News

On Tuesday, January 9, 2018, The Blues Foundation announced the nominees for the 39th Annual Blues Music Awards, the blues world's highest honors. Ten Alligator recording artists received a total of 18 nominations.
 
Rick Estrin, leader of Rick Estrin & The Nightcats, received seven nominations, including the B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year, Album Of The Year (for Groovin' In Greaseland) and Song Of The Year (for The Blues Ain't Goin' Nowhere). Estrin was also recognized with nominations for Best Instrumentalist - Harmonica, Traditional Blues Male Artist Of The Year and Traditional Blues Album Of The Year. Nightcats' guitarist Kid Andersen received a nomination for Best Instrumentalist - Guitar.
 
Rick Estrin & The Nightcats, The Nick Moss Band and The Cash Box Kings were all nominated for the coveted Band Of The Year award. Nick Moss Band harmonica player Dennis Gruenling received a nomination for Best Instrumentalist - Harmonica.

In addition, The Cash Box Kings' Royal Mint and Elvin Bishop's Elvin Bishop's Big Fun Trio were nominated for Traditional Blues Album Of The Year.

Blues visionary Selwyn Birchwood received nominations for Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year (for Pick Your Poison) and Contemporary Blues Male Artist Of The Year. Fellow blues groundbreaker Toronzo Cannon was also nominated for Contemporary Blues Male Artist Of The Year.

Shemekia Copeland was nominated as Contemporary Blues Female Artist Of The year.

Curtis Salgado received a nod in the Soul Blues Male Artist Of The Year category.

The 39th Annual Blues Music Awards will be presented in Memphis on May 10, 2018 at the Cook Convention Center.
 
Alligator artists and nominations are as follows:

RICK ESTRIN:
Album Of The Year: Groovin' In Greaseland
Traditional Blues Album Of The Year: Groovin' In Greaseland
Band Of The Year: Rick Estrin & The Nightcats
B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year
Song Of The Year: The Blues Ain't Goin' Nowhere
Traditional Blues Male Artist Of The Year
Best Instrumentalist - Harmonica

Best Instrumentalist - Guitar: Kid Andersen

SELWYN BIRCHWOOD:
Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year: Pick Your Poison
Contemporary Blues Male Artist Of The Year

THE CASH BOX KINGS:
Band Of The Year
Traditional Blues Album Of The Year: Royal Mint

ELVIN BISHOP:
Traditional Blues Album Of The Year: Elvin Bishop's Big Fun Trio

SHEMEKIA COPELAND:
Contemporary Blues Female Artist Of The Year

THE NICK MOSS BAND:
Band Of The Year

Best Instrumentalist - Harmonica: Dennis Gruenling

TORONZO CANNON:
Contemporary Blues Male Artist Of The Year

CURTIS SALGADO:
Soul Blues Male Artist Of The Year
 

Selwyn Birchwood's Pick Your Poison #1 On Blues Rock Chart
Alligator Artists Hold Five Of The Top Ten Spots On Blues Chart

Recordings by Alligator Records artists dominated the 2017 Roots Music Report's two influential blues charts, which were announced on Tuesday, January 2. Selwyn Birchwood's Pick Your Poison sits atop the RMR's Blues Rock Chart. Alligator artists hold five of the top ten spots on the Blues Chart. All six of Alligator's 2017 releases made top 20 -- The Cash Box Kings' Royal Mint, #4; Coco Montoya's Hard Truth, #5; Elvin Bishop's Big Fun Trio, #6; Tommy Castro & The Painkillers' Stompin' Ground, #8; Selwyn Birchwood's Pick Your Poison, #9 and Rick Estrin & The Nightcats' Groovin' In Greaseland, #17.

Additionally, the January 2018 issue of MOJO magazine, the UK's premiere tastemaker music publication, selected their Top Blues Albums Of 2017. The Cash Box Kings' Royal Mint came in at #2 and Birchwood's Pick Your Poison at #8.

Alligator Records eagerly looks forward to topping more charts in 2018 with highly anticipated new releases from Tinsley Ellis, Curtis Salgado & Alan Hager, The Nick Moss Band Featuring Dennis Gruenling, Marcia Ball, Shemekia Copeland and others. Ellis' Winning Hand and Salgado & Hager's Rough Cut will both be released on Friday, January 12.

On Tuesday, November 28, 2017, The National Academy Of Recording Arts And Sciences (NARAS) announced a Grammy Award nomination for Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer and blues master Elvin Bishop. His latest album, Elvin Bishop's Big Fun Trio (with guitarist/pianist Bob Welsh and percussionist/vocalist Willy Jordan) received a nomination in the Best Traditional Blues Album category. The album is Elvin’s seventh release on Chicago-based Alligator Records.

