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All Music Guide:
Don't let his intelligence, charm, and self-effacing manner fool you: Gary Primich was one bad-ass harmonica player. And he was more than competent guitar player, too.
Primich was born April 20, 1958, in Chicago and raised in nearby Gary, IN. He learned harmonica from the masters at the Maxwell Street Market in nearby Chicago as a teen. By the early '80s, however, Primich became dissatisfied with the blues scene in Chicago, and in 1984, shortly after he earned his degree in radio and television from Indiana University, he moved to Austin, TX.
After landing a job at the University of Texas doing electrical work, he began to work as a sideman at Austin area clubs. In 1987, he ran into former Frank Zappa/Mothers of Invention drummer Jimmy Carl Black, who had also relocated to Austin, and the two formed a band, the Mannish Boys. Their debut album on the now-defunct Amazing Records label was called A L'il Dab'll Do Ya. Though Black left the band, Primich led the Mannish Boys through another album for Amazing, Satellite Rock. Both albums attracted sufficient attention to Primich that he was able to record under his own name for the Amazing label, and in 1991 he cut his self-titled debut for the label. He followed it up with My Pleasure in 1992. After Amazing Records folded, he was picked up by the Chicago-based Flying Fish label. Primich recorded two equally brilliant albums for Fish, and they include Travelin' Mood (1994) and Mr. Freeze (1995).
On his last two albums for Flying Fish (a label that has since been acquired by Rounder Records), Primich's talents as a songwriter really started to come through, and he nurtured his fan base through almost constant touring. By the new millennium, Primich had a deal with the Texas Music Group. He issued the powerfully sassy Dog House Music in spring 2002, while Ridin the Darkhorse came out in 2006. Sadly, just one year later, Primich died in his home of Austin, TX, at the age of 49.
Wikipedia:
Gary Primich (April 20, 1958 – September 23, 2007) was an American blues harmonica player, singer, guitarist and songwriter. He is best known for his 1995 album, Mr. Freeze.
Biography
Gary Alan Primich was born in Chicago, Illinois, but grew up in nearby Hobart, Indiana. In 1984, after he graduated with a Bachelor's degree from Indiana University, Primich relocated to Austin, Texas.
While working at the University of Texas, he started playing along with other musicians in local clubs. In 1987, he met Jimmy Carl Black, and they formed the Mannish Boys. Their debut album, A L'il Dab'll Do Ya was issued on the Amazing Records label, and although Black then left the band, Primich stayed with the Mannish Boys for another album, Satellite Rock. In 1991 Primich released his eponymous solo debut album, and My Pleasure followed the next year. Amazing Records then folded, and Primich was contracted to the Flying Fish Records label releasing Travelin' Mood (1994) and Mr. Freeze (1995). Mr. Freeze was named as one of the twenty best blues albums of the 1990s by the Chicago newspaper, New City.
Constant touring allowed Primich to expand his fan base, and by 2000, he had a recording contract with the Texas Music Group. He issued Dog House Music (2002) and then Ridin' the Darkhorse (2006). Primich also recorded with Steve James, Omar & the Howlers, John "Juke" Logan, Marcia Ball, Ruthie Foster, Mike Morgan and the Crawl, Nick Curran, Doyle Bramhall and Jimmie Vaughan.
In addition to his performance albums, in 1985 Primich released an instructional double CD, Blues Harmonica: The Blues And Beyond. In June 1999, at the Montgomery Theater in San Jose, California, Primich undertook a performance and series of workshops with Howard Levy, Magic Dick, Gary Smith, Lee Oskar, Jerry Portnoy, and Andy Santana. He was inducted in the Austin Music Hall of Fame.
In September 2007, Primich died at his home in Austin, at the age of 49, of acute heroin intoxication.
