It takes all kinds of people, everyday people, to keep a movement alive year after year, decade after decade, real people like Lori Urso. Urso, a southern Rhode Island girl who grew up loving Ace Frehley but soon moved on to Eric Clapton and Bonnie Raitt, now devotes much of her time and energy to the blues.

Lori and her husband Mark Urso ran the WERI radio stations in Rhode Island for a number of years. Lori hosted an AM talk show, was an FM Jock, and co-created and produced Backstage with the Blues, a weekly hour dedicated to the hoary idiom. Detroit blues harmonica player James Montgomery was the host of the show for three years. His inspiration and dedication prompted Lori herself to further her own career as a blues artist. "I have a great love of the blues, the whole history of the blues, the people and the community," she says. "I've been a fan and a musician for many years, and I love being close to the blues." Urso is also a member of the Blues Music Association, which was formed to maintain the genre as an important musical art form. "Those are the organizations that compel me to stay involved."

A year or so ago, Urso, along with her performing partner George Reithoffer, aka "Fisher Price Slim" (so nicknamed because he's often seen playing with a child's toy amplifier hanging around his neck), released their debut, Blue Basics. At the hands of Urso's guitar and Reithoffer's harp, the album proved to be a sharp collection of acoustic blues duets, with originals and covers ranging from Big Bill Broonzy's "Key to the Highway" and Sonny Boy Williamson's "Help Me" to Brownie McGhee's "Living with the Blues" and Chris Smither's "Love Me Like a Man." Boosted by their recording accomplishment, the duet felt confident enough to journey down to the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, where they took a close second place behind the event's winner.

Urso's most recent role is that of executive producer. She and her husband have acted as benevolent benefactors for James Montgomery and his band's brand new Bring It On Home. The album, Montgomery's first disc in 10 years, has recently earned a W.C. Handy nomination for Blues Comeback of the Year. "We've been trying to get James's career back on track since 1997," says Urso, who is now the director of the Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association (wpwa.org), a conservation association. "Mark and I needed to support the Montgomery project, be part of the project team. It took a while to come together, but we couldn't be happier with the results."

Montgomery fans will enjoy the album, especially the presence of blues legend James Cotton, an inspiration to Montgomery since he was a kid. Marc Copely, the album's musical director, did many of the arrangements and played a great deal of the guitar parts. "I had invested so much into James's career for many years, we really wanted to get this done right with the right people around him," Urso says.

The success, indicated by the Handy Award, has been satisfying to Urso, who prides herself in keeping the blues out there, viable, serving a real purpose without becoming a musty musical museum artifact. "Right now, I think New England is playing a decent role in maintaining the blues," she says. "We're not Texas or Memphis -- New England is not at the core of the blues -- but we do have Ronnie Earl, Duke Robillard, and Roomful and some great stuff around the state. Look at Sugar Ray Norcia. He just did a harp album with James Cotton, Charlie Musselwhite, and Billy Branch. He's a Westerly guy and he's making music right alongside all these great players! Not only that, the album has been nominated for a Grammy! He's a significant force in New England blues."

Through James Montgomery's manager Peter Casperson, Lori connected with Invasion Group Ltd. in New York City, a group run by Casperson's partner Steven Saporta. IGL wanted, in conjunction with urban legend Bill Laswell, to start a label as an outlet for Laswell's A&R juice. So the Ursos bought in as backers. That label is called Innerhythmic, and it specializes in such non-blues fare as ambient, techno, and dub. They've released recordings by a handful of noteworthy artists so far, including James Blood Ulmer, Praxis, Laswell, and Nicky Skopelitis.

"Bill gives us projects," Urso says, explaining the foundation of Innerhythmic. "He finds turntablists and other cool artists and we make records. I know when to defer to others. I'm not gonna tell Bill Laswell what to do. I don't abuse the position. Plus, I think it's a good investment. I know how capable they are. Laswell has great potential. Some investors wouldn't touch the music industry, but I love it. Because of the people and the infrastructure we have involved, it didn't require a big start-up investment either. And it's an underground project, so we're only anticipating moderate growth."

With the radio stations sold in 1998 and 1999, Urso, a mother of two, found time to run for Town Council in Westerly. And, as in so many other aspects of her life, she won this time, too. "I really, really love it," she says, as if not truly believing she would.

As a benefactor, as a musician, and as a fan, Urso and the people around her are doing their best to make sure those I-IV-V progressions stay out there, aimed at people's souls. "The blues is a lifelong learning experience. If you wanna be taken seriously," she says, adding she has become friends with area guitar hero Paul Geremia, enough so that the grizzly one asked her to sit in with him one night on guitar. "Paul's been teaching me fingerpicking. But you don't sit in with a guy like Paul Geremia! Who's gonna sit in with a guy who uses those weird tunings?"

WANDERING EYE. Big doings at the Green Room this weekend. On Friday, Zox -- led by Eli Miller -- will be headlining, with Noelle also on the bill. Zox, who just finished something called Space Monkey EP, has a sound characterized above all by some frantic, eminently danceable guitar rhythms and Aron Holzman's (now Spencer Swain's) classical violin. It's kept in check for the most part throughout the EP, just adding some muted hues. But it gathers some serious steam when the band kicks into its "Free Bird"-style version of Pachelbel's Canon. You know the tune. It starts off politely enough then finishes with a fusion-esque roar. Good stuff.

Betty Finn headlines the Green Room on Saturday with Illustrious Day. Lots of great chick rock indeed. Highly recommended.

E-mail me with music news at b_gulla@yahoo.com b_gulla@yahoo.com.

Issue Date: February 1 - 7, 2002