Chris Yakopcic

It's always a pleasure to find new local (Dayton, Ohio should be close enough) blues talent to recommend -- not that I actually found him, you understand.

Chris Yakopcic won the solo/duo competition earlier this year at the International Blues Challenge for the Blues Society of Western Pa. He goes to Memphis for the playoffs in January.

Chris plays acoustic guitar, Resonator and harp in the Delta and Piedmont blues styles, and he's written most of the tunes on this CD -- "Done Found My Freedom 'Fore My Technique."

Yakopcic writes clever lyrics, set to acoustic picking that's quite good. The set opener, "99 Juke Joints," makes sly use of a reference to the "Casablanca" line: “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine,” with "99 juke joints, all in a line; of all them juke joints you had to walk into mine...."

But his real strength is his guitar work, which drives hard behind the vocals, sung in Chris's high-lonesome tenor, and both add a nice bluesy urgency to the proceedings. His slide work lends a little touch of evil that fits right in.

Players of acoustic blues seem to be hard to find, and good ones even harder. Noise levels make the club scene a tricky scene for the style, but under the right circumstances, it's a very rewarding music. Chris Yakopcic shows all the signs of making it more rewarding. - Jim White - Pittsburgh Post Gazette

As far as the solo competition, the voting was tight. All three entries had solid marks. It was both tie-breakers that gave the victory to Chris Yakopcic. It was his solid guitar playing that gave him the victory. He plays old style blues guitar and switched up a guitar and dobro. The judges liked that.

- Blues Society of Western PA