Classical

By: Steve Canfield

Photo credit: Tatyana Makariva

PART 1 covered syllable stress. PART 2 zooms out. The shape of a melodic line does as much emotional work as the words do.

In PART 1 we looked at syllable stress: how individual words carry natural emphasis patterns and how the melody either supports or fights those patterns. PART 2 zooms out one level. Beyond the word there’s the phrase, and beyond the phrase’s stresses there’s its shape.

The three phrase shapes!

Every melodic phrase has a contour. Most phrases fall into three basic shapes.

Rising. The phrase ends higher than it began. “I’ll see you to-MOR-row” on a rising line carries forward motion, a question, hope.

Falling. The phrase ends lower than it began. “We used to dance all NIGHT” on a falling line carries settling, arrival, resignation.

Arched. The phrase rises, peaks in the middle, and falls back home. “So I called her on the phone” with the peak on “called” and a descent through “on the phone.” Most natural speech sits here. The arch is the default shape for a statement of fact.

The interesting work happens when the contour of the line matches, or deliberately fights, the emotional content of the words.

Descending lines sell loss!

This might be the single most useful observation in the whole prosody toolkit. If your lyric is about loss, disappointment, resignation, or quiet grief, a descending melodic line will do half the emotional work for you. The words don’t have to strain. The contour does the selling.

Think of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” The word itself is set to a four-note descending line in the chorus. The descent is mournful before the listener has even processed what the word means. Now imagine the same word set to an ascending melody. It becomes celebratory. Same word, opposite effect, entirely because of phrase contour.

When you’re writing a line about loss and it’s not landing, check the contour first. If your melody is arching or rising, the music is fighting the words. Try rewriting the phrase so it ends on the lowest note of the line. You’ll often find the lyric suddenly works without a single word changing.

E minor descending phrase (standard tuning):

e|–7—5—————|
B|———-8—7—5—|
G|———————-|
D|———————-|
A|———————-|
E|———————-|

Lyric:  “She  was  gone   by  dawn”
Notes:   B    A    G     F#   E

The final long vowel (“dawn”) lands on the lowest note. The descent does the emotional work before the listener has processed the line.

Ascending lines sell hope!

The inverse is true. If your lyric is about longing, possibility, pursuit, or unresolved yearning, an ascending line carries that forward motion. Ballads often save the ascent for the chorus payoff. The verses may arch or settle, and then the chorus lifts, suggesting the feeling of the song is still reaching for something.

A lyric that wants to feel aspirational but lives on a descending melody will always feel slightly resigned, no matter what the words say on the page. Flip the contour and the same words start to sell the hope they were trying to describe.

C major ascending phrase (standard tuning):

e|——-0—1—3—|
B|–1–3————-|
G|——————-|
D|——————-|
A|——————-|
E|——————-|

Lyric:  “And  one  day   we’ll  fly”
Notes:   C    D    E     F      G

The final long vowel (“fly”) lands on the highest note. The rise carries the forward motion the lyric is reaching for.

The arched phrase is a workhorse!

Most verse lines are arched, because most natural speech is arched. They rise into a peak and then resolve back home. Use arched phrases as your default. Save the explicit rising and falling contours for moments where the emotion of the lyric justifies the special treatment.

A common amateur mistake is making every phrase the same shape. Verses all arched, or every line rising into the chorus. Vary it. The contrast between a rising line and a falling line is one of the strongest expressive tools you have, and it costs you nothing but attention.

Vowels want length!

Prosody isn’t only about emphasis. It’s also about the vowels themselves. Long vowels (the “I” in “mine,” the “o” in “alone”) want longer notes. Short vowels (the “i” in “sit,” the “u” in “cup”) want shorter notes. Match the duration of the note to the natural duration of the vowel and the line sings smoothly. Pit a long vowel against a sixteenth note and the singer has to rush the syllable to fit, which sounds stilted regardless of the pitch choices.

This is one reason country and folk lyrics often end phrases on words like “moon,” “rain,” “alone,” “gone.” Those are long-vowel words that sustain naturally on whole notes. The instinct of a good lyricist is to pick words whose vowels want to ring out where the melody asks them to ring out.

A ten-minute rewriting exercise!

Pull up any song of yours that isn’t quite landing. For every line, mark the contour: rising, falling, or arched. Now ask yourself a single question: does the contour match the emotional content of the line?

– If the line is about loss and arches upward, you’ve found a rewrite target.
– If the line is about hope and falls downward, you’ve found a rewrite target.
– If every line in the verse has the same shape, the verse will feel monotone and you can break it up by changing the shape of one middle line.

You don’t have to change the words. You often just need to change the shape of the melody.

Putting it together!

Prosody is a discipline of listening. Strong syllables want the strong beats. Long vowels want long notes. The shape of the line wants to match the shape of the feeling. None of this is complicated, but all of it requires slowing down a little on the lyric side and letting the words guide the melody as much as the other way around.

The songwriters whose lyrics feel inevitable are almost always the ones who’ve internalized these habits until they don’t have to think about them. The rest of us can get there the slow way, one line at a time, one rewrite at a time.

Write with your hands on the guitar, by all means. But say the line before you sing it, and check the shape of the phrase against the shape of the feeling. Your songs will thank you for it.

PART 1 

By: Steve Canfield

PART I – Prosody For Guitarists

PART 2 – Soon!

Rick Landers – Photo credit: Steve Pendlebury Media

Every guitarist has written a line that looks great on the page and fights the melody when you try to sing it. Here’s what’s happening, and how to fix it in 30 seconds per line.

Every guitarist has written a line that looks great on paper and then fights the melody when you try to sing it. The words are right. The chord progression is right. But something is still off. In almost every case I’ve seen, the culprit is prosody.

Prosody is the rhythm, stress, and intonation of spoken language. It’s the reason “REC-ord” (the noun) sounds different from “re-CORD” (the verb). It’s the reason a lyric can scan perfectly on the page and still land wrong when you sing it. When a melody fights the natural stress of the words, the listener feels it even if they couldn’t name what’s wrong.

This is a two-part piece. Part 1 covers syllable stress, the first and most underused tool in matching lyrics to melody. PART 2, covers phrase contour and how the shape of a melodic line carries emotional weight.

The Strong Syllable Rule

Every English word of more than one syllable has a pattern of strong and weak syllables. “Guitar” is weak-STRONG. “Music” is STRONG-weak. “Am-BI-gu-ous” is weak-STRONG-weak-weak. Native speakers never have to think about this; we just know it.

When you sing a word, your melody assigns emphasis to syllables through pitch and duration. Higher notes and longer notes feel more accented than lower, shorter ones. If your melody emphasizes the wrong syllable, the line sounds awkward even when the listener can’t articulate why.

A classic example: a songwriter writes the word “forever” onto a melody that lands the high note on “FOR-ev-er.” But “forever” is “for-EV-er.” The melody is fighting the word. The listener’s ear expects the emphasis on “EV,” gets it on “FOR,” and the line feels stilted.

This is a fixable problem, once you know to listen for it!

The “Say it, don’t sing it” Test

Before committing a line, say it out loud in the rhythm of your intended melody. Not sung. Spoken, with the same emphasis pattern your melody is about to use. If the spoken version feels natural, the sung version will too. If the spoken version sounds stilted or robotic, the melody and the words are fighting each other.

This works in reverse too. If a line is bothering you in a song you’ve already written, speak the words in the rhythm of the melody. The awkwardness will either disappear (meaning the problem is elsewhere) or it becomes obvious.

Three Ways To Fix A Line That Fights Itself

In order of how much they cost you as the writer:

1. Change the word. If “forever” is fighting your melody, what about “always”? “AL-ways” starts with the strong syllable. If the emphasis in your melody lands on beat 1, “always” sings naturally where “forever” won’t. This is usually the cheapest fix.

Press Release

Source: The Green Room PR

Reba McEntire will begin releasing music capsules each month, thematically curated songs from throughout her career paired with brand new recordings that spotlight the road ahead for the iconic entertainer. The first release, ONE NIGHT IN TULSA, centers songs around her home state and will be released this Friday, April 17 via MCA and is available for pre-save HERE.

On April 9, McEntire previewed the project during a special performance at her restaurant Reba’s Place, where she debuted a new song and title track of the first capsule “One Night In Tulsa.” Written by Neal Coty, Kylie Frey and Thom McHugh, the song marks a return to the ’90s country ballads that cemented McEntire’s place as one of the genre’s most definitive voices of heartbreak.

ONE NIGHT IN TULSA

• “One Night In Tulsa”
• “Tulsa Time”
• “Oklahoma Swing”
• “Does The Wind Still Blow In Oklahoma”
• “No U In Oklahoma”

Each digital music capsule pairs a newly recorded song with carefully selected tracks that trace the evolution of one of country music’s most enduring and influential voices. In tandem with each music capsule, tailored playlists will launch to further illuminate the defining eras of McEntire’s career. Beginning May 1 with “The Making of Reba,” the first playlist captures a young McEntire finding her voice through classic country heartbreak, laying the foundation for everything to come. The playlists serve as a companion piece, offering fans a deeper, more expansive look at the moments, milestones, and music that shaped her legacy.

About Reba McEntire: 
Multi-media entertainment mogul Reba McEntire has become a household name through a successful career that includes music, television, film, theater, retail and hospitality. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Hollywood Bowl member has more than 50 award wins under her belt, earning honors from the ACM Awards, American Music Awards, People’s Choice Awards, CMA Awards, GRAMMY® Awards and GMA Dove Awards. Reba was also a 2018 Kennedy Center Honors recipient, in addition to multiple philanthropic and leadership honors. Reba has celebrated unprecedented success, including 35 career No.1 singles and more than 58 million albums sold worldwide. Reba earned her 60th Top 10 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, extending her record for the most Top 10 hits among female artists. Reba’s Top 10 success spans five straight decades, landing her in the singular group with only George Jones, Willie Nelson, and Dolly Parton who have the same achievement. Most recently, her latest single, “Trailblazer,” featuring Lainey Wilson and Miranda Lambert, garnered an impressive 2.6 million on-demand streams in its first week, marking a new personal best for Reba in the streaming era. The Oklahoma native and Golden Globe® nominated actress has multiple movie credits to her name, a critically-acclaimed lead role on Broadway in Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun, and starred in the 6-season television sitcom Reba. Reba has also proven to be a savvy entrepreneur, with longstanding brand partnerships including her Dillard’s clothing line and western footwear collection REBA by Justin. She has even added restaurateur to the list with Reba’s Place, a restaurant, bar, retail and entertainment venue in Atoka, Oklahoma. Her book Not That Fancy landed on the New York Times bestseller list. For more information, visit www.Reba.com.

By Carlos Martin Schwab

Following the death of Musikmesse (which was more significant than NAMM for many years), several guitar trade shows emerged in Europe. Guitar Summit is the most important one. Let’s take a closer look at it.

Organized by the German magazine Gitarre & Bass since 2017, this fair was designed as a 360° event that combines a trade show with a music festival, workshops, and masterclasses.

Over time, the fair has continued to grow: in its 2025 edition, it welcomed over 11,300 visitors, featured more than 470 international brands spread across the venue’s different levels, and hosted over 100 workshops, masterclasses, and live concerts during the three-day event (September 26–28).

The fair is usually divided into themed areas that help organize the large number of booths. The booths are spread across four floors, including specific areas for electric guitars, acoustic guitars, basses, and the popular “Pedal Show.” In 2025, innovations in digital modeling and the presence of independent luthiers in the Boutique section stood out in particular.

Silent Fair

This trade show describes itself as a “Silent Show.” This concept is one of its cornerstones and sets it apart from traditional music trade shows (such as the former Frankfurt Musikmesse or NAMM), where the constant noise can often be overwhelming. Here’s how it works in practice:

Equipment testing with headphones: The golden rule for exhibitors is that open-volume amplifiers are not allowed at the trade show booths. If you want to test a guitar, bass, or pedal, you do so almost exclusively through high-quality headphones. This allows you to hear the instrument’s true nuances without being distracted by noise from the neighboring booth and lets visitors hold conversations at a normal volume without having to shout.

Silent stages: Even the workshops and demonstrations held in the middle of the exhibition halls use this system. The audience receives wireless headphones as they approach the stage, and the musician plays and speaks through a monitoring system, so that only those wearing headphones can hear the performance. This allows multiple stages to operate simultaneously on the same floor without acoustic interference.

Soundproof rooms: For those who need to feel the sound pressure of a real amplifier, the event offers specific solutions: Ampfinity, a special area where you can test selected amplifiers and speakers using a professional switching system, often in isolated booths, and soundproof cabins installed at some large booths where you can close the door and play at full volume for a few minutes without disturbing others.

Nighttime concerts (the exception): The Silent concept applies primarily to the exhibition area during the day. At night, the event moves to the Mozartsaal, where rock, blues, and metal concerts are held using traditional sound systems at festival volume.

The “Silent” concept aims to protect attendees’ hearing health (preventing tinnitus after 3 days at the show) and ensure that the focus remains on sound quality and technical discussions between manufacturers and musicians.

Musicians I saw there: Andy Timmons, Tosin Abasi, Misha Mansoor, Plini, Alex Skolnik, Mike Dawes, Billy Sheehan, Michael Weikath & Sascha Gerstner (Helloween), Sacha Dunable (Intronaut), Mattias Eklund (Freak Kitchen), John Browne (Monuments). It’s also common to run into Europe’s most popular guitar YouTubers.

Some of the items on display that caught my eye:

Fretlook: Fret markers, neck side markers (glow in the dark) and body decals – fretlook.com

Franck Bichon: Removable shoulder pad for guitar strap – https://bgfrance.com/en/bg-rocks-straps-and-guitar-accessories/461-comfortableremovable-shoulder-pad-for-guitar-straps.html

Dan’s Guitar Store: Precision playing picks – https://www.dansguitarstore.com/precision-guitar-picks-explained

Plick The Pick: Ergonomic picks – plickthepick.it

Tonewood Amp: A device that uses an acoustic guitar’s own body and soundhole to create a range of enhancement effects – tonewoodamp.com

Valeton: GP-5 pedal multi effects processor – valeton.net/product/gp-5

Maytrem: Fully customizable guitar vibrato system that can bend chords in harmony – maytrem.com

More info at guitarsummit.de/?lang=en

Press Release

Source: Song Cage PR

Song Cage – A new browser-based tool gives songwriters one place to capture lyrics, chords, melody, and song structure, with context-aware chord reasoning, a modulation panel that maps the way back home, and built-in tools for breaking writer’s block.

Song Cage, a new browser-based songwriting app, launched this week with a distinctive design philosophy: no generative AI anywhere in the product. Every chord suggestion is deterministic music theory, labeled by its functional role and explained in plain language given the surrounding chords and the melody underneath.

Song Cage is designed for the pre-DAW phase of writing, the space where a songwriter sits with an instrument and a notebook, developing an idea before any recording begins. The app combines four layers (lyrics, chords, melody, and song structure) on a single canvas with two interchangeable views. Sheet view feels like a notepad, letting words flow naturally. Timeline view snaps every word onto a beat grid with syllable-level precision, so prosody can be shaped directly on the grid.

