{{Multiple issues| {{primary sources|date=August 2015}} {{unreliable sources|date=August 2015}} }} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = The Cash Box Kings | image = | image_upright = | image_size = 250 px | landscape = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank --> | caption = Photo Roman Sobus | origin = Chicago, Illinois and Madison, Wisconsin United States | genre = {{hlist|Blues|Rock}} | label = Alligator Records | website = {{URL|https://www.cashboxkings.com}} | current_members = * Joe Nosek * Oscar Wilson * Billy Flynn * Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith * John W. Lauler }}

'''The Cash Box Kings''' is an American blues band from Chicago, Illinois, United States, specializing in Chicago-style blues from the 1940s and 1950s,<ref>[http://www.visitmadison.com/includes/calendar-of-events/WUD-Music-Presents-Cash-Box-Kings-w-Paul-Filipowicz/36518/0/] {{dead link|date=March 2019}}</ref> as well as Delta blues style music from the 1920s and 1930s.<ref name="chicagomusic.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagomusic.org/cash-box-kings-w-barrelhouse-chuck-%E2%80%A2-kenny-smith-%E2%80%A2-joel-paterson/#.Vbjnb5NViko|title=Cash Box Kings w/ Barrelhouse Chuck • Kenny Smith • Joel Paterson|website=Chicagomusic.org|access-date=2016-01-10}}</ref>

==Overview== The Cash Box Kings were created by singer, songwriter, and harmonica player Joe Nosek, who now heads the band,<ref name="bluesjunctionproductions.com">{{cite web|url=http://bluesjunctionproductions.com/monthly_album_spotlight_the_cash_box_kings_-_holding_court|title=BLUES JUNCTION Productions - Monthly Album Spotlight: The Cash Box Kings - Holding Court|website=Bluesjunctionproductions.com|access-date=2016-01-10}}</ref> along with singer/songwriter Oscar Wilson. The band was signed with Alligator Records,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.alligator.com/artists/The-Cash-Box-Kings/|title=Alligator Records - Genuine Houserockin' Music Since 1971|website=Alligator.com|access-date=30 March 2019}}</ref> and more latterly Blind Pig Records.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blindpigrecords.com/index.cfm?section=artists&artistid=94 |title=Blind Pig Records |publisher=Blind Pig Records |access-date=2016-01-10}}</ref> The band is named with respect to ''Cashbox'', a defunct publication that kept a music chart from the 1940s through the mid-1990s that rivaled ''Billboard'' 's.<ref name="nodepression.com">{{cite web|url=http://nodepression.com/album-review/cash-box-kings-holding-court|title=Cash Box Kings - Holding Court|work=No Depression|access-date=2016-01-10}}</ref> ''I-94 Blues,'' the band's fourth release, was recorded entirely in a single day, with a majority of the finished tracks recorded live in the studio.<ref name="chicagobluesguide.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagobluesguide.com/reviews/cd-reviews/cash-box-kings-cd/cash-box-kings-i94-cd-page.html|title=CASH BOX KINGS: I-94 Blues, Blue Bella Records|website=Chicagobluesguide.com|access-date=2016-01-10}}</ref> ''Holler and Stomp'', the CBK's Blind Pig label debut, was nominated for Blues Blast Music Awards for “Band of the Year,” “Song of the Year” and “Best Traditional Blues” CD. The band released ''Black Toppin''' in 2013 to favorable reviews,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagoblues.com/black-toppin-with-the-cash-box-kings/|title="Black Toppin'" With The Cash Box Kings - Chicago Blues|website=Chicagoblues.com|access-date=2016-01-10}}</ref> and the album won the Blues Blast Music Award for Traditional Blues Album of the Year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bluesblastmagazine.com/2013-blues-blast-music-awards/ |title=2013 Blues Blast Music Awards |date=January 2014 |publisher=Blues Blast Magazine |access-date=2016-01-10}}</ref> Their album, ''Holding Court'', released in 2015, has received favorable reviews from critics and fans<ref>{{cite web|url=http://somethingelsereviews.com/2015/05/19/cash-box-kings-holding-court/|title=Cash Box Kings - 'Holding Court' (2015): Review|website=Somethingelserevirews.com|date=19 May 2015 |access-date=2016-01-10}}</ref> for its songs' contemporary themes.<ref name="bluesblastmagazine.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.bluesblastmagazine.com/the-cash-box-kings-holding-court-album-review/|title=Blues Blast Magazine - The Cash Box Kings – Holding Court - Album Review|website=Blues Blast Magazine|date=19 June 2015 |access-date=2016-01-10}}</ref> For example, "Download Blues" recounted the struggles of musicians in today's internet and digital music piracy age,<ref name="chicagomusic.org"/> while "Gotta Move Out to the Suburbs" bemoaned the difficulties that come with urban gentrification<ref name="bluesjunctionproductions.com"/> juxtaposed with traditional, old-school blues style.<ref name="nodepression.com"/><ref name="elmoremagazine.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.elmoremagazine.com/2015/05/reviews/albums/the-cash-box-kings-holding-court|title=Elmore Magazine - The Cash Box Kings – Holding Court|website=Elmore Magazine|date=13 May 2015 |access-date=2016-01-10}}</ref> It is their third release with Blind Pig, a label that band header Joe Nosek says they feel "at home" with.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bluesmagazine.nl/cash-box-kings-holding-court/|title=New Cash Box Kings album "Holding Court"|work=Blues Magazine|date=26 February 2015 |access-date=2016-01-10}}</ref> Gaining traction with this album, the CBKs were featured performers in the 2015 Chicago Blues Festival.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bluesinthenorthwest.com/index.php/2015/05/01/news-the-cash-box-kings-new-release/|title=News: The Cash Box Kings new release|website=Bluesinthenorthwest.com|access-date=2016-01-10}}</ref>

