September 2020 VOL.9 # 100! ON THE COVER...
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CHARDONNAY DAY BY MELEA JOHNSON
4 COMICS 5 QUICK READ 6 ALBUM COVER OF THE MONTH 7 CD REVIEWS 8 BRUTHERZ BAND (SATX) 9 PRODUCT REVIEW: SLEDGEPAD 10 M E L E A J O HN S O N : ABSTRACT IN WASHINGTON 14 T O O S LI M & T H E TAILDRAGGERS: THE REMEDY 16 J I M I T U N N E L : THE MAN BEHIND THE MUSIC 19 C O RN Y F 8 E RS : ( HT X ) HAVING A GOOD TIME
PUBLISHER RUSTY HICKS EDITOR TAMMA HICKS COMICS EDITOR ALLENE HICKS STAFF WRITERS TAMMA HICKS, RUSTY HICKS STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS ALLENE HICKS, RUSTY HICKS, HARRISON FUNK CONTRIBUTING WRITERS J MICHAEL DOLAN, ROB DICKENS, DEREK SIGNORE, TONY NICKLIN, RICK J BOWEN, KEITH “MUZIKMAN” HANNALECK DISTRIBUTION COORDINATOR TERRY MITCHELL MUSIC CONSULTANT TONY SARACENE Alternative Weekly Network
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HIDING IN THE HOOPLA J. Michael Dolan It’s hard to remain motivated and excited about our big goals and future dreams when there are so many exciting and thrilling nightmares happening all around us! That said, here are a few reminders that you may have forgotten in the heat & hoopla of these challenging times: * Progress, growth and success are simply a consequence, an upshot, a byproduct of relentlessly doing the work. * It’s what we are not doing that could move the dial and make a difference. It’s the confronting work we resist that could produce the breakthrough we so desperately crave. * Change is not a sin. Denying it is. * Procrastination can be ass-kicked! At any moment we have the power to quit a mind-numbing, time-crunching, useless habit and choose where to give our complete attention. * Your Choice: Stand up on your own two feet and declare, “this I shall do!” Or, continue to vacillate in indecision and wallow in the mire. * Behind every great jaw-dropping success there’s an artist or entrepreneur who faced a difficult internal struggle at a critical moment of choice: choose risk, and possibly become a legend. “Flinch” and possibly become an unexceptional footnote. Important because in the heat of the hoopla, never forget who you are as a crazy, creative genius. And lean on all the experiences you’ve had, the knowledge you’ve acquired, the talents and skills you’ve learned, and your unique ability to create, invent or dance your way out of any crummy situation
SHOWBIZ ROUSING
J. Michael Dolan
Right in front of us, staring us right in the face, is an entertainment industry that is currently in the process of intentionally disrupting itself; rethinking, reinventing, reimagining and rebuilding a 21st century global show business aimed toward world domination. And there are crazy, committed showbiz geniuses with unlimited resources, who are right now gazing into a future beyond the pandemic, and building a bigger, stronger, more tolerant, more profitable and more (politically) influential industry. And while the dazed and doubtful scratch their heads and wonder what to do next, those crazy committed showbiz geniuses are at work extending their reach, forming partnerships, growing global relationships, improving and refining the craft of making great entertainment, in all it’s forms, and hunting and gathering compelling, impactful content to produce, record and distribute to a prepped, primed and eager global audience. Also, right in front of all of us artists & treps, starring us right in the face, is an unexpected chance to move forward. A chance to move up. To define our new normal. To return to our work with a renewed purpose; a chance to begin producing, performing and writing songs, scores, screenplays, scripts and visual content that reflect the plight of our times and the mixed feelings and jumbled emotions that we, and all of those around us (and in the world) are experiencing today. If ever there was a time to be involved, entangled and embedded in a career in show business, today is that time. And you should be proud and excited to be part of it. And you should take advantage of these unprecedented, historical times to step up your game, master the new elements of your craft, and study, research and learn every aspect of our new, expanding entertainment empire. Important because throughout history, even in the darkest of times, people were inspired and enriched and often dependent on art to help get them through tough times. Not just as an entertainment experience, more like a spiritual uplifting. And I think all artists, entrepreneurs and crazy, wealthy showbiz geniuses are being called up to a higher purpose at this time of global darkness. Not like a heavy responsibility, more like a profound opportunity. STEAMMAGAZINE.NET SEPTEMBER 2020 STEAM MAGAZINE
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CREED HUMAN CLAY
CRAFT RECORDINGS
Genre: Hard Rock Original Release 1999 Re-release: Oct-2019 20th Anniversary Black Vinyl Human Clay sold over 20 million copies when it was released in 1999. Creed solidified their place in rock history with that incredible release. This is the first time in 20 years it has been released on vinyl, to celebrate that period as a high watermark recording. Once you hear the music it’s not hard to see why it sold so many copies. I remember the cover of this album but never got into the band. It all came rushing back to me on the second platter with “With Arms Wide Open” and “Higher,” which were FM Radio staples for several years. The grunge Seattle sound with music and vocals rang true and reminded me of Pearl Jam’s first release as well. This was rock music, hard and heavy
as it gets with vocals well suited to accompany it. It also had roots in heavy metal but maintained a distinct separation from any genre because of the 90’s popularization of it all with bands like Nirvana etc. They came at us fast in furious in those days. It is only fitting to get this great release out again on vinyl to enjoy all the incredibly powerful sonics and musicianship. Human Clay is a testament to a band performing at its very peak. I don’t think it would ever get any better than this for Creed. This is also a band with only four releases so they made sure that there would be one release that would never be forgotten. They probably did not know at the time that the band would splinter so soon. All things happen for a reason and sometimes
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we don’t figure it out until years later. Whatever it was, it does not matter now. This was a huge contribution to the hard rock archives and I appreciated hearing the entire album on vinyl. You will hear some hooks too in this music, taking a page out of the book the kings of melodic rock, Def Leppard. I am not comparing Creed to that great band, I am pointing out that the even heavy hard-hitting music like this can have elements of melodicism, and they got it right. Some tracks start slower before breaking lose like an erupting volcano. Take for instance “Never Die,” which starts with a quirky intro giving you no indication that this was like everything you just heard, but then satisfies once it
comes crashing through your speakers. This what all the tracks on Human Clay do and if you like to rock and you have not heard this album yet, you will love it. Long-time fans will most certainly be snagging this up if they had the CD. Human Clay stands with some of the greatest albums of all time with continued sales in the U.S., right beside The Beatles’ Abbey Road, Prince’s Purple Rain, and Nirvana’s Nevermind. Numbers don’t lie and neither does every rock fan out there willing to buy this LP again or get it for the first time.
