“I’m not really sure what blues means to me. I mean it’s EVERYTHING to me. Almost every major decision I’ve made from the age to 16 to the present, like careers, relationships, moving places, etc. I’ve factored how it would impact my music.”

Ryan Hartt: Be About …The Blues!

For over 25 years Ryan Hartt & the Blue Hearts have been one of the Northeast’s top Blues bands. Rooted in the Blues tradition, but with a modern edge, the band is known for their engaging live performances and their recordings have received international acclaim. Ryan Hartt is a dynamic harmonica player, vocalist, and songwriter whose sound bridges the grit of traditional blues with the energy of modern roots music. Known for his fiery stage presence and deep command of tone and phrasing, Hartt has built a reputation as one of New England’s most soulful and expressive blues artists. Fronting Ryan Hartt & The Blue Hearts for over two decades, Hartt has toured extensively across the U.S., sharing stages with harmonica icons such as Rod Piazza Rick Estrin and Mark Hummel. His performances blend Chicago-style grooves, West Coast swing, and his own sharp songwriting sensibility, earning praise for their authenticity and infectious energy.

(Ryan Hartt / Photo by Dana Neugent)

In 2025, Ryan released his solo debut, “Be About It!”, a record that showcases his growth as both a storyteller and musician. The album captures Hartt’s lifelong dedication to the traditional Blues while simultaneously being fresh and contemporary. Whether on stage or in the studio, Ryan Hartt plays with the conviction of a true believer in the power of American roots music: raw, heartfelt, and real. “Be About It!” features an impressive supporting cast, including drummer Nick Toscano; and guitarist & bassist Jeff Berg from the Wicked Lo-Down, in-demand bassist Mike Law, pianist Brooks Milgate of Chris O'Leary Band, Boston blues guitar legend Nick Adams, Tom Ferraro of Sugar Ray & The Bluetones and rising Memphis guitar phenom Jad Tariq.

Interview by Michael Limnios

What do you learn about yourself from the blues and what does the blues mean to you? 

I am not a naturally outgoing person. My parents were always amazed that their shy, quiet little boy somehow had the courage to stand up in front of crowds of people and sing. So I guess blues has taught me that if you want something enough or if you love something enough you can do it.

I’m not really sure what blues means to me. I mean it’s EVERYTHING to me. Almost every major decision I’ve made from the age to 16 to the present, like careers, relationships, moving places, etc. I’ve factored how it would impact my music. I suppose there have been a few missteps along the way, but I think I’ve achieved a pretty good balance between playing music and career and family. I still can’t really say what it is about blues that moves me so much. I just know that it does. I think one of the things I like about it is that it is NOT part of my culture. When I first heard blues it sounded so alien to me, it was unlike anything I had heard growing up, and I liked that. I don’t know. All I can say is that it moves me like nothing else and has been a huge part of my life since I was 12. 

How do you describe your sound and songbook? What keeps a musician passionate over the years in blues?

My sound is rooted in 1940s Jump Blues, 1950s Chicago Blues, West Coast Blues and a little bit of Excello Louisiana Swamp Blues. Discovering blues in the late 80s and early 90s was great. I was discovering Little Walter, Muddy Waters and T-Bone Walker at the same time people like William Clarke, Rod Piazza and James Harman were releasing a lot of music. I could see how they took the traditional blues that came before them and put their own spin on it. So I try to write original songs that are still rooted in traditional electric blues. I think that’s a challenge, but a fun challenge. How do I write something that is simultaneously traditional AND original? How far can I push the boundaries of what I think traditional blues is before it becomes something else and what if it does? I discovered blues when I was about 12 so I didn’t really grow up listening to Rock and Roll or whatever was on MTV, so I can’t really write anything that gets too far from being blues, so when I do push that boundary it can be interesting, but always “bluesy”.

I am still as in love with and fascinated by blues music today as I was when I first discovered it. I’ve seen blues musicians I admire and people I’ve played with change tastes and move on to other things, and I respect that, but I still love the blues. I’ve never lost my passion for the music. As the blues crowd gets older and there are fewer and fewer places to play, my enthusiasm for the business side of playing music has certainly diminished, but I still love playing. 

“Well, the blues crowd is getting older and is not being replaced by younger fans. The older crowd goes out less these days. It seems people go to bars and see live music much less these days and they like shows to start earlier like 7:30.” (Photo: Ryan Hartt)

Why do you think that New England’s Blues Scene continues to generate such a devoted following?

In the 80s/90s blues boom New England, Boston and Providence, specifically was definitely one of the bigger scenes in the country. Like the West Coast guys I mentioned before, I think the key to the success of that scene was that Duke Robillard, Sugar Ray and Ronnie Earl  had their own original take on traditional blues. 

