CLEARLAKE OAKS >> On Saturday, August 25, The Big Fun Trio will grace the stage at Cache Creek Vineyards in Clearlake Oaks, with Bill Noteman and The Rockets opening. Doors: 6 p.m. Tickets: $25-$80. More info: www.cachecreekvineyards.com.
Elvin Bishop is a blues legend. Born in Glendale, California, he was raised in Iowa and Oklahoma. A core member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the ‘60s, Bishop has played with everybody who is anybody in the blues world, including B.B. King, Bo Diddley, and the Allman Brothers. In the last ten years, Bishop has had two albums nominated for Grammy Awards and been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. His new album with The Big Fun Trio, Something Smells Funky ‘Round Here, follows up on a Grammy-nominated album by the same group.
With Bob Welsh (guitar and piano) and Willy Jordan (cajón and vocals) at his side, Bishop (guitar and vocals) serves up one deliciously gritty track after another with the relaxed swagger of a man who has been there and done that.
Bishop spoke with the Record-Bee Wednesday about blues, life, and crappie.
Have you played in Lake County before?
Yeah, several times. I’ve played Cache Creek before. I used to play the fish in Clear Lake—I’ve caught some pretty good sized crappie there.
Do you like playing the city or the country better?
I like playing everywhere, I just like to get together with the people and have a good time with the music, you know?
What has playing the blues taught you about life?
I guess the feeling I had for life is what brought me into blues. The blues, to be honest with you, is not for everybody. For most people music is just a little trendy thing, it has the same place in life as a hairstyle or a clothing trend. But I think the blues is for people who need to connect up with deeper things, you know? The majority of people won’t be into it but the people who are into it will be way, way into it.
And you’re one of the people they may be way into.
That’s it.
The blues is often about sadness, but you have an optimistic bent in your style. Any idea why?
Well you can laugh or cry, you know? Presented with the same evidence, half the people will laugh and half of ‘em will cry.
How has your playing evolved over the years since your early days with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band?
With Paul Butterfield he was doing pretty much straight twelve bar blues, so I played in that form because that’s what that band was about. But I have a bit looser definition now—I basically do whatever I want to. If you do something for 50 years and you don’t improve, shame on you, you know? That’s what I think. I do whatever seems to fit the feel of the song that’s trying to come out.
If there was just one song off your new album you could share with everybody, which would it be?
Oh, I don’t know, we tried real hard on all of ‘em.
What younger musicians are you excited about today?
I hear a lot of guys that are really good. Kid Andersen plays with Rick Estrin & the Nightcats. He’s an amazing player. Derek Trucks—I love him. A new guy, Marcus King, is good. There’s all kinds of real young guys coming up, and you don’t know how it will end up for ‘em but they got a real good start. Like Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and Brandon “Taz” Niederauer. Marquise Knox. But you can’t tell with these young guys what’s going to happen to them when they get confronted with life a little bit, you know?
This interview has been condensed and edited.
