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Muirsical Conversation with Walter Trout
Muirsical Conversation with Walter Trout
Renowned American blues-rock singer-guitarist Walter Trout has been in fine, new lease of life form since recovering from his lifesaving liver transplant eleven years ago.
However latest album, Sign Of The Times, is not just his boldest work to date, it’s arguably the best of his career.
Just prior to the album’s release and the start of his three month American & European tour, Walter Trout sat in with FabricationsHQ to discuss the album, including significant songwriting contributions from his wife, Marie Trout.
The conversation also touched on current global concerns (as do a number of the songs), and where we may be headed.
But the conversation started with the story of how a three note intro, a chant, and a deep dive into the work of Bob Dylan kick-started what became Sign Of The Times…
Ross Muir: It’s quite serendipitous how the release of the new album reflects what has been going on the world over these last few weeks or so.
In that respect, Sign Of The Times couldn’t have been better timed, or named.
Walter Trout: That’s very true, but the idea for the album actually started back in January!
My wife Marie, who was my songwriting partner on this one, and I were in Denmark at the end of last year, while I was touring Europe. I knew I had to make an album in February so we flew back to California in January.
As soon as we got home, I put my suitcase in my room, immediately sat down with an acoustic guitar, and came up with this big "bom-bom bah!, bom-bom bah!" lick.
Then I suddenly started singing "woah oh-oh oh-oh oh-oh", but I didn’t know what to do with that, or the lick!
Now, here’s the full story, Ross, and this is the truth of how it all came about.
My main musical influence in my life is probably Bob Dylan, and there was a movie that had just come out with the actor Timothée Chalamet portraying Dylan. My wife is not a fan of his, but when we got back home I said "I really wanna see that new movie; in fact, I’m going to see it tomorrow."
Marie said "Well, in that case, I’ll go with you instead of sitting at home." So we both saw the film and Marie said "That was a good movie; let’s go home and watch a Bob Dylan documentary on TV, because now I want to see the real guy."
We ended up spending two days watching documentaries on Bob Dylan and Marie, who had by now glazed over [laughter], went into the back of the house; she came back a few hours later with a stack of lyrics.
She said "Here’s a bunch of lyrics, and now I’m done with Bob Dylan!" [laughter].
I looked at the top of the very first page of lyrics and saw the title Sign Of The Times; the last line of the first verse of those lyrics was "all around me I hear voices of despair."
That’s when I thought about this lick and chant I had come up with – in my mind I now heard that chant as the downtrodden, the poor, the forgotten and the oppressed people of the world all crying, and calling for help.
I started singing Marie’s lyrics and thought to myself this is perfect – I don’t need to change one line!
We had been home only two days and I’m looking at Marie, saying, "Well, here’s the title track to the new album, and that’s also the direction we’re going to go in."
My last three albums have been kinda autobiographical – Broken was about being a heroin addict; Ride was about my childhood; Ordinary Madness was about what I carry in my mind because of the effects of my childhood.
But, this time, instead of being autobiographical, I wanted to look out at what is happening in the world and reflect upon that, and maybe shine a light on it.
In some ways I wish it could have been released sooner; I kept saying to Marie "What’s happening with this album; they need to release it now!" Because it was a sign of the times when it was being written.
But you’re right, what’s goin' on out there just keeps going, so it’s coming out at exactly the right time.
However latest album, Sign Of The Times, is not just his boldest work to date, it’s arguably the best of his career.
Just prior to the album’s release and the start of his three month American & European tour, Walter Trout sat in with FabricationsHQ to discuss the album, including significant songwriting contributions from his wife, Marie Trout.
The conversation also touched on current global concerns (as do a number of the songs), and where we may be headed.
But the conversation started with the story of how a three note intro, a chant, and a deep dive into the work of Bob Dylan kick-started what became Sign Of The Times…
Ross Muir: It’s quite serendipitous how the release of the new album reflects what has been going on the world over these last few weeks or so.
In that respect, Sign Of The Times couldn’t have been better timed, or named.
Walter Trout: That’s very true, but the idea for the album actually started back in January!
My wife Marie, who was my songwriting partner on this one, and I were in Denmark at the end of last year, while I was touring Europe. I knew I had to make an album in February so we flew back to California in January.
As soon as we got home, I put my suitcase in my room, immediately sat down with an acoustic guitar, and came up with this big "bom-bom bah!, bom-bom bah!" lick.
Then I suddenly started singing "woah oh-oh oh-oh oh-oh", but I didn’t know what to do with that, or the lick!
Now, here’s the full story, Ross, and this is the truth of how it all came about.
