one For the road
Why in-ear monitoring is a saviour and giving 110 per cent is the only way to go…
What was your first gig and how did it go?
“Oh wow… my very first gig was a thing called ‘Art Break’ and it was put on by the school board. In my city they would have a little festival down on the riverfront where they would display arts and crafts that were done by the students around the city throughout the year – poems, paintings, drawings – and then they would have school choirs and school bands performing, things like that. I was not part of the school band, but they knew I was starting to get some attention from playing music so they asked me if I would play a set. I didn’t have my band together yet and so I approached a band called The Bluebirds, a local blues band in town, and asked them if they’d back me up as my band for the show and that was my very first public performance.”
Describe your current stage rig…
“For my rig specifically over here I’m using three amplifiers – it’s different in the States. I carry a completely different setup in the States than I do here just because I have not chosen to try and transport all of my equipment overseas. So we use two Fender Twin 1965 Reissues and a 1959 Bassman Reissue and generally I’m running two out of the three amps at the same time. The Bassman is a little dirtier and the Twin is very clean and so it gives you a nice kind of blend if you run them both at the same time.
“Then I’m using various versions of my signature series Stratocaster. I actually don’t use a lot of effects. I have about eight different effects on my pedalboard, but a lot of them are only there because I need them on one specific song. I’ve got a wah-wah pedal, I have an Ibanez Tube Screamer, I have a [Analog Man] King Of Tone, a Tycho Brahe Octavia, a delay pedal called The Delay Llama [by JAM Pedals] and a chorus pedal called the Bi-Chorus [by Analog Man] that has two individual circuits, so I can have a fast setting and slow setting, because I use it more as a Leslie effect. I have a Uni-Vibe called the [Tinsley Audio] Sir Henry Uni-Vibe that my guitar tech [Dustin Sears] built, and a tuner. But I could play most of the show with just a Tube Screamer, y’know? That’s what I use about 90 per cent of the time.”
What’s your best tip for getting a good live sound?
“Generally, what works for me is I dial the amp just to the point of beginning to break-up – a slight amount of distortion but not overly saturated – so it has a natural tone to it. Then I use an overdrive pedal like the Tube Screamer or the King Of Tone to push it over the top and drive the amp at the front-end.
“Also, you have to play to the size of the room. Over in the States we play pretty large theatres and outdoor amphitheatres and things like that, but over here it depends on the market and so sometimes we’ll be playing big festivals and sometimes an indoor venue that’s a little bit smaller, so you have to play what’s appropriate to the size of the room. Just because you have three amplifiers on stage doesn’t mean you have to use all three of them, so sometimes I’ll go down to one amp because I don’t want my sound man struggling to get the rest of the band loud enough in the mix – and I don’t want to kill the people who are closest to the stage.”
What non-musical item couldn’t you do without on tour?
“My in-ear monitors. I’m currently using the Jerry Harvey brand [surely these are, er, musical? Never mind – Ed]. I’ve been using in-ears since they came out and I think it has really saved my hearing, because literally a couple of weeks ago I got checked and I have not lost any of my hearing. I suffer with a bit of tinnitus, but I have not lost any range.”
What’s your best tip for getting the audience on your side?
“Just get out there and give 110 per cent. If you’re giving it your all they can tell. Certainly, I feel that when I give everything I’ve got the crowd seems to go right along with me. Early on in my career I was very shy, I had long hair and I would kinda hide my face behind my hair and just stand up there and play guitar and not move around. But obviously as the years have gone by I’ve got more comfortable and I feel that I’ve got more personable on stage
and I try to have a bit of a rapport with the audience and talk with them a bit. Although I consider myself not to be too chatty, I feel like our job is to be playing music, so I try to give them as much music as possible.”
What’s the best venue you’ve played in and why?
“On this particular tour the most impressive venue sonically, which is most important to the band, was the Montreux Jazz Festival. I can’t remember the name of the building [it was the Auditorium Stravinski – Ed], but everyone was incredibly impressed with the sound. The PA system, stage and overall acoustics of the room were just incredible.”
What’s the worst journey you’ve had either to or from a gig?
“We were flying – I can’t remember where we were flying to – and the airline lost all of my guitars. I think we had shown up a day before the show in the event that something went wrong and for the first 24 hours they couldn’t even figure out where the guitars had been sent. In the end, my tour manager was able to work with the airline and track them down and they literally got there at the very last moment. As a guitar player, that’s your worst nightmare.”
What’s your favourite live album?
“Can I give you two answers? ZZ Top has a record called Fandango! and it’s not entirely a live record, half of it is live and the rest is studio, and when I was a kid that was literally one of my favourite albums. I would get the vinyl, put it on the record player, turn the stereo up and get on my grandfather’s bed and jump up and down playing air guitar. But if you want a live blues album then probably BB King Live At The Regal; it’s incredible.”