Ursula Ricks Project
Jesse L. Powers Jr. Bass Born September 14, 1951 at Ft. Eustis, VA. Yep, he was an Army brat! He was the firstborn to two incredible parents, and during a difficult time in our history. Jesse is the oldest of four siblings (a special bunch) and the father of five wonderful adult children, and the grandfather to seven even younger, stronger, super beings with super powers! Jesse's professional musical career began in 1971 upon volunteering (during the draft, and the war in Viet Nam, mind you) to join the U. S. Army as a professional euphonium and trombone player. During his first enlistment in the Army, he taught himself to play the electric bass (1973), to assist in the much needed addition to the unit's big band. Another important career enhancing experience initiated early in his military career was being entrusted to serve as a Human Relations specialist, which would later be called, Equal Opportunity Noncommissioned Officer (NCO). Good stuff. Stepping back, Jesse's music education actually began at age 9, in junior high school, playing the trombone and subsequently, the euphonium. Upon enterting high school, he won an audition to play in the prestigious, award winning, Hampton High School Band. Now fastforwarding back to to his career in the Army, he completed the Army's Basic Music Course and after several years, Jesse Advanced Noncommisioned Officers Army/ Music Courses. The U.S. Army's music courses are taught at the JOINT EXPEDITIONARY BASE, Little Creek-Ft. Story, Virginia Beach, VA. It is through this education and experiences that shaped his ability to arrange and compose music. The first 15 years of his musical career in the U. S. Army Band field, was spent serving in various wonderful and incredible, Army bands. In 1986 Jesse joined the prestigious Special Army band, the U. S. Army Field Band, from Washington D.C., serving for the Office of the Chief of Public Affairs (OCPA), Washington, D.C. where he served for the remaining 19 years of his Army career, until retirement. OH HAPPY DAY! Today, Jesse continues his musicianship, taking it upon himself to relentlessly perfect the canon of musical literature that all of the masters before him have successfully embraced. The result; a successful musical career! Jesse has toured musically in every state in our great union (including Alaska and Hawaii), and abroad in Portugal, Mexico, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Cuba, and Nicaragua. Jesse's inspirations in music come from a plethora of professional artists, and from practically every music genre. It is the spirit of music itself, that captured and mysitifed him since early childhood. And so, , it continues.... Truly, with all the challenges in life, the world, and depending on where you choose to live, life is what [you] make it! Your personal peace, is [your] responsibility. So if you're searching for that special something in your life, to come from Lord knows where, to lift you up, just look in the mirror, and choose to make it happen!
Alex Rankin Born in Texas Grew up in New Hampshire A founding member of Baltimore based, 2005 Grammy nominated band Old Man Brown (best rock group, best R&B vocal, best rock song) moved to Baltimore in '01 Toured internationally Shared the stage and/or recorded with Levon Helm Bobby Parker Dennis Chambers Canned Heat Derek Trucks Jason Isbell Eric Lindell Tom Principato Johnny Neel Little Freddie King Honey Island Swamp Band Ivan Neville and Dumpstaphunk Cris Jacobs Samantha Fish Adam Wakefield Local bands I've played with Brickfoot Brooks Long Petticoat Tearoom Team Steam Jimmi Sexton Nate Myers and the Aces Robert Lighthouse Red Diamond Robert Frahm Clarence Turner Cara Kelly Rubén Montoya Automatic Slim The Rude Dog Linwood Taylor Pete Kanaras Became friends with Ursula in '02 after meeting at Full Moon Saloon and started playing together soon after. Blues has always been my main passion and when I got the opportunity to play with the best blues vocalist in the area I jumped at the chance. Since joining the band I've gotten to play with world-class musicians on a regular basis. And that is inspirational! The effect that has had on me is immeasurable. Everybody gets showcased throughout the night. You better be ready to play- because you're going to be doing a lot of it! Everyone in the band has a voice and it's going to be heard.
