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THE HITMAN BLUES BAND: BLUES OF THE 21ST CENTURY

BY
Gary Schwind

Hitman Blues band is a band that specializes in modern blues much to the delight of audiences

in both the U.S. and Europe. The band’s songs have been streamed more than half a million
times on Spotify, and with the new album Not My Circus, Not My Monkey, it shows no signs of
slowing down. By phone, frontman Russell Alexander discussed what drew him to the blues,
the new album, and itching to return to touring.

Gary Schwind: What drew you to playing the blues?

Russell Alexander: I’ve been a musician
my whole life. My dad was a jazz
musician. He played with a lot of the
greats. I started playing professionally
when I was about 16. Eventually I
realized that the music that appealed to

me the most long-term was the blues.
Like most people do, I played a lot of
covers, really immersing myself in the
various styles of the blues. I’ve always
been writing original tunes, and I started

writing in that style. It came out the way
that it comes out.

GS: Are there any particular artists you
were first drawn to?
Russell ‘Hitman’ Alexander RA: Oddly enough, Elvis. The early Sun
sessions. Hearing what he was doing set

me up for listening to blues artists like
Muddy Waters, Big Bill Broonzy, going
back to guys like Charley Patton, Lonnie
Johnson and those guys, and then all the way back to Blind Willie Johnson. These are guys with
various fingerpicking styles. At one point, I was hired to learn all the Cream Clapton solos.

Hearing what he had come from and how he expanded the styles. It was a pretty big eye-opener
for me. That also influenced the way I was looking at it. This is also coming from a rock and jazz
background with all the jazz songs since my dad was a jazz musician.

GS: Speaking of jazz, did you hear about Chick Corea? [Who passed away on February 9, 2021
(Ed)]
RA: I heard about it. It’s so awful, and so sudden. They said it was a rare form of cancer that was

just recently discovered. No warning. Last year was pretty rough. I’m hoping this year won’t be a
repeat. We’re going to be dealing with things like this as people get older. The thing is, I don’t see
a lot of guitar heroes coming to fill that spot. Do you?