{"id":300,"date":"2011-04-14T11:29:28","date_gmt":"2011-04-14T16:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/?p=300"},"modified":"2011-04-14T11:29:28","modified_gmt":"2011-04-14T16:29:28","slug":"an-interview-with-robin-trower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/an-interview-with-robin-trower\/","title":{"rendered":"An Interview With Robin Trower"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the passing of Chicago blues guitarist, Lacy Gibson<\/a>, and the popularity of the “What Are You Listening To”<\/a> post on this blog, it’s clearly time to try and increase exposure to a variety of guitar players throughout the world.<\/p>\n

What I’ve seen is that, because I do this all the time, I’m a lot more familiar with many of the guitar players in the world that others have never heard of. Just the other day I was surprised to find out that my friend had not heard of Joe Bonamassa. I really thought he was a household name by blues standards.<\/p>\n

This interview was done by Rick Landers and Matthew Warnock at over at Guitar International.[content_box_grey width=”90%”]<\/p>\n

Originally grabbing the guitar world\u2019s attention as a member of the classic rock group Procol Harum, Robin Trower<\/a> has since become a household name for his own with trio recordings and tours, both as a band leader and with long-time friend and musical collaborator Jack Bruce. Known for his tone and unique approach to classic, blues-based rock, Trower\u2019s guitar work is filled with an energy and creativity that have helped him build a fan base around the globe, creating a highly-successful career that has lasted more than four decades.<\/p>\n

While many other guitarists would be slowing down after 40 plus years on the road, Trower is still a road dog, consistently touring the globe as he continues to bring his new and classic songs to his many fans. As well, Trower seems to possess an endless well of creativity in his songwriting as he regularly releases new albums of original songs, including 2010\u2019s The Playful Heart<\/em>. With the new album receiving rave reviews, fans and critics are already anticipating Trower\u2019s next release, 2011\u2019s Robin Trower at the BBC: 1973-1975<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Guitar International<\/em> recently sat down with legendary guitarist Robin Trower to talk about his latest record, his signature guitar and life on the road.<\/p>\n

\"Robin<\/a><\/p>\n

Robin Trower<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

****** <\/span><\/p>\n

Rick Landers:<\/strong> Your new album is titled The Playful Heart<\/a>\"\"<\/em>. How did that come about? Were you planning on a certain concept for that album or was this just a mix of songs that you like and you thought, \u201cHey, this is the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> It was a group of songs I had together. That\u2019s pretty much the way I work. I get enough songs for an album and do an album.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> How do you decide which song goes first and second and third? Do you get involved in that type of a sequencing thing?<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> Oh, yes. That\u2019s always my call, as it were.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> When I listened to \u201cThe Turning,\u201d and I actually listened to it on YouTube, I couldn\u2019t tell whether it was one song or two, but you segued into a very bluesy sound.<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> It was written to go into a slow section, because of the lyrics. I wanted to kind of extend where I thought things were going.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> I like the difference between the beginning, which has a \u201860s feel to it and then you got into a great blues lead.<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> Thank you very much.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> \u201cDressed in Gold\u201d, and I\u2019ve heard a couple of other people say this, it\u2019s somewhat similar to \u201cAll Along the Watchtower.\u201d I wondered if that was intentional or did that just come out that way?<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> No, I don\u2019t think it was intentional. It\u2019s got a similar chord sequence. That\u2019s the thing, I bet there\u2019s hundreds of songs with that chord progression. No, obviously if people hear that, that\u2019s fine. I don\u2019t mind that.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> As I listened to some of the tracks, I wasn\u2019t really expecting \u201cCamille,\u201d which is kind of a jazzy, almost a torchy type of song. Are you exploring the jazz arena more or do you think you would explore it more beyond this album?<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> The thing is, it\u2019s not about exploring. It\u2019s always a matter of the music I come up with. It\u2019s a matter of the songs I write. I\u2019m not looking particularly in any direction at any time. It\u2019s just the songs come to you, and if you like them enough to finish them off, you\u2019re probably gonna end up doing them on an album. I\u2019m driven personally by the ideas that I come up with. They drive you rather than you driving them, if you know what I mean.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> Yeah. I see you\u2019ve got Livingston Brown on the album as the engineer. How did you guys meet and what does he bring to the production side that complements your playing?<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> He engineers and produces. That\u2019s the key. His engineering is a by-product of him being the producer, basically. I met him when he was in the band on a thing called, Night of the Guitars<\/em>. We hit it off and we\u2019ve been working together on and off since then. At one time he did bass and vocals for me in the \u201990s. He\u2019s produced two or three albums for me now.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also an incredible musician. He\u2019s got much better ears than me. He has a real sense of music formally, which I don\u2019t have. I don\u2019t have any sort of understanding of harmony or anything like that. So, he brings all that besides his incredible ears.<\/p>\n

