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Category: Music
CEFCU Center Stage - Sat Oct 3, 2009 In Peoria IL
Cue & A: Enriching his soul with blues
Ronnie Baker Brooks, son of blues great Lonnie Brooks, has no problem being himself
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By DANIELLE HATCH (dhatch@pjstar.com)
Journal Star
Posted Sep 30, 2009 @ 11:44 PM -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ronnie Baker Brooks learned his trade from the best of the blues musicians. Growing up as the son of Chicago legend Lonnie Brooks, one is bound to pick up some pointers along the way. Brooks, 42, played in his father's band for 13 years. Then, with a nudge from his dad, he broke out on his own in 1999. Now, Brooks tours the country on the merit of his own name. He's released three albums: 1998's "Golddigger," 2001's "Take Me Witcha" and the 2006 album "The Torch." Brooks will perform at CEFCU Center Stage Saturday night as part of Peoria's Rib Fest and Chili Cookoff. Ahead of the show, we telephoned the Chicago musician, on a tour stop in Philadelphia, to talk about growing with a famous father - and shining on his own. Your dad is a blues legend. Would you say this has made your career journey easier, or more difficult? In some aspects it's been hard, and some it's been easy. I had my dad there to coach me and tell me to go right when I was going left. To have him around is always a blessing. But it's rough, because you have to live up to the expectations of him. My dad made that transition real easy for me, he didn't put the pressure on me. When I initially started playing, he told me and my brother Wayne, "Be yourself, don't be me." All in all, it's been a blessing. How does your music differ from what he's doing? Well, my father was never really a traditional blues artist. So what I'm basically doing is an extension of what he's done, a branch off the tree. From his roots, hopefully come my fruits. How would you describe your music? I have to leave that one up to you. It's blues-based, and I try to take all the influences I had around me growing up and put it into what I'm hearing today. Whatever that comes out to be, I don't know. I just do what I feel. I got to interview your dad last year, and he told me about being discovered by (blues legend) Clifton Chenier. He said he was playing harmonica on his porch and had his back to the road because he was unsure of his talent. Did you have doubts about your talent when you first started playing? Oh, yeah. I could not play in front of my father, I could not sing in front of my father. And when I watched him, as a kid, I didn't realize the impact he had on music at the time in Chicago and across the country. He was just dad at home to me and my siblings. He took me and my brother Wayne to a festival he played in Chicago on Navy Pier. I saw how people were responding to him, and it intimidated me. He would always say, all you have to do is be yourself, and it was very hard to do. I look at my dad like some people look at Elvis Presley. But he would always say, "You can do it. You can do it better than I can do it." What drove you to branch off on your own? My father always told us to write our own material, and I was writing a lot of songs and had recorded a CD down in Memphis. I brought it back to my dad, we were in his basement listening to it and drinking some wine. And he was like, "Son, this is really, really good. In order for you to do this CD justice, you're going to have to leave me and make a name for yourself. You're only going to go so far playing with me." He kind of kicked me out of his band. What made me know that I could go for it, is he said, "If it don't work, you can come back." Is there a certain trait, or just a certain something, a person needs to be a blues player? You have to have a passion for the music, because you aren't going to get rich playing the blues, but your soul will be rich. Myself, when I see I'm touching people through a song or a show, it's like therapy for me. If I see someone having a good time, or if a song helps them get through the day or a night or something they're going through in their lives, that makes me feel good. - What: Rib Fest and Chili Cookoff, sponsored by Peoria Area Community Events. - When: 5 p.m. to midnight Friday and noon to midnight Saturday. - Where: Peoria riverfront. - Friday tickets: Admission is $3 and includes CEFCU Center Stage entertainment of Nootril Drop, 5 to 6:30 p.m.; Mister Sister, 7 to 8:30 p.m.; and Beatles tribute band American English, 9 to 11:30 p.m. Saturday tickets: Admission is free to enter the rib and chili cook-off area, which will feature a car show and live music in Festival Park: Danny Fox will perform a Bob Dylan tribute from noon to 2 p.m., and Coco Loco performs from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday's show at CEFCU Center Stage at the Landing, featuring Lonnie Baker Brooks and Peoria's South Side Cindy and the Sliptones, is $14 at the gate or $10 in advance at all Co-Op Records stores, Shandi's Music in Canton, the Riverfront Park Visitors Center, online at www.jaytv.com or by calling (800) 514-ETIX. Gates open at 6 p.m., show starts at 7 p.m.
2:30 PM
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