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ILLUSTRATED SOUL BLUES
CHRIS O'LEARY
"BLUE COLLAR"
ALLIGATOR RECORDS ALCD-5032
RELEASE DATE : JULY 10, 2026
(USA)
MUSICIANS: CHRIS O'LEARY - VOCALS, HARMONICA PAT O'SHEA - GUITAR (TRACKS 1,3,6,8,9,10,11) SHIELA KLINEFELTE - BASS (TRACKS 3,4,9,11), VOCALS (TRACKS 6,9,11) CHUCK COTTON DRUMS (TRACKS 1,3,4,6,8,9,10,11),VOCALS (TRACKS 6,9,11)
WAYNE TOUPS - ACCORDION (TRACK 9) ANDY HUENERBERG - BASS (TRACK 2) MIKE LAW - BASS (TRACK 5) RODRIGO MANTOVANI - BASS (TRACKS 1,6,7,8,10) MIKE BRAM - DRUMS (TRACKS 5,7) DAN VITARELLO - DRUMS (TRACK 2),VOCALS (TRACKS 4,8) GREG GUMPEL - GUITAR (TRACKS 2,7,8,9,11) BOB MARGOLIN - GUITAR (TRACK 5) CHRIS VITARELLO - GUITAR (TRACKS 5,7),VOCALS (TRACKS 4,8) LIL' ED WILLIAMS - GUITAR (TRACK 4) BRONSON HOOVER - KEYBOARDS (TRACKS 1,3,4,6,8,9,10,11) JESSE O'BRIEN - PIANO (TRACKS 2,5,7) SHANE KIRSCH - SAX (TRACK 3) CHRIS DIFRANCESCO - SAX (TRACKS 6,10) ANDY STAHL - SAX (TRACKS 3,8) RON KNITTLE - SAX (TRACKS 3,8) LUKE KIRLEY - TUBA, TROMBONE (TRACK 8) LIBBY CABELLO - VOCALS (TRACK 2)
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TRACKLIST: 01 BAD DECISIONS 04:21 02 LADY LUCK 03:32 03 AM I THE ONLY FOOL? 03:44 04 ONE MORE CUP OF COFFEE 03:35 05 NOTHING BUT A MEMORY 05:08 06 JUSTICE MUST BE BLIND 03:43 07 AFTER 2 A.M. 04:43 08 ONE WAY STREET 05:04 09 LIVE BABY GATORS 04:45 10 HOW'D I EVER GET ALONG? 05:01 11 DADDY WAS A WOLFMAN 03:51
FULL DISCOGRAPHY
If we could play with the past, I can easily imagine Chris O'Leary, born in 1968, as the lead singer of The Band, sharing the stage and making history alongside them all. Why not? For six years, he led Levon Helm's band, touring across the United States and bringing strength and vitality to the drummer and singer's final years. O'Leary is an exceptional vocalist and an exquisite harmonica player who has perfectly captured the magic of James Cotton. His seven albums released to date are absolutely essential listening for anyone interested in contemporary soul-blues. Along with John Németh, he stands as one of the genre's deepest and most innovative artists of the past two decades. "Blue Collar", his second album for Alligator Records, is in a class of its own within actual soul music. Maybe a masterpiece.
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