Becky Reyes: Bio

Becky Reyes - Singer/songwriter

I'd always wanted to be a singer but over the years, had convinced myself that being a social worker was the noble thing to do. I must confess that I wasn't a very good social worker. One boss told me that I was pretty good with the kids I worked with but my paperwork "stinks".

In my late '20's I moved to the Finger Lakes in western New York where I met a VERY talented musician, Todd Stratton. He took me under his wing and taught me some basic things that changed my world forever. While I always thought I was a terrible guitarist, Todd taught me that all I had to do was, "...keep it clean and simple, and it will always sound good". Todd worked with me for about 2 years before I had the confidence to go out and actually do a gig. Todd accompanied me to that gig. It was at the Naples Hotel, in Naples, NY. It seemed that everyone was there. I sang a bunch of songs and Todd sat quietly behind me playing the most beautiful leads and supporting me throughout the gig. I am eternally grateful for the encouragement he offered during those years. My friend Larry Cook came up to me that night with tears in his eyes, hugged me tightly and said it was the best debut of any new performer he'd ever seen.

For a few years, Todd and I often played together wherever we could find work. One summer, we landed a job playing on the dock at Snug Harbor Restaurant in Hammondsport, NY, overlooking the bluff of Keuka Lake. It was amazing playing that close to the lake, with the sound of the birds and the water lapping on the dock keeping time with the music. That was the beginning of my love for playing fine restaurants. At some point, Larry decided to open a small coffee house and Todd and I appointed ourselves the "house musicians" whenever possible. Larry was very generous with his time and place. Those were heady times. I started venturing out to play other coffee houses, wineries and restaurants. Dot Thomas asked if I would play for The Thomas Homestead Festival in Savona, NY (I did that for 3 years in a row!) where I played the same stage as Odetta, Rosalie Sorrels, Connie Kaldor and many other notable folksingers. I also opened for David Mallet at one of the Strong venues in Rochester, NY. For me, they were heady times indeed.

I eventually moved to Douglas, Arizona to be near my grandmother after my Tata died. I moved to Bisbee in August, 1996 and in 1997 started singing (and waiting tables and making fabulous coffee from a local roaster, which incidentally, later became our personal coffee roaster Seth Appell's business - Old Bisbee Roasters) in a brand new little coffee house right next door to my apartment. The Quarter Moon Coffee House exists now only in my fondest memories, but there again, I found myself in a community of very creative people. I met Scott at the Quarter Moon. I also hosted a Sunday afternoon jam at my house that produced a lot of different musical partnerships.

After I had Gilbert, the "YOU GOTTA DO SOMETHING WITH YOUR LIFE!" gene took over and I tried my hand at social work again. To no avail. I was desperately unhappy (for goodness sake, after the Mental Health Services Paperwork Reduction Act [2002], our paperwork nearly doubled - no wonder my paperwork stank). In 2005, I asked Scott to take me to a little restaurant in Bisbee run by Liz Cole. Hot Licks Blues and Barbecue was a great venue. Liz booked fabulous acts like Candye Kane, The Bad News Blues Band, Sean Costello (Scott got to sit in with him - RIP 2008) and John Hammond Jr. and there we were in the middle of it! We even got to host the bi-weekly open-mike until she closed a few years ago. We really miss Liz. She is a delight to work with.

In 2006, I was asked to audition to play at Stables Restaurant at beautiful Tubac Golf Resort and Spa. I was hired initially to help keep potential diners entertained while they waited for their tables, but over the years, it has turned into an incredible little scene. When Jeff Clock opened his restaurant, Amado Territory SteakHouse with Cathy Rodarte, he asked us if we would join him and we jumped at the chance! You see, around May of 2008, we went to what was then, Stockman's Grill to see if we could play there on Fridays and the (then) owner turned us down flat. As we were leaving the restaurant, we daydreamed, "...wouldn't it be great if Jeff bought that little restaurant and asked us if we would play there?" See? Dreams do come true.

A year and a half later, here we are, playing two of the nicest restaurants in southeastern Arizona. And it just gets better! Starting August 18 we will be playing Tuesdays at Viaggio Italiano in Sonoita for dinner (call 520-455-5282 for reservations). As you may already know, it's Italian food! Glancing at the menu I can see that owner Suzanne Jenkins uses fresh ingredients to create her dishes. Everything looks fabulous and she's got a beautiful wine selection. We're going to stop by next week on the way home for Sunday brunch. I just can't decide between the home-made Belgian buttermilk waffles and the Italian breakfast strata...

So there's my musical history folks. Pretty unremarkable but I still feel like the luckiest girl on Earth.  I must have done something right...

Scott Muhleman - Blues Harp/Husband

Please note: The photos are very small but you can click on them to open up a larger image.

Scott was born and raised in "The Valley" near Los Angeles, California. At about 9 or 10 ('64 thereabouts), Scott started playing around with bongos and guitars with his friends in the neighborhood. At some point, someone acquired an electric guitar and his best friend Rick started taking drum lessons. It was agreed that Scott should be the singer and he got a tambourine.

At about 11 years, Scott moved to a new neighborhood and met new friends in junior high and they started their own band. Incidentally, one of his band mates was Philo Cramer, who went on to become the lead guitarist and favorite audience antagonist of the punk band Fear.

By 1968, Scott and his mom moved to Hawaii. Waikiki was known as the Haight Ashbury of Hawaii. At this time, he became aware that everyone was playing guitar but that he had a knack with the harmonica. He thought that if he put the other instruments down and concentrated solely on the harmonica, he might actually get good at it. Scott spent quite a few years splitting his time between Hawaii and Alaska where he became known as Harmonica Scott.

Fast forward a few years, and Scott was living in San Francisco. He was proficient enough on the blues harp and he got his first full-time grown-up-job as a musician playing with DC Minner and Blues on the Move. DC and his wife, Selby were a traveling blues act from Oklahoma. Scott traveled throughout California and Arizona with them for about a year. When they arrived in Bisbee, Scott fell in love with the town and eventually returned to Bisbee to settle.

Throughout his travels, Scott has also had the opportunity to sit in with such notable figures as Luther Jackson and the Loose Cannons Band (managed by James Bailey to whom he is forever grateful for the opportunity to play with such great musicians), Bisbee's own Buzz Pearson's (then) band, The Buzzards, Johnny Nitro, Moose and the Bulletproof Blues Band, Popa Chubby, Nappy Brown, Luther Tucker, and many others too numerous to count. Scott also joined Sean Trachtman and his band Train Wreck, to win the Southern Arizona Blues Heritage Foundation's 2007 Blues Challenge, and then went with the band to Memphis in 2008 to be part of the International Blues Challenge hosted by The Blues Foundation.

In 2006, when I started playing out again, Scott accompanied me to my gigs and little by little started honing his skills as an acoustic harp player. I personally love having him provide so much color to the music I play. I also know that one day, someone's going to snatch him up and I'll have to let him go. He really belongs with a blues band. I know he loves me, but "the blues" is his mistress, and she has a hold on him. Personally, I'd be proud as punch to see him go on tour with a national act.