“Blues to soothe your Soul”
Rico Ferrara, under the Blues For A Big Town banner, has been active in the music business in some capacity since late 1996.
Following a successful 20 plus year career in corporate marketing, he turned to his true passion: music; more specifically, Blues and R&B music.
He initially established Blues For A Big Town to produce shows showcasing talent that he personally scouted. Accordingly, he promoted over 200 shows in various Ontario markets. Artists that he introduced to the Canadian market include: Tab Benoit, Tad Robinson, Chico Banks, Deanna Bogart, Reba Russell, Jimmy Burns, and Michelle Willson, among others.
After promoting shows for a number of years, he became, what he likes to call, a music business generalist. That is, utilizing the skills and contacts from his time as a promoter, he diversified his business. He did so by adding talent buying and stage management (including the Beaches Jazz and Waterfront Blues festivals), media, booking, and business planning to his portfolio. Of these endeavours, Waterfront Blues merits special mention. The Festival ran for 10 years, and Rico enjoyed the responsibility and privilege of selecting and hiring of artists, of media initiatives, and of stage management.
In 2020 Rico started his latest venture – the Blues For A Big Town music blog – covering an array of artists and respective genres.
It’s been an interesting trip for the 6 year old boy who ran home every day to catch American Bandstand; and made that fateful first purchase of a “45” of Sam Cooke’s “Chain Gang”.
