By Terry Ahner

tahner@tnonline.com

He’s survived brain tumor surgery, outlasted kidney cancer and adjusted to a knee replacement.

Along the way, local musician James Supra has somehow found the time to garner a whole slew of accolades.

Originally from western Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh, Supra moved to Palmerton in early 2022.

Initially, he moved to the Lehigh Valley in 1982, where he soon began to pursue his musical career and honed his musical skills.

Supra, who has been playing for more than 40 years, late last year made his theatrical debut performing in a “Dickens Christmas Show” in a Quakertown theater.

“It gave me a great opportunity to find new ways to engage the audience,” Supra said.

Starting out

Supra said he first began to play the harmonica by way of a recommendation from a friend who listened to classic rock bands such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and AC/DC.

He started reading liner notes on album covers, and began pursuing inquiries of Willie Dixon, Muddy Water, Little Walter and a host of other Chicago Blues musicians.

From there, Supra was on his way to learning about all the pre- and postwar harmonica players including Little Walter, James Cotton, Junior Wells and Paul Butterfield, among others.

Supra started playing professionally in the mid-1980s, sitting in with as many bands as possible, cutting his teeth, and learning about stage presence, finding his singing voice and the like.

Supra said finding Mike Dugan, a legendary regional blues guitar player in the area, was a huge step in his career, as the two - who are still friends - played together for several years and released several albums together.

He then joined the Craig Thatcher Band and performed with his band for another decade or so, traveling to Europe six times playing the German Stadt festivals in and around Stuttgart, Munich, and the Heidelberg area, which he said “changed my life musically,” as he also released a few albums with Thatcher’s band.

It wasn’t until around 2005 when Supra decided to form his own band, The James Supra Band.

“I wanted to continue to grow as a performer and musician,” Supra said. “I’ve learned a tremendous amount along the way.”

Supra added he listens to classic music every day.

“I’ve been able to incorporate classical music into my harmonica playing,” he said. “This really is a way for me to keep my playing fresh and innovative and makes me extremely happy.”

He has since been performing on a regular basis, playing as many shows a year in and around the Lehigh Valley area.

“We, as a band try to be as versatile as possible,” he said. “We pride ourselves on a high energy harmonica and guitar-driven blues rock sound.”

However, they also really enjoy playing all types of music, from classic rock, country and even some pop styles.

Sarah Ayers and Phil Pilorz are the songwriters in the band and play a plethora of original music, a little something for everyone, which he said is the key to playing so often in this area.

Award winner

Supra has amassed several awards in a 20-year period at the Lehigh Valley Music Awards, including having won Best Harmonica Player 19 years in a row.

“I decided to forfeit my nomination in the 20th year to give some of my other harmonica player friends an opportunity,” he said. “I was then presented with a 20-year Legacy Award, the first Legacy Award of its kind.”

Also in and around that time, Supra said he started performing with Sarah Ayers, another regional musician from this area, and noted the two of them have been performing together regularly for some time now. He said he’s been very fortunate to have so many opportunities in this area, without having to travel very far.

“I feel living in such a musically viable and culturally rich area has vastly contributed to our success,” he said. “Giving us so many opportunities to play festivals and events year after year.

“I also really enjoy being in a band surrounding myself with super-talented musicians. I always joke around that I’m not the greatest musician in the world, but I am a good frontman, priding myself on good showmanship, aggressive harmonica playing and engaging with the audience.”

For Supra, the harmonica and the singing part sort of comes naturally to him now because he’s been doing it for so many years.

“I’ve really tried to take the harmonica to a new level,” he said. “I like to make it look and sound exciting to watch.

“It seems that not many people in our area are accustomed to seeing someone play the harmonica in such a way. It’s a lot of fun to make people happy with music. I’m far from the greatest, but I enjoy making people happy.”

Supra said one of the biggest keys is to be able to stay humble, as there are dozens of great harmonica players whom he looks up to, and named Jason Ricci and John Nemeth, both of New Orleans.

Dennis Gruenling and Steve Guyger among his favorites.

Local shows

Supra said his decision to move to Carbon County was a wise choice, as it’s been a lot of fun playing so many shows in the area.

“Even though it’s not far from the Lehigh County area, I’ve made lots of great new friends, and found new musical opportunities in this area,” he said.

Supra cited performing at the Palmerton Music Festival in 2022 was an early surprise.

So, too, was what he termed a wonderful relationship with a local girl in this area, Jonice Tracy, whom he said has since become an integral part of his business, taking over a great deal of their publicity needs and coordinating their event planning.

Supra added that Tracy’s “also been a great help in introducing me to new people.”

“We have a really good thing going,” he said. “The band has prospered quite well leading up to a fairly busy schedule in 2024.”

Supra said that while he does have a full five-piece Electric Blues Rock band, he has also performed quite regularly in an acoustic setting.

“Performing with my guitar player, Phil Pilorz and Sarah Ayers acoustically, has allowed us to perform in many of the smaller venues, including one of our favorites, The Covered Bridge Inn in Palmerton, as well as the Slatington Farmers Market, and the Boatyard in Lehighton,” he said, adding that they will also be performing acoustically at the 110 Tavern in Palmerton later this year.

Supra said the full band also has many opportunities performing in this area, including the Penn’s Peak Deck Party in June, the Palmerton Sokol Hall in July, East Penn Sportsman’s Club and CBI Fest, both in September.

He said the band also performs on a regular basis at Weathered Vineyard in New Tripoli, Ridgeview Winery in New Tripoli, Tolino’s Vineyard in Bangor and Blue Mountain Vineyards in New Tripoli.

For a complete list of this year’s performance schedule, visit jamessuprabluesband.com.

“I’m very grateful to have the opportunity to perform as much as I do in this great small community,” Supra said. “I’d like to keep performing as long as I’m able.

“At my age, health is super important.”