Guitar Shorty - Too Hard To Love You

Guitar Shorty (born David William Kearney, September 8, 1934 in Houston, Texas, United States) is an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is well known for his explosive guitar style and wild stage antics. Billboard magazine said, “his galvanizing guitar work defines modern, top-of-the-line blues-rock. His vocals remain as forceful as ever. Righteous shuffles...blistering, sinuous guitar solos.”

Shorty was born in Houston but grew up mainly in Kissimmee, Florida, where he began playing the guitar at an early age and began leading a band not long after. During his time in Tampa Bay, Florida, at age 16 he received his nickname, Guitar Shorty, when it mysteriously showed up on the marquee of the club he was playing as 'The Walter Johnson Band featuring Guitar Shorty.'

Bob Margolin - See Me In The Evening

Bob Margolin (born May 9, 1949) is an American electric blues guitarist. His nickname is "Steady Rollin'".Margolin started playing guitar in 1964, and his first appearance on record was with Boston psychedelic band The Freeborne, and their 1967 album Peak Impressions. Margolin was a backing musician for Muddy Waters from 1973 to 1980, performing with Waters and The Band in The Last Waltz. As a solo recording artist, he has recorded albums for Alligator Records, Blind Pig, Telarc and his own Steady Rollin' record label.

Paul Butterfield Blues Band - Blues with a Feeling

Paul Vaughn Butterfield (December 17, 1942 – May 4, 1987) was an American blues harmonica player and singer. After early training as a classical flautist, he developed an interest in blues harmonica. He explored the blues scene in his native Chicago, where he met Muddy Waters and other blues greats, who provided encouragement and opportunities for him to join in jam sessions. He soon began performing with fellow blues enthusiasts Nick Gravenites and Elvin Bishop.In 1963, he formed the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, which recorded several successful albums and was popular on the late-1960s concert and festival circuit, with performances at the Fillmore West, in San Francisco; the Fillmore East, in New York City; the Monterey Pop Festival; and Woodstock. The band was known for combining electric Chicago blues with a rock urgency and for their pioneering jazz fusion performances and recordings. After the breakup of the group in 1971, Butterfield continued to tour and record with the band Paul Butterfield's Better Days, with his mentor Muddy Waters, and with members of the roots-rock group the Band. While still recording and performing, Butterfield died in 1987 at age 44 of a heroin overdose.

Butterfield was born in Chicago and raised in the city's Hyde Park neighborhood. The son of a lawyer and a painter, he attended the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, a private school associated with the University of Chicago.

On May 4, 1987, at age 44, Paul Butterfield died at his apartment in the North Hollywood district of Los Angeles.

Cash Box Kings - Hot Biscuit Baby

The Cash Box Kings is an American blues band from Chicago, Illinois, United States, specializing in Chicago-style blues from the 1940s and 1950s as well as Delta blues style music from the 1920s and 1930s.The Cash Box Kings were created by singer, songwriter, and harmonica player Joe Nosek, who now heads the band, along with singer/songwriter Oscar Wilson. The band is signed with Alligator Records.The band is named with respect to Cashbox, a defunct publication that kept a music chart from the 1940s through the mid-1990s that rivaled Billboard 's.

The Cash Box Kings received three nominations for the 37th Blues Music Awards, to be held in May 2016.

Blues Guitar Summit - Alligator Alley

Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials - Hold that train

Lil' Ed Williams (born April 8, 1955, Chicago, Illinois) is an American blues slide guitarist, singer and songwriter. With his backing band, the Blues Imperials, he has built up a loyal following.In childhood, Williams and his half-brother James "Pookie" Young received encouragement and tutelage from their uncle, the blues guitarist, songwriter and recording artist J. B. Hutto, and by 1975 the half-siblings had formed the first version of the Blues Imperials.

Since 1989, the band's lineup has been Williams (lead guitar and vocals), Michael Garrett (rhythm guitar and vocals), James Young (bass) and Kelly Littleton (drums). Living Blues magazine described the band as "Rough-and-ready South and West Side blues...Ed's swirling, snarling slide guitar work can be riveting, and The Imperials pound out blues-rock riffs and rhythms behind him as if they're overdosing on boogie juice." Guitar Player called the band "a snarling boogie-blues machine."

Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials have appeared multiple times at the Chicago Blues Festival and festivals and clubs around the world. In June 2008, Williams played on Magic Slim's album Midnight Blues. In June 2009, Williams was a guest on the radio quiz show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, produced by Chicago Public Radio and National Public Radio, Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials have been nominated for eight Blues Music Awards as Band of the Year and have won that award twice.

Tommy Castro & The Painkillers - The Devil You Know

Tommy Castro (born April 15, 1955, San Jose, California, United States) is an American blues, R&B and rock guitarist and singer. He has been recording since the mid-1990s. His music has taken him from local stages to national and international touring. His popularity was marked by his winning the 2008 Blues Music Award for Entertainer of the Year. According to The Chicago Sun-Times, Castro plays "Memphis soul-drenched R&B…top-of-the-line blues."

Castro began playing guitar at the age of 10 and was influenced and inspired by electric blues, Chicago blues, West Coast blues, soul music, 1960s rock and roll and Southern rock. His style has always been a hybrid of all his favorite genres. He names Mike Bloomfield, Elvin Bishop, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Elmore James and Freddie King as guitar influences and Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett and James Brown as vocal influences.

In 2011, Castro stripped down his band to a four-piece unit called the Painkillers, including keyboards, bass and drums as well as his own guitar and vocals. 2013's The Devil You Know, was recorded with this line-up plus guest appearances by Marcia Ball, Tab Benoit, Joe Bonamassa, The Holmes Brothers and Magic Dick. The album was reviewed by Allmusic.com, saying "Castro brings fiery garage energy to everything. His guitar playing is fired up and roaring with a renewed sharpness that keeps the pot boiling. His voice is a soulful and versatile blue-collar growl.

Walter Trout Band - Finally Gotten Over You