Award-winning blues guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Joe Louis Walker will appear on TBS's CONAN on Monday, March 5. Walker, along with his band, will perform the song Ride All Night from his new Alligator Records debut CD, Hellfire. Billboard says Hellfire is "one of the strongest albums in Walker's canon...gutbucket blues, joyous gospel, Rolling Stones-style rock crunch, and aching R&B... a heavenly showcase for Walker's virtues."

Alligator Records'

Reviews are in:

Hellfire displays influences form both the classic blues community and the psychedelic rock scene. …loud Hendrixianvirtuosity here, “Exile On Main Street”-era Stones there.  Delightful, down and dirty blues.
--Los Angeles Daily News

One of the strongest albums in Walker’s canon. Hellfire blows all over the map…gutbucket blues, joyous gospel, Rolling Stones-style rock crunch, and aching R&B. Walker’s guitar playing is fine and fierce. Hellfire is a heavenly showcase for Walker’s unduly underappreciated virtues.
--Billboard

On Hellfire, Mr. Walker plays jump blues; slow, searing blues, Rolling Stones-style rockin’ blues; electric country blues; Chicago blues and gospel blues. His raspy, powerhouse voice is out front while his stinging guitar cuts through the uncluttered arrangements.
--Wall Street Journal

Hellfire is Walker’s most rock-oriented release. His wah-wah inflected solo on Hellfire digresses with the kind of fierce embellishments that Jimi Hendrix might’ve conjured. The slow-burn What’s it Worth spins ever wilder and wider into outer space with each solo. Walker attacks these songs like the gospel vocalist he once was. His ferocious guitar playing conveys desperation and determination in the face of some pretty heavy moral choices.
--Chicago Tribune

Boundary-pushing blues rocker Joe Louis Walker is a modern and legendary blues icon. [He plays] powerful, gritty, heavy blues rock. Hellfire is fierce. The album showcases Walker’s famous ability to shred. He expertly incorporates his intense, racing solos into blues, spirituals and crashing rock jams.
--NPR Music

Walker's discography includes 23 albums and two DVDs. He has won four Blues Music Awards, including the 2010 Album Of The Year Award forBetween A Rock And A Hard Place (Stony Plain Records), and has been nominated for 43 more. Walker's also recorded as a guest with some of the blues world's best-known artists, including appearances on Grammy-winning records by B.B. King and James Cotton.

Hellfire was produced by songwriter/drummer Tom Hambridge (producer of Buddy Guy's two most recent Grammy-winning CDs, Skin Deep and Living Proof, as well as albums for Susan Tedeschi, George Thorogood and others). Walker, who wrote or co-wrote seven of the CD's eleven tracks, says it's the hardest rocking and most deeply soulful album of his career. His blistering blues guitar playing and gospel-tinged vocals effortlessly blend throughout the album. The psychedelic overtones of the title track (a harrowing and personal tale of the struggle of good versus evil) give way to the slow, simmering and pleading What's It Worth? and full-force rock of the Stones-y Ride All Night. Walker's original showstopper Soldier For Jesus (featuring vocal harmonies from The Jordanaires, who also appear on Don't Cry) fits seamlessly alongside the other selections, making perfect thematic sense in the tradition of Al Green, Marvin Gaye or Prince, who all successfully combined carnal desires and gospel devotion.

Joe Louis Walker was born in San Francisco on Christmas Day of 1949. His parents were both from the South and they brought their love of blues with them when they headed west. Joe's dad played blues piano, and his mom played B.B. King records. Walker picked up the guitar as a child, and by the time he was 16 was regularly backing touring blues artists rolling through town. San Francisco's music scene was quickly becoming a melting pot of blues, jazz and psychedelic rock, and Walker was right in the center of it.