\"Robin<\/a><\/p>\n

Robin Trower<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Rick:<\/strong> I know that you\u2019ve worked with Jack Bruce quite a bit in the past. Any chance that you guys are gonna get back together and do a project or even tour together?<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> You never say, never. No plans at the moment, but you never know. I love working with Jack.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> I asked one of our readers if he had any questions that he\u2019d like me to ask and he said, \u201cHey, how about asking about the track, \u201cToo Rolling Stoned.\u201d He wanted to know what effects, what amps and what microphones you used on that.<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> Right. He\u2019s talking about an album in 1974. Which I\u2019m not sure I remember. [Laughing<\/em>]<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> I didn\u2019t think you\u2019d remember it, but I thought I\u2019d ask anyway.<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> The thing is, I was definitely using a Strat and Marshalls. Probably a Crybaby Wah back then. And if I remember correctly, at that time I had an overdrive box that I had built for me because there weren\u2019t many options in those days. I had to have an overdrive built. That space\u2026Univibe was the thing on the instrumental section. I think the mics were two U87s, I think.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> Okay, thank you. A lot of beginning guitarists cover other musician\u2019s songs, and we end up getting sort of stuck in our own box. But, you\u2019ve got your own style at this point. How do you break away from that?<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> I was lucky enough never to have any need to learn other people\u2019s songs or any other guitar player\u2019s licks. I just never wanted to do that, so I never sort of ended up with other people\u2019s stuff as it were.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> Do you find it hard to play with other guitarists? Your style is so distinct. I would think it would be kind of hard not to overwhelm another guitarist\u2019s playing.<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> The thing is, I do like playing in the three-piece, because of the space it gives me. I don\u2019t know about playing with another guitar player. I\u2019ve never really thought about it.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> I would think because of the style you have that it might almost overwhelm or overshadow another guitarist.<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> I think playing in a three-piece, you\u2019re having to make up for an instrument that\u2019s not there and I think that\u2019s natural to the way I want to play guitar, if you see what I mean. It does get rather large [Both Laughing<\/em>].<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> I know that you\u2019ve got a Signature Strat that came out several years ago. Have you made any modifications to that?<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> No, I\u2019m still using those. I\u2019ve got four of them altogether. I really like them. I haven\u2019t played anything else since really. Obviously the initial ones were built, actually, in the custom shop, but I\u2019ve got one that is what you would buy in the shop, which is what they call \u201cTeam Built.\u201d It\u2019s every bit as good as the others.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> I saw you play at the Birchmere in Virginia, a while back. That was a great show, by the way.<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> Yeah, I like playing there.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> Good club. They\u2019ve got a great sound system. Have you ever thought about doing an unplugged album, where you\u2019re doing only acoustic tracks?<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> No, not really. I play electric guitar, see? [Both Laughing<\/em>] That\u2019s the thing. My music is very much dependent on the sound, on the noise I make.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> Do you have any acoustics kicking around the house?<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> I do. I have a really lovely Martin, which I sometimes use for writing.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> Is it a D-28?<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> I think it might be. I don\u2019t know really know. I\u2019ve had it for donkey\u2019s years, since the \u201970s.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> Over the years do you find that you\u2019ve got fans that show up every year and you actually get to know them?<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> Not that I\u2019m aware of. I\u2019m sure there are, but I\u2019m not very observant when it comes to who\u2019s in the audience. I just concentrate more or less on playing.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> After you finish up The Playful Heart<\/em> tour, do you have enough songs for another album that you\u2019re gonna start working on?<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> I\u2019ve got about half a dozen songs that I\u2019m currently working on at the moment. I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m gonna do next, to be honest. I\u2019ve got three different project ideas. I\u2019m not sure which one will be the next one I do.<\/p>\n[\/content_box_grey]<\/p>\n

