Mr. Blotto
Encyclopedia
Mr. Blotto is a jam band
band from Chicago
, Illinois. They blend hard rock, original rock, southern rock
, folk music
, and country rock
. They formed in 1991, and tour extensively in the midwest area. Along with their five album releases and two DVDs, they have also released four "official bootleg" albums of their live recordings. They are currently working on their sixth CD.
, and Paul focusing on the resurgence of 70s rock like Aerosmith
, while eventually discovering Crosby, Stills and Nash and the Grateful Dead
, who would later become huge influences. After Paul graduated he decided to pursue the life of a full-time musician while Mike opted to become a lawyer. Paul landed a gig as the house singer in a Polish club in Chicago called "The Cardinal Club." It was here that Paul met guitarist Bob Georges and they decided to begin playing together.
Bobby "Georges" was a veteran of the Chicago music scene, having achieved some regional success with the blues-rock band "Rooster" in the 70's to mid 80s, working with multi-instrumentalist and front-man Raymond Jacobs, keyboardist Douglas Bohnstengal, bassist Gary Bohnstengal, singer Tom Colton, and drummer Bob Skalmolski. After the Rooster legacy, "Georges" found work as a session musician
and researched sound engineering. The Bolgers also played in the 1980s in a group called Fred, alongside future members of the Freddy Jones Band
.
Paul and Bob found drummer Alan Baster at a jazz night, and hired him on. After several auditions for a bass player yielded no results, Paul convinced Mike to be an interim bass player. The band as a four-piece started hitting Chicago area open mic nights and outlying bars, developing their roots-oriented jamband sound and weaving a large amount of reworked Grateful Dead songs into their sets to supplement the originals being penned by Paul, Mike and Bob. As their audience grew, Mike quit being a lawyer and became a full-fledged member.
They released Parking Karma and found their way into the larger bars and venues of the Chicago scene. After the album was released, Dave Allen - an old college bandmate of Paul's - joined on keyboards, filling out the bass-acoustic guitar-electric guitar-keyboards-drums ensemble that has remained consistent through personnel changes since.
In addition to Piano, Synths, & Hammond B-3, Dave supplied another singing voice and an ability to improvise lyrics that complemented a long-standing element of the early Blotto show, the "Reggae Rap," in which Paul would freestyle over a rock-steady type of beat.
In the mid-90s, they released a second CD, "Bad Hair Day," and continued their process of steadily playing shows in the Chicago area. By the end of the decade they had built their audience to the point that they were a significant draw at local performances and festivals.
1998 saw a third CD, Ancient Face; in 1999 Bob Georges was thrown out of the band for his drug abuse and unsavory antics, including shooting himself in his hand, and was replaced by Mark Hague. The introduction of Mark (who had played with the Freddy Jones Band
) marked a creative period for the band, and he helped pen the next generation of Mr. Blotto tunes. Paul, Mark & Mike started meeting every Monday to work on new original ideas. In these sessions, any idea would be chased down and put to tape. These songs became Cabbages and Kings, the 4th CD which (93.1) WXRT
called the band's best release yet.
Around this time, the band addressed the constant demand for a Live Record. Mr. Blotto had been, from its inception, an improvisational band and had always allowed people to record the shows. A taper path was built that included an analog to digital converter, a distribution amplifier, and an open invitation for all to enjoy the high quality of a constant gain board patch in either digital or analog. As a result, clean Mr. Blotto boots began to cross the country, often in advance of the band -- this is especially true outside of the Midwest, where they rarely tour.
Seeing as not everyone had a portable CD burner or DAT, Mr. Blotto began issuing Live Shows and Compilations. The Bootleg Series is a single CD of songs handpicked by the band for their unique characteristics, where the Just Did It series is made up of double disc sets from one particular show or run of shows.
In 2005, Alan Baster left the band....and Mr. Blotto picked up a drummer from Indiana by the name of Tony Dellumo. Shortly thereafter Paul, Mark, Mike, Tony and Dave started in on a new album that was finished spring 2006. With help of the Grateful Dead lyricist John Perry Barlow
, Mr. Blotto released their 5th studio album: "Barlow Shanghai."