Key features include:

Context-aware chord suggestions. Every suggestion is labeled by its functional role (diatonic, borrowed from a parallel mode, secondary dominant, tritone substitution) and hovering reveals the reasoning for why it works given the surrounding chords and the melody beneath. Named progression patterns such as the Pop progression, 50s progression, and Andalusian cadence are flagged automatically.

Modulation with return routes. The modulation panel includes a Key Map showing harmonic distance to every key, pivot chords for smooth transitions, and full cadential routes (V-I, ii-V-I, tritone substitutions, extended paths). Unique to Song Cage, the panel also surfaces return routes, so the songwriter can take a harmonic journey into a distant key and find the way back home without getting stranded.

Lyric writing tools for writer’s block. A Words panel that follows the cursor offers rhymes grouped by syllable count, slant rhymes, synonyms, a Word Collider that pairs words from two semantic pools via a random bridge word, and semantic drift chains for wandering through an idea space.

Multi-user collaboration. Songs can be shared with up to five editors via email invitation or share link, with background sync across devices.

Guitar-first design. Real chord shapes on a mini fretboard, capo awareness, voicing carousel, and strum preview on every chord block. Piano voicings include voice-leading optimization.

“I built Song Cage for the thing I actually do with an instrument in my lap, before I hit record,” said Steve Canfield, founder and developer of Song Cage. “Nothing in this tool generates music for you. Every suggestion is real theory, and everything is aware of everything else. Change a melody note and the chord rankings reshuffle. Place a chord and the suggestions for the next slot recalculate. The craft stays in the user’s hands; the tool just makes the reference books live in the same canvas as the writing. The UI is designed for quickly getting ideas out without friction.”

A native iOS and Android capture companion, for recording voice memos and sending lyric and chord fragments to an inbox in the desktop app, is in development and expected for release later in 2026.

Song Cage is available at songcage.com. Free and paid tiers are offered, priced in line with comparable songwriting tools.

ABOUT SONG CAGE
Song Cage is a browser-based songwriting canvas for the pre-DAW phase of music writing. Designed and developed by Steve Canfield, it combines lyrics, chords, melody, and song structure on one grid, with built-in writer’s-block tools, context-aware chord reasoning, and multi-user collaboration. Song Cage is the no-AI alternative in a category dominated by generative tools.

Press Release

Source: Guitar International PR

Yesterday’s guitar donation to Guitars 4 Veterans (G4V) was very special. The guitar an all-solid body Gruene Saratoga with Honduran mahogany b/s, Alpine spruce top (aged 15 years), maple binding, natural abalone inlay with a headstock torch donated by Gruene guitars owners – John  and Peggy Byers of San Antonio, Texas.

(L-R) Rick Landers presents a Gruene Saratoga dreadnaught to Robert Grealy| G4V Chapter Coordinator | Washington D.C. Region.

John retired from the U.S. Coast Guard and donating this to G4V’S was chosen to support and honor our military veterans. John had provided a few of his fine guitars to a local veterans’ group before he passed away from cancer.

At the most recent graduation of veterans who successfully completed G4V’s free guitar lessons program, Rick Landers, publisher/editor, Guitar International magazine, served as an intermediary to present the guitar to Robert Grealy, Washington, D.C. Region Coordinator, of the outstanding veterans support organization.

The high end guitar will be sold by the support organization with proceeds to go to buying entry level guitars for the novice guitar playing vets, many disabled and working hard to meet their challenges, and learning to play has been a huge, sometimes life saving success!

CHECK OUT GUITARS 4 VETERANS HERE!

Press Release

Source: The Green Room PR

Diamond-certified superstar Thomas Rhett celebrates his 25th career No. One as “Ain’t A Bad Life” ft. Jordan Davis tops the Mediabase/Country Aircheck chart this week. Written by Thomas Rhett, Ashley Gorley, Blake Pendergrass, John Byron and Mark Trussell, the track “takes on a bright, acoustic sound, injecting a fresh breath of optimism” (Holler), delivering “charm and catchy melodies” (Country Central).

This achievement stands out not only for its sheer volume, but for the remarkable speed and consistency with which he’s dominated the charts in the 14 years since releasing his very first single.I’m really grateful to the fans, country radio, and everyone who’s been on this ride with me—this one means a lot.”

Joining “Beautiful As You” and “After All The Bars Are Closed,” the acclaimed single marks the third No. One from Thomas Rhett’s newest album, ABOUT A WOMAN (Deluxe). The “energized and upbeat” (Forbes) 25-track project born of charismatic craftsmanship, feel-good energy and his beloved awestruck romantic authenticity combine in a creative high-water mark. It also features collaborations with Lanie Gardner, Blake Shelton, Teddy Swims and Tucker Wetmore—showcasing why he continues to be one of Nashville’s most versatile hitmakers.

Thomas Rhett recently announced his return to the road this summer, bringing his “bombastic, good-time energy” (Esquire) to venues across the country on the SOUNDTRACK TO LIFE TOUR. The 20+ city run will feature two special stadium dates this July with longtime friend Niall Horan at GEODIS Park and Hersheypark Stadium. In addition to his headlining tour, Thomas Rhett is appearing with Morgan Wallen on his Still The Problem Tour and will make his highly anticipated return to the U.K. this summer for a three-night run at Wembley Stadium with Luke Combs.

Pairing a laid-back perspective with a vocal drenched in casual country soul, Thomas Rhett has spent just over a decade building one of country music’s most consistent hitmaking careers with more than 16 billion streams and armfuls of awards, including eight ACM Awards—among them “Entertainer of the Year”—two CMA Awards, five GRAMMY® nominations and trophies from the CMT Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards and iHeartRadio Music Awards; he has also received five CMA Triple Play Awards for penning three No. One songs within a 12-month period.

He’s just teamed up with GRAMMY®-nominated global artist and producer Marshmello on their new single “Where We Go” and recently released a fresh take on “Georgia On My Mind” as part of ESPN’s official campaign for the 2026 Masters Tournament. For a full list of upcoming dates and new music updates, visit ThomasRhett.com and follow along on Instagram // Facebook // TikTok // Twitter / X // YouTube.

By: Rick Landers

Images: Courtesy of “The Rambler”

True grit, in the name of Jack Elliott (born Elliott Charles Adnopoz; August 1, 1931, Brooklyn, New York) was on the road when he was fifteen years old to become…a cowboy. The son of a surgeon, Abraham Adnapoz, and school teacher, Florence “Flossie” (Rieger) Adnapoz, his Wild West dream was inspired by “The Singing Cowboy” Gene Autry and his remarkable horse, (Touring) Champion, when Gene’s rodeo showed up at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott with his trusty “steed” – a Martin D-28 with unique inlays & art – photo credit: Dan Dion

Many moons later, Jack would take on the moniker, “Ramblin'” when the legendary folk singer, Odetta, introduced him to her mother, Flora Sanders, who noted how he could carry on with his stories – (“Oh, Jack Elliott, yeah, he can sure ramble on!”) The young Jack, inspired by the Gene Autry rodeo set off for North Carolina hitching rides where he connected with Jim Eskew’s Rodeo, a traveling show that made its way along the East Coast of the United States.

“When he’s learning a song he kind of tries it on like a pair of gloves…He’s got a way of doing things that’s uniquely his own. He makes a song his own. That’s the beauty of it.” – Tom Waits

It didn’t take long – three months – when his father, Abraham, and mother, Florence, tracked him down and brought him back home to finish school. But, during his time with the rodeo he befriended a true cowboy and rodeo clown, poet, Brahmer Rogers, who played guitar, banjo and sang.

Inspired, Jack taught himself how to play guitar and five-string banjo and while back in New York he met the legendary folk musician, Woody Guthrie. Jack and Woody struck up a kinship, with Jack living with the Guthrie’s for a couple of years. Woody was diagnosed in 1952 with Huntington chorea hereditary disease, institutionalized in 1956 and passed away in 1967.  Jack had embraced Woody’s music and the man, and continues to honor him carrying the lyrical extent of Guthrie’s portrayal of America’s fault lines, promise and vision.

“His tone of voice is sharp, focused and piercing. All that and he plays the guitar effortlessly in a fluid flat-picking perfected style. He was a brilliant entertainer…. Most folk musicians waited for you to come to them. Jack went out and grabbed you….. Jack was King of the Folksingers.” – Bob Dylan 

Jack toured the U.K. and Europe with banjoist, Derroll Adams,  and he was signed to Topic Records where he recorded three albums and he landed a gig on U.K.’s television series, Hullabaloo, presented by Geordie folksinger, Rory McEwen. And while in England, Jack became a staple of the English folk and skiffle scene with his interpretive music and ability to captivate audiences with his style and yarn spinnng tales. Tenacious and driven, his musical education included teaching himself various guitar fingerpicking styles, as well as harmonica to better portray songs of  folk, country, blues and bluegrass tunes, and what may today be referred to as traditional Americana.

Back in the States, “The Rambler” was known for his down-to-earth style and his performances of Woody’s songs with Guthrie once saying, “Sounds more like me than I do.”

“Nobody I know—and I mean nobody—has covered more ground and made more friends and sung more songs than the fellow you’re about to meet right now. He’s got a song and a friend for every mile behind him. Say hello to my good buddy, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott.”  – Johnny Cash

Later, Jack took on the role of mentor with a young Bob Dylan (Robert Zimmerman) and would introduce him as his “son”. And Jack would become a sought after entertainer, working with many who are now fellow folk and country music icons: Phil Ochs, Odetta, Johnny Cash, Pete Seeger, and more during an era of what some called, “The Folk Scare”.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Jack’s recording history is extensive with his first album, Woody Guthrie’s Blues (1956 – Topic), recorded by music historian, Alan Lomax, in England. The album featured six songs by Guthrie, including such riveting tunes as, “1913 Massacre,” and “Talking Columbia Blues,” a home grown solo project with Jack on vocals, guitar and harmonica.

The next year, a second album, Jack Elliot Sings (1957 – 77 Label), another home recording with music critic, Richie Unterberger, noting “it’s a good no-frills set…” Liner notes were written by Alex Korner, a musician considered, “a founder father of British blues”.

More across the pond albums would follow: Jack Takes then Floor (1958) and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott in London (1959), Ramblin’ Jack Elliott Sings Songs by Woody Guthrie and Jimmie Rodgers (1960) and “Jack Elliott Sings the Songs of Woody Guthrie (1960). Then back in the States in 1962 he released what many consider one of his finest recordings, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott (1962).

“Colorado had a reputation. Smoke a lot of dope, lot of pretty girls. It was a fun place to play, me and Ramblin’ Jack Elliot covered 12 cities in a broken-down RV full of strange characters. It was like Ken Kesey’s bus.” – John Prine

Many more albums would follow and in 1996 he would be the recipient of a Grammy Award for South Coast (South Coast label) – Best Traditional Folk Album, then again in 2010 – Best Traditional Blues Album in 2010 for “A Stranger Here”.

Holstering two Grammy awards and four Grammy nominations, Elliott is respected as a genuine American treasure. And in 1998, President Bill Clinton awarded Jack with the National Medal of the Arts. More recently, Jack’s daughter, Aiyana (Elliott) Partland, filmed, directed and produced, The Ballad of Ramblin’ Jack, that presented perspectives on Elliott’s life and their relationship, attaining an impressive Special Jury Prize from the Sundance Film Festival.  In 2016, he became a recipient of a Folk Alliance Lifetime Achievement Award.

“In giving new life to our most valuable musical traditions, Ramblin’ Jack has himself become an American treasure.” – President Bill Clinton

Jack’s life experience is deep and straddles a panoramic view of American life, and with his drive and artistic curiosity he’s sought and grasped its traditions and its raw and spirited tangled roots. From the mountains of Appalachia and the Rockies, the Atlantic to the shores of the Pacific, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott has lived the hardscrabble life of a road dawg musician, starting from a New York island…

Guitar International is honored to offer its readers our conversation with The Rambler, who was astute, congenial and an engaging conversationalist, as we talked about his guitars, music, musicians, long haul truckers, logging, seafaring, old friends and his next gig: May 22, 2026, at The Freight in Berkeley, California, with his band and friends: Sean Allen, Paul Knight & Kendrick Freemen and Friends: Jason Crosby, Maria Muldaur, Eric & Suzy Thompson, Mike Beck Lowell, ‘Banana’ Levinger, Jessie DeNatale & Kathy Kallick.

TICKETS TO JACK’S MAY 22 FREIGHT SHOW AVAILABLE HERE!

******

“Ramblin’” Jack Elliott with his Martin D-28 with custom-unique inlays.

Rick: Let’s start with the projects that you’re working on now. I know that you’ve got a band, and I think you’re going to be playing in California in May.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yes, it’s May twenty-second in Berkeley at the Freight and Salvage, about a hundred miles away, it’s about a three and a half hour drive.

Rick: Are you going to be playing solo or are you going to be with a band?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I’m gonna be with a band.

Rick: Who’s in your band?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: (Lowell) “Banana” Levinger, who used to play with Jesse Colin Young and the Youngbloods, “Come on, everybody, let’s get together and love one another right now.” I never got along with Jesse. First time I met him was in Cambridge. 1965 or so. Made a trip to Woodstock, New York, on two motorcycles. And we had very bad weather, big, heavy, heavy rain and wind.

Rick: Oh, wow.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: And he had to leave his wife in a driveway. Take the rear wheel off. I took Jesse and his rear wheel on the back of my motorcycle. Drove up ahead, found the garage, got the tire fixed, went back, found this wet wife. It was a wet day, everything was wet.

Rick: Yeah, kind of dangerous.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: And we got to Woodstock and then I didn’t see him for about a year. And then we happened to be neighbors, he was playing at a nearby gig on the same street in Oklahoma City with me, and I went down, we had a beer together.

We were politely trying to, uh…converse in a friendly manner, and that worked okay for a short while. And then I didn’t see him again for, like, 10 years. And then, he hired my wife to work for him in his office of his record company, and I’m very grateful to Jesse for having invited us out there because his office was in a very nice location, and we ended up moving into a nice little house nearby. It was nicer than being in town, more country.

Rick: Ridgetop, right?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yeah, it was not far from him. His house on Ridgetop was about 10 miles away from where we found a place to live and rented a nice little house on the bay there. Tomales Bay. Where are you located?

Rick: I’m in Northern Virginia, Reston, Virginia.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I was there once. Just to visit a friend or his parents. (Performed – Herndon-Reston Folk Club – The Tortilla Factory)

Rick: Yeah, we’ve got some pretty good clubs here. Do you know The Birchmere?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I played there one time, with Guy Clark.

Rick: Oh, did you really? Oh, very cool.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yeah, it was a wonderful time. And we were put up by a veterinarian who takes care of lions in the zoo. And he had a biplane, a Stearman. And we were gonna go for a ride with him, but the guy had to be somewhere else.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Rick: So, who else is in your band?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: My bass player is Paul Knight, who’s an excellent bass player, he plays on a guitar sized bass. It’s electrified, but not a solid body, it’s a hollow body, like an acoustic. Bananas’ guitar is a five-string guitar. Never seen one before.

