By Staff Writer
Delta Wires, longtime mainstays in the San Francisco/Bay area blues scene, recently released their new full-length album, If Somebody Told Me…
Ernie Pinata’s searing and impassioned harp on the track ‘Can’t Win For Losin’ opens this dynamic new CD. This seven-piece East Bay-based band has been generating powerful blues for over thirty years, performing at festivals from Monterey to Italy, and always with monumental audience response — all of which has earned them membership in California’s Blues Hall of Fame in 2012.
Blues-E-News did 5 Quick Questions with the group’s front-person Ernie Pinata. Here’s how it went.
BEN: Let’s discuss a bit of background regarding the Delta Wires. When did your band form, and how have you successfully kept it together in one piece throughout the years?
EP: Delta Wires started out as an Anthology of Blues Music I presented as an Undergraduate project for Credit at The California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California. The program covered the regional migration of music from the Mississippi Delta to Chicago. It began with field hollers, the music of Charley Patton, Robert Johnson and Son House, and ended up with the music recorded at Chess Records in Chicago: Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin’ Wolf and many others. After the program, the band went on to play professionally, performing with some of the greats that we studied: Lowell Fulson, Bo Diddley, Freddie King, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells and many others.
Keeping the band together… I have always wanted to have a band, and I never wanted anyone to feel like they were a sideman. They were all a part of Delta Wires. Keeping that Idea going has kept the band going.
BEN: Your new album “If Somebody Told Me” recently dropped. Talk about what went into recording the record, and discuss some of the tracks on the album?
EP: “IF SOMEBODY TOLD ME”
I had a concept of a blues ballad that would be a guitar feature tune, with lyrics I wrote about my son. I presented it to the rhythm section, and we put the concept together. I then communicated with our trombone player/arranger and he put the horn lines on it. We rehearsed the song and played it out, and when we went to the studio, we recorded it in one take. The band knew what the song was about, and put their hearts in it.
“Can’t win for losin’ “
The song is about the ups and downs of having a band in such a competitive area as the SanFrancisco Bay. You are always pushing to be noticed, to get gig, and to keep everyone on a positive platform. We have also lost many friends and past band members who passed away over the years, but… we are not giving up the FIGHT!
“I TRIED”
This song is basically a tribute to Duke Records and the music of Larry Davis. I wanted the driving Big Band sound with the horns kicking. At rehearsal, we picked the tune apart and put our own spin on it. It’s much more hard-driving than the original now.
“Bring me Up”
Big Joe Turner influenced us with this song. I wanted the Big Band style featuring the horns, and it is a story of life, and trying to always be positive in this crazy world… “Too much worry is bringing me down, not enough money can make a man frown”. “Somewhere there’s a light, a real bright light. Trying to see it, keeps me up at night”. .The lyrics say it all.
BEN: Delta Wires is a mighty eight-piece ensemble. How difficult is it to find steady work for a group this size?
EP: Delta Wires has always been a 7 or 8-piece band. Lately usually 7, as venues simply cannot afford to pay us what we need to get without insulting our musicians… There are not a lot of local clubs that can accomodate us. so it’s tough and summer time, when festivals are happening, is usually our busiest time. We play regularly at the Saloon, the oldest bar in San Francisco. Except during the Covid shutdown, the owner, Myron Mu, has really kept us going and kept the band sharp musically. I have been asked on several occasions to cut the band down and play without the horn section or with fewer members, but I refuse to do it. My feeling is if somebody comes to see us, they’ll see the band as it has always been,”big band, harmonica and horns blues”. We are known as a big band, and we will always be that.
BEN: What’s the live and local original music scene like these days up in your neck of the country, San Francisco/Bay Area? Has it recovered to its pre-Covid levels, as far as available gigs go for bands?
EP: Covid really put a wrench in the music scene, and we are still coming back from that. Some venues and events that were canceled never came back.
The Bay Area music scene has shrunk, and keeping a horn band working has always been a challenge. But going out and playing music is the greatest feeling there is. It seems people of all ages really enjoy our music, and I’m positive things will pick up this year .
BEN: As non-newcomers to the music business, what advice can you offer some of the younger/newer acts just now starting out?
EP: First, have your music well-rehearsed. Have people with you that are loyal. Try to have a steady gig at least once a month. Get the crowd involved when you play out, and these days focus on promoting yourself through Social Media. Don’t give up!
