30 of the Top Best Blues Contemporary, Traditional, Male and Female, Blues Band or Artist for the 2010's. The next Decade !

Alabama Mike

Alabama Mike
http://www.myspace.com/alabamamike1

Many things come to mind upon hearing Alabama Mike sing, with a soulful voice that brings such greats as Elmore James, Buddy Guy, Little Johnny Taylor and yes even BB King to mind. Alabama Mike is a very unique talent, not only a gifted singer but also a very talented song writer, having penned over half of the tunes on this impressive debut. Born in Talladega, Alabama Mike is embarking on a bright future.

Bobby Rush


Bobby Rush

The son of a preacher man, Bobby Rush was born in the north Louisiana town of Homer; he later adopted his stage name out of respect for his father. He built his first instrument, a primitive guitar or "diddley bow," and in his early teens he was donning a fake mustache and appearing at local juke joints as a solo artist. In the mid-'50s he moved up to Chicago, where his bands included Freddie King, Earl Hooker, and Luther Allison, while on jaunts back to his family home in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, he performed with Elmore James and James' cousin Boyd Gilmore.

Candye Kane


Candye Kane

Raised in a dysfunctional, blue-collar family, Candye Kane became a teenage mother, a pin up cover girl and a punk rock, hillbilly and blues-belting anarchist by the time she was just 21 years old. Ten cds, six record labels, millions of international road miles and countless awards later, Miss Kane has proven to be a true survivor as she scrambled her way to the top of the roots music heap, creating a world renowned reputation that has spanned two decades.

Cash Box Kings


Cash Box Kings

The Cash Box Kings' music embodies the raw, stripped-down, ensemble playing that was the hallmark of the post-war Chicago blues sound. They also put on one of the most wild and raucous live blues shows around. Featuring one of the most wild and raucous live blues shows around, this band, delivers an, intense, smoldering, old-school style of blues that is rarely heard these days. Their live shows and recordings have earned the group rave reviews on both sides of the Atlantic.

Cyril Neville


Cyril Neville

Just as the Meters splintered in 1976, Cyril Neville became enraptured with reggae music, as all four Neville siblings formed the Neville Brothers group, issuing numerous subsequent recordings. In addition to his work with the Neville Brothers, Cyril has formed other bands over the years, including the Endangered Species Band in 1983 and the Uptown Allstars Band, while he also found time to launch his own record label, Endangered Species. Cyril also founded the New Orleans Musicians Organized (NOMO), which helps musicians who need business advice with their careers.

Damon Fowler


Damon Fowler

Born and raised in Brandon Florida, while his friends were listening to the music flavor of the month, Damon Fowler was digging into the Blues, and was soon playing small clubs in and around the Tampa Bay area. Years later with thousands of shows behind him, you've got one of the most unique and seasoned acts on the national circuit. Damon has been invited to many major festivals, and has graced the stage with the best in the business.

David Maxwell


David Maxwell

Throughout the years, David Maxwell has been playing piano with some of the most well-known musicians in the blues, including John Lee Hooker, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Freddie King, Muddy Waters, James Cotton, Hubert Sumlin and Otis Rush. His style encompasses elements of the blues and jazz, but he is best known for his soulful virtuosity and unmatched ability to reach the heart of post-war Chicago Blues. Through his work, he has gained the respect of artists, critics and fans, and has established a reputation for being one of the great modern blues pianists.

Eddie C. Campbell


Eddie C. Campbell

Eddie C. Campbell returned to Chicago after spending a decade entrenched in Europe. His shimmering West Side-styled guitar playing and unusually introspective songwriting have been a breath of fresh air on the Windy City circuit, reuniting the veteran bluesman with fans he left behind in 1984. He paid his sideman dues on the bandstand with everyone from Howlin' Wolf and Little Walter to Little Johnny Taylor and Jimmy Reed. Koko Taylor recommended Campbell to Willie Dixon, who hired him as a Chicago Blues All-Star in 1976.

Fiona Boyes


Fiona Boyes

Australian blues guitarist and singer Fiona Boyes soulful and authoritative style, has earned her unprecedented international recognition. Fiona Boyes' talent allows her to sing and play in the blues realm with total conviction, that tackles the hypnotic grind of Mississippi hill country and the Chicago blues. Coming to America and spending time where the blues began and developed, like the Delta, really gave her a sense of place about this music.

Gerry Joe Weise


Gerry Joe Weise

Gerry Joe Weise born and raised in Sydney Australia, has injected new energy into the Blues. His larger than life guitar tones and outstanding solos add to a rich mix of blues arrangements. Songs that range from slow spacey textures, tears in your beer, to tone to the bone blues, to outrageous rocking tunes, to searing tortured blue bends. Gerry Joe Weise plays both standard and infectious slide guitars, with a style steeped in blues, rock, country and jazz. He has toured extensively the Usa, Europe, Australia and the Pacific Ocean.