CD WOODBURY WORLD’S GONE CRAZY (SELF RELEASE) BY RICK J BOWEN In 2014, guitarist CD Woodbury and his band were named “Kings of Beale Street,” at Jerry Lee Lewis ‘s café and honky-tonk In Memphis during the group’s first appearance at the International Blues Challenge. The group has been a finalist (indie CD) and twice a semifinalist band, while representing the South Sound Blues Association and the Washington Blues Society. Capitalizing on the momentum from their 2020 appearance and a successful crowdfunding campaign, Woodbury brought the band into the vaunted Robert Lang Studios in Seattle to record his sophomore release as a band leader, World’s Gone Crazy, for a summer 2020 release. The 11 time “Best of the Blues,“ award winner has a strong following in the Northwest and a reputation as a bona-fide guitar-slinger and dynamic performer, the album also marks a personal victory as his career was nearly cut short due to personal health issues and wrist surgery in 2018. The undaunted bluesman returns with fire on a 13-track recording that is representative of the bands barnstorming live show. The first half of World’s Gone Crazy is a set of eight well-crafted original songs followed by artful arrangements of select cover songs. Woodbury’s skills as a guitarist are of course on display but also his sardonic wit and evocative storytelling. Each of the band members also have a moment to shine throughout the collection, with the muscular rhythm section of journeyman drummer Don Montana and explosive bass player Patrick McDanel laying a firm foundation, while multiinstrumentalist Mike Marinig colors the landscape on keyboards, saxophone and vocals. The quartet delivers a full dose of high energy blues, rock and soul. A striking four part acapella chorus welcomes us into the opening track “Follow the River Home,” and flows into a rousing slide guitar fueled hill stomp. The slinky swinger “Walk Around Music,” has Woodbury pontificating on how sweet soul music inspired him to “move his big ole body around.” The title track eases in with spooky slide guitar howling before
SARAH SISKIND MODERN APPALACHIA (REAL NAME PRODUCTIONS) BY ROB DICKENS
settling into a swampy groove and topical reflection on how a working man survives in these troubled times. Montana kicks off the rumbling boogie “South of South Hill, “that features a tasty bass solo from McDanel. Woodbury does his best Fats Waller for the colorfully droll narrative on dieting “Can’t Eat That Stuff No More, “while the band plays the blues. The party shifts to “give the drummer some,” as Montana takes over lead vocals for a romp through Chess Records standard “Wang Dang Doodle,” followed by lazy Chicago shuffle “Last Go Round.“ Woodbury puts his own spin on the slinky tune “Adaline,“ written by fellow Northwest Bluesman and International Blues Challenge champion Kevin Andrew Sutton. Every guitarist who claims the Seattle area as home is only worth his salt if he learns a Jimi Hendrix tune or two. Woodbury puts his stamp on Jimi‘s first hit “Hey Joe,” and generously hands the first solo to Marinig and his saxophone before blazing his way out of the 7 1/2 minute epic. Joe Louis Walker wrote the political tirade “Preacher and the President, “during the 1998 impeachment proceedings, all CD Woodbury and his band had to do is pump up the volume and push the tempo for their rocking album closer, with the words still ring true today. CD Woodbury and his Kings of Beale Street make a regal statement with the 2020 release World’s Gone Crazy, delivering a set that takes us from Saturday night to Sunday morning REVERBNATION.COM/THECDWOODBURYBAND RICK J BOWEN: WABLUES.ORG
heavily featured on Nashville, as well as on other TV series. Moving away from the Music City machine was based on the desire for a “simpler life” and led ultimately to more selfreflection. The benefits of the move and Siskind’s love for the Appalachian region shine through here on this twelve-track vivid odyssey. The core of the band is Daniel Kimbro, Mike Seal, and Jeff Sipe, with guests the legendary guitarist Bill Frisell and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. The combination of her rhythm electric guitar and her striking and remarkable voice sometimes, to these ears, echoes the great Joni Mitchell (eg “Carolina”). The slow, soaring “In The Mountains” (see below), the stepping pattern of “Carolina” and the loving references to people in “Modern Appalachia” all point to the beauty of her surroundings. Two songs she has recI am reminded of Lucinda Williams, guesting orded before – “Punk Rock Girl” and with Blackie & The Rodeo Kings guitarist Colin the gorgeous “Porchlight” have found Linden, proclaiming to the crowd at the end of their best setting on Modern Appalachia. From the latter: the set: “He should be more well-known!” Well, add Sarah Siskind to the should-be-more- “Wishing it was different doesn’t really well-known coterie. Not that you could call her change a thing / Push it to the limit or prolific, though. Her complete discography is a don’t do anything.” little hard for this author to pin down – I count The echoes of resilience in the closing three full albums between 2002 and 2011 and a “I Won’t Stop” (with vocal support from Rose Cousins) is a perfect confew EPs and limited releases. So Modern Appalachia is a welcome and highly- clusion to Sarah Siskind’s long-awaited anticipated release, nine years after 2011’s Novel. and triumphant new outing. It also marks her first major record since moving And, yes, she SHOULD be more wellback to her native North Carolina from Nashville known. SARAHSISKIND.COM almost five years ago. Her move to Nashville ROB DICKENS : provided significant songwriting success as her songs were covered by Alison Krauss, Randy LISTENINGTHROUGHTHELENS.COM Travis, Wynonna and others. Her music was also
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By Tamma Hicks & Rusty Hicks STEAM Magazine BRutherz, Burrel and Ross
Rutherford are originally from Kansas and were raised on farms and ranches from Texas up to Wyoming. They were raised knowing what hard work was and there was very little time for play or recreation, so music was their outlet with Burrel playing guitar and Ross playing drums. Burrel received an invite to audition for Tinker Villarreal and Ross tagged along to see what it was like. Before they knew it they were both singing on demo tracks and developed as a duo. They later moved to Houston TX where they perfected their sound and played in clubs throughout the area as The Rutherford’s. Together they were unstoppable and began to draw attention from others that would test their relationship. Ross was offered to work with Ronald McCown on an album project and later moved to Nashville where he continued to perform in the clubs on music row while honing his songwriting skills. Burrel decided to put another band together and hit the road playing several tours throughout the southern states while he also worked on his songwriting. As Burrel and Ross made accomplishments in the solo realm, they always talked about getting back together someday. Once Ross moved to the San Antonio area, and closer to Burrel, they decided to team up and finish what they had started years ago.