As a 16-year-old, Walker was the house guitarist at San Francisco's famed musical playground, The Matrix, where he played with or opened shows for everyone from Lightnin' Hopkins to Jimi Hendrix to Thelonious Monk. He was also a regular at The Fillmore West. These ear-opening surroundings explain the ease with which Walker blends blues, rock, gospel, jazz and country, making it seem as if walls between the styles do not exist.The blues legends Walker accompanied shared not only musical knowledge but also their personal wisdom with the teenage up-and-comer. Fred McDowell, Ike Turner, Albert King, Freddy King, Robert Jr. Lockwood, Lightnin' Hopkins and many others taught, fed, and chastised the youngster. Inspired by what he learned, Walker developed his own fiery, melodic, and always unpredictable guitar attack.

Walker met guitarist Michael Bloomfield in 1968 and the two became fast friends. Bloomfield helped push Walker's blues in a more rock-fueled direction, and he became the single biggest influence on Walker's sound. The two shared an apartment for years and remained close friends until Bloomfield's death in 1981. From 1975 to 1985, Walker performed nothing but gospel music, playing and singing as a member of The Spiritual Corinthians. In 1986, after Walker returned to playing the blues, Hightone Records released his debut CD,Cold Is The Night. Firmly rooted in blues, gospel, R&B and rock, the album caught the attention of music fans around the country.

With each subsequent release, Walker's audience continues to grow, as his touring schedule continues to expand. He's played major European festivals, including Northsea Jazz Festival, Glastonbury, Notodden and Montreux, as well as festivals in Japan, Australia, Taiwan, Ireland, Turkey and Brazil. He's appeared on national television, with performances on Late Night With Conan O'Brien, The Don Imus Show and Later With Jools Holland in the UK.

Fans and critics have been celebrating Walker for years. Blues Revue calls Walker "one of contemporary blues' most dynamic and innovative musicians, releasing consistently exciting music. No matter what he's singing, Walker's approach is soulful, heartfelt and spellbinding." Living Blues says, "His fretwork is indelibly stamped with his own trademark blend of emotional heat and impeccable precision-even at his most flamboyant, Walker sounds as if he's playing ideas, not just notes."

(Photo credit: Michael Weintrob | michaelweintrob.com)

Alligator Records is pleased to announce the signing of celebrated guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Joe Louis Walker, the man Blues Revue called "one of contemporary blues' most dynamic and innovative musicians, who releases consistently exciting music. No matter what he's singing, Walker's approach is soulful, heartfelt and spellbinding." According to Living Blues, he is "one of today's modern musical masters." Walker's Alligator debut will be released in January of 2012.

Alligator president Bruce Iglauer is thrilled to have Walker on board. "Joe Louis Walker is one of the most exciting and passionate bluesmen of his generation. He's a major talent whose music speaks to both blues and rock fans. We're excited to help bring his music to a larger audience than ever."

And Walker's in full agreement. "Alligator has clearly been one of the most important blues labels of our time and I am proud to say that I am an Alligator artist. I look forward to being part of the Alligator family."

Over his 27-year career, Walker has released 24 albums and toured worldwide. He won four Blues Music Awards, including the 2010 Album Of The Year Award for Between A Rock And A Hard Place (Stony Plain Records), and has been nominated for 43 more. He's also recorded as a guest with some of the blues world's best-known artists, including appearances on Grammy-winning records by B.B. King and James Cotton.

Joe Louis Walker was born in the Fillmore district of San Francisco on December 25, 1949. By the time he was 16, he was working the local club scene steadily as an in-demand guitar player. When Walker was 19 he befriended famed guitarist Michael Bloomfield. Bloomfield introduced Walker to many of the day's top rockers and helped push Walker's blues into a more rock-fueled direction. The two were close friends until Bloomfield's death in 1981.