My main musical influence in my life is probably Bob Dylan, and there was a movie that had just come out with the actor Timothée Chalamet portraying Dylan. My wife is not a fan of his, but when we got back home I said "I really wanna see that new movie; in fact, I’m going to see it tomorrow."
Marie said "Well, in that case, I’ll go with you instead of sitting at home." So we both saw the film and Marie said "That was a good movie; let’s go home and watch a Bob Dylan documentary on TV, because now I want to see the real guy."
We ended up spending two days watching documentaries on Bob Dylan and Marie, who had by now glazed over [laughter], went into the back of the house; she came back a few hours later with a stack of lyrics.
She said "Here’s a bunch of lyrics, and now I’m done with Bob Dylan!" [laughter].
I looked at the top of the very first page of lyrics and saw the title Sign Of The Times; the last line of the first verse of those lyrics was "all around me I hear voices of despair."
That’s when I thought about this lick and chant I had come up with – in my mind I now heard that chant as the downtrodden, the poor, the forgotten and the oppressed people of the world all crying, and calling for help.
I started singing Marie’s lyrics and thought to myself this is perfect – I don’t need to change one line!
We had been home only two days and I’m looking at Marie, saying, "Well, here’s the title track to the new album, and that’s also the direction we’re going to go in."
My last three albums have been kinda autobiographical – Broken was about being a heroin addict; Ride was about my childhood; Ordinary Madness was about what I carry in my mind because of the effects of my childhood.
But, this time, instead of being autobiographical, I wanted to look out at what is happening in the world and reflect upon that, and maybe shine a light on it.
In some ways I wish it could have been released sooner; I kept saying to Marie "What’s happening with this album; they need to release it now!" Because it was a sign of the times when it was being written.
But you’re right, what’s goin' on out there just keeps going, so it’s coming out at exactly the right time.
RM: Marie's lyrics are so on-point on the title track; I also love the thick guitar tone and dissonance created.
Sign Of The Times is one of your strongest ever songs, as is Struggle to Believe, which closes out the album.
The extended breakdown, where you and the boys all go off on one, makes for a strong musical statement.
That section was fully improvised?
WT: It was, yes, and here’s what’s interesting about that.
When we were about to record it, I showed the band how the verses go. They all said "OK, and on your solo, will we be playing over a verse?" I said "No, because here’s what I want to do – I’m not going to give you any direction, because after the third verse we’re going to go freeform. Whatever happens is gonna happen and unless we completely train wreck it, fall apart and have to stop, we’re only doing it one time."
"So, then they say "Well, how do we get out of it?" I said "When I feel like it's time, I’ll come in and sing one line of the last verse; when you hear me sing that, you guys come back in."
And that’s exactly what we did and exactly what you hear – I hit a low note to start it off, and waited to see what might happen. My drummer, Michael Leasure, put down a beat and we all followed him, but we still didn’t know what was gonna happen! [laughs].
But our bass player John Avila, and Michael, have been playing together in various bands for over thirty years, so those guys really know each other.
RM: So, while it was spontaneous there was a rhythmic understanding.
WT: Yeah, but we still didn’t know where it would go, or what was going to happen!
Once we had done it, we all just kinda looked at each other. Then Michael, John and our keys player, Teddy Andreadis, said "You’re gonna put it on there like that?" And I said "Yeah, because I think it’s fuckin’ awesome, man!"
We hired a guy called J.J. Blair, who I think is a genius, to mix the record. I told him I had this one song that I wrote with The Who in mind, musically; although I tend to think of it more as The Who with someone like Jimi Hendrix jamming along with them.
J.J. said "I did a series of live albums for The Who and played keyboards with them on one show, so I’ll be happy to mix that!"
RM: That’s a spot-on comparison because The Who, particularly in the early to mid 70s, would bring that sort of vibrant, right-on-the-edge energy to their live shows
WT: Yes! And I must tell you, the day before we recorded Struggle To Believe I had been listening to Live At Leeds. I’m sure you remember that album?
RM: Oh, man, yes. Touchstone album.
WT: Right, and on that record they have a song called Young Man’s Blues, where they go off on what sounds like three different solos [laughs]. That’s what I had in mind with the idea of us free-forming on Struggle To Believe.
I told JJ that too, and dig this – once we had done it, he said "Walter, there were three bands that did that – Cream, the Jimi Hendrix Experience and The Who. And now there’s four, because you’ve just done it!"
And that felt great man, it really did.
RM: I think, also, by closing with Struggle To Believe and opening with another stand-out, lyrically on-point song, Artificial, you have the perfect, heavyweight bookends.
But it’s not all about the harder-edged rock; there’s some lovely counterpoint with songs such as Mona Lisa, Smile. That’s such a sweet, and vocally honest, song.
