Andy Aledort
THE VETERAN GUITARIST’S NEW ALBUM, IN A DREAM, FEATURES TEXAS GREAT DAVID GRISSOM, PLUS COVERS OF JIMI HENDRIX, CREAM AND ALBERT KING
ANDY ALEDORT HAS been at the pinnacle of American guitardom for decades. He’s toured the world with Dickey Betts, played with Double Trouble and the Band of Gypsys, co-written a best-selling biography of Stevie Ray Vaughan, jammed with a who’s who of six-string greats from Johnny Winter to Buddy Guy to Joe Perry, and taught half the world to play guitar as an instructor and journalist (Aledort is an associate editor at GW; check out his latest column on page 82). He is now coming into his own as a solo artist, as evidenced by In a Dream.
Aledort’s new album includes traces of all the people he’s played with and written about, from Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles and Frank Zappa to John Scofield, Eric Clapton and SRV. These and other influences are integrated into a personal style that reflects his deep immersion into the history of the electric guitar and his own originality.
It’s fitting that three of the songs came to Aledort in dreams, as they represent a seamless merger of so many musical ideas and traditions coming together in his subconscious mind and emerging fully hatched.
“When you wake up with a song already written, it makes songwriting much easier,” Aledort says with a laugh. “For ‘Cotton
Sham,’ I dreamt I was jamming with Sam the Sham of the Pharaohs. For ‘Hymn,’ in the dream I was listening to a live Allman Brothers album, and they were playing exactly what’s heard on the record. I woke up and thought, ‘That’s not an Allman Brothers song!’ And the melody of ‘In a Dream’ was clear as a bell from the moment I woke up. In a Dream seemed to be the perfect name for the album.”
Albert King’s “Can’t You See What You’re Doing to Me” features Texas guitar great David Grissom. “Unexpectedly, David walked into the studio, and I asked if he’d play on a track. When he said yes, I showed the guys the Albert tune specifically for David, who said, ‘Anything by Mr. King is good with me!’”
In a Dream has already earned praise from a host of legendary players. Warren Haynes says, “Andy’s playing his ass off, and the guitar sounds are great. I
“When you wake up with a song already written, it makes songwriting much easier”
really love the harmonized slide guitars on ‘Hymn’ as well as the jazzier tunes. On ‘Moonwaves,’ I dig how he’s mixing Hendrix and Zappa vibes.” Joe Satriani adds, “Nice playing all over this album! The cover of Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Pali Gap’ sounds killer, and ‘Moonwaves’ is awesome.”
Finally, Steve Vai says, “In a Dream reveals Andy’s authentic love of blues, and it shines through in the atmosphere he created. He is burning an old torch in a new way and it works. It’s great to have a record like this that captures that authenticity.”