The band: Satoru Nakagawa (guitar, voice), Yukiko Fujii (bass), Kosei Fukuyama (drums)
The geography: All three members of Tokyo Tramps hail from Japan and live in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood.
The sound: Blues rock with a big nod to Bruce Springsteen
The back story: After finishing high school in Japan, singer and songwriter Nakagawa moved to Louisiana to explore his fondness for blues rock. He spent five years partying and playing music, which led to his expulsion (oops!) from the University of New Orleans. In 1996, he enrolled at Berklee College of Music to pursue his love of blues - without the distraction of Bourbon Street.
Tokyo Tramps is a trio of Japanese Berklee grads that came together in 1999 when Nakagawa asked his then-girlfriend Yukiko Fujii, now his wife of four years, to fill in on bass.
“I didn’t want to play with my partner,” Nakagawa said, “but my bass player left and I asked her to fill in. And then I couldn’t get rid of her!”
Recent Berklee grad Fukuyama joined last year after the Tramps’ original drummer returned to Japan.
“We didn’t have a drummer for three or four months so we did the acoustic, street performer thing in Harvard Square,” Nakagawa said. “We were also a wedding band and Kosei was hired for that. It was really lucky. I feel very fortunate.”
The name: “We didn’t know what to call ourselves,” Nakagawa said.
So he looked to the lyrics of Springsteen’s “Born to Run” for inspiration: “Tramps like us, baby we were born to run.”
The philosophy: Tokyo Tramps’ blues rock is not a soundtrack for depression. The trio’s songs convey messages of hope and happiness.
“I’m a Buddhist,” Nakagawa said, “which means you must become happy and recognize Buddhahood in yourself and in everybody around you. There is happiness in everybody, it’s just a matter of finding it. That’s what I do in my music.
“We have a word in Japanese that means turning poison into medicine,” Nakagawa said. “We all carry sadness and pain and agony and stuff, but there’s always a way to turn it into joy. All my musical heroes are able to do that with music. They really touch my heart. That’s why I became a musician - to repay a debt of gratitude. I’ve never met them in person, but I’m grateful, so I’d like to do the same with my music.”
The albums: Tokyo Tramps have released three albums: “Long Way From Home” (2000), “Bound for Glory” (2003) and “Lucky Jive Will Come Home on King’s Road” (May). The fourth will drop as soon as Fujii finishes the cover art.
The show: Tokyo Tramps play Church tomorrow, with Geezer and the Ten Foot Polecats.
