Interviews S-T
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Interviews S-T
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The
Blue Front email interview with British pianist Daniel Smith
November
2003 BFBR:
What were your early musical influences? A good grand BFBR:
If you could have any instrument you wanted what would it be? The Blue Front email interview with US bluesman (but British resident) Guy Tortora November 2003 BFBR:
What were your early musical influences? I grew up in Pasadena, California. As a small child there was big band & popular jazz from the post war era: you know -- Sinatra, Bing Crosby, etc. I was the youngest of three, brought up in an Italian-American household, so there was plenty of opera, too. My mom used to sing various arias around the house and was very fond of Caruso, and Mario Lanza. My older sister introduced rock & roll to the house, especially Elvis and the Everly Brothers. I remember wandering around as a kid singing "Bird Dog" -- I think she's still got that '45 somewhere. Then my brother was a surfer and got into the Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, etc. followed by the Beatles and Bob Dylan. In fact it was my brother who brought the first guitar in to the house, but once I got my hands on it he hardly ever saw it again!
BFBR:
How and when did you get into blues (this type of) music? I think I was around 10 or 12 when we used to go for weekends out to a one-room place my parents had in the desert east of Los Angeles, near an area called Joshua Tree. They called it a "cabin" but it was more of a shack if you ask me! With a rickety old outhouse outside and a pot bellied stove for heat, because it could be cold in the winter. There was no TV and no phone, so it was really boring at night, but there was an old tube radio, and in that desert air sometimes you could get stations from very far away: maybe Texas, Oklahoma, and further east if the weather conditions were right. That was where I first heard this intriguing music, drifting in and out of the AM radio static. A few years later there was the Wolfman Jack show, which was famous all over the south-western states, as the signal was beamed in from over the border in Mexico where they weren't bothered about the US regulations for signal strength! (The studio was in the USA, though) He played a lot of blues and soul music. And then along came the Rolling Stones, introducing us white kids to the blues music that had been going on all around us for years in the African American community. I think you can guess how it went after that.
BFBR:
What were your early blues influences? Urban blues players - definitely BB King, Johnny Guitar Watson, Buddy Guy, closely followed by the 'Stones. I didn't get into the "country" style of blues until much later.
BFBR:
How (and why) did you start playing in public?
I had close friends who played guitar and we gravitated to each other. Eventually you get tired of practising in someone's garage!
BFBR: Can you remember you first gig? No, but the first one would have been or a dance in junior high or high school.
BFBR: What made you decide to perform professionally? How did you get started? It was just an extension of playing together with my friends, jamming gave way to those high school gigs, playing at parties, then bars and clubs. one thing just led to another.
BFBR:
What are your preferred instruments at present? For acoustic: I play a Taylor guitar with a cedar top and a rosewood body with a cutaway that helps for reaching high up. It's not the most "blues" of instruments, but suits my style. I also use an Amistar "Type N" resonator -- affordable and able to take a few knocks. I've also just been loaned an electro-acoustic resonator by a guitar maker called Pete Woodman, who lives on the Isle of Man (www.petewoodmanguitars.com ). We met when I played at a festival there this year. The guitar is REALLY easy to get a good live sound with, and I'm liking it more and more. For electric: I like Fender guitars, and I play a Telecaster for standard tunings, and a Strat for slide work. I use a brass slide.
BFBR:
What are your views on the best types of instruments for your style of
music? It all depends on what kind of player you are! Just about anything you can think of has been used to play the blues at one time or another.
BFBR: If you could have any instruments you wanted (past or present) what would they be? I'm not a guitar geek through and through, so I can't quote serial numbers at you, but i did see a superb 1932 National at a guitar store in London a couple of years back. But it was way beyond the price range of this hard-working blues man. If I had unlimited funds, I'd probably have an unlimited guitar collection!
BFBR: Why do you think you are drawn to performing blues and blues-based material? Because it moves me. There's so much more than what shows on the surface of blues music. It can draw deep at the well of profound emotions some times, but also be light-hearted, and funny, too. Whatever you want to express can be expressed.
BFBR: Pundits often express strong views on the merits or value of contemporary artists performing ‘covers’ or ‘interpretations’ of pre-war or Chicago blues originals (“yet another Robert Johnson” etc) and or the artist’s own original material (blues-based or not). What are your current views on this on-going debate? Well, it's true that some of the songs (esp. R Johnson) have been done, and done and done again! For myself, I try to bring something fresh to an old favourite if I can, or it's not worth doing. But I'm not that dogmatic about it. Sometimes it's nice to perform certain songs in a live situation just because folks like to hear 'em. Setting them down on record is different, though. You have to remember that lots of the old-time blues artists were performing "covers" and "interpretations" of other player's tunes, often borrowing melodies, lines or whole verses from whatever was doing the rounds in the joints. This music doesn't belong in a museum; it's a living thing.
BFBR: What do you think is your inner inspiration for writing and performing your own material or for conveying the emotional content of someone else’s song? A song that moves me and strikes a chord with my own feelings inspires me. Some songs I just can't do because they're not "me".
