Veteran Chicago bluesman Nick Moss is bringing his band, along with renowned blues harmonica player Dennis Gruenling, to Webster’s Bookstore Cafe in State College this weekend.
Touring in support of their Alligator Records debut, ‘The High Cost of Low Living,’ released in March, the Nick Moss Band will play at 8 p.m. on Sunday.
Over the course of 30 years, Moss has honed his bona fides in Chicago’s blues scene, developing as a singer, songwriter and guitarist under the guidance of some of the city’s best. With a guitar style influenced by the likes of Jimmy Rodgers, B.B. King and Freddie King, he became one of Chicago’s most in-demand guitarists before forming his own band in 1997 and subsequently releasing 12 albums.
Moss — who has shared stages with artists such as Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Buddy Guy, Gary Clark Jr. and many others — had jammed with New Jersey native Gruenling for 20 years before they teamed up full-time in 2016.
While Moss has taken detours into a more rock sound, ‘The High Cost of Low Living’ is pure blues — Chicago, jump and traditional — with a touch of old-school rock and roll. With eight songs written by Moss and two by Gruenling, the album rips from start to finish with an ensemble of expert bluesmen playing with a cohesive energy.
In a four-star review, AllMusic’s Stephen Thomas Erlewine said the album is ‘a jumping little record,’ that ‘certainly makes a case for the vitality of old-fashioned Chicago electric blues in the 21st century.’
