Smokin' Joe Kubek, whose nickname was earned with his blazing guitar playing, passed away while on tour in North Carolina. It is a great loss to the Blues fans who loved Kubek's superb recordings and hard driving live performances.
Born in Grove City, Pennsylvania and raised in Dallas, Texas, Kubek started on Blues and guitar playing at a very young age and was playing the Lone Star State chitlin circuit at age 14. By the 1970s, he played with Freddy King, who he stayed with through the end of King's life. Smokin' Joe released his first recording in 1985. Then in 1989, Kubek started playing with Louisiana born Bnois King (no relation to Freddy).
Early on Kubek and King mainly played in the Texas area until they spread out through the rest of the Southwest in the late 1980s. After Kubek's first full length album in 1991, Steppin' Out Texas Style he set out on his first national tour. Kubek and King continued to tour regularly until Smokin' Joe's passing Oct. 11, 2015. His memorial is set for Saturday, Oct. 24 in Dallas, Texas.
I will leave the last word to Smokin' Joe Kubek's close friend and long time collaborator Bnois King, "He loved the blues. He was always very serious about the music and the presentation of the music. He had a modern style but he really studied those old cats. And, he would literally give you the shirt off his back. He was a great friend."
Smokin' Joe Kubek : Nov. 30, 1956 – Oct. 11, 2015
