A Range Of Creative Freedoms
Muirsical Conversation with Ned Evett
Muirsical Conversation with Ned Evett
Nashville born, L.A. based musician, animator and writer Ned Evett is known as the King of the Fretless Glass Guitar (a deserved and unarguable accolade given his guitar skills and highly original and distinct sound, which comes courtesy of his self-invented glass necked fretless guitars).
There’s also the small matter of some excellent and acclaimed studio albums, the latest of which is last year’s Strange Kind Of Freedom, Evett’s fourth release in a four year span.
Strange Kind Of Freedom follows on the musical heels of 2020’s All American Radio (a Nashville inspired album that featured Evett's sliding glass capo invention, the Clamp-Slider) the Delta meets Delhi stylings of 2023’s Mississippi Ganges, and 2024 mini-album Bigfoot And Bunyip (the soundtrack to Evett’s book of the same name).
Additionally, Ned Evett is Special Guest on the forthcoming SatchVai UK & European Tour dates (Ned Evett and Joe Satriani, who calls Evett "a monster player," have been friends and collaborators in creative media for a number of years).
Ned Evett will also be featuring the latest addition to his guitar collection on the tour, the Aluminati Guitar, which is where the conversation started…
There’s also the small matter of some excellent and acclaimed studio albums, the latest of which is last year’s Strange Kind Of Freedom, Evett’s fourth release in a four year span.
Strange Kind Of Freedom follows on the musical heels of 2020’s All American Radio (a Nashville inspired album that featured Evett's sliding glass capo invention, the Clamp-Slider) the Delta meets Delhi stylings of 2023’s Mississippi Ganges, and 2024 mini-album Bigfoot And Bunyip (the soundtrack to Evett’s book of the same name).
Additionally, Ned Evett is Special Guest on the forthcoming SatchVai UK & European Tour dates (Ned Evett and Joe Satriani, who calls Evett "a monster player," have been friends and collaborators in creative media for a number of years).
Ned Evett will also be featuring the latest addition to his guitar collection on the tour, the Aluminati Guitar, which is where the conversation started…
Ross Muir: As much as I’d like to dive straight into your most recent album Strange Kind Of Freedom, and chat about the upcoming SatchVai tour, I, along with many a guitar aficionado and your fan base, would love to hear more about the latest addition to your guitar collection – the Aluminati Guitar, built from hollow aluminium. I believe you will also be bringing that guitar with you on the SatchVai tour?
Ned Evett: I am, yes! One of the biggest issues when you are working with tone woods if you will, although in my case of course it’s glass guitars – I’ve also worked with metal as a building substance – is the problem of weight. Now, the tonal properties of those guitars are great, but the weight is problematic.
However the Aluminati Guitar people have figured out to make hollow aluminium instruments by applying cycling technology to the process. So, their guitars are hollow aluminium and very strong but, also, very light, about eight pounds! I’m not sure what that is in kilograms though! [laughs].
RM: Around three and half kilograms, I think. Either way, whether Imperial of Metric, that is indeed light.
NE: Yes! In fact, their joke, given they all come from a cycling background, is if you want to lose pounds, it’s going to cost hundreds of dollars; but if you want to lose grams, it’s going to cost thousands of dollars!
By that they of course mean the cost to reduce the weight and tolerances within a build, but still have the strength, whether that's a bicycle or a guitar.
They really know what they are doing; I’m super excited about working with them.
RM: I love that there is a science to it; also, as a cyclist, I love the parallel between the two types of build.
You also mentioned tone earlier, which leads to the obvious follow-on question – what sort of tone does this guitar give you? Is it similar to other, metal built guitars?
NE: Well, I’ve worked with aluminium before, as a fingerboard substance, and the tonal properties are, actually, similar to Rosewood. It’s quite warm. Stainless steel, by comparison, has a very sharp, very bright tone. Aluminium is also very soft, certainly compared to other materials, so there is a wear issue – you could possibly wear through aluminium with wound-round strings.
But I’ve been working with the guys at Ernie Ball; they have a fantastic line of flat-wounds and even in between flat-wounds. We’re trying to find the perfect choice for aluminium guitars so it doesn’t abrase the fingerboards, or at least restricts any wear as much as possible.
RM: That sounds like an interesting learning curve for all involved. Guitars aren’t new, obviously, but some of this technology most certainly is.
Ned Evett: I am, yes! One of the biggest issues when you are working with tone woods if you will, although in my case of course it’s glass guitars – I’ve also worked with metal as a building substance – is the problem of weight. Now, the tonal properties of those guitars are great, but the weight is problematic.
However the Aluminati Guitar people have figured out to make hollow aluminium instruments by applying cycling technology to the process. So, their guitars are hollow aluminium and very strong but, also, very light, about eight pounds! I’m not sure what that is in kilograms though! [laughs].
