Eugene Hideaway Bridges

Eugene Hideaway Bridges is a blues, electric blues and soul blues singer and guitarist from New Orleans, Louisiana, born in 1963 and raised in Amite, Louisiana. He is the son of blues guitarist Otheneil Bridges Sr, who performs as Hideaway Slim, and the fourth of five children. His mother comes from the Bullock family, the same family as Tina Turner, and Bridges says he takes his guitar playing from his father’s side and his voice from his mother’s family.

Early years and touring life

Bridges begins performing at a young age, playing with his father around Louisiana when he is five. He performs with his brothers as the Bridges Brothers, singing gospel and serving as the musician for his church while touring with Pastor Elder AA Edwards. By thirteen, he is entering R&B talent contests and fronting his first R&B group, The Five Stars. At sixteen he joins the Air Force and plays in the Air Force band for three years.

Career development

After leaving the Air Force, Bridges joins The New Chosen on guitar and vocals and later plays with The Mighty Clouds of Joy. He then moves to Houston, Texas in the 1980s and records blues, gospel and R&B material with three bands he is running at the time, including the first line-up of the Eugene ‘Hideaway’ Bridges Band, which tours across the United States.

He later travels alone to Europe, where BB King bassist Big Joe Turner hears him in Paris and invites him to join Big Joe Turners Memphis Blues Caravan as guitarist and vocalist. About a year later, Bridges leaves to work under his own name again and forms The Eugene Hideaway Bridges Band.

Recordings, labels and collaborations

Bridges signs to Blueside and records Born to be Blue, produced by Mike Vernon. He later signs to Armadillo Music and releases Man Without A Home. His 2003 album Jump the Joint reaches number 4 in the US Living Blues charts and remains in the chart for three months. His songs also appear regularly in the National Association of Rhythm & Blues DeeJay charts.

In 2004 he records Coming Home at The Zone Studio in Dripping Springs, Texas, using a full horn section on several tracks led by Seth Kibel. Texan guitarist Rocky Athas appears on two tracks. A later self-titled album, Eugene Hideaway Bridges, is recorded with friends and musicians he meets on the road; Lucky Oceans plays pedal steel on three tracks and Ray Wylie Hubbard plays slide guitar on “I Can’t Wait”.

In 2009 he records the live album Live in San Antonio with Bobby Baranowski on drums, Eric King on bass, David Webb on keys, Seth Kibel on sax and Justine Miller on trumpet. In 2011 he returns to The Zone Studio with producer Pat Manske for Rock And A Hard Place, a big-band recording with horns arranged and led by Seth Kibel. The album includes David Webb on keyboards, Hammond B3, piano and Wurlitzer; Lloyd Maines on pedal steel; Eric Lollipop King on bass guitar; Calep Emphrey on drums; Shane Pitsch on trumpet; and Mark V Gonzales on trombone.

His 2013 collection Roots & Vines gathers thirteen original songs and four covers, while his 2015 release Hold on a Little Bit Longer features a horn section led by John Mills, with Kevin Flatt on trumpet and Jon Blondell on trombone. Bobby Baranowski returns on drums, Otto Williams plays bass, Clayton Doley plays Hammond B3 and piano, and Micky Moody guests on slide guitar on the title track.

Recognition and live work

Bridges receives UK Blueprint Magazine Vocalist of the Year and wins the France Blues award for singer of the year in 1999. He is nominated for three US Cammy Music Awards in 2003. Eugene Hideaway Bridges is nominated for two 2008 Blues Music Awards, Live in San Antonio is nominated for two 2011 Blues Music Awards, and Rock And A Hard Place receives three 2012 Blues Music Award nominations. Hold on a Little Bit Longer is later nominated in the Contemporary Blues Album and Contemporary Blues Male Artist categories for the 2016 Blues Music Awards.

He appears frequently at major festivals in the United States, across Europe, in Singapore, New Zealand and Australia, often as a headliner, and is described as a travelling musician whose home is wherever the next performance takes him.