Blues Matters! magazine talks to Kevin Brown.
With the release of his new album, Kevin Brown talks to 'Blues Matters!' about his recent work and his involvement with the Blues.
Blues Matters: You have recently released your 5th album 'Mojave Dust', a solo acoustic blues CD comprised of 11 self-penned numbers and a Robert Johnson Cover. What inspired this new solo project of yours?
Kevin Brown: I had decided upon the solo project as a way to re-emerge onto the scene after a five year lay off whilst I stayed at home to provide child care for our new born baby Jessica. The inspiration came from the rediscovery of the many blues artists whose work I had listened to and admired during the mid to late 60's.
I was very much aware of the present emergence of a more 'articulate' blues form that went much deeper than the 12 bar idiom. Eric Bibb, Alvin Heart and Kelly Joe Phelps I felt were leading the way in the exploring the therapeutic qualities of the ancient blues traditions. My own personal musical journey had seen me through 4 studio albums and I felt the time had come to explore the possibilities of making my first solo recordings in my own two track studio.
Blues Matters: 'Mojave Dust' certainly captures the emotion and 'feel' of the blues which in essence makes the BLUES what it is. Sadly the emotional side of the studio recording is all too often polished out in the production process by some artists/producers today. Was this an important consideration with 'Mojave Dust'?
Kevin Brown: I have always taken a great pride in my albums and although they were recorded in studio environments they have an organic feel to them, Mojave Dust was no exception. As I slowly worked my way through the songs I was constantly fiddling with mikes and settings in order to saturate the tape a bit, it helped me find that grainy edge that I had been looking for. I also had one very powerful piece of equipment at my disposal---time! There were moments when the performance did not capture the true essence of the song, no problem-just keep on playing it till it felt right, this all took time---which I had.
Blues Matters: On some of the numbers on Mojave Dust, you do a walking bass line accompanied by a normal pitch melody line. How did you achieve this?
Kevin Brown: On two tracks, 'Johnny Don't Cry' and 'No-one but myself to blame I tuned the guitar to open D but down a whole step so that I can sing in C but still I have D tuning shapes. I use a baritone instrument (Ovation Longneck) which I bought before my involvement with them. It is a very big guitar and it has been like trying to tame a wild tiger, but it rewards you with a very fat tone on your top 2 strings, which is where most of my explorations are carried out. I just shoehorn the walking bass in between the rhythm playing
Blues Matters: For the uninitiated I would say that your style of acoustic bottleneck blues is individual yet firmly rooted in traditional blues. Who has been your main influences and whom do you admire on the blues scene today?
Kevin Brown:
Many people have inspired me for nearly all of my life; Tom Finney and Fred Else were hugely inspirational to me as a child. My first musical mentors were involved in the Mersey Beat explosion of the 60's called the Dennison's, they had a record out at the time entitled 'Walking The Dog'; I played football with the lead guitarist's younger brother, I sneaked a peak at his guitar one day and from then on Footy took a back seat. Duane Eddy was an early idol followed by anything that had a bit of bollocks to it. Downliners Sect, Pretty Things, Nashville teens, John Lee Hooker on Top of the Tops took some beating. The Rolling Stones 'Not Fade Away' and 'Little Red Rooster' virtually had me in permanent paralysis, what a wonderful noise!!
Peter Green was also a massive influence, his 'Man Of the World' probably brought about my GSE failures, I had a portable record player, which ran on batteries. I carried it everywhere played John Mayall 'Sitting In the rain' and Johnny Winter's 'Dallas 'endlessly. But Peter Green just hit so deep and so hard that when I finally met him at Manchester Free Trade Hall when he was opening for BB King I simply could just not speak !
Later on Lowell George totally did my head in, also JJ Cale and Ellen Mc'llwaine. Lowell I Think was on a par with Peter, meaning that he was a great singer and player who knew how to cut his cloth when it came to writing original material. Willie Nelson does it for me, as do many all -rounders from various musical genres.
Jimmy Vaughan and Hollwood Fats probably take the cake on the soul side. Jimmy to me holds the key to bringing that genre forward, it's the hours he's spent absorbing and the years he's had in learning to communicate in a particular way that make him in my eyes one of my favourite players.
