Alley Cat (False Dog Records) marks the overdue return of the Westside Andy/Mel Ford Band, a Madison, Wisconsin-based combo that deserves wider recognition. Featuring a rock-solid rhythm section and the triple-threat vocal frontline of Ford (guitar), harmonica wizard Andy Linderman, and key-board ace Jimmy Voegeli, this varied set hits on all cylinders. The swinging "Around the Next Corner" includes a killer chromatic harp workout and a great chorus on organ, while "That Girl's All Woman" cannily updates the classic "Double-Eyed Whammy/San-Ho-Zay" groove. The band takes on Gulf Coast roots-rock in "Party Girl," soul-blues in the sweet confection "Back Roads," and blistering, Albert Collins-inspired organ blues in "Can't Be True." Highly recommended.
Tom Hyslop, Blues Review - Jan 2009

At least 5 years ago, my sister (who always has the best taste in music) drove me over 400 miles to hear West Side Andy and the Mel Ford Band. Since then, I have been privileged to see the band a number of times when they've come to Minneapolis. West Side Andy/Mel Ford Band has been together for more than 14 years playing throughout the Midwest and attracting hundreds in their home state of Wisconsin. This incredible talented group of musicians display a real love for what they are doing at every performance. Alley Cat, their most recent CD, is the best of the best and packed full of some of the bands favorite recordings from their live performances. The first cut Alley Cat was written by Mel Ford and starts the CD off with dancing blues. You gotta get up and join in the fun. If you have never heard Westside play his harp, your in for a treat as he is truly one of the best players there is. He wrote "Shes Hot" and "Back Roads" on the CD. Mel Ford wrote 6 of the tracks and as always, his strong rich voice and sweet guitar carry the cuts thru a blues journey to the end of the CD. All five of the musicians in the West Side Andy band blend their sounds beautifully and I guess that is what has helped them endure and develop and large loyal following over the years.
Diana Olson
Blues On Stage November 14, 2008

Though Chicago isn't far away, Wisconsin isn't often thought of as a home to great blues. Think again: The Westside Andy/Mel Ford Band is thoroughly pro. Andy blows harmonica on the virtuoso level, with great tone and an apparently endless stock of ideas, and beats the odds by doing it gracefully. Ford, likewise, is terrific and toneful. Both men sing well, and the band (featuring keyboardist Jimmy Voegeli) is downright tight, carrying off long running times without filler. Live on the Westside (False Dog), packed with fresh arrangements and steamy grooves, comes very much recommended.
Tom Hyslop, Blues Review - May 2000

Review of Live on the Westside CD

This is not your average Wisconsin bar band: Westside Andy (harp) and Ford (guitar) have too many chops to be denied, and the group fairly smolders on this live set. Check out what caught Gary Primich's ear for yourself, and you'll be pleasantly surprised. (False Dog)

Blues duo says thanks
'Westside' Andy, Mel Ford throw bash for CD debut
Westside Andy Linderman and Mel Ford will host a CD release party at the Club Tavern, 1915 Branch St., Middleton. "I want to give something back to the fans and make this a real party," Linderman says. That means admission is free and there will be munchies and more. The party kicks off at 8 p.m. Call 836-3773 for information. And what better place to host the release party since "Live on the Westside" was recorded live at the Club Tavern over two nights (Feb. 1 and July 21, 19990 and captures the dynamic local blues duo at their best- live. Here's what the blues fans can expect from the Westside Andy/Mel Ford Band's nearly 74-minute CD. Linderman happily handles the harmonica and vocals duties. Ford adds even more flavor as he fills in on guitar and vocals. The CD opens with "On My Way" and Linderman's searing harp along with Ford's husky vocals and a band introduction. The duo is joined by keyboardist-vocalist Jimmy Voegeli and a strong rhythm section in drummer Steve Dougherty and bassist Tony Menzer. The crowd also factors into the mix with its clapping and carousing. But it adds character to the CD without distracting from the songs. "You Were Wrong" and "Party at My House" are as much foot stomping oldies rock as they are blues. "Way Back Home" is a longtime fan favorite and one of the group's most requested songs. Here it is captured as sweet and direct as when Westside Andy stole the show at the UW Varsity Band concert in 1998. "Get Your Business Straight" is a bouncing rhythm and blues song that feature Voegeli pounding out a musical story of his own. Linderman unleashes sassy harping on "It Hurts Me" while Ford's rootsy vocals are backed by jazzy keyboards. The group's remake of the Crusaders' " Put It Where You Want It" is anything but the little thing it is introduced as and comes in at nine minutes and 51 seconds but doesn't feel too long. In fact, it allows Ford to stretch on guitar, giving Linderman some short breaks before he blasts out again. The more jamming songs are balanced by soulful songs such as "Sad Hours," which opens with a question and its own answer ("Can you feel the grove? Let's get nice and sultry now.") and the tough but honest and irresistible "I Own You." "I Underestimated You" and "Ludella" are smoldering, brimming with the sexual bravado of traditional blues songs.
Natasha Kassulke
The Capital Times December 2, 1999

