STEAM Magazine South Texas Entertainment Art Music volume 8 issue 10 December 2020

Victoria, Texas has a wide variety of music venues to choose from. You can go from classical to classic rock, Tejano to country music. This month I chose two venues in the Victoria area, Dodge City Saloon and the historic Schroeder Hall.

First was Dodge City Saloon, no relation haha. They hosted two bands on December 6th. The opening group was “The Crossroads Troubadours”. They are a good band playing a variety of classic country cover songs from several different artists. The Crossroads Troubadours did a nice job warming up the crowd for the main act, “The Chad Cooke Band”. (Carlos Salas, Johnnie Martin, Michael DiSanto, Frank Flores, and James Zamora)

Words & Photos By Tim Dodge, STEAM Magazine

I’ll be checking out the music scenes in all around Central and South Texas in January, so if you see me come up and say hello or send me suggestions on musicians or events to photograph.

Submissions@SteamTx.com

The following Saturday night, “Nathan Colt Young” took the stage at the historic Schroeder Hall in Goliad TX. Nathan and the guys play a very wide variety of original songs along with a few cover songs. One thing all the songs they perform have in common, you can dance to every one of them. They sing about cowgirls and loved ones. One particular song they sing that’s just fun to watch is Leroy Van Dyke’s “Auctioneer”. Just don’t raise your hand at the end or you might find yourself winning the bid. And they only take cash. This group is a hidden gem that needs to be discovered. If you like country music sung the way it used to be, I recommend you check these guys out.

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The Chad Cooke Band is full of high energy. They filled the night with their original songs and a few cover songs. Two of their songs are currently in the Texas Music Charts top 200, “Whatever It Takes” and “Life Behind Bars”, which is one of my favorites of theirs. Believe it or not, the title can be a little misleading, but you’ll have to listen to it to get the meaning. Another song that has real meaning for these guys is “Come And Take It” which is not about the Alamo. The song was written after hurricane Harvey decimated their hometown of Houston TX; but the song could be about any city or town along the Texas coast that was hit by Harvey. It reflects the stamina and resilience of us Texans. (Chad Cooke, Dallas McGillberry, Kevin Pool, and Mike Neyra)

January 2020 VOL.8 ISS.10 #94 ON THE COVER...

2 TIM DODGE’S TEXAS COUNRTY TOUR 4 COMICS 5 QUICK READ 6 ALBUM COVERS OF THE MONTH 7 CD REVIEWS 8 JESSE KENNEDY STEINBERG: ART THAT MAKES YOU SMILE 11 LEAN N RI MES: LO VED 12 PHIL BRADBURY: TUBE AMP MAGIC 14 MI T C H WEB B & THE SWINDLERS: FANTASTICO PUBLISHER RUSTY HICKS EDITOR TAMMA HICKS COMICS EDITOR ALLENE HICKS STAFF WRITERS TAMMA HICKS, RUSTY HICKS, TIM DODGE SOCIAL MEDIA BARRY ROGERS/WAYNE PR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS ALLENE HICKS, RUSTY HICKS CONTRIBUTING WRITERS J MICHAEL DOLAN, DEREK SIGNORE, ROB DICKENS, RICK J BOWEN, TONY NICKLIN, KEITH “MUZIKMAN” HANNALECK DISTRIBUTION COORDINATOR TERRY MITCHELL

A SQUIRRELLY GAMBLE

BY JESSE KENNEDY STEINBERG

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RELENTLESS RESOLUTION

THE COST OF .

ARROGANCE J. Michael Dolan Knowledge provides a bigger picture, a wide angle lens to see how to get to where we’re going.

Experience validates that the knowledge is true…or not.

Wisdom makes all the critical choices and decisions when knowledge and experience flinch.

Desire takes knowledge, experience and wisdom and turns them into a lifelong game worth playing.

Important because for the pro artist/trep, the biggest block to knowledge, experience and wisdom is the arrogant attitude that “I already know.”

J. Michael Dolan • Your music, acting, writing, art or film career is where it’s at today because of the daily choices & decisions you made in 2019.

• Your business is where it’s at today because of the daily choices & decisions you made in 2019.

• Your financial situation is where it’s at today because of the daily choices & decisions you made in 2019.

• You are the person you are today because of the daily choices & decisions you made in 2019.

Important because it’s fun to make new years resolutions.

However, I think it’s more effective and productive to make daily or weekly ones. It’s easy to announce, “this will happen next year!” It’s much more productive to proclaim, “this will happen today or this week!”

NO TOLL BOOTH J. Michael Dolan Show Biz is the only biz that you break into. You don’t break into plumbing, you don’t break into nursing, and you certainly don’t break into politics.

However, you break into Show Biz. Why? Because we assume the door is locked, therefore, we have to break it down to get in the building! Huh? Then, after we’re in, people laugh and say, “What a lucky break!” Huh? It’s time to let go of that mythical, antique slogan and realize that our awesome entertainment biz is the only industry where the door is always unlocked, always wide open, and always on the lookout for the next great song, an inspiring screenplay, a stellar production, a great movie or TV series, a mind blowing startup, a jaw dropping performance, a creative artist with an extraordinary talent, or a brave entrepreneur with an impossible vision.

Important because somewhere between impossible and hope there’s a lesstraveled road that leads to all possibilities. The best part is there’s no toll booth, turnpike or stop signs!

HOWL AT THE MOON J. Michael Dolan What if we joined other like minded people and stood our ground together?

What if we spun a sign that expressed what we feel inside?

What if we spoke our truth, from deep inside our guts, right into the lens of a media camera?

What if we chose the perfect location, stood up on our own two feet and howled at the moon?

