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 Mississippi
Cadillac Blues Band
Alex Ross - Vocals,
Guitars-Alex has been playing guitar since he was 12 years of age.
Playing anywhere from Mississippi Delta cotton gin parties, Lafayette
County line juke joints, Beale street clubs in Memphis to the main stage
of some of the South’s biggest music festivals. Ross states “The groove
has always come from Howlin Wolf,
Jimi Hendrix, and
Elmore James and the soul always felt
from B.B. King along with my admiration for
many others in the electric blues”.
Bud Bays - Guitars-After
picking up the guitar in his early teens, Bud has worn many musical hats
in addition to that of an accomplished blues guitar player. Over the
years he has owned a recording studio, been involved with booking bands
for various international venues and in the production side of the
business all while continuing to play alongside recognized names in the
blues music genre including Jim, Cody and Luther Dickinson,
Frank Frost,
Sam Carr, Mojo Buford and
Kim Wilson.
John Miller - Bass Guitar-
Playing guitar for a number of years, John started to play the Fender
Bass as well to explore new territory. Since then John has established a
signature groove and bottom that keeps the rhythm of the Mississippi
Cadillac Blues Band truly strong.
Will Hunt - Drums
Percussion- Another native Mississippian like the rest of the band Will
Hunt started at a young age working the percussion section. He has a
pocket which complements the Groove/Blues sound that the Mississippi
Cadillac Blues Band has shown on its new CD “Stone Cold”. Will has
played all over the South with several acts and brings a great beat with
him wherever he plays.
Mississippi Cadillac Blues Band
Local flavor guarantees band to be a ‘good, solid fit’ at
Rooster’s
BY JEFF MCVAY
In September 2010, music producer and long-time studio musician Bud Bays
contacted me about a project he was spearheading, a collaboration with
Country Boy Rolling Stone (Bill Crowder) who was in the process of
releasing a new CD at the time, “Honky Tonking Too Long.” He assured me
that “Honky Tonking” was top-heavy with Oxford talent and I (in turn)
assured him that I was interested in helping him get the word out about
the album but it wouldn’t be me that did the “shouting.” I’m simply not
a country music fan.
That was then.
After devoting some time to the liner notes and on Google, I was hooked
— particularly with Bays’ impressive lineup on “Honky Tonking.” The
names “Fluke” Holland, Rosamond Posey, Jim Dickinson, Cody Dickinson,
Duff Durrough and Jesse Pinion stood up and screamed “attention!” It
goes without saying that I did indeed do the research and feature for
that collaboration, and I did it happily. I’m stoked that
Bays decided to hang on to my number, too, because, turns out, there’s
more screaming and celebrating to do these days.
Bays’ latest undertaking, Mississippi Cadillac Blues Band, is yet
another project of his that is loaded with Mississippi talent. This time
(when Bays called) there was zero hesitation on my part — “Definitely!
Include me in this process. Let me know how I can help.”
Mississippi Cadillac Blues Band has been a work in progress for almost
20 years. It’s the last few months that have catipulted the band into a
frenzied touring schedule as venues and private parties scramble to meet
the ever-growing demand for Mississippi homegrown blues with a rock ‘n’
roll feel. The band serves up the genre in a big way and they’re headed
to Oxford via Rooster’s Blues House on Saturday, May 14, for a rare
afternoon/evening jam session on the historic Oxford Square. “Cadillac”
is tourning in support of its new CD “Stone Cold.”
Oxford Town caught up with Bays last week and, with the help of his
lovely wife Janice manning the pen, we sat and chatted about the band
(with its loaded Mississippi cast) the album and their upcoming show at
Rooster’s. OK ... so fill us in Bud. What’s the genesis of
this album and band? About 17 years ago I was playing a gig with Duff
Dorrough at the SAE fraternity house when Alex Ross, the lead singer and
guitar player of the Mississippi Cadillac Blues Band, was in school at
Ole Miss. During a break, Alex and I had a conversation
and we realized we had some very close in friends in common. He told me
that his favorite place to go on Sunday nights was a club outside of
Oxford called Mr. Blues so I realized that we not only had mutual
acquaintances but a shared love of Mississippi music.
