JASON RICCI & NEW BLOOD Source: Erie Times - News   Date: 01/2008 Writer: Dave Richards

Who you gonna call? 

Blues-rocker Jason Ricci was desperate. He had a show in Sharon, but his drummer was ill. In dire need of a fill-in, he called Ron Esser, who owns Pittsburgh blues club Moondogs and books Erie's 8 Great Tuesdays. 

Who can I call? he asked. 

"Ron Sutton," Esser told him. 

Three hours before the show, Sutton arrived in Sharon and delivered. 

"We went through a funk shuffle and a slow blues, and that was enough," Ricci recalled. "I said, 'Hey, you want to do the rest of the tour?'" 

"He liked me, and I liked him, and I ended up doing the whole summer -- a three-month tour," Sutton said. 

Afterward, Ricci went back to his regular drummer, and Sutton came home to Erie, figuring that was that. But Ricci called again. His drummer had more health issues. He asked Sutton to join Ricci's New Blood band permanently. 

Even better, the band had just landed a record deal and enlisted Grammy Award-winning producer John Porter (Roxy Music, Buddy Guy, the Smiths, Los Lonely Boys). 

Sutton, 37, needed just one second to say yes. 

"He told me all that stuff, so I've been in the band ever since," he said. 

Ricci says Sutton provided just the infusion New Blood needed, not only live but on "Rocket Number 9," their impressive Electro Groove debut. 

"He's an amazing drummer," Ricci said. "From the first gig, right away, we all knew that there was a musical bond there, a connection. He takes to things so intrinsically. He has incredible meter. He's so funky, and he's a really helpful guy when he's on the road." 

Sutton played with Jake's Blues and Ron Yarosz and the Vehicle, then spent three years touring with Bernard Allison and one year with the Hadden Sayers Band. This gig, he said, fits him best because Ricci plays so much more than blues. They rock out. 

"Not to take anything away from Hadden and Bernard -- he's high on the totem pole -- but he doesn't really have full-page ads in Spin Magazine," said Sutton. 

"This guy plays harmonica through two Fender bass amps. He's the loudest guy in the band, and just going nuts, sweatin' like a pig. I thought, 'This is way cool.'" 

They also play almost 300 shows a year, including Saturday's gig at Docksider. 

"My friends and musician buddies have been asking me when they'll get to see us," Sutton said. "I'm excited to showcase the band."