Elvin Bishop’s Big Fun Trio features Bishop’s down-home delivery, deep blues picking and slide guitar playfully meshing with Welsh’s piano and guitar licks and Jordan’s soul singing and propulsive cajón playing. The album’s laid-back, front-porch vibe mixes four rollicking Bishop originals with three co-writes and five raucous, well-chosen covers of songs by Lightnin' Hopkins, Fats Domino, Sunnyland Slim, Ted Taylor and Bobby Womack. The Chicago Sun-Times said, “It’s impossible not to like Bishop. He’s always singing something lowbrow and uplifting.”

"In a trio, there's no place to hide," says Bishop. "You need to be totally into it all the time and you got to have the right guys. The combination of the three of us clicked big time. We went out and played a couple of gigs, and it was really cool to see how the people reacted to the goin’-for-it feel of the music. We decided we better make a CD. We enjoyed the hell out of playing this music."

Although Bishop has been performing his good-time brand of electrified, easy-rolling blues for over 50 years (his first professional gig was as guitarist for Junior Wells’ band in 1962), he is as vital and creative an artist today as he was when he first hit the national scene in 1965 with The Paul Butterfield Blues Band and was scoring massive rock ’n’ roll hits in the 1970s. His return to the blues on Alligator Records in the late 1980s ensure his place on the short list of bona fide blues guitar heroes. In 2015 he was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, and soon after into the Blues Hall Of Fame. This is Bishop's third Grammy Award nomination. He won the Living Blues Award for Best Blues Album Of 2014 and three 2014 Blues Music Awards.

On Friday, December 9, 2017, legendary pianist, songwriter and vocalist Marcia Ball will appear on A Jazz Piano Christmas from The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The event, presented by NPR and The Kennedy Center, is an annual holiday tradition featuring four celebrated pianists performing their favorite seasonal music. The other artists on the program are Helen Sung, Joanne Brackeen and Abelita Mateus. The concert will be recorded for future NPR broadcast and streaming online.

According to Ball, "I am honored to be invited to participate in this year's NPR's A Jazz Piano Christmas program alongside three other amazing piano women."

Marcia Ball has earned worldwide fame for her ability to ignite a full-scale roadhouse rhythm and blues party every time she strolls onto a stage. The New York Times says, “Marcia Ball plays two-fisted New Orleans barrelhouse piano and sings in a husky, knowing voice about all the trouble men and women can get into on the way to a good time.” Ball's signature groove-laden New Orleans R&B, heart wrenching ballads and rollicking Gulf Coast blues have made her a one-of-a-kind favorite with music fans all over the world. Her songs paint vibrant pictures with richly detailed characters, flavors and scenes straight out of Louisiana and Texas.

Earlier this year, Ball, along with country music superstar George Strait, was named an official 2018 Texas State Musician by the Texas State Legislature. She holds ten Blues Music Awards, nine Living Blues Awards and five Grammy Award nominations. Born in Texas and raised in Louisiana (before settling in Austin in 1970), she has been inducted into both the Gulf Coast Music Hall Of Fame and the Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame. Her love of the road has led to countless performances at festivals, concert halls and clubs all over the world. Living Blues declares, “Her originals sound like timeless classics and southern soul masterpieces that no one else can imitate.”

New Album, The High Cost of Low Living, Set for March 2018 Release

Nick Moss has been at the forefront of contemporary Chicago blues for years. His muscular electric energy combines jaw-dropping guitar, impassioned songwriting and foot-stomping soul.
--Living Blues

Nick Moss is at the top of the blues world. Ambitious and intense....He can play traditional blues with the best.
--Blues Revue

Dennis Gruenling is the real deal -- one of the best harmonica players in the world today.

--World Of Harmonica

Alligator Records is pleased to announce the signing of famed Chicago-based blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Nick Moss. The Nick Moss Band Featuring Dennis Gruenling will release their label debut, The High Cost Of Low Living, in March 2018.

Nick Moss is a bona fide bluesman to his soul with 12 solo releases to his credit, ranging from straight ahead Chicago blues to experimental blues-rock. The new album is a return to the classic Chicago blues ensemble sound Moss knows, lives and loves. But it's no re-creation of old songs. Moss wrote nine memorable new originals and Gruenling wrote two, all rooted in the blues tradition.

Moss is a 30-year veteran guitarist who paid his dues gigging in Chicago's rough and tumble West and South side blues clubs under the tutelage of some of the city's greatest blues luminaries. He learned directly from, and toured with, blues giants Jimmy "Fast Fingers" Dawkins, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith and Jimmy Rogers.

New Jersey's Dennis Gruenling is considered among the very top blues harmonica players today. As a teen, Gruenling heard the Alligator recording Harp Attack! (featuring Junior Wells, Carey Bell, James Cotton and Billy Branch) and decided the harmonica was his calling. A self-taught player, his fat-toned harp work, soulful singing and raw-boned, untamed energy are a perfect foil for Moss' hair-raising guitar playing and commanding vocals. Blues Revue called Gruenling "a leading light among a new generation of harp players...a true innovator."

