Delta Generators

Delta Generators (for immediate release) November 2013
Artist: Delta Generators Album: “Get on the Horse” On PreSale NOW at: DeltaGenerators.com
Release Date: January 21st, 2014 Add: 11/5/13 (Pre-Order the CD and get the MP3 album right away)
On their new third release “Get on the Horse”, Delta Generators have stepped up everything from songwriting
to production. This album was mixed by famed Grammy winning producer David Z. (Prince, Eric
Clapton, Jonny Lang, Buddy Guy, Etta James, Gov’t Mule etc.). The album was then mastered by Dave
McNair (David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Los Lobos, Derek Trucks etc.). “Get on the Horse” was recorded just
like every other DG album, live in the studio, with a few overdubs after the fact. The songs range from roots
rock to slow blues, Americana to funky soul. This album was funded by DG fans through
PledgeMusic.com.
In the last couple of years, the Delta Generators have shared the stage with such acts as Robert Cray, Dirty
Dozen Brass Band, Three Dog Night, Jimmie Vaughn, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Johnny
Winter, Walter Trout, Popa Chubby, Bonerama, Candye Kane, Michael Burks, John Lee Hooker
Jr. and Sonny Landreth among many others. Notable musicians have also sat in with the Delta Generators on
stage including Brad Whitford (Aerosmith).
The Delta Generators have accomplished a lot since forming in 2008. They won the Boston Blues Society’s
Blues challenge in 2008, which earned them a spot in the International Blues Challenge held in
Memphis in 2009. The band finished as a Top 10 Finalist out of over a hundred bands. The Delta
Generators also won an Independent Music Award for Best Blues Album category for their debut album,
Devil in the Rhythm in 2009. In 2009 they won Best Blues Band in Worcester Magazine for and were
nominated for Best R&B Act in the Boston Phoenix in 2010. The DG’s 2nd album Hard River to Row
was selected by the Blues Foundation as a Top 5 Finalist (out of entries worldwide) in the Best Self-
Produced CD competition at the International Blues Challenge in 2011. This album also placed
nationally at #8 on the JamBand Radio Chart, #17 on the Living Blues Radio Chart and #25 in the
Roots Music Report. The DG’s were nominated for Best Blues Act 2011 by The Boston Music Awards,
and Best Blues Band 2013 by Worcester Magazine Music Awards. The band plans to tour in 2014
behind their new album “Get on the Horse”.
Press/Radio/Mgt. Contact: DeltaGenerators@gmail.com Rick O’Neal Music: (508)454-3344
Web: www.deltagenerators.com Facebook: /DeltaGenerators Twitter @DeltaGenerators
- Delta Generators Music

Delta Generators (for immediate release) November 2013
Artist: Delta Generators Album: “Get on the Horse” On PreSale NOW at: DeltaGenerators.com
Release Date: January 21st, 2014 Add: 11/5/13 (Pre-Order the CD and get the MP3 album right away)
On their new third release “Get on the Horse”, Delta Generators have stepped up everything from songwriting
to production. This album was mixed by famed Grammy winning producer David Z. (Prince, Eric
Clapton, Jonny Lang, Buddy Guy, Etta James, Gov’t Mule etc.). The album was then mastered by Dave
McNair (David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Los Lobos, Derek Trucks etc.). “Get on the Horse” was recorded just
like every other DG album, live in the studio, with a few overdubs after the fact. The songs range from roots
rock to slow blues, Americana to funky soul. This album was funded by DG fans through
PledgeMusic.com.
In the last couple of years, the Delta Generators have shared the stage with such acts as Robert Cray, Dirty
Dozen Brass Band, Three Dog Night, Jimmie Vaughn, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Johnny
Winter, Walter Trout, Popa Chubby, Bonerama, Candye Kane, Michael Burks, John Lee Hooker
Jr. and Sonny Landreth among many others. Notable musicians have also sat in with the Delta Generators on
stage including Brad Whitford (Aerosmith).
The Delta Generators have accomplished a lot since forming in 2008. They won the Boston Blues Society’s
Blues challenge in 2008, which earned them a spot in the International Blues Challenge held in
Memphis in 2009. The band finished as a Top 10 Finalist out of over a hundred bands. The Delta
Generators also won an Independent Music Award for Best Blues Album category for their debut album,
Devil in the Rhythm in 2009. In 2009 they won Best Blues Band in Worcester Magazine for and were
nominated for Best R&B Act in the Boston Phoenix in 2010. The DG’s 2nd album Hard River to Row
was selected by the Blues Foundation as a Top 5 Finalist (out of entries worldwide) in the Best Self-
Produced CD competition at the International Blues Challenge in 2011. This album also placed
nationally at #8 on the JamBand Radio Chart, #17 on the Living Blues Radio Chart and #25 in the
Roots Music Report. The DG’s were nominated for Best Blues Act 2011 by The Boston Music Awards,
and Best Blues Band 2013 by Worcester Magazine Music Awards. The band plans to tour in 2014
behind their new album “Get on the Horse”.
Press/Radio/Mgt. Contact: DeltaGenerators@gmail.com Rick O’Neal Music: (508)454-3344
Web: www.deltagenerators.com Facebook: /DeltaGenerators Twitter @DeltaGenerators
- Delta Generators Music