Rick: I once interviewed Roger McGuinn and he had just gotten his 7-string signature model from Martin.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I think that’s a Russian guitar. They play 7-string guitars in Russia. I think that’s the only place they do. There’s gonna be another guitar player who’s a very, very good electric guitar player. And I played with him several times, and a drummer who’s an excellent drummer.

I’ve got several other famous musicians who are playing with me there, too. Maria Mauldar. and Jason Crosby. No relation to David. I didn’t get along with David. He had a lovely boat. A schooner. And I love sailing. I used to visit the schooner and its captain when David was not around.

Rick: That’s funny. Do you know Gordon Bok?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yes, but I haven’t seen Gordon in a long time. Sailed with him in the sloop, Clearwater. He was the mate on the Clearwater. He sings a lot of sea shanties.

Rick: Yeah, I wrote a song about a white whale off the coast of Chile. It’s called “Leviathan”.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: When I was a kid, my next door neighbor, Captain Bob Hinckley was the first mate on the largest ocean liner on the Atlantic between World War I and World War II. The SS Leviathan, which is a fancy word for whale.

And when he was a kid. Oh, like, about 14 years old, he sailed in a whale ship out of New Bedford, Massachusetts, which was one of the largest whaling ports. It was 1912, the last year they ever had a whale ship come out of New Bedford. Charles W. Morgan. It’s the name of the ship.

Rick: It’s an interesting history. This morning I watched The Ballad of Ramblin’ Jack Elliot and I thought your daughter, Aiyana, did a nice job.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I think so too, I enjoyed the movie a lot.

Rick: Yeah, how’d you find the experience of actually doing the filming and being part of that?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott – photo credit: Michael Avedon

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Well, it wasn’t too hard playing Ramblin’ Jack. Because, I got to do it for another movie once before. I’ve starred as Ramblin’ Jack on three different documentaries, one was in Texas. One was in Sausalito, California, mostly about boats and people who love boats. And the other one was the one that Aiyana did, which was very good, and won a prize.

Rick: Oh, cool. Let’s go back several years, and we’re going to cover a little bit of ground that I know you’ve covered several times before. But, I think it was 1951 when you went to Madison Square Garden and you saw Gene Autry.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: No, that was in 1940. I was nine years old.

Rick: Well, there’s a lot of bad information out there, so…

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: There is, there certainly is.

Rick: So, what was your impression of seeing him? I mean, he was a huge.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: As a child, I thought it was wonderful. I had never seen a cowboy. I loved everything about the rodeo. Up to and including Gene and his horse, but…the following year, Roy Rogers was the star. And I liked Roy pretty much too, and his horse, Trigger. But I was beginning to get a lot more fascinated about real cowboys and there’s quite a lot of difference between Gene Autry and the real work of cowboys.

Rick: So, did you ever meet Gene?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I did meet him later, when he was in his 90s, and I was in my 60s. And I shook his hand at a big dinner down in Palm Springs. I was hanging out with an Indian actor friend of mine, American Indian (Floyd Red Crow Westerman) who acted in movies, and sang and had a voice like Johnny Cash. He was in a movie called, Dances With Wolves.

With Gene, I said, “Hello, I saw you when I was nine, and I play a Martin. And he said, “Good!”. And that was it and I realized that I was a little too perspicacious about his old age. And now I’m 94, probably older than he was then. This is thirty years later and Gene’s in heaven, or somewhere nearby.

Rick: That’s sweet to say that. I interviewed Les Paul when he was 94. And he was quite astute and he kept at it until he was 101 years old. He played that week up in New York City at the Iridium, the same week he passed away. But, he had a long, good life. And he was quite astute when he passed away at 101.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: The day after Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday I went to see Les Paul in the Iridium. I went with my manager who was married to a guitar player, Roy Rogers.

Rick: The slide player?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yes. And they’re also acquainted with the movie actor, Roy Rogers, and they visited Roy at his home ranch, when Roy was living. And they have a lot of Roy Rogers type paraphernalia around their house decorations.

Rick: And Gene has a museum, right?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yeah, as a matter of fact, last night I couldn’t think of this trick rider’s name, but when I was 15 I ran away from home and got a job on a traveling rodeo outfit, the J.E. Ranch Rodeo. They hired me as a groom and gave me a string of six horses to take care of in a big tent. We went from Washington, D.C., where I was hired to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

And we sucked up approximately 30 tons of coal dust into the train. And when we unloaded the horses and bulls and cattle from the train in Pittsburgh I had to wash my hands and face, and every half hour on the trip, so I didn’t come out totally blackface. My first job was helping to unload bucking horses out of a boxcar.

Rick: Wow.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: It wasn’t a boxcar, it was what they call a baggage car that had been converted into a cattle car. We were unloading them out of that into a truck and taking them over to the indoor rodeo in Pittsburgh. We were there ten days; it rained a lot. We had a clown on that show called Brahma Rogers. He played a five-string banjo and guitar and sang cowboy and hillbilly songs. They didn’t have Country Western at that time. That was a new name for the music. I was gone for three months. I got a guitar and started to learn how to play.

Rick: Is that the Gretsch you had in the early days?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: No, the first was a cheap guitar made out of cigar boxwood. It was called a Collegiate. It was about 12 dollars. After three months of trying to play on that miserable guitar my fingers were getting like elephant’s feet, because it had very bad action with the strings about half an inch off the fingerboard.

Then I took some lessons from a Cuban gentleman, and he was very nice. And he told me that he knew of a Gretsch guitar that was for sale in the window of a music store down on Third Avenue under the Third Avenue L. That’s an elevated train. And I went there, slightly shopworn from sunburn. And they sold me that Gretsch 75 for $75, and I thought it was worth a lot more. And that I had when I met Woody and was hanging out with Woody Guthrie for three years. And then I met my wife in 1954. We got married, went to Europe in ’55.

We toured around Europe for three years with the Gretsch on a motor scooter, over the Alps in a blizzard. Never hurt that guitar, had a really firm case for it, a hard wooden case. I brought it back and went to the same store where I bought it, the Gretsch and bought a D-28 Martin dreadnaught which was a really nice guitar.

“The Rambler” with his Gretsch 75.

Rick: Yeah, that would have been Brazilian rosewood.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yes. So, I retired the Gretsch temporarily and left it for safekeeping in a closet in the House of Usher where I met June, my first wife. Usher; his mother was a painter and taught painting. And my bride was an art model who modeled for painters. And she modeled for art schools. She was also an actress.

Rick: I noticed on that D-28 that you were playing, it looked like you or somebody had changed the fretboard because of the inlays I saw on it. I’d never seen inlays like that on that D-28.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: That’s right, that was done by a friend I’d met who went by the name Guthrie Thomas, like Dylan Thomas. That wasn’t his real name, of course. He was a cute kid and was really good with Mother of Toilet Seat.

And he said he worked for Martin Guitars, which may have been true, it may not have been true. He was good with Mother of Pearl and he produced a series of little images up and down the neck of things he was fond of. I didn’t give him a list of what things I would like on the guitar. I just left it totally up to him, I think. Maybe I did give him some suggestions, like one was a Kenworth truck with smoke coming out of the smokestack.

Another was a horse. I later got a painter friend of mine in Colorado to paint. She had painted a lot of horses. She’s a horse painter. She’s still alive. I gave her a photograph of a bull rider making a very good ride. She copied it in pencil because the pick guard had come unglued from the guitar and there was a rough, bare wood section with no protection. So, she sanded it smooth and drew a pencil drawing copied from the photograph and filled it in with paint, oil paint. And covered it over with a piece of transparent plastic to it…wouldn’t be injured by the guitar pick and the pick guard is still on the guitar. I still play on that Martin.

Rick: Doesn’t it have a dolphin or fish on the fretboard as well?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I believe there was. I don’t have it here in the house. My bass player, Paul, who is an excellent sound man and knows how to speak to sound, because most sound men are deaf.

Rick: So, you’re going to be playing in May.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yeah, May twenty-second.

Rick: I’ll make sure it’s on there and I’ll put a link in the interview so people can find it to buy tickets.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Oh, that’d be lovely. And it’s one day before my grandsons’ birthday. They’re gonna be 17. They’re catching up with me and they’re about one foot taller than me.

And they’re just babies, but they’re champion volleyball players. They love sports and they’re very good students in high school. They’re graduating this summer.

Rick: That’s a milestone. It’s nice to have grandbabies.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: It certainly is. It’s very nice, very nice! I never went to grandpa, grand parenting school. I don’t know what to do. But, every day I’m learning new tricks.

Rick: Well, that’s part of life, right? You know, things…you keep learning as long as you can and experiencing things. Maybe that’s the purpose of life, you know, to explore and discover new things.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Keep her full, as the sailors say, the square rigger sailors from olden times, you know, clipper ships. Keep her full and steer small.

Rick: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Keep her full and steer small.

Rick: That’s clever and that’s probably true, right?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yeah, not the stuff you see in movies. Because when you do this, you end up having to do this! That’s called steering all over the map.

Rick: Let’s talk, a little bit about songwriting. When you’re writing a song, do you have an idea of what you’re gonna play, or do you noodle around?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I’ve only written three songs and I don’t know how to write a song and I have no idea when or if I can write another one, but I hope I can, and I would love to. I wrote one song that was about a trip to New Orleans where I met a banjo player named Billy Farrer.

Rick: Hmm.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: And he’s like the star of the song. And in fact, he was a very great banjo player. I think my song helped to make him a lot more famous than he would have been. And he appreciated that, and we became good friends.

Rick: So, what was it like living with the Guthrie family?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yeah, well, Arlo was three years old when I moved in with them in 1951, and I was nineteen. I’m 16 years older and I was 19 and Woody was 39 or 40, about 20 years older than me. Yeah, when I was 20, Woody was 40. They lived in a small apartment. The apartment building was owned by the Trump family [smiles], you may have heard of them.

Rick: I have.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: A little-known family in Queens.

Rick: Uh-huh, yep.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: As a cowboy, I never appreciated Queens or Brooklyn. I like some things about New York City though, I like the Empire State Building, I like the Brooklyn Bridge. I love the West Side Highway with all the transatlantic liners that used to come in there and blow their foghorns.  I’ve always been romantically attracted to ships.

Rick: Well, I was thinking about this, this morning, that you’re a romantic. Even as a little boy you left home to become a cowboy; that’s a true romance.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yeah, I was reading books by Will James.

Rick: Uh-huh, yeah.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Somebody turned me on to a book called, Lone Cowboy: My Life Story, by Will James. That was his autobiography. It wasn’t entirely true. Of course, as a naive young kid, I believed everything I read. Later, I found out that Will James was not born in Montana, by the side of the trail. He was born in Montreal.

Rick: Oh, he’s a Canadian.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: And he spoke with a French-Canadian accent. And couldn’t get a job working in Hollywood as a cowboy. Because they thought he didn’t speak like a cowboy with that French accent.

Rick: That’s funny you should mention that. When I was doing some research on you, I  started doing a deep dive on Gene Autry and his best friend ended up being Mr. Haney on the tv series, Green Acres.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I never was much of a film theater goer, film watcher. I met Jack Nicholson one time. And I saw a movie that he made. I had actually gone to see this movie called Five Easy Pieces. And in the end of the movie, he’s hitchhiking up to Canada, and he gets a ride in a very cool red Kenworth log truck. A big one, and I said, “Jack, that was a beautiful log truck!” and he says, “Why, Jack, I didn’t know you were a movie goer.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Rick: So, did you do a lot of hitchhiking when you were young?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: From the time I was about 17 or 18 until I was about 22 or so, I did a lot. In fact, that’s how I learned how to drive a semi. Never had a license, but I’ve driven about 30 semis as a hitchhiker.

Rick: Really?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: The driver gets tired, he says, “Can you drive?” And I said, “Yeah, a little.”

Rick: He wants to sleep!

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: You drive for a couple hours, I need to get some sleep, I’m falling asleep, okay; change drivers. And I started liking it. I’ve never turned one over.

Rick: Well, that’s good.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I’ve never had a wreck of any kind with a semi.

Rick: Yeah, my father used to drive a truck pulling trailers.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Oh, boy.

Rick: Back in the ‘60s…

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yeah. And I’ve driven log trucks, too.The first time I drove a log truck, it was a fully loaded log truck. It wasn’t empty, it was loaded. But it was on a paved road. And I was going slightly downhill along the Skagit River Valley in Oregon, coming off of Mount Baker.

It was just me and my dog and the truck driver. My dog was a good driver. He’s a Husky. Huskies are born drivers, they love to drive, but you shouldn’t teach your dog to drive. You can get in a lot of trouble.

And I think from that first time, you know, like, he was memorizing everything I did. And so, I didn’t teach him, but he learned by watching me.

Rick: That’s funny. That’s a good story.

During the early mid-Sixties, when the Beatles came out and all those British Invasion folks came out. Then they kind of took over the airwaves. Did you have to reinvent what you were doing or did you just keep plugging on, you know, being Ramblin’ Jack Elliott?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: No, I didn’t do anything to change what I was doing. I thought what I was doing was perfect the way it was. And I didn’t need to be influenced in any way by the Beatles. In fact, in the beginning I didn’t realize what an old crotch I am, see, but that was in 1965.

Rick: That’s right, yeah, ’64, ’65, great, right.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: And I had to go to Newport Folk Festival, and I had just recently made friends with a very scary man that I used to always walk on the other side of the street.

Rick: Hmm, okay.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Great songwriter, Tim Hardin.

Rick: Oh yeah, “If I Were A Carpenter”.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: And that became one of my favorite songs. And then I met Tim one day and he had a motorcycle, we’re talking about motorcycles. I found out he’s really a cool guy then.

There was the Newport Folk Festival. It was having difficulty getting tickets. People had to fly in from the West Coast. But, they sent Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul, and Mary. A special detail to get us tickets and make sure to get Tim and me on a plane to fly to Newport, Rhode Island, for the Folk Festival.

Rick: Yeah, ’65, wasn’t that when Dylan came out electric?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Uh, no this was ’64, And it was ’65 when he went electric, and I wasn’t in Newport at ’65. I was in England. And the Beatles were getting popular in ’65, and I didn’t know who they were; didn’t know nothing about them. And I was visiting an English friend of mine who was at Newport. Bob Davenport and his wife Tarbi, which is short for Tar Baby.

That was her real name, Tar Baby.

Rick: Really? That’s wild.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: They were watching the Beatles on TV. We stayed overnight at their house. He and I saw the Beatles, and he loved them. And I wasn’t too sure about it. I was more in love with just plain old cowboy music and the Carter family. And Mississippi John Hurt and Big Bill Broonzy and Leadbelly. And anything else was not, not music.

Rick: You had your fix on the style and the genre, as they say.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yeah, I was locked into that. I didn’t even care for Gene Autry at all anymore by that time. I’d outlived him.

Rick: Okay, so when you were in England, who were you listening to in the English scene? I lived in England for a couple years. And then I hitchhiked through Europe and, you know, to Greece. And then I was going to go to Turkey and India, but there were issues between Turkey.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Absolutely. EOKA (National Organization of Cypriot Fighters) was the name of some political group.

