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THE
PAUL RISHELL INTERVIEW
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Q:
Paul,
I've been enjoying the new Paul Rishell & Annie Raines
CD, "Moving to the Country." The studio cuts have a very
nice live feel. Were the tracks all recorded as a live
band?
Paul:
All
the band tracks were recorded live. In some cases the
mandolin was recorded as part of the basic track and in
other cases it was overdubbed. I overdubbed all the electric
slide guitar too. All the acoustic duo stuff was done live
except for the Joe McCoy, Memphis Minnie tune "My
Washerwoman is Gone." I played Joe's guitar part on a 1928
National Triolian while I did the vocal and then dubbed
Minnie's slide riffs on a 1931 National Style O.
Q:
How
long was the CD in the making?
Paul:
It
took us about 9 months to record the CD, but it takes a year
or more to write, find, and or arrange our material. I've
put out a CD every 3 years for Tone-Cool since
1990:
- Blues
On a Holiday - TC 1144, 1990
Swear
to Tell the Truth -TC 1148, Nov 1993: Featuring guests
Annie Raines and Ronnie Earl & the
Broadcasters
I
Want You to Know -TC 1156, Aug 1996: Collaborative album
with Annie Raines
Moving
to the Country -TC 1174, Aug 1999: Collaborative album
with Annie Raines
 Q:
So
Paul, are you "moving to the country?"
Paul:
Part
of me would like to move to a more rural atmosphere and get
involved with the land on a very, very modest scale.
However, I don't think that will ever really happen. I love
living in Cambridge, MA, and I've been here for quite a
while.
Q:
Paul,
your acoustic blues style is so much the real thing. Did you
learn one-on-one from any of the old blues
masters?
Paul:
Yes,
I was called by Mr. Dick Waterman to come to his apartment
and play guitar with Son House in April of 1972. My job was
to warm Son up for a few concert dates he had coming up.
This was a particular rush for me because Son's 1941-1942
Library of Congress recordings were the very first country
blues I'd heard way back in 1963, when I was about thirteen
years old. I worked with him for three days. It was
beautiful, a dream come true for me.
Later
I did a few shows with Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Terry &
Brownie McGee, Johnny Shines and Bonnie Raitt who was into
country blues more at that time.
Q:
In
addition to your own work with Annie Raines, you're also a
member of John Sebastian's J Band. How did that start
out?
Paul:
John
Sebastian called me in 1996. He had been on the road with
his road manager who had an unmarked cassette of my second
CD called "Swear To Tell The Truth." I had met Annie Raines
around this time and she played harmonica on a couple of the
tracks. When John heard the tape, he didn't know who it was
and apparently pulled over to the side of the road and
listened to the whole thing. The two of them played the
unmarked tape for everyone they met trying to find out who
it was.
Finally,
they got my name from John Hammond, and John Sebastian
called me up and asked me if I had played guitar and
harmonica on the album. I told him no...that was Annie
playing harp. John said "Thank God, if that had been you
doing both, I would've killed myself."
We
got together after that and have been playing with him since
then.
Q:
I
gather that you are in your 40s, meaning that you were a
teenager in the 60's. I was wondering if you had been a
Lovin' Spoonful fan, and if so, what it's like now to be
performing and recording with John Sebastian?
 Paul:
It's
a lot of fun working with John Sebastian and the J Band.
Fritz Richmond plays Washboard, Jug and wash-tub bass, and
Geoff Muldaur also shows up for a few dates here and there.
John is a very strong performer and he does a lot of gigs by
himself, the J Band is sort of a side project for us
all.
Q:
Any
touring or recording coming up with John?
Paul:
We've
done 2 CDs with John Sebastian. The first was released in
'96 and it's called "I Want My Roots" and the second was
released this year on Hollywood Records and is called
"Chasin' Gus's Ghost."
Q:
Do
you have any favorite listening recommendations for players
that want to study acoustic blues?
Paul:
Everyone
I know who's into the country blues has a bit of the
historian in them, and a lot of the detective, too. Many of
the recordings, especially the Paramount 1200 series which
had Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton, and Blind Blake
are so grainy and poor that you really have to listen to
them with headphones.
That
being said, I would suggest that anyone who wants to get
into the country blues should start with the Yazoo CD
series. They are good because they usually put the best
sounding cuts on their CDs and they usually have pretty good
liner notes as well. For the serious student, I would
suggest the Document series which is more set up from the
historical point of view.
The
recordings are always in chronological order and the
packaging is not very colorful, but they are the way to go
if you want everything an artist is known to have
recorded.
Some
of my favorites are Son House's 1941-1942 Library of
Congress recordings, the Yazoo series of Blind Blake, Blind
Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton, Scrapper Blackwell,
Mississippi John Hurt and Skip James.
Q:
Paul,
are you available for private lessons?
Paul:
Yes,
I teach guitar out of my home in Cambridge, MA. I charge
$40.00 an hour. I only teach country blues. If you want to
get in touch my phone is 617-547-3761, and my E-mail
is
2blue@compuserve.com
Q:
How
much traveling do you do, and does your touring take you out
of the US?
Paul:
We
are traveling quite a bit these days. This summer we did a 4
week tour of Europe and we are usually out more in the nice
weather. We tend to stick around New England during the
winter and teach a bit more.
Q:
OK,
here's a fantasy question. If you could perform or record
with any musical artist, living or dead, who would that
be?
 Paul:
The
answer to this question would be different every day but
today I'll say . . . Blind Lemon Jefferson, George Jones,
too (it's a double fantasy!)
Q:
How
did you pair up with your musical partner, Annie
Raines?
Paul:
I
met Annie in '93 when I was working on my 2nd CD "Swear to
Tell The Truth". She was known to me from working around
town with different bands. When I called her to come in on
the project she was very professional and easy to work with.
I had a solo gig every Wednesday afternoon at the House Of
Blues and she started sitting in with me. It developed from
there.
Q:
What
is your preference for electric gear?
Paul:
Over
the years I've always used mostly Fender gear. I can't even
remember how many Stratocasters I've had, but the one I've
played for the last couple years is the best one I've ever
had. It's a '57 reissue that was made in '81. I also have an
original '54 Tele that I use in the studio and on gigs
around town. I never take it on the road. I have a Les Paul
with P90's that I use sometimes, but mostly I like Fenders
because they have kind of a bite to them.
I've
always used Fender amps but I would like to fool around with
a Vox AC30 sometime if I got the chance.
I
don't own one, but I am very much enamored of the pedal
steel guitar. I would love to get one, but I know that if I
did, nobody would ever hear from me again. I would just be
in my house studying. It could be scary.
Q:
What
do you think of the new digital amplifiers and effects that
are programmed to emulate the sound of the old tube amps and
pedals?
Paul:
I
don't have anything against digital stuff or any kind of
technology but I'm pretty much an old dog when it comes to
equipment. I have a Trace Acoustic amp that works great with
my National, I adore that amp because it fits right under
the front seat of any airplane and it works like a dream.
For
more information about Paul Rishell, including a biography,
discography, performances and other projects, check out the
Paul
Rishell
website
at: http://www.paulandannie.com/
Copyright
© 1999 Stable Management
Corporation...All
Rights Reserved
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