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VICTOR WAINWRIGHT—CHUGGIN’ ON DOWN THE BLUE RAILS
Born in Savannah, Georgia, USA, blues and boogie singer, songwriter
and pianist Victor Lawton Wainwright, Jr. is better known as the
“Piana from Savannah”, the title of his 2005 debut CD! Since his first
release Victor has toured internationally, won six total Blues Music
Awards, charted #1 in the Top 10 on the U.S. Billboard Blues Chart
and was Nominated for a 2019 GRAMMY.
Fast forward to May 2020 and Victor’s 8th release titled Victor
Wain
wright and The
Train—Memphis Loud.
Reuniting The Train band from his
previous recording, the work
consists of Victor on keys and vocals,
Pat Harrington on guitar, Billy Dean
on drums and percussion, and
Terrence Grayson on bass. Also,
former Roomful Of Blues players
Doug Woolverton on trumpet and
flugelhorn, Mark Earley on sax and
clarinet appear on most tracks, and
producer Dave Gross fills in on
guitar and percussion across the
album. Guests include Victor’s
former band mates Greg Gumpel
(guitar), Monster Mike Welch 0n
guitar, Nick Black (vocals), Mikey
Anthony Geraci
Junior on backing vocals and harp,
Chris Stephenson on B3 and Stephen
Dees, Patricia Ann Dees, Reba
Russell, Gracie Curran, Francesca
Milazzo and Terrell ‘Peanut’ Reed on
backing vocals. Victor wrote all the songs, eight by himself and four with assistance; Greg Gumpel on
two, Stephen Dees on one, Pat Harrington and Billy Dean on one and Chris Stephenson on one.
B
Whew!!!
On Memphis Loud, Victor parks his boogie style piano and gravel-rich vocals under the blues
umbrella along with soul, gospel, jazz and definitely rock. Pair that with rockus arrangements, folksy
lyrics and we’re all just chugging along down the tracks together enjoying the ride!
I asked Victor to tell us a bit about himself and Memphis Loud. This is what he told me ……
LL: So, please tell us about where you grew up and what kind of music you were exposed to?
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