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From 1988

JIMMIES BELT A DIFFERENT KIND OF BLUES

AMY LONGSDORF THE MORNING CALL April 29 1988

"We call our music rhythm and blues because its the easiest thing to say, but I don't think our sound is all that easy to categorize," says Steamin' Jimmies' vocalist and bass player, Lois Brownsey.

The band's new album-length cassette (available from Sprinkle Records, Box 208, Saylorsburg R.1, Pa.) reflects all the musical influences that the Poconos-based Jimmies have encountered over the years: blues, soul, jazz and rockabilly. But what dominates is Brownsey's gravelly, expressive singing and the band's non-traditional approach to the blues.

"I never remember not singing," Brownsey says. "My mother's father owned a bar in a black neighborhood in North Philadelphia and the jukebox was filled with what was then called race music. My mother lived over the bar and grew up hearing that music. I remember when I was little, she used to boogie- woogie around the house and sing me all those old blues songs."

Through the years, Brownsey has performed in such Lehigh Valley rock and folk ensembles as Ruby, Delta Rockers, and others, but soul-flavored blues won out. "Aretha Franklin is my No. 1 absolute influence. To me, she is next to God," says the dark-haired singer.

While their repertoire includes versions of songs by Aretha Franklin, James Brown and Sam Cooke, Brownsey and fellow band members - guitarist Kent Heckman, saxophonist and keyboardist Mo Rolland and drummer Leo "Sharkey" LaBarge - are not interested in becoming an "archival group." Their sound is defined as much by rich, three-part harmonies as by Heckman's lyrically funky guitar runs.

And their lyrics, most of which are penned by Brownsey, have a distinctly contemporary flavor. "Little Bit Of Money, Whole Lotta Love" suggests that one can not live on love alone, and "The Sufferin' Kind" goes so far as to imply that some unrequited lovers enjoy the pain of heartbreak. "When you look at some people, they seem to be so into their unhappiness. It's not healthy but at least they can feel something.

"I've tried very hard to expand as a writer, to tackle new subjects," she continues. "Some people have a knack for that and can do it very well. But for me the only thing that seems to ring true is the emotional side of things. What interests me is love, the lack of it, and sex - and how it all entangles together."

The Philadelphia-born singer handles most of the band's songwriting duties, but Heckman occasionally helps out. A married couple, Heckman and Brownsey have written some of the band's best material, including, "Work It Out," an ode to the joys of reconciliation. "We get along great," Brownsey says. "The only thing we fight about is music. When we write together, we go nuts."

Other members also make significant contributions to the band's sound. "Mo and Leo are jazz players primarily. They are more likely to go home and listen to John Coltrane or Sonny Rollins. But that's good because it brings all these different influences into our music. I've heard a lot of blues-based bar bands and all of them sound basically the same. They play a Chicago-blues style with a harmonica, a saxophone, etctera. Some of them are really good, but that's not us."

Brownsey, once described by Musician magazine as one of the nation's Top 20 unsigned artists, enjoys letting loose onstage. "What you do in a bar and what you do on a record are two different things. When I'm onstage I'm more likely to call on a tune like Big Mama Thorton's 'Bumble Bee' than I am on one of my own. . . . There's a raunchy side of me that loves playing in bars, a part of me that could sing 'Bumble Bee' all night long."

In an attempt to avoid being stereotyped as a bar band, members of the Jimmies work hard shaping their repertoire. "In the year we've been together, we've thrown out as much material as we've kept. With covers, it's easier to say what doesn't fit than what does. Even with our own tunes, we try to be selective. Some of the songs we write don't leave the rehearsal room. I don't say 'We learned it. We're doing it' or 'I wrote it. We're doing it." '

Brownsey, who has made her living through music for the last 12 years, also performs with Heckman in the pop duo, The Generators. "It keeps us fresh," she notes. Both Rolland, a 23-year veteran of the sax, and LaBarge, a one-time country drummer, also play with other bands, but according to Brownsey: "We all put the Jimmies as our priorities."

Another way Brownsey and Heckman supplement their income is by owning and operating the 24-track Red Rock recording studio near Saylorsburg. In the past, the couple has worked with top-flight session players David Browne, who plays with Billy Joel, and Charles King, a member of the Bob James' group. "I don't want people to think that we have an unfair advantage because we have our own studio," Brownsey says. "We have paid our dues to get where we have with the studio. It's really just another aspect of our musical careers."

Brownsey says she has distributed copies of the band's first cassette to Rounder and Alligator records, two companies known for nurturing roots-rock. "But," she says, "sending unsolicited material to the major labels is a joke. They don't even open it because they're afraid of lawsuits."

The Jimmies, who have opened for Cajun-great Buckwheat Zydeco and George Thorogood's Delaware Destroyers, perform regularly in the Pocono/New Jersey/ New York area. A two-week tour of Germany and Denmark is in the works, but Brownsey remains pragmatic about the future plans:

"All of us in the band are full-time working musicians which is something I'm very happy about. Sure I'd like to be more successful, but I feel I am lucky. Not many people can make a living doing what they love."

Amy Longsdorf is a free-lance writer on entertainment for The Morning Call.