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

Participating in the International Blues Challenge 3 times was a lot of fun. Every time was a slightly different experience because of where we were as a band at that particular time, or the competition (the second time I went I competed against Chick Willis!) or even the weather. It’s a lot of fun meeting fans and bands from all over the world. 

I lived in Los Angeles in my mid 20s. I would go to see Rod Piazza a lot and often he would let me sit in. A few times he just left the stage and I fronted the Mighty Flyers. That remains a HUGE thrill. I also became friends with the great Lynwood Slim who was very kind and supportive of me. 

Recording four CDs of mostly original blues is one of my proudest achievements as a musician. My most recent one “Be About It!” is really a solo CD since I haven’t had a steady band in about 10 years and it's the first one I produced myself with my friend and long-time Blue Hearts bass player Jeffrey Berg. I certainly had a hand in guiding my previous CDs but I was never the producer and it was something I had wanted to do for a long time. I think I was pretty successful, even with Jeff’s help, and now I would love to try and produce somebody else's recording. 

“The sound of the harmonica is what attracted me. It just sounds cool. When it is played amplified it sounds REALLY cool. There really is no other instrument that is played quite that way. But whether it is super amplified George Smith or clean Toots Thielemans I just love the sound of the harmonica.” (Photo: Ryan Hartt)

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

Well, the blues crowd is getting older and is not being replaced by younger fans. The older crowd goes out less these days. It seems people go to bars and see live music much less these days and they like shows to start earlier like 7:30. In the 30 plus years I’ve been playing clubs I’ve seen the crowds get smaller and clubs close. So I definitely miss playing a crowded, sweaty blues club until 1:00am. I’m older now too, so I don’t mind getting home a little earlier these days, but I’d rather get home late and play to a packed club. 

There are several young traditional blues players around the country right now, like Jad Tariq, Mack MacDonald, Rell Davenport and Skyler Saufley. Hopefully they can bring in a younger crowd.

What touched you from the sound of harmonica? What's the balance in music between technique (skills) and soul/emotions?

The sound of the harmonica is what attracted me. It just sounds cool. When it is played amplified it sounds REALLY cool. There really is no other instrument that is played quite that way. But whether it is super amplified George Smith or clean Toots Thielemans I just love the sound of the harmonica.

Harmonica is one of the few instruments that is easy to play, but hard to play well. Anyone can put it in their mouth and breath and play something. You can’t do that with too many other instruments. As a result, the harmonica doesn’t have the best reputation among other musicians, so being able to play well is important to me to be taken seriously as a musician. However, there are lots of players that don’t have much technique and are able to convey great emotion. When I was younger and not a strong singer or songwriter harmonica technique was all I had so I played long flashy solos. As I’ve matured as an artist it has become more about the song, so sometimes the song calls for very simple harmonica or maybe even no harmonica at all. Having said that, I'll take Little Walter over Bob Dylan anyday. They are both soulful players, but I still like a little flashy technique. 

“In the 80s/90s blues boom New England, Boston and Providence, specifically was definitely one of the bigger scenes in the country. Like the West Coast guys I mentioned before, I think the key to the success of that scene was that Duke Robillard, Sugar Ray and Ronnie Earl  had their own original take on traditional blues.” (Ryan Hartt / Photo by Thomas Nanos)

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

I grew up in a very small, very white town in Connecticut, USA. Playing music has put me in places and in contact with people I don't think I would have encountered otherwise. From Nate Simmons, an older African American Piedmont finger style player I started gigging with when I was 19 to Swedish blues and soul singer Sven Zetterberg, who I never met but was a big fan of, blues has definitely opened up my world view a lot. Those two guys were literally a world apart, but the blues was the common thread for them and me. I don’t know if this is necessarily a blues lesson I’ve learned, but I’ve also realized that everyone goes through rough times in their life whether you know it or not. They may look to you like someone that has everything going for them, but they are struggling emotionally. So I try to treat people accordingly. 

How can a band/musician truly turn the blues into a commercial and popular genre of music for the today's audience?

Boy, I wish I knew the answer to that! I was born in 1974 so I was too young for the 80s-90s blues boom. I think that was just a lucky coincidence of younger musicians like Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Fabulous Thunderbirds and Roomful of blues that were into blues when Muddy Waters, Big Walter Horton, Albert King etc, were still around and you had a generation of people all over the world discovered blues through The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. By the mid 80s that crowd was old enough to have some disposable income and young enough to spend that income on seeing blues bands and buying records. Those circumstances can’t be repeated. 

Right now blues Rock is pretty popular, but to me that’s always more Rock than blues. I naively don’t know why traditional blues isn’t bigger. I love Steve Ray Vaughan, but I often joke that I wish that instead of a bunch of SRV clones with Strats, it would be great if every blues jam had Junior Watson clones with Harmony archtops. It’s such powerful music I don’t know why everyone doesn’t love it as much as I do.

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(Photo: Ryan Hartt)