I’ll admit to having a penchant for blues artists because they can take real-life experiences and present them in a very down-to-earth way that is truthful and compelling. I know artists in other genres do the same thing but there is something about the blues that continually captures my attention and interest.
Such is the case with this week’s artist, Chris O’Leary who will be bringing his Alligator Records debut album to the Rock Harbor Brewing Co. on the 20th of this month. The harmonica master, gravel-voiced singer/songwriter was lead singer of Levon Helm’s Barn Burners and has had five albums out on different labels before landing on Bruce Iglauer’s label and releasing “The Hard Line” back on Jan. 12 of this year.
In a recent interview from his home in Northern New York State, O’Leary filled me in on his life experiences doing the myriad of jobs he’s had over his life and career.
Q: Chris Levick at Alligator sent me a link to your album and, man, that’s some good stuff.
A: Thank you — thanks. I’m really proud of it; I think it’s my best one yet.
Q: Oh, so you’ve recorded other places before?
A: I have, I was on Biz Tone records for a couple of albums and then I was on a label called American Showplace out of Jersey. I was on there for two albums, as well.
Q: So that has something to do with the fact that “The Hard Line” sounds really tight and sounds like you know what you’re doing.
A: Yeah, I’m not a newbie (laughter). I’ve been at it for a while and as a kid that grew up listening to James Cotton and Muddy Waters and Junior Wells, Alligator has always been my mecca, it’s been where I’ve wanted to go, so this has been sort of like a dream come true. All my heroes played on Alligator, or just about, so it’s truly a dream come true.
Q: Well, Bruce Iglauer is responsible for me getting a “Keeping the Blues Alive” Award in 2018, he considered it a life-time achievement award in a way.
A: If it’s coming from Bruce, it means something — he knows what he’s doing. To tell you the truth, and I know this might sound weird because he’s the president and CEO of a label, but he’s had a really profound influence on my songwriting just being who he is.
Q: How so?
A: He’s a hands-on guy and he’s really helped me be more focused and less fluff, he basically said, “Listen, Chris, a song doesn’t need four verses, two bridges, a couple of choruses and a bunch of solos to be affective. You get in and get out in 3 and ½ minutes and get your point across and have it actually be more hard-hitting.” So he’s been really good that way, the reason this record is what I think is my best work is a large part due to my association with Bruce.
Q: And I think he’s had a similar impact on quite a few other artists on his label. I have heard that from folks I’ve interviewed on Alligator Records.
A: I have not met one artist that’s been on Alligator that has anything but great things to say about Bruce, and they are the people that have actually worked with him.
Q: And he knows what he’s talking about, right?
A: Oh, he absolutely does, without a doubt!
Q: Well, let me say that there’s a quality to your songs that makes you, and those songs, very believable, and your sense of humor is, quite frankly, wonderful, too.
A: I’ve lived a crazy life between being in the Marine Corps and going to war, and then playing with Levon Helm for seven years which was just a wild, crazy ride with an amazing person. And then I lost it all, I lost my voice through vocal nodes, so I had to take a complete reassessment of everything that was going on and I became a cop. I was a federal police officer for 13 years, then I got a vocal coach and started doing warm-ups and started inching my way back into the music business because I couldn’t stand my job. So living a crazy life like that, it has afforded me with a big palette of crazy life experiences to choose from, some of it good, some of it not so good, but all of it something I can harvest from. So most of the stuff is autobiographical or semi-autobiographical, you know?
Q: And hence, the truth.
A: Yeah, ya gotta write about what you know.
Q: Now, as an Alligator artist, you probably haven’t been up this way, but have you played in Maine before.
A: I have, Paul Benjamin is my contact in Maine so I’ve been playing Paul’s place for a while. It was the Time-Out in Rockland and now it’s switched over to Rock Harbor Brewery. Paul’s like a huge promoter, he does a good portion of the East Coast blues festivals, and he had this place up there; it’s a Monday night thing. Now, Monday nights are tough for road bands, if you can get one, usually it’s lame — nobody wants to go out and hear a band on Monday. But this Monday night has always been fantastic, so that’s why people travel up there to do it, he’s got his regular crowd and they’re crazy and it’s a lot of fun, it’s the best Monday night in the country. Paul’s a big guy in the blues community, and he’s a Marine, too!
Q: What can folks expect from your upcoming show at Rock Harbor Brewing Co.?
A: I’m coming up with five pieces and its high energy, but we do some slow blues, too. We go from rock and roll to blues to straight New Orleans R&B, and we do a lot of Band stuff now that Levon’s gone on to a better place, we play a couple of band songs a night just to keep his music in people’s ears. There’s a big time period between the Levon thing and now, you know, when you’re younger you never think that things are going to end so I never really slowed down and I never really appreciated the moment, and now that I look back on my time with Levon, those were seven years that I should have been savoring every second. But now that I’ve got this second opportunity, and I’m not saying those other labels weren’t good, it’s just that the support and the push from Alligator has been amazing. I feel like things have taken off again, which is a good thing.
Q: For sure! Is there anything you’d like to pass on to the folks reading this article about your return trip back to Rockland?
A: Just if they haven’t gotten the album yet give it a chance, don’t let any preconceptions of what it might be scare you off because it is a good record: it’s respectful of the tradition but it goes out there. It’s a good-time record and it’s an honest record, for sure, and please have them just come on out and see the band, it’ll be a good show!
Lucky Clark, a 2018 “Keeping the Blues Alive” Award winner, has spent more than 50 years writing about good music and the people who make it. He can be reached at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or suggestions.