Paul Asbell has been a fixture of the Burlington, Vermont, music community for over a half-century now. From his early years playing blues on Chicago’s South Side–with Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and Howlin’ Wolf, among others—the guitarist ultimately moved on to his present career, playing and recording with a diverse array of artists, including two albums with a Pat Metheny-esque group he dubbed Kilimanjaro. In 1981, Asbell and other members of that band joined forces to form The Unknown Blues Band with another local stalwart, saxophonist/ singer Big Joe Burrell (who is memorialized with a statue on the Queen City’s Church Street).
As depicted in the video (captured over a decade after the passing of Burrell), Paul Asbell sets the tone via his staunch presence alongside true kindred spirits, vocalist Dave Keller and saxophonist Dave ‘The Truth’ Grippo (of Phish’s Giant Country Horns); their shared devotion to this music is fully emblematic of its long-term strength as it’s evolved up, down and around the Green Mountains over the years.
