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MUSIC Rogue Rage Duo at The Point Comment By Laurie Heuston Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Laurie Heuston Mail Tribune Posted May. 21, 2015 at 3:00 PM Updated May 21, 2015 at 6:55 PM By Laurie Heuston Mail Tribune Posted May. 21, 2015 at 3:00 PM Updated May 21, 2015 at 6:55 PM » Social News When harmonica player Harpo DeRoma decided to split from his band Rogue Rage and form a Delta blues duo with guitar and Dobro player Dan Tiller, his idea didn't quickly meet with success. "It was around the beginning of 2015," DeRoma says during a telephone interview from his Rogue Valley home. "I made a lot of telephone calls and wrote a lot of emails trying to get gigs but didn't get any response. Then I got an idea." DeRoma and Tiller began cold-calling at wineries, breweries and clubs. They'd walk in, introduce themselves and ask permission to play a song or two. "Then we'd go back out to the truck and get a Dobro and a couple of harmonicas," DeRoma says. "Back inside, we'd sit down and play three songs. The technique worked, and we have more than 63 gigs slated for this year." Rogue Rage Duo will perform at 8 p.m. Friday, May 22, at The Point Pub and Grill, 311 E. Pine St., Central Point. They also can be heard at Southern Oregon Brewing Company, 2Hawk Winery, South Stage Cellars and other venues. DeRoma and Tiller met each other more than 20 years ago at the former's Thursday night open jams at Barkley's Tavern in Phoenix. Tiller sings and plays slide Dobro and guitar using open tunings. Self-taught, he's lived in the Rogue Valley all of his life. "Sometimes we plug in and sometimes we play acoustically," DeRoma says. "We do a couple of country-blues songs, but mostly we play Delta blues because that's what Dan does best." DeRoma and Tiller, as Rogue Rage Duo, are set to enter the Journey to Memphis competition of the Cascade Blues Association to be held Friday and Saturday, June 5-6, at The Lehrer in southwest Portland. There are 18 blues duos and groups competing. See www.cascadebluesassociation.org and search Journey to Memphis. "Dan is such a great player that he really makes us stand out as a harmonica and guitar duo," DeRoma says. "He picks melodies with four fingers and holds the rhythm down with his thumb. I don't do the trills, riffs and stuff. I play more notes than most harmonica players. I just naturally come by trying to play the melodies." This summer, the duo plans to record a full-length album of original songs and Robert Johnson covers at Sandy Ficca's Flabby Road recording studio in Central Point. DeRoma says he didn't even think about being a musician until he was out of college. Hailing from Boston, he attended Cape Cod Community College, then San Francisco State University. "I didn't know what to do with my life," he says. "All of my friends in San Francisco were musicians, so a couple of months later, I was a musician. I've always played blues and rock 'n' roll, a lot of Stones' stuff. "The first song I ever performed publicly was an Elmore James tune called 'Talk to Me Baby' in 1973 with the Pine Street Band at the Rose and Thistle in San Francisco," DeRoma says. "The singer and guitar player was Jackson Hart of the Beau Brummels." Although DeRoma no longer hosts open jams — and says he doesn't miss them — there were some exciting moments. "One night, Riki Hendrix, Jimi Hendrix' cousin, came to the jam," he says. "We got to talking and made great plans. Riki had a band called AJO in Reno, so my girlfriend and I decided to move to Sacramento. I'd go to Reno and rehearse with Riki, and in '97 we went to Max Yasgur's farm in Bethel, N.Y., for one of the Woodstock reunion concerts. "They had the same stage as the original concert, the same public address towers, the same rain ... " By Laurie Heuston Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Laurie Heuston Mail Tribune Posted May. 21, 2015 at 3:00 PM Updated May 21, 2015 at 6:55 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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