YOUNG BLUESMEN WITH OLD TONE : MATT WALSH AND MATT HILL by Bob Margolin There is a magnetic mystique about the wailing, nasty, extreme guitar sound of Old School Chicago Blues. It attracts and inspires Blues guitar players and fans across more than half a century. In the late 40s and early 50s, early electric guitars were played through small amplifiers of simple but very sweet- sounding design (the bigger, louder, more-sounding harsh ones came out just a few years later). The distortion of the electric tone when turned up for enough volume to play with a band in a bar gave the guitar a whole new sound: It was a ringing, singing, sustaining, tough and raucous sound that reflects the primitive amplified Blues music that featured it. Two of the original guitar players who used this thick, singing tone are Willie Johnson, who played on many of Howlin Wolf early recordings, and slide guitarist Robert Nighthawk. I love those guitar tones and use them often in my own playing from the ‘70s on. I also recognize that inspirational process when I see it befall others and that’s often how I find my guitar friends. I’m thrilled that two of them are making this tone obsession into almost a musical religion with no compromise or concession to anything that would dilute the raw blues. Matt Hill is 20 and lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, near where I live. Matt Walsh is 28 and lives in Wichita, Kansas, but often visits his family and plays in North Carolina and surrounding states. They love Old School Chicago Blues and have both already gone a long way towards playing it with authentic tone and command of the guitar language. Both of them can sing it too, and improve every time I hear them. They are young today and will keep this style alive on bandstands and preserve it as more than history. They may develop so much themselves that they carry the style forward with their own contributions. Lets talk to Matt and Matt and find out what’s on the minds besides greasy pompadours. Bob: You both seem frustrated by the lack of interest in blues by people your own age. How did you find your way to be driven to play school Chicago Blues music? Matt Hill: Bob, growing up in my generation I learned that most in my age group don't really care for or understand "old" music. To them "Old School" means Aerosmith, and Run-DMC. It seems to me that if it's older than maybe 30 years, it's not worth thinking about to them. And if it's slow music, then to hell with it. So basically telling them that you play stuff kind of like Robert Nighthawk and Howlin' Wolf isn't exactly the coolest thing to be doing. I've kind of just separated myself from a good part of the youth, and just am uncool and bullheaded and do what the hell I want. Matt Walsh: I found out about Blues music around the age of 14 through my uncle Cary Ash. I liked the Classic Rock he turned me on to, but when I heard The Best of Muddy Waters I was obsessed with that sound. The music that my peers were listening to on MTV and the radio seemed like music made for boys and girls getting their first pubic hairs. When I heard Robert Johnson say things like "the pond I use to fish in, now you got me posted out," I was confused how people could buy into some whiny guy crying about how he's not alternative enough on music TV. The Blues have always been pretty straight up with me. And I stay pretty frustrated with more than just today's music, so how fitting that the rawness of the Southside Chicago sound gives me a way to express it? Bob: Tell me about your experiences trying to play this music in clubs today. Matt Hill: It's getting stranger and stranger to me tying to play old blues nowadays. Most gigs, you're just playing restaurants, and basically Southern Rock-aimed bars. To play at a "Blues Club" is getting harder and harder. Mainly because there aren't many blues gigs, so the competition is getting tougher, and a big percentage of the time the Blues-Rock (Stevie Ray-Hendrix bands), or more Top-40 oriented "Blues Bands" get the gig. I think everyone’s perception of "Old School Blues" is pretty messed up. When I show up at a gig, most of the time when I tell people that we’re an Old School blues band, they go into a coma immediately. They don't know an Old School Blues band can rock. But not all the gigs are bad. Every now and then, you'll have a gig where people are getting it and beautiful women are dancing, but sadly enough, these days that rarely ever happens. Matt Walsh: Well Bob, I don't have to tell you that finding a Blues club to play at these days is hard, so on my level doing this professionally, you just have to work with what you get. And what you get a lot of the time is bullshit. Some idiot who wants to give you a list of Lynyrd Skynyrd or Kanye West songs as if to turn you into their tribute band on the spot. I hate to say it but most of the youth is the worst. But with all the watered-down Blues Rock and SRV imitators who can blame them? I like SRV and some Blues Rock but the old Blues is a lot deeper to me. Most of the time I get two good gigs to five bad ones. It makes me and Matt scratch our heads and wonder " do these people have a heartbeat"? I mean how much more rockin' does it get than Howlin' Wolf? Still I won't change my act and incorporate filler pop stuff that isn't me just so I can play what I like every five songs or so, and only then when folks are on their cell phones and not paying attention. Bob: Tell us about the bands you work with, together and separately, and your plans and hopes for your music and careers? Matt Hill: Well I have my own band, the Matt Hill Band. We are pretty much an Old School blues band with a touch of insanity. In that band I sing most of the vocals, and play Steel guitar and regular guitar, and I have a great band with Terry VunCannon on guitars, Sheila Klinefelter on bass, and the one-and-only Chuck Cotton on drums. I also play in a band called Skokat which is basically the Insanity of me and Max Drake, the voice of Willie Shane Johnston, and the groove of Chuck Cotton. In our minds it's like a Sunday jam on Maxwell St, with a little sick humor thrown in. And of course whenever my "Brother" Matt is back in the Carolinas I play with him. As far as my plans and hopes for the future, I'd just like to be able to keep playing the music I love, and hopefully not be homeless. I know my chances of being a big blues star are slim to none, but I still hope that I could play and tour around on a national level one day. I know I'll never get rich, but It would be great to spread this music as far as I could go. Hell if I could just play enough local gigs to not starve that would be alright with me. My main plan is just to keep of playing old shit, and If anyone’s got a problem with that they can kiss my ass. MW: I have a band I front called Matt Walsh and the Maddogs. It features Kyle Couch on drums, 76-year- old Blues legend in his own right Berry Harris on keys, and Jesse Major on standup bass. We do old 50s Chicago stuff mainly but we hit Rockabilly and swing some too. When I do southeastern stuff I team up for a duo with my "Brother" Matt or Max Drake. I know my chances in today's flooded Blues world may be slim especially because of the style I play. Sometimes the experiences you get out of this are more fulfilling than money or success. The main thing is that we make good music and try to reach as many as we can with it. Maybe if your not a Blues star with managers, It's really up to your own willingness to make stuff happen for yourself. That's your only meter for the amount of success you receive. Bob: I think Matt Hill’s and Matt Walsh’s aggressive attitudes and determination to play will help them prevail, as Daniel Ballinger is doing with the sheer strength of his music. I really love the sound of their Blues and I want to help them as much as I can. I take Matt Hill on the road with me when I can, and I’m working on Matt Walsh’s recording with him. Big Tone Rules. Well, maybe it will...This is a story that should be continued.