Janiva Magness — Cassette

Intro

Janiva Magness sounds like the hard-won wisdom that only comes after the storm has passed. Her voice is a force of nature, possessing a grit-flecked rasp that can pivot from a vulnerable whisper to a house-shaking belt in a single breath. It is music rooted in the dirt and sweat of the American roadhouse, yet polished with a sophisticated soul sensibility that elevates it beyond standard genre tropes.

What truly distinguishes Magness is her radical honesty. While many blues singers lean on archetypes, she inhabits her songs with a specific, autobiographical intensity that makes every lyric feel like a confession. Her arrangements often feature warm, analog production where the Hammond organ and electric guitar serve as emotional counterpoints to her vocals, creating a dense, muscular sound that feels both timeless and urgently modern.

Start with 'The Devil Is An Angel Too' to hear her at her most electrifying and dynamic. It captures the perfect intersection of her blues pedigree and her soul-searching songwriting, offering a masterclass in how to turn personal struggle into a universal anthem of resilience.

Janiva Magness (born January 30, 1957) is an American Grammy Award nominated blues, soul, and Americana singer, songwriter, and author. To date she has released 16 albums. The Blues Foundation named Magness the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year in 2009, becoming only the second woman, after Koko Taylor, to be so honored. The award was presented by B.B. King himself and Bonnie Raitt. In 2014 she released her second album of all originals entitled Original which earned her the award for Song of the Year. Magness has earned seven Blues Music Awards with 29 similar nominations. USA Today stated, "Magness is a blues star." In 2019, Magness published her memoir "Weeds Like Us" and the audiobook version was released in 2022. "We get to relive her career with her, as she discovers her own talents, right up to her work with the great Dave Darling over the past decade. It's a ride that is both thrilling and heartbreaking. But the spoiler is, we know how it ends, because we know that Magness is still producing incredible music. And she's still a badass." – LA Weekly's Book of the Month, Brett Callwood. "When you're singing "The Blues," credibility is essential. You can talk the talk, but if you didn't walk the walk, people can tell. Janiva Magness has been singing the blues professionally for decades, but don't think for a minute that she didn't get to where she is now without having a struggle with hard times. And where she is now, it's a very good place: a highly regarded, award-winning singer and musician with an international following and a cache of critically well-received albums." – The Recoup, Joseph Kyle

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