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(return
to part 4)
You also cover Jimi Hendrix's
"House Burning Down" on Deep Natural. Why that particular song?
I wish I could take credit for it. It's one
of those choices where you wish you had an A&R man going,
"You should do this one." Thomas Ruf, out of Germany,
invited me [in 2000] to participate in a compilation of Hendrix
covers he was doing. It's my loving tribute to two Jims:
After all, what's distinctive about Texas music is the all-pervasive
influence of Jimmy Reed. It's all about that beat. So I put that
Jimmy Reed feel onto the Jimi Hendrix cover.
You've been calling the
sound of the new album "New Dub Blues and Gospel Birdsong."
Describe what you mean by "dub."
The word is associated with reggae. "Dub"
was doing what you're not supposed to do while recording, which
is playing with the knobs. It's looking at recording technology
with a very Afrocentric understanding. If you left it to the
Europhiles, they would have everything sounding pristine, sparkling,
and pure. "Dub" is not a genre. It's not a style. As
with everything else I've done, it's an attitude. And the reason
it's "new" is that I've given myself permission to
do something fresh to a cherished tradition like blues.
Do you plan to release
material by other artists on Mighty Sound? If so, is it too early
to name some names?
Since I'm talking to a blues publication,
I think you should be aware of Phoenix, Arizona's Hans Olson.
I think you should know about this man. He's 48 and of the Brownie
McGhee school. What an amazing path this guy's life has taken
- and he hasn't even started it yet. He's played bars for 30
years, and he's become so finely polished. He's big in France.
I'd really like to have the privilege of introducing more people
to Hans. Ask Tom Waits about Hans Olson - he'll tell you.
Do you feel you've been
portrayed accurately in the media during your career - particularly
during the rough years?
No, but I take a lot of responsibility for
that myself. I never really had much consideration for fashion
or image in general. Even in high school, when everybody was
wearing Chuck Taylors, I was like, "I already have a perfectly
good pair of tennis shoes." Plus I didn't come from the
class background that gives people an advantage in understanding
how that stuff works. I come from a working-class history: We
don't design the stuff, we don't market it, we just consume it.
We just go to Target or Kmart and buy the stuff.
But Mighty Sound is going to change that.
If I can't create an identity for myself with my own label -
being in charge of how things are publicized, packaged, and promoted
- then I'm just a complainer who likes to feel misunderstood.
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