Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Blues Hall of Fame inductee, Mavis Staples has had a remarkable career. She sang with her family band which moved from their church roots in the 50s to the vanguard of the Civil Rights movement in the 60s, before becoming a commercially successful R&B group in the 70s. Turning solo, Mavis recorded with Prince and in the last twelve years or so, has re-invented herself as a rootsy, bluesy, Americana artist, with a heavy dose of gospel. Her latest album, If All I Was Was Black addresses the broken heart of today’s America, suggesting that, despite the racism, violence and lying, redemption is possible. Mavis Staples wants to “Bring us all together as a people – that’s what I hope to do. You can’t stop me. You can’t break me. I’m too loving,” she says. “These songs are going to change the world.”
Down at the Crossroads caught her show in Union Chapel, London. Here’s what we learned:
Mavis Staples is a lovely person. That’s it. No qualifications. She loves her band, she loves performing and she loves her audience. And it showed from the moment she breezed onto the stage to warm applause and cheering at Union Chapel.
Union Chapel is a wonderful concert venue in north London. It’s a working church which hosts gigs by major artists and recording sessions, and has fantastic acoustics. Nobody is very far from the artist which gives the whole things a wonderful, intimate feeling. You can sign up for dinner before a gig and so get in early to nab your seat – and contribute to the church’s homeless ministry by so doing.
Mavis’s first song set the stage for the rest of her set – she sang about “love and peace,” and invited the audience to “take my hand.” “I got people who love me,” she sang, in that unmistakable voice which can rasp, croon, scat or belt it out, as the need may be. You begin to feel the love, forgetting for a while Trump, Brexit and all the other stuff that has been annoying you. We ended up, most of us strangers, holding each other’s hands and beaming like children.
Love and peace for sure – but also, she said, she was there to bring us some “joy, happiness, inspiration and positive vibrations.” And that she did for about 75 glorious minutes (too short, Mavis, but then you have just turned 79, sorry for bringing that up!).
And the joy and inspiration clearly comes from Mavis’s Christian faith – she unabashedly gave us the old blues song, Death Comes Creeping (covered by a host of artists, including Mance Lipscomb, Fred McDowell and Bob Dylan) – asking “whatcha gonna do when death comes creeping at your door?” Followed up by Far Celestial Shore, with its “jubilation, joy and exaltation when I see my lord.”
That faith is no other-worldly faith, but one that is driving for change here and now. She talked about working for justice in the 1960s, inspired by Rev Martin Luther King Jr., and about needing to continue that work, especially at the moment. “I’m thinking about going up to that White House,” she said, to the biggest cheer of the evening. Go for it Mavis!
Her five-piece band was everything you’d expect from long-time collaborators. Guitarist Rick Holmstrom treated us to a wonderful virtuosic display in a variety of styles, rewarded along the way by a fist bump from Mavis, and singers Donny Gerrard and Vicki Randel rounded out the sound, allowing Mavis to let her vocals soar with freedom.
A glorious, inspirational evening – keep going, Mavis, we love you!
Brooks Williams and Hans Theessink are seasoned blues troubadours who play to knowledgeable audiences across Europe and the United States. Brooks hails from Statesboro, Georgia (yeah, he’s got them Statesboro blues) but is now based in England, while Hans is based in Vienna, Austria.
Both are fabulous guitarists, have a deep appreciation for, and knowledge of, the blues and the social history of the blues, and are engaging and absorbing performers. Going to a concert given by either man will entertain you, challenge you, and above all, send you home satisfied with a big smile on your face.
Getting both playing together for an evening, swapping songs, alternating the lead vocals, harmonizing and trading guitar licks would be really something, then, right? Well, the two guys have embarked upon a joint tour of Great Britain this month, playing 21 gigs in 21 days. Not to be missed – check out the schedule for the Steady Rollin’ Blues Tour here.
And, be sure and get yourself a copy of Brooks Williams’ new album, Lucky Star, out in July which features a couple of tracks with both Brooks and Hans playing together.
Down at the Crossroads spoke to Hans and Brooks before their evening in the Core Theatre in Solihull and asked them about their life in the blues and life on the road…
DATC: How do you two know each other and how did this tour come about?
Brooks: Well, I’ve known of Hans since the very beginning of my career. And we did meet at the Philadelphia Folk Festival in 1996, but we met properly for the first time when we went to Dallas in 2005, at an anniversary concert for a great venue called Uncle Calvin’s. And we have mutual friends and that was kind of the connection. And then a couple of years ago I did the tour here with Guy Davis. And about half way through the tour, it just occurred to me that the audience really like it when we did stuff together – it became apparent that that was the point in the evening when the show just took off. Even though each of us could do our own thing, there was something magical happened then. So, I started thinking that perhaps this could be thought of as something that happens every 18 months.
And the first one at the top of my list was Hans. ‘Cause I just thought our styles would complement each other. And I was really excited about the possibilities. And thankfully when I presented the idea to Hans, he said, yeah, let’s go for it.
Hans: And we also said we’d not do separate sets and then two songs together at the end. Let’s do the whole thing together. So we swop songs, but we’re on stage playing together all the time.
DATC: And what sort of music can people expect?
Brooks: Blues, but a range – some country blues, a little bit of Texas blues, some of the Delta in there, some really nice Broonzy-style finger picking. Stuff that we love, and we bring it together through the process of how we interpret songs.
DATC: And when you talk about re-interpreting songs – how do you go about that, when you pick up an old blues song, and feel, yeah, that might work. How do you reinterpret that from the original?
Hans: Well, you couldn’t reproduce it. So you can only go another way. I try to get the feel of a song, try to crawl into that.
Brooks: For me, there’s usually one lyric in the song that I latch onto. I mean I’m into the whole song, but there’s usually one lyric that’s my cue. So, we’re going to do Backwater Blues and when I was doing the arrangement for that – and there are so many beautiful arrangements, there are some great ones – but the line that caught me was, I think it’s at the end of the 4th verse, where it says there’s going to be a lot of people with nowhere to go. It’s talking about the storm and the rain, there’s going to be a lot of people homeless. So, I thought, what kind of mood would there be in the guitar part, if that’s the line you’re ultimately going to get to? And so that affected the tuning that I used, the little guitar figure. And then as Hans and I do it, Hans brought this, almost moving bass line – almost like a kind of slowed down blues bogey, like a blues shuffle. It just great. It’s got great power, but it’s got a little edge of desperation. And it was just that lyric that it should all feel like that. Now I know that’s miles away from other versions, but I really like that lyric and where it takes me.
Hans: And I also think it’s good that it’s miles away from other versions! But then we have a song like Deep River Blues, which is pretty close to the original.
DATC: So for each of you – what do you admire about the other person’s playing and performing?
Hans: Well, Brooks has this great thumping guitar style, and beautiful slide playing. We both obviously listen to the same people – Mississippi John Hurt and Fred McDowell and people like that, so even though we come from places far apart, we both have the same kind of general influence. So when we talk about music or listen to records, we obviously know the same things.
Brooks: One of the things that I’ve always admired about Hans’s playing is something I would have aspired to in the early days when I was listening to his Flying Fish record. It’s that way of keeping the bass going – either alternating bass or thumping bass – but doing lovely figures at the same time. So it’s like two or three parts all at once. It moves the way a piano player moves. I like to hear motion. And Hans has a great sense of the songs that he chooses to cover. And a great sense of bringing all this to his own writing, that same feel, that same tradition – so you can put a song from the ‘30s and a song of Hans side by side, and they sit very well right next to each other. The lyrics are poignant and relevant in both cases.
Hans: And even though a song might be slow, it’s all, like, groove oriented. Which is very important, not to lose the groove. And it might be really slow, like behind the beat, or whatever, but it’s still moving and that groove is really important. And Brooks has got that totally.
DATC: And you mentioned Mississippi John Hurt. You get that in a player like John Hurt don’t you?
