145th
Street is a five-piece blues band that plays pubs, clubs, casinos, and
festivals around San Diego. The group was founded in 2002 by
singer/harpist Steve Bulger, aka Stevie B, and Marco Marrewa on guitar
as the Bossmen.
“We
added bass and drums, and all of the sudden, we had a band,” says
Bulger. The winning lineup includes Mike Bullard on bass and a sax
player from New Orleans by way of Southeast San Diego named Walter
Gentry. The sax man’s dad owned a barbershop in Southeast. When he died,
Walter came home and worked the shop for a while. (“He doesn’t cut hair
anymore,” says Bulger.)
While
Gentry was playing New Orleans gigs, he met Tony Peterson, a drummer
who would also come to San Diego and eventually join 145th Street.
Their
debut CD, 145th Street Deluxe Blues Band, was nominated Best Blues
Album at the 2005 San Diego Music Awards. Joe Walsh heard a copy and
liked it. “He said it was pretty fucking good,” says Bulger.
The
group has opened for acts such as B.B. King, Bobby "Blue" Bland,
Charlie Musselwhite, Tommy Castro, and others. They’ve had a residency
at Patrick’s II in the Gaslamp for years and Bulger says they’ve played
Humphrey’s Backstage, the House of Blues, 4th&B, “and all the local
festivals.”
But
145th Street has otherwise been off the local radar. Why? “That’s a
good question.” Bulger puts the blame on lack of self-promotion. “When
people hear us, they say, ‘Holy shit, are you guys from around here?’”
Bulger,
who lives in Serra Mesa and is a distant relative of ex-mobster Whitey
Bulger, explains the band’s name: one-four-five describes the chord
changes in the 12-bar blues. “We added ‘Street’ because that’s where
everything happens.” They carry an old-school wallop redolent of the
1960s, when rock bands were romancing traditional blues. “We don’t play
the usual blues covers.”
In
late 2011, the band won a series of elimination rounds to end up as
Blues Lovers United of San Diego’s (BLUSD) designated hometown choice
for the International Blues Challenge in Memphis at the end of January,
2012. The International Blues Challenge is the world’s largest battle of
the blues bands. It takes place over five days. More than 748 musicians
from 13 countries compete. Oceanside’s Nathan James & Ben Hernandez
won the solo/duo title in 2007.
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