Chicago’s DELMARK RECORDS is super excited and honored to release the Delmark debut recording from BMA award winner, East Coast keyboard master ANTHONY GERACI!! Featuring the stunning vocals from SHERYL YOUNGBLOOD
2026 Blues Music Award Nominee for Instrumentalist-Piano/Pinetop Perkins Piano Award and LIVING BLUES award nominee for most outstanding musician- keyboardist.
Anthony Geraci‘s new single, Where Were You, Delmark Records debut!
With his first digital single for Delmark Records, acclaimed blues pianist and composer Anthony Geraci delivers an intimate and emotionally charged performance on “Where Were You,” the title track from his forthcoming album. Written by Geraci, the song strips the blues down to its raw essentials: heartbreak, longing, and hard-earned truth.
Featuring Geraci on piano and Hammond B3 organ, the recording centers around a powerful trio completed by the deeply expressive vocals of Sheryl Youngblood and the subtle, resonant bass work of Rodrigo Mantovani. Sparse yet intensely atmospheric, “Where Were You” unfolds with soulful intensity, revealing the deep musical chemistry between the three performers. The single offers a compelling preview of Geraci’s upcoming full-length release, a work steeped in tradition while speaking with a deeply personal voice.
“Where Were You” (6:04) – Anthony Geraci, JA TO ME, ASCAP.
Anthony Geraci – Piano & Hammond B3 Organ
Sheryl Youngblood – vocals & drums
Rodrigo Mantovani – bass
Recorded October 30, 31, 2025 at Delmark’s Riverside Studio, Chicago
Joining Anthony on the full-length album will be Delmark Artists Sheryl Youngblood and Dave Specter, as well as Rodrigo Mantovani, Anne Harris, Pooky Styx (from Buddy Guy’s band), Jon McDonald, and members of The Boston Blues All-Stars.
Where were you
When the blues said goodbye 2X
I woke up early in the morning
And I cry cry cried
The songs were so sweet
They brought tears to my eyes 2X
We’ve got to carry the torch
Sing those blues lullabies
Bridge :
We know nothing
Until the Blues showed us the way
We listened to the songs
Night and day
We prayed-yea man we prayed
But the Blues won’t go away
Where were you
When the blues said goodbye 2X
We’ve got to carry the torch
Sing those blues lullabies
https://www.deezer.com/album/998630301
https://itunes.apple.com/album/id/6777183499
https://app.airplaydirect.com/music/GeraciWhereWereYou
Anthony is a two-time Blues Music Award (BMA) Winner from The Blues Foundation in Memphis, TN for Instrumentalist-Piano/Pinetop Perkins Piano Award. He has 18 personal BMA Nominations as well as a Grammy Nomination for Super Harps I (Telarc). Anthony has toured world-wide for over 40 years with Ronnie Earl, Sugar Ray and the Bluetones, The Proven Ones, and his own band The Boston Blues All-Stars, which were nominated 3 times for Band of the Year by the Blues Foundation. He has recorded with traditional blues artists such as Bob Corritore, Willie Buck, Welch/Ledbetter, Charlie Musselwhite, Teeny Tucker, Sugaray Rayford, Zora Young and many more. He has also toured with Otis Rush, J.B. Hutto, Hubert Sumlin, & Big Joe Turner. He has played piano backing up Big Mama Thorton, Chuck Berry, & John Lee Hooker. Anthony has had the honor to sit in with Muddy Waters and B.B King.
“It’s been said often that one’s reputation is determined by the people one picks as friends and collaborators. If true, then count Anthony Geraci as one well respected musician. In his performance of various piano styles, Geraci presents listeners with a concise history of the piano in American roots music.” -Art Tipaldi – Editor, Blues Music Magazine
Anthony R. Geraci (born 1954) is an American blues and jazz pianist, organist, singer and composer. A keyboard player with a professional career in excess of 40 years, Geraci has played on stage with Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Otis Rush, Chuck Berry, Big Mama Thornton, Big Joe Turner, and Jimmy Rogers, and has recorded work with Big Walter Horton, Ronnie Earl, Big Jack Johnson, Zora Young, Sugaray Rayford, Debbie Davies, and Kenny Neal among others. Geraci’s work has been nominated for a Grammy Award, and he has had numerous Blues Music Award nominations. In addition to his work with others, Geraci has released eight albums in his own name.
He is an original member of both Sugar Ray & the Bluetones and Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters.