According to Alligator president Bruce Iglauer, Nick is a natural fit for the label. "It’s very exciting to bring an artist to Alligator who is so deeply rooted in the Chicago blues tradition, but creating fresh new songs to carry that tradition forward. He’s a thrilling guitar player, a gritty, honest singer, and his band is tough as nails. Dennis Gruenling is a blues harmonica master and a terrific showman, and he brings another world class talent to Nick’s band. These are artists that any fan of the blues has got to love."

Moss is equally thrilled, saying, "I am extremely excited and honored to be a part of Alligator Records' legacy. It was 35 years ago I got my first Alligator recording -- Blues Deluxe -- and 30 years ago I saw my first Alligator act, Little Charlie & The Nightcats, in person. My life has never been the same!”

Growing up in Chicago and standing tall at 6'2", Moss (born December 15, 1969), dreamed of playing both music and sports. When kidney surgery sidelined his athletic hopes, he dove headfirst into the blues. His mother was a huge blues fan, even taking a young Nick to see bluesmen like Muddy Waters live in concert. Originally a bass player, Moss got his first professional break touring and playing bass with legendary West Side Chicago guitarist Jimmy "Fast Fingers" Dawkins. He next toured with Willie "Big Eyes" Smith (longtime Muddy Waters' drummer), leader of the Legendary Blues Band. Finding himself in need of a guitarist, Smith insisted Moss switch instruments. Combining his natural talent with his monumental work ethic, Moss quickly rose in the ranks, becoming a highly sought-after player. Bluesman Jimmy Rogers (famous for his pioneering guitar work with Muddy Waters and for his solo hit Walking By Myself) hired Moss to join his touring band and became his mentor.

Moss formed his own band in 1997 and released the first of his 12 solo albums a year later on his own independent Blue Bella label. He's received 21 Blues Music Award nominations and has earned legions of fans around the world, playing over 100 shows a year. Moss has shared stages with Buddy Guy, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Gary Clark, Jr., David Hidalgo and many others.

Although Moss and Gruenling had known each other for 20 years and have jammed together often, it wasn't until 2016 that they decided to team up full time. Moss' deeply rooted yet fully modern guitar playing flawlessly meshes with Gruenling's monster harmonica chops. On stage, the two communicate seemingly telepathically, as Moss lays down the deepest blues licks and Gruenling's harmonica wails and howls in perfect response, with Moss' top-notch band adding their energy and expertise to the ensemble.

With the release of The High Cost Of Low Living, The Nick Moss Band Featuring Dennis Gruenling will travel the country, bringing their high-energy show to clubs, concert halls, roadhouses and festival stages, continuing to excite and inspire longtime fans while earning new ones every time they perform.

Alligator Records has set a January 12 release date for Rough Cut, the first collaborative album from award-winning soul, blues and R&B vocalist Curtis Salgado and renowned guitarist Alan Hager. Salgado's earth-shaking vocals and forceful harmonica playing have been devastating audiences around the world for over 30 years. Guitarist Alan Hager has been wowing fellow musicians from his hometown of Portland, Oregon and beyond for decades.

Hager has been jamming with Salgado since 2003, and joined his band full-time in 2015. Together, the two friends took time out of their busy touring schedule to record Rough Cut, a stripped-down album featuring a potent mix of newly written, timeless originals and carefully chosen blues covers. “We did it for the love of the music,” says Salgado. “This is where our hearts are. These are deep songs that we love to play.”

Produced by Salgado and Hager, the 13 songs on Rough Cut(including six originals) range from plaintive to playful. Recorded in one live unrehearsed take, the original I Will Not Surrender, with its haunting and sparse soundscape, showcases some of Hager’s strongest guitar work, and some of the most profoundly emotive vocals Salgado has ever laid down. The canine-lover’s anthem, I Want My Dog To Live Longer (The Greatest Wish), is already a huge fan favorite. Salgado’s soulful singing and Hager’s elegant slide guitar playing shine on Elmore James’ You Got To Move and Muddy Waters’ I Can’t Be Satisfied. “He’s the best player in the business, unlike anybody else,” Salgado says of Hager. “One reason I made this record was to show him off.”

Salgado and Hager have performed at Portland’s Waterfront Blues Festival, The Chicago Blues Festival, The Tampa Bay Blues Festival and Canada’s Festival Tremblant Blues Festival and on the Legendary Blues Cruise. Salgado has also performed at The San Francisco Blues Festival, Memphis’ Beale Street Music Festival, Denver’s Mile High Blues Festival, as well as in Canada, England, throughout Europe, Brazil, Chile, Panama, The Philippines, Thailand and Hong Kong. Blues Revue, describing Salgado’s performances, declares, “He starts at excellent before segueing into goose bumps, ecstasy, and finally nirvana.”

Salgado released the first of his 10 solo albums in 1991. He joined Alligator Records in 2012, debuting with the award-winning, critically acclaimed Soul Shot  followed by The Beautiful Lowdown in 2016. The albums earned Salgado multiple Blues Music Awards for B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year, Soul Blues Male Artist Of The Year, Soul Blues Album Of The Year and Song Of The Year. NPR calls him “a blues icon” with a “huge voice."