BFBR:
How do your new songs/material come about? They just seem to have a force of their own sometimes that drives them to my conscious attention. I'm not one of those people who can write to order: what comes along is what I get. Maybe something that's happened to me or that I'm thinking about will be the trigger. One of the songs on the "Footnote to the Blues" album (I Need A Car) actually came to me in a dream where it was playing on the radio! And my clapped out old car did need replacing at the time, though the song isn't actually about that. Some songs are dictated by the standpoint of the character who's telling the story, and that isn't necessarily me. A number of songs have come through this year that will be on the next album, and as they came along I realised that quite a few of them are related to my growing up in Pasadena, California. But they are "based on" my experiences and not any kind of True Life Story, if you know what I mean. I also find that the rhythm of walking often brings an idea for a melody to the surface.
BFBR: How do you feel your playing style has developed since you began performing and more recently? Gettin' better all the time, I hope! These days I am the only guitar player in my band. When I started out I was strictly rhythm, I couldn't make it cry or sing. It's a constant learning process for me: there are so many really good guitar players in this world. I'm just trying to keep up. In many ways I think the Blues was the first World Music, we're all standing on the shoulders of giants. I hope the changes in the licensing laws here in the UK don't kill off the live scene, because it's tough enough out there as it is.
BFBR:
What are you views on playing in UK
- the current scene & gigs? These days the Blues is a small niche in the music scene here in the UK, but audiences everywhere I've played, both solo and with the band, have been enthusiastic, attentive and appreciative. I hope people know how much those of us who are playing appreciate their enthusiasm in return. It's the buzz between the audience and the performer that really drives the whole scene, I think. I just wish the radio network could keep up. It seems to me that all kinds of roots music has been driven to the edge of the map by the domination of certain kinds of pop music on the radio. I'm convinced that all sorts of roots music would have a much wider appeal here if it was heard more often on the radio.
BFBR:
How do you see the future for acoustic blues? As long as there are strings and fingers to play 'em, it just won't go away.
BFBR: What advice would you pass on to players and to ‘amateur’ and semi-pro performers? Do it for the music, but don't let anyone screw you over, either.
BFBR:
What music are you currently listening into? Ali Farke Toure, JJ Cale, Little Feat.
BFBR:
Where are you headed musically at present? Plans are firm to go into Tonezone studio in Kent late this month (November ' 03) to start work on a new album. Many of the songs are based around my coming up in southern California, so it's got a working title of "Jefferson Drive", which is the name of street I grew up on. Most of the tracks will be originals, with a similar mix to the "Footnote" album: some acoustic, some solo, some electric, but probably more slide playing than previously. If all goes to plan it should be ready to press in late January. I will be playing around the UK to support the release of the new CD, and I and the guys in the band are really looking forward to meeting up again with the folks we met last time around. I've been offered some new possibilities for playing on the Continent, too, which I’m also looking forward to getting into. I'm always trying to raise my profile, make new fans and spread the news wherever I can. Whiskey River in Louisiana by Aidan Sheehan Jan 2004 Martin and I left the Days Inn, Lafayette to head on down to Mamou for the Mardi Gras celebrations. A couple of days before, we had been playing music with, talking to and getting rather drunk with Phil from the Cajun band "Sacaulet". We two travelling Brit musicians sat in the bar at McGee's Landing, perched on the edge of the alligator infested Henderson Swamp in the Atchafalaya basin. Now, we'd never met Phil before and his reputation preceded him. He is a little off the wall most of the time, and when we mentioned we would visit Mamou on the actual Mardi Gras day, he almost did a backflip. "Mamou, Fred's Lounge on Mardi Gras day - whoa, watch yourselves boys -they a little wild over there!" We laughed it off, thinking he was joking. We had read in books about "Chasing the Chicken" ceremonies, ancient chants, the Zydeco trail rides winding through the early morning mist on horseback, followed by the locals chasing down greased pigs whilst dressed in carnival costumes to us visitors more than slightly reminiscent of Klansmen's garb. Spooky! The chickens and pigs would then be killed and added to a giant Gumbo pot to feed the whole town. We wanted to see what truth there was in the stories. I must explain they have a long weekend of revelry which reaches it's pinnacle on "Fat Tuesday" itself. Well, we had rather "over enjoyed ourselves" with beer and crawdaddies the night before, so we shamefully missed the early morning ceremonies. That was a disastrous start to the day, but there would be lots going on all over on Mardi Gras day. When you're on holiday 5.30am doesn't exist! We chucked everything in the car and off we went. Off the freeway the roads are mostly long, straight and narrow country roads edged by rice fields. Crawfish thrive in these conditions, and are harvested to end up on plates of many hungry Cajuns and visitors too. Martin and I had bought a giant sack of boiled crawfish for six dollars the night before, complete with boiled potatoes, corn on the cob and grabbed a few beers to go also. No one was working in the fields this day. They were all busy doing what they do for Mardi Gras. We drove past many low white buildings on the sides of the road, neat houses with trucks on the driveways. We drove past one house, and couldn't' t help but notice the dead dog, obviously hit by a car lying just away from the driveway. No one had moved it. That