Preacher Boy & Big Bones first recorded together in 1996, for Preacher Boy’s sophomore release on Blind Pig Records, Gutters & Pews:
"With some of the most innovative roots music on the scene today, Preacher Boy will make a believer out of even the most skeptical with Gutters and Pews. The album creates dusky lyrical landscapes littered with hobos, ghosts, drunks, loneliness, love, and salvation. The result is a totally unique twist on roots music." –Blues Access
But the story begins a decade earlier, when a young kid not yet old enough to drink in a bar began following a blues harmonica player up and down Telegraph Avenue, listening to every note, hanging on every word. Eventually he would ask the virtuoso bluesman if he could sit in. “You ain’t gon’ slow me down, are ya?” He did slow him down, but he also learned, and after weeks of grueling apprenticeship, it was safe to say a partnership of sorts had begun. The young lad – Christopher Watkins – would eventually make a name for himself as Preacher Boy. The harmonica player –already very well known to Bay Area Blues aficionados—was Big Bones.
They logged a lot of miles together in those Blind Pig years; sometimes with a band, sometimes as a duo, and while they traveled extensively, they never failed to return to their favorite stage at Biscuits & Blues. And from Sonny Boy Williamson’s club in Helena, Arkansas, to Buddy Guy’s in Chicago, to just about every square foot of every stage up and down the West Coast, they traveled hard, played hard, and built a sound unlike any other.
"Using good ol' down-home blues as the scaffolding for this post-modern exercise in music-making, Preacher Boy delivers an eclectic batch of original tunes on this impressive release."
–Living Blues
"Preacher Boy is somewhat like Keb’ Mo’ in his jazzing up of Delta blues styles, but with a more contemporary sound akin to Kelly Joe Phelps or Chris Whitley. The best cuts highlight his wonderful work on National Steel."
–Rolling Stone
“Country blues that marry Nick Cave, Robert Johnson, Woody Guthrie and Tom Waits, honeymoon in the barroom with accordions and banjos and line the wedding bed with sheets of mutant folk, deviant campfire country and beatnik jazz.”
–Melody Maker
The duo parted ways at the close of the 90s, but a bond like theirs proved too strong to break. And now, finally, some 25 years after they first met, Preacher Boy & Big Bones are reuniting on the very stage where they perfected their musical connection: Biscuits & Blues.
show less
"With some of the most innovative roots music on the scene today, Preacher Boy will make a believer out of even the most skeptical with Gutters and Pews. The album creates dusky lyrical landscapes littered with hobos, ghosts, drunks, loneliness, love, and salvation. The result is a totally unique twist on roots music." –Blues Access
But the story begins a decade earlier, when a young kid not yet old enough to drink in a bar began following a blues harmonica player up and down Telegraph Avenue, listening to every note, hanging on every word. Eventually he would ask the virtuoso bluesman if he could sit in. “You ain’t gon’ slow me down, are ya?” He did slow him down, but he also learned, and after weeks of grueling apprenticeship, it was safe to say a partnership of sorts had begun. The young lad – Christopher Watkins – would eventually make a name for himself as Preacher Boy. The harmonica player –already very well known to Bay Area Blues aficionados—was Big Bones.
They logged a lot of miles together in those Blind Pig years; sometimes with a band, sometimes as a duo, and while they traveled extensively, they never failed to return to their favorite stage at Biscuits & Blues. And from Sonny Boy Williamson’s club in Helena, Arkansas, to Buddy Guy’s in Chicago, to just about every square foot of every stage up and down the West Coast, they traveled hard, played hard, and built a sound unlike any other.
"Using good ol' down-home blues as the scaffolding for this post-modern exercise in music-making, Preacher Boy delivers an eclectic batch of original tunes on this impressive release."
–Living Blues
"Preacher Boy is somewhat like Keb’ Mo’ in his jazzing up of Delta blues styles, but with a more contemporary sound akin to Kelly Joe Phelps or Chris Whitley. The best cuts highlight his wonderful work on National Steel."
–Rolling Stone
“Country blues that marry Nick Cave, Robert Johnson, Woody Guthrie and Tom Waits, honeymoon in the barroom with accordions and banjos and line the wedding bed with sheets of mutant folk, deviant campfire country and beatnik jazz.”
–Melody Maker
The duo parted ways at the close of the 90s, but a bond like theirs proved too strong to break. And now, finally, some 25 years after they first met, Preacher Boy & Big Bones are reuniting on the very stage where they perfected their musical connection: Biscuits & Blues.
