Michael "Blind-Dog" Gatewood: Press

Where do we get more?
Reviewer: Jas & las MT
Pickup unheard of's now and again and hit PAYDAY with this one. We want more more more of this guy's talent. Harmonic's especially moving.


When is Blind-Dog coming to Gruene Hall??
Reviewer: Tom K
This is a great album - period. Blind-Dog can write and sing with the best of 'em!!


This man is a musical genium
Reviewer: Michel CHESNAIS
This man is a musical genium.Lyrics aren't just lyrics,they're stories.


Blues like I like it
Reviewer: blackfire
Blues that make you want to close your eyes and just chew on it. Great CD.


Down and dirty blues by an exceptional performer
Reviewer: burt fink
A great sound with guitar, dobro and harmonica behind a vocal presentation that sounds like a history lesson. Unique interpretation of standards and some ones new to me. Did not reaaly like River of Blood....seems out of place on this collection

Flip-floppin-fly
Musician helps others “get” the blues
By Rebecca Coudret (2002)
Well when I get the blues I’m gonna get me a rockin’ chair;
Aw, when I get the blues I’m gonna get me a rockin’ chair;
I’m gonna take that chair and rock right away from here.”

“Blind-Dog” Gatewood sings the blues.

Old traditional blues.

With his right foot on a pedal that shakes a tambourine, a harmonica strapped around his neck and a chrome-plated brass acoustic, resophonic Dobro in his hands, he closes his eyes and sings music that’s in his soul.

Gatewood sings “old, traditional, street-corner style blues, with nothing plugged in”- and is proud of it. A wile back, he played Downtown outside The Jungle for a couple of months, and the reaction was varied.” I don’t understand people who think playing street corner blues is degrading. I love it.

“Some people crossed the street to get away from me,” he says, shaking his head, but smiling. “ Some would stop and watch, listen. Some would drop a dollar or two in my case. But the money wasn’t why I did it. “ Artists and musicians should be down there. I say the Walkway as a place people could live, painters could paint, singers could sing, people could get a hot dog and enjoy the atmosphere. It just didn’t happen.”

“Gemmie one last kiss and hold it a long time;
“Gemmie one last kiss, baby, and hold it a long, long time;
“Let me taste that kiss till I feel it in my head like wine.”

Born with the un-bluesy name of Michael Allen Gatewood in Detroit nearly 48 years ago, “Blind-Dog” has a voice that’s gritty and gravely but can be smooth as ivory piano keys.

Gatewood won the KBS Unsigned Blues Talent Competition in Louisville, KY., Aug 18th. He’s the first solo act to win; nine previous winners were bands. The victory will allow him to enter the Blues Foundation’s International “Blues First” competition in Memphis, Tenn., in February. But before then, hell try to add a few more regional wins to his resume.

“I don’t play much around here - not much call for it,” he says, more matter-of-factly than with disappointment; he’s used to it. “I’m kind of a recluse. But now that I’ve won, I hope to be on the road a lot more.” He’ll be in the Crossroads Blues Challenge at the Slippery Noodle in Indianapolis Sept 8 and the Telluride, Colo., Blues Challenge Sept. 13.

“Like a Mississippi bullfrog, I’m sittin on a hollow stump.
“Like a Mississippi bullfrog, I’m sittin on a hollow stump.
“ I’ve got so many women, lord, I don’t know witch way to jump.”

“There’s a major, massive interest in the blues in other parts of the country. When I lived in California, I played seven nights a week. But the bars here that have music go with whoever can draw the biggest amount of people. There’s always a fight over the hottest kid band in town.”

Gatewood stays here because his family’s close by, his wife Eleanor, is from the area and, frankly, the music hasn’t taken him anywhere else. Yet.

“I’d love to have a regular gig here, but so far it hasn’t happened. So I go where people want to hear what I’m doing. I’ve had visitors (to the city) say, ‘Why aren’t you in Texas or somewhere else, where they’ll appreciate your music?’ The blues just aren’t respected here. But this is home”

For now, he’s a bartender at J.J’s in Newburgh, has a few music students - and a few gigs hear and there.

Several years ago, someone in Owensboro, Ky., where he used to live, gave him the name “Blind-Dog.”
“There have been a lot of ‘Blinds’ in the blues; ‘Blind-Dog’ Taylor out of Texas, ‘Blind-Lemon’ Jefferson in the ‘20s; he did country-rockabilly blues. I liked the name and kept it.”

While Gatewood writes a lot of music, he doesn’t do original works exclusively. “There’s some great blues out there. I have to do some of it.”

