Carnival of Soul

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Time was when Ron Addison chased alley cats and strays from the law as a member of the Virginia State Police.

Now he’s a Tom Cat.

The retired policeman’s band of soulful prowlers of the blues, Ron Addison and the Tom Cats, prepares to purr at Delta Blues BBQ in Bristol, Tennessee on Sept. 5. The band formed about three years ago, but Addison’s roots in music grew long beforehand.

“I grew up on country music. That’s what my dad played,” said Addison. “As a teenager, I got turned on to the blues and from my dad playing country music. The older I got, the more I listened to B.B. King.”

Like many a dream, Addison parked his in the garage. When he parked his squad car, out roared his muscle car of music. Initially, he established Acoustic Reaction, a three-part harmony-driven group banded with his brothers.

“For me, man, playing music is everything,” Addison said. “I’m retired from the state police, retired from the military. I don’t do anything else. This is real important.”

Viewed from afar, Addison may strike one as a fellow in midlife crisis mode. Look closer. He’s no covers-churning musician, though he does mix covers with his original music. Plus, he records. As witnessed by his latest album, “Testify,” the former man in blue creates his own blues.

“My ‘Testify’ CD came out in February,” he said. “We did a CD release show at Delta Blues, then a week later, everything closed up.”

Since reopened, Delta Blues provides an avenue through which Addison can finally hawk his album. The show’s free; folks can buy his CD on-site for $12.

“At Delta Blues, I’ll perform more originals,” Addison said. “We’re blues-rock, a little bit of boogie woogie thrown in. We’ve had some plays of our album in the United Kingdom, Belgium and Canada. It’s spread nicely, especially for somebody who didn’t know anything about promotion.”

Recorded last November and December in Mike Stephenson’s Classic Recording Studio in Bristol, Virginia, Addison enlisted a who’s who of Bristol-area musicians. Tracks include a scintillating duet with Bristol’s Samantha Gray on “Long Ago Another Time.”

“Billy Crawford played guitar on three songs,” Addison said. “Victor Lawson played guitar on three songs. DC Wolf played guitar on five songs. Don Eanes played keyboards on the record. Mary Munsey played saxophone on three songs. My brother, Martin Addison, played bass.”

Onstage, Addison leans heavily on the three Kings of the blues — B.B., Albert and Freddie. On record, he’s particularly proud of his emotion-drenched “Crayons in Heaven.”

“It’s about child abuse,” Addison said. “I wrote it several years ago but put it on the back burner. When this Evelyn Boswell thing happened, we made a video of the song and dedicated it to her. It goes over real well in shows.”

Evelyn Boswell was a toddler found murdered in Blountville early this year. Her sad saga continues to wage today.

“You were given magic wings … there’ll be no pain and suffering,” Addison sings amid Munsey’s beautifully melancholic sax. Buy the song for 99 cents on Addison’s website, and all proceeds go to the Prevent Child Abuse America organization.

As during his tenure with the state police, music reaches into the higher realms of character within Addison. It’s a calling. Entertainment, yes, but it’s a feel-good endeavor born from a lifetime of love attached to music and humanity.

“Music is not only an outlet for me, but it’s a source of energy,” Addison said. “It takes me to another place.”

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