Stacy Mitchhart
Nashville was very different three decades ago, when blues vocalist, instrumentalist, bandleader and songwriter Stacy Mitchhart first arrived.
“There weren’t a lot of places around where you could play blues, or for that matter anything other than country,” Mitchhart recalls. “There were a couple of country bars, a lot of places boarded up and some peep show locales. Today Nashville has really become a great city, with all types of options for food. You can hear every kind of music that’s being made, and it’s really a cosmopolitan environment. I know some of the old-timers aren’t happy about it, but I love it and am really glad to see what’s happened.”
In the years since, Mitchhart has won The Blues Foundation’s Albert King Award recognizing outstanding guitarists, and he is an established and popular fixture at Printers Alley staple Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Bar. His shows are highly energetic and exciting, spotlighting a guitarist capable of both explosive, powerful solos and very tender, soulful ballads. In April, he released arguably his finest LP No Rhyme or Reason, produced by multiple Grammy winner Tom Hambridge, with guest appearances from singer Gretchen Wilson, singer-guitarist Kenny Neal and harmonica maestro Charlie Musselwhite. Neal and Wilson are also scheduled to join Mitchhart at a gala release show Sunday night at 3rd and Lindsley.
“I’m really happy with how this one turned out,” says Mitchhart. “We cut all the rhythm tracks in a couple of days and then did the vocals at another studio, both of them on Music Row. All the songs were done specifically for this release, and things worked out well, especially the collaborations.”
Discussing the Nashville-residing blues producer and drummer’s work, including producing Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram and making his own records
Mitchhart matches sturdy licks and riffs with Neal on the Crescent City-inspired “Mean Bad Wrong,” while Wilson joins him on the fiery “Sure Looks Good to Me,” which he co-wrote with Hambridge and Richard Fleming. Musselwhite’s searing harp licks, meanwhile, skim the mud off the swampy groove of “Flip It to the Other Side.” Two other strong tracks, “Good One Time” and “Bad as You” provide the foundation on an outstanding effort.
Mitchhart began playing professionally at 13, and by 17 was working with four different bands in Cincinnati, his hometown. He initially visited Nashville in 1988, then relocated full time in 1996.
“Being identified so strongly with Nashville in many ways is a strength, because on any given night, three-quarters to four-fifths of my audience comes from out of town,” he says. “I remember years ago when I did my first show in Cleveland. At that time the Titans were playing Cleveland almost every season, and the place I was playing in, the guy who ran it was surprised that so many people knew me and were coming to the show. But that’s the thing I tell all the blues promoters — that being in Nashville gives me way more promotional appeal than they think, because I’m always performing before all kinds of audiences and lots of people from all over the country and the world.”
Mitchhart, now in his late 60s, dismisses any notions about potential retirement despite his many years on the circuit. He not only currently does three nights a week at Bourbon Street much of the year, but by his estimate at least 75 to 100 road dates each year, plus an additional load of solo acoustic concerts.
“With the exception of one brief period in Cincinnati way back when I worked at a toothpaste factory, I’ve never done anything except play the blues and perform live. There’s nothing else I’d rather do. Sure, every musician always wants a little more national attention, but I couldn’t be happier with how things have gone in my life. I still play every type of arena from small to large and in between, do band and solo gigs, and am always thrilled to be onstage.”
