Describing the music that he's spent more than half of his 38 years learning to master, blues guitarist Nick Moss states, "There's a lot of nuance that people don't realize," and underscores his point with an unusual - but apt - analogy.
"To me it's like food," says Moss in a recent phone interview.
"Like, say you're in Spain. You go to Spain and you go to different regions, and the paella is gonna be different in every region of Spain you go to. You know, it's all basically paella, but they have their own different flavors, and there are different ways of preparing it. If you go to Italy, man, the red sauce if different in different parts of the country.
"And blues is the same way. You know, you got East Coast blues, you got Texas blues, you got Piedmont blues, you got West Coast blues, you know, Mississippi Delta ... . You got all these great, different styles and different feelings. And I don't mean to sound snobbish or anything, but I think that people that aren't as educated about the music make a snap decision sometimes about, 'Oh, it's all the same.' And it's not the same."
For Moss, who grew up in the Chicago suburbs of Elmwood Park and Schaumburg, the blues style that spoke to him most directly was - understandably - Chicago blues. Perfected by such masters as Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy, traditional Chicago blues, says Moss, "has a slightly behind-the-beat feel," and is consequently "kind of labor-intensive to learn how to do right."
Yet for many, Moss - who plays Blueport Junction on November 21 alongside his blues outfit, the Flip Tops - has not only learned how to do it right, but is the current vanguard of those performing in the Chicago-blues style; Nick Moss & the Flip Tops have been multiple nominees for the Blues Music Award, and Blues Revue Magazine wrote that "Moss lives and breathes his music; you can hear it in every note. [He] travels the territory of Chicago blues with skill and flair."
As a fledgling teenage bass and guitar player, Moss' first break came in the late 1980s, playing bass for blues great Jimmy Hawkins. "You have to be an educated blues fan to even know who the guy was," says Moss. "And that's unfortunate, because he's got a great body of work; in the '60s and the '70s he put out a lot of great records, and over in Europe he's huge. But I don't think he ever really got his due in America."
Moss admits, though, that playing alongside Hawkins and his band "was pretty intimidating," and that after a year of performance, he and the blues master amicably parted ways.
"You know, I was pretty green," he says, "and I don't think I was really ready for it. He kinda pulled me aside and said, 'You're pretty raw. You've got talent, but I just don't have time to sit and coach ya.'
"And," continues Moss, "that kind of made me determined to go back and do some woodshedding [musical parlance for intensive study and practice], and learn my history of the blues, and go deeper into it. Learn more of what I needed to learn, so that when the next opportunity came," he says with a laugh, "I wouldn't blow it."
Moss spent months honing his skills - studying the style, phrasing, and timing of Chicago-blues masters such as Louis Myers and Earl Hooker - and less than a year after leaving Hawkins' outfit, he was asked to join the Legendary Blues Band featuring the 30-year Muddy Waters Blues Band veteran Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, whom Moss calls "probably one of the greatest shuffle drummers in blues history.
"I was just in the right place at the right time," he says of joining the group, "and when Calvin Jones decided he was gonna retire, a friend of mine passed my name around, and said, 'Why don't you try this guy? I think he's available and he's a pretty good bass player.'"
Calling his experience with the Legendary Blues Band a true turning point in both his understanding of the blues and his confidence in performing it, Moss says, "To have him tell you, 'You know, man, you've got great natural feel and natural time. ... I think I'll keep ya' - that makes it all worthwhile. When you know that you've actually done your homework and you've studied, and you're getting the approval of the guy that's been out there doin' it for so long."
He adds, "Because, there are guys out there that say, 'You know, I play traditional blues,' but they don't put any work into it or put any effort into learnin' how to do it right. You know, maybe an average audience member might not pick up on it, and they'll tap their toe and stuff, but you gotta be able to walk a fine line - to be able to do something, do it well, do it with passion, and not over-think it. I think those are the guys that stand at the forefront. The guys that, when you watch them, it looks effortless."
In the mid-1990s, Moss' tenure with the Legendary Blues Band led to a position as a second guitarist for Chicago blues legend Jimmy Rogers. Yet after three years under Rogers' employ and tutelage, says Moss, "I decided that I had put in almost 10 years of playing with, you know, some heavyweight blues guys, and I was thinking it'd be a good opportunity to do my own thing."
Originating in, as Moss recalls, "'97, I believe ... maybe '98," Nick Moss & the Flip Tops released their debut CD, First Offense, in 1999, and have subsequently released four more, most recently 2006's live recording, Live at Chan's. Blues Revue Magazine wrote of the album: "They play with fire and fury but also with control, constructing a brilliant set that never gets boring," and Moss says that what helps keep the group's live performances from becoming dull is their refusal to adhere to a pre-determined set list.
"I think when guys get stuck on a set list, it can get pretty stale," he adds, "and it can come across as stale, even to someone sittin' in the audience who's never seen the act before."
During concerts, Moss says, "We generally know what's gonna happen, especially when there's a new CD out; we have a few favorite songs off the CD that we know we're gonna play that night. But I like doin' new things, and we all have a pretty deep bag of knowledge about this music. We can reach into the bag anytime and pull something out and say, 'Well, let's try this one. This'll be fun. We'll pull something new out at least once or twice a week."
A frequent performer at such Chicago venues as House of Blues and Buddy Guy's Legends, Moss says he feels fortunate to enjoy regular gigs "where people still want to hear traditional-style blues. Not to undermine anyone that just wants to come out and hear music, but generally, if you're going to a blues club, you pretty much already know what blues is about, and you probably know some history of blues.
"But then you have people that are just goin' to have a good time," he continues. "Guys who, if you mention Buddy Guy or Stevie Ray Vaughan or Eric Clapton, they'll know who that is, but if you mention a guy like Lefty Dizz or Sammy Lawhorn, they'd think you're speakin' Chinese to 'em.
"If you have a good band, though, and it's heartfelt, and people are enjoying themselves, I don't think they care if it's Eric Clapton or Muddy Waters. It's the performance. You're there to just go out and play and do your best. I mean," he adds with a laugh, "if you've got a bunch of crappy musicians playing Eric Clapton, I don't care if you're the biggest Eric Clapton fan in the world. You're gonna walk out."
Nick Moss & the Flip Tops, in a concert presented by the Mississippi Valley Blues Society, perform at Blueport Junction at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, November 21. For more information, visit (http://mvbs.org).