He plays an array of instruments; Dobro, six-string banjo, acoustic guitar, harmonica, tambourine, “Backpacker” guitar (streamlined to pack up and take anywhere), keyboards, electric guitar - even a homemade instrument he calls the diddlestick. “It’s based on the instruments ( early blues and bluegrass musicians) used to make on the back porch. Some call it a ‘diddley bow’ - it’s how Bo Diddley got his name. It’s just an old folk instrument that intrigued me, so I made my own. It’s a cat- food can on a stick. It really resonates.”

He makes digital recordings as he plays all those instruments, and if the gig calls for it, he’ll play “back up music’ as he sings and plays guitar. “But when I do that, people think it’s Karaoke. It’s not,” he says, shaking his head. “I m playing all the instruments, but it’s nice to sometimes have backup tracks.”

To explain, he turned on the computer-recorder on the microphone stand and began singing Louis Armstrong’s “Wonderful World.” So much Satchmo in his voice. Eyes closed. Music filling the small studio room.

The closed eyes aren’t intentional. It just happens. “I get lost in the music,” he admits. “Blues is a mingling of black music, white music, bluegrass - it’s pure Americana, and it’s in me. A lot of people don’t get the blues.

“it’s like I’m channeling the spirits of great blues artists of the past. It’s kind of a joke that my eyes are closed so much of the time. It makes people think I’m blind. But lets me see what’s inside me.”

“Honey, don’ tcha ever leave me; don’tcha ever , ever say good bye.”

(“Flip Flop and Fly”: C. Calhoun, W. Turner)

Michael "Blind-Dog" Gatewood - I Hear The Blues Callin' and The Devil is Near - Anyone enjoying a Mississippi Delta sound with a throaty vocalist scratching his way through some emotive-filled bayou blues will most certainly enjoy "Blind-Dog" from his down-in-the-dumps moaning in Monkey On My Back to his toe-tapping energy of Hold Dat' Bus. I enjoyed a completely diverse group of sounds on all 11 tracks. A talent to be reckoned with at any Blues Competition - never mind a disc of fun'ergy, this particular project speaks well of his repertoire of material and encourages me to see him live first chance I get. Adding his own twist to favorites such as Flip, Flop, Fly, and Hey Bartender - Michael is an incredible force of melody and lyrical freshness when it comes to the old standard blues niches as well as his own unique expression and originals. I recommend it for anyone wanting to feel good for a while :)
CHT Pick: "Hold Dat Bus" Reviewed by Annette Warner

Kalamazoo Blues Festival - 2006
July 6, 7, 8
The Kalamazoo Valley Blues Association has been in the festival business for 13 years and is a testament as to how a festival should be run. Staying loyal to their mission statement of propagating roots music, the Thursday portion of the festival is dedicated to strictly acoustic music. Not only can you relax in the scenic Arcadia Festival site, you can learn while you're there through the many and varied free workshops. From learning harmonica, to the basic tuning of a guitar, to the proper techniques of singing and strengthening your voice to project better, they try and please all who are interested.


The music portion of Thursday started with the Detroit duo of Christy and Jeff Howard. Weaving their way through a set of original music, the husband and wife duo found an appreciative audience on the mild summer night.

Another Detroit native, Michael "Blind Dog" Gatewood entranced the crowd with a variety of instruments including six-string banjo, a six string round neck dobro, a two string cigar box back porch diddley stick slide resonator guitar (designed and built by Blind Dog), hand held and neck held harmonicas, foot operated tambourine, shakers and tromp bass. Whew! You think he was busy?

I have to take a minute and thank Dennis Massingill and the entire membership of the Kalamazoo Valley Blues Association for their hospitality and efforts to make this festival a success. Without their teamwork and the drive to succeed, it would have been just another weekend at home watching TV. What a wonderful and fun alternative they've come up with.

Tim Richards © 2006
BluesSource.com

In 2004 “Blind-Dog’ was a Finalist for:

the 1st Annual International Acoustic Music Awards (IAMA) In the category of AMERICANA/ROOTS/AAA, for his song “TELLURIDE”.

Here is what was said about him at IAMA.

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Michael “Blind Dog” Gatewood is a very professional blues harmonica player. His song "Street Corner Stomp” shows his artistic one-man show. It is easy to see why he won the Telluride Acoustic Blues festival in 2002. His CD “I Hear the Blues Callin’ and the Devil is Near” is available now. The title cut on this work is also excellent and features his gravely voice in the simple but meaningful lyrics.
Check out his website at www.bdgatewood.com for dates and locations of live performances.

RATING: **** (4 out of 5 Stars)

IAMA (International Acoustic Music Awards) promotes excellence in Acoustic Music Performance and Artistry.
Acoustic artists in various genres can gain exciting radio and web exposure through this competition. http://www.inacoustic.com/

Win a top prize of over $6,600 in merchandise, plus radio airplay (XM Radio & Acoustic Cafe radio show)!
Categories include: Best Male Artist, Best Female Artist, Best Group/Duo, Best Folk/Americana/Roots, Best AAA/Alternative,
AOG*, Bluegrass, Instrumental, etc.

