“It’s important to preserve and spread the blues publicly because there are a lot of people who don’t know what an inspiration and balm it can be in your life – because they haven’t been exposed. There are other people who don’t know they can write, sing and, play blues to keep themselves sane and to cope with a crazy world - because they haven’t heard it. So we have to get it out there.”…

“As a band we believe the blues genre isn’t doing enough to attract a younger more diverse audience. With these new songs we kept the blues at their core, and expanded it with rock, soul, funk, and an “in your face” sound.”

Piper & The Hard Times:

Let The Good Company…

"Man, I think music can help people heal and get through the ups and downs of life, and bring people together. We’ve all seen music bring about social change and impact the world. I truly hope our music is able to touch people."

Piper & The Hard Times: Fun & Passion!

The eclectic and entertaining roots music group Piper & the Hard…

“To me, playing with soul, feeling it, is more important than technique. Naturally, you've got to have some chops in order to pull this off, but a technical performance without feeling would sound bland.”

Al Lerman: Country-Fried Blues

Veteran Canadian Bluesman Al Lerman is cooking up country-fried blues with his new album “Country-Fried…

"Roots music reminds listeners of the pleasure of hearing traditional instruments played by real musicians. Roots music gives the listener a sense of place."

Al Staehely: Somewhere in West Texas

Al Staehely's roots in the Austin music scene combined with his experience writing and collaborating with artists in Los Angeles (most notably as front…

"Any real and authentic folk-art is in fact timeless, while popular styles are conditionally in a state of permanent changing due to the spirit of times. popular music, by example became a global phenomenon and is by now the strongest influence on the development of public taste. there will be always some interest in so called exotic folk styles, but those art-forms are possibly too individual and even idiosyncratic to become a…

"The music industry is squeezing the last drops out of its old business model. It operates on a profit motive and doesn't feel obligated to promote music as music; it's content to promote it in the same way it promotes laundry detergent. It won't adapt until it sees that a grassroots movement coming from a music-starved audience can be profitable."

Al Basile: Through…

"Music has always been a social-cultural force in any society. Each generation is moved by its own contemporary sound and message. We can only give people the music that is in our hearts, and present it with the lived experience and musicianship that we’ve developed over the past 50 years. So, while music can certainly impact socio-cultural beliefs, we leave that up to the listener."

The North Star…

"Everyone in the whole planet knows that the structure of the jazz harmony is the philosophy and the use of the Modes Scales. Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, Locrian. The seven ancient Greek scales... In Greece, in our traditional folk music, we use these scales but from different perspectives. So, the spot of the connection is the same "language" but with different uses in every different genre in Greek music…

"Writers try hard to put into words what musicians express through their voices and instruments – a lot of them wish they could play, and since they can't they try to get close to the power of music with their words."

Al Basile: Words, Music & Rhy(th)ms

Al Basile grew up in a park in Haverhill, Massachusetts. He graduated from Phillips Academy…

"Now today the whole world appears to have no answer, no hope, no solutions. So, it's like we are all slaves, but are we going to give up and roll over, or will we keep singing those Blues away? I had no idea what Big Joe Turner meant when he said to us (I was 25 years old) "Don't the Blues make you feel so happy?" Now I know. It's living in spite of trouble, not looking for it nor griping."

Al…

"The blues is in fact a state of mind. Otherwise you just play music."

Al Cook: Nothing But The Blues Roots

Al Cook (born Alois Koch) grew up in Vienna, Austria. The visit of the Elvis movie Gold from a hot throat at the age of fifteen awoke in him the desire to make music. He started teaching himself guitar, piano and singing. After first…

"Good blues players have a way of squeezing life's emotions out of each note by the the way they phrase, bend, slur etc. Blues often tells of woes and adversity, but it also rejoices in feeling good. That's a state of mind."

Al Lerman: Blues With a Whole Lot of Soul

Bluesman AL LERMAN is a multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter. He was…

"I have found that of all the different music genre’s the Blues R&B and Soul music is the music that bridges the gap between all people. It is the expression of feelings in the music that brings people together."…

"Music moves people emotionally. That bypasses a lot of bullshit. But music can also be used to sell you a car or a candidate. Who knows."

Jimmy McDonough: Literary Blues

Jimmy McDonough is a biographer…

"The blues provides the most direct feelings of human despair, pleasure and happiness than any other genres."

The Knickerbocker All Stars:

Let The Good Times…

"Blues is a feeling, we all have feeling all the time whether they are bad, happy etc."

Al "Hurricane" Spears: Feel the Blues…

"I play blues because it's a constituent of life, and takes us from the back door of human love to the gate to The Wonderful World."

Al Copley: The King of  Boogie Woogie

Al Copley is a blues pianist who…

"Blues will never go away, it may fade but it will always be at the root of all music."

Connie Lush: No feeling, no blues…

"If we are lucky and careful, we can learn from all our mistakes and improve ourselves by not repeating them."

Al Kooper: Amazing Life &…