RM: Around three and half kilograms, I think. Either way, whether Imperial of Metric, that is indeed light.
NE: Yes! In fact, their joke, given they all come from a cycling background, is if you want to lose pounds, it’s going to cost hundreds of dollars; but if you want to lose grams, it’s going to cost thousands of dollars!
By that they of course mean the cost to reduce the weight and tolerances within a build, but still have the strength, whether that's a bicycle or a guitar.
They really know what they are doing; I’m super excited about working with them.
RM: I love that there is a science to it; also, as a cyclist, I love the parallel between the two types of build.
You also mentioned tone earlier, which leads to the obvious follow-on question – what sort of tone does this guitar give you? Is it similar to other, metal built guitars?
NE: Well, I’ve worked with aluminium before, as a fingerboard substance, and the tonal properties are, actually, similar to Rosewood. It’s quite warm. Stainless steel, by comparison, has a very sharp, very bright tone. Aluminium is also very soft, certainly compared to other materials, so there is a wear issue – you could possibly wear through aluminium with wound-round strings.
But I’ve been working with the guys at Ernie Ball; they have a fantastic line of flat-wounds and even in between flat-wounds. We’re trying to find the perfect choice for aluminium guitars so it doesn’t abrase the fingerboards, or at least restricts any wear as much as possible.
RM: That sounds like an interesting learning curve for all involved. Guitars aren’t new, obviously, but some of this technology most certainly is.
NE: Yeah. Instead of the classic workbench environment we are all used to, when we see guitars being made, the Aluminati Guitar guys, who are based in Asheville, North Carolina, use a clean room; in there is a box that is doing all the milling by CNC (Computer Numerical Control).
That CNC milling is a large portion of the build, so they have been able to scale up their productivity, and not just with aluminium. They also work with perspex, and are doing amazing things with that as well.
They’re a great bunch of engineers and a great bunch or people. They also got a whole bunch of wood from the huuricane floods that happened last year in North Carolina; from that they are making as series of guitars called the Floodcaster!
The bodies of those guitars are all made out of reclaimed wood, and the profits from the sales are going to go to the American Red Cross.
RM: That’s fantastic. On the subject of instrument innovation, I believe All American Radio, released in 2020, was the first album to feature one of your own creations, the sliding glass capo.
NE: Yeah, that’s right. Although I call it the Clamp-Slider! That was put together in partnership with Dunlop, and All American Radio was the first time I had used it in the studio.
It’s a great piece of technology, one that pretty much exclusively just works on fretless guitars, because it rolls and slides across the strings.
Also, though, if you are in open tuning, it enables you to set the Clamp-Slider on your chosen key, like a capo. For example, if you are working with a singer in the key of G, setting it on the third position gives you the open chord; the four chord, the five and the sixth – your whole portal chord system falls into place.
If the next song is in C, it’s the same thing, and so forth and so on.
And, additionally, it can be used as a soloing implement!
RM: Such a great addition to your armoury, and sound. What triggered its creation?
NE: It’s funny. I was opening act on Leon Russell’s final tour, in 2016; I had used capo’s before but, for that particular tour, I was going to go with one of those cheaper capo’s that nobody really likes! [laughs]
But well before the tour started I was on the phone, with my guitar, talking to a friend – it may have been Joe Satriani, but I can’t quite recall. During the call I accidentally strummed the guitar and the capo moved!
I thought "Woah, that capo moved pretty efficiently; that might make for a really interesting sound!"
But, the problem was, I kept wearing out the rubber cylinder in the middle. I tried coating it with super glue, then I was going to have a friend make me a wooden one, then try a steel one, but it all got very complicated, and very expensive!
Later, I was looking across my room and I saw one of my Dunlop slides just sitting there; I said to myself "what if I just stuck the capo through the middle of the whole shebang?"
This was now just before the Leon Russell tour, when I was touring my Glass Guitar album, and I was having some issues.
That was because if you play in open tuning, and you are a slide player, you play in G and D, or C.
So, how many guitars do you have to bring on stage to switch between those tunings? Either that or you retune on the fly as you’re telling a story to the audience – and we’ve all done that!
So the Clamp-Slider enabled me to have those variety of keys without having to change guitars – and that’s how it all came to pass!
RM: The previously mentioned All American Radio was a lovely Nashville Americana inspired album; you delivered interesting and innovative contrast three years later, however, with Mississippi Ganges.
That album was a co-writing collaboration with Cherian Jubilee, who you have worked with before. How did that particularly fruitful partnership first come about?
NE: I’ve known Cherian for over twenty years. He’s a very interesting individual – an instrument builder, a songwriter, and a creative spirit par excellence.
