Every project needs a spark, and only the truly nurtured ones keep on burning.
For the local band Blue Yonder, that spark is a longtime musician, Rick O’Gorman, whose bandmates call him the glue of their group. Now nearly a decade into playing together, their love for the craft shines brightly, and they perform out all year.
On Monday nights, the four musicians who make up Blue Yonder have a residency on the Portuguese-American Club stage. Islanders regularly go out to see them and dance enthusiastically to their covers of ageless tunes, such as “Crying Time” by Buck Owens, “Walking after Midnight” by Patsy Cline, and “Cathy’s Clown” by the Everly Brothers.
O’Gorman is the front person, on vocals and the acoustic guitar. He’s also a busker in downtown Oak Bluffs during the summers, and is a steady presence at the Chilmark Potluck Jams, an off-season event run by Alex Karalakes that features local musicians.
“I’ve been knocking on the musical door of Martha’s Vineyard since 1970,” O’Gorman said with a chuckle, right before a show last Monday. He radiates passion for music, and he’s dedicated much of his life to it.
But outside of the sporadic jam sessions that occur at Island dinner parties and social gatherings, O’Gorman played alone. At least until 15 years ago, when he met George Davis, and the pair started playing Americana and blues covers together informally. Davis, a clerk at the Dukes County Courthouse, plays the electric guitar.
“Rick is like a walking jukebox,” Davis said as he glanced at his bandmate with a smile. “A lot of how we got started was just filling in around him.”
A few years later, while they were working on their sound and collaborating with other Island musicians, they met Jessie Leaman, who had just moved to the Island, where she spent summers for most of her life, from Brooklyn, New York. Their band was beginning to form.
“We were just jamming. We weren’t really playing out or anything,” Leaman recalled.
A bass player, vocalist, and copy editor at The Martha’s Vineyard Times, Leaman was described by the duo as a grounding force, for both her personality and the resonant deep notes of her instrument. It wasn’t long until the trio got in a groove and decided to take to the stage. They brought in a friend who played pedal steel guitar, which added a soulful, country twang. After that person moved off the Island, however, they found a steady replacement in Jim Orr.
“I bribed George to let me into the band,” Orr joked.
Orr had just purchased a lap steel guitar at Island Music, where he worked until they closed their doors for good recently. When he joined the band, he was still figuring out his recent purchase.
“It was a great way to learn the lap steel,” he said while O’Gorman and Davis set up on the stage behind him. “They were kind enough to let me sit in. And I just kept sitting in.”
“We get a lot of practice here on Monday nights,” Leaman added.
The name of the band, Blue Yonder, was coined by Leaman, who felt it fit them well. It’s a little bit country, just like many of the songs they play, “and a little bit out there,” said Leaman.
Leaman added that O’Gorman’s cache of songs includes a lot of picks from the country genre.
“Rick throws some songs to the band that I would normally turn away from and he makes them sound great,” Leaman said. “He puts a different spin on them.”
Their music is rooted in what some may call an “old-school” vibe of the Vineyard. But that energy never really left: Local bands like Blue Yonder have kept its spirit alive. They have a loyal following of year-rounders, and their repertoire is geared toward upbeat, classic songs that are recognizable within the first few plucks of guitar strings on a faded acoustic. The band pulls from a variety of genres — rock, jazz, country, folk, reggae, and occasionally one of O’Gorman’s originals. O’Gorman, Leaman, and Orr all sing lead and harmonize; local musicians are invited to sit in; and the crowd has a blast.
The band said they’re extremely grateful to Charlene Alley, the manager at the P.A. Club, for bringing them back every week.
“We’re extremely fortunate,” Davis said. “It’s done wonders for our cohesion, and just our general playing.”
In the summers, Blue Yonder plays at a variety of other venues as well, like the Agricultural Fair, Farmers Markets, and other bars and restaurants that host them. But in the off-season, the intimate, small-town comfortability is the fire that drives them forward. Their care for their listeners is second to only one thing: music.
“The Monday night scene is so nice, the way it feeds back with the audience,” Leaman said. “It’s all about the music.”