Not many bands today truly embody the spirit and drive of a classic hard rocking band. Many try, but only a few succeed.

Airborne is one of those bands succeeding with their distinctive style and sound making every song an instant classic.

There isn’t a song in their catalogue that doesn’t get the heart racing and fist pumping.

Hailing from Warrnambool, a small drinking town on the southwestern coast of Victoria, Australia, Airbourne has steadily gained an immense following with their explosive live shows and main stage festival appearances, including a headliner spot at Wacken 2011, Rock Am Ring/Park [Germany] and Download [U.K.].

I witnessed them play at the Uproar Festal in 2010, their performance solidified it for me, as if I was watching greatness, a band on the verge of rock stardom.

Airbourne will be released their new CD, Black Dog Barking on May 17th. I had the chance to speak with guitarist, Joel O’Keeffe, about the new CD.

So, grab a beer and crank it up mate!

******

Robert Cavuoto: Most Airbourne riffs have a signature sound, something that tells you right away its Airbourne. Tell me about how you continuously come up with great riffs?

Joel O’Keeffe: A great riff sometimes just comes to you. We never sit down to just write a riff. We never say let’s try this or that. It just happens, we pull them out of the air and when we get it, we really don’t change it.

Robert: The songs on Black Dog Barking are really in the spirit of your last two CDs of hard rocking, beer drinking, woman chasing. I particular loved the song “Hungry” tell me about it.

Joel O’Keeffe: It’s a more fast paced, in your face riff. It’s about being in a rock band on the road. It’s a fist pumping song.

Robert:  The guys in the band must all be of like minds when it comes to song writing. Tell me about the chemistry within the band.

Joel O’Keeffe: When we get in a room and plug in we all know what we have to do. We all meld together. We know what we want to do and all we want to do is rock.

Robert:  The last two albums have really solidified Airbourne’s sound and musical style. Can you share your insight into how they compare to Black Dog Barking?

Joel O’Keeffe: The key differences in the CDs are the producer we used and the locations of the studios. Black Dog Barking was a little different in that we had a Canadian producer, Brian Howes, and he pulled some great stuff out of us like a good producer should do. He crafted each song to make it the best it could be. He really focused on “feel” something we never did in the past. He would say, “This doesn’t feel right” and when we got it you could tell the difference instantly.

Robert:  When I envision Airbourne in the studio I see you guys, writing, recording, drinking, and fighting. Is that the case?

Joel O’Keeffe: You really have to knuckle down quite a bit when you are recording. At the end of the day you might have a few drinks, but when you are in the studio you’re not in there to get drunk and wasted. Nobody does that.

You really have to think about the people who are going to buy the record and what it’s going to sound like and how it’s going to work when we play it live.

Robert:  I saw you in 2010 at the Uproar Festival; you guys have an incredible stage preference and high level of energy. How do you keep that up night after night?

Joel O’Keeffe: We just love playing rock ‘n roll. That’s pretty much where it comes.

Robert:  I think the highlight to that Uproar show was when you were carried around through the crowd on someone’s shoulders. Have you ever been pulled down by rapid fans?

Joel O’Keeffe: Not too often. Sometimes they grab on but they want to see you keep playing too. When it does happen you just get right back up and keep going.

Robert: Your weapon of choice live and in the videos seems to be the white Gibson Explorer with the beer cap volume knob. Tell be about the guitar and what happened to the other two knobs?

Joel O’Keeffe: I got it in 2005 from a shop in Santa Monica called True Tone which is no longer there. They had some great vintage amps and guitars.

The beer cap is there so I can turn the knob with my little finger easily while I’m playing and picking. The other two knobs for the bridge pick-up and the tone knob I disconnected since I don’t use them. I never use the rhythm pick-up and the tone is always on 10.

Robert: Looks like you’re doing the Rock Allegience Tour in late summer?

Joel O’Keeffe: Yeah, it looks like it’s going to be a great tour. It will be around August and September.

Robert: What new songs can we expect to hear live?

Joel O’Keeffe: I’m sure will do “Live it up”, “Hungry” and “Ready to Rock”. I’m not sure how long we will get but we will rock out with as much as we can.

Rockin’ the RED: Part I

Without a doubt, singer-songwriter Taylor Swift is a world-wide musical phenomenon with over 43 million Facebook fans watching her every move as she lays down hit after hit and sells out stadiums night after night. We caught up with Swift at Washington, D.C.’s Verizon Center where she sold out two consecutive nights and watched the fan frenzy build, as she strutted her stuff strapped to one of her favorite Gibson guitars, all in lipstick RED,  adorned with hearts and her favorite number, 13.

As promised, here’s Guitar International’s Part II Gallery of that sparkling RED night.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Over a decade in the making, Cinderella frontman, Tom Keifer, is boldly launching his solo career with a thrilling and terrific new album, The Way Life Goes ; an appropriate title, considering the multiple obstacles he’s faced.

It’s 1990, Cinderella has just finished their extensive Heartbreak Station tour. Just as the band was at the top of their game, Tom faced several life-altering complications; nodules on his vocal chords, and a paralyzed left vocal chord.

He was told by medical professionals that his case is devastating for vocalists, and that he would never be able to sing again. This directly affected his ability to perform, mentally and physically.

And yet,  he never stopped persevering, rehabilitating and strengthening his vocal chords, and working on writing and performing music.

Although fans have had to wait over twenty years to hear some new material from the renowned musician, when those first few racing guitar licks to “Welcome To My Mind” come cranking out of your speakers, you instantly know The Way Life Goes was more than worth the wait.

The entire album is perfectionist quality, from all of those years of revision and the occasional revisiting.

When I sat down and spoke with Tom about his new album, he talked about wanting to featuring multiple genres of music, to help take the listener on a journey.

After listening to the album from start to finish, this makes absolute sense, as Tom tackles on a broad selection of styles that ranges from country, to blues, to straight up rock and roll.

Whether it’s the unassailable blues-rock throwback “Cold Day In Hell”, the sentimental acoustic guitar ballad “Ask Me Yesterday”, or heavy hitting “It’s Not Enough”, Tom masterfully embraces each musical genre with sheer excellence, and never ceases to come out on the winning side.

The entire album is moderately fast paced, which allows you to easily become set into the groove of the guitar dominated songs like “Mood Elevator” and “Ain’t That A Bitch”, the latter of which is built around a striking Red Hot Chili Peppers-esque guitar riff.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Tom seems to consciously embrace the Aerosmith-side of his songwriting, through such new captivating power ballads as “Thick and Thin” and “You Showed Me”, which both showcase elaborate piano playing and some powerful-as-ever vocal work.

No matter where you put the needle on The Way Life Goes, the album is downright fantastic.

From the opening lick to “Solid Ground”, to the final mind haunting group chorus of “Babylon Life”, Tom Keifer gives a continuously electrifying performance, and your hand never once remotely drifts towards the skip button.

What more can I say, except welcome back, Tom. We’ve missed you.

