Blues musician Ryan Hartt has released his first solo album, Be About It! available now. After years of performing with his band Ryan Hartt and the Blue Hearts, Hartt steps into the solo spotlight, recording with a hand-picked group of regional players, including drummer Nick Toscano; bassists Jeffrey Berg and Mike Law; guitarists Nick Adams, Jad Tariq and Tom Ferraro; and piano player Brooks Milgate.
Hartt’s path to the album was paved by the blues influences of his father’s Big Band records and his West Coast experiences, where he sat in with Lynwood Slim, Junior Watson, Rick Holmstrom, and Rod Piazza of the Mighty Flyers. Back on the East Coast, he formed the Blue Hearts, performing at clubs and festivals, winning local awards, and reaching the finals of the Blues Foundation’s 2006 International Blues Challenge “Best Self-Produced CD” category.
Be About It! spans 11 tracks, five written by Hartt himself: “Breaking Even,” “Queen of Everything,” “Old Habits Die Hard,” “That’s Right, You’re Wrong,” and “Lonely Hour.” The rest are covers ranging from New Orleans strolls and Chicago blues to a Hawaiian melody (“Hawaiian War Chant”) and the classic ballad “You Belong To Me.”
Across the album, Hartt alternates between chromatic and diatonic harmonicas, exploring multiple positions and precise bends that offer technical detail for harp players while remaining approachable for all listeners, a nuanced sound he captures through an Astatic JT30 mic into a Tweed Fender Deluxe amp. True to the album’s title, Urban Dictionary defines “Be About It” as “a call to an elevated standard of professionalism and dedication.”
