Living, Singing the Blues


By Brian Covert
Tribune Staff Writer


To play the blues, you’ve got to live the blues.

So goes the cardinal rule among followers of blues music, which is considered the parent of modern-day rock and jazz.

Stan Rasbeary feels he is more than qualified to play the blues. Rasbeary, a singer-songwriter, says he has paid his share of dues and traveled many miles since starting out in his hometown of Midland, Texas.

He hopes his current move to South Lake Tahoe will eventually lead to long-overdue recognition.

With graying hair and a Texas drawl, the 31-year-old Rasbeary is a self-proclaimed victim of the “starving artist syndrome.”

Much to his family’s chagrin, Rasbeary has always wanted to be a blues musician and singer. But he didn’t get started at it until about 10 years ago, after trying his hand at amateur acting in Los Angeles. He recalls picking up an old acoustic guitar at a record shop and getting hooked on playing it.

Why do artists struggle for so many years only to be faced with the harsh reality of possibly never making it?

“For me, it’s the fact that I have to do it,” he said. “I have an incredible desire to express myself, and I consider myself lucky to have the necessary God-given talent that it takes.”

After years of performing before small audiences, Rasbeary recorded two songs on the Dallas-based Flying High record label last year. The songs, which were produced by country-pop producer Slim Richey, were later released as singles.

Rasbeary said he wrote one of the songs, “Andrea Wilborn,” in tribute to the late stepdaughter of a Fort Worth millionaire [accused of killing the 12-year-old girl in 1976]. The other, “Woman Child,” is simply a song about a girl growing up in a cynical world.

Listening to his songs, Rasbeary admits they were produced “a little more country than I like.” But beneath the layers of steel guitar and background vocal tracks, an underlying blues tone can be discerned.

Ray Charles and Nat King Cole were among the blues-rooted artists who influenced Rasbeary, and he says Kenny Rogers and Neil Diamond are some of his favorite contemporary artists.

But with a repertoire of 30 original pop compositions, he is quick to note that he no longer does other musicians’ songs.

“The way I look at it, you can’t make it singing somebody else’s hits,” he said. “I feel that what I write is just as good as anything that’s being played on the radio right now.”

In retrospect, Rasbeary says he has a commitment to performing thanks to the support of other artists that has helped him to make it this far.

“I guess through my career, that’s where the substance has come from — other artists. Because it (the music business) is such a small community, it gets to where everybody knows everybody and friendships develop. You’re all struggling.”

But he also gives due credit to his critics.

“Also, I’ve gotten a lot of substance from people who said I couldn’t do it, couldn’t make it,” he said. “I don’t want that to sound the wrong way, but they always gave me the mental strength to say, ‘Oh yes, I can. You just watch me.’”

Rasbeary currently shares a house in South Lake Tahoe with three roommates. They seem almost oblivious to him as he kicks back in a living room chair to play some old blues and folk tunes.

“I came up to Lake Tahoe for the same reason I always come here,” he said, looking up from his six-string guitar, “and that’s just to kick back and take it easy for awhile. I always write a lot up here. It’s a real peaceful atmosphere.”

Rasbeary says he may check into playing some local clubs while he’s at Lake Tahoe, but his long-term sights are set on recording in a big-city studio.

So, what does his family think of his career plans at this point?

Rasbeary laughed aloud. “Now they think I’m gonna be the next Beethoven.”