Lenny "Fuzzy" Rankins

(LOS ANGELES, CA) – The Six String Showdown (6SS) is a blues guitar competition developed for musicians by musicians. The goals of the competition are threefold, the final result being the crowning of The Best Blues Guitarist in Southern California. While the competition takes center stage, promoting the blues in all of its forms is also a primary goal. The judges base their decision on showmanship, technical skills, and audience response.

For the final rounds of the competition, 6SS teamed up with the Signifyin’ Blues Festival, a four-day music and dance festival benefitting singer Barbara Morrison’s California Jazz & Blues Museum. Kern County Regional winner Lenny “Fuzzy” Rankins was already slotted to perform at the festival along with Ms. Morrison, Keb’ Mo,’ Erica Brown and more. The semi-finals were held Friday, Nov 8, right before Fuzzy’s performance, with regional winners Johnny Michael Agundez (Los Angeles County), Teddy Lee Hooker (Orange County), Kirk Browne (San Diego County), and Fuzzy, backed by bassist C.J. Wilson and drummer Styxx Marshall. Semi-finalist judges were Gregg Wright, Diana Rein, and Jessica Kaczmarek.

The ultimate finalists were Lenny “Fuzzy” Rankins and Teddy Lee Hooker, who battled it out on Sunday, Nov 10, backed by bassist C.J. Wilson and drummer Eric Tice and judged by Dennis Jones, Sam Meek, and Steve Artea. Fuzzy was crowned winner and emcee Kenny Williams presented him with guitars from Tagima and Schechter.

Cleveland, OH native Lenny “Fuzzy” Rankins is based in San Diego, CA. He is a multi-award winner, including Grammy recognition for his lead guitar work on Ike Turner’s Best Traditional Blues album, Risin’ With The Blues. Introduced to the blues by Fro Brigham shortly after arriving in California, Fuzzy has been featured at many festivals and performed with such blues legends as B.B. King, Etta James, Bobby “Blue” Bland, and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown. Fuzzy represented San Diego (Blues Lovers United San Diego) in 2014 and 2018 and Southern California Blues Society in 2019 at the Blues Foundation International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN. He has released four blues albums (Not Gonna Work This Time, Good Lovin’, Take A Brotha Home, and Fuzzy – The Blues) in addition to jazz album Stirrin’ Up The Mix, all of which were nominated for awards. His new album was recorded in Baton Rouge, LA at Kenny Neal’s studio and will be released in 2020.

Of note, during Signifin Blues, Fuzzy on guitar and vocals, and Erica Brown on vocals, performed Keb’ Mo’ and Koko Taylor’s song “The Man Next Door” at the Tribute Banquet for Keb’ Mo’, followed by a solo performance by Fuzzy of Keb’ Mo’s song “Love in Vain.”

The 6SS winner from each region received a guitar ring from Jewelry by Designer Darren Simonian, a Tagima guitar, and a spot at a blues festival in their region. As a regional winner, Fuzzy has also won a slot at the Bud Light Kern River Rock n Blues Fest.

Fuzzy and his team extend a big thank you to Orion Sanders of Notorious Entertainment and the 6 String Showdown family for providing them with this awesome opportunity.

Photos: Kamaryn Peters

Booking: CPMM/MoonCook Productions

Email or Mobile: +1 619-917-5227

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Twitter: @FuzzyRankins

Instagram: FuzzyRankins - Blues Festival Guide

FUZZY’S GUMBO: Lenny Rankins Stirs the Pot
By T.E. Mattox, October 2018

When you walk into a Fuzzy Rankins show, there is an element of the unknown. It’s only later that you discover that anticipation is an active ingredient in the Rankins experience. There are also guarantees that go with your entertainment choice. They include, but are not limited to, a highly energetic program that is both musically diverse and fan-interactive. The best part is that you’re surrounded by other music enthusiasts that are also there to experience Fuzzy’s amplified and hyperactive labor of love, up close and personal.

