"The Blues is one of the most honest and direct forms of music to express emotions and feelings."

Texarillo: Roadhouse Blues n' Roll

Texarillo is a powerhouse trio of passionate, veteran musicians. Their sound is steeped in the tradition of American blues, roots and rock music with influences that range from the Texas Blues sounds of Stevie Ray Vaughan & Johnny Winter, to the smooth Chicago vibe of Buddy Guy with a little Jimi Hendrix on the side. Texarillo was founded in August 2010 after Dwane put an ad on Craigslist to start a Texas Blues project, Ricardo and Ken answered the call and had an audition of 10 songs, two days later Ricardo secured their first booking and the band played 25 out of 35 songs for the very first time together on stage. The chemistry was immediate and undeniable. Since then the band has played over 200 shows together!Texarillo are: Dwane Rechil, vocals and guitar, Ricardo Bacardi, bass and back vocals, Ken Loudmann, drums.

For many years frontman and founding member Dwane Rechil tried his hand at many musical endeavours including releasing two albums with the Hard Rock outfit Top Johnny! Only to come full circle back to his first love, the Blues. Dwane is a musician of experience and dedication to his craft. A full time artist and business owner, he heads up StarBrite Music. He attended Concordia University in Montreal and studied classical music theory and composition. Ricardo hails from Southern California and spent time in Florida paying his dues as a working musician. He is a composer and multi-instrumentalist who is forever in search of that “perfect sound”. Ricardo brings great flair and stage presence to the band. He spent years on the club circuit honing his craft and playing many styles of music on both the six and four stringed instruments. Ken is the anchor of the group.  His style is steady and measured but with plenty of flair and horse power when the occasion calls for it. He plays his own brand of Oelmann Drums which he builds in own workshop. He has spent years in numerous bands around Montreal and is a “go to” drummer in the Montreal blues scene. Texarillo has released their first album "Black Satin Blues" (2013)

Interview by Michael Limnios

What does the BLUES mean to you & what does Blues offered you?

Dwane: The Blues is one of the most honest and direct forms of music to express emotions and feelings. The Blues has offered me the chance to make music that is a closest to the true “me” as I have ever been. I have played many different kinds of music in my life but the Blues is my musical home.

Ken: The Blues gives me what I think it offers; a feeling, a mood, a perspective, a culture.

Ricardo: The Blues is like a language, open to interpretation while the meaning and original intent is still there. Playing and performing this style of music has been very rewarding as there is a universal appeal, something that provokes a memory or creates a new one, which I see in the faces of our crowd.

How do you describe your sound and progress, what characterize Texarillo’s philosophy?

Dwane: Texarillo’s philosophy has always been about giving to the audience. We play longer sets than any other band I know. We give the audience more than they expect. When I started the band in 2010, it was to have fun. I was just finishing 8 years with my original rock band TOP JOHNNY! and I wanted to have a break and maybe some musical therapy by starting a “Texas Blues Band” just for my own fun.  Ricardo and Ken and I have a great chemistry and after 18 months of playing together I thought it would be a good idea to make a record with them. The sound of the first album is basically all my musical influences in the blues and rock. There sounds from Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter, George Thorogood, ZZ Top, etc… That album was a tribute to all the people who made me want to be a great guitar player. The next album will sound quite different.  The sound must evolve and hopefully get even closer to my (our) “true voice” in music.

Ken: I'd say we're Blues-Rock, growing into our audience. Generally our philosophy is to give 100% of what we've got available and it should work out!

Ricardo: Texarillo's philosophy is based on the idea that: "We are here to work, who needs some great rock n roll?! A song sometimes grows out of an idea that hits you on the street or while holding the guitar. Of course, the song on the street is about a girl and the other is a guitar riff! The band gets together with song ideas, and we flesh them out, we see what they sound like with the band living and breathing the song.

Tell me about the beginning of Texarillo. How did you choose the name and where did it start?

Dwane: I was writing and playing with a hard rock band called TOP JOHNNY! from 2002-2010. The band had great potential but it was very hard to find a steady line up of high quality musicians who wanted to play in an all original band. After two albums, eight years and many, many lessons about the music business later, I decide to take a break and start a Texas Blues Band just for fun. Even before I started the band I know that we would wear leather pants and cowboy hats, all dressed in black and play some wicked, hot Texas style blues.  As I said before this band was supposed to be musical therapy for me and didn’t care about anything but playing the music I wanted to play. Originally I called the band Rio Grande. I put an ad online on Craigslist and Ken and Ricardo were some of the first guys to reply.  We had one audition of 10 songs and decided that we would play together. After a couple of days Ricardo called me up and said he had a gig on the coming weekend. We had no time to practice before the show. When we got on stage the three of us played 35 songs including 25 of them for the very first time in front of a crowded bar. I knew right then that we had something good! When I decided to make an album with the band we changed the name to Texarillo because Rio Grande was used by bands all over the world and we didn’t want any legal trouble because of our name. We wanted to keep our wild west image and even though it took forever to come up with I think Texarillo is a great name for this band.

