NEWPORT DAILY NEWS
"At McKinney Shelter, a taste of the blues"

By James J. Gillis
Daily News staff

Bill "The Sauce Boss" Wharton drums on a pan Wednesday while making gumbo
for residents at the McKinney Shelter in Newport. (All photos by Ashley Wilkerson/Daily News staff)

NEWPORT — The folks at the McKinney Shelter are more accustomed to living the blues than hearing them.

But on Wednesday night, Bill “The Sauce Boss” Wharton played the deep blues and lifted their spirits. Wharton and his band — bassist Magic John Jones and drummer Big Jim Jenness — really cook.

Seriously.

Wharton performs at homeless shelters across the country. And while he wails on guitar, he stirs a pot of gumbo for the residents. Most of his songs are originals, and a lot concern food.

“We call it the ‘Gumbo Crusade,’ and 150,000 bowls of gumbo later, here we are,” he said.

More than 20 people packed the shelter’s lounge for the 50-minute show, clapping and singing along to the standard “Old Time Religion” and lining up afterwards for steaming bowls of gumbo.

“Boy, this is fantastic,” said Leonard Delisle, 30, who is staying at the shelter. “I’ve never seen or heard anything like that in my life.”

Wharton, 60, looks like he should be hanging out with Emeril Lagasse more than B.B. King. He wears a white chef’s hat and shirt and sports Clark Kent-style glasses. The Tallahassee, Fla., resident is an accomplished guitarist, with hints of Ry Cooder and Robert Johnson tossed in.

As a musician, he’s the real deal. And his gumbo is the real meal.

Wharton started marketing his own hot sauce in 1989. Then came the Gumbo Crusade, sort of a traveling soup kitchen with slide guitar. He looks for shelters to play in whenever he’s in a particular town. He performs tonight at the Newport Blues Cafe, where patrons will be asked to fill up a large gumbo pot with money. Proceeds will go to the McKinney Shelter.

“In the past five years, we’ve raised $50,000 for those in need,” Wharton said.

At the McKinney Shelter, everyone has a story. Some are fresh from drug- and alcohol-rehab stints and some are fighting mental illness. Others are jobless and broke. Some fall under the category of all of the above.

The 50 Washington Square complex houses the shelter, transitional housing units and single-room apartments. Carrie Wildermuth, 29, lives in transitional housing, hoping to land an apartment outside the building in the coming months.

She said she suffers from mental illness and the building provides stability and support. “We’re a family here, maybe a dysfunctional family, but a family,” she said. “I don’t know what I’d do without this place.”

Wildermuth enjoyed the show, saying it was a nice break from the building’s day-to-day life. “The thing is, it’s nice to be thought of,” she said. “It doesn’t happen all the time.”

Police Sgt. James Quinn, who also books acts at the Blues Cafe, helped organize the show. Quinn knows most of the shelter residents. Some he’s arrested and some he’s tried to steer toward jobs and recovery.

“This was something different for this particular community. Having him play the McKinney Shelter is something unique,” he said. “I’d never seen a performer before who played and cooked a meal at the same time.”

Debbie Johnston, who runs the shelter, said it’s the first time in her seven years that anyone has performed for the residents.

“This is something different for the people here,” she said. “They’re not really able to go out and enjoy a blues show. We’re bringing it to them.”

The Sauce Boss stirred the pot between guitar solos, with wife, Ruth, doing the same. Wharton checked the crowd for seafood allergies, making up special shrimp-free bowls for those afflicted. Part of his musical recipe includes a little church-meeting, hands-in-the-air gospel revival.

Though the theme always boomerangs back to food. “Praise the lord and pass the grits,” he yelled at one point.

Joseph Coite enthusiastically dug his spoon into a bowl of gumbo. He’s stayed in the shelter on and off for 10 years and said the show helped people forget their troubles for a spell.

“This was something special,” he said. “It really lifts your spirits. We needed it. It put everyone in a good mood for the night.”

TO GO
What: Bill "The Sauce Boss" Wharton will play the blues and cook and serve his own spicy gumbo in a benefit for the McKinney Shelter in Newport.

When: Tonight at 9:30.

Where: Newport Blues Cafe, 286 Thames St.

Cost: $10. Wharton also will provide a large gumbo pan near the stage for those who want to donate cash.

Send reporter James J. Gillis e-mail at Gillis@NewportRI.com.