San Diego Troubadour Dec. 2007 Cont'd.

“We were soon being introduced to ‘River Rat’ Smith…”*

The CD Make a Change Sometime was released three years ago to critical acclaim. The album explores the full range of regional acoustic blues, isolating and sometimes mixing blues styles – Delta, hill country, Piedmont, and jug band – with ragtime and gospel. Nickel Creek’s Sara Watkins provides her bluegrass fiddle for the occasion and Gene Taylor adds additional depth on piano. With the standard lineup of Nathan on guitar and Ben on harp and vocals, the duo switches things around from time to time with Nathan coming out to the microphone to sing and play harmonica on a number of songs. All the while, Ben’s ever-growing selection of pocket instruments – kazoo, jug, washboard, washtub bass, and spoons – gives the tracks that early-century flavor and authenticity. In 2005, the CD was nominated for Best Blues Album at the San Diego Music Awards.
In 2006, The Carl Sonny Leyland Trio Meets Nathan James and Ben Hernandez was released. This pairing, in which Nathan and Ben stare across the divide at the boogie-woogie pianist and his small combo, brings together the best of two incredibly different worlds, even while many may associate the two styles with American, pre-war roots. On one hand, there is the lushness of Leyland’s piano, on the other, one hears the gritty hammering of percussive guitar and the animal calls of the harmonica. One side speaks of this country’s early pop culture, a time during the ’20’s, ’30s, and ’40s when people were starting to buy records and dance. The other speaks of the pains of rural life, the racial divide, and agrarian minimalism. One speaks of the dancehall, the other the shotgun shack. One speaks of gyrating bodies, one of a tomcat moaning in the courtyard outside the window. When the duo meets the trio, both sides of the chasm meld perfectly. From one side comes the rhythm, from the other, the blues.
The duo has also found time to work on side projects. Nathan’s The Road Is Mine is a collection he first recorded some five years ago, featuring his solo work from a point in his career when he was on his own, playing guitar and singing. Long-time friend and blues giant James Harman produced the CD for the Pacific Blues label. Ben is often featured in his emerging role, not as a sideman on the album but as Nathan’s equal partner. Harman also joins in on harp and vocals.
More recently, the duo played a major role in the making of Robin Henkel’s Awesome Possum (2007). Nathan recorded it in his Oceanside studio, while Ben sings and plays harp on several tracks. Says Henkel of Ben’s performance: “I joked around with Ben saying that in my opinion, his vocal performance on this recording is so great that Awesome Possum should be a Ben Hernandez CD.”
In addition to studio work, the two have even put together a video called Live: Until They Put Me Down, much in the format of the so-called “RocDocs” that are shown on VH1 and other music stations. Professionally produced, the 15-minute documentary shows the duo performing live in a number of venues. Again, the post-modern irony kicks in as Ben sings in a gutsy groan while the sailboats and wispy sun of a Southern California marina flutter in the background. But, a gutsy groan is a gutsy groan no matter if that setting is far from a smoky juke. The documentary also showcases, in a subsequent string of live clips, the duo in all its versatile, instrumental glory. Besides Ben on harp and Nathan on guitar, there are also clips of Nathan playing harmonica, Ben blowing jug, and both alternating on vocals. Interlaced throughout are clips and photos of the two growing up and interviews in which the duo’s roots philosophy is fully explained. Thanks to that cyber juke joint known as the Internet, Live: Until They Put Me Down can be viewed on YouTube in two parts.

“After about 10 minutes, Miss Cora called us back into the Kitchen, ‘All right, c’mon back and get something to eat…”*

