Taildragger

1997 Nominee – National Band of the Year – 7th annual LA Music Awards Lexington, KY

JAMES YANCY JONES, known as THE TAIL DRAGGER, is a long-time disciple of Howlin’ Wolf; in fact, the Wolf gave James the moniker “Tail Dragger” emanating from one of the Wolf’s now-classic songs. The Tail Dragger followed Wolf from club- to-club, watching and getting pointers from the larger-then-life Howlin’ Wolf for more than 20 years. The Wolf allowed

“The Dragger” to perform his blues while Wolf took a break on weekend shows. Soon “The Dragger” was playing his own numerous club dates on the West and South Sides of Chicago.

TAIL DRAGGER is from Altheimer, Arkansas and during his formative years he saw Sonny Boy Williamson and Boyd Gilmore perform at house parties and country suppers. Dragger soon heard the records of Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters and Elmore James and his musical tastes were set in stone.

Tail Dragger remains intensely loyal to his early influences. The Tail Dragger, by his own admission, sings only lowdown blues. “Lowdown blues is all I like…All I feel…and I sing what I feel,” flatly states The Dragger. “Its’s like I get into a trance when I sing the blues, I forget about everything else. Nothing else matters,” concludes The Tail Dragger.

About the Blues Music Shack

Welcome The Blues Music Shack.

The Blues Music Shack is brought to you by ECS Productions, whose mission is to provide an outlet for the advancement of American Blues and Roots Music. Our calling is to preserve the past while honoring the future of one of America’s few truly original art forms.

Who We Are

ECS is the brainchild of critically acclaimed Blues performer E.C. Scott who has opted to use her vast knowledge of both Blues and business to help expand visibility of one of America’s true original art forms…the Blues. E.C. and the dedicated teams at ECS Productions and The Media Center work ceaselessly to create programming that will at once unify, enhance and expand the Blues Community.

What We Do

ECS Productions creates video programs for a Blues loving, community minded television viewing audience. We seek to unite dedicated followers of all Blues and other Traditional African American genres in an effort to strengthen the industry. ECS provides a complimentary outlet for artists and labels to showcase their talents! We are the only company of this kind dedicated to the unification, preservation and expansion of the Blues community.

How We Do It

Our flagship program “The Jook Joint” fills a unique void in the industry landscape providing a service to gain exposure for Blues artists. We provide an outlet for a sponsor to target a dedicated and specific audience and ultimately an opportunity for all involved from supporters to suppliers to together make Blues survive and make a living. In the future we will be expanding to include all manner of Blues music programming.

Why We Do It

Love, plain and simple. We love Blues music and want it to flourish. We are committed to making Blues relevant to new audiences. We use television to show people that Blues music is alive and relevant.

Tenets

We strive to fill a viewing void amongst people dedicated to enjoying and preserving American culture.
We strive to create an environment for the recognition of legendary, current and future Blues artists.
We strive to use television to unify Blues and Roots audiences
We strive to preserve the past while honoring the future