THE BROTHERS CURTIS
Its You Thats Got To Go (BBYR-CD-01503)
Blue Bayou Records
Winner of the regional "Road To Memphis" best Blues CD award for 2006. The "Brothers" will be competing again in 2008, in hopes of moving onto the IBC in Memphis!
For Booking: (651) 324-0134 (Curtis Marlatt)
(612) 721-5512 (Curtis Blake)
The critics are toasting these two like peas and carrots: smooth as butter on your lips yet hot and sassy as the good salsa preserved in the back room for truly special guests. You don't want to miss the experience of The Brothers Curtis!
The Brothers Curtis-Curtis Marlatt (guitar/vocals) and Curtis Blake (harp/vocals).
Curtis "Don't Hurt Us" Marlatt- "Master of the Stratocaster", he has been blowin' the Blues now for well over forty years. Aside from a couple forays into Rock, R&B, or Jazz/Fusion, Marlatt has stayed pretty much true to his roots-the Blues. Marlatt has been fortunate to have rubbed elbows with and fronted such bands as the Doors, The Grateful Dead, Steppenwolf, Steve Miller Band, Janice Joplin, Bruce Springsteen, The Allman Brothers and Dr. John-just to name a few.
However, since rediscovering his roots (he played accoustic Delta Blues when starting off playing guitar) with his band, Curtis And The Kicks, 22 years ago, out of Louisville, Kentucky, Curtis has performed many concerts, Blues clubs, and Blues festivals with many names in the genre. Blues greats such as Albert King, Gatemouth Brown, Albert Collins, Buddy Guy, Elvin Bishop, Savoy Brown, Junior Wells, Lucky Peterson, Joe Louis Walker, Robert Cray, Anson Funderberg, Sam Meyer, Rod Piazza & The Flyers, Carey Bell, The Paladins, Billy Boy Arnold, Robin Trower, Mick Taylor, and many more.
Marlatt earned a degree at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA on the GI Bill after spending two years in Viet Nam (an experience which will be unfolded in his up-coming book Capn' Zig Zag's Blues Band). Marlatt also has been the "guitar slinger" for such Blues luminaries as Homesick James, Mitch Woods, Fenton Robinson, James Harmon, Candy Kane, Mojo Buford, Delbert McClinton and Marcia Ball. His band-Curtis & The Kicks-also was the backing band for James "Thunderbird" Davis of Black Top Records before "Thunderbird" fatally succumed of heart failure on the Blues Saloon stage during Super Bowl Sunday weekend of 1991.
"Singer/guitarist Curtis Marlatt is undeniably proficient..." -Living Blues Magazine
"...good ensemble feel; very clean, melodic guitar; good dynamics, nice overall feel...good writing. All in all, quite a good CD...definitely a superior band." -Bruce Iglauer, Alligator Records
"Listening to Curtis' recent show at Stevie Ray's in Louisville, his music has become more sophisticated and complex, with lots of jazz influences-but still emotionally based in the Blues". -Keith Clements, Louisville Music News
"...Curtis Marlatt is the best slide guitarist in the South next to Duane Allman". -Cream Magazine
Curtis (or The Smokin' White Cat) now resides in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota where he moved from California nine years ago. He currently has five CDs released on the Blue Bayou Records label, including his latest release, along with Curtis Blake, as The Brothers Curtis, called Its You Thats Got To Go. He also continues recording and performing with his main "baby" Curtis & The Kicks.
Curtis Blake was born in Princeton, MN on February 23, 1958. He was the youngest of four children. He moved to Minneapolis at age 6 and was raised by his mother. His sister and brother would play recordings by B. B. King, The Rolling Stones and "a lot of the British Invasion groups of the 60's". At 12, he attempted to play the guitar. " I had to put it down because I could'nt keep it in tune! It was a piece of junk!" Curtis continues..."In Raleigh, NC I picked up a harmonica and was sitting on the front steps of my brother's house with another guitar my sister found (better junk). An old Blues musician walked by with a six-pack from the local package store. "He picked up the guitar, tuned it, and showed me a few guitar licks. He saw my harmonica and taught me a few harp licks as well. I wish I knew his name. That was the beginning of my career as a Blues musician."
When I was 20 I met Lazy Bill Lucas, aka "The Man With The News About The Blues." The local cats would hang out at Bill's place all day to play the Blues. That's where I met Mojo Buford, Jo Jo Williams, Odell (bass player) and Sonny "Cat Daddy" Rodgers. My first real gigs were with Lazy Bill at the University of Minnesota, and the "Blue Sundays" series at Sebastian's Night Club. "I've been influenced by Little Walter, Big Walter, Jimmy Reed, Junior Wells, Lee Oskar, Sugar Blue, Charlie Musselwhite, Sonny Terry and, especially, Paul Butterfield. Stylistically, I'm a blend of all these Blues greats."
Curtis quickly became an 'in-demand' player. His harp work was a major reason for Sonny Rodgers and The Cat Scratchers winning the W. C. Handy Award in 1991. Curtis is a featured artist at the annual "Blues Harmonica Extravaganza" at the Whiskey Junction in Minneapolis. He has also performed at the Chicago Blues Festival and Kingston Mines with Jimmy Johnson; and as featured artist with Charlie Love and The Reverand Raven. Curtis' discography includes recording sessions with Percy Strother, Bobby Johnson, Lady Blue and Mojo Buford.
Presently, Curtis is performing in the Midwest with Greasy Gravy, The Sail Cats, Texas Red, Lisa Winger, Dirty White Boyz and, now, The Brothers Curtis! Expanding his considerable talent to include piano and composition, Curtis is proud to 'show-off' his first CD, Its You Thats Got To Go, as a co-leader. "Its (the CD) something that goes from the old Delta styles of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee to the most recent 'uptown' Blues. Because I love Afro-Cuban music so much, I'm firing up this CD with AC rhythms as well!"
