Wednesday, June 19 • 8 p.m.
C2G Music Hall
323 W. Baker St.,
Fort Wayne
Tix: $20-$35,
thru Neat Neat Neat Record Store,
Wooden Nickel Music Stores &
www.c2gmusichall.com

Jimmy Thackery

Independent at Last

Jimmy Thackery’s career has been one long trip toward creative independence, and after more than 40 years of playing, learning and growing, it looks like the blues guitarist has finally reached his destination. The Washington, DC native got his start playing in high school with David Raitt, Bonnie’s brother, but for all of his adult life he’s been working toward establishing himself as a solo artist, both as a player and songwriter.

It all started in 1972 when Thackery joined the Nighthawks, one of the most influential bands in blues history. He couldn’t have found a better place to begin his career. He was playing with some of the best blues musicians in the world, and he was up there on stage, night after night, showing lots and lots of people that he belonged in the company of the best blues players in the world. For 14 years he made his case.

When Thackery left the Nighthawks, it was for reasons that sound familiar to anyone who has followed the careers of talented musicians who get their starts in successful collaborative projects. The touring schedule of the Nighthawks was grueling – 300-nights-a-year grueling – and Thackery wanted to take a step back from the grind. At the same time, he wanted the freedom to explore his own musical ideas. The logical thing to do was to leave the band and start a project of his own, one that gave him creative opportunities while allowing him to spend less time on the road.

That project was the Assassins, a six-piece R&B band. Thackery formed the band in 1986, and in the beginning it was known as Jimmy Thackery and the Assassins. It was a band full of veteran musicians, though, and it was still a collaborative project. After three albums and five years, Thackery decided it was again time to try something new.

Of the three distinct phases of Thackery’s career, the period during which he’s been working as a solo artist is by far the longest, which leads you to believe that that’s where he truly belongs – at the front of the stage, where his guitar and his songs are the center of attention. After the Assassins, he took another big step toward independence. He formed a trio, the Drivers, and devoted himself to developing his own music. One consequence of the change was that it significantly increased his workload.

“The irony is that was one of the reasons I’d left the Nighthawks; I was tired of working so much and not having a life outside the music,” he says. “When you’re out on your own, you’d better rise to the occasion, so I found myself back in the 300-night niche. What made that satisfying is that it was my ship, and I was the captain of it.”

He took advantage of his new opportunities and began to crank out new music. He began an association with Blind Pig Records, a relationship that would eventually produce eight albums. It’s the third of those albums, 1994’s Trouble Man, that Thackery sees as pivotal. On it, he worked with producer Jim Gaines, and he began to see how he could take control of his own creative process.

“I think that record, Trouble Man, turned the corner for me because I had a real producer and I was doing original songs,” he says. “That gave me a direction. Jim and I did a lot of projects together. He did everything through Sinner Street. I was learning so much by watching him as a producer that by the end of Sinner Street we both came to the realization that I was ready.”

Thackery ultimately left Blind Pig and moved on to Telarc Records. When it came time to make 2005’s Healin’ Ground on Telarc, Thackery made yet another change. He went to Nashville and collaborated with producer Gary Nicholson, a move intended to bolster Thackery’s songwriting skills.

“I wanted to go and see how the guys in Nashville go about writing songs,” he says. “We wrote [the album] from the ground up. I came in with hooks and ideas and lines. I didn’t want to be overly prepared. I wanted to see how they build these songs lyrically. What you do with Gary Nicholson is throw out a hook or line and take off from there, and you don’t leave that garage until you’re done with a song.”

With his latest studio album, Feel the Heat, Thackery finally went all the way in his journey toward musical independence. He released the album on his own label, White River Records, and he doesn’t intend to ever go back to recording for someone else’s company. Thanks to the internet and digital distribution, he can present his records to his fans directly, without worrying about getting the records into retail stores – and if he’s not trying to get his records on the shelves at Walmart, he doesn’t need a record company.

“The fact is, I know where my people live and can get my product out to them,” he told American Blues News. “I’m old enough now that I don’t want record company guys in suits and ponytails telling me how to play my guitar so they can count more beans. I’d like to have control artistically, financially and be able to do this the way I want to do it, and I think the people appreciate that.”

What people appreciate most about Thackery is the way he plays guitar. It’s what his fans have always wanted most from him, and it’s what Thackery most wants to focus on. These days his touring schedule is more in line with his priority list –150 nights a year instead of 300 – and he’s able to get up on stage every night and give it everything, to show the audience the extraordinary way he feels when he’s playing.

“I put all my senses on hold and find the zone and follow what’s inside,” he says. “There’s an electricity from your mind to your heart to your fingers. You just try and remember to breathe.”