Rick: They were fighting or something, I couldn’t even see the Parthenon, because they cordoned it off. And guys are walking around with rifles.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Wow, I was in Greece three times. I love it and I liked the food.

Rick: So, when you were in England, who were people listening to? I know there were Pentangle and Davy Graham, John Martyn.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I knew Davy Graham.

Rick: Did you really? Oh, cool.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yeah, he was a good friend. And I knew his mother. I was like a friend of the family. I’d known him when he was a kid. He wore some kind of a homemade fur suit. Looked like a bear getting out of a subway train.

Rick: I think one of his claims to fame is the instrumental, “Angie”.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I may have heard it, but I’m not familiar.

Rick: Yeah. Yeah, I’d expect if you heard it you’d recognize it.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I knew Rory McEwen and his brother Alex. I knew the guys who started the London Blues and Barrelhouse Club (1957-1961), at Wardour  Street in the Charrington’s Roundhouse Pub in Wardour Street directly across the street from the Windmill theater that had the only naked lady in England.

Rick: I lived in Coventry when I was there and I worked for Virgin Records for a short period and ended up going down to Abbey Road.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I only met one… some of the Beatles one time.

Rick: Yeah?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I had just been to a wedding, Kris and Rita Kristofferson.

Rick: Yeah. Rita Coolidge.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: And the next day they were recording in Hollywood at Sunset Studios and I went to visit them. And, uh, when I got there I walked in from the back parking lot and bumped into Kris and Rita in the hallway. They were having a cigarette, taking a break. And so, they needed to relax for a while, Kris says. “Hey Jack.” I go into Studio A, there’s some people that love you down there. Studio A, okay. I walk down the hall, I open the door and walk in. There’s a room with about 20 people.

And they’re all looking through the window, two people are playing guitars and recording and I don’t recognize anybody, I look into the window and I do recognize one guitar player, David Bromberg. And the other guy is a guitar player from the Beatles, but I didn’t recognize him.

Rick: Was that George Harrison or John Lennon?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: George Harrison. And I didn’t know what he looked like. I didn’t know who he was. But, I did recognize this beautiful Swedish film star. I can’t remember her name now, but she was a very famous movie star and there were no seats available. So, she got up and sat down on her boyfriend’s lap next to her and gave me her seat.

Rick: Oh, how sweet!

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I just said, “Thank you, ma’am”… Sat down, because I’m…Don’t know who’s who at all, except Peter Sellers.

Rick: Oh, that was Britt Eklund.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: That’s right, Britt Eklund. Lovely. I’m sitting right next to her, elbow to elbow. I turned around, to see if I can recognize anybody back there, because there’s three or four rows of people back there. And I recognize one person, and he’s winking at me. He’s the drummer from the Beatles.

Rick: Ringo, yeah.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Ringo is winking at me. And then I just turned around and watched the show, and a few seconds later, a New York guy on the inner sanctum opens the door that’s to the engineering room booth. And he says, “There’s too many people in this room!”

That’s a real New York invitation. So I left. Feeling rather rotten about it. But, I bumped into Ringo a few days later at a Willie Nelson concert. I went back to say, “Hi!” to Willie, and I end up with Ringo, with our arms around each other, like we’re old friends taking a photograph. And I was so stunned, I never even thought to ask the photographer if I could have a copy of that photograph…I have never seen it. But, I did meet Ringo again, one time when Phil Ochs died. I was playing in a tribute concert in Madison Square Garden.

Rick: Mm-hmm.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: And, Ringo’s coming down the hallway, and we met head on and he picks me up. He’s very strong, being a drummer. Flips me over his shoulder.

Rick: That’s hilarious.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Now I’m kicking and I’m swatting Ringo on the butt. “Put me down! Put me down! For about 100 feet, and he finally did put me down, but he walked a long ways through the hallway, crowded. All the way backstage at Madison Square Garden.That’s the last time I ever saw Ringo. We were good friends for about 12 minutes.

Rick: Well, that’s still pretty special and probably special for him because I remember seeing the photos of the Beatles early when they were probably the Silver Beatles.They’re all wearing cowboy boots.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Really?

Rick: So, they liked cowboys.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I would have loved to got to know them better. I did meet George Harrison’s widow, and she filmed me. Interviewed me on camera at her house in L.A. She was very nice. I only met her once.

Rick: If I run through…I did this with Les Paul. I started mentioning names, and he would give me quick one-liners of his experiences with them, or what he thought of them. Can I do that with you?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yes.

Rick: Let’s start with Johnny Cash.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I love Johnny Cash! I love him like a brother. In fact, I love him better than I ever loved my brother David. Who was a good cat. My brother was a really cool dude. I’m kind of sad about him now, but we didn’t get to know each other very well.

Rick: Yeah, it is sad.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: After I ran away from home when I was 15 and he was 10.

Rick: How about John Prine? Did you meet John?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I toured with John on three or four occasions. Loved him a lot. We had a lot of laughs. It was always fun. The first time, I was coming from California, I was gonna fly to meet John in Colorado and tour. These ski towns in the summertime, in the Rockies.

And I went to visit a neighbor friend here in Santa Cruz. I was living in Santa Cruz at the time and this woman had what they call the Santa Cruz Costume Bank. If you were gonna have a party and wanted people to dress up like Halloween she would supply you with whatever you wanted to dress up in. And I was visiting her one day, and I was due to go to Colorado the next day.  And she had a friend who I didn’t know. He was a black comedian, a very likable guy and funny. He had just rented a motorhome and he came by and he said, “I just rented a motorhome and I don’t know where to go. I want to go to someplace nice.”

She said, “Jack here is going to Colorado to tour with John Prine, let’s take him there.”

Zoom.

An hour later, we’re going Highway 17. She’s in the kitchen making some snacks for us, standing up on Highway 17. You can’t stand up on Highway 17. Bad curves, bad… They have dangerous wrecks there every week. We ended up in Colorado. And, our first gig was somewhere towards Denver, but it was in the mountains, west of Denver. Our comedian friend ended up performing on stage. Just for the fun of it.

I can’t remember his name, I’ve never seen him again. But, he was funny enough, we loved him. And the audience all found him very funny and it was unexpected, of course, because it wasn’t announced. John was traveling with his manager and a couple of other friends in a van. I had this motorhome. So, we’d take turns swapping over and riding in with each other in different vehicles. And, lots of love and lots of fun.

Another time I opened for John in an old theater in Monterey, California. I just went there to see a new friend of mine who’s really a great singer-songwriter from Houston. Used to be married to Johnny Cash’s daughter, Roseanne Cash. (Rodney Crowell)

Rick: Did you ever meet Townes Van Zandt?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yeah, I toured with Townes on one occasion. And he was traveling in a van with his bass player, and I think I was in my truck. I don’t think I was riding in the same vehicle with Townes. And I liked him a lot.

Rick: He was supposed to be a pretty smart fella.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Awful smart, very, very smart guy and I love that song he did about, “All the Federales say they could have had him any day.”

Rick: Oh, ”Pancho and Lefty!”

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yeah.

Rick: I had an opportunity to play in Raton, New Mexico. He has a song about the snows of Raton.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Raton. Yeah, it’s right on the border of Colorado.

Rick: That’s right, and so what I really liked about being there and performing there, I actually performed at a cemetery, performed a song about some miners who passed away in 1913 and 1923. Anyway, I was pleased to be able to play.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Wonderful. I can have a visual image of what that looked like going over Raton Pass on I-25. And the first town you get to is, uh, is near Trinidad, and it’s called Lulu. And there was a song Woody Guthrie wrote, a song about some coal miners who were on strike and the company didn’t like that. The miners went into a little cave they dug, about 11 feet deep. And they had their pregnant wives down in there. And the company, all thugs came with guns.

There was some fire. They set fire to all their tents, so they moved down into a cave in the ground. And then some women from Trinidad hauled some potatoes up Wallenberg in a little cart. Sold some potatoes and brought some guns back. And he put a gun in every hand. And the redneck miners, they mowed down them troopers. They did not know that we had these guns. You should have seen them boys, them bull boys run. And that was the end of that, and there was like 31 kids got killed. And there was another song like that, that Woody wrote that was equally sad and bloody, and hard to take, called “The 1913 Massacre”.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Rick: Didn’t he call it the 1913 massacree?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I don’t know. I call it massacre, but he might have called it massacree. Might have called it that. I sang it in a tribute to Woody in Washington, D.C. And they televised it, but they didn’t play that song, they said it was too long. I think it was too sad. They don’t want the audience to suffer too many sad stories, especially about coal mining owners.

Rick: It’s  a coincidence that I wrote a song called “1913 Stag Canyon Number 2, which is about miners who passed away in 1913 and their sons who passed away in 1923. That’s why I was invited to Raton and the Dawson cemetery to perform for about 500 descendants.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Oh, well, bless you! Great. I have a friend who plays guitar, and he lives in a little town, south of L.A., on the beach. He had a little recording studio in the garage and he was working as a television truck coordinator. I could call up a driver and say, “Meet me at Hollywood and Vine with truck T25 at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow.”

And we’re gonna do a shoot, blah, blah, blah. He had a four-wheel drive and he drove me to a poetry gathering in Alpine, Texas. And we stayed with one of my favorites, Cowboy Joel (Joel Nelson), the guy that ran the Alpine gathering and that guy didn’t drink whiskey, but one of my friends taught me earlier, if you’re in Texas and you go visit, you should bring a bottle of whiskey.

So, I brought him a bottle of whiskey. He never opened it, but we had oatmeal breakfast every morning, and he would read us some poetry. And one of his favorite poets was one of my father’s school chumps; gave me a copy of this book of poetry by a guy who lived in Hawaii in a little cabin. He was a retired Merchant Marine sailor. And it was poetry, romantic poetry about having a cabin full of all kinds of trinkets that he gathered around the world when he was a sailor. And he would read us poetry.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott – photo credit: Dan Dion

Rick: Thank you. So, what about Steve Earle?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I like Steve Earle a lot. I’ve only met him about four or five times, but a great guy. We’ve always liked each other. He sang with me at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival.

Rick: Nice guy, I interviewed him a couple of years ago. What about Odetta?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Odetta was the one who gave me the name, her mother gave me the name Ramblin’.

Rick: Do you have any advice for people, whether they’re young or they’re older, any lessons learned?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: See, I don’t consider myself a real bona fide music lover. I love some music and I hate some music. But, a music lover, in my mind, is somebody that says, “I love all music.” I think anyone who likes all music is probably deaf.

Rick: And I just want to let you know that I appreciate your legacy, what you’ve done and what you’ve done for American music over the years. I want to thank you.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: It’s very, very lovely to meet you, sir. And I’d love to maybe read a copy of your magazine. I’ve never had the pleasure.

Rick: It’s on-line and it’s free. Lots of interviews of a lot of people you know. It’s a passion of mine. And good luck to you and I hope you have a wonderful life.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: It’s been pretty good so far, thanks a lot. And I’m looking forward to another 100 years. I’m not gonna ride any bulls anymore or any of that stuff, but I really wanted to be a cowboy. Still do.

Rick: Thank you very much, Jack.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Wonderful. God bless you. Great to meet you. Thank you so much. I enjoyed it.

BONUS VIDEOs – RAMBLIN’ JACK ELLIOT & FRIENDS

(John Prine – Arlo Guthrie – Jerry Jeff Walker – Beck – Sarah Lee Guthrie)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Press Release

Source: SAW PR

The Songwriters Association of Washington, in association with Spotlight on the Arts and with grant support from the City of Fairfax Commission on the Arts, will present the first-ever Fairfax Folk Festival on April 24–26 at Fairfax City’s newest music venue, Mackenzie’s Tunes & Tonics. The festival is hosted with the support of venue owner Josh Alexander.

The three-day event will feature more than 35 of the area’s most gifted performers and award-winning songwriters. The performance schedule is pictured below and will be available on this website and at SAW’s website.

The event is free to attend but we are accepting tax deductible donations from members and sponsors and would appreciate a donation to SAW to help with costs.

For inquiries, please contact the festival at president@saw.org

Press Release

Tom Principato is set to release his first studio album in 9 years with “Twangin’!”, an all instrumental electric guitar album with an eclectic mix of styles. There are five Tom Principato originals, such as:  “Beyond The Stars,” “Smoky Blue,” “The Bone Head Shuffle,” “Head First,” and “Drop D Boogie,” as well as two covers of obscure Ventures’ songs “Night Walk,”and “Blue Star,” “Kentucky,” an old Bluegrass favorite, The Gospel classic “All Day, All Night (Angels Watching Over Me), a heartfelt rendition of Ketty Lester’s “Love Letters”, and “Champagne” an obscure shuffle from Merle Haggard’s band of the ’70s, written by Norm Hamlett and Roy Nichols, one of Tom’s Telecaster heroes.

There’s plenty of twang and blues here as well as rockin’ stuff harking back to Tom’s work, “Blazing Telecasters,” with the late Danny Gatton, and plenty of that D.C. Telecaster sound invented by Roy Buchanan.

Guests include Dave Elliott – drums (Danny Gatton), Jim Brock – drums (Kathy Mattea), Steve Wolf – bass (Danny Gatton), Big Joe Maher – drums, Jim Robeson – bass, and Tommy Lepson – organ (Danny Gatton).

Track Listings: 1. Night Walk 2. Kentucky 3. Drop D Boogie 4. Smoky Blue 5. The Bone Head Shuffle 6. All Day, All Night (Angels Watching Over Me) 7. Champagne 8. Beyond The Stars 9. Head First 10. Love letters 11. Blue Star

Source: T. Principato

Press Release

Source: Noble PR

Joe Bonamassa has announced the upcoming release of The Spirit Of Rory Live From Cork, a powerful live album and film capturing his deeply personal tribute to Irish blues guitar legend Rory Gallagher, recorded during a series of sold-out performances in Gallagher’s hometown of Cork, Ireland last summer. The album will be released FridayJune 19th via Bonamassa’s own J&R Adventures, with pre-orders starting today.

Listen to the first three live singles: “Walk On Hot Coals (Live)”, “Bullfrog Blues (Live)”, and “Who’s That Coming? (Live)”.

Watch the live performance for “Walk On Hot Coals”.

Pre-Order the album from UK & Europe. Pre-Order the album from North America.

For Bonamassa, the project was never approached as a casual homage. Gallagher’s music has been part of his life since childhood, and the weight of performing it in Cork, with the blessing of Rory’s family and in front of audiences who carry his legacy so personally, was something he felt immediately. “I never had the honour to meet him, but his music and musicianship loom large in my life,” Bonamassa writes in a personal foreword accompanying the release. “From my first time hearing Irish Tour ’74 I was captivated by the sheer intensity of the man and the ferocity of his approach to the electric blues.”

That impact began early. “I remember that voice and a singular guitar tone slicing through the walls of my bedroom at a very young age,” Bonamassa recalls. “My father, who exposed me to so many of the great guitarists of his era, was quick to encourage me to listen to Rory and glean what I could.”

