RICHARD RAY FARRELL
Richard Ray Farrel Band, el sábado 9 de julio 2016, en el festival Reus Blues, haciendo su particular homenaje a B.B. King con el tema The Thrill is Gone. La Banda que acompaña a Richard son: "Los Hijos de la Gran Ruta". Jesús Duran teclados, Kike Porras bateria y Ángel Ariza bajo y voces. Richard Ray Farrel, voz, guitarra y armónica.
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Some people live to make money and some people make money to live. Some people are music lovers, some people are amateur musicians, and then again some people live and breathe music. They are the "real deal", so to speak. Richard Ray Farrell is one of them. He has not only mastered the art of singing and playing the blues - he has literally "lived" the blues for years and years.
Born in Niagara Falls, New York in 1956, Richard Ray left his hometown only two weeks after graduating from high school and backpacked his way through Europe, not knowing at the time that music would be his destiny. More than thirty-five years on the road as a traveling blues musician was to give him substantial credentials as a top-notch talent in the world of the blues.
Richard Ray started as a street musician or “busker” in Paris, France in 1975. Totally fascinated with the music of Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson and other legendary blues players, Richard played for hours on end in the halls and tunnels of the Parisian “Metro” subway, scraping out a living as a musician, literally a "po' boy long way from home.”
Little by little, Richard worked his way up from the subways andstreets of cities throughout the continent, eventually forming his own band and going on to perform on some of the largest and most prestigious stages in Europe, together with some of the true giants of traditional American blues music.
In 1978, Richard received an offer to front a blues-rock band in Spain. These were hard times for Richard. He was making even less money than when he was playing on the street and sometimes was "down to his last shirt and pair of jeans." All this time, Richard had been living as a "tourist" and was unable to take a normal job, having no official working papers.
Richard lived the life of a true gypsy for years, and actually lived with a gypsy family for six months in Spain in the late 1970s. To make matters even harder, Richard became a father to a baby boy in 1980. He made the move to Germany with his then wife and child in 1985 and started playing for a local blues band in the Stuttgart area. In 1987, Richard opened for Joe Cocker at the Backnang Open Air Festival. He was still playing on the street, as the blues band just did not make enough money to live on, although things were starting to pick up.
Richard formed his first trio, the Richard Ray Farrell Band, in 1989. Living in Germany and gradually making a name for himself, Richard started touring in Italy, Switzerland, France, Holland and Belgium with a former sideman to RL Burnside, Jon Morris Nerenberg. It was through Jon that Richard started meeting older bluesmen from the American south and accompanying them on tours throughout Europe. Tours with Lazy Lester, Big Jack Johnson, Big Boy Henry, Louisiana Red, Frank Frost and RL Burnside followed.
big boy henry montpelier 1992This was a great development process for Richard. He learned firsthand from legendary masters of the blues, touring on and off with Frank Frost and RL Burnside for a period of about four years between 1990 and 1993. In 1992, Richard caught the attention of German record producer Alf List, founder of Stormy Monday Records. Richard released his first album produced by List, “Live in Germany” (1992).
In 1993, Richard and Jon formed the band "Street Talk" together with David Olson (Grammy Award winning Robert Cray drummer) and Joel Foy (former guitarist with James Harman, William Clarke and Screamin 'Jay Hawkins). This proved to be a great band, but they could not stay together for geographical reasons. Richard lived in Germany, Jon lived in Holland, David lived in New York and Joel lived in California. Richard went back to doing his solo acoustic performances and playing with his electric trio.
In 1995, Richard received a phone call from Jimmy Carl Black, legendary drummer with Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention. Jimmy had recently moved to the area and was looking for a blues guitarist to form a band. Richard and Jimmy Carl soon formed the FARRELL AND BLACK band. The group was very successful and went on to record two CDs for Stormy Monday Records, Cataract Jump (1996) and Black Limousine (1999).
During this period, Richard honed his skills in arranging and songwriting, composing the music and writing the lyrics for eight of the sixteen songs on Cataract Jump and eleven of the fourteen songs on Black Limousine. Richard also recorded an impressive solo acoustic CD on Stormy Monday in 1998 entitled Street Songs, Jazzy Tunes and Down Home Blues.
