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Sidewalk Beggar

About Me

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CHRIS D'ERRICO- Chris is a musician and writer from Boston, MA who transplanted to Sin City in 2000. He sings, plays harmonica, drums, percussion and a little guitar. Well, it's a full-sized guitar, but he plays it only occasionally... Years ago, he had one harmonica lesson from blues harp great Jerry Portnoy, who tried to explain to Chris about the value of tradition in blues music. Portnoy said, "You may come up with a original style of walkin', but that don't mean it's a good walk." Chris has been workin' on his walkin' ever since, falling down often, gettin' up with the getdown nonetheless. He's done stints in many bands over the years and he's got the demo CD's (which work nicely as drink coasters) to prove it.
His lyrics and poetry have been published in small literary and art journals for the past decade. His chapbook, "Debris of Hearts" won the 2006 OffCenter Press Poetry Chapbook Award and was published in the Fall of 2007. "VEGAS IMPLOSIONS" (Virgogray Press) is Chris's latest book and it is OUT NOW--scroll down and order a copy or two off the Virgogray website or from Artopium.com!!... Do a Google search and you'll likely find some more of Chris's writings scattered throughout cyberspace...
Inspired by the approach of musical innovators such as Son Of Dave (Benjamin Darvill), the solo voice/harmonica performances of bluesmen like Keith Dunn, Charlie Sayles and others, SIDEWALK BEGGAR is Chris's latest solo project. No guitars. Heavy on the harmonica... It's funky, lo-fi blues from the juke of an all nite diner... It's black & white wing-tip shoes and a low brim fedora. It's Sinatra in wayfarers and muttonchops, Chuck Taylors and worn-out blue jeans... It's greasy pork chops in bourbon sauce; fries 'n gravy, a little on the crispy side... It's Fat chrome car bumpers, tail-fins and 8 track tapes... It is all Chris--he plays and records as a one-man-band--barking into a dirty microphone and an overdriven, old tube amp; some stompboxes (including a loop pedal); shaking a shaker, banging on a tambourine and a rusty sheet metal bake pan. Live, he loops everything on-the-fly, often starting with his raw rendition of a "human beatbox" for a back-beat, or singing a funky, fuzzed-out bass line... Chris adds whisky-soaked vocals and sinewy blues harp over the top to create an inspired, largely improvised performance meant more for urban city streets than swank Vegas lounges...
PRE-ORDER
Vegas Implosions (2008)
Virgogray Press
paperback
33 pages
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My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 6/2/2007
Band Website: tunecore.com/music/sidewalkbeggar
Band Members: Chris D'Errico: Voice/Harmonica/Percussion
Influences: A good woman (my wife, Tracy), poetry, fine food, smooth whisky, a golden buzz... New Orleans, Boston, Hawaii, Sin City... irreverent laughter for no reason, a good night's sleep; shit that seems to depress others, but lifts my twisted spirit; all the things that make life worth living & whatever floats my bloat or gets my goat including the seemingly infinite absurdities of life & all that inspires us musicians to play & create music, to rant & rave... Love all the great harmonica players & master blues artists who play it lowdown & lo-fi, raw & raunchy--from Delta to Chicago blues; 50's - 60's jazz (especially horn players & organists); late 60's - 70's soul, funk, fusion; acid rock, garage rock, groovy jamband meanderings, reality tweeking prog rock, some quirky/catchy pop; etc., etc... Classical music, like good jazz, is especially great in the morning, late at night, or anytime in the car... Windows w/the rockstar tint rolled up tight, take a little nip, cruising through the neon wastelands...
Sounds Like: You tell me... but I'll tell you it might be a bee's dick more Bobby McFerrin than Bob Dylan, a bit more Beck than Bo Diddley, a li'l Bootsy Collins w/James Cotton blowin' harp, a stiff shot of Muddy Waters w/a top off splash of James Brown for good measure...
Record Label: Rat's Ass
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Mental illness as it relates to harmonica & it's proponents

The Day's Topic:PLAYING HARMONICA CAUSES INSANITY (?)- OR -INSANITY CAUSES HARMONICA PLAYERS (?)... talk amongst yourselves...
Posted by on Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:34:00 GMT

SIDEWALK BEGGAR MP3's for sale @ Amazon.com!

SIDEWALK BEGGAR MP3's FOR SALE!Check out "Boogiebox" the 7 song MP3 album by SIDEWALK BEGGAR available at Amazon.com:* Click to buy Sidewalk Beggar MP3 album "Boogiebox" on Amazon.com! *
Posted by on Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:21:00 GMT

RIP Lester "Mad Dog" Davenport

Didn't catch this last month when he passed, but hats off to another blues great--a harp player, no less-- who has left us:RIP Lester Davenport 1/16/1932-3/17/2009:Chicago blues harmonica great Lester...
Posted by on Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:30:00 GMT

Who Owns the Blues?

Here's a thumbs up for Adam Gussow's book "Journeymans Road". It's his latest book, came out in 2007, I think. Finally read it last month during a trip back to New Orleans. A few years ago, I read hi...
Posted by on Sun, 15 Feb 2009 21:03:00 GMT

New Poetry Book Release

Hey Folks,FYI: I've got a new chapbook of poems (titled "Vegas Implosions") coming out next month with a great new publisher--Virgogray Press out of San Antonio, TX--you can order a copy directly off ...
Posted by on Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:42:00 GMT

Funky President!

Released as a single in 1974, it also appeared on the album "Reality"... Get this: according to Brown the "funky president" of the song's title was meant to refer to U.S. President Gerald Ford, who ha...
Posted by on Fri, 07 Nov 2008 19:19:00 GMT

RIP Albert Hofmann

A genuine psychotropic warrior: ...http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/04/lsd-inventor-a l.html102 years young. Tripped hundreds of times. Fuck yeah.
Posted by on Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:34:00 GMT