Album Notes

Track #7 "Steppin Out" opens The Dave & Carol Show" every morning at 5:00AM on WKLH Radio Milwaukee

"Reverend Raven and the Chain Smokin' Altar Boys --- My favorite, even the stiffs were rockin'. Buddy Guy quoted them saying "They are very, very good!!!" They really, really were! The harmonica player...all I can do is sigh"
(From the Chris Isaak bulletin board)

"Voted the best blues band in the state of Wisconsin 1999, 2000 and 2004"

"Standing Ovation at Buddy Guy's Legends" Joanna Gray

"They are very, very good" Buddy Guy

"Sounding like an early version of Little Charlie & the Nightcats or some of those great harp-dominated four and five piece outfits up in Minneapolis, you're gonna like this one from the first listen. It may be hard to find, but worth hunting down! Buy this CD!" Johnny Steeple, Blue Loon Records

"Mighty fine blues with that feel-so-good "Slow Burn" just as the title says. Highly recommended." Blues Revue Magazine

"6 1/2 Harp Salute" Bluzharp Magazine

"Klasse" Blues News Germany

"The grooves are simply great" Twin Cities Blues News

"Classic Chicago Blues" Blues on Stage

Bringing crowds to their feet at the hardest to please and sophisticated
night clubs in the Midwest, Reverend Raven and his Chain Smoking Altar
Boys play traditional blues, straight up with a big dose of passion. With
smoking grooves, served up with hot harmonica and smooth stinging
guitar they play original songs peppered with nods to Slim Harpo, Little
Walter, Jimmy Rogers, Billy Boy Arnold, Junior Wells and the three Kings.

Born and raised on the south side of Chicago Richard Raven first heard the
blues of Louis Jordan, T-Bone Walker and Pee Wee Crayton coming from his
mother's stereo. His older cousin later brought home the records of Muddy
Waters, Howling Wolf, Magic Sam, Slim Harpo, Buddy Guy and Otis Rush.

After seeing Freddy King at the Kinetic Playground, he started going to
Maxwell Street on Sunday afternoons to see Johnny Dollar, Lefty Dizz and
Jimmie Lee Robinson play in the alleys and on the street corners.

The 1970s were spent going to the clubs and taverns on the south side of
Chicago and Chicago Heights to see and hear raw urban blues.

After playing in bands for 5 years and doing a 15 year stint in U.S. Navy,
where he acquired the Reverend tag, Chief Raven hung up his anchors to
give music another go.

That was nine years ago and he hasn't looked back. Since then he has
become a regular on the Midwest blues circuit, playing Buddy Guy's
Legends, The Slippery Noodle, Memphis Smoke, Fat Fish Blue, Blues on Grand,
The Zoo Bar, Whiskey Junction and most of the Midwest blues festivals. Rev
has won the Wisconsin Area Music Industry Award (WAMI) for best blues
artist in 1999, 200, 2003, 2004 and 2006.