Scott Bronnes/Mission Of Blues
Day two of the 2oth anniversary of the North River Blues Festival at Marshfield Fair was a huge success. Attendance was fairly brisk in the beginning and it continued to pick up as the day went on. Several blues fans were present by the time the national acts performed. Hosted by Peter Black, blues DJ at WATD’s Wide World Of Blues, every act was smoothly introduced. Black’s booming voice could be appreciated for its clarity during many of his announcements, especially as he kept asking the bands to play one more song, which went over well the North River Blues audience.
Mission Of Blues began the festival with their blues renditions of popular Americana tunes. MOB were celebrating their 20 years as band. “Honey Hush” found lead singer Scott Bronnes belting with his raspy, plaintive voice, supported by a jaunty rhythm section and a finely picked lead guitar phrase. MOB went into Ray Charles’s classic “Hard Times.” Bronnes’ harmonica melody, dry, easeful, and heartfelt, reached something deep inside the listener. Steve Todesco’s lead guitar technique made the melody seem to cry out of the amps. A brisk rendition of Al Green’s “Take Me To The River” was full of bulky groove and lead by that beautifully, soulful rasp voice before a lead guitar phrase during the bridge set the song on fire. MOB tackled a Freddie King tune which gave them a chance to offer a solid chunk of blues. Their groove was nice and knobby. The guitars were feisty and the lead vocal was emotive, straight forward. MOB have a knack for finding blues in unexpected places, like their rocking arrangement of Gladys Knight’s “My Imagination.” Todesco pressed out a fierce melodic phrase before second guitarist George Dennis took over with his own take on the line, adding a high pitched cry.
Sam Gentile
Side stage band Basic Black featuring Sam Gentile offered all of the edge they’ve become known for. The band fit the festival like a glove. The guitarist looked so right up there as blues fans chugged down draft beers and fine cigar smoke wafted in the air. Gentile’s edgy guitar practically barked out his melodic lines while the rhythm section kept an elevated, sophisticated thump beneath him. Settling into the down tempo “Reconsider, Baby,” Basic Black found a place where tasteful drum work accented well a groove coming from their organist. He tapped out a string of smoky notes that couldn’t be denied. Gentile next crooned “Pretty Baby” with dramatic flair while his sassy guitar attitude dueled with some fancy piano boogie. His guitar got another gust of wind when he played a lean phrase that stabbed the air with incisive notes. In other sets, Basic Black played “Crosscut Saw” with rippling guitar notes that turned into the kind of deep cutting phrase that sounded so good next to that piping hot organ blares. “Walkin’ The Dog” was another blues classic that Basic Black tackled with their crunchy guitar phrasing and bubbling organ zeal. Another plus was their frenzied take on “Thrill Is Gone” from their final set.
Erin Harpe
Erin Harpe & The Delta Swingers soon took to the main stage for their set. Harpe’s easeful croon and some sunny instrumentation turned “Good Luck” into a light, likable number. EHTDS bopped their way through “Pick Poor Robin Clean” with a palpable beat and Richard “Rosy” Rosenblatt’s amicable harmonica take on early 20th century jazz. Their hit “Charles River Delta Blues” was a hot chunk of down and dirty Boston blues, something full of city attitude, something a local could love as much as that dirty water. Harpe’s sultry vocal oozed over the melody like a sensuous snake while Rosenblatt’s full harmonica line was loaded with old school Mississippi Delta flavor. The band’s mid-tempo blues take on John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery” made one feel like dancing a jig or doing a two step. Harpe’s rangy vocal added a nice twist, reaching new highs and finishing with an impressive sustain. Their bluesy arrangement of “Gimme That,” from their Love Whip repertoire kept things funky and Harpe‘s effects pedal guitar phrase was a very clever twist. (Love Whip is an Afro-pop ju ju band that features most of the members from EH&TDS). Another highlight from this band was “Voodoo Blues” in which Harpe’s call and response chorus got the audience involved.