We did a record back in 1997 called Hand Of Kindness, which were all co-writes with him. But then he kind of got out of the music business for about twenty years, after which we reconnected. We did All American Radio, Mississippi Ganges and the new record, Strange Kind Of Freedom.
He and I have a remarkable short-hand as co-writers, because we don’t live in the same city – I’ve probably only seen him two or three times in the last six or seven years!
So, we have developed this short-hand for getting a song idea going, then moving it all the way forward to getting it onto a record. Now, that’s something I’ve also done myself as a solo writer, but I rather like working with Cherian, and what we have done with Strange Kind Of Freedom, which I’m very excited about.
Mississippi Ganges is something that Cherian thought of while sitting at his kitchen table. He sent me a couple of ideas for it, and then I fleshed it out and put the music to it. That generally tends to be how it works with us.
RM: Mississippi Ganges is a great example of being creative and thinking well outside the box. Taking Indo-European influences and mixing that with Nashville country, rock, and bluesy Americana, is refreshing to hear in what can sometimes be a very staid, or safe, music world.
NE: Thank you. There’s a huge connection between the way Indian scales and ragas function and the way the blues scales function. In a lot of standard blues rock, there is a lot of staccato; but in Indian music every note is rounded. And, in a lot of blues music, if it’s being done correctly, there’s a lot of note bending that can sound like those rounded Indian notes.
And then there’s classical music, which can be staccato, but also legato, or smooth. It’s interesting to explore the connections between all those approaches.
Sometimes I’ll turn on my Indian music simulator, which I’ll practice my blues scales over. Then I’ll plug in my blues practicing tool, which is a series of backing tracks, and play my Indian scales over that.
But we’re all so lucky, as musicians, to have inherited the collective knowledge of the likes of John McLaughlin, Ravi Shankar, Jimi Hendrix, Alan Holdsworth… it’s all there to refer to, but you can still really do your own thing, you know?
That CNC milling is a large portion of the build, so they have been able to scale up their productivity, and not just with aluminium. They also work with perspex, and are doing amazing things with that as well.
They’re a great bunch of engineers and a great bunch or people. They also got a whole bunch of wood from the huuricane floods that happened last year in North Carolina; from that they are making as series of guitars called the Floodcaster!
The bodies of those guitars are all made out of reclaimed wood, and the profits from the sales are going to go to the American Red Cross.
RM: That’s fantastic. On the subject of instrument innovation, I believe All American Radio, released in 2020, was the first album to feature one of your own creations, the sliding glass capo.
NE: Yeah, that’s right. Although I call it the Clamp-Slider! That was put together in partnership with Dunlop, and All American Radio was the first time I had used it in the studio.
It’s a great piece of technology, one that pretty much exclusively just works on fretless guitars, because it rolls and slides across the strings.
Also, though, if you are in open tuning, it enables you to set the Clamp-Slider on your chosen key, like a capo. For example, if you are working with a singer in the key of G, setting it on the third position gives you the open chord; the four chord, the five and the sixth – your whole portal chord system falls into place.
If the next song is in C, it’s the same thing, and so forth and so on.
And, additionally, it can be used as a soloing implement!
RM: Such a great addition to your armoury, and sound. What triggered its creation?
NE: It’s funny. I was opening act on Leon Russell’s final tour, in 2016; I had used capo’s before but, for that particular tour, I was going to go with one of those cheaper capo’s that nobody really likes! [laughs]
But well before the tour started I was on the phone, with my guitar, talking to a friend – it may have been Joe Satriani, but I can’t quite recall. During the call I accidentally strummed the guitar and the capo moved!
I thought "Woah, that capo moved pretty efficiently; that might make for a really interesting sound!"
But, the problem was, I kept wearing out the rubber cylinder in the middle. I tried coating it with super glue, then I was going to have a friend make me a wooden one, then try a steel one, but it all got very complicated, and very expensive!
Later, I was looking across my room and I saw one of my Dunlop slides just sitting there; I said to myself "what if I just stuck the capo through the middle of the whole shebang?"
This was now just before the Leon Russell tour, when I was touring my Glass Guitar album, and I was having some issues.
That was because if you play in open tuning, and you are a slide player, you play in G and D, or C.
So, how many guitars do you have to bring on stage to switch between those tunings? Either that or you retune on the fly as you’re telling a story to the audience – and we’ve all done that!
So the Clamp-Slider enabled me to have those variety of keys without having to change guitars – and that’s how it all came to pass!
RM: The previously mentioned All American Radio was a lovely Nashville Americana inspired album; you delivered interesting and innovative contrast three years later, however, with Mississippi Ganges.
That album was a co-writing collaboration with Cherian Jubilee, who you have worked with before. How did that particularly fruitful partnership first come about?
NE: I’ve known Cherian for over twenty years. He’s a very interesting individual – an instrument builder, a songwriter, and a creative spirit par excellence.
