Luckiest Man Alive

Solo and band piano blues with strong original compositions and guest appearances by Elvin Bishop, Charlie Musselwhite, Mark Hummel and others

S.E.Willis is originally from West Virginia and has been playing the piano and harmonica since the age of six, and organ and accordion since his teens. He started playing in rock and roll bands along

Solo and band piano blues with strong original compositions and guest appearances by Elvin Bishop, Charlie Musselwhite, Mark Hummel and others

S.E.Willis is originally from West Virginia and has been playing the piano and harmonica since the age of six, and organ and accordion since his teens. He started playing in rock and roll bands along Arizona's stretch of Route 66 in 1967. Willis' music is deeply rooted in traditional American forms: blues, boogie-woogie, country, rockabilly, gospel, zydeco.

A veteran bandleader, S.E. (Steve) Willis has taken a supporting role in bands with such artists as Chuck Berry, Bo Diddly, Albert King and Jimmy Rogers. He sang for three years with the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir and appeared on their 1995 CD "We've Come a Mighty Long Way." He worked another three years with founding Meters member and New Orleans drumming legend Joseph (Zigaboo) Modeliste and appears on his first solo release, the CD "Zigaboo.Com." Since then he has joined the Elvin Bishop Band and is featured on Alligator Records CD "That's My Partner" with Elvin Bishop and Little Smokey Smothers, recently named best R&B Record of 2000 by the California Music Awards.
Willis' music was featured in a special music/literature issue of Timothy McSweeney's, a New York based magazine, as accompaniment to a short story by Ann Cummins.Other musicians included Philip Glass and They Might Be Giants.
Steve Willis was inducted into the Arizona Blues Hall of Fame in 1998. He is currently touring with Elvin Bishop and released "Luckiest Man Alive," in Spring 2002, plus his newest "Cold Hand In Mine," a more country-oriented effort, in Fall 2003.