Chris O’Leary is a blues vocalist, harmonica player and songwriter on Alligator Records. Born in Schenectady, New York, he got hooked on The Band as a kid, then found the blues through his father’s record collection. A copy of Muddy Waters’ Hard Again made him pick up the harmonica and teach himself to play.
After serving in the U.S. Marines, including combat tours in the Middle East, Chris went on to work the music scene in New York’s Hudson Valley and in New Orleans. He joined Levon Helm’s house band, The Barn Burners, at Helm’s Classic American Café, and spent about six years touring North America with Helm and the band. He also befriended and played with blues legend James Cotton, and he made his recording debut as a harmonica player on Hubert Sumlin’s About Them Shoes in 2003.
His Alligator Records debut, The Hard Line (2024), went to #1 on the Billboard Blues Chart and earned three 2025 Blues Music Award nominations, including Blues Artist of the Year and Best Live Performer. His newest album, Blue Collar, arrives on Alligator on July 10, 2026: eleven original songs, from the mournful “Nothing But a Memory” to the first single, “Bad Decisions,” with guests Wayne Toups, Bob Margolin and Lil’ Ed Williams.
The Galaxie Agency is proud to work with Chris in a management capacity.