Brooks: Yeah, that fingerpicking, the way the thumb moves, yeah.
DATC: You mentioned some of the country blues players. When you think back to the context in which they played, the situation they were in, the instruments they played, what do you admire about some of those players?
Brooks: One of the things that grabs me about those early blues players is that they were so far ahead of the curve, so to speak, they were creating something that really hadn’t been created before. When I was learning to play and learning to play slide guitar, there were lots of people I could get ideas from. But with some of the early players, you get the idea there might have been only one other person they possibly could’ve listened to – or maybe in some cases, no one else! There wouldn’t have been the access to records – it would all have happened because they crossed paths with other musicians.
Hans: I’m sure a guy like Charlie Patton had nobody to lean on. They just created their own thing.
Brooks: I know the world has changed many times over. But fundamentally they were trying to make their way in the world and make some sort of living, to make a way in the world playing music, and that is powerful, considering what some of those players would have been up against, socially, economically. Those were some pretty huge mountains to cross, and just the fact that they did it and we’re still listening to it. And it’s still vibrant!
DATC: So both of you play to audiences in Europe and the US – is there still an appetite for this sort of music where ever you play?
Hans: People come and like the hand made feel of things – things happening on the spot, the voice and the guitar and that’s it. And they can see what we’re doing.
DATC: And it’s real music.
Hans: And sometimes we fly off, we get into some improvised bit, and people enjoy that. They can see that its happening here and now and it’s never going to happen again. And that’s the big charm of this kind of music
DATC: What about the demographic – is there a younger audience for this type of music?
Hans: I find that the audience is getting up there! But there’s always young kids in the first row who want to play guitar and want to see what fingering you’re using. But I think the general audience is getting older.
Brooks: One of the things I’d like to see – and I’ve been thinking about this pretty seriously for about a year – how can one expose people to the wonderful flexibility in the blues so that they can see how vibrant it can be for them? It would be exciting to see it moving forward in some way – I’m not sure what that way might be. And the two things that I’ve seen in my travels that keep the blues vibrant in the ears and eyes of people is firstly, blues has such a direct link to rock and roll, so that even some kid who is 13 and wants to play rock guitar, they’ve figured out they need to know how to play blues guitar; that that’s part of the process. So that’s a cool thing. The other thing is that when you find an audience that has figured out that this music – even though it’s set in a time and place and an economic and social situation – that it’s as relevant now for people as it was back then. It’s very alive. Even though some of the language in some of the older songs may be a little bit foreign to our ears, it’s really vibrant music.
DATC: And – unfortunately – increasingly relevant in the world we’re now living in.
Brooks: Yeah, absolutely.
DATC: You’ve both had long careers. What ways has the music industry change for you as a recording and performing artist?
Hans: Well, lots of colleagues complain it’s not working as well as it used to. I must say, on my part, I cannot really complain. For my part, I’m pretty happy, but I guess for new kids starting out, it must be difficult to get your foot in the door.
Brooks: The changes haven’t affected me. I had my best year in 28 years, last year! I’m still travelling that little bit under the radar and so some of the changes that might slow some aspects of the industry down, actually don’t reach me. And because there is less opportunity to hear roots music on the radio, people go online more to listen to online radio and what is interesting is they’re getting turned on to artists they wouldn’t otherwise know of. And so I’ll show up in a little town where I’ve never been and someone will say, oh I heard you on such and such a radio station which you only can get online.
Hans: Or you get somebody from Nepal ordering a CD! You know, I think continuity is really important. To keep doing what you’re doing, so people know what to expect. And if you do quality work over the years, that’s what they’ll expect. Keep doing what you love doing. And if people catch your enjoyment, you being happy doing what you do, that really rubs off.
DATC: So on that point Hans, we’re all getting a bit older – how does touring feel compared with when you were younger, and what is it about what you do that keeps you going?
Hans: I still enjoy playing and playing for an audience. Now this tour is a pretty hefty one – something like 21 days of concerts. So it’s good that we are sharing the stage and swapping songs, so you’re not singing every song! But I really enjoy playing, and as long as the health situation is good, that’s the way to go.
