Bernard Allison returns to the Twin Cities for an album release show for his highly-praised new album Luther’s Blues. Bernard is the guitar-slinging, singer/songwriting son of Luther Allison, a true legend of Chicago blues history. The album is Number 1 on the Billboard Blues Album Charts.

 

Like his father, the Paris-based Allison is an energetic showman, a prolific recording artist, and a road warrior who sometimes performs 250 dates a year. His playing style incorporates vintage and modern Chicago and Texas blues, along with R&B and roots-rock. 

 

While still in grade school, he accompanied his father to blues festivals where he met Muddy Waters, Hound Dog Taylor, and Albert King. In addition to honing his skills as a young artist with his father and other legends, Bernard furthered his chops under the tutelage of Johnny Winter and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

 

A lifelong musician who soaked up blues traditions during his youth in Chicago, he later followed his dad to Europe, became the leader of the Luther Allison Band and eventually made his own way, creating exciting new sounds for a new generation.

 

Anyone who’s ever attended a Bernard Allison concert or listened to his recordings knows how much it means to him to keep his father’s musical legacy alive. “I made a promise since day one – to myself and to my mom Fannie Mae Allison – that I’d always include at least one or two of my dad’s songs on every album I record,” he says. Bernard has delivered on that promise throughout his career, performing Luther’s songs both at concerts and on record, while forging a funky and more rock-oriented style that differs from the traditional blues he grew up around. His dad supported him while he was still finding his own musical voice, openly encouraging him to “play it how you feel it” rather than copy what came before.

 

Thus, on Luther’s Blues, you’ll hear Luther’s songs reinvented for the 21st century by a member of the blues generation that followed him. They’re not necessarily Luther’s most famous tunes; when putting together any new album, says Bernard, he often goes for “songs that were overlooked on each [of my father’s albums] and then put my own twist on them.”

 

“With a devout reverence to his father’s musical genius and legacy, Bernard Allison captures the original energy and power of his father’s music, and yet adds his own distinct sound, making each song wholly new with vibrancy and passion.”   Indie Pulse Music