Seasick Steve is a unique performer - having his career breakthrough at the age of 65 on Jools Holland on New Years Eve. He is an American blues musician. He plays mostly personalised guitars, and sings, usually about his early life doing casual work. I really like the fact that all of his instruments have stories and most of them are made by him for certain songs.
His wikipedia page has a list of all of his most used instruments. I find the materials that he has used to create them and to make the unique sounds so interesting.
Guitars
The Three-String Trance Wonder
This is a normal guitar that resembles a GHI Guitar made in Japan in the 1960s. It has an old Harmony pickup added with duct tape, and is tuned to G, A and B using an E string in the A position, a D in the G position and a G in the B position. At his gigs, he often tells the story that he bought it for US$75 in this condition in Como, Mississippi, from a man named Sherman, who later told him he only paid US$25 for it the day before. Wold vowed never to add another string, and that he would tour the world telling his story of how Sherman ripped him off. All in good fun as Sherman Cooper is a good buddy, who gave him the guitar having had it nailed to the wall as a decoration. A lot of the time he also adds, while picking up or putting away the guitar, that it is the "...biggest piece of shit in the world, I swear." In a BBC interview Wold claimed that the guitar was found by a friend, just with the three strings on it, and he decided to keep it that way.
Hubcap guitars
When on the TV show Top Gear, presenter Jeremy Clarkson commented that Wold's car history of over 100 cars included a Morris Minor. Wold then presented a four-string guitar that his friend Davey had made out of two old hubcaps from a Minor 1000 joined back-to-back and his wife's broomstick. Wold then played it a little in the episode. Clarkson replied that it was the best use of a Morris Minor he had ever seen.
A similar guitar was made out of Hudson Terraplane hubcaps, one of them given to him by Jack White, referring to "Terraplane Blues" by Robert Johnson.
Other
The Mississippi Drum Machine
A small wooden box that is stomped upon, providing percussion. It is decorated with a Mississippi motorcycle registration plate ("MC33583"), and a small piece of carpet.
Roland CUBE
A Roland CUBE 30 W amplifier placed on a chair to his left and set to the 'tweed' setting.
Fender Bassman
A Fender Bassman amplifier, used at the Pinkpop Festival 2012.
Additionally I found a nice interview with him from Acoustic Magazine:
His website at the moment is quite plain and I feel like it doesn't represent his ethos or personality at all. When I watched him perform he was very humble and charming. It felt like he was telling us a story throughout his performance of his life which was very personal. Also he would explain each of his instruments when he got them out to play.
No comments:
Post a Comment