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BRANCH, BILLY
William Earl Branch (born October 3, 1951). American blues harmonica player of Chicago blues, Three-time Grammy nominee. Emmy Award winner. "Blues in Schools Program" founder. Four time BMA winner. Ten times nominated. Founder and leader of essentials The Sons Of Blues. Twelve own abums. More than 250 albums as a sidemen.
B L U E S M A N
REFERENCIAL
BILLY BRACH
and THE SONS OF BLUES
BILLY BRANCH
& THE SONS OF BLUES
"THE BLUES IS MY BIOGRAPHY"
ROSA'S LOUNGE RECORDS
RELEASE DATE: NOVEMBER 7, 2025
(USA)
MUSICIANS: BILLY BRANCH - HARMONICA, VOCALS GILES COREY - GUITAR SUMITO “ARIYO” ARIYOSHI - KEYBOARDS MARVIN LITTLE - BASS ANDREW “BLAZE” THOMAS - DRUMS + BOBBY RUSH - HARMONICA, VOCALS (TRACK 1) SHEMEKIA COPELAND - VOCALS (TRACK 3) RONNIE BAKER BROOKS - GUITAR (TRACK 3)
Listen to samples - Billy Branch & The Sons Of Blues - The Blues Is My Biography
TRACKLIST: 01 HOLE IN YOUR SOUL 03:46 02 CALL YOUR BLUFF 04:13 03 BEGGING FOR CHANGE 03:45 04 DEAD END STREET 04:47 05 THE BLUES IS MY BIOGRAPHY 04:23 06 THE HARMONICA MAN 05:47 07 REAL GOOD FRIENDS 03:42 08 HOW YOU LIVE? 05:32 09 THE BALLAD OF THE MILLION MEN 04:00 10 TOXIC LOVE 04:51 11 RETURN OF THE ROACHES 04:07
IN THE SAME TRADITION AS THE HARMONICA CHICAGO SHUFFLE ICONOS OF JUNIOR WELLS, CAREY BELL, OR JAMES COTTON, TO NAME JUST THREE, BILLY BRANCH STANDS AS THE SOLE PREACHER OF THE GENUINE SOUND OF MODERN BLUES. A LIVING LEGEND.
WITH LURRIE BELL (THE SON OF CAREY BELL) ON GUITAR AND FREDDIE DIXON (THE SON OF WILLIE DIXON) ON BASS, BRANCH FORMED IN 1977 THE SONS OF BLUES. WITH SEVERAL LINEUP CHANGES OVER THE YEARS, HE CONTINUES TO PLAY WITH THEM TODAY.
IN 1978, THE S.O.B.'S APPEARED FOR THE FIRST TIME ON THE THIRD VOLUME OF THE "LIVING CHICAGO BLUES" SERIES FROM THE ALLIGATOR RECORDS LABEL.
AS A TEACHER AND SPEAKER,BRANCH BEGAN A SCHOOL PROGRAM IN 1978 TO INSTRUCT STUDENTS IN MUSICAL TECHNIQUES AND THE ORIGINS OF BLUES MUSIC, TAKING HIS WORK TO HUNDREDS OF CLASSES NATIONWIDE. HE CONTINUES THIS WORK TODAY.
BB & S.O.B.'s PREVIOUS RECORDINGS
HISTORIC ALBUM
MUST LISTENING ALBUM
HARP ATTACK !
James Cotton, Junior Wells, Carey Bell, Billy Branch
Alligator Records 1990
SUPERHARPS
James Cotton, Charlie Musselwhite, Sugar Ray Norcia, Billy Branch
Telarc Records 1999
"THE BLUES IS MY BIOGRAPHY" IS THE FIRST ALBUM RELEASED BY THE BRAND NEW CHICAGO LABEL ROSA'S LOUNGE RECORDS.
IN THE EARLY-SEVENTIES, BRANCH REPLACED CAREY BELL IN WILLIE DIXON'S CHICAGO BLUES ALL-STARS.
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