Blues

Banks, Real Estate, and Sleigh Bells were among the hot ticket music acts on Wednesday during SXSW Music Festival 2017 in Austin, Texas.

Her new album matches the blues-rock-soul singer's honeyed voice with a varied batch of songs by top talents ranging from Mississippi John Hurt to The Weepies' Deb Talan to Black Sabbath.

'Freedom Highway' from Rhiannon Giddens is one of those amazing rarities, a politically charged and artistically refined album. The music is spectacular, the lyrics are beautiful and inspiring, and the singing is as glorious as you'll hear anywhere.

Take up Zito's battle cry, "Make Blues Not War," and enjoy this incredible record, which I believe is his best yet!

'Love in Beats' (2017) is another solid effort from Omar Lye-Fook, affirming his position as one of the U.K.'s finest exports to espouse the sensuality and heart of R&B music.

In 'The Blues: Why It Still Hurts So Good' Marie B. Trout combines her own experience and the words of fans, musicians, and industry professionals to look at the blues in a most professional, unusual and interesting way.

These are in no particular order, except for this first one, my vote for song of 2016, at least for guitar. After listening to Joe Bonamassa's blistering, searing solo, you will not forget it anytime soon.

Sadly, through the cruelty of time and mortality, The Band itself ceased to be many years ago but Robbie Robertson himself is still telling stories and spinning guitar chords through his music.

As for the music of 2016, there was the usual amount of "meh" mixed in with a host of impressive releases. Certainly, there were no game-changers that I heard. (Sorry Kanye and Kendrick.)

'Gem' by the Ruby Friedman Orchestra is a time portal back to the early days of blues but run through a modern-day filter of Friedman’s own experiences. Trust me, you’ve never heard anything like this. It’ll sneak under your skin, and you’ll want to keep it there.