RONNIE BAKER BROOKS - BLUES IN MY DNA

RONNIE BAKER BROOKS BLUES IN MY DNA

WORDS: Colin Campbell PICS: Paul Natkin

Ronnie Baker Brooks is a name synonymous with the next generation of Chicago blues royalty. The son of the legendary Lonnie Brooks, Ronnie has carved out his own path, blending the rich, soulful traditions of the Windy City with a contemporary edge that speaks to today’s audiences.

With his blistering guitar work, commanding vocals, and a stage presence that exudes both charisma and authenticity, Ronnie has earned his place as one of the foremost torchbearers of modern blues.

His music is a powerful testament to the genre’s enduring legacy, while also pushing its boundaries into new and exciting territories. Here he discusses his blues lineage and more, including references to his newest release, Blues In My DNA.

RONNIE’S BACKSTORY

I was born into the blues my father, Lonnie Brooks, introduced me to the blues genre at the age of six. My first stage performance was at nine, at Chicago’s Pepper’s Hideout. My dad was over in Europe. He did a tour over there for six weeks or so.

He would call home, and I always asked him, take me with you, dad, I want to go on stage with you. He always replied with you’re not old enough or, you can’t do it. But this particular time when he called home, he said, if you learn two songs, by the time I get home, then you can come on stage with me. I learned, Messing With The Kid and Reconsider Baby. So, they had a welcome home party for him, and he kept his promise and allowed me to come on stage with him at Pepper’s. And I was sitting there with my mom, in a packed audience in a small club. I had a mood ring on, they used to change colours on how your mood was. My mom saw it; I was nervous, and she said, son, just relax and play like you do at home with your dad. I relaxed and got on stage with him, and they threw money on stage to me, and I made more money than I did my dad on tips! I was the only child in the club, so I was very nervous. That was my first time playing with him. Ever since then, I was hooked. I just wanted to be like my dad. I wasn’t sure, there were not many people my age playing blues. Feeling discouraged by the older, more experienced musicians around him, he temporarily shifted his focus to basketball, unknowingly breaking his father’s heart. “He didn’t tell me that I broke his heart until I got back into music. It wasn’t until I turned 18 or 19 that I realised, I knew I wanted to do it for the rest of my life”.

WHEN DID YOU GET YOUR FIRST GUITAR?

My dad bought me my first guitar when I was seven or eight years old. It was a Gibson SG, the one I’m posing with on the front cover of my new album on Alligator

Records. That’s the same guitar that Dad used on all his Alligator recordings, it became a part of my father’s signature sound. After I quit playing music to focus on basketball, he took it back saying, “Well, you’re not using it, and I’m using it.” However, when he returned to music, his father gave it back, saying, “Since you’re back, son, I’m going to give you your guitar back,” I just kept it.

DISCUSSION PROCEEDED TO THE PRODUCTION AND RECORDING OF RONNIE’S NEW RELEASE, BLUES IN MY DNA

It was an honour to work with the great Jim Gaines. I had worked with Jim on my dad’s record, Roadhouse Rules. My dad allowed me to do a lot of work on that album and besides, Jim was very cool. At the end of making that record, he was like, man, we should work together someday; that was over 30 years ago. Finally, when I signed with Alligator, Bruce Iglauer suggested to Jim Games and I was like, yes, I would love to work with him! I love the way he works. It’s very smooth and he creates a vibe, and he knows how to get some great guitar sounds. Bruce trusts me and that means a lot. I have been able to express myself better on the new release. I try my best to be as authentic as I possibly can to the genre and to the music. I learned from the blues master’s but especially my father. I pushed myself to be able to deliver that and infuse those influences in the songs on this album. The latest record reflects this maturity and growth, a process aided by the guidance of Jelly Bean Johnson on earlier projects.

LET’S TALK ABOUT SONGWRITING

My dad was very influential with that from the beginning. The first time I even tried to attempt to write a song, it was during Thanksgiving in Chicago. I asked my dad for money to buy candy, and his response was “Candy? They are cooking all this food. What you want some candy for? I tell you what, if you write me a song, I’ll give you a dollar.” I wrote the song on the spot and earned the dollar. That kind of instilled that work ethic in me right there. You got to write and tell your story... you can’t tell a story about picking cotton because you didn’t do that. I love the writing process just as much as performing. I love to see an idea become a song and then a song touching people and people reacting to it or singing back with you. I try with every song, every album, I try to push myself to be a better songwriter, a better guitar player and a better singer. I think we accomplished some good things on the new record. I wrote every song, except for one, I co-wrote All True Man.

HOW DO YOU GET YOUNGER PEOPLE INTERESTED IN THE BLUES AS SUCH NOWADAYS?

Now you can find everything on the internet. I think they understand where a lot of the music comes from, a lot of the music came from the blues. You go back to the basics, and I think they’re trying to find the truth and they find the truth in the blues, you know, and that because that’s what hit me at an early age. when I heard Lightning Hopkins and I heard Muddy Waters, the acoustic stuff that truthfulness hit my soul, man, I never forget. We did a show with John Lee Hooker early on in my career. I was playing rhythm with my dad, rhythm guitar in his band, and we did a show with him, John Lee Hooker, and Elvin Bishop, and we were backstage talking to John Lee, and it was time for John to go on. He goes on, and right when he starts singing, the song Serves Me Right To Suffer, I was walking past the speakers and his voice went through my body, and I couldn’t move. I was like, wow I felt the truth, I felt the soul, the feeling. I think that’s what the kids are looking for today. They’re so much more advanced now because they got so many tools that we didn’t have coming up, with YouTube and the internet. I mean, being the son of Lonnie Brooks, it came with a lot of pressure, when I decided to become a musician and that’s not easy to cope with. The fanbase is getting older. So that’s why it’s good to have these young guys coming up that’s playing the blues, you know.

WHAT KEEPS YOU MOTIVATED TO BE A BLUES MUSICIAN?

The love of playing! When I look back, I’ve been blessed to be around the best and they inspired me and encouraged me, they taught me, and I feel like I gotta give that back. Blues wise, my dad started the fire, Albert Collins put gas on it and Koko Taylor put it on the grill, that’s my take on my influences. I learned a lot from them, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, BB King, and Albert King.

DO YOU HAVE ANY STORIES YOU CAN TELL US ABOUT YOUR MENTORS?

Here’s one about Albert King from 1992. I was in my dad’s band, and he got sick. We were down at the New Orleans Jazz Fest, and he was unable to do the show. Albert King was on the show with us, the promoter allowed me to do the show, and we had to leave there and go to Memphis. Albert King came back to Memphis after his show, and he heard about my dad being sick. So, when we got to Memphis, I’m opening for Al Green. My dad’s in the hospital. I don’t know what’s going to happen with him. I’m worried and I got to do the show. Albert King comes down and says, son, I heard that Lonnie was sick, and I had to come down here and check on you and make sure you’re all right. You’re, okay? I said yes, and he stood on the side of the stage where I could see him, encouraging me on every note, encouraging me on every song. I’ll never forget that day until the day I die. You heard so many people say so many mean stories about Albert King, but that part right there was from the soul, I really appreciated that.

WHAT ABOUT FUTURE PLANS?

Got a tour coming up for the release of this record. I’m excited to share the music with the audience. This is my first record with Alligator records. I grew up on Alligator, I learned a lot because of my dad’s, relationship with the company and what he contributed to the Alligator legacy. It enabled me to experience a lot of great things also.