By Steve Newton Hey all you diehard Susan Tedeschi fans: here’s another audio excerpt from my 1998 interview with her, when she had just released her second album, Just Won’t Burn, and was on the verge of stardom. As the “phoner” wound down, I asked her what she hoped to accomplish in her career, and … Continue reading That time I asked 28-year-old Susan Tedeschi what she hoped to accomplish in her career
By Steve Newton Here’s another audio excerpt from my 1998 interview with Susan Tedeschi, for those who think she’s awesome, like me. At one point in the interview I asked her about attending Berklee College of Music, which she graduated from in 1991. That’s the Boston institution where such stellar musicians as Steely Dan‘s Donald … Continue reading That time I asked 28-year-old Susan Tedeschi what she got from attending Berklee College of Music
By Steve Newton I love listening to Susan Tedeschi sing and play guitar. I mean, who doesn’t? I love interviewing her too, because she’s not just a wicked musician, but a total sweetie as well. The first time I chatted with her was back in 1998, when she was just 28, and touring behind her … Continue reading That time I asked 28-year-old Susan Tedeschi if she had a favourite tune on Just Won’t Burn
By Steve Newton When I did my first interview with Susan Tedeschi, back in 1998, she was touring behind her Just Won’t Burn album, which included a cover of John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery”. When I asked her how she came to record that tune we got to talking about Bonnie Raitt, so I inquired … Continue reading That time I asked 28-year-old Susan Tedeschi if she idolized Bonnie Raitt
By Steve Newton I did my first interview with Susan Tedeschi in November of 1998, just eight months before she met husband-to-be Derek Trucks while opening for the Allman Brothers and they started the relationship that would result in two beautiful kids and the formation of the equally stunning Tedeschi Trucks Band. At the time … Continue reading That time I called Susan Tedeschi to talk about Just Won’t Burn and her mom said she was in the tub
By Steve Newton When I interviewed Susan Tedeschi recently, in advance of the Tedeschi Trucks show in Vancouver this month, I asked her what she’d been listening to in her spare time. She replied that her and hubby Derek Trucks had been really enjoying the latest Wood Brothers album Paradise–which they played on one track … Continue reading Susan Tedeschi thinks Derek Trucks is “a little burnt out” from the Allman Brothers Band
By Steve Newton The day before Susan Tedeschi called me to chat about the Tedeschi Trucks Band, her husband and bandmate Derek Trucks celebrated his 37th birthday. Since Trucks is revered as one of the world’s top slide-guitarists, I ask Tedeschi if she bought him a new six-string to mark the occasion. Her answer isn’t … Continue reading Susan Tedeschi bought Derek Trucks binoculars for his birthday ’cause he already has too many guitars
By Steve Newton Susan Tedeschi called me up from her home in Florida last week in advance of the Tedeschi Trucks Band show in Vancouver this month. We go way back, as I first interviewed her in 1998 when she was a solo artist with a new debut album. While we were chatting about her … Continue reading Susan Tedeschi can’t wait to get Doyle Bramhall II’s new album
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 3, 1998 By Steve Newton When Susan Tedeschi’s cell phone rings in an L.A. hotel room, a female voice answers, but it isn’t the one I’m looking for. It’s actually Tedeschi’s mom, who, in a very motherly way, explains that her daughter’s in the bathtub. Sounding concerned that … Continue reading Susan Tedeschi just enjoys being a musician, pretty much
By Steve Newton I don’t get out to that many concerts anymore. With the Big Six-O on the horizon, I’ve become a real picky bastard when it comes to live shows. But there are a few select bands I never want to miss when they play Vancouver: the Drive-By Truckers and Gov’t Mule are tied at … Continue reading The Full Susan: Tedeschi talks Derek Trucks, Doyle Bramhall II, David Bowie, and Warren Haynes
There was a whole lotta soul rolling off of the Vogue Theatre stage last night. That’s what happens when you’ve got a hugely talented 11-piece band joyfully letting go with bluesy, heartfelt, and sometimes funky-as-hell rock music. That’s also what happens whenever bottleneck-guitar master Derek Trucks’ glass slide grazes the strings of his trusty red … Continue reading Tedeschi Trucks Band lays the soul on heavy in Vancouver
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, NOV. 5, 2013 By Steve Newton You might think that the pressure of travelling around the world with an 11-piece band that includes your soul mate might be a tad hard to take at times. But guitarist Derek Trucks—coleader of the Tedeschi Trucks Band with his wife, singer-guitarist Susan Tedeschi—says not … Continue reading Tedeschi Trucks enlists Clapton collaborator Doyle Bramhall II
By Steve Newton The Cadillac Tramps were one of the wildest live bands around in the early nineties. They were right up there with the Beat Farmers. Matter of fact, when I interviewed Tramps frontman Gabby Gaborno in November of 1991 the punk-rockers from Orange County, California were on tour opening for the Farmers. Now … Continue reading That time the Cadillac Tramps’ Gabby Gaborno told me that if he feels something he does it
By Steve Newton As anyone who’s read my stuff over the years will attest, I’m a huge Thin Lizzy fan. Anytime I get a chance to include a little tidbit about that band in my blogs I go for it. So the other day as I was digitizing my 2003 interview with drum great Terry … Continue reading That time drum great Terry Bozzio told me about auditioning for Thin Lizzy at Gary Moore’s request
