“These are
serious musicians out to have 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
“Fabulous,
remarkable original material” –Billboard
Alligator Records has set a July 8 street date for
You Asked For
It--Live!, the first live album from blues masters
Rick
Estrin & The Nightcats. Harmonica giant, songwriter, vocalist and Blues
Music Award winner Rick Estrin, along with The Nightcats— jaw-dropping guitarist
Chris “Kid” Andersen, singing drummer J. Hansen and dynamic
multi-instrumentalist Lorenzo Farrell (electric and acoustic bass, organ and
Moog synthesizer)—serve up innovative, rollicking contemporary blues. The songs
are all injected with a solid dose of gritty roadhouse rock ‘n’ roll and
Estrin’s trademark philosophical wiseguy humor. Since the release of their
celebrated Alligator Records albums
Twisted in 2009
and
One Wrong Turn in 2012, the band has toured
non-stop, sharpening their musical skills to a razor’s edge. The band is known
as one of the most dynamic and exciting live acts in the blues today. Their
sound, while steeped in the blues tradition, continues to push the genre into
new territory.
You Asked For It...Live! was
recorded on October 5, 2013, (Estrin's birthday) at San Francisco’s Biscuits
& Blues. According to Estrin, “Cutting loose and stretching out in an
intimate, nightclub-type setting is the natural environment for the Nightcats to
kick maximum ass. The fact that it was my birthday, in the town where I was born
and raised, only added more fuel to the fire.”
You Asked For
It...Live! has the immediacy, feel and fun of a true Rick Estrin
& The Nightcats performance. “No matter how much fun we have and how relaxed
we can be in the studio, there’s still nothing like being in front of, and
interacting with, our live audience,” Estrin says. The album features some of
Rick Estrin’s best-loved and most-requested songs, dating back to his days as
lead singer, songwriter and harmonica player of Little Charlie & The
Nightcats (featuring Little Charlie Baty on guitar). The album is an
up-to-the-minute and totally accessible slice of original, wry and witty blues
with a simmering, funky rock edge fueled by Andersen’s blazing genre-hopping
guitar and Farrell’s and Hansen’s dazzling keyboard and rhythm work. One listen
makes it clear that this is a group comprised of four world-class musicians, who
together form one of the tightest and most original bands in any
genre.
Rick Estrin, who holds the 2013 Blues Music Award for Best
Instrumentalist–Harmonica, is, according to the
San Francisco
Chronicle, “an amazing harmonica player, a soulful lead vocalist and a
brilliant songwriter.” He ranks among the very best harp players, singers and
songwriters in the blues world. His work on the reeds is deep in the tradition
of harmonica masters Sonny Boy Williamson II and Little Walter Jacobs, while at
the same time pushing that tradition forward with his unforgettable original
songs. And his hipster, street-smart vocals are the perfect vehicle for driving
those songs home.
Blues Revue says, “Estrin has created some of the
finest blues songs of any artist on the planet. His carefully wrought lyrics
penetrate human weakness with the precision of a boxer, though more often than
not, he chooses to leave you laughing after the blow’s been struck.”
Born
in San Francisco, California in 1949, Estrin grew up following his own path. He
discovered an entirely new world when, as a 10-year-old boy, he made his way to
the tough Market Street area and befriended many of the neighborhood characters.
He had another revelation when his older sister gave him a copy of Ray Charles’
The Genius Sings The Blues when he was 12. Albums from Jimmy Reed,
Champion Jack Dupree, Mose Allison, Nina Simone and others soon followed. By the
time he was a teenager, Estrin had completely identified with the urban,
African-American culture surrounding him. He got his first harmonica at age 15,
and by age 18 was proficient enough to begin sitting in at black clubs around
the city. Estrin moved to Chicago when he was 19 and worked with South Side
bluesmen Johnny Young, Eddie Taylor, Sam Lay and Johnny Littlejohn before
meeting and jamming with Muddy Waters, who told Rick, “You outta sight, boy! You
got that sound, boy! You play like a man, boy!” 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, met Charlie Baty and
formed Little Charlie & The Nightcats.
For more than 30 years and
nine albums, Rick fronted the band, featuring Baty’s one-of-a-kind guitar
acrobatics. 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 rededicated
himself to his craft. Hansen and Farrell wanted to keep the band going. Estrin
knew the only way to replace Baty’s crazed and unique guitar style was to find
someone with an equally insane and individual approach, and he 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.” With an unpredictable, no-holds-barred style that
perfectly meshed with Estrin’s wildly imaginative original songs, the new band
charged out of the gate with
Twisted in 2009 and
One Wrong Turn in 2012.
Blues Revue raved,
“Rick Estrin & The Nightcats are one of modern blues’ most versatile and
original bands.”
As a testament to their talent, audiences at their consistently ask to go
home with a CD that reflects what they just witnessed. Now, with
You
Asked For It...Live!, Rick Estrin & The Nightcats can satisfy
their fans’ demands. Estrin recalls, “After shows, people are always asking,
’Are any of these CDs live? Which of your CDs is most like what you did
tonight?’ Now, I can tell them, ‘This one right here. Thank you. We’ll be happy
to sign it.’”
