Playing in the background as Peter Gabriel's studio guitarist for 25 years, David Rhodes has, until now, not done much to establish himself as a solo artist. With the release of his first solo album,"Bittersweet," this past year, he has shown he is not afraid to venture more into the spotlight.
Rhodes appears tonight on the New Orleans House of Blues stage as the opening act for Cyndi Lauper, with whom he has been touring throughout the summer. This is the final portion of a two-part interview with Rhodes in support of his appearance in New Orleans.
Smason: I know that you've been featured on several bacjground vocals for Peter Gabriel. On your recent release,"Bittersweet," you were featured on lead vocals on the songs you composed for the album. Was that the first time since your Random Hold days that you were featured as a lead vocalist?
Rhodes: I sang on a couple of records that I'd worked on with a Japanese artist, Akira Inoue. I'd also sung songs for a couple of Italian feature films. I think on those projects I hadn't really found my voice. I feel much more comfortable and at ease now. It’s taken a long time to get to this point. I must have been busy doing other things.
Smason: The musicianship is pretty impressive on what I've been able to hear from "Bittersweet." Can you talk about whom you used on the album?
Rhodes: Ged Lynch, from PG's band, played drums.Charlie Jones, who tours with Goldfrapp, and was in Page and Plant, played bass. Dean Brodrick, played keyboards. His background, is very much experimental jazz. He brought some deft touches and wonderful colours to proceedings.
Stephen Barber, (a friend for many years) wrote the string arrangements, and the Tosca Quartet, from Austin, played them. Richard Evans, my working partner on various soundtrack projects, and also in PG's band, co-produced the recordings with me.
Everyone involved has a strength and solidity to their playing and input, which made the recording process smooth and enjoyable. It's got to be fun, and not too stressful, otherwise you get nowhere.
Smason: How different was it to record your own music rather than play someone else's?
Rhodes: The ego has to be more fully formed when it's your own project. (I had some work to do there). There's a feeling that you're both the team captain, and also proud owner of the ball!
Smason: Do you look to do more songwriting and solo performing in the future?
Rhodes: ...but of course! It feels like the right time to spread my wings.
Smason: Lastly, tell me about the set you perform as an opening act for Cyndi Lauper. How many songs? How did you pick them?
Rhodes: I play for half an hour. Six songs, all of which I think can work for people that don't know the material. It's very much a solo performance, which is quite new to me. I play electric guitar through a computer. On some songs, as I play, I record bits, which I then play along to.
I enjoy the edginess of being the only person up there making a noise. It feels risky, and is technically a bit fraught. Things can and do go wrong. I've only had one major disaster so far on this trip.
Smason: What happened?
Rhodes: I have a self-tuning guitar, which completely lost its way one night. It happened at the beginning of my last tune, so I bailed out and spent the rest of the evening cursing technology, and nursing a beer. Surely the operator can't have screwed up?
Rhodes opens for Cyndi Lauper tonight at the New Orleans House of Blues. Tickets are $40 and showtime is 8:00 p.m. For more information call 504-310-4990 or click here.
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