Father-son team plays all 'round Americana

by Jay Lustig/The Star-Ledger
Thursday May 14, 2009, 1:48 PM

David and Adrian Mowry of Beaucoup Blue identify their musical influences as blues, folk, soul, R&B, jazz, country and bluegrass. Or if you have to use one word to sum it up, Americana. "If you're going to put a label on it, that's the best that I can think of," Adrian Mowry says.
The Philadelphia-based father-and-son duo -- which released its third album, "Free To Fall," in January -- is known for its warm, casually soulful and surprisingly full sound. "We really try to mesh our guitars and our vocals together, to sound like there's more than two of us onstage," Mowry says.
David, 62, and Adrian, 38, perform Saturday at the Coffee With Conscience series at the First United Methodist Church in Westfield. Like other shows in the monthly series, this one will raise money for charity (in this case, Habitat For Humanity).
The Mowrys, who sometimes use backing musicians at shows and in the studio (though they will be on their own in Westfield), know there aren't many other father-and-son acts around. But the partnership feels right to them.
"I always wonder why there aren't more" father-son teams, David Mowry says. "I find that in the South there are more family bands -- more father-and-son organizations and whatnot. Ricky Skaggs plays with all his kids, and they're all grown men. It's just more part of the tradition -- or not so unusual, let me say -- down there. They see us down there and go, 'Father and son, that's great, that's terrific.' I don't think they find it as amazing. People up North, for some reason, go, 'Well how do you do that?' "
David, whose main musical orientation always has been the blues, has been performing in clubs for most of his life, and came close to getting a major-label record deal in the early 1970s. Adrian watched, and learned.
"My folks brought me around everywhere," he says. "I didn't have many baby-sitters, so I went everywhere with them. Some of my earliest memories are of watching him perform."
They didn't start playing together in clubs until Adrian was 21 and going through a rough time in his personal life.
"People get into music and bands and that can lead them into trouble. Drugs and that whole thing," he says. "It actually did the opposite for me. It got me out of trouble."
David -- who wasn't very active, musically, at this point -- started going to blues jams with Adrian, and found they were filled with Stevie Ray Vaughan wannabes substituting flash for substance.
David felt it was important to make sure his son was musically grounded. "I said, 'We'll try to do this the way that I learned it, from people like B.B. King all the way back to Charlie Patton, Robert Johnson, Sunnyland Slim -- all of these people," he says. "'We'll try to learn this and understand it, and then spread out from there.' That was the program. We started out doing that, and then we started stretching the form and getting into other forms of music."
Adrian says no generation gap comes into play when it comes to blues/Americana music.
"I've always loved the music, and my father's always been able to play this type of music," he says. "It just made sense for us to do it."



Free To Fall- Beaucoup Blue

Acoustic Live- NYC by Richard Cuccaro

When we first encountered the father and son duo, David and Adrian Mowry, who call themselves Beaucoup Blue, we were immediately struck by David's slide work. His energy and virtuosity seemed to be the foundation for their harmonies and skill in translating the blues in a variety of forms. It underscores his rich, beefy vocals and his son Adrian's soulful croon.
While we were marveling at their great sound and versatility, our awareness of their mastery of the songwriter's craft didn't fully hit home until hearing Free To Fall. Now in retrospect, the cumulative effect of all three of their albums shows that they possess the all the tools to consistently write superior original blues material. Although their material may, at times, reach toward jazz and pop, for this author, steeped in Sun Records sensibility, their blues is what I love best.
That said, one of this reviewer's favorites, "Delta Rain," has an Allman Brothers Southern rock touch. At its core is the setting of 9/11. David and Adrian went to Arkansas after the planes hit the towers. As they rode down highway 61, "the hay bales as big as buses" left their imprint and found their way into the lyrics. This novelistic touch, one of many, is what makes their writing so involving. The pulsating drive of the song helps to push the point of their angst home as they sing: Delta rain, wash these blues away the dust of Armageddon is blowin' your way What better thing to do when your world's in an uproar Sing your broken heart out on the brink of a world war "Hesitation Blues" is a joyful boogie romp. With Jeff Sheard on drums and Bill Zinno on acoustic upright bass it's like a beer-soaked afternoon spent in a bar with a live band. In addition, the bodacious blues harp of Bob Beach matches Adrian's slide work stride for stride.
There are duets with Philly thrush Melody Gardot and the Americana female trio Red Molly "Bluer Than The Midnight Sky" with Melody, very Motown-like, drips with soul.
"Oh, America," with support from Red Molly, takes our consumerist ways to task behind a driving beat that suggests a ride across the continent. Well, it's all about bargains, everything you see There ain't nothin' that ain't for sale in the land of the free" With the third album of what promises to be a very long career, Beaucoup Blue has already built a body of work that is seething with passion and intelligence.

