"You can feel the spirit of Magic Sam and Peter Green but Troy has his own way of expressing himself.
Troy is a beautiful singer and master guitar player who in the short time of listening to him playing a slow-blues song I was able to hear the whole history of The Blues.
I feel that the music Troy expresses is the true Blues. With Troy, the true Blues is in goods hands for the future.
He is a dignified person and artist and I love him and his music.
He'll be around for a long time. Love, Ronnie"
-Ronnie Earl, May 2019
“Troy Gonyea is first and foremost his own man. 'Click Click Spark' shows the influence of every minute of Troy’s remarkable musical journey, but it’s not blues, it’s not rock and roll, it’s not “roots music.” It’s all of those things—because it’s Troy Gonyea music.”
– Kim Field, author of Harmonicas, Harps, and Heavy Breathers
“Most of what we remember of Troy's work was his prominent and studied guitar. What is most obvious here is the convincing authority of his voice.”
– Art Tipaldi, Blues Music Magazine, Spring 2019
“For the music I like and the music I love to play, it is improvisational. You get that magic element when you're playing live and playing spontaneously. The right musicians can add to that improvisational moment and follow it. It's good to be in a heightened state of awareness. Every time I hit the stage, no matter where it is, a small club or a huge festival stage, I try to perform the same way with the same mentality. I put in a serious amount of work to get better every time. Each time I make music I want to be better than I was the last time. We shoot for being an exciting and inventive live act and that off-the-cuff style is what I enjoy. I believe every time we play is a damn good performance and what you hear on my new live album, “Click Click Spark,” is what we do. It is unaltered; I did not change or 'fix' anything.”
- Troy Gonyea, 2019
Album review
by Art Tipaldi, Editor In Chief
Blues Music Magazine
Spring 2019 Issue 21
Troy Gonyea
Click Click Spark
Part aggressive Fabulous Thunderbirds guitar, part Westside Chicago soul, part Steve Cropper, part Black Crowes, part Howl best describes the long-awaited recording by inventive guitarist Troy Gonyea. Since his guitar residency with Kim Wilson on both the Blues Band and The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Gonyea has been both a successful independent recording artist and also an in-demand guitar for hire in bands like Sugar Ray and The Bluetones or Anthony Geraci's Boston Blues All Stars. In addition, Gonyea delivers his musical vision at his weekly gigs in Worcester, MA. In between, he traveled for two years backing Booker T.
All those experiences prompted Gonyea to release his nine-song vision of where Blues can exist in our contemporary world. Though he was a committed blues guitarist ever since he picked his first note at age 13, Gonyea's love was always the Chicago blues from the 1950s that featured Jimmy Rogers, Muddy Waters, and Dave and Louis Myers. Then the ferocious voices of Otis Rush and Magic Sam blindsided Gonyea. "There's something about that Chicago blues of that period, it's so mean and raw that it still stands up today. It wasn't polite music. It was the alternative rock of its day."
Gonyea honors all that he has taken in by recording tunes by Magic Sam, Willie Dixon, Jimmy McCracklin, Duster Bennett, he traditional "Tell Heaven," and four originals. What stands out in each song is the combination of Gonyea's resounding guitar complemented by his aching voice. Most of what we remember of Gonyea's work was his prominent and studied guitar. What is most obvious here is the convincing authority of Gonyea's voice. To fully appreciate that maturity, check out his tortured pleading in Magic Sam's "That's Why I'm Crying," Bennett's "Jumping At Shadows," and "Tell Heaven."
Gonyea shows off his harmonica talents on "Bring It On Home," his rock and roll sensibilities on "(Do The) Curl Up And Die," and the testifyin' lessons he learned from Booker T on "As I Am." The CD ends with Gonyea's continued reverence for the power of Magic Sam on "I Am Feeling So Good (Owed T' Don)." Here Gonyea marries Sam's "Feel So Good" boogie with his personal story tellin'. Backed by a crack band of Brooks Milgate (keys), Marty Ballou (bass) and Marty Richards (drums), Gonyea recorded this set live to better capture the band's work in this unaltered format to capture a moment of exciting interplay.
by Art Tipaldi, Editor In Chief
Blues Music Magazine
Spring 2019 Issue 21
Troy Gonyea
Click Click Spark
Part aggressive Fabulous Thunderbirds guitar, part Westside Chicago soul, part Steve Cropper, part Black Crowes, part Howl best describes the long-awaited recording by inventive guitarist Troy Gonyea. Since his guitar residency with Kim Wilson on both the Blues Band and The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Gonyea has been both a successful independent recording artist and also an in-demand guitar for hire in bands like Sugar Ray and The Bluetones or Anthony Geraci's Boston Blues All Stars. In addition, Gonyea delivers his musical vision at his weekly gigs in Worcester, MA. In between, he traveled for two years backing Booker T.
All those experiences prompted Gonyea to release his nine-song vision of where Blues can exist in our contemporary world. Though he was a committed blues guitarist ever since he picked his first note at age 13, Gonyea's love was always the Chicago blues from the 1950s that featured Jimmy Rogers, Muddy Waters, and Dave and Louis Myers. Then the ferocious voices of Otis Rush and Magic Sam blindsided Gonyea. "There's something about that Chicago blues of that period, it's so mean and raw that it still stands up today. It wasn't polite music. It was the alternative rock of its day."
