Musician finds a home in Memphis music scene

" Scalici finds his second chance on Beale. "

By Norm Shaw

John Scalici has almost been to the mountiantop.

He had a band that was drawing rave reviews. He had a record out on a well-known Southern label. He was touring regularly, opening for legends.

What he didn't have was a lot of happiness.

What he's got now is a bright future, a level head and clear-cut goals. He also has enthusiasm, something he didn't have a year ago.

When Scalici formed the band Gravy in Birmingham, Ala., back at the start of the decade, it seemed almost like a lark. You know the story. Three friends form a band. They get a chance to spend some time in Florida soaking up the sun and playing five nights a week. Small successes lead to bigger successes, leading to a record deal.

And then your world falls apart.

"The band was touring its ass off, and the initial support from Kudzu Records was great. Things were really going well," he says from his new home in Memphis. "We opened for the Allman Brothers, Buddy Guy and a bunch of others. But what was happening is we were getting farther and farther from the original concept, which was to be a real blues band."

As relationships soured, Kudzu went under. Life on the road became a nightmare. A gig in Dallas required driving all day, playing the show and driving back that night because there was no money for a hotel room. The other two members of the band wanted to go in a different direction, playing more extended jams and catering to a college crowd.

Scalici knew what he had to do.

"Things got a little nasty, we split up and they kept going," Scalici says. "I didn't sleep for a year."

Recently, Gravy returned to Memphis for a gig at Newby's. Scalici decided it was time to make amends, so he went to the show. Afterward, he talked with his former bandmates.

"The chemistry was still there, no doubt about that," he says. "But this is where I need to be." Where he is almost starting over. A gifted drummer and songwriter, Scalici is now working himself back into music. He's found a new writing partner and is finding work on the Memphis music scene.

"Last summer, I was watching Sean Costello, and I said I've got to get in on this," he says. "But then I asked myself, 'How in the world am I going to get into this?'"

Like many before him, Scalici found the answer in the tight-knit musical community in Memphis and on Beale Street. With the help of such people as Billy Gibson, Scalici began making contacts. He joined the Beale Street Blues Society and started hanging out at Tuesday night jams at the Blues City Cafe.

"I had lost all confidence," he says simply. "But I went to a Tuesday night jam. I sang one tune and played another. Five people came up to me after I was done asking for my phone number. That's when I said, 'I ain't done yet.'"

He has now hooked up with writing partner Carl Schankel, a musician who recently relocated to Nashville. Their first batch of songs is nearly done, and Scalici has now put together a band to show off those tunes. John Scalici and His Junkyard Men should make their Memphis debut in the next month or so. The band includes Mike Santana, Chris Chatfield and Tom Lewis.

"They are the most unpretentious guys you could get in a band," Scalici says. "We just want it to be a good creative atmosphere. Everybody brings their own ideas in and we just want to make good music."

Scalici and His Junkyard Men hope to play Huey's and find work on Beale. If a Beale gig presents itself, Scalici will jump. The street has been very good to him over the past few years. He met his wife, the former Deana Chism, there while he was with Gravy.

"It was two years ago January," he says. "She worked at Huey's, and we were going to be playing there so she and some friends came down to check us out on Beale. We ended up keeping in touch. I'd write to her from the road. It just all worked out."

And that's what Scalici is hoping for in his music. His goal is to make a career out of songwriting (he wrote the majority of the songs on Gravy's record). He and Schankel will be shopping songs to labels in the coming months.

"I'd like to get a couple of songs published and see where it takes me," he says. "You have to be realistic. This is a real-world business. I'm finally believing in what I'm doing. It's something I do well. It's not all I can do, but it's what I love. It's who I am. I'll never be able to just stop."