Sugar Ray & the Bluetones
Click the play button to view a clip of Sugar Ray and the Bluetones' performance.
About the Band
To celebrate Black History Month, blues maestro Sugar Ray Norcia performed at Johnson State College's Stearns Stage Space, Tuesday February 17, at 8 p.m.
The performance by Sugar Ray and the Bluetones features Anthony Geraci, a part-time instructor of History of the Blues and jazz piano, at Johnson State College. The event is free and open to the public.
Sugar Ray Norcia has been playing music professionally since the early 1970s. In 1979, he joined forces with then- fledgling guitarist Ronnie Earl and was the featured singer, harmonica player and songwriter on numerous Ronnie Earl recordings. Together they established the formidable band Sugar Ray and the Bluetones with Michael "Mudcat" Ward on bass and Neil Gouvin on drums. In the early days of the bands career it was not unusual to find The Bluetones backing up blues greats such as Otis Rush, Roosevelt Sykes, J.B. Hutto, Joe Turner, and perhaps his greatest inspiration, Big Walter Horton. Sugar Ray has consistently held company with world-class musicians and is known for his sincere, genuine personality and deeply rooted love of music.
In September of 1991, Sugar Ray joined the world renowned Roomful of Blues and performed over 200 dates a year worldwide. With Ray as front man, Roomful was nominated for countless awards and also recorded four critically acclaimed albums all appearing on the Billboard Blues Charts. In 1996, Roomful's "Turn It On! Turn It Up!" which included three of Ray's original compositions was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Traditional Blues category. During this hectic schedule Ray managed to cut two great recordings. A solo CD for Rounder called "Sweet and Swingin'" and a brilliant CD on the Telarc label entitled "Super Harps" featuring Sugar with James Cotton, Charlie Musselwhite and Billy Branch. "Super Harps" earned another Grammy nomination in the Traditional Blues category. Sugar has also appeared on CDs by Pinetop Perkins, Ramblin' Dan Stevens and sax man Doug James.
In 2001 Sugar's career came full circle when he reunited with the Bluetones (featuring Kid Bangham on guitar) and released "Rockin' Sugar Daddy" on Severn Records. In 2003 the Bluetones recruited Monster Mike Welch for a self-titled release on Severn. Finally, in 2005 Ray and company along with the newest Bluetone Paul Size, have released a stellar CD that Sugar Ray calls his best to date.
The band lineup at the Johnson State College performance includes:
Sugar Ray Norcia — vocals and harmonica
Michael "Mudcat" Ward — upright and Fender bass
Neil Gouvin — drums
Monster Mike Welch — guitar
Anthony Geraci — piano.
For more information about Sugar Ray, visit these Web sites: http://severnrecords.com/site/artistDetail.asp?AID=24
http://www.sugarrayandthebluetones.com/
