Lil’Ed to celebrate
30th anniversary
with the Blues Imperials

World-renowned bluesman Lil’ Ed Williams and his band, The Blues Imperials, will celebrate 30 history-making years together with a live performance at B.L.U.E.S. in Chicago on Friday, November 17th, 2017. The Blues Imperials, made up of Williams, bassist James “Pookie” Young, guitarist Mike Garrett, and drummer Kelly Littleton, have been traveling the world, delivering their brand of rollicking, and deeply emotional blues for three decades.

A group of special guests will be on hand to help celebrate this milestone. Alligator Records founder, Bruce Iglauer, will be on hand, and well as Williams’ label-mate, Toronzo Cannon. Hungry fans will be able to sample Williams’ and Garrett’s secret recipe barbeque ribs, which the musicians will be cooking prior to the show.

Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials won the Blues Music Award in 2017 for “Band of the Year,” making it the third time they’ve won the coveted award. They also received the Living Blues Award for “Best Live Performer” three times in five years. Their latest Alligator release, The Big Sound of Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials was touted as one of the ten best blues albums of the year.

Williams, whose uncle and teacher was the legendary Chicago slide guitarist J.B. Hutto, plays smoking guitar boogies and raw-boned shuffles, along with the deepest slow-burners we’ve heard. The Chicago Tribune says, “Williams represents one of the few remaining authentic links to pure Chicago blues.”

Over the course of nine Alligator Records albums and countless live performances, Williams has earned his place as one of the most honored bluesmen of his generation. A three decade anniversary is an achievement rarely matched in any genre, and almost unheard of in the blues.

By JD Nash, before Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials’ 30th Anniversary Celebration Concert this Friday, November 17th, at B.L.U.E.S. on Halsted in Chicago. Read the full story in American Blues Scene.

Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials
win top Blues Blast Award

For the second straight year, blues legends Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials won the coveted Blues Blast Award for Blues Band Of The Year.

The Blues Blast Music Awards are presented by Blues Blast Magazine. Voting was open to the public at BluesBlastMagazine.com beginning July 1 and ending at midnight CST on August 15, 2017.

The band’s most recent album, The Big Sound Of Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials, has been hailed as among their best. DownBeat magazine calls Ed a “forceful, outrageous Chicago blues slide-guitarist” whose “piping hot energy” makes him “a star of the first magnitude.”

According to The Chicago Tribune, “Williams represents one of the few remaining authentic links to pure Chicago blues.”

A “showman not to be missed”

Headlining the opening night will be twenty-time Blues Music Award nominee Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials. Lil’ Ed Williams continues the lineage of such Chicago slide guitar masters as Hound Dog Taylor, Elmore James, and Williams’ uncle, J.B. Hutto. The fan favorite, fez-wearing, toe-walking showman is not to be missed.

By Brian Cornish, before Lil’Ed & The Blues Imperials performance at the Chenango Blues Festival, on August 18, 2017, in Norwich, New York. Read the full story in NYS Music

“The strength
of his standout slide guitar work”

Lil’ Ed is Ed Williams, Chicago-born blues guitarist, singer and songwriter who has risen to fame on the strength of his standout slide guitar work.

His backing band — The Blues Imperials — are bassist James “Pookie” Young, guitarist Mike Garrett and drummer Kelly Littleton.

“I’ve always used a four-piece band — two guitars, bass and drums,” said Williams, during a recent phone interview. “Kelly, Mike and Pookie are my guys. This is a really tight band. These guys have been with me for about 30 years.”

Williams and his half-brother Pookie Young, received childhood encouragement and tutelage from their uncle, blues guitarist, songwriter and recording artist J. B. Hutto.

“J.B. would come and play for my family,” said Williams. “Slide guitar was the instrument for me because it shimmied. J.B. would play his slide and the 40-watt light bulbs in our house would dim.

“I started playing guitar when I was 11 or 12. J.B. would always play songs by Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed and Elmore James. The Muddy Waters songs always had a lot of slide guitar. That’s what I really liked a lot.”

It’s been almost 30 years since Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials released their debut album Roughhousin’ on Alligator Records. The band’s most recent album is The Big Sound Of Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials in 2016.  All of Li’l Ed’s records over the last three decades have been on Alligator Records, a Chicago-based label specializing in blues music.

“Back around 1985, I was playing a North Side club here in Chicago and Bruce (Iglauer, producer and owner of Alligator Records) heard me play,” said Williams. “He invited me to play a couple tracks on a compilation album called ‘The New Bluebloods.’