• Format: Audio CD (April 30, 2013)
• Original Release Date: 2013
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Alternative Distribution Alliance

Tracks:

1) Solid Ground

2) A Different Light

3) It’s Not Enough

4) Cold Day In Hell

5) Thick And Thin

6) Ask Me Yesterday

7) Fools Paradise

8) The Flower Song

9) Mood Elevator

10) Welcome To My Mind

11) You Showed Me

12) Ain’t That A Bitch

13) The Way Life Goes

14) Babylon

Lou Gramm, the lead singer of the iconic band Foreigner, is ready to tell his story in his new book, Juke Box Hero: My Five Decades in Rock n’ Roll.

In this book Lou shares details about his rise from humble, working-class roots in Rochester, N.Y., to become one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most distinctive and popular voices.

He recounts how he realized his dream to be a rock star, but sadly, like many stars, succumbed to the trappings of wealth and fame. Foreigner’s remarkable success was due in large part to the song-writing synergy between Lou and the band’s founder, Mick Jones.

However, creative clashes between the two would become more frequent and the tension would result in Lou’s departure, not once but twice; the second time for good.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Lou and talk about his life’s story and the legacy that he and Mick Jones created together in Foreigner.

******

Robert Cavuoto: I really enjoyed your book,  Juke Box Hero: My Five Decades in Rock n’ Roll. What are some of the things you want your fans to take away from it?

Lou Gramm: More or less what life is like; that it’s not all glory and good times. That there are sacrifices and pitfalls which are easy to get caught up in. That there were accolades and satisfaction when you write a good song and it does well. But that’s not everything. I just wanted to show an accurate picture of how it was for me.

Robert: In the book you talk about always wanting to be a rock star. It’s also evident in the hit song, “The Jukebox Hero.” Tell me a little about that drive and how you attained your goal.

Lou Gramm: The first time I remember actually wanting to be a rock star, or at least make a living playing music, was when I saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Something clicked with me. It was fantastic. There was a guitar out of tune here and there, or harmony that was a little off. But, it was television, and television is very unforgiving.

They were numerous times on Ed Sullivan and I think I saw them every single time. To me that was the real initiative, the breakthrough that made me understand what I wanted to do for a living. It wasn’t the screen; it was the great songs and playing live. That really was the attraction for me.

Robert: Being in the music business for fifty years, I’m sure you’ve seen  drastic changes from when you were starting out.

Lou Gramm: One of the big ones is corporate radio. There used to be independent radio stations with program directors that had an idea of what they wanted to play. That type of thing is now gone, and you hear just about the same 10 or 12 songs on every button you push. And that’s sad.

The other changes that are drastic are when an artist has had numerous successful albums and singles, it is certainly inexplicable that there’s no intent to play their new music. Only their old hits are played on Classic Rock Radio. It’s like being put out to pasture. Again, it’s not that these artists have tried to put out albums, but it won’t get the airplay anymore. Their time is over. Someone, somewhere has drawn the line, saying, “That’s it for them.”

Robert: I recently spoke with Roger Glover of Deep Purple and he said the same thing. He goes, “Outside of our four hits, nobody has played any of our new stuff in the last 30 years. We’re invisible.”

Lou Gramm: Yeah, that’s right. And for better or worse, record companies don’t have the clout they used to have 25 years ago. You really don’t need a record deal. You just do a recording. You can do an excellent recording on home equipment now, because the level of that equipment is so proficient. Then put it on the Internet for the whole world to hear. It’s interesting and it’s terrific for up-and-coming rockers, but it’s the death knell for the established ones.

Robert: I think there’s a level of expectation that’s required of bands like Foreigner, Aerosmith, and Deep Purple – that every album is going to have huge hits, and sometimes it’s not achievable or that music is not in fashion. I assume that makes it a little more challenging.

Lou Gramm: And if you start writing for the times, you’ll never succeed. You can’t chase the style of music that’s popular. You are what you are.

Robert: The one thing I couldn’t figure out in the book was why Mick Jones kept cutting you out of all the writing collaboration? You guys were hit makers so why would he want to jeopardize your relationship for a couple more dollars? It wouldn’t make sense in the long run.

Lou Gramm: I think he felt that if he could limit my input, but still have me sing, there’s a huge, huge financial benefit that would flow his way, making sure that I was able to buy into the song emotionally. He took that chance and at a certain point, my input was null and void.

I clearly wanted to steer away from the sappy ballads. We had “Waiting for a Girl,” that was a huge hit. It’s fine, but “I Want to Know What Love Is,” was the first single of an album after “Waiting for a Girl” and now we had two huge ballads in a row, and then the next single from the next album was “I Don’t Want to Live Without You.”

So, now there are three big singles from three consecutive albums. Our rock reputation and our rock audience were severely diminished.

Songs like “I Don’t Want to Live Without You,” or “I Want to Know What Love Is,” cross over from rock radio to MOR [middle-of-the-road] radio to soft rock. So you win big on all fronts. I think, at some point that became more appealing to him than keeping our rock integrity intact. That really was the source of our anxiety and anger at each other.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Robert: It seemed like he was trying to make you a hired gun rather than a partner.

Lou Gramm: That’s what I was feeling like.

Robert: The interesting thing about the ballads was that Foreigner was on the forefront of it. In the ’80s every hard rock band had to have at least two “monster ballads” on their album in order get radio or video play.

Lou Gramm: I was particularly aware of that. It was almost like we set the trend, but it wasn’t a trend I was proud of. [Laughter]

Robert: When you look back, do you think Mick was aware of that trend, or did he just stumble into it?

Lou Gramm: I’m very sure he was aware of the upside of that. It’s pretty sad because even album rock radio back then would go right to those songs. And our good rock songs got zero attention versus on the earlier albums, when they would focus on the melodic, but hard-rocking single.

Robert: When you were getting ready to record 4, you got rid of the whole rhythm section. Did you really think that the original band would not have been able to pull off what you accomplished on 4?

Lou Gramm: Everyone in the band was very proficient at their instrument and wanted to be the best they could. But, by the time 4 rolled around, when we came off the road for Head Games, and we put our big equipment away, so did people’s guitars and drums. Everything gets locked into the storage room.

After touring, there were more than a few people who didn’t touch their instruments for months and months, until we started rehearsing for the next album. So, we would have to stop for clunky notes, just like you would expect for someone who didn’t touch them for three or four months.

Robert: They were rusty.

Lou Gramm: Yeah, and it was very frustrating, while you were supposed to be creating you had to wait for people to figure parts out. We felt that when it was time to start creating, everybody should be sharp as a tack on their instrument. That was something that was a lack of dedication,

It seemed that when we would exchange ideas, only certain people would contribute and those contributions was more like something we had done two albums ago. Not only were people not practicing their instruments, but now their ideas were stale, as well.

It got to point where we felt like a clean break and just trimming the band down to a quartet. It was the only way we were going to survive, or we would be one of those bands that you can’t tell one song from the first album, versus the third album. We were insistent on each album having its own personality.