When Dave "B3" Allen had to leave the band at the end of 2005, Mr. Blotto hired on another well established musician in the Northwest Indiana music scene by the name of Steve Ball. Steve Ball is best known in Northwest Indiana and the Chicago music scene as not only a keyboard player, but also a guitar, bass, mandolin and harmonica journeyman.
In 2007, the group released an album jointly written with John Perry Barlow
, who had previously worked as a lyricist with the Grateful Dead
.
In 2009, Mr. Blotto played the Wakarusa
festival and co-headlined the Little Turtle Music & Arts festival in Indiana
alongside Los Lobos
and The Willie Waldman Project.
Alan Baster returned as drummer in July of 2009. Tony Dellumo left to drum with the band Chester Brown.
called Blottopia. Blottopia is a two day camping festival held in July along the beautiful Fox River at Vasa Park in Elgin, IL. The band has played a surprise album for the final encore on the second night since Blottopia II.
Previous Encores at Blottopia have included:
Former
Jam band
-Ambiguity:By the late 1990s use of the term jam band also became ambiguous. An editorial at jamband.com suggested that any band of which a primary band such as Phish has done a cover of be included as jam band. The example was including New York post-punk band Talking Heads after Phish performed...
band from Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois. They blend hard rock, original rock, southern rock
Southern rock
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music, and genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitar and vocals...
, folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, and country rock
Country rock
Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...
. They formed in 1991, and tour extensively in the midwest area. Along with their five album releases and two DVDs, they have also released four "official bootleg" albums of their live recordings. They are currently working on their sixth CD.
History
The core of Mr. Blotto is the brother songwriting team of Mike and Paul Bolger, who had played together in garage rock bands throughout high school. They went in separate directions musically when they attended different colleges, Mike leaning towards the hardcore punk stylings of Hüsker DüHüsker Dü
Hüsker Dü was an American rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1979. The band's continual members were guitarist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton, and drummer Grant Hart....
, and Paul focusing on the resurgence of 70s rock like Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
, while eventually discovering Crosby, Stills and Nash and the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
, who would later become huge influences. After Paul graduated he decided to pursue the life of a full-time musician while Mike opted to become a lawyer. Paul landed a gig as the house singer in a Polish club in Chicago called "The Cardinal Club." It was here that Paul met guitarist Bob Georges and they decided to begin playing together.
Bobby "Georges" was a veteran of the Chicago music scene, having achieved some regional success with the blues-rock band "Rooster" in the 70's to mid 80s, working with multi-instrumentalist and front-man Raymond Jacobs, keyboardist Douglas Bohnstengal, bassist Gary Bohnstengal, singer Tom Colton, and drummer Bob Skalmolski. After the Rooster legacy, "Georges" found work as a session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
and researched sound engineering. The Bolgers also played in the 1980s in a group called Fred, alongside future members of the Freddy Jones Band
Freddy Jones Band
The Freddy Jones Band is a roots rock band from Chicago, Illinois. Despite the name, no member of the band is actually named Freddy Jones, and the band has never definitively revealed the name's source.-History:...
.
Paul and Bob found drummer Alan Baster at a jazz night, and hired him on. After several auditions for a bass player yielded no results, Paul convinced Mike to be an interim bass player. The band as a four-piece started hitting Chicago area open mic nights and outlying bars, developing their roots-oriented jamband sound and weaving a large amount of reworked Grateful Dead songs into their sets to supplement the originals being penned by Paul, Mike and Bob. As their audience grew, Mike quit being a lawyer and became a full-fledged member.
They released Parking Karma and found their way into the larger bars and venues of the Chicago scene. After the album was released, Dave Allen - an old college bandmate of Paul's - joined on keyboards, filling out the bass-acoustic guitar-electric guitar-keyboards-drums ensemble that has remained consistent through personnel changes since.
In addition to Piano, Synths, & Hammond B-3, Dave supplied another singing voice and an ability to improvise lyrics that complemented a long-standing element of the early Blotto show, the "Reggae Rap," in which Paul would freestyle over a rock-steady type of beat.
In the mid-90s, they released a second CD, "Bad Hair Day," and continued their process of steadily playing shows in the Chicago area. By the end of the decade they had built their audience to the point that they were a significant draw at local performances and festivals.
