From R&B to Broadway, These Veterans Combine Decades of Experience for Original Blues Sound
by Danny Coleman, originally published in Rock On Radio
They come from all walks of life and music genres but the most important thing is; they’ve come together to form a Blues band that is original, solid and different from the rest and what makes them so unique is a combination of experience and backgrounds.
Kelton Cooper, Mike Griot, Gene Lake and Ron Thompson form the North Jersey based unit known as Blues People and they’ve got a show coming up on Sunday December 22 at Montclair Brewery in Montclair, NJ and then in the beginning of January they head to Memphis, TN for chance at winning the International Blues Challenge.
Recently, bassist Griot talked about the IBC, the Montclair gig, the band’s formation, their “Experience” and how they are viewed by their peers in the industry.
“So, we came together right before the pandemic,” he began. “We all had been working as basically hired guns in the New York area for decades and we’ve all done gigs and tours together, different projects, different genres and before the pandemic, I owned a live music club in Orange, New Jersey. Kelton, who I grew up with in Orange, he kind of moonlighted as my sound man at my live music venue while we were all still gigging and everything else. Gene Lake, our drummer, came to Kelton and suggested we should put together a blues outfit because he had recently done some work with Josh Smith and a couple of other people. So, they came to me and then the pandemic hit and there was nothing to do but write and record and that’s how it started. The first time we played our own recorded material was not until a year into the pandemic.”
“Kelton has had a relationship with Kool & The Gang, totaling about 16 years; doing a lot of recording with their producer and a few gigs as well,” he continued. “We’re all from the same part of New Jersey so everybody kind of knows everybody. I actually went to D.C. for a while because my family is from the D.C. area; even though I grew up in New Jersey. I went to college in D.C. and while I was at Howard University, I got my first pro tour; it wasan R&B tour with a girl named Stacy Lattisaw and that was like a thousand years ago (laughs). I didn’t get a proper blues tour until later on in the early ’90s; I think Deborah Coleman was my first blues tour and I also started around the same time with Michael Hill Blues Mob and then I was “In it” by that point. Michael Hill and drummer Tony Lewis are basically how I learned my vocabulary of music and Michael was actually the one who got me connected with Ruf Records and Thomas Ruf. I was there when Thomas started the whole Blues Caravan concept. I was actually the music director for the first three or four Blues Caravans, which is how I came to be around and play with and behind, Laura Chavez, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Sue Foley; I even produced a couple of albums for Ruf on Dani Wilde and Oli Brown. Gene Lake is a massive, massive talent; I was always jealous of people whose families were in the music business and grew up doing it because I wasn’t so fortunate (Laughs). Gene’s father is the great jazz saxophonist Oliver Lake, so Gene grew up playing music and he also plays killer bass too and many people don’t know that. His resume is really long, Marcus Miller, Meshell Ndegeocello, George Thorogood; it just goes on and on and he even did some Broadway. He played in “MJ the Musical” on Broadway. That’s kind of the secret sauce of the group; we have this profound love of the blues and blues music but we’re sort of vets; we bring all that other stuff we’ve done over 30 or 40 years with us and you can definitely see it on stage.”
Just like a puzzle, there always seems to be that one piece that fits just well enough to open up the entire path to completion and in Blues People’s case, one gentleman held the key; make that “Keys.”
“I would say, in my opinion, that the group really came together when Ron Thompson came onboard,” said Griot with confidence. “A guy named Victor Burks was doing some of the recording and a couple of gigs early on but when Ron came onboard, our sound really came together. He was a teacher for a long time and he also worked with Bo Diddley Jr. and a lot of freelance gigging in New York and when he stopped teaching and retired; we happened to get lucky enough to catch him in that transition and man, I think the Blues people sound was basically sealed when Ron came on board.”
When one goes to see Blues People, it’s important to understand; this isn’t just some run of the mill event. Their combination of originals and select covers are done with the intent to broaden not only the audience’s experience but their own as well.