Robert: Do you still speak with those three other members?

Lou Gramm: Some of them. I speak to Ian McDonald and Dennis Elliott, occasionally.

Robert: How is your relationship with Mick?

Lou Gramm: There is no relationship, to tell you the truth. I did speak to him in just the past month or so and congratulated him on his songwriting Hall of Fame award. And he congratulated me on mine, and it was a friendly, but chilly, short phone call.

Robert: What do you think about him carrying the torch for Foreigner?

Lou Gramm: He owns the name, and he has the right to do whatever he wants. He’s been very ill. He had a throat tumor and a heart bypass.

So, he’s been off the road for almost two years. But, the band continues to play without him. I think he’s still in the band, but due to his health problems, he hasn’t been playing.

Thankfully, the Internet and YouTube have made discovering new musicians all over the world easier than ever. Several fantastic guitar players in countries I’ve never been to have made their way onto my computer screen. One of these is the Texas-based Dave Biller.

Biller has toured and recorded with Wayne Hancock, Dale Watson, and Deke Dickerson and is mostly known as a professional pedal steel player, but his record, Hot Guitars of Biller & Wakefield, captured the ears of guitar and music lovers everywhere.

Like many guitarists of his age, Biller’s first hero’s were classic rock guitarists such as Jimmy Page, Clapton, and Hendrix, but jazz “became his religion” after discovering a ‘Best of Coltrane’ cassette in a clearance bin in an old record store.

Biller has a unique guitar style that takes influence from jazz heavyweights such as Barney Kessel and Howard Roberts, country pickers such as Roy Nichols and James Burton and the three Blues Kings; Freddie, Albert, and BB, but he says the guitarist which made the biggest impact on his playing was Django Reinhardt.

“In 1998 I saw the film footage of him for the first time and it changed my life in music forever.  It was a pivotal moment and for the next 5 years I was hopelessly lost in the world of gypsy jazz.”

Although Biller was once an exclusive Tele picker, he now plays anything from Strats, Les Pauls, 175 C’s, and was recently seen performing at the Crossroads festival with a Collings 335 where he got to play with one of his musical heroes, Jimmie Vaughan.

“Well, my big moment at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival was pretty memorable for obvious reasons.  But also because there was a bit of a musical meltdown onstage, whereupon the beat got turned around,  making the whole tune sound like some kind of psychedelic free jazz excursion! Oh well, maybe I wasn’t meant to be a stadium rock star.  It was an incredible experience, nonetheless.”

A popular YouTube video shows Biller with a Tele equipped with a Charlie Christian pickup which he comments “I had a Lollar CC in one of my Teles and really liked it, plus it looked really cool, but the best sounding neck pickup I ever had in a telecaster was a Gibson mini humbucker.  Phenomenal! I moved the same pickup to another Tele later and it sounded like crap! Oh well!”

Click here to view the embedded video.

The only ‘telecaster’ Biller owns at the minute is a thinline fitted with Jazzmaster pickups, quite far from your standard blackguard model. Out all the guitars he has owned over the years, he says that some of his favourites he wish he still had are a fiesta red ’66 Tele, (“the best sounding Tele I owned”), his first Strat (’74), and a ’71 Black Beauty Custom which he loved despite it being an immensely heavy guitar.

A couple of years ago Biller developed focal dystonia in his right hand which can still make his musical endeavours challenging, but inspired by Django’s more serious injury, he spends much of his practice time dealing with the set back but was a very serious student of the guitar in his younger days.

“Well, I hate to admit this, but I really don’t practice the guitar anymore.  When I did, I was very organized and militant about it.  I went through the typical 10 hour day phase when I was younger and really tried to schedule my routine. Nowadays if I do sit down with a guitar, I mainly just noodle!”

Biller’s practice routine would start with scale and arpeggio warm-ups then move on to chord studies, sight reading, repertoire, and transcription. “I started out learning complete solos and meticulously writing them out.  Sometimes I found myself labouring over the physical transcription itself and spent too much time on the paper instead of learning to play it!”

“I did some transcriptions with no instrument in my hand but then would have a real hard time learning them, so I started doing shorter phrases. If I heard a passage that I really liked I would write it in a book I had compiled. I analyzed each one to get the essence of why it sounded good to me and use the info to try and develop my own ideas. When I was learning Django’s stuff I memorized everything and never wrote down a single note and never have since.”

The focused approach to practice was reflected in his advice to young guitar players in which he says “As cliché as it sounds, practice and learn everything you can about music.  There seems to be this sort of anti-theory mentality, as if knowledge is bad and will make your playing sound clinical or sterile.  Horse feathers! I say!  It’s all about taste and how you apply your knowledge.”

This positive approach to practicing and playing the guitar is still apparent. When asked what his goals are for the future he replied “My only goals are to continue improving my craft.”

About the Author

Jamie Holroyd is a UK based jazz educator and author who runs Jamie Holroyd Guitar, a free website filled with lessons for the studying jazz guitarist.

HP Newquist GI Interview I

Roger McGuinn (left) and HP Newquist (right)

Walk in to the National GUITAR Museum‘s traveling exhibit, “GUITAR: The Instrument that Rocked the World”, and you find yourself surrounded by a troupe of intriguing guitars that captivate and urge you to play.

The road show changes each time it hits a new town since the museum’s founder, HP Newquist, wants to not only inform, but to surprise. The National GUITAR Museum and the exhibit are both part of a vision Newquist to promote his favorite musical instrument – the guitar.

Creative vision is nothing new to Newquist, who has authored a host of fine books that have explored a wide range of subjects, including Legends of Rock Guitar (with Peter Prown), The Way They Play  series (including Blues Masters, Hard Rock Masters, Metal Masters, and Acoustic Masters), with Richard Maloof and the award winning The Great Brain Book: An Inside Look At The Inside Of Your Head.

In 2012, HP released a fascinating book called, The Book of Blood – From Legends & Leeches to Vampires to Veins.

HP is the former Editor-in-Chief of Guitar Magazine as well as writing Going Home, a Disney Channel documentary, featuring Robbie Robertson, and directing the film documentary, John Denver – A Portrait.

******

Rick Landers: Your traveling exhibits have been underway for almost two years. What kind of traction are you getting?

HP Newquist: Well, as of this summer, we’ll have been on the road two full years. By all accounts, we’ve had about half a million people come through it in that period.

We’ve been more successful than we expected, because now we’re actually booked fully for the next two years. So, we must be doing something right.

Now that we see there is an attraction that people kind of take to this in a big way, we really do feel like the original idea – which, as you know, started primarily as something we thought would be a good idea – has now been proven to be a good idea. We’re really committed to making not only the traveling exhibit go forward, but to start laying plans for the permanent home for museum.

Rick: Do you think that at some point you’ll have both the permanent museum and  the traveling roadshow?

HP Newquist: I think we probably will. The plan is to have the traveling exhibit on the road at least through the next three or four years, which will allow us to cover an even greater amount of territory across the country.

