Walter Trout

Walter Trout Releases His Most Introspective Album Yet, Ordinary Madness

By Kevin Wildman Singer/songwriter/musician and guitarist extraordinaire, Walter Trout has just released his new album, Ordinary Madness on Provogue Records / Mascot Label Groups. This is Walter’s 29 th album in a series of solo albums that would make the average guitarist green with envy. Without a doubt, this is one of the finest albums that Walter has ever recorded. And why wouldn’t it be… Walter is like a fine wine…. He just gets better with age. His new album, Ordinary Madness, is basically what we’ve come to expect from him. It’s filled with great Blues, wonderful textures, beautiful lyrics, and some of the best

guitar licks you’ve ever heard, not to mention it’s packed with emotion. Walter is certainly an extraordinary guitarist. He has performed with some of the world’s finest musicians that the Blues has to offer. Most of you are going to remember him from his days with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and Canned Heat, but he has recorded and performed with a lot of other great artists, such as Jesse Ed Davis, Joe Tex, Lowell Fulson, John Lee Hooker, Percy Mayfield, and Big Mama Thornton just to name a few. With a pedigree like that, it’s no surprise that Walter is so versatile and able to play virtually anything you can throw at him. One look at this list of artists and you can see that the musical range of these folks runs the gamut from mild to wild. Walter wasn’t just a mere sideman with these groups, with his extreme prowess on guitar he was very instrumental in helping them shape their sound when he was with them. After many years of being a participant, he ventured out on his own and has never looked back. Those times performing with other artists were great, but his solo career is really an adventure… twenty-nine albums full of adventure… His career has been packed with emotional and professional ups and downs, but Walter has always landed on his feet and been able to take all that in stride. His newest adventure, Ordinary Madness, starts off in one of the most unlikely places you would imagine, but it was certainly one packed with inspiration. This new album and adventure takes him to sunny California and the studio of the legendary Doors guitarist, Robby Krieger. Yes, Ordinary Madness was recorded at the studio of Robby Krieger, a mystical place filled with instruments that helped shape the sounds of the 60s. “The whole place is full of vintage gear,” says Walter, “and it’s all there for you, whatever you want. The keyboard that Ray Manzarek used in The Doors – it’s just fucking sitting there. I remember, on the rhythm track for “OK Boomer,” Michael Dumas, who runs the studio, comes walking in and says: ‘Here’s the SG that Robby used in The Doors – wanna try this?’ Then, for the rhythm guitar on Heartland, he says: ‘Here’s one of James Burton’s Paisley Telecasters...’” The place was just filled with history and inspiration. For this project, Walter used his band of seasoned musicians that included Michael Leasure (drums), Johnny Griparic (bass) and Teddy ‘Zig Zag’ Andreadis (keys) – along with long-time producer Eric Corne, plus special guests Skip Edwards, Drake ‘Munkihaid’ Shining and Anthony Grisham. Fortunately for Walter and the band, they got in and finished the recording of the album prior to the Covid-19 lockdown. The pandemic didn’t effect the recording of the project at all, however it did impact the planned touring schedule afterward. In fact, Walter and the guys were supposed to perform at The Funky Biscuit in Boca Raton, Florida, and he had to cancel the gig because of the virus. We’ve since found out that The stop and check myself out and go. ‘Hey, Funky Biscuit has had to close its doors for dude. You know because you went through good. After the pandemic started raging in that trauma as a kid and it molded parts of California, Walter and his wife Maria packed you, you don’t have to treat this person this up and retreated to their home in Denmark to way. You don’t have to react this way to sit out the pandemic. certain things happening in your life. I’ve Ordinary Madness starts off with the been in therapy and I’ve gotten tools to deal slow blues title song, “Ordinary Madness,” with a lot of that shit, but it’s still there and which Walter tells us that pretty much it’ll always be there. I’m never going to be everybody has and just has to learn how to walking around in ignorant Bliss. There’s live with it. It’s also something that he feels always the light side and there’s the dark side, he has and will have to walk around with for and you deal with both.” the rest of his life… but he’s learned how to Walter seems to always take great deal with it. “Well,” explains Walter, “it’s departures between albums. His last album something I think everybody carries inside of was Survivor Blues, in which he wanted to them. For instance, I’m Incredibly grateful to find obscure Blues songs by other artists and be alive and thankful to be here and I get up put his own signature on them… maybe even every morning and I say to myself what am I interpret them a bit differently and put his grateful for and I try to live my life in own style into them. He wanted to help gratitude. But I still carry the shit that I’ve resurrect those songs and bring them back for carried all my life… those inner demons that people to discover and enjoy. For Ordinary caused me to want to go take heroin and Madness, he wanted to concentrate more on drink alcohol and do shit like that when I was the songwriting aspect of it. Yes, he has younger and it’s not like that goes away. You always written his own albums, but he was learn to live with it and you learn to put it in looking to do something a little more the background. The lyrics say it… ‘It’s the introspective on this one. “On this one was I sadness and the fear and the anger and the wanted to explore my songwriting and this self doubts that you feel every day.’ I think one’s really for me. It’s me being a singer or a people have a little bit of Ordinary Madness songwriter more than that just a lead guitarist. inside of them. I think everybody has it. I Everybody knows me as a guitarist from John went through some shit as a kid, even though Mayall, John Lee Hooker, Big Mama it’s long ago... but once in awhile, it rears its Thornton, Percy Mayfield, Lowell Fulsom, ugly head. I find it influencing sometimes how I treat the people in my life and I have to continued on next page October 2020 • Rock and Blues International 69

