On Sunday, Sept. 15, we were treated to some of the best music Gainesville has to offer – and that’s saying a lot! This town is a music mecca. I suppose all college towns are, but I love living here where I can listen to bands every night of the week if I want to. But some nights are exceptional, and the evening of the Gainesville Blues Challenge was definitely one of those nights.
The first act up in the Blues Challenge was musician Rick Randlett. Rick played an amazing set made up of old-time blues songs and many entertaining original works. I understand he’s putting out a new CD and look forward to getting a copy. I actually thought this part of the competition was the closest, with Rick and old time blues artist Willie Green both bringing such amazing talents to the table.
Rick Randlett wore a tan porkpie hat with a navy blue band, white beard, long hair. He sits in a chair in front of the microphone, playing his guitar, with another guitar next to him. He’s got that growly voiced sound that is so blues distinctive. “It’s hard to believe but I’m still not over you.” Another great song was Fool for You, and the very funny Big Spender. “She wants a big spender, but I’m as cheap as I can be.” From serious, sad songs about breakups to funny songs about mismatched lovers, Randlett has them all. “She says the car really makes the man, but I’m going to drive my Pinto as far as I can.”
Willie Green played next, the old black man who epitomizes the blues. We saw him sing and play recently at an event in the Thomas Center, a Gainesville Art Gallery and meeting place, for the opening of an art exhibit celebrating the blues. I remember originally Willie seemed kind of old and tired. He sang well, played amazing harmonica, but he just didn’t seem to have the strength to do the blues in a dynamic way. Surprise. Suddenly Willie threw away the chair, stood up and literally rocked the house.
This night, he started slow, peaceful, a nice bluesy standard. His guitar is old and beat up, his harmonica attached to a handle around his neck. I’ve been to blues jams where the musicians came in with a case of 30 harmonicas and changed every time there was a chord change (slight exaggeration J). But Willie just plays one old harp. Well. Very, very well. Like he’s been doing it since he was a kid…
Hootchie Kootchy man, sings Willie. If you looked away, you’d imagine more than one person playing.
After the individual artists, the amazing bands played, starting with a band called Bootleg Creek. I’ve never seen them play before. They were an impressive bunch. Four people in the band – guitarist is younger, the base player a seasoned player, the drummer is older and easily plays the blues. The woman singer is fantastic. She’s rail thin, dressed in heeled boots and brown jeans with a swirly off-white shirt and big earrings. She sang a different kind of hound dog song. Men as betrayers. It’s nice to hear a woman blues singer who doesn’t need the help of some back-up guy. And they did their own amazing song – I loved the lyrics, “Now I got that feeling, a lighter shade of blue”
Good gutsy guttural blues. Someone told me the band was from Jacksonville, but I couldn’t find out anything about them. I will definitely look for them again.
R. Mutt was up next, a Gainesville institution. I’ve written about them before, a spectacularly proficient band. We were surprised to see that they’ve added a saxophone player. The lead singer in R Mutt has such a strong voice he blows everybody else out of the water. He makes it look so easy. He sings, he plays guitar, he plays piano. Little bit of everything. Every member of the band, from the drummer to the guitarist, to Richard Heipp the bass player, were exceptional. I must say, Heipp was especially effective. You could feel the bass to the tips of your toes. The band closed out with two original songs. The one I liked the best, was a great hit, I hope Nobody Lied.
R. Mutt plays a sophisticated brand of blues, from their jackets and jeans to their coordinated sets full of call and response. We also enjoyed Juan Roland, their new sax player. What an enjoyable set!
Old School was up next. Old School is more of an old fashioned blues group, blue jeans and long hair tied in the back, three men who play exactly what it sounds like – jamming style blues. They like long guitar jams and they are excellent riffers. They have a blues beat and stay in the blues realm, but their work is much more rock and roll oriented.
Next came the Bridget Kelly band. They start out by explaining that they are planning to play nothing but original music. Again, they’re more of a rock and roll blues band. The lead singer, a gentleman dressed in black from head (hat) to foot (boots) has an amazing blues voice. And the female lead singer, who I assume is Bridget, also has a great voice. She is dressed in an interesting short black dress thing with cut outs on the arms, and she’s wearing high patent leather booties that glow in the dark flashing light of the fluorescent lit bar. She is blond and sexy. Bridget writes a lot of the songs the band played and she’s an excellent writer. I’d like to see more of this band, and maybe a little more bluesy focus.
Rob Richardson, the head of the North Central Florida Blues Society, announced the winners last night and today by e-mail:
Hello Blues fans,
The winners of the Gainesville Blues Challenge were:
Solo: Willie Green
Band: The R. Mutt Blues Band
Self-produced CD: The Bridget Kelly Band - Back in the Blues
Congratulations to the winners. All in all, it was one of those nights I live for. I wish I had any musical talent, but alas, I just appreciate it from afar. And musicians assume that if you don’t sing or play you have no artistic talent :)
One good thing though – last night, while I was taking notes for this blog, somebody asked me if I was working on a short story. That’s better than what I’ve been asked before – “Are you bored?” “Are you playing video games?”
I started to say, “No, I’m working on my novel,” but resisted. It's not every evening you get to hear so many talented musicians all at once. It was a night for music and I loved it.
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