The master of the slow blues - Ronnie Earl.
Tracklisting (work in progress....):
0:00 - Acoustic - Hope Radio DVD
3:45 - Miracle
11:48 - Blues in D Natural
18:13 - Hope Radio Concert
58:30 -
1:18:15 - acoustic
1:23:22 - Ronnie Earl Interview, 2008
1:36:35 - Ronnie Earl & Bruce Katz, blues jam 2016
1:44:10 - Blues For T-Bone - 2007
1:50:00 - Moanin' - Tremblant Blues Fest, Quebec, CA - 2013
2:04:58 -
2:29:50 - Tribute to BB King with Joe Louis Walker & Poppa Chubby - Bluenote, NYC
2:38:00 - Skyman, Tupelo Music Hall, NH - 2011
2:47:45 -
2:52:45 - Chan's, Woonsocket, RI
2:57:17 - acoustic
More on Ronnie, from Vintage Guitar, July 2016:
Ronnie Earl
Redemption, Reconciliation, and Reinvention
By Bob Dragich
Ronnie Earl is one of the most prolific blues guitarists working today. And though his solo career now spans almost three decades, he shows no signs of slowing down.
While studying education at Boston University, Earl experienced an epiphany watching Muddy Waters onstage; taking up the guitar at the relatively late age of 21, he first gigged in Boston before traveling to Chicago and Austin, where he began working with Kim Wilson.
His first solo album, Smokin’, was filled with precise solos amidst melodic tunes and it announced the arrival of a player with a compelling style that has carried through 23 others.
Earl is today experiencing a resurgence. Releasing an album each year over the past three, they’ve been met with progressively greater praise and all charted on Billboard, with 2015’s Father’s Day climbing to #3.
The albums, including 2013’s Just for Today, along with Good News, from ’14, signaled a change of direction for Earl - one that includes new people and new sounds.
How long have you been with your core band?
We’ve been together about 15 years. We’re like a family; we know each other so well it’s like a spiritual connection - it’s not a backup band. I have a lot of confidence because I know that whatever I call off, they can play. The solos are always different, but the core music is there. We have a very large book of tunes, but I always get the feeling from [bassist] Jim Mouradian and [drummer] Lorne Entress, and support from [organ/piano player] Dave Limina. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve had many offers to go places with a different bands behind me, but then we’re just jamming. These are actual songs.
Just For Today is all instrumental except for “I’d Rather Go Blind.”
That’s with Diane Blue, who I’ve known for 10 years. I wasn’t looking for a singer at all, and never expected to have a lady singer, but she’d sit in with us in various cities and I started thinking how it feels like a “God thing” - that’s what we call it. It gives me a chance to be in a supportive role and I love the whole thing.
“Blues for Hubert Sumlin” sounds almost like something Stevie Ray Vaughan might play.
Stevie was a contemporary of mine, so I was very careful not to copy his style. To me, it’s more based on old Freddie King instrumentals where he’s playing double-stops. I gave it a different progression.
On Just For Today, you pay homage to your influences - John Coltrane, Hubert Sumlin, Robert Nighthawk…
I love Robert Nighthawk - he’s so overlooked these days. He took that slide style from Tampa Red and made it his own. He played in the open markets on Maxwell Street in Chicago and had that smooth style Earl Hooker later brought to the forefront. He’s one of my favorites, but he’s not known that much because he died when he was 40. I love playing the “Robert Nighthawk Stomp,” which is a very old Chicago-style song. With Dave Limina playing a boogie, we tried to get that old Maxwell-Street feel, like early Muddy Waters.
My first love has always been Chicago blues. That’s where I learned to play my music. When I play there, it’s kind of full circle.
You’ve lately been working with some talened young guitarists.
Yes, like Nicholas Tabarias; I flew him out for our last four albums because he’s so gifted. In Boston, we have Peter Ward and Pete Henderson. I think Paul Holdman and Laura Chavez are really good, too.
When you play, are you thinking about the styles of other musicians?
I can’t play like anyone else. “Rush Hour” is for Otis Rush, but I can’t play like him. I just try to put his energy, soul, and feeling into what I play, and capture his spirit. I’m a strong purveyor about playing with dynamics, bringing it up and bringing it down. I don’t hear a lot of that in music these days. I hear a lot of volume and a lot of notes.
What is your basic setup?
Just a Strat through a Super Reverb; never used an effect in my life. I’ve got a couple of Custom Shop Strats, a couple of reissues, and four old Strats from my days of touring constantly.
Read more: www.vintageguitar.com/27547/ro...
5 авг 2024
