Pat Travers – An Xperience Interview

Pat Travers – An Xperience Interview – by Rob Smittix.

RRX: So, how are you doing?

PT: Pretty good.

RRX: We’ve got you coming in on July 27 for the Uncle Sam Jam in Powers Park. You’ve played Troy in the past. My boss (Art Fredette) used to own a club called Positively Fourth Street and he had you there a couple of times. He said that you were a really nice guy and everyone that I’ve talked to that has met you over the years has pretty much said the same thing. So then it gets me thinking because people have called you a Canadian national treasure. Like you’re right up there with Celine Dion.

PT: I like that. That’s ok. I’ll take it. It’s kind of weird now. So, obviously, you know, I was born in Canada and lived there until I was 21. But I spent most of my life in the US now. So it’s funny. I don’t really feel like a Canadian. I don’t know exactly what that means. It’s just where I’m from, you know? I just started my journey there.

RRX: Right? Canada doesn’t wanna let you go. I used to go into the diners in Canada and they’d always have pictures of Celine Dion on the wall. But I’m thinking maybe they should throw some Pat Travers photos up there too.

PT: No, no, I don’t think so but that’s ok. We still play there. I’m sure I’ll do some shows up there this summer. So, yeah.

RRX: But you’ve also been called a guitar god as well. And, I mean, both of those things set the bar really high, right? But what about Pat Travers the regular guy?

PT: Well, that’s me most of the time. It’s strange as far as the guitar goes, you know? It’s one of the things I play and do. But there’s a whole lot we’re doing right now. We’re working on some new material. We’re gonna record another album here sometime. So most of the time I’m just kind of sitting around thinking about it.

I won’t even have a guitar on and then when I get something in my head, I’ll grab the guitar and start figuring it all out.

RRX: Are you currently on tour?

PT: We’re just starting to get busy now. We did a show down here in Florida last weekend and we’ve got a couple more coming up and then we start heading out. So we’ll be all over the place in the next four months.

RRX: How do you think touring in 2024 is different than what it used to be for you?

PT: Well of course I’ve been everywhere now. So, you know it’s not as shiny as it used to be.

RRX: Right.

PT: Everything’s more difficult now, you know? There’s a lot more people traveling, so if you gotta fly, it’s a pain in the ass and if you have to drive, it’s a pain in the ass. So that part I definitely do not enjoy. And the whole having to stay in a hotel room too, that kind of drives me up the wall. But I still love playing and I got such a great band that it’s fun once we’re playing, it’s the other 22 hours of the day that … you know?

RRX: Absolutely. Who is in the band now?

PT: I’ve got David Pastorius on bass guitar and Alex Petrosky on drums; he’s incredible but he’s mostly just gonna be playing with us in the studio this year because he’s got family issue complications. We’re gonna have a guy named Tommy Craig play (drums) with us and he’s played with me before for a number of years. So yeah, that’s all gonna work out.

RRX: Now, I found an interesting factoid about you online which I thought was pretty cool. I love to find out things that people don’t really commonly know about people and it looks like from what I could tell you have a black belt.

PT: Yes I do. Yeah, I’m actually a third-degree black belt and I’m gonna get my fourth degree once I, get my ass back to the dojo enough to get a promotion. You need to contribute to the dojo as well as everything else. So I’ve just not been going over there as often but I still train and it’s great. It’s, uh, Okinawan karate called Uechi-ryu and it’s traditional. I like it. My sensei is incredible.

RRX: That’s pretty cool, man. I don’t know what percentage of people are black belt, but I know it’s very low.

PT: It’s funny because when people hear the word karate … in the United States, what they’re usually thinking of is taekwondo. Which is a great martial art. It’s Korean. However, anybody with a black belt can open a dojo and say I’m a sensei and here you go. But in our particular style, you have to be at least a 5th-degree Black Belt and you have to do another test to become what they call shihan. And then, at that point, you’re allowed to promote people and advance their belts and stuff. So because you start out with a white belt and yellow and on and on until you get your black belt. The weird thing about that whole black belt thing is originally everybody now starts out with a white belt, right? And after about 3.5 years of training it starts to get pretty dirty. That was how you determined if someone was a black belt or not, by how dirty their original white belt was.

RRX: Ah.

PT: It took years for that belt to get dirty enough to be black and that’s where that came from.

RRX: That’s, that’s an interesting concept right there.

PT: In Okinawa, karate was mostly done in somebody’s backyard or somebody’s home. It wasn’t a big organized thing. It’s that way now, but originally it wasn’t.

RRX: So, here’s your new title … it could be guitar black belt, like you got your black belt in guitar. That would definitely do it. You’re already a fifth-degree on that.

PT: Well, here’s something interesting. I just recently had a signature guitar made by a company called Valkenburg in Las Vegas and they made me this Stratocaster-looking guitar. Its color is called coral red or something, and it’s got a black stripe on it, for the black belt and 3 gold stripes on the black belt to signify my third-degree designation.

It’s got a kanji, which is Japanese writing. One kanji can mean a whole bunch of things and, in this case, it means heart or all your heart and soul and all that, and it’s called Kokoro. It’s a really cool guitar and if anybody wants one they can order one.

RRX: Oh, nice!

PT: It’s a great guitar. I’m gonna start playing it live now. Yeah, you’ve gotta come out and see us. There’s a lot of energy going on for three guys. It’s great!

RRX: Well, I appreciate your time so much. It’s been a pleasure!

PT: You take care, brother. I’ll see you then.

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