Delta Generators just released a CD and it is already in a top ten competition held by the Blues Foundation. The four-piece has been racking up such recognition in the Boston area blues scene since winning the Boston Blues Society’s Blues Challenge in August 2008, after the band had only been together a year. Delta Generators went on to place in the top ten in the International Blues Competition held in Memphis, Tennessee in February 2009.

Their new CD Hard River To Row has received favorable reviews and if it wins the Best Self-Produced CD contest on February 5th by the Blues Foundation they could be catapulted into national attention as airplay from Music Choice is one of the prizes.

“It feels great,” said lead singer Craig Rawding. “It’s very validating. We make music for ourselves that we would want to hear that we enjoy playing, whatever we’re feeling in our souls when we sit down to write this stuff, and we hope that other people enjoy it.”

Hard River To Row is only the band’s second CD and their first full-length. Their 20008 CD Devil In The Rhythm was a nine track that also went over well with critics and fans. Delta Generators play a lot of vintage style blues music with their own twist, usually from other roots genres. Bass player Rick O’Neal describes its vibe: “It’s definitely rooted in a Delta blues tradition but an electrified Delta blues with some modern stamp on it. We tend to drift around into some Louisiana funky stuff, some Memphis soul, and we pick up some elements of early 50s rock and roll too.”

Rawding said the new CD has been more difficult to define as it has R&B influences with a lot of blues slide guitar, a modern touch in the lyrics, and its rock and roll attitude. “A few tracks touch on soul, and funk, and gospel, but we try to keep it within the confines of the blues genre so we wouldn’t confuse people too much,” Rawding said.

Listening to Delta Generators might be challenging to blues purists. “We keep it authentic,” Rawding said, “as far as instrumentation and sound of it but the modern part of it would be some of the lyrics and some of the attitude. I think we play harder and grittier than a lot of the real retro blues bands.”

Bass player Rick O’Neal, who plays in the band along with his brother/guitarist Charlie O’Neal had a similar take on the purist issue.

Rawding said that blues purists might not like his band but that he and his band mates must stay true to what is in their hearts. He said if he played strictly Chicago blues, he would feel like he was playing in a tribute band. “For us, I think that would get a little old after a while. It’s almost like when you do that the music becomes dead in a way because you’re not adding anything new to it.”

His bass player holds no grudges either. “I have to respect their passion to preserve the tradition,” O’Neal said. “I’d want to make them realize that we try and preserve the blues of the past while carrying it into the next millennium. We don’t abandon traditional blues. We don’t stray so far from it that it’s not recognizable, but rather we try to give it our own sound and introduce it to a new audience.”

Rawding grew up with so many different genres in his generation that he really can’t write what some would call pure blues. “I might be feeling Albert King. I might be feeling a little bit of Howlin’ Wolf. Then, The Doors might jump into it. I might grab a little bit from Stax/Volt. I might be feeling a little Otis Redding on a tune, even if it’s a slide blues guitar song.”

Rawding isn’t offended that some blues DJs or some blues music journalists might dismiss his band if they find the Delta Generators less than pure blues. “I don’t want to judge them. I don’t feel anything negative toward them,” he said. “I do wish that people would at least listen to it and give it a chance. If somebody has a blues program, and their listeners only want to hear blues from the 50s and 60s, I could see that maybe that it would be a little bit jarring for them to suddenly throw one of our tunes on there. I also think that if they listen through both of those CDs they would definitely find two or three or four songs that would fit on a real traditional blues show.”

The live show is where Delta Generators really get to show off their chops. They are already known for their high energy performances. The band gets good responses at their live shows to “Hand Me Down Blues,” “Strawdog Strut,” and “That Evil” from the first CD, as they’re all raucous blues slide guitar workouts. From the new CD Hard River To Row, the title track and “Coming Home” get the best response.