We did a record back in 1997 called Hand Of Kindness, which were all co-writes with him. But then he kind of got out of the music business for about twenty years, after which we reconnected. We did All American Radio, Mississippi Ganges and the new record, Strange Kind Of Freedom.
He and I have a remarkable short-hand as co-writers, because we don’t live in the same city – I’ve probably only seen him two or three times in the last six or seven years!
So, we have developed this short-hand for getting a song idea going, then moving it all the way forward to getting it onto a record. Now, that’s something I’ve also done myself as a solo writer, but I rather like working with Cherian, and what we have done with Strange Kind Of Freedom, which I’m very excited about.
Mississippi Ganges is something that Cherian thought of while sitting at his kitchen table. He sent me a couple of ideas for it, and then I fleshed it out and put the music to it. That generally tends to be how it works with us.
RM: Mississippi Ganges is a great example of being creative and thinking well outside the box. Taking Indo-European influences and mixing that with Nashville country, rock, and bluesy Americana, is refreshing to hear in what can sometimes be a very staid, or safe, music world.
NE: Thank you. There’s a huge connection between the way Indian scales and ragas function and the way the blues scales function. In a lot of standard blues rock, there is a lot of staccato; but in Indian music every note is rounded. And, in a lot of blues music, if it’s being done correctly, there’s a lot of note bending that can sound like those rounded Indian notes.
And then there’s classical music, which can be staccato, but also legato, or smooth. It’s interesting to explore the connections between all those approaches.
Sometimes I’ll turn on my Indian music simulator, which I’ll practice my blues scales over. Then I’ll plug in my blues practicing tool, which is a series of backing tracks, and play my Indian scales over that.
But we’re all so lucky, as musicians, to have inherited the collective knowledge of the likes of John McLaughlin, Ravi Shankar, Jimi Hendrix, Alan Holdsworth… it’s all there to refer to, but you can still really do your own thing, you know?
RM: I’d like to talk a little about your latest album, 2024’s Strange Kind Of Freedom.
That’s a great and decidedly upbeat, album that covers a number of rhythmically led pop styles, whilst also presenting your own unique take on Americana, folk-rock, Nashville and blues.
NE: Thank you! That record is really interesting. I went to Las Vegas where I was an instructor for the Joe Satriani G4 Guitar Summit – ten days of immersive guitar with Joe, Steve Lukather, Steve Morse, Nili Bros, Cory Wong and John 5! And here I am, this oddball fretless glass guitar player in among such great company, showing my guitars! [laughs].
It was just such a great few days, and a great experience – not just hanging with those guys but also the students, who were just amazing. Some of them had such great ears, and watching someone else play fretless guitar for the first time was very interesting.
So, for Strange Kind Of Freedom what I had done was say "OK, these guys need some fretless guitar riffs that they can practice." I went home, got on the phone with Cherian, kicked some ideas around and wrote about twenty songs. But I came up with the riffs for the tunes, all of which could be executed with the Clamp-Slider on a fretless guitar.
Every song has a riff that you could hang your hat on, which also made it easy to perform this record across the world. I’ve since played the Strange Kind Of Freedom material with different backing bands in Japan, Thailand, here in the United States and also as part of a six-week tour of South Africa, which was great!
Some of my other records it was difficult to teach people the stuff but Strange Kind Of Freedom, from start to finish, is a very easy record to perform; I’m really happy with it from that perspective as well.
RM: Yes, there’s an accessibility to many of the songs, but that’s not to say there isn’t an interesting detour or two. Nantucket Sleigh Ride, for example, which is akin to a musical kaleidoscope of new age country-folk, rock and prog, comes complete with an instrumental ending that features what sounds like an intentional homage to The Who and the finale of Baba O’Riley.
NE: Oh yeah, for sure! The Who’s songwriting in general, and their processes, are part of my DNA, as they are for a lot of other musicians. What they did so well was bring those theatrical elements in to rock, and their great sense of dynamics. And no-one could get bigger on a song, you know?
So, to try and get that big, as I did on Nantucket Sleigh Ride, The Who become one of the touchstones.
That end part you mentioned, when it goes in to double-time, that actually happened at a gig, completely spontaneously! I went back to the guys and said "hey, I want to add that into the studio version we have just recorded." And because Shane Gaalaas and Pete Griffin are such pros they said "all right, no problem!"
So we put that in and it really did add a lot to that song – but then it’s a Nantucket Sleigh Ride, you’re sticking a fucking harpoon in a whale – it should have an ending that pulls you along!
RM: I’m glad you mentioned Pete and Shane, because as good as the songwriting and your playing is on Strange Kind Of Freedom, the album is enhanced by their presence, and their own playing.
If you’ve got those guys as your rhythm section, you know you’re gonna be fine.
