Interviews

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Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato

Published: July 26, 2015

It's a beautiful afternoon in England, when I meet Kevin Moore, aka Keb' Mo',  in that wonderful city that is London. Impeccably dressed as always, the American singer/songwriter has just landed in the English capital less than 24 hours ago, still he doesn't show any signs of tiredness or fatigue.

His latest album, Bluesamericana, not just marks twenty years of music business for this highly respected, three-times Grammy winner but also portraits an artist at the very peak of his artistic growth, both as a musician and as a songwriter. Before we start our interview, we amiably discuss about fashion and good food of Southern Europe and one gets the impression that Keb' Mo' is in a very happy place, right now, in his heart and soul.

BBR - Bluesamericana is a sort of landmark for you. Do you feel, sometimes, that this first 20 odd years of music have gone really fast? Is there any particular memories you would like to share with us about living and breathing music "On The Road"?

KM - You are right, they went really fast but I like to live for the moment. I have got some great memories of all these past years but I don't dwell on them, right now. As I was telling you, I rather prefer to sit and enjoy the moment and the life I am living right now and think about the future. And to know that, maybe, I am creating at this moment in time some new memories I can take with me from now to the next 20 years of my life.

BBR - The album, which is co-produced by you and your long-time friend and musician Casey Wasner, is a true testament of your ability, both as a composer and a musician. Is it true that the record was planned originally to be an acoustic, stripped-down kind of album? If so, how come you changed your mind about the kind of sound that ended up on Bluesamericana?

KM - I think what happened was that I started feeling the songs in a different way. What caused the change of tempo on the album is something that just happened naturally, without a specific reason. I just felt the songs in that way. It all came out in the way it came out. Sometimes, you can not really stop your immediate feelings or intuitions, you just need to let them flow. I started the album, as you said, just with guitar solo and my voice and I wanted initially to bring that kind of atmosphere in my concerts. Then I thought that those songs needed more layers, which make them last in people's mind a bit longer than a purely acoustic number. And in the end, I was very happy I followed my instinct about those added layers on the album.

BBR - The Old Me Better has got that New Orleans Street Parade type of sound. Where did you get the idea to add that particular sound on that track?

KM - Actually, my co-writer came up with the idea of the sound about The Old Me Better. I wrote down the lyrics in about 20 minutes because the subject really matters to me so it came out really quickly (the song is about married life in general). When something is really important to me, I make things move really fast and that includes writing songs too.

BBR - 12 albums in and your music style still sounds so fresh and inspired. How much has, collaborating throughout all these years with many famous fellow artists, contributed to your artistic growth?

KM - D'you know, I don't think that is about the number of artists I have worked with that is the real secret. It is rather more about the blues artists that have deeply inspired me, people like Earth, Wind & Fire, Steely Dan, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, James Taylor.. All those people have really casted a big influence on me, rather than people I have been working with, I think. I would say that, all in all, despite the fact I listen to other artists playing their stuff, I try to do my own things, musically speaking, without referencing or being particularly inspired by anything or anyone. It is me being with me, wanted to say what I have got to say and sounding in the way I want to sound like. It's like seeing somebody with a fabulous pair of shoes and, rather than asking "Hey, you have got a great pair of shoes, can I borrow them?", I rather prefer making my own shoes in my own way.

BBR - The album is packed with references to love and commitments. Has the record been inspired, lyrically, by a particular stage of your life?

KM - Well, it is more my "actual" stage of life, truth to be told. It is all about actual stuff happening in my life. Being married is like a whole journey, which inevitably, brings up stuff. Like some of my other records, what I have written on Bluesamericana is about this moment of my life I am living, this journey I am into, that I just mentioned. Most importantly, the lyrics come from some place deep inside of me, as always happens with anything I write on my records. So, in answer to your question, Bluesamericana frames a stage of my life exactly as you might have noticed on my previous albums. There is no hiding anywhere or trying to tell anybody else's story. It is just Keb' Mo' talking about what happens in his life and what really matters to him.