WT: Thank you. For many years people considered Mona Lisa, the painting, as the epitome of female beauty. Now I might tear up here, but I consider my wife Marie to be the epitome of female beauty – but, there’s plenty of times I’ve seen sadness in those eyes; that’s what the song Mona Lisa, Smile is about.
The weird thing about that song is it came to me in a dream, where I saw and heard someone else playing it!
Sign Of The Times is one of your strongest ever songs, as is Struggle to Believe, which closes out the album.
The extended breakdown, where you and the boys all go off on one, makes for a strong musical statement.
That section was fully improvised?
WT: It was, yes, and here’s what’s interesting about that.
When we were about to record it, I showed the band how the verses go. They all said "OK, and on your solo, will we be playing over a verse?" I said "No, because here’s what I want to do – I’m not going to give you any direction, because after the third verse we’re going to go freeform. Whatever happens is gonna happen and unless we completely train wreck it, fall apart and have to stop, we’re only doing it one time."
"So, then they say "Well, how do we get out of it?" I said "When I feel like it's time, I’ll come in and sing one line of the last verse; when you hear me sing that, you guys come back in."
And that’s exactly what we did and exactly what you hear – I hit a low note to start it off, and waited to see what might happen. My drummer, Michael Leasure, put down a beat and we all followed him, but we still didn’t know what was gonna happen! [laughs].
But our bass player John Avila, and Michael, have been playing together in various bands for over thirty years, so those guys really know each other.
RM: So, while it was spontaneous there was a rhythmic understanding.
WT: Yeah, but we still didn’t know where it would go, or what was going to happen!
Once we had done it, we all just kinda looked at each other. Then Michael, John and our keys player, Teddy Andreadis, said "You’re gonna put it on there like that?" And I said "Yeah, because I think it’s fuckin’ awesome, man!"
We hired a guy called J.J. Blair, who I think is a genius, to mix the record. I told him I had this one song that I wrote with The Who in mind, musically; although I tend to think of it more as The Who with someone like Jimi Hendrix jamming along with them.
J.J. said "I did a series of live albums for The Who and played keyboards with them on one show, so I’ll be happy to mix that!"
RM: That’s a spot-on comparison because The Who, particularly in the early to mid 70s, would bring that sort of vibrant, right-on-the-edge energy to their live shows
WT: Yes! And I must tell you, the day before we recorded Struggle To Believe I had been listening to Live At Leeds. I’m sure you remember that album?
RM: Oh, man, yes. Touchstone album.
WT: Right, and on that record they have a song called Young Man’s Blues, where they go off on what sounds like three different solos [laughs]. That’s what I had in mind with the idea of us free-forming on Struggle To Believe.
I told JJ that too, and dig this – once we had done it, he said "Walter, there were three bands that did that – Cream, the Jimi Hendrix Experience and The Who. And now there’s four, because you’ve just done it!"
And that felt great man, it really did.
RM: I think, also, by closing with Struggle To Believe and opening with another stand-out, lyrically on-point song, Artificial, you have the perfect, heavyweight bookends.
But it’s not all about the harder-edged rock; there’s some lovely counterpoint with songs such as Mona Lisa, Smile. That’s such a sweet, and vocally honest, song.
WT: Thank you. For many years people considered Mona Lisa, the painting, as the epitome of female beauty. Now I might tear up here, but I consider my wife Marie to be the epitome of female beauty – but, there’s plenty of times I’ve seen sadness in those eyes; that’s what the song Mona Lisa, Smile is about.
The weird thing about that song is it came to me in a dream, where I saw and heard someone else playing it!
RM: Wow. Do you think perhaps you were subconsciously writing as you slept?
WT: Well, here's the God’s honest truth, Ross, because this guy turns up way too many times these days!
In the dream it was actually Bob Dylan, with an acoustic guitar, singing that song! This was not long after Marie and I had spent those two days watching Bob Dylan on TV.
I had the dream, then woke up, at four in the morning. The Bob Dylan in my dream did the whole song, but it was only the first verse that I could remember – "Mona Lisa, smile, it’s OK for you to stay with me a while; I know you will, and I love you so, and I can tell when you are down and feeling low."
Musically and lyrically that whole first verse came straight from the dream, but I wrote the rest in about five minutes. I woke up at four, picked up the acoustic guitar I have next to my bed, and by four-thirty had the entire song down on the little recording device on my phone.
The band showed up at my house later that day to rehearse, and I told them I had a new song that I wrote at four-thirty that morning! We played it three or four times and then we had it, because it’s such a simple song.
I’m also a fan of certain guys who play that genre of music who are maybe not wonderful, classic singers, but who can put a song over. For example, somebody like Kris Kristofferson.
