Trampled Under Foot

Blues Challenge biggest ever -
Trampled Under Foot wins band competition
By Bob Mehr

Monday, February 4, 2008

The International Blues Challenge once again took over the clubs on Beale Street and the stage of the Orpheum this weekend, for what proved to be the largest edition of the event's nearly quarter-century history.

Sponsored by the Memphis-based Blues Foundation, the three-day event -- which brings together blues bands from across the globe to compete in two categories -- also includes the annual "Keeping the Blues Alive" awards ceremony and a variety of satellite activities.

The growth of the competition in recent years has been significant. The number of entrants has more than doubled since 2004, from 70 to 150-plus performers. The acts began making music in some 16 clubs in and around Beale Thursday night, with finalists in each category performing at the Orpheum on Saturday.

The band competition was particularly fierce, with a trio of acts all making significant bids for the title, which brings with it a package of cash and prizes. Kansas City-based outfit Trampled Under Foot -- a family trio featuring siblings Nick, Chris and Danielle Schnebelen -- ultimately won out with their soulful sound, besting Toronto blues diva Shakura S'Aida and Baton Rouge, La., guitar man Lil' Ray Neal.

In the solo/duo battle, Denver-based blues violinist Lionel Young rode his uniquely classical twist on the blues to the top spot, edging out Floridian one-man-band Ben Prestage.

As part of the festivities, the Blues Foundation also presented its annual "Keeping the Blues Alive" awards, which recognizes behind-the-scenes figures in more than 20 different categories working to promote and support the blues. Some of this year's recipients included Chicago blues patron and Alligator Records head/producer Bruce Iglauer, Jackson, Miss., retailer Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art, and Memphis's Mike Glenn, owner of the New Daisy Theatre.

List of finalists and honorees:

Band Category
Trampled Under Foot (Winner)
Doghouse Daddies
Laurie Morvan Band
Shakura S'Aida
Lil' Ray Neal Blues Band
Little Rodger & The Cheap Thrills
Awek
Delta Wires
The Mike Crandall Band
Pryor Baird and the Deacons

Solo /Duo Category
Lionel Young (Winner)
Ben Prestage
John Alex Mason
Dan Stevens and Chris D'Amato
2blu
Robert Sampson

2008 Keeping the Blues Alive Awards:

Art or Photography: VividPix & Design, Des Moines, Iowa

Blues Club: Knuckleheads Saloon, Kansas City, Missouri

Blues Organization: South Florida Blues Society, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Education: Fernando Jones, Chicago, Illinois

Festival: Edmonton’s Labatt Blues Festival, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Film, Television or Video: Ten Days Out: Blues From the Backroads

Historical Preservation: Mississippi Blues Commission and Mississippi Development Authority, Division of Tourism for the Mississippi Blues Marker Trail, Jackson, Mississippi

International: Blues sur Seine, Mantes la Jolie, France

Internet: STLBlues.net, St. Louis, Missouri

Journalism: Don Wilcock, Scotia, New York

Literature: Arthur Flowers, Syracuse, New York

Manager: Michael Frank, Chicago, Illinois

Print Media: Jefferson magazine, Stockholm, Sweden

Producer: Bruce Iglauer, Chicago, Illinois

Promoter: Don Cohen, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Publicist: Mark Pucci, Atlanta, Georgia

Radio-Commercial: Stew “Beef Stew” Crossen, Vernon, Connecticut

Radio-Public: Holger Peterson, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Record Label: NorthernBlues Music, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Retailer: Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art, Clarksdale, Mississippi

Sponsor: Mike Glenn, New Daisy Theater, Memphis, Tennessee

-- Bob Mehr, 529-2517
- commercialappeal.com

"Trampled Under Foot"...A band interview by Loney and Stephanie Wilcoxson for Cycle Connection Online, 3/1/06;

"My appeal is my soul. My music is my soul, my voice is my soul and I am so grateful that anyone enjoys or relates to or even likes to watch it, as long as it is respected as my soul" ......Danielle Schnebelen, Trampled Under Foot.

Danielle Schnebelen is one of Kansas City's musical treasures. Stephanie and I first heard her a few summers ago performing in the band "Fresh Brew". We were hooked immediately. Our Sunday plans for the rest of the summer included relaxing afternoons enjoying Danielle's voice. Danielle has received every possible kind of compliment from local publications, so I will sum them all up - the lady kicks ass. A voice like hers is not made; you have to be born with it. Imagine our disappointment when "Fresh Brew" was no longer performing at our Sunday hangout spot the following spring. Much to our delight we were treated to an occasional appearance by Danielle during the Sunday jams.

We were brokenhearted when we heard the news that Danielle was moving to the East Coast to perform with her brothers Nick and Kris. We found another band to listen to, but we still missed Danielle's powerful vocals. We made it through most of the summer, and then got some great news. Danielle was coming back, and Nick and Kris were coming with her.

To appreciate our excitement, you have to understand something--music is in the Schnebelen blood. Nick, Kris, and Danielle's parents Lisa Swedlund and the late Robert Schnebelen, were part of a very popular blues band, "Little Eva & The Works", in Kansas City during the early 1990's.

The first time we heard the band "Trampled Under Foot" we were totally blown away. Everything Danielle has in the voice department is equaled by Kris's drumming and Nick's guitar playing. To top it all off, both brothers are great vocalists too! "Trampled Under Foot" is a "must-not-miss" type of band. The on-stage chemistry between these siblings is unrivaled. With Kris's drums and Danielle's bass laying down a flawless rhythm section for Nick's powerhouse guitar work, I dare you to sit still. Throw in the voices of all three in a harmony that only comes from sharing a bloodline and you have one of Kansas City's top bands. If you get the chance to see "Trampled Under Foot", run, do not walk, to see them.