Walter Trout continued from previous page

Joe Tex and all those people I played with as for a good family songwriting moment. This a sideman. They all think of me as the happened to four songs in particular on this guitarist, but I’ve always written songs. album, including the lovely “Heaven Is In Before I was even learning how to play lead Your Eyes,” and the Pink-Floydish sounding guitar licks when I was a kid, I was writing “Up Above The Sky.” Walter explains that songs. So this is trying to kind of push my “we’ve been together for 30 years and she boundaries in the songwriting aspect of was writing about those moments in a longmusic. I’ve always loved writing songs. I lasting relationship where you’re trying to find it very therapeutic.” express something to someone, but you just There are a lot of powerful songs on can’t find the right words. If I can’t find the Ordinary Madness. One of the songs that right words to say, will I have your love grabbed me from the beginning is “Wanna anymore? Those are some of her lyrics, but it Dance.” Walter tells us that the song started is true that I had the melody and I loved the off as a guitar lick and then he put lyrics to it melody. I thought it was almost like a like a that celebrated being alive. “It’s a metaphor McCartney kind of melody. This melody just for wanting to celebrate being alive. You popped out when I was strumming an know at my age, and I’m almost 70, It acoustic guitar, but I had no words. I don’t doesn’t mean I want to go out and do the know. I had no words for this and she said, ‘Bristol Stomp’ or the ‘Mashed Potato’, or ‘well play it for me again.’ And I played it something like that, right. But it means I and I sang “‘Heaven In Your Eyes.’ I said, want to celebrate that I’m here and I’m still “there you go. I have ‘Heaven In Your alive and I feel great. So that’s what that Eyes.’” Then she walked out and came back means… it is just a metaphor for being okay.” about a half an hour later and said ‘here’s On other songs on the album, Walter your lyrics.’ She did the same thing with ‘Up even got a bit of inspiration from his wife Above My Sky.’ That’s another one that I Maria, who helped to contribute some of the kind of had music for and I said, I have no lyrics on this album. Walter came up with a words… and boom, she’s got the lyrics. So great melody on a couple of songs, and his she’s become quite the lyricist.” wife came up with the lyrics. It really made The same situation also happened on 70 Rock and Blues International • October 2020 the album’s closing song, “Ok Boomer.” He had this rock groove going and came up a blank again with the lyrics and Maria put her ear to the song and came back with the lyrics. He tells us that about 90% of that song is her. One of Walter’s proudest moments on the album is the song, “My Foolish Pride.” In previous interviews, very few people have touched on that song, and Walter tells us, “there’s this song that not many critics have mentioned. And that is “”My Foolish Pride,” and lyrically, that’s putting myself out there and that’s really about… when it says ‘sometimes I do my best but I fail’, it’s when you’re trying really hard at something and you fail at it. Then you feel ashamed of yourself and you get down on yourself and then you take it out on someone you love and you treat them like shit… That’s what that song is about. And also I think the guitar outro on that song is about as emotional as I can play because I was really feeling it.” There are certainly a lot of great moments on Ordinary Madness. Besides the songs that we’ve mentioned so far, there’s the slow psychedelic sounding “The Sun Is Going Down,” about aging and the story about leaving home as seen through the eyes of a young woman in “Heartland.” And how could you not take notice of the song, “All Out Of Tears,” where he collaborates with Blues singer Teeny Tucker on a tribute to her late son. There are just so many poignant moments on Ordinary Madness that it will be hard to top this album when he gets to work on his next one, but I have no doubt… The next one will be even better. Walter has come to a time in his life where his emotions are certainly taking over and skyrocketing him to become an even better songwriter than he was before. But that always seems to be the way with Walter… Each album is always better than the last. This one comes out as his most revealing effort yet. There are eleven songs on Ordinary Madness, and in turn eleven great moments. I asked Walter what was it about this album that he would like people to leave with and after a moment of pondering the situation, he simply said, “I just want to be honest in my work. I want them to get an idea who I am as a person and what I think about life and how I feel about being alive. And that’s what I want to communicate. My music is about trying to connect with other people.” And connect with other people is what we believe Walter did with this album. With Ordinary Madness I believe that he has really laid bare his soul and exposed his true emotions to his fans and those future fans that might be lucky enough to pick up this fine album. Believe me, there’s nothing about Ordinary Madness that is ordinary. In fact, it is truly extraordinary. Be sure to pick up a copy of this fine album today. It will definitely open up your musical senses in a way that they have never been open to before.

