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BLUE BELLA RECORDS
Delivering Classic Chicago Blues In A Whole New Package
Since 1998!
Blue Bella Records is doing something different: bringing back the traditional style of Chicago blues music, with an emphasis on not only keeping the classic Chicago sound alive, but making it appeal to a larger audience as well—across the country and around the world.
Founded in 1998 by Nick Moss, Blue Bella Records was an answer to dwindling opportunities from record labels to record and promote Nick’s traditional Chicago blues music sound (which he initially learned from working closely with blues artists like Jimmy Rogers, Jimmy Dawkins, and Willie “Big Eyes†Smith). After recording the first three Nick Moss & the Flip Tops albums for Blue Bella, First Offense (1998), Got a New Plan (2001) and Count Your Blessings (2003) in four different studios, Nick decided to take full control and create his own studio, Rancho de Rhythm (in Elgin, IL). He subsequently recorded and released two more Flip Tops projects, Sadie Mae in 2005 and Play It Til Tomorrow in 2007. The band’s critically-acclaimed 2006 release, Live at Chan’s, was just that: a live recording via mobile sound studio at a Woonsocket, RI blues club.
Since it’s inception, Blue Bella Records has quadrupled in size to comprise four bands and eleven recordings, including Flip Top band member Gerry Hundt (Since Way Back - 2007), harmonica ace Bill Lupkin (Where I Come From – 2006 /Hard Pill To Swallow - 2007), and the “young guns†of the genre, The Kilborn Alley Blues Band (Put It In The Alley – 2006 / Tear Chicago Down - 2007). The label’s impressive releases garnered attention right out of the box; Blue Bella Records and its artists now boast fourteen Blues Music Award nominations since the release of Moss’ second effort, Got A New Plan, in 2001.
Even though the music and bands on Blue Bella are traditional, the record label is anything but. Nick says he’s not in the business to make money off his artists, and that is why Blue Bella Records is a co-op, where all bands on the label contribute equally to recording, duplication, advertising and distribution. Nick does not actively seek any band to record with Blue Bella in order to sell CDs. Instead, he sees Blue Bella Records as a conduit for musicians he believes have the talent and passion to keep traditional blues alive on stage and on the airwaves—and a vehicle with which to record their music for the fan’s listening enjoyment. With the help of his wife Kate in marketing and promotions, Blue Bella records —celebrating it's 10 Year Anniversary in 2008 — is making noise within the blues community as people listen and remember how good blues once sounded—and in fact, sounds once again.
Nick Moss & the Flip Tops
Gerry Hundt
The Kilborn Alley Blues Band
Bill Lupkin