SIXTY SECONDS WITH...
A minute’s all it takes to find out what makes a great guitarist tick. Before he jumped into his limo for the airport we grabbed a quick chat with quirky but musical US singer-songwriter Dean Friedman.
Singer-songwriter Dean Friedman celebrates 40 years of Well, Well, Said The Rocking Chair.
GT: Do you have a type of pick that you can’t live without?
I always use a medium gauge plastic pick. I had a batch made up, years ago, for a tour promotion with my logo on it, so every time I head out on tour I grab a handful and stuff ‘em in my pocket. I’m always losing them, though. If I’m ever arrested for bank robbery or murdering a record executive, it will be because they found one of my guitar picks at the scene of the crime.
GT: You have to give up all your effects pedals but three: which ones do you keep?
I usually tour solo with my Freshman acoustic guitar with built-in pickup. But on those occasions I tour with a band, I only ever use a Line6 POD. It does the job and has a power input - I hate having to always change batteries.
GT: Do you play another musical instrument well enough to do so in a band?
My keyboard chops aren’t bad. I’m really into jazz-fusion and whenever I can, I play with a local group of musicians called The South Street Fusion Project. Also, to the surprise of many of my album fans, my three-part Intro To Synthesis video series is considered a classic and used at music conservatories and universities around the world.
GT: If a session-player-style music chart were put in front of you, could you read it?
I’m not a great sight-reader, but I can handle a basic chord chart. I’d definitely need my reading glasses, though, and good lighting!
GT: Do guitar cables really make a difference? What make are yours?
I use Snap Jack Instrument cables because the plugs are attached magnetically to the cable, so if the line is inadvertently yanked hard, which inevitably occurs, the plug and cable will easily detach, instead of yanking the guitar-pickup-input out of your instrument. It’s a great safety feature and avoids wear and tear and potential damage.
GT: Is there anyone’s playing, past or present, that you’re slightly jealous of?
While I was still at university I studied briefly with the brilliant guitarist, Eric Schoenberg, best known for his amazing fingerpicking guitar arrangements of classical ragtime piano music. His arrangements were inspired and his playing was impeccably clean and accurate, while always joyous and full of life. I’ve always aspired to play that well, but inevitably I hit a few clunkers!
GT: Your house/studio is burning down: which guitar do you salvage?
I know I’ll be racked with guilt at leaving my much cherished Martin D-35 to be burned to a crisp, but if my fire alarm ever goes off, I’m definitely grabbing my Freshman AB3D Summer Dreadnought. It’s a beautiful guitar made in Scotland, just outside of Glasgow. It plays real sweet, and its tone is pleasingly balanced across all six strings and up and down the neck. Plus, its internal pickup sounds full and rich. I love it!
GT: What’s your favourite amp and how do you set it?
Because I’m embarrassingly lazy and hate to deal with a zillion effects boxes, my main electric guitar amp is a Line6. I tend to keep it simple and choose between four functional patches: 1) clean with some chorusing for jazz and pop; 2) country twang for country, folk and rockabilly; 3) compressed fuzz for solo leads and; 4) wah-wah for assorted comping and accents.
GT: What kind of action do you have on your guitars?)
Action-wise my setup is pretty basic: keep it as low as possible, while avoiding any fret buzz.
GT: What strings do you use?
On my Freshman, I usually go with Martin or D’Addario extra-lights. On my electric (handmade copy of a Stratocaster made with Schecter parts) I use D’Addario extra-lights.
GT: Who was your first influence to play the guitar?
I attribute my early acoustic guitar style to learning how to play James Taylor tunes, stuff like Fire And Rain, Sweet Baby James, etc. Then, of course, Joni Mitchell was a huge influence, with her open tunings and her eclectic jazz-folk-pop-fusion approach to harmony and phrasing. But beyond her guitar playing, along with Paul Simon and Randy Newman, Joni was one of my biggest influences overall, in terms of songwriting, both musically and lyrically.
GT: What was the first guitar you really lusted after?
In 1976, my college roommate and good buddy, Brett, bought a brand new Martin D-35, which I totally lusted after. When I got my very first college student loan, I bought one. It was meant to pay for books, but I figured the guitar would be a decent investment!
GT: Can you recall the single best gig you ever did?
