Interview by Stefano Mongardini
Mucchio Selvaggio magazine, March 1991
In the wake of artists like Robert Cray and Jeff Healey, you can also fit in Tommy Conwell, a native of Philadelphia, but hopelessly in love with the Texas aspect of blues music, laden with whiskey and playing nightly like he’s in some Lone Star bar.
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Q: While coming from Philadelphia your music seems much more oriented to roots (rock), especially Texas blues. Some tracks are reminiscent of The Fabulous Thunderbirds: I'm thinking of “Let Me Love You Too” and “Rock With You.”
A: Right. The Fabulous Thunderbirds have been a great influence for me, especially the first two albums. I like that kind of music, I'm a big fan of blues, and particularly Texas blues: The T-Birds, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Freddie King and Albert Collins. Texas blues has influenced most of today's young American blues artists. Stevie Ray's guitar has made many converts; so has Jimmie's (Vaughan). I count myself as one of those converts. But I also play the classic blues and try to put together different elements in my songs.
Q: "I'm Seventeen" talks about youth alienation—were you trying to be autobiographical?
A: I started writing that song as a personal vision of someone who sees what a seventeen-year-old is today, from my point of view, that of someone over twenty years old. But much of what comes from that has autobiographical influences. This is how I mix my past and my present.
Q: What did you like most about some of the (other artists’) latest music releases? A: (I’ve been listening to) the discs of World Party. I loved the last Replacements album, like most of their stuff. I have not listened to the last Billy Bragg; I had bought his previous album, Workers Playtime, on which there were some great songs. By the way I bought it right in Italy, near Milan station (laughs)...
Then there's that tribute album to Roky Erickson (Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye) and John Wesley Harding's version of “If You Have Ghosts" is just superb. I've listened to it I don't know how many times in a row. On that album, there’s also "Reverberation" by ZZ Top.
Q: Do you think there is still room in music for that kind of “dirty rock blues” like yours, while the majority of the audience is turning more and more blindly to the “FM” sound?
A: We have a place there, although it does not have much prominence in terms of rankings. Rock in my opinion does not do statistically well. It does not receive respect and due attention, and for this few artists dedicate themselves to it. As you know people want to be where the action is. But I think something will soon happen, I hope.
There's going to be a new rock 'n' roll. There will be a new wave because rock has reached the bottom, just like it happened in the 1970’s before the advent of the Sex Pistols or in the early '60s before the Beatles. These were two bands that brought it back in vogue and at the same time changed it. Something like this is going to happen, I'm waiting. I hope it will occur before I become too old to be a part of it (laughs).
Q: The scene for rock music seems to more complex these days. For example, on the one hand this seems to be the ultimate years for a rediscovery of the blues by a wider audience; on the other, a band like the Del Fuegos just got their album dropped by RCA.
A: It's nice to see that the blues is getting the right attention, because there are very good musicians like Jeff Healey, Robert Cray and Robben Ford. I don't know if (the blues) is just a fad, and while remaining a big fan of blues, I don't think that's what will change in rock. It will be a scream much louder like it was for the Sex Pistols or for the Beatles. When there was the first English wave and then the New Wave, the rock was badly reduced: in the years before the 1960s for example, think Frankie Avalon and Fabian, while in the 1970’s there was (artsy) rock, which had nothing to do with rock ‘n’ roll. The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Sex Pistols helped everyone remember what the fuck the term “rock” meant.
Q: What differences do you see, in retrospect, between the recording of your first album and that of Guitar Trouble?
A: With the first album I tried to do a lot and pay a lot much more attention. I wanted it to be contemporary, but that it was rock ‘n’ roll different from what the regular guy listens to on the radio, but still made it on the air. And that is still my goal today. My concern was being in a new place where I didn't know the rules. When you make the first album you want it to be perfect, and see that it's up to par. With Guitar Trouble, I wanted to do something more personal that would make us more recognizable.
Q: Name the guitar players who have inspired you the most.
A: Jimmie Vaughan both as a rhythm guitarist and as a solo guitar player, and in the sound and tone he gets out of the guitar.
Q: There seems to be a lot of harmonica on your latest album. Is that Rod Piazza (The Mighty Flyers) who plays on Guitar Trouble?
A: Rod Piazza is from Southern California and I had never met him before, but Pete Anderson (producer), knew him. We had contacted Kim Wilson of The Fabulous Thunderbirds, but he wasn’t available. Also, Rod is a great musician; on a song like "Didn't Want to Sing the Blues," I asked him to play as Little Walter, while in "Nice and Naughty," I wanted a style closer to rock ‘n roll; along the lines of Kim Wilson. To be clear, all the white bluesmen, excuse the expression, are not the real thing. In one way or another we always end up as sheer imitations, compared to the originals.
Q: "What Once Was" has a very nice acoustic guitar part--do you prefer this or the electric?
A: It’s the first time I've played acoustics on a record. We’re primarily an electric guitar band. But I do want to try to play more acoustics, because there are many situations that require it. I like the sound of an acoustic at home, but I’m not an acoustic performer. I don’t think I like it.
Q: How does the guitar pairing work with Billy Kemp? Do you play more rhythmic parts or solos?
A: For Guitar Trouble, I played almost all the parts for the guitar. A friend of mine played on a few pieces. But when we play live, we like to change it up. There is a rapport of sixty/forty regarding solos. I play more because I've always done it since I used to play in bars for a beer. But it's nice to change it up rather than having just one person do the guitar solos all the time.
