⬇️WINDY CITY STRUGGLERS⬇️
(1CD)
BIOGRAPHY
The Windy City Strugglers are one of New Zealand's most enduring blues
bands. Their music is based on the singing, songwriting, and guitar
playing of Bill Lake, and the vocals of Rick Bryant. Their long-serving
band members are Andrew Delahunty on guitar, harmonica and mandolin and
Nick Bollinger on double bass.
Their music is a unique amalgam of mostly black American styles, which
has evolved into a personal expression combining the band's blues roots
with a wide range of other historical and contemporary influences. Moving
with ease from an acoustic format to a full electric lineup, the
Strugglers are equally at home in a folk club, blues bar, or concert
hall.
The group made its debut at the 1968 National Folk Festival when the
line-up consisted only of Lake and Geoff Rashbrooke on piano and Mike
Rashbrooke on jug. Bryant, already a fixture on the Wellington R&B
scene, joined soon after. Though numerous musicians passed through the
ranks of the early Strugglers, the group has existed in more or less its
current form since Delahunty and Bollinger joined in the mid-1970s.
While Bryant and Lake also played in rock groups such as Mammal, the
Pelicans, and the Jive Bombers, the Strugglers always existed as an entity
in its own right, performing whenever busy schedules make it possible. In
1990 Bryant and Lake released We're in the Same Boat, Brother, a
cassette-only album that included some Strugglers material.
In 1994 the Strugglers released their own self-titled CD, which won Best
Folk Album in the New Zealand Music Awards. In 1998 the Strugglers
released their second CD, On Top of the World, which also became a Music
Awards winner.
While the Strugglers' blues and jug-band influences have been documented
extensively on their previous albums, the 2001 Snow on the Desert Road
broke new ground in consisting entirely of original songs by singers
Bryant and Lake (in collaboration with songwriting partner Arthur
Baysting).