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Blues Singer and Harp man, "Roadside" Louie, plays a traditional kind of blues that meets in the crossroads of the Delta, in the juke joints of Chicago's South Side and in the West Coast jump blues dance halls of California. Roadside Louie and the Dusters consists of: Roadside Louie (vocals, harmonica); Eugene Chrysler (bass, vocals); Mike D'Agati (guitar, backup vocals); TJ Walker (piano, vocals); and Lester Veith (drums, vocals). Additionally, he is occasionally accompanied by a horn section. Playing original songs,
Roadside Louie also performs covers of songs by Little Walter, Howling
Wolf, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, & many others. Roadside Louie first became aware of real blues when older neighborhood friends started listening to Chicago Blues. At around the age of 14, he tried to emulate his friends on the harmonica. Hitting the road at age 16 was a turning point for Louie. Together with friend and guitarist, Bobby Pauling, he hitchhiked the country (thus the name Roadside) & played on street corners for tips and pocket change in cities along the way. After returning home for a brief spell , he was back on the road, soon coming together with another musician as they journeyed towards California, and later to Arizona and Virginia, Roadside wound up in Houston, Texas. Those days introduced him to many musicians that used to hang out at the bars and play in the streets of the Third Ward of Houston. These were just like the musicians of earlier years that he had heard on college radio stations as a kid. Roadside returned home to New Jersey at age 25 and started playing with old friends. Within three years, he formed his first professional group, a blues-rock band. Quickly dissatisfied with the band's rock directions because he wanted to play the blues, Roadside formed the original lineup of Roadside Louie & the Dusters featuring himself, guitarist Brian Dougherty, bassist Frank Beeson, and drummer Turkey Dave. The group began evolving and touring the East coast extensively. Building in popularity, they became the house band at the Stanhope House, playing with the likes of James Cotton and other Chicago luminaries. |
`Roadside Louie
Stanhope House records featured the band backing up legendary blues guitarist Homesick James live in 1994. Homesick was second cousin to famed slide guitarist, Elmore James and claims to have written "The Sky is Crying." Another club where the group became a regular is the Great Notch Inn. in Little Falls. A Silk City Recording, "Standing Room Only" , in March of 2000, captured songs by Roadside Louie and the Dusters including Roadside's own, "Sheriff's Daughter." One of those songs, "I've Been Abused", rewarded him with a number one spot on the Australian charts. "All my own songs are based in personal experiences," says Roadside. "The first songs I wrote, I don't have anymore. I lost them in a fire in Texas. "Sheriff's Daughter" is one of the earliest songs I wrote that I still play. "The main thing for me in the lyrics is to create blues imagery. For me one of the best examples is Robert Johnson. When he sings, you can see what he's singing about. I like to have that quality in my songs"
Edited from an interview between Roadside Louie & Robert Hicks as appeared in the Daily Record, June 8, 2001.
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