Ringgold band rocks The Office with blues and funk

Janice Cornett, left, and her boyfriend, contractor David N. Rye, dance at The Office behind City Cafe on Blues Night. Rye is the director of artist development for Sidetracks Artist Development, and started the Chattanooga Jazz and Blues Society.

City Cafe's The Office comes alive each Wednesday night with blues music as attendees sway to the music and dance.

Ringgold's R.A. and the Flames is bringing blues back to the Scenic City. The band also plays funk-style music Fridays at the downtown Chattanooga venue, the slogan for which is "All Play and No Work."

"We are together trying to create a blues scene," said City Cafe Chief Financial Officer Bill Curtis, referring to his partnership with R.A. and the Flames singer/songwriter, guitarist Ran Adams. "We are reviving the blues in downtown Chattanooga."

Adams remembers playing the blues on his guitar before learning to play anything else.

"I grew up listening to Stevie Ray, Albert King and B.B. King," he said. "I cranked up the radio and blasted the neighborhood.

"Everybody says the blues is down-and-out music. I don't agree. When I'm down and listen to the blues, I can get on an all new plain. I think the blues represent an inner happiness for me."

The Flames began playing at City Cafe last December.

"The Office, behind City Cafe, is like the best-kept secret in Chattanooga," said Adams, whose band has been known to draw a crowd to the small venue. "People go to Memphis to hear this type of blues. R.A. and the Flames could be compared with Gary Clark Jr. He does a lot of Muddy Waters and Albert King style."

The band can also be booked to play at parties and events. Adams said R.A. and the Flames has performed at Cinco de Mayo celebrations, he said, as well as other places around town: Sky Zoo and Raw Dance Bar and Grill in Chattanooga, and the former Acoustic Cafe in Ringgold.

Adams is involved in every aspect of the business, from writing songs and performing to studio production and recording.

"I got a song called 'Ain't Gonna Move for Nothing but the Blues,'" said Adams. "Everybody likes it. 'Ain't Gonna Move for Nothing' is a crowd pleasing song. It is about going anywhere and listening to blues and having a good time. The blues come on you and you start to move. You're not gonna move for nothing but the blues."

But the beat doesn't stop there. Adams' son Gabriel, a rising freshman at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School, plays the trumpet and the bass guitar.

"I'm really proud of what he does," said Adams. "He is following in my footsteps. I play concerts, festivals and live performances."