BBR - In this record, who is the character that inspired the series of calamities and bad luck on The Worst Is Yet To Come song? Is that a fictional story or a real one?

KM - It is fictional and real at the same time. The reason why I wrote that song was because I wanted to transform a negative subject in a positive one. The whole song is about facing some real tough time but, in the end, one keep saying to himself: "Well, the sun keeps on shining, just like it should. When I take a look around me, yes, I'm doing pretty good". Those lyrics on that song, they sum up pretty much what I wanted to say on that track.

BBR - Kevin, are you still doing some acting or is that something you tried, fulfilled, but you are not interested to explore any further?

KM - I think I have always liked to act but I must confess, I am a terrible actor! Acting is some serious stuff and I don't think I can push myself any more than what I have already done. I think I have done all right for the kind of acting I have been asked to do but it's not something I am particularly interested to pursue any further.

BBR - What Keb' Mo' would have been, without music?

KM - It would have just been music, no more no less. I cannot even start thinking what my life would have been without it. I am just a music type of guy and I guess I always will.

BBR - You have contributed massively and you still do, in the contamination and evolution of music in its entirety, in the past two decades. In the centuries to come, how would you love to be remembered by the future generations?

KM - I would say, I feel more like I have been combining and fusing different music genres, rather than contaminating one. I would love to be remembered, maybe, like a guy that was able to tell good stories, giving positive vibes through his music and make everyone feeling good about life in general.

Giovanni "Gio" Pilato

Photos by Giovanni "Gio" Pilato.

Bluesamericana is out now and can be purchased via Amazon

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Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato

Published: July 19, 2015

                                                              By Giovanni "Gio" Pilato

2014 has been one of those years that will remain forever in the minds and hearts of Thorbjorn Risager and The Black Tornado. Universally acclaimed as one of the top album of 2014 by half of the media world, Too Many Roads is just one of those album that get inside your skin from the first listen for its beauty. The singer/songwriter Thorbjorn Risager, has kindly accepted to discuss with Bluebirdreviews what this album means for him personally and what the future has installed for them as a collective.

GGP - Too Many Roads is an album that has trajected the name of the band in the Olympus of the music scene worldwide. How much has it surprised you, or not maybe, the huge, positive outcome of the record from a selling prospect and from music magazines or music media in general around the globe?

TR - The truth is that we were very surprised on how well the album did, when it was released. We were very happy about the album but we never imagined that the album would attract the attention of so many people and media in general. The media must have done over a hundred of reviews of the album, since its release and interviews with us about the album, which was a very pleasant surprise for us. Our previous albums never received that much attention by fans and media in such scale, therefore this album is a giant leap for us.

GGP - Producing the album yourselves as a collective for the first time has been a brave move. How difficult has been for you and the band to run the project completely on your own?

TR - Actually, it turned out to be not that difficult at all. Once we finished the recording process, we were so happy about the outcome that we immediately had the feeling we had recorded something special, as it then turned to be. I like to think that such positive outcome is also due to the fact that on this album, we have decided to go solo, without a producer. We followed everything through, instead of leaving the responsibility to a producer to select and choose what then ends up on a record. As main men on the production side of this album, there was me and our bass player Soren and that was great fun. I was mainly focusing on musical arrangements while Soren concentrated more on the aspects of the sound. We had an excellent Team Work and by doing things on our own, we also saved a lot of money.

GGP - The recording process of each of your record must be surely intriguing. Beside you being the main songwriter, how much musical input each band member brings, in deciding the music direction on each individual track?

TR - That is a very interesting question. From a musical point of view, as I was saying before, our bass player Soren has always a lot of good ideas on each track we record. We all listen to his ideas and decide then which is the one that could be applied on each song. Sometimes, when I write a new tune, I record it and send it to each member of the band. The band would then play each their instruments, following their instinct and the way that particular song sounds to each of them. This would happen, normally, a couple of days before we enter the studio and rehearse the songs. Once we are all together in the studio, though, things may go through different musical tangents and we spend more hours rehearsing. This is a way of working we often apply before recording a new album but, as I said before, Soren is definitely the one that comes up with bags of ideas, even at the last minute. It is funny, sometimes, to think that the bass player in a band is always the one that has got thousand of ideas and our band makes no exception!