house was isolated, it must have been their dog, and there it lay. We drove on through the quiet fields. We reached Mamou; well we missed the turn off and mistakenly drove straight past it. Considering it's fame in Cajun Country, it could do with a better sign, especially as it is important as an area of Cajun culture, language and music. We drove down the next street and followed our ears. We wound the windows down fully, and heard some accordions blasting away playing some hot Zydeco - this should've been a warning to us; we parked, got out of the car and followed the sounds. In Louisiana Black people tend to play Zydeco and the Whites play Cajun. We had ended up in the black part of town. Yes they still have black and white parts to the towns, and though not officially separated, it appears to be what everyone is used to and to where the different sections of the community have always lived. There were people shouting "Oi" and glowering at us for disturbing their street party. It was clear our party lay elsewhere. The people were listening to a booming sound system, not a band. The only white people around were ourselves. This situation is pretty difficult to understand for most visitors from the UK. We got back in the car and left. As we drove down the street we encountered some weary trail riders, Black men in stetsons who had been up and at it since the early hours of the morning, drinking, singing and collecting this and that for the gumbo around the surrounding farm houses. They often play fiddles and accordions whilst drunk in charge of a horse, so we were told! We drove on. We found the white part of town less than five minutes later. As we expected there were no black people around here, sadly, apart from one cop! It seems they prefer to be separate at least on this occasion. Sometimes it's apparent that the South isn't so different as it used to be after all! The high street is like going back in time. It is a collection of ramshackle buildings either side of a big road that reminds one of a cowboy town. The town is rough'n' ready - full of bikers, cowboys and wild people, but also families and people of all ages - it's fun!! There is a biker's bar that looks like something out of a movie, maybe a crazed biker pirate movie with vampires! The town is packed with people all drinking beer out on the street, and wearing various styles of Mardi Gras getup. Martin decides to by a mask and a hat, and the polite elderly lady behind the counter thinks his accent is quaint. She says we should leave our hire car outside her shop, as its not safe further back down the street... it's a wild place. The biggest hotel, the "Hotel Cazan" is a sight to see - it's going to fall down if someone shuts the door too hard! It's ramshackle, and dark as a dungeon inside. It squats on the end of the main street. They advertise a band in the bar, but they haven't got one. I wonder if they have any light bulbs. Soul Food is being served in a side annex. When you step outside the light hurts your eyes. There is a large stage outside the Hotel where a fantastic Cajun band is pumping away - they are absolutely brilliant. There are lots of people dancing, all in couples and wearing Mardi Gras guises. There are food stalls selling boudin, a sort of fish or pork sausage depending on which one you buy. A cop comes up and tells me I mustn't stand near the dancers with a beer bottle in my hand. He is dressed like a SWAT team member, but he is a town cop. Cans of beer are allowed. I go and buy several. Although the crowd looks a bit rough, the atmosphere is friendly in a rough sort of way. This is a farming community after all. "Fred's Lounge" is tiny and like all the bars in Mamou it is pretty dark and run down. It was open for Mardi Gras (a Tuesday) but is normally just open on Saturday mornings around 9am for a live radio Broadcast on the local radio - it wasn't happening when we were there, being it wasn't a Saturday. The bar is stacked several people deep and everyone stands around packed in like sardines drinking beer (Bud or Coors - that's it unfortunately) and some brave souls going at it on the "dance floor" (i.e. a very small gap in the crowd). The band are roped off at one side of the room, and blasting away majorly loudly - great sounding Cajun in a style reminiscent of Nathan Abshire when we were there. What a place! We got talking (shouting really considering the noise) with lots of the locals, who were amazed to discover we were British. French was being spoken quite a lot in the bar. Most of the male patrons were wearing baseball caps or stetsons, and were large blocky figures. One chap became quite friendly and asked if we spoke French in England. We obliged by speaking some French to him, and I think we made a friend for life. He told us that he had an Englishman working on his farm the year previous, but he was an illegal and the cops had arrested him, and he had been deported. He told us the guy was a great worker, a nice guy and even had a Cajun girlfriend. He says, " We almost got him - what a shame he had to go". We were then lucky enough to witness a rendition by "Tante Sue" the widow of Fred Tate (Yes, he is deceased) who sang a couple of raucous Cajun songs with the band. She must be around 80 years old but she belts 'em out in a tuneless bellow that is a real treat! I was so impressed I bought the tee shirt (featuring the famous sign still hanging on the wall "Please do NOT stand on the tables, chairs, Cigarette machines, booths and Juke Box! Thank You. Fred. Laissez les bon temps rouler!)". Martin bought the one with a picture of "Tante Marie" on the front waving a bottle and singing! It had to be done. As the day wore on we decided to head back to Eunice to see the Mardi Gras parade. We made sure we took the "Right Road" out of town. On the way back we noticed the dead dog was still in the road. It hadn't been moved at all. Maybe after the owner's hangover had passed............ This site is very good, and it gives some photos of the day we were actually there! There are some cracking pix of "Fred's" too. Check it out on: www.http://lsue.edu/acadgate/mamou.htm
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