There are only a handful of shopping days left this year before Christmas comes around, but there's still time to buy that last minute gift for the blues fan on your list. The Reverend has provided this handy 2009 gift guide to point you in the right direction for your shopping needs, and if there's nothing on the 2009 list that floats your boat, maybe the 2008 gift guide will offer something more to your liking.

If the holidays have stressed you out, take a moment to chill out and check out our picks for the best Christmas blues albums, all of which would make a pretty righteous gift in their own right. Whether you choose to buy these goodies for somebody, or hoard them all for yourself, the Reverend wishes all of you a Merry Christmas and happy holidays, and offers his best wishes for a very bluesy 2010!

Related Content: Blues Christmas Gift Guide 2009

Photo courtesy MCA Records

On January 12, 2010 Alive Naturalsound Records will release The Ladies Man, the 7th album from Delta bluesman T-Model Ford. Recorded live during one afternoon session at the Planet Paul Recording Studio in Wichita, Kansas the album features Ford and his acoustic guitar bangin' away on song after song as a group of younger backing musicians attempt to keep up. For the blues purists among our readers, the raw energy of The Ladies Man was created with no overdubs, minimal mixing, and a little Jack Daniels from the flask that 'T' is known to carry with him everywhere!

Born James Lewis Carter Ford sometime during the 1920s in Greenville, Mississippi - 'T' claims that he's 88 years old while his driver's license says that he's 84 years old - the singer and guitarist began his blues career when he was in his 70s, recording his debut album Pee-Wee Get My Gun for Fat Possum Records in 1997.

Inspired by bluesmen like Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker, Ford's unique take on the music is an inspired mix of rough-n-tumble, Delta-born juke-joint jams and stripped-down Chicago style blues. On many of his previous recordings, Ford and his electric guitar was backed only by drummer Spam (Tommy Lee Miles), the duo spinning a mesmerizing and rhythmic sound that packed a visceral emotional punch.

During his lengthy life, Ford has lived the blues as well as sung about them...he's worked in sawmills and logging camps, driven a truck and experienced more than his share of run-ins with "Johnny Law." Ford would be the first to tell you that he's a bad mother...and he brings a sense of menace to his music that few bluesman can muster. Fans who would like to hear a taste from The Ladies Man prior to its January release can download a mp3 of the song "Two Trains" from the Alive Naturalsound website.

Photo courtesy Alive Naturalsound Records

His is a name best known by the hardcore blues fan, but chances are that you've heard his influence when listening to some of your favorite blues songs. Singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer Nick Gravenites' lengthy career has spanned five decades now, and although he has only released a handful of solo albums through the years, his impact on blues and blues-rock music is unparalleled.

On December 8, 2009 Gravenites' long-lost 1980 album Bluestar was reissued on CD for the first time by our friends at Renaissance Records through the labels' relationship with online vendor itsaboutmusic.com. The out-of-print solo album was originally released by Germany's Line Records label in 1980 and featured guests like guitarist John Cipollina (Quicksilver Messenger Service) and Huey Lewis on harmonica.

Nick Gravenites grew up on Chicago's South Side during the 1950s, and learned the ins-and-outs of the blues from masters like Jimmy Rogers, Muddy Waters, and Buddy Guy. During this time, Gravenites was one of a gang of young white kids groovin' on the blues that included Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, and Elvin Bishop. During the mid-60s, Gravenites relocated to the San Francisco Bay area, where he's been part of the local music scene ever since.

Gravenites wrote "Born In Chicago" for the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, "Buried Alive In The Blues" for Janis Joplin (recorded as an instrumental after her death), and dozens of other songs recorded by artists like Elvin Bishop, Charlie Musselwhite, James Cotton, Howlin' Wolf, and plenty more. As a producer he's worked with the likes of Otis Rush, Michael Bloomfield, and others and Gravenites has lent his talents in one way or another to over 40 album releases. Thanks to Renaissance Records, blues fans can check out this very cool Gravenites album on CD. Maybe next we can get a reissue of the artist's 1969 solo debut, My Labors, featuring guitarist Bloomfield and members of Quicksilver Messenger Service?

Photo courtesy Renaissance Records

In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Pensacola on December 7th, the Florida-based independent blues label Blues Destiny Records has charged tech industry heavyweights Microsoft and Google, as well as the German file sharing service Rapidshare, with copyright infringement. At issue are the search functions of Google and Microsoft's Bing, which allow users to search for artist names and album titles and find websites featuring illegal downloads of Blues Destiny releases that are hosted by Rapidshare.

Doing a little online investigatory work last month, Blues Destiny found links to illegal downloads of its three most recently released CDs, from artists Ronny Sessum, Roy Powers, and Peter McGraw, and decided to file suit on this basis. However, search engines like Google and Bing are generally protected under the law as "safe havens," especially since neither seem to be linking directly to the digital files in question, but rather to websites that are linked to the files on Rapidshare. Although they are included in the Blues Destiny lawsuit, as a German company Rapidshare is not subject to U.S. copyright laws.

The Reverend has heard from several leading blues record labels about how illegal file sharing has impacted their sales, and thus their ability to sign and develop new blues talent. In the case of Blues Destiny, a small label seemingly specializing in regional talent, the potential financial impact of seeing three of their hottest new releases available online for free must be particularly galling. It's unlikely that they're going to win anything from the deep-pockets of either Google or Microsoft (the latter of which has removed the offending links from their service, anyway), but maybe they're just trying to get a little publicity for their plight.

There is no doubt that illegal file-sharing has had an impact on the music industry. The Reverend has always preached that we should support the indie labels that release the music we live for, so rather than download that album from an unauthorized source, why not buy a little something from Alligator Records, Delmark Records, Blind Pig, Telarc, Delta Groove, Blue Bella and/or the other blues labels we love?!!!

Photo courtesy Blues Destiny Records