Kilborn Alley Blues Band

"The [Kilborn] Alley Blues band was great...The feeling was very 'big city' blues."
Connie Seastedt, review of 2004 Blues By the River Festival,
Pekin Daily Times , 28 June 2004, page A12

...Kilborn Alley has created a unique spin on classic Chicago-style blues and used it to bring a sense of excitement and enthusiasm to a type of music not usually supported by [college students] in the region. Citing influences such as... B.B. King, Junior Wells and Buddy Guy, they have carved out a niche in an area traditionally reserved for indie rock.

Andy Simnick, "Blues from the alley: Kilborn Alley offers up quality blues and fan participation," The Buzz, July 17-23, 2003

Kilborn Alley, the opening act, proved to be a real treat. They are a young group of Champaign-Urbana natives led by vocalist and lead guitarist Andrew Duncanson. Personally, I enjoyed their set as much as the headliner [T. Model Ford]. It's a personal taste thing for me--I like authentic Chicago blues more than North Mississippi hills music.

Chicago bluesman Nick Moss has played with Kilborn Alley, and like me, was impressed with their dedication to the real thing. Songs like Muddy Waters' "40 Days and 40 Nights," BB King's "Sweet Little Angel" and Big Bill Broonzy's "Key to the Highway" were done with both enthusiasm and integrity.

The real attention grabber was the vocals of Andrew Duncanson; the boy is a natural at singing blues!

Giving the band a fuller Chicago sound was Joe Asselin on harmonica. He wailed like a seasoned veteran on "I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water." Asselin and Duncanson on guitar traded leads and comped for each other with ease.

James Walker, "Bad Man great, C-U band on a par," Kankakee Sunday Journal ,22 December 2002

"The blues vocals bleed from Kilborn's Andrew Duncanson, allaying any questions of authenticity. The quintet appeals to cross-generational audience[s] and makes their steady rhythm stampede look easy."

Josh Kessler, The Hub , 15-22 • December 2005, p. 16

"Kilborn Alley . . . is the sort of blues band that makes rockers look bad."

Buzz Weekly , 17-23 • March 2005, p. 11

The trade-off between Asselin's harmonicas (blown into a green bullet microphone, through a Fender Champ amplifier), and Andrew's voice, raise the band's performance to stellar heights. The intonation of each complements and emulates the other, almost like a pair of muted horns trading and echoing each other.

Duncanson keeps the focus of the audience by serving up the songs....."I tend to get into a Junior Wells mode, sing like him quite a bit...." Well, he does sound like Junior Wells and that is all right because Asselin fills out the harp end of that signature. And Duncanson's guitar playing is surprisingly fast and flashy.

When he's not trading wonks with the harmonica, hot guitar licks go back and forth from his Strat' ... and Stimmel's Fernandez guitar ...They merge and mingle the elelctric strings as they thread their way into the riffs.

Jeff McCord, "Authentic-sounding bluesmen aren't 'way past 21,'"

Kankakee Sunday Journal , 28 March 2004, p. C18

"Walk into The Canopy on any given Sunday night and it's an all-out raging party."
Seth Bryant Fein, "The kids are alright," The Octopus , 1-7 January 2002, p. 19

"Kilborn Alley have quickly established a reputation for their dedicated blues renditions and passionate play. . . . Drawing inspiration from the West Chicago style of "dirty blues,' Kilborn Alley add a little soul to their powerful interpretations." Scene 'Zine , December-January 2002-2003