Contrasting shades of Blues
Muirsical Conversation with Ben Poole
Muirsical Conversation with Ben Poole
British singer and guitarist Ben Poole, still only in his mid-twenties, is already quite the talent.
His 2013 full-length debut album, Let’s Go Upstairs, had critics and reviewers sitting up and taking notice of a musician and songwriter who mixed soul and a little pop-funk into his brand of the blues.
While Let’s Go Upstairs was an accomplished studio album that showcased the many musical facets of Ben Poole, the guitarist truly flexes his six-string fingers and blues muscles in the live environment.
Proof of the latter can be found on Live at the Royal Albert Hall, an album that, even on just one spin, gives the listener an understanding and appreciation of why Ben Poole has received such high praise and positive comment from not just critics, blues fans and various music magazines but six-string notables such as Jeff Beck, Richie Kotzen, Guthrie Govan and the late Gary Moore.
The Royal Albert Hall album was recorded by the BBC when the Ben Poole Band played the famous venue as part of BluesFest 2013, opening the prestigious event on its first day.
Success, even for the extremely talented, is never guaranteed in music, especially in the rock based genres.
But if justice is served Ben Poole will play such venues again in his own Top of the Bill right.
Ben spoke to FabricationsHQ during his spring UK tour to discuss Let’s Go Upstairs in detail (and how it became far more, and far stronger, than first envisaged), his love of playing live, the current state of the blues rock scene and a hint of what is to come from one of Britain’s brightest blues talents…
Ross Muir: I mentioned in the introduction that there’s no reason why, with a bit of luck added to the musical and six string talent you have, you shouldn’t be headlining a show at venues such as the Royal Albert Hall a few years down the road…
Ben Poole: Thank you. That would be nice and you definitely have to aim high – so if we keep working and we keep doing what we’re doing, there's hope things will go that way!
But people don’t realise how unpredictable this business can be – I was just thinking about it earlier today, how it’s all ups and downs. If you want a steady job that’s consistently in the middle, sort of average to good, this is the wrong business to be in.
But if you’re looking for extreme highs and extreme lows then this is the job for you! [laughs]
RM: Ain’t that the truth. A lot of the artists I know, work with, or help promote – and I’m including artists that have great product available, are signed or have distribution deals in place – are holding down other jobs, because the music business is, as you say, so unpredictable.
BP: Yeah, it is difficult. I’ve been professional now for about four years but it’s not been an easy road and it’s taken a while to get to this point – and it's a situation where you can never guarantee it will continue.
But I’ve got a good bunch of people around me and helping me out – good management, good record label and a good band.
RM: And you and the band are currently treading the boards across the UK…
BP: Yes, and before that we did fourteen shows across seven countries in Europe.
We’re on the road until May, doing thirty-two headlining shows – including one in Scotland in Kinross on the 26th of April. We also have five shows as special guests on the Kenny Wayne Shepherd UK tour, which gives us the chance to play bigger venues. So it’s full-on until the end of May!
RM: Which is all good because, now more than ever, it’s about getting the music and your face out there via the live gigs. Is that something you embrace, that constant gigging, or are there times you can see that tour grind far enough?
BP: No, not at all; my passion has always been for playing live but yes, as you do more and more gigs it can become a bit of a slog – people don’t really see the bits between the stage performances! [laughs]
Being on stage and playing live is the good part, we would all happily do it for free if we could; it’s the bits in between that we all see as the paid work – that’s the tough part!
I love playing live and I don’t think that will ever stop. I get a buzz from the energy and excitement of getting out on stage; that’s what keeps me doing this job.
RM: Good man. But then of all the rock orientated genres I think we would agree that the blues is the one that definitely lives live. That said I think Let’s Go Upstairs is a highly accomplished studio album that mixes in some blues-soul swing and melodic pop – there’s even a little blues-funk going on.
BP: That album is a very polished and very produced album, which meant it was probably always going to be an album people either loved or hated, but it is pretty far removed from the live show. The live performance is rockier, a lot edgier – it carries a dirtier groove while the album is much more polished.
But I think I really developed while making that album because it was more about the other aspects of being an artist – it became more about the song writing, more about the lead vocals, more about planning out the harmony and backing vocals, the production and the instrumentation used.
I’m really glad I went through all that because I believe it’s made me a better, and more rounded, artist.
Now, we might have gone a little too far with the polished aspect [laughs] but I’m still very proud of Let’s Go Upstairs; I’m genuinely glad it came out that way.