He's not a singer in the classical sense but, man, he could put a song over; he really meant what he sung.
I tried to sing that one much like that, and not as somebody who is trying to be a singer, you know?
I just wanted to put over the lyrics.
RM: That's what gives Mona Lisa, Smile its charm and sensitivity.
There are many singers would labour over that lyric, and look to put down the perfect vocal, but here we have what I describe as honest vocal expression. You didn’t over-analyse, or do ten, twelve or however many takes to get it absolutely right.
WT: No, I was never going to approach it like [sings in big crooner voice] "Mona Lisa, Smi-ile!"
In fact, I whispered it more than I sung it!
RM: I mentioned Artificial earlier; that song underlines your ability to be an observer, or street level lyricist, through your music. On Artificial, and a couple of others, you deliver the vocal in a semi-spoken word, or more narrative, style, which makes the songs even more lyrically grounded.
Did you always perceive Artificial as having that sort of vocal delivery, or was it more an organic development in the studio?
WT: When I go in to do vocals, I honestly don’t think about them. I want to live the lyrics, and I can’t sing lyrics that I don’t believe. But, when I believe them, they come out the way I feel them, you know?
And I’m not that guy who sings it ten fuckin’ times. I’m good for one or two takes, preferably one, and there you go! [laughs]
If there’s a little vocal flaw or a note that’s a little out of pitch, then it’s there, because I’m human. I’d go back to the Beatles on that one – John Lennon would do a double vocal on some Beatles songs, and you would know it’s a double vocal because you can hear him miss a word, or use a different word, on one of the tracks, maybe because he didn’t have his glasses on.
George Martin would tell him, "Hey, you didn’t sing that word there." And he’d say something like "Leave it there, I want them to know we’re human."
RM: That’s a great tie-in to Artificial itself, given the lyrical impetus. You’re delivering the lyrics through a very honest and, as you say, human vocal on a song about artificiality in life, in music, and where it may all be headed.
WT: I’ll tell you what, Ross, A.I. freaks me out. I try to be an optimist in life; I try to maintain hope and be that positive guy, but to me the combination of A.I and social media could be the end of humanity down the line.
WT: Well, here's the God’s honest truth, Ross, because this guy turns up way too many times these days!
In the dream it was actually Bob Dylan, with an acoustic guitar, singing that song! This was not long after Marie and I had spent those two days watching Bob Dylan on TV.
I had the dream, then woke up, at four in the morning. The Bob Dylan in my dream did the whole song, but it was only the first verse that I could remember – "Mona Lisa, smile, it’s OK for you to stay with me a while; I know you will, and I love you so, and I can tell when you are down and feeling low."
Musically and lyrically that whole first verse came straight from the dream, but I wrote the rest in about five minutes. I woke up at four, picked up the acoustic guitar I have next to my bed, and by four-thirty had the entire song down on the little recording device on my phone.
The band showed up at my house later that day to rehearse, and I told them I had a new song that I wrote at four-thirty that morning! We played it three or four times and then we had it, because it’s such a simple song.
I’m also a fan of certain guys who play that genre of music who are maybe not wonderful, classic singers, but who can put a song over. For example, somebody like Kris Kristofferson.
He's not a singer in the classical sense but, man, he could put a song over; he really meant what he sung.
I tried to sing that one much like that, and not as somebody who is trying to be a singer, you know?
I just wanted to put over the lyrics.
RM: That's what gives Mona Lisa, Smile its charm and sensitivity.
There are many singers would labour over that lyric, and look to put down the perfect vocal, but here we have what I describe as honest vocal expression. You didn’t over-analyse, or do ten, twelve or however many takes to get it absolutely right.
WT: No, I was never going to approach it like [sings in big crooner voice] "Mona Lisa, Smi-ile!"
In fact, I whispered it more than I sung it!
RM: I mentioned Artificial earlier; that song underlines your ability to be an observer, or street level lyricist, through your music. On Artificial, and a couple of others, you deliver the vocal in a semi-spoken word, or more narrative, style, which makes the songs even more lyrically grounded.
Did you always perceive Artificial as having that sort of vocal delivery, or was it more an organic development in the studio?
WT: When I go in to do vocals, I honestly don’t think about them. I want to live the lyrics, and I can’t sing lyrics that I don’t believe. But, when I believe them, they come out the way I feel them, you know?
And I’m not that guy who sings it ten fuckin’ times. I’m good for one or two takes, preferably one, and there you go! [laughs]
If there’s a little vocal flaw or a note that’s a little out of pitch, then it’s there, because I’m human. I’d go back to the Beatles on that one – John Lennon would do a double vocal on some Beatles songs, and you would know it’s a double vocal because you can hear him miss a word, or use a different word, on one of the tracks, maybe because he didn’t have his glasses on.
