Fat City Band
It takes a certain passion to create something truly great and Paul Redmond, founder of The Fat City Band, had two: harmonica and collecting blues records. He took piano lessons as a kid, but the harmonica was something he could carry and practice practically wherever he went. While serving in the Marine Corp reserves in his late teens and early 20s, he always had one with his gear to regale his fellow Marines with blues riffs and, of course, an occasional Marine’s hymn while in the field or aboard a ship.
Heavily influenced by the wide spectrum of his albums, he drew inspiration from iconic harp players like Big Walter Horton and James Cotton, guitarists Freddie King and Johnny “Guitar” Watson and jump blues and oft-humorous stylings by Wynonie Harris and Louis Jordan. Although weaned on James Brown and soul records, blues hit Redmond a tad more viscerally.
FORMATION, ORIGINAL LINEUP, OTHER/CURRENT PERSONNEL
In 1974, Redmond and guitarist Bob Lohmar, a fellow Bostonian, got together with New York City transplants Joe and Dom Micarelli (pianist and drummer, respectively) to form the nucleus of The Fat City Blues Band. Add bassist Paul “P.J.” Justice and Jim Baker on sax and – although Lohmar was replaced by John Sullivan early on – and you have the lineup in the band’s formative years. The group soon took to the stages of Boston, Cambridge and beyond. Though they didn’t include “Blues Band” in their moniker, their music is bluescentric with an emphasis on entertainment and a show focused on powerful delivery.
As with any musical enterprise, personnel changes were inevitable. John Litwin became the drummer in 1985. John Sullivan was succeeded by Dave Croce and present day Mark Andersen. A bullpen lineup of sax players rotated in with Tucker Antell, Marcus Sholar, Neil “K” Kruszckowski, Zac Zinger, Dino Govoni and Greg Cambio. Pianists consisted of Rich Cesarini, Mike Finstein, James Hurley, Mike Valdez and now Shane Wood. Bassists were Jonathan Perkins, Mike Janelle and now Joe Baglione. In the 2000s, the group added a trombone to the mix, with duties shared between Clayton DeWalt and Grant Randall. Frontman Redmond is the only continuous member since the band’s 1974 Big Bang.
AL DOTOLI, ALLEN TOUSSAINT SESSIONS, NOTABLE APPEARANCES
The band’s popularity and opportunities increased significantly under the management of Al Dotoli, then a member of the production staff for Frank Sinatra. His impact led to a five-week recording session at Sea Saint Studios in New Orleans under the tutelage of legendary songwriter Allen Toussaint. The recording never made a splash, but the learning experience for the band was incalculable.
For a number of consecutive years, The Fat City Band appeared at the Hatch Memorial Shell on Boston’s Esplanade, garnering crowd sizes second only to the Boston Pops on the 4th of July. While Dotoli was managing the group, they hosted and headlined one of Boston’s premiere New Years Eve celebrations for 23 consecutive years, the last 18 of those at the Park Plaza Hotel ballroom. A number of other Boston-area venues they played are gone, from Jonathan Swift’s in Cambridge and Ed Burke’s in Mission Hill (“where civilization ends and wildlife begins”) to B.B. Kings at Foxwoods Casino and Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den in Connecticut.
Outside of New England, there have been many highlights for the band over the years including a live appearance on David Brenner’s Night Life TV show; a tour of the LA club scene; the Universal Studios Mardi Gras Festival in Florida, and as the rally band for the New England Patriots at their first Super Bowl appearance in New Orleans (Pats lost…ouch!). The group has appeared at festivals and private events hither and yon from Kentucky to Toronto and from Bermuda and to the Blues Barge at Boston Harbor Hotel.
OPENING SPOTS, “ODE TO BEER,” “GRANITE STATE CHRISTMAS”
The Fat City Band have shared the bill with numerous musical legends such as B.B. King at theaters in the round in Warwick, Rhode Island and Cohasset, Massachusetts, and have opened for Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, The Neville Brothers, Redmond’s teenage inspiration James Brown and Ray Charles (at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom). The group appeared at Senator John Kerry’s presidential election night celebration rally (oops!) in Boston’s Copley Square with the Black Eyed Peas, James Taylor and Carole King and has been the opener for a potpourri of other artists from across the musical spectrum from Sha Na Na to Clarence Clemons of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band.
While still chasing their first hit record, they have attained an iota of notoriety for a couple of novelty songs they’ve written and recorded. One, “Ode to Beer,” was among WZLX’s most requested tunes of 2014 on Carter Alan’s Sunday Morning Blues show. When invited in 2006 to play a Christmas show at the Palace Theater in Manchester, New Hampshire, the band insisted on writing their own Christmas carol and the result was “Granite State Christmas,” which has been a highly requested holiday song in in the state ever since. In 2016, the band won an award from WMRC in the Blues category.
What started as an avocation has morphed into somewhat of a regional institution due to the band’s impressive longevity. As of this writing (March 2018), they are in their 44th year of continued existence with a show comprised of a near-totally original repertoire and their 11th recording project in the works. With indefatigable spirit and fortitude, the passion still burns.
