Blues Stalker: Wendy, tell us about your earliest years on the keyboards. Did you receive any classic or formal training and how were you introduced to the blues and boogie woogie?
Wendy DeWitt: My training was pretty sporadic. As a kid there was an old upright around and I was always on it, then Mom had to sell it to get groceries. Later my Dad replaced a guys Porsche transmission and was paid with a Wurlitzer spinet and Grandma started me on lessons. I was about 10 and this lasted for a year or so. Through various family permutations over the next couple of years I didn’t see my piano much until high school, then I started in on the haphazard jams, lessons, etc. until I ended up in the jazz band in Junior College and got an AA in fine arts (music). The motivating factors behind this were my Dad’s constant banjo playing and songwriting as I was growing up, and family friend Tommy Thompson’s hanging out at the house playing boogie woogie. I was hooked. Tommy showed me the first boogie thing when I was around 12 or so. Then I stumbled onto a pile of records with Billie Holiday, Memphis Slim, Paul Butterfield, James Cotton, Speckled Red, and some great blues compilations. Hooked, I never listened to rock and roll in high school. I’d go to school dances and request blues tunes. They thought I was nuts.

BS: When did your professional musical career begin?
WD: At about 20.

BS: You were born in the San Francisco Bay area and began playing with former Chicagoans there in 1984. How did you hook up with these guys?
WD: We had a mutual friend, a bass player. Chicago Blues Power got me back into blues after some side trips into top 40 road bands and original rock bands.

BS: Talented Delmark recording artist Steve Freund produced your latest CD and has contributed to your CDs as well. How did this dynamic relationship come about?
WD: When Steve moved to town I started calling him for some shows and we gradually ended up working together more and more. He’s extremely knowledgeable and a good mentor. He shares not only his music but the feeling and stories behind it as well.

BS: You have five CDs out now plus some cuts on compilations. Care to tell us about them and how can listeners obtain copies?
WD: The first couple are pretty much out of print now. Some of the compilations are available on the usual web CD sites, and the Wendy DeWitt CDs are available at either jazznow.com or by emailing wette@wettemusic.com. The web site wendydewitt.com has information as well.

BS: You toured with the late Hank Ballard until his death this past March. What was it like to play with him and how did this relationship come about?
WD: Hank was wonderful. The connection music has to joy and love was not lost on Hank and he was a very loving person. Extremely loyal and sincere as well. His shows were a celebration and whatever else was going on before a show or in the outside world, once the music started it was about music, the groove, and making people happy.
I ended up playing with Hank through a friend that used to play guitar in my band. He’d been playing with Hank for years and I’d met the band at a Sweetwater Saloon show in Mill Valley, CA. When the spot came available, it just worked out.

BS: What specifically attracted you to boogie woogie? Did you have a natural talent for it or did you develop a love for it?
WD: I loved boogie woogie from the start. It is strikingly similar to Western Swing piano so when Tommy, a Hall of Famer in that world but on guitar, used to play at my Dad’s house I didn’t know the difference and just went for the boogie. Memphis Slim was my first album purchase, and then Rufus Perryman. I’d play left hand patterns for hours just grooving. It’s addictive. Never having been much on popular stuff, the fact that no one else in my world listened to the music completely escaped me. I just figured this is great stuff and it was a ball to play.

BS: You write, sing, and play the piano as well as being bandleader. Is it difficult to handle all of these roles at one time?
WD: It’s the management part that gets you. Booking and management. Hard to wear all the hats. I get some help in those departments, but more would greatly streamline life and allow me to do more of the things that really count, like play and write.

BS: You market your own products and own your own music company and well as record, mix, and package the entire project. Is this correct?
WD: Wette Music is my label, and it’s also a management company and then there’s Wette Music Disc Duplication. For the engineering and mixing I hire really good cats and then my company does the publishing and all the rest.¡

BS: Tell us about the annual Queens of Boogie Woogie show that you produce at Berkeley’s Freight and Salvage. That sounds like fun.
WD: It’s a ball. It was inspired by wanting to get to know Sue Palmer. I tracked her down after subbing for her in Candye Kane’s band for a couple of gigs. It was all about networking, getting to know the other gals that play this music, and having fun. Still is all about that.
Sue Palmer, Beverly Stovall, Carol Fran and Caroline Dahl have all been Queens. We’ve had a couple of honorary Queens too: Mr. B and Big Joe Duskin. Carmen Getit was a guitar Queen last year. We like to stick to piano Queens but are flexible.
We’ve found that there’s a huge untapped fan base of piano lovers. So many people don’t listen to popular radio and really prefer niche styles, such as boogie. We’re working to build that community through events and hooking up with players in other geographic areas. Underneath the veneer of what’s on Entertainment Tonight there’s so much going on in American culture. It’s rich and broad and we are out to find and to feed those that dig roots piano music.
Thanks to a group of friends, the infamous Betty’s, we not only do the annual show at Freight and Salvage and adding more venues, but radio shows and the Black Tie Piano Party. We record the show’s audio and video and someday there will be a documentary of the west coast piano scene, with a heavy emphasis on the women involved. We’re few and far between, but very active and dedicated to our work.

