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Frank Bang & The Cook County Kings
The Blues Don't Care
Blue Hoss Records
By Natalie Carter
"The Blues Don't Care" has everything a Chicago blues fan could want in a record. Frank Bang was born and raised in the Windy City and his resume confirms his passion for his craft. Before Buddy Guy took him into his touring band in 1999, Bang worked at Legends, doing everything from merchandising and maintenance to cooking breakfast at the club for the annual Blues Fest weekend brunch.
He toured with Buddy and B.B. King for five summers, traveling the world and gaining experience and inspiration from his idols. His first band was a blues-rock group, Frank Bang and the Secret Stash. They played here at Stevie Ray's a few times several years ago and recorded four CDs from about 2006-2013.
According to Bang, "The Blues Don't Care" is his first true blues album. I'll leave that distinction to someone more discerning than I am…I just know it's a rock solid effort and I give it two thumbs up.
The title track is upbeat and you can see right away what you're in for. The band is classic Chicago and includes drummer Brian 'BJ' Jones (Junior Wells, James Cotton, Otis Rush, Magic Slim & the Teardrops), Andre Howard on bass (Magic Slim, Lonnie Brooks, Lucky Peterson), and Donnie Nichilo on piano (Buddy Guy & Junior Wells, The Mighty Blue Kings). Outstanding harp work by journeyman Russ Green, who learned his chops touring with Lurrie Bell and John Primer, provides the finishing touches for an authentic Chicago sound.
Notable tracks include (#1) "The Blues Don't Care" and (#8) "Repo Man", as well as fresh covers of a couple of classics, Albert Collins' "The Dream" and Amos Blakemore/Junior Wells' "Come in This House".
Hopefully you were fortunate enough to have caught Frank playing guitar with Mark Telesca at Garvin Gate last October.
Frank Bang and the Cook County Kings will be playing at this year's Louisville Blues and BBQ Festival at the Water Tower on Saturday July 22nd, and again at the Garvin Gate Blues Festival on Friday October 13th.
Reprinted courtesy of the Kyana Blues Society
