LIGHTNING RED: Lightning Red - vocals, acoustic, electric and slide guitars
LIGHTNING RED & the Groovemasters
James Henkemeyer - drums, vibes
Austin Krecz - drums
Brenda Lee King - bass
Chuck Krecz - keyboards
LZ LOVE & LIGHTNING RED (acoustic duo)
LZ Love - vocals, knee slappin', percussion
Lightning Red - vocals, guitars
Influences
Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Luther Allison, Hound Dog Taylor, Albert King, Freddie King, Johnny Winter, Son House, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Robert Johnson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Count Basie, B.B. King, et. al.
NEWS:
The groovemaster getting
steady airplay and glowing reviews in Europe
Promotion by www.hemifran.com
"Well crafted pieces with great slide playing, creative songwriting, funky shuffles, and most of all with talent.....and with awesome playing and variation!"
- ROOTSTIME - Belgium
Red wowed 'em at the midwest USA's 2nd largest blues fest - BAYFRONT BLUES FESTIVAL
Review
If you like history then you have to meet Lightning Red! The man is history himself! He saw many of the big Jazz names when he was a kid, befriended Luther Allison, performed at the Armadillo World Headquarters, played with Omar and The Howlers, Charlie Sexton and WC Clark and watched how Little Stevie Ray struggled with his guitar!
Now with the release of Groovemaster, Lightning Red, almost a blues legend himself, is on the road again and ready to show the world that he is still a master at the guitar! Killer licks, ditto grooves and trademark vocals are the master ingredients for his recipe.
“Don’t Have to worry” is a fine example of his trademark vocals! The tune gives us his raw sound that is .. “Do The Revolution” is a great blues rocker that combines the burning hot guitar licks with the Texas blues style. “Lie No More” is all what the blues is about and on “Change is gonna come” (co-written with long time collaborator & vocalist LZ Love) we hear some nice slide guitar as well as LZ’s voice taking over the vocals in this duet! “The Shake” is wonderfully blending blues and soul in an instrumental groove that could fit on any seventies spy-fi movie! “No matter brings” back all the misery and trouble the blues has seen over the ages in this standard 12 bar blues tune. Closing down is a funky blues instrumental with a screaming guitar taking over the vocals! A very nice way to close an album that gave us 12 hot Texas blues tracks.
The passionate guitar playing combined with some nice lyrics on “Groovemaster” makes from this offering by Texas guitar hero Lightning Red a much appreciated album. The low-down funky shuffles with rockin’ boogies and elements of funk-driven blues creates an experience that you simply can’t Keep quiet.
- Mr Blue Boogie, ROOTSVILLE - Belgium
Biography
Born near and musically ‘educated’ in Chicago by
LUTHER ALLISON
Relocated to Texas in the mid-seventies.
As a 3 year old, he'd sit directly in front of the saxophone sections of Count Basie, Jimmy Dorsey, Duke Ellington and all the other Big Bands playing the military base circuit that weaved through Fort Leonard Wood.
Before finishing grade school, Red became a bandleader. After befriending Luther Allison and soaking up the sounds of Buddy Guy, Otis Rush, Mike Bloomfield, B.B. and Albert King in and around Chicago, Red began touring the Midwest and Canada.
In 1976 Austin became his home and touring base. While performing at the Armadillo World Headquarters during the latter 70s, Omar and the Howlers, W.C.Clark and "little" Charlie Sexton were brought onstage and introduced their music to the community. Red soaked up the music of The Fabulous Thunderbirds (Jimmie Vaughan, Kim Wilson) at Antone's and met a struggling "Little" Stevie Ray Vaughan.
2009 saw Lightning Red appearing at the Bayfront Blues Festival, the Eureka Springs Blues Weekend in Arkansas, the Santiago Shakedown 7,
the Gull Lake Blues Fest, and tearing up the Cycle Path Blues Festival in the midwest USA.
He has toured Scandinavia and Great Britain repeatedly, with two consecutive appearances at The Great British R&B Festival,
did radio appearances in Spain, and was interviewed on national Radio New Zealand.
Special Guest performer at the Whangarei Jazz and Blues Festival, Red’s concert appearances ‘down under’ included the major cities of New Zealand and Australia.
Having begun his European adventures touring Denmark, his latest release the groovemaster is now getting rave reviews and airplay in Scandinavia, Belux, France, Germany, Italy, Hungary, the UK, the US and Australia.
