Stacy Mitchhart
Nashville, TN | Established. Jan 01, 1990 | INDIE | AFM
Music
Press
by Richard Marcus
August 25, 2007
Once in a while I get lucky and a company, generally not the ones I've told to stop sending me stuff, will send me something that I would have regretted missing out on. Earlier this week a disc showed up in my mail box from one of my contacts who nine times out of ten sends stuff she knows I can review, and this one was no exception.
I'd never heard of Stacy Mitchhart before, which of course means nothing as there are probably a million or more acts out there who would meet the same criteria, but my attention was caught by the fact that he plays a resonator guitar. I have a soft spot for resonator guitars and willing to give anyone who claims to play one the benefit of the doubt that they know what they are doing with it.
After listening to Stacy's forthcoming release, (Sept. 18, 2007), Gotta Get The Feeling Back Again there are no doubts in my mind that this man knows what he's doing not only with a resonator guitar, but with anything to do with the blues. I'd never thought of Cincinnati, Ohio as a hot bed for blues players before, but if Stacy is an example of the quality of musician that comes out of there they could give Chicago a run for it's money as a breeding ground for great players.
There are people who play the blues who are technically fine, but lack the intangible quality of heart and soul that elevates them beyond being merely a player. It's a feeling you get when listening to someone, the feeling that each note they play or sing is costing them something emotionally, that makes the difference. It's like the difference between the person who asks you how you're doing as part of a meaningless salutation and the person who really wants to know how you are feeling
If Stacy Mitchhart were to ask you how were doing, you know that he'd mean every word of it. His music is the real thing with each note he plays on anyone of his guitars, and each note that he sings sounding like it's coming straight from his heart. He incorporates all sorts of styles into his music, country, soul, R&B, and early rock 'n' roll, to build his own unique sound. But at its core it's the blues.
The other thing about him is that you can tell that he has a great time doing what he does. It comes through in the sound of his voice and in the arrangements of his songs. It's especially true on what for me is the highlight of this disc; his medley/interpretation of the old Led Zeppelin tunes "Black Dog" and "Whole Lotta Love." I'd never been a fan of the hard rock school of Blues that Zeppelin practiced so I was a bit tentative about listening to covers of their music.
That was before I read the notes the publicist sent out including Stacy's cut-by-cut analysis of the CD. "I've never been a big Led Zeppelin fan personally..." were the first words he'd written about his version. But everybody at their gigs was always yelling out for them to play their music. What he did was take the songs and rework them back into Delta blues numbers, much like the music that originally inspired the songs in the first place.
His versions of the songs are nothing short of amazing as he plays them on his resonator guitar and turns them into old "Hollar" style blues numbers. When his voice breaks in "Black Dog" its from genuine emotion, not because he's some rock 'n' roll prima donna. Underneath everything, the music, and the singing, you can almost hear a thread of laughter running as he's performing the song. It finally breaks through when he comes to the Led Zepplin line: "I don't know, but I've been told/Big legged women ain't got no soul."
He stops the song in order to read out the lyric (saying "large," though, instead of "big") as if to say can you believe this shit, and says something like, "That ain't right," then moves back into the song again. On the enhanced part of the CD, which you can access by playing it on your computer's CD/DVD drives, a video of the recording of the song is included. Stacy introduces it by saying when he does it live he has to be reading off a lyric sheet because he doesn't know the lyrics that well.
The video cuts back and forth between him and his band recording in the studio and them doing the song live. When he gets to the point in the lyrics where that line comes in the live show, he reaches out and throws the lyric sheets away. It's a beautiful, little, and funny gesture, that fits right into the tone and mood he set for the song. On the one hand he's created an amazing delta blues number that he plays with absolute seriousness, and on the other hand he gently teases Led Zeppelin.
Stacy Mitchhart is a gifted, eloquent, and heartfelt blues musician who plays some of the best down to earth blues music I've heard in a long time. If you've never heard him before do yourself a favour, when Gotta Get The Feeling Back Again is released this Sept. 18th pick up a copy, you won't regret it.
- Blogcritics.org
by Don Crow
Saturday, April 7, 2007
STACY MITCHHART
I'M A GOOD MAN
DR SAM RECORDS 008
BOUNCE--U TURN ME ON--I MIGHT BE YOUR HUSBAND--I'M A GOOD MAN--GOT TO GET THE FEELING BACK--HOMEWRECKER--MEMBERS ONLY--WHEN YOU GET THROUGH FOOLIN' AROUND--DILLY DO--BLUES HAS GOT U BAD--KEEP BLUESN'--VOODOO WOMAN--START ALL OVER AGAIN
It's no wonder that multi-talented and multiple-Bluesy Award winner Stacy Mitchhart feels that his latest release, "I'm A Good Man," is his best yet. It's got everything going for it--a great batch of songs delivered by some fantastic musicians. Stacy's really hit a home run with this one, tho--it's a stone solid set of blues with a touch of funk and soul that has clubgoers jumpin' all over the country. In fact, "U Turn Me On" is currently #4 on the Beach Music chart! Add in cuts like "Dilly Do," and "Bounce," and the dancers indeed will love this one!
Blues fans need not worry, tho. There's plenty of Stacy's trademark smokin' blues guitar to go around. The spirit of Albert King and Son Seals lives on thru Stacy's scorching licks that fuel "Got To Get The Feeling Back" and "Blues Has Got You Bad." A touch of gospel lends itself to the slow-blues of "Start All Over Again." The infectious "Dilly Do" even has a rap break, courtesy of Quentin "Q" Ware.
Throughout this set, Stacy is backed by his faithful Blues-U-Can-Use crew, featuring that amazing horn section arranged by Quentin Ware. These guys have been playing together for a number of years, and their sound is tighter than pork on a rib bone down at the Rendezvous!