George Martin would tell him, "Hey, you didn’t sing that word there." And he’d say something like "Leave it there, I want them to know we’re human."
RM: That’s a great tie-in to Artificial itself, given the lyrical impetus. You’re delivering the lyrics through a very honest and, as you say, human vocal on a song about artificiality in life, in music, and where it may all be headed.
WT: I’ll tell you what, Ross, A.I. freaks me out. I try to be an optimist in life; I try to maintain hope and be that positive guy, but to me the combination of A.I and social media could be the end of humanity down the line.
RM: In contrast to social media divisiveness and A.I. concerns, and emphasising your positivity, you have always let your music do the talking. And Live, with your expressive playing, enthused love of performance, and engagement with your audiences, you create commonality, or a community, if you will.
WT: You can go on social media, or Facebook, or wherever, and do all these venomous rants and it will not change a thing, or anyone’s mind. It just becomes opposing sides, and a dehumanising factor.
But, when you go out to play music for people, and I’m playing a minor blues, or a song like Broken, where I talk about my years as a street junkie in Los Angeles – I can look down into the crowd and there will be a big, burly looking biker and he’s crying like a baby. That’s actually happened.
At that point you see that music is one of the few things in life that can bring people together and, as you said, I’ve created a community, one together in our common humanity.
For those couple of hours division doesn’t exist; I think that’s an important thing to remind people of.
RM: It is. Music enriches our lives immeasurably, and the community experience you just described underlines that.
But to follow on from your social media and A.I. concerns, I believe that, two or three hundred years from now, when natural resources dry up and the planet is vastly over-populated, we will either have found a way to make parts of the moon habitable, or perhaps even Mars, in order to expand and survive, or we will have wiped ourselves out. And right now? I think it’s a fifty-fifty call.
WT: I think so too. Similarly, I’m a firm lover of the environment, and the need for clean air and clean water, but when people say "We need to save the planet!" I go "It’s not the planet we need to save – it’s us!"
The planet has been here for billions of years, but we’ve only been here for such an incredibly small part of that time. When we wipe ourselves out, the planet will heal itself; it will still be here, thinking "I’m really glad I got rid of those people, because they were hurting me." So, it’s not so much save the planet as save mankind!
RM: Yep; it may yet be a case of the cockroaches looking around and saying, "Just us, then?"
WT: Yes, absolutely; it could be.
RM: To return to the positive, and your mention of a slow minor blues.
There would be something wrong if a Walter Trout album didn’t feature a slow, or poignant. blues number. This time around it’s Blood On My Pillow. Marie contributed some of the lyrics, I believe?
WT: Actually, all the lyrics on that one came from Marie. The funny thing about that song is I had said to Marie "Look, I really don’t wanna do a minor blues on this record." But Marie – who I admit may be a little biased [laughter] – said "Nobody does a minor blues like you; you have to do one."
So, later, she hands me those lyrics and said "Here you go, now go make a minor blues out of that."
And that's what I did! [laughs]
RM: Blood On My Pillow also contains a solo that’s perfectly tailored to, and for, the song.
But that’s the case throughout – No Strings Attached for example, a moody heavy blues, has two great howl of anger solos, which complement the weight of the song and equally angry lyric.
Do you think through any of your solos prior to recording, or is it another organic, let’s see what develops process?
WT: I don’t think of solos at all. I play in the moment and literally cannot play the same thing twice.
In fact, I can give you a great example – at the start of 1974, when I was twenty-two, I moved to California.
One of the first bands I got a gig with there was a country and western band, playing in a bar.
Now, they played a Merle Haggard song called Mama Tried, and the lead guitar intro is only four notes then a buh-buhm!, before it goes into the rhythm. I asked "Do I have to play that the same every night?"
They said "Well, yeah, that’s the intro!"
So, the first night I play it like the original, the second night I kinda keep it the same but by the third night it’s nothin' like the original! [laughter].
So, I said to the band "Look, I’ll play the same rhythm part, but as for the intro it’s going to be different each time, or I can’t do it."
I have to play spontaneously, and that’s what you hear with the solos on the record.
As for No Strings Attached I did that one with the band; that was a case of "Let’s just go do this."
If I’m going to go back and overdub a solo, then normally that’s a first take; if I don’t have it after the second take, I’ll put it away and come back to it the next day, because as soon as I start thinking about, it’s over.
I have to be in the moment and be spontaneous; live, it will be different every night.
WT: You can go on social media, or Facebook, or wherever, and do all these venomous rants and it will not change a thing, or anyone’s mind. It just becomes opposing sides, and a dehumanising factor.