It will also give us a chance to check out different cities throughout the country. I think that once we do have a permanent museum, that there’s nothing to keep us from putting a smaller tour out there, so that even people who can’t make it to the permanent museum still have the opportunity to see some of these incredible guitarists.

Rick: I think that’s a great model for you.

A “Frying Pan” guitar designed by  George Beauchamp circa 1931.

HP Newquist: I’m hoping so. [Laughter]

Rick: You’ve got a few museum partners and sponors, right?

HP Newquist:. We do have partners, people who we work closely with on various elements of the museum. For instance, Mojotone Amps have helped us create all of the video displays, which actually needed inside amp cabinets.

DGN Custom Guitars has helped us maintain instruments and has created a couple of specific guitars for the exhibit. We’re also working with Fender, doing some giveaways and promotions.

Each of our partners brings something specific to the table, but currently there are no sponsors, in terms of underwriters or funding, for the exhibit. That is something that we’re going to be looking at, starting the middle of this year.

Rick: Have you considered grants?

HP Newquist: When we started, we looked at everything from government grants and grants from private industry and found out that it was really very constraining and very restrictive, in terms of how you could actually run an operation.

After approaching a number of nonprofits and looking at a couple of government funding possibilities, it made more sense to not request any of those funds, because they would have had a certain level of say in how the funding was used.

I felt, as did as some of my partners, that if we could do it with private funding, that we’d have a much better chance of creating the kind of museum exhibit that we really envisioned, without stipulations in regard to we’ve got to address this in order to make the financiers happy.

By not having to make anyone else happy, we could really focus on what we thought would be the very best guitar exhibit and the thing that would appeal to the greatest number of people.

Rick: Does the exhibit change or evolve each time you make a move?

HP Newquist: It does change. Every venue is completely different.

We’ll swap out certain instruments, depending on the market or depending on the city we’re in. Maybe we’ll focus a little more on acoustic instruments, as opposed to electric instruments. We’ve added more interactives and more videos of each market.

Also the host museums tend to dictate some of those changes themselves. For instance, we’re currently in Springfield. And the Springfield museum is a complex of four different museums, all on the same quadrangle.

But. we’ve split up our exhibit half between a fine arts museum and a science center. So, we’ve moved a lot of the vintage and antique instruments to the fine arts museum and then put more of the interactives and the cooler, new design-type guitars in the science center.

Rick: When new visitors come to the exhibit what can they expect to see or experience?

HP Newquist: One of the things that we really wanted to have every single person who comes through to get a sense of is just how engaging the exhibit is.

There are a number of things we focused on in making this an engaging exhibit for everyone.

First of all was the guitars themselves, which are obviously eye candy for not only guitarists and for people who appreciate music and appreciate design, but we’ve also brought a really strong sense of science and history to the exhibit There’s the history of stringed instruments that led up to the invention of the guitar. Then there’s the evolution of the guitar itself from post Middle Ages up to the creation of the first six-stringed guitars in the late 1700s and the invention of the electric guitar in the 1930s and on up.

So, it’s a nice history and also has a pop culture element because at each step along the way, the guitar had an influence on the music of the day. The exhibit presents a really unique way to learn about science in a way that people don’t even realize that they’re learning about science.

An interactive amp display at the NGM exhibit.

We’ve created interactives that show how pickups work, which teaches electromagnetism. We‘ve created an interactive about how amplifiers work, which teaches people about sound waves and the physics of sound. We’ve created interactives that show how much force the top of an acoustic guitar can withstand in we ask visitors if they can withstand the same amount of force that’s on a thin piece of spruce over the top of an acoustic guitar.

There’s almost 20 of those kinds of interactives that teach people about science, so everybody from kids to adults can go to the exhibit and get something out of it, not only in terms of eye candy, but in terms of some stealth learning that they can walk away and say, ”Hey, I didn’t know that.”

People who have never been exposed to the guitar, are often confused by the term “luthier”.  We have a luthier’s workbench, and we explain that luthier comes from the word “lute” and that even today you know these people aren’t making lutes – their making guitars – they’re still referred to as luthiers. So, even if they just want to come in and say, “Oh, yeah, I know what a luthier is now, they’ve learned something above and beyond how cool guitars are.

Rick: You’ve used the phrase “stealth learning”.

HP Newquist: Yeah. I find that when I give personal tours. People will say exactly what I’ve just said, which is “Oh, I didn’t know that,” or “That’s interesting. How old is that?”

The first six-string guitar was created about the time of George Washington. They’re surprised by that. We’re not trying to force anyone to learn and we’re not even telling them to learn something, but they do learn it and under the radar, and there is a sort of stealth learning that goes on. That makes the experience all that more valuable.

Rick: Is that stealth learning or is that stealth teaching? [Both laugh]

HP Newquist: It’s a number of things. We call it stealth science and stealth history, which is what we’re presenting. Our presentation of it is stealth teaching and the fact that they’re not aware of learning it makes it stealth learning. [Laughing]

Everything is very stealthy, top to bottom.

Rick: But, it works.

HP Newquist: It does.

Rick: When you’re walking in the museum and seeing some of these instruments, like the early Martin D-28, do you ever get the urge to grab them and give ‘em a go?

HP Newquist: Yeah. I’ve done it. I’ve given most of them enough personal time that I’ve already chosen the ones I like to play, and the ones that are perhaps much better looked at than actually played. There are certainly times when we’re either setting up or tearing down the exhibit where I will take some time with a particular guitar and just play it for the sheer joy of playing.

I do have the opportunity to take them out for a spin, as it were. There are also days – you know we have more than 80 instruments and you just look at them and go, “Too many guitars, too little time.”

Rick: [Laughing] And sometimes you have one guitar and there’s too little time, unfortunately.

HP Newquist: Exactly!

Rick: Given your original vision to plant the exhibit at a permanent spot, did it surprise you that it were so successful relatively quickly, getting the traction that we talked of earlier?

HP Newquist: As I said at the outset, we’re incredibly pleased by the success. It’s been more successful than we initially expected. Our original plan was to be on the road about four or five years and really kind of take stock of where we’d been, and determine where we wanted to be going in the future.

Response from cities all over the U.S. has led us to conclude that maybe there are a few more cities that we should squeeze in to that initial projection, in order to make sure that we’re not selling ourselves short. But, also giving ourselves a chance to reach that much more of the population and make them aware of what we’re doing before we do actually put down permanent roots. The success has kind of elongated the process. At the same time, it’s let us make more people aware of what we’re doing.

Rick: Have you found that museum directors are asking you to come back?

HP Newquist: We’ve actually had several of the venues we’ve been to so far say they’d be more than happy to have us come back in the space of four to five years with exactly the same exhibit we had, simply because of the success they experienced.

With everything we’ve been through, there’s been an average of 30% increase in their attendance over the course of the time we’ve been there. They’re pleased that the guitar is attracting so much attention, which is something we’d hoped would happen.

