Curtis Salgado's SOUL SHOT Debuts At #6 On Billboard Blues Chart

CURTIS SALGADO'S SOUL SHOT DEBUTS AT #6 ON THE BILLBOARD BLUES CHART

ALSO LANDS AT #63 ON BILLBOARD'S NEW ARTIST CHART

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Portland, Oregon-based soul-singer/harmonica icon Curtis Salgado's Alligator Records debut, Soul Shot, hit the #6 position on the Billboard Blues Chart for the week ending April 15. The album also placed at #63 on the magazine's New Artist Chart. Since its April 10 release, Soul Shot has been hailed by many national and regional publications, including USA Today. The New Yorker called the album "a highly-polished, high-energy affair." Influential AAA radio station KINK-FM in Portland, Oregon added the lead track, What You Gonna Do?, to their regular rotation.

Salgado -- winner of the 2010 Blues Music Award for Soul Blues Artist Of The Year -- effortlessly mixes R&B, funk and blues, with a delivery that is raw and heartfelt. He moves with ease from the tenderest ballads to the most full-throated stompers. Over the course of his career, he has sung with The Robert Cray Band, Roomful Of Blues and Santana, in addition to leading his own band.

In 1977 Salgado befriended John Belushi in Eugene, Oregon, while Belushi was filming Animal House. Before long, Salgado was playing old records for Belushi, teaching him about blues and R&B. Belushi soaked up the music like a sponge and soon developed his idea for The Blues Brothers.

Salgado has released six previous albums for a variety of labels, and has toured virtually non-stop. In 2006 he was sidelined when he underwent a successful liver transplant and then shortly afterwards was diagnosed with and then beat lung cancer. Like so many musicians, Curtis had no health insurance. His medical expenses were paid for in part by a huge outpouring of love and money from his fellow musicians and his huge Northwest fan base. He bounced back with a perfect bill of health in 2008, released Clean Getaway and resumed touring.

Now, with Soul Shot, Salgado is ready for more, as he is tougher and more focused than ever. He will again hit the road hard, proving his reputation as a fire-breathing live performer night after night.

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