Cover photo © 2023 Jim Hartzell

It has been five years since Blues Blast featured Eric Steiner’s interview with guitarist Doug Deming, the Detroit native who has been making a lot of music for more than a decade out of his current home base on Florida’s Gulf Coast. (https://www.bluesblastmagazine.com/featured-interview-doug-deming/)

As it was for most of the blues music community, Deming has faced plenty of challenges over the recent years. Through it all, he maintained his focus, never wavering in his commitment to his music, and now is justifiably proud of what he and his band, the Jewel Tones, have been able to accomplish.

All of that effort was recognized when the announcement was made for the 2023 Blues Blast Music Award nominations. Doug Deming and the Jewel Tones were nominated in the Live Blues Album and Historical or Vintage Recording categories as well as getting a nod for Blues Band of the Year. Additionally, bass player Andrew Gohman was nominated for Bass Guitarist of the Year.

In 2018, Deming released his long awaited album Complicated Mess, featuring longtime Jewel Tone Gohman on the upright and Fender bass plus a strong list of guests that included Little Charlie Baty, Kim Wilson, Bob Welsh, Sax Gordon, and another Jewel Tone, Madison Slim (Mark Koenig) on harmonica for one track.

“Complicated Mess did really well for me. If I remember correctly, we got a Blues Blast nomination in 2019 for Blues Band of the Year. The record got a lot of airplay and debuted at #3 on the Billboard Blues chart. It was just a great experience overall, considering the special guests I had, one being Little Charlie. It was unfortunately a sad scenario that he passed in 2020, so it turned out to be a very lucky thing that we were able to get him on record and get a little studio time together before he passed. The other special guest was Sax Gordon, which laid the groundwork for future stuff with him.

“ I was crazy about Charlie’s style of playing and never missed an opportunity to go see him, finally getting to meet him years ago in Detroit. We talked, and I even inquired about some guitar lessons, which unfortunately never panned out, mostly because of his scheduling. That was a little disappointing to the younger version of me, but then I saw him on the blues cruise many years later. He was somewhat familiar with what I was doing, which was flattering. When he learned that I was running a jam in the Crow’s Nest on the ship, without a whole lot of pleasantries, Charlie just came out and said that he wanted to sit in with me, and nobody else.

“And we went at it. He gave me both barrels through three different tunes on the stage. Kind of scared the heck out of me. When we were done, he came over and shook my hand saying, “There’s no better way to get to know somebody than to play with him.” After that, we were kind of buddies. Later, during a magazine interview, he was asked about up and coming musicians in the blues and jazz worlds. He named three people. I was one, and the other two were Duke Robillard and Joey DeFrancesco, which, to be named in the same group as those guys, was just incredible praise, and beyond flattering.”

Getting Baty to appear on the album was very last minute. Deming got a too-good-to-pass-up offer to record at Big Jon Atkinson’s studio in California, where Big Jon was living at the time. Once he realized that Baty lived an hour from the studio, he saw an opportunity.

“Big John’s studio had all the old 1940s and 50s analog recording gear. I wanted to record on that kind of equipment, basically live in the studio to two track tape. So we set that up and booked everything. And really, somewhat in the last minute, I realized, hey, that’s only about an hour from Charlie’s house. You know, why don’t we see if he wants to be a guest?

“And that’s as much planning as went into that part of it. I didn’t even know what songs to put him on. I picked one of the tunes that I thought he’d be really appropriate on, “You Rascal You,” and then wrote another one specifically for him, which was the instrumental “Captain’s Quarters.” I thought I better write a vehicle  that would put him in his comfort zone, and let him shine.”

Baty is one of a number of guitarists that have had a strong influence on Deming’s approach to music. He also lists T-Bone Walker, Robert Lockwood Jr., the aforementioned Duke Robillard, and several others.

“ T Bone Walker, Robert Lockwood Jr., and Bill Jennings are probably the guys that I take the most inspiration from right now. But very early on, Albert King was a fairly big influence. And that was due to my age at the time when Stevie Ray Vaughan was popular, in my younger teen years. Hearing him on the radio, figuring out that he was just emulating Albert King, and tracking it back from there. Then there is Bill Jennings, a blues & jazz guitar player that kind of walked the line on both genres. He worked more on the jazz scene as he recorded a lot with organist Jack McDuff and Willis “Gator” Jackson on tenor saxophone. He also had the occasional stint with Louis Jordan.

“He is not what you call a seminal jazz figure. Most of what he played was blues based and right up my alley,  I fell in love with him when I first heard him and I’m still crazy about his sound and his approach, similar to Tiny Grimes. Both of those guys probably came up out of the Charlie Christian school. Christian was boyhood friends and playing partners with T Bone Walker back in the early, early days. T- Bone and Charlie kind of came up together. One went more jazz, one went more blues, but they were the fathers of both of those.”

When the full force of the pandemic hit, all of the hard-earned momentum built around the release of Complicated Mess, the praise from reviewers, and the subsequent touring schedule was instantly wiped out. As a band leader, Deming felt the weight of figuring out how to generate income for himself and his band.

