STONEY CURTIS BAND

STONEY CURTIS BAND new record titled "Raw & Real" was released October 23, 2007 with 13 brand new tracks. On Shrapnel/Blues Bureau International and Provogue Records....
Here's the ALL MUSIC GUIDE REVIEW..
Sometimes, promising debut albums are followed by disappointing second albums -- a problem that is known in the music world as the "sophomore slump" or "sophomore curse." But other times, artists who show promise on a debut album take it to the next level creatively on their second album, which is exactly what Stoney Curtis accomplishes on Raw and Real. In 2005, the Los Angeles-based blues-rocker (originally from Chicago) showed a lot of promise on his first album, Acid Blues Experience. But his excellent follow-up, Raw and Real, is an even stronger album from Curtis, whose long list of influences ranges from Jimi Hendrix, George Thorogood & the Destroyers, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, and Robin Trower to electric Chicago blues icons such as Buddy Guy, Howlin' Wolf, and Muddy Waters -- and there are even traces of David Lee Roth in some of Curtis' vocals, which isn't really surprising when you consider that Van Halen had blues influences and included an arrangement of John Brim's "Ice Cream Man" on their first album. Although blues-oriented, Raw and Real is not the work of a blues purist; anyone who expects everything on this 71-minute CD to adhere to a traditional 12-bars blues structure will be disappointed. But one needn't be a rigid blues purist to be consistently blues-minded, and Curtis' passion for '60s and '70s hard rock as well as soul and funk doesn't decrease the amount of blues feeling that he brings to ballsy, hard-rocking selections like "Black Rose," "Girlfriend," "American Lady," and "That's Right" -- not at all. Curtis, who wrote or co-wrote all of the material, employs a wealth of blues feeling and blues imagery on Raw and Real, which is a consistently engaging sophomore disc from the Windy City native. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide... ESSENTIAL ALBUM PICK****
The buzz is growing steadily on The Stoney Curtis Band as Shrapnel Records prepares to release the debut album from the veteran blues artist on July 19, 2005. This is one of those rare times when you can almost judge a record by its cover. From the title “Acid Blues Experience” to the front cover depicting Stoney Curtis caught live in the moment in front of a stack of amps, the listeners know to expect something special.
The Stoney Curtis Band has been working the clubs between Los Angeles and Las Vegas for years honing their own brand of psychedelic blues rock, readying their show for the road ahead. Heavily steeped in 60’s/70’s psychedelia, the Stoney Curtis Band has translated the energy of their phenomenal live show into the grooves of “Acid Blues Experience.”
In the tradition of classic blues-rock power-trios such as the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, and Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, the Stoney Curtis band are centered around their lead singer/lead guitarist Stoney Curtis who is, without a doubt, one of the most impressive Strat players on the circuit today. “I was going for the power of Zeppelin, the psycadelia of Cream and the Experience, the flow of Robin Trower Band,” explains Curtis. “We combined it all together with band-mates Charlie (drummer) and Colby (bass) to make it all Stoney Curtis Band.”
It is no wonder why rows and rows of Harley’s line up in Vegas, Los Angeles or wherever this band plays to see this aggressive trio whip the crowd into a frenzy with their own brand of psychedelic blues rock, fueled by Stoney’s non-stop guitar pyrotechnics. Stoney describes where it all began - “It's totally my roots of Chicago. It's my Chicago sound - Hard Rock and Blues. I grew up on the South Side of Chicago before moving to Los Angeles. My friends & I grew up listening to Hard Rock, like UFO, Scorpions, KISS, Sabbath, Deep Purple, etc. as well as the Blues Rock like Robin Trower, Hendrix, Zeppelin and Clapton. The list is endless. But, it was when I saw BB King at Chicago Fest many moons ago that I totally fell in love with the blues. We became engulfed in it. I listened to "Ole Uncle Bill on some pirate station playing all sorts of deep blues. He always said "Sweet as Sugar, Smooth as Silk" I loved that. Then Stevie Ray became huge and everyone started listening to more blues. Seeing Son Seals when I was a wee teenager down at Blue Chicago off of Rush Street, showed me the power of a bluesman in a small club. He was electrifying... My music is soup in a crock pot of all these memories and sounds.”
Publicity by Nancy Sayle VQPR www.vqpr.com
Produced by Mike Varney, Shrapnel Records/Blues Bureau International
www.shrapnelrecords.com
www.provoguerecords.com
Email:: [email protected]