"This band has taken old school Chicago blues and brought it jumping and hollering into the 21st century. Ive seen a lot of bands play this style of music, but I gotta say you guys take that old school sound and go somewhere new with it." - DAN AYKROYD How refreshing it is to hear some honest blues. The Cash Box Kings play with taste and feel and it was faith restoring to know there are guys out there that still know and appreciate real blues. - CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE Considered the "Young Turks" of the Chica­go blues scene, The Cash Box Kings are dedicated to carrying on the spirit of the 1940s and 50s post-war Chicago blues sound as well as the Delta blues music of the 20s and 30s. But these illustrious torchbear­ers also add a bravado, energy and freshness to the mix that results in a distinctive musical expe­rience. With a focus on the raw, stripped-down, ensemble playing that was the hallmark of the post-war sound, the band showcases the music of Chess Records and Sun Records while add­ing a healthy dose of original music that captures the essence of the Memphis and Chicago blues sounds of the 40s and 50s. The Cash Box Kings are anchored by Joe Nosek (harmonica, vocals), Oscar Wilson (vo­cals), Kenny Beedy Eyes Smith (drums), and Joel Paterson (guitar, vocals), augmented by a rotating cast of honorary Kings including Gerry Hundt (bass, rhythm guitar, vocals), Billy Flynn (guitar, mandolin, vocals, harmonica), Jimmy Sut­ton (upright bass, vocals), Beau Sample (upright bass, vocals), Chris "CB" Boeger (bass) and Mark Haines (drums). Barrelhouse Chuck (piano, vo­cals) also regularly performs with the group. On 2011s Holler And Stomp, the Kings Blind Pig label debut, they put together a collection of songs that captured the various byways where tra­ditional blues and country music intersect. They covered Ray Sharpe (dubbed in his heyday "the greatest white-sounding black dude ever") with his own style of rockin country blues ("Oh My Ba­bys Gone") and Hank Williams Sr. singing about the blues ("Blues Come Around"). They took a swipe at a country fried number ("Off The Hook") by a group of Brits who named themselves after a Muddy Waters blues song (the Rolling Stones) and also laid down their own version of a coun­try blues song that Muddy brought with him to Chicago and recorded with a new urban electric sound for Chess studios in 1948 ("Feel Like Go­ing Home"). The rest of the originals and covers on this album had these same underpinnings, thematically and/or musically, making Holler And Stomp one of the freshest and most distinctive blues records in recent memory. It garnered criti­cal acclaim as well as Blues Blast Award nomina­tions for Band of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Traditional Blues CD. While remaining dedicated to carrying on the musical traditions of post-war 1950s Chicago blues, the Kings stretch out and cover some of the other musical landscapes that blues music has traversed over the last 70 years on their new re­lease, Black Toppin. On display is their deep af­finity for Delta and Louisiana swamp blues, jump blues and their own signature "blues-a-billy." And the Kings dont have a problem delving into the musical styles of groups that were influenced by the blues; on Black Toppin they cover a tune by the Velvet Underground and include a pair of origi­nals redolent of the 70s era Rolling Stones.