Chris O'Leary - Blue Collar

Release date: July 10 , 2026

Alligator Records

By Steve Jones

photo by: Jennifer Noble

 This is the seventh album release by Marine combat veteran Chris O’Leary and we continue to discover new sides of this extremely talented musician. It is his second release for Alligator and follows on the success of 2024’s The Hard Line.

O’Leary penned all the songs here. Each is a story unto itself. He is ebullient, effusive, dynamic, creative and in control vocally. His harp is greasy, dirty, and just so cool. His blues are hard-core and very much in the Chicago style. His passion and performances belie his age, singing and emoting as if he’s spent decades living the blues.

He was born and raised in Schenectady, NY and at a young age became enamored with Levon Helm and The Band. When their film The Last Waltz was released, his mind was made up to be a musician. O’Leary’s father introduced him to Muddy Waters via the Hard Again album; hearing James Cotton on harp was another revelatory moment for Chris who then picked up a Hohner Marine Band harmonica. He finally got to see Cotton around his 16th birthday which he labels as. “A life changing event.”

Chris has lived the blues. At 18, O’Leary enlisted in the Marine Corps. He served in the Middle East and experienced things people should not have had to experience. The things he witnessed and internalized left scars and memories that rise to the surface in his music where many of the things he went through come to light.

After the Corps, he returned to Upstate NY and began his musical career. His talents were noticed by his hero Levon Helm while Helm was recovering from throat surgery. Levon invited Chris to join and front his band, The Barn Burners. This was something O’Leary excelled at for six years until he experienced his own vocal issues. He then got a job as a police officer to pay the bills, but his love for music persevered.

Invited to play harp on Hubert Sumlin’s About Them Shoes, O’Leary was then encouraged by Bob Margolin to record on his own stuff. This resulted in Mr. Used To Be, which won the 2011 Best New Artist Debut CD Blues Blast Award. He was also nominated for best new artist debut at the 2011 American Blues Music Awards. Four more superb albums were produced and then he got noticed by Alligator. Now we are on his second release with them, and it’s a doozy!

Chris kicks off with “Bad Decisions,” a story of making the wrong choices in life.  The vocals are great, the guitar licks are solid, the piano accompaniment is well done, and, of course, the harp is all greased up and ready to go! “Lady Luck” follows, another tome about how things go from bad to worse as your luck runs out. Singer Libby Cabello backs Chris on this driving and slick number with more vibrant harp and guitar, along with O’Leary’s steady and impressive vocal performance. O’Leary is distraught over his relational fate in “Am I The Only Fool,” where he questions his woman concerning what’s going on between them. A nice solo on keys and outstanding accompaniment on horns and guitar spices this one up nicely, as Chris lyrically lays out the problems as he sees them.

He and the band then rock out on “One More Cup Of Coffee” with Lil’ Ed on slide guitar helping drive the cut into overdrive. The band responds to O’Leary’s vocal calls as he begs for one more fix of Joe to travel on. The pace is wicked and the track gets the blood flowing on this wild ride! The piano adds a lot here, too. Then it’s time for slow blues with “Nothing But a Memory.” Here O’Leary takes us down to the South Side of Chicago with some sublimely cool and slow blues. The guitar (Bob Margolin) and harp respond to his vocal calls and solo to make for a fine performance overall.

We shift into a jump blues with “Justice Must Be Blind” as Chris and company swing and sway their way through this one. O’Leary gives us the tale of an uneven divorce split as he questions the judge about what’s going on with his decree. Pretty piano tinkling and upright bass along with solid guitar licks help to sell this one, as does more of Chris’ superb vocals. A vibrant shuffle is next in “2 A.M.” where O’Leary quizzes his woman about her staying out late. Distorted harp opens the track and then he transitions into a slick cut about a woman who stays out too late and treats her man poorly.

“One Way Street” reminds me of a Second Line performance from New Orleans. The horns are vibrant and very well done, the piano and guitar give it their all and O’Leary again talks to us about relational issues. Guitar and harp offer big solos to savor. It’s a somber parade just waiting to happen. The next cut pays homage to the signs one sees along Florida highways as Chris sings about “Live Baby Gators.”  It’s a jumping cut with a story about picking up a released con who has him turn off a road behind a Live Baby Gator sign to retrieve buried cash. The lone survivor of a heist, he himself dies as he retrieves his treasure; O’Leary winds up with a cool million in cash. A little squeeze box by Wayne Toups makes for even more fun here. Unfortunately, this is tale is just a fictional dream but it’s a great song to enjoy.

The jazzy and sublime “How’d I Ever Get Along” is a pretty and slow blues that O’Leary delivers with restrained power and deep emotion. It’s another song about a one-way relationship where he bemoans living under the continual direction of his woman. The piano and guitar offer their licks with equal restraint and add nicely to the palate of emotions expressed. This is very low key and oh-so cool. The finale is “Daddy Was A Wolfman;” this one is about a husband and father who goes out every Friday night and turns into a shaggy, drunken monster. Slide guitar and more exceptional harp are offered up here for the listener to enjoy. Chris howls his way through the fading outro as a nice conclusion to both the song and album

The cast of characters is long and impressive. In addition to those mentioned prior, we have band mate Pat O’Shea as the primary guitar player, Shiela Klinefelter, is his regular bassist and backing vocalist, and Chuck Cotton, his drummer who is also on vocals. Adding bass on five tracks is Rodrigo Mantovani; Mike Law and Andy Huenerberg play bass on a track apiece. Dan Viterello plays drums and sings on a track. Greg Gumpel is on guitar for five tracks and Chris Viterello is on guitar for a pair of cuts and sings. Bronson Hoover does most of the keyboard work and Jesse O’Brien’s piano is on three tracks. The sax players are Shane Kirsch, Chris DiFrancesco, Andy Stahl and Ron Kittle; Luke Kirley is on one cut on the trombone.

I’ve been a huge fan of O’Leary since his first release. His musical abilities are amazing. He writes songs and performs with guts, deep passion, and a lust for life that is evident in his performances. This is a mostly dark yet wonderful album where O’Leary tells of many a relationship problem– it is the blues, after all.

It’s a no brainer that you, the reader, as a blues lover, now know that you must add this album to your musical collection. So, what are you waiting for? Atten-hut! Get hot, soldier, and go get this album now! You will not be sorry. That is all!

Website: www.thechrisolearyband.net

Alligator Records: https://www.alligator.com/

About the Author: Steve Jones is the longtime president of the award-winning Crossroads Blues Society in Byron/Rockford, IL. He is also a military veteran who served as the Commander of a U.S. submarine.

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