Steady Rollin' Bob Margolinis a Blues guitar player and vocalist, carrying on the deep Chicago Blues style and creating his original music today. From 1973-1980, Bob played guitar in the Chicago Blues legend band, Muddy Waters, touring worldwide, recording, and learning to play Muddy's powerful music directly from him. In 1980, Bob started his own band, and he's still on the road and recording. The Bob Margolin All-Star Band," was nominated for "Blues Band of The Year" in '04. Bob is a senior writer for Blues Revue magazine, and a regular contributor to BluesWax online magazine.
Bob Stroger was born in Missouri in a small town and moved to Chicago in 1955. “I lived in the back of a night club on the West Side of Chicago, where Howling Wolf and Muddy Waters played. It looked like they were having a lot of fun and I made up my mind thats what I wanted to do. I taught myself to play and played in several bands. I wanted to travel and see the world and I found out you can make money doing this. Eventually I met Otis Rush and he liked the way I played and said to come and work with him. The rest is history. I have been full time touring for over 39 years and I am still having fun."
Willie "Big Eyes" Smith's traditional shuffle style has been regarded as the heart and soul of the Chicago blues sound. At the age of 17 he was hooked on the blues and built a following in Chicago and played with all the greats including Bo Diddley, Arthur "Big Boy" Spires and Johnny Shines. He joined Muddy Waters band till 1980 and appears on all of Muddy's Grammy-winning albums. Later, Smith established his own niche within the tradition of the Delta Blues Sound. He recorded four critically acclaimed albums and toured with Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton. He also appeared in the movie The Blues Brothers where they played street musicians backing John Lee Hooker. “Willie Smith reaches deep and delivers a virtual lesson on what the blues really are all about...there's something extraordinary here.” ~ John Taylor/Blues on Stage. Willie "Big Eyes" Smith received a Grammy in 2010 for Best Traditional Blues CD.
