BIOGRAPHY - EUGENE ‘HIDEAWAY' BRIDGES

Eugene is a nomadic musician living his life on the road. His home is wherever the next
performance takes him, and every year this is from America through Europe, to Australia with
many other stops on the way.

Born in 1963, the son of the blues guitarist Hideaway Slim, Eugene is the fourth child of five.
His mother was from the Bullock family (the same as Anna Mae Bullock better known as Tina
Turner) and Eugene claims he got his guitar skills from the Bridges side and his voice from
the Bullocks. At five he was already playing with his father around Louisiana. With his
brothers as The Bridges Brothers he sang gospel and was the musician of his church touring
with the Pastor, Elder A. A Edwards. At thirteen Eugene was entering R&B talent shows and
had formed his first R&B band, The Five Stars.

Eugene moved to Texas to join the Air Force at sixteen, playing in the Air Force band for the
next three years. On leaving he joined The New Chosen Singers on guitar and vocals and
went on to play with The Mighty Clouds of Joy.
Following a move to Houston, Eugene released Blues, Gospel and R&B recordings by the
three bands he was running at the time. These included the first line-up of the Eugene
Hideaway Bridges Band. They toured the USA from coast to coast.
Eugene then travelled alone to Europe, where B B King Bassist Big Joe Turner spotted him in
Paris, offering him the position of Lead Guitarist/Vocalist with Big Joe Turners Memphis Blues
Caravan.

A year later he left to work under his own name again and formed The Eugene Hideaway
Bridges Band. Signed to the Blueside label, Eugene recorded Born to be Blue produced by
Mike Vernon. His live performances received rave reviews and Eugene was awarded vocalist
of the year by the UK's Blueprint magazine and won the Trophees France Blues 99 Chanteur
De LAnnee.

In 2000 Eugene signed to Armadillo and released his next CD Man Without A Home which
was played worldwide and he appeared, often headlining, at major festivals in the USA, all
over Europe, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia. Whipping up a storm wherever he went
with his distinctive southern sound.

His 2003 release Jump the Joint reached Number 4 in the US Living Blues Charts, remaining
in the charts for three months. Eugene's songs also appear regularly in The National
Association of Rhythm & Blues DeeJays charts. He was nominated for three 2003 US
Cammy music Awards.

In September 2004 Eugene recorded his new CD Coming Home at The Zone Studio in
Dripping Springs, near Austin, Texas, using a full horn section led by Seth Kibel, on several
tracks. He also has Texan guitarist and friend Rocky Athas joining him on two cuts.
After four CDs recorded with his full band, for his self titled release ‘Eugene Hideaway
Bridges' ARMD00025 he has gone into the studio with friends and fellow musicians met on
the road. Lucky Oceans, co-founder of the Western Swing band ‘Asleep at the Wheel', plays
some fine Pedal Steel on three tracks. Australian Ian Moss is on Guitar on another, Clayton
Doley joins in on Hammond on two more and Texan legend Ray Wylie Hubbard lays down
some fine Slide Guitar on ‘I Can't Wait'.

This new release went straight into the Living Blues charts at Number 10.

DISCOGRAPHY

QUOTES

He really could be Gods gift to the future of the blues.
- Cilla Huggins Juke Blues

Eugenius.
- Mojo

Blessed with a level of craftsmanship far beyond his years.
- Living Blues

Look out world, Hideaway Bridges isnt hiding any more he's coming right at you and you're
going to like him.
- Blues and Rhythm

A dynamic young bluesman whose combination of instrumental prowess, lyric and musical
vision, and passionate and emotional commitment results in a refreshingly adult set full of joy
and meaning.
- Living Blues #153

Hands down one of the best of the younger crop of blues slingers. Bridges' arsenal is that rare
triple threat - an outstanding vocalist, guitar player and a fine songwriter.
- Jeff Harris, Bad Dog Blues

Man, can Bridges sing. Blues soul fans take note: This hugely talented
singer/songwriter/guitarist deserves to be a star.
- Jeff Calvin, Blues Revue #64 2001

If there's anyone who's ever a sure thing for blues stardom it has to be Eugene "Hideaway"
Bridges, who at 40 (young in the blues world), is already one of the blues elite. The UK based
Armadillo has done a classy job with this release but it's still ironic that a bluesman of his stature
has to leave his own country to make a living.
- Jeff Harris, Bad Dog Blues, NY 2003

His voice is his secret weapon: constricted with emotion on the upper registers, clear-timbered
and sure through the middle range, it carries strong echoes of the church even as he oils it with
bluesy sensuality (as well as an appropriately Texan tinge of hard-country balladry).
- David Whiteis, Living Blues #169 2003