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The Mad Dog Blues Duo

The Mad Dog Blues Duo offers an innovative take on contemporary acoustic blues. With Sean Bennight on guitar and Mad Dog Friedman on harmonica, the creative energy is palpable. The Mad Dog Blues Duo gives new vibrancy to the classic guitar-harmonica blues duo sound while drawing inspiration from an eclectic mix of contemporary and traditional blues masters. Take a walk with the Mad Dog Blues Duo. It’s like exploring an exciting, new world of original blues in a favorite old pair of shoes.

The Mad Dog Blues Duo is the Solo/Duo winner of the 2024 Mile High Blues Society Blues Challenge

and will be representing MHBS in Memphis at the International Blues Challenge!

Right mouse click on any of these promo photos below to view or download the the full quality image.

• Mad Dog Blues’ seventh album, The Mad Dog Blues Duo LIVE AT THE END, is an inspired performance of entire River City Roots (2023) album in front of a live audience at their River City Roots CD release concert on 4/23/23 at The End in Lafayette, Colorado. All eleven songs, including the Skip James’ cover featuring Lionel Young on violin, were performed in order and were captured in 4K Video. Mad Dog Blues offers this audio as a live album on all streaming service as of 8/23/2023. All ten of our original songs are also now available as a LIVE VIDEO ALBUM (on Tidal & Apple Music.) The Mad Dog Blues Duo LIVE AT THE END, is also available for your enjoyment on VEVO for free viewing. The spontaneous arrangements in these versions of the songs reflect the magic of the evening.

The Mad Dog Blues Duo LIVE AT THE END

(Watch the full LIVE VIDEO ALBUM on YouTube.)

"... the innovative creative sound of two talented musicians playing off of each other as they share a true love for this unique music and sound" ~ Chick Cavallero for the High Plains Blues Society

"The Mad Dog Blues Duo gives fresh new life to the classic harmonica-guitar duo sound as their twin talents explore innovative ways to explore the world of Country Blues. The beauty of a live recording is that the duo gets to do longer versions of the songs and add some amazing solos to them, with some of the songs doubling in length allowing both musicians to have many opportunities to show their skills with no jealousy just mutual love of the music. Plus, this live show at The End had the incomparable blues legend Lionel Young on hand to add his electric violin to cut six the Skip James classic, "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues." This one is full of sorrowful blues, plenty of moaning and groaning, Lionel’s violin literally cries…Baby this is THE blues."~ Chick Cavallero for the High Plains Blues Society

Click to read te full review of The Mad Dog Blues Duo LIVE AT THE END that Chick Cavallero wrote for the High Plains Blues Society.

“Hard Time Killing Floor Blues” is a major work in the blues cannon. It’s a social record of the depression years in the South and has even made its way into Hollywood as part of Oh Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack. It encapsulates the melancholier of that time, a depression within the depression. Often basic blue songs end up as band pieces, but its writer, Skip James, sings it solo, just with the guitar. The minimal arrangement reflecting the minimal existence of the time. In this recording that light touch is maintained, even through the addition of harmonica and violin. The guitar is dominant and takes the main role of keeping the melody and time through the song. The harmonica is played softly and the violin blends a scratchy, almost ghostly feel to the track. The interplay feels unique. The timing and balance will never be repeated. I always say there's a world of difference between a studio recording  and a live performance, and we hear that difference again. All eleven songs were captured in 4K video and are available for your enjoyment on YouTube for free viewing."
~  John Lamp, DJ at 94.7 FM on the Pulse in Geelong, Australia, posted September 4, 2023.
Listen to the full review and song as played on September 4, 2023.

• River City Roots is Mad Dog Blues’ sixth album. Performed by the guitar-harmonica-duo version of Mad Dog Blues, this live-in-the-studio album captures the feel of St. Louis front-porch-blues.



CHARTED #3 IN THE WORLD-WIDE ACOUSTIC BLUES TOP 50 ALBUM CHART

(ROOTS MUSIC REPORTS - Week of April 8, 2023)

• You may listen on Spotify, Tidal, YouTube Music or Apple Music (as well as any of the other quality streaming services).
• Download high-quality audio files, cover art and all the bonus tracks from BandCamp.

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• ...Friedman and Bennight spontaneously play off of each other in a way that's telepathic... ~ Dan Willging, June-July 2023 Holler from the Colorado Blues Society

Read the full review of River City Roots

(click on the graphic for a full sized image)

• Listen to our Demo EP of all LIVE tracks. It contains some of our favorite performances over the years and will give you a great idea of what to expect when you hear us live.
• Please check out our online duo videos of all original music at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLR66Ns-dgQ-oZVkUeFZhfFxEdOLQRu7dc.

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• Listen now to a LIVE radio interview and performance recorded on KGNU's Blues Legacy Show with host Dan "Big Daddy" Willging on January 6, 2023. We talk about the inspiration for the Mad Dog Blues Duo's new album, River City Roots, as well as perform a few songs off our CD.
• The Mad Dog Blues Duo live on Comfy Couch Performance Circle on 3/23/23. Watch a rare, stipped-down, fully unplugged version of "Shining Through" (track #2 off of River City Roots) featuring Mad Dog Friedman on vocals and harmonica & Sean Bennight on guitar.

• "Shining Through" from our River City Roots album premiered on John Lamp's "Tempo" radio show on 94.7 FM on the Pulse in Geelong, Australia on Monday, March 6, 2023. This World Premier is followed by an excellent audio review of the song by John Lamp. You can listen now to the 9 minute excerpt with both the song and the review as aired. Enjoy and feel free to share. Here's some of the text from John Lamp's review:

  Now when you're playing as a duo rather than your usual band combination, the challenges are much greater.  There's no place to hide. You have to be precise. You have to work together. You almost have to be psychic to make it work. In this case there's guitar, vocal and harmonica. You can hear the guitar carrying the tempo and laying down a tune to follow. Over this is the vocal, timed to perfection with the guitar and then the harmonica adding embellishments between the vocals. Now that's all before you look at the song itself. The song is a classic blues theme of loss and persistence in the face of disappointment. I think they've absolutely succeeded in creating their front porch context, with a simple, effective piece you can see being sung in a relaxing evening. This one's going straight to the pool room.
  ~  John Lamp, DJ at 94.7 FM on the Pulse in Geelong, Australia, posted March 6, 2023.

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• Check out these amazing interviews and photos in the Voyage Denver magazine featuring Sean Bennight and Mad Dog Friedman and get to know them a little:

• "Check Out Sean Bennight’s Story" in Voyage Denver magazine, Jan 2023
• "Life & Work with Mad Dog Friedman" in Voyage Denver magazine, Dec 2022

for all bookings please contact Mad Dog Friedman at maddog AT poetscoop DOT org

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