"My hopes would be for the music to stay as real as possible. Much music has become computer music to me. Drum loops that sound like real drums. I say, why not use REAL drums! I don't like a keyboard patch for horns. Auto tune has been used in a way where a duck, cat and a dog can sound like the three tenors! That is what worries me about modern music."

Mark Stutso: American Roots Music Beat

Drummer and singer Mark Stutso spent nearly two decades with former Nighthawk Jimmy Thackery. Before that he played in a number of big and small-time rock bands, including Ruffryder – a spin-off of Black Oak Arkansas – and Virginia Beach-based Trix. Originally from deep in West Virginia and Southwest Virginia, Mark put in five years in the coal mines before escaping into his drum kit. He lives in Pittsburgh and has collaborated with the late Glenn Pavone and Norman Nardini. His vocals are a force to be reckoned with. Mark says: "My interest in a drum started when I was in the 2nd grade Christmas play as a drummer in a "toy like" marching band! Even as a 2nd grader, it was manly to be chosen as one of the 4 drummers! You waited for that time of the year to come around and prayed to be a drummer in this rhythm band! I made it in. The girls were little majorettes, other players carried little bells and such. The men wanted no part of that! We wanted to be drummers!" Mark backing up some of the historical blues players, like Hubert Sumlin, James Cotton, Luther Allison, Calvin "Fuzz" Jones, Snooky Pryor, Robert Lockwood Jr, Pinetop Perkins, Bob Margolin, John Hammond. Playing drums on a big jam that involved, Stanley Dural (Buckwheat Zydeco), Joe Bonamassa, Tommy Castro, Magic Dick and quite a few others.                                               (Photo: Mark Stutso)

Mark Stutso joined in legendary Washington DC band of The Nighthawks about 2010. He is a former coal miner from West Virginia. Veteran musician, Mark Stutso continues: "I have never had drumming lessons of any kind. People say you play by ear. I agree to a point. I also play from the heart. I know that the best musicians I have ever seen have all been trained or been to a great music school. What their musicians play and create...I can only sit, watch and listen. Then I've seen those incredible players who couldn't shuffle, not even at gunpoint! Whereas an untrained player such as myself, that shuffle is just something I can FEEL."

Interview by Michael Limnios

How has the Blues/Roots music influenced your views of the world?

That could be several pages worth of an answer!! I don't think I've heard anything that makes me want to go out and protest or turn into some radical whatever. I've played blues for the past 30 years. Our type of music and lyrics sometimes can paint a rather grim picture of the world. That seems to be the nature of the blues! But not all of it is hard time, tough life music. The groove of our music makes me happy for the while. That's what influences my thing! The world will be whatever it will be....no matter what you listen to or play.

How did your love for the drums come about?

My interest in a drum started when I was in the 2nd grade Christmas play as a drummer in a "toy like" marching band! Even as a 2nd grader, it was manly to be chosen as one of the 4 drummers! You waited for that time of the year to come around and prayed to be a drummer in this rhythm band! I made it in. The girls were little majorettes, other players carried little bells and such. The men wanted no part of that! We wanted to be drummers! A schoolteacher played the piano and there was a cadence that we were shown. I picked up on it and discovered that it worked with what Mrs. McGuire was playing on the piano. I found myself getting the other drummers to follow my lead! So, the very first song that I ever played on one of these cardboard type drums was: Here Comes Santa Clause! As I moved up each year in grammar school, I would watch the rhythm band. Nothing was ever in sync anymore. The little band would march in and be nowhere close to the piano music! It drove me up a wall, backwards!! That is when the instrument started me to thinking. By the 5th grade, I was in a band!

Growing up in rural southern West Virginia, I had no idea of drum music or teachers other than a high school marching band. I did not do the marching band thing. I was already in working rock and top 40 bands by high school. I didn't see the need for lessons, nor did I have the time. Boy, was that ever a mistake on my part. I never learned to properly play drums. But I could play, and I could sing.

"I have never had drumming lessons of any kind. People say you play by ear. I agree to a point. I also play from the heart. I know that the best musicians I have ever seen have all been trained or been to a great music school. What their musicians play and create...I can only sit, watch and listen. Then I've seen those incredible players who couldn't shuffle, not even at gunpoint! " (Mark Stutso / Photo by Bob Sekinger)

How do you describe your sound and music philosophy?

