Spreading the gospel of the Blues and Folk/Americana far and wide. Andrew Wheeler hails from Albany, NY, and has been researching and playing blues and roots music for over 20 years. He has performed in all types of settings from large city/town stages to cafes and bistros. Two time winner of the Capital Region IBC challenge as a solo artist and also fronting his own band in Memphis, Tn. Andrew ha
s also been a nominee twice for the Capital Region's prestigious "Eddie" awards with his band and also as a member of Biscuit's 'n' Gravy in 2022. His goal is to pay homage to often-overlooked blues originators while passionately crafting new, meaningful forms of original expression to touch your soul. Michael LaPorte hails from Schenectady, NY but considers himself a citizen of the world. He saw the J.Geils Band in the late 1970s, and after seeing Magic Dick perform realized that he wanted to be a Harmonica player. He began absorbing and listening to old Blues while stationed in the Navy in Memphis, TN. After returning back to the Northeast, he played with many musicians associated with the Blockhouse Beef & Brew Jams of the early 80s. Since then, he played with the Eat at Joe's band and Justus in Santa Fe, NM., and more recently, The Bent Rail Blues Band and The Andrew Wheeler band from the Capital District. LaPorte has too many musical heroes to cite, but he points out that Little Walter, James Cotton, Paul Butterfield and Mark Wenner are some of his favorite sources of inspiration. Together, this amazing duo strive to honor and respect the African-American Blues giants that have preceded them by sharing with authenticity and passion the music that was made before them; and which they love, and by also bringing their original approach to the Blues to a new audience,