Alex was playing in a band at the time with Kenny Graeber (current
drummer for George McConnell) and a couple other students. They
had a pretty tight little group with lots of talent including some
original songs that I felt should be recorded. I got in touch with my
friend, Roland Janes, manager and engineer for Sam Phillips Recording
Studio to get the songs recorded. Over the years we would have
opportunities to play together occasionally but never put together a
working band. After hearing a CD that I had produced, Alex got in
touch and told me that he would like to do some recording at Tweed
Recording Studio here in Oxford. He really liked the sound that engineer
Jeffrey Reed developed on the other project and wanted to get to work
ASAP.
You produced the album, right? You also play guitar on the album. What’s
that all about?
My job as producer was to find out which instruments Alex wanted on each
of the tracks and then bring together the musicians that I
felt were a good fit for his musical vision and that would complement
his style. He wanted to keep the sound close to classic blues artists
but with a rocking contemporary attitude. Alex’s first comment was that
John Miller was his pick for bass player. After hearing him play, I
completely understood why he was chosen. He’s such a solid player and
has all the qualities that are the mark of a great bass player. To quote
a bass-playing friend, the late George Allen, “He gets on the bottom
like a catfish and stays there.”
The next member added was a talented, young drummer that I had been
working with, Will Hunt. Will’s father, who has a real love for the
blues, can probably take credit for his son playing with a maturity far
beyond his 21 years. But the truth is that he is just blessed with pure,
natural ability. After deciding that I would play rhythm guitar, the
only unfilled slots at that point were for piano and organ and whether
or not we would need a horn section. We may bring in horns the next time
around but they just didn’t work for what we did on “Stone Cold.”
Finding the perfect musician for the organ and piano parts was more
difficult. After having worked sessions with Spooner Oldham and Jim
Dickinson (who was rightfully dubbed ‘The Magical Musical Maestro of
Memphis’ by Bob Dylan); whoever took the job had very big shoes to fill.
The only musician that could do the job, in my mind, was Billy Earheart.
I had long admired his work with The Amazing
Rhythm Aces and Hank Williams Jr.’s Bama band and knew he would be a
good fit if he was available. As things turned out, he was able
to work us into his schedule and we are glad he did. He brought years of
studio experience that came from being a part of over 200 albums that
helped to polish things up — especially on track 3, “Cheatin’ Ways.”
Funny story here, I didn’t know Billy or that he was in
Mississippi until he sent me a message on Myspace telling me that he
liked some of the music I had produced. He said the only thing wrong
with it was that he wasn’t playing on it. I’m glad we’ve had the chance
to fix that.
So, what’s next?
The CD release party took place just a few weeks ago but ideas for the
next project are already in the works. It helps that we are all so close
to Oxford and that we can take care of all our recording needs locally
at Tweed Recording Studio, the mastering at Taproot
Audio Design and have promotional items taken care of at Oxford
Printware. Nice! Thanks for the cool T-shirt Bud. You sure this is an
extra-large? Just put the shirt on editor boy and start typing. (OK ...
so I made this one up — but you get the point).
Rooster’s Blues House owner Scott Michael is no stranger to satiating
the dynamic musical appetite of Oxford. Landing the Mississippi Cadillac
Blues Band for an evening of blistering Mississippi blues/rock is his
way of launching Lafayette County into the slow motion bliss
that we call summer. Rest assured however, Rooster’s doesn’t recognize
slow motion and will keep the heat on throughout the year (with or
without the listening ear of our students). You can hear for yourself
what the Mississippi Cadillac Blues Band has to offer by purchasing
“Stone Cold” — now available at www.cdbaby.com — or you can pick up a
copy at Off Square Books.
Better yet, catch the band live at Rooster’s this Saturday (May 14) from
4-7 p.m. You can also catch up
—jeff@oxfordeagle.com
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