But, when you go out to play music for people, and I’m playing a minor blues, or a song like Broken, where I talk about my years as a street junkie in Los Angeles – I can look down into the crowd and there will be a big, burly looking biker and he’s crying like a baby. That’s actually happened.
At that point you see that music is one of the few things in life that can bring people together and, as you said, I’ve created a community, one together in our common humanity.
For those couple of hours division doesn’t exist; I think that’s an important thing to remind people of.
RM: It is. Music enriches our lives immeasurably, and the community experience you just described underlines that.
But to follow on from your social media and A.I. concerns, I believe that, two or three hundred years from now, when natural resources dry up and the planet is vastly over-populated, we will either have found a way to make parts of the moon habitable, or perhaps even Mars, in order to expand and survive, or we will have wiped ourselves out. And right now? I think it’s a fifty-fifty call.
WT: I think so too. Similarly, I’m a firm lover of the environment, and the need for clean air and clean water, but when people say "We need to save the planet!" I go "It’s not the planet we need to save – it’s us!"
The planet has been here for billions of years, but we’ve only been here for such an incredibly small part of that time. When we wipe ourselves out, the planet will heal itself; it will still be here, thinking "I’m really glad I got rid of those people, because they were hurting me." So, it’s not so much save the planet as save mankind!
RM: Yep; it may yet be a case of the cockroaches looking around and saying, "Just us, then?"
WT: Yes, absolutely; it could be.
RM: To return to the positive, and your mention of a slow minor blues.
There would be something wrong if a Walter Trout album didn’t feature a slow, or poignant. blues number. This time around it’s Blood On My Pillow. Marie contributed some of the lyrics, I believe?
WT: Actually, all the lyrics on that one came from Marie. The funny thing about that song is I had said to Marie "Look, I really don’t wanna do a minor blues on this record." But Marie – who I admit may be a little biased [laughter] – said "Nobody does a minor blues like you; you have to do one."
So, later, she hands me those lyrics and said "Here you go, now go make a minor blues out of that."
And that's what I did! [laughs]
RM: Blood On My Pillow also contains a solo that’s perfectly tailored to, and for, the song.
But that’s the case throughout – No Strings Attached for example, a moody heavy blues, has two great howl of anger solos, which complement the weight of the song and equally angry lyric.
Do you think through any of your solos prior to recording, or is it another organic, let’s see what develops process?
WT: I don’t think of solos at all. I play in the moment and literally cannot play the same thing twice.
In fact, I can give you a great example – at the start of 1974, when I was twenty-two, I moved to California.
One of the first bands I got a gig with there was a country and western band, playing in a bar.
Now, they played a Merle Haggard song called Mama Tried, and the lead guitar intro is only four notes then a buh-buhm!, before it goes into the rhythm. I asked "Do I have to play that the same every night?"
They said "Well, yeah, that’s the intro!"
So, the first night I play it like the original, the second night I kinda keep it the same but by the third night it’s nothin' like the original! [laughter].
So, I said to the band "Look, I’ll play the same rhythm part, but as for the intro it’s going to be different each time, or I can’t do it."
I have to play spontaneously, and that’s what you hear with the solos on the record.
As for No Strings Attached I did that one with the band; that was a case of "Let’s just go do this."
If I’m going to go back and overdub a solo, then normally that’s a first take; if I don’t have it after the second take, I’ll put it away and come back to it the next day, because as soon as I start thinking about, it’s over.
I have to be in the moment and be spontaneous; live, it will be different every night.
RM: Being so spontaneous, or in your own pocket with the band when playing live, certainly serves you well.
WT: Thank you. One thing I will do in the studio though is work on a certain sound for a particular song.
For example, on the song I Remember, I wanted the guitar to have sustain but also a cleaner sound, because the song is sweet, and in major chords.
So, I set up the amp differently from the way it was for Sign Of The Times, which has a very different tone.
Another example is the song Hurt No More, where I wanted it to be clean, bordering on a kinda Mark Knopfler thing, but with a little more sustain to it.
I work with the amp until I get to the stage where I can say "OK, that’s the tone I want." Then I can get in the moment and play the solo.
RM: So you set up the sound, or tone, you want, but from there you just go and see where it takes you.
WT: Yes, exactly. Think about the tone on Sign Of The Times. When I originally wrote that it was, as I said earlier, on acoustic guitar. But, when I went into the studio with the band, I said "You know what, I really want this song to be like Rage Against The Machine, because this is a pissed off song!"
I worked hard on the sound of the lick to get it that big, and that nasty. Now, try to imagine playing that guitar tone on I Remember, or on a minor blues. It just wouldn’t work!
RM: I’m glad you mentioned I Remember because that’s another I wanted to flag up.