The 2nd Annual IAMA is sponsored by:New Music Weekly, Loggins Promotion, XM Radio, Acoustic Café Radio Show, MixDown Media Network, Kari Estrin Management & Consulting, Paste Magazine & more.

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Eyesight to the Blind

Frequently I like to follow up with the past winners of the Kentuckiana Blues Society Unsigned Blues Competition to hear about their experiences competing at the International Blues Competition. Blind Dog Gatewood was our KBS winner last August and earned the right to represent us in Memphis on January 30. His real name is Michael but he got the nickname "Blind Dog" based on a character named Blind Dog Fuller in the movie, Crossroads. Reggie Helm, who manages a stagehand and security guard service called Rent-A-Bum, gave Michael his name ten years ago at a bluegrass show in Owensboro. `Blind Dog' has stuck ever since and he feels honored to be known by it.
Gatewood started out in music thirty years ago as a lounge musician in Detroit, playing all kinds of music and instruments, including an accordion. When he settled in Owensboro, he was into bluegrass, doing songwriting, managing a music shop and producing records. It was not until 1990 when Blind Dog heard a live recording by John Hammond that he got turned on to the blues and started getting serious about the music. He bought a 1990 pre-Gibson Dobro guitar, started woodshedding and won our contest on the third try. Blind Dog also entered the Crossroads competition in Indianapolis and was the first solo act to ever compete there. He won the Telluride Blues and Brews Festival contest for acoustic blues last September.
"There was very little acoustic blues at Telluride, it was more like Colorado folk music," he said. He did get to meet the Piedmont blues duo of John Cephas and Phil Wiggins, plus Richard Johnston, a past International Blues Contest winner, who were also performing.
The Memphis scene was a negative experience for Blind Dog. His van broke down on the way from Newburgh, Indiana. During the orientation session, B.B. King's Blues Club dropped out at the last minute as a venue for the competition. Blind Dog got his twenty minutes of performing glory at the W.C. Handy Blues Room, which was an extension of the Rum Boogie Café, where he was competing against nine other solo artists. About halfway into the competition, the sound system went from bad to worse. When Blind Dog came on - last - there was no sound at all. Consequently, he didn't even make the first cut for the top three contestants, where the winner in the solo category was a woman from Melbourne, Australia named Fiona Boyes. The winning band from Atlanta, Delta Moon, beat out forty-nine other groups. Blind Dog and his wife Eleanor (Mrs. El) didn't hang around too long after that disappointment, but he did run into the Deacon of Beale Street. He is a regular street busker who stands across from B. B. King's club, singing and playing his trumpet in the tradition of Louis Armstrong. Both Richard Johnston and Eric Hughes frequently stake out their turf at each end of Beale Street and perform like the musicians used to do in Handy Park.
Blind Dog noticed other soloists were using the diddly bow or diddle stick like he frequently uses, even though he competed with just his Dobro, harmonica and foot tambourine. Blind Dog uses a special Leo Kottke slide that is a tapered brass tube. He had it chromed by a friend who owns Hauser Hard Chrome. The chrome was a test batch that was being developed for the space shuttle. Only two of these slides exist and Blind Dog has both.
Blind Dog did get a chance to hand out several demo copies of his latest CD, Alfresco Place, which was recorded at Jeff Carpenter's studio last November. Jeff has graciously provided free recording time to the winners of the KBS competition for the past several years. Five of Blind Dog's seven cuts are originals, including a haunting, powerful song titled "River of Blood." He composed it in 1986 and said "it is prophetic for these current times."
When Blind Dog was into bluegrass, he got to know that system of promoting music, but now that he is into blues, he feels he is on the fringe. He has to send his CDs to A&R representatives like Southern Records Group - who are the middlemen - to get to the major record companies. While Gatewood is waiting for his `big break,' he plays occasional private parties and can be found bartending three nights a week and performing solo once a month at J.J. Sports Bar in Newburgh, IN. For this act, he uses his mini-composer with keyboards, horns and drum pads, along with his guitar. You can check out Blind Dog's web site at www.bdgatewood.com

 

"He’s A One Man Blues Band Extravaganza!”--

(Randy Moore, Fox 7 News, Evansville, Indiana)



“His Version Of “Papa Was A Jockey” Awed The Crowd!”--

(Keith Clements, Louisville Music News)



“Truly a one-man band!”--

(Dylan Gibbs, News4U Entertainment Directory, Evansville, IN)



“He closes his eyes and sings music that’s in his soul! “--

(Rebecca Coudret, Courier & Press, Evansville, IN)