Susan Tedeschi offers a stark contrast between the person and the performer. Talking to her before the show I found a sweet, innocent sounding girl with a "little" girls voice. If you just met her for the first time and knew nothing about her, there is no way you would think she was a blues singer. But what a transformation that occurs when she gets on stage. The transformation is in her voice and boy what a powerful voice it is. She has the voice of a classic blues belter like Etta James, but not quite like her. She has a little bit of Koko Taylor, but not as gruff. There is a little Janis Joplin in her voice, but not as raw. There is also some Toni Lynn Washington there, though not quite as sophisticated. She has the phrasing of Bonnie Raitt, and the soul and authority of Aretha Franklin. There is a versatility here with so many qualities all coming together in her own sound, and what a nice sound that is.

Susan Tedeschi Photo © 1998 by Tom Asp All rights reserved

In her short opening set for this St. Patrick’s day celebration under the tent at Gabe’s Tedeschi, along with her young band, performed a number of blues standards and some original songs from her new Tone-Cool CD "Just Won't Burn." She treated us to some straight ahead, driving blues, some powerful gut-wrenching vocals, and even showed us a sweeter pop side to her voice with the John Prine song "Angel From Montgomery." This song also featured some great back and forth guitar exchanges between Susan and lead guitar player Sean Costello, an 18 year old who plays with a maturity twice his age. His mannerisms and playing style reminded me a lot of Teddy Morgan.

Susan was born and raised in a typical middle class environment in Massachusetts. Her grandfather and uncles were pioneers in the supermarket business back on east coast during the 1950’s and 60’s. There is even a 1960’s picture of one of the Tedeschi markets inside her new CD. She started singing on stage at the age of 6 and was heavily involved in the theater while growing up. She said she was always in front of people. She joined her first band at age 13 singing all types of music. In 1991 she graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Sean Costello, Susan Tedeschi Photo © 1998 by Steve Felling, All rights reserved

It was around that time that she also started attending the Sunday night blues jams at Johnny D’s in Somerville, Mass., hosted by Toni Lynn Washington’s band. Her father had some delta blues records around the house when she was growing up but it wasn’t until she started attending these blues jams that she really got into singing the blues. It was also around this time that she first picked up the guitar.

Susan went on to perform and record with Toni Lynn Washington and was finally able to land a national recording contract with Tone-Cool in 1997. She also signed on with Twin Cities management agents Blue Sky a few months ago and has been touring ever since the release of her new CD. Susan also recently moved to Atlanta where her band lives.

She only recently started playing full time with her new, young band and said "I have been playing for many years so this is nice to finally get the attention." She also wants to play in Europe. "They really love the blues over there," said Tedeschi. "Here, everyone wants you to rock out all the time. Sure I love rock, but I also love the blues, and soul and gospel. I just love that gut-wrenching soul music."

See the review of Tedeschi’s Bunker’s show on March 21st. also in this issue.

See the Susan Tedeschi, "Just Won't Burn" CD Review

Tom Hunter Gabe's 3/17/98 Photo © 1998 by Ray Stiles All rights reserved

Tony Sims & The Big Bang. Tony Sims & The Big Bang were on next for an early set prior to heading over to Bunker’s for their weekly Tuesday night gig. The band was sounding tight, showing the results of their constant playing together for the past 3 months.

Tony Sims Photo © 1998 by Ray Stiles All rights reserved

They were sounding the best I have heard from them since they reformed in December. They have also been working on new material, introducing a few new songs at each of their shows. There were some stellar solos by Tom Hunter on keyboards, Ted Larsen on stinging lead guitar, and Tony Sims on guitar and vocals. These three were backed by the flamboyant Jeff Hayes on bass and steady Michael Rey Larsen on drums.

Ted Larsen Photo © 1998 by Ray Stiles All rights reserved

It was apparent that the band was starting to gel and come together. I don’t know if they are aware of what musical direction they want to be heading yet. They have so much talent and play a wide variety of material. But they always seem to find their way back to straight ahead blues with a primeval energy that is always refreshing.

See another review of Tony Sims & The Big Bang

Mick Sterling w/Renee’ Austin. After a one hour delay Mick Sterling took the stage by storm. Gabe’s wanted to push the set forward so they could finish at an early hour on Tuesday night, but several of the band members didn’t know about that change and hadn’t arrived yet.

Mick Sterling Gabe's 3/17/98 Photo © 1998 by Ray Stiles All rights reserved

The drum platform was sitting empty right up until they were about ready to go on. But when they started playing their high energy brand of rocking soul and R&B I quickly forgot about the time – it was well worth the wait.

Mick was joined by the Tongue N’ Groove rhythm section of Steven Morgan on hot rock/blues guitar, Bobby Vandell on drums, Donnie LaMarca on keyboards and Billy Franze on bass. Each of these guys can take over a show and offer up some pretty spectacular solo performances as they did this night. Billy even brought his little girl with him who was sitting back on one of the speaker cases bopping along to the music for part of the show – before she got tired that is. The Stud Brother horns (Rich Manik, Pat Mackin, Bob Hallgrimson and David Jensen), 4 strong with 2 saxophones and 2 trumpets, brought a "big band sound" to the show. They are always so overpowering and energetic. But no matter how many musicians Mick has on stage with him, he always commands attention when he starts to sing with his robust and soulful vocals.

Renee' Austin, Mick Sterling Gabe's 3/17/98 Photo © 1998 by Ray Stiles All rights reserved

Blues singer Renee’ Austin joined Mick on a number of songs during the show including the superb "Who Got To You Before Me" where she offered some perfect harmony to Mick’s strong R&B vocals. This was a reprise of there performance of the song from Mick’s new CD "Nothing Less Than Everything." This was also a performance that brought back some beautiful memories of their collaboration on the Bayfront Blues Festival stage from last summer. There was some very good chemistry going on between these two excellent vocalists and it was fun to see them on stage together.

The Blenders w'/Renee' Photo © 1998 by Ray Stiles All rights reserved

We also had a special treat when the a cappella harmony group from Fargo, The Blenders, joined Mick, Renee’ and the band on several songs. Boy what a huge sound that was! Sung in the exciting street corner fashion from the 1950’s and 60’s, the six part harmony on "When We Become Lovers" was just outstanding. That song was made to be sung that way.

Another highlight of the evening was Mick’s version of Van Morrison’s "Into The Mystic," sung as a tribute to the Irishman in all of us on this holiday. It sure was a magical performance of that song. A little later everyone left the stage except Mick, Renee’ and keyboard player Donnie LaMarca. They proceeded to sing the Robbie Robertson song "It Makes No Difference" (also from Mick’s new CD), with some sweet, soulful harmony that was a unique and totally captivating experience.

Unfortunately I was not able to stick around for the Soul Tight Committee set (hope to make up for that in the near future) but Gabe’s hosted another fun "under the tent" event that has become an annual tradition in St. Paul.

E-mail Ray Stiles at: mnblues@aol.com

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