In an extreme turn of events, Richard Ray decided to return to the United States in 2001 and moved to the Philadelphia area. In 2003 he recorded his first CD for Blue Beet Music, Bohemian Life. This CD features sixteen original songs. It was recorded with the help of an all-star lineup of musicians, including a guest appearance by harmonica virtuoso Jerry Portnoy. Bohemian Life reached number 18 on the Living Blues radio charts in May / June 2003, almost an impossible feat for a virtually unknown artist in the USA. Bohemian Life received airplay on over 200 stations in the USA, Canada, South America, Europe and Australia.
In June 2005 Richard Ray released a second CD with Bluebeet Music, Acoustic Roots. This CD features classic ragtime and delta blues covers from the 20s and 30s This recording was done live, with no overdubs and features Richard Ray on guitar, vocals and harmonica. Acoustic Roots was recorded, mixed and mastered by Mike Tarsia of Philadelphia, PA. This album reached number 20 on the Living Blues charts.
Down Home Old School Country Blues (2006) with Steve Guyger showcases Richard’s expertise in traditional blues. This CD spent three consecutive months in the Living Blues radio charts nationwide and has been called the best acoustic blues duo album to come out in years by Andy Grigg of Real Blues Magazine, British Columbia, Canada. Stuck On The Blues (2007) is another acoustic duo CD with Italian harmonica virtuoso Marco Pandolfi. This CD is the product of Farrell and Pandolfi’s long musical partnership that started in 1997. Camino de Sanlucar (2009) was recorded in Seville, Spain. The CD features the legendary Spanish flamenco and rock guitarist Raimundo Amador on three tracks. Raimundo is a bona fide rock star in Spain who has recorded with BB King and sold over 300,000 units in his long and illustrious career. All these CD’s charted in the US and have achieved acclaim from music critics worldwide.
I Sing The Blues Eclectic (2011) This CD of twelve Farrell originals entered the Living Blues charts in May 2011 at number 8 and number 13 in June. The CD went to number 2 on XM/Sirius BB King’s Bluesville Picks and has been getting constant airplay since May 2011.
live-in-Italy
Caleta Rock (2013) is a live CD that came out on the Cambaya Music label of Antequera, Spain and features Richard Ray doing a set of solo acoustic blues gems on guitar, vocals and harmonica.
Richard Ray Farrell’s latest CD, released February 1, 2014 on the Bluebeet label, is Shoe Shoppin’ Woman. The CD has 8 originals and 3 covers featuring Richard Ray on hot blues harmonica, smokin’ guitar and heartfelt blues vocals. This is a strong follow up to Richard’s highly acclaimed CD, I Sing The Blues Eclectic. Sometimes serious, sometimes humorous, sometimes sad, Richard’s songs shine through with his own definitive stamp on the blues.
El veterano bluesman Richard Ray Farrell estará los próximos días 4 y 5 de Noviembre ofreciendo dos clases de blues, a todo aquellos que se dejen caer por el Festival de Blues de Orense. Nombrar a Richard Ray Farrell es hablar de palabras mayores, ya que estamos ante uno de los más reconocidos bluesmen de los últimos años. Tiene un gran bagaje musical y es respetado por todo aquel que aprecie el Blues. Ha tocado junto a los más grandes y si estar en Orense a su lado será todo un privilegio, no menos ha sido poder charlar con él en primera persona. A continuación os dejamos con sus palabras, nadie mejor que él para decir quién es y qué significa el blues.
Un día decides abandonar EE.UU. y establecerte en Europa. ¿Cómo fueron tus primeros años en el viejo continente?
Dejé mi ciudad natal Niagara Falls, Nueva York, dos semanas después de terminar la escuela secundaria. Estaba deseoso de comenzar mi camino en solitario. Comencé primero a tocar por las calles de París, y finalmente allí viviría mis dos primeros años en Europa.
A lo largo del camino, un día llegas a España. ¿Recuerdas la primera vez que visitaste nuestro país? ¿Por qué España como tu destino final?
Vine a España por primera vez en el verano de 1974. Me encantó España desde esa primera semana. Me quedé en Sevilla durante un tiempo y finalmente me establecí en Málaga. Mis padres habían estado en España y también se enamoraran de Málaga.
Eres un músico con una gran historia sobre tus espaldas. Me gustaría empezar por el principio. ¿Cómo y cuándo te iniciaste en el mundo de la música?
Supongo que lo llevo en la sangre. Mi hermana, desde el momento en que llegó a la adolescencia comenzó a cantar en numerosas bandas. Mi hermano mayor, por ejemplo, tocaba el banjo, la guitarra y también cantaba. Mi madre tocaba el piano. Así que probablemente que yo fuera músico estaba predestinado. Mis inicios en el mundo de la música fueron duros ya que comencé en la calle, como un músico callejero.
