THE MIGHTY REAPERS

THE MIGHTY REAPERS

His voice is probably best known for the hit, Soul Kind of Feeling, which topped the charts for eighties band The Dynamic Hepnotics. However, it was as front man for The Mighty Reapers that ‘Continental’ Robert Susz found his musical niche.

“I was in the Hepnotics and Dave Brewer had come over from Perth with his own band, The Elks, so if we didn’t have our own gigs we would try to find a venue to have a jam,” explains Susz.

“We started off as just a fun band. When the Hepnotics fizzled out, we kept going as The Mighty Reapers and played together for the next 10 years.”

It was a creative partnership that spawned four albums, countless gigs and critical acclaim as perhaps Australia’s finest blues and roots band. Along the way they have managed to record and play with some of the biggest names in the business – Big Jay McNeely, Margie Evans, Buddy Guy – the list goes on. They rarely play together these days – Dave Brewer now lives in Perth – so expect people to come out of the woodwork to hear them when they come to Petersham Bowling Club for one night only in January.

“The Inner West/Inner City area has always been the home of blues and roots music in Sydney,” says Susz, “and most of the people who like to come and hear us play live around there.”

Although they never performed live outside of Australia, the Reapers built a distinct following in America – the home of the blues – where their records were released on the independent Terra Nova label. Their music was picked up by Dan Ackroyd’s House of Blues radio program, which might explain why James Belushi turned up to one of their Sydney shows.

“We had a residency at the Cat and Fiddle in Balmain in the 90s and James Belushi must have been tipped off, because he was there and got up to sing a few tunes with us,” explains Susz.

Clearly excited to be getting the band back together, the boys are looking forward to settling into a comfy groove.

“Fans can expect some funky down-home-boogaloo, played with a lot of emotion – you can either be dancing to it or just letting it flow over you,” says Susz.

“To me, that kind of music – you can’t beat it. I love it myself, so I just can’t imagine people not enjoying it.”

Joining ‘Continental’ Robert Susz on vocals/harmonica and Dave Brewer on guitar is Vito ‘Mr. Showbiz’ Portolesi on the bass, Antero Ceschin on drums and Clayton ‘The Teenager’ Doley on the Hammond organ.

“It’s the premiere line-up,” says Susz, “so it should be unstoppable.” (GW)

Jan 4, Petersham Bowling Club, 77 Brighton St, Petersham, $25 (all tickets at the door), 9569 4639, thepbc.org.au

You May Also Like

Comments are closed.