14 Tell Me How It Feels Cardinal Black (2022)
An unusual guitar, and a solo that sings…
For years, Chris Buck has captivated a hefty online audience with his stellar Friday Fretworks Youtube series. But for the Welsh six-string phenom, things really skyrocketed when he brought his buttery rich tones and vocal-inspired phrasing to his new band Cardinal Black’s neo-soul debut January Came Close, featuring standout track Tell Me How It Feels.
“It was our first single, so it was our introduction to the world,” Chris says. “We didn’t really exist as a band as far as anyone knew. We’d certainly never gigged, so it was one of the rare occasions in my life of recording where I’ve had a totally blank canvas.
“The solo took shape relatively quickly. We were at Rockfield in South Wales recording bass and drums for an EP. As you inevitably do, we had a couple of hours left at the end of the last day, so we thought we might as well have a stab at some of the guitar stuff! Everything was set up and ready to go, but I knew I had a relatively finite amount of time to actually record this solo. Generally speaking, that brings the best out of you because you don’t overthink. If I’d gone into it having road tested it for two years, it probably wouldn’t have emerged quite so spontaneously.
“A lot of the guitar players that I’ve grown up aspiring to play like – whether it’s Slash, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton or Derek Trucks – they’re guys where the solos are great, but they’re very much within the context of a song, and they’re there to serve its development. That’s always been at the forefront of my thinking when it comes to constructing solos.
“My mother was big into pop music, soul and Motown, so I grew up with a lot of Otis Redding and Sam Cooke. Outside of that, there’d be Ella Fitzgerald and my grandfather was turning me onto Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra and the crooners, so great vocalists have always been a big part of my inspiration. Vocalists don’t think in terms of modes or boxes or pentatonic shapes. It doesn’t work like that. Vocalists think linearly and that’s what I was trying to copy in some shape or form.
“I used my Goldtop Revstar. I really love that guitar. I remember seeing them after they were released in a guitar shop in Cardiff and liking the fact that it was a relatively simply appointed guitar. I thought it was unusual for a guitar to be released that wasn’t derived from a Les Paul, Strat or Tele. That instantly connected with me, and there’s something to be said for developing a sound and there being a rather unusual guitar at the front and centre of it.
“The Victory V140 was the amplifier, running into a Zilla 1x12 speaker cabinet. The only two effects pedals we used were the Thorpyfx Gunshot as an overdrive, and then the Mythos Golden Fleece as a fuzz. The delay was added with plugins.”