Photo by Paul Moore

Angela Strehli is poised to return with her first album in over 17 years, Ace of Blues, on Nov. 18 via Antone’s/New West Records. For over 50 years, her voice has graced the music world, sashaying through genre, leaving gentle yet permeant imprints wherever she landed – but no such mark has been left so cleanly as her mark on the blues.

Strehli’s influence can still be observed at Antone’s, an iconic Blues club in Austin, Texas, which she helped found in 1975 with the late Clifford Antone; and where she befriended and performed with Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, Jimmy Reed, Albert King, and so many more.

On Ace of Blues, Strehli celebrates the artists who inspired her throughout her life and career with renditions of songs made famous by Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Otis Clay, Elmore James and more. The album is capped off with “SRV,” a personal and original song that pays tribute to the late Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Today we premiere the lead single off the album “Two Steps From The Blues,” a song doused in blue light and veiled in thick white smoke. On the track, Strehli, accompanied by the glam and glimmer of a full backing band, gives tribute–to the song made famous by Bobby Bland–with sentimental vocals that drip with a musical acumen that could only come from experiencing it live, in person and with absolute focus.

“I think this is a special song that Bobby Bland did beautifully. In paying tribute to these important artists, I wanted to stay as true to their original recorded arrangements as possible,” Strehli told Relix. “This may have been the most difficult, but I think we got it. My band Southern Feeling opened for Bobby at the Austin Coliseum in 1976.”

Ace of Blues will be available across digital retailers and streaming platforms, compact disc, and standard black vinyl, on Nov. 18. A limited 500 Blue Vinyl Edition will be available at independent retailers and is available for pre-order. Pre-order the LP here.

Listen to Angela Strehli’s rendition of “Two Steps From The Blues” below.

Angela Strehli Ace of Blues Track Listing:

1. Two Steps From The Blues
2.  Person To Person
3.  Ace Of Spades
4.  I Love The Life I Live
5.  You Never Can Tell
6.  Gambler’s Blues
7.  Howlin’ For My Darling
8.  Trying To Live My Life Without You
9.  Take Out Some Insurance
10. More And More
11. I Wouldn’t Mind Dying
12. SRV