Chris O’Leary Band

Blue Collar is supremely entertaining. Fierce, wailing harp and assertive vocals…Chris O’Leary’s musical storytelling shows him to be a true original.
--Living Blues

Impressive from start to finish – a rare jewel. The songwriting, musicianship, vocals, and arrangements are all exceptional. Down-home, real-life, foot-stomping, hand-clapping blues music. O’Leary’s a genuine songwriter, soulful vocalist, and phenomenal high octane harmonica player. Humorous and honest.
--Blues Rock Review

Blue Collar is a belting album of blazing modern blues. Pure and irresistible…played with passion and skill. O’Leary is a stellar harmonica player, a top-drawer vocalist and astute songwriter of smart, modern Chicago-influenced blues -- swaggering and rambunctious, wild and sizzling.
--Blues Blast

Blue Collar is an undisputed winner – powerful vocals and blues harp, superb band, unflagging energy, scintillating songwriting. O’Leary blows up a hard-driving storm.
--Rock & Blues Muse

Modern blues at its most convincing: earthy, soulful and impossible to fake. O’Leary’s voice carries the grit of Chicago blues while the arrangements draw inspiration from Memphis soul and New Orleans funk. This is honest, hard-working blues built on lived experience. Timeless and compelling… urgently alive.
--Blues Matters UK

Chris O’Leary is ebullient, effusive, dynamic, creative and in control. His harp is greasy, dirty, and just so cool. His Chicago style blues are hard-core. The pace is wicked and gets the blood flowing – it’s a wild ride! O’Leary writes songs and performs with guts, deep passion, and has a lust for life that is evident in his performances. Atten-hut! Get hot, soldier, and go get this album now!
--Chicago Blues Guide

Good-time, hard-hitting blues. O’Leary wastes absolutely no time making 'Bad Decisions' the killer opening salvo of the record. High-tempo and high-octane…hard-hitting and intense.
--Read Junk

"Chris O'Leary generates authority...with a huge voice [and] a force-of-nature harmonica sound." —Greil Marcus, Real Life Rock

"Gritty blues and soulful ballads [performed with] absolute authority...Chris O'Leary rocks relentlessly with assurance and a clear sense of passion and purpose. He is a potent, raging tourde-force." —Living Blues 

"The Chris O'Leary Band offer a virtual encyclopedia of entertaining roadhouse blues styles, from boogie woogie to Southside Chicago to Louisiana stompers." —Philadelphia Daily News

"O'Leary is a forceful harp player, a powerful singer and a natural frontman." —Blues Music Magazine

“Chris was the lead singer and front man for Levon Helm’s Barnburners for six years as well as fronting his own band.  He has also taken the stage with such luminaries as Bobby Keys, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Jeff Healy, Albert Lee, James Cotton and more…making him a bonafide seasoned professional.  We live in an age when every hotshot guitarist, harp player, vocalist and so on, is touted as the “real deal”, and the greatest thing since sliced bread.  In O’Leary’s case, the roadwork, and all that goes with it, bears witness to his love for the music and his determination to pursue a career doing what he loves.  7 Minutes Late is, in my opinion, his strongest work to date.  Accompanied by his stellar band and a trio of guests, Chris burns his way through a dozen tunes, totaling over 70 minutes.  Often in albums of this length, there are a couple tunes thrown in just as filler.  That is not the case with this one.   There is not a single weak tune on the disc.  O’Leary’s songwriting is stronger than ever, his harp playing is off the charts, and his vocals are passionate and powerful.  While this may not be strictly a blues album in the traditional sense, it is every bit a blues album. Chris draws from deep wells of experience in various blues and blues-related styles.  This is the music that has filled roadhouses for ages…thought-provoking, danceable and incredibly entertaining, 7 Minutes Late is masterfully done, from start to finish.  From houserockin’ tunes to soulful ballads, Chris & company deliver a set that is sure to be listed among the all-time greats.”  — Bill Wilson, Reflections in Blue