Evan Gillespie

SWEETWATER GEARFEST
Friday, June 21
9 a.m.- 6 p.m.
Saturday, June 22
9 a.m.- 5 p.m.
Sweetwater Sound
5501 U.S. Hwy 30 W,
Fort Wayne
Free, (260) 432-8176
www.sweetwater.com/gearfest

GearFest 2013

A Mecca for Musicians

Remember the phrase “Don’t try this at home”? While this piece of advice still applies to a wide range of activities (brain surgery, nuclear fission, certain strenuous yoga poses) it’s pretty much lost its usefulness when it comes to music recording and production. Technology and a changing marketplace have created a generation’s worth of do-it-yourselfers who can juggle it all (vocal and instrument tracks, sound mixing, mastering) from the comfort of their own living rooms. Of course, creating the home studio of one’s dreams requires gear, lots of gear. And what better place to find such swag than a little thing Sweetwater likes to call GearFest?

GearFest will take over Sweetwater headquarters Friday-Saturday, June 21-22, offering the public not only a chance to purchase the latest and greatest from brands like Crown, Fender, Washburn, Gretsch, Audio-Technica, Gibson, Sony, Bose, Martin and Co., Yamaha, Denon, Monster, Taylor, Boss and Zildjian, but also free guitar restringing and workshops from some of the best in the business. The weekend’s speakers include Bill Kelliher of Mastodon, prog-rock bassist Billy Sheehan, drummer Terry Bozzio, mixer Chris Lord Alge (Green Day, Muse), luthier Paul Reed Smith, author and electronic musician Craig Anderton, and legendary producers Jack Douglas (Blue Oyster Cult, Patti Smith), John Paterno (Tim McGraw, Bonnie Raitt), Francis Buckley (Quncy Jones, Alanis Morrisette), Frank Filipetti (Kiss, Korn, Bob Dylan) and Fab Dupont (Jennifer Lopez, Shakira). 

As if that weren’t enough (and it isn’t – the list of workshop presenters goes on), pop band Fountains of Wayne of “Stacey’s Mom” fame will appear on Saturday at 4 p.m. as part of the Gretsch guitars 130th anniversary showcase and celebration.

In other words, GearFest is a musician’s Mecca. With more than 240 manufacturers peddling their wares, it’s hard to imagine what you won’t find there. Plus, you’ll have the chance to learn from producers/engineers/renaissance men like Dupont, who told me in a recent phone interview that the key to being a successful music producer and mixologist is simple: keep it simple.

“I like to make sure that the album sounds like there was no recording involved,” Dupont said. “When people listen to the final recording I want them to feel like the artist is performing for them right there in the living room. I work hard to make my work invisible.”

He does this by being the smartest guy in the room. Or, at the very least, the most knowledgeable. The artist is allowed the luxury of remaining married to his or her vision. The producer, on the other hand, is charged with keeping all the other balls in the air. 

“You’ve seen those memes, right? The ‘What my mom thinks I do, what my friends think I do, what I really do’ things. It’s like that. My family and friends and a lot of the public in general think the producer’s all MTV glamorous, hanging out on the couch with the cigars and the girls, but the reality is that the producer’s really the facilitator. He knows all the ins and outs. He can play every instrument and every chord on every song. He knows how to handle the artist, whose needs and wants are many times at odds with reality. It’s really hard work and long hours, and you have to study; you have to know your stuff or it shows.”

At 2 p.m. on Friday, aspiring producers will have the chance to see Dupont at work. He and fellow producer John Paterno will take part in what they’re calling a “Mix Off.” Starting with the same raw materials and identical equipment, the two men will battle to see who comes up with the best mix. Later, members of the audience will have a chance to use what they’ve learned while observing the Mix Off to speed-mix their own songs. 

“It’s really to show the process from A to Z, from the raw track to a song you can give to your grandmother for her birthday,” Dupont said, “and to demonstrate how much mixing is involved in the overall tone of the record. It’s really enlightening to see how two professionals can start in the same place and end up with two very different products.”

Dupont, who studied jazz and composition at Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music, learned the hard way how to produce and mix music while fronting his own band in his home country of France, so he knows first-hand what the amateur producer is up against. Hence, his educational website pureMix.net and his desire and willingness to helm mixing clinics at conferences like GearFest.

“It’s an art form,” he said. “Not everyone realizes that. They think they can get away with just buying a computer and setting it up in a basement, but it’s much more complicated than that, and that’s why I like to do these workshops. I want to share my knowledge with others, so they can start creating art too.”

