Billy Branch at Blues At The Beach Festival at 17th St Stage

BILLY BRANCH has followed a very non-traditional path to the blues. Unlike many blues artists, he isn’t from the South. Billy was born in Chicago in 1951 and was raised in Los Angeles. He first picked up a harmonica at the age of ten and immediately began to play simple tunes. Billy returned to Chicago in the summer of ‘69 and graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in political science. He soon became immersed in the local blues scene, spending a great deal of time at legendary blues clubs such as Queen Bee’s and Theresa’s Lounge, learning from such stalwart harmonica players as Big Walter Horton, James Cotton, Junior Wells and Carey Bell....

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BILLY BRANCH has followed a very non-traditional path to the blues. Unlike many blues artists, he isn’t from the South. Billy was born in Chicago in 1951 and was raised in Los Angeles. He first picked up a harmonica at the age of ten and immediately began to play simple tunes. Billy returned to Chicago in the summer of ‘69 and graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in political science. He soon became immersed in the local blues scene, spending a great deal of time at legendary blues clubs such as Queen Bee’s and Theresa’s Lounge, learning from such stalwart harmonica players as Big Walter Horton, James Cotton, Junior Wells and Carey Bell.

He made his first recording for Barrelhouse Records and began to work as an apprentice harp player in Willie Dixon’s Chicago Blues All-Stars. He eventually replaced Carey Bell and worked with Willie Dixon for six years. Billy has recorded and/or performed with an incredible list of Blues legends including: Muddy Waters, Big Walter Horton, Son Seals, Lonnie Brooks, Koko Taylor, Johnny Winter, and Albert King. In 1990, he appeared with three harp legends--Carey Bell, Junior Wells, and James Cotton on W.C. Handy Award winner, Harp Attack! Billy is also passing on the blues tradition to a new generation through his Blues In The Schools program. He is a dedicated blues educator and has taught in the Chicago school system for over twenty years as part of the Urban Gateways Project.

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