BILLY BRANCH / SONS OF BLUES

Born William Earl Branch in Chicago on October 3, 1951 and raised in Los Angeles, Branch first picked up a harmonica at age ten and began picking out tunes on his own. In his words, "I've never been without a harp since." He grew up listening to Motown and classic rockers like The Rolling Stones, The Doors, The Beach Boys and folkies like Pete Seeger. But it wasn't until he returned to Chicago in 1969 and enrolled at the University of Illinois that he fell in love with the blues. In August of that year he attended a blues music festival in Grant Park organized by legendary songwriter and bassist Willie Dixon. That afternoon, Dixon and his all-star group backed up Muddy Waters, Koko Taylor, Bo Diddley, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker and more top level artists. Billy was an instant convert (and only a few years later was playing read more...