Deborah Kennedy

Saturday, June 22 • 8 p.m.
Foellinger Theatre
3411 Sherman Blvd.,
Fort Wayne
Tix: $20-25 thru box office,
260-427-6715
www.fortwayneparks.org

Little River Band

‘Cool Change’ on the Way

While some bands become about individual members and personalities, the Little River Band are proof that, in the end, it’s really all about the music. Formed in Australia in 1975, the original lineup consisted of musicians already known in other popular Australian acts. The resulting supergroup quickly set its sights on conquering America and did so in relatively short order. Songs like “Help is on Its Way,” “Reminiscing,” “Happy Anniversary,” “Cool Change” and “Lonesome Loser” were just the tip of the iceberg, as they quickly ascended to superstardom well beyond their native shores.

Early on, however, lineup changes became standard operating procedure. One of the most fortuitous of those changes came in 1980 when Jim Messina was touring with LRB and his bass player, Wayne Nelson, was quickly noticed and eventually hired to fill a vacancy. Now, 33 years later, Nelson remains the centerpiece of the current lineup and anchors a band which has seen its fair share of changes but has endured, leaving Nelson to carry on its sizable legacy. As he reflects on those changes, he notes a fact about the current members of Little River Band.

“The only change is that we recently changed drummers, but otherwise this has been the same lineup for 10 years. Ironically, since Little River Band first started in the 1970s, this is the most stable lineup in the history of this band.”

He notes that the group’s history is full of such ironies. For example, despite its reputation as an Australian band, only one of its original members was native to Australia. It’s also true that the band is now not really Australian at all, helmed by Nelson who grew up in Illinois.

“And the ultimate irony is that the band was originally formed to be a vocal band that went after American radio, but as soon as they accomplished it and got what they set out to do, they all began to leave!”

Nelson also left for a time. Taking some time in the mid 90s following the tragic death of his daughter in a car accident, he was coaxed back for a 1995 tour touting the band’s 20th anniversary. But despite the celebratory reason for the reunion, Nelson found the band anything but happy.

“No one wanted to do original material anymore. They just seemed to want to show up and do the songs and leave, and that left no room for a creative life. That’s not being a musician; that’s being a robot. And even with the hits, there was so little desire to acknowledge the music that people wanted to hear. One guy didn’t want to do ‘Happy Anniversary.’ Another guy didn’t want to do ‘Lonesome Loser.’ Someone else didn’t want to do ‘Take It Easy on Me.’ And that left huge gaps in our history. People come to hear the songs that they remember from their first date with their wife or from their prom.”

Disillusioned with where the band was headed, Nelson left again in 1996, this time for good. Or so he thought. In the meantime, LRB brought back their original bass player – one who had been fired before the band ever reached their popularity abroad – only to have him leave again shortly thereafter. Additional shake-ups left the band with musicians who were actually interested in doing new material – and ready to bring back the one player who had the longest tenure to that date.

“I came back in 1999, but then the lead singer left in 2000, and at that point I took over those duties and have been doing them ever since. That really provided a significant demarcation point, and that’s when we really kicked it into gear again and started to do new music with a new energy.”

Nelson’s vocals were already a staple of Little River Band performances before he took over as lead singer, having provided the voice for the hit “The Night Owls” in the 1980s. Since he took over as leader of LRB, the band has released several new CDs, including a 2011 Christmas album, and has a major worldwide release coming August 27 with Cuts Like a Diamond. The album is being released by a major label, one which did not require – or even desire – remakes of previous hits as other labels had. A single will also be released, providing another possibility for a hit song, but Nelson doesn’t consider that the primary objective.

“Having new music gives us a fresh energy, and if our audience receives it with the same spirit as they do our older material, then we’re grateful for that. We might not get any more hit records, but we’re still doing what we want to do, still telling good stories with good music in the way that Little River Band [have] been doing for years.”

Nelson’s desire to keep producing new material does not in any way signal a disdain for the old songs which mean so much to so many. In fact, he has little patience for bands who reject their hits.

“We’ve toured with some bands, and I won’t name any names, but who sing their hits and then come off stage and say, ‘I hate doing that song.’ You have to acknowledge how your audience feels about that music and be grateful for it. People have boats named ‘Cool Change’; they played ‘Reminiscing’ at their weddings or their proms. It’s a cliché, but [the songs] are just such a part of people’s lives.”

And part of our popular culture. Will Ferrell, for one, has injected LRB into a couple of his films, most notably The Other Guys which not only shared its name with an LRB single, but prominently featured “Reminiscing” in its narrative. 

“It’s all very tongue-in-cheek and a fun and funny thing. But I think it speaks to that song’s popularity and how it fit into radio at that point. It was very different from what the band was doing otherwise and different from what was popular then, so it kind of took a left turn from what was expected. But it’s nice to have it acknowledged like that. So thank you, Will.”

Michele DeVinney