The lovely Heartland-Springsteen-Hornsby vibe of that song adds another texture to this album.
WT: What’s interesting about I Remember is that I’ve had to explain it to some people who say "It's like an old guy and his nostalgia." This song has nothing to do with nostalgia, because when people say "oh, the good old days" I look back and think "Well, they weren’t really so fuckin' good for some of us, you know?" [laughs]
The old days, for me, were running around L.A. trying to score or get another drink!
When I wrote that song I was thinking about when you are in your twenties, and starting your adult life.
Maybe you fall in love for the first time, and maybe you start making plans with that person. Suddenly you’re looking ahead and working toward something with that wonder of life, and the excitement of being alive!
But then I look at people now, who are my age, in their seventies – friends of mine, who I know – and they’ve given up. All our bodies get old, but they’ve also got old in their heads. They lose the wonder of life; they lose the joy; they lose that excitement.
So, yeah, get old in your body but don’t get old in your head. Remember that feeling of wonder and joy and try to hold on to it! Clint Eastwood was asked recently how he is able to still make movies in his nineties; he said "I don’t let the old man in." And that’s what I Remember is all about.
RM: That’s a lovely summation. Similarly, I have a phrase, or mantra, that I have used many a time in conversation on this very subject – I grow old because I must; but I refuse to grow up.
WT: That’s perfect! You can face your responsibilities and approach life as an adult, but it certainly doesn’t mean you have to lose that inner child, the wonder of being here, or the joy we can still get from the world.
I’m in Denmark right now; when I get up in the morning, I look out my window facing the North Sea and the wonderful sand dunes; I’m almost in in tears at the beauty of it.
You don’t have to grow up, and you don’t have to give up – but I’ve seen a lot of my friends do just that.
RM: In summation of Sign Of The Times, and as FabricationsHQ mentioned in review, this may well be your best album to date – but it’s also one that could have been co-credited to Marie Trout, such is the significance of her contributions.
WT: I agree, and let me give you a great and very important example of those contributions.
I had come up with set of lyrics that read "I cut myself, I hurt myself, but I threw away the knife; I finally understood how much I wanted to hold on to my life."
That was a metaphor for when I was a junkie and an alcoholic, continually cutting and hurting myself.
I’m sitting one day at the Kitchen table and I said to Marie "I have this one verse of lyrics, but I don’t know what to do with it." I show her the lyrics, she reads them, then says "You know what Walter? When you’re an alcoholic and you’re on drugs, you’re not just hurting yourself, you’re hurting the people that love you."
So, Marie wrote out a second verse and… I’m gonna lose it here [takes a pause]… "Then I saw the faces of the ones that really care; I finally opened up my eyes and I could see them there. I told them I don’t want to hurt nobody."
That’s her verse and it’s a really important verse because she was right, it’s not just about me; it’s about the people you love, and who love you. That became the song Hurt No More.
RM: That only reinforces just how invaluable Marie’s contributions have been.
WT: Yeah, and even before we started recording! I’ve made fifteen albums with the same producer, Eric Corne. Eric is a great producer, but this time Marie said "Walter, I want you to think about producing this one yourself. You know what you’re going to get with Eric, you know how to work with him, and how it will sound. I want you to consider going out on a limb, producing it yourself, and see what you can do on your own."
That was all Marie; she was the one that encouraged me to step out of my normal comfort zone.
And I’m so glad she did because I love this record!
RM: It also proves the old adage that behind every great man, or in this case great musician, there’s a great woman.
WT: I absolutely agree!
RM: Walter, thanks for sitting in with FabricationsHQ again and giving so much of your time, and insights.
Here’s to the new album garnering the acclaim and success it deserves, and to us both keeping that inner child for as long as we possibly can.
WT: [laughs] Thanks so much, Ross; I really appreciate the support!
Ross Muir
Muirsical Conversation With Walter Trout
September 2025
Sign Of The Times is out now via Provogue. Purchase here: https://lnk.to/waltertrout
Click here for FabricationsHQ’s review of the album.
2025 American & European Tour Dates: https://www.waltertrout.com/tourdates
Photo credits (all images): Lelan Hayward
WT: Thank you. One thing I will do in the studio though is work on a certain sound for a particular song.
For example, on the song I Remember, I wanted the guitar to have sustain but also a cleaner sound, because the song is sweet, and in major chords.
So, I set up the amp differently from the way it was for Sign Of The Times, which has a very different tone.
Another example is the song Hurt No More, where I wanted it to be clean, bordering on a kinda Mark Knopfler thing, but with a little more sustain to it.
I work with the amp until I get to the stage where I can say "OK, that’s the tone I want." Then I can get in the moment and play the solo.