Preacher Boy & Big Bones first recorded together in 1996, for Preacher Boy’s sophomore release on Blind Pig Records, Gutters & Pews:
"With some of the most innovative roots music on the scene today, Preacher Boy will make a believer out of even the most skeptical with Gutters and Pews. The album creates dusky lyrical landscapes littered with hobos, ghosts, drunks, loneliness, love, and salvation. The result is a totally unique twist on roots music." –Blues Access
But the story begins a decade earlier, when a young kid not yet old enough to drink in a bar began following a blues harmonica player up and down Telegraph Avenue, listening to every note, hanging on every word. Eventually he would ask the virtuoso bluesman if he could sit in. “You ain’t gon’ slow me down, are ya?” He did slow him down, but he also learned, and after weeks of grueling apprenticeship, it was safe to say a partnership of sorts had begun. The young lad – Christopher Watkins – would eventually make a name for himself as Preacher Boy. The harmonica player –already very well known to Bay Area Blues aficionados—was Big Bones.
They logged a lot of miles together in those Blind Pig years; sometimes with a band, sometimes as a duo, and while they traveled extensively, they never failed to return to their favorite stage at Biscuits & Blues. And from Sonny Boy Williamson’s club in Helena, Arkansas, to Buddy Guy’s in Chicago, to just about every square foot of every stage up and down the West Coast, they traveled hard, played hard, and built a sound unlike any other.
"Using good ol' down-home blues as the scaffolding for this post-modern exercise in music-making, Preacher Boy delivers an eclectic batch of original tunes on this impressive release."
–Living Blues
"Preacher Boy is somewhat like Keb’ Mo’ in his jazzing up of Delta blues styles, but with a more contemporary sound akin to Kelly Joe Phelps or Chris Whitley. The best cuts highlight his wonderful work on National Steel."
–Rolling Stone
“Country blues that marry Nick Cave, Robert Johnson, Woody Guthrie and Tom Waits, honeymoon in the barroom with accordions and banjos and line the wedding bed with sheets of mutant folk, deviant campfire country and beatnik jazz.”
–Melody Maker
The duo parted ways at the close of the 90s, but a bond like theirs proved too strong to break. And now, finally, some 25 years after they first met, Preacher Boy & Big Bones are reuniting on the very stage where they perfected their musical connection: Biscuits & Blues.
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"With some of the most innovative roots music on the scene today, Preacher Boy will make a believer out of even the most skeptical with Gutters and Pews. The album creates dusky lyrical landscapes littered with hobos, ghosts, drunks, loneliness, love, and salvation. The result is a totally unique twist on roots music." –Blues Access
But the story begins a decade earlier, when a young kid not yet old enough to drink in a bar began following a blues harmonica player up and down Telegraph Avenue, listening to every note, hanging on every word. Eventually he would ask the virtuoso bluesman if he could sit in. “You ain’t gon’ slow me down, are ya?” He did slow him down, but he also learned, and after weeks of grueling apprenticeship, it was safe to say a partnership of sorts had begun. The young lad – Christopher Watkins – would eventually make a name for himself as Preacher Boy. The harmonica player –already very well known to Bay Area Blues aficionados—was Big Bones.
They logged a lot of miles together in those Blind Pig years; sometimes with a band, sometimes as a duo, and while they traveled extensively, they never failed to return to their favorite stage at Biscuits & Blues. And from Sonny Boy Williamson’s club in Helena, Arkansas, to Buddy Guy’s in Chicago, to just about every square foot of every stage up and down the West Coast, they traveled hard, played hard, and built a sound unlike any other.
"Using good ol' down-home blues as the scaffolding for this post-modern exercise in music-making, Preacher Boy delivers an eclectic batch of original tunes on this impressive release."
–Living Blues
"Preacher Boy is somewhat like Keb’ Mo’ in his jazzing up of Delta blues styles, but with a more contemporary sound akin to Kelly Joe Phelps or Chris Whitley. The best cuts highlight his wonderful work on National Steel."
–Rolling Stone
“Country blues that marry Nick Cave, Robert Johnson, Woody Guthrie and Tom Waits, honeymoon in the barroom with accordions and banjos and line the wedding bed with sheets of mutant folk, deviant campfire country and beatnik jazz.”
–Melody Maker
The duo parted ways at the close of the 90s, but a bond like theirs proved too strong to break. And now, finally, some 25 years after they first met, Preacher Boy & Big Bones are reuniting on the very stage where they perfected their musical connection: Biscuits & Blues.
show less
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401 Mason Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
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