The original version of this interview can also be found at http:\/\/guitarinternational.com\/2011\/04\/12\/robin-trower-interview-the-playful-heart\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Originally grabbing the guitar world\u2019s attention as a member of the classic rock group Procol Harum, Robin Trower<\/a> has since become a household name for his own with trio recordings and tours, both as a band leader and with long-time friend and musical collaborator Jack Bruce. Known for his tone and unique approach to classic, blues-based rock, Trower\u2019s guitar work is filled with an energy and creativity that have helped him build a fan base around the globe, creating a highly-successful career that has lasted more than four decades.<\/p>\n

While many other guitarists would be slowing down after 40 plus years on the road, Trower is still a road dog, consistently touring the globe as he continues to bring his new and classic songs to his many fans. As well, Trower seems to possess an endless well of creativity in his songwriting as he regularly releases new albums of original songs, including 2010\u2019s The Playful Heart<\/em>. With the new album receiving rave reviews, fans and critics are already anticipating Trower\u2019s next release, 2011\u2019s Robin Trower at the BBC: 1973-1975<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Guitar International<\/em> recently sat down with legendary guitarist Robin Trower to talk about his latest record, his signature guitar and life on the road.<\/p>\n

\"Robin<\/a><\/p>\n

Robin Trower<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

****** <\/span><\/p>\n

Rick Landers:<\/strong> Your new album is titled The Playful Heart<\/a>\"\"<\/em>. How did that come about? Were you planning on a certain concept for that album or was this just a mix of songs that you like and you thought, \u201cHey, this is the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> It was a group of songs I had together. That\u2019s pretty much the way I work. I get enough songs for an album and do an album.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> How do you decide which song goes first and second and third? Do you get involved in that type of a sequencing thing?<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> Oh, yes. That\u2019s always my call, as it were.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> When I listened to \u201cThe Turning,\u201d and I actually listened to it on YouTube, I couldn\u2019t tell whether it was one song or two, but you segued into a very bluesy sound.<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> It was written to go into a slow section, because of the lyrics. I wanted to kind of extend where I thought things were going.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> I like the difference between the beginning, which has a \u201860s feel to it and then you got into a great blues lead.<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> Thank you very much.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> \u201cDressed in Gold\u201d, and I\u2019ve heard a couple of other people say this, it\u2019s somewhat similar to \u201cAll Along the Watchtower.\u201d I wondered if that was intentional or did that just come out that way?<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> No, I don\u2019t think it was intentional. It\u2019s got a similar chord sequence. That\u2019s the thing, I bet there\u2019s hundreds of songs with that chord progression. No, obviously if people hear that, that\u2019s fine. I don\u2019t mind that.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> As I listened to some of the tracks, I wasn\u2019t really expecting \u201cCamille,\u201d which is kind of a jazzy, almost a torchy type of song. Are you exploring the jazz arena more or do you think you would explore it more beyond this album?<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> The thing is, it\u2019s not about exploring. It\u2019s always a matter of the music I come up with. It\u2019s a matter of the songs I write. I\u2019m not looking particularly in any direction at any time. It\u2019s just the songs come to you, and if you like them enough to finish them off, you\u2019re probably gonna end up doing them on an album. I\u2019m driven personally by the ideas that I come up with. They drive you rather than you driving them, if you know what I mean.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> Yeah. I see you\u2019ve got Livingston Brown on the album as the engineer. How did you guys meet and what does he bring to the production side that complements your playing?<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> He engineers and produces. That\u2019s the key. His engineering is a by-product of him being the producer, basically. I met him when he was in the band on a thing called, Night of the Guitars<\/em>. We hit it off and we\u2019ve been working together on and off since then. At one time he did bass and vocals for me in the \u201990s. He\u2019s produced two or three albums for me now.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also an incredible musician. He\u2019s got much better ears than me. He has a real sense of music formally, which I don\u2019t have. I don\u2019t have any sort of understanding of harmony or anything like that. So, he brings all that besides his incredible ears.<\/p>\n

