Different blues act

Satan and Adam coming to V Club

By LEE WARD / THE INDEPENDENT

Huntington — The names “Satan” and “Adam” together conjure certain Biblical imagery, but when Satan and Adam perform at The V Club in Huntington this month, it will be a night of blues.

Adam Gussow and Sterling Magee plus a drummer make up the group.

“I’m the harmonica player,” Gussow said. “My partner, Sterling Magee, was an R&B; legend when I met him on the streets of Harlem back in 1986; he’d played with everybody from Etta James to Little Anthony and the Imperials to King Curtis to Big Maybelle. He was a salaried songwriter at the Brill Building in New York at one point. ... I believe he was, in his prime, the greatest one-man bluesband in the world, bar none.”

In 1986, the pair got together and in 1987, they appeared in U2’s “Rattle and Hum” and toured throughout the 1990s.

Gussow, an associate professor of English and Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi, answers questions about the duo and the upcoming local show.

Why the name Satan and Adam?

For many years, we played as a duo. Sterling — "Mister Satan,” as he wanted people to call him for many years — sang, played a ferocious sort of electric rhythm guitar, and also stomped and clacked on a homemade rhythm contraption consisting of two hi-hat cymbals strapped down to a homemade wooden sounding board. Both his way of playing guitar and his rhythm accompaniment, along with his extremely passionate vocals, helped give us a recognizable sound. I play amplified harp in an equally unusual style--very bluesy, when I need to be, but also with a strong rhythmic grounding (I’m like a second rhythm guitar, or a Hammond B3 organ, much of the time), and with some jazz and funk thrown in there, too. Last year we added a drummer, because Sterling, getting older, couldn’t kick and stomp quite as firm a groove.

That has worked out beautifully. People who come to see us perform will hear a very distinctive and original take on the old guitar/harmonica sound, with a driving groove. We’re not a quiet, tame little acoustic blues act! We’re pretty amped up.

How is it that you’re coming to Huntington?

We’re coming to town as a sort of followup to the visit that I made last summer, when I did a harmonica clinic for the Huntington Harmonica Club. I had a great time. So when I thought about organizing a tour this summer, one of the first calls I made was to Jim Rumbaugh, the guy who helped get me down there last summer.

You mentioned you’re in the process of making a comeback following Sterling’s nervous breakdown in 1998. What have you been doing toward your comeback?

I’ve been practicing a lot! We’ve been working up a few new songs, including Cream’s version of the old Robert Johnson standard, “Crossroad Blues.” (You can find this by going to youtube and search “crossroad blues harmonica.” Sterling and (our drummer) have a steady once-a-week gig down in Gulfport, Fla., where they both live, so they’ve been keeping in shape. Because I live in Mississippi and they live in Florida, we only get a chance to play when we go on tour.

Last month, though, the Jazz Foundation of America flew us up to New York for a gig at the Apollo Theater. So we’re keeping busy!

How would you describe your music and how does it fit into the current music scene?

There’s a lot of canned, unoriginal music out there in the world today. There’s also a lot of pre-fab blues, in which guys just recycle the same old Stevie Ray Vaughan and Muddy Waters licks. Our music, our sound, is different. It’s honest, authentic, down to earth, and very high energy.

We’re particularly interested in reaching younger fans who might not think of themselves as “blues fans,” but who love live music-rock or country or punk, whatever — and who want to come down, have a few drinks, and see something memorable. We are memorable. Remember: you’re seeing an act that was born on the streets of Harlem and worked there for many years.

We were invited to perform at the International BuskerFest in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In our prime, we were one of the best street acts in the world. We know how to hit you over the head, grab you, and not let go. We’re very blues, but we’re not the same old blues.

LEE WARD can be reached at lward@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2661.

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