But yeah, in this business the only way you can build a fan-base doing the blues rock thing is the grass roots way – getting out there and playing live in front of an audience. That’s where you’ll shine the most.
RM: Yes, but you have managed to create the perfect contrast. You have that polished and produced album, and a very good one at that, but people can also go and see the rockier or grittier Ben Poole live, where you can expand on a lot of those songs or let them breathe a bit more, play around with your phrasing, your solos.
BP: Exactly. If you listen to the couple of songs on the studio album that are also on the live album – Doesn’t Have To Be That Way for example – it’s a very polished and pop orientated tune in the studio but live we bin that reputation and have a lot more fun with it and crank up the guitar and the guitar sound…
His 2013 full-length debut album, Let’s Go Upstairs, had critics and reviewers sitting up and taking notice of a musician and songwriter who mixed soul and a little pop-funk into his brand of the blues.
While Let’s Go Upstairs was an accomplished studio album that showcased the many musical facets of Ben Poole, the guitarist truly flexes his six-string fingers and blues muscles in the live environment.
Proof of the latter can be found on Live at the Royal Albert Hall, an album that, even on just one spin, gives the listener an understanding and appreciation of why Ben Poole has received such high praise and positive comment from not just critics, blues fans and various music magazines but six-string notables such as Jeff Beck, Richie Kotzen, Guthrie Govan and the late Gary Moore.
The Royal Albert Hall album was recorded by the BBC when the Ben Poole Band played the famous venue as part of BluesFest 2013, opening the prestigious event on its first day.
Success, even for the extremely talented, is never guaranteed in music, especially in the rock based genres.
But if justice is served Ben Poole will play such venues again in his own Top of the Bill right.
Ben spoke to FabricationsHQ during his spring UK tour to discuss Let’s Go Upstairs in detail (and how it became far more, and far stronger, than first envisaged), his love of playing live, the current state of the blues rock scene and a hint of what is to come from one of Britain’s brightest blues talents…
Ross Muir: I mentioned in the introduction that there’s no reason why, with a bit of luck added to the musical and six string talent you have, you shouldn’t be headlining a show at venues such as the Royal Albert Hall a few years down the road…
Ben Poole: Thank you. That would be nice and you definitely have to aim high – so if we keep working and we keep doing what we’re doing, there's hope things will go that way!
But people don’t realise how unpredictable this business can be – I was just thinking about it earlier today, how it’s all ups and downs. If you want a steady job that’s consistently in the middle, sort of average to good, this is the wrong business to be in.
But if you’re looking for extreme highs and extreme lows then this is the job for you! [laughs]
RM: Ain’t that the truth. A lot of the artists I know, work with, or help promote – and I’m including artists that have great product available, are signed or have distribution deals in place – are holding down other jobs, because the music business is, as you say, so unpredictable.
BP: Yeah, it is difficult. I’ve been professional now for about four years but it’s not been an easy road and it’s taken a while to get to this point – and it's a situation where you can never guarantee it will continue.
But I’ve got a good bunch of people around me and helping me out – good management, good record label and a good band.
RM: And you and the band are currently treading the boards across the UK…
BP: Yes, and before that we did fourteen shows across seven countries in Europe.
We’re on the road until May, doing thirty-two headlining shows – including one in Scotland in Kinross on the 26th of April. We also have five shows as special guests on the Kenny Wayne Shepherd UK tour, which gives us the chance to play bigger venues. So it’s full-on until the end of May!
RM: Which is all good because, now more than ever, it’s about getting the music and your face out there via the live gigs. Is that something you embrace, that constant gigging, or are there times you can see that tour grind far enough?
BP: No, not at all; my passion has always been for playing live but yes, as you do more and more gigs it can become a bit of a slog – people don’t really see the bits between the stage performances! [laughs]
Being on stage and playing live is the good part, we would all happily do it for free if we could; it’s the bits in between that we all see as the paid work – that’s the tough part!
I love playing live and I don’t think that will ever stop. I get a buzz from the energy and excitement of getting out on stage; that’s what keeps me doing this job.
RM: Good man. But then of all the rock orientated genres I think we would agree that the blues is the one that definitely lives live. That said I think Let’s Go Upstairs is a highly accomplished studio album that mixes in some blues-soul swing and melodic pop – there’s even a little blues-funk going on.
BP: That album is a very polished and very produced album, which meant it was probably always going to be an album people either loved or hated, but it is pretty far removed from the live show. The live performance is rockier, a lot edgier – it carries a dirtier groove while the album is much more polished.