“As far as the pandemic, I can honestly say it went better for us than most people. Being residents  of Florida, we didn’t close for nearly as long or nearly as hard as most of the other states. It was warm enough to be able to be outside, so we got back to playing something close to normal a little sooner than everybody else.

“I remember my last gig was on St. Pat’s day in March, 2020. We ended up doing the typical live streams that everyone did. It was a way for us to get together, knock the rust off, and keep our heads in the game musically, earn a little bit of money for life’s necessities, and keep us from going crazy. So we did do that a handful of times over the few months we were down before starting to play again. By the end of the year, we were playing semi regularly,  working  enough to survive, whereas a lot of our counterparts up North and, in other areas, be it for weather or due to different socioeconomic, political type issues, were still shut down pretty hard. I really felt bad for them.”

With his gig schedule now filled with plenty of holes, Deming made a pivot to another of his life-long passions, one that he had been nurturing for several years on an informal basis.

“There was absolutely no way for a musician, who depends on people gathering together to listen to his music, to make any money. So I stepped up my charter fishing business. Fishing has always been my second passion. When I was still living in Michigan years ago, I had a fluke opportunity to take the Coast Guard Captain’s course at a very, very discounted rate . Of course, I jumped on it, never really thinking much about it other than it being a good tool to have in the box. Once we made the decision to move down here to Florida, I saw a lot of opportunity to get out on the water and make a little side money.

“I did a little of it over the years, just word of mouth, and friends of friends kind of deal. And, of course, I’ve taken a lot of my musician buddies fishing when they come through town. But when there was no money to be made playing music, I stepped that business up, starting Jewel of The Bay Charters.

“Honestly, it really took off a lot quicker than I expected it to. That carried me through financially in a lot of ways. Again, being in Florida, we can be outside year round. Charter fishing is an outdoor event, small numbers of people. According to the rules and regulations here in Florida at the time, that was an allowed activity. It was one of the few things that people could do socially, so a lot of people wanted to go fishing.

“It is my second love, something I’ve done really for more of my life than music. I started fishing when I was old enough to pick up a rod, growing up in the Great Lakes area. I’ve kept the business up, but have also had to keep it from growing too fast. It’s still my side hustle, and I don’t want it to overshadow my music career. But fishing is something I enjoy doing. It’s kind of the yin to the yang, I guess, and keeps me connected with nature and that part of what I love about Florida.”

“When people charter, they are looking to get out and have a good time. Most of them have never fished saltwater before. I take joy in seeing their excitement and having them enjoy themselves, It’s not unlike music, you see people enjoying the music you play for them, and I see people getting a real charge out of catching a fish in a scenario they’ve never been in before. I love being on the water, and knowing that I set the scenario up. I had the plan, got the bait, knew where to go to catch fish. I don’t really need to be the guy reeling it in, just being a part of the whole equation is enjoyable for me.”

Earlier this year, Deming decided to release two albums. One would honor the start of his recording career, while the other would capture him live with the current members of the Jewel Tones and a number of celebrated guests. The wisdom of that decision is borne out by both albums being nominated for 2023 Blues Blast Music Awards.

“My first album, Double Down, was on Mighty Tiger Records, a small label. I’ve always owned 100% of the recording rights. I leased the record to them for release and distribution. And the lease agreement that I had said either party could negate this lease contract at any time for any reason. I owe that label a lot. When I was very young and fairly unknown, they gave me a shot and released my record.

“It seemed liked it was time for me to do something else with it, and we were at that point right about 20 years from the initial release date. So I took both the first and second records, Double Down and Falling Through The Cracks, and I re-released them on Blue Bella Records, owned by our good friends Nick and Kate Moss.  I didn’t make any changes to the second record. I just basically needed a way to distribute it, and to have copies to sell from the bandstand and be available through different online distribution points.

“With Double Down, I decided to make a little bigger splash out of it. That idea was sparked when I happened to find an 8mm high definition videocassette recording of the original CD release party for the record from 20 years ago in Royal Oak, Michigan at a club called Fifth Avenue Billiards.

“We set the camcorder up in the corner and just pointed it at the band and let it roll all night. Twenty years later, I was surprised at how much that camcorder picked up. The audio fidelity was not perfect, but pretty darn good. And with a little bit of studio magic, we were able to get four tracks off that live recording to add to the 20th anniversary release of that record.

“The band featured a gentleman I was working with at the time, Greg “Fingers” Taylor, the harmonica player that played so many years with the late Jimmy Buffett. And you know, it’s been 20 years, so your memory kind of drifts and fades. I forgot how great Fingers played that night. Hearing those tracks was a reminder of not only how great he was, but that he was particularly on fire that night. I ‘m really happy that we captured it.”

The live album, Groovin’ At Groove Now, was recorded as part of an annual concert series in Basel, Switzerland, It was years in the making, and not without some sadness. It features the wide range of styles that Deming loves, from traditional Chicago blues to rock ‘n’ roll, and jump blues tunes that swing like crazy.