GGP - Scandinavia is a part of the world that has grown a lot in loving blues in the last 15-20 years. Does the love for this genre, in your opinion, come from values that blues carries with, which may reflect the core values of Scandinavian people too or is there any other reason behind this deep connection?

TR - Difficult to say if there is a real connection, in my opinion, as a Scandinavian person. The funny thing is that, very often, there is this saying that Scandinavian people are a bit depressed but I do not think, not even for a second, that this has got anything to do with the blues or whether there is a special bond between this part of the world and the genre. We are just what we are. I can just guess that many here might feel some sort of connection but it is something more individual, rather than a national thing. I really have not got an answer to that.

GGP - Thorbjorn, Too Many Roads is an album in which relationships between men and women seem to be the centrepiece of the whole project. How easy was to put yourself in the shoes of a woman's mind, when you wrote Red, Hot & Blue?

TR - Actually, I wrote that song from the prospective of my girlfriend. In that sense, it wasn't that difficult because I have known her for many years, now. Due to the special bond we have and always had, it wasn't really tricky for me to write that particular song.

GGP - The success of your band has taken you to many countries, I believe 17 or even more. When will the Southern Europe and the American audience have the opportunity of seeing you and the band performing in those countries?

TR - Hopefully very soon. We would absolutely love to go in countries such as Italy or Spain. But from a logistic point of view, it is not easy for us to plan gigs over there. We toured a lot in Germany for the last 3-4 years, where we have a very solid fan base and big audiences coming to our concerts. Given the short distance from Denmark, to have such great audiences in Germany is a great plus factor for us. It is very easy for us to go there and tour the whole country and schedule a proper tour. We really hope to tour Southern Europe soon. We are aware that there is a very good blues scene over there. If not this year, we would hope at least this might happen next year but we do want to go there and play, definitely. USA is one of those dreams we hope to achieve very soon too. That is the place where all our music heroes come from, therefore that would be a massive dream to fulfil for us, hopefully, one day.

GGP - W.C. Hardy, a famous blues composer and musician, once defined his music as the sound of a sinner on Revival Day. How does Thorbjorn Risager define HIS music instead?

TR - That is a difficult question. We tend to play quite a broad variety of genres, our music recipe gets its ingredients from different styles of music. To define our style is difficult, purely because it's all depending what type of song will come out the minute I sit down and start writing a new song. It may be a soul kind of song (Ray Charles is one of my all-time favourite artists), or a jazz, or a rock one, who knows. I think that, a lesson we learned through experience, as artists, is to follow our instinct about how a song should sound like, without any limit. In the past, our style was very much jazz orientated while now, I would call it more a blues/rock kind of style, with added elements from other music roots. And through the music style we play, we also like the fact, especially when we play live, to be able to create some positive vibes, a true bond between us, as a band, and the crowd. We want our fans to come back home thinking of our gigs as a moment of joy and we hope we are able to achieve most times.

GGP - Was there any particular reason behind the decision of changing the name of the band from Thorbjorn Risager Band to Thorbjorn Risager And The Black Tornado?

TR - Myself and the band have been thinking so much, through the years, about trying to find an easy name for our fans to pronounce and I think we finally nailed it! (chuckles). For this last album we finally did so. We managed to find the right name and we are all happy about it. There is also another reason about trying to give the band a proper name. At the time we made Too Many Roads, I had planned to take quite some time off in Greenland with my family but the band wanted to keep touring, even in my absence. Given the fact they couldn't call themselves Thorbjorn Risager Band without me being around, at least by having their own identity, as a band, they could have had the chance of touring with somebody else, while I was away, or simply touring on their own, by calling themselves The Black Tornado. Due to the fact that my partner is a doctor and she loves to do some work in Greenland, it might be possible in future I may need to take chunks of time off music and be with her over there. At least, though, The Black Tornado can continue to play music on their own having their own identity, as a collective.

