There are a few people whose artistry separates them from the many excellent artists plying their trade and lifts them to a level of their own. With every brush stroke, word written or note played, their mastery shines through. Ronnie Earl is such an artist.
The son of two Holocaust survivors, Earl was born Ronald Horvath in Queens but has lived in Boston since finishing college at BU in the 1970s. A quick study and obsessive workaholic, Earl picked up the guitar in college and began playing professionally only about two years later. Those guitar skills have netted him recognition as guitarist of the year at the Blues Music Awards.
In 1979, he replaced Duke Robillard as lead guitar in the jump blues band Roomful of Blues. He took his stage name to honor Earl Hooker, an important influence. He stayed with Roomful of Blues for most of a decade before forming the Broadcasters, named after the original name of the earliest telecasters guitar (though Earl generally plays a strat).
Over the years, Earl created a rich body of great music. Some of his best efforts, focusing largely on instrumental blues, include the1996 release Grateful Heart: Blues and Ballads, The Colour of Love from 1997, Now My Soul from 2004, and Hope Radio from 2007, 2019’s Beyond the Blue Door, and Rise Up from 2020. He’s also done some compelling side projects, including Eye to Eye in 1996, on which he worked with blues legends Pinetop Perkins (piano), Willie “Big Eyes” Smith (drums), and Calvin Jones (bass); and The Duke Meets the Earl in 2005, the ultimate collaboration between the two great Roomful of Blues guitarist alumni – Earl and Duke Robillard.
The musicianship on Mercy Me is, as always, impeccable. I’m partial to Earl’s instrumental work, which on Mercy Me include “Alabama,” his hypnotic, jazzy tribute to John Coltrane; the country-blues “Blues for Ruthie Foster,” for the talented singer-songwriter he recently sat in with; the addictive “Soul Searching,” which harkens back to the funky electric jazz of the 1970s; the haunting “Blues for Duke Robillard,” for his blues-jazz fusion fellow traveler; the somber “Prayer for Tomorrow;” “Coal Train Blues,” which you can check out below; and “Dave’s Groove,” written with Broadcaster keyboardist Dave Limina. But there are also a number of vocal songs, with vocalist Diane Blue ably contributing her talents on Mud Morganfield’s “Blue Wind Blow,” and surprising classics “Only You Know and I Know” and “(Your love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher.”
Earl is joined on Rise Up by the fabulous Broadcasters, in addition to Limina and Blue, include Paul Kochanski on bass and Forrest Padgett on drums. Guest artists include Anthony Geraci on piano, Mark Earley and Mario Perrett on sax, Peter Ward on guitar, and vocalists Tess Ferraiolo and Paul Kochanski.
About the author: Bill Wilcox is a roots music enthusiast recently relocated from the Washington, DC area to Philadelphia, PA and back again.