Ronnie Earl (born Ronald Horvath, March 10, 1953,

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

) is an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

and music instructor. Earl who grew up collecting various music records, pursued a degree in special education and education at Boston University. He became interested in guitar after attending a Muddy Waters concert and began playing in the Boston blues scene. He later joined the band Roomful of Blues and started a solo career in 1986. In 1984, Earl formed his band, The Broadcasters, which released multiple albums over the years. Diagnosed with medical ailments in 2000, he scaled back on touring and later reformed the Broadcasters with a new lineup. As a four-time Blues Music Award winner for Guitar Player of the Year, Earl has also been an associate professor of guitar at Berklee College of Music and released an instructional video. His band, Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters, celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2018 and released their 26th studio album, ''Mercy Me'', in 2022.

Career

Earl collected blues,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

records while growing up. He studied American History at C.W. Post College on Long Island for a year and a half, then moved to Boston to pursue a

Bachelor's Degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in Special Education and Education at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

where he would graduate in 1975. He spent a short time teaching handicapped children. During his college years, he attended a

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of moder ...

concert at the Jazz Workshop in Boston. After seeing Waters perform, Earl took a serious interest in the guitar, which he had first picked up in 1973. His first job was as a

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

ist at The Speakeasy, a blues club in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

. In addition to playing in the Boston blues scene, Earl traveled twice by

Greyhound Bus Greyhound Lines, Inc. is an American operator of intercity bus services. Greyhound operates the largest intercity bus network in the United States, and also operates charter and Amtrak Thruway services, as well as intercity buses in Mexico. B ...

to Chicago, where he was introduced to the Chicago blues scene by Koko Taylor. Later he traveled to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

and

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, where he spent time with

Kim Wilson Kim Wilson (born January 6, 1951) is an American blues singer and harmonica player. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman for The Fabulous Thunderbirds on two hit songs of the 1980s, " Tuff Enuff" (which was the group's only Top ...

Jimmie Vaughan Jimmie Lawrence Vaughan Jr. (born March 20, 1951) is an American blues rock guitarist and singer based in Austin, Texas. He is the older brother of the Texas blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. He was a founding member of The Fabulous Thunder ...

and The Fabulous Thunderbirds. In 1979, he joined the

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

Roomful of Blues Roomful of Blues is an American jump blues and swing revival big band based in Rhode Island. With a recording career that spans over 50 years, they have toured worldwide and recorded many albums. Roomful of Blues, according to the ''Chicago Sun ...

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

ist. He began performing

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''Star Wars Legends'' continuity * Kylo Ren (Ben Solo), a ''Star Wars'' character * Napoleon Solo, fr ...

in 1986, in addition to playing with Roomful of Blues, and he released his first solo

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

on the

Black Top Records Black Top Records was an American, New Orleans, Louisiana-based independent record label, founded in 1981 by brothers Nauman S. Scott, III and Hammond Scott. The label specialized in blues and R&B music. The first release was "Talk To You By Hand" ...

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

with a quartet that focused on blues

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

s. After leaving Roomful of Blues, he began collaborations with contemporaries

Ron Levy Ron Levy (born Reuvin Zev ben Yehoshua Ha Levi, May 29, 1951) is an American electric blues musician and composer. Levy was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. He primarily plays piano and organ. Levy grew up in Brookline, Massachu ...

Jerry Portnoy Jerry Portnoy (born November 25, 1943, in Evanston, Illinois, United States) is an American harmonica blues musician, who has toured with Muddy Waters and Eric Clapton. Biography Portnoy grew up in Chicago. He first heard the blues played outs ...

Earl King Earl Silas Johnson IV (February 7, 1934 – April 17, 2003),
known as Earl King, was an American singer, guita ...

Jimmy Rogers Jay or James Arthur "Jimmy" Rogers (June 3, 1924December 19, 1997) was an American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters's band in the early 1950s. He also had a solo career and ...

, and

Jimmy Witherspoon James Witherspoon (August 8, 1920 – September 18, 1997) was an American jump blues and jazz singer. Early life, family and education Witherspoon was born in Gurdon, Arkansas. His father was a railroad worker who sang in local choirs, an ...

. In 1984, Earl formed his own band which he called 'The Broadcasters'. The band was named after one of the first Fender guitars, distributed in 1950, which originally had been labeled The Broadcaster. The first group of Broadcasters included Darrell Nulisch (vocalist),

(harmonica), Steve Gomes (bass), and Per Hanson (drums). In 1988 they released their first album, ''Soul Searchin'', followed by ''Peace of Mind'' in 1990. Their album ''Language of the Soul'' was released in 1994. The lineup for the Broadcasters for that album was Bruce Katz (keyboards), Per Hanson (drums) and "Rocket" Rod Carey (bass). The next album ''The Colour of Love'', featured Marc Quinones (percussion) and

Gregg Allman Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman B ...