I think the community response has shown that people are looking for something interesting to go see and to go experience that they can relate to. The guitar is certainly something that most of us can relate to.

Rick: Sounds like you’re at least a temporary magnet to pull people in. You have that 30% who are coming expressly to see the exhibit and they bleed into other areas of the museum and make it that much more of a welcoming place.

HP Newquist: Exactly. When we were in Pittsburgh at the Carnegie Science Center, they laughingly referred to us as their gateway exhibit, which is king of a takeoff on “gateway drug”.

People would come in to see the guitar exhibit who hadn’t been to the museum in years, or maybe had never been at all. They would come in to experience what guitar had to offer, but since they were in the building, they would then visit other sections of the building. They would find things they felt were worth coming back to see again.

So, the gateway exhibit is happy to draw attention to any host that happens to have us for any length of time.

Rick: Our readers who don’t live in the states will wonder if you have any plans to get this show on the road internationally.

HP Newquist: We do. We’ve been approached by a couple of museums in the U.K. and a couple in Asia to customize the exhibit for international taste. We’re hoping to have something to announce about that by the end of this year.

Rick: You, personally, seem to always have a full platter of projects percolating. I know you’ve got books and a few other projects going on most of the time. Along with the exhibit, what else is filling up your time at this point?

HP Newquist: I’m working on three different books. I am currently looking at doing an exhibition based on one of those books, which I can’t talk about now.

I should just keep it simple and say. For now, in addition to making sure the museum is constantly growing and starting to look at plans for the permanent museum, my writing continues to keep me extremely busy. I’ve got three more books due by the end of this year.

I remember the first time when I wrote a book on the brain and I met a brain surgeon, I found out that he did on an average of four to five days a week five neurosurgeries a day. That’s an average of 25 a week for roughly forty weeks a year. And he had been a neurosurgeon for 30 years.

So, when we started doing the numbers, he had done thousands upon thousands of brain surgeries. I asked how that can be possible. He said, “It’s just like I start at 6:30 in the morning and I finish about 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon. Each surgery takes X number of hours and that’s what I do day in and day out.”

I was amazed. You’d think, oh, how many neurosurgeries can one guy do in his life, and you’d think, “Oh, maybe a couple of hundred.” Some of these guys do  tens of thousands.

So, then I think of what you just said, “Oh, it’s impressive that you’ve got these things going.” Three books, well, that’s just an average year. I look at Isaac Asimov who accomplished hundreds of books in his lifetime and it makes me feel like a slacker.

Rick: Well, I’m still conceiving my first book. [Both laugh]

HP Newquist: Well, it does take a while to get up and running, but once you get the first one under your belt, you’ve got the engine into first gear. All you have to do is keep pushing the accelerator pedal.

Rick: Maybe it’s like a high dive. Maybe it’s a little easier the second and third time.

HP Newquist: I’ve never done that. I’m not a good heights person. I’ve bungee jumped once, but I’m not sure the second time would be any better than the first time, because it’s not a skill you learn. So, I’d rather not be jumping off high dives even the first time. [Both laugh]

Rick: How do you develop ideas to keep your exhibit fresh? Where do they come from?

HP Newquist: Part of any expansion or any innovation we do within the exhibit, comes from the familiarity that we have with it.

When I go and see it whatever location it’s set up in, I’m already fairly familiar with it, obviously, because I’ve lived with it for a couple of years. Then I find things that I think could be improved upon – that there might be a more interesting guitar for guitar players; maybe a more interesting guitar for non-guitar players to learn about. It really comes down to continual immersion into the exhibit.

Then we read the things that people post on our Facebook page. We go to trade shows like NAAM. We talk to our advisers, and we’ve got a great board of advisers, both excellent guitarists and industry people. Continuing to bounce things off those people, gives us a sense of what’s currently happening, and we can weigh that against what we have had in the exhibit up until now. It gives us a way to enhance the exhibit at every stop on the way.

I don’t want to say we reimagine it or reenvision it, because at the core, the exhibit is always about the guitar, and that never changes. We do make tweaks and we do make modifications, and all those factors I just mentioned come into play.

The heavy metal legends, Judas Priest, whose influence on generations of musicians and metalheads is incalculable, celebrate their 40th year as recording artists with a live concert DVD, Epitaph – a unique live career retrospective.

Filmed at the Hammersmith Apollo in London on the last day of their tour in 2012, Epitaph provides the metal fans with 140 minutes of brain surging metal – 23 tracks across 14 albums spanning a 40 year career! To promote this new DVD the concert is being screened at select theaters around the US.

On the bands stop into New York for their debut theatrical screening, I had the pleasure of sitting with Rob Halford and Richie Faulkner to share their behind the scenes look into the making of Epitaph. 

It was interesting to hear the band perspective on their longevity of influencing millions of fans around the world for the last 40 years.

******

Robert Cavuoto: When I first saw the band with Richie Faulkner in 2011 as well as on the DVD, I couldn’t help but notice that the band seemed re-energized. Do you feel that difference also?

Rob Halford: Musicians feed off each other with their musicianship, their performance and their energy. You can’t help but feel it on stage. Right from day one Richie connected with us. We wanted Richie to be himself and not a copycat of KK Downing.

There is no point in that. We told him to just be yourself. You have the skills and the talent. Night after night you get buzzed just by watching Richie work and the seeing the fans reactions.

Robert: That’s a tremendous compliment from the Metal God. What do you think you bring to the band night after night?

Richie Faulkner: Obviously you don’t know what happened prior to joining the band but from my point of view there is nothing else that I can be but excited and energized. To be playing great songs with great people in front of great fans around the world. You hear the feedback from the band, the fans and the crew. Its always a great compliment.

Robert: Some of the songs performed on your new DVD, Epitaph, are 20, 30, and even 40 years old. They really stand the test of time and sound fresh and not dated like so many ’80s bands, what’s your take on that?

Rob Halford: [Laughing] Your right, a pop song from the ’60s sounds like a pop song from the 60’s as it should. There are subtle differences like in the production of “Turbo Lover” is different than the production of “Nostradamus”.

There are certain rock songs that work well today as they did 20, 30, 40 years ago when you play them live, with the modern guitar and drum sound, there is a fluid connectivity that pulls it altogether and makes it work. Having said, when you strip a song down to its bare bones, if it’s a good song it should last.

Robert: I think Priest is one of those rare bands that can go out and play some of the more obscure tracks and diehard fans will go crazy. Is it tough to pick a list that satisfies everyone?

Rob Halford: It’s difficult. When you have the good luck and fortune to have a long life in rock n’ roll, the longer you’re in the game the more difficult it is because your material is backing up behind you.

“If you play this one, than you can’t play that one”. You have to get the right balance and there are always a handful of songs that you gotta play like “Breaking the Law” and “Living after Midnight”. The fans made you famous for those songs.

Once you got those set, we look to bring in songs that offer a different texture and dynamic. That’s when you look at the little gems like “Starbreaker”, “Blood Red Skies” and “Never Satisfied”.

