Blues Americana fusion in show from US-Irish duo

Fans of gutsy, blues-infused Americana should make it their business to see Randall ‘Big Daddy’ Webster and Patrick Horgan when they come to Monroe’s Live on Thursday, June 30.

Speaking from his home in Florida, Randall is getting ready to embark on his 56th tour of Ireland.

“I’ve actually performed in every county at least once, through the years!” he says.

Randall met Patrick Horgan 12 years ago, when Pat was involved in running the Cork Blues Festival.

“I first knew Pat as more of an organiser than a musician,” he says.

“I later found out he was a brilliant lead-guitar player and singer/songwriter. We both had a mutual interest in blues and roots music, which was an immediate connection. Eventually we ended up doing some show together in Ireland and he came over to do some shows here in the States. We’ve become good friends through the years.”

Listening to Randall’s music, it’s clear that he’s steeped in the American roots and blues tradition. When he did he become aware of this music?

“I was born in the 1950s, so I’ve been around for a few years,” he says.

“I grew up in the Chicago area, and there was a radio station called WLS, which is still a prominent radio station in the central United States. It’s an AM station, so it broadcasts far and wide.

“That station was also a top 40 one, so it didn’t matter what the genre was, if the record was selling it’d be played. Often times you’d hear BB King, The Beatles – a mix of things. As a kid at seven or eight years old, I started getting a taste for blues.”

The next part of Randall’s story will strike a chord with anyone who ever said ‘but I don’t want to go to Mass!’.

“One Sunday I was waiting to go to church, watching television,” Randall says. “I flipped the channel and they had the Jubilee Showcase, which was black gospel music. My mom called in to go to church and I said ‘mom, I’m watching Jubilee Showcase. That’s just as good as going to church!’. She thought for a minute and said ‘I guess that’s ok’.”

A few decades down the line, and Randall is still singing, only now he has a few tunes of his own. A Thousand Shades Of Blue is particularly impressive. How did that one come about?

“That had an Irish connection,” he says.

“I was on tour with my band, Big Daddy & Red Hot Java, and we finished a show in county Mayo. We were heading back to Castlebar, and it was what you guys call ‘a soft day’. It started as a cloudy afternoon, and then eventually the sun peered through and illuminated the countryside.

“I thought ‘well, there’s a thousand shades of green out there. If I just say a Thousand Shades of Blue, I’ve a good title for a blues song’. As soon as I got to the hotel, I grabbed my guitar and 15 minutes later I had the song.”