BRutherz not only comes from their name, but also represents a strong bond unbroken. Throughout their career they have had the pleasure of opening and sharing the stage with some of the industries greats like, Toby Keith, Lonestar, Tim McGraw, Sammy Kershaw, and George Strait. Currently you can see them at Tapatio Springs Hill Country Resort in Boerne.
ing down here in Texas. My brother hit the road, then I was on the road for about three years, but we were always separated. You've heard the stories about choosing a path versus choosing family. That was kind of what we ended up doing but it was a mutual decision, and honestly, we regretted it. We thought that if we ever got the opportunity we’d join back up. And you did. Yeah, when I moved back to Texas, George Strait's business partner put me in front of him. I did a couple songs and George encouraged me to keep going, so I called my brother up and asked him if he would like to play again and he said “I thought you'd never ask". So it was because of George that we got back together in 2015. My brother and I hadn't sung together in 20 years, but we picked it up and built a following. We put our Black-And-White album out which was bigger overseas and out of state; California, New York, and Virginia.
Tell me again how you ended up in Texas? I had a full on scholarship for music in Kansas, but my parents had moved down to Corpus Christi. After school I went down to spend some time on the beach and just have fun as a young kid, but when it came time to go back to school I ran out of gas money. My brother had tagged along and when school fell through, I told him I wanted to start a band. That was back in the early 90s and it ended up taking us to HouYou can say we Are you the lead vocalist ston. We played as went from brothers and drummer? “The Rutherfords”. Right now I haven't played to being a band of the drums in 20 something BRutherz Why did you change years. Back when I was the name to playing drums I wanted to BRutherz? do another instrument. I'm right-handed Some people thought The Rutherfords was but I can't play guitar because of a bad ela mouthful and told us to change our name bow. I tried playing left-handed but that so we did. was like chewing gum and walking backwards and trying to play basketball the same How did you end up in Nashville? time. Back in 8th grade I paid a guy to teach me how to play piano and he wouldn't show Well, we played around the club scene in up to half of the lessons so I quit going, but Houston for a few years, and then I had an I retained a basic knowledge of keyboards. opportunity. A guy came in who was interWe’ve had keyboard players in the past. I ested in a new act to manage and he was wouldn't call myself a keyboard player by only looking for one of us. I went to Nashany means, but I do help with the band by ville for like six years and he ended up stay-
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filling in stuff. For the most part I'm the lead vocalist. Does your brother still sing and play guitar? Well, yes and no. We were going pretty strong the last few years and, with him living two hours away, he was traveling probably 30,000 miles a year. He told me that between playing on weekends and working his day job he and his wife hadn't had a vacation in a year and a half, so he asked to take a break and we moved our bass player up front and he's helping share in some of the vocals and I'm sure my brother will step back in after he takes a little break. We're still doing some recording stuff together. What a nice segue to introducing the members of BRutherz. Our drummer's name is Mike Cerny. When my brother and I started, we were just doing some acoustic shows but we wanted to bring more energy to the shows, so we started piecing the band together. Mike was actually the first guy that we reached out to because he's into vintage sets and he had the sound and chops that we were looking for and he actually ended up bringing Terrell Mabrito on bass and he is now helping me out on vocals and playing rhythm guitar. Rene Duran is our lead player who's originally from Laredo and I think Renée been with us for a year and a half. We like a little bit of rock sound with our country and he's definitely got it. Our bass player is John Simony who filled in on bass for a few shows last year that Terrell couldn't make. When we brought Terrell up front, we brought John in because he was familiar with our songs and material. The cool thing is John also sings higher harmonies. With my brother and me, the vocals, are the
powerhouse of BRutherz but the band keeps on getting better and better every day. Instrumentally we are pretty solid, but the vocals were just different from everything else. That's what I love about the guys that we have. They make up BRutherz and that's another reason why Burrel is kind of stepping down. You can say we went from brothers to being a band of brothers. Do you feel that your fan base could support a widespread tour? We've had people come from Ohio to come see a show. I get emails from Australia and Europe. We have a song playing in France right now and we've had some people suggest a European tour. We could probably do pretty well over there because our music is being played on 7 different stations in Germany, Norway and to the Netherlands, so will have to do that sometime. Many people have told us that we are successful and I guess success is measured in your accomplishments. We are considered “grandpas” in business. My brother and I are in our 50s and music is definitely a young man's game, but we've had people come up that tell us that we inspire them because not that many people our age continue to do music. What I found out is it's about the music and not so much the individual. In no way do I feel like we are celebrities. Tell me about the Black-and-White album. Well, Colt Records in Nashville picked us up. They are an independent label and they took our Black-And-White album and really helped push our music out there. That's when Europe really latched onto it. I would say our album has kind of this 50s country but not a dated sound. There are some 50s tones and some beats in it, but it's good old country. Some people consider it traditional, so it’s done really well in Europe. From this album we've had a #28 on the Roots Record Report which was "See Clearly In The Dark" and we've had two that actually hit the top 40 on Texas radio on independent radio stations, "Hello Honky-Tonk” and "My Shrink Is A Jukebox" hit number 16, so it's pretty cool. Now we are working on a new album and have released a couple of new songs, which are little bit more Texas swing or dance, because we were really trying to get a foothold of the Texas market. The Dallas radio promoter we are using told us that after all the target marketing, we were the biggest in Europe and the Pacific. The Pacific kind of surprised me. This promoter also helped us put out "Hello Honky-Tonk" and "My Shrink Is A Jukebox".