In 1985 Walker released his debut, Cold Is The Night, on Hightone Records, his first of many outstanding albums. Firmly rooted in blues, gospel, R&B and rock, the album caught the attention of music fans everywhere. Over the course of the next 26 years, with each subsequent release, Walker's audience continued to grow, as his touring schedule continued to expand. He's played major European festivals, including Northsea Jazz Festival, Glastonbury, Notodden and Montreux, as well as festivals in Japan, Australia, Taiwan, Ireland, Turkey and Brazil. He's appeared on national television, including performances on Late Night With Conan O'Brien, The Don Imus Show and Later With Jools Holland in the UK.

Fans and critics have been celebrating Walker for years. Living Blues said, "His fretwork is indelibly stamped with his own trademark blend of emotional heat and impeccable precision -- even at his most flamboyant, Walker sounds as if he's playing ideas, not just notes."

The New York Times raved, "Walker is a singer with a Cadillac of a voice. He delivers no-nonsense, gutsy blues. His voice is weather-beaten but ready for more; his guitar solos are fast, wiry and incisive, moaning with bluesy despair."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- November 1, 2011
CONTACT: Marc Lipkin / 773-973-7736 x235
EMAIL: publicity@allig.com
www.alligator.com

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JLW AUTOGRAPHED CD – EXCLUSIVE!!
“Blues Conspiracy: Live On The Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise” (Stony Plain)

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Purchase “ Blues Conspiracy” on iTunes!

Recorded live during the most recent Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise earlier this year, Blues Conspiracy follows on the heels of Walker’s Between a Rock and the Blues CD, which won the coveted “Album of the Year” at the Blues Music Awards in May. Joe also recently won the 2010 Living Blues magazine Critics’ Poll as “Most Outstanding Musician (Guitar).”

The truly inspired performances captured on Blues Conspiracy: Live on the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise showcase a wide assortment of songs originating from his debut 1987 release, Cold Is the Night (“Ten More Shows to Play”) and its critically-acclaimed follow-up, The Gift (“747”); to four tracks from his last two albums, Witness to the Blues (“Sugar Mama” and “It’s a Shame”) and Between a Rock and the Blues (“Eyes Like a Cat” and “Tell Me Why”).

Among its many highlights, the CD boasts some truly magical pairings, as on “Ain’t that Cold,” where Walker and the great Johnny Winter trade some amazing energized guitar licks; the soul-drenched ballad, “You’re Gonna Make Me Cry,” with Walker, Curtis Salgado and Mike Finnigan’s earth-shaking vocal testifying; the jumping “Eyes Like a Cat,” with Tommy Castro, Tom Poole, Joanna Bogart and Keith Crossan taking that song to new heights; and the Windy City classic, “Born in Chicago,” where Walker is joined by harmonica whiz Jason Ricci and guitarists Nick Moss and Paris Slim for a Southside showdown that just won’t let up.

“I would like to thank all the great musicians involved in this project for giving their heart, soul and talent to this collaboration,” says Walker. “This was not about money, ego and so called fame. It was about the music. For me, it was the completion of two of my earlier projects: the first was Live At Slims Vol. 1 & 2; and the second was Great Guitars. Many times I’ve been asked if, and when, I would reprise these projects. Well, here it is. I do believe this is a continuation of what I started. As you can see, these artists are a mixture of ages and styles. The one thread running through us all is the blues. For all the fans of live music, what you hear on this CD is what the audience heard at the performances. There are no enhancements or overdubs. In other words, what you hear is what it was and what it is. What a tribute to the quality of all the wonderful musicians involved.”

Track Listing for Blues Conspiracy: Live on the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise:

The 2010 Living Blues Awards winners have been announced in the special 40^th Anniversary issue of Living Blues. Available now, this special issue celebrates 40 years of the blues as only Living Blues can do it. On newsstands everywhere including Borders, David Kidd, and Barnes & Noble stores nationwide. This year's winners include Buddy Guy, John Primer, Joe Louis Walker, Shemekia Copeland, Chick Willis and many more. And remember, you can go to www.LivingBlues.com for a complete list of all past winners.