Yellowdog says ... Bill Abel Paul 'Wine' Jones Marty Christian David Lee Durham Jimmy 'Duck' Holmes Willie King T-Model Ford [Dutch] In december 2007 Bill Abel released his solo album One-Man Band. The album - dedicated to Bill's mentor, the late Paul 'Wine' Jones - is recorded live and has no overdubs, which gives it a pure and authentic sound, deeply rooted in the Mississippi Delta. The album has a distinct Paul 'Wine' Jones - R.L. Burnside kind of sound with a slight touch of Junior Kimbrough and it's a real pleasure for anybody who loves the raw, unpolished electric blues from the Delta. To hear some songs from this new album click here Some of Bill Abel's paintings and ceramics:

Bill Abel a multitalented bluesman and artist Whenever you're traveling around in the Mississippi Delta looking for some good music you're very likely to see Bill Abel on one of the festivals down there. Bill is one of those exceptional treasures from the Delta. He has been involved in many projects and played the blues with some great names, but outside of Mississippi only few people know this multitalented artist. Born in the early sixties in Belzoni, Mississippi, Bill Abel has learned to play the blues at young age. As a teenager he played with many old black blues guys. Bill says he has been very fortunate in that regard. In the course of years he has become a great bluesplayer in the Mississippi Delta tradition; an artist who knows his blues classics. He plays the songs of any of the early bluesmen, but he clearly puts his own mark upon the songs. Bill is well-known as a solo performer, he’s the leader of his own Bill Abel Blues Band (a Delta & Hill Country blues band) and has accompanied many bluesmen. Big George Brock, David ‘Honeyboy’ Edwards, Hubert Sumlin, David Lee Durham, T-Model Ford, Sam Carr and Paul ‘Wine’ Jones are only a few of the great blues artists he played with. Particularly the late Paul ‘Wine’ Jones has had much influence on Bill’s music. “I've had the great privilege of growing up with Paul Jones. I met Paul in 1985 and started playing with him and his friends off and on until he passed.”, Bill said. Performing with Honeyboy Edwards in Greenwood, MS, May 7, 2005  Bill Abel plays all across the Mississippi Delta and has toured in the rest of the United States and Europe as well. He plays acoustic and electric blues and quite often he brings his own homemade guitars. In 2000 Bill was in a group called The Lowe And Hollis with which he made a recording that was never released. Since 2000 he regularly plays with 80-years-old blues harmonica player and singer Cadillac John Nolden, a cooperation that has been described as ‘an authentic delta blues experience’. Recently, in the summer of 2007 Bill joined Big George Brock for a tour in England. Backing up Big George Brock, during the live recording of Brock's  album 'Live At Seventy Five' in the Ground Zero Blues Club in  Clarksdale, MS, May 12, 2007 Bill Abel truly is a multi-talented bluesman and artist. He is not only a skilled singer and guitar player, in 2003 he received a Bachelor’s degree from Delta State University, where he studied painting and ceramics. He constructs his cigar box guitars and other folk art objects, makes ceramic works and is a successful painter. He has done several workshops on blues history and the rich cultural heritage of the Delta and he was the co-producer of Jimmy ‘Duck’ Holmes’s album ‘Back to Bentonia’.  Bill has been in group exhibits for the past 10 years but in the summer of 2007 he had his first solo exhibition of paintings in the Delta Cultural Center in Helena, Arkansas. Theme of the exhibition was ‘Light and Color of the Mississippi Delta’ and as Abel explained “The beauty of color that God created in all things is sometimes overlooked in objects we see every day. I hope to lead people to a higher visual perception of color that the creator has given us to enjoy every day.” At the Highway 61 Blues Festival in Leland, MS, June 1, 2007 In 2006 Abel was awarded Blues Musician of the Year by the Mississippi Delta Blues Society of Indianola. Some of the albums Bill played on: * Round Two: Big George Brock album on which Bill plays with Lightnin' Malcolm and the great Hubert Sumlin, former guitar player of Howlin’ Wolf. Cat Head Presents, 2006 * Searching for Odell Harris: Odell Harris’ first album with Bill Abel on guitar and Lightnin’ Malcolm on drums. Broke & Hungry Records, 2006 * Meet Me In The Cotton Field: Wesley ‘Junebug’ Jefferson & Terry ‘Big T’ Williams Bill plays slide on one of the songs and did some production work for the album. Broke & Hungry Records, 2007 * Live at the Longshot: Bill Abel (vocals and guitar) playing blues covers, accompanied by award-winning Sam Carr on drums. Recorded at the Long Shot Bar in Oxford, MS. * Crazy About You: An album with Cadillac John Nolden, recorded in Bill’s home studio in Cleveland, MS, 2000 Half of the songs on the record were done live the first time Bill and Cadillac John played with each other. Bill: “It were literally the first notes we played together”.