Nico Duportal is a French guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and band leader. He fronts a terrific band called the Rhythm Dudes. Nico and his bandmates specialize in a swinging, jazzy brand of rhythm and blues. They have an exceptional new album called, Real Rockin’ Papa that puts all of their talents on display. I caught up with the hard working musician recently. Enjoy a conversation I had with Nico Duportal.

David Mac (DM): Bonjour Nico! So do you come from a background in music?

Nico Duportal (ND): Not really. My father played a little accordion you know very Frenchie stuff. (laughs)

DM: How did you get started playing music?

ND: I discovered a lot of kinds of music because of my big brother. He was listening to punk, hardcore, reggae music and the blues. My stepfather worked in a musical instrument shop near Paris. One day I asked him if he would be able to bring me the cheapest guitar in the shop. I was wanting to play some stuff that I was listening to with my big brother.

DM: Was the guitar your first instrument?  

ND: Actually. I played flute in school but I didn’t like it.

DM: Do you remember the first time you heard American music?

ND: I used to live with my father when I was 10 or 11 years old he had a real tough night job down in Paris at “la tour Montparnasse”. Every Saturday morning when he got back home, I remember that I could hear this old Ray Charles song, “Hit the Road Jack”.  That is my very first time I heard popular American Music , not too bad, no?

DM: Not too bad at all.  Let’s talk about your musical development as a young person?

ND: Like I mentioned, my brother was a big influence. I do remember when he came back home with a couple of blues CD’s. They were very cheap compilations. They were a mix of black American artists such as Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Bobby Bland, Bo Diddley and 60’s era English blues boom bands such as the Yarbirds, The Bluesbreakers and Them. I should say that I preferred Afro-American selections over the British stuff. This is where everything really began for me.

DM: Did you have any music teachers and/or mentors that helped you as young person?

ND: Seriously NOBODY! 

DM: Let’s talk about your musical influences.

ND: All the good old American music from the 30’s to the early 60’s, I mean blues, rhythm & blues, swing,  hillbilly, honky tonk, country, primitive rockabilly, western swing. There were so many guitar players, singers, sax players and piano players. As a guitar player I should mention T-Bone Walker, Bill Jennings, Tiny Webb, Teddy Bunn, Pat Hare Freddie King, Lightin’ Hopkins and the very early B.B. King stuff had an impact on my development as a player. My influences came from a variety of styles from the raw to the more sophisticated.

DM: You also seem to have an affinity towards contemporary West Coast Blues. Is that a fair assessment? 

ND: Of course. In the 80’s and 90’s I discovered the Hollywood Fats Band and William Clarke.  In recent years I have been very fortunate to play with Junior Watson and Lynwood Slim when they came over here.

DM: Many European blues musicians I talk to say their primary influences come directly from the source and directly from the masters via their recordings. Were there any live performances that had an impact on you?  

ND: Absolutely! When I was twenty years old I saw the amazing Jimmie Vaughan. This was a big thrill for me and it had a real impact on me.

DM: I want to get back to Richard Duran aka Lynwood Slim for a moment. There were benefit concerts for him in 2011 when he was in very bad physical shape. There was one of those shows here in Southern California, one in Minneapolis and you were involved with one in Paris. Slim told me he credits those shows with saving his life. You should be very proud of your involvement with the show in Paris.

ND: The thing is, I have a lot of respect and love for Slim. I’ve learned many things from him.

DM: Such as...

ND: I’ve learned what the vocalist job is all about because of Richard. I have many memories from the three or four tours we did with Slim here in Europe. He was so much fun to be with. To me and my friend Abdell, we thought that it was a normal response to give help for our friend when he was in bad shape.

DM: What kind of response do you get with your music with audiences in Europe?

ND:  It depends from where you are playing obviously.  In France blues festival promoters say to us "We have a problem, we don’t know if you play blues, jazz, swing or rock and roll."

DM: How do you respond to that?

ND:  My answer is “Hey, that’s what they call rhythm & blues music. Have you ever heard of it?” We have lot of shows in the rest of Europe. In Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Spain, Italy. These countries, they know what rhythm & blues music is all about.

DM: Tell me about the other musicians in your band the Rhythm Dudes.  

ND: They are all fantastic, great musicians and kind persons, believe me. We have the young Pascal Mucci on drums. His father is a famous double bass player over here in Europe. On double bass my friend Thibaut Chopin, who had several tours with Lazy Lester, Big Jack Johnson, Franck Goldwasser and others.  He’s also a great harp player and guitarist. Olivier Cantrelle, our piano player comes from the swing and jazz scene, but fell in love with New Orleans r&b music. Arnaud Desprez is the tenor sax player and Gilles Cagin plays barititone sax. Our horn section is crazy about all the early black American music. I’m grateful and feel so lucky to play with those guys.  We are close friends and are like a second family. 

DM: Let’s talk about the new album, Real Rockin’ Papa.

ND: We recorded it over five or six sessions from August through December of 2012. We were really busy on the road so we booked the recording sessions between gigs. Our double bass player was the engineer and he has lots of knowledge. It was kind of hard because the recordings took place in a very small room. We used vintage equipment.

DM: What do you like to do when you aren’t making music?  

ND: I enjoy hanging out with my son Raphael and my wife Melanie.

DM: What’s next for Nico Duportal and the Rhythm Dudes?

ND: (laughs) You will just have to wait and see Dave. Kidding... next spring we are planning on going into a fantastic studio called “Lighting Recorders” in Berlin. The engineer is just an amazing dude named Axel from Cherry Casino & the Gamblers who are a great German band.  

DM: Au revoir, Nico

ND: Later, Dave.

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