Bleu’s early years were spent focused on sports rather than music. He picked up a guitar for the first time during his college years, learned a few chords and his future was set. Bleu soon discovered that some of his favorite musical acts – Robert Earl Keen, Radney Foster, Uncle Tupelo – shared a common thread: Lloyd Maines either produced or played steel guitar on their recordings. A short time later, using a tape player in his dorm room, Bleu made guitar/vocal demos of some of his songs and sent the tape to Maines. Quickly recognizing the raw talent on that homemade cassette tape, Maines contacted Bleu and ultimately became his producer. The pairing made two records together – Southland and The Band Plays On – and Bleu credits Maines with giving him his start in the music business.
“Writing is like holding up a mirror to those darkest corners of our lives that we keep hidden,” confides the raspy-throated singer. “It’s not always a pretty reflection, but it’s real and it matters.” His collection of songs ministers to the saint and the sinner in each of us. It is a conglomeration of those touch points and influences that give us permission to question, confront and raise a little hell on Saturday night. Bleu’s lyrics convey a worldly perspective of one who has lived a life balanced on the edge – of success and failure, love and hate, elation and despair – with his trademark grit and unselfconscious vulnerability intact. There is no sugar-coating in his songs; he simply calls it like he sees it. He also knows how to crank up the amps and throw down hard. His raucous live show has earned him street cred and respect among his fans as well as his musical co-horts throughout Texas, a state that can lay claim to more than its fair share of the musical talent gene pool. Edmondson’s rapidly growing fan base, “The Southland Mob,” takes its name from his debut CD, produced by Texas musical royalty, Lloyd Maines. His road-dog touring ethic, coupled with his management (Greg Henry) and booking team (CTK Entertainment), keeps him running down blacktops and back roads in excess of 200 days each year. As Edmondson’s popularity has grown so has his touring radius, much to the delight of his out-of-Texas fans.
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