But I think I really developed while making that album because it was more about the other aspects of being an artist – it became more about the song writing, more about the lead vocals, more about planning out the harmony and backing vocals, the production and the instrumentation used.
I’m really glad I went through all that because I believe it’s made me a better, and more rounded, artist.
Now, we might have gone a little too far with the polished aspect [laughs] but I’m still very proud of Let’s Go Upstairs; I’m genuinely glad it came out that way.
But yeah, in this business the only way you can build a fan-base doing the blues rock thing is the grass roots way – getting out there and playing live in front of an audience. That’s where you’ll shine the most.
RM: Yes, but you have managed to create the perfect contrast. You have that polished and produced album, and a very good one at that, but people can also go and see the rockier or grittier Ben Poole live, where you can expand on a lot of those songs or let them breathe a bit more, play around with your phrasing, your solos.
BP: Exactly. If you listen to the couple of songs on the studio album that are also on the live album – Doesn’t Have To Be That Way for example – it’s a very polished and pop orientated tune in the studio but live we bin that reputation and have a lot more fun with it and crank up the guitar and the guitar sound…
BP: I really like that studio to live contrast – and I like to think a good song stays a good song, whether that’s in the studio with about twenty-seven layers of backing vocals (laughter), a stripped down acoustic version or going out on the road performing it with the full band and doing the blues rock thing with it.
RM: Absolutely; the sign of a good song is that it survives – even thrives – in different forms and different arrangements. But it’s not just about the songs – if you’re playing blues or blues rock you can’t hide live because people will quickly suss if you can really play or if you’re not going to be around too long.
Which is why it’s great to see a guy like yourself playing live so much – you’re not just playing the blues, you’re feeling the blues, with a bit of funk and soul going on and a strong melodic sensibility…
BP: I think there has to be some sort of natural born talent that comes through family, and is passed on, but it’s really all down to what I was listening to when I was growing up and what I have absorbed; I owe pretty much everything to that. I was listening to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Healey, but I was also listening to soul artists like Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye and Donny Hathaway.
I’ve always tried to be quite open to different styles of music, everything from rock and metal right through to country, soul and pop music. And I think it’s important to try and play something that’s a little bit different, or to avoid being seen as just a clone of whoever your favourite artist is.
I try and take inspiration and little bits of magic from lots of different artists and become an amalgamation of all those influences and, if you’re good enough, you’ll hopefully end up with something that’s worthwhile – and a little bit different.
RM: I think the more open minded music fan and critic finds it refreshing to hear a little melodic pop, funk or soul within a blues framework; it doesn’t always have to be twelve bar blues and a handful of blues shuffles. Atmosphere for example, that’s not the sort of song – or arrangement – you expect to find on a blues rock ‘n’ soul influenced album…
BP: It's great you mention that track because that’s one of the songs producer Ike Nossel brought to me.
But it was a scary day when he first brought that in and said "let’s try doing this song" and I thought about singing it, because it’s the kind of song that is outside of my comfort zone; it’s really a poppy kind of ballad. So we made it a little bit different, the way I sang on it and played it. But then there are a lot of different aspects to that album – Let The Rain Come Down is quite Gospel in its arrangement, there’s a lot of soul, some pop as we’ve mentioned… but the blues purists will hate it! [laughs]
RM: But there will always be that sort of reaction, which goes back to your love and hate comment earlier.
As soon as you waver off that core blues structure, it guarantees a percentage of blues fans will immediately react in the negative.
BP: But then I never said it was a blues album. The blues is always going to come out in some shape of form in my playing, and I sing with a bluesy approach as well, but it’s about trying to take songs that are not just straight blues songs and making them as interesting as possible.
We made a conscious effort on that record to not make it just another blues rock album; we wanted to set ourselves apart from the wave of guys and bands that are doing the blues rock thing right now.
Now, they are all doing it very well, but for the most part it’s all just about the guitar and, yes, first and foremost I’m also a guitar player (laughs) – but I’m making a conscious effort to try and become a more well-rounded artist and being a good singer and songwriter as well as a guitarist.
I want to have a few more things going on with my music and that will hopefully draw in a more varied audience than would be the case if I was just a straight-up Stevie Ray Vaughan clone.
RM: Absolutely; the sign of a good song is that it survives – even thrives – in different forms and different arrangements. But it’s not just about the songs – if you’re playing blues or blues rock you can’t hide live because people will quickly suss if you can really play or if you’re not going to be around too long.