What began as an invitation from the Gallagher family quickly became something much larger. “All these many years later I was asked by Rory’s family to consider performing some of his material and paying tribute to him at a venue in Cork,” he writes. “The very thought frightened me. Yes, I was scared to even attempt it but at the same time so honoured that his family felt that I might be up to the task.” Rather than try to reinvent the material, Bonamassa focused on meeting it with the right spirit. “I felt the very best I could hope for was to approach his catalog with humility and reverence.”

That humility shaped the project from the start. In 2024, Bonamassa traveled to Cork to announce the tribute with a small introductory performance for Rory’s family, local friends, and members of the press. The response was immediate and emotional, and what began as a single concert soon expanded into a three-night stand. “After the announcement, one show turned into three sold out shows,” Bonamassa writes. “I felt that my reputation was on the line with the Irish, but what a response!”

Joe Bonamassa – Photo Credit: Marcus Bird

By the time the band returned in 2025, the atmosphere around the performances had only intensified. “This was Rory’s town, and Rory’s people. We weren’t going to let them down,” Bonamassa says. “The crowds on those three nights were rowdy, raucous and Cork did their favourite son proud.” The result is a live document that feels charged by that setting – deeply felt, high-wire, and rooted in the connection between artist, audience, and place.Across 14 hand-picked songs, The Spirit Of Rory Live From Cork moves through the many sides of Gallagher’s catalogue – from the blistering attack of “Walk On Hot Coals”and “Bullfrog Blues” to the emotional sweep of “A Million Miles Away,” which will serve as the album’s focus track upon release. Other highlights include “Tattoo’d Lady,” “Bad Penny,” “I Fall Apart,” “Calling Card,” and “Cradle Rock,” each delivered with fire and conviction while honouring the shape and soul of the originals.

The release also captures several moments that carried special meaning across the Cork run, including Bonamassa’s performance of “As The Crow Flies” on Gallagher’s own 1930 National Triolian resonator guitar, loaned by the Cork Public Museum. It was a tangible connection to the artist whose presence still looms so large over the city and over generations of guitar players who followed him.

Additional footage, included on DVD and Blu-ray editions, expands the story with bonus material including The Inspiration of Rory, featuring conversations with Brian May and Slash, along with Rory’s Acoustic Guitar and Ballycotton – A Million Miles Away. Together, the audio and visual components offer a fuller picture of what these performances meant to Bonamassa, to Gallagher’s family, and to the fans who packed the room night after night.

In the end, Bonamassa sees the album as an offering – his band’s best attempt to honour a musician whose work helped shape his own. “What you hear on these recordings is our best effort to pay tribute to Rory Gallagher, a man I never met, but admire so deeply,” he writes. “His music is part of me and I’m grateful that we were able to contribute in some small way to his ongoing legacy.”

Press Release

Source: Mark Pucci Media

Colin James – photo credit: James O’Mara

Multi-award-winning blues/rock guitarist Colin James’ last US tour in 2024 was cut short due to an automobile accident. Now fully recovered he’s bringing his exciting blend of blues and rock music to fans in the States with the upcoming “Coast to Coast Tour” in April and May. Joining him on the tour are Matt Andersen and Terra Lightfoot to celebrate the rich legacy of electrifying Canadian blues and roots music.

 The “Coast to Coast Tour” starring Colin James, Matt Andersen and Terra Lightfoot brings these friends and fellow musicians together for an 18-city US Spring 2026 cross-country tour celebrating blues and folk to rock and soul.  Audiences can expect powerful individual sets and inspired collaborative performances from three of Canada’s most acclaimed and distinctive roots artists.  The “Coast to Coast Tour” honors the enduring power of music to cross borders, generations and traditions – live on stage!

Colin James

James’ career spans over 30 years, with a track record that includes 21 studio albums, 8 JUNO Awards, 31 Maple Blues Awards and multi-platinum record sales.  He has worked with some of the world’s most revered artists, including Bonnie Raitt, Albert Collins, Pops Staples, Robert Cray, Albert King, Keith Richards, Lenny Kravitz, ZZ Top, Mavis Staples, Carlos Santana, and Buddy Guy, to name a few.  His latest album, Chasing the Sun, featured guest appearances from Lucinda Williams and Charlie Musselwhite. Colin will be performing with his trio.

Matt Andersen

New Brunswick, Canada, native Matt Andersen is one of the most accomplished Canadian singer-songwriters and powerhouse vocalists active today.  A multiple Maple Blues Award winner, multi- European Blues Award winner and JUNO nominee, Andersen was the first Canadian to take home top honors at the International Blues Challenge. Today he headlines major festivals, clubs, theaters throughout North America and the rest of the world. Matt will be performing solo.

 Terra Lightfoot

This native of Ontario and two-time JUNO Award nominee has drawn musical comparisons from Dusty Springfield to Van Morrison.  Her decade-plus musical evolution has seen her tour four continents alongside Willie Nelson, Bruce Cockburn and the all-female revue The Longest Road Show, among others. Terra will be performing solo.

Colin James with Matt Andersen and Terra Lightfoot Tour Dates

April 17 – The Admiral Theatre – Bremerton, WA
April 18 – Mount Baker Theatre – Bellingham, WA
April 19 – Edmonds Center for the Arts – Edmonds, WA
April 21 – Urban Lounge – Salt Lake City, UT
April 24 – Knuckleheads Saloon – Kansas City, MO
April 26 – The Parkway Theater – Minneapolis, MN
April 27 – City Winery – Chicago, IL
April 29 – City Winery – St. Louis, MO
April 30 – Lincoln Theatre – Columbus, OH
May 1 – The Kent Stage – Kent, OH
May 2 – The Cellar at the Original Pittsburgh Winery – Pittsburgh, PA
May 3 – Town Ballroom – Buffalo, NY
May 5 – Sellersville Theater – Sellersville, PA
May 6 – Rams Head on Stage – Annapolis, MD
May 7 – The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center – Old Saybrook, CT
May 8 – Lewis A. Swyer Theatre – Albany, NY
May 9 – Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club – Portsmouth, NH
May 10 – The Center for the Arts in Natick – Natick MA

Press Release

Source: 37-Media

When Nashville artist, Levi Foster, flew to Los Angeles carrying a 1966 Martin guitar and a stack of restless songs that didn’t quite fit Nashville’s modern mold, he wasn’t chasing polish, he was chasing freedom. The result is Foster’s second full-length album Appalachian Funk Tree, produced by outlaw-country torchbearer Shooter Jennings at the legendary Sunset Sound in Hollywood.

Born from a collision of Appalachian storytelling, psychedelic grit, and country swagger, the track signals a new chapter for an artist determined to push beyond genre lines without abandoning his roots.

“I listened to the music he already had out there and I liked him, and I liked his voice a lot,” says Jennings on his first impressions of Foster.  “Then when I spoke to him on the phone I really liked where he was going with everything…then when I heard the songs he put together, I thought this was going to be really great…The minute we started on the songs I was really excited right out of the gate because it was already sounding like Tony Joe Wright swampy kinda Bobbie Gentry stuff, it was really exciting…I love the songs he wrote and the stories he wove really leant themselves for a really exciting and country soundtrack.”

Working with Jennings left a lasting impression on Foster and an experience for which he’ll always be thankful. “Shooter Jennings was generous enough to take a chance on me,” says Foster.  “Those two weeks recording in the heart of Hollywood are memories I’ll carry for the rest of my life. I’m deeply grateful to everyone who helped bring these songs to life.”

PRE-SAVE HERE

Foster is set to release the first track off the album, “Fat Elvis,” on April 17 (pre-save here), a rowdy, cinematic introduction to Foster’s evolved sound. What began as a late-night joke among friends sparked by the line in the song “sweatin’ like fat Elvis on a postcard down in Memphis, Tennessee” quickly evolved into something larger.

Set against the chaos of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, “Fat Elvis” unfolds like a hazy fever dream of American excess and hard-earned lessons, blending humor with a darker reflection on fading icons, bad decisions, and the strange mythology we build around ourselves.  The track features Foster on vocals and lead guitar, two-time Grammy-Award winner Ted Russell Kamp (Shooter Jennings, Tanya Tucker, Robert Randolph) on bass, Brian Whelan (Chris Shiflett, Dwight Yoakam, Jim Lauderdale) on lead guitar, Jamie Douglass (Shooter Jennings, Jaime Wyatt) on drums, Evan Hull (Lee Greenwood, Ty Herndon, Vince Gill) on electric guitar, and Greg Leisz (Joni Mitchell, Beck, Eric Clapton) on steel guitar.

At a moment when mainstream country continues to lean sleek and radio-ready, Foster’s music digs into something stranger and more unpredictable, blending mountain gospel spirit, Red Dirt attitude, and Americana storytelling that feels lived-in rather than manufactured. Jennings, known for championing artists who exist outside traditional boundaries, approached the project less as a producer chasing perfection and more as a collaborator helping Foster build a sonic world where humor, chaos, and hard-won truths could coexist.

A natural progression from his acclaimed 2025 release We Made Fire, with “Fat Elvis,” Foster steps further into a lane that feels defiantly his own, one where humor meets heartbreak and tradition collides with risk. As the Americana landscape continues to evolve, Appalachian Funk Tree positions Foster among a new wave of artists willing to challenge genre expectations while staying rooted in the storytelling spirit that defines country music at its core.

Catch Levi Foster on tour throughout the year.  Current tour dates are listed below.  More will be announced soon.

Tour Dates:

March 28 at The Mint Franklin, KY

April 17 at El Club w/ Colby Acuff, Detroit, MI

April 18 at The Intersection, Grand Rapids, MI w/ Colby Acuff

April 24 at Willies Saloon, Stillwater, OK w/ Colby Acuff

April 25 at Magnolia Motor Lounge, Fort Worth, TX w/ Colby Acuff

May 7 at Open Chord Music, Knoxville, TN

May 8 at The Hi-Tone Cafe, Memphis, TN

May 9 at The East Room, Nashville, TN

May 21 at Eddie’s Attic, Decatur, GA

May 23 at The Loft, Columbus, GA

June 11 at Manor Mill, Monkton, MD

June 12 at The Heist, Bowling Green, VA

June 13 at The Listening Booth, Lewes, DE

June 14 at Pearl Street Warehouse, Washington, DC

Levi Foster

Website | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Spotify | Facebook

Steve Earle – Photo credit: (c) Rick Landers 2022

At fourteen years old, Steve Earle left school to find Townes Van Zandt, his Holy Grail. What kind of kid does this kind of thing? A good guess is, a romantic who hears a lyrical phrase or a melody that reaches down, gets embedded and rattles one’s bones.

Or maybe it’s the full-blooded carriers of such tunes, many or whom embodied the gnarly roots of American music that captured the kid’s imagination.

Townes, of course, was special, and rocker, balladeer and troubadour Steve Earle finally met him and hung out with him, as well his musical cohorts like Jerry Jeff Walker, Guy Clark, Willie Nelson and other now legends who created original songs that feel like some gold gifted to us all.

Today, Steve has earned his own iconic status, not only by writing his own songs and performing to thousands, but by deep digging into the roots of more contemporary music, studying the wherefore and why of the musical traditions of songs and styles ingrained in and  beyond American shores.

Like generations before him, his own journey is part of both a land mass of musical traditions, and a migration of hard tack songs for future generations.

A couple of nights before, I watched and listened as he rolled out song after song of his own, as well as songs of his heroes, long gone. And, his presentations of their songs wasn’t filler for his own, it felt like he was honoring them; and it felt even more like loyalty to old friends, than fuel for his gig. Cool, well-known songs like: “Lungs,” “Pancho and Lefty,” “Mr. Bojangles,” and more, wafted throughout the now legendary Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia.

“I’m just trying to stay out of trouble,” says Earle with a laugh. “If I stay busy, then I’m OK.” – Steve Earle

Steve Earle’s recent release, Jerry Jeff

Earle’s life has had its ups and downs, and it’s self-evident that he’s had to dig himself up after digging himself down. Still, starting from ground zero and rebuilding one’s self, one’s career, one’s life takes some of that true grit many only hear about. As Steve suggests, his stories have been told elsewhere and we’re here, in the here and now to talk about this working man where he’s now planted.

With twenty-two albums notched on his belt, Steve Earle has gifted us with song after song, like his cool growly, “Copperhead Road,” a song loved in juke joints and large venues around the world, the crowd favorite, “Guitar Town,” as well as those on his latest release, Jerry Jeff, an album of choice songs by the great Jerry Jeff Walker. including “Getting By,” and, of course, “Mr. Bojangles.”

Steve’s more recent projects include his Sirius XM’s The Steve Earle Show: Hardcore Troubadour Radio, a couple of books and his second play. As the pandemic rolled through our country, he hosted Steve Earle’s Guitar Town, a YouTube series about his 200-plus guitar collection.

In our Zoomed conversation while he was on the road, I pulled out a couple of old guitars of mine to set up some time to talk about his love of guitars, and when I showed him my black ’31 Gibson L-00, it didn’t surprise me that he knew the model and owns one, one more rare than mine made in the ’30s with an elevated or ‘Torres” fretboard. Good thing we weren’t huddled in his shed of guitars going over his collection noting key details, otherwise we would have ended up as skeleton remains, surrounded by his vintage axes.

******

Rick Landers: Great concert last night at The Birchmere, and The Whitmore Sisters were terrific, and you guys were terrific. Your band, The Dukes, was spot on.

Steve Earle: Yeah.

Rick: What I liked was, you’ve got this growl to your voice, and I see that you’ve got a lot of shows, and you’re doing sometimes consecutive shows one night, one the next. I’m wondering, how do you manage to do that without ripping out your vocal chords? Do they get raw?

Steve Earle:  When I have trouble with my voice, I have some COPD, which is in pretty good shape these days. So I quit smoking, I guess 17, 16 years ago, something like that. But, the way I sing, I don’t know. It just doesn’t, my voice is like that. I don’t have much voice trouble. We do four, sometimes five shows in a row.

Rick: Do you? Wow.

Steve Earle: The way I sing. I guess it’s just not that demanding.

(Ed: Steve’s connection is glitchy, so he moves from his tour bus to his hotel room.)

Steve Earle at The Birchmere – Photo credit: (c) Rick Landers 2022

Rick: Oh, while you’re walking, I should show you some guitars.

Steve Earle: Yeah, well, yeah. I don’t have much out here. I don’t carry vintage stuff on the road. I’ve got a lot of guitars.

Rick: Yeah. I’ve heard you’ve got more than a few. I’ve probably got 15.

Steve Earle: Yeah, I’ve got more like 215. I’m a pretty serious collector. It’s just where I put money, whenever I manage to make it, and I had to start all over again at one point, but it’s something I understand and I love them, so yeah, that’s what I do. I put money into that, instead of something that I don’t even quite understand.

Rick: Let’s go back to the idea of your voice and how do you keep it in shape night after night of playing? And I heard part of that, but I didn’t hear a lot of it.

Steve Earle: I don’t do anything. I don’t have a lot of trouble with my voice the way that I sing. Usually when I have trouble it’s because of, I don’t have allergies per se, but I have COPD, and when the pollen’s really heavy. I don’t make records in May anymore, for instance. I learned not to do that, because the pollen’s so heavy that it’s going to affect, my chest closes.