NE: [laughs] That’s so true! I was very blessed to have them. A friend of mine, Billy Hulting, who plays in a Zappa tribute band here in L.A called One Shot Deal, was also at G4.
I mentioned to him I was moving to L.A. and looking for a rhythm section for a new album I was putting together he said "you gotta call Pete Griffin for bass," which I did.
He then brought in Shane, and before you know it, we have this really fat sound to work with.
Those guys are also very quick studies; we went from me writing the songs last January to the guys learning the songs in pretty much just one day, playing some gigs together then recording the record.
It was a very swift progression from blueprint to finished product; I love it when things happen like that.
RM: Which underlines how you were all very much on the same page; there’s also a comfortableness there, both in the recording process and the performances.
Also in 2024 you released the mini-album Bigfoot And Bunyip, the soundtrack to your book of the same name. Again, an intriguing album; one with a number of different musical colours including aboriginal and tribal rhythms. The book is also a reminder that there’s more to your creative craft than just the music.
NE: Well, my mother was an opera singer and my father was an English professor, so I got it from both ends of the arts – the musical side and the literary side.
Joe Satriani says I was born in the wrong century, and in some ways he’s kinda right! I have an affinity for Jules Verne and Mark Twain, and Bigfoot And Bunyip sort of comes from that tradition of exploration and what I call historical fantasy.
It's also something that comes as not just a book, but as a cartoon. In fact it there’s a new Satchtoons video book that Joe and I created where you can actually watch Bigfoot And Bunyip!
That’s a great and decidedly upbeat, album that covers a number of rhythmically led pop styles, whilst also presenting your own unique take on Americana, folk-rock, Nashville and blues.
NE: Thank you! That record is really interesting. I went to Las Vegas where I was an instructor for the Joe Satriani G4 Guitar Summit – ten days of immersive guitar with Joe, Steve Lukather, Steve Morse, Nili Bros, Cory Wong and John 5! And here I am, this oddball fretless glass guitar player in among such great company, showing my guitars! [laughs].
It was just such a great few days, and a great experience – not just hanging with those guys but also the students, who were just amazing. Some of them had such great ears, and watching someone else play fretless guitar for the first time was very interesting.
So, for Strange Kind Of Freedom what I had done was say "OK, these guys need some fretless guitar riffs that they can practice." I went home, got on the phone with Cherian, kicked some ideas around and wrote about twenty songs. But I came up with the riffs for the tunes, all of which could be executed with the Clamp-Slider on a fretless guitar.
Every song has a riff that you could hang your hat on, which also made it easy to perform this record across the world. I’ve since played the Strange Kind Of Freedom material with different backing bands in Japan, Thailand, here in the United States and also as part of a six-week tour of South Africa, which was great!
Some of my other records it was difficult to teach people the stuff but Strange Kind Of Freedom, from start to finish, is a very easy record to perform; I’m really happy with it from that perspective as well.
RM: Yes, there’s an accessibility to many of the songs, but that’s not to say there isn’t an interesting detour or two. Nantucket Sleigh Ride, for example, which is akin to a musical kaleidoscope of new age country-folk, rock and prog, comes complete with an instrumental ending that features what sounds like an intentional homage to The Who and the finale of Baba O’Riley.
NE: Oh yeah, for sure! The Who’s songwriting in general, and their processes, are part of my DNA, as they are for a lot of other musicians. What they did so well was bring those theatrical elements in to rock, and their great sense of dynamics. And no-one could get bigger on a song, you know?
So, to try and get that big, as I did on Nantucket Sleigh Ride, The Who become one of the touchstones.
That end part you mentioned, when it goes in to double-time, that actually happened at a gig, completely spontaneously! I went back to the guys and said "hey, I want to add that into the studio version we have just recorded." And because Shane Gaalaas and Pete Griffin are such pros they said "all right, no problem!"
So we put that in and it really did add a lot to that song – but then it’s a Nantucket Sleigh Ride, you’re sticking a fucking harpoon in a whale – it should have an ending that pulls you along!
RM: I’m glad you mentioned Pete and Shane, because as good as the songwriting and your playing is on Strange Kind Of Freedom, the album is enhanced by their presence, and their own playing.
If you’ve got those guys as your rhythm section, you know you’re gonna be fine.
NE: [laughs] That’s so true! I was very blessed to have them. A friend of mine, Billy Hulting, who plays in a Zappa tribute band here in L.A called One Shot Deal, was also at G4.
I mentioned to him I was moving to L.A. and looking for a rhythm section for a new album I was putting together he said "you gotta call Pete Griffin for bass," which I did.
He then brought in Shane, and before you know it, we have this really fat sound to work with.
Those guys are also very quick studies; we went from me writing the songs last January to the guys learning the songs in pretty much just one day, playing some gigs together then recording the record.
