Sarah Hall
shall@salisburypost.com
Pop the CD “Pay Me No Mind” into your player and you’re greeted by a solid trio playing some funky, straight-up blues. Wailing, subtly-bent guitar riffs take turns with the lead singer’s passionate vocals. Surely this group has lived and sung the blues for a long time.
Now look at the photo on the cover of the CD, and you make a startling discovery. The Homemade Jamz Blues Band is made up of kids. Not kids like young people just in their 20s, but actual children, the Perry siblings, unlike any other family band you’ve heard.
Singer/guitarist Ryan is 16. At an age when his peers are playing Guitar Hero, Ryan actually IS a guitar hero. He has been playing since age 7 and has some amazing chops, matched only by his equally amazing, and remarkably mature, voice.
Bass duties are handled quite capably by Kyle, already a seasoned musical veteran at 14. And that spot-on beat backing them up is provided by little sister Taya who recently turned 10. She’s been a drummer since age 6.
Novelty act? No way. In a league of their own, maybe, but major league blues, not little league.
Their guitars ó well, those are novelties, made out of car mufflers, with seat belts as straps. Their father, Renaud, came up with the idea when working on a car. The family has made several of these unique instruments ó hence the “homemade” part of the band’s name.
Does all of this sound a little too strange to be true? Come see for yourself. The Homemade Jamz Blues Band will be in downtown Salisbury this Saturday, playing for the Rowan Blues and Jazz Festival.
It’s a mystery how these three have developed so much skill and such a feel for the blues at such a tender age. Perhaps it’s in the soil, water or air they breathe in their hometown of Tupelo, Miss., birthplace of Elvis.
They recorded their first CD, “Pay Me No Mind,” in the dining room of their home in Tupelo, rather than in a professional studio.
Their mom and manager, Tricia Perry, says recording at home in familiar surroundings was a good decision, and thinks that’s why the recording process took only three days.
“The kids were comfortable in their own setting. If they had been in a studio, they would have been nervous.
“They would eat breakfast as usual, then sit down and record the same way they usually go to practice. If they got hungry, they could get a snack.”
They are preparing to record a second CD, again at home. But the band is in such demand that they are spending less and less time at home. It was during one of these increasingly rare days off at home that the family took time for a Post interview. Mom and all three kids traded the phone around and took turns talking.
Kyle said the hardest thing about being a musician is the constant traveling and that sometimes they “get on each other’s nerves” spending all those hours in the family’s SUV.
Mom agrees, saying there’s plenty of pushing and “he touched my leg.” Offstage, they are normal kids. Play Stations and iPods help keep the peace.
It’s family togetherness to the max for the Perrys. Dad Renaud left a job in law enforcement in order to travel with the band, and mom Tricia not only manages but also homeschools ó a necessity since they were absent so many times due to performances, across the U.S. and abroad.
Taya admits that she sometimes gets a little nervous when she plays “really big places” and that she was scared at the International Blues Challenge of 2007. Fear must not have affected her playing. Even though they were the youngest group to ever enter, they took second place, competing against 93 adult bands.
Taya says she enjoys experimenting and making up new beats. Her favorite place they have played so far has been Canada. (Their label, Northern Blues, is based in Toronto. HJBB is the youngest blues band to have signed with a major recording company).
Ryan gives a long list of artists who have influenced him, including Stevie Ray Vaughn, Muddy Waters, Jimi Hendrix, Albert King, and B.B. King ó who is quoted on their CD cover as saying “these young kids have got energy, talent and do the blues proud with their own flavor. I believe they’ve got a GREAT future ahead.”
Asked what he would most like the people of Salisbury to know about him, Ryan said he wants everyone to know he likes it when audience members talk to him.
“Don’t be shy to talk,” he says.
He likes to see people loosen up and have a good time.
For a group who called their CD “Pay Me No Mind,” they sure are getting a lot of attention. They have been featured on “CBS Sunday Morning,” and NPR’s “All Things Considered.”
They are about to be the subjects of a reality show, and on Oct. 17, they are scheduled to be featured on NBC’s “Today” show.
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The Homemade Jamz Blues Band takes the stage at 7 p.m. Saturday during the Rowan Blues and Jazz Festival at the corner of West Fisher and South Church Streets.
The talented trio will also be on hand to meet and greet the public at a youth music workshop 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday at Rowan Public Library Headquarters.
Middle and high school musicians are invited to bring their instruments, or just come to watch and listen. Parents are welcome to come, too. The workshop is free.
Workshop participants get special seating for the festival performance.
To register or for information, call 704-636-2811.