Nardella: A relic in blue
by Jim Vogl
from South Bend Times, 1994

He's a walking musical archive.

Roots rocker Steve Nardella can rattle off more than 400 vintage tunes--from the blues to '50s rock and even the archives of '40s swing.

He adds his own personal stamp to each with his rare 1956 Gibson fat body guitar and rangy, emotive voice.

Nardella will unveil a sample ofhis unique collection at Mishawaka's Midway Tavern on Saturday, October 22 at 8p.m. Call 255-0458 for tickets.

So how was the Nardella library built?

• He grew up to the sounds of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, and Eddie Cochran on the family phonograph and Carl Henry's local radio show, which featured the music of blues legends such as Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed, and Count Basie.
• As a teen in Providence, Rhode Island, Nardella discovered a gold-mine at Carl Henry's record store (known as Carl's Diggins: The Best of the Blues) and quickly became one of its most frequent customers.
• At age 17, he hung around local blues legend Ken Lyons and picked up playing the harmonica. "(Lyons) was kind of an in stitution in Providence for 40 or 50 years," Nardella says. "He was basically the only one around who played the blues."
• By 1970, Nardella also learned to sing and play guitar. He migrated to the Midwest and took part in annual Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festivals beside legends Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Richard, Big Joe Turner, and Hound Dog Taylor.

"Back then, a lot of the old guys were still alive," recalls the 45-year-old in his still-noticeable eastern accent. "It was a lot more exciting. I think that (1970) was the first blues fest anywhere. Blues fests didn't start be coming popular until the late '70s or early '80s."

Today, as a club musician living in Ann Arbor, he still collects old vinyl recordings and carefully studies each one, note for note.

"If I still had all the records I've bought over the years," he muses, "I'd probably have to move into a mansion to store them all." He's a devout starving artist, however, who can't afford the mansion. In fact, he doesn't even own a CD player. After 25 years in the business, he hangs firmly onto his integrity rather than a fleeting hope of making it big.

"I'm just a working musician trying to make a living," says Nardella, who does about 75 gigs a year with bassist Dave Picard and drummer Mike Kissick. "I've learned it's a crazy business and in order to survive, you've got to be crazy and love what you're doing."

It's a labor of unconditional love for Nardella, who is equally obsessed with studying music as he is playing it. "I'm always listening to music and learning something, a guitar lick, a vocal lick, a new song," he says. "I'm constantly learning and growing."

A son of traditional blues, he rejects the contemporary blues movement (such as Albert Collins), calling it "more like today's rock & roll." He's also attached to '50s rock and '40s swing.

With "Daddy Rollin' Stone," his first recording in 12 years, Nardella feels he's finally established his own style, though just three of the album's 13 cuts are originals: "Louise," "You're Gonna Need My Help," and "Detroit Shuttle." The title track is a remake of an Otis Blackwell song.

"I try not to be a copy cat," he says. "I add some of myself or I lose the feeling I'm trying to get across. My interpretation comes from a combination of all the music I love."

Nardella vows to get back into the studio by next year, and this time he plans to write half the songs he records. "I don't write as much as I probably should," he admits. "I've been into so much of the older music that it's hard to find time to write my own."

A visit to Nardella's traveling library at Midway Tavem won't help you discover his lyrical genious, keep you up on the latest "blues trends," or leave your ears ringing.

It may, however, help you appreciate a broad range of classics through the librarian's vibrant passion and insight.