Over the years, there have been so many. But one that comes to mind is back at the Epstein Theatre, Liverpool accompanied by my son, Sam, who’s a killer harmonica and keyboard player. Great venue, terrific audience, super show! It wasn’t recorded, but I’m sure somewhere, someone’s got a clip of it on their smart phone.
GT: And worst playing nightmare?
I once did a college gig, starting out, opening for blues veteran, Papa John Creach. All through my set, a group of students in the back of the hall kept shouting, ‘Papa John! Papa John!’ It was a useful lesson in how to maintain extreme focus.
GT: What’s the most important musical lesson you ever learnt?
To relax and play with joy. But the caveat is, in order to be relaxed enough to have fun and indulge in the pleasure of making music, you have to have some facility on your instrument - guitar, keyboard, harmonica or your voice - otherwise you spend your time anxious about playing or singing the next note. In other words, practice enough so that, when the time comes, you can relax and enjoy the music.
GT: Do you still practise?
Every time I prep for a new tour, I still have to rehearse the lyrics and changes to songs that I’ve been performing for 40 years, not to mention learn any new material off my recent albums. Once I’ve got a few gigs under my belt, though, it all comes back to me. Fortunately, there’s always someone in the front row who helps out if I blank on a lyric. I’d blame it on pot, but I was forgetting my own lyrics back before I’d ever indulged.
GT: Pre-gig warm-up routine?
The most crucial prep I do before any gig, is to find a place and time to do a relaxed, unhurried vocal warm-up. If I don’t, I can mess up my voice for weeks, or even an entire tour. It’s happened. So, I try to be diligent about vocal warmups. Same deal with my wrists, hands and fingers; I do some pretty basic movement and very gentle stretching routines to keep them strong and nimble for guitar and piano playing. I also try and avoid smashing them in car doors!
GT: If you could put together a fantasy band with you in it, who would the other players be?
Well, let’s see... Jaco (Pastorius) on bass. Jack DeJohnette on drums. John Abercrombie on guitar. The Brecker Brothers (Randy and Michael) on sax and trumpet. Ed Neumeister on trombone to fill out the horn section. And Sam Friedman on keyboards and harmonica ‘cause the kid can play.
TO THE SURPRISE OF MANY OF MY FANS MY ‘INTRO TO SYNTHESIS’ VIDEO SERIES IS CONSIDERED A CLASSIC
GT: Present company excepted (and notwithstanding the stupidity of the question) who’s the greatest guitarist ever?
I’ve always had an affinity for the playing of the great John Mclaughlin; I think because of the way he’s able to conjure up these sonic fields of musical textures in his playing. He’s not just playing complex sequential patterns, he’s creating these dynamic swarms of pixelated music. It’s hypnotising.
GT: Is there a guitar solo by someone else that you really wish you had played?
One solo that always blows my mind is the one Amos Garrett plays on Maria Muldour’s superb, Midnight At The Oasis (written by David Nichtem). It’s deft, dynamic, surprising, lyrical and fluid and perfectly shaped.
GT: What’s the solo or song of your own of which you’re most proud?
I’ve always been pleased with the guitar solo I played on It’s A Wonderful Life off my Songs For Grownups album. It’s not half bad!
GT: What would you most like to be remembered for?
When all is said and done, I’d like to be remembered for having won Best Comedy Song, at the 2005 American Marijuana Music Awards, for my song, ‘Doint, Doint, It’s Just a Little Joint’, an hilarious ode to an herb, which accurately states that weed is “... a whole lot safer than alcohol,” while sensibly reminding folks not to indulge, “... when you’re driving or operating heavy machinery.” The award has pride of place atop my piano.
GT:And finally, what are you up to at the moment?
I’m about to embark on my ‘40th Anniversary, ‘Well, Well,” Said The Rocking Chair’ tour, to mark four decades since the release of my best-selling second album; which means I have about eight weeks to get back into fighting shape and re-learn the lyrics to some of those early tunes. Of course, that also means I’ve got to put new strings on my guitar! Lots to do!
I ATTRIBUTE MY EARLY ACOUSTIC GUITAR STYLE TO LEARNING TO PLAY LIKE JAMES TAYLOR; SONGS LIKE FIRE AND RAIN, SWEET BABY JAMES
Dean Friedman