Article Reprint from the November 2001 BluesNotes
By Rick Hall
Gary Small is certainly one of the more talented and creative Bluesmen on the local scene today! He is a veteran musician that can sing, play and write music with a passion and punch that makes one sit up and take notice. He plays Blues and Blues-related material, sometimes "out of the box", leaving himself and his audience room to breathe. He has recently finished his new CD titled. "Wild Indians", in which he gives tribute to his Indian culture and ancestry.
People in the area have known him for years as the Reverend Gary Small playing his brand of Blues with his band, Rev. Gary Small ... The Deacons. The group was nominated back in 1992 for a CBA "Muddy Award" for "Best New Act". Prior to coming to Portland, Gary played in a group in Montana through the '80s, called The Highlite Blues Band. They toured all over the area, going out on the road for sometimes 60 to 70 day stints. It was there, in Montana, he honed his skills as a professional musician. At the time, there was a lot of fervor in the national media concerning evangelical preachers. The Reverend Jim Baker was in the news for his exploits and there were several other tele-evangelists who were getting into hot water at the same time. Gary couldn't leave that alone, so he did his own rendition of a fire and brimstone preacher on stage for some additional entertainment for the captive audiences. So, low and behold, he acquired the nickname, The Reverend Gary Small, and it stuck!
Gary grew up between Sheridan, Wyoming and Kirby Montana, just south of the North Cheyenne Indian Reservation. He started playing music when he was 12 and began playing professionally when he was 14. He played bass at first, but switched to guitar when he was 17, basically because there were really no guitar players around of comparable quality. He decided to take up the guitar so he could form a band. He learned to sing for the very same reason. Gary states, "I really never was a good singer to begin with. They wouldn't even let me into the grade school choir, I was so bad. But, here I am today, a singer and guitarist. Things change!"
Gary is Northern Cheyenne and Lakota. His dad was Indian,
however, he really didn't know much about his mother's side of the family,
because he wasn't around them very much during his childhood. Gary
speaks highly of his father, who is now 86 years old. His dad was always
an athletic man, a sprint champion in his younger years, and a wounded veteran
of WWII. Gary says "He's had a tough life. but he is a
tough man who has always done a world of good for me. He has really raised
me well!" Neither of Gary's parents were musically
inclined, but they fortunately allowed young Gary to pursue
music. His mom bought him his first bass guitar when he was about 12 years
old, thinking it would keep him out of trouble. And, Gary
says, "for the most part, it did."
Gary relates, "I've always had an infinity for music. I think the most dramatic moment for me was when I was about three or four years old and I heard my first native drum group and that wail and cry of the singers. At that age, it scares the hell out of you. It had a lasting impression on me. I think that if you listen to traditional Indian singers and compare that to the way a Blues singer would phrase his words, you can honestly say it's almost the same thing. So, as I matured, I really felt that connection of traditional Indian music and its relationship to Blues. It's that human quality, that human factor. That sound, with its heavy drums, has always been in my repertoire from the beginning. To this day, my band has consisted of at least two drummers; a drummer and a percussionist"
In 1990, Gary decided to take a giant leap moving from a small community in Montana to the big city of Portland. He decided to keep his nickname and formed a band known as Reverend Gary Small ... The Deacons. He was really heavy into the Blues when he arrived in town and he didn't want to play anything but the Blues. It was kind of a cultural shock moving to the big city from a remote rural area. He purposely picked Portland because it was the smallest of all the major cities around the area. He thought it would be a good place to start.
When he got here he was really amazed at how many Blues bands started and crumbled in such a short period of time. They would fold and reform into another band and the cycle would continue over again. There was tremendous competition for the club gigs too. Gary explains, "I knew I had to keep myself different than everyone else. I had to have my own signature sound and my own thing. So, that's when I started bringing the percussionist into the group. However, you'll never get the Blues playing out of me. That'll never go away. The first thing 1 learned to play on guitar was B.B. King songs. And, once you start playing that stuff, I don't think you can really ever get it out of what you play. I don't care if you hear me playing a Blues song, a Roots-Rock song, a Reggae tune, or whatever, you're going to hear B.B. King coming out of my playing at times."
Gary continues to refine his band. He believes one of the things his current band does well is to flow back and forth from Roots-Reggae music to Blues. He thinks they do it gracefully and with a little bit of style and maturity. He says it has always been their strong point.
