Music is a religion for Revelator Hill’s Bobby Thompson
Bobby Thompson is thinking about an essential yet simple question: what does the blues mean to him?
“It dives into something more personal,” notes the guitarist/vocalist of hardedge rock and blues outfit Revelator Hill via phone from his Virginia home.
“When I was a kid I was so shy. I would listen to my mom first for anything so I was a little emotional, too. And as I grew up, I found myself going through high school and you think you are going to be with that one girl. And you are not with that one girl. And life changes. And you are still emotional,” he says softly.
“The blues was like this place where, oh, I can express this emotion in front of people and it is OK. I can sing a song about feeling down and I feel better about that. And everybody seems to like it. It gave me a chance to express those emotions that I grew up and struggled with not knowing how to express them for a long time. I learned to express myself with the guitar first,” says Thompson adding that his music path began with piano lessons.
The piano he learned on is still at his parent’s place. And he is glad his parents made him take lessons despite the fact he had no clue what he was doing.
“They were likely thinking ‘Oh God, the sound’ because you have to go through it,” notes Thompson with a laugh.
“Inside the old wooden seat and the bench that is starting to fall apart there is some old sheet music that we worked from when I was a kid. I probably started in my early teens. In my mid-teens I was getting into the Beatles,” he recalls adding everyone else was listening to Jimi Hendrix, Cream, and Creedence Clearwater Revival.
While studying piano, Thompson asked if he could play Beatles song “Strawberry Fields Forever.”
“Then I heard (Beatles’ ‘White Album’ classic) ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps,’” recalls Thompson. “I thought that guitar playing on there does not sound like The Beatles. I did not know that was Eric Clapton and when I found out who he was, everything blew open!” he exclaims. “I went to record stores and I brought a lot of stuff ! Oh yeah!”
Thompson honed his guitar chops by playing the old D.C. blues clubs with American singer/songwriter rock/blues guitarist Bobby Parker.
Parker was especially known for 1961 song “Watch Your Step” featuring a very catchy guitar riff. “Step” was covered by many bands from The Spencer Davis Group and Dr. Feelgood to Carlos Santana. The Beatles used a similar guitar riff for 1964 song “I Feel Fine.” Parker’s little guitar accent also inspired Beatles 1965 song “Day Tripper” and 1969 Led Zeppelin song “Moby Dick.”
Thompson, who went solo after his tenure with Parker, also plays with saxophonist Ron Holloway who has worked with Dizzy Gillespie, Gil-Scott Heron, Susan Tedeschi and Warren Haynes.
Holloway has a potent solo on Thompson’s bittersweet jazz/rock ’n’ blues tune “Nobody’s Fool” from 2015 LP “Live at Iota.”
Now in his mid-40s, Thompson says he has played with Holloway since he was in his 20s. That was also the same time that he met fellow (acclaimed Kitchenerbased) bluesman and good pal Jordan Patterson.
“We performed in the some of the coolest blues bands I ever played in,” notes Thompson, who with three solo albums to this name, was nominated for D.C. area’s Blues Musician of the Year in 2015.
Thompson’s latest project “Revelator Hill” includes noted Washington, D.C. area music-men Seth Morrissey on bass and vocals; Gary Crockett, drums and vocals; and Wes Lanich on keyboards.
The band name is partially inspired by Son House song “John The Revelator.”
“Music has always revealed things to me about our world, our community, and ourselves … more than anything can I think of. It is a religion for me,” notes Thompson.
“I think it is a very holistic kind of thing so I thought, ‘revelator,’” says Thompson. “We were driving through Virginia and I thought wow there are a lot of hills. I just at looked at Seth and said, ‘Hey what about Revelator Hill?’ He said, ‘I like it.’ It has this up and down — the glory of the top but the struggle of getting there. The ups and downs of life which is the blues.”
Set to Thompson’s masterful fuzz guitar riffs, “Atlantic Detour” (on Washington indie label Root Nine Records — Stone Feathers) is timeless rock in the best traditions of Cream, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Blind Faith, Traffic, and many more bands of the ’70s goldenrock-infused-blues era. Steamy opener “Bad Luck Goodbye” features Thompson’s signature fuzz guitar. “Let It Roll” is a hard driving cautionary tale, while “Look at You Now” and “Enough to Go Around” are sheer blues/rock and roll. “Wild Country” features some acoustic lapslide guitar savvy.
The band also covers two Howlin’ Wolf faves — “Spoonful” (featuring Thompson on lapslide guitar) plus album highlight “How Many More Years.”
Thompson says for the upcoming Canadian tour he will have Seth Morrissey on bass and Jeff Mills on drums. His passionate vocals have the cadence of Eric Clapton.
And Thompson’s always been a Cream/Blind Faith fanatic.
“I like to think that Eric is the British guy and I am the American guy so maybe he sounds like me,” says Thompson with a laugh. “But he does not know that!”