Stand Up! It’s not just an album title, it’s an order, forcing anyone who hears Whitney Shay’s brand of rocket-fuelled R&B onto the dancefloor. A flame-haired stick of dynamite in a sparkling dress, this San Diego phenomenon has made a record for dancing, drinking and dreaming, with songs to soundtrack the peaks and punches of life. “I make high-energy soulful rhythm ‘n’ blues,” she explains, “that makes people dance and feel something deep inside.”

            Released in 2020 on Ruf Records, Stand Up! is sure to mark the global explosion of a singer-songwriter who’s long been threatening to go ‘boom’. Coming up the old-fashioned way – with a thousand word-of-mouth shows blazing her reputation across the planet – Shay’s first decade has seen four wins at the San Diego Music Awards, a nomination at last year’s prestigious Blues Music Awards and the tag of “future blues icon” bestowed by Blues Matters! magazine. Whether you picked up 2012’s debut album, Soul Tonic, caught up with her on 2018’s acclaimed A Woman Rules The World – or heard her songs on major TV networks including HBO and NBC – you’re probably already a fan, whether you realise it or not.

But having signed to Ruf last year, Shay is set to paint the world red in 2020. Tracking at Austin’s Wire Recording Studio with producer Kaz Kazanoff, Stand Up! saw the singer let the good vibes flow. Setting the pace with the title track’s brassy soul and smoky quickfire vocal, this new record’s upbeat moments twist from the rolling groove of Tell The Truth to the dirtied-up funk of P.S. It’s Not About You, with Shay’s all-star studio band rising to the occasion.

“One of my favourite memories was recording the duet Far Apart (Still Close) with Guy Forsyth,” the singer remembers. “Within an hour we were singing together and cracking each other up. Laura Chavez's brilliant guitar solos really shone and the interplay between her and Derek O'Brien on Equal Ground, we jokingly referred to as ‘Godzilla versus Mothra’, because they are both such monster guitarists! Then there’s Red Young, who’s such an artist on organ, and when we would let him rip – like he did on the end of Stand Up! – he added the perfect amount of soul to every track.”

The new material of Stand Up! – penned alongside writing partner Adam J. Eros – might fill the dancefloors, but it also brings you deep into Shay’s headspace, with themes that span from the personal to the socio-political.“Being a strong, independent woman, raised by my single mother and grandmother, many of the songs on this album deal with themes of equality and female empowerment,” she says. “Someone You Never Got To Know is about not knowing how to mourn the passing of someone that you never got to have a relationship with. When I recorded that song, I was in tears, and we ended up using that take, because of the emotion in it.”

Whether it’s raucous or wracked with pain, every note on Stand Up! is real. And whether you play this record at top volume – or catch these tunes live when Shay and her band take Stand Up! out on the road for Ruf Records’ 2020 Blues Caravan showcase – she’ll have every last listener up on their feet. “When I perform,” says Shay, “I want people to dance and be engaged. To me, music has always been about catharsis, the purging of sad experiences. If I can make the audience leave smiling and feeling like they’ve forgotten about the troubles of their day, I’ve done my job.”

Long live the King. Four years since the passing of the great B.B. King, his towering influence over the blues world – and beyond – remains undimmed. From the long-standing fans still held spellbound by 1965’s classic Live At The Regal album, to the young guitarists adding a shiver of vibrato to an emotive solo, King’s music will never be forgotten. And this year, the iconic bluesman’s presence is felt stronger than ever, as his spirit imbues a star-studded new album, The Soul Of The King.

            The term ‘legend’ doesn’t do justice to B.B. King. The eight-decade story of how a Mississippi cotton-picker rose to the heights of the blues – changing the genre forever with his soul-drenched voice and ‘one-note’ touch – is told by his acclaimed studio catalogue and fabled live shows. Now, as the men who walked alongside him every step of the way for over 35 years, The B.B. King Blues Band write the next chapter, on an album that salutes King’s classic songs and showcases their own. “It’s important,” nods executive producer Terry Harvey, “to continue what he started.”

Boasting several world-class songwriters in their ranks, The Soul Of The King finds the lineup supplying material that stands alongside their late leader’s catalogue. There’s the addictive brass-bolstered shuffle of Low Down. The slow-burn balladry of She’s The One. The spring-heeled funk of Taking Care Of Business, and trumpet legend James ‘Boogaloo’ Bolden’s own Hey There Pretty Woman. Joe Louis Walker gives a soulful hat-tip on Regal Blues – while the King would surely approve of Louisiana gunslinger Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s masterful solo on opener Irene Irene. As Harvey says: “This record is a representation of B.B.’s musical styles and influences, to those who never got to hear or see him live.”          

