Alex Kilroy grew up in Bistrița, Transylvania, with an American flag above his bed and a conviction that Romania was temporary. That instinct led him through classical piano training, a Stevie Ray Vaughan revelation, European festival stages, a Berklee scholarship, visa complications, a cold-called gig at Buddy Guy’s Legends in Chicago, a car rebuilt from junkyard parts, and eventually to Florida, where he made his debut album. ‘Break My Chains’ arrives May 15, produced by Tres Sasser, and the title track and lead single are out now.
The album’s philosophy is straightforward and personal. Kilroy put it plainly: “Break My Chains is about breaking the chains of trying to be somebody else. Breaking the patterns in your own mind. Realizing you’re a soul having a human experience.” That clarity runs through his guitar work, blues-rooted and modern-edged, shaped by a life that moved on its own terms from the start.
Kilroy’s father Iulian, a guitarist himself, was the one who first dared him to learn three Stevie Ray Vaughan songs note-for-note in a single summer. He was also the first to hear the finished masters. Iulian passed away earlier this year after a long illness, but the lessons he gave his son, respect, discipline, and the refusal to imitate, are woven into every track on this record.
The boy who once opened for blues legend Lucky Peterson at age fourteen in Romania now stands in his chosen country, green card in hand, debut album ready. ‘