You listen to them and play them and start to make sense of the show. Every song is given its moment with its smoke, fire, video, lighting, and costume changes. It lives for three plus minutes,

it’s like you’re watching an opera or a musical. You have to think all of that through. Then you go into rehearsal and try it out and you get a hole in one. You don’t have to make changes. Maybe part of it is instinct and part of is intuitive. We seem to have it right from the get-go.

Richie Faulkner: When you start with 3 ½ hours of material you have to start cutting some songs. You have to make the decision as a band which song you have to let go. That’s the tough decision.

Robert: I would image in the set list there are songs that you both look forward to performing live and others not so much. Can you share some examples of both?

Richie Faulkner: Favorites would be “Victim of Changes”, “The Sentinel”, and “Blood Red Skies”. They all have points which I enjoy playing. It may be a beautiful break down section or full on metal. Not so favorites, that’s tough one. Nothing comes to mind.

Rob Halford: I think what we have always agreed on in this band, if there is something we are not comfortable with than we are not going to play it. There has to be a connection and you have to wanna play the song. You need to be connected to the song emotionally so you have the credibility behind it. Every song that we ever played in Priest, to best of my recollection, we all gave them thumbs up.

With that said, some songs are more challenging than others!  [Humming “Breaking the Law”], that’s easy, but when you go into “Blood Red Skies” you go into a fucking giant monster. There are so many notes, a lot of time sequence changes, and a lot of drama.

I don’t know how these guys remember all of it as I have a hard time remembering all the words! [Laughter]. That is the essence of a professional musician to nail it night after night. They go “we doing Blood Red Skies tonight” and I say I don’t feel like doing it [Laughing].

We have been on the road for eight months and played 30,000 miles and now I have to go out and do “Blood Red Skies”. But, when the moment comes when we get to the song in the set all of that goes away.

Richie Faulkner: It’s a commitment to the craft. You have to comment yourself to the song. To make sure the music and production is bang-on. You are giving yourself to it. When it comes together and you hear the crowd at the end of it, you know it was great

Rob Halford: Can I have a Alleluia? [Rob Halford raises the devil horns to the sky to approval and  laughter]

Robert: When you joined, was as it decided that you would take of all KK Downing’s leads and fills or did you and Glenn Tipton decided to change things up as to what parts fits the player best?

Richie Faulkner: I took all KK’s leads and harmony parts. There were something’s we adapted for the encores like on “Electric Eye” “Another Thing Coming” and “Hell Bent for Leather”. The songs landed where Glenn had the solos. Glenn actually came to me and said he wanted for us to solo together so we made a few new parts and now both sharing ending solos.

Robert: Knowing that this DVD was being filmed on the last day of the tour was there any nervousness or concerns that if you didn’t nail it, you won’t have a DVD?

Rob Halford: [Laughing] It’s only been our friends like yourself that have asked us that that question. I think if someone would have said “Look I want to point this out to you, this is the last show of the tour, everyone has flights leaving at 4:00am, the crew is going home, the film crew has other commitments and if there is a fuck up – we lost it!”

I think if someone had said that to us we would have said, “Ok maybe its best that we shouldn’t do it we’ll wait until the next time around” [Laughing].

We went out there and played our hearts outs. The amount of power and attitude on that last show after 100,000 miles we traveled around the planet several times and playing for close to a million fans, it felt as if we just started the tour.

That reinforces the professional commitment, respect, and dedication to each other. To give the fans the best show.

Robert: I speak with so many bands that modeled themselves after Priest, often imitated but never duplicated. What do you attribute your success and longevity too when so many have failed?

Rob Halford: It’s obviously the players and the chemistry. I think you look at any of the acts that have lasted as long like Maiden, the Stones, and AC/DC its alls down to the material and how these people come to each other lives. There are certain components that if they weren’t there it wouldn’t last. You can’t deny that good music will travel time and it will still connect with the fans.

Richie Faulkner: Anyone out there who has legacy was blazing the trail and pushing the envelope for everyone follow, like Maiden and Metallica they were the first of their kind and carved their own niche. Each Priest LP has a different flavor where they experimented and blazed new trails.

Rob Halford: We didn’t follow any set pattern. Some people said you took risks. Maybe we did but we didn’t consider it risks. Songs like “Parental Guidance”, “Locked In”, “Out in the Cold” and then put on “Painkiller” and you say that can’t be the same band. Well. it’s just who we are.

I always said we were like the heavy metal version of Queen. They wrote songs for themselves, if you like what you do that’s great. We write songs that we find interesting, entertaining, and challenging. As Richie said pushing the envelope.

So, that’s what makes Priest a unique heavy metal band.

There isn’t another heavy metal band like Priest in the world. We didn’t set out to achieve that, it’s just the way the dice rolled as musicians, writers, and composers.

Robert: When we last spoke you said you were in the infancy of writing new songs for the next Priest CD. What is the status and do you have any working titles?

Richie Faulkner: No working titles that we can share as of yet but we are working on the CD.

Rob Halford: The overarching structure and statement of this record is full of Priest tradition and heritage. It will be as unique in its own life as all the other records we have made in the past. It’s the right record we need to make after Nostradamus.

Nostradamus was a wonderful achievement but it had a different emotional texture. We need to get back into the groove of metal, heavy riffs, and screaming vocals.

All the classic elements of the band. We are not going retro, we know the type of music we need to play. We didn’t commit to a timetable; the label is really supportive so we have this tremendous respect for each other. They know we are doing our best to make another great metal record for them.

It’s coming along great; I think we can optimistically be finished at the end of this year.

Robert: Are you writing together in the studio?

Richie Faulkner: Yes, about for two months last year, Rob, Glenn and I got together and share ideas to see what sticks. The creative is not being stifled by 3 minute songs format. There are no confinements or deadlines. We are trying to experiment with some different things.

Rob Halford: Its fun and thrilling when the three of us get together to write. We will be in the studio listening to a take and then in the background we hear Richie noodling on the guitar.

I’ll go, “what the fuck is that Richie”, what are you playing and he re-creates it. We then send him in to record it. That’s the infectious side of how music works. Whenever I hear somebody else from any of the metal bands I’m instantly inspired. I hear notes and melodies. It’s like a trigger, that’s what happens in your own world.

Last fall, Marshall Crenshaw  announced his launch of a subscription whereby his fans could receive a series of three 10-inch vinyl EPs, each of which would include a new A-side backed with a cover song and a remake of a song from his earlier career. The EP I Don’t See You Laughing Now kicked off the series last November on Record Store Day’s Back to Black Friday, garnering both critical acclaim and a wave of news stories on the new business model.

Crenshaw will release a second EP, Stranger and Stranger, in a limited edition of blue vinyl, to brick-and-mortar retail on Record Store Day [April 20, 2013] with an official release date of May 7, 2013. The EP contains the title track, a cover of the Carpenters’ “Close To You,” and a remake of his own “Mary Anne,” which he originally recorded in 1982.

