Joe Survival Caruso
Louisiana Blues Man!
2:30 PM Saturday
February 25, 2023
Joe Caruso grew up in a New Orleans musical family. The legendary Club Desire, just across the street from Joe’s house, was where he first learned the sounds of Blues and Rhythm and Blues. In the Summer of ’69 Joe received his draft notice and spent a year in the tropical paradise of Viet Nam. Joe is an incredibly talented entertainer with a unique Cajun twist to the blues!
In September of 2005, Joe left New Orleans with his elderly mother on a Friday to play a gig with Al "Little Fats" Jackson at the Grand Casino in Kinder, Louisiana, located in the northwest part of the state. While there, Joe received a telephone call from a friend in New Orleans warning him not to come back home because a storm was approaching. Joe didn't know then that this storm would become the very powerful Hurricane Katrina and that everything he owned would be lost except for his love of his family and the Blues. Joe moved his Mom to his sister’s house in Deltona, Florida, to keep his family together and safe. Always a “Survivor,” Get ready for some serious Louisiana BLUES!
“As evidenced by his latest recording, I Gotta Tell Somebody, the sounds of New Orleans are imprinted on Caruso’s DNA. Echoes of Earl King, an early mentor, and Gatemouth Brown, whose Texas swing drifted across the border, resonate in his taut, cleanly burning guitar riffs. His tenor vocals, too, resound with Bourbon Street bonhomie, flavored with a touch of menace. - Bob Weinberg, Jazz Blues Florida Magazine