Anthony Geraci was born in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. He was raised in a home without any musical connection but decided at the age of four that he wanted a piano. This unusual request was rewarded with the acquisition of an old upright piano costing $25.00, and Geraci started taking piano lessons. A few years later, a Kimball baby grand piano was purchased by his mother, as Geraci’s playing proficiency grew. He had lessons at the Neighborhood School of Music, where at the age of 16, Geraci and a schoolfriend heard Jimmy Rogers recording of “Chicago Bound” (1954) which shaped his destiny. Geraci went on to graduate from the Berklee College of Music with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and then from Skidmore College with a Master of Arts degree in jazz studies. In the early 1970s, Gerachi relocated to Boston, Massachusetts and began immersing himself in the local blues and jazz scenes. Around 1974, Geraci was the opening act for a week of performances by Muddy Waters. He commenced playing with Jerry Portnoy and Bob Margolin when they were not touring with Muddy Waters. Through that connection he was approached by Michael “Mudcat” Ward and Ronnie Earl, and they jointly undertook gigs in both Boston and Providence, Rhode Island. Their drummer, Neil Gouvin, then brought Sugar Ray Norcia to attend one of those performances, and the original line-up of Sugar Ray & the Bluetones was formed. In the early days of the group, they backed several touring Chicago blues musicians such as Big Walter Horton, J. B. Hutto, and Hubert Sumlin; plus had a gig backing Junior Wells in Westerly, Rhode Island. In the late 1970s, the group also recorded a four-track single for Baron Records, with “Oh Baby” as the lead track. Otis Rush was a fan of the recording. Over this period, the Bluetones also backed Memphis Slim for a few concerts in the Boston area.
In 1984, Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters was formed, with Geraci a founding member. Geraci continued to work in both the Broadcasters and the Bluetones, then in 1992, he was also an original member of the Blue Monday All-Star Band at the first House of Blues in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1994, the album Take It from Me, billed as by Little Anthony & Sugar Ray Garcia, was issued by Tone-Cool Records. Superharps was an album issued in October 1999 that featured four harmonica players; James Cotton, Charlie Musselwhite, Billy Branch, and Sugar Ray Norcia, with piano accompaniment by Geraci. It garnered a nomination in the Best Traditional Blues Album category in 2001 for a Grammy Award.
In 2005, Geraci recorded and released, The Gift on Sunset Jazz Records, which was followed by Wake Up (2008). The jazz-tinged collection, Serendipity, was the next, issued in 2011. In addition to recording, Geraci maintained an educational schedule and taught for over 12 years at Johnson State College in Johnson, Vermont. He has taught at the South Shore Conservatory in Massachusetts since 2012. His 2015 album, Fifty Shades of Blue, was released by Delta Groove Productions. It earned Geraci multiple Blues Music Award nominations for ‘Best Song’, ‘Best Album’, and ‘Best Traditional Blues Album’, with Geraci getting an individual nomination for the ‘Pinetop Perkins Piano Player’. The album’s title of Fifty Shades of Blue reflected the differing blues elements in the recording. Traditional Chicago blues was reflected in the ballad sung by Norcia, plus another sung by Michelle “Evil Gal” Willson. Other vocalists included Darrell Nulisch with a slow blues track, whereas an up-tempo blues was sung by Toni Lynn Washington. The instrumentals sent a nod to Freddie King on “In The Quicksand, Again,” plus a tribute to the recently departed Boston blues pianist, David Maxwell. Monster Mike Welch provided guitar work on several tracks. In addition to a slew of Blues Music Award nominations, Fifty Shades Of Blue was also nominated for Traditional Blues Album of the year by Blues Blast, got a four-star review rating in DownBeat magazine. The album was credited to Anthony Geraci and the Boston Blues All-Stars.
For his next album, Why Did You Have to Go, Geraci penned “Baptized in the River Yazoo” and “Why Did You Have to Go” in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Geraci stated “there’s something in the air down there.” The album was recorded in two distinct locations and incorporated many of the musicians that Geraci had worked with over the years. This included the original line-up of Sugar Ray and the Bluetones all performing on two tracks on the CD, “My Last Good-Bye” and “Times Running Out”. It was the first time the combination had recorded together, since the four-track single produced in the late 1970s.Again the recording attracted a slew of nominations for various Blues Music Awards with six in total, the most nominations for any artist in 2019. However, none of them won the title.