Rankins is probably best known for his Grammy-winning collaboration with Ike Turner, but his fans will tell you it should be for his live performances. The Rankins music catalog is staggering and can range from gnarly 12-bar blues to blunt force funk. The band will entice you onto the dance floor with a variety of sweet jazz rhythms and soulful R&B, then rock ‘n’ roll you into a frenzied sweat. So when we began our conversation, we started with describing the Rankins sound. “It’s like a gumbo.” Fuzzy smiles. “A gumbo of different music, you know what I mean? Combined together with different elements of jazz, blues, funk, rock, and all the stuff I’ve played before…”

Born in Cleveland and raised on the East Coast? “Yeah!” Fuzzy says. “We moved from Cleveland when I was little to Wilmington, Delaware. I stayed in Delaware till I was nine or ten and then moved to Pennsylvania.”

Was your family musical? “My mom was a dancer and she liked to sing a little bit. My grandpop used to play the harmonica a lot; he was a good harmonica player. My brother played bass.”

Was it always guitar for you? “Well, I started messing around with singing, because we had to sing everyday at the church and then started playing the guitar when I was little.”

What was it about that instrument? “I don’t know, man, it was the sound. My cousin had a band when we were young and we would go to their show rehearsals at the YMCA. One guy had a nice little red guitar and I liked that.”

A lot of musicians grew up in church with the gospel influence… “Well that’s what I was around the most in Wilmington. My brother and I, and the young man across the street, would come up with little songs, playing what we wanted. But Sundays we had to sing gospel songs.”

You sang and played guitar; you were a double threat early on? “Yeah, when I started out playing guitar on shows, no one knew I could sing. But when people wouldn’t step up to the plate, I’d say, ‘Oh yeah, I’ll do it!’ And I’d take over and do it to keep things moving. I was always happy to be in the back and play, but I always ended up in the front.”

Let’s talk about other influences, other than the church. “I liked the jazz and stuff. I used to listen to George Benson, Al Di Meola, and Lee Ritenour. Basically, I’d just put the radio on, sitting in my room, and I’d just play every song that came on. They’d play it in rotation and I would just keep playing and learning all these songs. Whatever came on I’d try to tune into it, learn it and play it before the song went off.”

Was there a moment when you thought, this is what I want to do with my life? “When I came out to California… back on the East Coast it was like a hobby, and I would just do it on weekends. Going out playing gospel and just having fun, but I had to go to work.”

Did I read that you were only 16 when you found yourself on stage with the Rev. Al Green and the Blind Boys of Alabama? “Actually,” Fuzzy laughs. “I started going out with them when I was 12! I would go to school and we would have shows with these top players so they would pick us up after school and bring us back before we had to go to school on Monday. We would do like Friday and Saturdays and Sundays as long as I was back by for school on Monday morning. We’d kick it.”

At 12 years old? “I was doing it at 12 when I started getting out there. I had people around me, but they wanted to take me because I could play, you know? That was my thing to do, instead of runnin’ in the streets.”

Tell me about God’s Angels? “That was gospel group and it was doing real good. Young boys on the road it was kind of like the New Edition, only in the church. We had a whole different sound and new technology but they had to move back to Virginia. I wasn’t going to move backwards so I started doing R&B. I didn’t really like R&B at the time or think about joining a band, because I was doing the Christian thing and I was trying not to mix the two. But I started doing different shows with different people and I came out here [to California] in 1990.”

Did you know people out here? “A friend of mine and former bandmate was already out here, but nothing was happening so I thought I just go out and do my own thing. But I only had a year to be out here and make something happen.”

You seem to be able to musically absorb almost anything; who haven’t we mentioned as an influence? “When I had my band, we opened for Walter ‘Wolfman’ Washington at a club similar to Patrick’s. It was the first time I heard that joker sing and I’m like, ‘That’s who I’m talking about, he’s really on the funky side!’ He’s cold and had this nice tone in his voice and all the minor chords and grooves in there. Oh, okay this joker’s gettin’ it in! Yeah, he’s gettin’ it IN!” [laughing] “And Millie Jackson, too! Oh, she’s on the touchy side.” [laughing] “I was like, ‘Oh, you can do that? Oh… sister!’ [laughing] Let me get a little bit of that!” [laughing] “She’s up there singing on the bar, with a bottle. I hadn’t seen anybody get freaky like that, she had the men rollin’!”

You’ve played with so many people over the years, any memorable players? “We opened for Gatemouth Brown at the Belly Up in the late ’90s. Etta, Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland we did a lot of stuff with him. B.B., we had a little thing with him.”

Do you still listen to a lot of different music? “I watch everything and I look at everything. I listen to country stuff, Indian music, I like it all. I don’t have preferences… I listen to all that stuff.”

