Erin Harpe & the Delta Swingers

Erin Harpe & the Delta Swingers
Erin Harpe & the Delta Swingers in concert at One Longfellow Square, Portland, Maine, in December 2014. From left to right: guest trumpeter Marc Chillemi, "Sonny" Jim Clifford, Erin Harpe, Bob Nisi and Jim Countryman
Background information
Origin	Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, United States
Genres	Delta blues, soul, funk, reggae
Years active	2010 (2010)–present
Labels	VizzTone Label Group
Associated acts	Lovewhip
Website	erinharpe.com
Members	Erin Harpe Jim Countryman "Matt Charles" Prozialeck Garrett Cameron

Erin Harpe & the Delta Swingers are an American Delta blues quartet from Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. Formed in 2010, the group consists of Erin Harpe (lead vocals and guitar), Jim Countryman (electric bass), "Matt Charles" Prozialeck (harmonica) and Garrett Cameron (drums).^[1]

Harpe won the Boston Blues Challenge, for the fifth time (first time as a solo artist), in 2018, and will attend the five-day International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee, in January 2019. The ensemble have reached the semi-finals of the competition three times: in 2011, 2013 and 2017.

They released their debut album, Love Whip Blues, in 2014. The title (and second track on the album) is derived from the band's alter ego, Lovewhip, an electro-funk dance band who won a Boston Music Award in 2004.^[2] Their sophomore effort, Big Road, followed in 2017.

With the location in which they formed in mind, Harpe describes the band's sound as Charles River Delta blues, a fictional genre that gave its name to a track on Love Whip Blues.

History

Erin Harpe grew up in Greenbelt, Maryland. She graduated Eleanor Roosevelt High School, before studying anthropology at Earlham College.^[2]

Harpe's father, Neil, is a blues musician who played in a band called Franklin Harpe and Usilton.^[2] Although his daughter grew up with music around her, she did not pick up an instrument until fourth grade, when she opted to play the flute. She played that for about ten years, before a young love interest, who knew all of the lyrics to "Alice's Restaurant," turned her head to the guitar. “I ran home and said, ‘Dad, you’ve got to teach me how to play it.’ After that, I was hooked. I could pick it up really easily, so I said, ‘Screw the flute’ and learned finger-picking blues guitar.”^[1]

Harpe started to play at folk festivals and coffeehouses in her 20s. She later moved to Boston and met bass player Jim Countryman, whom she married in 1999. "I met him in his living room. His roommates were friends of mine, and one night after one of his rehearsals I was there with a friend of one of his roommates, and he asked me for my phone number. I wrote it down on a matchbook, and that was it. We have not really spent any time apart since then. Jim has really encouraged me to get out there and be in the public eye, starting a band, being a band leader. He’s like my rock. I might be doing some promo gigs here and there like I was back in the day, but he’s my partner (as an artist) and my manager. I’m the artistic director, visual and musical.”^[2] Together, they formed the band Lovewhip, releasing four studio albums and one live set, winning a Boston Music Award for "World Music Act of the Year" in 2004.

Harpe released two albums under her own name. The first, Blues Roots (2002), was a set of covers by artists such as Memphis Minnie (Harpe's main influence),^[3] Bessie Smith and Tommy Johnson. The second, Delta Blues Duets (2008), included duets recorded with her father.

In May 2010, Harpe formed the Delta Swingers quartet. Alongside Countryman, harmonica player Richard "Rosy" Rosenblatt and drummer Bob Nisi were brought in. Four months later, the band won their first Boston Blues Challenge and represented Boston in the 2011 International Blues Challenge (IBC), at which they made it to the semi-finals. The band returned to the IBC again in 2013 (as a quintet) and 2016 (again making the semi-finals). Several soloists performed with the group, including "Sonny" Jim Clifford on slide guitar and harmonica (during the period where they were a quintet along with Richard Rosenblatt).

An initial attempt to disband Lovewhip to focus on the Swingers was rebuked by fans. “We tried to end Lovewhip but fans revolted,” Harpe said in 2014.^[1]

In April 2014, Harpe and Countryman, who also doubles as the band's general manager and booking agent, toured the U.K. as the Acoustic Blues Duo, with the former on acoustic guitar and the latter on ukulele bass.

After signing to Newton-based VizzTone Label Group (founded by Rosenblatt) in late 2014,^[4] the Swingers released their debut album, Love Whip Blues, on November 4, 2014. Produced in collaboration with Dave Gross, of Fat Rabbit Studios, the album features ten tracks — four originals and six interpretations of songs by Willie Brown, Lucille Bogan, Luke Jordan, William Moore and John Prine.

In the summer of 2015 harmonica player Matthew "Matt Charles" Prozialeck joined the group, and in early 2016 Kendall Divoll became the drummer. He was succeeded by Garrett Cameron in early 2018.

Countryman fell ill in July 2017 and was hospitalized with diverticulitis, at which point the band took a break.

The band's second studio album, titled Big Road, was released in October 2017, its title taken from a lyric in the second song, Harpe's self-penned "Lonely Leavin' Town". Four of the tracks are original; the other six are covers. Most of the album was recorded and mixed at Verdant Studio in Athens, Vermont, the exceptions being "Frankie" and "Guilty", which were recorded at Funk Bunker Studio in Arlington, Massachusetts.

Band members

Present

• Erin Harpe – vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, 2010–present
• Jim Countryman – electric bass, 2010–present
• Matt "Charles" Prozialeck – harmonica, percussion, 2015–present
• Garrett Cameron – drums, 2018–present

Former

• Richard "Rosy" Rosenblatt – harmonica, 2010–2016
• "Sonny" Jim Clifford — slide guitar, 2013–2015
• Bob Nisi – drums and background vocals, 2010–2016
• Kendall Divoll - drums, 2016–2018

Discography

Accolades

• Boston Blues Challenge: winners 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018
• Boston Music Awards: "Blues Act of the Year" winners 2012
• Granite State Blues Challenge: winners 2016
• International Blues Challenge: semi-finalists 2011, 2013, 2017

References

External links

• Official website