The Cash Box Kings received three nominations for the 37th Blues Music Awards, held in May 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blues.org/2015/12/3425/ |title=37th Blues Music Awards &#124; The Blues Foundation |website=Blues.org |date=2015-12-15 |access-date=2016-01-10}}</ref>

Their 2019 recording, ''Hail to the Kings!'', was chosen as a 'Favorite Blues Album' by AllMusic.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/year-in-review/2019/favorite-blues|title=Favorite Blues Albums &#124; AllMusic 2019 in Review|website=AllMusic|access-date=December 24, 2019}}</ref>

==Members== ===Joe Nosek=== Joe Nosek moved to Chicago in his early teens, and, inspired by the music of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf (Chester Arthur Burnett), fell in love with the blues. He remembers attending the Chicago Blues Festival every year and seeing his favorite musicians perform at blues bars. He learned to play the harmonica and guitar, and by his early twenties, Nosek had performed with Clyde Stubblefield, Luther Allison, and Casey Jones. Nosek formed the Cash Box Kings in his mid-twenties, for whom he provides vocals, arrangements, and harmonica.<ref name="chicagobluesguide.com"/><ref name="jimwhite">{{cite web|url=http://communityvoices.post-gazette.com/arts-entertainment-living/blue-notes/30329-cash-box-kings-old-blues-made-new-again|title=Cash Box Kings - Old blues made new again|author=Jim White|work=Community Voices from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|access-date=2016-01-10}}</ref> Nosek wrote or co-wrote eight of the thirteen tunes appearing on the band's 2015 album, ''Holding Court.''<ref name="bluesjunctionproductions.com"/>

===Oscar Wilson=== Oscar "43 Street" Wilson, the second front-man of the band, was born in Chicago into a musical family: his father was a jazz, blues, and gospel musician and composer. He taught himself guitar, piano, drums and harmonica, and remembers performing at the age of 11 at a neighbor's house party. Instead of having formal training as a new musician, Wilson is mostly self-taught, resulting in his own personal style and technique.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagoblues.com/for-oscar-wilson-its-all-about-family-and-the-blues/|title=For Oscar Wilson It's All About Family And The Blues - Chicago Blues|website=Chicagoblues.com|access-date=2016-01-10}}</ref>

