Darrell Nulisch (born September 14, 1952,
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...
)
is an American
electric blues
Electric blues refers to any type of blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplifier, amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the ...
singer
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
and
harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...
player. Prior to his
solo
Solo or SOLO may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Comics
* ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series
* Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics
Characters
* Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character
* Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...
career, he was a member of
Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets and
The Broadcasters. Nulisch's repertoire incorporates
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
combined with
R&B and
Chicago blues
Chicago blues is a form of blues music developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of the first half of the twentieth cent ...
, redesigned to complement his distinctive
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
.
Biography
Nulisch was raised listening to
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...
and
Al Green
Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), better known as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Take Me to the River", ...
. In 1981 he was a founding member of
Anson Funderburgh
Anson Funderburgh (born James Anson Funderburgh; November 14, 1954) is an American blues guitar player and bandleader of Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets since 1978. Their style incorporates both Chicago blues and Texas blues.
Career
Funderburg ...
's Rockets and sang with them until 1985. He was then part of
Mike Morgan's Crawl, before moving to
and joining up with
Ronnie Earl :''This article refers to the musician. For the district attorney of Travis County, Texas, see Ronnie Earle.''
Ronnie Earl (born Ronald Horvath, March 10, 1953, Queens, New York, United States) is an American blues guitarist and music instructor ...
's Broadcasters in 1988.
He began his solo career late in 1990, relocating to
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
.
James Cotton
James Henry Cotton (July 1, 1935 – March 16, 2017) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who performed and recorded with many fellow blues artists and with his own band. He also played drums early in his career.
...
then asked him to sing with Cotton's band on tour, after Cotton had lost his own
voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production in ...
.
Nulisch appeared on
Otis Grand
Otis may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Characters
* Otis (Superman), in the films ''Superman'' and ''Superman II'' and related DC Comics media
** Otis Graves, in the TV series ''Supergirl''
* Otis (''The Walking Dead''), in the Image Comics ...
's 1996 album, ''Perfume and Grime'', which also utilized
Luther Allison
Luther Allison (August 17, 1939 – August 12, 1997) was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was born in Widener, Arkansas, although some accounts suggest his actual place of birth was Mayflower, Arkansas. Allison was interested ...
.
Several of the songs in Nulisch's repertoire are his own, most of them written with Steve Gomes, who plays
bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
in Texas Heat, the band that backed Nulisch for a number of years. Other band members included Benjie Porecki (
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
),
Johnny Moeller
Johnny Moeller (born Jon Kelly Moeller, October 31, 1970) is an American guitarist, currently with The Fabulous Thunderbirds.
Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Johnny started playing guitar in his early teens. Over the years Moeller's main influences ...
(guitar) and Robb Stupka (
drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...
s).
Nulisch issued ''I Like It That Way'' in 2000.
His
fan base started to expand from this point.
His latest release, ''Just for You'', was released in October 2009. It received a four star rating from
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
.
Discography
*''Business as Usual'' (1991) -
Black Top - Darrell Nulisch & Texas Heat
*''Bluesoul'' (1996) - Higher Plane Music
*''Whole Truth'' (1998) -
Severn Records
Severn Records is an American independent record label that concentrates on blues music. Its motto is "Roots Music for the 21st Century".
History
On July 11, 1997, a company named Echo Records was incorporated in Maryland by David Earl. By the t ...
*''I Like It That Way'' (2000) -
Severn Records
Severn Records is an American independent record label that concentrates on blues music. Its motto is "Roots Music for the 21st Century".
History
On July 11, 1997, a company named Echo Records was incorporated in Maryland by David Earl. By the t ...
*''Times Like These'' (2003) -
Severn Records
Severn Records is an American independent record label that concentrates on blues music. Its motto is "Roots Music for the 21st Century".
History
On July 11, 1997, a company named Echo Records was incorporated in Maryland by David Earl. By the t ...
*''Goin' Back to Dallas'' (2007) -
Severn Records
Severn Records is an American independent record label that concentrates on blues music. Its motto is "Roots Music for the 21st Century".
History
On July 11, 1997, a company named Echo Records was incorporated in Maryland by David Earl. By the t ...
*''Just for You'' (2009) -
Severn Records
Severn Records is an American independent record label that concentrates on blues music. Its motto is "Roots Music for the 21st Century".
History
On July 11, 1997, a company named Echo Records was incorporated in Maryland by David Earl. By the t ...
*''One Night in Boston'' (2015) -
live album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
See also
*
List of Texas blues musicians
Texas Blues is a subgenre of the blues, and of course is not limited to Texas-based musicians. It has had various style variations but typically has been played with more swing than other blues styles. Texas blues differs from styles such as Ch ...
*
List of electric blues musicians
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nulisch, Darrell
1952 births
Living people
American blues harmonica players
American blues singers
American male singers
Songwriters from Texas
Harmonica blues musicians
Electric blues musicians
Musicians from Dallas
Texas blues musicians
Soul-blues musicians
Musicians from Boston
Songwriters from Massachusetts
American male songwriters