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Texas Blues Guitarslinger Shawn Pittman In Concert and On Tour

Texas Blues Guitarslinger Shawn Pittman is in concert at Katie's Bar, 315 Grand Ave., Bacliff, TX, Thursday, November 4th. Showtime: 9:00 pm. This free concert performance is sure to please and excite all that attend. Information available by phone (281) 559-3773 or visiting his website http://katiesbar.com.

Pittman is continuing the legacy of the Texas Guitar sound as exemplified in Shawn's recent sold-out show at The Kessler Theater in Dallas with Anson Funderburgh and Mike Morgan. Recording-wise, Pittman followed up his acclaimed 2020 album "Make It Right" (CRS) with 2021's acoustic effort, "Stompin' Solo" (Must Have Music).

Recently based in Tulsa, in 2021 Pittman relocated to Oak Cliff, in Dallas, where the Vaughan Brothers grew up. "Dallas is considered home for me. I live here in (1992-99)," recalls Pittman. "I released my first two albums in Dallas: "Burnin Up" (1998) and "Something's Gotta Give," both on the Cannonball Records label."

Pittman has assembled a new trio and has recently been gigging in the Dallas/Fort Worth/ Houston/San Antonio areas. He plans to record a new album with this same trio in 2022. Although he’s often closely associated with the Lone Star State since originally taking up residence in Dallas in the early ‘90s, vocalist/ guitarist Shawn Pittman is actually an Oklahoma native. Pittman was born in the small town of Talihina and raised in Cleveland County, Oklahoma. At age eight he began taking piano lessons under the encouragement of his mother, but later began sneaking into his older brother’s room to play his drum kit. By age fourteen he had switched to guitar and was soon introduced to the mysterious sounds of Lightnin’ Hopkins and Muddy Waters by Bracken Hale, a good friend and member of his middle school football team. Their friendship would prove significant as Hale would later collaborate with Pittman on writing material for several of his albums. A friend he met while playing basketball at the local ‘Y,’ Ben Bigby, introduced teenage Pittman to his father Bernard in Little Axe, Oklahoma. Pittman recalls: “Bernard showed me Jimmy Reed, Elmore James, and Albert King. He also told me I need to learn to sing. I took his advice.” After seven years in Dallas (1993-1999) and fourteen years in Austin (2000-2013), Pittman moved to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma where he now resides closer to family. He also took time off to earn a degree in Information Technology. Pittman released his 11th album “Backslidin’ Again” in 2015. In January, 2018 Shawn recorded his 12th album “Everybody Wants to Know” with longtime friend and drummer Jay Moeller. The album was released on the European label CrossCut Records in the fall of 2018. Fast-forward two years to Spring 2020: Pittman returns with Make It Right, in partnership with Netherlands-based Continental Record Services

As he looks past and forward, he shares, “I have had many obstacles on my road just like anybody that has embarked on this lifestyle, some selfinflicted, but through my failures I have learned invaluable lessons about life and people, and my strengths as well as my weaknesses.” “As an artist I feel like I am just beginning. The one constant I have had is the desire to be great at what I do. The late Clifford Antone told me “It’s all about making friends.” I combine that piece of advice with something B.B. King told me when I asked him his secret for longevity: “Treat people how you want to be treated, and remember everybody has a Boss.” Indie Pulse Music Magazine caught up with Pittman recently, doing a "5 Quick Questions" interview with the now-Dallas-based musician:

The Shawn Pittman Interview

Pittman moved back to Dallas in 2021, and as an adaptation to the pandemic, has expanded his repertoire to include acoustic/solo music. Shawn has a batch of upcoming gigs with his new trio next month, too: November 4 at Katie’s Bar in Baycliff, TX; November 5 at The Big Easy in Houston; November 6 at Green Oaks Tavern in Humble, TX; November 9 at Antones in Austin, TX; and November 12 at Poor David’s Pub in Dallas, TX. His latest release 'Stompin' Solo' is his first all-acoustic album on the CRS subsidiary Must Have Music.

IPM: Covid, at least for now, is in retreat, venues all across the US are reopening, and it appears you have some upcoming shows. Care to discuss this and your thinking behind gigging now, etc.?

IPM: What's the very latest on Shawn Pittman, recording-wise?

