SCENE SCRIBE
By Michael Swanger scenescribe@mchsi.com
Suhler embraces no-holds-barred,
blues-rock tag
If you like blues-rock, then you might enjoy the take-no-prisoners attitude of Texas guitarist Jim Suhler when he performs Saturday, Jan. 30 at the Winter Blues Fest.
The 49-year-old Dallas native is steeped in the tradition of Lone Star State guitar slingers like Freddie King, Billy Gibbons, Johnny Winter and the Vaughan Brothers. And for 11 years, Suhler has been a member of one of the most popular roadhouse bands of all time, George Thorogood and The Destroyers, while maintaining his own band, Monkey Beat.
In addition to performing his own music for more than 17 years, a closer look reveals two things that distinguish Suhler from his blues-rock peers. For starters, he has a genuine affection for pre-war blues heroes like Charley Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Blind Blake and he continues to perform and record acoustic, traditional blues with a resonator guitar.
“I listen to pre-war blues for my own listening pleasure more than anything,” Suhler said. “If they have ‘Blind’ before their name, I’m probably into it.”
Also notable is his own admission of not being a blues purist. It’s a refreshing change of pace by comparison to most of his axe-wielding contemporaries who think they are fooling audiences by claiming to be blues musicians though they are rockers in thin disguise.
“I don’t claim to be a blues artist in the strictest sense. I’m more of a rock musician heavily influenced by the blues,” Suhler said.
Suhler grew up listening to blues-influenced rock music on the radio before discovering there was far more to music than what commercial radio had to offer.
“As a kid I listened to The Beatles and Led Zeppelin, but during the early ’70s I was listening to a lot of soul music and by the ’80s I really was into blues,” Suhler said, crediting Robert Palmer’s book “Deep Blues” and a Robert Johnson album among his earliest inspirations.
A 1986 trip to Leland, Miss., to track down Delta bluesman James “Son” Thomas, brought home the blues for Suhler.
“I drove through some pretty bad neighborhoods and knocked on his door. He was pretty old at this point, but he let me come in and play with him and we talked and I took a picture,” Suhler said. “He was very kind.”
Fate would strike again four years later. Suhler was playing in a bar in Memphis when Thorogood walked through the door, dug what he heard and told the Texas guitarist to call him. A few years later, Suhler took Thorogood up on his offer, first opening shows for the Destroyers before joining them.
“It’s been a good situation for me working with George,” Suhler said. “It’s allowed me to get acquainted with a lot of people,” adding that he owes guest appearances by Elvin Bishop, Joe Bonamassa and Jimmy Hall (Wet Willie) on “Tijuana Bible” to his work with Thorogood.
A few weeks ago, Suhler’s Tex-Mex album “Tijuana Bible” was nominated for the 2010 “Best Blues/Rock Album” Blues Music Award, the first year in which such a category was created.
“If they didn’t have that, I wouldn’t have squeaked in,” Suhler said. “Normally they’re a little more traditional, but they’ve branched out.”
Suhler knows a thing or two about branching out.
“I want to build on what’s happened with George and my band. I’m real fortunate,” he said. CV
Caption: Jim Suhler & Monkey Beat performs Saturday, Jan. 30 at the Winter Blues Fest at the Downtown Marriott. Their show starts at 8 p.m. in the Dubuque Ballroom.
Sidebar:
Central Iowa Blues Society’s Winter Blues Fest
When: Saturday, Jan. 30, 7 p.m.
Where: Downtown Marriott
Tickets: Wristbands $12 in advance at Blues on Grand or www.cibs.org; $15 day of show.
Lineup: The Midnight Dogs (7-10 p.m.), The Avey Brothers (7:30 p.m.), Delta Highway (10:30 p.m.), The Side Effects (7:45 p.m.), Levee Town (10:45 p.m.), Jim Suhler & Monkey Beat (8 p.m.), Brandon Scott Sellner Band (11 p.m.), Everett Smithson Band (8:30 p.m.) and Trouble No More (midnight, hosts the after-hours jam at 1 a.m.).
