Editorial STUFF

In printed issue 1018 we are proud to bring you our unique mix of stars of today, icons of the past and potential legends of tomorrow…our eye catching and supremely talented cover artist this issue could potentially tick all three of those boxes and is a perfect fit for this magazine in terms of genres she represents. It gives us all at B&S great pleasure to introduce, a blues & soul artist who we feel is a sure fire bet to dominate those genres in the not too distant future, Dana Fuchs…How do you follow that? Well, the only way we know how…how about an exclusive with the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. It does warm the heart when an icon makes a return to our pages in this manor, we are over the moon Aretha choose this title as THE magazine she wanted to talk to first when making her return to the spotlight - as a title which as given Aretha countless covers over the years, covered her music from the very beginning in the minutest detail. Also meeting regularly with the artist in the US to get a blow by blow account of her, at times, tempestuous life and time defying material. All we can say now is 'welcome back Aretha!'… How the heck do you follow the Queen of Soul? Why, with the King of Modern Blues of course! Joe Bonamassa takes time out of his impossible schedule to talk to B&S an hour before he was due on stage at yet another sold out show…may I just take this opportunity to thank Joe for fitting us in, like Aretha they both interview rarely. May I also apologise to the good people / readers of our magazine in Germany for making Joe late on stage that night! But I'm sure you'll agree, he's well worth waiting for! ...While I get my breath back from that little lot, lol. I would now like to run down the other runners and riders for this issue - an issue where any of the proceeding names, as the above, could have adored our cover with their greatness! One of the UK's most endearing soul stars, Ruby Turner, releases a another damn fine album and talks to B&S about the process - what I want to know is Ruby, you are one of the busiest performers we know, where did you find the time to record an album? I'll look forward to your answer on Twitter! ...We bring you female chart dominance of the future and then some! Care of Jess Glynne, Becky Hill and Tinashe - who all drop interview exclusives our way. The boys aren't going to be out done either as Labrinth, Wretch 32 and Fuse ODG stake their claim for chart topping honours with candid interviews to back-up their killer tracks. All we can say is, with that lot firing their wares at you, the next few months as far as music goes is going to be VEEEERY interesting… Talking of very interesting, we indulge ourselves once more with real soul infused quality, by way of two VERY interesting artists… The first you will definitely know her work as one of the lead vocalists in Incognito. Immaculately talented songstress Imaani releases her first solo album. No it's not a misprint! lol. We can't believe it's her first either. More on that statement in our interview…Last but by no means least, the pearl in the shell of this issue, supremely talented - and we are so excited to give her, her first mag interview anywhere in the world - Alexia Coley. If you could bottle cool, she'd be dabbing it on like an expensive and intoxicating eau de parfum!‎ Watch this space!! Till next time, may the music be with you! Lee Tyler (Editor Blues & Soul Magazine) TWITTER: @LeeTyler13 @BluesandSoulB&S