Important because our voice and our presence matters.

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KEITH “MUZIKMAN” HANNALECK:

I always knew of Chet Baker as a trumpet player that recorded instrumental albums like all other jazz greats in the 50's. That was the golden age of jazz as far as I am concerned. Many of the greats emerged during that time and took their legacy into several more decades thereafter. Chet made it through six decades before leaving the planet in 1988.

The music lives on forever and great music has an opportunity to go through a remastering and reissue process. The album has been remastered from the original mono tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI. The vinyl is beautiful and it looks like a very old-fashioned release keeping with the originality from start to finish.

It Could Happen To You got the special treatment for rerelease on Record Store Day on 11-29-2019.

Baker was a great musician (trumpet) and when he released this first recording for Riverside, the world found out what a great jazz vocalist he was. His phrasing was right in time with the music. On the title track “It Could Happen To You” he pulls off some scatting that Ella Fitzgerald would have been proud of.

Baker is backed by some jazz greats such as Philly Joe Jones and Dannie Richmond on drums, Kenny Drew on piano and George Morrow and Sam Jones on bass. This certainly made a big difference in making this recording reality and must have given him the

vote of confidence he needed to realize the ultimate success of the album.

Chet takes off in a nontraditional way on standards like “Old Devil Moon,” “You’re Driving Me Crazy” and “How Long Has This Been Going On?” He puts down the horn on several tracks and just provides the vocals, which was another step away from the norm for the artist.

My favorites where Baker’s takes on "The More I See You,” "Everything Happens To Me" and "Do It The Hard Way." After hearing all of these great tunes there is no wonder this prolific artist was crowned as one of the kings of “cool.” Of course, Miles would displace everyone with that title soon enough but let’s not forget Chet Baker and all the fine players that made this stand out recording sound fresh and inviting today as it did when it was first released.

Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck: www.TheFinalOnVinyl.Com

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Jimi Hendrix was beginning a new journey with his Band of Gypsys that included Buddy Miles (Drums & Vocals) and Billy Cox (Bass & Backing Vocals). It was an incredible music machine with only three men.

The difference-maker among the three was the common denominator James Marshall Hendrix. But then again, wasn’t he always in the short time he spent on the planet?

Songs For Groovy Children (The Fillmore East Concerts) is a testament to the power and virtuosity of what Jimi and his band brought to the stages all over the world. In this case, it was his self-appointed home city of New York and of course the location of the legendary Electric Ladyland Studio.

This comprehensive 8 LP box set on 180-gram vinyl covering 43 tracks is all remastered for exceptional sound quality. All four of the historic performances at the Fillmore East are captured between the grooves of this massive set. The set has over two dozen tracks that have either never before been released commercially or have been newly remixed plus the full extended versions of songs originally released on the 1970 Band of Gypsys album. This lineup gave fans a chance to hear the soulful vocals of Buddy Miles. Jimi believed that he did not have a good voice, but I think there are millions of people that would disagree with that assertion, including myself. Like he says “with the power of soul, anything is possible.”

I have heard my share of live performances from the Hendrix vaults. I can honestly say that they are all different because the songs never sounded the

same while onstage. Jimi makes a point of telling the audience that some of the songs are new and they play them differently every night. I had to hand it to his band, they were always standing at the ready and never knowing which way he was going to go with the music. A nod or wink from Jimi would be the only indication of any change in direction and I am sure at times they never even got that. It was a collaborative effort and all they all needed each other, however there never a question who was leading the way.

Where does one start with 43 tracks? There is so much music on this set to digest and as I mentioned, every track is different, even if you hear it more than once on the same set such as this. This is a front and center seat to what this six-string magician could accomplish. Every time I hear the music of Hendrix, I discover another jawdropping aspect of the command of his instrument. In a live setting is where he thrived and this more evidence and the undeniable truth that he was the greatest to ever strap on a guitar. That is in my estimation, after hearing all the remastered studio albums and live performances. These four quintessential sessions showcase the unparalleled rock, blues, and jazz fusion that melted into a psychedelic music trip like no other.

If I had to choose one track from each LP 1-8 to come up with a “best of” this would be my list: 1: Power of Soul; 2. Ezy Ryder; 3.Machine Gun; 4. Stone Free; 5.

Foxey Lady; 6. Burning Desire; 7. Message To Love; and 8. Voodo Child (Slight Return) Jimi continually amazed me through these live performances and I believe it to be some of the best of his career. The chemistry with his bandmates made all the difference as well. His free form style was well suited to Cox and Miles. Not to say it was an easy chore but they were up for the challenge, as the music will strongly attest.

Although I made it a point to choose my favorite track on each LP, I would say that every track was a standalone masterpiece. For this listener, that is fact.

Songs For Groovy Children (The Fillmore East Concerts) is another monument to the ever-growing legend of Jimi Hendrix. If you are a guitar aficionado you will be consuming this ear candy with great pleasure. If you happen to be a Hendrix fan, you will once again be amazed at what you are hearing and how fresh and crisp it all sounds after the remastering process and the obvious meticulous transfer to vinyl. This may very well be the ultimate Hendrix live box set you have heard or will ever hear.

GARY NICHOLSON THE GREAT DIVIDE (BLUE CORN MUSIC) *** WHITEY JOHNSON MORE DAYS LIKE THESE (BLUE CORN MUSIC)

BY ROB DICKENS Gary Nicholson: Gary Nicholson’s list of achievements is super impressive – as songwriter, producer and performer.

His name appears on around 600 recorded songs across multiple genres – country, blues, Americana and pop songs. He has contributed to recordings by the likes of B.B. King, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Robert Plant, Delbert McLinton and even Ringo Starr.

