Joey “Blowey” Confrancesco was a Bottomline band member from about 1998 to 2001 playing harmonica and percussion. We first met Joey back in 1993 when we were playing at Kaminski Park in Poway. Everyone kept telling us we gotta let this guy sit in. We had so many people asking us we had to. He was shy about it though and didn’t want to invite himself. This little guy gets on stage and blows everyone away. He quickly became a good friend and regular sit-in when we stopped in Poway. We soon found out that Joey was not only an accomplished harmonica player but his first instrument of choice was drums. He bought a nice set of congas and began to play with us at other clubs. It wasn’t long before people really took notice of his talent and we often heard chants of “Joey, Joey, Joey”. The highlight of the night was often Joey’s rendition of Wammer Jammer by the J. Giles band. It’s a harmonica solo that few would attempt let alone nail it like Joey. He brought the house down many nights with that song. Yet he often walked away upset with himself because he missed a note (that only he knew he missed).
In 2000 Joey won first place at the San Diego Blues Harmonica festival. He went there with a couple of buddies just to hear some great harp players. There were a couple of guys that he loved to watch and he never thought he was as good. His buddies kept telling him he should enter the contest but he didn’t think he was good enough. Besides, he had left his harmonica case back at his car and he wasn’t about to walk all the way back to get it. Ironically a street vendor was selling $5 harps and Joey said “wouldn’t it be funny if I won playing this cheap harmonica”. When his friends finally talked him into buying it that’s exactly what he did. He stole the show winning first place with a cheap $5 harmonica from a street vendor. I only regret that I wasn’t there to see it. He came in the next night at the club we were playing at with his Trophy and a smile from ear to ear. I asked him if he believed me now that he was good. He said “they just felt sorry for me” but I knew it was because he was the best.
He was a perfectionist when it came to music which is why we were such good friends. We’d go to dinner and talk long about music and how perfect we wanted it to be. We both strived for a perfection that neither of us would ever know but it was fun talking about it and I’ll miss those talks. Joey stopped coming out as he dealt with health and family issues. I talked to him a few months before he died about playing on a recording I was working on. He said he hadn’t played in a couple of years but that he’d do it. I regret that I never followed up on that recording leaving this loss all the more. I spent the whole week before his funeral looking through video tapes and audio recordings of his live performances so we can all remember what a great musician and friend Joey was. Whether or not you got to see Joey live I hope you’ll enjoy this tribute to our friend Joey “Blowey”. We will miss him.
Wammer Jammer baby!
- Mike