“I went to their studio and did 15 songs. Then, we kept going. We cut 32 songs in a couple hours. That was where all the songs from Roughhousin’ came from.

“I signed with Alligator Records then. Bruce and I shook hands and we’re still together 30 years later.”

Williams has started working on his next album for Alligator but no release date has been set.

By Denny Dyroff, before Lil’Ed & The Blues Imperials’ performance at the Riverfront Blues Festival in Wilmington, Delaware, on August 4. Read the full story in the Unionville Times.

Lil’ Ed nominated for two Living Blues Awards

Living Blues magazine has announced the nominees for the 2017 Living Blues Readers’ Awards. Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials received two nominations, for Best Live Performer and Best Blues Album Of 2016 (New Recordings), with The Big Sound Of Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials.

The public —subscribers and non-subscribers alike— can vote at www.livingblues.com or by mailing in the ballot in the current issue of the magazine (#249), by July 15, 2017.

Winners will be announced in August. 

“Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials
bring brilliant modern blues”

Photo by Paul Natkin

Contemporary blues outfits don’t come any finer than Lil Ed & the Blues Imperials, who have been preserving and updating the classic Chicago sound for nearly 30 years. Fronted by diminutive but dynamic lead singer and guitarist Lil’ Ed Williams, the Imperials are proud sons of the West Side, the very same turf that once nurtured blues greats like Magic Sam and Otis Rush. Williams’ elaborate guitar calisthenics in particular have made the Imperials a top draw at concert halls and festivals hither and yon, shaping the Imperials into one of Alligator Records’ flagship artists. The group’s ninth album for the label, last year’s The Big Sound of Lil’ Ed & the Imperials, has earned them nominations for Best Band and B.B. King Entertainer of the Year (Williams) at the upcoming Blues Music Awards in Memphis.

Chris Gray put Lil ‘Ed & The Blues Imperials in his “Shows of the Week” list, before their performance this Wednesday, March 29, at Dosey Doe in Houston, Texas. Read the full “Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials bring brilliant modern blues” story in the Houston Press

 

Lil’Ed makes
Mojo’s Top Ten of 2016

New release from world-renowned Chicago blues stars Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials made MOJO magazine’s influential list of Top Ten Blues Albums of 2016. Lil’Ed Williams, who recently guested on TBS-TV’s CONAN, hit #7 with The Big Sound Of Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials.

Blues & Rhythm writes, “What’s not to like about the raucous sound of Chicago slide guitar maestro Lil’ Ed Williams and his long serving trio? Great music that often seems spontaneous will have you bopping like crazy. Superlative guitar and piercing slow-burn slide will surely gain your immediate attention. Enthusiastic and passionate.”

Currently celebrating 27 history-making years together, Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials ply their musical talents with skills that have been honed to a razor’s edge. They have won many awards over the years, including the Living Blues Critics’ and Readers’ Awards for Best Live Performer and the coveted Blues Music Award for Band Of The Year. 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 mixes smoking slide guitar boogies and raw-boned shuffles with the deepest slow-burners. Lil’ Ed Williams and his Blues Imperials —bassist (and Ed’s half-brother) James “Pookie” Young, guitarist Mike Garrett and drummer Kelly Littleton— deliver gloriously riotous, rollicking and intensely emotional blues. The Chicago Tribune calls Lil’ Ed “a guitarist extraordinaire” who plays “electrifying, raucous, pure Chicago blues.”

Conan O’Brien invites Lil’Ed on TBS

Lil’ Ed Williams —leader of the world-famous Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials— was invited by Conan O’Brien to appear on TBS Network’s CONAN on Tuesday, November 15.

More details about how the two men met.

“We’re talking about
a full-blown resurrection”

Photo Paul Natkin

With their smoking slide-guitar boogies and raw-boned shuffles, Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials aren’t just trying to keep the blues alive; we’re talking about a full-blown resurrection.

Known for their spontaneous and unpredictable lives shows, the band is celebrating three decades together with The Big Sound of Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials, their recently released 10th studio album since their debut in 1986.

“This album is a little different,” said, Lil’ Ed Williams, who recorded the album in a new recording studio he had built in his home. “Normally I let the guys come in and lay down the tracks and let them go with it. “This time I had a lot of good ideas and I had the guys come in and do what I wanted. This one I worked so hard on it, and who knows my music better than I?”