Along with his accolades, Salgado is no stranger to adversity. During his career, he has overcome multiple health challenges, battling back from liver cancer in 2006 and lung cancer in 2008 and 2012. In March 2017 he underwent quadruple bypass surgery. Now he is back on the road, revved up and firing on all cylinders, performing with his band as well as a duo with Hager. His resilience can be heard – and felt – on I Will Not Surrender, Rough Cut’s lead track.

With Curtis’ inspired singing and world-class harmonica playing and Alan’s spellbinding guitar, Rough Cut is the album Salgado and Hager have always wanted to make together – soulful, sparse and haunting. The music is a moving exploration of the joyful, emotionally uplifting power of passionately played and soulfully sung acoustic blues. They’ll perform together as a duo both on their own and during Curtis’ full band shows, giving their fans a taste of what Alan calls “American Classical music.” “This type of music moves us the most,” says Salgado. “You believe it when you hear it.”

TINSLEY ELLIS' WINNING HAND SET FOR
JANUARY 12, 2018 RELEASE

 Massive U.S. Tour To Launch From Ellis' Atlanta Hometown

Feral blues guitar...non-stop gigging has sharpened his six-string to a razor’s edge...his eloquence dazzles...he achieves pyrotechnics that rival early Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton.
--Rolling Stone

Ellis unleashes a torrent of dazzling musicianship pitched between the exhilarating volatility of rock and roll and the passion of urban blues.

--Los Angeles Times

Alligator Records has set a January 12, 2018 release date for Winning Hand, the powerful new album from Southern blues-rock guitar wizard, vocalist and songwriter Tinsley Ellis. He will immediately hit the road for a mammoth three month U.S. tour, launching on release date with a concert at the Variety Playhouse in his hometown of Atlanta.

Recorded in Nashville and produced by Ellis and keyboardist Kevin McKendree, the ten brilliantly performed, fervently sung tracks on Winning Hand include nine originals, ranging from blistering blues to heart-pounding rock to soulful ballads. “Guitar, guitar, guitar is what this album is all about,” says Ellis, who recorded primarily with his 1959 Fender Stratocaster, his 1967 Gibson ES 345 and his 1973 Les Paul Deluxe. Guitar World says, “Ellis’ playing sparkles with depth and subtlety. Whether playing deep, slow blues or uptempo rockers, Ellis rides a gorgeously fat, pure tone.”

Since his Alligator debut 30 years ago, Tinsley Ellis has become a bona fide worldwide guitar hero. The Chicago Sun-Times says, “It's hard to overstate the raw power of his music.” Armed with his signature molten licks, melodic riffs and rousing, intense solos, Ellis, as his legions of fans will attest, is among the blues world’s best loved, hardest working and most well-travelled statesmen. He has performed in all 50 United States as well as in Canada, Western and Eastern Europe, Australia and South America, earning legions of fans with his guitar virtuosity, passionate vocals and memorable original songs. Ellis is also revered as a guitarist’s guitarist, with famous friends including Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes, Oliver Wood, Jonny Lang and members of Widespread Panic calling on him to sit in and jam. “A musician never got famous staying home,” he says.

Born in Atlanta in 1957, Ellis was raised in southern Florida. He found the blues through the back door of British Invasion bands like The Yardbirds, The Animals, Cream, The Rolling Stones and Southern rockers like The Allman Brothers. As he discovered the roots of these bands, he attended shows by B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters and every other blues artist who came through town.

Already an accomplished teenaged musician, Ellis returned to Atlanta and started playing with local bands. In 1981, along with veteran blues singer and harpist Chicago Bob Nelson, Tinsley formed The Heartfixers, a group that would become Atlanta’s top-drawing blues band. After cutting three Heartfixers albums for the Landslide label, Ellis was ready to head out on his own.

 
Georgia Blue, Tinsley’s first Alligator release, hit the unprepared public by surprise in 1988. The Chicago Tribune said, “Tinsley Ellis torches with molten fretwork. Ellis takes classic, Southern blues-rock workouts and jolts them to new life with a torrid ax barrage.” Tinsley’s next four releases — 1989’s Fanning The Flames, 1992’s Trouble Time, 1994’s Storm Warning, and 1997’s Fire It Up — further grew his fan base and his fame. Features and reviews ran in Rolling Stone, The Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, and in many other national and regional publications.

Ellis released an album on Capricorn Records in 2000 and on Telarc in 2002. He returned to Alligator in 2005, releasing Live--Highwayman, which captured the fifth-gear energy of his live shows. He followed it with two more incendiary studio releases, 2007's Moment Of Truth and 2009's Speak No Evil. He has since self-released four successful albums on his own Heartfixer label.

