"BLUES BLAST" Review: Like the Prodigal Son, Bill Blue has returned from the wilderness. It’s been 30 years since he stepped into the studio, but he’s returned with a vengeance. Blue – that’s his real name – was a young man when he met ‘50s superstar Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup. That encounter changed Blue’s life forever. Instead of struggling as a

"BLUES BLAST" Review: Like the Prodigal Son, Bill Blue has returned from the wilderness. It’s been 30 years since he stepped into the studio, but he’s returned with a vengeance. Blue – that’s his real name – was a young man when he met ‘50s superstar Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup. That encounter changed Blue’s life forever. Instead of struggling as a guitarist in his native North Carolina, he was soon touring the world with the man who some folks considered the father of rock ‘n’ roll and who wrote a string of classics, including “Mean Ol’ Frisco,” “My Mama Don’t Allow Me” and the Elvis Presley hit, “That’s All Right.” After Crudup died in 1974, Blue formed his own band and recorded two albums for the prestigious Adelphi label. But after 18 long years on the road, he called it quits. He headed to Key West, Fla., where he’s lived on a houseboat for most of the past three decades, occasionally leaving for festivals and tours of Europe. He’s been content with playing regular acoustic sets at Sloppy Joe’s and, later, the Green Parrot, two venerable watering holes once patronized by Ernest Hemingway. This CD, which features Blue in a hard-driving electric setting with a full band and horn section, came about after a chance meeting with British producer Ian Shaw, who’d recently relocated to the Conch Republic. Available through Amazon and CDBaby, it includes 10 originals and features both his rough-hewn vocals and powerful guitar-slinging, aided by a stellar group of sidemen, including drummer Richard Crooks, who’s worked with Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, as well as British guitarist Matt Backer, who served as Julian Lennon’s band leader for eight years in addition to working with Steve Winwood, Joe Cocker and Emmylou Harris. Rounding out the ensemble are guitarists Michael McAdam, “Caffeine Carl” Wagoner and Larry Baeder; bassists Francois Gehin, Dan Simpson and Drake Leonard, keyboardist Ericson Holt, vocalist Deb Hudson and the Funky In The Middle Horns: Rob Cutts (tenor sax), Jason Chapman (trumpet), Adam Seely (tenor and baritone sax), and Ed Leone and Christian Kollar (trombone). This disc roars like a hurricane racing through the Keys…a welcome return for a true road warrior. "CLASSICS DU JOUR" Review: Mojolation was largely recorded live in the studio and is chock full of energy; raw, edgy guitars and funky horns power Bill’s unique blues growl. It’s music that’s at once fresh, yet captures the authentic spirit of old blues recordings. After thirty years as the elder statesman of music in Key West, Bill Blue crashes back into the international blues music scene with Mojolation, a record that is punchy, powerful, upbeat and exciting.