Which is why it’s great to see a guy like yourself playing live so much – you’re not just playing the blues, you’re feeling the blues, with a bit of funk and soul going on and a strong melodic sensibility…
BP: I think there has to be some sort of natural born talent that comes through family, and is passed on, but it’s really all down to what I was listening to when I was growing up and what I have absorbed; I owe pretty much everything to that. I was listening to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Healey, but I was also listening to soul artists like Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye and Donny Hathaway.
I’ve always tried to be quite open to different styles of music, everything from rock and metal right through to country, soul and pop music. And I think it’s important to try and play something that’s a little bit different, or to avoid being seen as just a clone of whoever your favourite artist is.
I try and take inspiration and little bits of magic from lots of different artists and become an amalgamation of all those influences and, if you’re good enough, you’ll hopefully end up with something that’s worthwhile – and a little bit different.
RM: I think the more open minded music fan and critic finds it refreshing to hear a little melodic pop, funk or soul within a blues framework; it doesn’t always have to be twelve bar blues and a handful of blues shuffles. Atmosphere for example, that’s not the sort of song – or arrangement – you expect to find on a blues rock ‘n’ soul influenced album…
BP: It's great you mention that track because that’s one of the songs producer Ike Nossel brought to me.
But it was a scary day when he first brought that in and said "let’s try doing this song" and I thought about singing it, because it’s the kind of song that is outside of my comfort zone; it’s really a poppy kind of ballad. So we made it a little bit different, the way I sang on it and played it. But then there are a lot of different aspects to that album – Let The Rain Come Down is quite Gospel in its arrangement, there’s a lot of soul, some pop as we’ve mentioned… but the blues purists will hate it! [laughs]
RM: But there will always be that sort of reaction, which goes back to your love and hate comment earlier.
As soon as you waver off that core blues structure, it guarantees a percentage of blues fans will immediately react in the negative.
BP: But then I never said it was a blues album. The blues is always going to come out in some shape of form in my playing, and I sing with a bluesy approach as well, but it’s about trying to take songs that are not just straight blues songs and making them as interesting as possible.
We made a conscious effort on that record to not make it just another blues rock album; we wanted to set ourselves apart from the wave of guys and bands that are doing the blues rock thing right now.
Now, they are all doing it very well, but for the most part it’s all just about the guitar and, yes, first and foremost I’m also a guitar player (laughs) – but I’m making a conscious effort to try and become a more well-rounded artist and being a good singer and songwriter as well as a guitarist.
I want to have a few more things going on with my music and that will hopefully draw in a more varied audience than would be the case if I was just a straight-up Stevie Ray Vaughan clone.
While Let’s Go Upstairs is a polished and accomplished studio album that showcases the many
musical facets of Ben Poole, the guitarist truly flexes his six-string fingers and blues muscles in
the live environment, as exemplified on Live at the Royal Albert Hall, recorded at BluesFest 2013
RM: Seven numbers on Let’s Go Upstairs are original and two others were co-written with Ike but there’s also a cover of Otis Redding’s Mr Pitiful – which fits your musical profile – and a great blues-soul and horns rendition of I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down…
BP: That’s another that came from Ike; he had worked with Paul Young when Paul recorded his version back in the eighties, so although it was originally a Memphis soul number sung by Ann Peebles in the early seventies the idea came about because of Ike’s involvement with Paul Young.
Paul had a bunch of great players on his version, including bass player Pino Palladino, and he had a hit with it, so Ike said "I did this thirty years ago with Paul, how do you fancy giving it a try?"
So we did and, again, I tried to be a little bit different with it. I think it turned out really well; I really like it.
RM: I think it turned out extremely well and while it may have seemed a curious choice initially, once you hear the arrangement you have given it and understand the wider musical palette of Let’s Go Upstairs it becomes a fantastic fit for the album. In fact as regards the song choices or ideas that came from Ike you have to say the boy done good [laughs].
BP: Ike was great and I have a lot to thank him for on that album. When we first went to record it I had about fourteen songs, which we laid down in a different studio, but we ended up scrapping most of it because I was still doing the ‘blues rock songs that are excuses for guitar solos’ kind of thing [laughter].
But when we sat down – just me and Ike – and started looking at the bigger picture we decided we had to do something a little different and pretty much scrapped the whole thing up to that point.
And I think that very night I wrote It Doesn’t Have To Be That Way, which is more about the catchier choruses and was a lot more… I don’t want to use the word "pop" because that’s become a bit of a dirty word in our side of the industry, but we were definitely writing good songs with pop structures, if you know what I mean.
