Blues artist Von Johin is the alter-ego of musician Mike Lawson, the entity that he uses to perform his own unique brand of country blues music in the virtual world of Second Life. Although Lawson has unassailable musical credentials in the "real world," which include performing and recording with such legendary musicians as Jorma Kaukonen, Merl Saunders, and Joe Louis Walker, his sold-out performances in the world of Second Life as Von Johin have earned him a worldwide audience and, surprisingly, the first real world record deal offered to an avatar. Read our interview with virtual blues artist Von Johin....

Photo courtesy Von Johin

Author Rhetta Akamatsu has a lot of interests, and one of them is blues music. When reading about the blues, the Marietta Georgia native discovered that female blues singers were often overlooked in books written about the music. To help balance the scales, Akamatsu put together T'Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do: Women Blues Singers Old and New, which takes an in-depth look into the lives of blues women from both the early days of the music as well as the contemporary blues scene.

Akamatsu put a lot of research into T'Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do, and she covers an impressive range of blues artists. The first section of the book, titled "The Early Blues Women," includes profiles of classic early era blues singers like Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Ida Cox, Memphis Minnie, and Sippie Wallace, as well as R&B-oriented modern era singers like Ruth Brown and Big Mama Thornton.

The second section of T'Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do covers "Blues Women From The '60s To The Present," offering profiles of old-school blues and R&B artists like Etta James and Irma Thomas, as well as traditionally-oriented contemporary blues singers like Marcia Ball and Saffire (the Uppity Blues Women), along with more pop-and-rock-oriented performers like Bonnie Raitt and Janis Joplin, among others.

Eighteen women are covered in the pages of T'Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do, a long overdue effort to put the significant and influential contributions of female blues artists in their proper context.

Photo courtesy Rhetta Akamatsu

In Memphis in early August, the 9th annual Jus' Blues Music Awards show was held at the history Daisy Theater on Beale Street, the birthplace of rock & roll and the home of the blues. Sponsored by the Jus' Blues Music Foundation, the awards show was just part of a week of events that saw lots of live music and more than a little great food. R&B great Joe Simon was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award, and blues artists like Bobby Rush, Kenny Neal, and Eddie Cotton were among the award winners. Read more about the Jus' Blues Music Awards….

Bobby Rush photo courtesy Deep Rush Records

Wolfgang's Vault is a well-kept secret among music lovers that enjoy the live concert experience in the comfort of their own home. Launched in 2003 when the proprietors acquired the archives of Bill Graham Presents, the website's Concert Vault features hundreds of vintage performances from the legendary promoter's private stash, most of them soundboard recordings from shows at the Fillmore East and Winterland venues, dated from the mid-1960s through the late-80s. In 2006, Wolfgang added the King Biscuit Flower Hour archives to his Vault, and more recently the website has added contemporary performances from recent years.

Take a walk through Wolfgang's Vault and you'll find a treasure of live vintage blues and blues-rock performances in amidst the classic rock hordes, streamed through the Internet to your computer and your eager speakers. For instance, blues legend B.B. King is represented by several live performances ranging in date from 1967 to 1978, while blistering blues guitarist Albert King has one lone concert here, a 1971 show from the Fillmore East. Blues music giant Muddy Waters has four classic performances from 1966, and another from 1978.

For blues-rock fans, there are several different Allman Brothers Band performances, the earliest of which feature guitarist Duane Allman; there are a pair of shows by boogie-kings Canned Heat; there are a couple of performances of interest by Ten Years After; and British blues guitar god Eric Clapton is featured in shows both solo and with the groundbreaking band Cream.

Even a casual stroll through this amazing collection of rare recordings will unearth something for just about every blues fan's tastes: Elvin Bishop, James Cotton, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, John Mayall & Bluesbreakers, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Robert Cray, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, and many others are available for listening on the site.

Wolfgang's Vault also sells vintage concert posters and other 1960s memorabilia, but you should go directly to the site's concert vault to hear these precious blues music moments.

Eric Clapton photo by Joseph Sia, courtesy Polydor Records