WINCHENDON – Anthony Geraci has played and recorded with some of the best of blues music and on July 19, he will bring his talents to Winchendon.
He can be heard playing with traditional blues artists such as Odetta, Big Walter Horton, John Brim, Lazy Lester, and Carey Bell, as well as contemporaries Kenny Neal, Debbie Davies, John Primer, Charlie Musselwhite, Sugaray Rayford and many more. He has toured with Otis Rush, J.B. Hutto, Hubert Sumlin, Big Joe Turner, played backup for the likes of Big Mama Thorton and John Lee Hooker, and sat in with Muddy Waters and B.B. King.
Geraci will perform as part of Blues, Brews and BBQ, which takes place on Saturday, July 19, from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Winchendon Community Park.
Geraci grew up outside of New Haven, Connecticut, and at a young age told his parents he wanted a piano.
“They bought me an old junk upright piano and stuck it in the basement,” he said. “I just played and played and played and when I was 5 or 6, they got me piano lessons. So, I started very young.”
Eventually, his folks bought him a new Kimball baby grand “and I’d come home every day after school and polish it and play. My mother would have to tell me to stop practicing.”
Eventually, Geraci earned a bachelor’s degree in music from the Berklee School of Music in Boston and a masters in music from Skidmore College.
“Growing up in New Haven, there were always great people to go see,” Geraci recalled. “I’d see Muddy Waters quite a bit in the New Haven area. B.B. King would come to the area. I actually saw Hound Dog Taylor in a dorm room at Yale University. I was also influenced by rock bands like the Doors. Even on their early albums they had songs by Willie Dixon like ‘Backdoor Man.’ Even the Rolling Stones covered a lot of their blues heroes at the time. But even though I was listening to rock I was always drawn to the blues.
“Then the bug bit me, and literally, like five or six years later, I’m sitting in with B.B. King, I’m sitting in with Muddy Waters, I’m on the road with a lot of Chicago blues people. When you’re young and you’re listening to Muddy Waters or B.B. King, they’re almost like gods on Mount Olympus.”
Geraci said he was Chuck Berry’s guitar player whenever the rock legend visited the New England area.
“I was Bo Diddly’s guitar player for a while,” he added. “I also played with Otis Rush and people like that who were the epitome of Chicago blues music. I got to know them as friends.”
In 1984, Geraci co-founded Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters. Geraci continued to work in both the Broadcasters and, in 1992, became an original member of the Blue Monday All-Star Band at the House of Blues in Cambridge.
Geraci has been nominated for 18 awards from the Blues Music Foundation. In October 1999, the album “Superharps” was issued, featured harmonica players James Cotton, Charlie Musselwhite, Billy Branch and Sugar Ray Norcia. Geraci provided piano accompaniment on the album, which was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Traditional Blue Album category.
Geraci said folks visiting Winchendon this Saturday will see a four-piece band, “and it’s all original music. It’s music from my last four or five albums. So, we’re not a blues cover band by any means. You’re not going to hear ‘The Thrill is Gone’ or anything like that. It’s all original material. Hopefully, people can enjoy the music that we’re making and maybe inspire them to go and check out some of the originators like Muddy Waters, B.B. King, or even Robert Johnson.”
Opening for Geraci will be Memphis Kelley, featuring singer Cailte Kelly. Visitors will also have a chance to sample a variety of brews, and food trucks will be on hand to serve up BBQ. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased ahead of time at www.eventeny.com (enter Blues, Brew & BBQ in the search). The event is free for those age 16 and younger.
Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.