In July 2020, Daydreams in Blue, was released on Shining Stone Records. The album contained a dozen tracks. Ten were Geraci originals, augmented by a reworking of Earl Hines and Billy Eckstine‘s “Jelly, Jelly”, plus one co-written by Brennan, Peter Wolf and Troy Gonyea, “Dead Man’s Shoes”. Personnel included Dennis Brennan (vocals and harmonica), Jeff Armstrong (drums), Michael “Mudcat” Ward (bass guitar), Troy Gonyea (rhythm guitar) who accompanied Geraci (piano), whilst guest musicians Walter Trout and Monster Mike Welch added lead guitar parts. Unusually Geraci himself handled the vocals on the track “Tutti Frutti Booty,” the first time he had sung on any of his recordings. The poignant song, “Ode to Todd, Ella, and Mike Ledbetter”, remembered friends and family. Daydreams in Blue peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Top Blues Albums Chart.
In 2022, Geraci signed with Blue Heart Records for release of Blues Called My Name.
Over the past decade he has fronted various performing groups. These include Anthony Geraci and the Boston Blues All-Stars; the Proven Ones that featured Kid Ramos, Willie J. Campbell, Jimi Bott and Brian Templeton; and Little Anthony & The Loco-Motives.
Geraci has performed at many festivals including the Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland), North Sea Jazz Festival (Netherlands), and Montreal International Jazz Festival (Canada).
Anthony Geraci and the Boston Blues All-Stars were a 2021 Blues Music Award nominee in the ‘Band of the Year’ category, whilst Geraci himself was nominated for the sixth consecutive time in the ‘Instrumentalist Piano (Pinetop Perkins Piano Player Award)’ category. The ceremony took place on June 6, 2021, and saw Geraci finally rewarded as that year’s Pinetop Perkins Piano Player. Geraci won his second ‘Pinetop Perkins Piano Player’ citation at the 2023 Blues Music Awards.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Geraci
Two-time Blues Music Award Winner for Instrumentalist-Piano/Pinetop Perkins Piano Award from The Blues Foundation in Memphis, TN. Anthony is on the Board of directors at The Pinetop Perkins Foundation.
Pianist, Hammond organist and composer Anthony Geraci was born in New Haven, CT in 1954. His interest in playing piano began at age four when he told his parents “I want a piano!” Kind of an odd request when most kids want a new baseball glove or bicycle. His parents weren’t musical-not even a record player at their house- but they always supported his undeniable passion for music. They soon bought a Kimball Grand Piano that his mother paid $4 a week to own. Lessons at the Neighborhood School of Music, affiliated with Yale University, soon followed. At around the age of sixteen he befriended a fellow musician, Ed Cherry, at high school. They began listening to music together after school and one day Ed played a Jimmy Rogers recording, Chicago Bound, that literally changed his life. Ed went on to be Dizzy Gillespie’s guitarist for many years.
New Haven was rich as far as listening to and seeing major music artists, and NYC was only a few hours away by train. Seeing Muddy Waters, B.B. King, and Willie Dixon was part of his blues education that could only be learned by seeing these great artists firsthand. Years later Anthony had the opportunity to play piano with Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Otis Rush, Chuck Berry, Big Mama Thornton, Big Joe Turner, Jimmy Rogers and many more-something a sixteen-year-old budding blues pianist would never have seemed possible. Anthony has recorded with Big Walter Horton, Ronnie Earl, Big Jack Johnson, Zora Young, Sugaray Rayford, Debbie Davies, Kenny Neal and many more great Blues Artists. Anthony graduated from the Berklee College of Music with B.A. Degree, and a M.A. from Skidmore College.
His critically acclaimed 2015 release, Fifty Shades of Blue, (Delta Groove Records) earned multiple Blues Music Award nominations from the Blues Foundation in Memphis. Nominations include Best Song-for the title track, Best Album, and Best Traditional Blues Album. Anthony also received an individual nomination for the Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year Award. Fifty Shades of Blue was also nominated for Traditional Blues Album of the year by Blues Blast Magazine and was ranked as one of the top 50 Blues recordings of 2015 by Living Blues Magazine and earned a 4-Star Review in Downbeat Magazine.
In 2019, Why Did You Have To Go (Shining Stone) received nominations by the Blues Foundation Blues Music Awards for Album of the Year, Traditional Album of the Year, Song of the Year-“Angelina, Angelina”, as well as individual nominations: Pinetop Perkins Piano Award, Traditional Male Blues Artist and Band of the Year-an unprecedented 6 personal Nominations!
His 2020 release, Daydreams in Blue (Shining Stone) debuted at #1 – Living Blues Radio chart, #1 -Roots Music Report-Blues, and #4 – Billboard Blues Chart.