GGP - 2015 marks 10 years since you released your first album. Is there any surprise installed for your fans to commemorate such an important event?

TR - Well, we are certainly celebrating this important event in our career in the best way possible, which is releasing a new live CD/DVD called Songs From The Road. The mixing sounds fabulous and we are very pleased on the outcome. Certainly, the live album will be unveiled in Copenhagen, where our roots are. The band has been actually existing for 12 years but, as you rightly said, our first record was released back in 2005. And that was the same time in which we met our manager as well, so, in some ways, it will be a double celebration!

GGP -  Thorbjorn, music changes the lives of millions of people every day. Your music must have changed the lives of many people around the world too. But how much has music changed you as a person?

TR - Music is my whole life. The blues music, in particular, it has been always part of my life and will always be. I make a living out of music by writing it, playing it, singing it.. I live and breath music every day and I guess that I wouldn't be able to describe my life without music being part of it. 

GGP - One part soul, one part blues, one part funk, one part rock. How should we name the music cocktail generated by Thornbjorn Risager & The Black Tornado?

TR - Well, to me, the core of our music remains the blues. I remember somebody from the Media World calling us Indie Blues, when Too Many Roads was released, although I don't subscribe entirely to that point of view. If I should, though, make up a cocktail name for our music, I think I would call it Danish Cosmopolitan. But fundamentally, let's just let the music doing the talk.

Giovanni "Gio" Pilato

Too Many Roads is available on Amazon and the all the biggest retailers worldwide

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Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato

Published: June 28, 2015

There is a big smile on Ben Poole's face; he has been just told by his Management he is going to play at one of the most important music festival worldwide, which is Glastonbury in United Kingdom. "That is fantastic news. The cherry on the cake after a very long year on the road". Ben Poole from the south of England has been universally recognised by artists like Jeff Beck, Matt Schofield and Kenny Wayne Shepherd, amongst other like someone that has got a very bright future ahead of him. His latest album, recorded live at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall in London, Uk by the BBC, is a fantastic example of his talent and ability in playing guitar and singing skills.

BBR - Ben, to be able to play at the Royal Albert Hall, it must have been a mesmerising experience for you. Which are the fondest memories you have about that special night?

BP - It was a real honour and privilege to be standing in that building and to have the opportunity to play guitar in there, where so many incredible fellow guitarists have been before me. I remember to have seen artists of the calibre of Chris Rea, Eric Clapton, Joe Bonamassa in the past, wonderful times. To be honest with you, I didn't feel that much pressure whilst on stage, as I thought I was going to have. I guess the reason was that we never planned to release it as a live cd, that was never on the cards, at the time. That was something that came later on, when we realised that the BBC had recorded the entire show and it sounded as good as it does. If I was going to know that performance was going to be released as an album, surely I might have felt a lot more pressure. No doubts myself and the band might have been much more nervous about it. In the end, thinking back at that day, I felt quite chilled and I think that comes across in the way that the album sounds, a very relaxed performance.

BBR - Some of our readers might be aware about your music roots, others maybe not. When and where did you inherit your love for blues?

BP - I started playing guitar when I was about 9 years old. I started on acoustic guitar and I only got into blues when I was 12 or 13. That was the time when I started listening to Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Healey and Gary Moore. These were the artists that inspired me the most, at that age. That was my first impact to the blues and when I started to get my head around the genre. Then, a couple of years later, Stevie Ray Vaughan made a significant mark in my understanding and appreciation of the blues. I guess those were the most meaningful moment for me about building my blues roots and where my real inspiration came from to be doing what I am doing, as a musician.

BBR - In the last 12 months, you have been touring together with big names of the blues-rock scenes, such as Matt Schofield and Kenny Wayne Shepherd, among others. Have they provided you with any valuable piece of advice, about being a Blues Man?