Reviewed By Rusty Hicks STEAM Magazine We met the genius behind the SledgePad, Mike Vermillion, at the 2018 Summer NAMM (National Association of Musical Merchandisers) in Nashville TN. SledgePad is a head-tohead drum dampener that looks great and stays in place – unlike that old pillow you have shoved in there. What makes the SledgePad different than other solutions out there? Being affixed to both heads provides a solid consistent sound, smooths out any ringing, and provides a non-muffled sound. As effective as it is, it couldn’t be easier to install! Remove the front head, remove the tape backing, place the SledgePad face up with the thickest section towards the kick head, and press it against the head. Replace the front head pushing against the SledgePad and tighten the nuts. Best part is it doesn’t move around, so there’s no need to adjust the placement and because it’s stationary once you know where you place the microphone it will always go right there. And it works very well with the Kelly Shu Microphone Mounting System (see our product review Vol7 Iss8 #80 November 2018). Each SledgePad is custom made for any bass drum depth and made from high quality two inch wedge acoustic
foam. There are four sizes and each represents a different degree of dampening. The revolutionary vented models are not found anywhere else in the world. “No More Pillow!” - Johnny Rabb (Collective Soul) “Sledgepad provides my kick drum with something that other traditional dampening methods and systems can't: TONE! It won't choke out your kick. It dampens just the right amount, allowing it to breathe like a kick drum should!” - Miles Stone (Cody Johnson Band) STEAM REVIEW: Great product for any gigging drummer.
SLEDGEPAD.COM
Do you have plans on when you are going to finish your album? Hopefully we can get it finished this year. We got a lot of the work done. All the instrumental work is done so we just have to work on some vocals; then the mixing and mastering can be completed. We're trying to get time and schedules on the same line so we can get it out. CONTACT
BRUTHERZ FOR QUESTIONS, BOOKINGS, OR SHOW DATES: ROSS RUTHERFORD ROSS@BRUTHERZ.COM FACEBOOK.COM/BRUTHERZ BAND STEAMMAGAZINE.NET SEPTEMBER 2020 STEAM MAGAZINE 9
CONTINUED FROM 11 didn't continue with them. Can you explain how everything's abstract to you? I think I just see things a little differently I am fascinated with white and dark everything is about light and dark shadows and how things are viewed so when I create my art it's always an abstract because that's what I'm seeing, so when I paint it's always an abstraction because it's an abstraction of reality or maybe it's a reality of my abstractions. I'm not sure which comes first. Do you have a favorite color? I think it's probably teal because I always seem to incorporate that color into everything I ever do and my kids have asked me why I keep using that color over and over. I really don't ever intend to but typically before the painting is completed I've got that teal in there. Do you use acrylic or oils? Everything is acrylic, I live in a very small space and it's also my art gallery-studio and oils take too long. I'm not that patient to wait for things to dry and with acrylics, paint and textures fascinate me! In my acrylics I incorporate powdered charcoal, coffee, India ink, sunflower oil, water, and anything else I pour on the canvas as I attempt to create and really you can't do that with oil. There are no mistakes in art; things either become part of the work I'm doing or I just washed it all off and start over.
I think I have talked to more people about art than I ever thought I would and in my experience I don't recall coming across someone who likes to mix mineral oil, coffee grounds, and powdered charcoal in acrylics, so there is a good texture to your paintings. Yes, texture is what I am all about. The tools I work with are canvas, lots of heavy paints, a palette knife and occasionally a sponge brush for blending. I do a lot of scraping and washing off and starting over and experimentation. I realized what we put in does not incorporate all of your work, but I see a lot of wine glasses and wine bottles. Are you a big wine drinker? No, in fact I don't even drink wine. Cellarbration was done for Big Bend Community College who then auctioned it at a fundraiser. The blue glass was commissioned for an event in Elko NV and the other wine themed artwork was for an art show I did at a winery. Then what is it you enjoy painting? I really love landscapes and nature and once in a while I will do abstract portraits of people. I know it's kind of awkward during the pandemic and all the facilities that have not been able to reopened yet, but where can people see your work? Do you have any places where you're on show now? No, I've had several shows in western Washington that have canceled and hopefully will be rescheduled; however, I am having really great success through my Facebook! Every
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single painting I have put up in the last few months has been sold as soon as it was completed. Recently I posted a Mermaid that I finished and it actually sold in 15 minutes. And the woman that bought it commissioned me to do two more. So this has been my Saving Grace during this struggling time and lack of income.
