Born in Decatur, Alabama in 1935, Earl Gaines was amongst the first generation of chitlin circuit R&B road warriors, finding success in 1955 as a solo singer on the Excello label and with Bill Doggett's band, while doing dual duty as a busy session drummer. By the mid 1960's was an associate of producer Bill “Hoss” Allen and a regular performer on Allen's legendary "The !!! Beat" television variety show.
Andre Williams (born Zephire Andre Williams in Bessemer, Alabama, on November 1, 1936) is an American R&B and punk blues musician who started his career in the 1950s at Fortune Records in Detroit. Some sources believe that Williams is the long-lost brother of Screamin' Jay Hawkins, a blues musician whose song "I Put A Spell On You" landed on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll charts.
JJ Grey & Mofro (formerly billed just as Mofro) is a soul/funk/R&B/blues/southern rock band from Jacksonville, Florida, formed in the 1990s and composed of JJ Grey (vocals, electric piano, acoustic guitar and electric guitar, harmonica), Andrew Trube (electric guitar and slide guitar), Anthony Farrell (Hammond Organ), Anthony Cole (drums) and the "Hercules Horns" Dennis Marion (trumpet), Art Edmaiston (tenor saxophone) and Todd Smallie (bass guitar).
Keb' Mo' (born October 3, 1951 in South Los Angeles, California as Kevin Moore) is an American blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He first started recording in the early 1970s with Jefferson Airplane violinist Papa John Creach. Creach hired him when Moore was just twenty-one years old; Moore appeared on four of Creach's albums. He was further immersed in the blues with his long stint in the Whodunit Band, headed by Bobby "Blue" Bland producer Monk Higgins. Moore jammed with Albert Collins and Big Joe Turner.
The Blind Boys of Alabama are a gospel music group from Alabama that first formed at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind in 1939. Although the Blind Boys of Alabama have been singing gospel music for more than five decades, it's only recently that the group has had the benefit of a major record company behind them. Led by founding member Clarence Fountain, the rest of the group currently consists of Eric McKinney, George Scott, Caleb Butler, Johnny Field, Jimmy Carter, Joey Williams, Donald Dillion and Aubrey Blount.
Joe Louis Walker (born December 25, 1949 in San Francisco, California) is an American blues guitarist, singer and producer. Walker's parents were blues fans, and introduced him to the music when he was young.
He learned to play the guitar at age fourteen, and left home at sixteen to work as a performer. He soon met Mike Bloomfield, who introduced him to the Bay Area Blues scene. During the 1960s, Walker opened for such artists as Earl Hooker, Freddie King and Lowell Fulson.