Local blues

International Blues Challenge finalist Pryor Baird and the Deacons comes home to Orcutt

Local blues
PHOTO COURTESY PRYOR BAIRD AND THE DEACONS
BLUES MEN: Pryor Baird and the Deacons brings a down home sound to Orcutt. The band just got back from the International Blues Challenge in Tennessee where they were finalists.

When you go to a Pryor Baird and the Deacons performance, there’s no doubt you should do what you want to do: clap your hands, stand up and dance, whatever—as long as you get swept up in the jazzy, bluesy tunes that bounce from the band. Pryor Baird, on the other hand, does what he has to do, what he was practically born to do: play from the soul.

For as long as Baird can remember, he’s had a penchant for the blues. One of his first memories from childhood is listening to his mother’s Jimmy Reed albums.

“I thought, ‘How cool!’” he said. “I heard it and thought, ‘That’s what I want to do.’”

It wouldn’t take long for his childhood fascination with the blues to grow. And soon, it wasn’t just something he wanted to do, it was something he had to do.

“It sounds kind of corny, but nobody chooses the blues, the blues chooses you,” he said.

Pryor Baird and the Deacons are made up of Baird, known for his slide work on guitar; Matt “Mr. G” Gittleson on drums; bassist Robert “Dirty Bertie” Chetwood; trumpet, flugelhorn player, and musical director George “Godfather” Pandis; and tenor and alto saxophone player Rene “The Cat” Blair.

Together, they deliver a traditional blues, roots, and Americana sound with an original twist. Baird and the Deacons put out a performance meant to get the audience off their feet, but the musicians recognize that sometimes audiences have a hard time understanding such a feeling is okay.

Local blues
PHOTO COURTESY PRYOR BAIRD AND THE DEACONS
“People aren’t used to hearing this kind of music, so they don’t know what to do,” Baird said. “They don’t know if they should clap their hands or dance.”

The band takes that sound to audiences all over the state. Most recently, they introduced it to the world. Having won the Santa Barbara Blues Society’s Battle of the Bands contest, they qualified for the International Blues Challenge in Tennessee.

Competition was stiff. The first day Baird walked around enjoying the music. By the second day, he was sizing up the other bands, trying to determine where his band fit. He saw a guy pick up a four-legged chair and play slide guitar with it, and that told him what he was up against.

“I said, ‘I have to step this up a bit,’” he said, so he used a beer bottle to play slide. Obviously he did something right.

As if they needed further proof of how good they really are, they took fourth place out of 538 bands that competed.

“Anybody would be surprised at getting to go that far, especially from a small town like this,” said Baird, born and raised in Orcutt. “We were stoked. We still are stoked.”

Local blues
THE COLOR OF MUSIC: Pryor Baird and the Deacons will play the Loading Dock, 315 S. Broadway, Orcutt, at 7 p.m. on May 1. For more information, call 934-3471.
After taking that honor, the band is bringing it back home with a performance at the Loading Dock, where it’s played a few times before. Joanne Frick owns the venue along with her husband, Clay.

“Pryor Baird and the Deacons put on a truly incredible show,” she said, adding that with solid vocals and amazing instrumentals, they bring the feel of Bourbon Street to Orcutt.

Frick said they got in touch with the band after hearing about them from Orcutt residents. Many of her regulars, in fact, knew him personally. With that in mind, Baird promised he’d bring his hometown a good time.

“Expect high-energy fun—good, down-home fun,” he said. “This is music people put their heart and souls into ... and we’ve been doing this a long time, and we’ve mastered it,” he said.

Arts Editor Shelly Cone wants to see someone play a guitar with another guitar. Contact her at [email protected].

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