How to go
What: Dayton Blues Showcase with Ira Stanley, Doug Hart, Noah Wotherspoon and Scotty Bratcher
Where: Oddbody’s Music Room, 5418 Burkhardt Road, Dayton
When: Friday, May 29. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Cost: $12 in advance, $15 at the door
More info: 937-813-4272 or www.oddbodys.com
Conversation flowed like a swollen river on the rooftop patio of Oregon Express on a recent Tuesday evening. Guitarists Ira Stanley, Doug Hart, Noah Wotherspoon and Scotty Bratcher sat together discussing the local blues scene, their shared respect for each other and the upcoming Dayton Blues Showcase at Oddbody’s Music Room in Dayton on Friday.
These are excerpts from the interview:
Hart: “I played at Oddbody’s when Reverend Peyton came through. It’s great to play there, because they have a big stage. I called these guys about doing a show together, and everybody was interested. The hardest thing was getting everybody together on a common date.”
Stanley: “You can really expand your market when you get a chance to play in front of different people. It’s good for music in Dayton, but I’m really just looking forward to seeing these guys play.”
Bratcher: “This will be cool because it’s all of our full bands, and everybody does something a little different. It’s all blues, but we’ve all got our own thing. We all believe in what we’re doing, but none of us care if we make a lot of money. It’s more about getting to do a show together and having fun.”
Wotherspoon: “We’ve all known each other forever, and it’s a real mutual admiration society. I remember first seeing Scotty when he was, maybe, 12.”
Bratcher: “It was ’99. I was 12.”
Wotherspoon: “I was like, ‘Am I hearing what I’m hearing. What’s going on?’ ”
Hart: “I was the same way when I saw Noah in ’97 or ’98. His fingers weren’t even strong enough to do what he was trying to do. Then next thing you know, the kid was a monster.”
Wotherspoon: “The blues scene in Dayton has shrunk, but there’s always been a brotherhood between all of us.”
Hart: “We all came out of the blues jam that Snapper Mitchum used to run at the Nite Owl. We’ve all played together and with pretty much everybody else around town, too. We all know each other, and nobody has an attitude. We’re all cool with each other.”
Wotherspoon: “Cincinnati is like that, too, but most of the other blues jams I’ve gone to in other towns, there isn’t that sense of community. Southwest Ohio has a family feel, and there are all these interesting characters.”
Bratcher: “My favorite part is this, the hanging out part. We don’t get to see each other that much because we’re all busy, so I’m really excited to be doing a big show together.”
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