BITTER WATER BLOG: The Queen of the Blues

"You know what? The bastard blows me out of the water. This guy writes Maine like Ardai writes New York. If you're not reading him, you don't know what you're missing." --Chris F. Holm, author of "The Collector" series, The Killing Kind, and Red Right Hand.

"A refreshingly new voice in noir." --Ed Kurtz, author of Nothing You Can Do and The Rib From Which I Remake the World.

"A glorious boilermaker of noir and East Coast gothic. The action is taut as a sprung snare and Bagley tightens the screws with every page." -- Laird Barron, author of Swift to Chase and Blood Standard.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

The Queen of the Blues

Koko Taylor died yesterday, from complications during surgery. She was 80 years old. I had the great pleasure of seeing her perform at the North Atlantic Blues Festival in 1995. Man, what a show. Koko Taylor was one of the blues' most powerful, soulful and distinctive voices.