Entertainment Features

Mighty Duck Blues Band: Soup's On!

By David DeRocco

The first thing you need to know about the debut CD release from the well-seasoned local blues collective known as THE MIGHTY DUCK BLUES BAND (MDBB) is that it lives up to its name. DUCK SOUP is an apropos title given all the different flavours of blues music simmering through the album’s 12 tracks – 11 original new blues tunes and a cover of the Queen classic “We Will Rock You.” And like every chef knows,  you can’t make great soup without a variety of ingredients; Duck Soup is loaded with them, sprinkled throughout in the form of spicy vocal contributions from Canadian blues artists including Cheryl Lescom, John Dickie, John Finley, Paul Reddick and Chuck Jackson.

Of course, the members of The Mighty Duck Blues band provide the marrow from which this hearty soup stock has been created. MDBB members Dave Curry (guitar, vocals), Canada Dave Torosian (organ), Jim Casson (drums, vocals) and Gary Kendall have poured 10 years of serving as the best back-up band in Niagara into this entirely focused and well-crafted blues statement – an album that forever validates their existence as a true “band.” Sure, Casson and Kendall freelance on occasion (most notably with Canadian blues legends, Downchild). But DUCK SOUP makes it clear that the MDBB is its own brand – four partners capable of creating an instantly enjoyable collection of original blues tunes.

With the driving force of the opening track “Hammered and Nailed,” the smoldering Stevie Ray Vaughn guitar riffs on “Cha-Ching” or the ZZ Top inspired cover of “We Will Rock You,” the MDBB comes across on the CD as true blues chameleons, shifting seamlessly between the varying shades of the blues reflected in each track. Given his long history with the genre, bassist Kendall knew that it was important to serve up a variety of musical arrangements, especially given their Saturday afternoon role as the house band at The Bar Upstairs in St. Catharines. 

“The plan from the beginning was, the four of us would gather up the material, songs that we would write within the band, either myself, Jim Casson or Dave Curry being principle songwriters, or songs we’d bring in,” said Kendall. “I brought in songs from Cash Wall and one from Kenny Brown. We knew we were all going to work on putting the material together and present the songs. And we also knew that because what the band has been for almost 10 years – a band that backs people up – we figured that once we had the materials together we would choose vocalists we were familiar with, people who had guested with us at The Duck and now The Bar Upstairs. We knew the CD was going to turn out as a real variety of the different genres of the blues. And we’re okay with that, because the gig we do varies from week to week depending on who we’re backing up.”

With the ever-rotating cast of guest musicians that join the band on stage each week, Kendall acknowledges that it’s definitely a fun gig for the guys in the MDBB.

“There’s no space for boredom, that can never happen. And yes, it is a lot of fun. We’ve been doing this a long time now so we’ve kind of taken on a process, a formula so to speak on how we make it work week to week with all the different vocalists. We’ve learned how to fade into the background  and become their band, whoever is fronting us.”

For this CD, however, the guys in the MDBB are front and centre in every way, with members serving as writers, producers, designers and publicists says Kendall.

“The recording of DUCK SOUP took a little bit different direction of course because we had our drummer Jim Casson as the producer of the CD. He was sort of directing traffic, because as producer he was guiding the direction each song was going to take. Although we all had a say in the material we were going to do, the producer at some point drives the car. He takes you on the road you want to go with a piece of music.”

With the loyal following the band has built up after a decade of playing together locally, releasing a CD has been long overdue. Kendall says it’s been worth the wait given the response to the release, especially for Curry and Torosian.

“We’re all happy with the way it went. Jim Casson put a lot of work into it. He produced the record, he wrote some of the songs, he designed the CD package. I handled the publicity. It’s our own little in-house project. We’re very happy with the attention its getting and the attention it’s drawing towards the band. It’s especially good for Dave Curry and Dave Torosian. Jim and I have had a taste of being on records and touring, being in bands that are recognized across the country, and those two guys are the home boys of the band. They don’t play in other bands whereas Jim and I freelance a lot with other people. We’ve had other opportunities to stand in other people’s spotlight and now we’re turning the spotlight on the Daves so to speak. They’re finally getting noticed for the talent they have and that’s kind of nice.”  

In the niche market that is the Canadian blues industry, a full-length CD release of original blues music is a rarity. When a band delivers a collection of tunes as solid as those on DUCK SOUP, it’s bound to garner attention from not only fans, but also from critics and music industry overlords. Kendall says he’s hopeful that the CD wins favour with the governing bodies of the Maple Blues and Juno awards.

“We’d like all of that. Of course with the Maple Blues Awards essentially you put it out there and there’s a panel from coast to coast that choose the nominees. We’re in the running because we put the CD out in the right time frame and got it to the right people. It would be really nice if it got some recognition that way. With the Junos you submit to them and we’re going to do that as well. Most importantly there’s been a lot of recognition in the Niagara region which I think is great. I’m the only one in the band who isn’t from there, I live in Toronto. But it’s nice to see that the recognition on the home turf is beginning. There’s 3 nominations from the Niagara Music Awards for band, Blues Band of the Year, Song of the Year and Producer of the Year. So that’s a big deal and the CD took us there.”

Now the CD is out, Kendall and his band mates can finally appease those fans who’ve been begging for an album.  And while they’re returning to their familiar place backing up VIP guests – David Vest on September 23rd – Kendall says he’s not opposed to a little self-promotion.

“It will be business as usual. We don’t play much of our own material because we’re always backing up the guest. We’ll play a few songs from the CD. That will be the first time it will be available for sale to the public. Of course, we’ll be self-promoting the shit out of it!”