BACKSTAGE PASS:

Go behind the scenes with staff writer Scott Dirks as he shares inside stories and additional details on the cutting room floor regarding Delta Groove artists and releases. This month's article focuses on a candid conversation between Delta & Eclecto Groove Records CEO Randy Chortkoff and staff writer Scott Dirks.

Delta Groove head Randy Chortkoff really is one of the busiest people I know, dealing on a daily basis with the growing business of (now) two record labels, a feature film production company, and touring and performing with The Mannish Boys.  I recently caught up with Randy enjoying a rare quiet moment at home, and got an update on what he’s been up to this year, and what’s on the horizon for his growing entertainment empire.

Scott: I know you’ve been traveling lot lately.  Where have been, and what have you been doing?

Randy: (Laughs) I’ve had the pleasure of traveling quite a bit with the Mannish Boys, as the MC and occasional singer and harp player.  We did some great gigs up in Canada.  I’ve been to Canada a few times, but I saw some really beautiful new places this time.  It was the first time I’ve been to Montreal, and I loved it.  It’s a beautiful city, lots of history and culture, and very pristine.  We then went up to play the Festival International Du Blues De Tremblant, which was fantastic.   We had the usual Mannish Boys lineup, Frank (Goldwasser) and Kid (Ramos), Richard (Innes), Tom (Leavey), Finis (Tasby), Leon (Blue), Johnny Dyer, and myself.  We drove from Montreal up into the mountains, to a beautiful village called Mont Tremblant.  It looked very much like something you’d see in the Alps in Switzerland, really incredible scenery.  They have this huge festival up there, for a week I think, and we were the headliners one night on the main stage.  They put us up in a gorgeous hotel, took great care of us, and it was wonderful.  We were the last show of the night, and were really up for playing.  We took the stage with a lot of energy, and then suddenly it started to rain, first just a little, then it got worse.  As the set progressed, a torrential rain came down, just soaking the crowd.  We were OK because the stage was covered…although Leon had to move his piano in the middle of the set, since he was getting wet at first.  And what was amazing was that although only a few people had umbrellas, as far as I was able to see, not one person left.  The whole crowd stayed through this downpour for the entire 90 minute set, standing out in the rain, and then stayed around after THAT, and came around to the side of the stage to buy CDs, and get autographs and all that.  It was great, and we really appreciated it.  When you see people who are that into it, it really makes you take it up to the next level for them, and we did a really energetic show.

We took a trip on luge, this sled, coming down the mountain, Tom Leavey and my girlfriend Kelly and I.  Next day we flew to Ottawa, for the Ottawa Blues Festival, which is absolutely huge!  This festival goes on for something like two weeks straight, music from morning to night, and huge names like Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, all these superstars, and two monster stages.  We had a great set playing there, to probably something like 25,000 people.  They had the giant plasma screens and the video crew shooting the whole thing so everyone gets a great view, and of course a great, massive sound system.  They videoed the entire show.  It was a wonderful experience.  Once again the Mannish Boys pulled out all the stops, which is easy to do when you’re being so well received everywhere. 

We also all went to Norway to play the Nottoden Blues Festival, up in the mountains.  It was amazing…they treated us like kings.  Flew into Oslo, drove for three hours to this little town with a population of something like 12,000, but for this annual blues festival they have an additional 30,000 people, just for this weekend fest.  The entire town turns into the festival grounds, with several huge stages, and lots of other small places with music.  We hung out with some pretty amazing musicians who were there for the festival, the Neville Brothers, Jimmy Vaughan and Omar Dykes, Steve Winwood, Luanne Barton, Derek O’Brien, and of course our good friends Janiva Magness, Paul Oscher and his lovely wife Suzan Lori Parks.  Each group had their own guide assigned to them, and a driver, and they took us on these excursions…gliding with a glider pilot over all these beautiful islands and lakes, we went hiking, it was just gorgeous.  Our guide’s name was Ole Christian, he was an incredibly gracious host. We played the opening of the festival to a packed tent of probably 5 or 10 thousand people, then we played the main stage on Friday night, and another great show on Saturday night. 

We had a very busy summer, but these gigs were some of the highlights.  We also played the Topanga Blues Festival closer to home, that was very cool, and we produced our own little one night festival in Memphis, the West Coast Meets Chicago show.  The Mannish Boys are already booking up for next year, and it looks to be even busier, if you can believe it.  For instance we played the Edmonton Labatt Blues Festival last summer, and they never ask bands back twice, but they’ve already asked us to come back next year for their anniversary.  The Mannish Boys have been received so well everywhere we’ve played, and the act is just so strong these days, that Intrepid Artists has picked us up, and will be helping to book us now.  Intrepid also handles several other of our acts, like Ana Popovic and Jason Ricci, so it’s a good fit. 

Scott: I was at the Hollywood premiere of the film you produced, What Love is, and I know it showed here in Chicago…what’s going on with the movie biz?  What’s next?

Randy: I’m glad you asked!  Of course that was very exciting, and as you know we did a big after-party at the Avalon Club in Hollywood that featured almost the entire Delta Groove blues roster as the entertainment for the evening, and I know we made some new blues fans that night.  What Love Is got us a lot of attention…its star, Cuba Gooding Jr., went on Jay Leno, Conan O’Brian, Craig Ferguson and some other shows and plugged the film, which was very cool.  What Love Is is coming out on DVD soon, so that’s still rolling.

The film production company I run with my partner Mars Callahan, Big Sky Motion Pictures, recently opened production offices in New Orleans, and we’re about to break ground on a new motion picture production facility in New Orleans too.  We’re hoping to help bring some financial opportunities for the people in the area, and they’re offering us some nice incentives to do it.  We start principal photography down there on October 13th on our next feature film, Spring Break ’83, a comedy.  There are some great opportunities for music in movie, and we’re hoping to use some Delta Groove music.  Also, Ana Popovic, whose new CD “Still Making History”, we’ve just released, will be in the movie, and they may even be some other surprises with some of our other talent. 