My voice is more chest voice than it sounds like. So, if I have any trouble, it’s because my chest is closed up due to what they call environmental allergies.  I’m not allergic to anything. It’s not really hay fever. I just am sensitive to some kinds of pollen and dust and stuff in the air. So that can affect my voice some, but I started practicing yoga about, I don’t know, seven years ago now, something like that. And it’s a daily Ashtanga practice, and it’s helped my breathing a lot. So I’m singing better, I think, than I ever have.

Rick: Yeah, you sounded great last night. Just terrific, as did everybody. I see you’re headed up to Winnipeg at the end of the U.S. leg of this tour to the Burton Cummings venue.

Steve Earle: Yeah, that’s been the gig. I played that theater before it was called Burton Cummings. Yeah, we’ve been across the border twice already. We’ve already played the Calgary Stampede, and then we went across, came back in the States for a few gigs and then we went back across and played a big casino called Rama. It’s in Orillia, Ontario, the closest town, which is actually where Gordon Lightfoot was born, but this next trip, we’ll go back across, and we’ll go from Winnipeg west, and then exit the country at Vancouver and come down to the west coast of the United States.

Rick: It’s pretty over there. So, do you find the audiences maybe distinctively different or any different than American audiences?

Steve Earle: I’ve always done better in Canada than I did any place else. So, they’re different in that respect. The only place I ever played arenas was Canada.

Rick: Oh, really?

Steve Earle: Yeah. In the ’80’s, but I think they’re very singer-songwriter oriented there. I think they’ve always have been. And I think that’s one of the reasons I did as well as I did there. They like songs. The part of it that’s not French is as much Scots and Irish as it is more than it is English, when it gets right down to it. And I think that oral tradition and that tradition of songs and storytelling is pretty intense in that culture, and it is on the French side too, but just in a different language, so that’s not really my audience there.

Rick: Yeah. As well as Appalachia, which was pretty Gaelic in a lot of places.

Steve Earle: Absolutely. Gaelic and then also Eastern European, which everybody forgets about, because it was all about mining. So, when they discovered coal in those mountains, they imported the coal industry over from England, which meant the skilled workers, the so-called skilled miners were English, the engineers and stuff, but the laborers were Cornish and Welsh and Irish. And that’s the first wave, and then other miners from other parts of Europe started coming.

There used to be a pretty good Kosher deli in Knoxville, Tennessee, and one in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, that were owned by brothers because of that, but yeah, that’s the reason that that Irish and Scottish thing is in the music and that part of the world, which I was exposed to to some extent growing up in Texas. My mom was born in Tennessee, and we used to go visit her grandmother. So I went to the Grand Ole Opry the first time when I was seven.

And I guess that’s what stuck with me the most out of that trip. And it’s always been in what I do. That’s why “Copperhead Road” started with that idea of the bagpipe at the front of “Copperhead Road” was, there’s always a groaning in almost always in what I do anyway, and I was just trying to come up with that.

It was just a way to set that story up that the idea was isolation, and bagpipes are an interesting sound, because the Irish say, the joke in Ireland is that the Irish gave the Scottish bagpipes as a joke and they took it seriously, because they’re the same people and they’re two migrations of Celts into that part of the world, one earlier and one later and the Irish came, the Celts, whoever they were, came to Ireland first and then over the top of that island and settled in Scotland. The Cornish and the Welsh came much later.

It’s a different language group and a different migration of Celts, and they don’t know who the Celts were or where they came from. The bloodlines are largely Scandinavian, because those people conquered everywhere in Ireland, except Galway in the west coast. It has a separate history mainly because of primitive sailing, that the boats took you where they could take you. So Galway’s a Norman town rather than a Viking town. The only city in Ireland that is, so it has a different history and different culture.

Rick: Did you do a lot of research on mining, because you did the song about mining and you learned about the Irish coming over? Is that where you got that?

Steve Earle: No. I’ve known that stuff for a long time, and I’ve written other stuff about mining. I made a record called, The Mountain, which was a bluegrass record years ago and it has two songs, “The Mountain” and “Harlan Man” that are just a little suite that are the same character years apart in his life talking to you in two different songs.

But, I just made a whole record that was largely about coal mining. My last record of original material was called, Ghosts of West Virginia, and that song that you’re probably talking about, that you heard, that happened 12 years ago, and that happened because of a play that some friends of mine wrote, and they asked me to do music for it. That’s how I found out about that situation.

Well, I heard about it when it happened, but that’s how I got connected to it. I do a lot of research on everything that I do, but I know a lot of that explosion in West Virginia. I have developed a relationship with some of those people. All of us involved, in there was a play called Coal Country that was up at the Public Theater. COVID closed it down. We went back up at Cherry Lane with the Public producing, and that closed right before this tour started.

Rick: Yeah. I wrote a song about two coal mining disasters. One in 1913, one in 1923 in Dawson, New Mexico, where about 400 men passed away. Some of the men in 1923 were the sons of the men who passed away in 1913. So, I’m going to perform it near Raton.

Steve Earle: That’s interesting.

Rick:  It’s called Dawson. It’s a ghost town now.

Steve Earle: I know where it is. I know exactly where it is.

Rick:  I’m going to play to 100 and then 500 people in September and I’m going to play at the grave of the only Scottish guy there. I wrote that song after I took a camp with John McCutcheon. About six months later, I wrote it, not thinking of John, other than I wanted to write a folk song. And then I found out the only Scottish guy who died was named McCutcheon.

Steve Earle: Huh. That’s interesting. Yeah.

Rick: Its kind of strange. So do you know Burton Cummings?

Steve Earle: No. Never met him.

Rick:  Neil Young or Joni Mitchell?

Steve Earle: I know Neil Young. I’ve met Joni Mitchell. I rode in a van with her once at a festival. That’s the only time I met Joni Mitchell. I’ve known Neil Young for a long time. I know Lightfoot really well.

Rick: My wife saw him last night. We had to split up. So, she went to see Gordon, and I went to see you.

Steve Earle: Oh, cool. Where was Lightfoot?

Rick: He was up in Frederick, Maryland.

Steve Earle: Oh, cool.

Rick: The Whitmore Sisters, how did you meet them?

Steve Earle: I’ve known them for a while. Eleanor has been the fiddle player in my band for 12 years. Her and her husband, Chris Masterson. They make records as The Mastersons, as well, and I’ve known Bonnie about the same amount of time, a little less time than I’ve known them, but they just happened to make a record.

This past year they decided that’s what they were going to do. Normally, The Mastersons open my shows, but the Whitmores had made a record, and so we gave up our junk bunk and Bonnie’s on the tour, and so the Whitmores are opening.

Rick: They were terrific. Their harmonies reminded me, the closeness, the tightness of their harmonies remind me of the Everly Brothers and some of the Beach Boys harmonies.

Steve Earle: Well, that’s what happens with people that are related sing together.

Rick: Yeah. Or the Bee Gees. Same thing.

Steve Earle: Yep, yep.

Rick: Well, let’s talk a little bit about guitars. So, you’re not an accumulator, because I’m sure you’ve heard that some people accumulate and some people collect, and it sounds like you’re a collector and you dig in, and you research, right?

Steve Earle – Photo credit: (c) Rick Landers 2022

Steve Earle: Yeah. One time I might have been bordering on being the accumulator. I didn’t really mean to be, but I bought some stuff that I probably wouldn’t buy now. I pick and choose it a little bit more. I learned a lot. The first several years I was in New York, first five years, I lived right behind Matt Umanov’s shop.

I’ve known George Gruhn since I was 19. So when I got to Nashville and I just learned a lot about it over the years, and I collect both acoustic and electric guitars, but more acoustics, more Martins than anything else. I’m pretty close to a complete collection of Gibson acoustics. There’s only a few things I don’t have.

And I’ve got an embarrassingly good collection of archtops for somebody that really doesn’t deserve to have them, because I’ve got the last New Yorker special that Jimmy D’Aquisto built.

Rick: Oh, do you?

Steve Earle: I’ve got a D’Angelico that Steve Gilchrist restored and it’s incredible. It’s an Excel, from the Thirties. Non-cutaways are the old man’s best guitars. I think pretty much everybody agrees with that, but I’ve got one of Gilchrist’s 16-inch archtops, and I’ve got an L-5. It’s a transitional L-5. Its got bar markers. Gibson has that order number thing and serial number thing. It’s probably a guitar that was built in ’35 and sold in ’36, because it’s a 16-inch L-5, which isn’t supposed to exist in ’36, but the serial number is a 1936 serial number. So, it’s one of those confusing Gibson things that happens.

Rick: Yeah. That’s not uncommon. I’ll show you a little guitar. You might have one, it’s a 1931 L-00? [Rick grabs his guitar and shows it too Steve.]

Steve Earle: I have an L-00. Mine’s a ’33, because I’ve got one of the ones, the only year they had the elevated fretboard.

Rick: Oh, yeah. This is a 12 frets to the body.

Steve Earle: Yeah. Mine’s a’33 with an elevated fret board. Yeah. Yeah. Elevated fret board only happens one year, and I think Tom Crandall figured out why. Tom Crandall, who has TR Crandall in New York.

He’s an archtop guy. He’s actually building some L-5’s right now, and I’m going to get one just to have another guitar that he built. I own one guitar he built, but he’s the best repair guy in the business, as far as I’m concerned.

I’ve had this L-00 for a while, and it has the raised fretboard, and they only happened that one year. And then he figured out that, we’re both fans of L-10s, which is supposed to be the poor man’s L-5. I have a really good one that used to belong to Tom.

The best one I’ve ever played belonged to George Gruhn. He’s had it for since the ’70’s, and he’s never turned loose of it. And Steve Gilchrist bases his archtops on that L-10. That’s what made him want to build it, and he won’t build anything, but the 16-inch archtop. He won’t build the 17-inch guitar, because he doesn’t like them.

But, jazz guys want 17-inch guitars for the most part now. The elevated fretboard probably came about, and this holds up, I think, because they’re L-10 necks that they were lying around. They had partial L-10s and no orders for L-10s, and so they just re-purposed a bunch of necks or studied L-10s that were being built and built L-00s, and used those necks and adapted them for them. That makes sense, because it’s the way Gibson did things. No doubt about it.

Rick: Yeah. Even the early 1952 Les Pauls, they used really good archtop wood on the tops. I had one, and somebody had taken the finish off, and the top wood was gorgeous, rippled.

Steve Earle: Yeah. And later, the Bursts had that kind of wood later, and they didn’t last very long. That’s the reason they’re so valuable. I’ve got a ’50, as early as a Humbucking Les Paul gets. I’ve got a ’57, no stickers, no Patent Applied For, but no stickers on either pickup. Double white…

Rick: Yeah. My ’52’s P-90s were probably the most monstrous pickups I’d ever had on a guitar. But, it had that weird bridge and I was like, “Eh, can’t play this.” But here’s here’s one more. [Rick shows Steve an old Gibson] It was built in 1949. It’s a 1950 CF-100, but it was made in 1949.

Steve Earle: I’ve got a ’51 that’s probably, it’s the best one I’ve ever played. It’s really good.

Rick:  This belonged to a family until I bought it about six or seven months ago. And it’s from a Emmett Lundy. If you ever heard of Emmett Lundy, who won of the first gold coin at Galax for fiddling. His family won some gold medals. On the back of the neck it’s etched From: Dad to Joy Lundy (1949).

Steve Earle: Right. Cool.

Steve Earle: Yeah, they can be good. They usually fall apart. They sound great, when you find one that’s intact, but they quit making them because when they put the cutaway in, it weakened the design and the adaptation they made. So you get them a lot, and they’re pretty much basket cases, but I’ve got a good one.

Rick: So let’s move on a little bit to your albums with about Townes Van Zandt, and your new one, Jerry Jeff. What was it like for when you first met Townes? Was he playing somewhere, because I understand that you went to meet him when you were 14, but you didn’t meet him till later. So how did that…

Steve Earle: I met him at the Old Quarter in Houston. It’s a pretty famous story. He was heckling me, and you can find that on-line…I was stalking him around. I was following him around, and we finally met, and for some reason, didn’t run me off. Because I knew him when I got to Nashville, they gave me an automatic introduction to Guy Clark.

I was in the same room with Jerry Jeff [Walker], but never really met him before I left Texas. But, then once I knew Guy, when Jerry Jeff came through, that gave me an introduction to Jerry Jeff. So, they were my three original guys. So, that was Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Jerry Jeff Walker. And that’s why I made those three records.

Rick: What were your first impressions of them when you met those guys?

Steve Earle: I was following Townes around. The first time I saw Townes, other than on stage was at Jerry Jeff’s birthday party, which I crashed. I wasn’t even supposed to be there. And he walked in and started a dice game and lost a jacket that Jerry Jeff had given him for his birthday, because their birthdays are about a week apart. And he lost every time he had on that jacket, and I thought, “My hero.” and I followed him around for a couple years before I went to Nashville.

Rick: Yeah. So what are your lasting impressions of him? When you think about him, is there something that pops up in your mind, like a nice guy or just a great singer-songwriter?

Steve Earle: There’s been a lot of stuff written about Townes, and I don’t want to even want to get into it. I knew him pretty well, and I named my firstborn son after him. He could be his own worst enemy, but he was a great songwriter. He was one of the best songwriters that ever lived, and that’s the way I want to remember him, and that’s the way I want to talk about him.

Rick:  I understand. I guess there’s a lot of people who don’t know these stories and so…

Steve Earle: Well, I know, but somebody else will tell you those stories, whether they were there or not. There’s lots of people that tell those stories, and they weren’t even there. So, you can find one of those people.

Rick: Yeah. I just read a book about him, so I’m familiar, but a lot of readers may not be.

Steve Earle: Exactly.

Rick: Do you have any favorite songs that you like to sing of theirs? I know you did…

Steve Earle: Townes? I did a whole record of Townes’ records. I don’t know. I did “Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold”. One of the ones that I go back to, there’s a song called,”Lungs”. I’ve done a lot of Townes’. I do “Pancho and Lefty” still. As obvious as that is, they’re not the obvious. I just did it at Willie Nelson’s birthday party. Guy, there’s a lot of his songs that I like. Probably “LA Freeway”, “Old Time Feeling” and “The Last Gunfighter Ballad”. I’m one of the few people that covers that. And Jerry Jeff, there’s lots of stuff. I’m getting to sing “Mr. Bojangles” again, as obvious as that is, I played that song the first time when I was 14 years old in a play in high school. So, now I get to sing it again. That’s the best thing about this project.

Rick: Yeah. That’s cool. I’m recording an album with Les Thompson, if you know Les, he’s a co-founder of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. He lives not too far from here. Nice guy. So, I sent him a short video of you doing “Mr. Bojangles”, and so I guess I’ll hear back from him.

Steve Earle: Cool.

