ROOMFUL OF BLUES SET TO RELEASE STEPPIN' OUT! ON OCTOBER 10

        

“They kick out the jams and take us higher and higher, swinging and swaying with pulsing horns and pulsating guitars. Richly textured, raucous and rambunctious...we’re dancing from the first track to the last.”
—Living Blues 
 
“Roomful of Blues are the best little big band on the scene. Virtuoso musicianship [that is] jubilant, horn-propelled R&B magnificence. Boisterous and rousing with tight, fluid arrangements and an infectiously joyous spirit.”
—Blues Music Magazine
 
“Jumps, swings, struts, and rocks…supercharged and ready to rumble.”
—No Depression   
 

On Friday, October 10, Rhode Island-based blues, jump, swing and soul band Roomful of Blues -- among the premier blues ensembles in the world -- will release their new Alligator Records album, Steppin' Out!. With this record (the band's 20th), new lead singer -- emotive, full-throated vocalist D.D. Bastos -- makes her debut as the first female vocalist to record with Roomful of Blues in its history-making six decades. The album will be released on red vinyl LP, CD, and will be available at all digital service providers. The song You Were Wrong premieres today. The album version of the track can be heard here. A smoking hot live performance video of the song is below:

You Were Wrong was written by Z.Z. Hill and first heard by Bastos on a Magic Sam album years ago. According to Bastos, "Adding this longtime favorite to my first recording with Roomful of Blues is a thrill for me. The band’s energy level on this song takes Roomful’s performance to the next level. It moves me every time we play it and I see the excitement in the audience’s  faces. It brings back that feeling, as though I’m hearing it for the first time." 

Roomful of Blues, according to DownBeat magazine, “are in a class by themselves.” On record and on stage, the band—first formed in 1967 and led by master guitarist Chris Vachon for over three decades—delivers a toe-tapping mix of jump, swing, blues and proto rock ‘n’ roll. USA Today says they play “high voltage, swinging jump blues and R&B.” With longtime tenor and alto sax player Rich Lataille leading the horn section since 1970, Roomful of Blues’ impeccable musicianship has earned them five GRAMMY Award nominations and seven Blues Music Awards. Twice, the prestigious DownBeat International Critics Poll has selected them as Best Blues Band.

With Steppin’ Out!, Roomful of Blues continues to break new ground, with Bastos' voice front and center. She brings fresh, dynamic energy, passionately singing each song as if she’s lived them all, all the while honoring Roomful’s rich traditions and signature “little big-band” sound.  

Produced by Vachon, Steppin' Out! features 14 rollicking, house-rocking performances. Bastos’ and the musicians’ emotional connection to the material is palpable from the first note to the last. The album opens with the supercharged, guitar and horn-storming cover of Billy “The Kid” Emerson’s Satisfied. The track list includes timeless reinterpretations of mostly obscure songs originally recorded by legends including Big Mama Thornton (You Don’t Move Me No More), Big Maybelle (I’ve Got A Feeling and Tell Me Who), Etta James (Good Rocking Daddy), and Buddy and Ella Johnson (Why Don’t Cha Stop It). Jimmy McCracklin’s Steppin’ Up In Class, Tiny Bradshaw’s Well Oh Well, and Smiley Lewis’ Dirty People, like all the songs on the album, are unearthed treasures.

Bastos could not be more aware of the significance or more proud of this album. “I am so excited to be the first female singer to record with the band. They are such an amazing group of musicians, such a well-oiled machine. I am thrilled to ride this wave.” 

And Vachon is a huge fan of Bastos, always happy to sing her praises, saying, “D.D. Bastos wrings every bit of emotion from every song she sings. She is a showstopping entertainer.” 

BIOGRAPHY
The current lineup of Roomful of Blues features guitarist and bandleader Chris Vachon, who first joined in 1990 and has been leading the group since 1998. The band has maintained its instantly identifiable sound through great musicianship and a stellar horn section—featuring tenor and alto saxophonist Rich Lataille, who first joined in 1970. Lataille’s masterful playing can evoke either the fat-toned, honking sax of the glory days of early rock or the cool elegance of big band swing jazz. Along with Vachon, Lataille, and lead vocalist D.D. Bastos, Roomful of Blues features the talents of keyboardist Jeff Ceasrine, bassist John Turner, drummer Mike Coffey, baritone and tenor sax player Craig Thomas and trumpeter Christopher Pratt.

The original Roomful of Blues began in 1967 when a group of southern Rhode Island teenagers with a shared passion for the blues formed a straight-ahead Chicago-style electric blues band to explore the music of their Windy City heroes. In 1970, Rich Lataille joined Roomful while still in his teens and was one of the creators of what has become the most legendary horn section in contemporary blues. It was Rich’s interest in the swinging bands of the ’30s and ’40s that led Roomful to forge the distinctive sound that has become the band’s trademark. Roomful of Blues released their self-titled debut album in 1977 on Island Records (reissued on Hyena Records), which brought them to the attention of fans and critics around the world.

Recording for Rounder Records’ Bullseye Blues and Varrick labels between 1980 and 2001, Roomful of Blues cut nine albums that won them international fame and major rock radio airplay. They’ve gigged with stars ranging from bluesmen B.B. King, Otis Rush and Stevie Ray Vaughan to rockers Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana. The band has performed in cities from coast to coast, and traveled abroad to 22 countries including Lebanon, Poland, Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Turkey and Russia. The New Yorker says the band brings “thunderous performances that get feet stomping and hands clapping.”

Since Roomful of Blues joined the Alligator Records family, their popularity continues to soar. Their first Alligator CD was the Grammy-nominated That’s Right! in 2003, followed by Standing Room Only in 2005, Raisin’ A Ruckus in 2008, Hook, Line & Sinker in 2010, 45 Live in 2013, In A Roomful Of Blues in 2020 and Steppin’ Out! in 2025.

Joyous and rambunctious, Roomful of Blues is a band built to deliver the goods night after night. Their winning combination of horn-driven jump, swing, blues, rock ‘n’ roll, R&B and soul remains their calling card, as does their ability to fill the dance floor. “We always keep things fresh, and we keep the excitement level high,” says Vachon. “Playing this music is an immense amount of fun for us. And it’s just as much fun for our audience.” Now, with Bastos and her richly expressive, swaggering vocals leading the charge, the band is captivating audiences old and new everywhere they perform. With Steppin’ Out!, Roomful of Blues remain a defining musical force in the blues world, with their sound rooted in tradition, but their sights reaching far into the future.