Hometown heroes

Roomful of Blues keep on keeping on

by Bob Gulla

Roomful of Blues

You may have heard this story a dozen times or more, but, like the timeless fairy tales you were told as a kid, this one bears repeating. And for those of you haven't heard this story before, listen closely. It'll provide you with lessons in perseverance and endurance. It'll impress you with its dedication and its singlemindedness in keeping lit a flame that is too often about to be extinguished. But then, enough bad poetry.

Since 1968, Rhode Island's Roomful of Blues has waved the blues and R&B banner proudly, not only representing the time-tested genre, but also representing the state and the region. Go to Europe and they'll tell you who Roomful of Blues is, sometimes with more detail than the Rhode Island natives who have had the band living under their noses for three decades. Since 1968, through a myriad lineup changes and over 15 recordings, Roomful has kept a faith in the blues-swing-R&B that few -- if any -- others have, taking upon themselves to throw party after nightly party, kicking dance floors into gear and dancers in the butt. In fact, Roomful of Blues has transcended the idea of a mere band, of a gaggle of talented guys playing together. Roomful is more a way of life, one of pop music's most honorable and honored musical traditions.

But you know what the greatest thing about the band? They've never rested on their laurels. In fact, they've never rested, period. Sure, there have been a few times when the going has gotten tough and the band thought -- perish! -- that they'd lay down their horns and pick up quahog rakes or shovels and do something entirely non-musical. But they didn't. They gutted it out. And because of that, they've won audience after audience, generation after generation, and tons of respect within the industry. Just last week, they were bestowed with a W.C. Handy Award for Best Horn Section, a victory prized, of course, by the band's horn section -- trumpeter Bob Enos, trombonist Ray Gennari, and tenor sax Rich Lataille -- but also by the rest of the band, the band's organization, and the band's fans.

Chris Vachon has played guitar with the band -- the most recent in a long line of sublime guitarists behind Duke Robillard and Ronnie Earl -- for five albums now. He produced the band's new Roomful disc Watch You When You Go, which is out Tuesday, at his place, Boo Studio, in good ol' Wakefield. "I still really like the experience," he says of being in Roomful. "I wanted to be in Roomful for a long time. So once I got in it, I really wanted to make the best of it." He talks of his time in Roomful like some teachers talk of tenure. "I also like playing with the big band thing. I get to back up a lot and then step out and do solos and stuff. It's more fulfilling musically." During the course of a show, Roomful breaks down its lineups a few times, changing to a blues trio to allow Vachon some room to roam, and also letting the horn section step out for a significant passage. "We don't want to be doing a shuffle all night. We change the way we write to keep it interesting for us and for our audience."

There's never been a problem keeping a Roomful show or recording interesting for an audience. Their 33-year history and their vast appeal internationally testify to that. It's that recognition factor that has the band under contract with the Rounder label for at least another three or four albums. "Most people know where we come from," says Vachon, "but a lot of younger kids know these days about the band, which is good for us. Even over in Europe -- we try to make it over there every couple of years, but it's expensive to maintain a presence there, sending all of us over."

Most of the band's fans, here or anywhere else, know that the Roomful legacy began in Rhode Island, which makes the octet the Ocean State's premier musical ambassadors. Not only that, the presence of Roomful as a blues classroom of sorts, a place for musicians to live and learn the blues, has almost singlehandedly served to develop the area blues/R&B scene. (With all due respect to the local blues musicians who popped up simultaneously.) "That's right," Vachon agrees. "A lot of bands in the area grew out of seeing the band and forming their own thing. That presence helped build the blues scene."

It's debatable whether the blues scene has changed for the better these days, but one thing is certain: Roomful still makes rollicking records. It doesn't matter if they're covering some classic or obscure blues tunes or drumming up their own originals, the Roomful roots run so deep, the quality and authenticity has become as much a part of their sound as a great guitar solo or electrifying horn chart.

With recording assistance by Dave Prout and mastering by Jonathan Wyner at M-Works in Cambridge, Watch You When You Go is a blistering trip across a spectrum of blues. "Most everything we do is based on the blues," Vachon admits, "but it sounds a little different than most of the blues releases because we try to put different twists on our sound and push the songs in different directions."

The opening "Roll Me Over" is as much Southside Johnny as it is Roomful, with a bed of Hank Walther's keyboards over Thom Enright's bass and Chris Lemp's drums. A couple of covers flesh out the album -- Guitar Slim's "You Give Me Nothin' But the Blues" is a classic addition to the Roomful repertoire, as is Fats Domino's "Wait and See," and Earl King's loping "Your Love Was Never There." Tough-but-tender singer Mac Odom's work on "The Salt of My Tears" veers into Muscle Shoals soul territory with awesome results. In fact, Odom's awesome range brings an added soul/gospel dimension to the entire Roomful oeuvre. Odom is one of the newest members of the band and a real find.

"The lineup's been solid for at least a year and a half," says Vachon. "People have been coming in and out of the band lately; we try to get people who have a background in the blues and we like to find people from the area. But sometimes it's tough. Right now we have all Rhode Islanders except Chris our drummer and veteran Bob Enos, who's from the Cape."

But then, the Cape's well within spitting distance when it comes to Roomful's travel plans. They normally spend two or three weeks home at a stretch, then head out to destinations unknown. This summer they'll be headed out to California and Colorado for a few weeks to promote the album's release. "The schedule gets tiring sometimes," says Vachon, "but everyone's used to it. We don't stay up all night anymore like we used to!"

Roomful will play on Saturday, June 9 at a fund-raiser at the St. Andrews School in Barrington, on Sunday, June 10 at the Berlin Blues Festival in Berlin, Connecticut, on Monday, June 11 at the Ocean Mist in Matunuck (with Anson Funderburgh), and on Tuesday, June 12 at the Laconia Theater in Weirs Beach, New Hampshire.

WANDERING EYE. On Friday, June 8 at the Call, the Ball Pit Kings and Meat Depressed will set the stage for Warm Jets, a band featuring C.J. Ramone of the Ramones.

The finals for the Institute for Sonic Evolution (ISE) competition which took place over the spring and across the state will be held at the Living Room on Thursday, June 14. It will feature the Comic Book Superheroes as the supporting Providence band and Erik Narwhal as host. The finals will feature the best high school bands from all four corners of the state: the Ballpit Kings, Wedgie, Keep the Change, Ullision, Monty's Fan Club, Boarder Patrol, and Ellis Ashbrook. The performances will be recorded for download from our online libraries and broadcast from DownCitySignal (www.downcitysignal.com). The most current information about the Institute can be found at www.rattleheadrecords.com/ise.

Bob Gulla can be reached at b_gulla@yahoo.com.