Catching Up With The Blood Brothers: Smokin' Joe Kubek and Bnois King Rule The Road

I've always liked the sound of slide guitar from the first time I saw folksinger Tom Rush slip an empty lipstick case on his little finger in order to play "Galveston Flood", right up through George Thorogood's tear-jerking version of "The Sky is Crying" to just about everything recorded by Dave Hole, especially "Short Fuse Blues", but nobody masters that distinctive down home sound like virtuoso guitarist Smokin' Joe Kubek, as well as serving up straight ahead rock and roll. His blistering runs and piercing solos, coupled with the distinctive blues baritone and nimble picking of the equally talented Bnois King, had the crowd on its feet during most of the band's ninety minute set at Chan's in downtown Woonsocket, RI, part of their nationwide tour supporting the Blood Brothers CD on Alligator. Fortunately, I managed to sit down with Smokin' Joe for a few minutes before he and Bnois King started chewing up the scenery:


BSRR:
What's the response been out on the road to Blood Brothers?


Smokin' Joe Kubek:
It's been real great, man, the CD's been doing good. We tried the stuff out before we actually recorded just to make sure the fans were going to dig it. It was road tested. I try to be very loyal to my fans. They're all family, know what I mean?


BSRR:
Speaking of the CD, the cut I've been playing the most on my show is "Don't Lose My Number." Can you tell me a little about that song?


Smokin' Joe:
You can tell we're Jimmy Reed influenced, definitely influenced by "Going To New York." We listened to that song so many years. We have a lot of fun playing it with a little slide guitar - that's our specialty - we love playing shuffles like that. I could play that kind of stuff all night long.


BSRR:
Another song off "Blood Brothers" that always gets me is "Stop Drinking." Tell me about that one.


Smokin' Joe:
It's a long story. We used to drive around a lot in our earlier years and listen to Lightnin Hopkins play. Bnois and I just got lit up whenever we heard that song. We've been messing with that song for nineteen years. We started playing it again and I decided I wanted to record it. That's it right there. I just think it's a cool song. We've just got to do it our own way.


BSRR:
Then there's my theme song " Midlife Crisis, Midnight Flight."


Smokin' Joe:
That was written by myself, Bnois and Phil Petty, who's the bass player with a Texas band called Point Blank. They've got a lot of blues roots. We're homeboys. We all grew up together. That's kind of our little rocker.

BSRR: Who would you say your primary influences are - I know you always mention Freddy King.

Smokin' Joe: Oh man, we could go on for hours on that. It's the flavor of the day, you know. I love Albert King, anything Albert did. I love the way BB King played on "Live At The Regal". I could go on and on.

BSRR: When do you think you're going back in the studio?

Smokin' Joe: That's a good question. I'm not sure as of yet. Bnois and I have been kicking around a few songs here and there. We got some skeletons but it'll be a while. This CD's still doing good. We're working it. We want to give everybody as chance to get it before we even think about the next one.

The other thing that comes across loud and clear when you see Smokin' Joe and Bnois onstage is the rapport they've built up over nineteen years, flawlessly trading off lead riffs and seguing from one song to the next. The Blood Brothers' tour isn't just two great musicians displaying their considerable talent, it's living proof that the blues are alive and well and coming soon to a club near you.