Diminutive nicknames are common enough on the blues scene and in the case of Lil' Ed Williams the "little" is even shrunken down. This hard-driving guitarist and vocalist is nonetheless a formidable presence in the former genre circa the new millennium and events such as his 2007 Rattleshake tour and album. By then Williams had led his Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials for more than 25 years off and on, inviting comparisons to the kick-ass blues rock of Hound Dog Taylor & The Houserockers. The "lil'" fellow has a connection both stylistic and ancestral with guitarist J.B. Hutto, a uniquely rough-hewn performer in his own right. Hutto would certainly have been proud to see his nephew go from working in a car wash to teaching Conan O'Brien how to play the blues in a skit on national television.

Family connections continue in the band itself: bassist James "Pookie" Young is Williams' half-brother. They began playing together as children. Williams at 12 was already fairly good on guitar, drums, and bass. Hutto offered plenty of guidance to both Williams and Young; in 1975 the semi-siblings formed the first version of Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials. They made six dollars on their first gig. Upward momentum on the gig ladder was stimulated in part by a bite some ten years later from an Alligator, as in the indie blues record label. Williams and band came in to cut a pair of compilation tracks and wound up tracking a total of 30 songs, most of which were released on the 1986 Roughhousin'. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi