SHAWN PITTMAN

Shawn Pittman Releases His Lucky Thirteenth Album, Make It Right!

By Kevin Wildman Oklahoma native and Austin transplant, bluesman Shawn Pittman is back with another great album, Make It Right! Make It Right! is Shawn’s 13 th solo album, and the follow up to 2018s Everybody Wants To Know, the album that he did in conjunction with Jay Moeller. Make It Right! was released on Continental Blue Heaven records and features thirteen of the best traditional style Blues songs that I’ve heard in a long time. Four or five of them are covers, and the rest are Shawn Pittman originals. When I sit here and listen to this newly received CD, visions of Lightnin’ Hopkins and John Lee Hooker race through my mind. On this album, Shawn truly embraces his roots. This is something that seems to be lacking in a lot of Blues recordings these days and although it sounds traditional, it also sounds sincerely like Shawn, a newly revitalized Shawn. Shawn usually takes a little time between albums to collect his thoughts. Sometimes the breaks are large, sometimes just a year or two. His recordings have slowed down a bit since 2009 and 2010 when he was turning out several albums a year, but now he seems a bit more focused and the quality of the songs are just fantastic. Shawn recorded this album in Holland when he was over there doing a few festival shows in 2019. The album was recorded during breaks between shows. Recording took place at Heyman studios near Copenhagen. The owner of the studio, Christian Heyman Zinckernagel, was also the engineer there. He met Christian through his tour manager, Erkan Ozdemir, who was also doing double duty playing bass with Shawn on the tour. Levent Ozdemir, Erkan’s son, performed drums on the album. Evidently the studio and its surroundings helped to inspire Shawn and his new songs. He really felt comfortable there and got off to all the tape machines and analog radios around the studio. Right off the bat he struck up a friendship with Christian and the ambiance of the studio really made Shawn feel at home and helped to bring out his best work yet. Among the songs on the album are at least 4 covers, Albert King’s “Finger On The Trigger,” Junior Kimbrough’s “I Feel Good,” Eddie Taylor’s “There Will Be A Day,” and Bobby Blue Bland’s “Woke Up Screaming.” Although these songs are really great, the true gems on this album are the Shawn Pittman originals. “Finger On The Trigger” features some of the tastiest playing I’ve heard Shawn perform. On “I Feel Good”, Shawn keeps the groove flowing throughout the song, nothing fancy, just plain tasty. “There Will Be A Day,” really features some inspired picking, and “Woke Up Screaming,” is definitely a tour de force. The album starts off with a Shawn Pittman original, “Done Tole You So!”, and when Shawn sings “Done Tole You So”, there’s a lesson to be learned there. Yeah, he knew she would take your money, so don’t go knockin’ on his door cryin’. This is your classic song about gold digging women… building on the old themes of love and betrayal. “Make It Right,” the title song has a great gritty, drivin’ sound to it. It definitely was the right song to name the album after. He’s right you know, “Gotta Make It Better, Gotta Make It Right.” And he certainly did with this album. He made it better and no doubt about… he made it right! Everything is just right about this album. The songs, the song structure, the melodies, the tones. Oh god, the tones… you could write a whole story about the tones that Shawn is getting out of his Jimmy Vaughan Tex-Mex Strat and Super Reverb, not to mention his Butterscotch tele through his Bassman. But let’s not forget the other guys in the equation either, Erkan and Levent are just a powerhouse together. No wonder he picked them to play on his festival tour that year. To use them in the studio was pure genius. The three of them sound as if they had been playing together for years. The album really sounds tight. The song, “I’m Done,” has a refreshing slide guitar sound on it that’s really smooth. Shawn tells us that that slide guitar was inspired by Hound Dog Taylor. Then you take a song like “How Long.” All I can say is “Wow, what a great song.” The slow tempo on this song is perhaps the slowest song on the album, and it is so inspiring. It moves so effortlessly and sounds so smooth. And it’s no wonder I think that. As they sat down to record that song, Shawn tells us that Christian, the engineer, declared that they were going to make history with this song. Without a doubt, it’s one of my top picks off the album. Also, one of the most inspiring things about this album is the lyrics. From thought provoking to plain visionary, the lyrics from this album are some of the best to come out of Shawn’s head to date. I know I’ve used this term already in this story, but here it comes again. The lyrics on this album are just inspirational. They’re delivered with great thought and sincerity. There’s no forced falsetto’s (well, maybe one) or growls here, just tastily delivered and honest. I could go on and on about this new record, but the truth is you just got to experience it yourself. If you’re into Shawn Pittman already, then you know this is a good album. If you’ve never heard of Shawn before, you’ll swear you just discovered a new talent... someone very sincere and honest. Yeah, this is one of Shawn’s best albums, if not his best yet. This album is well worth adding to your collection, and for those of you who have never heard about Shawn Pittman before, get up off your ass and get yourself a copy. This will be one of the best traditional style Blues albums you’ll hear this year. September 2020 • Music News 27

Monte Warden Releases New Album Monte Warden Combines His Signature Twang With A Shot Of Classic Jazzy Blues Groove In The Debut Release Of “Monte Warden and The Dangerous Few”

By Jay Randall Listening to the new debut release of Monte Warden and The Dangerous Few, you can’t help but hear remnants of the Chicago Blues Speak Easy Prohibition days in the Cotton Club when the likes of Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa and many other big bands would play into the early morning hours of the smoke filled venue. Monte Warden has amassed a combo of seasoned musicians that magically combine the unique vocal styling of Monte’s signature twang with tasty lyrics and musical combinations of instrument mastery that create a unique sound of their own. The Dangerous Few is composed of longtime Austin musicians Mas Palermo on drums, Erik Telford on horns, Brent Wilson (of the Wagoneers) on bass, T. Jarrod Bonta on piano, and Warden. Palermo and Telford share production credit with Tim Palmer (whose credits include U2, Pearl Jam, David Bowie) and Brandi Warden (multiplatinum music publisher, Monte’s co-writer, and wife). This is another example of how Monte Wardens songwriting skills keep maturing and developing with time. Like a fine wine it just gets better. Rock and Blues International got to sit down with Monte for a short interview.

Rock And Blues International: Who were your most influential artist growing up? Monte Warden: I never would’ve even picked up a guitar without hearing my folks’ Buddy Holly records…I also loved, Elvis, Cash, Hank, Sinatra as a kid and in Austin, I was as influenced by punk as I was the Outlaw movement…which was not that unusual being from Austin.

RABI: Long before your new release with the Dangerous Few we heard you were the ripe old age of 15 when you formed the Wagoneers. When and what label did you get signed to and how many releases did you guys put out.

Monte: I was 15 when my 1 st real band, Whoa Trigger, was formed (we won Best New Band in 83 at the Austin Musiv Awards), I was 19 when The Wags got together. We were the 1 st act to be signed to a major from the very 1 st SXSW in ’87. A&M Records signed us. We were blessed to make two albums for A&M, the 1 st one, Stout and High, is regarded as one of the 1 st Americana albums in history (tho the phrase ‘Americana’ wasn’t around then).

RABI: What were some of your most memorable Tour dates with the Wagoneers?

Monte: The Wags picked almost a thousand dates in 4 years, so we were blessed to pick several great shows. We toured extensively with Willie and Emmylou. One of my favorite memories was that in Oct ’89 we opened both for The Ramones and Bill Monroe in a 3 week span. Not many acts can

say that! 28 Music News • September 2020

RABI: After the Wagoneers disbanded you wrote a little song called “Desperately”. Can you tell us a little history on that?

Monte: I wrote Desperately with my dear friend, Bruce Robison, in ’96 as I was tore up goin’ through a very unexpected divorce….years later, after I married the love of my life, Brandi, (who is my publisher), she got the song to George Strait. Strait cut it and took it to the top of the Country charts and the song earned a Million Airplay Award from BMI….the song just came out TODAY (Aug 21) on Josh Turner’s new album honoring Country Music’s Classic Songs. This honor is so very humbling.

RABI: You were inducted into the Texas Music Hall of fame as a solo artist in 2011 The Wagoneers reunited when the band was inducted as well. Do you guys still play out live? Are any of the members in The Dangerous Few?

Monte: The Wags have performed since our 2011 induction and perform extensively. We have a 3 rd album in the can. The amazing guitarist for the Wags, Brent Wilson, is also the upright bass player for the Few…our drummer, Mas Palermo, is in both bands and co-produced the Few album with Brandi, Erik Telford, and uber engineer, Tim Palmer (Google him!)

RABI: What and who influenced you to the New Monte Warden Sound of The Dangerous Few?

Monte: The great somgwriters of the era known as ‘The Great American Songbook’ –Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Sammy Cahn, Bacharach/David, Jimmy Van Heusen,…its an era where the ‘songs’ are more the stars than the artist who sang them…I have found writing in this style has been the most rewarding experience, artistically, of my very blessed career.

RABI: We know this Covid Pandemic has taken its toll on the music business and ability to perform. Are you doing anything online and do Monte Warden and The Dangerous Few have any plans to do any online shows or features. Do you guys hope to Tour once the Pandemic passes and venues start to open again?

Monte: We will tour EXTENSIVELY once the ‘all clear’ is given…I have a Friday live-stream called, The Monte Warden Feel Good Hour I do EVERY Fri at 7 ct on my facebook page. www.facebook.com/ montewarden The live stream has been a GodSend for the family. The patronage from the fans has kept our lights on the fridge full thru all this. We are so very blessed.