MELEAJOHNSONART.COM FACEBOOK.COM/MELEAJOHNSONART VM.TODAY
Untethered Unnamed | Two Vas
By Tamma Hicks and Rusty Hicks STEAM Magazine Photo By: Carla Ciuffo Photography
im “Too Slim“ Langford is an unabashed blues rocker whose influences run the gamut from Lightnin’ Hopkins, Freddy King, Duane Allman, and Lynyrd Skynyrd to Robin Trower. He is a prolific singer/ songwriter whose songs have now yielded an impressive 14 studio Too Slim and the Taildraggers albums, 2 solo albums, and several live CD’s all on his own Underworld Records imprint. Too Slim and the Taildraggers are Tim “Too Slim" Langford on guitar/vocals, Zach Kasik on bass/vocals and Jeff “Shakey” Fowlkes on drums/vocals. Too Slim and the Taildraggers released “The Remedy” in July and debuted as #3 on the Billboard Top Blues Album Chart. Their previous release, High Desert Heat, was a giant step in the evolution of their contemporary Blues/Rock sound that has often been described as “Straight Whiskey Blues with a Southern Rock Beer Chaser.” High Desert Heat charted 11 times in the Billboard Top Blues Album Chart in 2018 and was nominated for Best Blues/Rock album at the 2019 Blues Music awards. High Desert Heat is also featured in heavy rotation on Sirius XM’s B.B. King’s Bluesville and on SteamMagazineRadio.net. Too Slim and the Taildraggers is no stranger to the top of the charts and award shows. 2016’s Blood
Moon reached #6 on the Billboard Top Blues Album Chart and the 2013 release Blue Heart rose to #3 on the chart. They have received nominations for Blues Rock Album of the Year at the Blues Blast Music Awards with 2016’s Blood Moon as well as 2013’s Blue Heart. Blue Moon was nominated and won Blues Rock Album of the Year At the 2016 Jimi Awards. The 2014 release Anthology was voted #1 Blues Album of the Year by Blues Matters Writers Poll in 2015. Blue Heart also received a nomination for Rock/Blues Album of the Year at the 2014 Blues Blast Music Awards. And in 2011 Shiver was nominated for Rock/Blues Album of the Year by the Blues Foundation’s Blues Music Awards. Too Slim and the Taildraggers’ high energy Blues Rock has been thrilling audiences for years. The band’s ever evolving musical direction cannot easily be classified into any box or category. Tim “Too Slim" Langford has received Lifetime Achievement and Hall Of Fame awards by three Northwest blues societies, as well as more than 40 regional and national music awards. Too Slim and the Taildraggers music has also been featured on MTV’s series The Real World and Road Rules. After 30 years of knocking it out of the park on recordings and stages across the world, Too Slim and the Taildraggers shows no sign of slowing
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down. I hear you got a new Harley and have been taking riding classes. The dealership should hire you for one of the events they put on. Yeah, I’ve done some of those shows and they’re fun. We’re actually playing a benefit show for Suicide Awareness and Prevention and there’s also going to be a ride to coincide. It’s going to be a good time. That’s a great organization to help out, especially during these uncertain times. You get a lot of kudos from the music industry and especially the Blues genre. Yeah, when we did the last album, High Desert Heat, it was also nominated for Blues Rock Album Of The Year Tell us about this new album, The Remedy which you recorded during the pandemic, right? Yeah, we recorded in Nashville TN in late February and early March at my bass player Zach’s studio called Wild Feather Recording. It’s a full service recording studio and Zach is a Platinum selling Producer who used to work at Oceanway Recording in Hollywood, so he's a really good engineer and songwriter and singer. In the studio it was just me, Zach, and our drummer Shakey and we had three guest harmonica players but nobody else was in the studio during the recording. That must have felt a little weird. Is this new album all new material? Yes it is, well all but one. We did Elmore James’ Sunnyland Train as our cover; which we’ve been playing live for years. Anyway, Zach has some really good songs. He actually wrote five of the tunes and I had five too. For some reason I thought you did all the lead vocals.
When we first added Zach to the band we didn't know he was a singer, so that was quite a surprise. He joined just before we put out High Desert Heat right , which got beat for Blues Rock Album of the Year by Billy Gibbons. So, on this album Zach sang lead on 3 songs and Shakey is a great harmony singer. Well if you have to get beat, losing to Billy Gibbons wouldn’t be too bad. Yeah, I’ve met him a couple times and he was really the reason I started playing guitar in the first place. I saw them live back in ’73 or 74, when I was a kid, and decided that’s what I want to do. I saw them then too. I can’t remember if they opened for REO Speedwagon or vice versa, but it was a great show. Shakey’s name sounds familiar, what else has he done? He's originally from Detroit and he was in a band called Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise. They did some stuff on MTV. He was friends with Kid Rock and Uncle Cracker. He was recommended to me by Scott Esbeck (Los Straitjackets, Bruce Robison, Charlie Robison, etc.). When did you move to Nashville? I first moved to Nashville in 2012 and I didn't know anybody or have a band. Isn’t that when you recorded Blue Heart with producer Tom Hambridge? Yeah, Tom told me we could put a band together, so I put all my songs in a demo. So we’re at the studio and all these guys show up. It just blew my mind; I was so nervous with all these players. After reading Tom’s credentials, I’m sure they weren’t the average players. Very true. The “band” was made up with
We’d gone to the Netherlands in November it was a great tour. Really, we've played all over the world; in Europe, Asia, Middle East, and Canada. We've done some of the MWR tours for the Armed Forces and so we played on the USS Enterprise in the Persian Gulf.
Tom on the drums and he’d played with Delbert McClinton, Buddy Guy, he’s just an all-around great musician. We had Rob McNelley playing guitar and he plays with Bob Segar. Our bass player was Tommy McDonald who played with Lee Roy Parnell. Then Tom tells me the keyboard player would be in around two to do keyboard parts, so at 2 in walks Reese Wynans, Stevie Ray Vaughn’s keyboardist and now he’s playing with Joe Bonamassa! I was so nervous when he first got there. We went into the first song with him I could see he was digging it.