Rick: Last night you mentioned that you, it sounded like you’re going to get into music beyond albums and stuff, that you might be doing some stuff for maybe some media outlets. I didn’t know if you were talking TV commercials or TV series or something that…

Steve Earle: No. I’m doing music for, I’m writing a musical of Tender Mercies, which is a movie that was out in the ’80’s that, Robert Duvall was in. Horton Foote wrote the screenplay, and his daughter Daisy and I are writing a musical of Tender Mercies.

Rick: Yeah. I think Craig Bickhardt did some songs for that original movie. So there’s another one coming up?

Steve Earle: No, all the songs that were in the movie, Robert Duvall wrote.

Rick: Did he really? Huh? I didn’t know that.

Steve Earle: Yeah, Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

[Ed Note: Steve’s correct, two of Craig Bickhardt’s songs are on the soundtrack album, although not in the movie.]

Rick: If it’s okay to talk about Justin, an excellent songwriter, what did you learn from him, and what have you learned from your other kids that you wouldn’t have learned from if you hadn’t been a father?

Steve Earle: Oh, I think he was a better finger picker than I am, and I’m not bad, but he was really, really good at it. And he sorted me out on a couple of Mance Lipscomb songs that I’d been trying to play, and I’d been approaching them wrong. And he, for some reason, caught the wave on them, and so I learned how to play them correctly from him.

Rick: What about your other kids? What have you learned from them? I’m just thinking of you as a father, what have you learned not only in the music arena, but about life in general?

Steve Earle: Well, we were parents, like one of those things. When people have kids and they think it’s going to complete them, I’m like, “No, no, no, that’s not what it does. What it does is, it tears out a piece of your heart, and it releases it into the universe and it goes out there and it breaks it every chance it gets.” And that’s the best case scenario. That’s something, like what happened to Justin doesn’t happen. So, you learn everything. It’s pretty universal what you learn from being a parent, and I have learned that I can’t parent adults, and, that’s probably the most valuable thing I’ve learned from having kids and having them over a period of decades, because I’ve still got a 12-year-old, and he has autism. So, I’m a full-time single dad nine months of the year.

Rick: Okay. Let’s move into lyrics. As a songwriter, when you’re writing lyrics, you find that there’s the epiphany when you come up with a lyric that you would go, “That’s a great lyric,” and you know it’s a great lyric? How do you compare that to being on stage and actually singing those lyrics? There’s got to be some different emotional feelings while you’re doing either one.

Steve Earle: Oh, you just try not to check out and think about baseball or something like singing them when you sing songs. And if I catch myself not being present, I try to correct that, and I’ve gotten to be more into that since I started doing a little bit of acting, which didn’t happen until relatively recently, the last 15 years, 16 years. But no, it’s a little longer, it’s about 20 years, but I think I’m a way more present performer in my day job than I was since I did a little bit of acting. I just learned that from actors. I paint, and I’m really bad at it, but I do it. And I write. I’ve written a couple of books and I occasionally write nonfiction pieces.

I know what I was put here to do, which is write songs, and that all just informs that’s my home base thing that I do. So just writing, I write every day, pretty much. I try to write, when I wake up in the morning, I try to work on something, and I’ll have two or three things going.

I’ve got a book going right now. I’ve got songs for Tender Mercies going. I’ve got a lyric that I’ve been struggling to get finished, just because it’s a little harder. I’m beat, because I’m out here, I’m on the road, I’m playing six shows a week, but I do write as much as I can.

Steve Earle – Photo credit: (c) Rick Landers 2022.

Rick: Yeah. Couple of songs that you did last night, I wasn’t really expecting. They were almost grunge, and I can’t remember the name of the songs, but it’s near the end of your performance. they were really heavy hitting songs that weren’t like country songs. What were those songs?

Steve Earle: You haven’t heard a lot of my records, obviously.

Rick: No, I have not. I have not.

Steve Earle: Yeah. So I was played on country radio for about 30 seconds in the ’80’s, and I had the number one country album, but my first two albums were marketed as country albums, but my third album, it was Copperhead Road, that was marketed as a rock record.

But, a lot of people thought it was too country, so it didn’t get universally played. Then I had to start all over again, because of my own stuff in the mid-’90’s. And from that point on, I essentially made what I thought were rock records for the most part, but they still turned out pretty country too.

I’ve never worried about those things, country and rock and folk. I see myself as a songwriter, and I made a bluegrass record and I made it with the Del McCoury Band. I made a blues record, because that’s always been in what I do because I’m from Texas, and I saw Mance Lipscomb and Lightnin’ Hopkins in the same room at the same time on more than one occasion.

I’ve known Billy Gibbons since I was a teenager. So, I just try to find a different way to write new songs, and sometimes that means getting outside of what I normally do, but I had a ridiculously loud four-piece adult rock band for a lot of the ’90’s, and I just drifted back towards having a steel player and having a fiddle player in the last 14 or 15…the steel player, I hadn’t had a steel player in the band since the ’80’s until a record called, “So You Want to be an Outlaw” that I made. I guess it’s six years ago, something like that now, and that’s when Ricky came along. Eleanor’s been in the band for 12 years, so fiddle’s been there that long, and it’s great because I can do this stuff. I can do the bluegrass stuff. This band [The Dukes] can do anything I’ve ever recorded.

Rick: Yeah. They’re like your own Wrecking Crew.

Steve Earle: Yeah. They can do anything. Literally.

Rick: They were pretty amazing. That’s pretty much what I got for our time here. I want thank you and Paige (publicist) and must say you’ve got a really good support group, as well as a great band, you’re a blessed man.

Steve Earle: Okay, cool. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thanks a lot.

STEVE EARLE TOUR!

Press Release

Source: Mark Pucci PR

Corey Harris/Alvin Youngblood Hart/Guy Davis – new album, Fight On!: True Blues Vol. 2 (out April 17 on Yellow Dog Records), from three of today’s deepest, most decorated acoustic blues masters who reunite to summon ancestral spirits with songs both long remembered and newly created.

Advance music and album pre-orders HERE!  

Even as they step back in time, Guy Davis, Corey Harris and Alvin Youngblood Hart—who won ardent acclaim for their first True Blues project in 2013—prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that African American blues remains as vital and vibrant as ever.

These three first met at the Chicago Blues Festival in 1996 and are now coming together nearly 30 years later for a powerful follow-up to their acclaimed first True Blues collaboration. The album features nine tracks blending traditional material (Charley Patton, Rev. Gary Davis, Virginia songsters) with original compositions.

“I have a photograph somewhere of Corey, Guy and myself at the Chicago Blues Festival, 1996,” remembers Alvin Youngblood Hart. “A time when we were being touted by the ‘Blues Establishment’ as ‘The New Saviors Of The Blues.’ So whatever man, it was destiny that we’d end up doing something like True Blues. This new album is a continuation, or reunion of the project we started over a decade ago.”

“The thematic tie of the record lies in the fact that we are three African-American bluesmen who are fighting to maintain our cultural legacy and heritage,” adds Corey Harris. “Each of these nine tracks represents a contemporary image of traditional Black lifeways.”

As for the album’s title, Guy Davis states: “The fight we are waging is to keep this precious music form alive. To us, there is not so much difference between our arrangements of blues classics and our newly created work. It’s all connected to the ancestral spirit.” Raw, heartfelt and sounding absolutely nothing like a dusty museum piece, Fight On!: True Blues Vol. 2 is a loving celebration of shared music and friendship, a long-dreamed-about project that now, countless tours and conversations later, finally arrives.

Press Release

Source: Mark Pucci PR

“The single most spectacular solo I’d ever heard (‘Like A Rock’)” – BOB SEGER

“A singer and guitarist of the first rank. A master of his instrument!” – JOHN MAYALL

“My favorite Blues guitarist and vocalist…the real deal.” – STEVE MILLER

“Rick Vito’s guitar playing is as cool and sharp as a Cadillac tail fin!” – BONNIE RAITT

Grammy-nominated guitarist Rick Vito announces the April 3rd release of his new all-instrumental album, Slidemaster, on MoMojo Records, with physical distribution by MVD and digital thru The Orchard. Pre-orders for Slidemaster are available now!

This unique recording is a compilation of Rick’s all-instrumental cuts played exclusively on slide guitar, in the style of which he is universally renowned. It features both new material plus some of his best former releases which were remixed and mastered specifically for the album. Rick’s takes on Peter Green’s “Albatross,” and “The Supernatural,” Sam Cooke’s, “A Change Is Gonna Come,” and the originals, “Vegas Jump,” and “Soul Shadows,” are not to be missed!

“For many years now, friends have asked, ‘when will you release an instrumental album?’ Having recorded even more instrumental tracks this past year, I finally decided to do just that,” says Vito. “To my knowledge there have not been many slide guitar instrumental albums, and out of this came the idea for my new release, Slidemaster. These new works are paired with some of my very favorite cuts from previous albums resulting in a soulful collection of all-instrumental slide guitar tracks. This album comes from years of recording in a style that I hope you will love as much as I do.”

Rick’s last album, the highly acclaimed Cadillac Man in 2024, generated universal rave reviews and extensive radio airplay, reaching the number one slot on the Roots Radio Report. “Vito transports listeners with his wraithlike style. He never wastes a note in his expressive playing and always finds just the right phrase to fit the song he’s serving on his album,” said Henry Carrigan in Living Blues. In Rock and Blues Muse, Jim Hynes opined: “Vito’s playing is clean, tasty, and impactful… one of the best guitarists in the genre, and a premiere slide guitarist with few peers.” And Marco Piazzalongo, writing in Jazz N More summed up by stating: “Vito’s licks and solos go down like a tasty cocktail mixed by one of the greats in the field. They exude atmosphere, warmth, deep musicality and do not require any gimmicks. But it’s not just his amazing skills on the six strings, be it without or (especially!) with a bottleneck, that Vito brings to life with grandeur on Cadillac Man. His songwriting also has style and class throughout, is based on inspiration from across blues’n’roots history, and is cleverly composed.”

Guitarist, singer and producer Rick Vito is perhaps best known as a member of the legendary supergroup Fleetwood Mac (1987-1991). His guitar work and songs are featured on their albums, Greatest Hits, Behind The Mask, The Very Best Of Fleetwood Mac, The Chain, and the live concert DVD, Tango In The Night.

He later partnered with Mick Fleetwood to form the “Mick Fleetwood Blues Band featuring Rick Vito.” Shortly after the release of their CD, Blue Again, Rick was nominated for the 2010 Grammy Award in the Best Traditional Blues category as both artist and producer.

Of particular note, Rick’s now iconic slide guitar solos on Bob Seger’s “Like A Rock,” have been heard and heralded by untold millions, both on Seger’s hit albums and as the guitar voice on the Chevy truck TV commercial ads which ran over ten years.

Rick’s solo albums began with Atlantic Records in 1992 with his debut album, King of Hearts, after which he began performing worldwide with his own band.  His unique guitar work has also appeared on hundreds of recordings by such legendary Rock & Roll and Blues Hall of Fame artists as Bonnie Raitt, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, John Fogerty, Christine McVie, Little Richard, Leon Russell, Boz Scaggs, Maria Muldaur, John Prine, Delbert McClinton, Rita Coolidge, Roy Orbison, Jackson Browne, Roger McGuinn, Todd Rundgren, Bob Seger, and scores of others.

Rick Vito is also the recipient of the Blues Music Award for the song of the year, “It’s Two A.M.” by Shemekia Copeland, and his compositions have appeared in numerous movies and TV shows, including multiple episodes of the highly acclaimed TV series, “Blue Bloods.”

A designer of Art Deco and Modernistic guitars, Rick’s stunning “Rick Vito Soul Agent” Signature model guitar is currently available from Reverend Guitars. This represents the fourth edition of Reverend Signature models bearing Rick’s name and design features.

In 2020, Rick appeared alongside Christine McVie (in her final performance), Billy Gibbons, Pete Townsend, David Gilmour, Bill Wyman, John Mayall and a host of other musical luminaries in the “Mick Fleetwood & Friends Celebrate the Music of Peter Green” concert filmed in London, now available on CD and DVD from BMG.

About Rick Vito

Rick Vito began his professional career in 1971 after moving to Los Angeles and joining Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, also working with Todd Rundgren and Derek & The Dominoes’ Bobby Whitlock. Vito was a featured guitarist on Bob Seger’s albums starting in 1986, including his legendary slide guitar solo on the Seger classic, (and Chevy truck TV commercial), “Like a Rock.” He was a regular member of Bonnie Raitt’s touring band in the 1980s and 1990s, also recording and/or touring with John Mayall, Jackson Browne, Little Richard, Roger McGuinn, Roy Orbison, Dobie Gray, John Fogerty, Stevie Nicks, Maria Muldaur, Albert Collins Dolly Parton and many others. Vito has had 12 solo album releases (counting his latest), having toured in Europe and the US with his own band. He also produced rockabilly singer Rosie Flores’ album, Speed of Sound, released in 2001.

SLIDEMASTER

PRODUCED BY RICK VITO (C) 2026

Catalog Number: MMJ404

1.       VEGAS JUMP

2.       STEAL AWAY

3.       THE BIG BEAT

4.       THE DANGER ZONE

5.       RED HOT BABY

6.       ALBATROSS

7.       SOUL SHADOWS

8.       SLIDE THE BLUES

9.       A CHANGE IS GONNA COME

10.   RIVER OF BLUES

11.   THE SUPERNATURAL

12.   THE LORD’S PRAYER

MUSICIANS:

Guitars, Acoustic & Electric Bass, Keys, Percussion: Rick Vito

Drums: Rick Reed (tracks 1, 5, 6, 8, 9), Lynn Williams (track 11), Charles Johnson (tracks 2, 3, 4, 7)

Electric Bass: Charlie Harrison (tracks 1, 6, 8, 9)

Organ: Mark Horwitz (track 9), Kevin McKendree (track 12)

SONGS: Rick Vito, Vitone Music, BMI, plus:

“Albatross” and “The Supernatural” by Peter Green, Primary Wave Music

“Steal Away” by Jimmy Hughes, Screen Gems-EMI Music

“The Lord’s Prayer” by Albert Hay Malotte, G. Schirmer Inc.

“A Change Is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke, Abkco Music Inc.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Mark Vito

ENGINEERS: Rick Vito, Brian Harrison, OB O’Brien, Michael Lawson

MASTERING: Phil Nicolo, Studio 4 Mastering

Press Release

Source: Chummy Press

The Mountain Music Festival, a three-day classic rock n’ roll music experience, is set to return August 21st-23rd to the Gatlinburg Convention Center, located in Tennessee’s beautiful Great Smoky Mountains.

The three-day, all-ages, immersive fan and artist celebration will feature over twenty-five artists (including fan favorites and emerging acts) performing on three stages, plus an array of interactive events and activities (including photo opportunities with select bands, and access to the Rock N’ Roll Marketplace, Rock N’ Roll Art Gallery, and Outdoor Patio Experience), with more to be announced.

Three-day General Admission passes ($449.00 per person, plus taxes and fees) and two-day General Admission passes ($349.00 per person, plus taxes and fees) are available now, with single-day General Admission passes set to be released this Spring/Summer (date and pricing TBA). VIP Top of the Mountain passes sold out during the festival’s alumni pre-sale. Fans have until March 31st to take advantage of a discount being offered: $50 off on three-day General Admission passes and $40 off on two-day General Admission passes. For more info and to purchase tickets, visit TheMountainUSA.com, and follow on Facebook and Instagram for updates.

