Alight, first things first pause this episode, then go buy this record and then come back and listen to us talk. Go ahead we’ll wait…
Our next guest is not only a world class, honest blues and roots musician, but a deep well of songwriting and producing music for himself others and TV and film. He’s also shared stages and the grooves of records with Rick Danko, Bob Dylan, T Bone Burnett just to name a few (Like I really gotta name anymore..)
He’s got a new record out that is on constant rotation in the studio here, in my car and home. It’s called Blow and he’s here today to talk with us to day. Please welcome to GRS Mr Colin Linden.
Babylon Gypsies Robert Tillery joins us to discuss his album, band mates and guitar playing. Robert brings the heavy guitar vibe and is ready for more!
American music consists of myriad of styles. Rock, Blues, funk, Country, psychedelic just to name a few. Our next guests are a band that easily maneuvers through and blends all of those styles and more AND they do it with a high stepping style. They have a new record called Glowing lantern and we’re gonna talk about it and more, Please welcome to GRS The Mother Hips
Our next guest is the epitome of the American Guitar sound and style. A chameleon and renaissance man of tone. The first time I heard him in 2013 was on a record called Hand Full of Strings and was immediately captivated. Since then he has treated me to all kinds of sonic treats that i hope we get to talk about today. He’s a session cat, touring musician collector of fine instruments and he’s here with us today. Please welcome to GRS Mr. Joel Patterson.
Ok, before I get in deep with this, Run, don’t walk to your computer, tablet or phone and go to Bandcamp and buy this record, listen to it while reading this. Go ahead. I’ll wait….
Okay, let’s go…
Nashville’s (and thankfully the internet’s) “Jack Kerouac for guitar” delivers “Sonic Therapy” via his YouTube channel Home Skoolin to a legion of faithful fellow players who hang on every word he utters and notes he plays with the frequency of every few days. Tom Bukovac has become a household name (at least to all of us guitar nuts) and we have COVID-19 to thank (I never thought I’d write that sentence).
I had first heard about Tom around 2018 through some other Nashville Cats who know about my penchant for the Nobel’s ODR1 and that Tom and I had that in common. When I got to his YouTube channel there was only three videos with just a tease of what he was up to and nothing like what we would see later. Then I remembered he was the AMAZING guitarist who was in Joe Walsh’s band the last time I had saw him. So I hit subscribe. Then sometime later the pandemic hit.
During lockdown, with the Nashville studio scene (and the world) shuttered. Tom and everyone in the music business was stunted and starved (some literally) with no work. No sessions, no gigs, nothing. So Tom took to his garage with his phone, a collection of guitars, a Roland Micro-Cube amp and some Rolling Rock, to share “Harmonic philosophy”. Almost everyday. There he was. I know I can speak for many, It was something we counted on and I think it was as therapeutic for Tom as it was for us.
The things he shared, the music he played, the stories he told took us away from what was going on outside and gave us the peace and inspiration we needed at that moment. Thankfully, he’s still providing this to us all.
Fast forward, we come out of lockdown, the world slowly creeps back to doing something’s like normal and Tom shares with us that he has a project coming with Dean De Leo from Stone Temple Pilots called “Trip The Witch”. A lush and deep introspective interplay between two players you wouldn’t automatically imagine together. Result? Beautiful.
But on October 29, 2021, Tom released “Plexi Soul”. This is what we’ve been waiting for. All of those vivid and tasty YouTube moments finally delivered as full conversation and musical statement. Since downloading it from Bandcamp (you did download it right?) I’ve had it on replay over and over. Layer after layer of pure musicality so refreshing, melodic and thought provoking. Tom isn’t tearing our heads off with pyrotechnics (although he could if needed), like his conversations he’s making us think about the music, about the notes he’s chosen. That doesn’t happen a lot these days. Thankfully, it has on Plexi Soul.
Although I’ve listened to Plexi Soul A LOT, I still haven’t been able to pick a favorite track. I’m continually vacillating, mostly because the more I listen the more I hear.
The opening track “Cardboard Cutouts In The Shade” was such a smart choice to open the record, but “Fall Is Here” delivers movements that most composers wouldn’t think or dare to piece together, with the exception of maybe a McCartney. “Cop Show Music” takes tasty to a place it’s never been before and speaking of tasty, “London Broil” is another track with amazing changes and lead breaks that I need to know.
If you play guitar, if you love guitar music, If you appreciate great songs and music that will just make you feel good, then buy this record. You’ll be glad you did. See you all in the comments section over at HomeSkoolin. Thanks Tom.
When Guitar Radio Show was being conceived our next guest and his music was one of the templates or cornerstones for the very concept of what we have been doing for the last ten years. His music and guitar playing has been a constant companion to me since 2002 when I first was lucky enough to hear him. When you search his band on google next to their name they describe themselves as Psychedelic Instrumental Ocean Music- Great way to describe the music, I might even use the words Cinematic, Ambient, and Spacial, This is the interview I’ve been selfishly been waiting to do from the very beginning.
