Chewing the Gristle with Greg Koch
Welcome to Season 5! Listen in on Greg Koch's conversations with his guitar-hero friends. Every episode Greg unleashes his fiendish humor and unique perspective as "one of the most famous unknown guitar players in the world", asking his often-famous musical friends the questions that we all want to know the answers to! Each episode is brought to you by Fishman and Wildwood Guitars
Chewing the Gristle with Greg Koch
Seth Rosenbloom
Seth Rosenbloom, the fiery young blues guitarist from Massachusetts, brings his wealth of musical knowledge and performing experience to the Chewing the Gristle podcast. What begins as a gear chat about Two Rock amplifiers quickly evolves into a fascinating exploration of musical authenticity and the hard realities of making a living as a performing musician.
When Seth discovered his prized 1956 Stratocaster at Lark Street Music, it changed his entire perspective on the instrument. "It's not as bright as I associated with maple neck Strats," he explains, highlighting how vintage instruments often defy our modern expectations. The same revelation occurred when he first played genuine 1950s Les Pauls with their bell-like clarity, so different from the heavier, woofier sound of later models. These insights reveal how our perceptions of iconic instruments are often shaped by mass-produced versions rather than the originals that created their legendary status.
The conversation takes a compelling turn as Seth shares his journey from metal-loving teenager to blues guitarist. A pivotal moment came when his mother, hoping to discourage his musical aspirations, took him to see an up-and-coming blues player at a small jazz club - Joe Bonamassa. Rather than dissuading Seth, the experience ignited his passion for blues guitar. With his father's cautious blessing (himself a professional classical musician), Seth eventually dropped out of high school to pursue music full-time, a decision that shaped his career path.
What truly sets this episode apart is the candid discussion about the business realities musicians face. From the challenge of finding good booking agents to the economics of small venues, Seth and Greg pull back the curtain on aspects of performing that fans rarely consider. "Getting a record deal is almost easy in comparison to getting a decent booking agent," Greg notes, while Seth reveals why he consistently performs better in seated venues than standing rock clubs.
Ready to discover how professional musicians navigate the modern industry while staying true to their artistic vision? Subscribe now and join us for more authentic conversations with the most interesting players in music today.
Ladies and gentlemen, it's time once again for another season of Chewing the Gristle with yours truly Greg Kauk. Can you believe it's already season six? We've got so many cool interviews lined up. Are we going to talk about music, you betcha? But what else are we going to talk about? Well, quite frankly, anything that comes to mind. So stay tuned, doggone it. Let's chew that doggone gristle. Season six come this week. On Chewing the Gristle, ladies and gentlemen, we have the mighty Seth Rosenblum, a young blues firebrand hailing from the Boston area. Hell of a nice guy. Great guitar player, delicious tone. Let's Chew the Gristle with Seth right now. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, once again we convene around the gristle fire. Is that a thing? I think it is For another installment of Chewing the Gristle. Today I have young blues madman I'm going to call you a young blues madman, seth Rosenblum, joining us from beautiful Massachusetts where he dwells. I just saw him there not long ago. Always a pleasure hanging with him, seth, how the heck are you?
Speaker 2:I'm doing well. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:A pleasure. So where do we find you today?
Speaker 2:We find me in Western Massachusetts. I'm about what? 10 minutes or so from the Vermont border in my little I don't know office. I wouldn't call it a studio as much, even though you know I have all the fun toys in here, all the guitars on the other side, but yeah, just hanging in my house for those who obviously can't see, because this is an audio activity.
Speaker 1:One of these days I'll do the video aspect of it, but it's just the level of complexity that we have not surmounted yet Seth. But be that as it may, I see a phalanx of delicious Tone King amplificators next to you, and that is actually the first time we met was at a Turok. Did I say Tone King?
Speaker 2:You said Tone King, turok.
Speaker 1:Yeah, freudian, slip there. Sorry about that folks Both great amps yes, exactly, but Turok obviously great amps and you've been playing them for a while. That's where we first met, when there was a NAMM performance there. So how long have you been affiliated with 2ROCK and how does that all work for you?
Speaker 2:I think that was. So we met at the 2021 and I think right before COVID and all that stuff. But 2019 was really when I got started with 2ROCK and it was actually those nam shows for two years. Um, at that that venue, slide bar it was a good friend of both of ours. Andy wood had done a show there in 2018 and he was moving his to a bigger venue and I said, do you mind giving me the contact? Try to put something together. And with the guys who said yes to me right away, it was all two rock guys. So then got in touch with Eli and it's like, hey, you want to backline the show? So my first time really, you know, getting to know Eli and the two rock guys was from putting on those NAMM shows and those were great with, you know, josh and Kirk was on the first one. They were a fun time and it was, you know, a tiny stage with six Turoks, which is a lot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we ended up doing a couple of different reverend events at that same establishment. And it was a cool place. Unfortunately, it is no more. It was a victim of COVID-19. And it was a cool place. Unfortunately it is no more. It was a victim of COVID-19.
Speaker 2:It sure was. It was a bummer to not be able to do more of those there, but yeah, it was cool. It was like an old sweaty rock club. You pack a couple hundred people into that. Those were a blast.
Speaker 1:They were absolutely a blast. So what T two rock amp do you like to to wield these days, because I know they make a bunch of different things and I'm just curious as to what you've got behind you there lurking in your lair yeah.
Speaker 2:So I have three of them. Uh, personally, one of them, the the combo is down in my living room because it's a great kind of grab and go one. But the two heads I have are the main ones I use when I can have everything I want. I actually like having both of them because they both kind of do a different thing and just doing the dual amp setup. But I've got the Bloomfield Drive, which is very much the Dumble, overdrive, special mid focus kind of thing. Great cleans on it too.
