Stuart Bryant plays it like he means it.

Night and day, he lives the blues.

By Cheryl Squadrito

          Oblivious to his surroundings, Stuart Bryant sat contentedly on the front steps of his Media store playing his 1937 Regal Dobro wood-body guitar. The sound of his bluesy slide guitar riffs resonated across Monroe Street, and a handful of people passing by paused to listen.

          Although Bryant is a Delaware County native, his heart is in Memphis; he is a blues guitarist. And through his three-piece band, Mojo, Bryant is playing the music of the soul.

          “Stuart’s the real deal”, said Don McMinn, a seasoned guitarist from Memphis. McMinn was one of thousands of blues fans who saw Bryant perform at a Labor Day festival in Memphis last year.

          “He caught a lot of ears when he was down here,” McMinn said in a telephone interview. “He’s a real player, you can tell he just didn’t learn the licks. There’s a love affair going on between himself and his instrument.”

          McMinn books acts and plays guitar in the house band at the Rum Boogie Café, at a corner of Beale Street and Route 61 in Memphis.

          Mojo’s drummer, Andrew Nutt, 28, of Brookhaven, has been traveling between Memphis and Philadelphia trying to stir up interest in venues and blues record labels based in the Tennessee City.

          “Every club on Beale Street wants to book us shows,” said Nutt. “Beale Street is the blues capital of the world.”

          Meanwhile, Bryant, 32, has a business venture to keep him busy. He runs a music store, Frets Plus, in the 100 block of Monroe Street in Media, that specializes in selling and repairing guitars and musical equipment. Some of the Frets Plus guitars are new, but most have a history.

          “Guitars are collectibles, too, like baseball cards, art, classic cars,” said Bryant. “But I’m a guitar player first. [Frets Plus] is my day gig. I do this to support my music.”

          Bryant favors the “resonator guitar” from the 1920s and 1930s---a traditional blues guitar that was popular before the electric ones were invented. His favorite instrument for playing slide is his 1932 National steel guitar.

          Bryant said a resonator amplified the sound mechanically. When electric guitars came along, resonator guitars seemed obsolete, and many ended up at pawnshops – a boon to blues players low on cash.

          But, for Bryant, why the blues?

          “It was the first music that I heard that really grabbed hold of my soul and really shook it.”

          Bryant, who grew up in Lenni, started playing the guitar when he was 11. A graduate of Penncrest High School, he moved to California for a while, but now lives in Upland.

          Bryant also teaches guitar.

          “For the beginner students, I just show them how to get started,” he said. “I don’t read music, so I just teach them how to play. I never had a real desire to learn to read music. I play by ear.”

          “The original concept of the whole band was to take the blues from its inception to now. I do songs from the ‘20s, some from the 40’s, a couple from the 60’s. Of course…I do it my own way. It’s like jazz in that respect.”

          “Although I front the band and play all the leads, it’s a band project. Everyone’s got an equal say.”

          Bryant realizes that to take the band to the next level, the trio must go to the blues capital. Danny B., 23, of Holmes, plays bass for Mojo, which formed after Bryant’s trip to Memphis last year.

          “We’re going to Memphis because it’ll be more fun playing there ‘cause people are into the music already,” Bryant said. “There’s no blues labels in Philadelphia. Major labels don’t come to Philadelphia looking for blues-rock artists, they go to Memphis to do that, and there are four blues labels in town. Because that’s where people go to see the [music].

          Bryant said he hoped to one day make a living playing his music.

          I’m not doing this to get rich at it,” he said. “I’m doing it because I love doing it.”