NOTE: This CD is no longer in production, but all tracks are available for download on sites such as iTunes.com.

Three decades of dark San Francisco clubs, hot summer Bay Area blues festivals… shared billing with such blues luminaries as Freddie King, Bo Diddley, Bobby “Blue” Bland, John Lee Hooker, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Lowell Fulson, Van Morrison and Boz Skaggs. These elements culminate in this finely-honed presentation of rhythm and blues stylings as an art form. Take one talented Italian city kid with his harmonica, and his boyhood bass-playing buddy, raised in the Oakland/East Bay area – the heart of West Coast Blues – and throw in the urban beat of the 60’s wave, when Mississippi Delta and Chicago influences blended with early rock, soul, and Big Band blues to create a hybrid of urban sound. Anchor this explosive combination with years of heart, soul and sweat on stage and you’ve got a definitive representation of a generation of the Bay Area music scene.

This is the Delta Wires’ first CD, recorded in 1991 at Bay View Studios, Richmond CA. It is currently out of production and only available digitally.

“From jump rhythms to nasty, lowdown Windy City laments, DELTA WIRES electrifies the audience… This tight Bay Area troop, fronted by vocalist/harmonica genius/composer Ernie Pinata, melds Mississippi Delta tunes and Chicago-style arrangements with rock, soul, and swing sensitivity…It’s terrific! This rockin’ blues band is spectacular — tight, topical, and torrid.” – Lee Cooper, Ph.D. – Rock & Blues News

“a tough, rocking, socking band, knocking out crowds…the WIRES are burning up! ” -Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle

“They blow hard from the get-go, a tight horn section blending comfortably with the spirited, intense harmonica from lead man Ernie Pinata … as fierce a Sonny Boy Williamson-influenced harp as you will find” – Bill Kisluik, BLUES ACCESS Magazine

TITLES

1. Back in Town (D. Dell’ Aqua, E. Pinata) — 3:45
2. Fixin’ Mechanic (E. Pinata) — 3:20
3. Weary Man (E. Pinata) — 2:39)
4. Big Leg Woman (L. Russel, C. Blackwell, DW arrangement) — 2:55
5. Why Did You Leave (E. Pinata, S. Pinata, Quinlan) — 4:37
6. Tippin’ (into the blues – E. Pinata) — 3:47
7. Travelin’ (E. Pinata, Gerrits) — 4:23
8. Bridge Burner (Paul Wood) — 3:19
9. Smack Dab in the Middle (C.F. Calhaun) — 3:43
10. How Many More Times (E. Pinata) — 2:10