//February 3rd, 2012

WE WERE SO EXCITED about FOUR being #1 on the LIVING BLUES radio play charts for December we took out a nice advertisement in the BLUES BLAST to celebrate. We were pleased that Mark Thompson wrote a very generous and thoughtful review in the January 19, 2012 issue of BLUES BLAST ( http://www.thebluesblast.com/Archive/BluesBlasts/2012/BluesBlast1_19_12.htm ).
As we write this we don't know how we did in the January 2012 radio play list but we do know the album has been played on XM radio as a BB King's Bluesville "pick to click," on the syndicated Blues Deluxe program, on WYEP Pittsburgh, WXLV and WQSU and WZXR and WQLN and WCXR in Pennsylvania, WCNI and WXCI and WHUS and WECS in Connecticut, on WITR and WGMC and WVBR and WVKR and WHRW in New York, on WMWV and WPCR in New Hampshire, on WBRS and WUML in Massachusetts, on WMEB and WBOR and WRBC in Maine, on WIZN in Vermont, on WORT and WWSP (!) in Wisconsin, on WFHB and WSND and WVPE in Indiana, on WNKU and WFPK in Kentucky, on WBGU and WDPS in Ohio, on WEFT and WDCB and WGLT (!) in Illinois, on WMNC and WCMU and WEMU in Michigan, on WFOS and WTJU in Virginia, on WWCU in North Carolina, on WEVL and WXMX and WDVX in Tennessee, on WBZR and WWNT and WVVL in Alabama, on WWOZ in Louisiana, on WUCF and WMNF in Florida, on KNON and KTEP and KPFT and KMBH in Texas, on KUNM and KKIT in New Mexico, on KXCI in Arizona, on KMFB and KSCU and KFSR and KLBC and KUSP and KXGO and KHUM and KSJS and KRSH and KNCA and KWMR and KEGR and KVMR and KZSU in California, and KRFC and KRFX in Colorado, on KIWR and KWIT and KOJI and KCCK in Iowa, on KTHR in Kansas, on KZUM and KIOS in Nebraska, on KOWZ and KXRA in Minnesota, on KSPQ in Missouri, on KGOU in Oklahoma, on KRVM and KMSW in Oregon, on KAOS (!) and KKZX in Washington, on KMXT (guy from that station once flew to Anchoarage to see us-- a high compliment) in Alaska, on KTUH in Hawaii, and on blues networks in Canada, Australia, the Phillipines, Spain, and on several internet radio sites. In fact, we know this list is incomplete, and apologize for omissions, but these folks are extraordinary in keeping blues present in the U.S. and around the world, and we sincerely thank them for playing our stuff.

WE'VE GOT FIERY HOT SHOWS coming up. As this is going up we are on our way to Memphis for an afternoon show at the Rum Boogie Cafe on Beale Street and an evening show at Kudzu's Bar & Grill. We are on the bill at the Rum Boogie with the amazing Nick Moss and the wonderful Steepwater-- this is extra entertainment salted into the International Blues Challenge weekend. The Rum Boogie is just one of those spots blues band "have to say they played." At Kudzu's we are going to play with Elam McKnight, and that is like announcing you will have a hell of a lot of fun. Second week in February we go back to Big Boys in Indianapolis and Player's Pub in Bloomington, Indiana. Player's is just one of those great venues. Also in February we are part of a memorial show for the Roy Marcelin at the Iron Post in Urbana, Illinois. We are going to appear with Candy Foster and the Shades of Blue Band and with the guys from Razor Sharp, with Jim "Junior"Angel, and others. This is going to be a time machine night, where the world can get a glimpse of blues in our home town the way it was ten years ago when we started. We've got another special show at the Iron Post too-- we are celebrating Magic Sam's 75th birthday on Friday February 24th. It'll be sizzlin.