It’s been said that you can tell you’ve hit the big time when what you used to measure in months and years is now measured in days and weeks. This seems to be how the past year has treated the duo. Given all the hard work and the many credits mentioned above, the duo’s career seems to have reached a critical mass in 2007.
Coincidently, or not so coincidently, the duo has marked its seventh year together. For musical acts, like married couples, the seven-year itch is a milestone. For those bands destined to break up, the seventh year is a good time to do it. For those destined for fame and fortune, the seven-year mark is one of those times to stop and ask, “Have we made it yet?”
For Nathan and Ben, things seem to be breaking in all directions. And, that’s a good thing!
The duo’s second CD – Hollerin’ – has been released and is opening many doors. (For more on Hollerin’, please see the actual CD review on page 13.) But, for now, it’s safe to say that the duo has pulled out all the stops. Alone, just like they appear on stage, there are no obstacles in the performance. There is even a live cut that captures the brute energy of a Nathan James and Ben Hernandez live show. The two musicians employ every instrument in their arsenal. Nathan plays a variety of guitars from acoustic to 12-string to slide to electric. He also plays many percussion instruments from foot drum to coffee can. Ben, of course, comes fully equipped with his many found instruments. Both musicians share vocals. And, there’s plenty of surging harmonica to whip a freight train.
Over the course of 13 songs, mostly original compositions, the duo explores the gamut of pre-war and early post-war song structures from country blues and early Chicago to gospel and ballads.

“It’s pretty darn cold here…I brought a scarf from San Diego…”*

The two began their individual musical journeys as if destined to become kindred spirits finally to meet up in their early 20s. Unconventionally, during their high school years, when most kids are gravitating toward the various niches of pop and the appropriate lunch hall cliques, Nathan and Ben were both plunging headlong into pre-war Americana.
“Of course, there was an initial interest in Metallica,” says Nathan, a Fallbrook native, who picked up the guitar at 13 and started out in the rock scene of the 1990s. But, Nathan had always been enamored with the acoustic guitar, its purity and intimacy. “The acoustic allows you to project yourself organically,” Nathan continues. So, soon Metallica was taking the stage exit in favor of Allman Brothers, CSNY, and the acoustic side of classic rock. These soon segued to their own precursors, especially country blues. Playing with a number of North County and area bands through his teens, including the Blues Pharoahs, Billy Watson, and Johnny Dyer, Nathan met James Harman and went out on tour as a sideman for the blues veteran at the ripe age of 18. It was a great way to see every corner of the country as well as some gigs in Europe, Mexico, and Canada, explains Nathan.
In addition, Nathan has racked up a resume that includes Johnny Rover, Big Mo’ Band, Nena Anderson, Blue Largo, Janiva Magness, Gary Primich, Hollywood Blue Flames, Rick Holmstrom, and many others in the Southland blues scene.
After a few years of touring, Nathan was ready to step out of the sideman’s role. So, here and there, he would climb on stage at the occasional blues jam and open mic back here at home. It was through mutual friends, while playing in L.A., that Nathan and Ben were introduced in 2000. They’ve been playing together seriously ever since.

“And it turns out that it’s the same store that Sonny Boy Williamson used to buy his
harmonicas from…”*

Like Nathan, Ben also bucked the teenage music trends of the 1990s, falling head over heals in love with the blues while still in high school. “I’m a singer first, harmonica player second,” Ben observes. His vocal influences read like a who’s-who of the American South, including not only pre-war country blues but folk, country, and gospel. In fact, Ben to this day prefers the terms Americana or roots over the blues since those terms better define the earlier time-period that has become the duo’s palate. “Blues means electric blues to most people. We’re much more about Tampa Red and Leadbelly, John Estes and Hammie Nixon, people like that.” His influences now expand to include Sonny Terry, Peg Leg Sam, John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson, and Noah Lewis.
Singing and playing blues harp in the Sonny Boy Number One format, Ben left the Central Valley after high school and headed to Los Angeles where he continued to hone his skills while making a number of in-roads into the L.A. blues scene. At this time, he fronted his own bands including Brickyard Jones and the Double Fives. He also began adding various new instruments to his repertoire. The kazoo, jug, washboard, washtub bass, and spoons may seem little more than a novelty, even a bit comical, to many in this day and age.
But, before World War II, when people entertained themselves using the “found” instruments of their everyday lives, these instruments not only provided much needed percussion to small, traveling combos that couldn’t lug around a drum set, they enhanced the music by allowing for a number of textures and sound effects that today would be acquired through sampling or studio overdubs. These funny instruments, then, became the color that allowed guitar and harp duos to sound much larger and complex than they actually were.
As Ben’s reputation grew, it wasn’t long until his L.A. admirers introduced him to another hungry Bluesman, who was headed out on his own – Nathan James.
The two soon decided to make San Diego’s North County their home base. Nathan was already from here. And, this would set them up only a stone’s throw from L.A. in the event the big city and its music industry came a-callin’.

