From Italy to Boston, Noe Socha has a future in blues

Guitarist and harmonica player Noe Socha, age 19, may still be a student, but he has hit some major music rooms in his young life, and he’s been invited to play with some impressive New England talent. Originally from Carpi, Italy(near Bologna), Socha came from his small city to study in Boston at Berklee College of Music.

Socha hasn’t declared his major yet, but he’s leaning toward Guitar Performance. He simply likes the sound of the guitar, which he plays with all fingers on his right hand, instead of a pick. That technique he developed as he started out learning classical guitar. “I like the sound more, and I feel more comfortable,” Socha said.

With so much picking going on, Socha can weave melody and rhythm. “You have a wider range of sound. It depends on how you pick the chords,” he said. “I just like to see what comes out.”

Socha fell in love with the blues in Italy, after his teacher taught him some songs. From there, he downloaded blues music and researched online. It was hard to find anyone to play with in the Delta blues style, as everyone there who plays blues leans toward Chicago.

The young guitarist/harp player prefers the basic, earthy catchiness of Delta blues. “The feeling, and the fact that it’s simple but truthful,” he said. “You can tell that the people who are playing that are feeling what they’re playing.”

Socha likes Lightning Hopkins, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Lonnie Johnson, Albert Collins, B.B. King, and Muddy Waters. He learned their melodies and their styles, and he took the feelings and he tries to play it in his own way. “I never try to imitate people. I can take something from one and something from someone else and create my own thing,” he said.

Italy has a scarcity of blues players and blues clubs, so Socha is grateful for greater opportunities here in the United States. He said that in Italy there are few people who play blues and that the clubs who host see the same people sitting in the audience night after night. The young musician also has an interest in jazz greats like Django Reinhardt and Wes Montgomery.

The young musician, who plays harp too, had a lot of fun working with Cheryl Arena, who has invited him to Texas to gig with her. Although Socha doesn’t play country much, he did pull out a country twang lead phrase one night when jamming with Love Dogs’ keyboardist Alizon Lissance. “I just tried and did it at the moment,” he said. “I did what I was feeling at the time. It wasn’t something that was prepared. I didn’t even know the song, to be honest. Alizon was doing the chords. I just followed it and put something I thought would sound good.”

Guest appearances is where Socha can most likely be found. The guitarist plays upscale rooms like Bull McCabe’s in Somerville, Club Passim in Cambridge, and In A Pig’s Eye in Salem, Massachusetts with his friend, Eric Reardon, He’d like to make a demo soon. For the time being, the guitarist has a dorm project with his singer friend, Nyol Manswell of Trinidad. They cover “Fragile” by Sting. There dorm band also includes Saxophonist Jonte Samuel from the Virgin Island, Brazillian drummer Ana Barreiro, percussionist Jordan Rose of Texas, and a bass player named Robert.

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