WXPN Welcomes Bobby Rush with Greg Sover

With a sound dubbed "folk-funk," Bobby Rush is among the most colorful and enduring characters on the contemporary chitlin circuit, honing a unique style that brings together a cracked lyrical bent with elements of blues, soul, and funk. Early on, Rush was a star on the Southern club circuit, barely making an impression on mainstream listeners. That changed in 2003 when he was featured in an episode of the PBS documentary series The Blues, which featured interviews with Rush and footage of him working the crowd on-stage. By the 70s his music had grown into a swampy hybrid of blues, soul, and funk, as typified by his 1971 hit "Chicken Heads." In 1978, he released his first album, Rush Hour, polished by his standards but down-home compared to most of the work of producers Gamble and Huff. The 80s brought a more stripped down style. He did some of his strongest work in the 2000s after launching his own label, wading deeper into the blues. In 2016 at the age of 83, Rush won his first Grammy Award when Porcupine Meat was named Best Traditional Blues Album. Rush replicated this achievement in 2021 with Rawer Than Raw, setting the stage for the 2023 release of All My Love for You.

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While Greg Sover’s friends in the Philadelphia neighborhood where he grew up were listening to local rappers he was immersed in classic rock, country and the blues, ever since he first picked up a guitar at the age of five. Sover names Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Duane Allman, Dwight Yoakam guitarist Pete Anderson and, of course, all three Kings - B.B., Freddie and Albert - as early influences. His fourth and latest album His-Story is features eight blues, roots and rock-tinged originals and Sover is joined on two songs by legendary Jimi Hendrix Band of Gypsys bassist Billy Cox, a cover of “Manic Depression” and a rare track, “Remember” which Hendrix originally ecorded for the international version of his first album, Are You Experienced, with limited availability in North America.