In recent years I have become aware of the spiritual aspects of the genre whilst learning and studying the blues tradition My journeys to Africa led to a chance meeting with Moussa Kouyate, a Senegalese master Kora Player in the classical style now living in The Gambia. Our collaboration is a typical example of the many struggles that a musician finds in his path whilst trying to unravel the mysteries of deep-rooted cultures. Ry Cooder has helped broaden all our knowledge and has left us with a far richer musical environment, thanks to his no doubt exhaustive musical collaborations. I am also driven down this slightly 'spiritual' path and since working with Moussa have begun to appreciate that there is 'another' way, after 30 years of rock and roll this alternative acoustic driven path provides me with some kind of warm hole that I cant wait to keep falling into ! Needless to say 'Mojave Dust' in many ways is the perfect vehicle to help me on my journey.
Blues Matters: With a solo performer and songwriter such as yourself, the vocals and lyrics are a major factor. What and who inspires your song writing?
Kevin Brown: It was Jackson Brown and his songs that that brought about my decision to quit teaching and dedicate my life to writing and playing. Bonnie Rait and Bruce Cockburn also held up their songs up for me to see and they were my calling cards.
I can honestly say that Lowell George and Jackson Brown showed me that the blues feeling was deep within many of the artists I admired, I just started digging and began writing. I am very ill read (unless you count my model aeroplane magazines) and so writing for me has always involved my daily observations, I try to look at things that we all see and feel and that have never seemed out of the ordinary, but we all know that the world is not all that it might appear to be. Life has a habit of throwing some very serious wobblies from time to time, when I can, I enjoy thinking about these 'stones in ones pathway' as subjects matters for my songs.
Blues Matters: Which guitars and strings did you use on Mojave Dust and what do you use for live gigs?
Kevin Brown: 'Mojave Dust was recorded using my baritone guitar tuned down to C (but in open D shape tuning). I use Martin Mediums but with an 18 top and 20-2nd, The guitar (Ovation Longneck) was recorded entirely acoustically using a single microphone (Coles 4033 combination ribbon-condenser) The voice also went through this mike and from there the signal was sent to both right and left tracks of a Revox A77. For Live gigs I use the same guitar plus an Ovation Adamas set up in regular tuning.
Blues Matters: When you were young, did your family encourage your talent for music?
Kevin Brown: My parents were always supportive to me. My father drove me to all my gigs (I played in a Stones type cover band). I was only 14 at the time so I had to be chaperoned, the other guys all worked at Leyland Motors and had girl friends and smoked dope, so my parents were very understanding to say the least !
They also drove me to London where I bought my first real electric, a Gibson SG and then allowed me a day of school so I could audition for John Mayall at Studio 51. He was also looking for a drummer at the time so my pal Fred Kelly (Spooky Tooth) drove us down there on a Sunday night, however it was a wasted journey as Mick Taylor and I think Aynsley Dunbar got the vacancies.
Blues Matters: What was your first guitar [have you still got it?] and which is your favourite one you use nowadays?
Kevin Brown: My first guitar was a nylon string horror story, but it got me on the way, from then on I think I played every guitar that came out of Eastern Europe for about five years, it was some kind of self imposed finger strengthening project, my first electric was likewise, I then had a Watkins Rapier and then finally the Gibson.
I think my favourite at the moment has to be the Baritone, it just allows me to explore some very deep areas that I just cannot reach with standard instruments, I also have a very nice Kinkade 'Porchmaster' which does not get the attention it deserves.
Blues Matters: Of all the musical genres, what attracted you to the BLUES and in particular BOTTLENECK BLUES?
Kevin Brown: I learnt guitar in the late fifties early sixties. In the cold North West to hear any blues at all was a minor miracle, but hear it, I did, I heard it very loud and very clear, and I have heard it every day since that moment. Slide guitar became my passion and still to this day I make a point of following up every thing I hear about. Have you heard 'Hollow Bamboo' on Waterlilly Acoustics? It features Ronu Majumdar on flute with Ry Cooder as guest. That to me is the future and is the light at the end of my tunnel, it is very, very empty but quite massive in its presence -just like Jimmy Vaughan !
It was this massive emptiness that drew me in to the blues, from within this emptiness came the sounds that inspired me so much, it is a very beautiful genre and takes a lifetime to unravel. To earn my living exploring the boundaries of slide guitar and learning from the true traditions is a wonderful way to spend ones working life.
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