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"A lot of times I hear potential in a musician," says Iglauer, "and I feel as though if I could get a chance to work with that musician, I could unleash that potential. I have that much ego...with certain musicians, certainly not with everybody, but with certain musicians I think that there's something I could do with them that hasn't been done yet, that maybe they don't even know is inside them. Maybe that's what a good producer should be, somebody who both helps the musician realize his own vision, and helps the musician expand his or her own vision."

The Next 40 Years

What's in the future for Alligator in the next ten years, the next 40 years? "Hopefully I'll be around doing this for the next 40 years," says Iglauer. "I'd enjoy the 80th anniversary collection...I'd only be 103, so it's certainly possible," he says, laughing. "I'm very healthy, but there's nothing like 40 years of constant stress, crappy diet, not sleeping very well, and taking marathon drives across the country to make you young and healthy."

"I've said in the past that I hope that the future of the blues...and I use a broad definition of the blues...and the future of Alligator are intrinsically connected," he says. "I want to be the label that people look to for musicians that are both carrying on the tradition in really honest ways, and reinventing it so that what Alligator releases in 40 years may not sound like the blues that are being recorded right now, but will feel like the blues that are being recorded now, that have that direct, raw, soul and butt-shaking feeling that our current records are supposed to give you."

Genuine Houserockin' Music

"I talk about his 'genuine houserockin' music' term," says Iglauer, "and in the introduction to our 40th anniversary collection, I write about the meaning of the words 'genuine houserockin' music,' and it means more than just rocking in the physical sense, it should be soul-rocking music as well as body-rocking music. It should be genuine in the most obvious way, it should not be artificial, it should not be contrived, it should not be created by people in their bedrooms instead of people in front of audiences."

"The 'houserockin'' part means not arena-rocking or stadium-rocking, or even theater-rocking, but right there, right in front of you, music that you could reach out and touch. It's intimate music," he adds, "music that is directly from the musician and goes to your body and your soul with nothing in between." (phone interview, February 1, 2011)

Related Content:Bruce Iglauer Interview, Part One