SP: I am set to go into the studio this November in Austin, TX with owner and founder of Wire Recording, Stuart Sullivan. I have done several records with Stuart and he always gets the sound I want. Stuart has an incredible resume that spans all genres and has recorded and worked with the likes of Nick Lowe and producer Colin Fairly, who ran Power Plant Studios and Mason Rughe Studios in England. He also worked at Willie Nelson’s Perdenales Studio before the Perdanales was shut down, Shortly after that, Sullivan did a brief stint in London working at Air Studios in Oxford Circus as well as at MasterRock. He also helped Clifford Antone establish Antone’s Records and has recorded acts from Jimmy Vaughan to Sublime. I will be building off of my last record ‘Make it Right!’ which was recorded in Denmark in 2019 and had a live sound to it with minimal overdubs and live performances built around a trio format. What will make this newest record more unique is that now that I reside in Dallas again, it has enabled me to put a band together with Jason Crisp (Omar and the Howlers, Paul Oscher, Moeller Bros) on bass and guitar.

I have been playing on and off with Jason for over twenty years. Jason also plays guitar which gives us the ability to play music from our heroes like Hound Dog Taylor, JB Hutto, Junior Kimbrough and RL Burnside. It’s a great mix of sounds. We can do the traditional Texas style as well as Chicago and Mississippi styles.

Our drummer Mike King is well-versed at the Earl Palmer, Fred Belo and Ted Harvey-type of playing that fits well with our repertoire. It will be a raw and live feel to the record and we are excited about it.

SP: It’s very touch and go. When the news cycle goes bad in terms of more cases, some venues are quick to close down and it makes it difficult for me to plan very far ahead. It depends on the city and state as well. Texas is a good place to be because you can play in DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth), Houston, Austin and San Antonio, and stay quite busy. I would like to start touring nationwide again. I had taken time off and in some ways I am re-introducing myself to those that have never heard of me and feel like I have a lot to prove in terms of staying consistently

playing. Covid has made that just a little bit harder for me to establish that so far. I do know that I have learned from my time off and all of my starts and stops, and feel like I have a good outlook and attitude towards the future and a lot of work ahead of me.

IPM: You've stated that you're someone that is "continuing the legacy of the Texas Guitar sound." Please elaborate.

SP: There is a certain sound that Texas is known for. Guys like the Vaughan Brothers, Anson Funderburgh, Freddie King, Lightnin’ Hopkins and T-Bone Walker created a sound that I try to continue on when I play. Dallas/Fort Worth in particular has spawned the likes of Doyle Bramhall, Delbert McClinton, Derek O’Brien, and scores of others including The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Mike Morgan and The Crawl, Jim Suhler and Monkey Beat, Tutu Jones, and Holland K. Smith. There is a certain groove that is unique to Texas and I consider myself a carrier of that torch. There is really only one place they refer to ‘Guitar Slingers’ and that is Texas.

SP: I think it will get back to normal at some point because people aren’t meant to be couped up in their house all the time. Musicians will continue to play live and record just like they always have. I think that “eradicating” the virus is unrealistic. The goal is too lofty to have zero cases. It will be here just like Chickenpox and the Measles. It can be deadly and it is serious, but I have had it twice, fourteen months apart. I just got my second shot of the vaccination, so I am a little sick as I write this. Just like anything else, I think it will run it’s course.

Shawn Pittman Tour Dates

Nov. 4 (Thur.) KATIE'S BAR Baycliff TX Nov. 5 (Fri.) THE BIG EASY Houston TX Nov. 6 (Sat.) GREEN OAKS TAVERN Humble TX Nov. 9 (Tues.) ANTONE'S** Austin TX Nov. 12 (Fri.) POOR DAVID'S PUB Dallas TX Nov. 20 (Sat.) THE GATEWAY BAR Yantis TX

* opening for Marcia Ball ** opening for Ana Popovic

More on His Website and Social media-

Shawn Pittman/Socials: http://www.shawnpittman.com/ http://www.facebook.com/Therealshawnpittman/ http://twitter.com/shawnpittman

IPM: Moving as you recently did from Oklahoma to Texas, just how different is the live music scene and gig opportunities in each state?

SP: Its night and day. I never really had any musical ties to Oklahoma aside from my early teacher Bernard Bigby from Tulsa. It might be because I left at a young age as soon as I fell in love with the Texas Sound. The economy is so much bigger in Texas and people are more familiar with the type of blues that I play in Texas. When I moved from Austin to Tulsa in 2014 it was really just to take a break from the music industry, although I ended up recording an acoustic record there, largely because I couldn’t find anybody that played the Texas style. They just don’t get into it there, (in Oklahoma), and there were not many opportunities for me.

IPM: What do you personally see for the future of both the recording industry and the live gig industry going forward, as we live in the age of Covid, and until (if) it is completely eradicated?