Big B and the Actual Proof

     Big B and the Actual Proof (2022 International Blues Challenge Semifinalists, 2021 Capital Area Blues Society Band Challenge Winners, 2018 International Blues Challenge Semifinalists, 2017 Detroit Blues Society Band Challenge Winners) are an inspired fusion of modern blues, film noir soundtracks, and psychedelic rock. Their original music features dynamic arrangements fueled by powerful, emotional guitar, clear, convincing vocals, wailing saxophone, fiery keyboards, and a slick rhythm section that booms, rattles and shakes. Imagine  Stevie Ray Vaughan covering Nick Cave, the Stray Cats doing Tom Waits, or Pink Floyd’s possible take on the 90’s “low rock” band, Morphine. 
    This skilled quintet is led by three-time Detroit Music Award (DMA) nominee Brian “Big B” Burleson, ex-bandleader, singer, and guitarist of former Detroit blues standouts Big B and the Magic Bullets. Big B has been playing guitar for four decades, bringing a level of skill and intensity that accompanies his experience. Joined by Todd Kerstetter on electric and upright bass, James La Croix on drums,  Joshua James on saxophones (The Bizarre Orchestra, Aston Neighborhood Pleasure Club, The Bunnymen Trio, Detroit Riddim Crew), and Robert John Manzitti on keys, this five-piece powerhouse stands ready to make their ascent to festival and club headliner status. 
    The band began as a trio, releasing the ambitious debut, The Noir Album, in October 2022. Inspired by the plot themes present in film noir, and rendered by award-winning producer and GRAMMY© lifetime member Peter Jay, the ten-song collection features glimpses of hard-boiled criminals, psychopathic anti-heroes, and manipulative femme fatales, all twisting through a realm of steam-filled shadows fraught with bad intentions. It spent a year on the Roots Music Report’s Weekly Top 50 Blues Rock Album Chart, finished in that category's Top 100 Albums., received consistent critical praise and inclusion in many “Best of 2022” lists, and was nominated for “Outstanding Blues Recording” at the 2023 Detroit Music Awards.
     Big B sums the project’s present status up with a hard-boiled quote of his own, reflecting on their recent success and the expanded lineup’s future:

    “The Noir Album represents our own noir story of putting together a skilled team to pull off a ‘huge score,’ to unite all we’ve learned individually and execute this badass plan.  We have the blueprints, the firepower, and the personnel.  Now’s our time.”