A great Otis Gibbs interview with guitarist Kenny Vaughan.


 

I became aware of Kenny when I saw and heard him onstage at The Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles with Lucinda Williams, one of the two electric lead guitarists in her band on the Car Wheels On A Gravel Road tour (Jim Lauderdale was playing acoustic rhythm guitar and singing harmony with Lu, and the great Jim Christie---fresh out of Dwight Yoakam’s road band---was playing drums. I was already familiar with both Jim’s). I thought to myself, "Who IS this guy?!" Kenny was not bashful about moving to the front of the stage when he took a solo, and had a very well-defined style, definitely in the classic Telecaster-vein.

At any rate, this is a fascinating interview with one of my favorite musicians, who just happens to be in what I consider to be the best band in the world---Marty Stuart’s Fabulous Superlatives. Otis echoes that opinion in this interview, and from the reaction of David Letterman to the performance by Marty and the band on his show (clip below), he might be in agreement with Otis and myself. By the way, Marty joined Lester Flatt’s band and went on the road with him when he was....13 years old!

The interview is a long one (just shy of an hour), but flies by quickly. So grab a beer and have a seat. It’s time well spent!

 

 

 

 

Here’s another:

 

 

 

 

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For you Tommy Emmanuel fans (aren’t we all?!), here he is with Marty and the boys. By the way, Harry Stinson is not only a great, musical drummer, but also an excellent singer. Some of his recording dates are as not a drummer, but a harmony singer.

This performance swings as hard as any Jazz I’ve ever heard.

 

 

 

@dekay

Yes!

I love guitarists  who use their chops to play music, not vice versa!

 

... Oh yeah, and the keyboard player’s not bad, either! ;o)

 

Another current unique guitarist is Buddy Miller, who has a style and sound all his own. He leads Emmylou Harris’ band on the road and sings harmony with her. He is also a great producer, singer, and recording engineer (the sound of his recordings approaches the immediacy and "brashness" heard in direct-2-disk LP’s), with quite a few solo albums and others with his wife Julie Miller. All are fantastic!

He also leads the band on the annual Americana Music Association Awards show, which Jim Lauderdale hosts. He was also involved with the Alison Krauus/Robert Plant albums and some live shows. My current favorite musician/producer, as was Dave Edmunds in the 1970’s and 80’s. Dave is now retired, back in Wales after having triple-bypass surgery a while back.