A two-time Grammy recipient for production and inductee into the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall Of Fame, Nicholson has served on the boards of the Blues Foundation and Nashville Songwriters Association International and participates in SongwritingWith:Soldiers.

He’s had songwriting hits with Don Williams, Vince Gill, Charley Pride, Waylon Jennings, Patty Loveless, Garth Brooks and these artists have either co-written with him or recorded his songs – John Prine, Stevie Nicks, Fleetwood Mac, Neil Diamond, George Jones, George Strait, the Dixie Chicks, Guy Clark, Billy Joe Shaver, the Mavericks and Emmylou Harris. Longtime friend McClinton has recorded almost forty Nicholson songs. With the late Stephen Bruton, Nicholson co-wrote “Fallin’ and Flyin’” sung by Jeff Bridges in the Oscar-winning film Crazy Heart.

The Great Divide (released by Blue Corn Music on 7 June 2019) is a biting commentary on today’s events, with Nicholson’s husky, skilled vocals and insightful lyrics perfectly reflecting our trouble times. There are many other artists commenting with similar passion these days, but here there’s a wonderful use of space and simplicity that transforms the message into something even more potent. I suspect that The Great Divide is a folk postcard of which Woody Guthrie would totally approve.

Nicholson observes and opines on racism through the experienced eyes of someone who has toured with black musicians in the early days. This is painfully clear in “Blues in Black and White”. The current divisions in American society are documented with biting simplicity in “God Help America,” which includes a soulful duet with Texas gospel-blues great Ruthie Foster (see clip below). It’s not all grim, though, as the positivity in the ragtime “Hallelujah Anyhow” would attest.

“Since 2016, I haven’t been able to stop writing songs in reaction to this hurtful political climate… It’s overwhelming for all of us,” Nicholson says. “We need music to soothe our souls, as it did in the days of ‘For What It’s Worth’ and ‘What’s Going On’ and ‘Give

HEPCAT DILEMMA ART IMITATES LIFE (RAT-ON-A-STICK-RECORDS)

BY KEITH “MUZIKMAN” HANNALECK

Peace a Chance.’ Back then, music helped us get through the madness a little easier. With today’s troubles, I wasn’t hearing anybody singing about what’s on everybody’s mind every day, so I decided I had to put these songs out there.’”

As well as Foster, Nicholson has some talented friends who help out on the album – John Cowan, The McCrary Sisters, Shawn Camp, Colin Linden and Kenny Vaughn. The record was produced by Nicholson and sonically assembled with precision at Fearless Recording.

The Great Divide is a towering andimpossible-to-ignore signpost on the political and musical landscape of 2019.

Whitey Johnson: Self -professed “obscure bluesman” Whitey Johnson has been a musical presence for around a decade and presents us with More Days Like This (also on Blue Corn Music AND issued on June 7). This collection allows us a nice counter vibe to the seriousness of The Great Divide, giving us a feel-good and bouncy set of blues ballads, beautifully and lovingly crafted.

It features versions of two great Buddy Guy songs – “The Blues Is Alive and Well” and “Skin Deep”. “Starting a Rumor” was written with Guy Clark and McClinton and Johnson shares writing credits with Muscle Shoals legends Donnie Fritts and Arthur Alexander on “If It’s Really Gotta Be This Way”.

Along with Whitey, we have collaborators Colin Linden (guitar), Lynn Williams (drums), Mike Joyce (bass), with keyboard duties shared between Dennis Wage and Kevin McKendree. More Days Like This was recorded at Blackbird Studio Nashville in September 2018.

Another triumph!

Oh, did I mention that Gary Nicholson and Whitey Johnson are the same person?

“When I started performing as Whitey,” Nicholson says, “part of my intention was just to say I’m not black and I’m never gonna be able to sound like Muddy or Wolf or B.B., but I can pay homage through the songs they’ve influenced me to write.”

Together, these albums represent absolute proof of the Gary Nicholson giltedged trademark – one of the more impressive singer/songwriters on the planet.

BLUECORNMUSIC.COM ROB DICKENS: LISTENINGTHROUGHTHELENS.COM

My first thought after looking at the cover of this LP was “Ok this is going to be an odd experience listening to this.” Well, I am here to tell you it was different but it was very good. Hepcat Dilemma is a band out of Pittsburgh that has been around for quite some time and they got together after being absent for 13 years.

When I looked at the label sticker that came with the LP that said Rat-On-A-Stick-Records, I was already amused and ready for what was ahead, I thought. And incidentally, the picture on the sticker was a rat on a stick looking like it was ready to be barbecued. While many of you may find that to be unsettling, don’t let that throw you off one bit. Right out of the gate I know there is nothing ordinary about this band.

Hepcat Delimma is Chris Colpo (bass, vocals), E Hood (drums) and Bob Loiselle (guitars, piano). This is not your typical power trio by any means. They go far beyond that for sound and approach.

The album is titled Art Imitates Life. They put the band name and album title on the flipside of the cover where you are supposed to list the tracks. OK so that is something that is out of box thinking, then when you go to spin the vinyl there is not an indication of what is side A and B. Wait, the problem is resolved with the LP inner sleeve that lists all the tracks and the words. So now we are starting to feel like this more of a traditional LP, well almost.

I am off on another quest to try to figure out another progressive alternative rock band. Although it is mentioned in their one sheet that they have punk roots. I did hear that in the tongue in cheek lyrics and the vocals. I think I get the approach of this album from the cover and everything else that makes it so peculiar. They want you to think about what you are listening to and you know what? Who cares what side you are listening to? It’s all great music created by some talented men.

