Page 66 - Blues Festival Guide Magazine 2023 Digital Edition

Mean Church People On “Lost My Horse,” a Navajo man drank so much that he
Talkin’ ‘bout mean church people lost his horse and, in turn, he would lose his mind. In “Saint
I’ve met some mean church people in my time Martha Blues,” he sings of his great grandfather’s lynching.
When one tells stories this deep, one must indeed be fearless
As the song ends, there’s a background chant of “Jesus about audience response. I, for one, was blown away.
loves me,” and the resolution line is posed to the audience: On to kick-ass pianist and guitarist Kelley Hunt. With
“…do you know some mean church people?” pipes similar to Aretha, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better
There are a few artists who seem to constantly tell stories, vocalist on the blues circuit. She’s not afraid to be true to her
and I want to highlight four additional songwriters. The first heart, to her purpose. She’s funny, as in “Wig Chalet,” where
is the “young blood” of the group, Kat Riggins. Through her she can be free to be anything she wants. And she’s deep, as
songwriting, Kat comes across as a die-hard feminist without in “Long Way Home,” where she has to give up on a brother
being “in yo’ face.” who is deep in self-abuse and let him take the long way home.
Her “Good Girl Blues” tells the story of a girl’s upbringing I’ll highlight my favorite song of hers – “It Ain’t Over When It’s
to be a “good girl,” so, of course, she’s gonna be bad! In “A Over” – co-written with her writing partner, Gary Nicholson,
Girl in the Boys’ Club,” she tells the world that the boys can for a friend who passed. This is a New Orleans song through
come on to her, but the cigar-toting, shot-drinking photos give and through, with New Orleans piano funk and New Orleans
warning of what might come. Then on her Cry Out album, she 2nd line coming at ’cha! Its rhythm is infectious and one has
literally cries out a litany of social pain. In “Heavy” she paints to dance… That’s the way I want my funeral to be!
a series of heavy images – such as:
Everybody’s feeling so somber and sad
Heavy is the heart of a woman scorned With their heads hanging low, feeling mighty bad
Heavy is the head that wears the crown of thorns If they only knew what I know
Heavy are the shoulders that bear the weight of the world They’d jump right up and let the good times roll
Heavy are the tears on the cheeks of the hungry boys and girls It ain’t over when it’s over
… We’ve been careless with life as a whole The soul lives on and it never dies
Heavy is the hate that darkens the soul It ain’t over when it’s over
And there’s a better world waiting on the other side
In other songs, Kat’s optimism is grounded in her
spirituality as in “On Its Way” and “No Sale,” where she is at It goes on to advise: get fine wine, get stoned, scatter
the Crossroads, but refuses to sell her soul to the devil. Indeed, the ashes on the Pontchartrain, no need to cry and, for the
I am pleased to find this young griot in the blues world. resolution, it goes into “When the Saints Go Marching In”
Otis Taylor’s White African album touched me deeply. “My with the final line, “And I will see you there!”
Soul’s in Louisiana” tells of a Black hobo accused of murder in Lastly, Guy Davis is a Renaissance Man. He is a writer
1930. “Momma Don’t You Do It” recounts how a man is too of stage, film and, of course, music. He is an actor and
proud to cry when his mother is dying. “3 Days and 3 Nights” a musician who uses any genre he wants for whatever
will rip your heart with a baby crying in the background as occasion he wants. Of all contemporary blues story-songs,
the father cannot pay for the baby’s medical bills. Guy’s “Kokomo Kidd” was the first to come to mind. It’s
based on the legend of a man who delivers coal to the White
House and moves from bootlegger to advisor to the GOP –
hacking emails, keeping secrets. It’s of that “Stagger Lee/
Stack-o-Lee” or “John Henry” tradition. Musically, just the I
chord, but with the funkiest tuba and banjo. Here’s an early
verse and a later one:

Now when liquor got cut down
The government almost shut down
They needed a bagman who looked like a ragman
Who better than Black man to come serve the white man
His hoochie-fied liquor a whole lot quicker than a white
bootlegger could do
They call me Kokomo, Kokomo Kidd
… I’ve calmed all of Washington’s fears
I’ve kept the Supreme Court high for years
I’ve got governors, senators even representatives
Waiting for my drop off, medicine for a bad cough

64 Blues Festival Guide 2023