Tu visión del blues, es muy versátil… Tu música tiene un poco de cada uno de los más grandes de Blues. ¿Qué grandes nombres podríamos decir que han sido tu fuente de inspiración y que discos destacarías como imprescindibles para cualquier amante del Blues?
Mis principales influencias fueron Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Paul Butterfield, Albert King, BB King. ¿Algunos discos imprescindibles? Magic Sam – West Side Soul, T-Bone Walker – T-Bone Jumps Again, BB King – Live at the Regal, Muddy Waters – Trouble No More, Robert Johnson – King of the Delta Blues, Blind Willie McTell – Atlanta 12 String, Junior Wells – Hoodoo Man Blues, Little Walter – Juke, Albert King – Live Wire Blues Power, y así muchos más. En realidad, cualquier cosa de John Lee Williamson, Rice Miller, Lonnie Johnson, Tampa Red, Otis Spann, Roosevelt Sykes, Son House etc. Amo todos los estilos y claramente esto se refleja en mi música.
RL Burnside. Recuerdo haber visto algunos vídeos de 1992 donde estabais tocando juntos. Me gustaría saber cómo fue tu experiencia a su lado.
RL era una persona increíble y un músico excepcional. Tenía un estilo muy hipnótico y un increíble sentido del ritmo. Su Hill Country Blues es un disco grandioso. He aprendido mucho de RL. y siempre estará en mi recuerdo.
richard-ray-farrellDurante tu extensa carrera musical has tocado y compartido escenario con muchos nombres importantes. ¿Cuáles han sido para ti algunos de los momentos más increíbles de tu vida?
¿Momentos increíbles? Destacaría sobre todo el poder tocar con Levon Helm. Además afortunadamente he podido disfrutar de giras maravillosas junto a RL Burnside, Frank Frost, Big Jack Johnson, Louisiana Red, Lazy Lester, Big Boy Henry. Compartir escenario y abrir shows para Albert King. Tocar durante 10 años junto a Jimmy Carl Black y oír mi música por primera vez en la radio de los EE.UU. . Ah y por supuesto, tocar en Mississippi con el gran Frank Frost.
Recientemente he podido escuchar tu último trabajo “Shoe Shoppin’ Woman”, un álbum realmente fantástico. ¿Quiénes han colaborado contigo en este proyecto y coómo describirías “Shoe Shoppin’ Woman?
Mi nuevo álbum “Shoe Shoppin´Woman” es un CD totalmente eléctrico, donde me puedes encontrar tocando mi armónica y la guitarra eléctrica. Todos mis discos suenan muy diferente entre sí. En esta ocasión pude contar con la colaboración de Jimmy Pritchard al bajo (actualmente está con Albert Castiglia Band), Michael Kersting a la batería, un gran batería de jazz asentado en Berlín que tocó con algunos de los más grandes como Jaco Pastorius, Benny Golson y Bireli Lagrène. Glenn McClelland se encargó de las teclas, el teclista de la legendarios “Blood, Sweat & Tears“.
Si no recuerdo mal tu último trabajo es de 2014. ¿Tienes planeado un nuevo disco?
Realmente no tengo nada pensado de momento, aunque seguro que antes o después tendré que plantearme entrar en el estudio y hacer otra grabación..
El 4 y 5 de noviembre nos visitarás en el Festival de Blues de Orense. Dos días donde ofrecerás dos masterclass ¿Qué nos puede avanzar sobre esas dos clases? ¿Qué vas a tratar de enseñar?
Voy a enseñar varios estilos, todo lo que de un modo me ha inspirado a lo largo de la vida. Pero para que lo tengáis más claro os adjunto tras la entrevista la descripción del taller.
Creo que la primera lección a explicar sobre el Blues sería: ¿Que es el Blues para Richard Ray?
Una difícil pregunta para contestar de modo breve. Tal vez podría decir que “El blues es el reflejo de la vida misma”.
Para despedirnos ¿Quieres dejar algún mensaje para nuestros lectores y todos los que decidan asistir al Festival de Blues de Orense?
Ven al festival y a apoyar el Blues a la bella ciudad de Ourense. Disfrutarás de algunas grandes actuaciones y seguro que de apasionadas jams sessions también. No te arrepentirás.
TODA LA INFO SOBRE EL FESTIVAL DE BLUES DE ORENSE AQUÍ https://gravelroad76.com/2016/10/
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