Over the course of his career, Ellis has shared stages with Stevie Ray Vaughan, Otis Rush, Willie Dixon, The Allman Brothers, Leon Russell, Son Seals, Koko Taylor, Albert Collins and many others. Whether he’s on stage with his own band or jamming with artists like Buddy Guy, the  Tedeschi Trucks Band, Gov’t Mule or Widespread Panic, he always plays with grit, soul and unbridled passion. Back home on Alligator Records with his new album and a massive live tour in the works, Tinsley Ellis is ready to prove again that whenever he picks up a guitar, he's playing with a winning hand.

2018 WINNING HAND TOUR:

01/12/18 Variety Playhouse - Atlanta, GA
01/13/18 Songbirds Guitar Museum - Chattanooga, TN
01/16/18 The Downtown Music Hall at Capital Ale House - Richmond, VA
01/17/18 Blues Alley - Washington, DC
01/18/18 Creative Alliance - Baltimore, MD
01/19/18 Arden Gild Hall - Arden, DE
01/20/18 Sellersville Theater 1894 - Sellersville, PA
01/21/18 City Winery - NYC
01/23/18 Iron Horse Music Hall - Northampton, MA
01/24/18 City Winery Boston - Boston, MA
01/25/18 Narrows Center for the Arts - Fall River, MA
01/26/18 The Linda WAMC's Performing Arts Studio - Albany, NY
01/27/18 Moondog's - Blawnox, PA
01/28/18 Buffalo Iron Works - Buffalo, NY
01/29/18 Cadillac Lounge - Toronto, ON
01/31/18 SPACE - Evanston, IL

02/01/18 Callahan's Music Hall - Auburn Hills, MI
02/02/18 Cincy Winter Blues Fest - Cincinnati, OH
02/03/18 C2G Music Hall - Fort Wayne, IN
02/07/18 Blues at the Abbey - Subaico, AR
02/08/18 Chrome Lounge - Omaha, NE
02/09/18 Sioux Falls Jazz and Blues Concert Series - Sioux Falls, SD
02/10/18 Fargo Blues Festival - Fargo, ND
02/13/18 Mangy Moose - Jackson, WY
02/14/18 The State Room - Salt Lake City, UT
02/15/18 Boulder Station Casino - Las Vegas, NV
02/16/18 World Records - Bakersfield, CA
02/18/18 Rio Theatre - Vancouver BC
02/20/18 Dimitriou's Jazz Alley - Seattle, WA
02/21/18 Dimitriou's Jazz Alley - Seattle, WA
02/22/18 The Roots Cellar- Prosser, WA
02/23/18 The Jack London - Portland, OR
02/24/18 The Sapphire Room - Boise, ID
02/25/18 Sofia Center for the Arts - Sacramento, CA
02/26/18 Yoshi's Oakland - Oakland, CA
02/27/18 The Tower Theatre Lounge - Fresno, CA
02/28/18 Coach House - San Juan Capistrano, CA

03/01/18 Canyon Club - Agoura Hills, CA
03/02/18 191 Toole - Tucson, AZ
03/03/18 Musical Instrument Museum - Phoenix, AZ
03/08/18 The Temporary - Basalt, CO
03/09/18 Reserve Casino - Central City, CO
03/10/18 Reserve Casino - Central City, CO
03/12/18 Crested Butte Center for the Arts - Crested Butte, CO
03/16/18 Redstone Room - Davenport, IA
03/17/18 Dakota Jazz Club - Minneapolis, MN
03/18/18 Lefty's Live Music - Des Moines, IA
03/22/18 Woodlands - Columbus, OH
03/23/18 Music Box Supper Club - Cleveland, OH
03/24/18 Franke Center for the Arts - Marshall, MI

“A remarkable contemporary bluesman...a powerhouse young guitarist and soulful vocalist. A major player...highly recommended.” –Rolling Stone

Guitarist, songwriter and vocalist Selwyn Birchwood was recently featured on On Tour, the Emmy Award-winning live music performance program produced by Philadelphia Public Television station WHYY-TV. The show, featuring live versions of songs from Birchwood's new album, Pick Your Poison, along with insightful interview segments, first aired in the greater Philadelphia region on Thursday, October 26.

The program is now available to view online here.

On Pick Your Poison, Birchwood, along with his band—saxophonist Regi Oliver, bassist Huff Wright and drummer Courtney “Big Love” Girlie has taken a major step forward, crafting visionary blues for a new generation of forward-looking fans. The Wall Street Journal says Birchwood is "a skilled, energetic and original artist...His songwriting is observant, clever and pointed. His guitar fluency generates new licks and rhythmic surprises. Expectations have been high for Mr. Birchwood—and he lives up to them here."

Birchwood's blistering instrumental skills, his trailblazing, instantly memorable songs and his gritty, unvarnished vocals place him among the brightest young stars in the blues. His deep understanding of the blues tradition allows him to bust the genre wide open, adding new sounds, colors and textures, all delivered with a revival tent preacher’s fervor and a natural storyteller’s charisma.The Washington Post calls Birchwood a “tough, indelibly modern next generation bluesman.”