It was a very swift progression from blueprint to finished product; I love it when things happen like that.
RM: Which underlines how you were all very much on the same page; there’s also a comfortableness there, both in the recording process and the performances.
Also in 2024 you released the mini-album Bigfoot And Bunyip, the soundtrack to your book of the same name. Again, an intriguing album; one with a number of different musical colours including aboriginal and tribal rhythms. The book is also a reminder that there’s more to your creative craft than just the music.
NE: Well, my mother was an opera singer and my father was an English professor, so I got it from both ends of the arts – the musical side and the literary side.
Joe Satriani says I was born in the wrong century, and in some ways he’s kinda right! I have an affinity for Jules Verne and Mark Twain, and Bigfoot And Bunyip sort of comes from that tradition of exploration and what I call historical fantasy.
It's also something that comes as not just a book, but as a cartoon. In fact it there’s a new Satchtoons video book that Joe and I created where you can actually watch Bigfoot And Bunyip!
RM: Bigfoot and Bunyip, in its written, soundtrack and animated forms, adds further strings to your artistic bow.
NE: Yeah, I’m a full-time creative. I wrote the book, then made a cartoon of it. I’ve also made five other cartoons, the stuff I have done with Satchtoons and the Crystal Planet sci-fi comic books with Joe.
RM: That has to be so satisfying for you, creatively. But finding the time to balance it all must be tricky?
NE: Actually, it isn’t so much that I have a hard time keeping up with it all, creatively speaking, it’s more about it being harder to explain to people! That, and bridging the gap between being a musician and being an author; putting out records then putting out books.
But it’s a big, broad, anything goes type of world now – and, of course, we have Social Media to promote a variety of things worldwide. I love all of it!
RM: We mentioned Joe Satriani earlier, and your creative relationship with him, but your friendship goes back quite some way.
NE: Yeah, I’ve known Joe since 1996; that could be a whole podcast right there! [laughs].
As you know, I’m going on tour with Joe and Steve Vai in June. Individually they have this mystique, but they also have it collectively, when in the same room – together, they are like the rock guitar Lennon and McCartney!
As much as anything I’m kind of an observer of things – I don’t always interject myself necessarily into the equation – so this has been amazing for me, even with the few things we’ve done already for this tour.
For example, we got together for tour rehearsals back in March; the whole crew was assembled and I got to meet Marco Mendoza and Pete Thorn, who are part of the SatchVai Band.
Just watching the whole thing unfold was so interesting for me; I’m so very grateful to be part of it.
RM: There’s a huge interest here for the UK and European dates, as you would imagine; having you as part of those dates, as Special Guest, is the icing on the guitar masterclass cake.
This is a solo support I’d presume?
NE: Yeah, I love playing solo! For the first couple of years I was touring with Joe, then George Thorogood.
I also opened for The Allman Brothers, and John Fogerty. I did all that work as a solo artist, and I really loved it. So this is a celebration of that form, for me.
I don’t play with backing tracks per se, I generate the majority of it live; it's kinda like an advanced form of juggling! [laughs]
RM: You are also looking to slot in a few solo dates of your own, before and between the SatchVai gigs?
NE: Yes I am! I like to take care of jet lag early [laughs] so although the SatchVai tour starts June 13th, in York, I’m coming over ten days earlier to play two dates in Ireland – I’m playing Whelan's in Dublin on June 3rd and then the Voodoo in Belfast on June 6th.
That also gives me a few days off before I start off in York with Joe and Steve. I’ll also try and hit a few open jams on my way to York, which is something I really like to do.
I’m also looking to play Backstage in Kinross in Scotland on June 16th, between a couple of SatchVai stops. I’m so pleased we were able to slot in that gig, as it’s a great place to play. David Mundell up at Backstage is a musical force in his own right, and it’s great that he continues to bring live music to the area.
I just love playing the UK and Ireland; I’ve toured there for many years but it’s been a while since I was last over, so I’m really excited to be getting back over and soaking it all in!
RM: And it will be great to have you, although, to be up front and honest about something that’s becoming a serious concern, it’s very hard here at the grass roots or club venue level to generate the audience numbers we had even just a year or so ago – unless, of course, it’s a legacy act or well established name, or a tribute act playing your favourite band’s greatest hits.
For those audiences it’s now more about nostalgia and what-they-know.
NE: I’ve pretty much toured everywhere since the pandemic and it’s the same all around, to be honest.
But it’s interesting, because in some ways that makes you a better artist, in that you have to compete against, as you said, the legacy acts and the tribute bands, or even comedians and stand-up shows, or whatever it may be.
People have busy lives; if they are going to go out to a show and spend one hundred pounds or whatever it may be, they are going to want to know what that show is about, or what they are going to hear.
