Rico Ferrara: Toronto’s Most Passionate Blues Advocate and the Story Behind Blues For A Big Town

Rico Ferrara has been active in the music business under the Blues For A Big Town banner since late 1996 — and the story of how it all started is a good one. It began, as so many great music stories do, in childhood. A six year old boy running home every day to catch American Bandstand, making his first record purchase — a 45 of Sam Cooke’s “Chain Gang.” That was the beginning of a lifelong obsession that would eventually reshape Toronto’s Blues landscape.

Following a successful career of more than twenty years in corporate marketing, Ferrara made the leap to his true passion. It was a bold move, and the right one.

Blues For A Big Town — The Shows

Ferrara established Blues For A Big Town to produce shows spotlighting talent he personally scouted, going on to promote over 200 shows across various Ontario markets. Artists he introduced to the Canadian market include Tab Benoit, Tad Robinson, Chico Banks, Deanna Bogart, Reba Russell, Jimmy Burns, and Michelle Willson, among others — a track record that established Blues For A Big Town as a name both audiences and industry insiders could trust.

His first music business endeavour — a Boz Scaggs concert at Massey Hall in 1997 — marked the beginning of a key professional relationship with Lido Chilelli, founder of The Beaches International Jazz Festival. That connection opened doors that would define the next chapter of Ferrara’s career.

From Promoter to Music Business Generalist

After his years as a promoter, Ferrara evolved into what he describes as a music business generalist. Drawing on the skills and contacts built through promotion, he expanded into talent buying, stage management, media, booking, and business planning.

After initially recommending Blues talent to the Beaches Jazz Festival, he joined the team in 2000, working alongside Artistic Director Bill King to program Blues talent, manage the Kew Gardens stage, handle Main Stage logistics, and contribute artist bios for print and online use.

Waterfront Blues became his most personal project — a festival where he held full responsibility for booking, media relations, and stage management. It ran for ten years. He later served as its producer and artistic director, a role that solidified his standing as one of Toronto’s foremost Blues advocates. He also played an active role in booking, media, and talent coordination for the Barrie Waterfront Festival and the Wasaga Beach Fest.

An active member of both the Toronto Blues Society and The Blues Foundation in Memphis, Ferrara has hosted industry workshops and is well regarded across the music business. He credits Gary Cormier and Gary Kendall as instrumental in getting him started, alongside his wife Debbie, who fully supported his move from the corporate world, and Lido Chilelli for opening a number of musical doors.

Blues For A Big Town — The Blog

In 2020, Ferrara launched his latest venture: the Blues For A Big Town blog, operating under the tagline “Blues to soothe your Soul.” Deep dives into artists like Bobby “Blue” Bland, Bonnie Raitt, Delbert McClinton, Ry Cooder, and Laura Nyro read less like criticism and more like letters from someone who genuinely cannot stop thinking about this music. That voice is what makes it worth reading.

Rico Ferrara at Joe’s Place

Rico Ferrara is far more than a contributor to Joe’s Place — he is one of its cornerstones. Rico writes for his own Blues For A Big Town blog, and has generously allowed Joe’s Place founder and editor Joe Ruicci to share those writings with the Joe’s Place audience. That arrangement has brought depth, authority, and genuine passion to the site, helping define what Joe’s Place stands for as a destination for serious music lovers.

The connection between Rico and Joe runs deeper than the blog, however. The two share a friendship that stretches back to the 1960s — a bond forged long before either of them could have imagined they would one day be sharing their love of music with an audience together. That history brings something to the page that no editorial relationship alone can replicate.

Whether Rico is making the case for an underappreciated Southern Soul singer or tracing the full arc of a roots music legend’s career, the conviction behind the words is unmistakable. Joe’s Place is a better site for having access to his work.

“On a personal note, I just want to thank Rico for allowing me to use the posts from his ‘Blues For a Big Town’ blog. His writing and knowledge of the Blues has been a vital part of what Joe’s Place is all about. And Thank You Rico for reminding me that no matter how long I have been involved in the wonderful world of music, I still have so much to learn.”

“Please show your appreciation by leaving some comments for Rico below.”

Joe Ruicci

(Research assistant Claude AI)