Head Honchos

Head Honchos Release Their New Album on Grooveyard Records Blues Alliance

By Kevin Wildman The Indiana based Blues band, Head Honchos has just released their new album, Blues Alliance. This is the band’s second release for Grooveyard Records. Blues Alliance was recorded by Will Wyatt at GreenRoom Studios. Will also happens to be the drummer in Head Honchos, so he knew just what the band was trying to achieve on this album, and did a fine job in accomplishing that. Blues Alliance was mixed by Mike Regan in California and mastered by Stavros Papadopoulos at MojoTone studios in Greece. Robert Calipari Sr., guitarist for Head Honchos, produced the album along with Will Wyatt and Joe Romagnola.

Head Honchos features a great lineup of seasoned musicians consisting of Rocco Calipari Sr. on guitar and lead vocals, Rocco Calipari Jr. on guitar, Mike Boyle on bass, Will Wyatt on drums, percussion, and harmonica, as well as backing vocals. Blues Alliance also features guest keyboardist Mark Landes on the song “She Got That Feeling.” It’s safe to say that Rocco Calipari Sr. is pretty much the leader of this fine outfit. Rocco previously performed with Howard and The White Boys, but he has an impressive track record having performed also with great performers such as Buddy Guy, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Carl Weathersby, and many others. Growing up in the Detroit music scene, Rocco learned from the best. During his time with those acts, Rocco has also performed at many venues across the world, including major blues festivals that have stretched from Hawaii to Canada’s Tremblant International Blues Festival and into Western Europe. As you can see, this guy is a hardcore veteran to the Blues scene and the glue that holds this outfit together. Accompanying Rocco in the band is his son, guitarist Rocco Calipari Jr. Rocco Jr. is an alumni of L.A.’s Guitar Institute where he studied under Carl Verheyen from Supertramp and guitar virtuoso Scott Henderson, along with blues instructor/writer Keith Wyatt. So now you know why the guitars on Blues Alliance sound so damn good. In addition to that, the rhythm section of Will Wyatt and Mike Boyle are definitely first class all the way.

Blues Alliance features 11 of the finest Blues-Rock songs you’ve ever heard. From the moment the album starts to the final bars of the last song on the album, “I’m A Ram,” you’re in for a helluva high-powered Blues ride. One of the reasons for the album sounding so cohesive took place in the recording process. For the most part, everything was done live in the studio where the band could interact with each other through the recording process. There were a few overdubs of course, but these mainly consisted of vocals and guitar leads. describe the band. “The reason we call it Blues Alliance is because that’s the common thread in the whole CD. You’ll hear elements of Blues throughout every song, but you know we’re also a rock band. We also like Rock, Blues, Funk and Soul. We try to mix all those elements into the music, but we’re not a solid blues band, although we could do that. We also play straight up Blues gigs, but, we we’re a little more eclectic.”

