Reprinted with permission from the Thursday, May 29, 1997 edition of the Keene Sentinel, page 19

Blues in a slightly different direction

By Bruce Whitman Keene Sentinel staff member

Rock critic Jon Landeau wrote what is considered by many to be the greatest line ever written in rock criticism: "I have seen the future of rock and roll," wrote Landeau, "and its name is Bruce Springsteen."

To paraphrase Landeau, I have caught a glimpse of the future of blues and it just may include Rick Carroll. Who?

Nashua guitarist Rick Carroll is one bad guitar-slinger. His music comes from the heart and he has the chops to back up his tough attitude. If other local guitarist want to cut heads with Carroll, I suggest they stock up on their supply of Wheaties. This boy can flat- out play.

"Where I come from," said Carroll, who originally hails from the relatively mellow confines of upstate New York, "guitar playing was a blood-sport. I would have twenty guitar players standing around watching me just waiting for me to drop a note."

Carroll and his band, Wicked Blue, will play three-one hour sets Saturday night at Bandido's at the Center of Keene. It is a good opportunity to hear blues taken in a slightly different direction. Carroll's self-titled debut on Trace Records is available locally at the Music Shop.

It is hard to characterize Carroll's music as blues. It certainly has blues overtones throughout yet only one song on his debut, "Working Girl," follows the traditional I-IV-V blues format. At times you can hear traces of metal, funk and swing in Carroll's playing.

"Blues purists will probably hate me," Carroll said. "Because the music is explosive and not safe. But that's okay. It (my debut) was more than getting my original material across. I wanted to show where my mind is at and what I can do with this material."

"Blues will go straight into a museum if it continues the way it is going," he continued. "The boomers are getting older and are becoming restrained. The kids won't want to listen to the same music as their parents. This is for a blues lover seeking a new blues alternative."

This attitude is not arrogance or even over-confidence from a neophyte in the music industry. The 40-year old Carroll - himself a baby-boomer - has cut his teeth on the live blues circuit. He has worked with the West Albany Street Blues Band and Charleston, South Carolina Meteors. He also fronted New England's Automatic Slim, a blues band that he simply terms "notorious."

A self-described Hendrix freak (on the liner notes to his debut CD, he thanks "Al Hendrix for having the coolest son of all-time"), Carroll is a dominant, heavy rhythm guitarist, not dissimilar to Stevie Ray Vaughn. And he works within the same context as his hero, a three-piece band.

"It is not a limitation at all playing in a three piece band," Carroll said. "In fact, I feel freer knowing where the edges are. Hard funk is like a pyramid. Once you take something out, you lose the groove."

"The drummer is the energy and the fire within the band," he added. "I play off his high-hat. The bass rules in blues. It is the only instrument in a blues act that tell you what song your are playing. The bass is the Sherpa of the band it carries everything. The bass rules in blues. Why do you think Willie Dixon wrote all of those great blues songs?"

On "Rick Carroll and Wicked Blue," Carroll covers Dixon's "I Just Wanna Make Love to You," perhaps the most overtly sexual blues tune ever. And he delivers it with a sneer and a swagger. Dave Lemay on "ecletic, electric bass" and drummer Tom Souza round out Wicked Blue. Eileen Driscoll joins in on backing vocals and assorted percussion.

One problem that Carroll faces on his musical journey is that this is a road that is well-travelled. He is very gifted musically - his leads, considering the volume that he is playing at - are unbelievably clean and fluid. Because of his style, comparison to Stevie Ray Vaughn are inevitable. Whether this is good or bad - or better yet fair or unfair remains to be seen.

To draw national attention he is either going to have to elevate his playing to a virtuoso level or he is going have to create something that is both unique and marketable.

A third option is to compromise and give in and go commercial. Don't count on that happening.

"This (his debut CD) was like floating a trial balloon." he said, "to have a product out there to show people where my head is at. It's good but it doesn't completely capture what I'm trying to do - the explosiveness of my music."

"My music is very visceral; nothing I play comes from my head it all comes from in here," he said, pointing to his art. The follow-up to "Rick Carroll and Wicked Blue" is due from Trace Records in September. Carroll said the band will spend much of the summer in the studio recording before heading out on a twelve-week tour of the Northeast this fall. Carroll said he plans to include a version of Robert Johnson's "Come Into My Kitchen" on the yet-to-be named disc.

"This is what he hope to do any way," he said, "and, damn, I hope it works out."

It will be worth checking out Rick Carroll and Wicked Blue at Bandido's this Saturday. It is sure to be a good time and, perhaps, a glimpse of the future of the blues. No matter, just seeing a great band in a small club can make you feel that you have found the secret of the universe.