05/11/2015, 21:30

KYLE JESTER
BLUES SHOW

Traditional electric blues & early Rock n' Roll

Kyle Jester: "I play traditional electric blues and early rock & roll and not much else. I got my start in San Diego, California where I was born. That's where I met upright bass player Thomas Yearsley from the legendary roots band the Paladins. Luckily for me, he took a hiatus from the Paladins and played in my band for two years all around the greater San Diego and Los Angeles areas. Thomas had just opened Elector Studios (now Thunderbird Analog Studios) where we did a record for Earl Thomas which won best blues album in San Diego that year. After that I met Freddie Brooks and joined his band for about a year. This is where I got to share the stage with L.A. heavy hitters such as piano player Carl "Sonny" Leyland, bass player Tyler Pedersen, drummer Paul Fasulo, and drummer Ron Felton. We played the opening slot every Friday and Sunday at the Blue Cafe in Long Beach, California where I got to see the biggest roots/blues touring acts of the time. One of them was Candye Kane, who recruited me to join her band. I spent about five years with Candye, touring all over Europe, Canada, Australia, and the United States playing huge festivals and tiny dives. She invited me to sing a duet with her on her 2003 release Whole Lotta Love and the song became her second most downloaded song out of 12 albums. It's called Fit, Fat, & Fine and you can listen to a sample here. 

In 2007 we moved to Chicago and I took a break from music to support my wife through medical school, and for the following 7 year I played for only 1 year with a band out of Milwaukee called Perry Weber & the DeVilles. We complimented each other well onstage and Perry told tons of stories from when he lived and played with Hubert Sumlin as we toured the Midwest. We occasionally shared the stage with Jim Liban or Gerry Hundt, which was super cool.

Now it's 2014 and we're back in California, but now we're up in the San Francisco Bay Area which we love. I recorded a new album titled After All This at Greaseland with Kid Andersen on bass, Aki Kumar on harmonica, Sid Morris on piano, and Brian "Nucci" Cantrell on drums. Currently I'm gigging locally with Mark Hummel and Alabama Mike, and booking my own band up and down the West Coast and in Europe."