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Happy Holidays from detour BLUES!

vertical — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 18:06:47 +0000

We would like to wish all of our staff and listeners Happy Holidays! It has been a tough year with the passing of John Tibbs, but we know he is in a better place! The station continues to run in John’s everlasting memory.

Thank you for continuing to help detour BLUES grow and become one of the top blues stations on the web! Over the past few months, we have added hundreds of new songs to our playlist. We have also added the show, Juke In The Back, Tuesdays @ 2pm east.

Some of our goals for 2011 include attracting new volunteer daytime hosts, adding even more music to our library, and upgrading our streams to allow people with slower internet connections to listen, and upgrading our streaming software. Are you interested in volunteering to do a live show on detour BLUES? All you need is music, a high speed internet connection, and we provide the rest! E-mail vertical@thedetour.us if interested. Stay tuned….

Sorry For My Absense…

detourblues — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 04:19:44 +0000

II’d like to apologize to all of my listeners for my absence from the station these past few weeks. I have a few health issues… I am a diabetic and am on dialysis, along with a few other issues. I’ve had a few problems lately and that has been the reason for my absence, but beginning on Monday, July 26, 2010, I will be back broadcasting th e show Blues You Can Use, from 1-5pm eastern. I’ll be taking you requests and dedications as well and I’ve got some great new tunes for you as well!

the detour network undergoing maintenance 7/10

vertical — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 17:30:10 +0000

The detour network will be upgrading the server today. We will be down for a few hours starting at 1:30pm on Saturday, July 10th. detour MUSIC, detour TALK, and detour BLUES will be down for a few hours during this upgrade. Please check back for any additional updates.

Little 3 year old Luke Martens

detourblues — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 04:47:15 +0000

I am posting a letter here from Luke’s parents with a plea for prayer. I used to take care of Luke in our church nursery when he was a baby and this breaks my heart. In the letter you will notice that they ask to have this posted on face book. I do not belong to face book but if anyone does, could you please do this for me. Thank you. Below is the letter from Luke’s parents. Thank you for your prayers and passing this on.

Good morning, all you friends of Luke,

I’m writing you this morning with a desperate plea. This is not a request for financial aid. It’s not a request for those easy cliched sayings that come with lending Christian support. We are in dire straits. Luke’s body is falling apart, and the doctors don’t know what is wrong with him. The past week Luke has been in almost constant pain and discomfort. He’s been crying and screaming, nearly inconsolable. Rachel and I have lost sleep with him, and we’re beaten down. Luke’s stomach is the issue, his stomach, his intestines, his bowel. There’s no medical explanation, there’s nothing anyone has been able to do for him. All this pain has come on the heels of what we thought was a solution, something that worked for a child with Luke’s condition that lives in Alberta. It has not worked for Luke. We’re afraid we are losing him. It should never come to a point where a parent has to think that having God take their child away would be the best thing. These thoughts, among others, have crept into our minds. What can you do, you might ask? I am asking all those who believe, without doubt, in the healing power of God to pray, and pray hard. This is our only hope now, that God will touch his little body and bring him healing. We need this, so much. It’s been so hard, we’re desperate. Please, I ask you that if you love Luke, and I know you do, that you will not just shrug off this letter. I am begging you to pray, often and powerfully. I believe that if our voices are raised in this plea to the Lord, that he will speak like a clap of thunder and strike this pain, this suffering from his body. Please, bring this request to all who would pray. Post it on Facebook, bring it up in churches and bible studies. Pass it around at schools and work. Tell your family, your friends. There is a little boy who desperately needs your help, your love. Thank you for your help.

God bless you,

Nick and Rachel

Amateur Radio Field Day (June 26-27,2010)

detourblues — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 14:27:43 +0000

Field Day is an annual amateur radio exercise, widely sponsored by IARU regions and member organizations, encouraging emergency communications preparedness among amateur radio operators. In the United States, it is typically the largest single emergency preparedness exercise in the country, with over 30,000 operators participating each year.

Since the first ARRL Field Day in 1933, radio amateurs throughout North America have practiced the rapid deployment of radio communications equipment in environments ranging from operations under tents in remote areas to operations inside Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs). Operations using emergency and alternative power sources are highly encouraged, since electricity and other public infrastructures are often among the first to fail during a natural disaster or severe weather.

To determine the effectiveness of the exercise and of each participant’s operations, there is an integrated contesting component, and many clubs also engage in concurrent leisure activities (camping out, cookouts, etc.). Operations typically last a continuous twenty-four hours, requiring scheduled relief operators to keep stations on the air. Additional contest points are awarded for experimenting with unusual modes, making contacts via satellite, and involving youth in the activity.

Field Day is held annually the fourth full weekend in June (June 26-27 in 2010). During the month of June, detour BLUES will be including PSAs during broadcasts in an effort to allow our listeners the opportunity to become aware of Amateur Radio and how to become involved!

The Williamsburg Area Amateur Radio Club, of which I am a member, uses an area on the Chicahominy River at the end of Brickyard Road off Old Forge Rd, near Toano, Virginia. The club will once again venture out the ends of the earth for it’s Field Day exercise. This site is a favorite for the members as it has shelter, power, bathrooms and fewer creepy-crawly things to contend with. Chair-person, Dave W9NNK is the man to contact if you have anything to offer or need any information about this exciting event.

Thanks,

John – KJ4PQH

Detour BLUES Broadcast Studios

detourblues — Sat, 22 May 2010 16:07:15 +0000

Broadcasting Studio

We use only one computer (AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core Processor BE-2300 1.90GHz, RAM 5.00, HDD 250GB) for our music, advertising, playback programs, our station’s jingles and signatures, etc. Our computer uses SAM Broadcaster 4.2.2 software produced by the SpacialAudio Solutions, LLC Company. All the sound is in the MP3 format and currently with constant data flow of 64 kbit/s. A decision was made to reduce the bitrate of the station from 128 to 64kbits/s.The reason behind lowering the bitrate is to allow those at work, on cell phones, and other places where high speed internet is not readily available, the opportunity the listen to detour BLUES.

