Rough 'N Ready Band has got the blues

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The blues is a style of music not often associated with Native musicians. The Rough 'N Ready Billy Joe Green Band plays against type.

Billy Joe Green is an Ojibway from Shoal Lake, Ont. and Roger Krayshendo, a Manitoban Metis. This Winnipeg-based foursome is comprised of four full-time musicians: Green (guitar/vocals); Krayshendo (bass/vocals); James Walzak (keyboards/vocals); and Rod Demski (drums).

When Windspeaker caught up with the band at a gig in Edmonton, Mark Arnaud was filling in for Walzak and filling the void with jazzy-blues keys that would fit in nicely on a Tom Waits album.

Although he's played all over western Canada and the west coast of the United States, the Sneaky Pete's gig marked the first time that Green, a 20-plus year veteran musician, had played in Edmonton.

Green cut his guitar teeth during his teenage years, and followed his father's footsteps into country music. Like many other Northern American musicians in the 1960s, Green was introduced to the blues by English bands.

"I was a huge fan of the Yardbirds. Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck really brought American blues home to me. I had never really heard that stuff before," he said, adding that the Yardbirds pointed him in the direction of electric blues greats like Albert and Freddie King, and Albert Collins.

Playing the blues professionally didn't pay too well at the time and Green spent close to 29 years performing in assorted rock and country bands where work was more plentiful.

One of the pitfalls of playing in bars for that long is hard drinking. In 1991, personal changes led to musical changes.

"Drinking was getting in the way of me doing what I wanted to accomplish, so I quit. It was a little overwhelming at first, but I learned to deal with things one day at a time and things got better."

"I also learned to play every song like it was my last. Tomorrow might never come, so don't worry about it and make today a good one."

Green heard the blues calling him home.

"That's the music I've always loved the best." Enter into the equation his longtime friends and collaborators Krayshendo and Walzak, and a succession of drummers ending with Demski (who also had a stint in Buddy Rich's band), and you have the current roster.

Their music reflects their collective influences along with a healthy splash of Texas-style blues in the style of Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Their name, "Rough 'N Ready", is more about how they play than anything else. Technically proficient? Up to a point. Polished? Not overly. Can they play? Is there feeling? Damn straight!

"Some nights I make a lot of mistakes playing, but night after night there's an edge to it. We've got a feel and a rawness and an intensity. That's something a lot of guys don't have," said Green.

Those good qualities show up on their two live cassettes Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 and will probably be on their upcoming compact disc available from Sunshine Records sometime in December.

"We're just finishing the vocals now and it should be out this fall," said Krayshendo. The new disc will feature 11 songs, including 10 originals.

"They're mostly straight-forward songs about life and it's not necessarily unhappy stuff either," he added. Krayshendo's song Aboriginality is a good case in point.

"It's about being proud of who you are and where you're from and then pushing that pride out to the world in a positive way."

Tapes are available for purchase by writing Rough 'N Ready Billy Jo Green Band, 45 Saphire Place, Winnipeg, MB. R2V 4N4 or by calling (204)344-9989. Internet address: garfran@kwanza.com