BP - Good question. I think, what I took from Kenny Wayne was just his enormous passion and drive by playing guitar. We have been chatting a lot about guitar gear almost every night on the tour and trust me, he would talk to anybody about gear! He is just one of those guys insanely passionate about his instrument. Another good thing I took away by touring with him, it was what he told me about the importance to constantly remember why we do what we do, as musicians. It is important to remember that we started playing music not really for the money but because we had and still have a real love for the instrument. I found so captivating and incredible that somebody like Kenny, despite the fact he has been making music for so many years despite his young age, still has got this burning fire inside of him. And a great musician to get to play guitar with too, while we were on Tour. Working with him and with Matt Schofield before him, have been remarkable experiences. We both like to make music and make some noise, Man!

BBR - We know that you have been touring for quite a long time and we were wondering whether you had any chance to start working on your next album or not yet.

BP - I just have been on the phone with my Management before we started talking for this interview. I have been delighted to hear I shall play Glastonbury Festival in few days, which is an enormous buzz for me. We discussed also about my next album. The planning for the new record has been a bit tricky, given the fact I have been for so long on tour. I shall be working, in the driving seat as the producer, with Wayne Proctor, the drummer of the Scottish Blues band King King. The King King have been very busy themselves touring and promoting their new record. As a consequence, as you can imagine, it has been really difficult scheduling dates to start recording the new album. Hopefully we will start soon; I have been writing a lot of new material and we should be able to get together this summer, once my tour is over. And if all will plan out well, I should be able to release the new record either for the end of this year or beginning of 2016.

BBR - The blues that you beautifully play is a genre that has been around, as we both know, for almost a century. Do you ever get the feeling that United Kingdom might be start losing touch a little, with the blues?

BP - I don't think so. The blues is something that has clearly evolved in recent times and people's conception of what blues is, has certainly changed. The fact that this genre evolves in different shapes and forms every time, in my opinion, it helps to keep the genre alive and interesting. And as long as everyone remembers where it all really started, including the UK fans, I am convinced that the love and passion for blues will never burn out. The only way we are going to keep the blues music in the forefront of people's mind in this generation, is by bringing this modern age to it and add some rock or pop sensibility to the genre. The way people perceive blues nowadays is far from the 1920-1930 style that artists like Robert Johnson or Son House were carrying at that time. Without forgetting their lessons though, I would say that blues now is fundamentally a re-interpretation of what those artists taught to us back in the days. I am very positive that the best part of the world, UK included, are not going to lose any touch at all with the genre.

BBr - Recently we had the honour of talking to Beth Hart and she told us that one of her biggest fears is the songwriting block. What's the way you approach a new album? Do you tend to write the lyrics or the music first?

BP - I can completely understand where she comes from. I can tell you there are times in which I am able to write in waves, depending by the mood I am in. Some other times I get into a real roll and write really a lot and sometimes I cannot write at all for long periods, because I can't get inspired. My recording process, normally, happens by writing the music first because, first and foremost, I am a guitar player. Then the lyrics flow in, by starting building choruses, melodies etc. So, in answer to your original question, this is the way I approach a recording process of a new record normally and I totally agree about what Beth told you recently about that kind of block. Songwriting can be very challenging, at times.

BBR - We know you have been touring for a long, long time several countries in the world. Is there any chance that our American readers at Bluebirdreviews will see you performing live in the States any time soon?

BP - I am pretty confident it won't happen this year, rather unfortunately. Hopefully I'll get back  over next year. I remember I was in Nebraska in 2013 touring and I had a fabulous time there. There will be some serious planning process to be done, in order to arrange a proper tour in the States. When you travel that far in the world, there are many aspects that need to be taken into consideration, from a planning point of view. But I am sure that the time will come soon for me to get back in the USA, I love that part of the world.

BBR - If you had a time travel machine, what would have been your ideal group of musicians, of past and present, you would have loved to jam with on a stage?

