Play On: Ricciuti's Songs to Be Heard Again in Marlborough

The songs of musician James "Scott" Ricciuti who had a strong impact on the area's music scene until his death in 2012 will be performed during a free concert Thursday night by the members of two of his bands.

“It’s a bunch of friends getting together and playing songs together but to remember a dear friend of ours. He is in the room with us when we play these songs,” said Paul Dagnello the bassist for Huck.

The five musicians from the bands Huck and Childhood will be performing songs from 30 yearsworth of collected work. Ricciuti’s band Huck — that he performed in from 1994 until his death in a car accident — was a regular performer at the Marlborough Summer Concert Series in the community in which Ricciuti was born and raised.

“There is the connection with Scott being born and bred in marlborough,” said Dagnello. “He loved playing these shows because it was his home town.”

This will be the first performance of the songs since a tribute show at Ralph’s in Worcester in December. 

“It is emotional but there is this good feeling about it. They are great songs. They have a lot of memory to them,” said Dagnello. “You go through the pendulum of emotions when revisiting the catalogs.”

For this performance, songs from both bands will be mixed together, with different members taking the lead on Ricciuti’s lyrics. While it will be a different experience than the show at Ralph’s — where a number of area performers took the stage — it will still be special as the bandmates performing songs they created with Ricciuti.

“It’s hard to explain the feeling and emotions that go along with this ... there is something missing. There is a giant part of that missing,” said Dagnello. “We are kind of missing a glue point which is Scott and (in) making sure we keep our relationships as strong as they were in the past it becomes a brotherly thing.”

There is additional meaning for band members Ken Ebell and Greg Passler who are from the area, but performing the songs is meaningful for every band member.

“This is what we did with Scott. It’s also a way for the five of us to keep close and keep connection if only through the music,” said Dagnello.

In the end, he said, it is five friends doing the only thing they know how to stay together: play the music that brought them together in the first place.

“It’s our way to hold on to things - hold on to the songs,” said Dagnello. “As a musician there is something about holding onto songs that is important.”

The performance will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday night at the Marlborough Town Union Common with a special rain date to be announced if necessary.