You started your own band, Fuzzy and the Bluesmen, in the early ’90s. “I hadn’t been home for awhile.” Fuzzy says. “And I was playing with Fro Brigham and he got sick. They said, ‘We’re not going to be able to do any shows until he gets better. I knew all the songs ‘cause I’d been playing with him and I’m getting ready to be out of job! I need to pay some bills around here. They said they needed somebody to sing. So I said, ‘I’ll sing, I’ll sing the stuff.’ They said, ‘You sing? Let’s hear it.’ They were shocked, because I was just the guitar player. He ain’t paying me enough to do both.” [laughing] “You know what I’m saying?’ We started up and I did his whole set and they said, ‘We didn’t know you had all that in you.’ So I started doing all the singing and I wanted to move on anyway and do something different, you know? By the time Fro got back there was a line around the corner to see me. And I’m getting the same pay and all that, so I told Fro I’m hooking up with another guy on guitar and start my own thing. I started working at Croce’s and runnin’ from club to club.”

This was ’92 or ’93? “Yeah, it was somewhere in that time frame. Everything was moving so fast back then. I went into the studio and started cutting things because that was my thing, it was what I was doing back East—studio work and session work.”

About that same time you were gaining some national exposure on radio and television? “Yes, the Jerry Lewis Telethon and a couple of radio shows. They started playing my stuff on the radio and I was opening for Toni Tone and Basic Black, learning more and more about the business side of music. Seeing all the acts, how they set stuff up, and how they networked and I said, ‘Oh, man, I’m gonna do the same thing. And it started happening.”

Do you play acoustic guitar often? “I’ve got a whole acoustic set I do, different stuff when I want to do it. And that always works because acoustic sells and you’ve got everybody playing the top of the neck and most of the acoustic stuff will work. But at this time, I want to shake a leg, you know?”

Let’s talk about writing; you do a lot of original material, do you have a process? “I was always into writing my own stuff. When I write, I’ll throw some chords down, a four-bar chord, and loop it and sing something to it. Or sometimes I’ll just sit with a guitar and do little things with a nice little groove or something and just add the drums and all that stuff.”

You always write with the guitar? “Yeah, I write with it sometimes. A piano or guitar, sometimes I’ll pick up a bass and start thumpin’ a bass line.” [Fuzzy’s hands pop up and he simulates slapping a bass…] “You can get some nice bass lines playing different stuff. You can hear the parts, if you’re playing funk or anything in between you throw a little lick in.”

Let’s talk a little about your first album… “When I did the first album and we tried to put it in stores, it was like, ‘Well, what is it?’ What category do we put it in? At the time I wasn’t thinking about a category, I was thinking that these are some cool songs. When they asked, I said I’m doing the blues. You can call it blues or whatever you want to call it. If you listen to it, it’s got like some R&B stuff, soulful stuff we were doing back East. So, I figured if I give them a gumbo of that…but if you listen to it there’s country stuff on it. It’s a gumbo of everything.”

Songwriting seems almost effortless to you. “I can make a song out of anything,” Fuzzy says. “You know writing gospel and putting stuff together like that is easy because you’re just really telling a story. Listening to other albums like Mahalia Jackson, you hear how they work the crowd. You can feed off the crowd. Your energy comes from the crowd. That’s how we play the kind of songs that we do. You get that feeling and you can always switch it up. All these people don’t want to just sit and listen to you. ‘Oh, that scale was nice. Oh, that drum line was cool.’ No, they’re partying, ‘Oh, I want to feel the groove!’ If you do something and it jumps out on them, it gets their attention and they’re the ones that are going to remember, ‘Well I’m going to look him up.’ I’m going to find out this, I’m going to find out that.”

You toured in Europe, good memories? “We jumped around all kinds of different places, playing, and I’m on the radio with these people. We rolled down where the Beatles played; I jumped up on stage and was playing by myself at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. I got in a car and I was driving on the wrong side of the street. I’m just cruisin’ and there’s a truck in my lane! I’m thinking, ‘What’s he doing?’ [laughing] “Oh, I’m in a different country!’ I’m trying to kill myself.” [laughing] “I definitely want to go back.”