Once you hear this music you will be blown away that 3 men could make so many sounds and devise it to be so ultra-complicated to play.

They pull it off quite well indeed. For some reason, I was reminded of the lead singer Michael Been of The Call while listening to Colpo sing. It was the first thing that came to mind. I cannot

explain how that works; m a y b e other folks have heard the same. Well, none of that matters, I just thought I would throw that out there.

Because of the band’s clever trickery with the album sides, I ended up listening to side two first (I did not look at the LP sleeve first). The first track I heard immediately set the tone for the entire album, first of all with the title, “Persian Monkey Treatment.” I am afraid to ask what that even means but, in any event, that is the curtain opener for the bizarre circus-like atmosphere created with lyrics and the crazy, but very good, music. I need to emphasize that while I am honestly giving my evaluation of this and it all sounds so off the wall - the music, in my estimation, is incredibly good.

All nine tracks are solid and you get some singing and spoken word here and there, however, I guarantee if you are a real fan of music, complex progressive music, in particular, you will willingly cast aside all the weirdness and recognize the brilliant musicianship readily. I embrace the out of the ordinary and how different a band can be. I think from where I sit that is the best encapsulation of Art Imitates Life that I could give. And I most certainly agree that Art Imitates Life and sometimes in the most inconspicuous ways, you just have to be willing to look at the whole picture and enjoy the process!

HEPCATDILEMMA.COM Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck: TheFinalOnVinyl.Com

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What’s been a difficult subject to convey in paint?

Syrup. For the Chicken & Waffles painting I ended up making waffles, cutting them up, and taking multiple pictures of syrup pouring over them. It was the translucent, shiny, thickness that kept getting away.

That is my favorite piece of yours! The syrup is so realistic and the chicken looks defiant, cracks me up just thinking about it. I noticed that most of your work is very small. Do you do larger pieces besides sidewalk art?

It's a matter of practicality. I recently joined Bent Tree Gallery and my wall becomes blank when I sell things, so I try to create as many small pieces as I can for convenience to get it done and do it quickly. I didn't know what I was thinking at the time, but I bought a ton of small canvases and now I just need to paint them all so I can work on larger stuff. It's not like a consensual choice.

For the smaller paintings, do you feel that it works better for you or do you need a larger area to convey your imagination?

I would rather be doing and will be doing larger pieces and will be in the near future.

Besides BTG, do you have any other places that you are showing?

No, but what I'm trying to do is grow a social media presence and audience. I just started Instagram last year and I'm really trying to get out there so I can be more one-on-one with my buyers. I like the gallery, but I feel that I can have more connection via social media, so this year I'm really going to focus on that and open up some online shops. All my social media is Jessart Studios. If someone were to see it and they could type it in, my stuff will pop up.

To me, signatures are an important part of each painting. Why do you sign your paintings Jessart and not your full name?

I thought about how I should sign my art.

Jesse Kennedy Steinberg is my full name and it's very long. I don't want to put just Steinberg because that's my married name and Kennedy is my maiden name and it's important to me. My grandfather was a World War II veteran and prisoner of war, so I keep Kennedy in my full name as I am very proud of that, but putting it all at the bottom is just too much for a painting. Also, if I would've just put Steinberg or Kennedy, there are so many others you wouldn't know which one was me, so I feel like its good marketing as well.

I used to teach art and the students would say the hardest part is coming up with a signature because that could ruin your whole piece.

And at

Bent Tree Gallery Wimberley TX 10 STEAM MAGAZINE JANUARY 2020 STEAMMAGAZINE.NET

Top Row: Wistful Wallflower; Frenchman Street NOLA; Middle Row: The Gardner; Scalet Fervor Bottom Row: Pig in a Blanket; Hello Neighbor

LeAnn Rimes is an international multi-platinum selling acclaimed singer and ASCAP award-winning songwriter.

Globally, she has sold more than 44 million units; won 2 Grammy Awards; 12 Billboard Music Awards; 2 World Music Awards; 3 Academy of Country Music Awards; 1 Country Music Association Award; and 1 Dove Award.

At 14 Rhymes won Best New Artist making her the youngest recipient of a Grammy Award. LeAnn recently inked a worldwide deal with RCA UK who recently released her 16th studio album, “Remnants”. The album dropped on February 3, 2017, in the US and debuted at #4 on Billboard's Independent Album Chart and peaked at #3 on iTunes Overall Chart in its first week. the first single released in the US was “Long Live Love” which is peaked at #1 on Billboard’s D a n c e Chart and held the #1 spot for multiple weeks.

While h e r 2 n d dance h i t

LOVE

IS

LOVE

IS

LOVE

February 14 & 15 Gruene Hall, New Braunfels

.

By Derek Signore, The Sound Magazine Curtesy Photo

“LovE is LovE is LovE” topped the Billboard Dance Chart at #1 shortly after its debut making this her 3rd career #1 dance chart-topper. LeAnn recently released her 3d installment of her Trilogy of LovE with her latest dance single, “Love Line”.

This show is an acoustic show, peeling back the layers for a level of intimacy with the fans that many have not experienced before, and being so authentic on stage makes you vulnerable to an extent. Have those performances enhanced your relationship with your songs in that raw state?

Yes, absolutely. A lot of my hits I sang when I was a teenager, or before I had even experienced love or heartbreak, so now when we peel back the layers and re-imagine them, it's like they take on a whole new meaning. And I think the authenticity of the lyrics now come through more when sung acoustically than they ever have before.

With an Acoustic solo show, how does one play off the crowd energy (or rile some up) in a setting meant to be muted, more mellow, and more intimate?