            In modern times, most musicians shrink from the challenge of covering King’s material, wary of being hopelessly exposed as they strain to capture the soul. But as the King’s faithful sidemen, this band of blues lifers have his music under their fingernails, and during sessions at Hollywood’s Paramount Recording Studios and Houston’s Lucky Run Studios, their performances soared. “After being with B.B. for 35 years,” says Harvey, “this band lives and breathes his music. It has become a part of them.”

Choosing songs from King’s sprawling catalogue could have been an ordeal. But for The Soul Of The King, the lineup made a smart move, letting the A-list guests dictate the material. “As the name artists joined the project,” remembers Harvey, “we picked songs from B.B.’s catalogue that we felt fit their voices. Our approach was not to stray too far from the original, but still to make it fresh. I want the world to remember B.B. and to introduce his music to the youth of today.”

            Mission accomplished, with The Soul Of The King making a bracing return to some of King’s greatest cuts. There’s a heartfelt turn from Michael Lee on The Thrill Is Gone. Mary Griffin and Taj Mahal combine their vocal and guitar talents on Paying The Cost To Be The Boss. Kenny Neal lends poignant vocals and licks to Sweet Little Angel. “Recording with the different artists and the band was an enlightening experience,” reflects Harvey. “Everyone came in prepared, but when Mary Griffin came to record, she came in all bubbly – and nailed her vocals in two takes.”

            They might have an illustrious history, but The Soul Of The King reminds us that The B.B. King Blues Band are a lineup moving forward, writing a love-letter to their fallen leader while staking their own claim in the modern era. “When we started this album, we wanted to let the world know the B.B. King Band is live and well,” explains Harvey. “And that we are continuing B.B.’s musical legacy…”                

It’s not often that blues breaks the Internet. But after six million-plus YouTube views for his jaw-dropping rendition of The Thrill Is Gone – an unforgettable highlight from last year’s The Voice TV show – it’s no wonder that Michael Lee has been tipped as the bluesman set to drag the genre into the mainstream. Now, with the release of Michael’s self-titled Ruf debut, the next big thing has truly arrived. “This album was a journey,” he reflects. “And a fun one at that.”

            Of course, that soulful B.B. King cover features here – and the thrill ain’t gone. But as that album title suggests, this new record holds a mirror up to Michael himself, offering ten original songs that let you into the heart and mind of an artist who has already walked many roads. Given his roots, it was inevitable that Michael would run with the state’s blues baton. “Being from Dallas and Fort Worth,” he considers, “I’m heavily influenced by Freddie King and Delbert McClinton. But I also bring my own style to the party. It’s retro-Texas rhythm and blues with a helping of rock ‘n’ roll.”

But nobody predicted how Michael would fuse those vintage influences with his own modern fire. And from breakout gigs in the roadhouses and honky-tonks of his home state to performing for an audience of eight million on The Voice, Michael’s old-soul voice and fiery fretwork has carried him ever onward. This year has already started with live vocal duties for the iconic B.B. King Blues Band. But a classic studio album was always on the cards. “I had a vision of where I wanted this album to go and sound like before I even rehearsed with the band,” Michael recalls. “That vision or sound has been surpassed by what we’ve been able to achieve with my producers, Nick Choate and Nick Jay.”

Studio trickery was not an option for a dues-paying bluesman who sings every line from his soul. The brief was simply to set up live, catch the sparks between Michael and his stellar studio band – and bottle the raw emotion of these songs. Heart Of Stone opens the album in style with dirty beats, fuzzbox guitars and punchy horns. Don’t Leave Me switches vibes with a broken-man vocal (“That’s a begging song,” explains Michael). Weeds fuses irrepressible money-lick horns with a reflective lyric. “When my wife and I moved into our house,” explains Michael. “I imagined the overgrown weeds in the backyard being our future children playing. I grabbed my guitar and wrote that song in ten minutes. It was just meant to be.”