“They say that Beale Street isn’t what it used to be…”*

Last February, the duo headed to Memphis to compete in the International Blues Challenge, an event that draws some 150 acts each year from every corner from the globe, not to mention the best of the best from here in the States. As two California boys, Nathan and Ben were definitely in tough company since not only was the entire field top-notch but many Memphis solo artists, duos, and bands also were regulars at the event, inevitably holding the home field advantage. Besides, need it be said that the duo was heading into the homeland of the blues.
Sponsored by Blues Lovers United of San Diego, the duo landed in Memphis during a winter colder than most. The year before, they had competed. But, as already stated, the competition was fierce, especially for two California kids, far from home, on their first pilgrimage to Mecca.
By the time each act arrives in Memphis, it has already shown its wares at dozens of competitions at the regional level. These various blues battles take place over several months starting in the the summer prior. As the regional winners advance through these preliminary events, they must face stiffer and stiffer competition and go toe to toe against the best the world blues community has to offer. After a grueling climb through these ranks, the finalists are showered with an array of prizes, including cash. Winners and participants of the event – who in the past have included Michael Burks, Tommy Castro, Albert Cummings, Larry Garner, Zac Harmon, Richard Johnston, Matthew Skoller, Susan Tedeschi, and Michelle Wilson – are also awarded the well-deserved and universally recognized prestige from which to propel their careers to the next level. An awards ceremony closes out the three days. The Blues Foundation “touts the three-day event as the world’s largest gathering of blues bands.”
The duo honed its nerves (they’d already honed their skills) at the 2006 competition. Then, on February 3, 2007, on an unseasonably snowy Saturday, especially for two guys from California, first place in the solo artist/duo category was announced: Nathan James and Ben Hernandez!

“I hadn’t been on a plane for about 11 years…”*

Yet, winning the prize of prizes wasn’t all that the duo won. They had traveled to the land of the blues, had met not only their peers but their idols, and were now internationally recognized bluesmen. During their trip they also visited many of the haunts both on and off Beale Street that blues heroes of the past hundred years have frequented. Ben, in fact, began writing a travel log in order to record their various sojourns. Excerpts from that journal are included throughout this article.
After a triumphant return to SoCal, the duo maintained a demanding performing schedule. As Ben reminded me: this is how they make their living. There are no paid sick days or vacation days for the full-time, professional musicians. First prize or not, if they don’t work, they don’t eat.
In April they left the country for the first time as a duo, touring Denmark for three weeks. In June, they flew international again, this time to Italy where several blues festivals awaited them. In July they headed to our own Northwest for Portland’s Waterfront Blues Festival. During the summer, they found time to double up and work as sidemen alongside percussionist Michael Tempo in James Harman’s Bamboo Porch Review.
Now, it’s off to Taiwan to perform at the Taipei Blues Bash. Since the Taiwanese blues scene is short on the very best players, yet has an abundance of enthusiastic listeners, musicians from the States are very much appreciated over there. It’s the real deal, Ben explains. Not only are Nathan and Ben the real deal, they are the top blues duo in the world according to their win in Memphis.
In the meantime, Nathan and Ben are working on their third album as a duo, which they will record and produce themselves and release on their own recording label.
And, with that label – Sacred Cat Recordings – up and running, the duo has the tools in place to carry their talent and careers for a long time to come. (Hey, they’ll never have to worry about being dropped by their record company.) But, seriously, a lot has changed since the world heard Blind Lemon Jefferson and Big Bill Broonzy. Now, one can sing the blues and still gain some degree of empowerment and control over his destiny. As Nathan and Ben are proving: the blues isn’t just for old men anymore. And, that’s a good thing!

*Excerpted from Ben Hernandez’s Travel Journal, which was written during the duo’s trip to Memphis to compete in the International Blues Challenge.

Raul Sandelin is a San Diego writer who teaches composition and cultural criticism at Grossmont College and SDSU. He is also a guitar instructor at Moze Guitars in La Mesa.