Album Notes

Joe Price grew up in blue collar Waterloo, Iowa. He received his first guitar at age 9 from his brother Butch, who was leaving home for military service.
The fire to play slide was lit when he saw Earl Hooker perform at the local music store. He ran home, grabbed a hack saw and went to the neighbor's house. Joe took the handle grip off the neighbor boy's bicycle, proceeded to saw off his first slide and began his career as a blues musician.

Joe moved to Iowa City after high school. The move proved to be a once- in- a-life-time opportunity. The great blues musicians - Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Willy Dixon, KoKo Taylor, JB Hutto, Clifton Chenier, Charles Brown, Homesick James, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee, James Cotton and many more - were using Iowa City as a stop over on their mid-west tours. Joe not only had the chance to see these musicians perform; by that time he was a full-time musician himself and had the opportunity to open the shows. He had the privilege of listening to and learning from the finest blues musicians of the time.

Joe has now been performing for over 30 years. He was inducted into the Iowa Blues Hall of Fame in 2003. He also received the honor of appearing in the National Guitar Catalogue playing the "National ResoLectric Guitar". Joe has 3 single CD's released at this time, featuring his stunning slide work and original songs.

Joe's music is flavored more to the juke joint end of the blues: a bit rough and tons of fun. You have seen the bluesman seated in a chair, driving the rhythm of the song with a thumb like a hammer, while the dancers on the floor are about to bring the house down; that is what Joe Price's shows are all about.

Joe is a great example of how one learns to do stuff right - slide technique, study of the masters - and then learns to break all the rules to make his music truly unique and all his own.