michael packer: News

The Free Beer CD by Michael Packer is now available in stores across the country Barnes & Noble, Borders Books, Amazon, Itunes and soon coming to a radio station near you!

You guys sounded awesome last night. Your band has the formula for success. An older white guy who's definitely got da' blues (Michael Packer). A little Ugandan guy on bongos (who the fuck has ever heard of bongos in a blues band) who can sing his ass off provided he can reach the microphone (Ed Jackson). A bass player (King Bear) who looks like he was the strategist who orchestrated the bombing of Pearl Harbor. A sick run down harp player who looks burned out and tired (Felix Cabrera)from swimming from Havana to Key West and an excellent blues drummer (Bad Eddie Suozzo)who can probably sprint faster than Carl Lewis, having run from the law so many times. Looking forward to seeing you again. - MARK DIAMOND owner of the Blue Parrot, Wilmington Delaware

Michael Packer's story about the 2010 International Blues Challenge in Memphis is published on The Blues Foundation website www.blues.org and will appear in the "Chitlin Circuit Magazine.

WHAT A WEEKEND! SIMPLY PHENOMONAL! MICHAEL PACKER & ED JACKSON ARE BACK FROM MEMPHIS.THEY PLAYED SOME GREAT SETS @ SILKY O'SULLIVANS ON BEALE STREET AND MICHAEL PACKER GOT TO SING WITH AN OUTSTANDING PICK-UP BAND @ BB KING'S ON BEALE STREET. WINDMILL MUSIC'S OWN CEE CEE JAMES WAS TERRIFIC @ THE HARD ROCK CAFE. MICHAEL PACKER GOT TO MEET MANY BLUES LUMINARIES MICHAEL FRANK (Honey Boy Edwards manager), GUITARISTS BOB MARGOLIN, HAWKEYE HERMAN, TAS CRU, BARBRA BLUE (blues singer), BRAD STEWART FROM THE INTREPID ARTISTS BLUES AGENCY, DETLIV HOEGEN WHO COVERED MICHAEL PACKER'S SONG 'I'M IN LOVE' AS A TEENAGER WITH HIS BAND IN GERMANY. DETLIV IS NOW PRESIDENT OF CROSSCUT RECORDS AND RECEIVED A KEEPING THE BLUES ALIVE AWARD. ANOTHER RECIPIENT OF THAT AWARD WAS ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE'S SENIOR EDITOR DAVID FRICKE WHO MICHAEL ALSO GOT TO MEET. HE ALSO GOT TO HEAR THE LATVIA BLUES BAND WHO ARE AMAZING LIVE AND WILL BE REPRESENTING THEM FOR WINDMILL MUSIC. THERE WERE SOME INCREDIBLE ACTS SUCH AS HARRISON KENNEDY (stella guitar-spoons), RICKY NYE (piano), DIVINA AND THE VAGABONDS (great band) AND THE LIST GOES ON AND ON. IT WAS A COMPETITION BUT THERE WERE NO LOSERS IN MEMPHIS. JUST SOME FINE MUSIC FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD! THANK YOU TO THE BLUES FOUNDATION FOR ORGANIZING A TRULY MARVELOUS EVENT....

MICHAEL PACKER & ED JACKSON WILL BE PERFORMING ON BEALE STREET IN MEMPHIS ON THURSDAY JANUARY 21 THRU SUNDAY THE 24TH....

Windmill Music would like to wish the world a happy new year! 2009 turned out to be a great year for The Michael Packer Blues Band. The "Rikers Island Blues" CD was nominated for best self-produced CD in Memphis. Michael Packer & Ed Jackson are returning to Memphis for the International Blues Challenge in January 2010. The band played some great shows: The NYC Marathon, Bettye LaVette show, Red Bank & Long Branch festivals, Logfest in Woodstock NY, Rutgers University and our regular club dates BB Kings, Turning Point Cafe, Ben's of NYC, Blue Moon Cafe, Adobe Blues and The Blue Parrot. We wish a special thank you to Gene Iandanza of The Jersey Shore Jazz & Blues Foundation for his support. Windmill Music has also established a working relationship with the Chicago blues label Blue Skunk in which we have secured distribution/promo deals for our artists Solomon King, Cee Cee James and Mr. Keith Little. Windmill also got a licensing deal for 'Sugarcane Collins" with the prestigious Blues Leaf records. Guitarist Ron Hacker who was featured on Tom Waits' "Orphans" box set has been added to the Windmill Music roster. We have received tons of airplay all over the world with our artists hitting both national and state radio charts. The Michael Packer Blues Band "Bleecker-Bowery" CD has been consistantly in the top 100 Rhapsody Country Blues Artists Charts and closes out 2009 @ #67. We look forward to a very successful New Year. Michael Packer's "Free Beer" CD is scheduled for a February 16th, 2010 release. We wish the world LOVE, PEACE and HAPPINESS. Not nescessarily in that order but you can't have one without the other!

