Fishing Blues -Brint Anderson

More than forty years have passed since Brint Anderson first led his own band, The Shades. They played local teen centers and parties in his hometown of Natchez, Mississippi and the surrounding area throughout his adolescence. It was during this time that he found a love for the indigenous Blues of the area. Local Bluesman Papa George Lightfoot was Brint’s earliest inspiration; they met when Papa George was playing harmonica and spoons for a supermarket’s grand opening and radio broadcast. From that point, it was a natural progression to learn the music of other Mississippi greats such as Elmore James, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and B. B. King.

In the seventies, after a couple of years in the mostly stale atmosphere of a college music curriculum, Brint returned to Natchez to join the band Blue John that played six nights a week at a local watering hole. This was more of the musical training he needed as the band learned and played the songs of B. B., Albert, and Freddie King, the Allman Brothers, Little Feat and other popular rock groups of the day. It was during this time that Brint began playing slide guitar on a regular basis. He also learned the finger-picking styles of Mississippi John Hurt and Taj Mahal. Of note, the band once featured the deep sultry voice of Cassandra Wilson, a Mississippi native who went on to fame and fortune when she left the band for New York. Blue John remained together for eight years until Brint was encouraged by old friends in Austin, Texas to move there and become part of the scene.

click for larger size image In Austin, Brint formed his band Coupe de Ville. They were a six-piece unit with percussion and horns and played the funky, syncopated styles of New Orleans R & B as well as Little Feat and their own compositions. There was one release by the band which featured Brint’s songs Blue Feelin’ and Mississippi Music. Coupe de Ville played many shows with Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Fabulous Thunderbirds and other popular bands of the Austin scene. However, the most important connections for Brint were when the band played with the Neville Brothers and Dr. John. Coupe became Dr. John’s backing band whenever he passed through Texas playing dates in Austin and Houston and a few in Lafayette, Louisiana. This experience later led to Brint moving to New Orleans permanently. Other artists Coupe backed during this time were Stanley Clark, John Lee Hooker, Elvin Bishop, Albert Collins and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.

In 1992, Brint packed up and headed for New Orleans. With the connections he had made with Dr. John and the Nevilles, it wasn’t long before he was working with many of the legends of this cradle of American music. His first break was securing the guitar position in George Porter, Jr’s Runnin’ Pardners, a position he held for fifteen years. During this run with Porter, he recorded on five releases and one live video called Things Ain’t What They Used To Be. His song Sweetness was featured on Porter’s Funk and Go Nuts. Through the gig with Runnin’ Pardners, Brint had the opportunity to back other greats such as Art Neville, The Radiators, Johnny Adams, Earl King, Snooks Eaglin, Eddie Bo and Henry Butler.

Brint Anderson Band was formed in the early nineties. He won the Abita beer Blues competition in ’93 at Mid City “Rock N Bowl”, received an award for best New Orleans R & B band from offBeat magazine in ’97, and was the house band for Levon Helm of The Band and Levon’s short-lived club on Decatur Street. Brint has released four CD’s of his own…1995’s Homage To Elmore, a tribute to Elmore James, 1997’s I Knew This Would Happen, the first release on his own Toulouse Records, the 2000 release Notes From Clarksdale, a live acoustic Blues recording from Hopson farm in Clarksdale, and his latest solo acoustic CD, simply self-titled.

Brint continues to perform solo, with his band, as guitarist for Joe Krown’s Organ Combo or Trio (the trio released Old Friends in 2007),
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