Jukebox – Music News Cuts – 5/31

Jukebox.

Steve Cropper

Steve Cropper was a well-known sessions guitar player for Stax and the guitar player for Booker T. and the MGs. In an interview with Guitar World’s Joe Matera, he reflected on the various guitars that he had used over his time in the music industry, most notably the Fender Squire, then Telecaster, then Peavey Telecaster he’d used to record hits like Booker T’s “Green Onions” and Otis Redding’s “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay.

Cropper made mention of the fact that he never learned anything beyond what he needed to play for Booker T. and Stax was because he didn’t want to, not because he couldn’t. He simply let it go as it was.

Joe Bonamassa

Blues and rock artist Joe Bonamassa talks about fame, and the persona that he carries onstage with him, and leaves there when he’s not performing. In an interview with Kylie Olsen, transcribed by Ultimate Guitar, Bonamassa considers himself a “British blues guy” who struggles to understand why he’s the success that he is. He notes that there are better singers, better guitar players, even going so far as to say that there are better looking people. But Bonamassa has truly risen through the ranks, from being mentored by B.B. King to being the modern mentor himself.

He also mentioned that his foray into producing was unintentional. He was prompted by keyboard player Reese Wynans, and found interest in applying his decades of experience producing his own work to doing so for others.

Lzzy Hale

After fronting the band Halestorm for over two decades, singer Lzzy Hale is handling vocals for iconic eighties hair band Skid Row for four shows, subbing in for “Swedish Idol” contestant Erik Gronwall, who had replaced original singer Sebastian Back, and had to leave himself for health reasons.

On a recent episode of SiriusXM’s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk,” Hale (as transcribed by Blabbermouth.net) said, “The response has been amazing, and I’m hearing from people that have been seeing SKID ROW since 1987 and are just raving about what I bring to the table. So, for me, it is friends helping out friends, but it’s also this beautiful milestone in my life where I’m literally being challenged to fill in the shoes that I’ve always wanted to fill from being a kid. So it’s wonderful.”

When asked about the challenges in taking on the role, Hale had a lot to say. “I think the most challenging aspect for me — actually, there’s a couple of things, because, really, in a whole, all of this has been a challenge for me. But a few things are…,” she said. “I really wanted to see what it was like to perform an entire set without playing an instrument except for vocals, which I’ve never actually done. I’ve guested with people and got up and sang songs without playing a guitar or a keyboard, but I’ve never — literally like stepping into somebody else’s shoes. Not only am I getting up and singing these songs, but I’m also fronting the band. I’m in charge of keeping the energy levels up and the breaks in between the songs, making sure everything’s said. And so that’s a challenge. But I think that the biggest one for me is, in the moment, making sure that I’m not freaking myself out too much over… Songs like ‘I Remember You’, everybody knows that song inside and out. So there’s a there’s a fine line between… I really wanted to honor everything in that song and not take liberties and make it into my own these. These are songs that everybody knows. So really just kind of keeping conscious of that, whereas I’m not getting up and covering SKID ROW songs, I’m getting up and making them into the best versions of what they actually are. So that’s been a beautiful challenge as well. And you know me, I like saying yes to adventure. [Laughs] I’ll usually say yes to jump off the cliff before I know if there’s a parachute. [Laughs]”

Hale played her second show as the vocalist of SKID ROW Saturday, May 18, at the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort in Riverside, Iowa.

According to Setlist.fm, the setlist was as follows:

1. Slave To The Grind
2. The Threat
3. Big Guns
4. 18 And Life
5. Resurrected
6. Piece Of Me
7. Livin’ On A Chain Gang
8. Makin’ A Mess
9. Psycho Therapy (RAMONES cover)
10. Quicksand Jesus
11. Time Bomb
12. I Remember You
13. Monkey Business
14. Riot Act
15. The Gang’s All Here
16. Youth Gone Wild (with Joe Hottinger)