Biography of Son Seals

Growling like a grizzly bear in heat, his trebly guitar cranked to just this side of painful, Son Seals is a Chicago blues veteran whose uncompromising sound guarantees an enthusiastic crowd no matter where he plays. Seals was born into a thoroughly musical environment -- his father operated a nightclub in Arkansas where Delta mainstays Robert Nighthawk and Sonny Boy Williamson II gave young Son an advanced education in the blues. He learned his lessons well, and after road stints with Earl Hooker and Albert King, Seals arrived in Chicago in 1971. Alligator Records founder Bruce Iglauer discovered the unpolished and unknown guitarist gigging at a little blues joint and issued his debut album in 1973 (the first of six for the label). His latest, Living in the Danger Zone, is certainly a great deal slicker than that first humble effort but no less intense, Seals blasting his bad axe and letting fly with the sort of high-energy Chicago blues that contemporary audiences crave night after night. ~ Bill Dahl