A Unique Musical Hybrid
For over 30 years, The Fabulous Thunderbirds have been the quintessential American band. The group’s distinctive and powerful sound, influenced by a diversity of musical styles, manifested itself into a unique musical hybrid via such barnburners as “Tuff Enuff” and “Wrap It Up”. Co-founder Kim Wilson, the sole original member, still spearheads the group as it evolves into its newest incarnation.

“We started as a straight blues band”, vocalist and harmonica player Wilson says. “We now incorporate a mixture of a lot of different styles. We’re an American music band and we’re much higher energy than we were before.”

“To be in the T-Birds, you need to understand the different styles of music and different ways of playing,” Wilson comments. “You have to be willing to adopt a more contemporary style. The guys we have now are able to do that.”

The band continues to tour extensively, in both the U.S. and Europe. Wilson is currently writing songs on his own, with band members and other writers.

“I’ve primarily been a solo songwriter, but I’m looking forward to experimenting with the guys in the band,” Wilson says.

The thread throughout the T-Birds career has been the respect the group commanded for its peerless musicianship and devotion to the sounds of blues, R & B and rock ‘n roll. In fact, Muddy Waters called Wilson his favorite harmonica player and vocalist. “Muddy Waters was very good to me,” Wilson says. “He almost adopted me. I’ll never forget him.”

For Kim Wilson, the musical journey started in Goleta, California. At 17 he began playing the harmonica. His influences included Little Walter, George “Harmonica” Smith, Lazy Lester and James Cotton. At the same time, Wilson began singing and was deeply impacted by Bobby “Blue” Bland, B.B. King, Otis Rush, Jimmy Rodgers and Muddy Waters. In search of other musicians who shared his love of the blues, Wilson headed to Minneapolis. He stayed there for a year and a half, playing locally, before moving to the burgeoning music scene of Austin, Texas. It was there that he met Jimmie Vaughan and they founded the T-Birds in 1974. The band developed a reputation as a compelling live act and subsequently signed a record deal with CBS/Epic Records.

In 1979, The Fabulous Thunderbirds released their first self-titled album. Primarily blues influenced, it became a cult classic. “Things were wide open back then,” Wilson recalls. “There were hundreds of stages where bands could show what they had.”

In subsequent releases, the band started to incorporate more Cajun, rock ‘n roll and soul influences. The album “T-Bird Rhythm” marked a creative turning point for the group as it collaborated with noted producer Nick Lowe. In 1986, The Fabulous Thunderbirds reached a commercial peak with the album, “Tuff Enuff”. The single of the same title as well as the singles “Wrap It Up” and “Look At That”, all went top 40. The song, “Tuff Enuff” was featured in the film “Gung Ho” starring Michael Keaton.

For the remainder of the ’80s, the band continued to record and tour, and released the album, “Powerful Stuff”. Jimmie Vaughn left in 1989 but Wilson kept the group going, incorporating keyboards into the guitar-driven sound. Kim moved back to California in 1996, continuing to cultivate the T-Birds music.

“The thing about the T-Birds is that we can play both blues festival and rock venues,” Wilson comments. “We’re a diversified band now and everybody’s on the same page.”

Chickenbone Slim is the stage name of Larry Teves, born and raised in Santa Cruz, CA, where he attended Harbor High School and swam and played water polo. In 1986, Larry moved to San Diego to attend San Diego State University and recieved his Bachelors Degree in Business Management in 1990. Larry played bass in numerous San Diego bands through and beyond college, such as The Mississippi Mudsharks, Lady Starr, The Boogiemen, Jinxking and backing up SDMA Lifetime achievement award winner Tomcat Courtney. The discovery of an old amplifier (a Magnatone inside a Bell and Howell Amp case) and the desire to learn guitar for songwriting was the next step in Larry’s musical journey.

In 2011 Larry started taking guitar lessons from SDMA winner Robin Henkel. After working hard in the woodshed, bestowed with his “guitar” nickname by John Flynn earned at the blues jams, Chickenbone started his band in 2012 with rehearsals at an office on Adams Avenue on Tuesday evenings. He named the band "The Biscuits" after his favorite food. After a few months, realizing there was an event the same time as the practice three blocks away, CB asked Mike Magers, the owner of Smitty’s Service, if the band could play a Tuesday for the locals. The event was Tasty Truck Tuesdays, and Mike graciously agreed to donate the electricity. The first show turned into a weekly affair, enabling Chickenbone to learn his trade and to start performing at local events and clubs throughout San Diego.

After two years, Tasty Truck Tuesdays was closed for live music due to ASCAP performing rights restrictions. The weekly fees needed to prevent a lawsuit (with retroactive fees back to the start of Tasty Truck Tuesdays) made it impossible to continue with live music. CB has fond memories of performing for the kids, dogs, and all the locals. Chickenbone subsequently joined BMI for his performing rights partnership. Subsequent performances after Tasty Truck Tuesdays included the Adams Avenue Street Fair, the Harp Fest, Adams Avenue Unplugged, The Lemon Festival, The San Diego Blues Fest, and top clubs and festivals throughout San Diego and beyond.  

Chickenbone released his aptly named third album “Sleeper” in February 2020, barely one month before the pandemic hit. With all touring and performing live frozen, what could a Chickenbone do? Well, as fate would have it, Larry’s bass player Andrew Crane was also unable to work gigs,  as well as Marty Dodson (who has recorded all of CBS’s albums) and his neighbor Laura Chavez (who had contributed a solo to “Sleeper” on “Tougher Than That”) whom was also idle from touring and performing. Chickenbone and the new band started woodshedding, rehearsing and arranging a backlog of Chickenbone’s original songs. The work resulted in new sets of music, porch performances and busking on the rough streets of San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood, where the band honed the music and performances. The subsequent local performances and touring as the world re-opened resulted in the album “Serve It To Me Hot”, which was recorded at Greaseland Studios with mixing and mastering by Christoffer “Kid” Andersen.

“Serve It Too Me Hot” was released on November 19, 2021 by Vizztone Records, and in December climbed to #4 on the Living Blues Album Charts. The album also reached #2 on the Roots Music Contemporary Blues charts. Recorded at the famous Greaseland Studios in Campbell, CA with Christoffer "Kid" Andersen, reviews are strong across the United States and Internationally. The band was warmly accepted on their first international tour to Europe to perform at the Goezot Hofke Festival, Belgium. A highlight for the album was winning the 2022 San Diego Music Award Best Blues / Jazz Album, as well as being a first round Grammy Nominee and Blues Blast Awards nominee. 

Chickenbone’s new Album, “Damn Good and Ready” was recorded during the winter of 2023 in the middle of a tour to Northern California. The “Bomb Cyclone” event caused one show cancellation, but the band took advantage of the extra time to record the new album. The album features Laura Chavez on guitar (Candye Kane, Vanesa Collier, Nikki Hill), Marty Dodson on drums (Kim Wilson, Mark Hummel, Nicki Hill) and 21 year old prodigy Justice Guevara on electric and standup bass. As with all of Chickenbone’s music, the recording, mixing and mastering and several instruments and vocals was engineered by “Kid” Andersen. The album was released August 4, 2023 on Vizztone Records to great reviews.

Chickenbone Slim and the Biscuits performed over 120 shows in 2022, And will perform over 150 in 2023, including performances in Europe and the United States. With a large setlist of predominantly original music, the band can perform from 1-4 hours of Roots Rock, Blues and Americana suitable for all ages from low volume dinner shows to full concerts, festivals, street fairs and swing dance events. The band is fully equipped with transportation and is available for national and international touring. Additional information on request.