Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials
Red Rooster 2513 Seiferth Road, Madison, Wisconsin 53716
Paul Natkin
Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials
Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials, 2016
(past pick) This Windy City quartet is anchored by two nephews of legendary Chicago bluesman J.B. Hutto: slide guitarist and singer Lil’ Ed Williams and bassist James “Pookie” Young. With a steady lineup for 25-plus years and a stellar catalog of original songs, the Blues Imperials play it tight but not slick, cooking but still raw. If they don’t make you get up and boogie down, you might want to see a doctor.
press release: "Rough and ready blues played with unmitigated intensity…Swirling, snarling, riveting slide….The Blues Imperials pound out riffs and rhythms like they're overdosing on boogie juice. Scorching and soulful, joyous and stomping." --Living Blues
Alligator recording artists Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials, touring in support of their latest Alligator CD, THE BIG SOUND OF LIL' ED & THE BLUES IMPERIALS, will perform at the Knuckle Down Saloon in Madison on Friday, October 6, 2017. MOJO magazine included the new CD in their influential Top Ten Best Blues Albums Of 2016. Currently celebrating 27 history-making years together, Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials ply their musical talents with skills that have been honed to a razor's edge. Mixing smoking slide guitar boogies and raw-boned shuffles with the deepest slow-burners, Lil' Ed Williams and his Blues Imperials -- bassist (and Ed's half-brother) James "Pookie" Young, guitarist Mike Garrett and drummer Kelly Littleton -- deliver gloriously riotous, rollicking and intensely emotional blues. Ed guested on TBS Television's CONAN, with Conan O'Brien proclaiming Lil' Ed as "the man who taught me to play the blues." The band recently won the coveted 2017 Blues Music Award for Band Of The Year, the same honor they received in 2009 and 2007. They received the Living Blues Award for Best Live Performer three times in five years. In 2017 they were named Blues Band Of The Year by Blues Blast Magazine.