JASON RICCI & NEW BLOOD Source: Evening Sun Date: 02/2008 Writer: Jess Krout

Jason Ricci, an award-winning harmonica player, will perform Wednesday with his band, New Blood,... 
 
It's not the life of glam that everyone dreams of for musician Jason Ricci. 
 
"There's very little pay-off all the time," Ricci said, of his career. "What (people) don't understand is I'm home less than 50 days a year, and I don't make a lot of money." 
 
Being a musician is the hardest job Ricci has ever had. He pursued an education in wildlife management and worked as a substance abuse counselor, before he realized that he could get paid to play as a musician. 
 
And that - he "kind of liked." 
 
At 21 years old, he won the Sonny Boy Blues Society contest at the King Biscuit Blues Festival, now called the Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival. He started working with other musicians like Susan Tedeschi, Billy Gibson and Bobby Little. 
 
Later, Ricci won the Mars National Harmonica Contest, beating out over 1,000 contestants and becoming an endorsee for Hohner harmonicas. 
 
Now, he and his band, New Blood, tour with their latest album, "Rocket Number 9," produced by Grammy award-winning producer John Porter, who also produced the albums of B.B. King, Los Lonely Boys and Carlos Santana. 
 
"I have a lot of money spent on ('Rocket Number 9')," Ricci said. "That makes it instantly better. (The band) didn't have to stress out while recording it." 
 
One of the best parts about the album is that he and his band have stayed together since its recording. 
 
"We inspire each other," Ricci said, of the band's chemistry. 
 
Ricci and band members Shawn Starsky (guitar, back-up vocals), Todd Edmunds (bass, clavinet, back-up vocals) and Ron Sutton (drums, back-up vocals) play at more than 300 gigs a year, mostly one-nighters. 
 
The bar scenes they often play at brings intoxicated crowds, which is not always the most fun for sober Ricci. (One of the songs on the album addresses the time Ricci spent in prison for drug abuse, and how he walked out a "new man"). 
 
He also combats another misconception of audiences. 
 
"It's not money for nothing and chicks for free," Ricci said, because, he notes, "I'm gay." 
 
And besides, after playing a late-night show, the band wakes up early the next morning to be on the road again. They often travel between two and three hundred miles between gigs in their van. 
 
For anyone who would aspire a job like Ricci's, he lightheartedly remarks, "Get used to Ramen noodles. That's my advice." 
 
Is life on the road really that bad? 
 
No, Ricci admits. 
 
"I don't punch a clock. I can play my own songs," Ricci said. "I think a lot of people dream of that." 
 
Ricci and New Blood will perform at 9 p.m. Wednesday, at KClinger's Tavern, 304 Poplar St., Hanover. There is a $3 cover charge.