Oh, you definitely can get the crowd rampedup whether it's a full band or just a guitar or piano. We have a lot of fun. We play my hits.

We do covers. We get the audience to sing along and engage. Each show is different, but every performance, I do my best to make sure people leave feeling LovEd and different than when they walked in.

Outside of your hits, you perform a few covers. Are you more apt to play with in the country genre or do you dabble into other genres of music for covers considering how versatile both your voice and the country genre is?

I play whatever I feel that day. My band loves it haha. It really varies; it can be country, pop, soul, jazz, rock. You name it.

2018 saw you act in “It’s Christmas Eve”.

Have you thought about taking more time off the road to pursue acting or taking time off to score a feature film?

Yes, absolutely. Making “It’s Christmas Eve” was such a magical experience, from the script creation to the music, to acting. It was great to be able to be involved in each step. I would absolutely love to explore that more.

Having won a Grammy at age 14 is an incredible feat but also sets the bar impossibly high for such a young talented artist. With so many awards shows now, do you feel there are too many or do we need them considering the influx of new talent emerging through indie channels outside of typical label creations?

Let them have as many awards shows that they want or need. It's the award shows themselves that need to learn how to stop looking and sounding the same to us, the viewers.

We know you have been writing some new music, might fans get a chance to hear some new material out on tour?

Maybe. You just have to come out to see us and find out!

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LittleWalterTubeAmps.com

PHIL BRADBURY WELCOMING THE AUDIENCE TO THE ANNUAL LITTLE WALTER TUBE AMPS ENDORSEE JAM Photo By Rusty Hicks, STEAM Magazine

By Tamma Hicks and Rusty Hicks, STEAM Magazine In July (2019) we met Phil Badbury at his Annual Little Walter Tube Amps Endorsee Jam at 3rd & Lindsley in Nashville. We have since learned that he is very willing to share his knowledge and will be a featured columnist here in STEAM Magazine. We are really excited to see what Phil has instore for us as he’s said he doesn’t plan to just write about amps and his knowledge covers such a wide range!

We thought we would give Phil a proper introduction.

Dos Equis may have had the character of The Most Interesting Man on Earth, but I think we have met the real deal.

Phil, aka Little Walter, is not a household name, but for those in the know this man has grabbed life by the horns and ran with it. He started in the mid 1970’s as a mining wunderkind where he earned the Little Walter nickname.

He then moved on to computer software, motor sports, business analyst and consulting, and so much more.

Phil’s current adventure, building high quality great sounding amplifies, has him paired up with some of music’s most iconic guitarists – Vince Gill, Reggie Young, Robben Ford, and many others.

meetings and have a beer, shoot some pool, and relax a little bit. When the software business ended and I switched over to building amps, the pool room became the music room and the offices became my build rooms. I don't have employees because I can't ever bring myself to let anybody else build an amp for someone, so I build them all myself.

ey, but I just felt like at my age, I wasn't chasing the golden ring anymore and somebody had better do this and leave this behind.

What makes your amps different?

Well, I don’t use tag boards or turret boards or circuit boards or any of the tools that all of the amp companies use today. Even the ones that say they use point-to-point still use tag and turret boards which ruins it. It's like I completely understand the not wanting taking a fine broth and putting cornstarch in to relinquish control to anyone else. it to thicken it. That's the way I look at it.

Well, I feel there is some kind of magic. I've When Robben Ford played his first Little played music all my life, paid my way Walter 59 and fell in love with it, he said through college in the early 70s playing mu"What is it?" And I said "Well, you can hear sic, and it's always been every string", he said "But one of the most im- If you don't start with a clean there's more," and I said portant parts of my life, platform, then everything you "and you can hear the space but I gave it up to go do from that point on isn’t between," and he said into raising a family "That's it. That's what it is". going to be pretty. and building a business.

When did you decide that At that point in time I felt this calling, almost tube amps were the way to go? like a religious calling, that someone had I was lucky enough to be real poor in college, better go back and capture what Leo Fender so while my rich friends were playing Marand the early guys have going on in the early shals and Fenders and Peaveys and expensive days of amplifiers, because today, all the amps, I would go to the attics of the music companies are running away from that as fast stores and find the old 1947 Fender dual as they can in order to make money. I underprofessional that was beaten all to pieces but stand if you are in the business and you have sounded better than any amp anyone had stockholders and people want to make mon-

So are you in Nashville, right?

No, I'm in Concord, North Carolina. I'm about nine hours from Nashville. Everyone including the artists’ think I live in Nashville. I was in the software business and we had this huge 5200 square-foot house where we lived in the top and the bottom was built to be our corporate office; meeting rooms, offices, and conference room. We would have executives from large companies fly in for the day so we also had a pool room where we could go after the 12 STEAM MAGAZINE JANUARY 2020 STEAMMAGAZINE.NET

ever played, but it didn't look cool, and all my friends were complaining because it wasn't black or 6 foot tall. I told them it didn't matter. I played blues and I told them to just listen to what it sounds like. I was lucky enough to get exposed to these early American amps before the corporations got a hold of them and literally beat the tone out of them in the interest of making money.

Isn’t that the goal of big companies – Take what’s fixed, break it, and charge more for the new and not-so improved?

I've been a CEO of software company, I've been a consultant on finance and money, and I’ve been a consultant in engineering and I know exactly both sides of the coin, so I can't disagree against people wanting to make money and being successful. This has been so rewarding for my wife and I, because right now we’re getting the amps ready to go out on the Eagles’ Hotel California Tour and we are rebuilding Vince Gill’s new touring rig.