(keyboards). The latter association led to Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters' opening for the

Allman Brothers Band Allman may refer to: Music *The Allman Brothers Band, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame southern rock band, formed by Duane and Gregg Allman *The Allman Joys, an early band formed by Duane and Gregg Allman *The Gregg Allman Band People *Allman (surnam ...

at Great Woods, and to Warren Haynes (guitarist for the Allman Brothers Band) sitting in with Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters at Johnnie D's in Somerville. Later, Katz joined the Gregg Allman Band. In 2000, Earl was diagnosed with several medical ailments, and scaled back his touring, and also re-evaluated his career plans. In 2002, Earl gathered together a new group of Broadcasters and began a productive and creative partnership with Stony Plain Records of

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada. The new Broadcasters were Jim Mouradian (bass), Dave Limina (piano, Hammond B3), and

Lorne Entress Lorne Entress is an American drummer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer, currently living in Glastonbury, Connecticut, United States. Entress has worked with a wide range of artists in pop, folk, Americana, blues and jazz styles. He ha ...

(drums). In 2014, Diane Blue (vocals) joined the band as a full time Broadcaster and became the first female Broadcaster. In August 2016, Lorne Entress left to work on other projects and, in January 2017, Jim Mouradian died suddenly after a show. The current group of Broadcasters (2018) now include Dave Limina (piano, Hammond B3), Diane Blue (vocals), Forrest Padgett (drums), and Paul Kochanski (bass). In 2017, Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters released ''The Luckiest Man'', his eleventh release from Stony Plain Records. In October 2018, Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters celebrated thirty years as a band. Earl is a four-time (1997, 1999, 2014, 2018)

Blues Music Award The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Handy, " ...

winner as Guitar Player of the Year. For five years he was an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

of guitar at

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

and, in 1995, he released ''Ronnie Earl: Blues Guitar with Soul'', an instructional VHS tape for Arlen Roth's Hot Licks Video that was then re-released in DVD format in 2005. Earl was also the blues instructor at the 'National Guitar Summer Workshop'. In early 2004, Earl's "Hey Jose" was named Best Blues/R&B Song at the third annual Independent Music Awards. Earl frequently plays both scheduled and impromptu sessions at the Bull Run Tavern in

Shirley, Massachusetts Shirley is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately thirty miles west-northwest of Boston. The population was 7,431 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town has ...

, either on the main stage in the ballroom, or sitting in with visiting bands and performers in the tap room. He plays an annual birthday show at the Bull Run every March. In February 2022, Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters released the album, ''Mercy Me''. It is their 26th studio album, and 14th with Sony Plain Records.

Discography

Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters

Studio albums

*1983 ''Smokin' '' *1984 ''They Call Me Mr. Earl'' *1986 ''I Like It When It Rains'' *1988 ''Soul Searching'' *1990 ''Peace of Mind'' *1991 ''Surrounded by Love'' *1993 ''Still River'' *1994 ''Language of the Soul'' *1995 ''Grateful Heart: Blues and Ballads'' *1996 ''Eye to Eye'' -with

Pinetop Perkins Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins (July 7, 1913 – March 21, 2011) was an American blues pianist. He played with some of the most influential blues and rock-and-roll performers of his time and received numerous honors, including a Grammy Lifet ...

*1997 ''The Colour of Love'' *2000 ''Healing Time'' *2001 ''Ronnie Earl and Friends'' *2003 ''I Feel Like Goin' On'' *2004 ''Now My Soul'' *2005 ''The Duke Meets the Earl'' -with

Duke Robillard Michael John "Duke" Robillard (born October 4, 1948) is an American guitarist and singer. He founded the band Roomful of Blues and was a member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Although Robillard is known as a rock and blues guitarist, he also play ...

*2007 ''Hope Radio'' *2009 ''Living in the Light'' *2010 ''Spread the Love'' *2014 ''Good News'' *2015 ''Father's Day'' *2016 ''Maxwell Street'' *2017 ''The Luckiest Man'' *2019 ''Beyond The Blue Door'' *2020 ''Rise Up'' *2022 ''Mercy Me''

Live albums

*1995 ''Blues Guitar Virtuoso – Live in Europe'' (note: ''Blues and Forgiveness'' is the same album) *2013 ''Just for Today''

Compilations

*1985 ''Deep Blues'' *1992 ''Test of Time: A Retrospective'' *1997 ''Plays Big Blues'' *2006 ''Heart and Soul: The Best of Ronnie Earl''

Guest appearances

Ronnie Earl has appeared as a guest on over 40 albums and projects. With

* ''Jimmy Rogers with Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters'' (Bullseye, 1994) With

Big Joe Turner Joseph Vernon "Big Joe" Turner Jr. (May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985) was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him". Turner's greatest fa ...

* ''Blues Train'' (Muse, 1983) -with special guest:

Dr. John Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. His music combined New Orleans blues, jazz, R&B, soul and funk. Active as a session mus ...

With

Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (born Edward L. Vinson Jr.; December 18, 1917 – July 2, 1988) was an American jump blues, jazz, bebop and R&B alto saxophonist and blues shouter. He was nicknamed "Cleanhead" after an incident in which his hair was ...

* '' Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson & Roomful of Blues'' (Muse, 1982)

DVDs

*2001 ''Blues Guitar with Soul'' *2008 ''Hope Radio Sessions''

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Earl, Ronnie 1953 births Living people American blues guitarists American male guitarists Musicians from Queens, New York Boston University School of Education alumni Black Top Records artists Contemporary blues musicians Independent Music Awards winners 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians Stony Plain Records artists Verve Records artists Telarc Records artists Rounder Records artists