Jersey Arts Podcast · ArtPride New Jersey

Roomful of Blues Welcomes First Female Vocalist in Over Fifty Years

·30 min·2 clips

Chris Vachon says producing means picking material, booking studios, and cutting the record in a day and a half.

1. Jersey Arts Podcast spotlights Roomful of Blues and its album Steppin' Out. 2. Gina Marie Rodriguez speaks with lead guitarist and producer Chris Vachon and lead vocalist Didi Bastos, whose new role matters because she is the band’s first female singer. 3. The episode asks how a nearly 60-year-old blues band curates classic material, records it, and presents a new lineup. 4. Rodriguez says the record features songs tied to Etta James, Big Mama Thornton, Jimmy McCracklin, Tiny Bradshaw, and Billy the Kid Emerson. 5. Vachon says he had “a lot of stuff collected over the years” and waited for the right opportunity to record it. 6. Bastos says her arrival gave the songs “a different spin” because the arrangements had to change around her voice. 7. Bastos describes being the first female in an all-male band as “a pretty heavy mantle to carry.” 8. She says “it was time for that to happen” and points to the many female-fronted bands already in the music industry. 9. Bastos also says she brought material “right in line with what Roomful of Blues does.” 10. She links the album title Steppin' Out to stepping out “to go have a good time” and stepping into “a new era.” 11. The cover concept uses a vintage Corvette to represent Roomful as “a high powered, well oiled machine.” 12. Bastos says the female figure behind the wheel was meant to show that she is in the driver’s seat. 13. Vachon says he entered Roomful of Blues 35 years ago and has stayed because “it’s been great.” 14. He explains producing as organization: booking the studio, booking rehearsals, checking horn charts, and keeping expenses down. 15. He says the band usually records tracks in “a day and a half” and then he mixes them in his studio. 16. Vachon describes multitrack recording, EQ, reverbs, and delays as the post-recording shaping of the final song. 17. Bastos says she first heard blues after seeing B.B. King on Don Kirshner’s rock concert and later studied him in music theory class. 18. The conversation is informal and conversational, with Rodriguez asking beginner-level questions about mixing, covers, and reimagining songs. 19. Listeners who like blues history, studio craft, and band interviews will likely enjoy this episode. 20. Listeners wanting only a brief concert announcement or no process talk may skip it.

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