Santa Clarita blues band plays live, finds success on the web

A man with a reversed cap approaches the microphone with a lap steel guitar on a stool in front of him. Beneath dimmed yellow lights, his gray goatee, black shirt and pants, and bright red loafers recall the look of blues artists or perhaps a beatnik poet. Judging by his appearance, the scene could be in a smoky bar in New Orleans, Detroit, or Austin Texas. The man closes his eyes, the drummer builds a beat, and the man’s fingers begin to dance across the steel strings as his smooth voice grabs the audience’s attention.

Watching him perform one would never guess that Ernie “Rocky” Jackson’s day job is as an educator with the Newhall School District. Somehow Jackson not only manages to navigate California state education legalese and master the four letter acronyms of state programs, he also is the lead singer, guitarist and lyricist for Rocky Jackson and the Ignitors, a blues band that is enjoying increasing popularity and widespread radio play on the internet.

“I’ve been playing since I was 16,” Jackson, 59, says, “I love to play live. It’s just a great way of expressing myself.”

The Ignitors were formed in May 2005. Jackson, with drummer/vocalist Elliott “Lee” Witherspoon, bassist Joel T. Johnson, and Michael Fall on the harmonica, have released one mini album and one full album.

Traditionally, any musician hoping to get airtime on a radio station would send demo tapes or disks to dozens of radio stations hoping to grab a program director or DJ’s attention. It’s always been difficult for independent and part time musicians to get widespread airplay for their music.

The consolidation of FM radio stations in the 1990s did little to help diversity on the airwaves. Formulaic pop music, generic DJs, and corporate influence made the odds of an artist like Rocky Jackson getting airplay extremely remote.

So Jackson took a different route. Like artists 30 years ago, Jackson has sent out over 100 copies of his latest album to radio stations, but instead of focusing on FM stations, Jackson has successfully used internet radio to spread his music and gain a following.

“Several stations in France, Italy, Belgium, the UK, and Finland play my music,” Jackson says proudly. From his home in Santa Clarita, Jackson has listened to his own music being played by internet radio stations in Argentina and India. “The Ignitors reach three continents and eight countries,” Jackson says.

Jackson grew up in Austin, Texas before moving to Detroit as a teen where he was influenced by the likes of B.B. King and John Lee Hooker. After shuffling back to Austin during its heyday as a center for the blues, he moved to California where he chose a career in education. Jackson then went to work as a teacher in Sunland and Glendale before he moved onto the Newhall School District where he served as principle of Peachland School and later became head of Special Instruction at the district level.

Yet throughout his 30 year career in education, music has remained his passion after work, on the weekends, and whenever he could fit it in. He counts Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed, and Little Walter among his primary blues influences. Jackson engineers, records and produces his CDs himself, yet another way he is leveraging technology to minimize cost and maximize music.

At All Corked Up on Friday Night, Rocky Jackson and the Ignitors played to a small crowd of wine and music lovers. Several fans were also Newhall School District employees who have followed Jackson’s part time music career. Others boogied in their seats as Jackson and Witherspoon sang original and cover blues songs. Michael Fell on the harmonica delighted the crowd with his skill and range.

For now, Jackson says he is more concerned with increasing airplay of his music than making money. Jackson admits that while he’s happy with the results of his efforts so far, he doesn’t want to be a one man agent, lyricist, publicist and recording technician forever. He hopes he’ll soon be able to find someone who can book gigs for him and find new venues for him to play in. Jackson’s true passion is playing live to a crowd.

You can see Rocky Jackson and the Ignitors play again at All Corked Up in Canyon Country on November 11th from 8-1l p.m. To listen to some clips of the band’s music, please visit this link.

RockyJackson.com - Official Website