Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials
Lil' Ed Williams, although small in stature, is a true giant of the blues, and among the very last authentic West Side Chicago bluesmen. From smoking slide guitar boogies to raw-boned Chicago shuffles to the deepest slow blues, Lil' Ed Williams is a master bluesman. A gifted guitarist and a remarkably gritty and soulful vocalist, Williams, along with his blistering, road-tested band, The Blues Imperials, has been tearing up clubs and festival stages all over the world for almost 25 years. Not since the heyday of Hound Dog Taylor and The HouseRockers has a Chicago blues band made such a consistently joyous, rollicking noise. Between the band's wonderfully untamed music and Ed's flying leaps, his back-bending, his toe-walking through the audience and his sliding across the stage on his knees, it's no wonder The Boston Globe called Lil' Ed and The Blues Imperials "the world's #1 houserocking band." Lil' Ed boasts a direct bloodline to blues history - his uncle and musical mentor was the great Chicago slide guitarist and recording artist J.B. Hutto.

Born in Chicago on April 4, 1955, Ed grew up surrounded by the blues. He was playing guitar, then drums and bass, by the time he was 12. Along with his half-brother Pookie, Ed received lessons and support from their famous blues-playing uncle, J.B. Hutto. "J.B. taught me everything I know," says Ed. "I wouldn't be where I am today without him." Ed and Pookie spent their teen years making music together, and in 1975 formed the first incarnation of The Blues Imperials. They played their first gig at a West Side club called Big Duke's Blue Flame, splitting the $6 take four ways. Over the next few years, the group played every club in the neighborhood, but they still needed day jobs to pay the bills. Ed worked ten hours a day as a buffer at the Red Carpet Car Wash. Pookie drove a school bus. Night after night they played their roaring brand of blues in tiny clubs, and eventually the word reached Alligator president Bruce Iglauer. The band - never having been in a recording studio before - treated the studio like a club, playing live to Iglauer, the engineer, and all the people on the other side of the glass. After recording just two songs, the Alligator staffers in the control room were on their feet begging for more. Two songs later, complete with Ed's signature toe walking and back bends, even the engineer was dancing. Iglauer offered the band a full album contract on the spot. The end result of the session was 30 songs in three hours with no overdubs and no second takes. Twelve of those songs became the band's debut album, Roughhousin', released in September of 1986.

After years on the road, the stress of touring and recording began to take its toll. Ed broke up the band and, for the first time, truly put his life together. While off the road, he recorded two albums for Earwig Records. After getting his life in order and defeating his personal demons, Lil' Ed reformed The Blues Imperials in 1998 to the great delight of blues fans everywhere. A June 6, 1999 performance at the world famous Chicago Blues Festival gave the band an opportunity to prove it, as they ripped and roared in front of 100,000 screaming blues fans. The audience jumped to their feet and danced as Ed paraded through the crowd riding on guitarist Mike Garrett's shoulders.

Lil' Ed's seriously inspired music will take you on a fast trip from your chair to your feet. Lil' Ed and The Blues Imperials will continue to shake, rattle and roll into the hearts, minds and dancing shoes of old-school blues fans everywhere.
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