The Kingbirds began in 1981 under the name Blueass Blues band, three musicians- Ralph Broqvist, Per Hero and Peter Gustavsson - and a shared love of blues music. Twenty-six years later – the band has gone through a few changes (like a new name) but two original members are still here and above all - their love of music still remains true.
From the beginning they were a hard working trio who performed original material and clever covers all in a shake-up of Chicago style blues, rock n’ roll with a twist of Texas-boogie. Soon they became a popular band at local clubs and parties. With the addition of bass player, Morgan Jansson in 1991, the band was ready to spread their wings and focus on what they wanted to accomplish with their music – and it didn’t take long. In 1993 they played their first Blues festival – Åmål Blues Festival – which was followed by requests from all the top blues and music festivals in Norway and Sweden. They released their first full-length record Blueass: “Breakin’ Through†(1996) on the independent Soundtronix label. In 1995 Soul-legend Arthur Conley heard the Band and signed them to his Holland Label Sweat Records for their second release “Hooked on you†(1996.) The band was now fast becoming one of the hottest names on the Scandinavian Blues circuit. Blaze Records signed them and released the bands third and fourth recordings “That Rockin’ Rhythm & Blues†(1999) and “Crossing†(2001). Both under the Blueass name. These releases found their way out of Scandinavia and into the hands of European and American radio DJ’s and Music Critics. The response was enormous. They loved the music…They loved Blueass!
It’s now 2007, and the band has added a new singer and harmonica player Tor Jamt (a previous band-mate 1994-’98), who has helped breathe new life into the band.
Another big change is a new name: THE KINGBIRDS More grownup. More serious. Same great music!
USA TOUR A SUCCESS!
In January 2003, Blueass was selected to perform in July at the Waterfront Blues festival (WFBF) in Portland, Oregon. The WFBF is considered to be one of the largest outdoor blues festivals in the USA and is the main fundraiser for the Oregon Food Bank. Over 10,000 people saw the band perform at the WFBF On July 4th as well as the thousands more that attended their concerts over a 3-week Pacific Northwest USA tour which was sponsored in-part by: SAS Airlines, Susie-Que Productions, Opie-lux Amps and Drumone.com.
A new tour is in the works. Two US booking agents have committed themselves to help The KingBirds another US Tour.
The Kingbirds 'It Should Have Been Me'
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