Bluesman headlines Vallejo Waterfront festival
By Andrea Garcia
October 1, 2005
VALLEJO - Legendary blues guitarist Ron Thompson has enough chops under his belt to make a crowd feel his soul.
Thompson, 51, sounds raspy-voiced on the phone from his home in the Bay Area. Perhaps it's the endless tours and performances this blues player fares on any given week.
Or maybe it's the 42 years in the business, after his first performance at 9 years old in front of his fourth-grade classmates.
It's been an outstanding ride for the guitarist, having shared the stage with the likes of Sonny Rhodes, B.B. King, Mick Fleetwood and Etta James, just to mention a handful and has recorded with Chris Isaac, Carlos Santana and Bonnie Raitt. Heck, he's even toured with the legendary blues artist John Lee Hooker, spending an incredible seven years with him traveling coast-to-coast.
So it's no surprise that Thompson, who has four albums to his name, lives and breathes the blues as if his life depended on it.
"It's a release from the pressures of life, whether it's good or bad," explains Thompson of the blues. "For me, it's my living. You relate to it. And it's a feeling of 'wow,' I get the goosebumps and it makes me forget about problems."
And now Thompson, with his plethora of experience backed by two Bay Area Music Awards and Grammy nomination, will be headlining for the "2nd Annual Vallejo Waterfront Weekend" Saturday, a family-oriented event with music, food and an array of entertainment.
"I'll be playing everything I can perform, the guitar, piano, harmonica and steel guitar," he says, then laughs. "It depends on how much time they give and the integrity of it."
Thompson's journey began with frequent trips to "Black clubs," he says, such as those in North Richmond.
"They accepted me and it was a family thing," the Oakland native recalls. "Then I met with drummer Ken Swank who introduced me to Hooker and that was it."
And his memories of Hooker, which Thompson admits is voluminous, are inspiring. However, there is one particular memory that seems to stand out for the guitarist.
"He had a style where he played the rhythmical guitar with his thumb going backwards," Thompson recalls. "What happened, he told me, was that his thumb got smashed in a press when he worked with a car company in Detroit and that changed his style."
As for Thompson's style, well, a collection of inspiration breathes through the rhythmic chords of his guitar.
"I spent a lot of time during the '70s in jazz festivals and clubs with Sonny Slim in New Orleans," he says, then takes a moment of silence before continuing. "I'd be down there a lot and watch the guys down there. I took something out of that."
Besides performing at the waterfront festival, Thompson is also a part of several hurricane relief fundraisers and is donating the proceeds of his albums "Magic Touch" and "Still Resisting," if purchased through CD Baby, to the Red Cross.
"You gotta do something," he says adamantly.
Thompson will also be performing at the "2005 San Francisco Blues Festival" with the legends of Chicago blues.
The waterfront weekend includes the "32nd Annual Whaleboat Regatta," "3 on 3" Hoop Games Basketball Tournament, youth artscape, a children's play area, Touro University's Health Fair, the "15th Annual Diablo Valley Corvette Show," and the "20th Annual Vallejo Classic Car Show."
The "6th Annual Vallejo Blues and Heritage Festival" is also a part of the event, featuring Maria Muldaur, Sonny Rhodes and Tom Rigney.