Andy Linderman and Mel Ford have been playing around Madison for so long that it's easy to take them for granted. After all, their weekly gig at the Club Tavern pretty much assures that locals who thrill to a smart shuffle or a fluid blues ballad will eventually catch them in their element. They're fixtures here, and so is their relatively new band.

Of course, there's usually a reason that players become fixtures in their own hometown, and in Andy and Mel's case, the thing that sets them apart from ordinary boogie acts is a deep affection for all kinds of blues-based music. For example, while Live on the Westside (which, as the title suggests, was recorded live at the Club)is crammed with excellent hardcore material by the likes of Roosevelt Sykes and the criminally underappreciated Charlie Musselwhite, Andy saves his most poignant work for the Crusaders' honey-dipped instrumental "Put It Where Your Mouth Is." Yes, the guy can honk and double-tongue with the best of 'em, but on this track he demonstrates his versatility by giving a performance that's at once cool and funky.

Mel also showcases a breadth of styles on Live on the Westside, although much of the time, the crafty guitar-slinger sticks to the sinewy, house-rockin' Chicago approach favored by many veteran Wisconsin bluesmen. He's at his speaker-ripping best on Gwendolyn Collins' jaunty barrelhouse shuffle "Get Your Business Straight" and the herky-jerky mid-tempo blues strut "I Underestimated You," but casual 12-bar fans may actually get more out of his pert, jazzy approach to Musselwhite's lascivious ditty "My Daddy Was a Jockey." That goes ditto for his frisky rockin' and rollin' on "There's a Party at My House", a bustling novelty track that also features Linderman's swinging harp and some jumping tinkling from switched-on pianist/organist Jimmy Voegeli.

So is this the disc that Andy and Mel have been waiting all their lives to make? I don't know. Andy's work with Paul Black on the latter's single release for the House of Blues label was both sly and intense, and Mel made some fine music with his old band, the Fairlanes. What's different about Live on the Westside is that it shows just how skillful these two local greats have become at putting a live band through its paces. Sorrow, pain, hard-shuffling elation: Mel and Andy and their boys touch on 'em all in the course of this nifty package. Frankly, the parade of young hotlicks players who've mesmerized the contemporary blues scene don't have that gift for shaping a dramatic arc, and neither do the legions of boogie combos that make up in volume what they lack in taste. So, yeah, maybe Mel and Andy can-and will-do better than Live on the Westside, even so, it gives a damn good picture of how they've developed into first-rate blues players.
Tom Laskin
Isthmus January 14, 2000

Review of Apple River Blues Fest Performance
June 25, 2000
These two guys tore it up in their energetic mid-afternoon set of jazzy Chicago jump blues. Harp player Andy Linderman and guitarist Mel Ford fattened up their sound with a punchy rhythm section and Jimmy Voegeli on keyboards. They opened with an extraordinary extended jam on the old Crusaders instrumental "Put It Where You Want It," leaving no doubt what kind of mood they were in. Andy turned in a powerful performance on harp, dropping them on the floor between breaths to change keys. That was when he wasn't maniacally blowing his way through the crowd while Ford anchored it up on stage with his tasty, inventive guitar work.
Karl Bremer
Blues On Stage

"Andy Linderman is one of my very favorite harp players. His tone and phrasing are tops in my book."
Gary Primich
premier harp player

"I remain a fan and supporter of your work as one of the most dynamic electric harmonica players of your generation."
Dan Aykroyd
actor, musician

“From lowdown to uptown, Mel is one of the finest blues players in the Midwest, if not the country.”
Ben Sidran, musician/producer

“Andy Linderman is a great player, a great heart, a great musicality and energy, and a great friend.”
Corky Siegel, musician/producer

“Can’t remember if Mel plays any tunes about cars, but he does rock the blues like a demon.”
Isthmus Critics’ Choice

“Mel Ford is part historian, part poet, and just about the best damn guitar player I’ve heard.”
Ed Johnson
WMMM-FM

“(Andy) offers lively renditions of old rhythm and blues standards featuring exciting solo work and highly inventive harp technique.”
Jim Bessman
Variety Magazine

“Andy Linderman’s harmonica sounds like Little Walter sitting in with Slim Harpo.”
Dave Ranney
Blues Access magazine