Gil Correia Band’s debut album “Tattoos and Blues” dropped this week. The blues trio is led by its talented namesake, Cape Cod native and all around good guy, Gil Correia. Gil describes his band’s sound as “hard-driving blues.” “I think that the fans who aren’t my fans yet, when they hear the record they’re gonna hear a genuine person making genuine music,” Gil told MediaBoss Television‘s record label division, MediaBoss Entertainment. “There’s nothing phony about my sound, it’s right from the heart and the soul and it tells a story about me and my life.” “It’s a raw sound and I think it’s my own sound because I’m so raw at it,” he added. Gil’s journey to becoming an accomplished blues musician is an interesting one. He didn’t start playing the guitar seriously until he 42 years old . “I always wanted to be a musician,” he said. “But life wasn’t the greatest and I couldn’t really get it together.” He’ll tell you he actually got his first guitar when he was 14-years old. His brother’s friend gave it to him when he joined the Hari Krishna. But this guitar didn’t last long in his possession. Gil said his mother “freaked out” one day and smashed it over his bed post. “Later in life, when I finally had my so-called “shit together” I said ‘I’m going to learn how to play the guitar, seriously learn how to play it, and make music and make a living doing it,” Gil added. “And I did. I picked it up and went at it with vengeance.” His ‘vengeance’ has very clearly paid off. “From the minute I met Gil, I knew he had it,” Jim Foster, MediaBoss producer said. “Gil is the easiest guy there is to work with and it comes across in the music.” “He has an original style and sound that’s very raw and honest,” Jim continued. “It reminds me of players from a long, long time ago.” The respect Jim has for Gil as a musician is equal to the respect Gil has for Jim as a producer. “Jim is a great guy, easy to work with, and he’s got a good heart,” Gil said, adding with a smile, “He got the best out of me … without offending me either!” Gil’s an earnest guy. When he makes a statement, he’s thoughtful about it. He’s covered in tattoos and has a reason for every one of them. His right hand boasts a tattoo of the word “Blues” scrawled in a banner at the base of a blue heart with wings. It’s prominently featured in his album cover artwork. “I started getting tattoos on my hands … and it’s a pretty big thing when you get them on your hands. I had to get something that represented what I was all about,” he explained. “I said, ‘I got to get something of my love of the blues,’ so it’s a heart with the blues and fire and wings … and it’s pretty cool.” When asked about the skull on his left hand – also prominently featured on his album cover, he grinned slowly and said, “I like skulls. Guys like skulls.” Then he added with a laugh, “What can I say? Skulls are cool.” <a href="https://www.last.fm/music/The+Gil+Correia+Band">Read more on Last.fm</a>. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.