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 What began as an anthology of blues music from the Mississippi Delta to the South Side of Chicago, inevitably evolved into a band, which has become known for its versatility and crisp, tight, exciting sound. This album features special guests Latin Jazz Legend Pete Escovedo on congas and timbales and the Grateful Dead’s Vince Welnick on synthesizers.

Hard-driving, intense, with a band that’s tight and fierce, this new CD (“Tears Like Rain”) from the Delta Wires will leave you breathless!”
-Kathleen Lawton, KCSM-FM, Crazy ‘Bout the Blues

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

“Great recording and killer arrangements make DELTA WIRES soar! Everything cooks, from the rhythm section through the piano, guitar and horns, to Ernie Pinata’s harp sizzling on top.” – Tom Hyslop, BLUES REVUE MAGAZINE

“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.

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