“Groove Now is run by my good friend Patrick Kaiser, who I met in Florida when he did some vacationing down here. He would follow my band around a bunch,, didn’t let it be known as to who he was and what he did until the very end of one of his month long trips. He introduced himself, saying that he’d love to have me come and play at his concert series. I believe that was in 2018. I told him I’d love to do it and we set the show for 2021. I was surprised that he was booking three years in advance. Patrick’s words to me were, “we Swiss are an efficient people.”

“One of the special guests for our show was originally slated to be Little Charlie. Charlie’s words to me were, “I would love to do it if I’m still alive in three years”. It was easy to chuckle then, but he did not make it three years, which certainly makes you pause and think about all the thoughts you should be thinking when you chuckle about something like that. Then Covid pushed the show back a year.

“We recorded the band with special guests Terry Hanck, Sax Gordon, and an old friend from Detroit, Bill Heid,  although he’s no longer in Detroit either. Terry’s resume is pretty known by most people in the blues world. Fabulous singer, saxophone player, an all around great guy. I hope people know Gordon for his resume as well, although he seems to work more in Europe than he does in the States. He’s a fabulous musician on saxophone, and as a composer and arranger. Bill was in Detroit when I was there and musically kind of set the bar in that town for a long, long time. Everybody looked up to Bill, as he is an absolutely commanding force on the bandstand. He was an asset in a lot of surprising ways on the live record.

“Of course, being a live record, and being the kind of players we are, the tunes are a little bit longer. We stretch out on the solos. It was recorded in one night, no real overdubs, and no rehearsals. All things considered, I expected it to be good, and get a little bit of attention, but it’s gotten way more airplay than I expected it to get. It’s been on the charts for three months now, and it’s holding its own, and I didn’t expect this with a live record.”

“It’s a really huge honor to be nominated for so many things at the same time. I mean, Band of the Year is the one that floored me, and I’m just as floored right now, nominated alongside some of the best in the business, people that I love and respect. I never thought I’d see the day where I was nominated in the Historical recording category, but here I am. I guess 20 years was the cutoff, so it was eligible and we are honored to be nominated among some real classic recordings.”

The guitarist is very proud of his two band members, and thankful that they are getting what is, in his mind, well-deserved recognition.

“Andrew getting nominated for Bass Player of the Year may be my favorite nomination of all of them because I’ve had a front row seat to witness how hard that guy’s worked for the past 12 years on the upright bass. It was fairly new to him then, and I’ve watched the blood, sweat, and tears over and over and over again. The guy never stands still, he’s always trying to make himself a better player. That is inspiring to me and everybody around him. He’s moved mountains as a musician and that’s hard to do.

‘The thing is that its hard is to be in the category he’s in, with some of the most recorded bass players on the face of the earth. So it’s kind of a David and Goliath category. I hope he realizes that the fact that he’s in the category with those incredibly gifted and well known musicians means he’s in the same club and that he’s being recognized for all those reasons.

“Zack Pomerleau has been with us just over four years. He relocated from Maine to join the band. Zack has become a brother and also works really hard at his craft. When we hired Zack, we knew he played harmonica and a little piano plus some guitar. But we needed a drummer. We worked together with him just playing drums for a year or more, until the pandemic shut down. That caused us to rethink, to reconfigure the band a little bit. We had been working at the time as a quartet. For a lot of reasons, financially being the biggest consideration, we reduced to a trio to really stay alive.

“During the shutdown, Zack took the time to work out a way to convincingly play Chicago blues harmonica without his hands, where he could play the harmonica on a special rack simultaneously while he plays drums. He makes it look easy. I can only imagine how difficult it really is. Playing drums alone in my mind would be extremely difficult because he’s got four limbs doing independent things. Then to add the harmonica on top of that in terms of not only the mechanics of playing it, but also playing counterpoint rhythms, which basically means he’s got five different rhythms going on his head at the same time.

“I watch the eyes of people at our live shows. At first, they have no idea where the harmonica is coming from. And when they see what’s going on, their eyes get really, really wide, they smile, and they’re kind of in awe. Zack makes it sound like someone’s holding a harmonica mic and really concentrating on just that. It’s quite the feat, done so well and so correctly that you would never think that a person is doing that hands free. “

When he is not playing music or out on a fishing trip, Deming is often helping Claudia, his wife and biggest fan, with her estate sale business. They also love to spend time with their daughter, son-in-law, and two adorable grandchildren. Needless to say they both were quite thrilled when their daughter announced two years ago that her family was moving to Florida, giving the grandparents plenty of opportunities to spend time together with them.

“Family is uber, uber important to me. I haven’t mentioned that because we have been focused on the band, my music, and my career. It would be very appropriate to say I have a number of passions – being outdoors and on the water, making my principal living by playing the music that I love. That said, family comes first.”

All in all, the guitarist is happy with where his life is at this point. Plans for the immediate future include a full length recording of all new original material, as well as a special pet project recording that Doug has been developing for some time.

“Honestly, what’s important to me is to be successful. And in my eyes, what that means is that I achieve the goals that I set for myself musically and in the music business. In a lot of ways I’ve done that. I’ve stayed true to my heart in terms of the music that I play. The traditions of American blues and jazz music are very, very important, and staying true to that is paramount to me.”