YouTube and other video sites have been a help, because people can at least check you out and say "oh, hey, I’d really like to see that guitar player live!"
But the most important thing is to get on top of promoting the show as early as possible, along with the assistance of people such as yourself, who get involved by spreading the word through social media, blogs, websites, news items and interviews. That’s invaluable. Word of mouth is the single most important thing.
RM: That and having an identity, or reputation.
NE: Yeah. Visual identity is very important. I’m fortunate in that I play a glass guitar, which obviously has a certain look to it. Reputation wise, my video clips went from only getting a few hundred views to something like one and a half million views about two years ago; that’s when you know video is working for you, as an artist. But, yes, it is still very challenging to do original music and get people out to see you, live.
Once you’re there though, and you are all congregated, it’s the same as it’s always been – people love live music because they can turn their minds off for a couple of hours; there’s real value in that for everyone.
RM: Absolutely. In fact, the defining positive about a smaller audience is each and every one of them has bought a ticket to come out and hear and enjoy the music of the act or artist on stage.
They will therefore be incredibly appreciative that the band or act in question has still come out to play to a relatively small crowd, and given it one hundred percent for however many have come out to support live music.
NE: That’s a great point. It’s always better to have an appreciative audience that’s small, than be ignored by a big pub type crowd that’s not really there to listen to the music.
RM: And, in their own way, those smaller but appreciative crowds make for a Strange Kind Of Freedom for the Ned Evett’s of the world.
Thanks so much for sitting in with FabricationsHQ, Ned; here’s to a great tour with Joe and Steve and having fun with your own solo shows.
NE: Thanks so much Ross, and thank you for all your support over the years – see you on the road!
NE: Yeah, I’m a full-time creative. I wrote the book, then made a cartoon of it. I’ve also made five other cartoons, the stuff I have done with Satchtoons and the Crystal Planet sci-fi comic books with Joe.
RM: That has to be so satisfying for you, creatively. But finding the time to balance it all must be tricky?
NE: Actually, it isn’t so much that I have a hard time keeping up with it all, creatively speaking, it’s more about it being harder to explain to people! That, and bridging the gap between being a musician and being an author; putting out records then putting out books.
But it’s a big, broad, anything goes type of world now – and, of course, we have Social Media to promote a variety of things worldwide. I love all of it!
RM: We mentioned Joe Satriani earlier, and your creative relationship with him, but your friendship goes back quite some way.
NE: Yeah, I’ve known Joe since 1996; that could be a whole podcast right there! [laughs].
As you know, I’m going on tour with Joe and Steve Vai in June. Individually they have this mystique, but they also have it collectively, when in the same room – together, they are like the rock guitar Lennon and McCartney!
As much as anything I’m kind of an observer of things – I don’t always interject myself necessarily into the equation – so this has been amazing for me, even with the few things we’ve done already for this tour.
For example, we got together for tour rehearsals back in March; the whole crew was assembled and I got to meet Marco Mendoza and Pete Thorn, who are part of the SatchVai Band.
Just watching the whole thing unfold was so interesting for me; I’m so very grateful to be part of it.
RM: There’s a huge interest here for the UK and European dates, as you would imagine; having you as part of those dates, as Special Guest, is the icing on the guitar masterclass cake.
This is a solo support I’d presume?
NE: Yeah, I love playing solo! For the first couple of years I was touring with Joe, then George Thorogood.
I also opened for The Allman Brothers, and John Fogerty. I did all that work as a solo artist, and I really loved it. So this is a celebration of that form, for me.
I don’t play with backing tracks per se, I generate the majority of it live; it's kinda like an advanced form of juggling! [laughs]
RM: You are also looking to slot in a few solo dates of your own, before and between the SatchVai gigs?
NE: Yes I am! I like to take care of jet lag early [laughs] so although the SatchVai tour starts June 13th, in York, I’m coming over ten days earlier to play two dates in Ireland – I’m playing Whelan's in Dublin on June 3rd and then the Voodoo in Belfast on June 6th.
That also gives me a few days off before I start off in York with Joe and Steve. I’ll also try and hit a few open jams on my way to York, which is something I really like to do.
I’m also looking to play Backstage in Kinross in Scotland on June 16th, between a couple of SatchVai stops. I’m so pleased we were able to slot in that gig, as it’s a great place to play. David Mundell up at Backstage is a musical force in his own right, and it’s great that he continues to bring live music to the area.
I just love playing the UK and Ireland; I’ve toured there for many years but it’s been a while since I was last over, so I’m really excited to be getting back over and soaking it all in!
RM: And it will be great to have you, although, to be up front and honest about something that’s becoming a serious concern, it’s very hard here at the grass roots or club venue level to generate the audience numbers we had even just a year or so ago – unless, of course, it’s a legacy act or well established name, or a tribute act playing your favourite band’s greatest hits.
