Power Blues
Steeped in the rich blues tradition of Chicago, J.B. Ritchie is known as “that wicked slide player”, and has worked with Luther Allison. The rest of the band also carries some pretty hefty credentials. Frank Bandy on bass has been nominated for a W.C. Handy Award and drummer Marty Binder has appeared on the Tonight Show. Both men have toured with several top name blues performers. If the new generation of guitar driven blues rock would-be comers (Johnny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepard) have failed to deliver what you want, look no further than Power Blues by J.B. Ritchie. “With his strong persona, even a “blues virgin” cannot help but respond when he asks “I said do you dig the blues?” He is the ultimate in cool and has the talent and expertise to back it up. Definitely a musician to see, especially if you are a musician.” – Chicago Rocker Newsletter. A fine and powerful tribute to Chicago blues. For those of you who like blues rock in the vein of ZZTop, Canned Heat and the Allman Brothers – dig in and dig it!

Nick Bell’s background comes from Moscow, Russia. He is originally from Chicago, IL and that gives him a tremendous feel for the Blues. What better city than Chicago!? With a mix of spending his childhood in Europe, and living in Chicago, his musical admirations spanned between two continents. Growing up on cassettes and CD’s of Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, The Beatles, Rainbow, Nazareth, and countless others, introduced him into the music we know as the Blues and artists such as Gary Moore, Walter Trout, Robin Trower, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, and likewise, this loop stretches on and on and on.

Around the time he was 16 years old, he was introduced into a Blues based band out of the Suburbs of Chicago. For a few years the band spanned with little direction of where they were headed. Countless musicians walked through the group, and the main focus was the enjoy the music they were playing. In due time the group picked up tremendous steam, and got the notice of the Chicago music communities, and Legendary Illinois musicians all over. All the while, the young guitarist’s skills were being fine tuned and honed through personal ambition and replication of the music from his heroes. With no formal musical training, Nick has shown to audiences all around, that music does come from the soul. With notice from organizations such as “ROCK CHICAGO MAGAZINE” and “NEW LIFE RADIO”, the talents of the young guitarist has been featured on the Air Waves, and pages of prominent sources of entertainment. The endorsement and ability to share the stage with some of Chicago’s finest established bands prove that shows from this guitarist are not something you want to miss.