After leaving Guns N'Roses, SLASH wasn't sure if the departure would be short term, long term or permanent. A lot would depend on the mood of Axl Rose and what he might offer his lead guitarist to return (if indeed he were to offer anything). SLASH always has to be busy, so he formed yet another new band. This band would go out on short tours and play cover songs, so they could be busy right away. The band SLASH started was called SLASH's Blues Ball, the same group that had accompanied him to the Sziget Festival on Obuda Island in Budapest, Hungary in 1995. They played before 206,000 visitors along with Iggy Pop, Sonic Youth, Stone Roses, Prodigy and others. And they blew them all away! SLASH decided this was going to be HIS band for the near future. SLASH's Blues Ball was: SLASH on lead guitar,Teddy Andreadis on lead vocals, harmonica, organ, Johnny Griparic on bass, Alvino Bennet on drums, Bobby Schneck on rhythm guitar, and Dave McClarem on sax. Teddy Andreadis may be familiar for his showstopping harp work on the GNR Illusions tour and on the Believe in Me tour with Duff McKagan. A very talented musician!

The band did blues cover songs such as Stone Free, Hootchie Cootchie Man, Suspicious, etc. Covering Snakepit songs and the Dylan song "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" are especially popular. There was a short East Coast tour, and one on the West Coast. Then Texas received some attention along with Louisiana and Nevada. Some big cities in the Northeast were next. Check the tour schedule to see where they performed and when. But at all their gigs, fans reported that SLASH and Blues Ball rocked the house, and SLASH was great for spending time with the fans before and after the show.

Despite some possible plans that SLASH talked about, SLASH's Blues Ball never released an album. Lots of fans didn't get to shows that were distant. For those fans who heard them and those who didn't, here are some audio clips from Blues Ball's show at Tramp's in New York City on 12/5/97. There are three songs each in wav format for you to listen to.

The first song clip is from "Hoochie Coochie Man"! Click on the small SLASH picture below to download and play this clip:

(WAV format,1K)

The next song clip is SLASH's Blues Ball playing "Bad Luck"! This is a great cover of this song. Click on the SLASH picture below to play this in wav format:

(WAV format,3.4Meg)

The last Blues Ball clip from Tramp's in New York City is one of their favorites, "Key to the Highway". All the clips came from a boot video of the band, so there are some more songs that will added as time goes on. For now, settle back and listen to our man SLASH do "Key to the Highway" with his great band, Blues Ball! Click on the SLASH picture below to download and play - this is wav format:

(WAV format,3.4Meg)



Here is the tour schedule for SLASH's Blues Ball:

SLASH'S BLUES BALL TOUR 1996-97November 1996

20	Brick by Brick	San Diego CA
21	The Coach House	San Juan Capistrano
22	House of Blues	Los Angeles CA

December 1996

5	Tramp's	New York NY
6	Mama Kin's	Boston MA
7	Electric Factory	Philadelphia PA (ticket giveaway-WYSP-FM)

January 1997

29	The Edge Nightclub	Palo Alto CA
30	The Trocadero	San Francisco CA
31	Galaxy Theatre	Santa Ana CA

February 1997

1	Roseland	Portland OR
2	Fenix Underground	Seattle WA
6	Electric Ballroom	Tempe AZ
7	Galaxy Theatre	Santa Ana CA
8	Ventura Theatre	Ventura CA

April 1997

4	Varsity Theater	Baton Rouge LA
5	Livestock	Tampa Bay FL(cancelled)
6	Back Room	Austin TX
8	White Rabbit	San Antonio TX
10	House of Blues	New Orleans LA
11	Area 51	Houston TX
12	Caravan of Dreams	Dallas TX
14	Cajun House	Phoenix AZ
15	Hunt Ridge Club	Las Vegas NV
19	Pink E's	Las Vegas NV

May 1997

10	HarborView Center	Baltimore MD
23	McInerny's	Los Angeles, CA
24	House of Blues	Chicago IL (Ticket Contests Only)
28	Mama Kins	Boston MA (Sold Out)

June 1997

6	The Fenix Underground	Seattle WA
20, 21	London Docklands Arena	London England

July 1997

1	Pine Knob Music Theatre	Clarkston MI (6pm, Cheap Trick Headlines)
25	Birch Hill	Old Bridge NJ (Rt.9 South) (Rattlebone Opens)
26	Loon Mountain	outside Lincoln NH

August 1997

27	Hollywood Colonade	Hollywood CA
31	Red Rocks Ampitheatre	Denver CO (with Sammy Hagar)

October 1997

5	Hollywood Bike Jam 97	Hollywood CA (Paramount Back Lot)
31	Cajun House	Phoenix AZ

November 1997

16	Paradiso	Amsterdam, Holland
31	Cajun House	Phoenix AZ

January 1998

28	Cajun House	Phoenix AZ (tentative)
31	Roxy - NAMM Convention	Los Angeles CA (private)

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