We had two favorites, too. Sam Corley III adds a smoky vocal complementing Stacy in the slow-jam "Voodoo Woman," while Stacy gives a mighty soulful reading of one of blues' best-known odes to the broken-hearted, "Members Only."
Stacy Mitchhart is one of the finest talents around, and Music City is lucky to have him. Catch him in a live setting if you can, either headlining at a Missisippi casino near you, or at his regular gig at Bourbon Street. Otherwise, please do the next best thing and grab a copy of "I'm A Good Man" for a cool shot of hot blues for ya, from the Blues Doctor himself, Stacy Mitchhart!
Until next time....Sheryl and Don Crow.
- Music City Blues
Veteran Mitchhart serves
up a heaping helping of
soul, R&B, and boogie
woogie in his latest. His
guitar is on full display on the
stomping acoustic blues of
the title cut. His blues playing
is as serious as the lyrics
on “Better Off Dead,” and
he goes uptown on a cover
of Gil Scott-Heron’s “Legend
In His Own Mind.”
--VINTAGE GUITAR - Vintage Guitar Magazine
Discography
2008 - Grown A** Man
2007 - Gotta Get The Feeling Back Again - Grammy Nomination & #3 Picks to Click XM Radio Bluesville 74
2006 - I'm A Good Man - single "U Turn Me On" #1 Beach Music Charts
2005 - Stacy Mitchhart Live in Concert -DVD/CD
2004 - Midnight Breeze
2002 - Live and Talkin’...
2001 - What I Feel
1997 - Stacy Mitchhart & Blues-U-Can-Use at Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Bar
1995 - Simple Medicine
1993 - Blues Transfusion
Photos
Bio
Stacy Mitchhart has built a worldwide fan base thanks to phenomenal live performances, national television exposure, radio airplay, loyal enthusiastic fans and aggressive marketing and merchandising campaigns. His masterful guitar work and strong vocals have been the driving forces behind his successful career. He has won numerous industry awards, released 13 CD's, a DVD/CD and a Documentary "Nashvegas Blues. Stacy also holds 7 major endorsements. Stacy Mitchhart actively tours the US and abroad.
Mitchhart moved to Nashville in 1996 and took up residency as the house band for the hugely popular Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Bar in historic Printer’s Alley. “Moving to Nashville has been fantastic. I lived in Los Angeles and New York and made a good living, but I’ve played with cats here that I wouldn’t have been able to (play with) anyplace else - James Brown, Keb’ Mo, Steven Stills, Gatemouth Brown, Joe Sample and other cats like that. I even played with John Entwhistle of the Who," Mitchhart says with a chuckle. “I’m a Yankee in Nashville doing the most non-country thing I can do.”
Stacy Mitchhart was born in the suburbs in a middle-class neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio. Of that childhood, he recalls the catalyst to his music career: “My friends and I couldn’t play football or basketball because it was raining. I was going through the paper looking for movies. I saw an ad to learn to play guitar. I asked my mother if I could take guitar lessons. The guitar was rented and the lessons were bought. After the first six months of lessons, Dad bought me a guitar and I continued the lessons. I taught my father how to play guitar. I was nine years old then. Eighteen months later I played my first guitar solo at the school choir concert before about 450 people. It was funny because the guitar cord had a short in it and no sound came out the first 30 seconds. I was moving my leg to move the cord to make it work. Finally I find the right spot and had to stand in that one place. I guess everybody felt sorry for me because they asked me to play again. It was my first public performance and my first encore.”
Stacy comes from a musically talented family. His grandfather played the fiddle, his uncle played drums and his grandmother played piano. “I grew up listening to my parents albums - Wes Montgomery, Al Hirt, Herb Alpert, Boots Randolph, Ink Spots and the Mills Brothers. While my friends were listing to R&R, I was tuning into soul stations and jazz. I went to rock concerts, but the music never thrilled me at all. I would have rather listened to Sam Cooke.
“Growing up in Cincinnati, my best friends’ father was my biggest musical influence. Frank Hedges was an unorthodox storefront preacher who played gospel as the blues. He put me in his band. We would always laugh at how he played guitar. He was never formerly taught. He didn’t just strum the guitar, but would smack it. There were these bass notes, drums, everything, I tried to do this in my playing. He played from his soul. He was my biggest guitar influence from a personal level.”
“Bobby Blue Bland is my favorite vocalist. He’s so smooth. He picks good material, does the classics and his own so well. He’s got style. BB King, of course, is a favorite. There’s a lot of him in my playing, without a doubt. At 14 I saw BB and Bobby together. I sneaked back stage and BB gave me his guitar pic. Albert King’s tone and intensity just really excites me. He’s the epitome of the blues guy. Same with Albert Collins, again, it’s tone and the super intense energy in the way he plays. Carlos Santana and Sly and the Family Stone were early musical influences. Wes Montgomery was a big influence. I was never influenced to play note for note. If I tried to emulate something, it was the tone.”
Mitchhart took those early musical influences and started a lifelong career 1982. In 1991, after a few years on the East Coast, time in LA and touring top venues and festivals, Mitchhart returned to his hometown. He put together a blues show called Stacy Mitchhart & Blues-U-Can-Use. The band attracted rock and soul fans as well as diehard blues fans, and was able to fill clubs and venues normally reserved for rock groups. Mitchhart started his own label, Dr. Sam Records, and in 1993 released his first CD Blues Transfusion, garnering airplay throughout the South. 12 CDs (3 top 10 Billboard Charts) and 25 years later, Stacy Mitchhart is widely considered the Blues Ambassador of Music City, Nashville TN.
Stacy and his band perform 300 shows per year(80+ on the road).
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