Popa Chubby

Popa Chubby (Theodore Joseph "Ted" Horowitz - born March 31, 1960, The Bronx, New York City), who plays under the stage name of Popa Chubby (a play on the slang idiom "pop a chubby", meaning to get an erection), is an American electric blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist.

Born the son of a candy store owner, at age thirteen Popa Chubby began playing drums; shortly thereafter, he began listening to the music of the Rolling Stones and started playing guitar. Although he grew up in the 1970s, Horowitz was influenced by artists of the 1960s, including Jimi Hendrix and Cream, among others. In his early twenties, although he mainly played blues music, he also worked as backing for punk rock poet Richard Hell. He first came to public attention after winning a national blues talent search sponsored by KLON, a public radio station in Long Beach, California. He won the New Artist of the Year award, and as a result, was chosen as the opening act at the Long Beach Blues Festival in 1992.

Popa Chubby played more than 200 club dates a year through the 1990s. His Sony/Okeh debut, "Booty and the Beast", was produced by Atlantic Records engineer/producer Tom Dowd, who worked on recordings for artists such as Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and Wilson Pickett.

In 1994, Popa Chubby released several albums on his own Laughing Bear label, including It's "Chubby Time" and "Gas Money", before he obtained a recording contract with Sony Music/Okeh Records for "Booty and the Beast", his first major-label album, which was released in 1995.  In 1996, was released a live recording of Popa Chubby's, "Hit the High Hard One". Two years later, "One Million Broken Guitars" was released on Lightyear Records; "Brooklyn Basement Blues" followed in 1999.

In 2000, he signed with the Blind Pig label and released "How'd a White Boy Get the Blues?" in 2001. The disc turned out to be a slight departure from his usual musical direction, incorporating elements of contemporary pop and hip-hop.  "The Good, the Bad and the Chubby", released in 2002, was an example of the development of his songwriting skills and included the 9/11 commentary "Somebody Let the Devil Out." Blind Pig released a collection of early Popa Chubby recordings, "The Hungry Years", in 2003. A year later, he released "Peace, Love and Respect".

Two albums previously available only in France, "Live at FIP" and "Wild", were compiled by the Blind Pig label and released as "Big Man, Big Guitar" in 2005, followed by "Stealing the Devil's Guitar" a year later. "The Fight Is On", was his first studio album after a two-year hiatus. It was released in February 2010 on the Provogue label in Europe, and Blind Pig in North America. A world tour followed.

In 2008, Popa Chubby and his life partner Galea, recorded "Vicious Country", which was released on the Dixiefrog label. "Vicious Country" was chosen as 'Record of the Week' by the French Canal+ television station in March 2009.

(Popa Chubby at Wilmington's Riverfront Blues Festival 2014)