Misty Blues – An Interview, by Liam Sweeny

We interviewed Gina Coleman of Misty Blues. 

RRX: You came about the blues sort of the long way, first from singing in a folk/rock group, then as a singing part in a theater production, where you were told by a number of people, including actress Gwyneth Paltrow, that you had a voice for the blues. It seems like the universe had you in a current. At the time, did you go along or resist it?

GC: It was actually actor Ruben Santiago Hudson who told me that my voice was perfectly suited for the blues upon the close of our run of the 1999 Williamstown Theater Festival of A Raisin In The Sun. Gwyneth Paltrow was in rehearsals for the following production that season and I ran into her several times and was effusive about our production and my performance. Ultimately it was Ruben who gave me a cd collection of all female blues artists from the 20’s through the 60’s called “Men Are Like Streetcars” that truly inspired me to change my musical course. I categorically did not resist the blues calling. Misty Blues started performing a mere month or two after the close of A Raisin In The Sun.

RRX: Misty Blues is a Berkshires band, and we are trying, as a publication and radio station, to make inroads in the Berkshires. Now we are all tied to our geography, not just our feet on soil, but our hearts tend to have a certain ownership and pride with our land and its history. What can you tell us about the Berkshires that makes you stay?

GC: The Berkshires stands in stark contrast to my upbring in the projects of the South Bronx. I came to the Berkshire as an undergrad at Williams College and upon graduating decided to make the bucolic vista my home. The rich landscape of the area is equally matched by the musical talent in the area. I have met and collaborated with some of the most amazing musicians one can find anywhere. When I started performing music, there were also a multitude of venues to perform on every day of the week. That has unfortunately changed, but it was obviously a selling point in my early career.

RRX: You have a lot of players in Misty Blues. With seven band members, you’re not just stringing up a broom handle and going full Delta Blues. You’re bringing a full sound, accompaniment, arrangement, all the while keeping true to roots. How do you achieve the simplicity of some of the core blues with the complexity of a larger ensemble?

GC: It is all about the practice of restraint. The musicians in Misty Blues have grown to embrace the concept of less is more; knowing when laying out and listening over interjecting is in order. Ultimately, it’s all about the quality and level of the musicianship in the band and I am truly a lucky bandleader.

RRX: You have what you call a “farm team,” backup players. It funny to hear them called a “farm team.” But it makes me think of them as a team nonetheless. Do they play with each other, or are they separated geographically? If they do jam together, have they put any projects together? And if they have, did any of you contribute?

GC: Farm Team is a funny term, as it’s originally a term I’ve heard used in baseball for developing players on the verge of major league play. There is nothing developing about the Misty Blues Farm Team; they are all amazing musicians who could readily be core members if I was willing to expand to an eleven-piece band. I developed that Farm Team so I never had to turn down a show I wanted to take because a core member was unavailable. I have 1-2 Farm Team musicians for every instrument in the band. Most have performed with each other with Misty Blues or other musical endeavors in the county, as they are all from the Berkshires. Additionally, many have toured with the band and most have performed throughout our 11 albums.

RRX: Blues, and I may be repeating myself, has such a history. And I have seen, unfortunately, many players playing the blues because they heard Clapton and learned how to bend a note. I sometimes put myself in this category. I don’t put Misty Blues in that category. What do you think, of the history of blues, should be on a player’s mind?

GC: Blues is at the foundation of African American artistry and the bone marrow of original American music. The blues is the water for which every other genre of American music swims. I am hard pressed to name another genre that is untouched by the blues, so there needs to be a healthy deference for its existence.

RRX: Saving the best for last. We may be ships passing in the night, so I don’t know the day or the hour you will put pen to paper here, but I’m sure you will be playing somewhere, and you will have something out, and something you are working on. So, where are you, what have you done, and what are you doing now?

GC: There is so much on the docket for Misty Blues in 2023. We open the year with our Roadhouse Revival Gospel Blues show at City Winery Boston on New Year’s Day. We just finished recording our 12th album, entitled “Outside The Lines” and it will be released in the first part of the year. We are heading down south in late February for a short tour to Birmingham, Montgomery, Knoxville, Tupelo, Muscle Shoals and Oxford. We have our first UK tour in late June, and we have a Chicago tour slated for early August. In between, we hope to get on several festival line-ups.