Ramsey’s Disciples--Got Blues If You Want ‘Em
By Chris Manson March 13, 2002 Issue

Pat Ramsey is no stranger to Destin. The blues vocalist and harmonica dynamo earned a following with his appearances at the now-defunct Blues and Mr. J’s a couple of years ago. Many of these fans turned up at the Funky Blues Shack for an evening of lively, heartfelt blues from Ramsey and his band, The Blues Disciples.

Ramsey and the Disciples—Dave Renson on lead guitar, bassist Dennis Cedeno and drummer Al Piccininni—broke in the Shack’s upgraded sound system with unbounded forays into pained ballads and uptempo blues. Things really got rolling after 10 p.m. with a fiery take on the old Howlin’ Wolf tune Highway 49.

On his 1999 CD Live at the Grand, Ramsey introduces this song as “one of the main blues thoroughfares in the United States.” Renson added some delicious slide guitar, prompting a musician from the audience to inquire about tunings and so forth. All of the numbers prominently featured Ramsey’s robust vocals and incredible harp blowing.

“I haven’t sung this in a long time,” Ramsey said before delivering a no-apologies-necessary rendition of his original I Love You. The band continued to show its stuff on the J. Geils Band instrumental Whammer Jammer, which segued into a stomping Got Love If You Want It.

“About 75 percent of our stuff is original,” Ramsey said during a well-deserved break. (Does he ever get tired, I wondered.) “The ones that aren’t are pretty obscure. Of course, we’ll do Mustang Sally if there’s six Penthouse Pets in the front begging us!”

Ramsey came of age when Jimi Hendrix was blowing the rock world away with his innovative guitar technique. “What I tried to do was take guitar licks and put them on harmonica,” Ramsey said. Indeed, when Ramsey and Renson get it going, it’s difficult to determine where the guitar ends and the harp begins.

The J. Geils Band impressed Ramsey, too. “Magic Dick blew my mind!” he said of the Geils musician who inspired him to start fooling around with the harmonica. The Allman Brothers, Paul Butterfield and Johnny Winter were other early influences—Ramsey named Winter’s 1968 album Second Winter as a personal favorite.

“Here’s a song about a disease we all caught in Key West…not what you think, girls. It’s worse,” Ramsey said. Allergic to Work, a crowd pleaser, enabled Piccininni to show off his drum chops and ended with a lengthy unaccompanied harp solo. Here, Ramsey did for the harp what Hendrix did for the guitar. What a set of lungs this guy has!

The rocking I’m Gonna Walk boasted a solid backbeat from Piccininni and imaginative vocals from Ramsey. Mike Bloomfield’s Georgia Stomp followed, with a wondrous section devoted to Ramsey’s and Renson’s lick-trading. Renson, a fan of rock legend Jeff Beck as well as the blues greats, even sneaked in some heavy metal touches during a couple of his solos. The exciting instrumental Willie’s Boogie—dedicated to one of Ramsey’s favorite harmonica players, William Clark—gave all four blues virtuosos the opportunity to show off to the crowd’s utter satisfaction.

Ramsey has been working non-stop since the late 1970s when he contributed harmonica to Johnny Winter’s White Hot and Blue album. He teamed up with Renson seven years ago, while the rhythm section survived a few personnel changes. Renson, Cedeno and Piccininni all live in New Orleans, while Ramsey currently crashes in Biloxi when he’s not on the road.

“It doesn’t matter where you’re from. You can be living in New York City or Nashville, but you have to go out on the road to make a living unless you’ve got a day job and just want to be a weekend warrior. If you’re serious about it, you gotta hit the highway,” Ramsey said. The Blues Disciples’ heavy touring schedule finds them playing anywhere east of the Mississippi River. “We have yet to venture west,” he added.

“I love playing here. I love to fish and hunt and play golf,” Ramsey said. “My mom had some old 8mm movies put to video. My grandfather used to come fishing in Destin in the 1940s and 1950s and you can see (footage of me) playing in the sand in 1955 near an old dock where AJ’s is now. He pans up and down the beach and there’s nothing!”

This dynamite foursome will appear at Capo’s in Santa Rosa Beach the weekend of April 3-5. If you want to feel the genuine power of the blues, I urge you to go out of your way to see and hear Pat Ramsey and the Blues Disciples. Their music is familiar but fresh, not to mention life enhancing. (Top)

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