What experiences in your life have triggered your ideas most frequently?

Dwane: Most of my songs are not about events in my own life. I observe life from many different angles and draw ideas from many different places. Sometimes in a conversation I’ll find a sequence of words that generates an emotion in me or I read the newspaper and a story will be the start of a new song idea. I am a song writer who has developed the craft of songwriting over many years and I can write about lots of different subjects on demand. A lot of the time I just play a guitar riff that I like and I’ll build a song around that.  It’s always different.

Why did you think that the Texas Blues continues to generate such a devoted following?

Dwane: I honestly have no idea about that.  I know why I like it. I like it because of the great guitar work. T-Bone Walker, Johnny Guitar Watson, Albert Collin, Freddie King, Clarence Gatemouth Brown, Johnny Winter, Billy Gibbons, Stevie Ray Vaughan...I mean wow!! In Montreal Canada where I live, we have a radio station CHOM FM 97.7 that plays our music on the Blues show “The Black Cat Alley”, the listeners voted Stevie Ray Vaughan the number one blues artist of all time. That is proof of the power of his playing and of the style of players that comes from Texas.

Ken: Good music is timeless.

Ricardo: The tonality and the sound of this style is the reason that this music lives on. Even if the new talent out of there sounds like one of the kings of Texas legends, its still gonna sound good. If it isn't broken don’t fix it it....

Do you remember anything funny from the recording and show time with the band?

Dwane: There is always something funny happening on stage with Ricardo. He is such a funny guy. We often laugh when we play together. Sometime the crowd is what is funny too. I remember playing at a Motorcycle and tattoo show recently and we had four young guys head banging and playing air guitar in front of us for the whole show! They were so gone into the music. That was a good one.  We see some really funny things on the dance floor sometimes to.  Alcohol is a great lubricant for comedy…

Ken: Yes but you'll have to wait for my book!

Ricardo: Best part of our live shows are the fans. Every night there's something happening front stage or backstage that is one of those: "Did you just see that!?!" moments. About 50 shows a go, we were playing a gig in Montreal during the winter where it's always hard to park your because of snow removal restrictions. I find this parking place right in front of the venue, and I can see our vehicle from the bar's back window. So, I'm proud to have this parking spot but then, in the middle of a song I see my car being towed away, while I'm playing on stage!

What’s the best jam you ever played in? What are some of the most memorable gigs you've had?

Dwane: Recently we got to play at Montreal’s best know Blues bar, Bistro a Jojo and I have to say that our first night there was special for me. I played and sang really well. It felt like we had arrived as a blues band. I have played some many shows in my life that it’s really hard to pick one or two but I would have to say that another special show was the very first time I played an entire show of my own compositions, I was Nov 10, 2005 and it was the first record launch of my career. I released my first record ever with TOP JOHNNY! 

But the truth is that every time I get on stage is a special event. I try to play every show like it could change my life. And they all do in some way.

Ken: Definitely blueberry. I find all gigs memorable in their own  way, there's always something to learn from them.

Ricardo: We always try to keep our crowd happy. If they're ready to follow us to the ledge, that means we've already jumped! We will play till it's time when most people are getting up for work, and to this day no one has come up to us on stage and said "That'll do. I'm good"

We play long shows because that's what I would want to see if I'm looking for some spicy rock and roll. Every show has little pieces of information that get deposited into the bands collective mind, that help us with each show, help us perform better and better.

Which meetings have been the most important experiences for you? What is the best advice ever given you?

Dwane: The most important experiences that I have had in my musical life are the ones that I had to fight for, the ones that didn’t come easy. What I mean is this…. The music business is a tough business to break into when you’re unknown. People don’t return your calls or reply to your emails when you’re trying to get a booking or an opportunity for the first time. It’s important that if you really want something that you don’t accept no for an answer. Sometimes you need to knock on that door and continue to knock. If you give up, you’ll never get what you’re after. Perseverance is the name of this game, make no mistake!!

The best advice I ever got in my life was “play the music that you are passionate about”. That’s it and it’s that simple. If you play what you think you should because it will help you to “make it” in the music business…well, that’s not me. That’s not what I do.

Ken: Stevie Ray Vaughan after his first gig in Montreal 1983, Elvin Jones a few years before that, both at the Rising Sun club.

Best advice was from Billy Cobham on direction: He said to be myself on the instrument, and practice that, and eventually people will find that they like what I do.

Ricardo: Well, the first meeting of the members of the band would be a highlight so far. Wiithin a few hours of being together we were already playing live together. We literally had been together for a total of three or 4 hours before performing our first show together. Best advice ever got was being told I'm playing in the wrong key in the middle of a song.

Make an account of the case of the blues in Canada. Which is the most interesting period in local blues scene?