Gonyea honors all that he has taken in by recording tunes by Magic Sam, Willie Dixon, Jimmy McCracklin, Duster Bennett, he traditional "Tell Heaven," and four originals. What stands out in each song is the combination of Gonyea's resounding guitar complemented by his aching voice. Most of what we remember of Gonyea's work was his prominent and studied guitar. What is most obvious here is the convincing authority of Gonyea's voice. To fully appreciate that maturity, check out his tortured pleading in Magic Sam's "That's Why I'm Crying," Bennett's "Jumping At Shadows," and "Tell Heaven."
Gonyea shows off his harmonica talents on "Bring It On Home," his rock and roll sensibilities on "(Do The) Curl Up And Die," and the testifyin' lessons he learned from Booker T on "As I Am." The CD ends with Gonyea's continued reverence for the power of Magic Sam on "I Am Feeling So Good (Owed T' Don)." Here Gonyea marries Sam's "Feel So Good" boogie with his personal story tellin'. Backed by a crack band of Brooks Milgate (keys), Marty Ballou (bass) and Marty Richards (drums), Gonyea recorded this set live to better capture the band's work in this unaltered format to capture a moment of exciting interplay.
“I wanted to be a guitar player even before I had a guitar. I remember it pretty distinctly that I when I was about 12 I already knew I was going to be a guitarist. I listened to a lot of Howlin Wolf and Jimi Hendrix at that age. That sound and tone - they were mind-blowing endorsements for wanting to play electric guitar. I was lucky enough to know what I wanted to be that early in life.”
- Troy Gonyea, 2019
“Troy has a ridiculous command over any music that he is interested in playing. The intriguing thing about his playing is that he never plays a song the same way twice. He has flawless execution, is never stale and always improvising.
He has an encyclopedic knowledge of Blues and he's played with some of the greats but his non-traditional approach has a thrilling element of danger. He takes chances and is fresh and new at each show forcing himself to push the boundaries of his own playing.”
- A long-time fan, 2018
If music matters as art
Excerpt of an essay
by Mike Carroll, a long-time fan, 2018
By music I mean American blues, jazz, rock and roll, country, and soul music — and the collision of those styles as bolts of vital freight and expression born of the American city of the middle 20th century. Their roots, metallic grafts, and supreme and always shifting amalgams stand for me as a cosmic oddity — a clear jewel of genius and humanity. Troy Gonyea stands in this heritage, with strapped Gibson guitar and howling soul ranging voice. When his outright expression of it - through its earth drilling, swamp wading, and electric moon shooting - suddenly arks to blue-white lightening, is outright shamanistic, if you let it be.
The experts will have their say, but it strikes me that the musicians were (and are, through the timeless declaration of rock and roll) embedded in their time. Listening to Troy and his bandmates' dialed in rhythms and transfiguring keyboards invoke and channel the likes of Peter Green, George Jones, Ray Charles, Bo Diddley, Magic Sam, Captain Beefheart, Mercy Baby, Lazy Lester, and Los Lobos with stellar skill, taste, and energy is pure pleasure. This is a common response to living music — the kind where talent and commitment catch fire. Besides getting the blood, mind, and heart revved up in some proportion of import, there is the power of induced reflection. I didn’t know every one of these artists before attending Troy's shows. Discovering them and their original recordings and continuing to see Troy's shows gives me a renewed appreciation and respect for American art in its finest forms: popular and accessible, genius and life affirming.
Excerpt of an essay
by Mike Carroll, a long-time fan, 2018
By music I mean American blues, jazz, rock and roll, country, and soul music — and the collision of those styles as bolts of vital freight and expression born of the American city of the middle 20th century. Their roots, metallic grafts, and supreme and always shifting amalgams stand for me as a cosmic oddity — a clear jewel of genius and humanity. Troy Gonyea stands in this heritage, with strapped Gibson guitar and howling soul ranging voice. When his outright expression of it - through its earth drilling, swamp wading, and electric moon shooting - suddenly arks to blue-white lightening, is outright shamanistic, if you let it be.
The experts will have their say, but it strikes me that the musicians were (and are, through the timeless declaration of rock and roll) embedded in their time. Listening to Troy and his bandmates' dialed in rhythms and transfiguring keyboards invoke and channel the likes of Peter Green, George Jones, Ray Charles, Bo Diddley, Magic Sam, Captain Beefheart, Mercy Baby, Lazy Lester, and Los Lobos with stellar skill, taste, and energy is pure pleasure. This is a common response to living music — the kind where talent and commitment catch fire. Besides getting the blood, mind, and heart revved up in some proportion of import, there is the power of induced reflection. I didn’t know every one of these artists before attending Troy's shows. Discovering them and their original recordings and continuing to see Troy's shows gives me a renewed appreciation and respect for American art in its finest forms: popular and accessible, genius and life affirming.