Blues and Bourbon Wednesdays: Chrissie O'Dell and The Real Deal

A perfect “Blues and Bourbon” finale to 2022! Since her arrival last year, Chrissie O’Dell has been wow-ing Sacramento audiences with her powerful soulful voice and undeniable stage presence.

No stranger to performing, this New York native brings a few decades of blues singing experience with her. Growing up in a musical family (Mom was a drummer), Chrissie had been around music all her life but didn’t start singing herself until into her late 20’s. “I didn’t know I could sing” she says and although never formally trained to do so, she sure knows how to get a message across. Her nearly all original, independent release If I Had a Dime earned her a place on all three major national blues charts and spent 12 weeks there! She was also one of only four fan-voted winners in Blues Revue Magazine’s “Sponsor the Band” contest in 2011. The other three winners were Albert Castiglia, Chris O’Leary and Charlie Musselwhite.

Chrissie’s sound has been described as …

“…..somewhere between Koko Taylor (in the rough pieces) and the soul of Etta James” —Wassa-Prawda, Musik und Meer- Kulturmagazin

“O’Dell delivers blues with a heartfelt, deep and sexy voice” —Ken Shankman, Elmore Magazine

“O’Dell is the real deal” —Steve Jones, Blues Blast Magazine

Speaking of The Real Deal, Chrissie is excited to introduce the world to her brand new West Coast band full of seasoned blues playin’ veterans.

The Real Deal are a five piece high energy, lowdown blues band that provide the perfect pairing for Chrissie’s sweet, gutteral phrasings. Featuring harpman, Dave Croall and drummer Pat “Ratatat” Balcom who are both former sidemen of the late great Johnny “Guitar” Knox. “Ratatat” and saxophonist Marty Deradoorian (Luther Allison, Albert Collins), and original Little Charlie and The Nightcat’s bassist Liz Peel are all Sacramento Blues Society Hall of Fame members. With the ever shining Dave “Sunshine” Segal on guitar, together this band is on fire and worth seeing!