Umm... Drop
Philadelphia Weekly by Katherine Silkaitis
Philadelphia?s Beaucoup Blue may be billed as a father- son duo, but they?re no Weird Al-style novelty act. ?I think when people read that they go, ?Isn?t that cute? and ?They must not be that serious.? But the reason we continue to play music together is because we really believe in the music itself,? son Adrian Mowry says. ?We?re both songwriters, and we have different styles from different generations, but we really are knocked out by the music. I would want to do that with anybody, whether it?s my father or brother or somebody that?s not in the family.? Adrian grew up playing music with his father David from a young age, and the two have been performing together publicly for more than a decade. They?ve morphed from a full-on electric band to an acoustic act set to release their third album, Free to Fall. The duo continues to combine heartfelt blues with elements of soul, R&B, country and bluegrass. Featuring all original compositions, except one traditional arrangement, Free to Fall showcases not only energetic and spine-tingling vocals and guitars, but creative original songwriting.
The last two [albums] were kind of vehicles to help us develop a style,? David explains. ?We did some original songs, but we didn?t pay a lot of attention to arranging. This time we decided we would pay more attention to the song and what it seemed to want to do.
Beaucoup Blue a father-son effort
by Chris Kocher Sun-Bulletin Binghamton, NY
Lots of brothers play together in professional bands; lots of sisters do, too, and even some mothers and daughters. For whatever reason, though, few fathers and sons find enough common ground to hit the highway and make music together, day in and day out.
David and Adrian Mowry, of the Philadelphia-based father-son duo Beaucoup Blue, are the notable exception. They've been creating their distinctive brand of folk-blues music for years now - but they still get a lot of questions about how the collaboration works out.
"Whenever I mention that I play with my father, I hear, 'Ooooh, isn't that so sweet!' (or) 'Oh, you play with your daddy!'" Adrian Mowry said in an interview last week. "Everybody's got preconceived notions of what it's going to sound like before they hear it."
David explained the band's philosophy this way: "We actually have a very active and viable cross-generational musical experience going on. It's interesting for us to merge these two seemingly disparate ideas, which is 'now' and 'before.' I hear an awful lot of 'before,' and I hear an awful lot of 'now' going on 'later,' but I don't hear a lot of people connecting the thread."
As part of the 1960s folk scene in the Boston area, David Mowry learned his chops at the legendary Club 47 (now Club Passim) and similar venues. Adrian grew up watching his dad play in various musical combinations and picked up the guitar himself at age 15, with David offering guidance. In time, the two joined forces - and vocals - under the Beaucoup Blue banner (inspired by a Ringo Starr album title, "Beaucoups of Blues"). Together, their harmonies mesh in a way that only shared DNA can provide.
The band's new CD, "Free To Fall," offers 12 songs written by both Mowrys that skillfully navigate the Americana map. David Mowry's slide guitar and dobro provide the country twang throughout, especially on "Delta Rain" (about rediscovering joy at a post-9/11 music festival), "Whistle, Whistle" (a love song wrapped in a train song) and a new take on the traditional "Hesitation Blues."
Female folk trio Red Molly provide sweet backing vocals on "Oh America" (an indictment of the nation's dark side) and the album's Fats Domino-tinged title track (about cutting ties and letting loose). Adrian Mowry provides some of the album's more tender moments, on ballads "No Friend of Money," "By Your Side" and "Desert Spring."
Even more so than 2005's "Hearts at Home," "Free to Fall" expands the Mowrys' embrace of their influences beyond the blues to country, soul and even some early rock 'n' roll.
"People have been crossing and blurring the lines for a long, long time. We're just carrying on," David Mowry said. "So I don't care what you call it - it really doesn't bother me. But if someone wants to get an explanation, I'm wordy enough to go there!"

You know the expression “the family that plays together stays together”? Beaucoup Blue stand by it. The Philadelphia-based father-and-son duo share a love for acoustic, stringed instruments and pentatonic scales as well as DNA. Hearts at Home is their sophomore release, and the soulful mix of folk, blues and jazz is sure to entice new fans. The record features six- and 12-string guitars, harmonica and Dobro, as well as seamless vocal harmonies. “I Surrender” is reminiscent of the Ike and Tina Turner “Proud Mary” intro, with a relaxed tempo and deep baritone vocals. “On My Way” is an uptempo traveling song with a lead slide guitar that calls to mind a chugging freight train. Other highlights are the tender “Make Me a Pallet On Your Floor” and the inspirational “I Heard Gabriel Singing.” If you’re a traditional blues fan, you need to give Hearts at Home a home on your shelf.
Gvon T
Performing Songwriter Magazine
June 2007