Dateline – TRAVERSE CITY, MICHIGAN
Interlochen Center for the Arts
13 July 2022
A gig at Interlochen is like going to a super-chill summer camp. Into this idyllic summer lakeside setting, amid the virtuoso woodshedding, wandered the rumpled figure of one William Royce Scaggs. Known almost exclusively as “Boz,” Scaggs could pass for an eccentric groundskeeper that’s been there for years, and is secretly a bluesman in his other life.
His mainstream chart-popping days are behind him now, but my man did very well for himself in the ’70s, with hits like “Lido Shuffle” and “Lowdown,” and he’s had a very nice run in recent years exploring his blues roots. To make sure everyone knows he’s got the blues, Boz brought along esteemed blues guitarist Robert Cray and his new band who graciously opened the show. Jeff LeBlanc also did a short singer/songwriter set, which seemed like a nice nod to Boz’s other strengths as writer and singer.
Boz was backed by a rock-solid touring ensemble, featuring Mike Miller on stunt guitar, Teddy Campbell on drums and stellar support vocals, session ace Willie Weeks on bass, the indispensable Eric Crystal on soprano, alto, tenor and baritone sax and keyboards (and guitar), keyboardist Michael Logan, and Branlie Mejias-Sanchez contributing percussion and vocals.
Boz opened the set with the disco smoothie “What Can I Say,” from his smash 1976 album Silk Degrees, then the 1980 hit “Jojo.” But he clearly felt more comfortable in the blues idiom. I got the sense that he’d rather sling the blues and leave off the hits, but he sounded great on his ’70s material, particularly “Harbor Lights.”
The most notable aspect of Boz’s set was the amount of lead guitar that he played. Especially on the blues numbers, Boz took as many solos as the high-flying Mike Miller. Old bluesman Boz stayed pretty comfortably in the pentatonic box on the blues shuffles, but made it cry & scream a bit on the grittier tunes, like “Radiator 110” from his 2018 blues album Out of the Blues.
Like the students in the orchestra that rehearsed prior to the show, artists always bring their best to Interlochen, a truly world-class fine arts camp. On this rainy northern Michigan evening, Boz Scaggs was no exception.
Boz can still sling it “Lido Shuffle” style. (And don’t dismiss my backing vox):
Boz takes a solo on “Radiator 110”:
Catch up with Boz and check if he’s coming to a summer camp near you – bozscaggs.com
