JASON RICCI & NEW BLOOD Source: Daily Record Date: 08/2008 Writer: n/a

Jason Ricci's music draws from his personal struggles

Jason Ricci knows a lot about inner struggles and self-destruction. He's gone down that path in life and approached things anew in his original music.

"A song has to be about something that's true and sincere," he said."If the song isn't about something that's true and sincere and if it's not taking a chance on some kind of emotion, then I'm not really that interested in it."

Jason Ricci & New Blood will perform at Morristown Unitarian Fellowship in Morris Township on May 31 at 7:30 p.m.

Proceeds from the concert will help the MUF High School Group make a trip to South Carolina for its annual effort to build a house for Habitat for Humanity.

Ricci & New Blood is touring in support of its new CD, "Rocket Number 9," which includes a cover of Sun Ra's title track, plus 11 original songs.

"We didn't have a methodical approach other than to record our original music," Ricci said. "We didn't have a mission statement. We're not trying to change the world."

Based in the blues, Ricci's music features the dynamic energy of punk and hard core and the subtleties of jazz.

"I usually write about God, the devil or death, but in a nice way," he said. "I write about the continuation of energy. I write about drugs, not necessarily pro or con. I like to be ambiguous."

A recovered drug addict, Ricci knows the struggles drug users face in life. During his youth, he played in punk bands, took up harmonica and embraced the blues in his hometown in Portland, Maine. In his late teens, he left Maine and wandered through Idaho, Memphis, Mississippi and Florida.

"Drugs are just the apparent solution (to personal problems). The real problem lies in the person," he said.

Arrested on drugs charges in the Sunshine State, he spent time in prison before serving probation and taking a job as a drug rehabilitation counselor in Raleigh, N.C. There he formed a short-lived new band and began to tour with Big Al and the Heavyweights. Eventually, he relocated to Nashville, where he has resided for the past seven years.