Birchwood and his band continue to perform across the US, playing over 100 shows a year. His current tour schedule can be found here.

Alligator Records has set a September 29 release date for Stompin' Ground, the blazing new album from soul-blues rockers Tommy Castro & The Painkillers. Guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Castro and the Painkillers – bassist Randy McDonald, keyboardist Michael Emerson and drummer Bowen Brown – have played hundreds of shows to thousands of music lovers, always leaving  audiences screaming for more. All of Castro's albums are filled with original blues, soul and West Coast rock. Each song on Stompin' Ground shows a slightly different side of his multifaceted musical personality. Billboard says the band plays “irresistible contemporary blues-rock” with “street-level grit and soul.”

On Stompin’ Ground (available on CD as well as 180g yellow vinyl), Castro, a native of San Jose, CA, opens windows both into his past and his always-evolving musical future. Produced by Castro and guitar wunderkind Kid Andersen and recorded at Andersen’s soon-to-be legendary Greaseland Studio in San Jose, Stompin’ Ground finds Castro letting loose on a set of 12 tracks featuring seven originals and new versions of songs he learned and played as a young up-and-comer. He is simultaneously looking back with autobiographical originals and cover songs that inspired him, while forging a forward trail with modern lyrics atop blistering blues-rock.

In addition to the The Painkillers, Castro’s friends Charlie Musselwhite (harp and vocals on Live Every Day), Mike Zito (guitar and vocals on Rock Bottom), Danielle Nicole (vocals on Soul Shake) and Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo (guitar and vocals on Them Changes) add their talents to Stompin’ Ground. “I heard each one of my friends’ contributions on these songs in my head as I was working on them. Happily, when I reached out and actually asked, everyone said yes.”

Castro's musical roots run deep. As he unleashes his high-energy music to fans all over the world, he is inspired by the sounds he absorbed while coming of age on the rough and tumble side of San Jose, California. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, this was Castro’s home turf – his stomping ground. It was a place where the street-tough Mexican Americans and the counter-culture hippies came together to drink, smoke, laugh, party and listen to tunes – the hippies with their blues and rock, the Mexicans with their soul music. Mixing the blues-rock he loved and the soul music he heard blasting out from the lowriders cruising the streets, along with the socially conscious message songs of the day, Tommy’s own sound was born. He honed his guitar playing to a razor’s edge on the city’s competitive bar scene, where he learned how to capture an audience with his intensely passionate vocals, stellar musicianship and dynamic performances. Almost every major rock and soul act, from Ike & Tina Turner to Janis Joplin to Elvin Bishop and Taj Mahal toured through the area, and Castro was at almost every show. He saw John Lee Hooker, Albert King and Buddy Guy & Junior Wells at the same local blues bar, JJ’s, where he often jammed, dreaming of one day busting out.

Castro began playing in a variety of Bay Area blues and soul bands in his early 20s. He joined Warner Brothers’ artists The Dynatones in the late 1980s, gigging all over the country. After forming the first Tommy Castro Band in 1991, Castro released a series of critically acclaimed CDs for Blind Pig, Telarc and 33rd Street Records, as well as one on his own Heart And Soul label. He signed with Alligator Records in 2009, releasing Hard Believer to massive acclaim. He won four of his six career Blues Music Awards including the coveted B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year Award (the very highest award a blues performer can receive). His relentless road-dog approach—gig after gig, night after night—has won him loyal, lifelong fans everywhere he plays. The Washington Post says Castro is “phenomenal and funky” with “soulful vocals and inspired blues-rock guitar.”

In 2012 Castro formed The Painkillers, creating a lean, mean four-piece lineup, capable of delivering soul-shaking, muscular music. The band released The Devil You Know in 2014 and Method To My Madness in 2015, with critics shouting praise and admirers cheering his every move. Castro had stripped his music down to its raw essence with the new, smaller band, sounding bigger than ever. On record and on stage, Tommy Castro & The Painkillers’ road-hardened, seemingly telepathic musicianship bring an unmatched passion to Castro’s blue-eyed California soul and hard-rocking, good-time songs.

With months of tour dates across the U.S. and Europe, Tommy Castro & The Painkillers will be bringing the songs from their new album directly to their fans. No Depression says, “Castro plays gritty, string bending blues like a runaway soul train…a glorious blend that rocks the soul and lifts the spirits.”  Blues Revue simply says, “Tommy Castro can do no wrong.” With Stompin’ Ground, he is clearly, once again, doing everything right.

Feral blues guitar...non-stop gigging has sharpened his six-string to a razor’s edge...his eloquence dazzles...he achieves pyrotechnics that rival early Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton.
--Rolling Stone

Ellis unleashes a torrent of dazzling musicianship pitched between the exhilarating volatility of rock and roll and the passion of urban blues.
--Los Angeles Times

Alligator Records is pleased to announce the return to the label of Southern blues-rock guitar wizard, vocalist and songwriter Tinsley Ellis. His powerful new album, Winning Hand, is set for January 2018 release.