The album is primarily all original, but they did happen to pick two of their that Mike was simply talking about getting favorite covers to add to the album. Those out for a ride and clearing your head… songs were “Evil” by Willie Dixon” and the opening your mind up. “Mike was just album’s closing song, “I’m A Ram” by Al thinking that sometimes you just want to get Green. The principal songwriter on this away. You hop on your bike or get in your project was Rocco Calipari Sr., but there were car and just take off down the road, take your some other contributors on the album as well. mind off things and leave your past behind. Rocco Jr. wrote the opening song to the You know, just start a new and take a album, “Stuck Between The Middle,” and midnight ride. Clear your head, right!” bassist Mike Boyle penned the song, “Midnight Ride.” Rocco Sr. wrote the majority of the songs on the album, although he does like to When it comes to the two cover songs, give credit to the band for their suggestions “Evil” and “I’m A Ram,” Rocco Sr. tells us and contributions to each of the songs. After that, “We’ve been playing those songs in our all, it does take a union of all the musicians in live show for a while. We really liked the the band to make a song gel properly. Rocco songs a lot and the Al Green song “I’m A explains his writing process as “When I write Man”. We took a different approach to what a song usually write the music first, the he did, like a back porch kind of Blues feel to groove, and then I write the lyrics that fit the it with resonator guitars and all that. We put style of that groove. If it’s a real aggressive the electric stuff down for that one and groove, I’ll try to make the lyrics like that. I recorded it live and it came out really good. just want the lyrics to correspond with the “Evil” just goes over well at our live shows. feel of the music? I’m not trying to get any We like both The Howlin’ Wolf version and big messages across. Sometimes I write about the Cactus version, so we kind of combine family, love, life, politics, whatever it is, but those two versions and made our own I’m not like trying to push no big message. I version.” just want the music to be good and people to enjoy it.” The first song on the album is “Stuck Between The Middle” and Rocco Jr. wrote it As I always like to point out, inspiraabout his father and the choices made in work tion comes in many forms, sometimes from situations, such as his day job and his musical the most obvious of places, sometimes just to career. “I primarily wrote it about my dad soothe a person, and sometimes to illustrate a working a job, but being a musician and feeling about something. On the funk filled wanting to be musician full-time,” explains song, “Mr. Bad,” Rocco Sr. tells us that it Rocco Jr. “You know, it’s stuck between the came from a disagreement with a fellow middle. It’s about being between the middle colleague one day. In this song, Rocco likens of working a job that you necessarily don’t himself to the title “Mr. Bad.” enjoy, to put bread on the table, but wanting to follow your passion instead. You’re stuck “That song was written about a between staying at your job to provide, versus colleague of mine that I was having some following your dreams.” little bit of a beef with. We’ve since squashed that, so it came out in a song. I Bassist for the band, Mike Boyle wrote continued on next page the song “Midnight Ride.” Rocco Sr. tells us November 2020 • Rock and Blues International 23

Head Honchos

continued from previous page guess we were bucking heads and not rences in Rocco’s Sr. life. Some are just crossing the right path together on some musical ideas that manifest themselves in the topics. I had a little bit more experience and music such as the case with “Find Me A time into the endeavor and that’s how it came Woman.” “Find Me A Woman” is not about out. It was a fun song to write and it was just anybody in particular,” says Rocco Sr. It was about that experience. I had to work through just a song idea. Some songs are just about that and it ended up working out in my favor, relationships and things. That one was just so it’s just a song about how people should about anybody. Many people have been in just be careful about who you mess with relationships that weren’t the greatest or sometimes. It was just that the song came out they’re not feeling appreciated and things like of the situation. We’re friends. You write that. This is just about a guy, I guess, who songs about past loves or current ones or wasn’t getting what he felt he deserved, and something like that, but it was just about a was going to find him a woman that would prior event that happened and a good song treat him right.” came out of it, but there are no hard feelings about it to this day.” On “Can’t Be Satisfied,” Rocco Sr. sings a bit about our political climate and For the song “Number One,” Rocco Sr. how no one seems to be satisfied. “That combined the issues of country and family song’s a little more on the political edge. alike. “That song is just about family, you There’s a lot of conflict in politics these days, know. It’s about loving your country and although we choose to stay out of it, you loving your family and putting that stuff first. know. We don’t get political or anything that No matter what goes on in life, you still personally with anybody, but it’s kind of just always have your family to fall back on and about that. You know how some things are always make sure that you know that they’re handled with governments.” number one in your life.” The same sentiment enters in the next On the funk-filled song, “She Got That song as well, “We Will Win”. Rocco Sr. tells Thing,” Rocco tells us that it is all about his us, “That’s another one. That’s kind of on the wife. It’s about my wife. It’s all good about political side, I guess. Sometimes they just my wife Jackie. In my eyes she’s got that feed us a lot of stuff on TV that just isn’t true. thing for me, you know, and it’s a kind of So I try to try to keep the TV off because of homage to her, and our relationship and that and it’s just about that all the misinforeverything. She’s very supportive of mation that’s being tossed around all over the everything that I do. We’re very close and so place today.” I just thought it was easy to write a song about her. So I just wrote a kind of a tongue- The last song to talk about on the in-cheek fun kind of bluesy dance song with album is the extremely rockin’ tune, “Rock her in mind because she loves to dance.” And Roll.” This song is pretty self-explanatory. It’s a song about Rocco’s time growing Not all the songs come from occur- up in Detroit in his early days. Rocco came 24 Rock and Blues International • November 2020 from a musical family and grew up listening to the great bands from the Motown era there like The Temptations and The Funk Brothers. It made quite an impression on him. “Detroit was a great place going up for music,” says Rocco Sr., “and my family and my father were really into 50s rock and roll. I cut my teeth on Chuck Berry and Jerry Lewis, Little Richard and people like that. And so it’s just an homage to growing up back then. Detroit used to be the hotbed of music entertainment for a long time. In the 50s and 60s, that was the place to be. It sure was was great, and that’s why most bands wanted to play there. If you could make it in Detroit, you knew that you were doing something special. Live music was great in Detroit when I was growing up and before then. I haven’t been back in quite a few years, so I don’t know what’s like today.”

