BLUES TORCHBEARER LAUNCHES PODCAST SERIES THE CAUSE OF IT ALL
CONVERSATIONS WITH MUSICIANS ABOUT RACE, LEGACY & THE BLUES
SEASON 1 OUT NOW
NEW DUO ALBUM THE CAUSE OF IT ALL OUT NOW LISTEN “I’M READY” (WILLIE DIXON) VIDEO
TOUR DATES ANNOUNCED, INCLUDING OCTOBER 20 @ BROOKLYN BOWL, NYC
The Reverend Shawn Amos has launched the podcast series, The Cause of It All featuring conversations with musicians about race, legacy and the blues. Season 1 is out now on all platforms.
The Rev welcomes…
Episode 1: Alex Dixon, the grandson of blues legend, Willie Dixon, who raised him from a child. He shares lessons he learned from his granddad and shares when the King of Pop tried to buy the Gershwin of Blues’ songs.
Episode 2: Zakiya Hooker, the daughter of John Lee Hooker, King of the Boogie. She tells The Rev about her father’s little-seen humorous side and how he shielded her from racism as a child.
Episode 3: Vaneese Thomas, the daughter of famed musician and producer, Rufus Thomas. She talks about the legacy and pain of Memphis, the role of black women in the music business and why fought singing for so long.
Episode 4: John Hammond, son of legendary record executive, John Hammond, Sr., John remembers his front row seat at the civil rights movement, the great ’60s folk revival, and receiving support from Black musicians as a white man playing the blues.
The podcast is a companion to The Reverend’s latest album, The Cause of It All, a stripped-down collection of blues classics, pared down to their essence with longtime guitarist Chris “Doctor” Roberts.
Listen to The Cause of It All and check out the new video for “I’m Ready,” filmed in Texas. “Amos may be a man of peace, but here he’s itching for a tussle,” says Rolling Stone.
“We brought the ancestors into the room,” says Amos, of both his album and podcast, likening himself to the griots of West Africa, a class of traveling poets, musicians, and storytellers who keep oral tradition alive, binding the people together with song and stories.
The Cause of It All album harkens back to historic pairings like Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee and Junior Wells & Buddy Guy. The Rev and the Doctor manifested a long-held desire of the Rev’s to journey back to the inspiration that launched him in 2014: raw, unbridled, canonical blues, presented in elemental duo format, no-frills, live in a room, as both testament and evangelism.
The duo delivers standards and lesser-known chestnuts, all bracingly intimate, every word hanging unencumbered in the air like an incantation. Just as they have on stages throughout the world, these men leave a lot on the floor: the breath into the bullet microphone, the laughter, the fret buzz, the defiant foot stomp – everything reverberating in a spirit-filled space, offering soul sustenance as only a well-crafted song can.
“There’s a bravery I wanted to capture,” the Rev says of the platters that inspired The Cause of It All — masterworks from icons like Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Howlin’ Wolf, and Little Walter. “I wanted to bring back a spontaneity that’s been lost.” Sure enough, with no rhythm section to mask the occasional reckless moment, the bare bones tunes evoke the rickety front porches and smoky back rooms in which they were born, places of both refuge and unabashed celebration.
The Reverend Shawn Amos & The Brotherhood Tour Dates
August 20 Madison, IN Madison Ribberfest
October 20 Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Bowl
For all things Rev, see www.shawnamos.com