Although he jokes that he’s “the best guitarist you may never have heard of,” hordes of fans worldwide know Tinsley, who is among the blues world’s most revered, respected and well-travelled statesmen. Ellis is also revered as a guitarist’s guitarist, with famous friends including Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes, Oliver Wood, Jonny Lang and members of Widespread Panic calling on him to sit in and jam.

Since his Alligator debut 30 years ago, Ellis has become a bona fide, worldwide guitar hero, with an arsenal of molten licks, melodic riffs and rousing, intense solos. He is among the hardest-working blues-rock guitarists on the planet, gigging non-stop for over three decades. He has performed in all 50 United States as well as in Canada, Western and Eastern Europe, Australia and South America, earning legions of fans with his guitar virtuosity, passionate vocals and memorable original songs. “A musician never got famous staying home,” he says.

Born in Atlanta in 1957, Ellis was raised in southern Florida. He found the blues through the back door of British Invasion bands like The Yardbirds, The Animals, Cream, The Rolling Stones and Southern rockers like The Allman Brothers. As he discovered the roots of these bands, he attended shows by B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters and every other blues artist who came through town.

Already an accomplished teenaged musician, Ellis left Florida and returned to Atlanta in 1975. In 1981, along with veteran blues singer and harpist Chicago Bob Nelson, Tinsley formed The Heartfixers, a group that would become Atlanta’s top-drawing blues band. After cutting a few Heartfixers albums for the Landslide label, Ellis was ready to head out on his own.

Georgia Blue, Tinsley’s first Alligator release, hit the public by surprise in 1988. Critics and fans quickly agreed that a new and original guitar hero had emerged. “It’s hard to overstate the raw power of his music,” raved The Chicago Sun-Times.  Tinsley’s next four releases — 1989’s Fanning The Flames, 1992’s Trouble Time, 1994’s Storm Warning, and 1997’s Fire It Up — further grew his fanbase and his fame. Features and reviews ran in Rolling Stone, The Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, and in many other national and regional publications.

A move to Capricorn Records in 2000 saw Ellis revisiting his Southern roots. In 2002, he joined the Telarc label, producing two well-received albums of soul-drenched blues-rock. He returned to Alligator in 2005, releasing the Live-Highwayman, which captured the crowd-pleasing energy of his live shows. He followed it with two more incendiary studio releases, 2007's Moment Of Truth and 2009's Speak No Evil. He has since self-released four successful albums on his own Heartfixer label.

Over the course of his career, Ellis has shared stages with Stevie Ray Vaughan, Otis Rush, Willie Dixon, The Allman Brothers, Leon Russell, Son Seals, Koko Taylor, Albert Collins and many others. Whether he’s on stage with his own band or jamming with artists like Buddy Guy, Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi, Gov’t Mule or Widespread Panic, he always plays with grit, soul and unbridled passion. Back home on Alligator Records with his new album and a massive live tour in the works, Tinsley Ellis is ready to prove again that whenever he picks up a guitar, he's playing with a winning hand.

An inspired blend of high-energy blues, R&B and roadhouse rock…soulful, celebratory vocals and exquisite, stellar guitar   
—Blues Revue

Swaggering, razor-wire gospel-tinged soul, simmering deep blues and hard-grooving house rockers 
--AllMusic.com

Blazing blues-rockers Tommy Castro & The Painkillers, whose new CD Stompin' Ground will be released on September 29, have announced North American and European dates for their massive Stompin' Ground tour.

Guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Tommy Castro and the Painkillers – bassist Randy McDonald, keyboardist Michael Emerson and drummer Bowen Brown – have played hundreds of shows to thousands of music lovers, always leaving audiences screaming for more. Billboard says the band plays “irresistible contemporary blues-rock” with “street-level grit and soul."

On Stompin’ Ground (available on CD as well as 180g yellow vinyl), Castro, a native of San Jose, CA, opens windows both into his past and his always-evolving musical future. Produced by Castro and guitar wunderkind Kid Andersen, Stompin’ Ground finds Castro unleashing a set of 12 potent tracks featuring seven originals and new versions of songs he learned and played as a young up-and-comer. He is simultaneously looking back with autobiographical originals and cover songs that inspired him, while forging a forward trail with up-to-the-minute lyrics atop blistering blues-rock. Castro’s friends Charlie Musselwhite (harp and vocals), Mike Zito (guitar and vocals), Danielle Nicole (vocals) and David Hidalgo (guitar and vocals) add their talents to Stompin’ Ground. “I heard each one of my friends’ contributions to these songs in my head as I was working on them. Happily, when I reached out and actually asked, everyone said yes.”

With months of tour dates across the U.S. and Europe, Tommy Castro & The Painkillers will be bringing the songs from their new album directly to their fans. No Depression says, “Castro plays gritty, string bending blues like a runaway soul train…a glorious blend that rocks the soul and lifts the spirits.”  Blues Revue simply says, “Tommy Castro can do no wrong.” With Stompin’ Ground, he is clearly, once again, doing everything right.

