About

“Whoa!” Is the response when Roanman is asked about his musical influences. “You have to understand, I’ve been around for a long time. The much easier question to answer here would be about my non influences.”

“Ok, so give us the list of your non influences.” 

Roanman, looking vaguely uncomfortable says, “In the unlikely event that somebody actually reads this thing, I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings. But … I can’t do that Tuvan throat singing thing. So there’s that.”

When pressed, he says, “Well, as much as I don’t always like admitting it, I was there for a bunch of it. I watched Bob Seger and The Last Herd lip sync East Side Story on Swingin’ Time. I saw the MC5, Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen, The Amboy Dukes, Grand Funk Railroad, and Parliament. I saw the second lineup of the Temptations when they were still having hits, and Stevie Wonder at the top of his game. I saw the O’Jays when they were making hit records. I thought they were an Irish band … kidding.” 

I saw Junior Wells and Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. Caught a show with Willie Dixon and Carey Bell together with Little Brother Montgomery … I think it was Little Brother Montgomery … that night is a little hazy. I saw Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown at the Armadillo World Headquarters.

“I saw Mink DeVille just suck in some club on the west side of Detroit. I was so mad, I vowed to never buy a Mink DeVille record ever again. That didn’t last.

​I saw The Clash, The Ramones, Talking Heads, The Specials, The Stranglers, The Bus Boys, Kid Creole and the Coconuts. I saw Springsteen before he had biceps, Asleep At The Wheel and UB40 so many times I can’t really say, Jimmy Cliff, Peter Tosh, Bob Marley and The Wailers.

“I’m coming from a long list of musics.”

“I would tell you that the one constant here is that if you can’t dance to it, I ain’t interested.”

“Have you a favorite?”

“Nope!”

“Favorites?”

“Damn, you’re relentless.” Then after a moment’s thought, he says,  “Well, I can give you my five favorite records in no particular order: Misery by The Dynamics, Don’t Leave Me This Way by Thelma Houston, Whammer Jammer by the J. Geils Band, Bustin’ Out by Material featuring Nona Hendryx and Mixed Up Shook Up Girl by Mink DeVille. The next five come from a rotating list of about 137.”

When asked, “What are your goals for your music?” He rocks back in his chair, looks off into the future for a moment, smiles, and says, “Let me get back to you on that one.”