WE WOULD LIKE TO WISH EVERYONE A HAPPY PEACEFUL HOLIDAY!!! THE MICHAEL PACKER BLUES BAND WILL BE APPEARING @ BB KING'S NYC www.bbkingblues.com ON CHRISTMAS DAY FRIDAY DECEMBER 25TH @ 8PM. WE WOULD LIKE TO INVITE YOU TO COME AND SPEND CHRISTMAS WITH US....

WINDMILL MUSIC WELCOMES THE SAN FRANCISCO BLUES MAN RON HACKER TO THE ROSTER. RON IS ONE OF HELL OF A GUITARIST AND SLIDE PLAYER. IN 2006 TOM WAITS ASKED RON TO PLAY SLIDE GUITAR ON A TRACK ON WAITS' "ORPHAN'S BOX SET". THAT ALONE SPEAKS FOR ITSELF . WINDMILL MUSIC WILL BE PROMOTING RON'S CD "MY SONGS" TO RECORD LABELS, BOOKING AGENTS, RADIO ETC. INTERESTED PARTIES PLEASE CONTACT US. RON HACKER IS AS GENUINE AS YOU CAN GET. ONCE YOU LISTEN TO HIM YOUR GOING TO SAY WHY HAVE I NOT HEARD OF HIM BEFORE.HE IS TRULY AMAZING! www.myspace.com/ronhackerandthehacksaws

The Michael Packer Blues Band opened for Bettye LaVette to a sold-out show last Saturday night in South Orange New Jersey. Both Solomon King and Michael Packer have signed with Blue Skunk Music a blues record label out of Chicago. Michael Packer's 'Free Beer' CD has just been released digitally by Ioda and is available @ Itunes and other digital stores. Solomon King's 'Under The Sun' and Packer's 'Free Beer' are scheduled for a January 2010 release and will be distributed by Burnside Corporate Distribution (BCD) in the U.S.A. and Canada.

MICHAEL PACKER and ED JACKSON ARE RETURNING TO MEMPHIS! THEY WILL BE REPRESENTING THE JERSEY SHORE JAZZ & BLUES FOUNDATION IN THE SOLO/DUO COMPETITION. PACKER'S ' RIKERS ISLAND BLUES ' CD WILL ALSO BE IN THE BEST SELF-PRODUCED CD CATEGORY. LAST SATURDAY OCTOBER 24TH THE MICHAEL PACKER BLUES BAND FINISHED 2ND TO THE MATT O'REE BAND IN THE REGIONAL FINALS HELD IN NEW JERSEY. MATT O'REE WILL BE REPRESENTING THE FOUNDATION IN THE BAND COMPETITION IN MEMPHIS!

"The Cincinnati Blues Man", Mr. Keith Little is now being represented by Windmill Music and we are thrilled to have this extrordinary talent join our roster of artists. We will be shopping his new CD " Take It Off and Get Loose With It " to record labels. You can find out more about Mr. Keith Little @ www.klittle.com . The best in blues, R&B, Soul and Funk...

Live @ Lucilles NYC CD released in November 2007 is still making some noise. It was # 9 in MP3 album downloads for traditional blues with a Amazon sales ranking @ 6,000. The Best Of The Michael Packer Blues Band released in 2006 was also # 100 in the electric blues guitar category @ Amazon. Michael Packer's blues CDs have continued to be in the top 100 charts @ Rhapsody (country blues) and e-music (texas blues).

Windmill Music has negotiated a licensing agreement with Blues Leaf Records for Andy 'Sugarcane' Collins and his CD, 'Way Down The River'. A March/April 2010 release date is expected.

The Michael Packer Blues Band have reached the finals and will compete against seven other bands on Saturday October 24th @ Paul's Tavern, Belmar New Jersey. This event, the regional International blues challenge, is sponsored by the Jersey Shore Jazz and Blues Foundation. The winner represents the foundation in Memphis on January 20th 2010.

MICHAEL PACKER'S 'RIKERS ISLAND BLUES' CD HAS BEEN CHOSEN THE BEST SELF-PRODUCED CD BY THE JERSEY SHORE JAZZ AND BLUES FOUNDATION AND WILL REPRESENT THE FOUNDATION IN MEMPHIS FOR THE 2010 INTERNATIONAL BLUES CHALLENGE BEST SELF-PRODUCED CD COMPETITION!

