BIG SCREEN BLUES WITH BILL “HOWL-N-MADD” PERRY

Bill “Howl-N-Madd” Perry takes Delta blues to the boob tube and the big screen

By Scott Barretta • Photography by Don Beard

Abbeville-based bluesman Bill “Howl-N-Madd” Perry will soon be a familiar face to more than just devout Mississippi blues fans. In February, he debuted on the big screen in “The Way of War,” an action thriller starring Oscar winner Cuba Gooding, Jr.

In the film Perry plays a bluesman who owns a Washington, D.C. nightclub that secretly doubles as a fight club. In addition to performing an original song, Perry has several minutes of dialogue. “Cuba was a big help,” says Perry. “He showed me a lot of pointers. I was there [in Baton Rouge] for three days, but we were shooting for two. That was a lot of hours for about six and a half minutes of screen time!”

Perry also recently took part in a blues-themed episode of the reality program “Gene Simmons Family Jewels.” The episode was shot in Clarksdale, where Perry works as an instructor at the Delta Blues Museum.

“The episode is based around his son, Nick Simmons,” says Perry. “I played the protector of the crossroads and did a couple of lines from a song off my new CD. Nick really fell in love with it and they had me come over to Ground Zero for some stage footage.”

At the club Perry was excited to meet rock icon Gene Simmons, the outspoken vocalist/bassist of the rock band Kiss. “I’ve always been a big fan of being different,” says Perry, “and believe me, they were different.”

Since his childhood in Tula in rural Lafayette County, Perry has likewise always followed his own path. “What I’m doing today is what I’ve always wanted to do,” says Perry. “I’ve never wanted to do anything else.”

Perry’s father was a bootlegger and “country hustler” who won his son’s first guitar through gambling. It wasn’t until his early teens and after the family moved to Chicago, though, that Perry took up the instrument seriously.

While playing his guitar on a street corner Perry was spotted by the manager of a local gospel group and soon became a staple of the local gospel scene. While traveling with the Salem Travelers, a last minute gig cancellation in Memphis resulted in a fortuitous meeting with blues star Little Milton [Campbell], who invited Perry to join his band.

Perry was soon opening shows for Little Milton, but after getting a Clarksdale crowd too excited, the star of the show angrily let him go. He continued touring with gospel groups including the Violinaires and soul star Johnnie Taylor and additionally worked as a session guitarist for leading soul and blues acts, where he cut singles on his own.

In the late ‘70s Perry moved out to L.A., but was soon frustrated with the local music scene and for much of the next decade worked outside of music. In the late ‘80s he returned to Mississippi to play blues and was soon playing with the Oxford-based Relaxations.

By the early ‘90s Perry was working as “Howl-N-Madd” with a band that included his son Bill “Mysteryo” and daughter Sharo. In addition to local gigs, the band landed extended stays in Hong Kong and Indonesia. “How the name came up I don’t really remember, but I was determined that the perfect person for me to be was Howl-N-Madd,” says Perry. “I added the dashes so it would sound more cartoonish, like Wile E. Coyote—genius.”

More recently Perry has performed increasingly as a solo artist, though he keeps up his band chops playing with his students at the Delta Blues Museum. “Most of the good things that have been happening to me, like the movie, have resulted from me working at the museum,” says Perry.

“I’m beginning to climb the ladder a bit and there’s a lot of room at the top to maneuver. I want to keep working with the young folks, and I’d love to be in the position to help fund projects like that.” DM

For more information on his tour schedule and his new CD, “Way of Blues,” visit www.mississippideltabluesinfo.com.