As far as our supplemental devices are concerned, we use CD players, MD players, cassette players, a record player, and a Roland VSR-880 digital multi-track recorder.

Our web camera lets you see what our hosts are doing in our broadcasting studio. If you wish to see them, click here.

Your thoughts, comments, and suggestions concerning Blues You Can Use show

detourblues — Wed, 12 May 2010 17:51:06 +0000

So, the thought has come up here at detour BLUES concerning whether you, our listeners, like the idea of having a live broadcast where you can make requests or dedications and interact with the announcer (I’m talking about the Blues You Can Use show, heard M-F 1-5pm eastern)… or whether you would prefer the station to run automatically… selecting the songs to be played with no input from you. Your thoughts, comments, and suggestions would be deeply appreciated in this matter.

I just made a request, when will my song be played?

detourblues — Thu, 06 May 2010 23:37:25 +0000

Songs normally play one hour from the time the request was placed (due to DMCA regulations), however if there are many requests lined up in our queue your request might take longer to play.

Detour BLUES Mobile

detourblues — Thu, 06 May 2010 23:31:51 +0000

You can listen to detour BLUES on the go with various mobile devices providing you have a 3G capable phone and a suitable DATA plan with your cellular carrier.

Below are the devices we currently support:

iPhone & Windows Mobile

Check out Iterum2

It’s an advanced mobile radio player for the iPhone / iPhone 3G / iPhone 3GS and Windows Mobile phones.

It’s easy to use, fully supports detour BLUES and also provides features like song titles and cover arts for each song. You can grab it now from the iTunes store.

Or from the Windows Mobile Marketplace.

Nokia phones

The newer Nokia phones are internet radio capable (N60 and above)! Simply go to http://www.nokia.com/internetradio and download the internet radio software. Install it on your Nokia device using the Nokia PC suite and you are done. You can now listen to Internet Radio (including detour BLUES) on your mobile phone.

CD Review – The Bluesmasters featuring Mickey Thomas

detourblues — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 18:18:46 +0000

The eleven song CD, The Bluesmasters featuring Mickey Thomas was released on Tuesday, March 23, 2010. Tim Tucker (guitarist and producer) has truly assembled a wealth of top players. Tucker and pianist Sean Benjamin (who guests on two tracks of this CD) started The Bluesmasters in 2007 utilizing their past bandmates and contacts throughout the blues world.

First let’s review the band:

Tim Tucker‘s guitar playing shows he’s mastered every blues lick, every nuance, and sizzling solo in the great American Blues catalog.

Anysley Dunbar (drums) may be best known for playing in Journey and Jefferson Starship, but few realize he was in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers with Peter Green and John McVie and was part of the first Jeff Beck Group (frustrated that the band was not playing a strict enough blues set for his taste, he left after their seminal record Truth).

Danny Miranda (bass) has been playing in Blue Oster Cult since 1995 and joined Queen + Paul Rodgers for their album and the 2005 and 2006 tours.

Ric Ulsky (Hammond B3 organ) is a big time keyboardist in bands such as The City Zu and Smokin’ Guns and has put in his time touring with such as The Turtles, Spanky & Our Gang, Chuck Berry, and The Coasters to name a few.

Doug Lynn (harmonica) is a famous harp player in both the Omaha and Seattle areas and knew Sean Benjamin back in his days with the Benjamin’s band in the late 70s.

And finally, Mickey Thomas (vocals) has made his name as lead singer for Jefferson Starship, but more than a few should remember his turn as the vocalist for the Elvin Bishop Group and their hit “Fooled Around And Fell In Love”. Just in case you’ve forgotten, they’ve included the hit on this CD.

The CD sets the bar high with the first cut “Cherry Red”. Guest musician Sean Benjamin pounds out the blues on the piano while Thomas pushes his vocal chords into a soulful shout. Doug Lynn’s harp excellent work rounds out the song.

“Rock Me Baby” sends the proceedings into passing gear with nice Chicago-style harp work by Lynn. While Thomas does a great job of selling the song, I hear echos of the Jeff Beck-era Rod Steward in his voice. While “Fooled Around And Fell In Love” is a bluesed up version that showcases Thomas’ nice vocal reinterpretation of the classic and some solid drumming by Dunbar. And be sure to listen for Ric Ulsky’s excellent organ work on the Etta James gospel-tinged classic, “I’d Rather Go Blind”. Adding guitar to “Get Your Business Straight” and “Can’t Get No Grindin’” (plus sharing lead vocals) is the Mississippi-born Magic Slim. These songs loosen up the band a bit and Magic Slim cuts through with his tough guitar tone.

I’d say that Willie Dixon’s “Third Degree” and Elmore James’ “Over Yonder Wall” are my favorites on the CD. Dunbar and Miranda lay down a nice groove to set the table on “Third Degree”, while Tucker’s smoky guitar work and Ulsky’s B3 set the song on fire. “Over Yoner Wall” features a great performance by the whole band led down the path by Thomas’ vocal and Tucker’s blistering guitar.

I enjoyed this CD. The musicianship is excellent and the song choice is right on target. I would love to see these guys live, because I believe that is where the magic will be heard.

Check out the songs.

Cuts from this CD will be featured on the show “Blues You Can Use”, hosted by John Tibbs, heard here on detour BLUES, Mon-Fri from 1-5pm eastern. Post your comments here, or call John anytime during the show at 423-546-0360 or toll-free at 888-895-0996 ext 5.