“People just love Charlie’s slide playing,” Rawding said. “A lot of times when we write a slide blues tune, it does tend to be a pretty adrenaline pumping song. Some of the songs we have that are somewhat soul, R&B oriented, like ‘Hard River To Row’ also go over big. That song has a little bit of a Hi Records Memphis soul. Those tunes get people d - Bill Copeland

Delta Generators just released a CD and it is already in a top ten competition held by the Blues Foundation. The four-piece has been racking up such recognition in the Boston area blues scene since winning the Boston Blues Society’s Blues Challenge in August 2008, after the band had only been together a year. Delta Generators went on to place in the top ten in the International Blues Competition held in Memphis, Tennessee in February 2009.

Their new CD Hard River To Row has received favorable reviews and if it wins the Best Self-Produced CD contest on February 5th by the Blues Foundation they could be catapulted into national attention as airplay from Music Choice is one of the prizes.

“It feels great,” said lead singer Craig Rawding. “It’s very validating. We make music for ourselves that we would want to hear that we enjoy playing, whatever we’re feeling in our souls when we sit down to write this stuff, and we hope that other people enjoy it.”

Hard River To Row is only the band’s second CD and their first full-length. Their 20008 CD Devil In The Rhythm was a nine track that also went over well with critics and fans. Delta Generators play a lot of vintage style blues music with their own twist, usually from other roots genres. Bass player Rick O’Neal describes its vibe: “It’s definitely rooted in a Delta blues tradition but an electrified Delta blues with some modern stamp on it. We tend to drift around into some Louisiana funky stuff, some Memphis soul, and we pick up some elements of early 50s rock and roll too.”

Rawding said the new CD has been more difficult to define as it has R&B influences with a lot of blues slide guitar, a modern touch in the lyrics, and its rock and roll attitude. “A few tracks touch on soul, and funk, and gospel, but we try to keep it within the confines of the blues genre so we wouldn’t confuse people too much,” Rawding said.

Listening to Delta Generators might be challenging to blues purists. “We keep it authentic,” Rawding said, “as far as instrumentation and sound of it but the modern part of it would be some of the lyrics and some of the attitude. I think we play harder and grittier than a lot of the real retro blues bands.”

Bass player Rick O’Neal, who plays in the band along with his brother/guitarist Charlie O’Neal had a similar take on the purist issue.

Rawding said that blues purists might not like his band but that he and his band mates must stay true to what is in their hearts. He said if he played strictly Chicago blues, he would feel like he was playing in a tribute band. “For us, I think that would get a little old after a while. It’s almost like when you do that the music becomes dead in a way because you’re not adding anything new to it.”

His bass player holds no grudges either. “I have to respect their passion to preserve the tradition,” O’Neal said. “I’d want to make them realize that we try and preserve the blues of the past while carrying it into the next millennium. We don’t abandon traditional blues. We don’t stray so far from it that it’s not recognizable, but rather we try to give it our own sound and introduce it to a new audience.”

Rawding grew up with so many different genres in his generation that he really can’t write what some would call pure blues. “I might be feeling Albert King. I might be feeling a little bit of Howlin’ Wolf. Then, The Doors might jump into it. I might grab a little bit from Stax/Volt. I might be feeling a little Otis Redding on a tune, even if it’s a slide blues guitar song.”

Rawding isn’t offended that some blues DJs or some blues music journalists might dismiss his band if they find the Delta Generators less than pure blues. “I don’t want to judge them. I don’t feel anything negative toward them,” he said. “I do wish that people would at least listen to it and give it a chance. If somebody has a blues program, and their listeners only want to hear blues from the 50s and 60s, I could see that maybe that it would be a little bit jarring for them to suddenly throw one of our tunes on there. I also think that if they listen through both of those CDs they would definitely find two or three or four songs that would fit on a real traditional blues show.”

The live show is where Delta Generators really get to show off their chops. They are already known for their high energy performances. The band gets good responses at their live shows to “Hand Me Down Blues,” “Strawdog Strut,” and “That Evil” from the first CD, as they’re all raucous blues slide guitar workouts. From the new CD Hard River To Row, the title track and “Coming Home” get the best response.

