For the last 40 years, music fans have been able to rely on Blues Hall of Famers Lil’ Ed and the Blues Imperials for authentic Chicago blues and fun. Frontman Ed Williams learned slide guitar from his uncle, an influential blues performer, J.B. Hutto. Then when he found a box of records in the alley behind his house by the likes of Muddy Waters and Elmore James, the lightbulb really went on. Williams was discovered by Alligator Records chief Bruce Iglauer in the mid-1980s, and they have been together ever since. Alligator was recently honored at the Chicago Blues Festival for their 55th anniversary. The Blues Imperials and other label acts performed. It’s incredibly hard to keep a band together for four decades, but Williams has done it, and they are not just surviving, they’re thriving. “Ed Heads” rejoiced this spring when The Blues Imperials released Slideways, one of their strongest albums in recent memory. Helped by the single “Bad All By Myself”, it rocketed to the top of the blues album charts. The band will tour all summer and fall throughout the United States and Canada, mainly in the Midwest where their bread is buttered.
In the accompanying video interview, Lil’ Ed tells us why he wears his trademark fez, what it was like opening up for the likes of B.B. King and John Lee Hooker, the culture shock of touring arenas with George Thorogood, a near miss with Muddy Waters, singing gospel music with his family as a child, Hound Dog Taylor’s impact on the blues, his thoughts on touring and his beloved band, and much more.
