Curtis Salgado — Soul Music's Best-Kept Secret

The voice that connects you to the source.

Blending music history, insight, and humor into powerful performances that captivate audiences and leave them wanting more.

For fifty years, Curtis Salgado has done one thing: made sure people know where this music comes from. His voice — muscular, soulful, capable of silencing a room on a ballad and filling a dance floor on the next song — carries five decades of American music history to every audience for whom he performs.

He is a five-genre American roots vocalist whose sound draws from funk, soul, gospel, R&B, and the deep tradition that runs beneath all of it. All absorbed from a childhood spent in the linen closet listening to his brother's records, at his mother's piano learning his first songs, and at his father's side discovering that Jess Stacy's solo on “Sing, Sing, Sing” changed what music could be.

The songwriting matches the voice. DownBeat praises his “impressive gift” as a songwriter. His originals sit alongside deep-cut covers of OV Wright, Clay Hammond, and Bobby Womack — artists he introduces from the stage every night because he can't help it.

“I just want them to know and love this music, to love, you know, and that's who I am. I just cannot believe how cool, how wonderful this stuff is, and who are these people and where they came from and what their environment was. I'm into the whole thing.” Curtis Salgado

“An icon” with “a huge voice.” NPR

Curtis Salgado saw Count Basie at 13 years old, turned to his father, and said: “This is what I want to do.” He has never wavered.

He learned racism through music — Count Basie couldn't walk through the front door of Carnegie Hall — and he learned history through the records his family stacked in every room of the house. By his early twenties he was playing harmonica in Eugene, Oregon, fronting The Nighthawks and co-leading the Robert Cray Band, fusing the five genres he'd inherited: funk, soul, gospel, R&B, and blues.

Over five decades he has accumulated 15+ Blues Music Awards — including B.B. King Entertainer of the Year, multiple Soul Blues Male Artist awards, Soul Blues Album of the Year, and Song of the Year for “Walk a Mile in My Blues.” Every one of them earned under his own name, on his own records, with his own band.

Mid-70s

Eugene, Oregon. Leads The Nighthawks. Co-leads the Robert Cray Band — vocals and harmonica.

Late 70s

Backs Albert Collins on tour. Coins the nickname “The Master of the Telecaster” on promotional posters. Helps facilitate Collins's connection to Alligator Records.

1977

Meets John Belushi at the Eugene Hotel. Schools him on the blues over dinners and stacks of records. Catalyzes the Blues Brothers. Briefcase Full of Blues dedicated to Curtis.

1980

Sings on Robert Cray's debut album. Six years co-leading the band.

1984–86

Fronts Roomful of Blues. Two years touring with one of the most respected horn-driven bands in American music.

1991

First album under his own name. Curtis Salgado & The Stilettos on JRS/BFE Records, distributed by BMG.

1992

Summer tour opening for the Steve Miller Band.

1995

Lead vocalist for Santana. Signs with Rhythm Safari/Priority. Releases More Than You Can Chew with Steve Cropper and the Tonight Show horn section.

1997

Late Night with Conan O'Brien with Terry Robb and Steve Miller. Releases Hit It 'n Quit It on Lucky Records.

1999–2008

Four-album Shanachie Records deal. Wiggle Outta This, Soul Activated, Strong Suspicion, Clean Getaway — the latter produced by Tony Braunagel with the Phantom Blues Band, earning four BMA nominations.

2010

First Blues Music Award. Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year. The first of fifteen.

2012

Signs with Alligator Records. Releases Soul Shot, his first album for the legendary Chicago label.

2013

B.B. King Entertainer of the Year. The Blues Foundation. The highest honor in the genre. Soul Shot wins Soul Blues Album of the Year.

2017

Song of the Year for “Walk a Mile in My Blues.” The Beautiful Lowdown wins Soul Blues Album of the Year.

2025

Fine By Me wins Soul Blues Album of the Year. Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year for the ninth time.

2026

Legacy Rewind: Live in '25. New live album on Nola Blue Records, recorded at The Triple Door in Seattle with a 15-piece band. Memoir Walk a Mile in My Blues in progress.

Along the way, he sang with the Robert Cray Band for six years and on Cray's debut album. He backed Albert Collins on tour and coined the nickname “The Master of the Telecaster.” He fronted Roomful of Blues for two years. He sang lead for Santana and toured with Steve Miller and Bonnie Raitt.

He has survived a liver transplant, lung cancer twice, and quadruple bypass surgery. His voice never diminished.

“Nobody out in the Portland audience knows who OV Wright is. Ever heard of OV Wright? Silence. Ever heard of Clay Hammond? People don't know who Clay Hammond is, and he's a killer singer and a great songwriter.” Curtis Salgado — on revealing the artists behind the music

Today, Curtis is touring behind Legacy Rewind: Live in '25, a new live album on Nola Blue Records recorded at The Triple Door in Seattle with a 15-piece band. He has new songs in development, a memoir coming early 2027, and the same mission he's carried since the beginning.

When asked what he'd want someone to understand if they found his records fifty years from now — the way he found those 78s in his parents' collection as a kid — his answer was immediate:

“I just hope it flips the switch of curiosity, and they wanna know what it is.” Curtis Salgado

In 1977, John Belushi came to Eugene, Oregon to film Animal House. He wandered into a bar where Curtis Salgado was performing with The Nighthawks. What happened next changed American pop culture.

Curtis became Belushi's guide to the blues and soul music that would become the Blues Brothers. He schooled him on Bobby “Blue” Bland, Albert King, Guitar Slim, and the deep tradition that mainstream America had never heard. He told Belushi to ask Ray Charles about Guitar Slim. Belushi said, “Who's Guitar Slim?”

“That's it in a nutshell, right? That's who I am. And I still do it. I can't help it.” Curtis Salgado — on the Guitar Slim moment

When Belushi asked what he could do in return for the education, Curtis answered:

“You see that pile of records? This is what I love and what I live for. I want everyone to know who these artists are. I don't want their legacy and their music to be forgotten. Just give credit where credit is due.” Curtis Salgado — to John Belushi

Briefcase Full of Blues, the Blues Brothers' debut album, was dedicated to Curtis Salgado. The character of “Joliet” Jake Blues was modeled on him. Fifty years later, Curtis is still doing exactly what he told Belushi he would — making sure the music and the people who made it are never forgotten.

The Belushi Letter

On Phantom Enterprises letterhead, Belushi wrote:

“Curtis opened the door to a new and more exciting area of music for me i.e. Blues. He told me he was trusting me with his life's work, the perpetuation of blues. He took his time and taught me about performing blues music. He trusted me as I now trust him. What I admire most about Curtis is his total belief and dedication. This man will never compromise his artistic principles.”

— John Belushi · Phantom Enterprises Ltd · 150 5th Avenue, New York

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