That had to have been incredible! Yeah, that was a real mind blowing experience! They actually entertained us more than we entertained them. We got full tour up to the Captain’s area and up on the flight deck with the F-16’s were taking off. We’ve been on the USS Lincoln with a VIP tour shortly after it returned from the Tsunami Relief efforts in Sri Lanka. No planes on the deck, but it was amazing Oh yeah, so if you land on an aircraft carrier, which we did, they give you this coin and you’re called a Tail-Hooker. We feel really privileged because there is such a small amount of the world’s population that have actually done that. But that was the scariest, weirdest shit ever.
Man, I just love stories like this. Yeah, I just felt like the fuckin’ rookie in the room. Here we are sitting in there, never played together, and the songs just flowed out. Not only that, then Tom asked me to let him know if there is anybody else I wanted on the record, so I asked if he could get Jimmy Hall from Wet Willie to sing one of my songs and play harmonica. So Tom sent the demo over and Jimmy agreed. We had all the parts recorded except for his vocal, so we start playing the track with Jimmy's in the booth and I thought he was just warming up, but he sang the shit out of it in one take. Then he played harmonica on another track and nailed it too! So how did you meet Tom in the first place? I was living in Seattle and our 2011 album Shiver was nominated for Best Blues Rock Album Of The Year at the Blues Foundation’s Blues Music Awards. And that's where we met Tom Hambridge. You’re not based out of Nashville anymore are you? No, Shaky and Zach both live in Nashville. I met a lot of great people in Nashville and everything, but we moved to Idaho in 2017 to be closer to family. So when we go on tour or have some project to do I fly them here or I’ll meet them out there and try to stay out as long as we can. Except this year.
WWW.TOOSLIM.NET FACEBOOK.COM/TOOSLIMANDTHETAILDRAGGERS SPOTIFY.COM TOO SLIM SMARTLINK FFM.TO/SLIMREMEDY
That’s right, you’re from Eastern Washington. Yeah, I grew up in Spokane WA and started the band there. One line up was with Tom Brimm on bass and John Cage on drums. That lasted for about 20 years, but both retired, Tom to Moses Lake and John to become a sheriff in Hillsborough County. How many albums have you put out? Too Slim and the Taildraggers have put out 14 studio albums. I've done two solo albums, Pint Store Blues in 1999 and Broken Halo in 2012, and some live albums so the total is like 22 albums. I was with Burnside Records in the 90s before going with my own label, Underworld Records. Do you tour quite a bit when it's possible? You know, I’ve been on the road every year for the last 40 years and the plug just got pulled.. Wwe had a great tour season booked up with a lot of shows in the Northwest and a run through the Midwest in April and May when the album was supposed to have come out. We’d even pushed to release back to July instead of May because we figured everything would be back open by then, but everything’s been pretty much canceled. STEAMMAGAZINE.NET SEPTEMBER 2020 STEAM MAGAZINE 15
By Tamma Hicks and Rusty Hicks, STEAM Magazine
We talk to Tony Saracene quite often, and thanks to him, we get the chance to meet interesting and often hidden talents. Tony has been telling us about Jimi Tunnell for a while and the timing finally came together.
Jimi Tunnell is a master musician whose diverse talent encompasses many musical styles from Pop and R&B to Jazz and Classical. He is a stunning vocalist and a brilliant multi-instrumentalist; although he will tell you that first and foremost he is a guitarist. He's also a sought-after arranger, composer, and producer.
To
help build the picture Jimi has performed and recorded with such diverse artists as Carly Simon, Laurie Anderson, The Bee Gees, Arcadia (Duran Duran), C&C Music Factory, Malcolm McClaren, Arthur Baker, Little Louie Vega, Cover Girls, New Kids On The Block, Southside
Johnny, Paul Schaffer, Will Lee (David Letterman), Steve Smith (Journey), Hiram Bullock, Daryl Jones, Dave Liebman, Teo Macero, Omar Hakim (of Sting, Madonna), Dennis Chambers, Victor Bailey (Madonna, Weather Report), Kenny Garret, Mino Cinelu, Tom Coster (Santana), Adam Holzman (Miles Davis), Steps Ahead, and The Bob Belden Ensemble. I think you get the picture!
Jimi toured extensively in Japan
with Yukihiro Takahashi (Yellow Magic Orchestra) and later he became the guitarist for the electric jazz super group Steps Ahead and touring internationally with them for three years. As the first artist to successfully incorporate vocals into Steps Ahead’s live concerts, Jimi’s original compositions were greeted with standing ovations at International Jazz Festivals such as North Sea, Montreux, Milan, Paris, etc . . .
16 STEAM MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2020 STEAMMAGAZINE.NET
Jimi
currently heads his own production company, Buffalo Sound, and leads the world jazz ensemble, Trilateral Commission, which includes Weather Report veteran Jose Rossy, who also coleads the power global ensemble, JusTerra.
Yeah. Honestly, half of the people that know about me don't even know I'm a guitar player. I’d grow a long white beard waiting for people to be available. I have a recording studio at the house, but all that happened because I want to hear stuff now.
Instant gratification problem?
Yes! Labels used to be the gatekeepers of recording and production and now we live in a time where the availability of this kind of Catching up with you is not easy, so how technology is absolutely empowering for did your recording go musicians. The downside yesterday? is a lot of people should I only tell people I'm a It was nuts. There was probably be doing somesomebody in Seattle and guitar player because any- thing else. There's the someone in Detroit, so all thing else I do I probably stuff you can't always I had to do was record wouldn't do live, only be- reproduce live from a this movie, DeepStar Six, record but there's this while my friend Lewis cause of the people I per- level of being able to play . Abernathy and his writing form with. There are things that need partner Geof Miller were to be in music, like time watching the movie. Their critiques and and tone. We’ve all been to those shows comments about their film are hilarious in a where we say “holy hell, what’s happening!” Mystery Science Theater type thing; hilarity ensued. If you've seen Titanic, you’ve seen Exactly, being an 80’s girl I remember Lewis; he plays Lewis in Titanic. He's the that Journey‘s shows were great because hippie looking guy with the ponytail and the they sounded just like the record. happy face T-shirt. We connected through Tony, and ac-
Finding information out about you is not easy. You seem to like to be under the radar.
cording to him you are the real deal! We need to get him out more!
