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“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."

According to The Chicago Tribune, "Williams represents one of the few remaining authentic links to pure Chicago blues."

Powerful, rollicking and magical…virtuoso harp, wildly eccentric guitar, sly, streetwise vocals and great songs  --Blues & Rhythm

These are serious musicians having a hotter than hot good time. It’s tough to stay in your seat when Estrin and his musical cohorts get cooking.  –Chicago Sun-Times

Wildly fun, musically fearless blues masters Rick Estrin & The Nightcats will release their new Alligator Records CD, Groovin' In Greaseland, on Friday, August 18. Overflowing with talent and bursting with bravado, Rick Estrin & The Nightcats have created one of the blues’ most instantly recognizable sounds and no-holds-barred styles. With the world-class talents of harmonica master, songwriter and vocalist Rick Estrin, guitar wunderkind Chris “Kid” Andersen, keyboard wizard Lorenzo Farrell and dynamic drummer Alex Pettersen, Rick Estrin & The Nightcats serve up sharp and incisive original blues and gritty roadhouse rock ‘n’ roll.

With his wily and unforgettable original songs and his hipster, street-smart vocals, no one on the blues scene writes or sings like Rick Estrin. No one looks like him either, as Estrin is always dressed to the nines, sporting his trademark pencil-line mustache and pompadour haircut. DownBeat says, “Rick Estrin sings and writes songs like the brightest wiseguy in all of bluesland and blows harmonica as if he learned at the knee of Little Walter.” Live, the band is simply unbeatable. They deliver a high-energy show capable of bringing any audience to its feet. According to Living Blues magazine, they play “captivating, powerful blues and roots rock with a wickedly cool and otherworldly twist on tradition....Intelligently conceived and executed…hugely entertaining."

Groovin’ In Greaseland features 13 original songs, 11 by Estrin (including one co-write with Andersen) and one each by Andersen and Farrell. The band's dazzling performances bring the songs to life as richly detailed characters spill their secrets and share their stories. One listen makes it clear that this is one of the tightest and most original groups in any genre, constantly inspiring each other to new heights. Groovin’ In Greaselandwas produced by Andersen and Estrin and recorded at Andersen’s soon-to-be legendary Greaseland Studio in San Jose, California.

Besides Estrin’s celebrated songwriting and musical skills, he and the band are among the most entertaining and colorful showmen around. Estrin’s flashing harmonica solos, quick wit and signature look and Andersen’s off-the-cuff guitar acrobatics add even more spontaneous fun to their live performances. “People don’t go out to see people who look like themselves,” says Estrin. “They want to see something special. I was schooled in this business to be a showman, and that’s what you get when you come to see us perform. We know how to put on a show.”

For more than 30 years and nine albums, Rick fronted Little Charlie & The Nightcats, flawlessly combining his songs, vocals and harmonica with Little Charlie Baty’s one-of-a-kind guitar excursions. The band won international acclaim and toured the world repeatedly. They were nominated four times for the prestigious Blues Music Award for Band Of The Year. With Charlie’s retirement from touring in 2008, Rick took over leadership of the band. He knew the only way to replace Baty’s mind-melting mashup of blues, jazz and roots rock was to find someone with an equally insane and daredevil guitar approach. Rick knew that would be a tall order to fill. As luck would have it, Kid Andersen, who had been working with another harp legend, Charlie Musselwhite, became available. “Kid’s a fearless nut on the guitar,” says Estrin. “He’s really the only guy who could fit in with us.” The new band charged out of the gate with Twisted in 2009, One Wrong Turn in 2012 and You Asked For It...Live! in 2014.

Estrin's blues roots run deep. He was born in San Francisco, California in 1949. When he was 12, his older sister gave him a copy of Ray Charles’ The Genius Sings The Blues, and he became infatuated with the music. He got his first harmonica at age 15, and by age 18 was proficient enough to open shows for R&B giant Z.Z. Hill. He moved to Chicago when he was 19 where he jammed with Muddy Waters, who told Rick, “You outta sight, boy! You got that sound, boy! You play like a man, boy!” In fact, Muddy wanted Estrin to go on the road with him, but due to nothing more than a missed phone call, it never happened. Rick eventually moved back to the Bay Area, and, to the joy of blues fans everywhere, met guitarist Charlie Baty and formed Little Charlie & The Nightcats.

Rick Estrin & The Nightcats have not only picked up where Little Charlie & The Nightcats left off, they’ve taken everything to the next level. Now, with Groovin’ In Greaseland, they prove yet again why DownBeat calls them “marvelous and crowd-pleasing.” Rick Estrin & The Nightcats continue to set the bar high, proving it night after night on stage somewhere around the country or around the world. Billboard called them “fabulous, remarkable and original.” According to Blues Revue, “It just doesn’t get any better.”

Celebrated Chicago bluesman (and CTA bus driver) Toronzo Cannon will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Wrigley Field on Wednesday, September 13. He will don a Cubs jersey and take the mound prior to the match-up between the World Champion Chicago Cubs and the New York Mets.

According to Cannon, "As a native Chicagoan, I'm excited and honored to be throwing out the first pitch and supporting the Cubs on their way to winning another World Series. That's the Chicago way."