Trafalgar Releasing announced today that Stevie Nicks, two time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, legendary Grammy winning recording singer/songwriter supreme, will debut Stevie Nicks 24 Karat Gold The Concert, which will be released for two nights only on October 21 and 25 at select cinemas, drive ins and exhibition spaces around the world. With this film Nicks, long considered one of the most iconic live performers, provides music fans with a virtual front row seat to the magic Stevie brings to the stage in concert.

The film features a set-list of fan favorite Nicks songs from her solo career and as a member of Fleetwood Mac including “Rhiannon,” “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” “Edge of Seventeen,” “Stand Back,” “Landslide,” and more as well as rare gems from her platinum selling catalog.

The film also reveals intimate storytelling and inspirations for some of the most famous and timeless songs and lyrics in music history which to this day remain part of the soundtrack to the lives of hits as well as Fleetwood Mac classics.” generations of music lovers. The event will be screened in Directed and produced by Joe cinemas around the world on Oct. 21 and Thomas during Nicks’ fabled 67 city sold 25. Tickets are on-sale beginning on Sept. out 24 Karat Gold Tour, filming and 23 at StevieNicksFilm.com, where fans can recording took place in Indianapolis and find the most up-to-date information Pittsburgh in 2017. regarding participating theaters and sign up for event alerts. Dates are subject to change “The 24 Karat Gold Tour was my based on the status of local cinema reall-time favorite tour. I not only got to openings. sing my songs but I was able to tell their stories for the first time. I love having the The 2CD & digital/streaming opportunity to share this concert with my releases will be available on Oct. 30 via fans. From me to you – 24 Karat Gold,” BMG, featuring 17 tracks of Stevie’s Said Stevie Nicks greatest hits live; including “Stand Back,” “Gypsy,” and “Edge of Seventeen,” as well Kymberli Frueh, SVP for Programas the first ever live recording of “Crying ming and Content Acquisitions for In The Night,” and other live rarities. The Trafalgar Releasing said, “We are thrilled 2CD will be available exclusively at Target to collaborate with BMG and Stevie Nicks’ on Oct. 30, and the digital release will be team on this landmark global cinema event available everywhere on the same day. A which is sure to delight fans. Stevie’s limited-edition 2LP 180-gram version will legendary career has spanned over four be available on “Crystal-Clear” vinyl decades, creating legions of fans across the exclusively at Barnes & Noble, while a generations. Her 24 Karat Gold concert 180-gram black vinyl version will be tracklist features some of her greatest solo available everywhere. October 2020 • Rock and Blues International 71