The Charlie West Blues Festival is coming up next weekend. Twenty bucks (fifteen, if you join the Blues Society) nets you eight acts, including some people who have been up for awards. It's not necessarily a family-friendly-end-all-be-all of a a kind of festival. One of the more interesting acts on the card is a harmonica player named Jason Ricci.
Jason is a very, very troubled boy... He's had run-ins with the law, but doesn't look like a traditional blues player. He doesn't flinch when talking about his drug use or the fact that he doesn't fuck chicks (consider how many gay blues musicians you can think of), but man... he's got one spooky album out. His latest, "Done With The Devil" is creepy, heartfelt and just plain weird. It's what might have happened if Marilyn Manson had studied under Sonny Boy. Oh, it's dark.
He's also up for a Blues Music Award. Hell, he hasn't got a chance in hell, but it would still be cool if he won.
Anyway, the Charlie West Blues Festival next weekend. It's a pretty good ticket.
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First and foremost, Jason Ricci is probably one of the most balanced individuals in the blues industry. He spends the majority of his time helping other musicians, teaching harmonica, and delivering his service to make our world better by participating in numerous (uncountable) charity events. In fact, he has raised a lot of money for habitat for humanity, just this year alone. His drug use is from the past, he has been clean and sober for many years now... and whether he has a chance in hell of winning the award at the BMAs, is really not in question. He tours more than any other blues artist on the circuit, has had his last album hit number 6 or 7 on the blues charts for several weeks last year, and his new album will be no different. I just love how people like to psychoanalyze when they have absolutely no credentials to do so. Done with the Devil is about the balance of Light and Dark... hence the cover art being dark on one side and light on the other, and the CD ending with Sun Ra's Enlightment. I would agree that the album is a combination of Marilyn Manson and traditional blues... as weird as that may seem, it's different. Unfortunately, no one will appreciate a real musician or person of influence until he/she dies.... just a fact.
ReplyDeleteHmm, looks like I might have tripped an industry troll. I like Jason Ricci's music, so I'm not going to take offense, but you didn't read the post; just cherry-pick what you wanted out of it. You disregarded the tone and the sum content and just saw some minor descriptive stuff as substance. I've seen this before, when I attracted the attention of a country star running for election.
ReplyDeleteThis post points out a show and lists him as the reason why you should go. It is supportive of who he is, warts and all, supportive of his music, which I thought was cool, and supportive of his winning an award --which seems unlikely given the nature of the genre and the internal politics of most music award presentations.
These are apparent, but whereas he doesn't flinch away from talking about his past or who he is, I don't flinch away from it either. If anything, having trouble is necessary for a career in the blues or rock or country or just about any field except polka.
And yes, people get appreciated just fine while they're alive. It's actually a rare reversal when someone is appreciated more after they're dead. People loved Elvis just fine before he died. Real musicians vanish just the same as everybody else.
Thanks for stopping by.