MAY JUNE 2017

The Backtrack Blues Band
Interview with Sonny Charles
BB - Sonny, you are the man that put this band
together back in 1980. What were your dreams
for the band then?
Sc - When we started Backtrack Blues Band in 1980,
there were almost no blues bands in Tampa Bay.
Rock music was king, and blues was looked upon as
a less important genre of music. Of course, we
disagreed with this, having spent years listening to
Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Albert King, Sonny
Boy Williamson II, etc. So, our initial goal was to
play authentic blues, as true to the masters as we
could achieve. Then later, we wrote lots of songs,
and focused more on playing original music. We
still focus on song writing today and our goal is to
take our music to Europe and to major blues festivals
around the world. This summer, we head up to
Canada to play the Donnaconna Blues Festival and
some other concerts up north.
Our band is fortunate to have five guys who all get
along well and truly respect one another. Of course,
there's lots of musical talent among the fellows, but
I think I value our friendships even more than the
music itself. Any musician who has kept a band
together for a long time will understand my sentiments!!
BB - Please tell us a little more about the individual
members of the band, their instruments
and anything unique or interesting about each
one.
SC - My focus is on singing, song writing and blues
harp. I've never played other instruments and believe
I could play harmonica for a lifetime and never
fully master that instrument. It might look simple
....but it isn't!
Our drummer, Joe Bencomo , is a masterful jazz and
blues drummer. We recruited him to join us and I'm
sure some of the Jazz cats were upset because Joe
can play complex jazz drums amazingly. But as a
blues drummer, he's really solid and keeps our
backbeat going strong.
Little Johnny formed the band with me and we go
way back to our college days in Chapel Hill, NC
playing blues together. Johnny has a rhythm style
of guitar playing that you almost never hear anymore.
I think most guys want to get busy on the
guitar sounds. Johnny keeps it simple and "in the
groove" and lets our lead guitarist show his amazing
Texas blues guitar work.
Kid Royal is my favorite blues guitarist in Florida.
He's studied the history of blues guitar and has a
clean, biting Texas guitar style reminiscent of Jimmie
Vaughan or Ronnie Earl. I love standing on
stage next to him, enjoying his incredible guitar
solos. I should be paying for that privilege!
On bass guitar, we have Grammy Award winner
Stick Davis. Stick is a rock solid bass player that
really knows how to pound out the groove. He’s
played with B B King, John Mayall, Al Green, and the
Amazing Rhythm Aces. We consider Stick to be the
band "historian", as he has the inside scoop on
blues and rock history and personalities.
BUZZ Magazine May-June 2017 37