That I agree with. OK, I'm going to go back in time a little bit, because you started out as a jazz trumpeter, right? Yes, I went to North Texas and played trumpet all through school. I'm the youngest of three and my brother and sister had guitars, so I knew probably three chords when I considered playing a guitar for a number of reasons. One being you can play more than one note. With guitar you use your hands for other things, so right away there's a default on your motor skills. Then there's the upkeep for trumpet; it’s a lot of work for you to retain your embouchure. I mean, you don't use your mouth to tie your shoes, and quite frankly you get way more girls with guitar. I ended up switching kind of in between Denton and Tucson. I went to Tucson for a little bit. Some friends of mine from school, namely Robbie Kilgore who’s on a zillion recordings (Steve Winwood, Malcolm McLaren, and Hall and Oates); we formed this thing and ended up going to New York from Tucson. By that time I was pretty much exclusively a guitar player and the style that I developed was due in part from being a horn player; I think in terms it’s
more in my phrasing. That’s interesting that the trumpet influenced your guitar playing. How long were you in New York? I was in New York for quite a while; starving at first like everybody does. Then we started doing sessions and eventually I was part of a production company. We had two floors and tons of production gear in the Ed Sullivan Building which is where they shoot the Late Show with David Letterman, now Stephen Colbert. Also, I did some teaching for Manny’s Music. I was basically a guitar and composition teacher for those guys but I didn't have to go up there, they sent people to me, which was pretty awesome. That's what was happening before I came back to Denton.
You went back to Denton, not Austin or Dallas, huh? Honestly, I grew up in Denton and we didn't really delineate. Man, it's the center of the universe. Before Austin got into it’s urban sprawl that’s what Denton is like. I had an idea that Denton was one of the hippest places on the planet, but it wasn't
Jimi Tunnell at work in the studio until after I’d been around the world and came back to realize that it's such an amazing place. Here’s a perfect example, one of my best friends here is Dan Mojica. He owns Dan’s SilverLeaf and has been an influential presence in Denton and Texas music. When big guys come in from New York or LA or wherever this is the place to play. When he was building the stage he took half the room and we wondered if there was going to be room for an audience. One time they had a group of twentysomething/alternative band in there being OCD over their Evian waters, vegetarian meals, and their towels, just being kind of snippy. And I’m in there with four or five other people, it’s happy hour, and the engineer said, “Hey. See those guys sitting at the bar? That guy’s got Grammys, that one has Gold Records, and that one has Platinum records. So take it down a notch.”
or Platinum guy? I have no Grammys. There are gold and platinum records, yes. (Malcolm) McLaren is platinum. So, early on I did a thing on Shannon’s hit album. They needed someone to sing the choruses on some of her songs. Let The Music Play and Give Me Tonight are two of the hits I sang on, but what that did was start this thing where labels, producers, and engineers would grab me to record the hooks for their artists. I did a lot of dance, pop, and club stuff. C&C Music Factory and David Corvallis, remember them? I did a lot of their choruses, not so much as a featured role at first; then they started asking if I could do some fills, help with the verses, and what not. Anyway long story short there are things I could tell you about that I worked on and some things I can't be specific about. You
Too funny! Are you the Grammy, Gold,
CONTINUED ON 18 STEAMMAGAZINE.NET SEPTEMBER 2020 STEAM MAGAZINE 17
CONTINUED FROM 17 can kind of guess as to who and what I did when it comes to looking at my bio and the people I've worked with.
You’re known for jazz and dance music. Do you do country or metal? You know, I haven't done either of those except on an occasional session that I've done for people. It all depends on what they call me for and if I think I’m appropriate for it. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I want it to be fairly legitimate. A session is a session, but when I go to do something that has my name on it then all bets are off and I can tell you exactly what that sounds like. It's pretty much a cross between the Weather Report and Peter Gabriel. It's pretty much what I do, when I'm doing what I do.
Yeah, well it’s a slippery slope too. I think I have a kind of unique skill in my ability to go from full voice to falsetto fairly easy; it's almost like yodeling really. When you first start doing falsetto and the break, people over shoot it, so after doing it for such a long time it’s just became another tool for me.
Why don't you wear shoes when you're
playing? I do this thing where I'm using three different units on the floor; one is guitar stuff, one is guitar synth stuff, and the third is for vocals. Basically I need to be able to control these units independently by feel with my feet, so either I have to be barefooted, which I like being anyway, or I need to wear the barefoot type shoes that are really sensitive. It's a mind twisting thing to do all this at the same time, so anything I can cut out to make For example, the JusTerra video on your it work easier for me, I'll do. website is the real you. Yes, that's me and Jose Ros- I actually take breaths When I'm doing like a regular solo on the guitar all that sy. What I like about Jose is between chords like a stuff gets turned off because that our interests parallel a horn player would. I want to be able to hear my lot. He can play anything pans. because he has such a musical understanding and equally as much techHow many instruments do you actually nique. play? I only tell people I'm a guitar player because OK, I have some fast questions for you. anything else I do I probably wouldn't do What is your actual vocal range? live, only because of the people I perform I don't know. It's got to be lower than it was with. Take drummers? Steve Smith, Jose since I'm older, but to this day I don't know Rossy, Dennis Chambers, Omar Hakim. I what it is. It was three or four octaves at mean I can’t in good consciousness call myleast. People would call me to do a lot of self a drummer. stuff for women and guys too, but the pitch just kept going up and up and up. Let me put it this way. If you are going to record your own thing and you are not But you can do that, which is really ingoing to share it with anyone, how many credible.
instruments would you play? Oh, if I’m recording stuff at the house? Yeah, I share with anybody and I'll play everything.
