Alligator Records is pleased to announce the release of Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials' new album, Slideways.

For nearly 40 years together, Blues Hall Of Famers Lil' Ed Williams and The Blues Imperials - bassist (and Ed's half brother) James "Pookie" Young, guitarist Mike Garrett and drummer Kelly Littleton - have been delivering gloriously riotous, intensely emotional, wickedly playful Chicago blues to audiences around the world.

Lil' Ed and The Blues Imperials return with their 10th Alligator Records release, and perhaps the crowning achievement of their entire career Slideways. Mixing smoking slide guitar boogies and raw-boned shuffles with the deepest soul-burners and heart-wrenching slow blues, Lil' Ed Williams and The Blues Imperials bring it all back home, playing each track with an impassioned sense of wild abandon. The Boston Globe says Lil' Ed plays "positively scorching guitar," and the band delivers "a classic Chicago vibe with an energy that's timeless."

LIL' ED & THE BLUES IMPERIALS
Blues / Blues Rock / Electric Blues / Chicago Blues

AirPlayDirect.com/Slideways

Produced by Williams and Alligator Records founder and president Bruce Iglauer, Slideways is a dynamic, high-energy collection of 13 songs, including 12 written or co-written by Williams. With the band at the absolute height of their powers, Williams' singing and playing is thrilling and at times hair-raising. The songs—eight featuring the deep blues keyboard playing of Ben Levin ("He's got that old-time style," says Williams)—are filled with simple, relatable truths. They feature colorful characters in humorous to harrowing situations, some sinning while grinning, others smiling while crying. From the high-octane opener Bad All By Myself to the feral 13th Street And Trouble to the home wrecking Flirt In The Car Wash Skirt to Lil' Ed's heartbreaking and soul-shattering reinvention of Homeless Blues, Slideways is a tour-de-force of old school Chicago blues performed with up-to-the-minute urgency.

"The new album captures the band in all its glory, and Iglauer brought out the best in each member," says Lil' Ed Williams. "Bruce challenged us. He pulled things out of me I didn't expect, and I'm glad he did. Pookie worked his butt off and played great. Mike always plays something cool. He lays the flavor down the way I like it. And Kelly, he's a wildman. He makes me stomp my foot even harder than normal."

Contact: Lynda Weingartz - lynda@AirPlayDirect.com