New to the festival in 2026 will be Guitar Clinics, hosted by three rock legends: Joel Hoesktra, Reb Beach, and George Lynch. Featuring exclusive and intimate sessions that go beyond the stage, the Guitar Clinics promise to offer fans rare insight, hands-on guidance, and stories straight from the pros. For access to the Guitar Clinics, fans must purchase the three-day General Admission pass + Guitar Clinics package ($519.00per person, plus taxes and fees). More details will be announced leading up to the festival

Daily lineup for The Mountain Music Festival 2026

Friday, August 21st

Pearcy and DeMartini (performing the music of RATT)

Sebastian Bach (the voice of Skid Row)

Lynch Mob

Tuk Smith and The Restless Hearts

Reb Beach

Tora Tora

The Cruel Intentions

Ted Poley

Wildstreet

Soto & Bieler

No Love Lost

Saturday, August 22nd

Bret Michaels

Night Ranger

Jackyl

Lita Ford

White Lion

Vandenberg

Dangerous Toys

Crazy Lixx

Bad Marriage

Wildstreet

Hoekstra & Gibbs

Saturday Late Night Show

Faster Pussycat

Sunday, August 23rd

Rick Springfield

38 Special

Warrant

Vixen

John Waite

Steelheart

The Cruel Intentions

Bad Marriage

Luke Robert

Returning as official festival hosts are Eddie Trunk (VH1, SiriusXM), comedians Jim Florentine and Don Jamieson (former hosts of VH1 Classic’s hit TV show “That Metal Show”), and Bay Area pioneer radio DJ Nikki Blakk.

An inviting and quaint mountain town in eastern Tennessee, Gatlinburg is a fabulous tourist destination featuring great dining options, outdoor attractions, shops, and a plethora of lodging options all nestled under the backdrop of the breath-taking Smoky Mountains. Located in the heart of the town, the Gatlinburg Convention Center (234 Historic Nature Trail, Gatlinburg, TN 37738) is easily accessible with many hotels, restaurants, and shops within walking distance.

With a myriad of events, activities, and music to keep fans entertained day and night, this Smoky Mountain Rock N’ Roll hoedown promises to be one of the biggest events of the year for music fans.

About The Mountain Music Festival:

The Mountain Music Festival, which successfully debuted October 2021 in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, is a three-day classic and hard rock n’ roll music experience brought to you by the creators of the pioneering On the Blue Cruises. For more info, visit TheMountainUSA.com and follow on Facebook and Instagram.

Press Release

Source: SKH Media

Six-string-wizard Paul Gilbert reveals his latest music video for Keep Your Feet Firm and Even, on the day he releases his brand-new album WROC, on Music Theories Recordings / Artone. You can order and stream the album HERE

WROC is his highly ambitious new conceptual album. WROC, which stands for “Washington’s Rules of Civility,” could very well be the guitar superstar’s most outlandish offering to date. Using George Washington’s Rules of Civility as a conceptual homing beacon, Gilbert has dared himself to think outside the box and use an etiquette guide dating back to the late 1500s as his main source of inspiration.

Keep Your Feet Firm and Even is inspired by Washington’s Rules: 10 and 19: “When you Sit down, Keep your Feet firm and Even, without putting one on the other or Crossing them” and “Let your Countenance be pleasant but in Serious Matters Somewhat grave.”

Talking about the song, Gilbert says; “Decades ago, when I first came across the Washington Rules of Civility on my bookshelf, I read the introduction and thought, “I am a civil person. I bet I can follow all these rules easily!” As I read further, I realized that some of the rules might be more challenging than I had anticipated. As I am typing this now, I am in fact “putting one foot on the other and crossing them while I sit.” (breaking a Washington rule.)”

This follows the previous singles taken from the album; Go Not Thither,  If You Soak Bread In The Sauce, Show Not Yourself Glad (At The Misfortune of Another) and Conscience is the Most Certain Judge.

 For Gilbert, there was a palpable excitement in resurrecting these 16th Century guidelines for the hyper advanced social order of today’s world. “I’ve never in my life had such a good time writing songs,” he admits. “I would look through the rules, sing them out loud and see which ones worked. Sometimes I’d have to flip something around or grab another rule for a bridge, but a lot of these songs are word for word.”

He goes on to say, “WROC is my first vocal album since 2016. The lyrics were inspired by the etiquette book, “George Washington’s Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior.” I truly enjoyed turning Washington’s Rules of Civility (WROC) into ROCK songs! I hope my vocal and guitar melodies will stir your heart and improve your table manners. Spit Not in the Fire!”

Paul Gilbert knows a thing or two about which rules to follow — and when to break them. In Mr. Big, he was responsible for pioneering pop rock anthems. In Racer X, he pushed the electric guitar to its furthest limits, in a more metallic direction, and as a solo artist, he’s traversed both instrumental and vocal-led sonic landscapes that have crossed over from blues, classical and jazz to straight-up rock.

Other than the lead vocals, the album was recorded live in four days at The Hallowed Halls in Portland with Nick D’Virgilio on drums, Doug Rappoport on guitar and Timmer Blakely on bass. Given how Gilbert has managed to not only exist but thrive in all kinds of musical situations for the best part of four decades, it shouldn’t be surprising how many different styles and sounds are intelligently encased within its 13 breathtaking tracks.

“Maybe I just get bored easily, both rhythmically and harmonically,” he ponders. “With that first song, I took my initial vocal melody and later added some spooky chords, shapes I’d learned from Burt Bacharach songs, as well as Todd Rundgren and The Beatles. It completely changed the emotion and experience, even though the melody was the same. There are AC/DC-style riffs and another that came from The Pusher by Steppenwolf, twisted into 7/8 and other time signatures. The trick was to make it flow. The masters of that are Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden. Sprinkle in some Burt Bacharach and Todd Rundgren and you’ve got WROC.”

 Mascot Label Group is a 100% independent record company specialized in guitar-oriented music with a focus on rock, metal and (Blues) guitar. The company has offices in New York, London, Paris, Milan, Cologne, Stockholm and Rotterdam (headquarters).

Artists on the roster and in the catalogue include: George Benson, Black Stone Cherry, Joe Bonamassa, Bootsy Collins, Crobot, Eric Gales, Gov’t Mule, Beth Hart, Steve Lukather, Yngwie Malmsteen, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Jake Shimabukuro, Robin Trower, VOLA, Volbeat,  and more.

Owned and operated labels include: Provogue – Music Theories Recordings – Cool Green Recordings – The Players Club – Funk Garage.

Paul Gilbert Online:
http://www.paulgilbert.com/
tiktok.com/@paulgilbert_official

instagram.com/paulgilbert_official facebook.com/paulgilbertmusic/

youtube.com/user/paulvsgodzilla

https://x.com/PaulGilbertRock

Press Release

Source: National GUITAR Museum

The National GUITAR Museum announced that Ritchie Blackmore, the esteemed guitar legend whose vast career spans more than 60 years, has received its annual “Lifetime Achievement” Award. Blackmore is the sixteenth recipient of the award.

Ritchie Blackmore joins previous award winners including Honeyboy Edwards, Jeff Beck, Bonnie Raitt, Liona Boyd, Jose Feliciano, and B.B. King. Recipients are recognized for a lifetime of contributing to the legacy of the guitar and having a singular historical importance to the development and historical appreciation of the instrument.

Lifetime Achievement Award (photo courtesy of The National GUITAR Museum)

According to HP Newquist, NGM executive director “Most people know Ritchie from being the driving creative force behind two of the defining hard rock bands of all time—Deep Purple and Rainbow. But before starting those bands, he had a long career as a London session musician, performing on records by numerous artists, including The Outlaws. And then—after helping to define hard rock guitar in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s—he formed Blackmore’s Night, incorporating medieval and Renaissance acoustic music into his immense repertoire.”

Said Blackmore, “I’m rather thrown by the magnitude of this honorable award. I am grateful to accept this award and this recognition.”

Blackmore’s guitar playing has inspired countless numbers of musicians to follow in his wake, and very few guitarists can match his lifetime of achievements. His influence is pervasive amongst players in a wide variety of genres, from blues-rock and heavy metal on to neoclassical and pop rock. It is conceivable that every electric guitarist on the planet has learned how to play the riff Blackmore came up with for “Smoke On The Water.”

Added Newquist, “It’s difficult to find any modern guitarist who has incorporated so many diverse styles into their playing—and then fused them all into something recognizably their own over their entire career. Ritchie was one of the first electric guitarists to add classical melodicism to his playing, along with classical speed and finesse. I think that most of the early ’80s guitarists who played lightning fast riffs and claimed to be learning from Bach and Mozart were, in fact, borrowing from Ritchie.”

Ritchie Blackmore joins previous Lifetime Achievement Award recipients:

2010: David Honeyboy Edwards

2011: Roger McGuinn

2012: B.B. King

2013: Vic Flick

2014: Buddy Guy

2015: Tony Iommi

2016: Glen Campbell

2017: Bonnie Raitt

2018: Liona Boyd

2019: Jose Feliciano

2020: Eddie Van Halen (in memoriam)

2021: Al Di Meola

2022: Jeff Beck

2023: Tommy Emmanuel

2024: Alex Lifeson

2025: Ritchie Blackmore

• More on Ritchie Blackmore

https://www.blackmoresnight.com/

• About The National GUITAR Museum

The National GUITAR Museum is the only museum in the world dedicated to the history, evolution, and cultural impact of the guitar. Its touring exhibitions have been featured in more than 60 museums worldwide.

In the coming year, those exhibitions will become the basis of The National GUITAR Museum and its permanent home.

For more information, contact The National GUITAR Museum at director@nationalguitarmuseum.com

Press Release

Source: Mark Pucce Media

Northern California’s blues scene is buzzing as the Carmen Ratti Band featuring Jill Dineen prepares to release their highly anticipated second studio album, Come to Me, on May 8th. The announcement follows the band’s recent signing with MoMojo Records, marking a major milestone in their fast-rising career and signaling their arrival on a broader national and international stage.

Formed in 2018, the Carmen Ratti Band quickly built a reputation for high-energy performances and a distinctive sound blending blues and roots influences.

Their 2021 debut, The Road Back, introduced audiences to their powerful chemistry and earned praise for its authenticity and musicianship. Now, with Come to Me, the group deepens that artistic vision. Recorded once again at Greaseland Studios in San Jose, California with acclaimed producer Kid Andersen, the album captures a band at full creative stride.

“Variety is central to our library,” says Carmen Ratti. “This record mirrors the roots of blues while incorporating soul, gospel, rock blues and funk. These textures honor our influences and show up in many different ways throughout the album.” He points to the gospel-inspired track, “Blessing in the Blues,” co-written with Jill Dineen, as a standout: “It perfectly showcases Jill’s vocal strength, and the final version came across beautifully in Kid’s hands.”

Jill Dineen describes the recording process as deeply collaborative and emotionally resonant. “Carmen and I continue to challenge each other in our songwriting and complement each other in our performance. In the studio, the songs seemed to just flow, with each musician adding new depth and layers to their meaning. This album carries a lot of heart, and I hope it helps create a bit of connection in the world.” Joining Carmen and Jill are Tony “Macaroni” Lufrano (keyboards/backing vocals), Randy Hayes (drums), and Steve Hazlewood (bass).

Since winning recognition from the Golden Gate Blues Society and performing extensively at clubs, festivals, and venues, the band has cultivated a loyal fan base drawn to their authenticity, virtuosity, and emotional intensity. The May release of Come to Me coincides with a summer tour to promote it.

With Come to Me, the Carmen Ratti Band featuring Jill Dineen stands poised to break beyond regional acclaim and establish themselves as one of today’s most exciting modern blues acts.

About the Carmen Ratti Band Featuring Jill Dineen

The Carmen Ratti Band featuring Jill Dineen is a rising force in contemporary blues, earning recognition for electrifying performances, dynamic musicianship, and commanding, emotive vocals. Under guitarist Carmen Ratti’s vision, the group has steadily built a devoted following across Northern California with a sound that fuses traditional blues roots and a fresh modern edge. Their momentum accelerated after winning honors from the Golden Gate Blues Society, confirming their place among the region’s most compelling live acts.

Their debut album, The Road Back, was recorded at the renowned Greaseland Studios with producer Kid Andersen capturing the group’s signature blend of searing guitar work, soulful grooves, and powerhouse vocals. They returned to the same studio in 2025 to record their new album, Come to Me, an original collection showcasing both their musical growth and deep artistic chemistry.

Having performed throughout the Bay Area alongside many of its finest blues artists, Carmen Ratti brings a rich depth of experience to his craft, shaping his signature sound: smoldering guitar work and a diverse repertoire of original songs that keep audiences captivated.

Jill Dineen is a powerhouse vocalist celebrated for her rich tone, soulful vocal delivery, and gripping stage presence, blending contemporary and traditional blues and roots with striking depth and fire.

Raised on her DJ dad’s vast record collection and her mother’s inspirational grit, she was immersed early in sounds spanning big band, soul, jazz, Motown, rock, R&B, and blues—drawing from legends like Otis Redding, Bessie Smith, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Nina Simone, and Janis Joplin to shape a voice that is both well developed and raw. With decades of stage and songwriting experience, Jill delivers an emotive, dynamic sound marked by authenticity, passion, and unmistakable power in every performance. Before joining the band in 2019, she fronted acclaimed projects across the U.S. and shared stages with leading blues artists nationwide.

The band is rounded out by some of the Bay Area’s finest musicians, Tony “Macaroni” Lufrano, Randy Hayes, and Steve Hazlewood. Together, the ensemble delivers performances that are passionate, authentic, and deeply engaging music that moves the body and stirs the soul.

Come to Me Track Listing and Credits – Catalog Number: MMJ-405

Jill Dineen – Vocals
Carmen Ratti – Guitar / Vocals
Steve Hazlewood – Bass
Randy Hayes – Drums
Tony “Macaroni” Lufrano – Organ / Piano / Backing Vocal
Lisa Leuschner Andersen: Background Vocals – Come to Me

Recorded/Mixed/Mastered & Produced by: Christoffer Lund Andersen, Greaseland Studios, San Jose, CA

1. No Delusion – 3:59 (Jill Dineen)
2. Get In Line – 4:29 (David Fulford & Jill Dineen)
3. Come to Me – 4:49 (Carmen Ratti & Jill Dineen)
4. I Can See – 3:52 (Jill Dineen)
5. Riley – 5:54 (Carmen Ratti)
6. Blessing in the Blues – 4:50 (Carmen Ratti & Jill Dineen)
7. Coming Down – 5:50 (Carmen Ratti)
8. About You – 4:54 (Carmen Ratti)
9. Uncle Joe – 4:03 (Carmen Ratti)
10. Pretty Good Man – 4:06 (Jill Dineen)
11. Come to Me – Extended Version – 6:58 (Carmen Ratti & Jill Dineen)