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This week’s Pick of the Week was made for the blues band, The Mojo Tones. “The Mojo Tones started out as four friends just getting together, playing Blues and Blues-Rock songs for the fun of it.  Mike (drums) initiated things by asking Billy (guitar) if he’d be interested in doing a Blues project, just for fun, just because. Billy says, “One thing led to another, word got out, and suddenly, we were playing gigs by word of mouth.” Mike knew a singer/harmonica player in Joe (Vocals & Harp) that loved the Blues, and they had a friend that played bass. That bass player was Will, and with his musical background, things meshed together quite well. After a few years, Will had to tend to family matters, and through Will, Gerald was welcomed in on bass. Gerald has years of playing under his belt, and is a perfect fit.

Billy says, “I think the last thing the Musical World needs is yet-another Blues band playing endless shuffles, or their versions of Stevie Ray Vaughan songs. We mix genres, a 1940’s Blues classic with a modern blues-rock re-write…Country Blues, ala Robert Johnson, but with electrified Dobro through an amp, or playing Hendrix with harmonica, Dylan with a Dobro, a John Lee Hooker-influenced slide-guitar twist of Rolling Stones classic…even Motorhead, just because it was fun. No rules, no taking ourselves too seriously.” Mike went from a regular drum kit, resized to just a kick and snare with a couple of cymbals, trading in his sticks for a pair of brushes…minimalist to the bone. Just picture Motorhead with brushes…With Mike, less is more, and his ability to groove with the song shows it. “Some of the places we play require a lot less volume than regular clubs, so I started using a 5 watt guitar amp, even a 1watt amp, because the club requires a limit on volume level. My guitar-playing friends think I’m crazy…” Even Joe’s harp amp went down to 5 watts or 1 watt, depending on the gig. Joe uses different effects with his harp: distortion, Leslie, phasing, flanging, echo…anything to sound different.

The Blues is a great teacher, and it will teach you that what feels right, isright.  The Mojo Tones mix genres, within songs, playing Country Blues with Blues Rock, Jump Blues with Jazz, without any of the high-brow sensibilities. It still comes down to four friends playing music, for the love of music…” To find out more about The Mojo Tones, visit their facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mojo-Tones/149174077686. The Mojo Tones’ picks were made on our white delrin material, which was perfect to enhance their red logo and give that classic “Coca Cola” look. To design your own custom guitar picks visit www.claytoncustom.com today!