21 ^st Century Trouble

The true greats of blues music generated enormous excitement and awe in their audiences. They did so with flamboyant showmanship; with aloof, tough delivery; with elegance and charisma; with passionate virtuosity; with all sorts of styles, but always with original talent and awesome presence.

Whiteboy Slim, (Maurice Richard Libby), carries the blues tradition. His raw, authoritative delivery is obviously born of his respect for the music. He bows to the sounds that have traditionally portrayed American troubles, laying them under today's influences to create genuinely modern music.

Slim says it best himself: "I stay true to the spirit of the music, walking the tightrope between the spiritual and the profane. I play old tunes by Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf - all the greats - and unusual stuff like some Fats Waller. I do a lot of original tunes as well: twelve bar blues with lyrics that speak to contemporary experience. I'm sure not going to try to write like a sharecropper from Mississippi."

The debut CD, Homemade, has won many plaudits. It is one of the most extraordinary independent releases you'll ever hear, not least because Whiteboy Slim runs the gamut of his instrumental talent, playing guitar, slide guitar, bass and harmonica behind his infectious vocals. Several tracks from the album have received international airplay, including the wonderful Slow Down Baby, on which Slim growls alongside a sumptuous slide guitar and harmonica interplay. Don't miss the live version, supported by Whiteboy Slim's Ad Hoc Blues Posse!