'Take me to the River, Baby'
Even though they play blues clubs, are promoted as a blues band and just returned from Memphis, Tenn., where they nearly won the International Blues Challenge, if you ask them, the RiverBabys will tell you that they are not a blues band.
Up on the stage ... is it a blues band? Is it a blues-rock band? Is it a Southern rock band with blues roots? No, it''s the RiverBabys!
"If I'd be pinned down, by any means, I wouldn't say that we are a blues band. I am a pretty happy guy most of the time," says Michael Juan Nunez, lead singer and guitarist for the band.
The band earned the right to compete in the Challenge after winning The Louisiana Blues Preservation Society's Bayou Blues Bash in October of 2002. The Challenge was held Jan. 30 through Feb. 2 as part of BluesFirst Weekend, organized by the Blues Foundation. The contest is a proving ground for more than 50 blues acts, representing blues societies from across the globe, competing for cash prizes, studio time, CD reproduction and slots in major blues venues and festivals. There is also an acoustic competition that drew about 22 acts.
At the event, the RiverBabys made it to the final night as one of the top eight contenders, to the dismay of blues purists in attendance. They were eliminated after being penalized because their set went 23 seconds over the allotted time limit. Despite the laurels to be won, before the trip the band remained realistic about the competition and their chances.
"Through my past experience, I have had carrots hung in front of me and stuff like that. I have chased (them), thinking that it was going to be one thing, and it turned out to be something else," says Chad Willis, the band's bass guitarist who joined in 2002. "So, I really don't believe much that I hear or that I see until it is actually happening. I think that is kind of the attitude of us in general. We just stay together and do our thing and whatever happens, happens. It's not like we are chasing something or living in some fantasy."
For drummer Jeff Lewis, the contest was just another stage to perform on and audience to delight.
"I just want to have a good time and represent ... (and to) get up there and have them go, 'Wow,'" says Lewis.
If their music isn't the blues, then just what is it? And why do so many people think that it is? Answering that question is a difficult task, even for the band.
"We like all kinds of different music. We haven't been able to put it together and say that we are going to do this one thing. That's probably been our downfall - you can't categorize us, so people can't market us," reasons Nunez.
"You listen to (Led) Zeppelin, you listen to the (Rolling) Stones, those guys were rock 'n' roll - that's what they called it," Nunez adds. "Now, you have to be alternative, you have to be this, you have to be this, you have to be that, to where they can market you."
Behind their music is a mix of '70s rock, funk and the musical surroundings and influences of growing up in South Louisiana. A few of their songs are taken directly from a lifetime spent in Acadiana. Songs like "Bayou Tigre," written about Nunez and the friends of his adolescence paddling into Erath in a pirogue while sipping on a bottle of Southern Comfort, could have been penned by nearly anyone who grew up in those parts. Another song, "Mama's Kitchen," is about just that - the integral part of any Cajun family's house.
Other than the South Louisiana influences, truth be told, you can also hear tinges of the blues in some of their songs. Tina Krieg, the band's manager, says that she and the judges at both contests consider them a blues roots band. And, the trio also acknowledges a deep love for the Delta blues and years spent listening to old blues records. However, the RiverBabys are no Muddy Waters or Robert Johnson by any means.
"It's not just here's blue ... here's Cajun music," says Nunez. "No, we hit blue, we hit red, we hit green. We hit everything ... "
"... It is like painting a painting," Lewis interjects.
As far as their next target, the RiverBabys say that it really doesn't matter, as long as they are playing their music and having a good time.
"The reason we are playing together, the reason we are writing our own music, the reason why we are recording our albums is because we love playing music. I don't want to have to go into a club and play 'Brown-eyed Girl' or 'Domino' or something like that. We can get bigger, and we can make more money at it, but as far as the artistic side, we have already accomplished that. Now, the rest of it is just selling the art that you made," says Nunez.
