Shake your hips
With 270 years of experience under their belts, Primetime members are still swinging the blues
by Adam Garratt
The guys in the Primetime Blues Band don't look, at first glance, like a kicking blues quartet. Drummer Richard "Doc" Kass looks more the part of a college professor and Dan Axt (harmonica, vocals) a retired bouncer. The bassist, Ed White, is actually in law enforcement.
But in music, appearances and day jobs mean little, especially in the case of the blues. The average age of blues musicians has to be 10 to 20 years older than the mean age of rockers. And by the time, as a musician, you graduate into the blues, if you ever do, you have learned a few things from life.
Primetime Blues is one of the most energetic acts in town, despite all their years. How many years is that? When asked their tenures of professional performance, guitarist/vocalist Tony Houston figures he's got 30 years of experience, and Axt 10 years. White claims another 30 for himself. Kass shrugs, and says, "I don't know--somewhere around 200."
That aggregate 270 years assures that each player knows what he's doing. Primetime Blues tables no sloppiness for their audiences. On drums Kass is remarkably sharp and exact. He drives, while White holds back; together they leave a pocket open for Axt and Houston.
At a recent show at the Thirsty Ear Tavern in Grandview, Primetime Blues belted out three sets of up-tempo and slow blues originals, and a few covers' worth of change. A brief shuffle one minute gave way to a topical slow blues number the next. The latter tune mourned the harsh reality of monetary inflation, taking a good seven or eight minutes to develop fully, and ranged dynamically from soft and subtle to brutal.
Over a pre-performance drink, the affable Axt is quick to offer a summation of the band's sound. "We have more of a soft spot for the funky type of blues. And jump boogie."
Kass says his personal preference is for the gritty Chicago school of blues. "Something you can pound out, something emotional. Something you can dance to."
Axt jumps back in: "Like I tell young folks, `When you're tired of banging your head, come out and shake your hips--you'll feel better.'"
So what Columbus venues welcome blues these days? Recently Primetime Blues has played Dick's Den, Little Brother's, the Break-Away Lounge and Brian Boru's in the Short North. Says Thirsty Ear owner Jerry Flaherty, "They're one of the most consistent bands I've ever seen."
Like Axt suggests, the show is geared toward the more mature audience. That means that crowd favorites have more to do with sex than drugs or burning stuff. Two of these favorites are Axt's Lemon Squeezin' Daddy and Queen of My Castle, penned and performed by Mary Houston.
Though a few sizes slighter than her husband, Lady Houston commands attention and respect, onstage and off. Her role in the band is simple: She writes a few songs of her own, and sings them. She draws on experience, and writes songs women can relate to.
"I came up with the idea for Queen of My Castle one day when Tony and I were talking," she recalls. "He said something about being king of castles, and I said, `Now, wait a minute.'"
At this point, White speaks up. "These are the ingredients to a good blues tune: all the bad things in life that people can dance to." White, who has been with the band for three or four years, admits he was playing Southern rock during the early to mid '80s. "I've always liked Lynard Skynard. I grew up with the blues, and always thought of it as music for older folks."
"But if you talk to the blues players from down South who migrated to Chicago during the war," asserts Tony Houston, returning from setting up the stage, "they'll tell you how they listened to country growing up. Old country."
As the other band members leave the table to complete tonight's set-up, Houston remains to muse on the blues. To him, blues is about growing older and still playing. Here we return to experience. "You play more, grow more mature, and learn to tell stories better. I used to think I played pretty well when I was younger. Then one day I sat down and played some tapes I made 20 years ago." He winces, smiling ruefully. "I heard those and I thought, `Man...'"
The Primetime Blues Band will perform at First Night Columbus on December 31, and will make an afternoon appearance on Tuesday, January 2 at the Thirsty Ear Tavern for the Columbus Blues Alliance Blues Jam.