You even have film and theater background? “I wrote a couple of movies and I’m into all kinds of stuff. I was going to do some R&B work with All for One and I went up to L.A., but the project was delayed. Well, I had to make something happen now. In the meantime the show Nuthin’ But the Blues came to town and I get a call from Ron Taylor. They were looking for somebody to fill the role of Robert Johnson. And I said, ‘Nah, I’m good man.’ But he said just stop on by, so I went over to his house. I get over there and he says, ‘You look perfect, you kind of look like Robert Johnson.’ You know how they try to make you feel like…” [laughing] “He asked if I knew any blues songs. And I said, ‘I know a lot of blues songs.’ So I played some and he goes, ‘Oh, that’s what we need right there! If you want to do it, meet us in San Diego, come and audition.

How much acting experience did you have? “I did some acting when we were young at the Christmas Center and YMCA, they all had events.”

Not to mention a lifetime of being a musician. “Well, I got into that and they wanted me to start understudying the other parts and had to learn all their parts, all of them. But then my CD came out and we went to Panama and the show went to New York, but I was the first one in that show.”

Let’s talk about your work as a producer. “I’ve been teaching people to sing professionally—vocalists and with groups—but I didn’t get into real producing till I moved out here [San Diego]. The production side back then started with a keyboard. You program a little bit on a keyboard and just play it. Well, I had a keyboard player I was trying to rely on and it didn’t happen. Instead of showing someone else, I decided to just do it myself.”

A producer is born. “I just did it myself and started coming up with my own songs or what was in my head. I knew how the drum beat would go in my head, or the bass line; I just wasn’t a fancy keyboard player. I had to switch my brain and learn how to play it to get what I want. So I can produce anything I want to do now.”

You also have studio session player in your resume. “I’m working with a lot of people right now, different names and some new rap material. I did a lot of stuff with Ike [Turner]. He found out I was working with the gaming people and he heard some of the things I’d done. He would come down to my show at Croce’s and tried to get me to come up to his place in San Marcos. Some friends of mine wanted to go up, so I said okay. I went up and we started playing, but I already had my own thing. Ike said, ‘I don’t care if you’re doing your own thing, but when you ain’t doing your thing, can you do your thing with me?’” [laughing]

Ike Turner was legendary. Was it hard to say no to him? “No, because I didn’t know him like that, I’m not into people like that. I’ve been around so many professional people… you know how people get excited, ‘Oh, that’s my favorite artist!’ I just don’t do that. I don’t know why.”

Probably because you’ve been in the music business since you were 12! “Probably,” Fuzzy agrees. “I’ve been around a lot of artists like that. I normally heard about Tina, but not him and Tina’s got her own thing, but this is Ike. He kept giving me his picture and his card [laughing], saying, ‘Give me a call.’ Oh, okay, but dude, I’m busy.” [laughing] “My friends kept saying, ‘Dude, that’s Ike Turner! And I kept saying, ‘I don’t care. Ike’s got his stuff going… I’m trying to get MY stuff going, player!’” [laughing] “You know what I’m saying? Don’t get me wrong, I respected what he was doing and in my frame of mind I think that’s why he took to me, because I didn’t want anything from him. A lot of guys would go up there and he’d have gear, compressors, and stuff around and they’d say, ‘Hey, Ike, what are you doing with that?’ They always wanted something. But I was never like that, and he knew that.”

Let’s talk about recordings that you made with him. “We had a whole lot of stuff when he passed away. We were coming out with a whole new thing. We did 40 tracks in one night, we just bounced them out. We had Snoop Dog and everybody that was new. And I was giving him that big, fat sound. Take this and put that underneath of that, that’s what I do. And that’s what he liked, so he kept me around.”

Those recordings produced a Grammy. “I had just walked in the studio and we were just jamming, and Ike said, ‘Hey, man, I got a cool song and I want you to play on it. So he started kicking it and he was groovin’ and I started playing along with it. Next thing you know, he was recording the whole time and that was it. I didn’t hear the song any more until it came poppin’ up on the radio, named after me, ‘Jazzy Fuzzy.’ Ike called me and said, ‘Hey man, we’re making it big!’ And I’m going, ‘Who is…what are you talking about?’ [laughing] “He said, ‘Man, the song—you ain’t hearing the song?’” I said, ‘What song, we didn’t do a song together?’” [laughing] “He said, ‘You know the song, man. Listen to the song.’ Even in the studio he never said a word about putting it on the record… but it took off. The ratings were going crazy. But then they were going on tour and Ike told me I can’t play all that shit so you gotta go on tour with me. It’s only like three months or something. I told him, ‘Ike, I’ve got my own thing. I’d have to shut down all my stuff and you’re not paying me enough to do that.’ You know if you come up with good numbers to keep me rolling and to pay my bills. I knew that wouldn’t happen, so I didn’t do it, but we didn’t fall out over it. It was all good.”

