DJ & Eddie VH By Steve Newton Brother Cane singer-guitarist Damon Johnson called me up from Chicago back on April 26, 1995, five days after his band had opened for Van Halen at the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio. The group would play another 20 or so gigs with Eddie and the boys that year, … Continue reading That time I asked 30-year-old Brother Cane frontman Damon Johnson if, being from Alabama, he was a Skynyrd fan
Category: sounds of the south
That time Greg Martin told me how the Kentucky Headhunters came to record their new song “The Ballad of Davy Crockett”
By Steve Newton I interviewed Kentucky Headhunters lead guitarist Greg Martin in April of 1991, shortly after the release of the band's second album, Electric Barnyard. That was the one with their cover of the 1950s radio hit "The Ballad of Davy Crockett". When I was a kid I used to run around with my … Continue reading That time Greg Martin told me how the Kentucky Headhunters came to record their new song “The Ballad of Davy Crockett”
That time Gary Rossington told me that he wasn’t “Workin’ for MCA” anymore
By Steve Newton Way the hell back in 1986 I interviewed Gary Rossington and his wife Dale Krantz-Rossington. The happy couple, with two infant daughters, had just released the debut Rossington album, Returned to the Scene of the Crime, their first recording since the breakup of the Rossington-Collins Band in 1982. Both of Rossington's previous … Continue reading That time Gary Rossington told me that he wasn’t “Workin’ for MCA” anymore
Florida’s Lee Boys take the family approach to Sacred Steel
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JULY 17, 2003 By Steve Newton I’ve wanted to interview Alvin Lee for years. Back in the ’70s, his speedy fret freakouts for Ten Years After were primo air-guitar fodder. On boogie numbers like “I’m Goin’ Home” and “Choo Choo Mama”, the skinny Brit axeman proved one of the … Continue reading Florida’s Lee Boys take the family approach to Sacred Steel
Nathan Williams only pretends he’s a millionaire accordion hero
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MAY 8, 2003 By Steve Newton For Louisiana accordionist-vocalist Nathan Williams—leader of Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas—music is a family affair. He grew up admiring his uncle, Harry Hypolite, who played guitar for the godfather of zydeco, Clifton Chenier. Williams was heavily influenced by Chenier, whom he regularly … Continue reading Nathan Williams only pretends he’s a millionaire accordion hero
Buckwheat Zydeco says everybody has a different vibration, man
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MAY 23, 2002 By Steve Newton You’ll rarely find Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural, Jr. without his trusty Hohner accordion—or the mile-wide grin that comes whenever he plays it. But the 54-year-old musician wasn’t always so enamoured of the instrument. When he was a youngster in Lafayette, Louisiana, Dural couldn’t stand … Continue reading Buckwheat Zydeco says everybody has a different vibration, man
That time some chick called me “a Skynyrd-loving moron” so I hummed a few bars of “Free Bird”
By Steve Newton Back in June of 2000 the Vancouver newspaper I'm still working at (god willing), the Georgia Straight, introduced a new column called Payback Time, where ticked-off readers could write in and vociferously complain about the music critics' opinions, before the scribe under attack was allowed to defend himself with a potentially witty … Continue reading That time some chick called me “a Skynyrd-loving moron” so I hummed a few bars of “Free Bird”
Mark Meaux just wants Bluerunners to be thought of as a butt-rockin’ Louisiana band
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 12, 1991 By Steve Newton Zydebilly, cajun metal, garage zydeco—critics have been falling over themselves trying to find words to describe the music of Lafayette, Louisiana’s Bluerunners. But singer/guitarist Mark Meaux has his own idea. “Individually, all those terms—cajun, zydeco, punk—describe really great genres of music. But jumbling … Continue reading Mark Meaux just wants Bluerunners to be thought of as a butt-rockin’ Louisiana band
That time Rickey Medlocke told me that the rebel flag was just a symbol of where Skynyrd came from
By Steve Newton Lynyrd Skynyrd doesn't fly the rebel flag in concert anymore, from what I've heard. But back in 1997 they sure did. So when I interviewed guitarist Rickey Medlocke before a '97 show in Vancouver I asked him if, from his Native American perspective, he found there to an intolerance among southern-rock fans … Continue reading That time Rickey Medlocke told me that the rebel flag was just a symbol of where Skynyrd came from
That time 24-year-old Grace Potter told me that she wasn’t too young to appreciate the Allman Brothers
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
That time I asked John Bell about Widespread Panic being the first act signed to the newly reborn Capricorn Records
By Steve Newton If you were a southern-rock lovin' kid in the seventies, like me, you no doubt owned an LP or two with the Capricorn Records label on it. Capricorn released classic Allman Brothers albums like At Fillmore East, Eat a Peach, and Brothers and Sisters, as well as discs by Wet Willie, the … Continue reading That time I asked John Bell about Widespread Panic being the first act signed to the newly reborn Capricorn Records
That time Tom Petty guitarist Mike Campbell told me that Lynyrd Skynyrd’s success gave him hope
mudcrutch photo by red slater By Steve Newton When I interviewed Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell back in the summer of 1999 we got to talking about his early days playing with Petty in the Gainesville, Florida band Mudcrutch. At one point Campbell told me about how that band would sometimes … Continue reading That time Tom Petty guitarist Mike Campbell told me that Lynyrd Skynyrd’s success gave him hope
God bless Chuck Leavell’s piano solo on the Allman Brothers’ “Southbound”
By Steve Newton As most readers of Ear of Newt have probly figured out by now, I'm something of a guitar freak. I just love the sound of a guitar, especially when it's in the hands of someone really, really good. (I also spell the word probably as "probly" because that's how it sounds to me, … Continue reading God bless Chuck Leavell’s piano solo on the Allman Brothers’ “Southbound”