JASON RICCI & NEW BLOOD Source: Metromix Tampa Bay Date: 11/2008 Writer: Danielle Hope Hier

Not all blues is the same, and if you think you're in for only one definition of the genre, you're in for a surprise.
Saturday, November 1st marks Sarasota Blues Festival's 18th year as one of the largest outdoor venues in the Tampa Bay Region.  Featuring everyone from international blues legends like Bobby Rush, Bob Margolin, JJ Grey & Mofro, and up-and-coming local All Stars and fabulous Jason Ricci & New Blood, take a look at some of this year's music line-up:

Jason Ricci:
I didn't think I'd have a chance to catch up with the elusive Jason Ricci and New Blood (currently on tour and promoting their new Rocket Number 9 album), but the singer / "devil on the harmonica" playing Ricci, was gracious enough to contact me in between his massive schedule for some Q & A:

Q: In listening to Rocket Number 9, I can hear the integration of blues, jazz, funk and rock, but there's also an Asian and Indian influence threaded throughout a number of songs.  Where did that come from?

A: Thanks for listening all the way through and paying attention...We just love all kinds of music from everywhere and feel the need to incorporate a lot of what we hear into our own individual playing, which ends up infecting the whole tribe like a bird flu. Except no one really dies...Well, maybe metaphorically...

Q: I read that you perform some 300 or more gigs a year, which doesn't surprise me.  Within your music, there is a sense of urgency, and I'm not sure whether it's a need to constantly learn, do and accomplish more as an artist and musician, or if there's a message you're hoping to convey.  Is it one, the other or both? 

A: I would say it’s both...That’s very perceptive of you...I have heard the word “Urgency” used before to describe my playing and singing or even performing. I have to keep learning, because I’m around players I want to keep playing with, and they're always learning. Plus, I don’t want them to get bored of my chops, and it’s no fun to buy a second or third album (by a largely instrumental improviser) and hear the same licks over the same (or different) chords.
If there’s a message, [it's that] I’ve been given a second shot at life and I don’t want to waste it.  I’ve seen so many good people die way before their time. I just want to get as much music and feeling out there as possible, before I’m eaten by rabid foxes or something.

Q: As far as instruments of choice go, why the harmonica?

A: I guess it kind of chose me.

Q: People who are creative thinkers, rarely become artists, musicians or performers by accident.  There is usually some - or a compilation - of moments that brought them there.  What moment(s) brought you to becoming a singer/song-writer?

A: I have been pretty miserable, philosophical, and probably chemically imbalanced since I was old enough to talk, so basically, I’m unemployable in any other field. Now after watching all my buds that got college educations and day jobs lose their jobs after long - loyal stretches - with big companies I don’t feel that bad, although I would never, ever recommend this profession to any one I didn’t truly hate.
Having said that, some people just have to do this. That’s all. They just have to perform, write, play or all three...It’s just that way for some of us. For me, its therapy, and I would probably be back in jail, prison or dead without it. So, I just do it because I have to. It’s my life, and I like it...most the time.
Unfortunately, it is a job that - when it’s not going well - you can’t help but bring that home with you. It becomes hard to separate the musician from the person, but that really is the key to living a healthy life, on and off stage. You have to have that separation, both to keep your ego in check - as well as - intact at other times. This whole business is completely whacked out. You have to keep your head and your soul pure, or you’re done for eventually.


Q: What are you working on now, and where do you see your music going from here?

A: We are working on our next record which we will be recording the second week of January, and will be finally out in early April. I have no idea where the music will go, I just want it to stay sincere and be fun too. I’m writing a lot about the Devil, and demons, as well some more pleasant - and perhaps more human - subjects as well.
This album will have more swingy, jazzy stuff on it than the last, and may have more actual semi-traditional blues styling than ever before. I think I would like to see my own playing be a little less urgent and become a tad more realized and ready to die. Whatever happens, it will be good because we do rock very hard at all times, even when we suck.