Kid Congo and The Pink Monkey Birds - Dracula Boots [2009]

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Powers is a second generation Mexican American born and raised in El Monte, California. In 1976, he was president of The Ramones fan club, then ran a fanzine for The Screamers. After traveling to London and New York City he returned to L.A. and in 1979 met Jeffrey Lee Pierce. Pierce taught him to play guitar using open tuning, and they formed 'The Creeping Ritual', which became The Gun Club. Powers left that group before their recording debut, instead joining New York-based band The Cramps in December 1980, who dubbed him 'Kid Congo Powers'. He rejoined the Gun Club from 1983-1988, when he again left to join Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in Berlin, for several albums and associated tours. Powers has also played with The Divine Horsemen, The Angels of Light, and Die Haut.

Most recently, Powers has collaborated with New York City guitarist Jack Martin on projects like The Pink Monkey Birds, Congo Norvell, and Knoxville Girls.

On his new album, DRACULA BOOTS, out March 2009 on INTHERED Records, the legendary Kid Congo Powers returns to the psychedelic jungle with a stripped down, no frills set of volcanic songs. Kid, the premier voodoo guitarist for seminal sexy swampy bands like Gun Club, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds and The Cramps is a restless aesthete. He used his earlier solo efforts to explore vocals and mix genres. With DRACULA BOOTS, Kid comes back to his roots as a crackerjack guitarist playing the primitive music that inspired him; the raw sounds of garage and early Chicano rock. It only made sense to record such glittering gems as Thee Midniters "I Found A Peanut" and Bo Diddley's "Funky Fly" in a high school gymnasium. He did this in a Midwest town called Harveyville with his nefarious Pink Monkey Birds. Bassist Kiki Solis from El Paso,TX. and Drummer Ron Miller from Macon,Ga. provided the southern soul sauce needed to fuel the engine of the rhythm train. Recording on a stage using the old PA system created a natural reverb, summoning the magic of a bygone prom interrupted by a juvenile delinquent rumble. The original songs on DRACULA BOOTS go from loud, fuzzy biker rock (Hitchhiking) to a greasy rump shaker groove (Bobo Boogie), from a scary movie soundtrack (La Llarona) to The Meters having an acid flashback (Black Santa). So sink your teeth into this hunk of wax and waste no time strapping on your DRACULA BOOTS. You will dance your way from the cradle to the grave, and beyond.