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Blues guitarist Alastair Greene: the blues clicked with me
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Like Clapton? Check out AG at SoHO in Santa Barbara on 13 November.
What drew you to the blues?
Originally for me, it was a friend of my dad that loaned me some records. I'd already been into some blues-based hard rock bands like Led Zeppelin, Cream, Hendrix. This guy loaned me BB King Live at the Regal, Buddy Guy A Man and the Blues, the first couple Stevie Ray Vaughan records. At that time, it just sort of clicked. Everything kind of made sense to me, understanding that the music I was enjoying really came from someplace. It came from these African-American musicians that had been making this music since the early part of the twentieth century. For whatever reason, it just connected with me. I don't think you can really explain what resonates with people musically. And this just resonated with me the first time I heard Buddy Guy and BB King, it was a special moment.
What was the first song you ever wrote? Do you still perform it?
I was in rock bands in high school and stuff. None of that is applicable nowadays. That was when I was probably seventeen years old. The short answer is no.
Take me through writing your first song at seventeen.
I was listening to a lot of hard rock bands at the time and I tried to come up with something that I thought was reminiscent of the stuff I was listening to. I suppose if I were to try and go back and find a recording of that song, I'm sure I would think it's decent for a sixteen or seventeen-year-old to have written, but that's more than twenty years ago now. It probably wouldn't be that relevant.
It probably would be interesting to see how far you've come as a songwriter.
[laughs] I'll bet!
You've worked some giants of the music business. Who have you most enjoyed working with?
That's kind of a two-part answer. In the blues world, a guy called Mitch Kashmar. He's a harmonica player. He plays in WAR now. He's got a few records out on the Delta Groove label. I basically learned to play blues from him and his old band The Pontiacs. He has just been very supportive. It's been great playing with him. Playing blues is mostly rhythm guitar, and the soloing comes afterwards. I really established a good rhythm guitar base. In the world of rock, I've gotten to work with Alan Parsons. That has been invaluable. I got to record with him. He engineered Dark Side of the Moon and some of the last Beatles records, so being in the studio with him is a great feeling because you can feel that lineage and history going back to the day when rock and roll was being invented in a way.
From whom have you learned the most?
I've had a lot of great guitar instructors over the years. I've gotten to learn from some guys that I really respect. Franck Goldwasser is an amazing blues guitar player that has shown me a lot. Little Johnny Lawton is a great guitar player. A guy named James Shane who used to play in Canned Heat. Those three guys as far as blues guitar playing, were really cool and took me under their wing. They showed me how to play the old styles.
That's a pretty good pedigree.
[laughs] Absolutely.
If you could write and perform a song with any artist, who would it be?
Being in Eric Clapton mode right now, he'd be at the top of my list right now. That could change in six months, but I've really been getting into his writing, his music, his catalog, his life for that matter. I have a great deal of respect for what he's done. He'd be at the top of my list at the moment.
If you could play any one of Clapton's songs with him, what song would you want to play?
Wow! "Layla" would be a special one. "Tales of Brave Ulysses", from Cream. He doesn't perform that one too often. Obviously some of the material he wrote after his son died is very emotionally charged. I can only imagine what it would be like to play some of those songs, whether it's "My Father's Eyes" or "Tears in Heaven." Those songs would carry a lot of emotional weight. It would be an experience to play something like that.
What would you be doing if you weren't making music?
I don't know. That's a good question. One of two things. I would finally figure out how to work with computers. Or I'd learn to dive a semi truck so I could listen to music all day driving.
Alastair Greene will be performing a tribute to Eric Clapton on 13 November at the SoHo Restaurant and Music Club in Santa Barbara. Cover for this show is $8.
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