Top tracks
- When Love Comes to Town
- Make Me a Pallet On Your Floor
- Thrill Is Gone
- I'm Tore Down
- Before You Accuse Me
Listeners also bought
Other Electric Blues albums
Other Guitar Blues albums
Put your hands on the remote! browse music »Live at Blues Alley by Melanie Mason
view larger image
fave it Electric Blues | Guitar Blues
14 tracks | 64 minutes
Released Mar 2005
on Melanie Mason
Click
for a 30-second preview. All tracks are 192kbps high fidelity sound quality. Protected WMA $0.77 or unprotected MP3 $0.88.
listen album 30sec. shuffle buy CD review album promote album
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:58 Crave lyrics FREE 03:58 Crave lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:58 Crave
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:33 I'm Tore Down lyrics BUY MP3 04:33 I'm Tore Down lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:33 I'm Tore Down
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:47 Mississippi Blues lyrics BUY MP3 03:47 Mississippi Blues lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:47 Mississippi Blues
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 05:24 I'm In the Mood lyrics BUY MP3 05:24 I'm In the Mood lyrics "GIFT MP3" 05:24 I'm In the Mood
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:44 Lonely Lonesome Gal lyrics BUY MP3 03:44 Lonely Lonesome Gal lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:44 Lonely Lonesome Gal
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:36 Work Your Magic lyrics BUY MP3 03:36 Work Your Magic lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:36 Work Your Magic
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:11 Born In the Country lyrics BUY MP3 04:11 Born In the Country lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:11 Born In the Country
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:36 Love's Slow Burn lyrics BUY MP3 04:36 Love's Slow Burn lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:36 Love's Slow Burn
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 06:14 Before You Accuse Me lyrics BUY MP3 06:14 Before You Accuse Me lyrics "GIFT MP3" 06:14 Before You Accuse Me
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:48 Thrill Is Gone lyrics BUY MP3 04:48 Thrill Is Gone lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:48 Thrill Is Gone
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:04 Castles Made of Sand lyrics BUY MP3 03:04 Castles Made of Sand lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:04 Castles Made of Sand
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 05:57 Crossroads lyrics BUY MP3 05:57 Crossroads lyrics "GIFT MP3" 05:57 Crossroads
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 05:00 When Love Comes to Town lyrics BUY MP3 05:00 When Love Comes to Town lyrics "GIFT MP3" 05:00 When Love Comes to Town
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 05:37 Gospel By the River lyrics BUY MP3 05:37 Gospel By the River lyrics "GIFT MP3" 05:37 Gospel By the River
The third release from Mason and her band; a compelling live performance recorded at the legendary Blues Alley. Winner of WAMA's Best Blues Recording award. "Mason can unleash absolutely monster axe." --Blues Revue
Bio / Background
*** RECIPIENT OF THE 2005 BEST BLUES RECORDING AWARD (Washington Area Music Association) ***
BLUES MATTERS MAGAZINE, UNITED KINGDOM (April/May 2006):
"If Melanie Mason had leant against the door frame of Blues Alley, crooked her finger, winked her eye and thrown back her ginger curls she could not have made a more irresistible invitation than 'Crave,' the opening track of her live CD. Hot, sultry and sexy – if Mason wasn't breathless at the finish, the audience must have been. The 14 tracks on 'Live At Blues Alley' are split between six originals, seven covers and one hybrid, 'Born In The Country.'
As is usual with artists of this calibre, her own songs fit far more snugly than someone else's. The aforementioned 'Crave' and 'Mississippi Blues' are a natural product of her own sensuality...
↓ more ↓Melanie Mason is no slouch on lead guitar and the album is studded with magical moments, most notably on 'Love's Slow Burn,' a song so heavy with atmosphere it comes with it's own weather warning. As the album progresses, Mason and the band fall back on some old favourites, Hendrix's 'Castles Made Of Sand' and Robert Johnson's 'Crossroads.' Fittingly, the album finishes as it began, with a fabulous Melanie Mason original, 'Gospel By The River.'" –Michael Mee, www.bluesmatters.com
BLUES REVUE MAGAZINE, USA (October/November 2005):
"Melanie Mason doesn't stake her claim on her sultry looks; instead, she puts her sturdy guitar and vocals front and center. On her latest album, 'Live at Blues Alley,' she also shows she knows how to work a hook in her favor: Tracks such as 'Work Your Magic' do their stuff simply and effectively, and 'Crave,' with Mason's breathy vocal, is a radio single waiting to happen. Not shy about big covers, she tackles John Lee Hooker's 'I'm in the Mood,' cranking her feminine wiles to the max to make it her own. Elsewhere she bites off 'Thrill Is Gone,' Hendrix's 'Castles Made of Sand,' Robert Johnson's 'Crossroads,' and U2's 'When Love Comes to Town.'
There's a Southern sound here, and a potent link to the Delta. Inhibited Mason is not: Her guitar work on 'Thrill,' 'Castles,' and (especially) 'Before You Accuse Me,' where organist Tommy Lepson leaps to the fore on vocals, is eye-opening. And Mason can unleash absolutely monster axe when she needs to, as 'Love's Slow Burn,' minus the subtleties, demonstrates. She seems to shine brightest on her own compositions, such as 'Gospel by the River,' where her attack recalls Robert Cray even as her vocals cook up something uniquely hers.
Mason's band--Lepson on organ and vocals, Sam Goodall on bass, and ElTorro Gamble on drums--hits a deeper groove with another original, 'Mississippi Blues.' Here, Lepson provides a thick, solid base of B-3 upon which the bandleader addresses her stinging slide....Keep your eye on this lady...."
--Eric Thom, Oct/Nov 2005 Blues Revue Magazine
************************************************************
ABOUT THE NEW CD:
"Live at Blues Alley," the third release from blues guitarist/vocalist Melanie Mason, contains 14 songs - half of which are penned by Mason. Featured on the album are Sam Goodall on bass, ElTorro Gamble on drums, and special guest Tommy Lepson on organ. Recorded in the summer of 2004, the album captures their powerful live performance at the legendary Blues Alley - the nation's oldest continuing jazz supper club.
************************************************************
ABOUT MASON'S OTHER CDs:
Mason's debut CD, "Bendin' the Blues," won the 2001 Blues Recording Award from the Washington Area Music Association (WAMA), and held the #1 top-selling blues album spot on CD Baby for over three years. It is currently in the #2 spot.
Mason's follow-up album, "Lonesome Is I," featured Mason solo on acoustic guitar, performing a collection of traditional blues tunes plus several strong orginals. The album won the 2004 WAMA Blues Recording Award and garnered a cross-genre nomination for 2004 Album of the Year.
************************************************************
DISCOGRAPHY:
"Bendin' the Blues," 2001 (www.cdbaby.com/group/mmason)
"Lonesome Is I," 2004 (www.cdbaby.com/group/mmason)
"Live at Blues Alley," 2005
************************************************************
HIGHLIGHTS:
>> #1 top-selling blues artist on CD Baby from 2001 - 2004
>> Opening act for Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal, Robert Cray, Don McLean, Robin Trower, Little Feat guitarists Barrere & Tackett, and more
>> Regional WETA-TV promo appearances for Martin Scorsese's "The Blues" film series
>> Winner of the 2003 D.C. Blues Society International Blues Challenge
>> Winner of two "Best Blues Recording" awards from the Washington Area Music Association ("Bendin' the Blues," 2001; and "Lonesome Is I," 2004)
************************************************************
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
For more information about Mason and her band, visit www.melaniemason.com. Please spread the word about this up and coming artist. Thank you for supporting independent music!
↑ less ↑






