Icon Fetch

Guitarist / producer Pete Anderson first teamed with Dwight Yoakam in 1986. Together, the duo formed a partnership that would set country music on it’s ear – something badly needed in the genre today. After parting ways with Dwight in 2003, Anderson concentrated on his solo work, and producing records for others. His list of productions include Michelle Shocked, Roy Orbison, Tanya Tucker and the Meat Puppets.

Anderson has just released his fifth solo record, Birds Above Guitarland arguably his best to date, with a real emphasis on great songwriting and singing. We talk to Anderson about immersing himself in the music of vocalists like Frank Sinatra & Bobby Darin, and how their swinging style helped shape the new record. He also tells a great story about his young daughter trying to record her own CD.

Few artists can still bring it like Delbert McClinton. In a career that’s spanned over 50 years, he’s accomplished a great deal. He had his first taste of success lending the signature harmonica part to Bruce Channel’s “Hey Baby.” That was 1962. Along the way, he’s won three Grammys and released 28 albums. Yet he’s shown no sign of slowing down.

His latest release is Blind, Crippled & Crazy, a reunion with fellow Texan Glen Clark after a short 40 year hiatus. The twelve track disc is full of the kind of humor that can only come from guys who have lived a lot, yet learned very little. We talk reuniting with Clark after 40 years, advice he gave his son in the music business, and his yearly Sandy Beaches Cruise which is heading out again in the winter.

Lisa Biales has been called the Belle of the Blues. She’s always done things with a bent toward the past, but her seventh album, Singing in My Soul, takes things to a whole different level. Drawing on a diverse set of legendary songs, from Sister Rosetta Tharpe, to Mississippi John Hurt, from “Write Me in Care of the Blues” to “I Only Have Eyes For You” – Biales has crafted a classic-sounding album. But her strong, clear vocals manage to breathe new life into these vintage tunes. We talk to the Ohio native about the different approach she took to this new record, and how playing the role of Patsy Cline in a local theater production gave her new respect for the pioneering country singer.

Sail Rock 2013 is coming to a town near you. Exploring the mellow side of late Seventies and early Eighties rock. Featuring Christopher Cross, Orleans, Gary Wright, Firefall, John Ford Coley, Robbie Dupree and Player, the show is full of familiar favorites. Icon Fetch talks with John Hall of Orleans about writing a song for Janis Joplin, the success of their biggest hit, “Still the One,” and his experiences as a US House of Representative. We also chat with Robbie Dupree, who reminisces about being in a band with Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers, the experience of his hit “Steal Away,” and hosting a radio show which airs overseas.

Jon Herington has been Steely Dan’s guitarist of choice since 2000, making him the longest-tenured axeman in the legendary band’s history. He’s lent his fretwork to the group’s two most-recent studio albums, and concert tours. Plus, he’s contributed to solo albums from both Walter Becker and Donald Fagan. In whatever free time he has left, he’s forged a solo career. His latest album is called Time on My Hands, and it features a heavier rock sound. We talk with Herington about the funny stories behind several of his new songs, and the odd circumstances surrounding his entrance into Steely Dan.

Chandler Travis’ wry sense of humor and keen melodic sense have served him well through a multi-faceted musical career. In the 1970s, his band Travis Shook & the Club Wow drew the attention comedian George Carlin, who liked the band so much, he asked them to be his opening act, a slot they occupied for several years. In the Eighties, Travis led the power pop band the Incredible Casuals, before embarking on a solo career in the Nineties. He’s got not one, but two current projects – the Chandler Travis Three-O, a scaled down version of his Chandler Travis Philharmonic, with their new CD, This is What Bears Look Like Underwater, and the roots rockin’ Catbirds, with their debut full-length Catbirds Say Yeah.

Larry Carlton is one of the most recorded guitarists in all of popular music, playing on over 100 gold albums, including Joni Mitchell’s Court & Spark, Steely Dan’s the Royal Scam, and Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall. He won one of his four Grammy’s for the theme to “Hill Street Blues” in 1981, with Mike Post. Over the last few decades, he’s concentrated more on his solo career – yet his latest offering is a collaboration with his good friend, another great guitarist, Robben Ford.

The new album & DVD is Larry Carlton & Robben Ford Unplugged. Recorded in Paris, the eight song set offers new twists on classics from both artists, as well as a few surprises. We talk to the multi-faceted guitarist about his relationship with Ford, recording with Steely Dan, and why he chose the Gibson E-335 as his “go to” guitar.

Greg Lake is one of the most recognized voices in all of rock. His vocals have adorned such classic rock staples as “Court of the Crimson King,” “Lucky Man,” “Still You Turn Me On,” and “From the Beginning.” Lake’s latest project is called “Songs of a Lifetime,” a document of his recent interactive tour where he played some of his most famous songs and told the stories behind their creation.

Icon Fetch talks with the former King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer vocalist & multi-instrumentalist about the intimate, interactive shows that he’s done, the process of writing his autobiography, and the idea of “shared music” that has gone by the wayside in the iPod era. He also tells us the great story behind “Lucky Man.”

You could say that Lisa Germano colors outside the lines of conventional pop music. Her songs are oftentimes brutally honest and jarringly unconventional, yet deeply personal – she plays the lion’s share of the instruments herself. Germano has just released her ninth album called No Elephants. Her use of everyday electronics (like cellphone noises), interspersed with the sounds of bees and animals, somehow manages to be both strange and beautiful at the same time. We talk to her about how she collected the array of sounds on the record and the inspiration behind several of the songs. She also touches on her time as violinist in John Mellencamp’s band.

The Reivers came out of Austin Texas in 1985 with a critically-acclaimed album Translate Slowly. Boasting both a male & female vocalist, the band was part of what was known then as the New Sincerity movement. After three more records, two of them for a major label, the band called it quits in 1992. Now, they’re back with their first new studio album in 22 years called, appropriately enough, Second Story. We talk with vocalist/guitarist Kim Longacre about what brought them together after the long layoff, and the addition of keyboardist Eric Friend. We also delve into the band’s history – how they assembled their first 7-inch with glue stick, what is was like to tour the country with a newborn in an unairconditioned van back in 1986, their experience being signed to a major label for two albums.