ALLIGATOR RECORDS ARTISTS THE CASH BOX KINGS AND LIL’ ED & THE BLUES IMPERIALS TO PERFORM LIVE

Alligator Records artists The Cash Box Kings and Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials will perform live at the Memorial Opera House in Valparaiso on Saturday, April 15, 2023.
 
The award-winning blues band The Cash Box Kings will celebrate the March 17th release of their new Alligator Records album, Oscar’s Motel. According to Living Blues magazine, The Cash Box Kings “are one of the best blues bands in the land.” The group, co-led by Chicago blues vocalist and songwriter Oscar “Mr. 43rd Street” Wilson, and Madison, Wisconsin-based harmonica giant, songwriter, and singer Joe Nosek, plays masterfully raw, unvarnished, old-school ensemble blues. Wilson’s huge, emotive vocals and Nosek’s blistering harmonica, along with an all-star band, fuel their razor-sharp original songs and always-incisive reinventions of obscure blues classics. Oscar’s Motel will be available on yellow vinyl LP, CD and at all popular streaming and download sites. The first single, the wickedly sly title track, Oscar’s Motel, will hit radio and streamers on February 17.
 
With almost 36 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, electrifying, award-winning Chicago blues masters Lil' Ed Williams and his Blues Imperials deliver gloriously riotous, rollicking and intensely emotional blues. The Big Sound Of Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials is the band’s most recent release.

Concert information is as follows:
 
Date: Saturday, April 15, 2023
Venue: Memorial Opera House
Address: 104 Indiana Ave.
City: Valparaiso, IN
Phone: 219-548-9137
Showtime: 8:00pm
Ticket price: $40-$80
Website: www.memorialoperahouse.com
*See website for complete performance information
 
THE CASH BOX KINGS
Click here for full album stream.
*Please do not publish or distribute this link.
 
Click here for bio, cover art and high-res jpegs.
 
“Oscar Wilson’s powerful and deep voice harkens back to the golden age of Chicago blues. Nosek blows spirited, muscular harp. The Cash Box Kings serve up undeniable proof that they remain one of the top blues bands of this era.”
--Blues Blast Magazine
 
On Oscar’s Motel (their third album for Alligator and 11th overall), The Cash Box Kings bring contemporary authority and old-school authenticity to each of the album’s 11 tracks. The band—featuring guitarist Billy Flynn, drummer Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith, bassist John W. Lauler, and keyboardist Lee Kanehira—opens a door into the intoxicating spirit and sounds of 1950s and 1960s Chicago-based blues, and then they bring it all right up to the minute with Wilson and Nosek’s original, instantly memorable songs.

Oscar’s Motel  was recorded in Chicago and produced by Nosek. Going into the studio, the band made some significant decisions. According to Nosek, “While we are never afraid to tackle any subject, we decided to put aside everyday problems and have a bit more fun. So, no songs about Covid and this time nothing too political. Our goal was to have Oscar’s Motel be a celebration, an open invitation to leave your troubles behind and have a carefree, down-home, good time.” One listen and it’s clear the band succeeded. The driving cinematic title track is a non-stop, blues-filled, barbeque-fueled party. The funky Down On The South Side  is inspired by Wilson’s colorful, true-to-life past. According to Wilson, “It was such a glorious time. Growing up on the South Side, there was a tavern on every corner with a band playing and music coming from front porches on every block.”

The history of The Cash Box Kings begins in Madison, Wisconsin where Nosek founded the band in 2001. Since 2007, his co-leader has been the charismatic, larger-than-life Chicago blues vocalist Oscar Wilson. Over 20 years apart in age and coming from vastly different backgrounds, the two form an unlikely pair, combining Wilson’s indisputably authentic South Side Chicago blues vocals and gritty, street-smart songwriting chops with Nosek’s storytelling vocals, dynamic harmonica and witty tunesmithing. According to Wilson, “The Cash Box Kings are a throwback to the golden age of blues with some kickin’ fresh young blood. Joe is my best friend in the music world—the band is a marriage made in heaven for both of us.” Says Nosek, “We have each other’s backs. We’re family.”

The Cash Box Kings continue to play major festivals across the U.S. and Europe. They have blown away audiences at the Chicago Blues Festival, the Tampa Bay Blues Festival, the Doheny Blues Festival, the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the Cincinnati Blues Festival, the Cambridge Folk Festival (UK), the Moulin Blues Festival (Netherlands), the Lucerne Blues Festival (Switzerland), the Baltic Blues Festival (Germany) and the Edmonton Blues Festival (Canada). They have also performed in Belgium, France, Spain and Uruguay, building their worldwide audience one jaw-dropping show at a time.

No matter where The Cash Box Kings perform, they bring the music to fuel the party. Between Wilson’s natural blues vocal power and Nosek’s talent at wringing every last drop of emotion from his harmonica, The Cash Box Kings never fail to wow their longtime fans while earning new ones at every gig. Now, with tour dates scheduled throughout the year, The Cash Box Kings invite everyone to leave their worries at home and check into Oscar’s Motel, where the music is always just getting started.

LIL’ ED & THE BLUES IMPERIALS
Click here for full album stream.
*Please do not publish or distribute this link.
 
Click here for bio, cover art and high-res jpegs.
 
“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    
 
In Chicago, a city overflowing with unrivaled blues talent, world-renowned Chicago blues royalty Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials have been standing tall for almost 36 years. The band’s big sound, fueled by Lil’ Ed’s gloriously rollicking slide work and deep blues string bending, along with his rough-edged, soulful vocals, is as real and hard-hitting as Chicago blues gets. The Chicago Sun-Times says, “Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials are the hottest purveyors of bottleneck boogie to come out of Chicago since Hound Dog Taylor.”

The Big Sound Of Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials is the latest release from one of the world’s most raucous party bands.  The Chicago Tribune said, “…rare is the band that is as tight and explosive as Lil' Ed Williams' road dogs. The Imperials aren't so much a blues band as garage-rockers. Somebody should put them on tour with Pearl Jam or Foo Fighters.” No living blues band embodies the joyous raw spirit and gritty toughness of “genuine houserockin’” Chicago blues better than Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials.  The band (Ed Williams, his half-brother, bassist James “Pookie” Young, guitarist Michael Garrett and drummer Kelly Littleton) continues to make blues history, carrying the Chicago blues flame once ignited by the likes of Muddy Waters, Elmore James, and Ed and Pookie’s legendary uncle, slide guitar king J.B. Hutto.
Williams 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 is a two-time winner of the coveted Blues Music Award for Band Of The Year. 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.
 
With The Big Sound Of Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials, the band continues to bring their blistering Chicago blues to fans new and old. Lil’ Ed, Pookie, Mike and Kelly have seen sports stars and presidents, musical fads and fashion trends come and go. Meanwhile, their fiery music has more than stood the test of time. “We’re not band members,” says Williams, “we’re family, and families stay together.”