BluEsoterica Archives & Productions

BLUESOTERICA ARCHIVES & PRODUCTIONS
Research & Production e-mail: bluesoterica@aol.com
Mail order e-mail: Stackhouse232@aol.com

BluEsoterica Archives

The BluEsoterica Archives consists of extensive subject files, more than 2000 tapes of interviews and music, negatives from 1500 rolls of film (about 40,000 images), plus thousands of records, a comprehensive library of books and magazines, a poster collection, and other memorabilia. This is what I kept or have since accumulated AFTER Amy van Singel and I donated thousands of records and files to help start the University of Mississippi Blues Archive. I would like to either find a permanent home for this material outside of my house, or create a new, funded and staffed archival organization to manage the collections here.

Institutions or organizations interested in sponsoring, housing, or cataloguing the archives, please contact us.

Towards an Interview/Oral History Archive
I'm especially interested in establishing a full-fledged archive for tapes of interviews and oral histories, as proposed in "The Voice of the Blues." I have begun collecting audio and video tapes from interviewers, researchers, DJs, and documentary producers, and am planning on transferring them to digital format, and making them available for future documentary and research use, contingent upon permission from each interviewer. For the present, I would at least like to hear from people who have taped interviews (or written interview notes) so that I can begin identifying and cataloguing the source material. Just send a list of interview subjects with dates and any explanatory notes you may care to add. I'll post a database of interview tapes on this website.

BluEsoterica Productions
Recent BluEsoterica album productions: Willie King & the Liberators: "Freedom Creek" and "Living in a New World"; Super Chikan: "Shoot That Thang"; Robert "Bilbo" Walker: "Rock the Night"; D.C. Bellamy: "Water to Wine"; Eddie C. Campbell: "Hopes and Dreams"; "Philadelphia" Jerry Ricks: "Many Miles of Blues" [all on Rooster Blues Records]. See Stackhouse Recording Company page for most recent and upcoming productions.

Work on recent documentaries: Fuji TV (Japan): "The Roots of Music" series; "Blues Story," August 2003 PBS documentary produced by Shout! Factory and Imaginary Entertainment; other programs on PBS, NHK, Mississippi ETV, and other networks. Compilations and liner notes: Rooster Blues, Delmark, BMG, Rhino, Ace, Blue Suit, and others. Interviews conducted and videotaped for "Blues Story" and for Acoustic Sounds/Blue Heaven Studios' "Blues Masters at the Crossroads." Concert and Festival Coordination services available.

Presentations
Call or e-mail if you want a custom-designed blues presentation for schools and youth groups (connecting blues to hip-hop, country, and rock music), or for seminars, workshops, panel discussions, festivals, and documentary projects. Recent presentations and panels: Blues, Hip-Hop and Contemporary Music; Blues and Storytelling; Mississippi Blues Women; Mississippi Roots of American Popular Music; Robert Johnson; John Lee Hooker; Junior Parker; The State of the Blues; Screamin' and Cryin' About the Blues; Jazz Gillum, Pinetop Smith, and Fred McDowell Tribute (Chicago Blues Festival).

Whenever possible, I like to do these presentations in conjunction with a blues artist who will demonstrate the music and participate in the discussion. "Philadelphia" Jerry Ricks, a storehouse of acoustic blues knowledge and licks, is available for such programs; artists who can illustrate other aspects of the blues include Super Chikan, Willie King, D.C. Bellamy, and Lane Wilkins.

Music Publishing
The Drop Top Music catalogue contains hundreds of songs written by Eddy Clearwater, Eddie Shaw, Gabriel, James "Super Chikan" Johnson, Eddie C. Campbell, Valerie Wellington, Lonnie Shields, Lonnie Pitchford, Foree "Guitar" Wells, and others. Please contact us for samples or licensing information.

Booking Contact
BluEsoterica is NOT a booking agency, but I do want to help blues artists get more and better gigs, so I'm offering to put promoters, club owners, and festivals in touch with artists or their agents, and in certain cases help with booking arrangements for "Philadelphia" Jerry Ricks, Eddie C. Campbell, Willie King & the Liberators, D.C. Bellamy, Super Chikan, Lady Bianca, Robert "Bilbo" Walker, Lane Wilkins, Ike Turner, Memphis Gold, Dennis Binder, Big George Brock, Magic Slim & the Teardrops, Eddie Shaw, Eddy Clearwater, and Sax Kari, along with many others, especially artists from Mississippi, Chicago, and Kansas City.

DJ Service
I can also direct you to a DJ if you're in need of an expert record-spinner, especially in the funk and soul genres. James "Superwolf" Trotter and his partner Memphis Black play the hardest-to-find, hardest-hitting funk 45s and LPs if you're into obscure local releases from Youngstown, Ohio, Miami, or North Carolina. Blues, reggae, Haitian, Cuban, and African music also available.

Radio
BluEsoterica doesn't have a regular radio program of its own, but my collection of blues, R&B, jazz, world music, and rockabilly serves as a lending library for various DJs in the Kansas City area, and I do make guest appearances and work on documentaries on various stations around the country.

Submitting Demos and Promo/Review Copies
Material may be submitted to BluEsoterica Archives & Productions, 3516 Holmes St., Kansas City, MO 64109. CDs and records will usually be added to the archives here for documentary, radio, and DJ use. We also welcome new VINYL releases on LP, 12-inch EP, or 45rpm (or 78!).

Tour Guide Service
Want a custom-designed tour of the Mississippi Delta, Chicago, Kansas City, Memphis, wherever? I've coordinated tours for years, including the annual Down Home Blues Tour for Japanese tourists, and can put you in touch with guides who know the territory.

New Productions & Compilations
For more info, visit the Stackhouse Recording page.

Mail Order Record Sales and Auctions
Visit our Online Catalogue and check out the thousands of CD, albums, cassettes, magazines, and posters we have for sale.

We also buy soul, R&B, funk, jazz, gospel, country, world/ethnic, novelty, and rock 'n' roll records as well as blues. We also appraise music collections.

Also see our listings on eBay (Seller ID: Stackhouse232); at http://www.jimoneal.gemm.com and at http://www.jimoneal.musicstack.com.

BLUESOTERICA ARCHIVES & PRODUCTIONS
Jim O'Neal 3516 Holmes Street Kansas City MO 64109 (816) 931-0383
Research & Production e-mail: bluesoterica@aol.com
Mail order e-mail: Stackhouse232@aol.com

Copyright 2006 BluEsoterica.com. All Rights Reserved.

This page and others have been copied to this blog from the www.bluesoterica.com website.