We've got Robben Ford going now and we work for Joe Bonamassa, Rascal Flats, Garth Brooks, and Kenny Hall, the harp player. We are very fortunate to get to work with some wonderful artists, but it’s just not much money unfortunately. My dream is that somebody would come along and help me

REGGIE YOUNG (Elvis, John Prine, Highwaymen, Memphis Boys) Curtesy Photo

VINCE GILL (Eagles) and PAUL FRANKLIN (Time Jumpers) Photo By Rusty Hicks, STEAM Magazine

continue this on, but it would have to be someone who didn't need to make a big profit doing it.

You have to be somebody who did it for the love of it.

OCTAL BASED SERIES 8

I have to ask the obvious, how did you become known as Little Walter?

Well, it’s a long story. I was in the mining business and we were non-union. We had to load 110 cars a day, seven days a week. We’d get fined if we didn't, so we paid our people more than the union, gave them 100% medical, dental and optical coverage, production bonuses every month, and a bonus for every 30 days they worked without an accident. We ran our mine the way we wanted to be treated.

Every 3 years the United Mine Workers came out to strike and petition the Coal Operators Association for a better contract, so the West Virginia guys would come over to Kentucky and set up picket lines on our job and try to get our guys to not go to work.

Well, I was a hippie right out of college with long hair and everything, and I would go up and meet with my boys at the gate where the union boys were and I would say "Guys, these guys have something that would like to say to you. This is America and they have a right to be here. We honor their right to be here.

They’re going to talk to you and when they're done, I'm gonna talk to you." So I sat back and they said they would go through the whole thing and our boys would ask a few questions and I asked if they covered everything and they said they did. I said, "We all know how this mine has changed your life, so I need you to come to work. I understand these guys, but we're not union and they’re from West Virginia and I need you to work. I won’t fire or penalize you if you decide to honor their strike, but I'm just telling you I need you to come to work", and a lot of them would come to work. This really upset the union guys, very badly.

This was in ’77, and during dinner at my mother and dad's house, the UMW set out and shot 30 or 40 times, high and low, back and across the house from the road with highpowered rifles, and didn't hit anybody. It's so strange to see your mother and dad's home with police marking where everybody was laying while the bullets were flying. Shortly thereafter, I got a Thompson WWII machine gun and started carrying it with me, because I was getting threats against me and I was pretty upset about them shooting my mother and dad's house up.

I was going to work one day and I got to the picket line and stopped. I didn't have to, but I did, and I asked everybody how everything was going. Just trying to do a good relations thing and this guy with a ski mask grabs a shotgun, cocks it, and sticks it up against my face and slams my head back against the glass of my pickup truck. I begged for my life and I back up and turn around, so I'm going down the road and I'm just a bucket of nerves and then I got MAD at this man telling me I couldn't go to work at my mine. So I locked and loaded and took off! I went through the picket line wide open, swerving and slinging gravel everywhere and they shot at me; put 13 holes in my truck and made the mistake of

following me on the property.

Anyway, it was not pretty and the police were called.

They wanted to give us support, but their fathers and grandfathers were union men, so although they knew we weren’t doing anything wrong, they didn’t do much.

After this incident, a buddy of mine I’d gone to college with was working at Channel 27 in Lexington had heard about my little altercation called me up. He wanted to interview me because he thought it would better his career.

So he came down and interviewed me and it made the national news. I get to work and all my foreman are lined up for their daily jobs and I tell them what I want and everything, and one of them looks at me and says "Hey boss man, you were on the news last night and you looked real good. You look like a professional news man. In fact, I'm going to start calling you Little Walter like Walter Cronkite”, so that name stuck with me and for years in the mining industry half of them didn't know my name.

amps?

The thing that I'm doing right now, I'm trying to build something that used to be built and that no one does. When Vince or any of these guys play, they go crazy. I've never had an artist play one of my amps that didn't end up recording with it. I don't have any money or any budget, it’s just me and my wife. I've ran us deep in debt and I can't advertise in magazines or anything, so I go around doing free amp clinics.

Wow, free amp clinics?

Guitar players know everything about their instrument inside and out, upside and down.

Very few know anything about the amplifier, other than what brand it is and how to turn it on and off. I go to some shows, schools of music, and anywhere I can find a willing audience and I do a two or three hour amp clinic to teach people about speaker cabinets and how important different speakers are and about the tubes and matching your pickups.

When I leave there, everybody's like "My God! You caused me to think about things that I never ever thought about!" and I tell them to spread the word to all their friends.

In a nutshell, it's my great pleasure to be able to help people in a non-technical way. Sometimes it's technical, but I try to stay away from being so technical and just hold to what they need to know.

that needs a little bit of your TLC”, and they'll connect up. Usually about a week later I'll get an email or text saying "Thank you so much. I would've never been able to figure that out without Spanky's help".

And what about color?

We do alligator and silver sparkle or black or tweed, so we allow you to custom build right down to the grill cloth. We did teal and cream in honor of my mother who was battling ovarian cancer, because teal is the color of the Ovarian Cancer Society. We did a special on that and it turned out to be a very popular color.

When you said you could “hear all the strings and the spaces in between”, what does that mean?

In the beginning, before I ever built an amp, I experimented for two years. I saw that before companies started using transistors and resistors and all that, amps were built point-topoint, with less wiring and less stuff.

When you put everything on a turret board all your parts are on a flat plane, that causes the capacitance and that takes some of the clarity out. When talking about my amps Vince Gill he calls it the truth. People will say they have to practice more because a lot of guitar amps out there are not crystal clean and a lot of guys aren't looking for crystal clean, but what they don't understand is that if you don't start I hear your customer service (no, it’s cuswith the clean platform, then everything you tomer care) is outstanding! do from that point on isn’t going to be pretty.

