“Music is Art. Art is for everyone. Everywhere. It's the human-language of emotion. It's there to connect us across large distances-- time, borders, cultures, beliefs and all that. The only price of admission is an appetite for wonder. I want my music to make you feel like you felt the last time you broke the rules and it was the right thing to do.”

Troy Mercy: Let The Rock n’ Roll Begin

Elusive Americana & Blues guitarist Troy Mercy performs raw and wild vintage-toned Rock & Roll. It's cracking guitar music surely, but it's his singing and songwriting that stand him a cut above the six-string rabble. While this marks his debut solo effort Troy Mercy earned his bones through years of touring with heavies such as Booker T (of The MGs) & The Fabulous Thunderbirds. He has performed with Blues originators like Muddy Waters’ bandmembers, Hubert Sumlin, Billy Boy Arnold and Pinetop Perkins, and he played guitar on two Grammy-nominated albums with Kim Wilson. Troy Mercy's original music draws on expansive influences and he often performs live in the Power Duo format like The Black Keys, The White Stripes, and Flat Duo Jets.

(Troy Mercy / Photo by Karen Jerzyk)

Let The Night Begin, Troy Mercy's debut album out in May 29th, 2026 via Gitcha Records, was produced by Tim Carman (Parlor Greens, Canyon Lights, formerly GA-20). Expect songs you'll be singing in your head later. This is raw and wild vintage-toned Rock & Roll that's being created in the present.

Interview by Michael Limnios               Special Thanks: Tony Bonyata (Pavement PR)

How has the music influenced your views of the world? What moment changed your music life the most?

Well, I learn best through experience. Playing this guitar has allowed me to travel this planet. I get to go all over and meet good people and make them feel ways about stuff. This is a beautiful life. The moment that changed my "music life" the most: deciding that I would be a guitarist as a young one. One does not find oneself, one creates ones-self.

How do you describe your sound and music philosophy? What's the balance in music between technique and soul?

You have to become what you want people to feel when they hear and see you. Full commitment. Sweat and tears and passion. Laughing is recommended, too. Monty Python's Flying Circus and Little Walter's "Hate To See You Go" are a great combination.

Technique/Soul: Artists need technique. Technique is a tool. But tools and techniques aren't music. Ya'dig? Music requires self-discipline, service to the song, imagination, and personality. Also, it helps to have at least one fully functioning earhole.

Why is it important to we preserve and spread the blues? What does the blues mean to you?

I love blues. It was the first sounds that reached out and took hold of me. Charlie Patton, Bobby Bland, Etta James, Cow Cow Davenport, Howlin' Wolf, Ray Charles... There's some hot blues out there now: Austin John, McKinley James, Lucy Piper, GA20, Francesca Nnoka Shaw, Daddy Long Legs.

The Blues is going to be just fine. It'll always appeal to people who know to search out the good stuff in life. 

“Artists need technique. Technique is a tool. But tools and techniques aren't music. Ya'dig? Music requires self-discipline, service to the song, imagination, and personality. Also, it helps to have at least one fully functioning earhole.” (Troy Mercy / Photo by Karen Jerzyk)

Are there any specific memories or highlights of your career that you would like to tell us about?!

Oooh boy, I got stories, man! That's inevitably what happens when a group of musicians get together. It's story-time, jack. Keeping it brief, I'll single out the tour we did with BB King when I was in The Fabulous Thunderbirds. BB would actually set up in his chair right off the side of the stage next to me during our set and watch. Incredible. He actually grabbed me after a set to tell me how much he enjoyed my playing. There was one show where Chuck Berry and BB kinda got into a "who's cooler" contest. If you see me in the fleshworld ask about it.

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

I don't really spend much time on the past. I want all my focus on the now and the next, you know? I got music to make, man! Art is Life. Life is Change. Operating out of fear is the best way to make those fears come to be. No thank you, please. I have no fear for the future of music. I do fear that I've run out of tea. I like a big steaming pot of organic black tea in the morning and I'm fresh out.

What is the impact of music on the socio-cultural implications? How do you want the music to affect people?

Music is Art. Art is for everyone. Everywhere. It's the human-language of emotion. It's there to connect us across large distances-- time, borders, cultures, beliefs and all that. The only price of admission is an appetite for wonder. I want my music to make you feel like you felt the last time you broke the rules and it was the right thing to do.

What are you doing to keep your music relevant today, to develop it and present it to the new generation?

I give my music all of me, man. Everyday. I play with energy and take risks. Don't settle into being comfortable. Safety is the death of art. Wow, I sound like a real drag... I swear I'm a wicked good time and generally smell quite pleasing. I love being onstage and I do everything in my power to make sure that the folks who cared enough to come out all leave feeling better than they did when they showed up.

Oooh yeah, and my debut LP on Gitcha Records is a real humdinger. It's called 'Let The Night Begin' and it was produced by Tim Carman of Parlor Greens. I'm just getting started. I am the new generation. “Brave New Blues for a Mean Old World”!

Troy Mercy - Home

(Troy Mercy / Photo by Karen Jerzyk)