DAVE WELD INTERVIEW

 

Who are  your musical and non-musical influences?

Musical and non musical are both j b hutto, because of his teachings in life and  teaching me to be  a bandleader for a Chicago blues band, write music,and  survive no matter what anyone says or does.  My early   influences are Howlin Wolf, Lightnin Hopkins, Muddy Waters,  BB King, Elmore James.

Non Musical is my father, Kenneth  Aurthur Weld, who showed the power of character building through example, never complained during extreme hardship,  and knew how to smile and laugh in the face of adversity.

 

 

What  inspires you to do what you do?

I enjoy to entertain,  create music, be in a band, drive to gigs, or fly to gigs,  be a business owner (the band, The Imperial Flames), and I  enjoy to play loud legally.

 

What was the first LP/tape/CDyou bought with your own money?

"Black Cadillac   Blues", Lightnin Hopkins, and "Big City   Blues", Howlin Wolf, then BB King, "Live at the  Regal", then Buddy Guy, "A man and the Blues".

 

What's the most unusual   place you've ever played a show or made a recording? How  did the

qualities of that place affect the show/recording?

We used to play in the Jewel produce dept, without  electricity for all those who

wanted produce at the  supermarket.  It was easy to phrase the singing because it was so quiet!  we

have played many funerals and wakes.  we used to play the Chicago Marathon in October on Maxwell

and  Halsted in the freezing 8PM sunlight in the morning, for all  the runners going by who would high five us!

Sometimes I took the long chord and played from inside the van because we could see our breath. 

 

What has been your most   memorable moment in your music career so far?

Many, it depends on our level.  our first shows in Belgium were

great, but nothing can compare with the big concerts,  Chicago Bluesfest, The Blues

Station in Tournon France,  Buddy Guy's, The Taste of Chicago, The Fargo Blues fest,

The PA Blues fest, Spring into the Blues Fest in Eccaussines  Belgium,  a concert in Tokyo

Japan where Sheena and the  Jets opened for us (they are very popular there).

 

Can you talk  about a fan encounter that completely took you by surprise?

When someone went in the van and stole my guitar during a concert in Milwaukee, some sort of Cajun Fest.

 

If you could change one thing in the musical world and it would become a reality,what would that be?

 

The income.

 

What embarrassing songs might I find on your  MP3 player?

I do not use an mp3 player.  I do have an old Kenny Rodgers cassette.

 

What does  the next 6 months look like for you?

A chanceto live,  breath, and with life there is hope to share love, work help people.  

Do the sort of goals associated with having the best CD  of my career.  Tour,  play and write.

 

What can people expect to see at your live performances?

 

We give it everything we have.  I have a wireless and I take off and

talk to the crowd and sometimes walk the bar, and we play

loud and soft as well, but feature new stuff and we always

go old school as well.  we shift singers frequently since

we have three, and we do three part harmony on songs, and my

favorites are the songs from our new cd "Slip into a

dream"!

But what we really look for are friends, that we

love and cherish, that follow us and we keep in contact with

them, not as a business but as part of a shared love, blues,

band music, living fully through the joy of performance.

 

What is  the furthest show from your home that you have done?

 

Probably Japan, we toured for three weeks, Nagoya, Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo.

 

Do you  have any fan comments of how your music or a song affected  them?

 

Last week at our CD release party at Buddy Guy's a very

sincere, and humble older Mexican man came up to Monica and I and said his family was there,

and that Monica   (Garcia), was a hero to them, and to their people.  This  affected

me very deeply, like something you would see in the  movies or read about in a magazine or book. 

Monica's  Grandfather rode with Pancho Villa, and she had to overcome  great

hardships in lif before she took a place with us, on stage with us, and at  times, leads us.And these

are great musicians we are talking about from Abb Locke, the  sax Chess records legend, to

Jeff Taylor who was with every  blues band you can mention in Chicago, and Dave Kaye, and

Harry Yaseen, who was taught by the great Art Hodes to play  piano.  She represents her

heritage well, and is a hero to  me as well.

Best track you've ever written and why?

Sorry, can't pick one!  Monica's  "Sweet love" because it speaks to  our age group and is deeply

sweet to me, auto   biographical.  And "Slip into a dream", that Monica and I wrote.

Or "Tremble", the darkest  song I have written.  Or "Maybe right, maybe wrong".It is hard to choose!

It also depends on the performance of the song!