Blue’s Professional Bio Page 3

Booze Monkey - Duo Years

In 2002, Blue formed Booze Monkey with longtime live sideman and bassist, Joel Ludwig. The band’s name derived from Blue’s online signature, which read, “I am the Booze Monkey, often drunk & always funky.”

Having already published seven solo albums by this time, Blue said he wanted to replace his name on the t-shirts with the image of a cartoon monkey that he had taken to doodling.

The band debuted with the sixteen-song studio album Good Luck Mr. Gorsky in 2003. The record saw few overdubs and featured bluesy, acoustic-duo arrangements of songs from Blue’s existing catalog alongside new songs written during the sessions.

The music blended elements of blues, rockabilly, bluegrass and jazz while maintaining its rock & roll essence and attitude.

The duo worked constantly. Blue designed a live sound rig, dubbed the “godRig”, that incorporated 24-channel recording into their live sound reinforcement system. While working out the kinks in the godRig, Blue and Joel recorded a performance in Norfolk Virginia on 3 July 2003.

The Norfolk recording, known as Run Linux Run! after dear friend Michael "Linux Kid" Kidd, was not officially released/published, but became a sort of "bootleg" shared amongst the band's fans.

Booze Monkey followed Good Luck Mr. Gorsky with two live records, both published in 2004. Savannah Colors and Sippin’ Pretty.

The constant performing took its toll on the pair, leaving them exhausted. The duo was spent and Joel went his own way soon after the release of the band’s third (official) album in late 2004.

The Simian Syndicate

In 2005 Blue started a podcast entitled The Simian Syndicate. The show featured musical and comedic performances from many of Blue's friends from in and around Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, as well as guests and interviews. It published throughout the bulk of 2005.

South Mountain Magic

After Joel’s departure from Booze Monkey, Blue stepped away from the project to write and record his second feature-length soundtrack for director Dave Dull. Published in 2006, South Mountain Magic was the last record to be released as BLUE.

The South Mountain Magic soundtrack is a quasi-orchestral instrumental score featuring traditional Native American and Appalachian instrumentation.