THE SKY BLUES (EARLY BIRD MANCINI): Pie In The Sky

The Sky Blues (Early Bird Mancini)

Pie In The Sky

© 1996 Bill & Ruby Mason (634479507625)

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Soulful blues flavored rock with an edgy contemporary feel, guitar solos that grab your attention like a freight train at full throttle, vocals high, pure and heartfelt.

notes

THE SKY BLUES (now known as BIRD MANCINI) all original debut CD, "Pie in the Sky" helped bring them to the forefront of the Northeast regional blues scene, and also facilitated their invitation to perform at the 1997 North by Northeast Music Festival and Conference in Toronto. The Sky Blues have made numerous appearances on TV and radio, and have continuously performed live shows in Boston and throughout greater New England. Also, the band was chosen as a national semi-finalist in Musician Magazine's 1996 Best Unsigned Band Contest.

THE SKY BLUES is the culmination of years of collaborative professional musicianship and songwriting by Ruby and Bill Mason (aka Ruby Bird & Billy Carl Mancini). Their extensive touring career in the Northeast has included opening engagements for nationally acclaimed artists such as David Crosby of Crosby, Stills and Nash, The Gregg Allman Band, Beatlemania, The Pousette-Dart Band, Jonathan Edwards, James Montgomery, and The Mighty Sam McClain.

First rate vocals--often with three part harmonies--are featured with Bill on guitars and Ruby on harmonica and keyboards, with backup support from an excellent rhythm section, bassist John Bridge and drummer Skip Howard. They have been seen and heard in New England's best clubs including The Rynborn, Harper's Ferry, House of Blues, Hard Rock Café, The Yard Rock, and on countless college and university campuses. They have played on the Bestcruise and the Bluescruise in Boston Harbor. Their songs have been featured on major radio stations WBOS, WBCN, WFNX, WAAF, WXRV, WGIR and college radio stations throughout New England. Their versions of several classics have been featured on WZLX. Live radio performances include WERS, WBRS, WJUL, WMFO, and WKNH. Television appearances include WABU Channel 68's "ECU with Gail Harris", Continental Cable's "R&R TV" and "The Exploding Envelope", Cambridge Cable's "2000+", WCCA's "Naturally Wired", and Boston Cablevision's "Party in the Park" summer concert series.

Prolific songwriters, THE SKY BLUES received a nomination by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) for the Boston Music Awards. Their song "I Wanna Be Ready" was recently featured on Mona Lisa Records "Blues Deluxe" CD Compilation, and their song "You Know Me Too Well" was included on Empire Records International (ERI) CD "Remnants of a Higher Culture" featuring talent chosen from all over the country. In addition, Billboard Magazine honored their song "Homesick" with an Honorable Mention in their Third Annual Song Contest.

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  • Lordy, lordy...to sum it all up, you are guarunteed to get a taste of something
    author: Northeast Performer-Elias Penn

    Fronted by husband and wife team, Bill and Ruby Mason, The Sky Blues creates their own blend of blues rock. they have done well, and had truckloads of fans supporting them at the Harper's Ferry Battle of the Blues Bands. So I guess the next logical step was to give there supporters something to take home with them. We're introduced to the band via smooth, Albert King guitar licks, going into What Gets Me This Way? into the John Lee Hooker inspired, stuttering shuffle on Enjoy It While You Can. Bill's voice floats in and out in a classy blue-eyed soul style. The band rips into The Mark with it's overtures to Hendrix. Ruby roughs up her voice in classic rock tradition. The song deals with the prophecy concerning the mark of the beast: too many sick and blind / from six months in the dark / can't get no help from the doctor / not without the mark / too much desperation / government takes a stand / they know all about me / from the mark on my right hand... (I personally was the first one on my block to have a mark. I didn't want to be trendy, so I got it on my right forearm.) The song ends in a cataclysmic fashion, in the vein of Helter Skelter. Very cool production. Heart and Soul finds Bill kicking the sh..t out of a slow, acid blues. It's good to see a band that's unafraid to stretch the blues a bit. Not being blues nazis about each and every song, yet still tipping their collective hat to those that came before. Let Go is probably my favorite number. It features both vocalists, and gives off a whiff of Ike & Tina; trading lines back and forth. Bassist, John Bridge and drummer, Skip Howard, lock in heavy on Down That Road, a very funky instrumental number. Ruby hits her stride with In My Dreams. Picture a young Koko Taylor with a little dash o' Etta James. Lordy, Lordy...to sum it all up, at a Sky Blues show, you are guarunteed to get a taste of something you like. They have soul, blues, funk, with a heavy rock edge all baked up into a delicous pie in the sky.

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