Bill Lupkin

Chicago blues singer and harpist Bill Lupkin entered the world in Fort Wayne, IN during 1947. An older sibling first introduced him to the sounds of Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Jimmy Reed, prompting him to take up drums at age 17 before switching to harmonica two years afterward. After moving to Chicago in 1968, Lupkin became a member of the Aces and later spent an extended period supporting Jimmy Rogers; he remained active on the city’s club scene for years and eventually assembled his own group, the Chicago Blues Coalition, which briefly featured teen guitar phenom Lil' Frank Krakowski. His first album, Live at the Hot Spot, came out on Blue Loon in late 1999.