This is one of the more readily available interviews with Lester Butler, but we’re including it here anyway:
Blowin’ out reeds with Lester Butler: Blues harp player/singer says the bad luck made him better
By Fred Shuster, Los Angeles Daily News Music Writer
March 28, 1997
Blues harpist Lester Butler says 13 is his lucky number, even though it spells bad news for others.
“There’s lots of symbolism behind it — bad luck and that whole deal,” Butler said. “But it’s always been lucky for me. All the bad things that happen make you stronger. The 13 thing is where the worst stuff can happen, but you can turn it around, and it actually helps you survive.”
Butler, who sings the blues with conviction and blows a mean Chicago-style harmonica, has been through the music-biz ringer. In the early ’90s, he led the Red Devils, a popular local combo that scored a deal with producer Rick Rubin’s Def American label. The band recorded an EP and a well-received live album titled “King King,” after the then-jumping club.
On Mondays, the Devils played to star-studded, packed houses at the now-defunct La Brea Avenue night spot. ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons and Mick Jagger often dropped by. Queen’s Brian May, members of the Black Crowes, Lenny Kravitz and Peter Wolf sat in with the band. Angelo from Fishbone would recite spoken word when he wasn’t playing saxophone.