BS: You have toured Europe a number of times. What countries there have you performed in?
WD: Not too many. Just Belgium with Hank Ballard and a whole bunch of times in France by myself

BS: I know you are a big fan of Otis Spann. Who else?
WD: Ah. Now do you mean just the piano players? I’ll answer broadly. Otis, Big Maceo, Little Brother Montgomery, Sunnyland Slim, Albert Ammons, Willie Smith, Chic Corea, Marian McPartland, Memphis Slim I’ll never forget the first time I saw McCoy Tyner live. Just blew me away with the intensity of his playing. Everynote was a distillation of his emotion. Stunning. So there are some of the piano players. Now add King Curtis, Booker T., Tampa Red, Lonnie Johnson. Duke Robiallard. The melodic quality of Lonnie keeps me coming back for more. Steve Freund and Dave Workman are the two guitarists I work with the most and they’ve had a huge impact on my playing vis-à-vis inspiration, revelation and experience. Jim Overton was a drummer I got to work with for a while and just because he was so good it taught me all kinds of things about listening and rhythm, and same thing with drummer Chris Sandoval, who’s out with Tommy Castro now.
You’ve got to play with people who make you high and engage you. Who take you out of your body and into the music?

BS: Does boogie woogie have its own distinct fans? Is it here to stay?
WD: Boogie woogie will never go away. It’s in all kinds of music and though it may change over time, or not - for some folks, it will always have a place. It’s primal.

BS: Any thoughts on what we all can do to promote live music and encourage people to get out and go hear such talent as you?
WD: Yeah, invite a friend to a concert! Turn someone you love onto a magnificent artist they may have never heard of. It’s easy to forget how powerful music and art are in our lives. We get caught up, money is an issue, all the day-to-day things, but it’s true. Our souls thrive with good input. Color, sound, joy – ever notice how good you feel after a particularly gripping concert? Then you go out in the world and what do you do? You make better decisions because you aren’t stressed, you’re nice to someone, and you share a smile. Art keeps us human.

BS: Does boogie woogie get much radio air time? Does blues radio include it in playlists? I rarely hear it represented and that’s a shame.
WD: Hah! Well, on community and college radio blues and boogie thrive. Not so much pure boogie, but then there aren’t too many people recording it and getting their CDs out there. Guitars have held sway for a long time too. Watch out, piano players are rising up.

BS: What is your website and how can fans contact you?
WD: Wendydewitt.com. It’s all there.

BS: Any plans to get to Spain in the future? I know that fans of La Hora del Blues would love to hear you live.
WD: Can’t wait to get to Spain. I was there for an afternoon last summer and loved it. Plate of shrimp for $7 and that’s with a beer! I’ve been reading about Spain since I was a kid and have always wanted to spend time there. I’ve a piano student from Spain and he’s told me lots of stories. He loves boogie woogie and says it’d be a ball to play there. Know any promoters we can contact? Tambien, quiero que escribir un cancion de blues en español. Cuando fue niña tuvo discos de conjuntos Mexicanos y aprendio algunos canciones, como Volver, Volver, Volver. Me gustaria much cantar blues en español.

BS: Whom would you like to play with that you haven’t?
WD: Oooooh. Do they have to be alive? I mean, since this is hypothetical...
Duke Robillard, Koko Taylor, Etta James, Art Blakey, Wes Montgomery, Coleman Hawkins. I played behind Otis Rush once and he made my spine tingle when he hit the first note. Anyone that can do that, I want to play with. That’s the rush that means the heart and soul are there, right there.

Thanks, Wendy for making me get up and boogie! Best of luck to you in the new year.

Thank you! The year is starting with a trip back to the U.S. Virgin Islands and another year of the Queens of Boogie Woogie. Maybe we’ll meet up in Spain? Best of luck to you and thank you for sharing so much of yourself for the music.
..................................................................................................................MONTE ADKISON "THE BLUES STALKER"
'This Interview is courtesy of Vicente Zumel from La Hora del Blues'.