q)
After testifying about Austin’s godfather of the blues in Antone’s: Home of the Blues, Buddy Guy returns to let his Strat do the talking and Double Trouble do the rocking. Though last year’s Blues Singer was a Sunday stroll through Guy’s Delta inspiration, the 67-year-old Louisiana firebrand’s previous release, Sweet Tea, was among the best of a long, illustrious career: a titanic, 21st-century take on (among others) Junior Kimbrough’s down ’n’ dirty Fat Pos-sum blues. Brew the Tea, Buddy, burn it @#$%^&* down! - Raoul Hernandez