To his family, friends, and the local blues communities he was a titan. Robert was the founder and artistic director of The Ealing Blues Festival, the longest running event of its type in London. He was also a self-deprecating “bluesmaster, funkateer, global groover and raconteur.”

Music is often the great equalizer. And for two and a half hours on a beautiful November evening in Chicago, it was just that as the Truckers revisited the entirety of ‘Southern Rock Opera.’ Interspersed throughout the songs, Hood was not afraid to draw parallels between the issues addressed in the 2001 album and those that still permeate through America today.

When a sprightly octogenarian saxophonist and co-founder of England’s Marshall Amplifiers releases a debut album, it is not surprising that the music world holds its breath. Over 60 years ago Terry Marshall and his dad Jim began building the guitar amplifiers which bore their name. This signature brand became synonymous with the exponential popularity of rock music and electric blues.

‘Living The Blues,’ released through his very own Marshall Records, is out now!