1998 saw a third CD, Ancient Face; in 1999 Bob Georges was thrown out of the band for his drug abuse and unsavory antics, including shooting himself in his hand, and was replaced by Mark Hague. The introduction of Mark (who had played with the Freddy Jones Band
Freddy Jones Band
The Freddy Jones Band is a roots rock band from Chicago, Illinois. Despite the name, no member of the band is actually named Freddy Jones, and the band has never definitively revealed the name's source.-History:...
) marked a creative period for the band, and he helped pen the next generation of Mr. Blotto tunes. Paul, Mark & Mike started meeting every Monday to work on new original ideas. In these sessions, any idea would be chased down and put to tape. These songs became Cabbages and Kings, the 4th CD which (93.1) WXRT
WXRT
WXRT, also known as WXRT 93.1, XRT, and 93-XRT is a AAA radio station in Chicago, Illinois. For many years their slogan has been "Chicago's Finest Rock". WXRT is a primary sponsor of the Chicago nonprofit Rock For Kids.-History:...
called the band's best release yet.
Around this time, the band addressed the constant demand for a Live Record. Mr. Blotto had been, from its inception, an improvisational band and had always allowed people to record the shows. A taper path was built that included an analog to digital converter, a distribution amplifier, and an open invitation for all to enjoy the high quality of a constant gain board patch in either digital or analog. As a result, clean Mr. Blotto boots began to cross the country, often in advance of the band -- this is especially true outside of the Midwest, where they rarely tour.
Seeing as not everyone had a portable CD burner or DAT, Mr. Blotto began issuing Live Shows and Compilations. The Bootleg Series is a single CD of songs handpicked by the band for their unique characteristics, where the Just Did It series is made up of double disc sets from one particular show or run of shows.
In 2005, Alan Baster left the band....and Mr. Blotto picked up a drummer from Indiana by the name of Tony Dellumo. Shortly thereafter Paul, Mark, Mike, Tony and Dave started in on a new album that was finished spring 2006. With help of the Grateful Dead lyricist John Perry Barlow
John Perry Barlow
John Perry Barlow is an American poet and essayist, a retired Wyoming cattle rancher, and a cyberlibertarian political activist who has been associated with both the Democratic and Republican parties. He is also a former lyricist for the Grateful Dead and a founding member of the Electronic...
, Mr. Blotto released their 5th studio album: "Barlow Shanghai."
When Dave "B3" Allen had to leave the band at the end of 2005, Mr. Blotto hired on another well established musician in the Northwest Indiana music scene by the name of Steve Ball. Steve Ball is best known in Northwest Indiana and the Chicago music scene as not only a keyboard player, but also a guitar, bass, mandolin and harmonica journeyman.
In 2007, the group released an album jointly written with John Perry Barlow
John Perry Barlow
John Perry Barlow is an American poet and essayist, a retired Wyoming cattle rancher, and a cyberlibertarian political activist who has been associated with both the Democratic and Republican parties. He is also a former lyricist for the Grateful Dead and a founding member of the Electronic...
, who had previously worked as a lyricist with the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
.
In 2009, Mr. Blotto played the Wakarusa
Wakarusa
Wakarusa can refer to several things in the United States:* Wakarusa, Indiana* Wakarusa, Kansas* The Wakarusa River, a tributary of the Kansas River* The Wakarusa War, part of the Bleeding Kansas violence before the American Civil War...
festival and co-headlined the Little Turtle Music & Arts festival in Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
alongside Los Lobos
Los Lobos
Los Lobos are a multiple Grammy Award–winning American Chicano rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional Spanish and Mexican music such as cumbia, boleros and norteños.-History:The...
and The Willie Waldman Project.
Alan Baster returned as drummer in July of 2009. Tony Dellumo left to drum with the band Chester Brown.