BP - Given the fact I have met Chris Layton whilst touring with KW Shepherd and being a massive Double Trouble fan, I would say that Chris and Tommy Shannon on drums and bass would have been the ideal rhytm session for me. Then Steve Marriott from Small faces on vocals.. Wow, how awesome would that be! Or perhaps, the whole of the Zeppelin, Free and Double Trouble altogether on the same stage... Tricky question, Gio!

BBR - Where, do you reckon, is Ben Poole now, musically speaking and where exactly Ben Poole wants to be in 20 years from now?

BP - I like to think that my style of playing blues is not exactly easy to define and categorize. I see my music influenced by many genres, some rock, soul, a bit of gospel, some funk.. In the next two decades, I would love to see myself as exploring even further not just the blues, but also other genres and to be able to diversify my style even further. I admire a lot the way that John Mayall has explored music so many times and in so many different ways throughout his career and through the many albums he has recorded. He would be probably telling you, if you were asking the same question to him, that he would love to be somewhere else, trying something new, musically speaking, in the next two decades. That is the kind of philosophy and attitude I embrace too. I just hope I shall be able to bring my fans with me as well in different musical territories  I would like to explore in the years to come in the same, phenomenal way that Mayall does. I would be a very happy man!

Giovanni "Gio" Pilato

Photos courtesy by Ben Poole's website. Live At The Royal Albert Hall can be purchased via I-Tunes or Amazon

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Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato

Published: June 06, 2015

by Giovanni "Gio" Pilato

I have come across many talented artists in my time as a writer. The vast majority of them revealed themselves to be not just fabulous and talented artists but great human beings too.

Emiliana Torrini, though, goes a notch above any music personalities I have ever met. Her charisma, talent, sweetness and grace make the Italo-Icelandic singer/songwriter one of the most refreshing artists of the whole music scene, worldwide. After many years spent in the United Kingdom, Emiliana has decided to go back to her homeland in Iceland, in which she is not just fully immersed in her career in the music business but also as a full-time parent of a 5-year old child.

When we talk to Emiliana, she sounds as always very relaxed and outgoing. The singer/songwriter has just come back from a Tour date in Spain, which she confides as being a truly remarkable experience.

Emiliana released her latest work back in 2013, a very intense album called Tookah and she is  with us today to talk about this record and to offer to the readers of Bluebirdreviews a brief overview of her very successful career so far.

Tookah is a made-up word, created to describe what life and love are for Emiliana Torrini. But I wonder whether Tookah is more a state of mind in which all human beings are born or, maybe,  just a stage of our lives we all would like to reach. "For me personally, it is more about being born with this concept; it is what you really are deep inside. Initially, when we started working on this record, due to the fact that myself and the band were working for almost 24 hours a day, this word came up just as a joke to help us to chill out. That word, then, got stuck with me and kept me thinking of a wonderful series of images in my mind, to the point I got so enthusiastic about this word that I just wanted badly to sing it in one of my songs. Tookah, as a word, also helped me to connect even deeper my mind with that series of images I was telling you about and made me think about how connecting myself to that word made me feel, which was a wonderful feeling. I have been, at that time (the record was released in 2013), in a particularly vulnerable state of mind, where I had a new identity, the fact of coming back to Iceland and the big responsability of being a parent. I think that, becoming a mother, was so immense for me that I might have not realised what to do as a parent and how to behave, which was almost, at the same time, strangely beautiful for me. Sometimes though, things were a little tricky in this new part of my life and that was a little infuriating at time. Then, all of a sudden, you discover to have this immense love inside of you, by living this new stage of my life that my little body felt almost like exploding! Those series of images/visions that I mentioned before, helped me to find my inner self, perhaps a new and different myself, where nothing really matters anymore. All I thought life was gifting me with in all these years, made me move one step back and another one forward at the same time. A step towards that inner feeling, that "Tookah", where all reconnect together again and make sense. Sometimes, I guess, I may sound a little complicated when I try to express what that word means to me and I almost feel a little sense of guilt towards my fans, to have called the album like that. It may confuse people!".

Read more: Hang On To Your Emotions - An Interview With Emiliana Torrini