Bluz Funk-N-Roll:  "Listen to a typical blues musician discuss his or her influences and you're not likely to hear references to Prince or Morris Day's group, The Time. Nor are you likely, at a blues show, to hear the eclectic blend of soul, funk and blues that Kindle Williams Sr. offers.

"I think of myself as a musical misfit," says Williams, a bandleader - guitarist - songwriter whose trio regularly performs throughout the United States southern region. "I'm too traditional for contemporary people and too contemporary for traditional people."

Instead of adhering to the work of such blues masters as Muddy Waters or Howlin' Wolf, Williams taps a more expansive range of influences, many reflecting a second- or third-generation spin on the blues.

Growing up in the '80s, Williams realized that many contemporary pop artists, such as Prince, drew inspiration from blues and blues-based rock performers. "The blues turned out to be the root of whatever I was into," Williams says. "Rock 'n' roll, soul, funk, R&B ... it always came back to the blues, the players I admired always came back to the blues."

As he got older, Williams discovered that blues also was an ideal emotional outlet. "It's a very expressive form of music," he says. "You can't play blues and separate it from your emotions. A lot of [what I write about] I didn't have in me until the last decade. It had to do with the ins and outs of life. So it was a great outlet."

Williams, an Atlanta native who attended Southwest DeKalb High School, began his musical quest as a drummer, playing in teen rock, dance and punk bands. He also was field director of his school's marching band. His mother's record collection provided additional fuel for Williams' diverse fire.

Meanwhile, Williams, who now lives in Marietta, was attracted to guitar. He bought one several years ago, and eventually got serious about it before forming his first band, Blue Soul, in 2000, working local gigs and elsewhere.

To date, he's self-produced four CDs, fusing dance beats and guitar with the framework of blues and R&B. Williams has enjoyed scattered national airplay and has sold CDs in England, Germany, Belgium and Japan.

*The above bio includes edited portions of an article written by Bryan Powell for Creative Loafing Inc. To view the whole article, click here.

Discography

• The Love Doctor (2006)
• Blues This (2004)
• Blue Funk (2002)
• As Yet (2002)
• Soul-Sock-U-Mentary (2001)
• This-X-Mas Under My Tree (1999)

Credits

• National and International CD Airplay and Sales
• ASCAP Popular Music Award Winner
• Chosen Artist for the Atlanta Music Festival
• Chosen Artist for the Atlanta Blues Festival 
• Chosen Artist for the Sweet Auburn Blues Festival
• Chosen Artist for the Wheelbarrow Summer Theater
• Chosen Artist for the Great Atlanta Blues Revue
• Featured Artist in Creative Loafing
• Featured Artist on Fatt Matt's 10th Anniv. Blues Compilation

The Music of Kindle Williams, Sr.: Bluz Funk-N-Roll