Junkyardmen - Scrapheap Full of Blues (1998)

While judging a blues talent competition one time, a fellow judge commented that she looked for music that came from the head, not the heart. I was amazed. I told her I not only liked blues from the heart, I liked it from the gut. Blues is about passion and soul. It is something that comes from deep inside a person and can only come out through music. I've only met a handful of people I can say truly embody that spirit. Two of them are on this record. I met John Scalici and Billy Gibson in the same week. I was amazed how much they thought alike. Each had a passion for music that couldn't be contained by a "normal" life. They were destined to play music-and, it seems, destined to play music together. BlueSpeak brought them together to form a band for a pre-Handy Award party in 1997. We like to think this was the moment that spurred them to partner, but that was in the works long before the party. When they added Jesse Hoggard on guitar and Kevin Sheahan on bas! s, the results were extraordinary. Listen carefully, and you'll hear all the influences each brings to the music. John's roots with the blues/rock band Gravy; Billy's love of jazz and his schooling from Johnnie Billington in blues; Jesse's years of touring experience; and Kevin's jazz background and experience. It all adds up to a beautiful mess of junk. It rocks, swings, and, most of all, cuts right to the heart of the matter. Legendary Sun Records founder Sam Phillips once told me he loved music with "gutbucket fundamentalism." I've never been able to explain what that means to anyone, but I can make them listen to songs that embody that spirit. The junkyardmen make those kinds of songs. And we're better for it. -All original songs, including 2 cuts with legendary barrelhouse piano player and Beale St. legend Mose Vinson.-