On March 17, 2007, 3:00 A.M., John was loading the rest of his equipment after the gig in Alton. With hardly any street traffic, snow lightly falling, and under purple candesance of a street light, a young man crossing the street said “You guys were amazing!” He looked sober to me.
The genesis of TrafficJam Blues Band was the internet. Two years ago, John, the bass player responded to an ad posted on the St. Louis musician web site. That led to the first meeting with Kevin Scott, guitarist, at his residence. We played a few standards and then we played a few of Kevin’s originals. Our practice was interrupted by the local police department as a neighbor, not recognizing talent, saw fit to describe us as “disturbing the peace.”
Kevin desired to play all original material. John wanted to cover existing artist. They parted. It was about this time that John subscribed to www.365live.com “I absolutely could not believe how many blues artist were being played and there were at least six blues stations from which to select. Most intriguing were the international artists unknown to me. Search for the artists’ music led me to Grooveyard Records.” www.grooveyardrecords.com While not all international, the list included Lance Lopez, Blindside Blues Band, Jay Hooks, Plankton, Chris Aaron, Bill Perry, Vargas Blues Band, Joe Bonamassa, Mark May, Clas Yngstron, Rod Price, Eric Jerardi, Rocky Athis, Gus Lambros, Greg Bowman Blues, Texas Power Trio, Tino Gonzales, Rhett Tyler, Sean Chambers and many more. This reinforced John’s decision to begin his own band.
This led to a call back to Kevin after two years and Kevin filled the number two slot. “Kevin is the reason I am playing again after being off stage for 35 years. He is with out a doubt, one of the best lead guitarists and blues shredder in the nation. And dig this, he is 20 years young. Kevin is a triple threat; he plays, writes and sings. We are adding his songs to our play list as fast as we can.”
Angie Dockins joined the band in August of 2006 after the departure of the first lead singer. She walked into the rehearsal hall and no one has looked back. She fronts the band and has her own bluesy style, and sets herself apart from other singers. Not only did she respond to the website ad, her addition to the group was “Devine.” Having a female singer cover music that has a male vocal, only adds to the unique sound of the TrafficJam.
Eric Ritter of St. Louis joined the band in July, 2008, after Mark Montegue moved to Seattle. Eric has a great voice and he is featured on several tunes. Yes, he is the "piano man!"
Steve Scott joined us after the departure of the first drummer. Steve plays several instruments and he has been a great addition bringing a refined talent and doesn’t miss a beat. He is also the best at tweaking the audio system for greater production value. Yes, we do let him bash it up with a sweaty drum solo...not Wipewout.
TrafficJam Blues Band has been together since August 2006. John said, “Our song list includes a variety of music from the 60’s to present day artists. I guess you could describe us as a Rock Blues Band. I think some of the Gov’t Mule songs that we play might even fall into the Alternative Genre. Song selection contributes to our uniqueness.”