Rocco Sr. tells us that the recording of the album was quite easy and the band had a great time recording at Will Wyatt’s studio. It was an incredible experience for them. “Nothing was really hard,” says Rocco Sr. “I mean, we do rehearse a lot. We do write original songs and we have to work some things out, but nothing was particularly hard for the band. We have a great chemistry together and it’s funny. It’s almost like we can read each other’s minds and we think the same and it’s always fun with us. It never was labored, you know what I mean. We love what we’re doing and we have a great time doing it. We try to play as much as we can, so it was all very enjoyable for us. We will bounce ideas off of each other, for instance the song “Midnight Ride”. When it was presented to us, it was in a different key and that was a little difficult for me to sing. So we switched the keys and we had added a bridge to it. Yeah, that does happen along the way. You might write a song, but then somebody else might hear something that might fit in there a little better and if it works, well, we will keep it.”

All in all, this was a great recording for the Head Honchos. The fun they had recording the album definitely shows on the finished piece. It really is an incredible ride of rock and blues, funk and soul, all mixed up in one great bundle of 11 songs. If you’re into the Blues, but looking for something a little on the heavier side, on the more rock side, then this is the album for you. It really shows the versatility a great outfit has and just what can be handled with the right group of musicians. Pick up a copy of the Head Honchos Blues Alliance today and just start rockin’. Once you put the album on, you’ll be playin’ it through till the last song… and then maybe put it on one more time. I just don’t get tired listening to this great amalgamation of rock, funk, blues and soul. You won’t either.

Bert Wills

Legendary Texas Singer/Songwriter Bert Wills Delivers The Goods

Down in southeastern Texas lives a man that was born in rural Kentucky but moved to Texas years ago. He came here playing the blues harp with a slow, winding country bent to it, part of his Kentucky roots, and the recording industry was quick to pick up on his unique sound. Abilities is used in the plural here and that’s because the man not only wails a mean harp but his guitar work is aces as well. His name is Bert Wills and if you are a studio musician you know that name well as the man is sought after by many producers. One of those producers is Andy Bradley, known world wide for his talents at the console, his past co-ownership in of SugarHill Studios, and his successful book titled, “House Of Hits”. Bert and Andy go back a ways, 35 years to be exact, both know each other’s talents well so it would be of no big surprise that they could team on a compilation of Bert’s songs for a new album. It would not be their first collaboration as Andy has recorded nearly every album Bert has presented to the world. A new album has come to life recently simply titled “Bert Wills”. It’s just being shipped to radio stations right now and let me tell you whether you are a blues fan or an Americana fan or both this album is packed with stirring and riveting selections. Both men have similar personalities, friendly but direct. Both will tell you where to go in a New York second if you are a poser and both will be the first to tell you how welcomed you are if you are the real deal. Bert is known throughout the industry internationally and has worked with a ton of well known stars over the years. He’s also an accomplished songwriter and when he puts his Kentucky roots into a song well Katy bar the door because it’s going to be good. His last gig was with Nashville artist Rob McNurlin who is part of the Marty Stuart clan. Then he returned to Texas to work on his new blues Americana album. The end result was a fourteen track collection of 13 original songs and one cover, not a klunker among them. On the collection you can hear the raw strains of good back woods country music in Bert’s voice and on the same collection you will hear some of the best blues you have heard in years. To learn more access www.bertwillsmusic.com