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"Expressin' the Blues presents songs by 21 artists who have performed predominantly in their own communities. This collection is a sampler of future issues from Music Maker Recordings. These are some of the artists that I have been working with and recording since 1994. These selections represent the most authentic country blues that exist today. –Tim Duffy, MMRF President
For all the success of the House of Blues franchise and modernizers such as Keb' Mo and Corey Harris, most practitioners continue to plow a lonely furrow. Like a latter day Alan Lomax, the aficionado Tim Duffy has devoted himself to discovering Southern performers who exist at the very margins.
Aside from providing openings for recordings, his Music Maker Relief Foundation also acts as a crutch in time of need, helping out with medical care and other sundry essentials. This month marks the release of the first batch of albums on the Cello label, including discs by the late Guitar Gabriel and fellow-troubadour Cootie Stark, a blind singer/guitarist who receives fleeting help from Taj Mahal and a low-down Lee Konitz. The atmospheric sampler forms an ideal point for the less committed, its dizzying clash of styles running from elemental chants to Piedmont guitar and the sophisticated balladry of Rainy Night in Georgia. Roots music doesn't come much rootsier. –London Times 5/15/99
Track Listing: 1/Expressin'the Blues-Guitar Gabriel 2/Old Bill-Big Boy Henry 3/Carolina Breakdown-Etta Baker 4/Prison Blues-Neal Pattman 5/Rain In Your Life-Essie Mae Brooks 6/Rainy Night in Georgia-Captain Luke 7/Little Country Girl-John Dee Holeman 8/Hard Luck & Trouble-Marie Manning 9/Let's Talk It Over-Macavine Hayes 10/Railroadin' & Gambling-Samuel Turner Stevens 11/Careless Love-Preston Fulp 12/Metal Bottoms-Cootie Stark 13/Wrenched My Ankle-Precious Bryant 14/Tomorrow Might Be My Wedding Day-Algia Mae Hinton 15/Turn Off The Fear-Carl Rutherford 16/Going Away-John Lee Zeigler 17/Peter Rumpkin-Willa Mae Buckner 18/Black Mattie-Robert "Wolfman" Belfour 19/Whoopin' The Blues-Rufus McKenzie 20/Gospel Train-Bishop Dready Manning 21/Walk On Water-Albert Smith