Biography
Before the blues found its way to Chicago and redefined itself with electric guitars and drummers, bluesmen were minstrels playing juke joints in the Mississippi Delta armed only with their guitars and voices while the crowd kept the rhythm by stomping their feet in time. Born and raised in Chicago, The Black Oil Brothers aim to channel that kind of boot stompin' blues that doesn’t need a backline or distortion pedals to make it cook. Resonators played with steel slides, wailing harmonicas, 3 part harmonies and the righteous twang of acoustic guitars and mandolin strings define our music (and very well may be saving our souls at the same time). Let us save yours.
THE BLACK OIL BROTHERS are:
Tim Ryan -This harmonica wonder was born in Chicago to an Irish father and Mexican mother, and learned to play harp by listening to Little Walter, Jimmy Reed, and The Rolling Stones. Numerous whiskey soaked, cigarette stained jam sessions found Timmy teaching himself to play the guitar. After getting the basics under his fingers and listening to too much Muddy Waters, learning to play slide seemed like the natural next step. When Tony Manno approached Timmy about playing some blues with his old pal, Tony Maietta, Tim was all too happy to join in. In their first jam session, Manno, Maietta, and Ryan wrote 3 original songs. The Black Oil Brothers were born, and the rest–as they say–is history…
Tony Manno - Tony blames Slash, Jimmy Page, and Keith Richards for turning him onto the guitar at the young and impressionable age of 13. Since then, his love of the blues, rock n' roll, and punk rock have rendered him a quite knowledgeable music fan (and annoyingly so). His Rock N' Roll band, THE SLEEPERS, has made quite a name for themselves throughout the Midwest with the help of PRAVDA RECORDS, their current label. Talk trash about Johnny Thunders and he'll punch you.
Tony Maietta - In Tony's sophomore year of high school, his friend since preschool, Tony Manno, taught him how to play Knockin' on Heaven's Door. It was all downhill from there. He learned far too many Green Day tunes, but eventually figured out how to play the songs that his heroes had made: The Beatles, Zeppelin, Stones, Floyd, and all kinds of classic rock and blues. Manno and Maietta formed their first of many bands, The Disgruntled Postmen. In college, Tony played guitar and bass in Fool's Crow and The Smythe. After graduation, Tony ditched the guitar for a little while, picked up some drum sticks, and founded The Sleepers with Manno. After realizing that Ringo Starr was way better than him on the drums, Tony reforged his love affair with his guitar. For many years, Tony played that guitar by himself in his apartment…which isn't as fun as it sounds in retrospect. In the summer of 2007, Manno approached Tony with the concept of recreating the delta blues. Tony couldn't say no to that! When he's not saving the world from dangerous pollution, he's jamming with Tim and Manno at watering holes across the country. Tony also runs his own recording studio, Good Times Recordings, with his friend Brian Racine.
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