The Glenn Kaiser Band, a scorching power trio that serves up hard-driving blues rock with no-nonsense lyrics, will be in town playing a free concert at the Grand Ballroom in Stillwater, MN on October 8, 2010 at 7pm.
Packing a musical punch reminiscent of Cream, Johnny Winter, ZZ Top, and Gov’t. Mule, The Glenn Kaiser Band (GKB) is: Glenn Kaiser (Vocals, Electric, Electric Lapsteel and Slide, Dobro and Acoustic Guitars, Blues Harp, Writer), Roy Montroy (Bass, Writer), and Ed Bialach (Drums). The group has recorded several cds and toured world-wide during the past 10 years.
The band's latest album, “Octane” features a, “wide range of blues from the speedy twelve-bar “Streetcorner Blues” to the more emotional slow blues of “Depends on Where You Stand” and “Stand by the Window,” an evocative missing-you song… In between come songs with a more subtle blues influence, rather like the work of Robert Cray. … He sings them with conviction, a fair bit of growling and, in “Rollercoaster,” a Hendrixy tone to his voice. Unusually with blues tracks, the lyrics are written with plenty of imagery and style, and can definitely be appreciated straight from the liner notes, even without hearing the music.
"As always, Kaiser gives you the whole works—slide, wah-wah, boogie, slow blues, twelve bar and some rifferama. This disc shows Kaiser at his vocally most engaged and giving his guitar a great workout.” (Review taken from The Phantom Tollbooth)
The essence of this band is the creative spark generated by three talented musicians who obviously enjoy play ing with and off each other. This is evident nightly, manifested in highly entertaining, spontaneous, extended jams. A Glenn Kaiser Band concert positively crackles with an energy and fire certain to warm the heart of any blues enthusiast.
Glenn Kaiser is best known from his days with Rez (Resurrection Band). He and his wife Wendi recorded and toured extensively with REZ for some 28 years.
GKB bassist Roy Montroy wrote tunes as well as played bass and keyboards for Rez for many years and now holds the low-notes down with GKB. Ed Bialach was the second of only 2 live sound engineers for Rez Band and currently plays drums in GKB.
Glenn Kaiser has been singing the blues—and sometimes soul, R&B or rock—since he was twelve years old. He fell in love with music via Presley, Beatles, and the Rolling Stones. These bands as well as early Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Clapton and others took him back to Gary Davis, Blind Willie Johnson, early Muddy Waters and a long list of blues greats. He then discovered white blues/rocker Rory Gallagher and counts Rory as key inspiration, with side-orders of Johnny Winter, Albert King and Leslie West on the electric side.
Growing up in a poor family living and hand-to-mouth in central Wisconsin, Glenn eventually gravitated to Milwaukee’s local music scene where he fronted over a dozen bands, and wrote and performed solo acoustic music-—all before turning nineteen years of age.
With his adolescence plagued by drug and alcohol abuse, Glenn got clean through following Jesus after a life-changing spiritual confrontation around his eighteenth birthday. During this time his music got heavier and in many ways, deeper. His former song writing motif celebrating drugs, sex and other vices gave way to lyrics about spiritual struggle, personal temptation, institutional sin, poverty, exploitation, racism, materialism and other issues that few musicians seemed willing to tackle.
Now, after more than three decades of making original music, Kaiser is known for his raw, bluesy vocals, fiery guitar playing, bottleneck slide and harmonica work on thirty recordings and innumerable live shows. Glenn and his family have lived in Chicago’s inner city for over thirty years doing mission work with people not unlike he once was. Kaiser has released several acoustic-based CDs between his electric blues and blues/rock albums. His seminal delta blues projects Trimmed and Burnin’ and follow-up Slow Burn (both with harp player/singer Darrell Mansfield) established him as a singular and authentic Christian bluesman.
Three contemporary worship albums, along with the folk-pop Time Will Tell, fill out the acoustic discography. Acoustic cuts also comprise half of Kaiser’s critically acclaimed Ripley County Blues project which was recorded in a log cabin lodge in rural Missouri.
Glenn’s most recent recording, the acoustic-based Bound For Glory features his unique arrangements of old hymns and spiritual choruses done mostly in the blues tradition he so loves.
Glenn continues to record solo blues and occasional worship cds (available via Grrr Records), serves on the pastoral team at JPUSA in Chicago's inner-city Uptown neighborhood, and is director of the JPUSA discipleship group Project 12. JPUSA serves many hundreds of poor families, singles, children and seniors via it's Cornerstone Community Outreach, Friendly Towers, and Brothas & Sistas United outreaches. JPUSA also hosts the annual Cornerstone Festival near Bushnell, Illinois.
Packing a musical punch reminiscent of Cream, Johnny Winter, ZZ Top, and Gov’t. Mule, The Glenn Kaiser Band (GKB) is: Glenn Kaiser (Vocals, Electric, Electric Lapsteel and Slide, Dobro and Acoustic Guitars, Blues Harp, Writer), Roy Montroy (Bass, Writer), and Ed Bialach (Drums). The group has recorded several cds and toured world-wide during the past 10 years.
Glenn Kaiser has been singing the blues—and sometimes soul, R&B or rock—since he was twelve years old. He fell in love with music via Presley, Beatles, and the Rolling Stones. These bands as well as early Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Clapton and others took him back to Gary Davis, Blind Willie Johnson, early Muddy Waters and a long list of blues greats. He then discovered white blues/rocker Rory Gallagher and counts Rory as key inspiration, with side-orders of Johnny Winter, Albert King and Leslie West on the electric side.
With his adolescence plagued by drug and alcohol abuse, Glenn got clean through following Jesus after a life-changing spiritual confrontation around his eighteenth birthday. During this time his music got heavier and in many ways, deeper. His former song writing motif celebrating drugs, sex and other vices gave way to lyrics about spiritual struggle, personal temptation, institutional sin, poverty, exploitation, racism, materialism and other issues that few musicians seemed willing to tackle.
