Eugene Bridges

The Blues Foundation Announces 33rd Blues Music Award Nominees

admin — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 09:25:21 +0000

Congratulations to Eugene who has received three nominations in the following categories:

Album of the Year
Rock and a Hard Place – Eugene Hideaway Bridges

Soul Blues Album
Rock and a Hard Place – Eugene Hideaway Bridges

Soul Blues Male Artist
Eugene Hideaway Bridges

Awards to be held in Memphis on May 10th 2012

Memphis, TN (December 13, 2011) – The Blues Foundation is pleased to announce the nominations for their annual Blues Music Awards, which the international organization will present at the Cook Convention Center in downtown Memphis, TN, on May 10, 2012. The Blues Music Awards are universally recognized as the highest accolade afforded musicians and songwriters in Blues music. The annual Blues Music Awards ceremony is the premier event for Blues professionals, musicians, and fans from all over the world. The focus of this celebration is to recognize superior achievements in Blues performance, songwriting, and recording while honoring a rich cultural tradition.

To join The Blues Foundation or more information, log onto www.blues.org

Rock And A Hard Place, CD scheduled release May 2011

admin — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 12:56:11 +0000

Eugene Bridges has been at The Zone, in Dripping Springs, Austin, Texas during January 2011 recording his latest CD ‘Rock and a Hard Place’.

Scheduled for release in April 2011, it’s recorded with the big band. Eric King on Bass – Calep Emphrey (Ex B B KIng) on Drums – David Webb on Keys & Hammond B3 – The great Seth Kibel as usual arranging the horns, playing Alto, Tenor and Baritone Saxes plus flute, and leading the horn section of Shane Pitsch on Trumpet and Mark Gonzales on Trombone.

Blues Music Award Double Nominee 2011 [Blues Foundation]

admin — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 18:17:57 +0000

The Blues Foundation, Blues Music Awards are universally recognized as the highest honor given to Blues artists and Eugene has been nominated in the following two categorise, Soul Blues Album for Eugene ‘Hideaway’ Bridges Live In San Antonio and Soul Blues Artist.

Find out how to become a member of the Blues Foundation and vote.

2011 Blues Music Award Nominees

Soul Blues Album

Arthur Adams – Stomp the Floor
Denise LaSalle – 24 Hour Woman
Eugene “Hideaway” Bridges – Live In San Antonio
Solomon Burke – Nothing’s Impossible
Tad Robinson – Back in Style
The Holmes Brothers – Feed My Soul

Soul Blues Male Artist

Bobby Rush
Curtis Salgado
Eugene “Hideaway” Bridges
Solomon Burke
Tad Robinson

Soul is something Bridges possesses in spades [Rock N Reel]

admin — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 18:05:24 +0000

With blues guitarist Hideaway Slim for a father and a mother from the same Bullock family that gave us Annie Mae (better known as Tina Turner), there was inevitability both that young Eugene would become a musician and that his heritage would shape his musical path – and so it proved.

His sixth album, although grounded in classic blues, feels more like a Stax or Atlantic soul revue with wailing horns, hints of Booker T and Steve Cropper and, above all, Bridges’s big warm voice. A large man with a huge grin, he plays blues to make you feel good, where showboating is banned and the groove and rhythm is all.

Not that he can’t play, for he lays down his fair share of mean licks, but he delivers Sam Cookes’ ‘Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day’ and ‘Movin’ And A Groovin’’ like the great man’s long-lost twin. Even on his own self-explanatory ‘Bluesman’ he’s as much about soul as he is about blues, and soul is something Bridges possesses in spades, making this album a joyous experience.

Jeremy Searle
Rock N Reel, Vol 2 Issue 20, March/April 2010

I recently saw Bridges live and this record is the perfect way to recall that night’s excitement. [Blues Revue, Blueswax]

admin — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 00:00:54 +0000

Think of Eugene Hideaway Bridges as a combination of a young and powerful B.B. King meets the soulful Sam Cooke. When Bridges lives the blues, his voice and Gibson awaken memories of B.B. King circa his Live at the Regal days. When Bridges mixes soul into his set, his warm tenor calls to mind an era when Cookes music was the soundtrack to our days. Bridges owns real blues genetics. Born in Louisiana in 1963 to a blues guitar father and a mother whose family has ties to Tina Turner, Bridges moved to Houston and began playing his own guitar in the local churches by the age of five. Since then, his musical life has taken him around the world. Whether he’s fronted his own bands or played guitar in Big Joe Turners Memphis Blues Caravan, the band of B. B. Kings bassist, Bridges has miles of hard road time under his belt.

Bridges’ musical philosophy is grounded in his recording and playing his original tunes. On this night in Chango’s Havana Club, Bridges played thirteen originals from his massive songbook. Opening the night with ‘I Got The Blues,’ Bridges as the cotton field preacher delivers his sermon on the healing power of this music. Musically his King-styled guitar vibrato bounces through many of Texas’ blues guitar styles. Big horns lead into the big city-styled shuffle of ‘Woke Up This Morning.’ Like King, Bridges know to make a guitar statement and then let his tenor and trumpet answer. On ‘Little Boy Blue,’ Bridges’ funky guitar phrasing and attack is somewhat reminiscent of Son Seals’ stinging guitar work.

When Bridges croons ‘Learn How To Let You Go,’ it’s with the sweet soul nuances of Cooke. From horns to velvety voice to twisting guitar bends, this tune has everything we love about soul. Want more 1960s soul? Then listen to his nostalgic covers of Cooke’s ‘Roam Wasn’t Built In A Day’ and ‘Movin’ and A Groovin’,’ both songs coming from Cooke’s SAR records catalogue.

The catchiest tune here might be ‘Real Hero.’ Performed with a hook loosely cut from Muddy’s ‘Mannish Boy,’ Bridges offers his respect to the everyday moms and dads who he sees as real heroes in this complicated world. The record and night end with ‘How Can I Win’ and ‘You’re The One,’ two more crackling R&B tunes, and ‘Jump The Joint,’ a 1940s styled a high-octaned, free-for-all where dancers are spinnin’ and gyratin’ in zoot suits and tight waisted skirts. I recently saw Bridges live and this record is the perfect way to recall that night’s excitement.

Art Tipaldi
Blues Revue, Blueswax