JANUARY SHOWS WERE OFF THE HOOK. The benefit for Sebastian Major turned out to be very successful. It was great that our old friend Cerbo got a chance to do some of his act there. We had a fantastic packed show at the Bourbon Barrel in Decatur, Illinois, and a really nice crowd for a football Sunday at Willow Ridge Winery in Shelbyville, Illinois. But, damn Sam, we weren't prepared for our trip to Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Babe's in Madison was great, the show for the new Lakeshore Blues Society in Manitowoc, Wisconsin was nuts, and the Benefit for Compassionate Friends at the Terrace Bay Inn near Escanaba, Michigan-- incredible. A BUS of people came down from Marquette where we had such a great time at the blues festival last summer. And, what can we say? The last set went TWO HOURS-- the people wouldn't let us stop playing. We wish you were there, but I don't know where we would have put you.

THERE IS SOME MORE EARLY RECOGNITION and a few reviews for FOUR. J.D. Hathaway, who authored the liner notes on the album, whose reviews range over roots and rock, put FOUR in his top fifteen albums of the year on the collective music blog BLINDED BY SOUND on December 30th. Doc's Juke Joint, the weekly blues program from WGMC in Rochester, New York included FOUR in his best albums of 2011 on the wonderful January 1, 2012 year end review show. Early brief reviews appeared at MIDWEST RECORD on November 25th, at American Blues Scene on November 23rd, and at the Music City Blues Society from Nashville, Tennessee in December. We are pretty sure you can find all these things on the www, if you go looking there.

WE FINALLY SAW THE WHOLE JUBILEE EPISODE we are in. Sweet. We'll remind you, that this is the wonderful roots music television program from public broadcasting in Kentucky. This series gets syndicated around the U.S.-- maybe farther. Ask your PBS provider when they are going to show it!

WE REMIND our friends in Champaign County that it is time to renew your membership in the Prairie Crossroads Blues Society, and that our friends in Macon should re-up with the Decatur Blues Society, our friends in McLean should join or rejoin the Blues Blowtorch Society, that our friends in Sangamon County need to be sure they are members of the Illinois Central Blues Club, our friends in Peoria and Tazewell counties need to get up to date with the River City Blues Society, and our pals in Kankakee County need to pester James Walker about how they can make a contribution to his amazing "Friends of the Blues."

WE HEAR a new Kilborn Alley application may soon be available for your smart phone, I Pad, and whatnot. Don't expect us to answer much about it; we tend to think technology stopped with the Fender Stratocaster.

WEFT-FM (and streaming on-line throughout planet Earth) has blues Monday through Friday from 11:30 to 2 Central Time (US). We are especially drawn to the Tuesday show, usually hosted by our pal Dave Wright, and with frequent guest fill-in, Mr. Andrew Duncanson. It is interesting, given basically a whole room of blues albums to pick from, to see what Andrew plays. Listen to WEFT, try to read the tea leaves of Andrew's inscrutable tastes.

THE FIRST WEDNESDAY of the month shows at D.R. Digger's have turned into quite the deal. We call 'em "juke" shows because-- well, have you ever seen Digger's?-- and because there is a lot of sittin' in and always some tasty pitch in eats.

HOPE YOU LOOK AROUND the site, now you are here. The Press page has been spiffed up and now takes you to a bunch of recent reviews, The Media page has downloadable photos, our album covers, song samples, and video links. We are contemplating adding even more. Jessie Gillan, librarian extraordinaire and jill of all honorable trades in Gotham City, makes this possible.

DON'T BE BASHFUL about following us on Twitter, friending us on Facebook, or on Myspace. Myspace is usually the first place we update new shows; it has remained an exceptionally good platform for a band to present itself, even though it has lagged in general use. We can't tell you what this means, but we have over 9,000 Myspace friends, over 102, 000 profile views, and over 58,000 song plays.

CHECK THE SHOWS PAGE, and just check back often to see what we're doing!

DID YOU KNOW, or maybe you knew and forgot, Kilborn Alley Blues Band has a distribution agreement with Burnside Distribution Corporation of Portland, Oregon? What this means is, when you are looking for the four Blue Bella releases, BETTER OFF NOW, TEAR CHICAGO DOWN, and PUT IT IN THE ALLEY have your local records store contact BDC about getting the cds.

. . . it is the music which changes the place from the rear room of a
saloon in back of the yards to a fairy place, a wonderland, a little
corner of the high mansions of the sky.
---Upton Sinclair, The Jungle (1906)