“This is where I’m going to speak for my brother Kelton,” he laughed. “He has been a genius with this band in sort of awakening our roots in music. For example, I came up really into Bobby Blue Bland when I was a kid because my father was into Bobby Blue Bland and Kelton is like a musicologist. When you come to one of our shows for example, you’ll hear our originals but you’ll also hear basically “B” side blues records that come out of Kelton’s head that he was listening to growing up. So, it’s like Kelton opened up the musical dunk tank of the blues and kind of pushed us all back into it again (Laughs) and it has transformed what we sound like because if you come to one of our shows; you’re not gonna hear “Mustang Sally” because that’s not what we’re doing. We do deep dive into some “B” sides and I think we put our own spin on them and Kelton will tell you; he can’t sing anything he doesn’t believe in. So, he really curates the selections very well and I would implore anybody; we can talk about the music all day; come out and see us play, the blues will be everywhere and that’s a fact.”
In the interest of “Full disclosure,” Blues People are about to embark on their second trip to the International Blues Challenge and Griot feels the experience of advancing very far in last year’s competition gives them much better insight into this year’s competition.
“We made it to the semi-finals which I hear is a pretty good attempt. The IBC, for those who have done it or for those who are thinking about doing it; you don’t really know what you’re walking into until you get there and then you kind of see what it is. I don’t think anybody really expected a band from New Jersey or one from north of the Mason-Dixon Line to sound the way we do. We got a lot of great feedback and it was a really good experience. We didn’t have our record out at the time, which I think now is going to be a huge difference because now, it’s a year later, we won the regional IBC again, we’ve had a strong record out for most of this year, we’ve got great reviews from around the world, we’ve got some chart action as well and we have a year of playing our own material for audiences; we’re road ready and sharp.”
“Blues People The Skin I’m In” was nominated as the “Best New Artist Debut Album” at The Blues Blast 2024 Music Awards and has done well on the charts. So, with all of the band’s vast individual experience and contacts in the industry; does that open doors for the band that others may not have access to?
“I don’t know,” said Mike, seemingly choosing his word carefully. “I think it helps to be known as a player from a certain area or region or scene; it’s not like we are unknown on our respective instruments but I think, specific to this blues journey that we’re involved in; I don’t know if it has necessarily helped or hurt but I do know that there seems to be; I guess the reviews that we’ve gotten on the record suggest it too, there seems to be an authenticity to the stories we tell and of course, Blues is about storytelling but our stories seem to resonate here and around the world and the Blues audiences around the world are digging it. So, the only connections besides getting more people to book us, which is really important for us right now; the people; it’s like the scene from that movie where the guy says, “The people know,” The people know (Laughs) and we’re happy about that.”
Being veterans of the music scene does have its advantages and within their circle of “Contemporaries” they seem to have the approval of them and many more.
“One of the funniest reactions has been amongst the New York Metro pro musicians, touring and otherwise because in most cases, we’re talking about our contemporaries who are in their 50s, 60s, guys who’ve been doing it 20,30,40 years and everybody has worked with everybody but that crew looks at us with almost subtle disbelief. Usually, the response to original material or being an original band is associated with young players, people and professionals and here we are, age 58 and up and all of the dudes we worked with in the New York scene, they are really kind of encouraging. They’re like, “Man, you guys are really doing your thing and we’re glad it’s original and we’re glad it’s Blues” and that’s been the most surprising thing. Our colleagues up here who are kind of silently supportive of the idea that some veterans can still make original music and possibly break-out ; I’m excited by that.”
The Montclair Brewery is located at 101 Walnut Street and the show on December 22 is a 4:30 p.m. start with tickets available here https://www.northjerseybluessociety.org/event-details/blues-people-3 and after that comes the IBC and after that…
“The IBC is January 7 to January 11, we just played Triumph Brewery in Red Bank and Sunday we are at The Montclair Brewery but we are planning to get back in the studio in March of 2025 to start working on the next record and if things go the way we hope they go, we really want to play some major festivals here and abroad during festival season in ’25. The IBC is a great place to see some of those who book those festivals and I’ve already been in touch with a few in advance who say they are coming. So, we’re on a lot of people’s radar for the ’25 touring and festival season so I hope to be visiting them.”
To discover more about Blues People, please visit https://bluespeoplenj.com/blues-people
That’s it for this week! Please continue to support live and original music and until next week….ROCK ON!