Johnny Hoy
Johnny Hoy & The Blue Fish came on strong with their combination of blues and oldies style rock and roll. “Cadillac” was a blast from the past while Hoy‘s original “Film Noir Angel” was sung as a crooner centric song, married to a style from when blues and early rock and roll met. The beat could’ve come off of any early Elvis Presley album while Hoy’s harmonica style was deeply felt blues. Hoy and his Bluefish made “The Shape I’m In” stomp forward with a beefy groove, over which Mr. Hoy belted with a soulful rasp. His delivery was salty, raw, something loaded with emotion. Mr. Hoy turned Willie Nelson’s “Opportunities To Cry” into a slow burner blues, allowing him to showcase what he can do at the emotional level. He lulled several couples onto the dance floor. He was also pretty handy with that harmonica too, injecting intervals of sweet notes that rivaled the piano. Hoy & the Bluefish offered a wide array of songs with large sounds, almost like something orchestrated for theatre. One ominous sounding new tune, “Rolled And Tumbled, from their latest CD, The Dance, made its sad overtones rock with abandon, like a runaway train, like something wicked this way comes. Another tune featured intense harp, nasty slide, and the chunkiest rhythm section this side of the Mississippi as drummer Chris Anzalone packs a mighty wallop in everything he does.
Mike Zito
National blues sensation Mike Zito & The Wheel took over the main stage and treated the Marshfield audience to his incredibly huge guitar sound. Zito and his A-list support players went into some funky blues material before making a huge impression with “Pearl River,” his grand hit. With epic guitar work and a narrative arc that reaches high, this number captivated several hundred in attendance, hitting home like something requiring a momentous occasion. Zito and his boys locked into a tense groove and he fired off some the most exciting guitar lines this side of the Mississippi. Zito explored bombastic chords and psychedelic blues on “39 Days,” a song that exploded out of the speakers with low end pluck, organ screams, and drum pounds. Zito worked his fierce magic with lightning strike guitar phrasing, beautiful and frightening at once. Vocally, he belted out what was going on inside his tortured soul when he first recorded this, reaching a catharsis for himself and his audience. The guitar man also played some south Texas style blues, pressing out some spiraling phrases that seemed to be scaling a mountain of grooves. One could feel their grooves under their feet, and it’s a good thing that rhythm section didn’t trigger an earthquake. Zito called Florida blues man Damon Fowler to the stage to make some more guitar magic happen. The two with The Wheel’s support turned “Heard It Through The Grapevine” into a very large song with their heavy tones and electrifying fret work.
Rod Piazza
The headlining act Rod Piazza & The Mighty Flyers were a real treat for die heard blues fans. They hit a great stride with “All Night Long” as their piano, harp, guitar mash up was heavily drenched in the Delta idioms. “I’ll Be Your Man One Day” showed Piazza’s smooth rasp is a cut above the rest, making the song startlingly authentic. Guitar eruptions and piano tinkling and fiery harp created a virtual blues wall of sound. Their latest title track “Emergency Situation” rolled right in with cool, amplified down tempo guitar and a ruggedly fierce harp line. Classic “Baby, Please Don’t Go” was another this upscale outfit decked out in fine blues trappings, making one sense the yesteryear in the tones and structure. Piazza’s wife and piano player Honey Piazza was masterful at conjuring that fine ivory tinkling, making each of her notes shine with the perfect tone and sustain. What a perfect band to close out the well attended 20th anniversary of the North River Blues Festival.
Chicken man attended
Shortly before the festival ended, Black presented the Frank McIsaac Blues Fan Of The Year Award to MoeJoe Marino, the husband wife team Maureen and Joseph Marino who attend and video record numerous blues events throughout the year. The award is decided upon by Boston Blues Society and North River Blues festival organizer John Hall.
Host and organizer John Hall has been making these festivals happen for 20 years. How one man can have the organizational skills to get all of those acts together for two days of blues, following a previous Sunday’s Green Harbor Roots Festival, all these years, is hard to understand, but easy to appreciate. Each band at Sunday’s event was killer. Let’s hope John Hall can come up with another 20 years of great blues and festivals.
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