How old were you when you realized you wanted to be a musician? Notice I didn’t say when you grew up, because I know better. Yeah, yeah. My wife will totally agree with you. Umm, I'm going to say sixth grade, although there was a time where I was interested in oceanography and marine biology. There was just always music playing in my family like Greig, Ravel, and Stravinsky and my sister was hard-core into the Beatles and Yardbirds. So I think band was sixth grade and that’s when I picked trumpet.
Is there any instrument that you do not play that you would like to try? Nothing comes to mind and here’s why. Guitar has been such an organic thing to me. To me, it’s such a parallel to the human voice and that's the way I prefer to utilize it. You know one of the big problems with guitar players is that they don’t have to breathe, so they don’t. I actually take breaths between chords like a horn player would.
Advice for people learning to play? I tell my students not to play like a computer and I tell guitar players to figure out the stuff that's unique to the guitar because if they're just doing straight notes, a computer can do that way better than they can. Jaco Pastorius said it best, “It's all in the hands.” They need to learn touch and feeling. That's the one thing that guitar players have going for them and it's one of the few things they have left that's unique to the instrument.
JimiTunnell.com | JusTerra.net DansSilverleaf.com
Jimi Tunnell’s Guitar by Canton Custom Guitars: Chambred alder body with curly & spalted maple top. Curly maple neck with Cocobolo fretboard, 24 medium stainless steel frets. Seymour Duncan JB bridge & 59 neck. Strandberg trem with Ghost System MIDI electronics, ABM headpiece, matte finish . CantonCustomInstruments.com
At Dan’s Silverleaf Jose Rossy, Dennis Durick, Jimi Tunnell, Mario Cruz, and Jeff Plant 18 STEAM MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2020 STEAMMAGAZINE.NET
Raoul, Troy, & Alan at Elm & Magnolia in Old Town Spring, TX
Drummer Troy Babin, singer/
songwriter and guitarist Raoul Chazez, and pianist Alan Stoutmen have joined talents in the Houston area to form Corny F8ers playing original tunes. We caught up with them on the porch of Elm & Magnolia where they play once a month. None of you are originally from Texas. RC Yeah, I’m from Massachusetts and Alan is from the Chicago area and with his day job, he’s been in Houston for about 2 years. As they say, I got here as fast as I could. When we first moved to TX I heard people say that and thought they were nuts. Now it’s what I tell people. RC Hey, it’s hot down here, but you can still go out. Up in the north, when it gets cold and icy, you have to hibernate. TB I’m from Louisiana but I came to Texas in the 80’s and am a product of Texas A&M. I’ve played in bands and toured and all that fun stuff. And now we’re doing this acoustic thing called Corny F8ers and just having a great time. That’s an interesting band name. RC The Corny F8ers. It’s a play on words, it gets people thinking. You know coming up with a band name if very difficult. TB And this one’s got a story. So we’re sitting around one night drinking some beer, playing music, drinking some more beer, and we’re trying to come up with a name. At the time we were all without girlfriends, except Alan but his wife is out of state, somehow someone said the word Fornicator. Then we mixed up the letters to get Corny F8ers. The guys weren’t quite sure so I grabbed this wood crate and told them I’ll put the logo on it and use it as my Cajon. Did I mention we were drinking beer? So no one gets it but us and that’s OK. I don’t think anyone else needs to get it. That’s a great idea for the Cajon, do you use it? TB Oh yeah, it’s got a nice thump to it.
By Tamma Hicks, STEAM Magazine Ok, tell me about the band. TB I met Raoul at a jam and we just hit it off, he’s a great singer/songwriter. Then we met Alan, who’s just a phenomenal player, at the same place and again we all just hit it off. RC We met at an Open Mic at the Green Oaks Tavern in Humble. They aren’t open because they don’t serve food. Man, people are just hurting like crazy because of the pandemic. TB When we were putting all this together, I asked Alan for his bio. I mean Raoul’s and mine are like a good paragraph, explains what we’ve done over the years and whatnot. So with the same expectations we get a link from Alan and holy crap it’s like a formal resume about 4 pages long! We knew he’s a classically trained jazz pianist, but we didn’t really know. Wow, that’s quite a resume. AS Yeah, I’m a jazz-blues piano player from Chicago. My family is full of attorneys and I was into the sciences. I went to Denver for pre-med and studied jazz. I found myself torn between professions, so I tell people I’m a jazz piano player and on the side a medical research scientist. Well, there’s twist! AS Being new to the area I’ve just recently started getting out and playing music. I met
these guys and they’re great, lots of fun. Raoul, Troy’s been bragging about your songwriting, so I’m guessing you’re not a cover band. RC Yeah, we do about 90% originals and of the covers we do I’ve totally reworked them, so you may recognize some but they are our version. TB I’m telling you, we’re sitting around talking about songwriting the other night and I said, Raoul, you can write any time anywhere, can’t you? And he says, “Sure” and we start writing a song about the drinks and booze at a bar. How has the turn out been for the shows? TB Well, at this point Elm & Magnolia is pretty new and reopening from the pandemic has been rough for everyone. But these guys have stuff going for them. They serve great food, host Drag Queen shows on Wednesdays, have Live Music on Friday and Saturday nights, and Open Mic Nights are on Thursdays out here on the porch. When it starts cooling down some we’ll be able to utilize their big field and stage. If you check out our Facebook page you’ll see where and when we’re playing here and around town.
FACEBOOK.COM/CORNY F8ERS STEAMMAGAZINE.NET SEPTEMBER 2020 STEAM MAGAZINE 19