RM: I do. Pop has become a dirty word, courtesy of the plastic, manufactured cookie cutter variety that dominates the commercial side of the industry.
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t any good – and some great – melodic pop being written.
BP: Yeah; so I started writing better songs and wrote a couple with Ike as well.
Ike also suggested a couple of the covers and that really transformed the whole course of the album.
RM: But it’s not as if you’ve forgotten the grittier blues rock. You’re not exactly hanging about on numbers such as Play On, Play On or Over It Now…
musical facets of Ben Poole, the guitarist truly flexes his six-string fingers and blues muscles in
the live environment, as exemplified on Live at the Royal Albert Hall, recorded at BluesFest 2013
RM: Seven numbers on Let’s Go Upstairs are original and two others were co-written with Ike but there’s also a cover of Otis Redding’s Mr Pitiful – which fits your musical profile – and a great blues-soul and horns rendition of I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down…
BP: That’s another that came from Ike; he had worked with Paul Young when Paul recorded his version back in the eighties, so although it was originally a Memphis soul number sung by Ann Peebles in the early seventies the idea came about because of Ike’s involvement with Paul Young.
Paul had a bunch of great players on his version, including bass player Pino Palladino, and he had a hit with it, so Ike said "I did this thirty years ago with Paul, how do you fancy giving it a try?"
So we did and, again, I tried to be a little bit different with it. I think it turned out really well; I really like it.
RM: I think it turned out extremely well and while it may have seemed a curious choice initially, once you hear the arrangement you have given it and understand the wider musical palette of Let’s Go Upstairs it becomes a fantastic fit for the album. In fact as regards the song choices or ideas that came from Ike you have to say the boy done good [laughs].
BP: Ike was great and I have a lot to thank him for on that album. When we first went to record it I had about fourteen songs, which we laid down in a different studio, but we ended up scrapping most of it because I was still doing the ‘blues rock songs that are excuses for guitar solos’ kind of thing [laughter].
But when we sat down – just me and Ike – and started looking at the bigger picture we decided we had to do something a little different and pretty much scrapped the whole thing up to that point.
And I think that very night I wrote It Doesn’t Have To Be That Way, which is more about the catchier choruses and was a lot more… I don’t want to use the word "pop" because that’s become a bit of a dirty word in our side of the industry, but we were definitely writing good songs with pop structures, if you know what I mean.
RM: I do. Pop has become a dirty word, courtesy of the plastic, manufactured cookie cutter variety that dominates the commercial side of the industry.
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t any good – and some great – melodic pop being written.
BP: Yeah; so I started writing better songs and wrote a couple with Ike as well.
Ike also suggested a couple of the covers and that really transformed the whole course of the album.
RM: But it’s not as if you’ve forgotten the grittier blues rock. You’re not exactly hanging about on numbers such as Play On, Play On or Over It Now…
RM: You do a couple of covers live, which is almost mandatory for blues, or blues based, artists.
Your version of I Know I’m Losing You, the old Temptations number – also famously recorded by Rod Stewart and the Faces – is a song you’ve started to own in the live environment.
You extend and stretch that song into quite the showcase number…
BP: I’ve been playing it live for quite a long time; it’s just one of those songs where you initially think "yeah, that works ok" but because I’ve been out touring so much you start trying to have fun with some of the stuff you’re playing a lot. So songs like I Know I’m Losing You naturally develop and take on a life of their own. Actually, the first time I heard that song it wasn’t the Temptations or even the Faces, it was Richie Kotzen's version…
RM: I thought it might be; I know you’re a fan of Richie’s and there’s great mutual respect there.
BP: Yeah; I heard Richie doing it and loved the way he was playing it. Then I checked out the original Temptations version and the Faces version and the way we play it is a combination of all three, really. Actually I should say used to play it – we’ve not been playing it too much recently because we have so much new material but that has been one of my favourite songs in the set to play.
And it’s a really simple chord structure, in fact it pretty much has the same chord structure throughout the whole song, but we play it with a lot of light and shade which is what really makes that song, live.
RM: Hence why so many fans or blues rock aficionados will say if you want a taster of Ben Poole, grab the live album or head to YouTube and check out I Know I’m Losing You.
BP: People do ask about that song quite a lot; it is one of the more epic songs in the set when we play it.
It does have a lot of dynamics and I love playing around with that sort of light and shade live – but that’s something that is much harder to capture in the studio.
