Photo via geromedurham.com
Gerome Durham
Gerome Durham
Maybe Gerome Durham is a man of few words in an interview because he lets his music do the talking? “I'm the Mississippi Blues Boy,” Durham notes of his nickname, “born and raised in Durant, MS and moved to North Carlonia in 1961.”
Durham, who has called Milwaukee home since moving to the city from North Carolina in young adulthood, will be making one of his rare in-town concert appearances with his All-Star Band on Saturday, Nov. 1 at the Aria Banquet Center on W. Fond du Lac Ave. at 8 p.m.
“Most of my shows are out of town, about 20 to 25,” Durham says of the average number of dates he performs every year. One of his 2025 appearances he counts as the proudest moment of his life as a bluesman. “(Being) inducted to the Wisconsin Blues hall of Fame by Jim Freeny," Durham notes as his career apex thus far., adding "I was so excited and surprised and humbled.”
Like many singers of his generation, Durham began employing his voice in song by “singing in the church as a young boy.” Part of what led him to the music he's making now is that he “was always interested in singing in front of a crowd.”
It was another Mississippi-to-Milwaukee soul and blues-singing transplant who was instrumental in making Durham's dream come true. “Johnny Rawls started taking me on the road with him; that's when it all started,” Durham recollects.
Speaking from personal experience, it's fun to see Durham ply his lived-in, homey baritone to tracks, but it should be all the more enjoyable to see hm with his band, at least three of whose members he acknowledges by first and last name in our brief interview “James Cosey plays guitar. Greg Allen is on bass, and Allen Horn is on keyboards," Durham shares regarding the five-piece ensemble he leads.
This may or may not be indicative of what Durham will be throwing down at Aria, but the following music video, the only one uploaded to the YouTube channel bearing Durham's name, nicely shows off his one-man Temptations-styled choreography and a groove reminiscent of blues-to-Southern soul architect Latimore ...
