FIVE INSTRUMENTALS IN TRIBUTE TO FIVE HEROES. ONE GUITARIST. ONE GUITAR.

I’ve spent a lot of 2022 battling Long Covid symptoms that have disrupted my ability to play and work. Part of my rehabilitation was the creation of my second volume of Blues Backing Tracks for Musicians, and practicing along to those tracks. Along the way, I started to realize that I wasn’t just practicing anymore; I was making MUSIC. The tracks themselves, with their varied styles, inspired me to dig into the approaches of some of my favorite blues guitarists, and indulge in some extended guitar soloing in a way I usually wouldn’t do on my own records.

The other part of the equation was the blue Strat I’ve had since 1992, which was my main guitar all throughout my early teenage career. When I was practicing this time around, the blue Strat was simply the guitar that was out of its case and most convenient to grab, but I started to fall in love with the idea of getting all of these sounds out of one instrument. The blue Strat may not be the best sounding guitar I have, or the easiest to play, but it holds a special place in my heart and was part of the spark here. The title of the EP came naturally.

These five tracks are quite clearly titled after the sources of their inspiration: Magic Sam, Albert King, Guitar Slim, Otis Rush, and Buddy Guy. That’s not a complete summation of my influences, obviously - B.B. King in particular is a towering omission - but these five players did a lot to shape me into the musician I am today. I also have to shout out a couple of heroes whom I’m proud to say have become friends and mentors. There’s obviously a lot of Ronnie Earl especially in the way I play Magic Sam’s style, and he was my biggest early influence in passionately expressing oneself through instrumental blues guitar. Duke Robillard is all over my approach to Guitar Slim’s style, and there’s no one in the world better at evoking the spirit and tones of his influences while speaking his own truth. Seriously, check out the album “Duke’s Blues.” It’s startling.

I hope you enjoy this collection. It’s been a big part of my reclaiming my health and life after a very tough period, and I’m proud to share it with you. The next step is getting healthy enough to do some gigs and seeing all of your faces in person. I can’t wait!

Notes on performances and listening tips:

West Side Magic - kind of a mashup of Magic Sam’s various All Your Love/Easy Baby based songs, all of which I love. Magic Sam’s studio records are great, but the Live at the Alex Club and Ann Arbor record had the biggest impact on me. You can really hear Sam stretch out at full intensity, and it’s incredible. There are a number of good Sam live records - a surprisingly large number given his short career and untimely death in 1969 - but I’d start with that one.

Albert’s Crosscut Groove - the arrangement and first chorus are clearly patterned after Albert King’s recording of “Crosscut Saw” with Booker T and the MG’s, but everything after that is largely taken from his playing on the live Wednesday Night in San Francisco album, which is the first album that made me want to be a BLUES guitar player, as opposed to a rock player with blues influences. Albert’s playing is sacred ground for me, in a weird way - I’ve never heard anyone actually play like Albert King, even though he’s the biggest influence on so many great players. There are just layers of nuance and surprise in Albert’s playing that don’t translate when anyone else tries them. This is as close as I get, and I’m glad I don’t have to make a career out of playing just like Albert King, because I’d never be close enough to make myself happy.

The Things Slim Used to Do - Obviously a take on “The Things I Used to Do,” with some “Something to Remember You By” in there for good measure, and I had to take 12 bars to approach some of the bugfuck nuts shit Slim played on “The Story of My Life,” before I just start playing like myself with some Slim melodic influences - maybe some Robert Ward and Lonnie Mack in there? Robert Ward’s playing always reminded me a little of Slim’s gospel influenced melodies.

The Otis Shuffle - Otis Rush is such a big influence on me that there are stretches of this where I wasn’t consciously trying to play like him. If you remove the direct quotations, this is kind of just the way I play, you know? The jumping off point is his early Cobra sessions - things like “It Takes Time,” “Three Times a Fool,” and “All Your Love I Miss Loving.” The Cobra sides are just about my favorite art ever created by human beings, but there’s great stuff throughout Otis’s career, all of which is worth listening to and cherishing.

Blues for Buddy Guy - Buddy’s 60s recordings loom large in my worldview. The influence here is from some of my favorite live Buddy recordings: the shockingly great “Folk Festival of the Blues” with Muddy and Wolf (also released as “Blues from Big Bill’s Copa Cabana” and “Live Action!”), the wild “This is Buddy Guy!” and the wonderful “It’s My Life, Baby!” by Junior Wells with Buddy as featured side person. Buddy walks a line between tenderness and viciousness unlike any other musician in history. His early records are like young B.B. King being chased by a hungry velociraptor, and they’re stunning.


Gear Corner:
1992 Fender Stratocaster with Lindy Fralin pickups and USA Custom Guitars neck
Curt Mangan 8.5-40 strings
Scuffham S-Gear amp sim
GGD Zilla Cabs speaker sim
Direct into Logic Pro X

I had a Barber Tone Press compressor and Quarantine Effects Number Four preamp in line sometimes, but I can’t remember if I turned either of them on for the takes I used. Either way, they’re both great and you should check them out!

Backing Tracks for all songs except West Side Magic: monstermikewelch.bandcamp.com/album/more-blues-backing-tracks-for-musicians

Backing Track for West Side Magic: monstermikewelch.bandcamp.com/album/blues-backing-tracks-for-musicians