THE HOKUM HOTSHOTS

Many of you know more about the blues than I do but many of you are newcomers to the genre, maybe having been introduced by a friend or a partner, and accidentally discovering that you actually love it. 

Blues is such a deep and wide ouvre it would take a lifetime of study to cover all its many facets that began to develop in the 19th century and is still developing today. I try to bring to Bluefunk audiences (the absolute best audience in the world) as much of that fascinating variety that is out there to find.

If I was to be asked "what would you show to a novice blues listener to try and show the essence of the Blues", I might be tempted to recommend the Hokum Hotshots. Why? Because they are a pair of genuine black slaves from the 19th century who for years picked cotton under the whip, then share cropped a subsistence living for decades in the deep south before becoming international Rock and Roll stars in the 1950s, ending up in the backwoods of Newcastle upon Tyne in the swinging 60s, back on the bones of their collective arses, eking out a living in the folk clubs of the northeast right up to the present day. 

None of that is true except the very last bit. These guys are amongst the very finest exponents of 'Hokum' anywhere, and one of my favourite acts of my entire time loving the blues. Hokum is "blues with a smile on its face", and you will smile along with the Hotshots. They are superb players (they should be, they were taught by Methuselah) and like typical Geordies have finely tuned senses of humour. Only come if you like having your face ache from laughing and have an appreciation for superb quality folk blues played on an array of vintage and modern instruments by two fine players.

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