I love to bring it right down until you can hear that pin drop and then crank it back up again and really rock out; I Know I’m Losing You is definitely one of the songs that allows us do that.
But, as I said, that’s something you couldn’t really do in a studio.
RM: I had a very similar conversation with Alan Nimmo of King King about their cover of the Eric Clapton song Old Love. King King has almost taken ownership of that song and Alan has introduced a tremendous rise and fall dynamic.
BP: I’ve done a few shows with the King King boys and they do a great version of that song.
And yeah, it’s the same sort of thing, they work with the dynamics of the number and it really is one of the coolest things you can do, playing around with songs like I Know I'm Losing You or Old Love and bringing it right down to the point where you are Volume Off on the guitar.
There’s nothing better than a big audience that’s completely silent, hanging on every lick you play – so silent that you literally can come right off the volume of the guitar. It’s an incredibly exciting thing.
RM: And it’s a sure sign you have the audience’s attention and the ultimate sign of respect, especially if that’s a venue or a festival hall with the sadly all too commonplace bar at the back, selling drink during the sets.
Sure as shit there will be people drinking or chatting through the performance instead of listening, but if you get their attention to the degree that the talking stops? That’s not just respect, that’s a bloody achievement.
BP: [laughs] That’s it exactly though – there’s nothing better.
RM: While there are extreme highs and lows in the music business, as we've mentioned, this is a great time for blues and blues rock, especially the British movement where there is a clear upswing of talent.
We have your good self, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Laurence Jones, King King and many others, counter-balanced by legendary veteran artists such as octogenarian John Mayall and recent septuagenarian Robin Trower, who is back out on the road with a new tour and new album. Have you become aware of the resurgence?
BP: Well I certainly didn’t start doing this because I felt it was the right time – I’ve been playing since I was fifteen, sixteen – but I’m definitely aware I happen to be coming up at a good time.
I’m not really sure why that is, it might be a backlash against a lot of the shit that’s on the radio at the moment or it might be that people have suddenly discovered that there really is a lot of good music out there; music that is truly played from the heart. And that’s true of the people you just mentioned.
There's nothing false about what they do and they all enjoy playing. They are all great artists and I think people can hear and see that. It’s an exciting time – and it’s just real.
RM: Nail on the head – keeping it real, the defining trait of the blues and blues influenced performers.
I don’t know why it’s such a strong time for blues and blues rock either – part of it could well be the backlash you mention – but there is a clear and evident resurgence in the blues based genres and some great acts out there plying their trade. Long may that continue.
BP: And the artists you mentioned are out there in great combinations at the moment.
Robin Trower has his UK tour with Joanne as special guest; King King have just finished their own UK tour and had the Laurence Jones Band out with them; we’re special guests on the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band’s five UK dates later in April.
So it’s all good – and a good time to be in this blues rock game of ours, which is one of those genres that can be particularly up and down, no matter how established you are as an artist.
But right now I’m just going to keep riding the wave!
Your version of I Know I’m Losing You, the old Temptations number – also famously recorded by Rod Stewart and the Faces – is a song you’ve started to own in the live environment.
You extend and stretch that song into quite the showcase number…
BP: I’ve been playing it live for quite a long time; it’s just one of those songs where you initially think "yeah, that works ok" but because I’ve been out touring so much you start trying to have fun with some of the stuff you’re playing a lot. So songs like I Know I’m Losing You naturally develop and take on a life of their own. Actually, the first time I heard that song it wasn’t the Temptations or even the Faces, it was Richie Kotzen's version…
RM: I thought it might be; I know you’re a fan of Richie’s and there’s great mutual respect there.
BP: Yeah; I heard Richie doing it and loved the way he was playing it. Then I checked out the original Temptations version and the Faces version and the way we play it is a combination of all three, really. Actually I should say used to play it – we’ve not been playing it too much recently because we have so much new material but that has been one of my favourite songs in the set to play.
And it’s a really simple chord structure, in fact it pretty much has the same chord structure throughout the whole song, but we play it with a lot of light and shade which is what really makes that song, live.
RM: Hence why so many fans or blues rock aficionados will say if you want a taster of Ben Poole, grab the live album or head to YouTube and check out I Know I’m Losing You.
BP: People do ask about that song quite a lot; it is one of the more epic songs in the set when we play it.
It does have a lot of dynamics and I love playing around with that sort of light and shade live – but that’s something that is much harder to capture in the studio.