Please welcome to GRS from the Mermen, James Thomas
I get a lot of push back, groans and even anger whenever I exclaim, “Sue Foley is the best Traditional Electric Blues guitarist on the planet”. That she is absolutely at the top of her game and there really is no one Ive heard that rivals her in that genre/arena.
In this article, I will set out to plead my case and attach logic and not some misspent emotion about this guitarist is better than the next because of a limbic system response.
Putting in the time-(getting the props)
Sue has paid her dues (which has paid dividends)and unfortunately, continues to do so, (but I’ll address that later). Paying your dues can be said for thousands of hard working talented musicians. But remember, this is a multifaceted theory and appreciation, not just relegated to one point of view.
From the age of 13 she realized what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. Growing up in Canada (some might say an unlikely place for the Blues. Not so, not so) she began to hone her craft, but realized a Mecca needed to be made, the force was strong with this one. At twenty-one, Foley moved here to Austin TX and began recording for Antone’ the label also known for the historic nightclub. Her first release was Young Girl Blues.
Foley toured steadily with her band, and her signature pink paisley Fender Telecaster (the inspiration for the title of her latest release). In 2001, she won a Juno for her Love Coming Down record. Foley has won seventeen Maple Blues Awards and three Trophees de Blues de France. She has also been nominated at the Blues Music Awards in Memphis.
In 2018 The Ice Queen, was released, which featured guest appearances by Chris Layton, Billy Gibbons and Jimmie Vaughan.
2021- Pinky’s Blues, the follow up to the Ice Queen is an even more stripped down and real (if that was even possible). It’s more like a Foley live show in the studio. I often wonder how artists are able to up their game after the stellar record before and not paint themselves into a corner. Foley has not!
Approach, Style and Sound-
Simplicity, Vocabulary and Honest Tone.
For the most part we are looking at I-IV-V progressions in a given key which may seem simple enough, but its the basket weaving, the embellishments attached to that albeit “Simple” progression that separate the real players from the “meh” players. When you watch Foley play (I have closely, you should too), the chord voicing’s being employed are anything but simple. Its her own level of orchestration with the instrument as if each string is its own instrument. Once again top of the game, with those “10,000 Hours” invested.
Beyond the chord dictionary under her fingers, lives a veritable vocabulary that would make authors of other genres swoon if they understood what is being delivered. Fluid, smooth lines, containing an immense level of tenacity fire, class and honest intention. In Chinese Medicine there is a word for intention (Li) and the belief is that the stronger the “Li” the better the outcome. The “”Li” with this player is strong. But you need to listen, and listen without preconceived ideas and toss away your already decided heroes and ideals. Then it all becomes clear what’s really happening here.
Live and in person-
Ok, let me get a little more microscopic (If I haven’t already). Listening to records, streaming or however you digest your music, there is always a disconnect on some level as to how this is actually being executed and the level of preparation that has gone into the performance. Seeing Foley live is where everything becomes evident how those “10,000 Hours” was used and used properly. Foley’s level of confidence and relationship to her Pink Paisley Telecaster is at a point where you cant tell where she ends and the guitar begins. But, as I was saying before, here’s where you have to watch, and watch closely. Here’s where you begin to understand, learn and see this is someone who doesn’t just “Play Blues Music” this is someone who embodies it as a much as as it does her.
Here’s a simple example- “Okey Doke Stomp”- the Pluma Davis penned, Gatemouth Brown popularized track. Foley owns this song. Ultimately, as a musician (especially a Blues musician) when you cover someone else’s song is to make it your own. Deliver it with the respect of the past, but placing your own original stamp? Thats it. Now I could talk about the hundred songs in her repertoire and it may seem silly to pick this little diddi from 1954, but it’s the microcosm of the macro that is what I think gets lost on folks when I say that Foley is the best at what she does. Its the versatility within a song like Okey Doke Stomp that sets her apart from the contemporaries that call themselves blues players and use way too much gain and play way too loud to be called or to have anyone consider themselves a “Traditional Blues Electric Guitarist”
But, maybe thats really the word we need to hone in on. “Traditional” That might be the real reason people don’t get it when I make that statement. They may not know what traditional is. Well, immerse yourself in Foley’s playing and hopefully you will.
But, why do musical treasures like a Sue Foley, Scott Mckeon, or Jim Oblon get unnoticed by the general record buying/streaming public, yet are held in such high regard by their peers? I don’t know. Maybe its when art is the true focus and you would do anything for your art, you have little or no time for “The Game”. The one that music business wants every artist to play? Maybe..
If I were to meet someone from a place where they had never heard American music before and they asked what’s the best right now and where should I start listening? I’d say, Sue Foley.
Sue Foley’s new record is simply excellent and if you want more of it, dont just stream it… Buy it.
