If you’ve ever been to one of the many blues festivals in the Mississippi Delta, you’re likely to have come across Bill Abel. If not booked as a solo performer on the festival or backing one of the great Delta blues musicians, he’s sure to be found playing in a nearby club or performing in a downtown street or park. This Belzoni, Mississippi native has been a fixture in the Delta and Hill Country for the past couple of decades. Growing up in Belzoni, he befriended a neighborhood welder and blues guitarist, Paul “Wine” Jones, who became his mentor. He’s frequently backed Big George Brock, Cadillac John Nolden, T-Model Ford and the late Paul ‘Wine’ Jones in performance and recorded with Big George Brock, Hubert Sumlin, Odell Harris, Sam Carr and Cadillac John Nolden, among many others.
In his latest release “One-Man Band,” Bill brings you into the world of the Delta blues as a solo act, playing as many instruments as possible in a “live” setting. He accomplishes this by playing both lead and rhythm on a multitude of guitar setups, switching between electric guitar, dobro, and his own homemade cigar-box guitars while playing hi-hat and snare with one foot and bass drum with another, all the while accompanying himself vocally with his signature coarse growl. The end result is a raw, undiluted adaptation of largely electric blues rooted deep in the Mississippi delta tradition.
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