Well, it’s Monday morning and I’m on a second cup of tea. I’m hoping for some inspiration as I sit here and write. This is supposed to be a tour diary but Twitter seems to have taken over in that department. It’s an instant thing. Sometimes people tweet me backstage after a show commenting on the performance.
This past May was a different month where I played solo with the Edgar Winter band and then went to Hawaii for four solo gigs opening the show for John Mayall. It was a complete change of pace and my wife even came to Hawaii with me (she took care of flights, logistics and was a tour manager for a week)! All the musicians involved were wonderful to hang with and I should try to stay in touch but once you get home it’s difficult to even keep in touch with your own family…..you know how that goes. There has been one band date since then and recently a few weeks off which has enabled me to re-tool the current show.
Things will pick up at the end of this month (June) and I’m looking at playing through the rest of the year with all Savoy Brown shows. And at some point the new CD “Going to the Delta” will be released.
I’ll play a couple of new songs from that new album in this year’s show but I’ll mostly be looking at doing songs from the band’s past. When I say past, I’ll play some songs that haven’t been played for awhile (say, forty years)!
Choosing songs from the past for a current live show is not as easy as you might think. You’re limited, for one thing, by the current singer’s style. That current singer is me and my blues voice is better suited for the more traditional songs. So I look for vintage band songs that are in that vein…..of course, there are many.
Recently, I have played many of the old songs acoustic/electric and that pleased people because it put a different slant on things. Now I’m looking at staying all electric for the next few shows. In effect, what is going to happen is that I’ll approach each show separately. Some of the art theaters will get a full acoustic/electric performance because of the nature of the environment (and that is what they want), some venues will get a bit of both and in many places I’ll play full blown electric. Okay, so now I’ve confused my audience! But at least it should be interesting.
I seem to change guitars like most people change their clothes. I’ve played a Zion Stratocaster style guitar for the last few months but now I’m thinking of going back to my Les Paul. There is a difference in tone, feel and weight in every instrument. Les Paul guitars are heavy! All guitars are, to an extent and that is why you see so many guitar players, me included, with rounded shoulders! And the sound of a Les Paul is much thicker in tone than the Zion. But who knows? Guitars fit one’s mood…and our moods change from day to day.
In the corner of my eye I noticed Ringo Starr on the TV promoting his new book of photos from the heyday of The Beatles. What amazing nostalgia, for me and a lot of us, when I see those photos. Ah, time and life and music.
’til next time,
Kim Simmonds