Playing live seems to be “home” for you. “It’s always been live shows for me.” Fuzzy says. “I’m used to the crowds and all that. We were brought up; you want to stay, you gotta perform. If you’re just standing there, you got no energy [laughing] and you’ll break out in a cold sweat. I’ll get out there and do my thing, try to push everybody else to do the same. I want everybody to shine, not just me. And they can push it just like I can; you can get the most out of yourself. When it’s your time to shine, you need to shine! Sometime you take it to the extreme, like the drummer will take an extra solo, you want to get fancy because you saw a couple of beautiful ladies walk by and oh, you were suppose to stop there… oh, you got extra strength tonight? I need that strength when you start! [laughing] Not just when the women walk by.”

Another surprise: you’ve worked in the video gaming world for quite a while? “I started working with the gaming companies,” Fuzzy grins. “Programming, doing animation and sound effects. I was a sound engineer for them. Midway Games. I’m on ‘Spy Hunter’ and a bunch of the ‘Ready to Rumbles’ and they gave me the freedom to get into a lot more stuff.”

Something that is near and dear to you…Blues in the Schools. “Yeah, I’ve been doing that. I love teaching kids to play. When I was growing up people didn’t really want to show you stuff, because they thought it was their stuff. I never want to be like that. If someone wants to do something or learn something, I’ll show them. You have to put your work in, your time in. If you don’t practice it you won’t be good at it. The craft is what you put into it. You have to put in the time.” - San Diego Troubadour

