For the first time, WNHH’s Tuesdays @ the Mediterranea Cafe concert series featured a saxophone, a harmonica, and a golden trumpet — though the last wasn’t making any sound.
That didn’t keep Snake Hill Blues lead singer Vaughn Collins from taking the miniature instrument from around his neck, pressing his fingers to the keys, and letting the imaginary horn blare among the real, rightly-sized instruments surrounding him.
The six-piece band Snake Hill Blues, three-time finalists of the Connecticut Blues Society Challenge, brought the heat with them for Tuesday’s livestreamed concert at Mediterranea’s backroom hookah lounge on Orange Street. (Watch the full set in the above video.) The group has been playing for a long time, both together and separately. They’re longtime musicians, and they’re the real deal.
How’d they get together? “Couple of lads on Craigslist,” guitarist Joe Montalto said between songs during their set.
The band has changed since Montalto and Rob Martini, who plays bass, formed Snake Hill Blues as a trio. Their third member left, and in 2018 they added harmonica player (and former state Republican Party Chairman) Chris DePino and drummer Mark Zarrillo. Lead vocalist Collins joined around a year ago. The most recent addition is saxophone player Tom Knapp.
Tuesday’s set included four songs, two originals and two covers. They kicked off the set with “Bad Habits,” an upbeat number that started heavy and gritty right off the bat, with all the instruments swinging in full force after a quick drumroll from Zarrillo. The song never let up. Between the genre’s signature call and response, a saxophone- and harmonica-driven refrain, and a bouncing bassline by Martini, it was all-consuming. And it was impossible not to dance.
“You tell me in the morning that I’m wasting your time,” Collins sang, looking right at the camera with his hands outstretched, or clasped next to his ear, or wagging his finger. “I don’t understand how we got this far — spent last night sleeping in my car.”
It’s a song about a couple fighting, but Montalto’s explanation of why he wrote it was lighthearted: it was 2002, he and his wife were “shacking up with my parents” with their two kids while they built their house, and “my wife and I were going at each other’s throats.” They still do 22 years later, he joked, “in a healthy way.”
“Nothing was easy, all we do is fight, one of these days we’re going to get it right,” Collins continued singing. “I don’t understand how we got this far, one thing I know — bad habits die hard.”
The song featured multiple deftly played guitar solos from Montalto — the kind that he made look easy, but that had his fingers moving so fast across the fretboard it was clear that he had only gotten there through years and years of playing.
Throughout their set, the band channeled their musical influences, both rockstars and blues masters: Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Muddy Waters, the Grateful Dead (whose shirt Collins was rocking, along with golden shoes and red glasses), even Motown.
Their next original song, written by Collins, was another relationship song. But this one was sweeter, tender, even if that characteristic grit was still in full force. It was called, “Thank You, Baby.”
“I want to thank you baby, thank you for loving me so well,” Collins sang. Zarrillo’s’s drumming kept the swing going, complemented by the movement of Martini’s bass. The song featured a masterful harmonica solo from DePino, his fingers moving quickly, his cheek pulsing, and his eyes shut as he covered most of his face with his hands.
DePino has toured the world playing both traditional and chromatic harmonica. It was almost startling to watch his command over the instrument up close. Paired with Knapp’s saxophone playing — the two often had their eyes on each other, making sure they were perfectly in time — it was hard to imagine the band before its most recent addition.
The second half of Snake Hill Blues’ set consisted of two covers: “I’ll Play The Blues For You” by Albert King and “Killing Floor” by Howlin’ Wolf. The former had Martini’s bass playing really shining, and DePino, Montalto, and Knapp all had exhilarating build-up solos. The latter was a fun, crashing, drum-forward number. Through both songs, the band never let up — no member held back. When one of his bandmates hit a solo particularly well, Collins paused from his dancing to gesture to them, as if saying, “Are you hearing this? Hey, check this out.”
You can catch them at Bridgeport’s Black Rock PorchFest on Saturday, Aug. 24 at the Norden Club, 4 Seabright Ave. They’ll also play Branford’s Short Beach Days on Aug. 30.
Snake Hill Blues “Tuesdays @ The Mediterranea Cafe” setlist:
1. Bad Habits
2. Thank You, Baby
3. I’ll Play The Blues For You by Albert King
4. Killing Floor by Howlin’ Wolf
If your band is interested in performing on Tuesday @ the Mediterranea Cafe, reach out through the“Email the Author” form above.
Previous “Tuesday @ the Mediterranea Cafe” performances:
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