I love to bring it right down until you can hear that pin drop and then crank it back up again and really rock out; I Know I’m Losing You is definitely one of the songs that allows us do that.
But, as I said, that’s something you couldn’t really do in a studio.
RM: I had a very similar conversation with Alan Nimmo of King King about their cover of the Eric Clapton song Old Love. King King has almost taken ownership of that song and Alan has introduced a tremendous rise and fall dynamic.
BP: I’ve done a few shows with the King King boys and they do a great version of that song.
And yeah, it’s the same sort of thing, they work with the dynamics of the number and it really is one of the coolest things you can do, playing around with songs like I Know I'm Losing You or Old Love and bringing it right down to the point where you are Volume Off on the guitar.
There’s nothing better than a big audience that’s completely silent, hanging on every lick you play – so silent that you literally can come right off the volume of the guitar. It’s an incredibly exciting thing.
RM: And it’s a sure sign you have the audience’s attention and the ultimate sign of respect, especially if that’s a venue or a festival hall with the sadly all too commonplace bar at the back, selling drink during the sets.
Sure as shit there will be people drinking or chatting through the performance instead of listening, but if you get their attention to the degree that the talking stops? That’s not just respect, that’s a bloody achievement.
BP: [laughs] That’s it exactly though – there’s nothing better.
RM: While there are extreme highs and lows in the music business, as we've mentioned, this is a great time for blues and blues rock, especially the British movement where there is a clear upswing of talent.
We have your good self, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Laurence Jones, King King and many others, counter-balanced by legendary veteran artists such as octogenarian John Mayall and recent septuagenarian Robin Trower, who is back out on the road with a new tour and new album. Have you become aware of the resurgence?
BP: Well I certainly didn’t start doing this because I felt it was the right time – I’ve been playing since I was fifteen, sixteen – but I’m definitely aware I happen to be coming up at a good time.
I’m not really sure why that is, it might be a backlash against a lot of the shit that’s on the radio at the moment or it might be that people have suddenly discovered that there really is a lot of good music out there; music that is truly played from the heart. And that’s true of the people you just mentioned.
There's nothing false about what they do and they all enjoy playing. They are all great artists and I think people can hear and see that. It’s an exciting time – and it’s just real.
RM: Nail on the head – keeping it real, the defining trait of the blues and blues influenced performers.
I don’t know why it’s such a strong time for blues and blues rock either – part of it could well be the backlash you mention – but there is a clear and evident resurgence in the blues based genres and some great acts out there plying their trade. Long may that continue.
BP: And the artists you mentioned are out there in great combinations at the moment.
Robin Trower has his UK tour with Joanne as special guest; King King have just finished their own UK tour and had the Laurence Jones Band out with them; we’re special guests on the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band’s five UK dates later in April.
So it’s all good – and a good time to be in this blues rock game of ours, which is one of those genres that can be particularly up and down, no matter how established you are as an artist.
But right now I’m just going to keep riding the wave!
"F*cking amazing! I loved his playing... I really loved his playing!" Jeff Beck.
"The guitar sounds were impeccable, the timing was beyond reproach and there was evidence of
dynamic awareness throughout… Nice!" Guthrie Govan. "A really great player!" Gary Moore.
"He’ll be a household name someday for sure... Amazing." Richie Kotzen.
RM: You mentioned newer material in the current set-list. Is that a sign of a new album in the not too distant?
BP: We’re planning to record a new studio album with Manhaton Records this year.
There was a bonus studio track, Starting All Over Again, added to the Live At The Royal Albert Hall album; that was a tester to get me in to the studio with particular players to see how it would go.
We had Wayne Proctor and Bob Fridzema from King King on that track along with Steve Amadeo from Aynsley Lister’s band; it was just done to see how it would go and what potential we felt was there but it went so well the plan is to get the four of us back in the studio to do a full album together.
RM: Nice one. That’s not a bad little quartet to base an album around is it?
BP: [laughs] No it isn’t! They are all fantastic players and it was great to be in a studio with them to do that one track; I’m really excited about doing an album’s worth.
Right at this moment we’re just talking about it though and I’m firing new songs backwards and forwards with Wayne, whose been trying to get this particular ball rolling for over a year now.
But then that’s the real issue, finding the time – I’m busy and King King are always busy [laughs] so it’s about finding a few days here and there when neither of us are on the road so we can get in to the studio.
RM: I'm sure it will all work out – I’m a great believer in "it will happen when it’s supposed to happen."