Williams, 61, produced and wrote 12 of the 14 songs on the album. He also laid down the drum tracks and created the bass lines for each song before bringing the band together. The result he says, “is a little rock and a little roll.”

Williams made a special appearance on TBS Network’s “Conan” on Tuesday. The award-winning guitarist sat in with Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band for the duration of the show. Williams met Conan O’Brien in 2006, when he starred in a hilarious short skit attempting to teach Conan how to play the blues. Lil’ Ed and the band were invited back later that year to perform on NBC’s “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.”

“I don’t watch much TV, so I didn’t know who Conan was,” said Williams, recalling their first meeting. “I was at a club and everyone was telling me how big of a star he was, so I figured I better polish my guitar.”

“In walks in this big, tall white guy and he just walked up to me. He said to me, “Where’s that damn Lil’ Ed? He’s probably not even going to show.” Williams’ response: “He’d probably show up if he thought that damn Conan would really show his face here.” Both men burst into laughter at the exchange and became quick friends. Williams is grateful for the national exposure Conan has provided by inviting the band on his show.

A student of what’s commonly referred to as “Chicago blues,” or “bottleneck boogie,” Williams is a master of the slide guitar. His rollicking slide work and deep blues string bending and soulful vocals are as real and hard-hitting as Chicago blues gets.

Williams learned the trade from his uncle, Chicago slide guitar king and master songwriter J.B. Hutto, who taught him how to feel, not just play the blues. The Imperials include bassist James “Pookie” Young, who is William’s half-brother, and drummer Kelly Littleton. Known for their bare-bones intensity, the band is equally adept at blasting out frenetic boogie gems such as “My Mind is Gone,” which will force even the most reluctant dancer to tap their toes, or pouring out tortured soul in songs such as “I Still Love You,” one of Williams’ favorite blues ballads.

After 30 years of performing across the world and earning countless awards, including Best Live Performer and Band of the Year from Living Blues Magazine, Williams said his mission remains the same. “You have to pay your dues so that people recognize your music and respect you,” Williams said. “Whether I’m playing inside or outside, it doesn’t make a difference as long as people are having fun.

“Just tell the people to come to one of my shows and they’ll have a good time. If they get wild, I’ll get wilder.”

In the blues world, song titles are sometimes just as entertaining as the song, often including double entendres, usually risqué in nature. Lil’ Ed Williams insists that’s not the case with his classic “Icicles in my Meatloaf.” “Man, everyone always asks me about that song,” said Williams, whose laughter reassures that he loves sharing the tale.

“One day my mother-in-law was making dinner. She took the meatloaf out of the freezer, warmed it up and served it. Everyone at the table started looking at each other because the meatloaf was still partially frozen. “Well, nobody wanted to say nothing because, well, it’s mother. Finally, she asked how everyone was enjoying their meatloaf, and everyone just shook their heads and said, “Oh, it’s good.” “My mother-in-law stood up and said, ‘Well, there’s damn icicles in my meatloaf, I’m going to make some spaghetti.’”

By Federico Martinez. Read the full story with photos and videos in the San Angelo Standard-Times

 

Lil’ Ed to appear on Conan

Blues legend Lil’ Ed Williams —leader of the world-famous Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials— will appear on TBS Network’s CONAN on Tuesday, November 15. The award-winning guitarist will sit in with Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band for the duration of the show.

Lil’ Ed first met Conan O’Brien back in 2006 when he starred in a hilarious short film (which aired on NBC’s Late Night With Conan O’Brien) teaching Conan how to play the blues. Together, the two made comedy gold, prompting the producers to bring Lil’ Ed, along with The Blues Imperials, to perform a full song on the show later that year.

The Big Sound Of Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials, the band’s new CD, mixes smoking slide guitar boogies and raw-boned shuffles with the deepest slow-burners. Lil’ Ed Williams and his Blues Imperials —bassist (and Ed’s half-brother) James “Pookie” Young, guitarist Mike Garrett and drummer Kelly Littleton— deliver gloriously riotous, rollicking and intensely emotional blues. The Chicago Tribune calls Lil’ Ed “a guitarist extraordinaire” who plays “electrifying, raucous, pure Chicago blues.”

Currently celebrating 27 history-making years together, Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials ply their musical talents with skills that have been honed to a razor’s edge. They have won many awards over the years, including the Living Blues Critics’ and Readers’ Awards for Best Live Performer and the coveted Blues Music Award for Band Of The Year. 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.”