And you thought Little Walter sounded We've created this “Little Walter” family.

You hit a chord. It's a cord and it sounds like a good name for an amplifier?

I spend about two hours with a new customer good, but you do the same thing on one of 35 years later I built my prototype amp. It was on the phone getting to know them. I explain my amps and you can literally hear the six Reggie Young and Vince Gill who caused me to them that the first thing you do before you separate strings in that cord. It gets so defined to go into business, because I wasn't going to go in and buy an amp is figure out what powthat I think you can actually hear the space do that. Once I was going to be in the busier you need to reproduce you and your instrubetween the strings, meaning you can hear ness, I decided I needed a name. So I’m thinkment the way you want it to be reproduced, what's not played just as well as what is ing and I looked down at my helmet sitting on and no one thinks like that. People look at me played. That's over dramatizing it, but to a guy my motorcycle. I had been building custom confused and I tell them that is what they like Robben Ford, he knew it sounded differpipes as a hobby and on the back of the helneed to start with because amplifiers are all ent. He knew it was a cut above in a certain met I had airbrushed Little Walter in script, so different and you have to find the one that way, but he couldn't put his finger on it and I took a picture of it, sent it to the machine does what you want it to do; we'll worry about that's when I told him that he could hear each shop, and they made the plate. They've been color later. I can aim them towards what I string and rather than get technical about the Little Walter Tube Amps since that day. think would be the best tool I build for what boards, I told him it was just the way I build they're looking for, if I have one. If not, I’ll them. Most companies need to build 20, 30, I learned that you have a broadcasting tell them. even 100 amplifiers a day and I build one degree and wrote for a magazine?

Once you have a Little Walter you can call me every three days. They are built in a very slow, I raced sports cars at Watkins Glen and Seup and say "Hey, I'm having trouble with my hard way and the benefits are unmeasurable. bring in the Atlanta Road Racing circuits, so I pedal board", and I'll reach out to one of my And here's the thing. You can take a $3000 wrote for a racing magazine for about 14 pedal board gurus and say "I got a guy here Tom Anderson guitar and play it through a years. cheap amp and it will And you build amps sound horrible. I can take and you've been a $150 Squire off the rack CEO, consultant on and play it through the finances, engineering, same amp I built for and programming.

Vince Gill and it will You’ve been in the sound magical. I look at software, mining, mopeople and say "do you tor sports, and music realize that you’re running industries. What did I your entire life's work miss? through 1/4 inch cable.

I used to build some Everything you've ever custom bikes for shows learned or practiced and and stuff. I believe if work for is going through you're not living on the 1/4 inch cable and it's edge, you're taking up too such a tiny little signal much space, and I've that you can't hardly lived by that rule all my measure. We amp buildlife. I think maybe you ers have to get up every only go by once. I like morning and think our the version of where you number one job is to can come back over and reproduce you through over until you get it right, that tiny little signal so but in case I don't come that it's just you, your PAT BERGESON back, I'm going to hit as ROBBEN FORD instrument and your (Chet Atkins, Lyle Lovett, Suzy Bogguss) many bases as I can while (Joni Mitchell, George Harrihands". That's what I try I'm still here. son, Larry Carlton , KISS) to get across to people.

Photo By Rusty hicks, STEAM Magazine I like that. So why tube

STEAMMAGAZINE.NET JANUARY 2020 STEAM MAGAZINE 13

By Tamma Hicks & Rusty Hicks, STEAM Magazine |

Mitch Webb’s songwriting style comes straight from the roots-music melting pot of San Antonio. His band is continually compared to Doug Sahm and the Sir Douglas Quintet and rightfully so. Webb is from the same hometown and plays a special blend of country, rock-n-roll, and Conjunto found only in their region. The Swindles consist of some of the finest musicians the Alamo City has to offer. Webb sings lead vocal and plays the guitar. He's joined by Grammy award winner Joe Reyes (Freddy Fender, Flaco Jimenez, Texas Tornados) on guitar and vocals , Chris Dodds (Two Tons Of Steel) on drums, Dave Wasson on guitar, Odie on bass, Ray Symczyk on keys and bajo, and usually either Michael Guerra or Josh Baca on accordion (Raul Malo and los Lobos & Tex Maniacs, respectfully). The Swindles' newest release Fantastico will be the talk of town this year.

Curtesy photos

married to my dad and then she quit doing that. My sister, Cassell, got an early start. She was already signed by the time she was 17, so I followed her career all my life. She's married to a real famous producer, Craig Leon, and she's doing great. She lives in England, she's had a bunch of records, and she just like one of those people where you go "you did it, that's amazing".

I know that your group goes to Europe touring and performing at festivals. Do you meet up with your sister then?

No, I haven't done that yet but I would love to. She runs a busy schedule, she’s still touring herself. She loves our band, but we hardly ever see each other.

Tell me about the new album.

Well, it's called Fantastico. It took a long time to get it done from when we started.

We had a lot of things occur in life outside the studio and I think we startDid you learn guitar and I'm just a ed on it about 6 or 7 years ago. then songwriting or did you We had Ronnie Morales, who is Doug-head have this flare for songwrita great award winning producing then decided to play from a long er here in town, work on it. guitar and sing?

He started it and we ended it time ago.