By Steve Newton Back in 1990 I did the first of my eight interviews with American guitar wizard Joe Satriani. At the time Satch was touring behind his Flying in a Blue Dream album, which is one fine batch of tunes. At one point in the conversation I asked him about a quote in Kerrang! … Continue reading That time Joe Satriani told me why Neil Young was such a great guitarist
By Steve Newton I did my second interview with Roger Glover back in March of 1985, when Deep Purple’s “Mark II” lineup had reunited and the band was touring behind its Perfect Strangers album. At one point in the conversation I asked Glover about the band’s legendary guitarist, Ritchie Blackmore, and his reputation for being … Continue reading That time Deep Purple’s Roger Glover told me what Ritchie Blackmore was really like as a person
By Steve Newton There was a lotta fuss being made in the rock-music world recently, surrounding the fact that AC/DC’s Back in Black was released exactly 40 years ago today. But where was all the commotion two years and 81 days ago, on May 5, 2018, when Powerage hit the BIg Four-Oh? Now that was … Continue reading Powerage, the only AC/DC album better than Back in Black, was released 42 years and 81 days ago today
Steve Newton Sad news for music fans today. Peter Green, the British guitarist who made a name for himself with his stunning work in the Bluesbreakers and Fleetwood Mac, has passed away at the age of 73. Long before the pop-minded duo of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham put their radio-friendly stamp on Fleetwood Mac, … Continue reading Peter Green shunned the guitar-hero status of Clapton, Beck, and Page, but Mick Fleetwood says “he was the guy”
By Steve Newton I did my first interview with Goo Goo Dolls singer-guitarist John Rzeznik three months after the release of A Boy Named Goo, when the band was headed to Vancouver for a club gig. This was just three months before the release of the hit single “Name”, which shot the Goo to the … Continue reading That time the Goo Goo Dolls’ John Rzeznik told me that his big sister first turned him on to music
By Steve Newton Sometimes when I’m feeling a little down, uncertain about the future, I like to go through my piles of interview cassettes, pick something out, and just listen to bits of conversations I had with legendary bluesmen decades ago. Fight the blues with the blues, I reckon. Here’s what it sounded like back … Continue reading That time I called up Albert Collins and asked what attracted him to the blues
By Steve Newton Before Queen became one of the top rock bands on the planet, they were just another struggling band trying to score a record deal. That’s how Steve Hackett remembers it, anyway. When I interviewed the former Genesis guitarist back in 1993 I asked him about his relationship with Queen guitarist Brian May, … Continue reading That time Steve Hackett told me about hearing Queen’s demo tapes and thinking Genesis’ label should sign them
By Steve Newton One of my favourite guitar-hero memories involves that time back in the early ’80s when I went backstage at Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum and met Stevie Ray Vaughan. I’ll never forget it because he signed my vinyl copy of Texas Flood, and when I shook his hand it felt like a freakin’ vice! … Continue reading 54-40 guitarist Dave Genn recalls his chance meeting with Stevie Ray Vaughan just weeks before his tragic death
By Steve Newton Canadian rock legend Randy Bachman has accomplished a helluva lot in his musical career. For one thing, how many musicians can say that they’ve reached the top in two different bands? Before Bachman-Turner Overdrive was ruling the airwaves in the mid-seventies, he’d already hit the big time with the Guess Who, whose … Continue reading That time Randy Bachman told me what it felt like when the Guess Who’s “American Woman” hit number one
By Steve Newton The first time I ever saw Grace Potter perform live I was blown away. Her band the Nocturnals opened for Gov’t Mule in Vancouver, and she joined the Mule on a killer version of “Honky Tonk Women”, displaying a whole lotta soul. A couple months later, in January of 2008, I interviewed … Continue reading That time 24-year-old Grace Potter told me that she wasn’t too young to appreciate the Allman Brothers
By Steve Newton If Randy Rhoads hadn’t died in that tragic plane crash in 1982, do you think he’d still be playing with Ozzy Osbourne? I kinda doubt it. He was so fiercely talented that I bet he would have left heavy-metal in the dust and moved on to creating adventurous, technically mind-boggling instrumental music … Continue reading That time Zakk Wylde told me that he’d always be Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist
By Steve Newton Back in December of 2008 I did my one and only interview with Chris Cornell. At the time he was touring behind his solo album, Carry On, which I thought had some great songs. I was asking him about some of the lyrics from my fave track on the album, “Killing Birds”, … Continue reading That time Chris Cornell told me about the beauty of what it is that he gets to do
By Steve Newton Yngwie Malmsteen is synonymous with the Fender Stratocaster. Since the get-go he’s proclaimed the superiority of Leo Fender’s classy creation. He’s even gone so far as to compare the competition to “bad copies” and “furniture”. So when I interviewed him back in 2014 I asked him if he’d ever been tempted to … Continue reading That time I asked Yngwie Malmsteen if he’d ever been tempted to “cheat” on the Strat and try a different model of guitar