Brooks: You know, for the first 10 or 15 years of my career, I had to constantly just stay on task. I don’t know whether it was just me, or the nature of the travelling, I had a young baby at home, I was married and it just seemed like a lot of burden. But what has been an absolute pleasure in the last decade has been being able to sit back and enjoy – really enjoy – what it is I am doing. And to look ahead at a year and say, “Hey wouldn’t it be great if Hans wanted to come over, and we’d do a tour, and what about three and a half weeks, wouldn’t that be great?” And if we could just dream that? And here’s it’s happening and that’s really exciting. And I feel like, if at all possible, as long as I can keep playing, I’d like to have experiences like the one we’re having now – where it’s fun, it’s interactive, where I’m learning, where I’m loving the music and the audiences. And then, after the tour is over, Hans will do some solo shows and I’ll do some solo shows, and we’ll each play with our bands – but we’ll go back to all of that a little bit richer, and more inspired. It’s like, now, I’m finally at a point in my life I can enjoy it!
Hans: It’s exciting to do things you haven’t done before. Like, when we took off last week, we just said, here’s a list of songs, you pick one, I’ll pick one – and here we go! This is great.
DATC: And this sort of enthusiasm for sure comes across to your audiences. Great, thanks guys and best wishes for the rest of the tour!
Jackson Browne played five sold-out nights at Vicar Street in Dublin. There’s a lovely, intimate feel to this venue, although it does hold about 1,000 people. Down at the Crossroads went on night 2 and here’s what we learned:
1. Jackson Browne, though pushing 70, still puts on an outstanding show, bantering with the audience, utterly at ease with his band and his extensive back catalogue of songs, and able to hold his audience utterly captivated for over two hours. He’s a great musician as well as a great songwriter, showing off considerable piano and guitar chops along the way.
2. Jackson Browne’s catalogue of songs, going back over forty years, is as good as you’ll hear from any other artist. He played songs from every era of his career, many in response to requests from the audience. He basically abandoned his set list after a couple of songs and performed whatever he could hear shouted out to him (or understand, given the broad Dublin accents of some). Most of these songs have a timeless, enduring quality to the music and an on-going relevance in the lyrics. I’ve lived with some of them for most of these past forty years – they are like old, favourite shirts that you just love to pull on. They’re comfortable, they fit you, they’re just part of you. That said, they’re not dad-rock. A young friend of mine who was unfamiliar with Jackson Browne, told me this week he had checked out his early albums after my enthusiastic Facebook posts about the concert. His comment – simply, “wow.”
3. The band Jackson Browne has assembled for this tour is top notch. Of particular note are Val Callum, who’s played guitar with Jackson for some time, and Greg Leisz, lap steel, pedal steel and all round guitar genius who has joined the band for this tour. Grammy award winner Leisz has played with a who’s who of rock, country and Americana artists and is a jaw-droppingly good musician. His slide guitar and pedal steel work throughout the evening was nothing short of sensational. Val Callum is the sort of guitarist who plays wonderfully and tastefully, maybe unnoticed unless you’re a guitarist and realize just how good the understated stuff is, and then who suddenly, when he gets the nod from Jackson, will dazzle with fast, syncopated runs up and down the fretboard. And spare a thought for Bob Glaub, the bass player – another top class musician – who played bass on the song “The Pretender,” back in 1976, but who was never credited. Browne made that right just before the band launched into the song, to the delight of the crowd.
4. He didn’t play “The Rebel Jesus,” despite repeated calls for it from one member of the audience. Couldn’t remember it, he said. Fair enough, it’s a cover of a Chieftains song (which appears on The Next Voice You Hear). But I’d love to have heard it. The song gets to important matters about the person and mission of Jesus:
“Well we guard our world with locks and guns And we guard our fine possessions And once a year when Christmas comes We give to our relations And perhaps we give a little to the poor If the generosity should seize us But if any one of us should interfere In the business of why there are poor They get the same as the rebel Jesus.”
