âI remember the first time I heard Popa Chubby on the radio in the 1990s in St. Louis on KSHE-95; it blew me away,!â said Gulf Coast main man Mike Zito in making the announcement. âI am so excited to be working with my hero, Popa Chubby. This record will knock your frigging socks off!!â
âIâve been a fan of Mike Zito for a decade or more,â said Popa Chubby.â I watched him grow Gulf Coast from scratch and it impressed me a lot. When I recorded this double-live record I contacted Mike about aligning our energies. The result can only be spectacular.â
The new album was recorded at G Blueyâs Juke Joint in Long Island City, New York, on October 24 and 25, 2022, and features Popa Chubby (guitar and vocals), backed by his all-star âBeast Band,â which consists of Mike Merritt - bass (Conan OâBrien, Billy Gibbons); Mike Dimeo - keyboards (Johnny Winter, Tommy James); and Stefano Giudici - drums.
âThis record is a reunion in a lot of ways,â stated Popa Chubby. âRejoining with my long-time ally and bassist extraordinaire Mike Merritt and recording in my old Mannyâs Car Wash engineer Glen Forrestâs studio. The icing on the cake was Mike Dimeo on keys. Add the Centurion Stefano Giudici on drums and youâve got some heavy blues rock! A live best of for the ages!â
Born Ted Horowitz, Popa Chubby is a long-time, New York City veteran blues rocker, who also produced and mixed his upcoming new album. Heâs been hard-rocking the blues in his fierce and soulful way for more than 35 years. Over the course of his career, he has been a force to be reckoned with on the guitar, and his tempestuous, soulful playing has never been more powerful. An imposing figure with a shaven head, tattooed arms, a goatee and a performance style he describes as âthe Stooges meets Buddy Guy, MotĂśrhead meets Muddy Waters and Jimi Hendrix meets Robert Johnson,â Popa Chubby is an endearing character who has become one of the genreâs most popular figures.
His career has always been about moving forward and carving a place for himself in the imposing terrain of the music business, overcoming odds to continue growing and maturing as a creative force. He has built a constantly increasing base of fans across the world, where in many territories he is a star. A native New Yorker, his first gigs were in the NYC punk scene as a guitarist for what he reflects was a "crazy Japanese special effects performance artist in a kimono called âScreaming Mad George,â who had a horror-movie inspired show.â Right from the start, he was immersed in rock ânâ roll as theater, and learned from George and others playing CBGBâs at the time that included the Ramones, the Cramps, Richard Hell, whose band -the Voidoids - he joined, that rock ânâ roll should be dangerous. He reflects, "Musicians like the Ramones and the Sex Pistols werenât just bands. They were a threat to society."
The blues, however, was the foundation of his playing style. He recalls, "Since Iâd grown up on Hendrix, Cream and Led Zeppelin, when I started playing blues in New York clubs I understood that the blues should be dangerous, too. It wasnât just from playing in punk bands. Howlinâ Wolf and Muddy Waters were dangerous men. Theyâd cut or shoot you if they thought it was necessary, and Little Walter packed a gun and wouldnât hesitate to use it. That danger is a real part of the blues and I keep it alive in my music.â
Popa Chubby is his own man. "Iâm living in a wild time, and that is where the inspiration is drawn from. There are my issues, but the picture is much bigger than me and my situation. Everything is breaking down in the world. The lines are being redefined. We all need something.â
International booking: www.intrepidartists.com
Popa Chubby Social Media:
Website: https://www.popachubby.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/popachubbyband
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/popachubby1960/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Popachubb
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@popachubby3126
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