Music
Press
Un vrai citoyen du monde, né à Los Angeles (1972), influencé par Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, il a passé son enfance à Houston et la fin de son adolescence à Tokyo. Revenu aux USA en 1992, on le retrouve en Indiana, puis en Ohio, au Texas, en Arizona et, depuis 2003, de nouveau au Japon! En outre, il reprend le titre d'un Australien, ''Real wild child'' de Johnny O'Keefe, une des deux reprises à côté de 10 compos de très bon niveau, plutôt ancrées dans le rockin' r'n'b. Il ne dédaigne pas les instrumentaux, dont 2 sauce ''Guitar boogie'', le blues lent ou le bon vieux rock'n'roll (''Take me on down to Memphis''). Très bon CD de début donc. - Le Cri du Coyote (France)
J.J. Vicars is a hard act to follow. When a talented band of rocking and rolling musicians are intent on having a swinging time together, the audience is always in for a treat. And that's the secret. The band is there to discover new musical heights to scale, as much for themselves as for the paying and baying crowd. Great music never dies, it just gets reborn each generation and J.J. Vicars plays homage to the glorious past of rock 'n roll. I should know... I was dancing to their music long before they were born and still am. - magazine columnist
J.J. Vicars' special mixture of Blues and Rock 'n' Roll, well, rocks. Like a cool drink on a hot Texas evening, it soothes and satisfies. Before you know it you're being entertained in a down-home kind of way. You know the kind, when your feet get light and you can't sit down anymore. Influenced by the sounds of southern Bluesmen, J.J. won his spurs on the beer-sticky floors of Texas honky-tonks where they play the real thing. Authentic and audacious, J.J. plays the genre the way it's supposed to be experienced -- loud, twangy and bluesy. Great stuff! - fomrer chairman FCCJ
This is a rocking trio with J.J., originally from Texas, specializing in hard drivin' Blues, Boogie and Rock'n'roll. This lot work at the SCI-FI DINER and they're up to their elbows in hot, greasy, grimy rock'n'roll; the dance floor is heaving and there's sweat running down the walls. God knows what they eat at the diner but CROW'S FEET 'N' CHICKEN ASS is served up here as a tasty instrumental snack. TAKE ME ON DOWN TO MEMPHIS is a Chuck Berry sound-alike which rocks along furiously and will get your toes tapping. The straight-ahead, no-prisoners approach must make them a great party band and I'd love to see them in a packed club somewhere. Very tasty! - BLUES MATTERS! Magazine
Guitarist Vicars is up to his elbows in greasy, grimy, gritty rock and roll at the SCI-FI DINER, but it all goes down well with a slug out of the bottle of Blues chased with a shot of swing. Bringing back the spirit of the true revolutionaries is the cowboy swing and stomp of the opening two numbers. SEE SEE BABY and ROCK MY WORLD shuffle a boogie woogie beat behind Vicars' high-tone pickin' and gruff vocals. Vicars' instrumentals make for especially good road trip soundtracks, the self-explanatory J.J.'S BOOGIE and the squawk and pluck of CROW'S FEET 'N' CHICKEN ASS. It's no coincidence that subsequential songs have traveling titles like GOTTA RIDE and TAKE ME ON DOWN TO MEMPHIS, you're sure of a smooth and steady ride to that greasy spoon of the celestials. Flo, gimme the usual. - Guitarscum Lilypad Productions
Discography
*Solo:
SCI-FI DINER (2005)
HI-TECH HILLBILLY (2006)
HEARTLAND (2007)
LONGHAIRED LEFTOVERS (August 2009)
LONG WAY FROM HOME (2010)
*Compilations:
Oasis Rock & Roots Vol. VI
We The People,Musicians For Kucinich
*With others:
BLUES ALIVE - Max Blues (backing vocals, track 7)
THE HILLBILLY RESISTANCE - The Hillbilly Resistance (electric guitar)
THE BASTROP TRAILER TAPES - Cannabis Rex (lead guitar)
INSANE PROSE - Ron Brewer (bass)
Photos
Bio
THE BEGINNING:
J.J. Vicars tore outta the Sci-Fi Diner in a '59 Cadillac with mounted steerhorns and backward flames, his trusty six-string peeling off hot, greasy slabs of hip shakin' Rock, Rhythm & Blues. For two decades he's been tearing up stages and packing dance floors throughout the U.S. and overseas with his full-throttle guitar, gruff vocals, and driving backbeat .
Getting his start in the smoky clubs of Houston,TX he honed his chops under the city's top Blues and Jazz musicians. An extended trip to Japan while still in his teens lasted five years and saw him expanding his musical horizons as he dabbled with Latin, Soul, and Funk. Returning to the U.S. he settled in northeast Ohio for a lengthy spell, gigging with various Blues-Rock trios. During that time he also played bass on one album for an Indianapolis singer/songwriter, and later with his father's Cincinnati-based Jump Blues outfit, Jerry & the Hipswingers.
In 2000 he returned to Texas, parked out in Austin, and lent his guitar stylings to local Blues and Roots bands before striking out on his own, cutting his solo debut, SCI-FI DINER. A quick jaunt through Phoenix, AZ yielded the Rockabilly trio side project THE HILLBILLY RESISTANCE. Following a brief after-hours residency in Las Vegas he was in Japan once more where he re-released SCI-FI DINER (2005) with additional tracks on his independent Annie Gator Records label. Setting up his own Jindaiji Monkey Studio, he recorded and released two albums of his earliest material; the sprawling opus HI-TECH HILLBILLY (2006), written during his first stay in Tokyo, and the poetic HEARTLAND (2007), from his tenure in Indiana.
CURRENT STATUS:
The joys of 21st Century home recording allowed J.J. the opportunity to dabble in other musical styles and eventually he had an entire album on his hands. LONGHAIRED LEFTOVERS features several guest appearances by musician friends, material originally written for other artists and some lush keyboard work from the hard charging guitarist. The front cover photo shows the first J.J. Vicars model guitar in its early stages. The title draws from two sources; Longhaired, as in 'longhair' music; and Leftovers as in leftover material from his studio. An additional track that could not be included due to time constraints is being given away to fans as a free download at ReverbNation.
While working on LONGHAIRED LEFTOVERS another album is underway. LONG WAY FROM HOME mines much of the same Blues/Roots terrain as SCI-FI DINER while also incorporating some of the more adventurous elements of LEFTOVERS. The upcoming disc features several staples of his gigging lineup, most notably bassist Mark Schwarz who designed the LEFTOVERS jacket and is building the custom guitar. Several other musician friends make guest appearances. Half the album was recorded with drummer Bill Concello who also engineered it and added some exquisite keyboards and FX. The remaining half is being recorded live at the end of 2009. Post-production will be done in Austin, TX after New Year's for a Spring 2010 release.
While working on all these albums he continues to make available recordings of various live shows. Gigs are recorded and the ones with best sound and performance quality are posted to the website where they can be downloaded for free. A modern twist on the Deadhead 'tapers'!
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