Holmes Brothers


Holmes Brothers

The Holmes Brothers have been feeding the souls of their devoted fan base with a joyous and moving blend of blues, gospel, soul, R&B, rock ‘n’ roll and country. Their amazing three-part harmony singing, brings the soul and spirit of gospel music into everything they perform. Equally gripping is the rhythmic foundation and church-inspired piano playing. The band easily blends Saturday night’s roadhouse rock with the gospel fervor and harmonies of Sunday morning’s church service.

The Insomniacs


The Insomniacs

They play vintage instruments and channel a blues style from the 1950s, but there is a distinct new cyberspace bent to Delta Groove’s blues award winning quartet. These musicians who have quickly jumped into the top tier of clubs tour endless highways in a beat up van, babying a gut-string upright, the 1951 Fender “Nocaster” guitar, the 1964 Framus Star Bass and their Magnatone and Ampeg tube amps.

Joanne Shaw Taylor


Joanne Shaw Taylor

When Dave Stewart had his big experience, Joanne Shaw Taylor was only 16. Her skills at the Telecaster were so good that the blues fan and Eurythmics-frontman asked her to join his supergroup D.U.P. Joanne Shaw Taylor, British guitarist and vocalist is influenced by power trios, Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Paladins and Jimi Hendrix. Funky shuffles, soulful ballads or the hypnotic hookline, she presents her craft powerfully.

Joe Louis Walker


Joe Louis Walker

Born in San Francisco and now based in New York, he was part of the Bay Area scene in his early teens while playing guitar and singing the blues. In 1985 he formed and was fronting a new band he called The Bosstalkers. Joe Louis Walker is a walking encyclopedia of blues history. Both vocally and instrumentally, Joe Louis Walker is indeed a witness for the blues, and the creative, sometimes startling approach to America’s most significant music holds a bright lantern for others to follow.

John Nemeth


John Nemeth

John Nemeth is a singer steeped in the tradition and reminiscent of B.B. King, Ray Charles and Junior Parker, and a harmonica player of riveting intensity. A thirty year old native of Boise, Idaho, he grew up singing in a Catholic church and started playing in local bands as a teenager. He was a featured artist with Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets in 2005 and 2006 as well as a featured artist with The Junior Watson Band in 2002.

Kilborn Alley Blues Band


Kilborn Alley Blues Band

The Kilborn Alley Blues Band was formed in 2000 when Andy Duncanson was still in high school, and Chris Breen and Josh Stimmel were barely out. The Kilborn Alley Blues Band plays filthy Chicago blues, with just a little bit of southern fried soul. The point of the act is to deliver the blow out bar show associated with blues at its zenith. Kilborn Alley is not about youth angst; it is about adult delirium.

Louisiana Red


Louisiana Red

Louisiana Red started his music career early recording for Chess around the age of 13. John Lee Hooker and other blues legends that worked with Louisiana Red; B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins, Elmore James, all had a significant influence on him. One of the few living original purveyors of Delta blues, Red channels his influences into a sound that is improvisational at times yet intense, expressing his feelings of the moment, drawing the listener in to his earnest and sometimes vulnerable world. Almost 20 years ago Louisiana Red moved to Germany. In 1983, he was awarded the W.C. Handy Award for Best Traditional Blues Artist.

Magic Slim


Magic Slim

Magic Slim is a living blues legend who migrated from the South to Chicago during the 50s. Slim plays raw intense blues, a style that uses no pedals or other electronic gadgets to get his sound, it's just him, and Slim has paved the way for rock as well as modern blues. Slim has been busy traveling to the juke joints in Mississippi to the nightclubs in Chicago and to concert stages throughout the world, he has built up a die hard fan base within it. Slim and The Teardrops performances have become legendary and they play the blues with an undeniable intensity that will leave you out of breath.

Mike Zito


Mike Zito

Growing up in St. Louis, Missouri, Zito was immersed in the gritty sounds of the south side that would unknowingly become the groundwork of his future in music. Like the legends before him, music has coursed through his veins from the early age of five, when he began singing and performing. It didn’t take long for him to discover his instrument of choice, a electric guitar. Zito’s journey took off at the age of 19, when he busted into the local St. Louis music scene, developing his sound even further from the stage.

Mississippi Heat


Mississippi Heat

From the earliest days of Mississippi Heat it was Pierre Lacocque's intention to assemble a group of the best Chicago blues veterans around to play original music in the tradition of the great Chicago blues bands of the 1950's. Mississippi Heat has gone through a lot of changes, but certain elements of the band's winning formula have remained constant. Pierre has remained the driving force behind the band. One of today's tastiest Chicago blues harp players, Pierre Lococque has a knack for soulful melodies, tone, and phrasing. His harmonica playing is rooted in tradition but is always fresh and void of cliche's.

Nick Moss


Nick Moss

Nick Moss and his Flip Tops are a blues supergroup and every bit as exciting as the Paul Butterfield Band was during their heyday. An outfit brimming over with talent, Nick Moss' vocals throughout are masterful, by turns pleading and growling and a gruff primal bark dripping with urban grit. He evokes classic Chicago blues in a way this blues guitarist, gets it off his chest so passionately and convincingly.

