When Eddie Taylor Sr., a founder of postwar Chicago blues and the genius behind the famous Jimmy Reed, passed away in 1985, his red guitar, a Gibson 355 stereo, was left sitting in the corner.

Eddie Jr., the third son in the family, had grown up hearing blues, but his main interest at the time was the current hip-hop music. One day he started listening to his father's records, picked up the guitar, hooked it up to the old Fender tube amp, and started teaching himself to play and sing.

Today, at only 32 years old, Eddie Taylor Jr. is a leader in traditional Chicago blues.

"Most people who play the blues today don't have the old original feel. I respect all the musicians, but there are certain musicians who give me that true feeling that I really want", he says.

Eddie's sophisticated playing allows him to bring back some old favorites and add his own new tunes. that are a bit too tricky for the average blues bar band to copy. Fans are sure to tap their toes when he belts out "Cut You Loose," a Ricky Allen tune which was a favorite of his late mother Vera.

"I can play along with a lot of different kinds of music," says Eddie, "but when it's my turn to stand up, I play what I play. I don't know whether the person in front of me in the audience knows anything about Eddie Taylor Sr. or Jimmy Reed, or if they are a jazz fan or a classical fan looking to hear something different. But the music I play, I play like me. That's the way I do it."

Eddie's rising star was temporarily knocked aside in 2002, when he suffered a severe kidney ailment. His youngest brother Milton came to his rescue and donated a kidney. With the support of family and fans, Eddie has regained his strength-and it shows on the bandstand.

Like his father, he lays down a great rhythm line for harmonica players, appearing on new CDs by traditional harpists Little Arthur Duncan and Easy Baby and backing up Easy Baby in the Chicago 2003 Blues Festival. Eddie's Wolf Records tribute to his father, "Lookin' for Trouble" features outstanding musicians such as Eddie Shaw on sax, Johnny B. Moore on guitar, and Martin Lane on harmonica. His own new Wolf release "Worried About My Baby" has five of his own compositions. Both Wolf records feature his brothers Larry and Tim on drums.

A Taylor family band is one of Eddie's dreams: " We're proud of our heritage. We want to let the world know what we're about. That's all we're trying to do-get a fair chance out of life, like everybody else."