When I did a post here in April 2011 about a memorial tribute jam for blues musician Jerry Booth, a jam at which I had taken pictures, it did not occur to me that I might turn to those photos again years down the road to commemorate yet another member of the Indy blues community.
But that is just what happened recently.
Booth (aka Jerry Blues) was the front man for the Mean Weenies, a group I had seen only a time or two at the time of the tribute jam at the Slippery Noodle Inn in Indianapolis. But I sensed that artists I knew much better would turn out for the jam, which is why I sought and obtained Slippery Noodle Inn owner Hal Yeagy’s blessing to photograph the event.
Just a few days ago, the Noodle posted on its social media accounts news of the passing of Gene Deer, 59, a stalwart of the Indy blues community and one of my favorite performers that I'd seen in my many visits to the Noodle over the years.
Gene performed at the Booth tribute jam (he’s the recurring musician in all the photos from that tribute in this post), so I’m pleased to say I got some quality images of him on stage.
And, yes, indeed many local blues stalwarts did turn up to participate in the tribute jam; in addition to Deer, there was Gordon Bonham; Governor Davis; Scotty Thomas (aka Scotty Gun), who had played with Booth in the Mean Weenies; Sweet Lou Rapier; violinist Allison Irvine; Smokin' Dave Wyatt; drummers Jeff Chapin and Joe Means; and bassist Henry "Chief" Connelly (who died in October 2021). Below are Deer (left), Connelly and Irvine.
I first saw Deer perform at the Slippery Noodle Inn in the early 1990s, and soon afterward also saw him at Zanies Too on Indy’s Eastside, a venue that proved to be Deer's home base, if such a place could be nominated. He played there often -- sometimes multiple times a week -- and hosted many a Zanies blues jam.
Years after I first saw him play I learned that he had played in the popular 1980s Indianapolis band Coda as early as 1984. (I own an Indy blues music compilation cassette tape, issued in 1989 by the former Blues Society of Indiana, that contains the song “Pay the Rent” by Coda.) Also part of Coda were bassist Tom Beckleheimer and drummer Joe Means.
Coda disbanded in late 1989; Beckleheimer eventually landed with Red Beans and Rice, while Deer, Means, keyboardist James Taylor and former Duke Tumatoe bassist Larry Barber formed the Generators, beginning in 1990. That collaboration was short-lived, however.
By April 1992, Deer was performing numerous gigs billed as Gene Deer and the Groove Merchants, an association that lasted into 1995, the year he and his ensembles began a nine-year run of being named best Indianapolis blues band by Nuvo weekly publication. It was a period that solidified his reputation as an Indy blues community heavyweight.
In the late 1990s, the Groove Merchants gave way to the Gene Deer Blues Band, featuring Deer, Means, Connelly and keyboardist John Wesley Smith, although there would be many collaborators and iterations through the years as evidenced by the individual song artist credits on his 1997 CD "Livin' With the Blues" (more on this below).
Deer also was talented enough to attract gigs performing as a solo act, and he periodically logged stints hosting the Slippery Noodle’s Wednesday night jam sessions at which any musician could show up, sign in and share time showing their chops on the stage during the night.
In May 1997, Deer even appeared with The Spirtles, a popular Indy area band, and national singer and keyboardist Merl Saunders, a longtime cohort of and collaborator with the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia, for at least one performance at Irving's Water Bowl north of Muncie.
In 2002, 1999 Indy 500-Mile Race champion and guitar-playing Kenny Brack signed Deer to be band leader of Kenny Brack and the Subwoofers, which toured with the Indy Racing League in 2003. The Subwoofers released a benefit CD “Live in Nashville” that featured former Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Ed King. The album was a compilation of live recordings before an Indy Racing League race at Nashville Superspeedway in July of that year. In 2007, Deer toured South Africa with an England-based support band called the Raging Calm.
