The Blasters

Description: A night of some good ol'  rock 'n roll with The Blasters at Saint Rocke!

The Blasters: The Blasters are a rock and roll music group formed in 1979 in Downey, California, by brothers Phil Alvin (vocals and guitar) and Dave Alvin (guitar), with bass guitarist John Bazz and drummer Bill Bateman. Phil Alvin explained the origin of the band's name: "I thought Joe Turner’s backup band on Atlantic records – I had these 78s – I thought they were the Blues Blasters. That ends up it was Jimmy McCracklin. I just took the 'Blues' off and Joe finally told me, that’s Jimmy McCracklin’s name, but you tell ‘im I gave you permission to steal it." Their self-described "American Music" was a blend of blues music, rockabilly, early rock and roll, punk rock, mountain music, and rhythm and blues. They have a devoted fan base and have received largely positive critical reviews, but have earned only limited mainstream success. Critic Mark Deming wrote of them, "the Blasters displayed a wide-ranging musical diversity were a supremely tight and tasteful band with enough fire, smarts, and passion for two or three groups." *Band history* The Alvin brothers had an early interest in blues music, and attended concerts by T-Bone Walker, Big Joe Turner and others, sometimes jamming and reminiscing with the musicians. Phil Alvin remembers that his mother would take him backstage to get harmonica lessons from Sonny Terry when Phil was still a boy. Rhythm and blues saxophone legend Lee Allen joined The Blasters for two albums and toured with the original line-up until his death in 1994. Steve Berlin (later of Los Lobos) joined, playing baritone sax, and Gene Taylor joined as well, performing boogie woogie-style piano. Source. Description above from the Wikipedia article The Blasters, licensed under CC-BY-SA full list of contributors here. Community Pages are not affiliated with, or endorsed by, anyone associated with the topic.