I really don't quite know how to describe my sound or the message I'm sending out through such sound. I know I like a well-tuned drum kit. Good separation between each drum. I always liked a big deep drum sound. If there was any philosophy in that, it would be to show where the powered was coming from! The drums doing the heavy lifting. All of this now would depend on what you were being hired for or whatever direction you were to go in with your playing. I do not know if there's any philosophy in learning to adapt to many different situations. I'll say that that you need to have a bunch of tools in your toolbox and know how and when to use them!

Why do you think that the Maryland/West Virginia Blues scene continues to generate such a devoted following?

I sometimes think it grows everywhere when a younger generation of folks realize that blues can be happy music! Some seem to see it as an old black man, sitting on a beer crate, playing some old beaten, bruised, battered, half out of tune guitar, singing in a lingo that they don't understand and it's all about telling a sad story. I think that the blues has always been strong in MD. I didn't start playing in a blues band in MD until 1988. It was going like gangbusters then. In southern WV where I grew up, it was a different thing. The only BLUE we knew had GRASS after it! In my opinion only, WV was never a real blues area. Lots of rock and roll and country, of course. The people wanted to be "up" with whatever the times were. We didn't want to be left behind. We got a bad rap as it was for just being from WV! But you have to go in there and show that the blues can be powerful, uplifting, not sad!

Now, Wheeling, WV has a blues festival every year that is becoming a touring band's favorite fest to play! I always loved playing it. I am pleasantly surprised at the Heritage Blues Fest there. MD, DC and Northern VA is rocking with the blues. West Virginia gets it! We'll continue slipping in there and bringing the blues that many bands didn't think WV wanted!

"Our type of music and lyrics sometimes can paint a rather grim picture of the world. That seems to be the nature of the blues! But not all of it is hard time, tough life music. The groove of our music makes me happy for the while. That's what influences my thing! The world will be whatever it will be....no matter what you listen to or play." (Photo: Mark Stutso with the Nighthawks)

What moment changed your music life the most? What´s been the highlights in your life and career so far?

I think I'm still waiting for such a moment!! There are a couple things that could've happened in my past that didn't. Certain things are or are not meant to be. You just keep on going. Never get off the "bus". In real life, I was nearly killed in a coal mining accident in 1977. I prayed to God if I were to make it out of that mine, I would never get off of a drum set again. I was delivered and I will say THAT is what changed my musical life. I’ve been of the road since 1977 to today playing now just how I played back then. Riding in band trucks, vans, trains, planes, playing gigs.

There have been a few highlights! A few nonmusical. My grandfather worked for NASA at Cape Kennedy Space Center. I was there in 1969 to see Apollo 11 go to the moon. My 28 trips to Europe were always a great experience. Recording several records and being produced by Jim Gaines was pretty special! Backing up some of the historical players, like Hubert Sumlin, James Cotton, Luther Allison, Calvin "Fuzz" Jones, Snookey Pryor, Robert Lockwood Jr, Pinetop Perkins, Bob Margolin, John Hammond. Playing drums on a big jam that involved, Stanley Dural (Buckwheat Zydeco), Joe Bonamassa, Tommy Castro, Magic Dick (J. Geils) and quite a few others. I've played the major blues festivals in USA and Europe. Highlights STILL happen!

What are some of the most important lessons you have learned from your experience in the music paths?

As a sideman in the bands that I've worked in, I've learned that you have to "dance with who brung ya". I've learned that you don't hawk you own gig while you are on someone else's gig. I've ALWAYS known that the public can be hard to please. I've learned that you never turn you back to your audience. I've learned that you start on time, stop on time and not to be terrible!! I've learned you treat folks good. You never know what they're going thru, and they come to see me to forget about their trouble for a while. I've learned to give it your best...you never know who is in the back corner of the show watching you. Believe in your music. The biggest thing that I've learned is that...you never stop learning!!                      (Mark Stutso & Bob Margolin / Photo by Steve Moore)

"I sometimes think it grows everywhere when a younger generation of folks realize that blues can be happy music! Some seem to see it as an old black man, sitting on a beer crate, playing some old beaten, bruised, battered, half out of tune guitar, singing in a lingo that they don't understand and it's all about telling a sad story. I think that the blues has always been strong in MD."

Are there any memories from gigs, jams, open acts and studio sessions which you’d like to share with us?