Pete Anderson


Pete Anderson

Backed by years of critical and commercial success, Pete Anderson is now focusing his attention on his roots. The Detroit born musician is re-entering the blues world with a lifetime of experience behind him. Drawing on all his talents, multi-platinum Grammy Award winning producer, arranger, songwriter, guitarist, bandleader, and musical instrument designer. As a solo artist, his main focus has always been on his first musical passion, the Blues.

Quintus McCormick


Quintus McCormick

Quintus McCormick has toured the world with some of the most successful and important blues artists of our time: James Cotton, Otis Clay, and A.C. Reed. Working as a sideman, Quintus’ reputation as a brilliant guitarist, gifted songwriter and astonishing vocalist spread throughout the music community. The Quintus McCormick Band have been a mainstay of the Chicago blues scene, appearing frequently in the city’s world-renown nightclubs: Kingston Mines, Buddy Guy’s Legends, Blues on Halsted, House of Blues, and Blue Chicago. Quintus and his band have also performed at countless festivals and concerts.

Rick Estrin and the Night Cats


Rick Estrin and the Night Cats
http://www.myspace.com/rickestrin

Rick Estrin ranks among the best harp players, singers and songwriters in the blues world today. His work on the reeds is deep in the tradition of harmonica masters Sonny Boy Williamson II and Little Walter Jacobs, while at the same time pushing that tradition forward. For more than 30 years Rick fronted the jumping, swinging Little Charlie and the Nightcats, featuring guitarist Little Charlie Baty. With Baty’s recent retirement from touring, Rick Estrin along with the Nightcats’ longtime rhythm section, takes the lead on his own.

Ruthie Foster


Ruthie Foster

The music of Ruthie Foster is in fact the soundtrack of a young but remarkable life. From her beginnings in the Brazos Valley of Central Texas, she was launched by a strong mother and a large supportive family down a path whose pitfalls Ruthie learned to avoid and whose destination she charted on her own, with talent, faith and determination lighting her way. Since that time, Foster has progressed with her vocals through albums and a steady regimen of hard work, whether fronting a full band or working solo, writing at her digs in Austin or taking it to the people.

Sean Costello


Sean Costello

Over the years, Sean Costello has become one of the most exciting singer-songwriters and guitarists on the blues scene, putting a deeply personal imprint on classic soul, blues, and roots rock sounds. With his gold top Les Paul itself an iconic link to postwar blues heroes like Muddy Waters and Guitar Slim, and the signatures it bears, from Jody Williams and Robert Lockwood Jr, two of the preeminent stylists of electric blues, direct evidence of the passing of the torch, Sean Costello is unshakably grounded in tradition, even as he brings the music into the future, just as his soul heroes of the 1960's and 1970's did.

Shemekia Copeland


Shemekia Copeland

Shemekia Copeland has been paving a road that will inevitably lead to her reign as Queen of the Blues with her vocals. By some standards and numerous blues awards in the U.S. and elsewhere, a Grammy nomination, a resume that includes work with musical titans like Dr. John and Steve Cropper and film giants like Martin Scorsese and Wim Wenders.

Tommy Castro


Tommy Castro

Born in San Jose, California, Tommy Castro first picked up a guitar at age 10, and became influenced by Eric Clapton, Elvin Bishop and Mike Bloomfield. He later was playing in a variety of San Francisco-area blues and soul bands. He formed The Tommy Castro Band in 1991 and plays infectious, roaring roadhouse romps with incendiary licks and a touch of New Orleans soul.

Troy Turner



Being a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana meant that Troy’s stage was set and the props were none other than real blues hall of fame legends. Raful Neal, Guitar Kelly, Silas Hogan, were some of the regulars that were part of everyday life for Turner. Most of his days as a youth, were spent playing blues guitar with the masters that many people wish they could have played with just once. At age six, Troy began his apprenticeship like many other blues greats, in church. By the age of 18, he had a recording deal and headlining blues festivals. Less than two years later, he was sharing the stage with B.B. King, Buddy Guy, and Stevie Ray Vaughn. A greater honor was bestowed upon Troy Turner when he was awarded the Jay D. Miller Award; the award honors the man responsible for discovering and recording Slim Harpo, Lazy Lester, Tabby Thomas, Lightin’ Slim, Henry Gray, and countless others.

Zora Young


Zora Young

Despite the prominent presence of celebrated blues artist Howlin' Wolf in her family tree, singer Zora Young grew up singing not blues, but gospel. Even when the Mississippi native shook off her roots at the age of seven to relocate with her family to Chicago, she attended the Greater Harvest Baptist Church and continued to sing gospel. It wasn't until later that she switched over to Blues, and evolved into a powerhouse blues vocalist with three decades of experience behind her. She has performed with a long list of artists, including Junior Wells, Jimmy Dawkins, Bobby Rush, Buddy Guy, Professor Eddie Lusk, Albert King, and B.B. King. Her recording credits include collaborations with Willie Dixon, Sunnyland Slim, Mississippi Heat, Maurice John Vaughn and Hubert Sumlin.