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| (Sugar Ray Norcia) |
In 1991 just as singer and harmonica player Sugar Ray Norcia
was signing on with the Roomful of Blues band, the latest swing dance/music
craze was taking over the US. Luckily Roomful and Norcia already possessed the horn and jump
blues credibility to fit right in with the retro crowd of the day.
“We started out in a small cramped van but finally graduated
to a tour bus,” Norcia said. “Roomful of Blues did 250 dates a year in those
days. I was with them for 7 years and they were some of the best times of my
life. My last show was New Year’s Eve 1999.”
Prior to Roomful Norcia had been playing harp and singing for
over 10 years with his own jump combo, Sugar Ray & the Bluetones, but this
new gig pegged him primarily as a vocalist.
“Understandably with a horn band like Roomful you aren’t
going to get the opportunity to play harp much,” Norcia said in an interview
before a recent sound check in Wilmington,
DE. “I played two harmonica songs
per set if that. Above all I wanted the world to see that I could harp.”
West Michigan music lovers have a chance to hear one of
today’s best singer/harp players when Sugar Ray Norcia joins Hank
Mowery & the Hawtones wsg Nick Moss May 1, at Billy’s Lounge in Grand Rapids.
Over the years Roomful has processed some 55 band members. More
than just another hired gun, front man Norcia wielded extra clout.
“When I joined Roomful they hadn’t made a record in 6
years,” Norcia told #TMGR. “I was instrumental in getting them back in the
studio and getting the recording ball rolling. I’d say we had good success.”
But what Norcia longed for most was a return to a band where
his harp playing reclaimed prominence. He says he feels most comfortable with a
smaller band who knows their way around the intricacies of the singer out front. That is one reason why Norcia showed no hesitation in
accepting a recent offer to play with the Nick Moss Band from Chicago.
“I didn’t even bat an eye, didn’t even think twice,” Norcia
said. “Nick and I played together a bit in Chicago at Buddy Guy’s club Legends. We’ve
passed paths many times throughout the years. I know he’s played with some of
the same people I have like Jimmy Rogers.”
So similar is their influence and experience there was no
discussion about which material to cover for a recent East coast tour “we just
got together and went,” Norcia says.
The legend of home town backing bands is among the richest of
blues traditions. The local guy accompanying distinguished visitors is
storied practice. So if a first-call backing band is what Norcia expects, such
a band he will get in the form of Hank Mowery & the Hawktones. Mowery’s
been working hard at this band stuff; he is currently paid up on all his dues. His
fellow Hawktones boast experience with harp heavies like Dennis Gruenling, Jim
Liban, and Gary Primich. Nick Moss fills the role of honorary Hawktone this particular
evening.
Norica and the Bluetones spent their youth welcoming
to the East coast and playing behind Chicago
blues luminaries Otis Rush, J.B. Hutto, and Hubert Sumlin. With recent
opportunities to tour with current Chicago
blues bands he says his musical world feels more complete.
Sugar Ray Norcia, Hank Mowery & the Hawktones CD release party for Excuses Plenty wsg Nick Moss, 9:30 p.m. Friday at Billy's Lounge. $7
The band plays the 8th annual White Lake Blues Festival, 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Howmet Playhouse (Whitehall, MI) see www.killerblues.net/ for more info
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