Tour dates are below, and can also be found here:

TOMMY CASTRO & THE PAINKILLERS STOMPIN' GROUNDTOUR
Sep 22, 2017 Cruise for a Cause, San Francisco, CA (on the Hornblower's San Francisco Belle)
Sep 23, 2017 Folsom LIVE, Folsom, CA
Sep 29, 2017 Famous Dave's Uptown, Minneapolis, MN
Sep 30, 2017 Knuckleheads Saloon, Kansas City, MO
Oct 01, 2017 7 Oaks Blues Festival, Omaha, NE (at 7 Oaks Investments)
Oct 02, 2017 The Zoo Bar, Lincoln, NE
Oct 04, 2017 Shank Hall, Milwaukee, WI
Oct 05, 2017 The Castle Theatre, Bloomington, IL
Oct 06, 2017 FitzGerald's, Berwyn, IL
Oct 07, 2017 Park Theatre, Holland, MI
Oct 08, 2017 Callahan’s Music Hall, Auburn Hills, MI
Oct 09, 2017 The Kent Stage, Kent, OH
Oct 10, 2017 B.B. King Blues Club, New York, NY
Oct 11, 2017 The Upper Room, Albany, NY
Oct 12, 2017 Sellersville Theater, Sellersville, PA
Oct 13, 2017 The Barns at Wolf Trap, Vienna, VA
Oct 14, 2017 The Southern Café & Music Hall, Charlottesville, VA
Oct 15, 2017 The Tin Pan, Richmond, VA
Oct 17, 2017 Neighborhood Theatre, Charlotte, NC
Oct 18, 2017 The Blue Note Grill, Durham, NC
Oct 19, 2017 Eddie’s Attic, Decatur, GA
Oct 20, 2017 Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa, FL with Samantha Fish
Oct 21, 2017 Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise Fort Lauderdale, FL 10/21/17-10/28/17
Oct 28, 2017 The Funky Biscuit, Boca Raton, FL
Oct 29, 2017 OM Bar & Chill Lounge, New Smyrna Beach, FL
Nov 01, 2017 Dosey Doe, The Woodlands, TX
Nov 03, 2017 Stargazers Theatre, Colorado Springs, CO
Nov 04, 2017 The Oriental Theater, Denver, CO
Nov 06, 2017 The State Room, Salt Lake City, UT
Nov 15, 2017 Spirit of 66, Verviers, BELGIUM
Nov 16, 2017 Gebr. de Nobel, Leiden, NETHERLANDS
Nov 17, 2017 Mezz, Breda, NETHERLANDS
Nov 18, 2017 Roepaen, Ottersum, NETHERLANDS
Nov 20, 2017 Kofferfabrik, Fuerth, GERMANY
Nov 21, 2017 Old Slaughterhouse, Soest, GERMANY
Nov 22, 2017 Meisenfrei Blues Club, Bremen, GERMANY
Nov 23, 2017 Musik & Frieden, Berlin, GERMANY
Nov 24, 2017 Yard Club Cologne, GERMANY
Nov 25, 2017 Blue Notez Club, Dortmund, GERMANY
Nov 27, 2017 New Morning, Paris, FRANCE
Dec 08, 2017 Freight & Salvage, Coffeehouse Berkeley, CA
Dec 31, 2017 Mystic Theatre, Petaluma, CA
Jan 11, 2018 The Rose, Pasadena, CA
Jan 12, 2018 The Coach House, San Juan Capistrano, CA
Jan 13, 2018 Belly Up Tavern, Solana Beach, CA
Jan 14, 2018 The Canyon, Agoura Hills , CA
Jan 16, 2018 The Rhythm Room, Phoenix, AZ
Jan 17, 2018 The Rhythm Room Phoenix, AZ
Jan 18, 2018 Boulder Station Casino, Las Vegas, NV
Jan 19, 2018 The Canyon Santa Clarita, Santa Clarita , CA
Jan 27, 2018 San Luis Obispo Vets Hall, San Luis Obispo, CA
Jan 28, 2018 Moe's Alley, Santa Cruz, CA
Feb 04, 2018 Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise, Fort Lauderdale, FL 02/04/18-02/11/18
Feb 20, 2018 Alberta Rose Theatre, Portland, OR

For the second straight year, blues legends Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials won the coveted Blues Blast Award for Blues Band Of The Year.

The Blues Blast Music Awards are presented by Blues Blast magazine, Voting was open to the public at BluesBlastMagazine.com beginning July 1 and ending at midnight CST on August 15, 2017. A full list of winners and nominees can be found here.

The band's most recent album, The Big Sound Of Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials, has been hailed as among their best. DownBeat magazine calls Ed a "forceful, outrageous Chicago blues slide-guitarist" whose "piping hot energy" makes him "a star of the first magnitude."