“People just love Charlie’s slide playing,” Rawding said. “A lot of times when we write a slide blues tune, it does tend to be a pretty adrenaline pumping song. Some of the songs we have that are somewhat soul, R&B oriented, like ‘Hard River To Row’ also go over big. That song has a little bit of a Hi Records Memphis soul. Those tunes get people d - Bill Copeland

Delta Generators Blues-Roots Band Caps Triumphant
Year With Release of Striking Debut CD
“Devil in the Rhythm”

*CD Release Party/Fundraiser to be held at Club 58 in Quincy, on Sunday, November 2, from 6 to 10 pm*

*Boston Blues Society’s “Best Blues Band” 2008*

Contacts: www.myspace.com/deltagenerators
www.thegeneratorsmusic.com 508/454-3344

“Organic and fun…The Delta Generators are onto something, and it might be something big.”
–Bill Copeland, Boston Blues Society

With their blues and elements of Louisiana funk, Memphis soul and 1950s rock ’n’ roll, the Delta Generators provide the big blast of fresh air the blues-and-roots scene in the Greater Boston metropolitan area has needed for years. Their self-produced new first album, Devil in the Rhythm, flows over with shining technique, musical intelligence, and honest emotion—this gem needs to be heard by everyone who claims some interest in top-grade roots music. The Delta Generators also deliver the goods in concert, having won the 2008 Boston Blues Society Blues Challenge.

Taking top honors at the Blues Challenge last summer was no small achievement: the Delta Generators bested seven of the most popular bands in the region to earn the right to represent the Hub in the Blues Foundation’s prestigious 2009 International Blues Challenge next February in Memphis. To help with travel costs, the BBS’s sponsoring a fundraising concert featuring the band at Club 58, in Quincy, on Sunday, November 2, from 6 to 10 pm. This evening of superior blues music is also a CD release party.

Delta Generators bass player Rick O’Neal says, “The band was formed and built on the chemistry of four players.” Indeed a special telepathic rapport informs the music the band plays on the new album and in clubs throughout New England. Rick, singer-harmonica player Craig Rawding, guitarist Charlie O’Neal (Rick’s brother), and drummer Jeff Armstrong show the fire and confidence of a long-established group. But, no! They’ve actually been together just a year, with Armstrong taking over from original drummer John Perkins (he got married, moved west) last January.

Rarely do blues fans in any part of the country get to hear a debut album in which tempos and moods are shifted compellingly across original songs. The welcome spontaneity of Delta Generators-style blues on the four-star Devil in the Rhythm derives in some measure from the tracks having been recorded with all the musicians together at the same time in a basement studio. “We pushed Craig off to one corner of the room,” notes Rick. Two winter weekends recording in basements nailed it; Perkins appears on two album tracks, Armstrong on seven.

The Delta Generators extract new life from the well-traveled I IV V blues progression by adding levels of urgency or relaxation, and by steering clear of clichés. With his strong and appealing voice, Craig shows faith in his own instincts for drawing conviction out of the smart lyrics he’s supplied to nine crackling good songs whose music the band composed. Like the singer, Charlie communicates a great sense of uplift in his sure-fingered slide guitar work, building tension to the max impressively. Rick and Jeff are always vital to the excellent musical health of the group, full of drive yet quick to grasp the importance of subtlety in blues expression.

If there’s any justice in the world, album opener “Hand Me Down Blues” will draws serious attention at songwriting competitions and award shows. This pounding, straight-ahead romp, glorious in its simplicity, finds Craig laying down the law to some deadbeat in a forthright, don’t-mess-with-me way. The spirited musicians echo every one of Craig’s flammable articulations.

Charlie really lets it rip on “That Evil,” a take-no-prisoners homage to Chicago blues houserocker Hound Dog Taylor, who generously gave the world “Give Me Back My Wig” and “Walking the Ceiling.” The Greater Boston area probably hasn’t heard such a mighty ruckus since the 1970s, when slide wizards Hound Dog and J. B. Hutto torched Joe’s Place in Cambridge and Sandy’s Jazz Revival in Beverly. “Straw Dog Strut” smacks listeners upside the head with another dangerous sonic blast of slide guitar. This exciting salute to the late great Elmore James (Hound Dog Taylor’s mentor) is also memorable for Craig’s passionate singing. Go figure--the song title may or may not refer to the violent Sam Peckinpah-directed film Straw Dog in which the meek character played by Dustin Hoffman stood up to several vicious thugs.

In two quick minutes, title track “Devil in the Rhythm” cleverly acknowledges the “good time” 1950s “when Buddy Holly had his say” and the likes of Fats Domino, Carl Perkins, and Chuck Berry launched a new musical rage called rock ’n’ roll. The no-nonsense “Bone Orchard Blues” does a slow grind, making connections with the idiosyncratic music of Tom Waits. Craig sings “All Good Things - Frank J. Hadley