And based on the track already recorded it will be both worth the wait and another atypical blues rock release from Ben Poole...
"The guitar sounds were impeccable, the timing was beyond reproach and there was evidence of
dynamic awareness throughout… Nice!" Guthrie Govan. "A really great player!" Gary Moore.
"He’ll be a household name someday for sure... Amazing." Richie Kotzen.
RM: You mentioned newer material in the current set-list. Is that a sign of a new album in the not too distant?
BP: We’re planning to record a new studio album with Manhaton Records this year.
There was a bonus studio track, Starting All Over Again, added to the Live At The Royal Albert Hall album; that was a tester to get me in to the studio with particular players to see how it would go.
We had Wayne Proctor and Bob Fridzema from King King on that track along with Steve Amadeo from Aynsley Lister’s band; it was just done to see how it would go and what potential we felt was there but it went so well the plan is to get the four of us back in the studio to do a full album together.
RM: Nice one. That’s not a bad little quartet to base an album around is it?
BP: [laughs] No it isn’t! They are all fantastic players and it was great to be in a studio with them to do that one track; I’m really excited about doing an album’s worth.
Right at this moment we’re just talking about it though and I’m firing new songs backwards and forwards with Wayne, whose been trying to get this particular ball rolling for over a year now.
But then that’s the real issue, finding the time – I’m busy and King King are always busy [laughs] so it’s about finding a few days here and there when neither of us are on the road so we can get in to the studio.
RM: I'm sure it will all work out – I’m a great believer in "it will happen when it’s supposed to happen."
And based on the track already recorded it will be both worth the wait and another atypical blues rock release from Ben Poole...
RM: I love the clean six-string sound and the almost countrified tone you produce on songs such as Starting All Over Again – what’s the current weapons of choice?
BP: I’m primarily a Telecaster man and have been for quite a long time now. I have a couple of Fender Telecasters that are my main guitars but I also use a couple of other guitars including a Gibson Les Paul, but that's just a standard model.
That's pretty much it for the electrics but I also have a Takamine for the acoustic numbers in the set; that sounds really nice.
RM: A small but very select selection, if you will – and a refreshing change from hearing what twenty or thirty guitars Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick is taking out on the road with him from the hundreds in his collection.
I love Rick and Cheap Trick, but he must be a guitar tech’s and roadie’s nightmare.
BP: [laughs] Well my teles' have hotted up pickups, so they have a bit more punch and are a bit more beefy sounding than the standard single coil telecasters, but that’s pretty much it!
RM: But then that’s pretty much all you need for that great Ben Poole sound, which I’ll hear again when you play Glasgow in April with Kenny Wayne Shepherd – and it's your round for the Single malts, seeing as that show falls on my birthday.
BP: That won’t be a problem, mate – I’m a big fan of a Single malt myself. Cheers!
BP: I’m primarily a Telecaster man and have been for quite a long time now. I have a couple of Fender Telecasters that are my main guitars but I also use a couple of other guitars including a Gibson Les Paul, but that's just a standard model.
That's pretty much it for the electrics but I also have a Takamine for the acoustic numbers in the set; that sounds really nice.
RM: A small but very select selection, if you will – and a refreshing change from hearing what twenty or thirty guitars Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick is taking out on the road with him from the hundreds in his collection.
I love Rick and Cheap Trick, but he must be a guitar tech’s and roadie’s nightmare.
BP: [laughs] Well my teles' have hotted up pickups, so they have a bit more punch and are a bit more beefy sounding than the standard single coil telecasters, but that’s pretty much it!
RM: But then that’s pretty much all you need for that great Ben Poole sound, which I’ll hear again when you play Glasgow in April with Kenny Wayne Shepherd – and it's your round for the Single malts, seeing as that show falls on my birthday.
BP: That won’t be a problem, mate – I’m a big fan of a Single malt myself. Cheers!
Ross Muir
Muirsical Conversation with Ben Poole
April 2015
Official Website: http://www.benpooleband.com
photo credits: www.benpooleband.com/gallery (from bluesmagazine.nl © Marco Van Rooijen)
Audio tracks presented to accompany the above article and to promote the work of the artist.
No infringement of copyright is intended.
Muirsical Conversation with Ben Poole
April 2015
Official Website: http://www.benpooleband.com
photo credits: www.benpooleband.com/gallery (from bluesmagazine.nl © Marco Van Rooijen)
Audio tracks presented to accompany the above article and to promote the work of the artist.
No infringement of copyright is intended.