JASON RICCI & NEW BLOOD Source: Quad City Times Date: 10/2009 Writer: David Burke

Jason Ricci and his band New Blood continue their string of twice-yearly appearances at Blueport Junction in Davenport this weekend.

"It's a pretty good room," Ricci said of the blues club, just off Interstate 280. "The people who run the place make it worth it. It's not the fanciest room we play, but they're really great people who come and visit the location. We've been well taken care of in Davenport and in the club itself."

Ricci and New Blood released their newest album, "Done With the Devil," in April.
"Devil," the band's third album, has some subtle changes, Ricci said.  "If it is a change in direction, it's not conscious," he said in a telephone interview while en route to a gig in Mississippi. "We've always been eclectically influenced by a variety of different groups, but the music has grown. It's a little bit more sophisticated and we're slightly more reserved than we were on the last record - in a good way."

The 35-year-old Maine native recruited the rest of his band as songwriters this time around and, for the first time, each one sings.

With his wild hair and punk rock/goth look, Ricci is not the typical bluesman, although he tried to be one earlier in his career.  "When I started, I was very much a traditional kind of blues Nazi, as they say," he recalled. "I grew up. I realized who I really am, and I wanted to incorporate that into my music because that's what art is all about."
Ricci said his strengths are dealing with change - particularly a different town every day - and driving the band van as much as 970 miles without relief.

While he has been acclaimed for his harmonica playing, which he said is a performance strength, Ricci downplays his vocal abilities.  "Artistically, I'm passionate. I can sell a song. I can look people in the eyes and they know that what I sing about is what I believe in," he said. "That part's not a show."