Interview With Danielle Schnebelen;

CC: What brought about your interest in music?

Danielle: We come from a long line of musicians. Our great aunt and uncle were in a mandolin/classical guitar ensemble in the 1910's and it filtered down, plus, our parents were both musicians as well. They ended up in many of the same bands; the most well known to be "Little Eva & the Works", and they always held rehearsals at our house. Anyway, we were listening to Muddy Waters from the womb, I like to say. So not only was music in our blood, but blues ended up being the primary music around other than the Beatles, my personal favorite band, but Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa, and other great blues/rock bands blues was it.

CC: At what age did each of you begin your musical training?

Danielle: My musical 'training' began when I was about 10 and my father realized I had an interest in singing. I'd been taking dance lessons and continued that for many years, but it was realized around then that I liked to sing. They were having a rehearsal in the basement and I started singing to a Koko Taylor song called, "Never Trust a Man", and my dad turned around and was like, 'Hey!'.

CC: Who are your influences?

Danielle: My influences range pretty far. They started out obviously with Aretha Franklin and Koko Taylor, and Etta James, but since I've grown a little more, I've really branched out to Muddy Waters, and Howlin' Wolf, and Ray Charles, but I've always stuck with Etta; she's definitely my favorite. As for bass players, I love Willie Dixon and James Jameson.

CC: Why did you choose the blues as your genre?

Danielle: Like I stated earlier, blues was from the beginning, I'm just lucky that the blues felt I deserved to tell my stories and those written before me.

CC: We know that you moved to the East Coast for a while to perform with your brothers. What brought you back?

Danielle: Brandon Hudspeth (shhhhhhh.........) [Brandon Hudspeth of the band Levee Town]

CC: Tell us what it means to be able to perform together.

Danielle: It is amazing, knowing these guys for so long, having the unexplainable bond with my brothers; forget the natural sibling quarrels, I can't explain it! I mean, I learned bass to play with them, I love it!

CC: Do you all get along as well as it seems you do?

Danielle: Refer to my previous answer!

CC: Do you intend to stay in the Kansas City area for the long term?

Danielle: I don't want to speak for the entire band, but I intend to play music and pay my bills; wherever it takes me from there is awesome.

CC: With a voice as strong as yours, do you have any formal voice training?

Danielle: I was in choir in middle and high school for a while in each school, but I was never entirely comfortable. Blues jams are a great way of formal training that they don't tell you about in middle school.

CC: All of the people we ride with love your music. To what do you attribute your appeal?

Danielle: My appeal is my soul. My music is my soul, my voice is my soul and I am so grateful that anyone enjoys or relates to or even likes to watch it, as long as it is respected as my soul.

CC: What was your most embarrassing moment on stage?

Danielle: Okay, here we go..... I was playing at the Grand Emporium, pretty early in my 'Rush Hour Rendezvous' days, with a full house, and I burped very loud into the mic during a pretty important line in a song. I tried to play it off, but the band laughed a little, God bless'em, and I did see a few of the people up front jump and chuckle a little.

CC: Where can our readers find "Trampled Under Foot" playing this spring and summer?

Danielle: We have so many gigs coming up all over the country, we're trying to get a West Coast trip together this June, and really the most efficient way to find our gigs is by going to www.tufkc.com. We are also on My Space under 'Trampled Under Foot'.

- Cycle Connection Online

A CD review by Dave Tanner, 2/1/05

Trampled Under Foot is a stampede of the blues. The sibling trio's latest CD, "White Trash," is a showcase of traditional and modern blues with a common theme: heart, soul and the family tree.

Recording the disc live at The Trouser Mouse in Blue Springs, the Schnebelens returned to the club Nov. 12 to release it to the public. And people lined up 20 deep in between sets to snag it.

"There's 78 minutes of music on it," says Nick Schnebelen, who wails on the guitar and splits vocal duties with his bassist sister Danielle. "There's tons of great songs on it."

Joined by their middle sibling Kris on the drums, the Schnebelens display their talents and knowledge of each other's every move on stage, taking turns with solos and letting the music breathe where appropriate.

"The music is easy," Danielle says. "We definitely know each other." Nick is the oldest at 27, followed by Kris, 25, and Danielle, 23.

Despite their relative youth in the blues circuit, the Schnebelens are no strangers to performing. Their father, the late Robert Schnebelen, and mother Lisa Swedlund played blues, getting their children involved in the 1990s with Little Eva & The Works. Their grandfather and great aunt also played in a traveling ensemble.

Trampled Under Foot, or TUF, has evolved from years of family members being together and apart. Nick left Kansas City at 18 to pursue a career in blues on the east coast, landing gigs and rave reviews in high circles.

Kris and Danielle moved to Philadelphia a few years ago to join him and form TUF. "We conquered a lot of what there was to do out there," Nick says, "and we thought maybe since we're from KC, we should be based in KC."

The siblings moved back to Kansas City earlier this year, and instantly landed regular gigs at some local hotspots. Nick explains where "White Trash" comes from.

"We called it that because we were trying to do a roots thing on it," he said. "The cover has a picture of the house where we grew up."
On the inside, the siblings used grade-school photos of themselves instead of a modern band photo.

Make no mistake. The Schnebelen family pours every ounce of heart, soul and history into the disc and into their live performances.

Watch for TUF in a club near you, and try not to get trampled.

- The "X" Entertainment Magazine