For those audiences it’s now more about nostalgia and what-they-know.
NE: I’ve pretty much toured everywhere since the pandemic and it’s the same all around, to be honest.
But it’s interesting, because in some ways that makes you a better artist, in that you have to compete against, as you said, the legacy acts and the tribute bands, or even comedians and stand-up shows, or whatever it may be.
People have busy lives; if they are going to go out to a show and spend one hundred pounds or whatever it may be, they are going to want to know what that show is about, or what they are going to hear.
YouTube and other video sites have been a help, because people can at least check you out and say "oh, hey, I’d really like to see that guitar player live!"
But the most important thing is to get on top of promoting the show as early as possible, along with the assistance of people such as yourself, who get involved by spreading the word through social media, blogs, websites, news items and interviews. That’s invaluable. Word of mouth is the single most important thing.
RM: That and having an identity, or reputation.
NE: Yeah. Visual identity is very important. I’m fortunate in that I play a glass guitar, which obviously has a certain look to it. Reputation wise, my video clips went from only getting a few hundred views to something like one and a half million views about two years ago; that’s when you know video is working for you, as an artist. But, yes, it is still very challenging to do original music and get people out to see you, live.
Once you’re there though, and you are all congregated, it’s the same as it’s always been – people love live music because they can turn their minds off for a couple of hours; there’s real value in that for everyone.
RM: Absolutely. In fact, the defining positive about a smaller audience is each and every one of them has bought a ticket to come out and hear and enjoy the music of the act or artist on stage.
They will therefore be incredibly appreciative that the band or act in question has still come out to play to a relatively small crowd, and given it one hundred percent for however many have come out to support live music.
NE: That’s a great point. It’s always better to have an appreciative audience that’s small, than be ignored by a big pub type crowd that’s not really there to listen to the music.
RM: And, in their own way, those smaller but appreciative crowds make for a Strange Kind Of Freedom for the Ned Evett’s of the world.
Thanks so much for sitting in with FabricationsHQ, Ned; here’s to a great tour with Joe and Steve and having fun with your own solo shows.
NE: Thanks so much Ross, and thank you for all your support over the years – see you on the road!
Ross Muir
Muirsical Conversation with Ned Evett
May 2025
Official Ned Evett website: https://www.nedevett.com/
Ned Evett on Bandcamp: https://nedevett.bandcamp.com/
Click here for signed first editions of Bigfoot and Bunyip
Ned Evett solo UK shows:
June 3rd – Little Whelan’s, Dublin, Ireland (Click here for tickets)
June 6th – Voodoo, Belfast, Northern Ireland (Click here for tickets)
June 16th – Backstage At The Green, Kinross, Scotland (Click here for tickets)
The SATCHVAI Band : Surfing The Hydra Tour 2025; UK & European Dates
Tickets: https://comm.tix.to/SatchVaiBand (UK dates) and http://satchvaiband.com (all dates)
June 13 - York, UK - Barbican
June 14 - London, UK - Eventim Apollo
June 17 - Glasgow, UK - Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
June 18 - Wolverhampton, UK - Civic Hall
June 19 - Manchester, UK - O2 Apollo
June 21 - Clisson, FR - Hellfest
June 22 - Paris, FR - Palais Des Congres
June 23 - Antwerp, BE - Lotto Arena
June 24 - Amsterdam, NL - Amsterdam Afas
June 26 - Copenhagen, DK - Amager Bio
June 29 - Helsinki, FI - House of Culture
June 30 - Tampere, FI - Tampere Hall
July 2 - Uppsala, SE - Parksnackan
July 3 - Oslo, NO - Sentrum Scene
July 5 - Warsaw, PL - Torwar
July 8 - Munich, DE - Tollwood Festival
July 10 - Dusseldorf, DE - Mitsubishi Electric Hall
July 11 - Frankfurt, DE - Jahrhunderthalle
July 12 - Zurich, CH - Volkshaus Zürich
July 13 - Milan, IT - Comfort Festival @ Villa Casati Stampa
July 15 - Pordenone, IT - Pordenone Blues & Co Festival
July 16 - Perugia, IT - Umbria Jazz Festival w/ Lee Ritenour
July 17 - Bologna, IT - Sequoie Music Park
July 18 - Saint-Julien, FR - Guitare en Scene Festival
July 20 - Prague, CZ - Forum Karlin
July 22 - Sofia, BG - National Palace of Culture
July 23 - Bucharest, RO - Arenele Romane
July 25 - Istanbul, TR - KüçükÇiftlik Park
July 28 - Athens, GR - Lycabettus Theater
July 30 - Belgrade, RS - Luka Beograd
Aug 01 - Sibenik, HR - Historic Saint Michael's Fortress
Aug 02 - Sibenik, HR - Historic Saint Michael's Fortress