Sixth CD in Progress: (2011 to present)
Sixth CD in progress: In a January 2011 interview with The Barn, bassist Mike Bolger revealed "We're getting ready to go in and start recording our sixth CD. We’ve got about 25 songs competing for about 12 spots. Some of the songs we’ve played a lot. About six or seven we’ve never played live or only played once." And in a November 2011 interview guitarist Mark Hague commented that "We’re shooting for March right now. We’re doing some of the overdubs now, but this record is going to be kind of a minimal overdub approach."Tapers
Mr. Blotto allows fans to record performances from the soundboard and many of these recordings can be heard at www.archive.org.Blottopia Annual Festival
The group hosts a yearly festival in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
called Blottopia. Blottopia is a two day camping festival held in July along the beautiful Fox River at Vasa Park in Elgin, IL. The band has played a surprise album for the final encore on the second night since Blottopia II.
Previous Encores at Blottopia have included:
- 2000: NO ALBUM - there was a movie in the barn afterwards
- 2001: The Dark Side of the MoonThe Dark Side of the MoonThe Dark Side of the Moon is the eighth studio album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in March 1973. It built on ideas explored in the band's earlier recordings and live shows, but lacks the extended instrumental excursions that characterised their work following the departure...
by Pink Floyd - 2002: The Doors (album)The Doors (album)The Doors is the debut album by the American rock band The Doors, recorded in August 1966 and released in January 1967. It was originally released in significantly different stereo and mono mixes...
by The Doors - 2003: Led Zeppelin IILed Zeppelin IIThe finished tracks reflect the raw, evolving sound of the band and their ability as live performers. The album has been noted for featuring a further development of the lyrical themes established by Robert Plant on Led Zeppelin's debut album, creating a work which would become more widely...
by Led Zeppelin - 2004: Who's NextWho's NextWho's Next is the fifth studio album by English rock band The Who, released in August 1971. The album has origins in a rock opera conceived by Pete Townshend called Lifehouse. The ambitious, complex project did not come to fruition at the time and instead, many of the songs written for the project...
by The Who - 2005: Some GirlsSome GirlsSome Girls is the 14th British and 16th American studio album by The Rolling Stones, released in 1978 on Rolling Stones Records, catalogue COC 39108...
by The Rolling Stones - 2006: Terrapin StationTerrapin StationTerrapin Station is the ninth studio album by the Grateful Dead, and was originally released on July 27, 1977.This album was the first time since Anthem of the Sun that the Grateful Dead used an outside producer...
by The Grateful Dead - 2007: GamehendgeGamehendgeGamehendge is the fictional setting for a number of songs by the rock band Phish. Most of the songs can be traced back to The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday , the senior thesis of guitarist and primary vocalist Trey Anastasio, written while he attended Goddard College in 1987...
by Phish - 2008: Babylon By BusBabylon by BusBabylon By Bus is a live album released by Bob Marley & The Wailers in 1978. The tracks on this album are considered, with two exceptions, to be from the Pavillon de Paris concerts over 3 nights, 25-27th June 1978, during the Kaya Tour, though there are discrepancies in the track listing.Like the...
by Bob Marley and the Wailers - 2009: Stop Making SenseStop Making SenseStop Making Sense is a concert movie featuring Talking Heads live on stage. Directed by Jonathan Demme, it was shot over the course of three nights at Hollywood's Pantages Theater in December 1983, as the group was touring to promote their new album Speaking in Tongues. The movie is notable for...
by The Talking Heads - 2010: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club BandSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club BandSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band The Beatles, released on 1 June 1967 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin...
by The Beatles - 2011: Toys in the Attic by Aerosmith
Members
Current- Paul Bolger-Lead Vocals & Acoustic Guitar
- Mark Hague-Lead Guitar & Vocals
- Mike Bolger-Bass & Vocals
- Alan Baster-Drums
- Steve Ball-Hammond B-3, Keyboards, Mandolin, Harmonica & Vocals
Former
- Tony Dellumo - drums
- Dave "B3" Allen - Keyboards & Vocals (occasionally still performs with band)
- Bob Georges - Lead Guitar
Discography
- Parking Karma, 1992
- Bad Hair Day, 1994
- Ancient Face, 1998
- Cabbages and Kings, 2001
- Barlow Shanghai, 2006
- Blottopia VII DVD, 2007
- Blottopia IX - Babylon by Bus Encore DVD, 2009
External links
- Official site
- Mr. Blotto collection at the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
's live music archive