Frank Chiovaro Early Musical Life I'm originally from New York and grew up there. My early influences were 60's & 70's rock and Motown. I started playing the drums at age 9 but i switched the guitar at age 14 the morning after listen to 6 Jimi Hendrix albums. My life deteriorated from there as i became obsessed with guitar. My first time on stage was in 1989 at age 19 in Charlottesville, VA. I got to sit in with Jimmy Thackery and the Assassins, after which i knew what i wanted to do with my life; play guitar and travel world doing it. I skidded through a few rock and metal bands in the New York City area, but by 1990 I found myself living in St. Louis, having moved out there with a girlfriend. I got into a college rock / jam band that played colleges and clubs and really got a feel for playing live and honing my performing skills. by 1994 and age 23 I had tired of the Midwest, my relationship failed and i found myself wanting to move back to the east coast. After reconnecting with a high school friend who now lived in Maryland, i moved to Baltimore in 1995. Playing with Brickfoot I kicked around and worked on a solo project with local musicians, but ended up becoming a founding member of the Baltimore based band, Brickfoot. Brickfoot was a rock act mostly influenced by 60's rock. by 1997 we released our 1st album and began playing in the Mid-Atlantic relentlessly. We got some breaks opening for Maryland bands like Jimi's Chicken Shack, Kelly Bell and Laughing Colors. After a few years and a few more albums, Brickfoot was "the next band to get signed" in Baltimore. We packed every room we played and began getting slots opening for major national acts like Kiss, Skid Row, The Flaming Lips, The Smithereens, Fast Ball, & Nine Days. As the internet progressed, Brickfoot had a song picked up by Billboard Magazines Unsigned Artist Top 100. our song "Surprise Ending" became the #1 most downloaded song for 42 weeks straight. It was after this we got invited to perform on "the Jenny Jones Show" The show aired in early 2002. We were in regular rotation on satellite radio and stations all over the Mid-Atlantic. Eventually we were finalists in a national Battle of the Bands and were mentioned in Rolling Stone Magazine as "up and coming artists". By this time we had released our 2nd album which eventually sold over 20,000 copies. Things really picked up after we signed a contract with The Armed Forces Entertainment and The Department of Defense to tour internationally for US Forces overseas. From 2001 to 2005, Brickfoot toured 27 countries playing for thousands and thousands including the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. In mid 2002, after a show at the Philadelphia Music conference, we were offered a production deal by world famous producer, Shelly Yakus (John Lennon, Tom Petty, Stevie Nicks, and the list goes on and on). We recorded an album that Shelly produced and shopped for a major label deal. We were talking to Columbia, RCA and Warner Brothers at the time, all of which declined to sign the band. We got picked up by an independent label called Concrete Records in NYC. After we dis-agreed artistically we left the label and got out of the contract. By the late 2000's the band was completely burnt out after we released our 4th album. Interpersonal relationships within the band deteriorated, drug and alcohol abuse was a real problem and our 5th album, which we began recording at the time, wouldn't come out till 2014. It was released and we played a small handful of shows, without some of the original members by that point. We drove Brickfoot completely into the ground along with ourselves. More Recent Work By 2010 i joined a local Americana band called the Petticoat Tearoom, featuring a local singer-songwriter Tomas Motta. That band lasted about 2 years, gigging regularly. It was because of this relationship that i met a band called Old Man Brown and made friends with a very mild-mannered guitar player named Alex Rankin. During these years, i was recording and producing music for a lot of local bands, and I recorded Old Man Browns second album, Brand Me Immoral. I became very good friends with all of them and Alex and I stood friends. Ursula Ricks Project By mid 2017 i had nothing going on musically and spent a lot of time going to Alex's gigs to watch The Ursula Ricks project. Now, I had known who Ursula was for years and years as she was a Baltimore fixture on the blues scene. I never really interacted with her as i was more immersed in the rock scene. I had seen her play a handful of times at various venues and festivals and of course, The Full Moon Saloon, where i spent a lot of time in the 90's hanging out with Jimi Sexton. When Alex mentions there was the slight possibility that i might be able to jam with Ursula, i jumped at the chance. Having seen her sing on a regular basis now, i knew she was the real deal. No fake bullshit here. Ursula lives it, and her voice is to the blues what Freddie Kings guitar is to the blues; it doesn't get any more real and honest than this. I knew i wanted to play onstage with Ursula because that meant i got to not only watch her sing, but feed of of her emotion and energy to fuel my own playing and then be able to give that back to her and the audience. I didn't know if she would like my playing. I was afraid i was going to have trouble not sounding too "rock". But i found i was able to shake that off and really get back to what i was playing in my bedroom as a 15 year old. The Blues!