Of his new A side, “Stranger and Stranger,” Crenshaw says, “I’m really proud of the song. On my last tour with the Bottle Rockets I was opening the set with it, which indicates pride, right? Lyrically it describes somebody in the aftermath of a loss, maybe the end of a relationship, trying to push back against feeling like the world’s turning upside down, falling apart, etc.”

Crenshaw was joined on “Stranger and Stranger” by Bryan Carrott on vibraphone. “I really loved his playing on an album with Sam Rivers, called Purple Violets, and asked him if he wanted to come by and help me out,” he says. “We had a fun session at Excello Recording in Brooklyn on Dec. 14, 2012, which later turned into such a Hell of a day. My Dad passed away that afternoon; his photo is on the back of the EP. He always took the music that I made very much to heart and I’m sorry of course that he won’t be around to hear this new stuff.”  Also joining in on the track are bassist Byron House (Band of Joy, Buddy & Julie Miller, Jim Lauderdale), and Manuel Quintana, percussion. “I’ve known Byron since the early ’90s, when he was with Foster and Lloyd.”

The EP contains a cover of the Carpenters’ “(They Long To Be) Close To You,” a tribute to Karen Carpenter. According to Crenshaw, “To me that’s one of those records that’s pure brain candy, but artful and beautiful. It used to have the same kind of effect on me as ‘California Girls,’ kind of a trance-inducing thing. I thought that doing it would be an interesting challenge for me and that the end result would hopefully get a rise out of people.” Crenshaw recorded the basic track himself on drums, bass, and guitar, and, he explains, “I don’t have a piano in my studio so I asked the great Rob Morsberger to help me out with that. He wound up being absolutely invaluable to the whole thing, supervising the orchestration, etc.” The other players are Lisa Morsberger, flute; Suzanne Ornstein, viola and violin; and Glen Burtnick and Jeffrey Foskett “on East and West Coast backing vocals, respectively.” The famous Herb Alpert trumpet solo on the Carpenters’ version is echoed by jazz player Steven Bernstein, a veteran of the Lounge Lizards, Aretha Franklin and Hal Willner. Crenshaw: “And then the whole thing kind of explodes at the end; I’ve gotten a lot of gasps of disbelief from people who’ve heard this track.”

Each Crenshaw EP contains a re-imagining of a previously released original, and for the new one he chose “Mary Anne” from his 1982 debut album. Crenshaw explains: “It’s a version I did about five years ago for a film called God Is D*ad, directed by Abraham Lim. I thought the movie was really good but it never found a distributor. This version was done with acoustic instruments, bongos instead of a drum set, and, of course, me sounding old instead of young.”

Those wishing to subscribe to Crenshaw’s vinyl releases may do so HERE.

As Crenshaw told Billboard magazine, when the box of I Don’t See You Laughing Now vinyl EPs arrived at his house, “I got the same sense as when I got my first record on Shake Records in 1980. I love the way it came out.”

The new media tip sheet Hypebot called the subscription program “a focused offering from a man [who] knows his fans.”

Marshall Crenshaw: the back story:

Over the course of a career that’s spanned three decades, 13 albums and hundreds of songs, Marshall Crenshaw’s musical output has maintained a consistent fidelity to the qualities of melody, craftsmanship and passion, and his efforts have been rewarded with the devotion of a broad and remarkably loyal fan base.

After an early break playing John Lennon in a touring company of the Broadway musical Beatlemania, the Michigan-bred musician began his recording career with the now-legendary indie single “Something’s Gonna Happen,” on Alan Betrock’s seminal Shake label. His growing fame in his adopted hometown of New York City helped to win Crenshaw a deal with Warner Bros. Records, which released his self-titled 1982 debut album. With such instant classics as “Someday, Someway” and “Cynical Girl,” that LP established Crenshaw as one of his era’s preeminent tunesmiths — a stature that was confirmed by subsequent albums Field Day, Downtown, Mary Jean & 9 Others, Good Evening, Life’s Too Short, Miracle of Science, #447, What’s in the Bag? and Jaggedland.

Along the way, Crenshaw’s compositions have been successfully covered by a broad array of performers, including Bette Midler, Kelly Willis, Robert Gordon, Ronnie Spector, Marti Jones and the Gin Blossoms, with whom Crenshaw co-wrote the Top 10 single “Til I Hear It From You.” He’s also provided music for several film soundtracks, appeared in the films La Bamba (as Buddy Holly) and Peggy Sue Got Married, and was nominated for a Grammy and a Golden Globe award for penning the title track for the film comedy Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. Crenshaw also authored a book about rock movies entitled Hollywood Rock, and has assembled compilation albums of the music of Scott Walker and the Louvin Brothers, as well as the acclaimed country collection Hillbilly Music . . . Thank God!

Since 2011, he has hosted his own radio show, The Bottomless Pit, on New York’s WFUV, Saturday nights at 10 p.m. ET.

Source: Conqueroo

Ana Popovic – photo credit: Sjoerd de Wit

If you dig searing lead guitar, bluesy singing and slamming Stax-style power funk, grab Ana Popovic’s groovin’ new album Can You Stand the Heat, which entered the Billboard Blues Chart at #9 upon its release April 16.

And if you want to see a masterful guitarist in her element, peep Popovic’s busy tour schedule and catch her live, where her sensational shredding really soars.

A tall, whip-thin Serbian with a leonine mane, Popovic has gotten more ink at times for her model looks and sexy onstage outfits than her guitar playing, which is criminally underrated in some [guitar geek] circles.

Let’s correct that right now: I saw her live at The Iridium in New York City April 19 and not only did I covet her strappy sandals and body-con minidress–her highly accomplished playing knocked my socks off!

She’s got the blues down to her bones but it’s Popovic’s rapid-fire twists on the genre that send her solos spiraling into fresh territory. Live, she unreeled one long, complex lead after another, clearly reveling in the opportunity to stretch out.

Her clean stinging tone and soaring bends are worthy of her heroes Albert King and Albert Collins, yet Popovic spices the mix with lightning-quick sweeps and octaves that add sophisticated jazzy flourishes. Think Robben Ford when he’s playing in his blues bag. Yep, that good.

Girl can sing, too, as she proved on Buddy Guy’s growling crowd-pleaser “One Room Country Shack” and soon-to-be-blues-festival-hits from Can You Stand the Heat new like the snappy “Boys Night Out” and the gorgeously soulful “Can’t You See What You’re Doing To Me?”

Popovic’s tight band followed her closely. Bassist Doc Samba has the fusion-y chops to follow her down the rabbit hole when she stretches beyond the pentatonic, enthusiastic drummer Stéphane Avellaneda kept the groove energetic and flowing and smiling keyboardist Christopher Williams lifted the jams higher and higher.