I have a sister that was exwith Christopher Klein, who is tremely influential in my life. Her name is another great producer here in town. It's Cassell Webb and she was in bands when I gone through a bunch of hands and it went was a little kid. She was in a band called The through a lot of effort. It was a lot of recordChildren in the late 60s and that really inspired ing. I think it's a great sounding record. It's me to be in a band and start writing songs the best one we've done and I think it's got and that's really how that all came around. I some really nice songs on it. I'm really excitguess I really started working on songwriting ed about it. We've got a lot of good players right out of high school. I started a band on it besides our band guys. then and we did all original songs.

With the album taking 6 years to do did Did your parents instill your love of muyou always know what 12 songs were sic? going to be on the record or did you recIt was mainly my sister Cassell. My dad had ord a bunch of songs during those 6 years been in music as a kid for a little bit and my and whittled it down? mom sang in big bands here in San Antonio About 7 years really. We only whittled out I throughout the mid to early 40s and she got think 6 or 7 songs. I had an idea of what I 14 STEAM MAGAZINE JANUARY 2020 STEAMMAGAZINE.NET

wanted it to be, so we were pretty prepared when we went in. We just had a lot of stuff happen that slowed us down a little.

on there and then sent them back to Chris. It worked out real well.

end I took it over to Christopher Cline (Recording), who picked up all the pieces and brought it home for us.

He could play tons of stuff, not just TexMex. If you’re going to a blues club he could play the whole night and keep everybody happy. He could do the same at a country night anywhere. I can't say enough about him. I don't think he's known well enough throughout the universe. I'm just a Doughead from a long time ago.

Since you brought up Sir Douglas Quintet, how do you feel being compared to I see that Joe Trevino is part of the proDoug Sahm and your band to his? duction team. He’s at Blue Cat Studios, Well, I feel great about it. I love Doug. I only right? ever played with him one time back when the Yeah, that was the first studio we worked at.

Quintet was around and I'm good friends Joe wasn't able to finish it because he had to with Shawn and Shandon Sahm, his sons. In take some time off to care for his mother, 1981 my sister and brother-in-law produced but later on he worked on it. the Quintet’s Border Wave in New York.

That’s when I went over to Ronnie Morales’ You know, I've just known all those people a place, Studio M, and after a while we had long time and I love their stuff and always some issues with time, so we ended up havhave. It's a shame he's not ing to pull the record from there. I actually broke my lot of fun playing around anymore because he with these guys; would've loved the stuff arm during this process and that was just a couple this band has been that happened. He was an of the many things that together almost inspiration to so many players down here in South happened during the mak25 years now.

Texas, my sister included. ing of this album. In the

What songs stand out to you?

There's 12 songs on the album and I wrote seven of them. The first song, Fanatastico, is an instrumental that we put together as a band. I really like how Old Blue came out.

The song Gone Gone Gone was written by a friend of mine down in Divine, Texas named Bruce Morgan, who told me I should record it.

The song, which was going to be on the Georgia Satellites second album before it got canned by the record label, is really great, well-written, rocker and we thought it was a great last song.

New Bordertown is a song we did is kind of like on a montage to the Sir Douglas Quintet. We have Al Gomez (West Side Horns) and Augie Meyers is on it. Since Joe does most of the West Side Horns recordings in town, I sent him the tracks at Blue Cat and he put them

Do you prefer to play Americana/TexMex or do you like to break into some blues or metal?

I don't break into any metal stuff but when you hear this record you will know, because it has songs on it that have a very 50s sounding doo-wop and there's also some straight up country stuff on it, so it's a big mix. Usually when we are live, we either have Michael Guerra from the Mavericks or Josh Baca from the Los Tex Maniacs playing accordion with us. I tend to just play my stuff, but if we’re going to do a three hour night or something, we’ll pull out Doug's stuff.

Along with your great band members there are some outstanding musicians featured on the album. Tell me a little about them.

Yeah, it's been a lot of fun playing with these guys; this band has been together almost 25 years now.

There's me, on guitar is Grammy Award winner Joe Reyes, who has production credits on the last Freddy Fender album. Odie Wayne Cole is the bass player and he's been with us for years.

Dave Wasson is our other guitar player.

The drummer’s Chris Dodds from 2 Tons Of Steel and he's played with us for about 15 years. It's a solid group of guys.

There are some extra guys on the album too like, Michael Guerra from the Mavericks and Josh Baca from Los Tex Maniacs on accordian, Paul Fauerso on keyboards who played with the Beach Boys, we have a fiddle player from England, Simon Roselly who plays in a band called the Rosellys, Al Gomez from West Side Horns on trumpet, Augie Meyers, and Denny Mathis who plays

Mitch Webb & the Swindles In France

By Fotozic Daumy

I know that you tour all over, so do you have any summer plans?

I don't know what we're going to do yet. We're just open to playing as much as we can. Honestly, I really love sticking around here. I have two sons, 8 and 15, so I really enjoy taking care and hanging out with them.

pedal steel and is in the Pedal Steel Hall Of Fame. There's a lot of Grammy winners on this thing.

I’ve seen the guitar you play most often and it looks familiar yet custom.

I got an old J45 that I play all the time. I had a friend of mine, Jamie Roadman that fixed it up and it looks a little like a San Antonio style guitar and a Baja Sexton. It has a big mustache bridge and it's pretty Spanish-looking, but is just a standard J45 really.

Last question, it’s three parted. If you could put together the perfect concert who would it be, where, and would you perform?

I’d like to see a good show at one of the dance halls outside of San Antonio; maybe in McQueeney at the gun club. That would be a good place to see Hank Williams. I’d just sit back and watch. That would be good.

GIGS

January 5 @ ABGB in Austin January 11 @ the Cove in San Antonio

January 22 Sun Radio Live @ Guero’s Taco Bar in Austin

MitchWebb AndTheSwindles.com

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