Ronnie Earl

This article refers to the musician. For the district attorney of Travis County, Texas, see Ronnie Earle.
Ronnie Earl

Earl playing the 1996 Riverwalk Blues Festival
Background information
Birth name Ronald Horvath
Born March 10, 1953
Queens, New York, United States
Genres Blues, blues rock, rhythm and blues, jazz, jam band
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Guitar
Years active 1979–present
Labels Black Top, Telarc, Rounder, Stony Plain, Verve, Sledgehammer Blues/AudioQuest Music
Associated acts Roomful of Blues, Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters
Website www.ronnieearl.com

Ronnie Earl (born Ronald Horvath, March 10, 1953, Queens, New York, United States)[1] is an American blues guitarist and music instructor.

Career

Earl collected blues, jazz, rock and soul records while growing up. He studied American History at C.W. Post College on Long Island for a year and a half, then moved to Boston to pursue a Bachelor's Degree in Special Education and Education at Boston University where he would graduate in 1975.[2] He spent a short time teaching handicapped children. It was during his college years that he attended a Muddy Waters concert at the Jazz Workshop in Boston. After seeing Waters perform, Earl took a serious interest in the guitar, which he had first picked up in 1973. His first job was as a rhythm guitarist at The Speakeasy,[3] a blues club in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In addition to playing in the Boston blues scene, Earl traveled twice by Greyhound Bus to Chicago, where he was introduced to the Chicago blues scene by Koko Taylor.

Later he traveled to New Orleans and Austin, Texas, where he spent time with Kim Wilson, Jimmie Vaughan and The Fabulous Thunderbirds. In 1979 he joined Roomful of Blues as lead guitarist for the band.

He began performing solo in 1986, in addition to playing with Roomful of Blues, and he released his first solo album on the Black Top Records label with a quartet that focused on blues instrumentals. After leaving Roomful of Blues, he began collaborations with contemporaries Ron Levy and Jerry Portnoy, Earl King, Jimmy Rogers, and Jimmy Witherspoon.

In 1988, Earl formed his own band that he called The Broadcasters, named after the first Fender guitar which originally had been labeled The Broadcaster and was distributed in 1950. The first group of Broadcasters included Darrell Nulisch (vocalist), Jerry Portnoy (harmonica), Steve Gomes (bass), and Per Hanson (drums). In 1988 they released their first album, Soul Searchin, followed by Peace of Mind in 1990. Their album Language of the Soul was released in 1994. The lineup for the Broadcasters for that album was Bruce Katz (keyboards), Per Hanson (drums) and "Rocket" Rod Carey (bass). The next album The Colour of Love, featured Marc Quinones (percusion) and Gregg Allman (keyboards). The association lead to Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters opening for the Allman Brothers Band at Great Woods, and Warren Haynes (guitar for the Allman Brothers Band) sitting in with Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters at Johnnie D's in Somerville. Later Katz joining the Gregg Allman Band.

In 2000, Earl was diagnosed with several medical ailments,[4] and scaled back his touring, as well as re-evaluating his career plans. The current group of Broadcasters, Jimmy Mouradian (bass), Dave Limina (organ), and Lorne Entress (drums), began playing together prior to the 2003 release of I Feel Like Going On and, in 2009, released Living in the Light, their fifth release from Stony Plain Records.[5] In 2008, Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters celebrated twenty years as a band, and by August, 2010, Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters released Spread the Love.

Earl is a three-time Blues Music Award winner as Guitar Player of the Year.[6] For five years he was an Associate Professor of Guitar at Berklee College of Music and, in 1995, he released Ronnie Earl: Blues Guitar with Soul, an instructional VHS tape that was then re-released in DVD format in 2005. Earl was also the blues instructor at the 'National Guitar Summer Workshop'.

In early 2004, Earl's "Hey Jose" won in the third Independent Music Awards for Best Blues/R&B Song.[7]

Discography

Roomful of Blues

1979-1988

Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilations

Guest appearances

I've Got Something To Tell You" - Blues and Old-time Fiddle with Ilana Katz Katz and friends, 2014

DVD

See also

References

  1. ↑ Huey, Steve (1953-03-10). "Ronnie Earl". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-03-07.
  2. ↑ "Ronnie Earl's official website". Ronnieearl.com. Retrieved 2012-03-07.
  3. ↑ "The Blues Audience Speakeasy article". Bluesaudience.com. 2004-03-07. Retrieved 2012-03-07.
  4. ↑ "Ronnie Earl Interview by Brian D. Holland". Ronnieearl.com. Retrieved 2012-03-07.
  5. ↑ "Canada's Roots, Rock, Country, Folk & Blues Label". Stony Plain Records. Retrieved 2012-03-07.
  6. ↑ "2014 Blues Music Awards Nominees and Winners". Blues.about.com. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
  7. ↑ "Independent Music Awards - 3rd Annual Winners". Musiciansatlas.com. Retrieved 2012-03-07.

External links