Gary Lee and The CatDaddys

Ernest Riggins knows the real thing when he hears it. You don't spend more than 30 years on the road backing up the likes of Muddy Waters, Jackie Wilson and Etta James without being able to distinguish genuine talent from well polished impersonation. 
When Riggins was asked to check out a local musician named Gary Lee, the bass player was predictably skeptical.   With the blues, you had better have soul. If you ain't get soul, your dead." It didn't take long for Riggins to realize Gary Lee and the CatDaddy's not only had captured the sound, but the feel of rhythm and blues - that gift to move an audience, to draw out the emotions inside of it. "I think Gary Lee has what it takes," Riggins said.  While the area club scene does not hold the allure of the Apollo Theater or Golden Nugget, he takes pride in knowing the music Gary Lee is generating would not sound out of place in those fabled rooms where Riggins once worked.

Tom Reed/Tribune Chronicle