Blues on the Road with Mulebone

July 2, 2015

Singer/guitarist Hugh Pool and multiinstrumentalist John Ragusa make up the Brooklyn-based duo Mulebone, with a new album called Keep On Movin’ (2014, Red Tug Records) and a well-deserved reputation as a pair of musicians who know how to elevate modern blues.

Between reinvigorating classic tracks with their forward-looking performances and their new Americana tunes that fit like puzzle pieces into the rest of their repertoire, these are sounds that bring forth the best of this genre, along with a sprinkling of folk.

Pool’s skills on guitar are effortless and Ragusa’s unique choice of instruments for various musical scenarios, including flutes, whistles and even conch shells, make for blues arrangements like none you’ve heard before. It’s Mississippi meets Manhattan, and it’s definitely moving their audiences.

THEY MEET

The two musical pals met at a gig, the first of many they’d play together over nearly 20 years.

“I met John at a gig I was playing with my then band,” Pool explained. “After the first break, I saw he had a flute in his hand. We chatted for a few minutes and he asked if he might sit in for a number. I figured a guy pulling out a flute at a blues-rock gig must be pretty confident and was also likely a pretty good player, so I said sure.”

The only thing Pool was wrong about, he continued, was the ‘pretty good’ part.

“John was then, and is now, just jawdropping good,” Pool said.

Ragusa invited Pool to one of his gigs next and, once people heard the sounds the two crafted together, they ended up with a gig on Nantucket Island that lasted 10 years.

Today, they’ve got four CDs under their collective belt, each notching up the charts a little farther than its predecessor. Keep On Movin’ is all original, but the pair’s originals and their covers are equally anticipated at their live shows.

THEY TOUR

“Pretty much everything is fair game, selection-wise,” Pool said regarding their setlists. “I’d actually like every song we’ve recorded to be active on this tour, along with a half-dozen new ones, so that we can get them in shape for our next record.”

The current tour takes Mulebone from New York to Michigan, then out to Colorado, back to Michigan and out to Vermont.

“We’re on the road for about five weeks and will play about 30 shows,” Ragusa said. “And we’re very happy that about half of the tour is in Michigan; we’re more than psyched to be opening for Joan Jett at the Cherry Festival, we’re excited to venture to the U.P. We count ourselves very lucky to have friends and fans in Michigan and our friend and promoter, Seamus Shinners, has done a great job of getting us into lots of venues.”

“And I mean, why wouldn’t you want to go to Traverse City in July?” Pool continued. “It rivals any place I’ve ever been in terms of natural beauty, kind people, great weather, outstanding beer and plenty of good food. Am I missing something?”

THEY’VE GOT THE BLUES

So what can you expect at a Mulebone show? Lots of blues, of course. Pool is even a recently-inducted member of the NY Blues Hall of Fame. Even more so, you’ll get the chance to see these two seasoned pros craft music on the fly.

“At the risk of sounding cliché, the blues is a feeling, as Lightning Hopkins once said,” Ragusa explained. “The essence of the music, and the simplicity of the form, leave infinite room for expression. That said, Hugh and I rarely adhere to the classic 12-bar blues; we connect to the taproot of it, but we can’t help but bring elements of folk, rock, funk and jazz into our music.”

Pool calls his own sound, especially on the National steel guitar, “PsycheDeltaBlues,” a mish-mash of psychedelic ’60s music and Delta blues that’s uniquely his own. “And we write about the present and the past, but we try to write it as old as dirt,” he added.

“And I’ve come to my sound as a classically-trained musician who spent years improvising with world musicians and jazz players and singer-songwriters,” Ragusa said.

They’re as much influenced by Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix and Randy Newman as they are by Muddy Waters.

“Hugh’s songs are soulful and leave lots of room for interaction and improvisation between us,” Ragusa said. “For two people, we make a lot of noise!”

For more information on Mulebone, visit mulebonemusic.com.

MULEBONE’S MICHIGAN SHOWS:

July 9 – Cherry Festival, Traverse City (opening for Joan Jett and the Blackhearts)

July 10 – Concert in the Park, Northport

July 11 – Aten Place, Boyne Falls

July 12 – Blissfest, Bliss

July 14 – Concert in the Park, Fennville

July 15 – Concert in the Park, Lakeview

July 17 – The Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island

July 18 – Legs Inn, Harbor Springs

July 19 – Nahma Inn, Nahma City (U.P.)

July 30 – The Landing, Charlevoix