RM: So you set up the sound, or tone, you want, but from there you just go and see where it takes you.
WT: Yes, exactly. Think about the tone on Sign Of The Times. When I originally wrote that it was, as I said earlier, on acoustic guitar. But, when I went into the studio with the band, I said "You know what, I really want this song to be like Rage Against The Machine, because this is a pissed off song!"
I worked hard on the sound of the lick to get it that big, and that nasty. Now, try to imagine playing that guitar tone on I Remember, or on a minor blues. It just wouldn’t work!
RM: I’m glad you mentioned I Remember because that’s another I wanted to flag up.
The lovely Heartland-Springsteen-Hornsby vibe of that song adds another texture to this album.
WT: What’s interesting about I Remember is that I’ve had to explain it to some people who say "It's like an old guy and his nostalgia." This song has nothing to do with nostalgia, because when people say "oh, the good old days" I look back and think "Well, they weren’t really so fuckin' good for some of us, you know?" [laughs]
The old days, for me, were running around L.A. trying to score or get another drink!
When I wrote that song I was thinking about when you are in your twenties, and starting your adult life.
Maybe you fall in love for the first time, and maybe you start making plans with that person. Suddenly you’re looking ahead and working toward something with that wonder of life, and the excitement of being alive!
But then I look at people now, who are my age, in their seventies – friends of mine, who I know – and they’ve given up. All our bodies get old, but they’ve also got old in their heads. They lose the wonder of life; they lose the joy; they lose that excitement.
So, yeah, get old in your body but don’t get old in your head. Remember that feeling of wonder and joy and try to hold on to it! Clint Eastwood was asked recently how he is able to still make movies in his nineties; he said "I don’t let the old man in." And that’s what I Remember is all about.
RM: That’s a lovely summation. Similarly, I have a phrase, or mantra, that I have used many a time in conversation on this very subject – I grow old because I must; but I refuse to grow up.
WT: That’s perfect! You can face your responsibilities and approach life as an adult, but it certainly doesn’t mean you have to lose that inner child, the wonder of being here, or the joy we can still get from the world.
I’m in Denmark right now; when I get up in the morning, I look out my window facing the North Sea and the wonderful sand dunes; I’m almost in in tears at the beauty of it.
You don’t have to grow up, and you don’t have to give up – but I’ve seen a lot of my friends do just that.
RM: In summation of Sign Of The Times, and as FabricationsHQ mentioned in review, this may well be your best album to date – but it’s also one that could have been co-credited to Marie Trout, such is the significance of her contributions.
WT: I agree, and let me give you a great and very important example of those contributions.
I had come up with set of lyrics that read "I cut myself, I hurt myself, but I threw away the knife; I finally understood how much I wanted to hold on to my life."
That was a metaphor for when I was a junkie and an alcoholic, continually cutting and hurting myself.
I’m sitting one day at the Kitchen table and I said to Marie "I have this one verse of lyrics, but I don’t know what to do with it." I show her the lyrics, she reads them, then says "You know what Walter? When you’re an alcoholic and you’re on drugs, you’re not just hurting yourself, you’re hurting the people that love you."
So, Marie wrote out a second verse and… I’m gonna lose it here [takes a pause]… "Then I saw the faces of the ones that really care; I finally opened up my eyes and I could see them there. I told them I don’t want to hurt nobody."
That’s her verse and it’s a really important verse because she was right, it’s not just about me; it’s about the people you love, and who love you. That became the song Hurt No More.
RM: That only reinforces just how invaluable Marie’s contributions have been.
WT: Yeah, and even before we started recording! I’ve made fifteen albums with the same producer, Eric Corne. Eric is a great producer, but this time Marie said "Walter, I want you to think about producing this one yourself. You know what you’re going to get with Eric, you know how to work with him, and how it will sound. I want you to consider going out on a limb, producing it yourself, and see what you can do on your own."
That was all Marie; she was the one that encouraged me to step out of my normal comfort zone.
And I’m so glad she did because I love this record!
RM: It also proves the old adage that behind every great man, or in this case great musician, there’s a great woman.
WT: I absolutely agree!
RM: Walter, thanks for sitting in with FabricationsHQ again and giving so much of your time, and insights.
Here’s to the new album garnering the acclaim and success it deserves, and to us both keeping that inner child for as long as we possibly can.
WT: [laughs] Thanks so much, Ross; I really appreciate the support!
Ross Muir
Muirsical Conversation With Walter Trout
September 2025
Sign Of The Times is out now via Provogue. Purchase here: https://lnk.to/waltertrout
Click here for FabricationsHQ’s review of the album.
2025 American & European Tour Dates: https://www.waltertrout.com/tourdates
Photo credits (all images): Lelan Hayward