The Kilborn Alley Blues Band has graduated from the underground and is providing listeners a graduate course in real Chicago blues on their third Blue Bella CD, Better Off Now. Their first two Blue Bella releases were nominated for Blues Music Awards, and Better Off Now makes the case that the third time should be the charm. The band recently won the 2009 Blues Blast "Sean Costello Rising Star Award" during the all-star blues gala ceremony at Buddy Guys Legends last October. These guys dish up back-alley blues, anguished soul ballads, and churning R&B workouts, comfortably playing all of them because unlike so many of their peers, they comprehend the inexorable connections between each genre and make them their own.