Scott: New Orleans is a pretty important music town, too…

Randy: Yes, and we’re looking at some opportunities for Delta Groove to branch out and work with some New Orleans musicians, and maybe even do some recording there.  There’s a lot of stuff in the works.

Scott: So getting back to the music, what’s coming up?

Randy: We have a new Phantom Blues Band CD produced by John Porter coming soon.  Delta Groove plans to be busy for 2008, with some interesting surprises in the works.  One that probably won’t be a surprise to anyone who’s seen them, we’re going to be doing another CD with Jackie Payne and Steve Edmonson, one of my favorite acts.  They have one of the most powerful and entertaining acts anywhere today…I just saw them at the Long Beach Blues Festival last weekend, and I’m telling you, they killed!  They played two sets, and there were more people there for them than almost any other act.  They’re super tight, incredibly soulful, they’re just phenomenal, and I’m very happy to be doing another CD with them.  We’ve got some other surprises too, acts that are new to Delta Groove that I’m very excited about, some well-known people.

Scott: OK, so Delta Groove is humming along nicely…and now you’ve started another label, Eclecto Groove.  How and why did that come about?

Randy: As you know, blues is my passion.  I started Delta Groove because I’d produced two CDs, by Kirk Fletcher and Frank Goldwasser, and I couldn’t find any labels in the states that were in a position to put them out.  So I started Delta Groove as a way of putting out the music I was most passionate about.  The response to the purity of the music we’ve done has been overwhelming…there really is an audience out there for a lot of the music that moves me at the deepest level.  So our motto has become “The Leader in West Coast Blues and Roots”, and I believe we’ve really established a strong identity that is true to that.  And I want to keep that pure.  But you know that there’s a lot of great music out there that doesn’t fit into that narrow definition, music that I’d like to get out there, and I felt that it wouldn’t be fair to the fans of the purity of Delta Groove to commingle other stuff in there too.  I think Delta Groove fans have come to expect a level of purity of blues and roots from us, and that we’ve developed brand name recognition, and I didn’t want to dilute that.  So rather that mixing in contemporary sounds and mixing other genres with the purity of what’s already on Delta Groove, I decided to keep Delta Groove separate and not commingle other genres of music.  So like the song says, ‘the blues had a baby’, and in this case I called it Eclecto Groove.

I wanted to make it a totally different label, different distribution, separate promotion, everything - we don’t even commingle the ads. Two totally separate entities.  Delta Groove is one thing, and the new label is something different and eclectic, a variety and mix of music that cannot be categorized.  And there’s no limit either, it can be everything from rock & roll to world music to jazz to pop, jam band, alternative, things I may not even know anything about yet.  So Eclecto Groove is meant to be a mixture of everything, but not to interfere with the purity of the blues on Delta Groove. 

So the first act is Ana Popovic…this particular CD, “Still Making History”, differs quite a bit from the stuff she did in Europe.  We had John Porter and David Z produce it, both fantastic producers, between them they’ve worked with every kind of music and every kind of artist, Prince, Los Lonely Boys, Billy Idol, Bonnie Raitt, and on and on.  Her album is a mixture of blues, rock, jazz, world music, plus her own indefinable thing.  And of course Jason Ricci, who defies any kind of pigeonholing at all, it’s just mind blowing shit.  And I’m about to go into the studio in October with a guy named Mike Zito, from Texas.  He’s coming to LA to record for Eclecto Groove, and his CD will be produced Tony Braunagel, who is drummer with the Phantom Blues Band but he’s also an incredible producer, David Z, and me.  I’m really excited about Mike, an incredible songwriter with a unique, wonderful, rich voice, and a total monster guitar virtuoso.  And one of the best things about him is that he writes great songs with a positive message, and that really appeals to me.  In fact, all three of these new artists with Eclecto Groove have something in common with each other, and with me.  They’ve been through some real darkness, and they’ve come through it with some positivity intact, and that makes things interesting and deep in ways that a lot of current music isn’t. 

Scott: You’ve also been adding some new personnel…

Randy: Well, when I started Delta Groove, we really did the on-the-job training plan.  I just didn’t have a whole lot of experience with the record business, and we’ve been flying by the seats of our pants, learning as we go.  We weren’t influenced by a lot of the traditional methods like other record labels, we didn’t know what was the normal, conventional way and what wasn’t, and I really believe that’s enhanced what we’ve been doing in a positive way, you know, not being limited by what’s considered acceptable or not.  But as the company grew and expanded, we got to the point where we needed someone who did have that type of experience, to help guide us through the growth. I was fortunate to become involved with Robert Fitzpatrick, who has this incredible lifetime of experience working with some of the biggest names in the history of the business. He’s got some GREAT stories!  He was friends with the guys in the Beatles, with Clapton and Cream, the Stones, the Who, worked with all those people.  He managed Taj Mahal when he was just starting out, doing 40 dollar gigs, he took acid with John Lennon…in fact, Robert lived in a house in the Hollywood Hills on a street called Blue Jay Way, and it was in his house that George [Harrison] wrote that song.  Later, Paul Simon was staying with him there, and was playing this organ that was in the house, and he said “I like the sound of the organ, can I borrow it?”, and he took it and wrote “Bridge Over Troubled Water” on it, and then recorded part of it on the organ from Robert’s house.  Just incredible stuff.  So Robert knows this business as well as anyone alive, and I believe he’s got a vision that can take us to the next level.  And as we’ve gotten bigger we’ve also been bringing some young people on board, and that always keeps things fresh.  So it’s all very exciting.

Written by Scott Dirks