Altered Five smokes, smolders and burns like a swig of good whiskey. The hip Milwaukee quintet is known for its strong brew of tough, original blues and hard-hitting live shows. Blues Blast raves that barrel-chested front man Jeff Taylor possesses a “smooth, warm-toned voice as monumental and undeniable as Howlin’ Wolf with the finish and flourish of B.B. King.” Downbeat declares stealth guitarist Jeff Schroedl “reaches the high bar of mixed invention and fluidity.” Fueled by a rhythm section laying down the deepest grooves this side of the MGs, the five blues blasters hit the ground running 20 years ago and show no sign of easing up. Their seventh studio recording, Testifyin', was released March 22, 2024 on Blind Pig Records.
The new EP kicks hard like the four award-winning records preceding it. Cryin’ Mercy nabbed “Best Self-Released Album” at the International Blues Challenge in 2015. Charmed & Dangerous garnered "Song of the Year" at the Independent Music Awards and Wisconsin Music Awards in 2018. Guitar World magazine called the title track a “menacing, swampy blues" and it was in regular rotation on SiriusXM’s Bluesville in addition to many other programs and playlists. In 2019, Ten Thousand Watts reached #10 on the Billboard Blues Chart, hit #1 on both the iTunes and Amazon blues charts, while "Great Minds Drink Alike" captured first place in the blues category of the International Songwriting Competition. Holler If You Hear Me debuted at #3 on the Billboard Blues Chart and received three Blues Music Award nominations, including Album of the Year and Song of the Year. Their 20th Anniversary vinyl LP featured "Great Minds Drink Alike (With Horns)" which also received a BMA nod for Song of the Year.
All band members contribute as a songwriting team to be reckoned with. Memorable, incisive lyrics run the gamut from slyly suggestive ("Ten Thousand Watts") to blues history tributes ("Three Forks") and inventive contemporary themes (“Urgent Care,” “Back Button”). Altered Five have consistently checked all the boxes, making lasting, deeply expressive original blues for the mind and body. Up front and leading the big blues train, Taylor exhorts and cajoles while carrying the weight of the lyrical content. Neither imitating nor hiding his debt to the legendary blues singers of the past, he commands deserved attention on his own. Schroedl propels, embellishes, and adds palpable power through his varied rhythm accompaniment and riveting guitar solos. While inspired by, but not tethered to the kings and titans of blues guitar, he has found his own estimable path to personal expression always at the service of the song.
The muscular yet limber rhythm section of bassist Mark Solveson and drummer Alan Arber lock into the full range of blues grooves from classic slow Chicago drag ("Holding on With One Hand") and romping Texas shuffles ("Mint Condition") to soulful R&B worthy of Stax Records ("Gonna Lose My Lady"). In addition, returning keyboardist Steve Huebler always provides a rich pad of lush harmony along with his own and soaring solos.
Whether live or on record, Altered Five performs seamlessly as a powerhouse entity encompassing the timeless blues virtues of passion and unwavering commitment funneled through technical excellence.
—Dave Rubin 2005 Keeping the Blues Alive Award Recipient
"Jeff Taylor sings powerfully... Jeff Schroedl's live-wire guitar reaches the high bar of mixed invention and fluidity" - Downbeat
“Ripping up the Midwest band scene for over a decade… Jeff Schroedl’s stiletto guitar licks slice around Jeff Taylor’s strong, gravelly voice” – Living Blues
“An outstanding blues and soul band… barrel-chested frontman Jeff Taylor’s voice sounds like it was lifted off an old Stax 45.” –Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Explosive, hard driving blue collar rockin’ blues….muscular blues mixed with vintage soul designed to showcase the mighty vocals of frontman Jeff ‘JT’ Taylor” –No Depression
"Consistently witty, inventive, and unexpected... this band excels at both songwriting and chops" –Blues Music Magazine
"Outrageously cool... a creative force in modern blues"–Rock & Blues Muse
"Shockingly good"–Black Grooves
"As good as any blues band on the contemporary scene" –Glide Magazine
"Jeff Schroedl's stiletto guitar licks slice around Jeff Taylor's strong, gravelly voice" –Living Blues
"One of the best original blues bands in the city right now, and perhaps the country... a burn-it-down live show" –Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
"Jeff Schroedl serves up some of modern blues' most satisfying licks" –Guitar World
"Some of the most gritty, swaggering, blood-pumping blues music ever to make its way to Milwaukee" –Milwaukee Magazine
"With all the boldness of Howlin' Wolf, combined with the tone of Big Joe Turner, Taylor blasts it out like a Cape Canaveral lift-off" –American Blues Scene
