Radio Stars 2 – Richard L’Hommedieu
We have a feature in most editions of Blues Matters magazine about a Blues DJ. This has included an American DJ in James ‘The Blueshound’ Nagel, but has mainly been about British DJ’s. For this post, we return to the US. Richard L’Hommedieu is a DJ on Peachtree Radio FM, which says it is ‘Playing the best in old school R&B, Blues, Soft Rock and Gospel.’ Richard hosts the LIVE From the Midnight Circus show from Atlanta, Georgia.
Links to Richard’s shows and podcasts are shared on his Facebook page, here: www.facebook.com/richard.lhommedieu.1
Richard started 2014 with a good New Year’s resolution for the Blues, one which should be enjoyed by our readers. Here is an extract – and Richard’s full resolution is at the end of this blog post, or you can listen here – http://livemidnightcircus.podomatic.com/entry/2014-01-07T16_12_33-08_00
“Many people talk about Keeping the Blues Alive. Now there is a crop of new Blues artists out there, here on LIVE From the Midnight Circus we will talk to the people who are out there doing it. Keeping the Blues Alive is not a Slogan, it’s a lifestyle to the blues road warriors that are out there touring everyday. So if you want to Help keep the Blues Alive, then support these musicians that are out there, by buying their CD’s, going to their shows and if there isn’t a show in your area, finding a club on your area that is willing to bring them in and tell them: ‘We want to hear this guy in our town, we want to see him Live’.”
So, what can we tell you about this man with such a passion for the Blues?
Richard L’Hommedieu was formerly the Blues Music Director for WUSB 90.1FM Stony Brook, New York.
“I owned an Entertainment Newspaper on Long Island NY. I am the Founder and Founding chair of the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. I did a Blues Radio show with Sam Bluzman Taylor for four Years. I took over the show when Sam became ill and passed, and continued the show for another four years. on WUSB NY. I also managed Sam Taylor for the last four years of his life.
“I own and operate Midnight Circus Productions and Touring, which is a recording studio, record company and booking agency. Currently, the record company has JP Blues, Frank Latorre and Georgia Flood on the label. The touring company has JP Blues, Frank Latorre and Tommy Talton (Cowboy, Greg Allman) as clients. My show on WUSB 90.1FM was called ‘Making a Scene’ which was a Music Business talk show for Musicians. It was billed as New York’s longest running FREE musicians workshop. It started as a column in my newspaper and continued onto radio. I am looking to bring it back as a podcast. I relocated to Atlanta, Georgia two years ago, along with my recording studio, record company (and some of my artists), and I am now on Peachtreeradiofm.com.”
Links
PeachtreeradioFM – www.peachtreeradiofm.com
JP Blues www.jpblues.com
Frank Latorre www.franklatorre.com
Georgia Flood www.reverbnation.com/thegeorgiaflood
Tommy Talton http://tommytaltonband.com
Midnight Circus.com www.mid-nightcircus.com
Our previous DJ posts: 1 – Dave Watkins – www.bluesmatters.com/blog/radio-stars-1-dave-watkins-the-blues-train
Richard’s New Years resolution
“Happy New Year! This is the first show of 2014 and I want to thank everyone for tuning in, and I want to thank Peachtree Radio FM for giving me the opportunity to give you this kind of programming. I want to start the New Year off with something I have a lot of this year. That this is the year of being real. You know what, I’m going to follow suit and start getting Real!
“Tired of the people who say they want to keep the Blues Alive but all the want to do is suffocate it. They want to keep it to themselves with their narrow views of what the Blues are and to tell people who is and who is not Blues I have had the privilege of having met and hung with some of the Great REAL bluesmen of our time, and each and every one of them believed the Blues had to grow and evolve to be healthy.
“I want to make this new years resolution to you out there. I am going to do my best to bring you the best in the new Blues artists that are out there with their music and their words. I’m going to interview them, I’m going to tell you about them, I’m going to let you hear them, and I’m going to give you the opportunity to judge for yourself if you like the music or not. Who cares if someone says it is or it is not Blues? I’m going to give it to you straight. And, I’m going to do my best to break the backs of those who believe that they are the keepers of the gates, to the Blues world. Well, you know I’m putting you on Notice!
“If you look back in history, Robert Johnson took the Acoustic Guitar and made the blues. Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Hubert Sumlin took the electric guitar and they made that Blues SING. That inspired people like Bo Diddley, Little Richard and Chuck Berry, who took the Blues and they Made It Rock! That also inspired people like Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis and they took it and made it acceptable for mainstream America. And all of that inspired some young kids from Europe, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart and the list goes on. They took the Blues and they fed it back to us with a new life, and even brought the Blues artists along to open and play with them. Stevie Ray Vaughan, he brought the Blues back into the mainstream. He was gone too soon. Many people talk about Keeping the Blues Alive. Now there is a crop of new Blues artists out there, here on LIVE From the Midnight Circus we will talk to the people who are out there doing it. Keeping the Blues Alive is not a Slogan, it’s a lifestyle to the Blues road warriors that are out there touring everyday.
So if you want to Help keep the Blues Alive, then support these musicians that are out there, by buying their CD’s, going to their shows and if there isn’t a show in your area, finding a club in your area that is willing to bring them in and tell them: ‘We want to hear this guy in our town, we want to see him Live’. These Blues musicians need places to play, they need people that are willing to support them by buying their CD’s and going to their shows. This is how you are going to keep the Blues alive. Not by repeating a slogan, it’s by doing the deed, by living ‘Keeping the Blues Alive’. And to help you out if you Tune in every Tuesday from 2pm-5pm on www.peachtreeradioFM.com You will hear the hottest new Blues Artists out on the road and hear in their own words what it really takes to ‘Keep the Blues Alive!’ So Grab onto something soft… bite down on something hard… because I’m about to make it hurt!!”