WINDMILL MUSIC WELCOMES WEST COAST BLUES and SOUL MUSICIAN SOLOMON KING. WE ARE HONORED TO BE REPRESENTING SUCH A TALENTED ARTIST. HIS NEW CD "UNDER THE SUN" IS AN EXTRORDINARY COLLECTION OF SONGS FROM AL GREEN'S "LOVE and HAPPINESS", TO PROCOL HARUM'S "WHITER SHADE OF PALE". THE CD FEATURES SOLOMON KING ON GUITAR/VOCALS WITH SPECIAL GUEST RAY PARKER JR (GHOSTBUSTERS) ALSO ON GUITAR! WHO YOU GOING TO CALL? SOLOMON KING! THAT'S WHO! more information go to www.solomonkingmusic.com

Windmill Music is proud to announce that we will be representing roots & blues vocalist Cee Cee James.Her song "I'll Ask The Questions,You Tell The Lies" was selected by XM Radio Bluesville program director Bill Wax to be aired on the program.For more information about this extrordinary talented lady who without question is the real deal....please go to www.ceeceejames.com

The Michael Packer Blues band was featured in a segment of the 'On The Road show' w/ Jr. & Sugar Mae (Exit 74 Bluesville XM sirius radio).Felix Cabrera who plays harp in the Michael Packer Blues Band was also recently reviewed in 'Downbeat' magazine www.felixcabrera.com

WINDMILL MUSIC IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THAT WE WILL BE REPRESENTING THE AWARD WINNING AND HIGHLY ACCLAIMED AUSTRALIAN BLUES ARTIST ANDY "SUGARCANE" COLLINS www.andycollins.com EXCLUSIVELY IN THE UNITED STATES.INTERESTED PARTIES (RECORD LABELS,BOOKING AGENTS,FESTIVAL & CLUB PROMOTERS) CONTACT WINDMILL MUSIC mikepackerblues@netzero.net OR CALL 718-273-1095.PROFESSIONAL INQUIRYS ONLY PLEASE....

'BORN UNDER BAD SIGN' FROM THE RIKERS ISLAND BLUES CD IS NOW ON THE BIG CITY BLUES MAGAZINE SAMPLER # 6 "BRIGHT LIGHTS BIG CITY www.bigcitybluesmag.com

THE NEW RIKERS ISLAND BLUES CD CHARTED # 41 ON THE ROOTS MUSIC REPORT NATIONAL BLUES CHARTS.THE SONG " CORINNA, CORINNA " IS FEATURED ON THE GEORGE THOROGOOD INTERVIEW BROADCAST ON BLUES DELUXE THE # 1 SYNDICATED BLUES SHOW WHICH AIRS ON JULY 26TH THRU AUGUST 1 ON OVER 100 RADIO STATIONS.

RIKERS ISLAND BLUES CD - Very enjoyable! The band is great! The song selection is very good and the performances captured on this recording are fun and full of energy.... - R.BLAKE (AMERICAN BLUES BLOG)

THE MICHAEL PACKER BLUES BAND HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE GRATEFUL DEAD FAMILY DISCOGRAPHY FOR THE SONG 'I GOT A MIND TO GIVE UP LIVIN' FROM THE BLEECKER-BOWERY CD ALONG WITH THE ORIGINAL RECORDINGS BY BB KING, PAUL BUTTERFIELD AND THE FORD BLUES BAND.. GO TO THE GRATEFUL DEAD FAMILY DISCOGRAPHY. www.deaddisc.com AND CLICK SONGS PERFORMED BY THE GRATEFUL DEAD AND CLICK " I GOT A MIND TO GIVE UP LIVIN "..

"RIKERS ISLAND BLUES" - REAL DEAL BLUES! - JAMES WALKER (BLUES REVIEWER FOR ILLINOIS BLUES BLAST MAGAZINE)

MICHAEL PACKER'S 'RIKERS ISLAND BLUES' CD IS ONE THE BESTSELLING NEW RELEASES IN TRADITIONAL BLUES @ AMAZON.COM...GET IT WHILE IT'S HOT!

RIKERS ISLAND BLUES CD - #18 ON THE EMUSIC CHICAGO BLUES CHARTS
LIVE @ LUCILLES NYC CD - #88 ON THE EMUSIC TEXAS BLUES CHARTS
BLEECKER-BOWERY CD - #59 ON THE RHAPSODY COUNTRY BLUES CHARTS