The EastSide Blues Syndicate

No other band in Austin,TX plays funky old school Soul, R&B, and classic Texas Blues like the East Side Blues Syndicate. This all star EastSide Blues Syndicate ensemble features Matthew Robinson (guitar) and vocals). Harold McMillan (bass), Jose “Sweet- Tone” Ruiz (harmonica), Mike “Blue (lead guitar and vocals), and Roland Lawes (drums). Their performing, touring, recording, and production credits span more than forty years in blues, jazz, reggae, gospel, and rock.

The ESBSyndicate developed a following from DiverseArts’ popular Blue Monday Blues Jams@The Historic Victory Grill. They were hand picked by ESBSyndicate founder and bassist Harold McMillan because these cats deliver the blues, from down home to big city grooves, with stellar musicianship, heart, and soul. The ESBSyndicate’ weekly gigs at the Victory Grill reflects a love and passion for playing and preserving the blues, and a reverence for the stage in Austin’s last-standing classic Chitlin’ Circuit juke joint . But blues for the ESBSyndicate is a living, evolving creative art. The Blues Syndicate swings, rocks, funks, jazzes, and slow-drags the blues. They play classic Texas blues, improvised, tight, and with a deep-pocket groove. But that’s not all they play.

The ESBSyndicate reinterprets obscure blues anthems and popular blues standards, displaying their musical versatility as well as honoring a direct connection to the roots of blues and most American popular music. But ESBSyndicate is in no way stuck in 1957. Blues is a living, evolving musical form. And when it comes to playing the blues in Austin, TX, the East Side Blues Syndicate is the real deal!
Honoring the tradition, but moving it on into the new century.

The EastSide Blues Syndicate is a sponsored project of DiverseArts Culture Works dedicated to: preserving the Blues Tradition, encouraging its performance and appreciation, teaching about its history and performance practices, and developing and retaining new audiences through live events, workshops and instruction, audio/video recordings, and web-based digital media.