PHOTO COURTESY OF BAND

Blues band will bring Cabo to Milton

By John Larson

Loose Gravel and the Quarry are set to release their new album, a labor of love that reflects the good mesh of personalities and sense of fun in the band.

It consists of Steve “Loose Gravel” Luhtala on lead vocals, harmonica and guitar, Steve Cooley on guitar and vocals, Johnny Burgess on keyboards and vocals, Rich Nesbitt on bass and vocals and Gary Marcello on drums.

The band started as a blues and classic rock outfit in 1992.

Loose Gravel is the band’s leader and primary songwriter.

The new album, “Around The Sound,” contains 11 original songs and one cover tune.

Loose Gravel said he began working on the material years ago, but plans for recording the album were sidetracked six years ago when his wife became seriously ill and paying medical bills took precedence over paying for studio time.

He also realized he did not have the right people in the band. Marcello is the only other original member.

Gravel began assembling a new lineup. Cooley had a group that frequently played at Cole’s, a bar in Ruston that has since closed. Nesbitt and Burgess played in that group.

Gravel was familiar with them, as he hosted a blues jam at the bar once a week and often had his band play there on weekends. They eventually became the new version of the Quarry. They played gigs for about 18 months before recording the album, in which time Gravel wrote some new material.

“We have never had more fun in our lives,” Gravel said. “These guys are the guys I would go to war with.”

Cooley said there are no egos getting in the way or feelings to be hurt in this group.

“We are just like kids in a candy store,” Gravel remarked.

Marcello said they have many common interests besides the blues. “We talk about football more than music half the time,” he remarked.

Cooley is originally from Chico, Calif. He spent many years in bands in the Golden State, where he opened up for blues greats such as Robert Cray, Elvin Bishop and Albert King.

He wrote one song on the album. Cooley is eager to see how the CD is received. He feels some of the material is commercially viable. It is not entirely straight-up blues, he noted.

“We have some rock influences,” Nesbitt added.

Burgess has a progressive rock background that Gravel feels lends itself well to a blues format.

“I knew it would put a different edge on the whole thing,” he said.

“We like to have fun. I hope it shows when we play,” Gravel said. “Isn’t life supposed to be fun? You have to be able to let loose.”

His sense of humor shows through on several of the new songs. “Bald Man Blues” chronicles his hairstyles through the years, from the crew cuts of his youth to his current bald head. “I lived every one of those moments,” Gravel said. “That song is the history of my hair.”

“Walla Walla Onion Song” was inspired by when he lived near the fairgrounds in Puyallup. One year the fair was underway, he had an ulcer and was on a special bland diet. The smell of the famous fair burgers wafting through the neighborhood proved too much to resist. He hit the fair, ate three or four onion-covered burgers, then went home with an upset stomach and a satisfied palate.

The title track begins with a drive over the Narrows. The photo on the back of the album is of the new and old Tacoma Narrows Bridges.

“I write a lot about local stuff,” Gravel said. “I am a Tacoma guy and I always will be.”

Gravel grew up listening to the early rock pioneers of T-Town. As a youngster, he remembers when the Sonics practiced in a garage next door to where a friend lived. “They paved the way for me,” he said. “People don’t realize how much talent came out of Tacoma.”

Growing up in California, Cooley was quite familiar with the Tacoma rock scene. “Jerry Miller is God in California.” Miller, who grew up in Tacoma and lives here now, rose to fame as a member of Moby Grape in the 1960s in the Bay Area. “Moby Grape was a big, big deal,” Cooley remarked.

The Ventures and the Wailers were other bands he listened to in his formative years.

“Guitarists from Tacoma are more famous elsewhere than they are here,” Cooley observed.

This summer the band plans to release a live CD recorded at last year’s Old Town Blues Festival. In the fall they plan to return to the studio to work on another album. Gravel said it will likely have covers of songs by blues greats such as

Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Freddy King. “They paved the way for us,” Gravel said. “If it wasn’t for them, none of us would be sitting here.”

The group is looking forward to their Cinco de Mayo gig coming up on May 5 at Melaque Mexican Restaurant in Milton. Gravel said the owners cover the parking lot with sand and throw an outdoor party. “For one night we are bringing Cabo to Milton!”

Loose Gravel and the Quarry hold their album release show at 8 p.m. April 26 at Robert’s 99th Street in Tacoma.

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