Jason Ricci and the Bad Kind

Behind the Veil

Gulf Coast Records

     Jason Ricci and the Bad Kind. What a suitable, vivacious name for this bunch, given all the ins and outs and ups and downs crisscrossing Ricci’s story. Ricci’s traits include being an on again off again drug abuser, and a spiritual, openly gay white man who sings and plays the blues like one of the ultimate God-fearing black men of the 1920s. For the last six years he has been married to Kaitlin Dibble, a beautiful lady, and a featured singer in the band. Those perceived inconsistencies have gotten in his way within the gay and blues communities. Injustices, certainly, because Ricci’s multi-faceted life has no doubt made his blues music technicolor real. Behind the Veil reveals twelve of the most striking blues songs of 2023. Songs that mix tradition, relevance, and promise, with utter confidence.

Ricci hails from Maine, so the ethereal “Castco Bay” opens the album with a reference to the historic seaport in the state’s Gulf. A mini epic of sorts, the effects placed on the music and voices conjure drunken pirates in the dank confines of a pub. Ricci sings in a bristly, heated voice and plays harmonica with astonishing expressiveness. Inspired by Adam Gussow of the street duo Satan and Adam, as well as Little Walter, Paul Butterfield, and especially Pat Ramsey for pentatonic note placement and speed, Ricci proves himself masterly time and again throughout the album.

The Bad Kind as a unit are equally formidable. Ricci began his career in earnest in Memphis, and “5-10-15” takes listeners on a rocking ride to the heart of Beale Street. Dibble leads the obscure Rudy Toombs tune, singing it with sexy swagger. Guitarist Brent Johnson drops notes of sharp but supple steel amid guest Joe Krown’s tinkling piano couplets. The rhythm section of bassist Jack Joshua and drummer John Perkins swings for the fences. Of course, Ricci jumps in with plenty of melodious wailing. Then there’s “Cirque du Soleil,” as clever a use of imagery as could be within a stout blues. Written by Joshua, it features the protagonist as a cross between a ringmaster and a clown in dealing with his woman. During a magnificent run through the classic “St. James Infirmary,” Ricci pleads in his best Tom Waits peal, and Johnson lays out lines that slink with beautiful restraint. Ricci closes the song with a ghostly harp solo as if emanating from beside the tomb of the Voodoo Queen.

But for this writer’s money, the crown jewels of the set arrive with the one-two greasy punches of “Terrors of Nightlife” and “No Way.” The former takes writer Dax Riggs’ southern gothic vision and turns it into anxious southern rock and blues, complete with raw and meaty guitar. The latter, written by Dibble, plays out as her personal, phenomenal ‘spoonful’ of Chicago blues. Searing guitar work by guest Joanna Connor and Ricci’s inventive Windy City howlin’ seals the deal.

Jason Ricci and the Bad Kind sweep stereotypes into the dust bin and expose nothing but the good things about persuasive blues music all the way through Behind the Veil.

Tom Clarke for MAS

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