I saw Deer, which The Indianapolis Star described as “arguably the hardest-working blues artist in Indianapolis,” at the Slippery Noodle many times in the 1990s. On a couple of occasions in the 2000s, I brought out-of-town family with me to the tavern if and when he performed there on Thanksgiving weekends, which happened a few times. Twice I got lucky when both he and Gordon Bonham's bands played the Noodle on the same Thanksgiving weekend. Note: The Noodle has two stages, one in front, the other in back. They were connected by a long narrow hallway but separated with enough distance that one performer’s music would not disturb the other’s. Part of the unique SNI experience on two-act live-performance weekends was that customers had the ability to go back and forth between stages to enjoy both bands at some point during an evening. The bands’ start times were staggered so that breaks also were staggered, guaranteeing that there always was at least one band performing at all times.
I reviewed Deer’s first CD, “Soul Tender,” for The Indianapolis Star when it was released in 1994 on Slippery Noodle’s then-new record label, Slippery Noodle Sound. It was a fine collections of tunes, with my favorites being "Whisper in My Ear," "Don't Turn Your Back on the Blues" and "Midnight Healing."
Slippery Noodle Sound released “Livin’ With the Blues,” Deer’s second CD, three years later in 1997. Deer dedicated the album to his father, Gene Paul Deer, who had died in October 1996. "I wanted to be a guitar player since I was a kid, and my dad was always a proud pop," Deer said in the dedication on the back side of the album sheet.
Although "Livin' With the Blues" attributes the artist to "Gene Deer & the Blues Band," album song credits reflect an amalgam of talent helping out. Bill Mallers handles keyboards on all tracks, and Jeff Stone is on bass for all but two tracks. Keith Young handles percussion on "Too Far Gone." Darrell Cox is on drums, Geoff Bushor on bass and Byron Graves on harp for "One Foot on the Road"; former Coda bandmate Beckleheimer is on bass for "Smokestack Lightning"; and Cox is on drums again for "Can't Afford to Pay the Rent," "Blues in the Afternoon" and "Dreams." Rick Bole is on drums for all other tracks.
"Livin' With the Blues" contains a reprise of the Coda "Pay the Rent" song found on the Blues Society of Indiana cassette compilation. The improvement in sound quality on the CD version is immediately apparent, and Deer's 1997 treatment of the song is wonderfully refreshing. The CD version also expands the song title to "Can't Afford to Pay the Rent."
Another 19 years passed before Deer self-released his third and final album, “Trippin’ Delta,” in 2016.
In 1994, Slippery Noodle Sound included Deer and the Groove Merchants on its second of four live blues compilations recorded at the downtown Indy blues bar and again, in 2013, on the fourth compilation, a three-disc set marking the bar’s 50th anniversary under the Yeagy family ownership. (That family ownership extended another 10 years; Hal Yeagy, who took over the bar from his father in 1984, died of cancer in December 2020, and his widow, Carol, sold the bar in March 2023.)
I learned of Deer's passing early this month via posts on Slippery Noodle's Facebook and Instagram accounts:
It is with heavy hearts that we have to share the news of the sudden passing of Gene Deer. He was an icon in the Indy music scene and beyond. He was a beloved member of the Slippery Noodle family. His great smile and energy made every one he touched a better person. He will be deeply missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. RIP Gene!
Circumstances and details of his death were not initially disclosed, but on Dec. 30, Gene issued a post on his Facebook account announcing that he and his band would have to cancel a show scheduled for the next day at American Legion Post 355 on the Far-Southside of Indianapolis because he was "still very sick." He did not elaborate. The SNI and family members announced his death a few days into the new year, and a few days after that, an acquaintance of Deer posted on Facebook that authorities had determined Deer had contracted shingles and died of resultant sepsis.
Deer’s calling and funeral services were scheduled for Friday, Jan. 12, at Flanner Buchanan Washington Park East Community Life Center, 10612 E. Washington St., Indianapolis. He was to be buried in Washington Park East Cemetery.
An article at www.nuvo.net reports that two known public celebrations of life for Deer are planned. The first will be a tribute jam and fundraiser at the Slippery Noodle, beginning at 7 p.m., on Jan. 24.
The Rathskeller in downtown Indianapolis, where Gene performed his last gig on Dec. 23, announced it will hold a three-hour memorial and fundraiser in its Grand Kellersaal Ballroom for the Deer family from 5 to 8 p.m. Jan. 28. Donations will be accepted at the door.
In addition, Matthew Socey’s Blues House Party radio show will air a tribute to Deer at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 13, on WFYI-FM (90.1) in Indianapolis.
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