That's another one that could take a while to answer! I have great memories of the different stages of my drumming life. Understand, I came from a very rural area and the only drums or drummers I saw at an early age were the high school marching bands or on television. The best memories from those years were discovering other players who had no idea of training or lessons! What fun we had teaching ourselves how to play together. As I said, we were in a rural area, so we could take our gear out on the back porch and play as loud and as long as we wanted to! We got rather good at it and landed some school gigs! Then there were the girls! We'll get into that in another interview!! Memories!! I moved on and started really working like many other musicians. In 1977 is when I technically put the drums in the band truck for good. That band toured constantly, and we recorded our very 1st album, yes, vinyl in 1980. That was my 1st studio experience. We got what we paid for. But it was cool recording it. The band (TRICKS) was quite popular in Virginia Beach, VA, so we cut there, released it there. The small recording label threw a headlining show our way in North Carolina! They brought us from the hotel to the concert hall in a stretch limo! It was way far too cool at the time. I worked in that band from 1977 to 1987 with a two year break in between. TRICKS, throughout the years had built a very large, powerful P.A. system along with a top-notch lighting rig. This enabled us to open a few shows for acts because our equipment would fit some of the band's riders!

To name a few memorable ones, The Dixie Dreggs, The Guess Who, Ray Charles! I did a couple years with a group called RUFFRYDER. This band was members of BLACK OAK ARKANSAS after Jim and Rick Reynolds left for a while. We did shows with the Gregg Allman Band, Steppenwolf, Foghat, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Zebra, Steve Walsh (Kansas). I did 18 years with JIMMY THACKERY & THE DRIVERS. That ride was all 50 states, 15 European countries (28 tours!!!) the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. That was worth 13 CD's and many studio trips! We toured over 300 days per year for the entire 18 years. There's just not enough time for the musicians I met, played with, or things I saw in that time. A lot of funny stuff. I'm now with The NIGHTHAWKS for 14 years now. We have traveled but not much since the COVID thing went around We've pretty much calmed down thru the years! Now, THOSE guys have the memories! but it was all before I joined them! When I went into studios, I went in for business! We had fun recording and experimenting. There wasn't a lot of B.S. going around to sit and laugh at! I did a couple records that was produced by the great Jim Gaines. What a learning experience that was! I sure didn't go there to be a jokester or a clown! With Gaines sitting there...I got serious! Jim is a great cat! He likes a good funny! But that was probably my best studio memory.

"To me, in the analog world, you had to play it correctly! When I started recording, you could "punch in" parts here and there. But you had to rewind tape, splice, ect, ect. But it was a warmer sound. I don't know how else to explain it!" (Photo: Veteran drummer and singer, Mark Stutso)

What's the balance in music between technique and soul?

I have never had drumming lessons of any kind. People say you play by ear. I agree to a point. I also play from the heart. I know that the best musicians I have ever seen have all been trained or been to a great music school. What their musicians play and create...I can only sit, watch and listen. Then I've seen those incredible players who couldn't shuffle, not even at gunpoint! Whereas an untrained player such as myself, that shuffle is just something I can FEEL. I suppose you could read a shuffle drum pattern, but if you don't feel it...it just does not work. I would always recommend drum lessons for beginners. Technic is a great thing. Discipline is a big part of technic. You have to know when to be technical and when to just play time and groove. You can be taught technic, but you cannot be taught soul!! You just have to have it. It's unexplainable!

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

I miss the warm analog recording. I believe that's why some of us still like spinning our old vinyl. Some do not realize why it sounds so good to be old technology! The digital recording world is amazing these days. Everything can be perfect with a click of a mouse or dragging the flat vocal line up to the perfect line! You can do anything in the digital. To me, in the analog world, you had to play it correctly! When I started recording, you could "punch in" parts here and there. But you had to rewind tape, splice, ect, ect. But it was a warmer sound. I don't know how else to explain it!

My hopes would be for the music to stay as real as possible. Much music has become computer music to me. Drum loops that sound like real drums. I say, why not use REAL drums! I don't like a keyboard patch for horns. Auto tune has been used in a way where a duck, cat and a dog can sound like the three tenors! That is what worries me about modern music.

Life is more than just music, is there any other field that has influence on your life and music?

I've never really done anything else but play drums. I was a coal miner for a few years. Getting out of mining alive was enough to inspire or influence me to get to drumming. Almost getting my neck broken in a mining accident insured that I'd never get off the drums. The only thing that turns my head, other than women and drums is aircraft. I'm not a pilot nor did I serve in the military. I just have a great love and fascination for flight. So, when I fly to a gig...I'm a happy musician!

(Mark Stutso / Photo by Bob Sekinger)