5. And finally – Dublin is a remarkably welcoming city. I managed to get myself hopelessly lost driving to Dublin and was starting to worry about getting to Vicar Street in time for the concert. At a set of traffic lights I rolled down the window and asked directions from a taxi driver in the next lane. “Follow me,” he said and led me all the way to my destination. I tried to pay him but he resolutely refused. Then, after the gig I was sitting in my car desperately fiddling with Google to try and find my way out of the city. Then came a knock on the window and a guy said, “Do you know where you’re going?” He then said, “Follow me.” He jumped into his car and I followed him through Dublin until he got me on the main road to Belfast. The kindness of strangers.
Robert Cray made a welcome return to Belfast after too long an absence and wow’ed a packed main marquee at the Cathedral Arts Festival.
Sexagenarians can rock as hard as anyone. Three of the four members of the band are in and around 60 years old – so what? This is a superb blues quartet delivering as tight and as cool as sound as you’ll hear.
Bass players with dreadlocks and bare feet are pretty cool. Richard Cousins, wielding a selection of four and five string basses, is surely the hip-est bass player around, as he jumps around dreadlocks flying. He seemed to appreciate the shag carpet laid on for him in Belfast. And – the crack between him and Robert during the evening was great fun.
Bass Player Richard Cousins
Robert Cray is one of the best male singers you’ll ever hear. His singing is molasses sweet and boy, can he hit those high notes. With a career going back to the 70s, five Grammy awards and numerous nominations, he’s shared stages with luminaries like Albert Collins, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. But who can both sing and play quite like Robert?
The tone he gets from his Strat and Matchless amps is so glassy you could slip on it. He is one seriously good guitarist, mixing jazzy chords and lines with the blues in a quite distinctive style. You hear a few notes and you know you’re listening to Robert Cray. And the man can fret across six -six! – frets.
You don’t have to make a mushy face when you launch into a guitar solo, but, clearly, it helps.
And finally – twenty odds years between visits to Belfast is far too long. The standing ovations Robert Cray got at the end of the evening hopefully will persuade him to come back soon.
Lee Hedley
Post script: The supporting act, the Lee Hedley Band was terrific. They treated a hugely appreciative audience to a set of well-known Chicago blues. Tight rhythm section, cool lead guitar from the excellent Frank Carberry and the charismatic Lee Hedley in front, with his tasteful blues harp and well phrased singing.
A big band of 12 world class musicians is a truly wonderful thing.
The E Street Band isn’t the only one with a cool, long curly haired saxophonist. Kebbi Williams sprang into action straightaway on the first song, Don’t Know What it Means and just got better as the evening went on.
The drum solo is not a thing of the past. Particularly when you’ve got TWO top notch drummers. Tyler Greenwell and J. J. Johnson drove the music forward, with an uncanny, in-sync timing.
The 8-12 minute song in a live setting is what concerts are made for. Seriously – so good were the song arrangements and so outstanding the musicianship, you were disappointed when each song came to a conclusion.
Derek Trucks is a peerless electric slide guitarist. Make that guitarist, full stop. Playing in open E tuning mostly, he makes that Gibson SG sing. And he doesn’t use a pick. And, given half a chance, he’ll throw in a few Indian-sounding licks.
Susan Tedeschi is an excellent guitarist but an INCREDIBLE singer. Blues, soul, Gospel, Americana – doesn’t matter, she’ll nail it. Make no mistake, this band is awesome – but Susan Tedeschi is the glue that holds it together, the voice that makes it all work.
If you have vocalists in the band like Mike Mattison, Mark Rivers and Alecia Chakour, you can afford to do a spiritual (Anyhow My Lord) right bang in the middle of the concert.
One final thing – from what I can gather, it’s a rather German thing to do – my camera was taken from me as I entered the Tempdrom. This I consider mean and just pointless. Never happened to me before in the UK, Ireland or US, for big name or less well known artists. Grrrr.