In 2021, Anthony won the Instrumentalist-Piano Blues Music Award. He won the award again in 2023.
Following his chart-topping Daydreams in Blue, Anthony returned with Blues Called My Name, a dynamic collection of original compositions featuring esteemed special guests Anne Harris, Walter Trout, Sugar Ray Norcia, Monster Mike Welch, Erika Van Pelt, and The Boston Blues All-Stars. Award-winning blues guitarist Ronnie Earl shared this praise for Geraci and the new album: “Anthony has been contributing to this music for many years, and his new album illuminates the many colors, shades, and styles of the blues. Anthony is very inspiring, and I love his dedication to the old masters like Otis Spann, Sunnyland Slim, and Big Maceo Merriweather.”
Anthony’s recent CD, Tears in My Eyes debuted on The Billboard Blues Chart, and spent 17 weeks on The Roots Music Report. Walter Trout writes in the liner notes: “This album is his latest musical exploration. I feel like he grows with each new release. Along with his stellar band, he continues to put out vital and beautiful art. His playing continues to be about honesty, tradition, invention, expression, and even humor. I am honored to call him my friend.”
Blues Music Award-Blues Foundation. Memphis, TN. Wins/Nominations: Anthony Geraci
2016-Album: Fifty Shades Of Blue (Delta Groove) -Traditional Album: Fifty Shades Of Blue (Delta Groove) -Song of the Year: “Fifty Shades Of Blue” (Geraci) Pinetop Perkins Piano/Instrumentalist-Piano
2017-Pinetop Perkins Piano/Instrumentalist-Piano
2018-Pinetop Perkins Piano/Instrumentalist-Piano
2019-Album: Why Did You Have To Go (Shining Stone) Traditional Album: Why Did You Have To Go (Shining Stone) -Pinetop Perkins Piano/Instrumentalist-Piano
-Song of the Year: “Angelina, Angelina” (Geraci)
-Traditional Male Blues Artist
-Band of the Year
2020-Pinetop Perkins Piano/Instrumentalist-Piano
2021-Winner: Pinetop Perkins Piano/Instrumentalist-Piano -Band of the Year
2023-Winner: Instrumentalist-Piano/Pinetop Perkins Piano Award. -Band of the Year
2025-Nomination: Instrumentalist-Piano/Pinetop Perkins Piano Award.
2026-Nomination: Instrumentalist-Piano/Pinetop Perkins Piano Award.
“Anthony Geraci has long been part of the bedrock of the Boston-Providence blues scene. In recent years, he has stepped out of the seaside shadows into the limelight of international acclaim, largely on the strength of feature albums. “Tears” keeps the momentum going. Blessed with a fraught musical imagination and considerable ability on piano or organ, Geraci airs out a set of original songs of blues or bluesy persuasions.” 4 Star review in Downbeat Magazine. Frank-John Hadley.
“Tears In My Eyes, Anthony Geraci – on piano, Hammond organ, and vocals. I’m talking about the kind of stuff that would garner as many as ten Blues Music Award Nominations for one release. It appears that Anthony’s dues are paid in full and it’s now his time to shine.” Mary 4 Music-Peter Blewzzman Lauro.
“Geraci is one of the better instrumentalists in the blues world today.” – Bill Mitchell, Blues Bytes
“You’re one heck of a piano player.” – B.B King
“Geraci offers a picture of a time when the piano was THE featured instrument. Geraci’s knowledge of that history is obvious.”- Art Tipaldi, Blues Music Magazine
“Anthony Geraci is not only a gifted pianist, he also a talented a songwriter.” – Debra C. Argen, Luxury Experience
“A stalwart on the New England blues scene for decades as a key member of both Sugar Ray & the Bluetones and Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters, keyboardist Anthony Geraci continues to deliver stellar work as a bandleader.” – Jim Hynes, Glide Magazine
https://www.anthonygeraciblue.com
Anthony Geraci
Award winning Blues Pianist
Anthony Geraci: Upcoming recording Where Were You, his first on the Delmark Records label is scheduled for release September 2026.
Delmark Records is the oldest continuously operating jazz and blues independent record label in the United States. Joining Anthony on the recording will be Delmark Artists Sheryl Youngblood and Dave Specter. As well as Rodrigo Mantovani, Anne Harris, Pooky Styx (from Buddy Guy’s band), Jon McDonald, and members of The Boston Blues All-Stars.