Inter-Review By: Kyle Christen
Not ever having been to Memphis for the annual IBC challenges, I can't imagine how it must be, so much talent from everywhere, so little time to try to catch all the performers, and tough to choose winners. On the other hand, how great for blues fans from one region getting to experience musicians from all other parts of the country!
Such was the case this year, as Blue Monday Monthly personnel in attendance found a gem from the West Coast. Making it to the Semi- Finals, and representing the Blues Lovers United of San Diego was Fuzzy and The Blues Band!
Their latest CD, "Fuzzy-The Blues" was released in October 2017, and is on the nomination board for Best Blues Album of 2018, at the upcoming San Diego Music Awards. Once the IBC was all said and done, Hammer touched base with this band, who is doing their part to keep the blues alive in Southern California. I'm not sure that's an easy undertaking in such a large metro area, but because of their immense talent and dedication, we decided to tell you about this disc. Lenny "Fuzzy" Rankins is a Cleveland native, who first made his way to NY, then bolted for So Cal in 1990, where he's been writing, recording and performing da blues ever since.
"Fuzzy-The Blues" is a collection of 14 songs, which includes mostly
original music, all written by Fuzzy, plus a few covers thrown in for good measure. The first cut is Happy Man", a rollin' blues number about a guy trying to live by the code of "Happy Wife, Happy Life." This one bounces along greatly, and is a foretaste of what else is coming. Another original is "Medication." This one is right up my alley, sounding like traditional Chicago-style blues from about 50 years ago, with all of us packed into a small and smoky backstreet club on the West side. "Thinking For Yourself" is a rockin' song, oh-so danceable, and the band really cooks it on this one. The bass player on this CD is Cecil McBee, Jr., and it was his job to keep up with Fuzzy's guitar. Thankfully for the listeners, he did! One of the first covers under­taken is "The Thrill Is Gone", and Fuzzy lights it up, not with a carbon copy, but his own version. Not bad at all.......actually damn good! Just my opinion, but if BB heard this, I think he'd say "Well done, my son!" The next tune, "Shut Your Mouth", is a slower take, with some really nice guitar by Fuzzy, and inspired vocals that make this one another real deal. "Slippin' Through Your Town" is a tune featuring some great keyboard work by Ms. Hindy Bare. The organ underlays she provides really makes this some good stuff, along with more cool bass playing by Cecil, and also from both of them throughout the disc.
Hats off to Steve Wetherbee, who recorded, mixed, and mastered this one at his own Golden Track Studios, which, I'm told, is the place to lay down music in San Diego. This Grammy nominated producer has worked with some heavy hitters in his 30+ year ca­reer, and it shows. Capturing the "live" sound of a band doesn't just happen , and seemingly only a few pull it off, but he certainly did. This is like listening to a piece of glass, every vocal and instru­ment is clear and crisp, just like you're sitting in the front row, with nothing muffled. "Blues Letter On My Bed" has some great wah-wah guitar from Fuzzy, plus some impassioned vocals. "Killing Floor" is next up, and while Fuzzy sings "I should've left you, Baby, a long time ago" ... .want to know how it ends? Buy this great CD and find out!
"Baja Groove" is a cut that brings the California jam sound, with the awesome drumming of Bruce Hutcherson, and more of Fuzzy' s killer guitar. This one should be part of a sound track. If there's any movie or TV producers out there reading this, jump on it! Time for a sad one, with "We Were Through", as the band slows it down, and Fuzzy sings "I came home this morning, all my lady's clothes were gone, she took every damn thing that she owned." Been there? Great stuff, another of my faves. One more cover, "Born Under A Bad Sign" ...... .with no apologies to Albert King, this is the rockinest version I've ever heard, and absolutely Love It! Closing out is "Woman's Gotta Have It", one more for the dance floor! Some really funky/blues stuff, and the CD finishes up with "Sweet Sixteen", another quality job with their own spin on an old classic. Total recording time One Hour and 17 Minutes! That's is what we call a bang for your blues buck!
Fuzzy Rankins has learned and earned his chops, and he's put together one crack-ass band to back him up. Since the recording came out, Kevin Cooper has now joined on bass, who also brings an impressive resume, and in time to ap­pear with them at the IBC. And, uh.....oh yeah, Fuzzy also has a Grammy in his back pocket for his guitar work on the appropriately named song "Jazzy Fuzzy" on the last album ever put out by the legendary Ike Turner, the great 2006 "Risin' With The Blues." While this band plays steady dates in the San Diego area, we hope this CD will bring him more exposure on a National level, and get them out this way on a tour. If you need anything Fuzzy, check out fuzzyrankinsblues.com. There's also some YouTube out there from the IBC, to help verify what we're sayin' here, and the disc is available from CD Baby. Buy It, and you'll be glad you did! - Blue Monday Monthly Entertainment Magazine (Hammered by the Blues Weekly Radio KOWZ 1170am/106.3fm)

Nominated for San Diego Music Awards "Best Blues" CD, Winner of San Diego's 2018 IBC regional blues competition.
Lenny "Fuzzy" Rankins combines original songs with cover tunes done in original "Fuzzy Fashion."
Following in the footsteps of Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, and the Yard Birds, Fuzzy takes a whole new approach to familiar blues tunes such as "Thrill is Gone," "Killing Floor," and "Born Under a Bad Sign," and creates a new experience, making old songs new again.
Recorded at Golden Track Studio, Fuzzy brings his live performance into the studio complete with improvisations and skilled guitar work like no other.
Fuzzy - CD (The Blues) All songs written and produced by Lenny Rankins except those marked with an *. Musicians who participated in making the CD: Lenny "Fuzzy" Rankins - Lead Guitar/Vocalist, Bruce Hutcherson - Drums, Cynthia "Hindy" Bare - Keys, and Cecil McBee Jr. - Bass. Recorded at Golden Track Studio. Recorded/Mixed/Mastered by Steve Wetherbee. - Boogie Magazine

FUZZY AND THE BLUES BAND ARE HEADED FOR THE IBC IN MEMPHIS!!!
Posted: 08/27/2017 (6:05 pm) | Filed under: Feature
Ladies and gentlemen…Fuzzy and the Blues Band (Lenny Rankins) will be representing San Diego at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis in January 2018…woohoo! Thanks again to all the bands who competed this year: Give Me Back My Wig, Jon Campos & the Incurables, Anthony Cullins, Mike Maldonado JumpStart, John January & Linda Berry, and the Baja Blues Boys! Huge thanks to our judges, Eli J. Medellin and Mark Eppler from Boogie Magazine, Brian Tierney from Backstage 360, Claudia Russell from KSDS, Al Schneider from The Chris Fast Band, Ric Lee from the Bayou Brothers, and blues legend Ronnie Lane for making those tough decisions. Hugs to our volunteers Nancy Tiger, Barbara Kabes, Janet Blair and John Ptack, without whom none of this could have happened. Special thanks to RosaLea Schiavone and Tio Leo’s Lounge for the use of the venue. See you all at Tio Leo’s on January 13 from 1-4 for the IBC Send-Off Party! - BLUSD

Save your energy for Thursday! It’s going to be getting funky at Fallbrook Live with Fuzzy and the Blues Band (Winner of this year’s SD regional contest for the International Blues Competition)!

