|
||
|
HOME
Calendar
Music
Video
Photos
About Michael Word on the Street Interview Press Kit Contact Frequency Links |
||
|
||
|
Interview with Michael Powers - by Dave Rubin [PlayBluesGuitar.Com] Michael Powers is a purist. Not the kind that declares only Delta blues or Texas blues or Chicago blues to be the "real deal," but the kind that turns all of his diverse influences into "pure" musical expression. His latest offering, Onyx Root, on Baryon Records, contains six originals plus the prewar Muddy Waters classic "Country Boy" and the postwar Willie Dixon classic "I Can’t Quit You, Baby," along with the 60s rock classics "She’s About A Mover" by the Sir Douglas Quintet and the Count Five’s "Psychotic Reaction." With his eclectic view of what constitutes the "blues," Powers makes the perfect subject for the first PlayBluesGuitar.Com interview. You seem to move easily between many styles of music.: Right now on my desk I have Leonard Cohen’s "Famous Blue Raincoat," Muddy Waters’ "Catfish Blues," "Midnight" by Jimi Hendrix from War Heroes and some of Jeff Beck's stuff like You Had It Coming. Some of his later albums have brought me around again, because I basically just listen to the Yardbirds. I also have Dwight Yoakam, because I dig the words, and Citizen Cope. It’s like I can’t get enough information. That’s the way I approach my music. Some blues people might have trouble accepting that wide of a range of music.: People want to categorize everything. It’s like radio stations that only play one type of music. To me, music doesn’t have to be complicated to be appreciated. It’s the thing that touches you. What the music does, is what it is, so it should just be called "music." The only music I like is "good music. "You are in good company. Louis Armstrong and James Brown said there were only two kinds of music - good and bad : That’s true. Music is the universal thing. It’s got to come down to that sooner or later. Music and peoples...if you’re into the "higher power," it’s all "one." Your vision of music holds the variety of Onyx Root together: And the main thing along with that is the fun. We couldn’t wait to get to the studio to work. Now, that’s a good job (Laughs). I haven’t felt that good since the Battle of the Bands back at the C.Y.O. (Laughs). (Catholic Youth Organization back in Powers' "youth" -Ed) Do you find that your guitar playing evolves and grows when you listen to different styles of music?: Yes, everyday there’s something new that I hear, and then I try to recreate it. I may not know what it is, but I know there is something there that gets to me. I can’t sleep until I work it out, so I wake up with the guitar on my bed. Lately I have been trying new tunings. Which open tunings?: I love Em (E, B, E, G, B, and E, low to high -Ed). I wrote a song called "1976" that is similar to "Night in Madrid" on my new record. 1976 was the year when my first wife left me (Laughs). She was from Spain and I dedicated it to her. Will you use the open tunings to play slide?: Yes, in a rudimentary way, but mostly for wild chords and lead at the same time, and really sweet drones. Have you ever used any open tunings in the past?: The way I learned to play on the guitar, that my mother bought with the stamps, was to tune to open E (E, B, E, G#, B and E -Ed). Duane Allman favored that tuning: Yeah, and it sounds very "country." That’s how I learned to play "Red River Valley" (Laughs). I did some gigs with Richie Havens around 1970 in the Jersey City Armory to raise money for food and clothing for charity. He amazed me the way he used an open tuning to play with just one finger, like at Woodstock (Havens tunes almost exclusively to open D = D, A, D, F#, A and D or open Dm, where the F# is lowered to F -Ed). He would even do "Here Comes the Sun" by the Beatles and it was incredible. You often perform on solo acoustic guitar. How does that affect your approach as opposed to playing in a group?: Don’t try to think like you’re playing with a band, because that will throw you off. If you start "thinking," it’s over. What I find myself doing is first having fun and just playing as if I was playing for myself. I will play the same parts but try to make them fuller, without having to be louder. It’s the same thing as Jimmy Reed. He could play his music with just his wife on tambourine and he would be stomping his foot, for the drum, and the harmonica would be in his mouth on the brace, and he’s playing the guitar. So nothing has changed, except he’s doing it by himself. Do you plan out the arrangements in advance?: No, I just do them on the spot and then over time something else might hit me. But it’s still coming from that one spot inside. Do you feel like you have to keep the rhythm going constantly, or can you break away for a fill or short solo?: Yeah, I can do that. My biggest worry is having a bad instrument that will not stay in tune. But, when I’m free, oh man, the sky is the limit. You get a great acoustic sound on record: I use the Epiphone Jeff Baxter model with D’Addario electric 10s and an old MXR analog compressor/sustainer for warmth. Sometimes I use bronze acoustic strings, but they don’t bend so well. So then I tune down until the strings are like a rubber band consistency, like the old days before tuners when people just played, and you sound like Leadbelly - but then you can’t play with anyone else (Laughs). What is your electric setup?: I have a 1966 reissue Fender Strat with two Fender Frontman 25R amps hooked in series, and a Digitech TR50 effects box. Sometimes when I get in the mood I use an old Echoplex with the four VU meters that you can get sound-on-sound. Who are your all-time favorite guitar players?: Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters, Jimi Hendrix and the Yardbirds - any combination of guitarists from that band. Can you name a few of your favorite songs?: "Rollin’ and Tumblin’" by Muddy, "Ain’t Got You" by the Yardbirds, "Little Wing" by Jimi, "You Need Love" by Led Zeppelin (recorded as "Whole Lotta Love" - Ed) and Muddy, "Too Rolling Stoned" by Robin Trower and Junior Brown’s blues song, "Stupid, Stupid." One last question: What does "Onyx Root" mean?: Black penis." |
|