Cannon has become one of Chicago's most recognized and most popular bluesmen through the sheer force of his music, his songs, and his live charisma. MOJO magazine declared his Alligator Records debut, THE CHICAGO WAY, the #1 Best Blues Album Of 2016. The album features all self-penned songs, inspired by Cannon's deep, homegrown Chicago roots and powered by his blistering guitar playing and soul-baring vocals.

CNN.com recently filmed Cannon leading a tour of Chicago blues clubs. Influential website The Daily Beast included Cannon among their 30 Most Intriguing Musicians Of 2017. Writer Ted Gioia says, "Toronzo Cannon is a bus driver for the Chicago Transit Authority by day. But by night, he is one of the hottest blues performers on the Chicago scene." And powerhouse local television station WGN won a local Emmy Award for their profile of the rising blues star.

Cannon’s battled his way to the top of the ultra-competitive Windy City blues scene, has played multiple tours of Europe and continues to deliver roof-raising performances around the U.S.A. Cannon, along with Alligator president Bruce Iglauer, won the 2016 Living Blues Award for Producer Of The Year—New Recording for THE CHICAGO WAY. Cannon was recently nominated for four Blues Music Awards, including Album Of The Year and Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year. He was also nominated for Song Of The Year (for Walk It Off) and Contemporary Blues Male Artist Of The Year.

Living Blues magazine has announced the winners for the 2017 Living Blues Critics' and Readers' Awards. Three Alligator Records artists received a total of four awards.

Toronzo Cannon won the Critics' Award for New Recording/Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year and the Readers' Award for Best Blues Album Of 2016 for The Chicago Way.

Shemekia Copeland was named Blues Artist Of The Year (Female).

Marcia Ball won for Most Outstanding Musician (Keyboards).

ALLIGATOR ARTISTS NOMINATED FOR TOP BLUES BLAST MUSIC AWARDS
LABEL'S 45TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION ALSO NOMINATED

Three Alligator artists received 2017 Blues Blast Award nominations from Blues Blast Magazine.

Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials were once again nominated for Blues Band Of The Year. They won the award in 2016.

Coco Montoya was nominated for Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year for his recent CD, Hard Truth.

And Toronzo Cannon received a nod for Male Blues Artist Of The Year.

In addition, the 2CD set, The Alligator Records 45th Anniversary Collection, was nominated in the Historical Or Vintage Blues Album Of The Year category.

Voting will be open to the public at BluesBlastMagazine.com beginning July 1. Voting will end at midnight CST on August 15, 2017. Winners will be announced shorty thereafter.

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

Guitarist, songwriter and vocalist Selwyn Birchwood has released the first video from his new CD, Pick Your Poison, for the song Guilty Pleasures. The video, depicting Birchwood happily sinking into the depths of decadence (but with a surprise ending!), can be seen here. The album currently sits in the Top 10 on the Billboard blues chart.

On June 6, 2017, The Wall Street Journal reviewed Pick Your Poison, saying Birchwood is "a skilled, energetic and original artist...His songwriting is observant, clever and pointed. His voice is smooth; his singing on target. His guitar fluency generates new licks and rhythmic surprises. Expectations have been high for Mr. Birchwood—and he lives up to them here."

On Pick Your Poison, Birchwood, along with his band—saxophonist Regi Oliver, bassist Huff Wright and drummer Courtney “Big Love” Girlie—takes a major step forward, crafting visionary blues for a new generation of forward-looking fans.

Birchwood, who attacks his guitar and lap steel with searing intensity, wrote and produced all 13 songs on Pick Your Poison. The cutting-edge songs are made all the more impactful by Birchwood’s gruff vocals, his untamed musicianship and his band’s seemingly telepathic accompaniment. “I write and sing what I know,” says Birchwood, whose innovations are as expansive as his influences. “This album has a broad reach. It’s for young, old and everyone in between.”

Birchwood's blistering instrumental skills, his trailblazing, instantly memorable songs and his gritty, unvarnished vocals place among the brightest young stars in the blues. His deep familiarity with 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 will spend the summer performing across the US and Canada. His current tour schedule may be found here.

Living Blues magazine has announced the nominees for the 2017 Living Blues Readers' Awards. Five Alligator Records artists received a total of 11 nominations. Toronzo Cannon received four, Shemekia Copeland, Curtis Salgado and Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials each received two nominations. Marcia Ball received one.

The public -- subscribers and non-subscribers alike -- can vote at www.livingblues.com or by mailing in the ballot in the current issue of the magazine (#249), by July 15, 2017.

Winners will be announced in August.

TORONZO CANNON:
Blues Artist Of The Year (Male)
Most Outstanding Musician (Guitar)
Best Live Performer
Best Blues Album Of 2016 (New Recordings) - The Chicago Way
 
 
SHEMEKIA COPELAND:
Blues Artist Of The Year (Female)
Most Outstanding Blues Singer
 

CURTIS SALGADO:
Blues Artist Of The Year (Male)
Best Blues Album Of 2016 (New Recordings) - The Beautiful Lowdown
 

LIL' ED & THE BLUES IMPERIALS:
Best Live Performer
Best Blues Album Of 2016 (New Recordings) -
    The Big Sound Of Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials


MARCIA BALL:
Most Outstanding Musician (Keyboard)