This recent success came after the band split up, regrouped and reformed with a slightly different lineup. Originally, playing the role of bass player was Brandon Henry, also known as "Q." The trio had met at Bob's Pub, where they regularly attended open blues jams. All three - Nunez, Henry and Lewis - were in bands on the verge of splitting up and decided to have a go at the trio life. They started playing at a little hole in the wall in Abbeville called Dee's Lounge, which Nunez says is a great place to get repertoire down and, after playing at a place like that, nothing that happens in a venue can shake you. For a while, they went without a name until Henry suggested "RiverBabys," taken from a song Nunez wrote before the band was formed. The lyrics from the song went something along the lines of "Take me to the River, Baby."
The band kicked the name around for a while, and it eventually stuck. For five years, the RiverBabys would play all over Acadiana, sharing the stage with acts such as Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Anders Osbourne, and even doing some traveling to gigs in Beaumont, Texas, and Jackson, Miss. During that time they also recorded two albums - a self-titled debut and Thicker than Water.
However, as 2000 rolled around the band had become stagnant and was not performing together anymore. There was talk of a breakup, and all three had started pursuing other ventures. About that time, Henry decided to leave and live abroad. During this period, Nunez was mainly picking up acoustic gigs and would have Lewis sit in with him on occasion.
One night, Nunez was booked to open for The Wild Magnolias at the now-defunct The Bank at 500 Jefferson, when they no-showed. With an hour to go before the show was to start, the club's owner asked him if he could throw a band together and play through the night. Of course, he called Lewis and asked him to join him and if he knew of anyone else who could play the gig. So, Lewis called up someone he had met that had just returned to the area from a stint in Austin, Texas. Willis agreed and, despite not even having a set list, the three took the stage.
"We just got up there and had never played together before and did like a four-hour show. It just started clicking after that," says Nunez, who at the time didn't even know Willis' last name.
After that gig, they started to play together on a regular basis under the name "Michael Juan Nunez & Boney Finger." Often when they played, promoters would ask them if they could be billed as the RiverBabys. At first, the boys were reluctant, being as they were not the true bearers of that name. However, they eventually caved and called Henry to get his blessing, figuring they had put enough time into building the name.
Currently, they are working on releasing their third CD, which will be produced by C.C. Adcock of Lil' Band O' Gold fame. According to the band, preproduction of the CD is going at a snail's pace, but should make a damn fine release late this year.
Despite the breakups, makeups and rebuilding of the band, the trio managed to score a landslide victory at The LBPS Bayou Blues Bash, where they were lauded for their originality by the judges. After the Challenge in Memphis, blues radio stations from various cities have started to play their music, and Krieg has been flooded with offers for them to play all over the country.
At the contest, they also caught the attention of the Memphis Flyer's Chris Herrington who had this to gush about the RiverBabys:
"The only really compelling non-finishers were the RiverBabys, representing the Louisiana Blues Preservation Society from Lafayette. A swamp-rock trio with the sound of Creedence and the Southernness of (Lynyrd) Skynyrd, the RiverBabys may have been hurt by their questionable 'blues content,' but they had a great command of their sound and an onstage camaraderie that was relaxed and natural when so many of the other bands were forced in their presentation."
Not too bad for a little band from Lafayette whose only real concern about the contest was if a blues-hungry crowd would turn on them. Before the trip, the RiverBabys related a previous experience in which they were misrepresented, and the crowd let them know their disdain.
"I remember showing up in Beaumont, and I think they billed us as this Lafayette band. The people that went there were expecting to see this Cajun music. We broke out and were playing our stuff, and you could just see the people just like 'Uhhhh,'" says Nunez as he makes a stunned, confused and disappointed face.
"At the end of the night, there was about 10 people in there, and they really didn't give a s***. So, Juan just dropped his drawers ... played the song," Lewis says.
"... (We) played the 'Warden' by Merle Haggard. It was just like, 'You want to hear some country music?'" laughs Nunez. "I said, 'Thank y'all, good night!'"