Allstar Quartet featuring Original Power Blues/Roots Music
On a cold winters day in 1976 a sixteen year old boy walked reluctantly into the A.R. Leak Funeral Home on Chicago’s South Side at the urging of his High School Band Director. The boy was sent there to pay his respects to one Chester A. Burnett, AKA…“Howling Wolf”. Well “The Wolf’s” musical spirit must have somehow touched that boy, because today that young man is a world-renowned musician, vocalist and the musical director for “Maze featuring Frankie Beverly”. His name is Larry Kimpel and the band that he helped to create is “Outlaw X”.
Founded in the summer of 2005, “Outlaw X” is an elixir of Blues, Southern Rock and Traditional Country mixed together to create a sound the guys call “Power Blues”. The resulting mix is one of the most infectious and genuine on the Roots Music Circuit today. In fact, if their music was to be made into a Hollywood Movie the perfect title for the film would be… “Robert Cray meets The Allman Brothers!”
The Band’s Line-up consists of: Larry Kimpel / Chicago, Illinois - Bass and Lead Vocals, Herman Matthews / Houston, Texas – Drums Billy Steinway / Milwaukee, Wisconsin – Keyboards, Piano, Organ, & Ricky “Z” Zahariades / Fontana, California - Guitars, Vocals.
After years of helping artists like Tom Jones, Luis Miguel, Natalie Cole and Anita Baker sound the way they do to their audiences, it was simply time for the “Outlaw X” Sound to emerge. It’s a sound that flows deep from within the heart of the band and it infects each listener with a good sized dose of good old fashioned groovin’ happiness!
As to their live concert philosophy Lead Vocalist Larry Kimpel says… “After playing with so many major artists and watching them work and entertain, we wanted to bring that same type of entertainment value to the Roots Music Genre.” “Simply put, we have fun on stage!” “We don’t take ourselves too seriously, and yet we bring first-class musicianship to the table every single night!” “The fans deserve only the best, and we feel that we bring that kind of a quality product to them!”
The band’s debut CD “Out of the Box” (released in 2009) has been receiving rave reviews and the guys are about to sign a major distribution deal to get their music into the hands of the roots music fans everywhere. It’s true…the music industry and fans alike are about to be treated to something truly special. Cause’ once the sound of “Outlaw X” gets a hold of you… It’ll never let you go!
Press Release: Los Angeles, CA – September 2009 CHI-TOWN BORN ARTIST STANDS AT “THE CROSSROADS” WITH NEW PROJECT It’s a long way from the swamps of Mississippi to the mean streets of Chicago’s Southside, and bassist, singer and songwriter Larry Kimpel has traveled those back roads for what seems like a thousand years.The veteran Chicago-Born musician is just one of many who in recent years has taken the journey away from the constraints of Jazz and R&B music only to find internal peace and refuge in the original music of the American South…”The Blues”. As the bassist with Roebuck “Pops” Staples and the world renowned “Staple Singers” Larry toured many of the birth places of the pioneers of the blues early on as an eighteen year old, and he even holds the distinction of actually having attended Blues Innovator “Howling Wolf’s “Funeral as a young High School Student in the winter of 1976.
Larry says… “I was just sixteen at the time and my High School Band Director instructed us all to attend the service.” “It was right up the street from Hirsch High School on the corner of 78th and Cottage Grove at the A.R. Leak Funeral Home.” “I remember the service being very quiet and intimate as I positioned myself nervously at the front of the room next to the casket.” “I was told that “Howling Wolf” was a big man in stature, but when I looked down at him in his casket, he seemed somewhat frail probably due to the illness that eventually claimed his life.” “I really didn’t know much about him or his music then, but through the years he has truly become one of my greatest heroes and musical inspirations.
” Now some thirty years later, that inspiration has led to the creation of a “Power Blues/Roots Quartet known simply as “Outlaw X” [www.outlawxtheband.com]. The brain-child of Larry Kimpel & Guitarist Ricky “Z” Zahariades, the band consists of four prominent Los Angeles Based Studio and Touring Sidemen. These four gentlemen were brought together in the studio for the first time in 2008 on the band’s debut CD entitled “Out of the Box” which was released this year on their own Independent Label, GVR Records and is distributed by Wiggins Music Group Worldwide [www.wmgw.net]. When asked why they chose to do their project independently, the band says… “We really wanted the record to be a genuine representation of who we all are both as individuals and as a band, and it’s very rare that you find that kind of creative freedom with a major label.”
Along with Larry and Ricky, the band includes Houston Texas-Born Drummer Herman Matthews, and Keyboardist, Composer Billy Steinway from Milwaukee Wisconsin. Ricky “Z” Zahariades hails from Fontana California. All being from blue collar families, the guys laughingly refer to themselves as “A little old band from the other side of the tracks” and they feel that their music reflects a no nonsense working class approach. Says Larry, “We’ve tried very hard to maintain the authenticity of each and every musical genre that we explored on this project and we hope that the musical spirits of days gone by will be proud of what we’ve accomplished.” “And I sure hope that someway, somehow “The Wolf” is smiling down from heaven!”
### If you'd like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with “Outlaw X”, please call Nicole Martin at: 404/931-4558 or e-mail Larry Kimpel at larry@outlawxtheband.com