The first major percussionist Gary had in the band was Bobby Torres. Bobby is a legend here in Portland, but Bobby branched off into other projects he was working on. He suggested to Gary that with the type of music he was doing, sometimes crossing the Blues line, he needed a top-notch percussionist. He suggested that Gary get in touch with drummer, Graham Lear, who lived here in town. Lear spent 12 years as the drummer for the legendary Rock group, Santana and is a premier percussionist. Gary got in touch with Graham and they hit it off. He was a perfect fit for the kind of music Gary's band was doing these days. Graham is also the drummer for the well-known lounge star, Paul Anka, and plays with Gary when he is not committed to gigs with Paul. Graham is on Gary's recordings and they have grown into great friends over time. Gary says that he has learned a wealth of things from Graham.
Gary continues, "In addition to Graham, we have
a great drummer, Ward Griffiths. I'm so lucky to have caught her
when I did, because I've had countless drummers through this band and Ward
is the only one who can handle the multitude of styles we play. We are very
dependent on our drummers in this band. If we don't have a topnotch drummer we
wobble. Our songs are so based on rhythm, that if we don't have that pulse
going, we don't sound right.
We have Caton Lyles who is our conga player and he is a phenomenal percussionist. He has that African style of playing; spirited and bombastic. He fits in just right.
We just recently added a new bass player, Toby Worthington. Toby's been a local fixture around Portland forever. Our music is not something you can just jump into. It takes talent and practice. He is doin' a great job.
On keyboards we have Ron Solomon. We looked for a keyboardist for a long time and finally found a guy who plays with a style that I really envisioned for the band; the Hammond B-3 sound and a good acoustic piano sound. Ron plays the Hammond XK2 with a Leslie. It's so close to the traditional B-3 sound - It sounds great. We added a second guitarist to the band, Art Viloria. With the new music it frees me up to concentrate on singing. Art used to be with the Hudson Rocket Band. He's one of those easy going guys, very happy playing rhythm guitar. He doesn't need the spotlight on him, doin' all the tricks and such. He is a consummate musician."
Last year Gary changed the name of the band to simply, The Gary Small Band. His thinking was that it would be better received as he branched outside the Blues focusing on writing and performing his contemporary Indian songs. That is what his latest recording, "Wild Indians", is all about. Gary calls it Native American motif. It is very bluesy in spots, but has a prevalent Roots-Reggae feel throughout.
In 1998, Gary released his first recording, "Cheyenne Blue", which I reviewed in the BluesNotes in November of that year. In that review I said, "Small has a tasty vocal styling that is well suited for performing the Blues. He kinda sounds like a cross between Rick Estrin (Little Charlie ... The Nightcats) and Chris Cain and that's good company indeed! Both his vocals and guitar mastery are captivating. When you couple that with the well-written material on "Cheyenne Blue", you've got a fine effort from top to bottom."
Well, last year Gary re-recorded his guitar parts and vocals and re-released the effort as "Cheyenne Blue Revisited." And, as we reported last month, The Gary Small Band garnered a prestigious nomination from the Native American Music Association (NAMA) for "Best Blues Recording." Gary has gotten involved with NAMA over the last year, and they have supported him.
Gary went to New York for a benefit concert last year, and this month, they are having the band back again to perform at a benefit for the American Indian College Fund.
Being able to branch out by doing the Native American music, as well as the Blues, has opened up a whole other channel for the band. They are doing Native American-sponsored gigs, as well as playing in the Blues clubs. Gary finds that it makes him feel good to be in Native American circles in this capacity. This past summer, he and the band played the Jammin' For Salmon Concert at Waterfront Park, doing Roots-Rock, Native American music, while just a couple of weeks prior to that, on basically the same stage, they were playin' the Blues at The Waterfront Blues Festival. Gary is very proud the band can do that effectively.
The band played in October in Billings, Montana for the National Indian Education Association. Gary is a huge proponent of education for Indian people. Gary imparts, "It's so great that we have these tribal colleges on the Reservations now! There are many colleges involve in extension courses. I think there are 22 colleges involved and a good portion of them are in Montana:"
Gary is a very intelligent, interesting and knowledgeable person who takes his music very seriously. He enjoys entertaining and it shows in his performances. He seems to have the best of both worlds, playing the Blues he loves and singing and relating his personal thoughts and impressions about being a proud Native American. Gary Small is living life to its fullest and it can't get much better than that!
For more information on Gary Small or how to obtain his CDs, go to www.garysmallband.com or for more information regarding the Native American Music Association, go to www.nammys.com.
© 2001 Cascade Blues Association