It’s typical of an observational artist who finds inspiration everywhere. Praying For Rain feels like a modern flood song, its infectious riff locking with a thudding beat and moody brass (“I haven’t seen water in forty damn days”). Love Her’s breezy strut disguises the barbed lyric (“It’s a classic tale,” says Michael, “of a dangerous woman”). This Is has an elegant swoop, while Can’t Kick You celebrates a woman’s addictive pull (“I can kick the nicotine, I can kick the alcohol… but I can’t kick you”). “Some of these songs, I can see folks turning the radio up with the windows down,” says Michael. “Others might need some candlelight, wine and someone special.”

            Even as the album plays out, Michael slips fluidly between moods and vibes. Fool Of Oz has a sparse guitar line and raw lyric. Here I Am is a brass-bolstered slow-blues sung with bruised poignancy (“Don’t leave me stranded in the pouring rain”), while Go Your Own Way is a moody strut, complete with virtuoso guitar work and a spooky storytelling lyric of swamps and gunmen.

            In a modern age of manufactured music, Michael Lee is the flesh-and-blood bluesman we’ve been waiting for – armed with the album we always knew he was capable of. “I’m looking forward to the future,” he considers, “and seeing where this thing goes…”                

It takes a brave artist to blaze their own trail. From her birth-city of Belgrade to the Marz Studios in Texas where she recorded her dazzling new album, Katarina Pejak has walked countless roads and stuck a thousand pins in the map. Now, with Roads That Cross, this award-winning performer unveils a fresh set of songs that follow her muse wherever it leads her. Inspired by blues, jazz, country and rock ‘n’ roll – and shaped by all the cities she’s called home – this is music that crosses borders and brings people together. As producer Mike Zito says: “Katarina is one of a kind…”

            Making her debut on the iconic Ruf Records – and taking part in the label’s famous Blues Caravan tour in 2019 – Roads That Cross is the stone-cold classic that Katarina has promised since the start. Rewind to the post-millennium and this upcoming artist was already a little different: a classical piano virtuoso who raided her father’s record collection for Tom Waits, Bessie Smith, Van Morrison and Otis Spann – then challenged herself to write songs that measured up.

Hitting the blues circuit in her late-teens, word of Katarina’s house-rocking musicianship and smoky vocal spread across the Serbian capital like wildfire. But she had bigger plans. In 2011, Katarina followed the call to the birthplace of US roots, winning a scholarship to the famed Berklee College of Music that trained stars from Steve Vai to Quincy Jones. “It was amazing and tough at the same time,” she recalls. “Studying with people like Dave Limina and Pat Pattison really shaped me.”

            Katarina soon made her own mark, picked out for Berklee’s prestigious Songwriting Achievement Award and winning critical acclaim in her native Serbia for early releases like Perfume & Luck (2010), First Hand Stories (2012) and Old New Borrowed And Blues (2016). Her material touched on every genre, but the common factor was honesty, which flooded from the speakers and held audiences spellbound as she performed with the A-list and began to be mentioned in the same breath. “I've had the privilege to meet and play with some true blues greats,” she recalls, “like Ronnie Earl, Mike Zito, Anson Funderburgh, Mark Hummel and Ana Popović.”

            For now, Katarina has put down roots in Nashville. But Roads That Cross was born in Texas, where she arrived this year armed with a notebook full of new songs, a stellar studio band and the burning desire to make the best album of her career. “A young woman from Serbia,” considers Zito, “surrounded by Americans, in Southeast Texas, takes the reins and leads this band into some of the best songs I’ve heard in a long time. Her voice is subtle and seductive, her piano playing is on fire. She has emotion, passion and a desperate need for the music to be magical.”

            Mission accomplished. Listen to Roads That Cross and you’ll be taken on a magic carpet ride of emotion and mood. There’s She’s Coming After You, with its Latin groove, echo-chamber guitars and a lyric about a femme fatale who “looks like the Devil’s daughter/Walks like a baroness”. There’s the choppy reggae-flavoured Down With Me, and the expert jazz of The Harder You Kick, carried by organ and Katarina’s astonishing vocal. The upbeat Cool Drifter combines escapism with a soul edge, while Moonlight Rider will satisfy the blues hardcore, its gritty riffs and dusty groove addressing a lover that she knows will leave. “I didn’t realise until after making the album,” she reflects, “but most of these songs are about good-byes.”

            For everyone else, Roads That Cross is the start of a beautiful relationship. Following her meteoric early career, Katarina Pejak stands at a crossroads, ready to step into the fast lane. “She’ll make you think,” concludes Zito. “She’ll make you cry. By the end of this record, she’ll have you in the palm of her hand. For Katarina, this is only the beginning…”