===Kenny Smith=== Drummer Kenny "Beedy Eyes" Smith got an early start with the blues, performing with Muddy Waters at the age of seven. From there he went on to perform all over the world and record tracks with Pinetop Perkins, Homesick James, Billy Boy Arnold, Henry Townsend, Junior Wells and Jimmy Rogers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cashboxkings.com/|title=Cash Box Kings - Cash Box Kings|work=Cashboxkings.com|access-date=2016-01-10}}</ref>

===Joel Paterson=== Playing guitar and singing vocals for the Cash Box Kings, Paterson has toured and recorded with Wanda Jackson and David "Honeyboy" Edwards, among others. He is currently a member of not only the Cash Box Kings, but other Chicago bands such as the Modern Sounds and the Western Elstons.<ref name="jimwhite"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://joelpaterson.com/bio/|title=Joel Paterson|website=Joelpaterson.com|access-date=2016-01-10}}</ref> He also played with Kim Wilson's Blues All-Stars.<ref name="bluesjunctionproductions.com"/>

===Other members=== The CBKs are also augmented by a rotating cast of honorary Kings<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wortfm.org/cash-box-kings-to-rule-the-stage-at-worts-block-party-this-sunday/|title=Cash Box Kings to Rule the Stage at WORT's Block Party this Sunday|work=WORT 89.9 fm|access-date=2016-01-10}}</ref> including Gerry Hundt (bass, rhythm guitar, vocals), Billy Flynn (guitar, mandolin, vocals, harmonica), Brad Ber (upright bass), Beau Sample (upright bass, vocals), and Mark Haines (drums).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/chicagobluesfestival.html|title=City of Chicago :: Chicago Blues Festival - Performer Bios|website=Cityofchicago.org|access-date=2016-01-10}}</ref> Barrelhouse Chuck (piano, vocals) also regularly performed with the group, prior to his death in 2016.<ref name="bluesjunctionproductions.com"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/reich/ct-barrelhouse-chuck-obit-ent-1214-20161213-column.html |title=Barrelhouse Chuck, dead at 58, celebrated Chicago blues, and enriched it, too |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |access-date=2016-12-14}}</ref> Travis Koopman (guitar, vocals, songwriter) was a founding member of the Cash Box Kings. He contributed to the early Cash Box Kings albums and was in the traveling road band between the years of 2001-2008.

==Discography== * ''Live! At the King Club'' (2003)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mnblues.com/cdreview/2003/cashboxkings-kingclublive-cr.html|title=The Cash Box Kings CD Review|website=Mnblues.com|access-date=2016-01-10}}</ref> * ''Black Night Fallin''' (2005) * ''The Royal Treatment'' (2006) * ''I-94 Blues'' (2010)<ref name="chicagobluesguide.com"/> * ''Holler and Stomp'' (2011)<ref name="jimwhite"/> * ''Black Toppin''' (2013)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stonyplainrecords.com/Web/artist.asp?id=586|title=++ Stony Plain Records: The Cash Box Kings ++|website=Stonyplainrecords.com|access-date=2016-01-10}}</ref> * ''Holding Court'' (2015)<ref name="elmoremagazine.com"/> * ''Royal Mint'' (2017)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/The-Cash-Box-Kings-Royal-Mint/release/10548831|title=The Cash Box Kings - Royal Mint|website=Discogs.com|access-date=11 July 2017}}</ref> * ''Hail to the Kings!'' (2019) * ''Oscar's Motel'' (2023)

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{Official website|http://www.cashboxkings.com}} * [http://www.blindpigrecords.com/ Blind Pig Records official website]

Category:Chicago blues ensembles