Popovic, her manager/husband and their two little children moved to Memphis so she could co-produce Can You Stand The Heat with B.B. King drummer Tony Coleman, and Grammy-winning producer Tommy Sims. It’s the follow-up to her 2011 album, Unconditional, which was nominated for two Blues Music Awards and made the top 15 on Guitar World‘s best Blues and Roots Rock Albums list.

To capture that Stax sound, Popovic holed up at Arden Studios with some of the city’s hottest players, including John Williams on bass (Al Green), Harold Smith on rhythm guitar (BB King All Star Band), The Bo-Keys on horns and Coleman on drums.

At New Orleans Jazz Fest, Popovic unveiled her new project; a nine-piece blues and funk machine driven by Coleman’s drumming called Ana Popovic & Mo’ Better Love. I’m sure they ripped it up, but I’m glad I got to see her with a smaller combo at the Iridium, where the focus was squarely on her wicked guitar playing—and we got a chance to talk!

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Debra Devi:  The new record steps beyond the blues into the power funk territory of bands like War, with complex horn arrangements and a lot of exciting stuff going on. It’s reminiscent of great albums by blues artists like Freddie King and Albert King that also had tight horn sections and flawless, James-Brown-style arrangements. How did you get there?

Ana Popovic: My producer Tony Coleman and I decided we wanted to make a record that’s missing from the blues circuit – a record like blues used to be recorded back in the day of Albert King and Albert Collins. That was a very groovy style of blues – and where’s the groove nowadays? I grew up listening to the Albert King album New Orleans Heat and when I put on that record, it was so grooving and so hot.

That’s the vibe we wanted to bring back into the blues. That touch of funk, with the horns. It’s still blues–not a modern funk record–but Tony and I wanted to bring in some of that seventies funk that jam bands like WAR brought to the table. If you heard that band today, it would still be hip.

Tony had this concept on his to-do list and it happened to be on mine, as well.

Ana Popovic – photo credit: Petra Arnold

Debra:  How have you grown as a guitarist since your last record?

Ana Popovic: I always try to develop my playing technically, but I also believe that the guitar should be in service to the song. If you aren’t dancing onstage to the music, your solo is not going to groove. The solo should really represent what you feel.

I’m a big drum freak; I’m always feeding off the drummer when I play. If the drums aren’t happening, I’m not going to play my best. I’m also not someone who can always play the same – my solos are a projection of what I’m feeling in the moment as I’m vibing with my rhythm section.

I studied some jazz back in the day, but I just don’t think that’s my sound. I worked on developing my own signature sound and phrasing, with my own little twists. I use some notes that are outside the traditional blues scales to add some unique flavor where I feel it’s right.

I’m a blues player, though, and the bottom line with the blues is you should go deep. I think I went deeper on this record than on any previous record I’ve made. I felt inspired to dig deeper. When I did a slow blues on this record, with Tony’s help and with the great musicians we played with in Memphis, I felt I was finally able to record it the way I felt it should be done, the way it was done forty, fifty years ago by the artists I most admire.

My goal is for someone to hear ten seconds of me playing and know that it’s me. That’s what the great blues players I admire had. They had signature phrasing and tones that identified each of them as unique guitarists. You can identify B.B. King or Albert Collins almost immediately. Same goes for Robert Cray or Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Debra:   What kind of gear did you use when recording Can You Stand the Heat?

Ana Popovic: I used a Mesa Boogie Mark IV, which is my signature sound. But whenever that amp doesn’t work for a blues song, I always fall back on the Fender Bassman or the Deluxe Reverb. They are great for recording.

I crank them to eight or so, that’s enough to get wonderful tone from those amps. They always work in the studio for me, especially for the blues sound. I also used a Blackface Super Reverb.

I used my two Strats. I have a ’64 Strat and a reissue ’57 Strat with a maple neck. I use the ’64 with its rosewood neck for the hard-driven songs, and for a more jazzy sound or the slow blues I use the ’57 for its maple neck. That’s my first guitar and I’ve never changed a thing on it. Same goes for the ’64; it’s all original. I don’t think you mess with that!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Debra:  Did you need to come up with a new approach to your rhythm guitar parts on this record, given that there was more going on in the arrangements?

Ana Popovic: Yes, Tony and I really paid attention to this. I did change what I play on this album because I had a rhythm guitarist for the first time so I didn’t have to cover all the bases.

We worked together to divide the parts and it’s a completely different feel and groove than my previous albums, yet it also felt deeply familiar to me because I grew up listening to Southern soul, funk and blues. So even though it was different, this album was very easy to make. It felt like coming home.

I didn’t have to explain a single thing and whatever they did was just how imagined it. Everything felt natural and there’s not a single song on this record that was done in more than two takes.

Ana Popovic

The instrumental “Ana’s Shuffle” is a celebration of the joy of playing with these people and getting into that old-school sound with such experienced musicians. Tony played drums with B.B. King for twenty-five years, John Williams played bass with Al Green for many years.

The rhythm guitar player is in the house band for B.B. King’s club. The Bo-Keys horn section includes legendary Memphis players, and the backup singers were amazing. We just fell into a groove!

We took our time and worked closely with the band on the arrangements but once we got into the studio, we were ready to go. This was a very dear record to me; I worked hard on the songwriting and guitar parts to make them as good as possible.

For me, it can never get as good in the studio as it does onstage but I really tried this time to get as close as possible.

And we are doing shows now with the nine-piece band from the album, Ana Popovic & Mo’ Better Love, which has horns, backup singers. For the first time I’ll have a rhythm guitar player onstage, so I’m just gonna relax, lay back and do my thing!

Tony is one of the best drummers of the world, in my opinion so it’s amazing to play with him. He was ready for something high energy and I was ready to go there, too.

Debra:  What gear do you rely on live?

Ana Popovic: I am proud to have endorsements with Fender and with DR Strings, and be part of their families. Mesa Boogie, too. I’m working with Hamilton on a signature guitar for me and I’m very excited about that – they did one for Stevie. I also have a Fender Custom Shop ’60 Strat.

As far as pedals it’s a very simple story for me, I just think there’s nothing better than the original Tube Screamer. I’ve also got a Vox wah-wah pedal with the English flag – I love those – they don’t make them anymore but I got a bunch in Europe. They are worth every penny if you find one. They are extremely bluesy—soft, not screaming. I also use the original BOSS chorus—the one with just two knobs.

Debra:  What advice would you give a young girl who is inspired by you to pick up the guitar?

Ana Popovic: It’s very important to be different, to come up with your own sound and phrasing.  Try to listen to many other instruments, not just to guitar players. Try to nail down a saxophone solo or a piano solo. You’ll come up with unique ways to phrase. And a unique tone is so important too – that’s what Albert King had, that’s what Stevie Ray had, what Ronnie Earl had.

Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there, no matter what level you are at. If you seeking to play as yourself and not trying to mimic someone else – you are already offering something unique–and that already makes it good!

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Watch Ana and her band rip through “Can You Stand The Heat”: http://vimeo.com/55402038 AND “Can’t You See What You’re Doing To Me” here: http://vimeo.com/55393063