\"Robin<\/a><\/p>\n

Robin Trower<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Rick:<\/strong> I know that you\u2019ve worked with Jack Bruce quite a bit in the past. Any chance that you guys are gonna get back together and do a project or even tour together?<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> You never say, never. No plans at the moment, but you never know. I love working with Jack.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> I asked one of our readers if he had any questions that he\u2019d like me to ask and he said, \u201cHey, how about asking about the track, \u201cToo Rolling Stoned.\u201d He wanted to know what effects, what amps and what microphones you used on that.<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> Right. He\u2019s talking about an album in 1974. Which I\u2019m not sure I remember. [Laughing<\/em>]<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> I didn\u2019t think you\u2019d remember it, but I thought I\u2019d ask anyway.<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> The thing is, I was definitely using a Strat and Marshalls. Probably a Crybaby Wah back then. And if I remember correctly, at that time I had an overdrive box that I had built for me because there weren\u2019t many options in those days. I had to have an overdrive built. That space\u2026Univibe was the thing on the instrumental section. I think the mics were two U87s, I think.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> Okay, thank you. A lot of beginning guitarists cover other musician\u2019s songs, and we end up getting sort of stuck in our own box. But, you\u2019ve got your own style at this point. How do you break away from that?<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> I was lucky enough never to have any need to learn other people\u2019s songs or any other guitar player\u2019s licks. I just never wanted to do that, so I never sort of ended up with other people\u2019s stuff as it were.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> Do you find it hard to play with other guitarists? Your style is so distinct. I would think it would be kind of hard not to overwhelm another guitarist\u2019s playing.<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> The thing is, I do like playing in the three-piece, because of the space it gives me. I don\u2019t know about playing with another guitar player. I\u2019ve never really thought about it.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> I would think because of the style you have that it might almost overwhelm or overshadow another guitarist.<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> I think playing in a three-piece, you\u2019re having to make up for an instrument that\u2019s not there and I think that\u2019s natural to the way I want to play guitar, if you see what I mean. It does get rather large [Both Laughing<\/em>].<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> I know that you\u2019ve got a Signature Strat that came out several years ago. Have you made any modifications to that?<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> No, I\u2019m still using those. I\u2019ve got four of them altogether. I really like them. I haven\u2019t played anything else since really. Obviously the initial ones were built, actually, in the custom shop, but I\u2019ve got one that is what you would buy in the shop, which is what they call \u201cTeam Built.\u201d It\u2019s every bit as good as the others.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> I saw you play at the Birchmere in Virginia, a while back. That was a great show, by the way.<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> Yeah, I like playing there.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> Good club. They\u2019ve got a great sound system. Have you ever thought about doing an unplugged album, where you\u2019re doing only acoustic tracks?<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> No, not really. I play electric guitar, see? [Both Laughing<\/em>] That\u2019s the thing. My music is very much dependent on the sound, on the noise I make.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> Do you have any acoustics kicking around the house?<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> I do. I have a really lovely Martin, which I sometimes use for writing.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> Is it a D-28?<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> I think it might be. I don\u2019t know really know. I\u2019ve had it for donkey\u2019s years, since the \u201970s.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> Over the years do you find that you\u2019ve got fans that show up every year and you actually get to know them?<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> Not that I\u2019m aware of. I\u2019m sure there are, but I\u2019m not very observant when it comes to who\u2019s in the audience. I just concentrate more or less on playing.<\/p>\n

Rick:<\/strong> After you finish up The Playful Heart<\/em> tour, do you have enough songs for another album that you\u2019re gonna start working on?<\/p>\n

Robin Trower:<\/strong> I\u2019ve got about half a dozen songs that I\u2019m currently working on at the moment. I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m gonna do next, to be honest. I\u2019ve got three different project ideas. I\u2019m not sure which one will be the next one I do.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the passing of Chicago blues guitarist, Lacy Gibson, and the popularity of the “What Are You Listening To” post on this blog, it’s clearly time to try and increase exposure to a variety of guitar players throughout the world. What I’ve seen is that, because I do this all the time, I’m a lot […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}