Dwane: Canada is a HUGE country. There are so many geographical regions that have their own ambience and vibe that it’s really tough to categorize Canadian blues as a genre or music. Colin James, Jeff Healey, David Gogo are all great blues players and all very unique in style. Colin James is from the flat land of the prairies. Jeff Healey is from metropolitan Toronto, David Gogo is from the mountains of Vancouver. There so many good blues artist from Canada it impossible to name them all. Just in Montreal there many great blues players. 

The most interesting time in Canadian Blues is NOW! We’re looking for the next great blues player and could come from any where. It’s a very exciting period. There is talent every where and we are aware of that because of the internet and the new technologies that allow us to spread music all over the world. It’s the best time to be an independent musician!

Ken: Now should always be the most interesting time, if not, try to help it to be more interesting and new.

Ricardo: Blues music in Canada thrives like everywhere else. The attraction to the blues is universal as you see it pokinging in everywhere. All of its influences have been around for the last 80 years. The summertime is the best time for exciting live shows.

From the musical point of view what are the differences between: Canadian and US Blues scene?

Dwane: The blues in the USA is more regionally identified like Chicago Blues, Texas Blues, Delta Blues, Country Blues, Urban Blues…. The USA is the motherland of the blues.  The tradition is deep and imprinted on the different regions. In Chicago the music played at Buddy Guys club would probably be different from what they play in Atone’s in Austin Texas. But to be honest the Blues has spread all over the world and is always evolving. Blues today in the US and Canada is very different than it was in the 50’s and 60’s. One the young British players in the 60’s brought blues music back to the US it had been changed for ever. Blues is a wide open music form and encompasses many styles and moods that are new and come as a result of the modern world which is very different from the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s when the blues was being created.

Ken: Since blues music originates in the US, I imagine a US blues player has a different perspective, however that effects it, they may approach it differently.

Ricardo: It depends on the marketplace and the population. Some small towns are filled with blues clubs and some large cities are void. Just means there's no accounting for taste! I want there to be a demand for this style of music from sea to shining sea, 'cause that means I'll be able to play from one side of the continent to the other.

What do you miss most nowadays from the Blues of past? What are your hopes and fears for the future of Blues?

Dwane: What I miss most are the players from the past. Stevie Ray Vaughan is dead, Johnny Winter is on his way out, BB King is very old, Muddy Waters is gone…. The “golden age of Blues” is over.  Who will be the new BB King?  The new Howling Wolf?  The new Stevie? 

My hope for the Blues is that the players making blues music continue to evolve and grow and always go back to the source of the music to refresh and ignite new sounds. My fear is that the blues would become to commercialize and mass marketed. Blues music needs to be an honest expression of soul without regard for commercial gains. We need this to keep the music pure and honest.

Ken: I don't miss anything, blues needs to grow. I have no fears for the future of blues, my hopes are that artists continue to explore the form and push it forward.

Ricardo: The Blues from the past were the first time you heard it. That's what I miss. The first time you heard the sound of Stevie Ray's or Billy Gibbons guitar it was like a voice speaking, talking, wailin'. As long as the blues can hold onto it roots, it won't change like the way country music has changed in the last 10, 12 years. The blues can stay unique as long its stay true to itself and doesn't become a hybrid novelty.

What are the lines that connect the legacy of Blind Lemon Jefferson with Winter and continue to ZZ Top and SRV?

Dwane: All of these players developed a distinctive voice on the guitar. To me the blues will always be made up of the human voice and the guitar. That is the foundation of blues and especially Texas Blues…..you can add Clarence Gatemouth Brown, Johnny Guitar Walker, Albert Collins and Freddie King to that legacy all of these men have that same distinctive voice/guitar combination.

Ken: Blues music provides a different feel than other musical forms, and if you like it, you'll find that its stories are timeless. We're all tied together seeking our therapy in the music.

Ricardo: The lines are in the roots, much like a tree or even veins, the basis, the genesis of each new guitarist that we hail each generation, is what he listened to as a kid. You ended up being a couple generations ahead but you're still a second cousin, not so far removed! I hear little, subtle things in the new music coming out that has winks or nods to songs before them. We're all sharing a little from everybody. One big family.

Let’s take a trip with a time machine, so where and why would you really wanna go for a whole day..?

Dwane: I would go to The Record Plant in New York City in 1968 and sit in on Jimi Hendrix recording the Electric Ladyland album.  That album really shows his genius and it is probably the most influential body of music in my life.  I would love to be a fly on the wall during the recording of the long version of Voodoo Chile with Stevie Winwood on B3 organ, Jimi on guitar, Mitch Mitchel on drums, Jack Cassidy on bass.  Pure magic.

Ken: Keeping this musical, I'd go to Scandinavia in September 1968 to see Led Zeppelins first tour, billed as the New Yardbirds.

Ricardo: The more I hear about the sixties the more I wanna be there. Exciting times for the blues, as rock and roll was changing and the Blues were alive and well and jumped onboard. If you were growing up in the sixties, the blues were on the radio but with a new backbeat happening in the background. To be there then with what I know now, I probably wouldn't have made it out of the sixties!

Texarillo - official website