Jimmie Vaughan has recently collaborated with Omar Kent Dykes to record a new CD titled On the Jimmy Reed Highway, which is a tribute to Jimmy Reed that will be released on August 21, 2007. The CD also features Kim Wilson, Lou Ann Barton, James Cotton, Delbert McClinton, and Gary Clark Jr.

Omar’s Web site states:

Ain’t nobody can do Jimmy Reed like Jimmy Reed could. But this drive down Jimmy Reed Highway with fellow Mississippian Omar Kent Dykes at the wheel with Jimmie Vaughan riding shotgun and folks like, Kim Wilson, Miss Lou Ann Barton, James Cotton, Delbert McClinton, and Gary Clark, Jr., joining the duo, comes mighty close. As Omar guns the engine and peels rubber on the two-lane blacktop lined with no-good women, empty whiskey bottles, too many cigarette butts and bad intentions, he leaves John Law trailing behind eating his dust. Hop in for a ride and turn up the volume. The electric bluesman who shaped the minds and moves of a musical generation is alive and well.

ModernGuitars.com has recently interviewed a young blues guitarist named Scott McKeon, a 20-year old guitarist from Wimborne, a small English town. The influence of Stevie Ray can be heard in Scott’s playing, but he definitely modernizes it with influences from other styles of music, as well.

McKeon has recently recorded and released a CD titled Can’t Take No More. I love to hear how technology is aiding musicians in making music. Modern Guitars states that Scott is:

… representative of the DIY-MySpace-YouTube generation of players that self-record, promote and distribute with the aid of the Internet. His debut album, Can’t Take No More, was recorded to computer by Scott in his living room. The album mix is the result of a collaboration between McKeon and Jesse Davis (The Hoax) made possible by email and online chat.

You can hear some of Scott’s music on his MySpace page. He also maintains a blog on his Web site. View Scott and his band playing Crossroads below.

* Photo © Maryanne Bilham-Knight

Last week, I made a soft launch of my new website, Guitar Lifestyle! Those of you who had subscribed to my feed may have already noticed some changes. In 2005, I started www.TheGuitarBlog.com as an outlet to discuss for my love of the guitar and hopefully connect with other guitarists on the Internet. However, I’ve known for a while that the original domain I had chosen wasn’t ideal for what I wanted to accomplish. I purchased this domain, www.guitarlifestyle.com, a while back, and for several reasons I finally decided that it was time to move my guitar blogging efforts over here.

You may notice some other minor changes as I make tweaks here and there. One new feature I’ve added is a contact page, so please drop me a line if you notice anything amiss, or if you just want to say hello. Thanks for visiting!