BLUES N'AT

Do you like your blues mixed with funk and soul and a little bit of rock n' roll? If so, then Billy the Kid and the Regulators are for you! The Summer of Blues kicked off this past Saturday night at the Hungarian Club in Belle Vernon, PA. Why the Hungarian Club, you ask? Because the 2013 Pittsburgh Blues Challenge winner, Billy the Kid and the Regulators played there. They will be representing the Blues Society of Western Pennsylvania at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis next year. Billy is honing his gunslinger-like guitar skills until that trip to Memphis. And hone them he did. He paid ample tribute to one of his idols, Stevie Ray Vaughan, with several SRV tunes that would make Stevie Ray smile. Speaking of Stevies, Billy also got a little funky with a  Stevie Wonder medley. They threw in some Stones, too, with Heart of Stone and one of the best versions of Can't You Hear Me Knocking this side of Keith Richards. There was also a mix of blues tunes as well as some more classic and modern rock. The greatest moments of the evening came when Billy played tunes off of his self-produced CD, She Got a Hold on Me, which placed in the top 5 for self-produced CD's at the IBC this year. Billy really got the crowd into it with his mastery of the six-string along with his showmanship. He did everything from play the guitar behind his head, to playing with his teeth, ala-Jimi Hendrix. He went into the crowd and played on top of the bar several times. Billy also gave his Regulators a chance to shine. Billy's second guitarist, Jonathan Vallecorsa, traded him lick for lick and is every bit of a great guitarist in his own right. He is the Sundance Kid to Billy's Butch Cassidy. The driving rhythms of the night were provided by Andy Taravella on drums and the funky bass of Gary Ripper. Fred Delu got several opportunities to show off his skills on the keys, too. Billy told me they're going to play both the Pittsburgh Blues Festival and the Heritage Music BluesFest in Wheeling. They are also opening for Boston later this summer. It's an exciting time for Billy the Kid and the Regulators. And it's an exciting time for you if you're lucky enough to catch these guys before they blow up and hit the big time. Don't miss out! Check them out live and get their CD, too. I hope to catch them again soon during the Summer of Blues!