If U would like to reserve a table call 760-728-5881.

Also, on the fill will be young gun Anthony Cullins, Veronica May, John Rankin, Brooke Jessen, David Spitzfaden and other special guests. - Boogie Magazine

If you like your blues with a lot of funk, you need look no further. San Diego's own Lenny "Fuzzy" Rankins showcases his funk sensibility on this disc with his stinging guitar solos and growly voice, a find band and subtle backup singers.

There are several classic blues songs you're heard before, like "Black Cat Bone," "Texas Flood," "Little Red Rooster," and "Crawlin' King Snake," but you haven't heard them done like this unless you've seen Fuzzy and his band live.

This music will get you moving!

Leonard H. Rankins, Sr., Fuzzy's late father, appears on the CD on keyboards.

Reporter: Tim Atkins - BLUSD - Blue Ink (July 2010, Volume 12, Issue 7)

I was able to sit in the Lounge with some Family on Christmas night after a long day at work. It was magical to experience the
music as a guest and not only get into it myself, but observe everyone around me. I am grateful to have Lenny and the Band as our Friday night
musicians. They bring great energy that radiates throughout the hotel. Sitting as a guest, I was really able to see how well Fuzzy works and flirts with the crowd.

Here's to a great 2010 ...


Ben Shank
Director of Food and Beverage
Four Seasons Resort Aviara
Phone: (760) 603-3606
Fax: (760) 603-6822
email: ben.shank@fourseasons.com
- Four Seasons Resort Avaiara

By Lisa Chase

Otherwise known as Lenny Rankins.

If you could sit down for one grooved out jam session with Fuzzy and his band, you would no longer want to know who Brittany Spears or the N'SNC band were. AND, if mainstream America could spend on evening listening to Fuzzy, a rhythm & blues, jazz, groove -- (Shall I go on?) - okay, funk, soul, and at times gospel band, it's mass marketing of pop music, acid washed jeans and fanny packs would probably vanish forever! And after just one evening of listening to these guys, we'd all be so cool, so groovy, so laid back and funked out that nothing about us or America would ever be mainstream again.

These are so good that I felt like I was witnessing the soon scent of stardom in the air! Soon, I'm gonna be saying, "yeah, I saw those guys years ago when they used to play small local venues in San Diego. Now look at them, SOLD OUT IN 10 MINUTES."

Formerly "Fuzzy & the Bluesmen," Fuzzy and the band have a sound that makes you glad to be alive and happy that you have ears. Their tunes make you feel things in your body that you've never felt before.

Lenny Rankins was given the nickname of Fuzzy when just a young boy. the name stuck. His love affair with music began in Delaware, where he was introduced to gospel music and started singing and playing in the Church choir. Then he moved to Pennsylvania and had an opportunity to play with Shirley Caesar and Al Green. Music then became who he was! At 19, he formed his own band and started touring the East Coast. During this time, he had the opportunity to perform with major artists, the likes of Roy Clark and Patty Labelle.

When Fuzzy moved to California in 1989, it was with the thought in mind to expand his music career and to do things his own way -- "make his own sound." He met up with Fro Brigham (formerly associated with Louis Armstrong) and began playing with Fro's band for a while. Later he formed Fuzzy & the Bluesmen. The group has opened for Etta James, been to the Newport Jazz Festival, and been the featured artist at a special dedication to T-Bone Walker.

Talking to Fuzzy, you can feel his passion for music. HIS music! Most of his time is spent in the studo and in concert. In the studio, he messes around with tunes and puts the words to tunes. He is charismatic and "fantastical"! ... And so is his band! They make that ASTONISHING sound look effortless.

Better see them now...BEFORE 10 MINUTES ARE UP! THEY MIGHT BE SOLD OUT! - Jazz 'n Blues Magazine