Irving Louis Lattin is a native Chicagoan who grew up during a time when almost every blues legend lived, recorded, and performed throughout the Windy City. It was common, as Lattin recalls, to walk past neighborhood bars and hear amazing blues and soul every day of the week. In this milieux, the young Lattin learned to jam with blues veterans on Maxwell Street. Gospel and soul also influenced his musical upbringing, as did Chicagoans outside the blues tradition, including Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions, Jerry Butler, Gene Chandler, Syl Johnson, Tyrone Davis, Ramsey Lewis, and the Emotions. Called "the real deal" by blues fans, Lattin is a songwriter, singer, and guitarist who has built an impressive body of work over a career of many years.