Right from jump street, the electrifying sound of Joe Price hits you in all the places you live: The insistent, driving rhythm chops, the taproot boot-stomps, the splintering, thrilling slide runs up the fret board, and that voice---a keening, haunting miracle seemingly channeled from the ghosts of past masters---all add up to a one-man blues tornado who can pack, command and wring-out a dance-floor with the authority of an eight-piece show band.

And while Price inhabits classic blues standards as if they were favorite shirts, his own deep and varied bag of original music is so formidable---so thoroughly imbued with life's mysteries---that noted Grammy-award nominated singer/songwriter Greg Brown has long referred to Joe as "the Buddha."

Beginning with the Rocket 88s (through 1974) and continuing with the legendary Mother Blues from '75 till '81, Joe played virtually non-stop. During that stretch, those bands worked almost nightly, crisscrossing Midwestern bars and serving as the openers of choice at high-profile shows by Muddy Waters, Koko Taylor, Clifton Chenier, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee, James Cotton and more.

Joe escaped to Lansing in northeast Iowa in 1982, where he not only had his brother's trailer for shelter, but---much more significantly---the picturesque burg happens to be near Waukon, the hometown of a pretty young blues belter named Vicki Ewing, who had captured his attention during a 1981 solo gig there.

Joe and Vicki shared the stage from their first meeting and married in 1987. They have opened for such notables as John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon, Homesick James, Honeyboy Edwards, Louisiana Red, The Reverend Al Green, Greg Brown and Iris DeMent along the way.

Iowa City native [b]Kelly Pardekooper[/b] is a singer/songwriter currently based in Madison, Wisconsin. He has toured all over the United Statesand Europe. He has showcased at SXSW in Austin. Jim Beam Whiskey gave him an emerging artist grant....blah blah blah. Album number five finished recently with Teddy Morgan engineering/producing in EastNashville garage studio...buy it at kellyp.net. Kelly Pardekooper writes songs and tries to treat people well....the golden rule rules! He began writing haiku poetry with the Wisconsin snowfall when his wife became obsessed with bad TV. He continues to try to gain her attention---.