Low Down and Dirty

Playback speed × Share post Share post at current time Share from 0:00 0:00 / Why Joe Walsh, Mike Campbell and Ringo Starr all love this “Redneck Mother.” An interview with Texas legend Ray Wylie Hubbard, who explains how Stevie Ray Vaughan saved his life, and so much more. Ray Wylie Hubbard was among my favorite of the hundred of interviews I did for Texas Flood: The Inside Story of Stevie Ray Vaughan, and that surprised me.

In 2007, Eric Clapton came to China, but his young guitarist was the real attraction for me. Watching Eric Clapton join Tedeschi Trucks Band on stage to play “Layla” at the Crossroads Festival stage got me thinking about one of my favorite stories I ever wrote over decades of Guitar World journalism. That was in 2007 when I was living in Beijing and Clapton’s world tour brought him to Shanghai.

I needed my Mule, so I skipped out on two other obligations to drive to the southeast tip of Manhattan to see Gov’t Mule and Ziggy Marley last night. It was time and effort well spent, except for my rookie mistake of underdressing. The upside of Pier 17 is that it’s gorgeous, with sweeping views of Brooklyn, Manhattan, and the Brooklyn Bridge, which is right behind the stage. It’s just a stunning locale, but because it sits right on the water’s edge, it is totally exposed—it’s like being on a boat.

This profile of Duane Betts first appeared in Guitar World. I have added a couple of clips from our interview here. Stay tuned for the full video. Duane Betts’ new album, Isle of Hope, is his most intimate, personal work to date. After almost a decade as an established solo artist, Betts leans into Americana songwriting on the recording, which is produced by Dave Cobb, known for his work with Sturgill Simpson, John Prine, Marcus King, and many others.

“The more we speak about it, the more open we are about it, the less stigma there is to it. It’s really important to speak to these things and to share your own journeys, and to have an open ear and an open heart to other people’s journeys.” —Marcus King Hanging after Toy Factory Project last February, Capitol Theatre Please subscribe to Low Down and Dirty to support my work and never miss a post. Paid subs help me keep it free, and receive additional audio/video posts.

Thanks for reading. I know, of course, that this post is rather afield from my usual fare. But it means a lot to me. My family strolling through 9/11 Memorial, Liberty State Park on 9/11/1 In 2011, on the tenth anniversary of 9/11, my whole family visited the Statue of Liberty and we went up in the crown. The security was tight. There were helicopters flying overhead.

The article below is shared from my friend and mentor Brad Tolinski’s excellent Substack. Click on over and subscribe. In spring of 1992, Brad, who was Guitar World Editor in Chief, set up an amazing cover story interview - with Metallica’s James Hetfield interviewing Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi. It was one of the first of what became a GW trademark of having a younger guitarist interviewing one of their heroes.

Grahame Lesh has a lot going on. He is fronting his own longtime band, Midnight North and helping keep the Grateful Dead legacy created in by part by his father Phil in a variety of projects, including the Terrapin Roadshow, Jerry Garcia Symphonic Experience, and Grahame Lesh and Friends, which follows the rotating band template Phil followed for years with Phil and Friends.

August 27 is one of those sad anniversaries that populate rock and roll. Thirty six years ago today, Stevie Ray Vaughan died in a helicopter crash leaving an incredible show in Alpine Valley, Wisconsin. I cried writing the chapter in Texas Flood: The Inside Story of Stevie Ray Vaughan, and it still makes me tear up to think about. Stevie’s story impacted me tremendously, and Texas Flood is actually my best-selling book, though I am much more closely associated with the Allman Brothers Band.

Gregg Allman was a movie buff. Several times I went to his bus or hotel room to interview him, only to find him absorbed in a film or TV show and we'd end up watching together until it ended, or until there was a natural break to start the interview. The two such times I remember best were once on his bus when he was watching The X Files as we spoke about the new additions of Jack Pearson and Oteil Burbridge.