Speaker 2:That one actually I'm about to drop off, for Matt Schofield is playing Jimmy's on Sunday and we talked to him yesterday and loaning him that and a four 10 for that because he's done the same for me in Florida. But the Bloomfield Drive is kind of that dumbbell, mid-heavy, really creamy, overdriven thing. And then the one that I've been really partial to over the last year picked it up at NAMM last year is the, the vintage deluxe, which is more I never know how to describe it, but it's more fendery, it's more kind of like. It has elements of it's not a blackface fender, because it's it's raunchier than that and kind of more, um, more of the Brown face thing, but then has elements of the tweed thing too, and I mean I've used that probably more than any amp over the last year. Just used that on half of the new record and it's killer. It's like you don't need pedals, but it takes pedals Great.
Speaker 1:I was going to ask you how do you, how do you like to to run the apps? Do you do it differently? Do you sometimes just gas the amp and then use the volume control on the guitar, or do you like to run the amps? Do you do it differently? Do you sometimes just gas the amp and then use the volume control on the guitar, or do you find yourself setting it cleanish and then using pedals to go over the precipice?
Speaker 2:In between. So I always say I like kind of that almost like Malcolm Young level of breakup, where you have enough to play the rhythm parts. If you dig in, you could probably probably, at least with humbuckers play most of the gig. And then any of the gain pedals I use like no gain pedal I use would be considered high gain and the gain knob on all of them is pretty low. It's really I'm just using them to hit the front end a little more, just because I think that a lot of overdrive pedals sound better into an amp that's already at least kind of on the edge.
Speaker 1:I agree.
Speaker 2:Yep, yeah, when the amp's crystal clean it. Just it's almost too much treble and it doesn't do the thing that I want it to do.
Speaker 1:I agree, I agree. So is there a wattage variance on these amps that you like to use that you're able to get that just on the brink of saturation without either being too loud or not loud enough?
Speaker 2:The master is so good on these that the wattage doesn't seem to matter as much with the two rocks as when I was gigging vintage fenders and it's like, okay, super reverb, I love it. But I'm going to get in a fight with every sound guy at every club. The Bloomfield drives 100 watts and it's not that loud. It's more that you have the big natural low end. You have the headroom when you want it. The vintage deluxe is 35 watts. I don't know that there's a perceivable volume difference, but I'm never running the master wide open and they both take pedals. Well, I mean, I'm often running both those heads at the same time and with a similar level of breakup.
Speaker 1:And I know you like to bring out your glorious old Strat. Tell us a little bit about that, rascal.
Speaker 2:I do. I've had the Strat for, I guess, bought that in 2018. So, coming up on like seven, seven years now, and bought that from Lark Street Music down in Teaneck, new Jersey, buzzy Levine, who's the brother of great player here in the Boston area, duke Levine Cause I went in there to try some old brown face fender ramp that ended up not being great, and tried it with this old strap that was hanging on the wall, super beat up and fell in love with the strap, did the thing I think we all do when we find a guitar that like blows us away of it's, like let me try another in the shop and make sure that I'm not just wanting something new, but it's that good. So he had, like you know, a 60, 63 Strati at a, I think, 58 and this blew him out of the water, but it is very, very much players grade. You know it has its dings and bruises and everything. It's dings and bruises and everything, and the guy who was consigning it, I guess, wanted money like it was straight.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah it took him a few months to soften up, yeah, to talk him down and to talk some sense into him.
Speaker 2:But it was one morning I was heading out to do a little mini rundown in North Carolina and was driving down for it and checked Lark Street's website that morning and it had just gone up on the website and I called Buzzy. I said I am in Connecticut, I'm going to drive as fast as I can get away with, legally or not, and can you hold it for two hours? If I love it as much as I did, I'll take it, if I don't, I won't. And he said sure, so got down there and, um, yeah, dropped off a check for more money than I had ever spent on a guitar, liquidating some other guitars and, uh, as we do, yeah, and uh, yeah, it's. Uh, it's been a great one, it's, it's it. It changed my mind on strats because I always thought I was a rosewood guy right until I played this one, and then you like that spank of the uh, is it an ashen in maple?
Speaker 2:No, so that's the thing. It's late 56. So it's alder, so it's not as bright as I, kind of associated with maple neck strats.
Speaker 1:Sure.
Speaker 2:And a lot of them I've played since. It's like I find the thing and I've found this with some newer Fenders and Gibsons it's like, in a way, almost a caricature of what people think that guitar is. Because you play a modern like maple neck Strat and a lot of them do tend to be super bright, super in your face, play a lot of the vintage ones and it's like, oh, they're not that bright, they're a little more subdued. And it's the same thing with like Forever. I thought I hated Les Pauls because they were 11 pounds and just super woofy. And you play like a 50s Gibson and they have this bell-like clarity and it's like, oh, that's different than I thought that thing was. And it's like, oh, that's different than I thought that thing was.
Speaker 1:Isn't that? It's a little. It's a little frustrating because it's almost like you're better off not knowing. You know what I mean. It's like when you think about old Les Pauls and you actually play one, you're like, oh, now I get it. And you know, to be honest, a lot of those newer. I mean you can find a new custom shop.
Speaker 1:You know Murphy aged, you know especially the Wildwood ones, les Paul's that are in that ballpark, that kind of telly on steroids thing. I always use that as a kind of a thing you know, to describe what old Les Paul's are like and boy, but when you know it, you know it Because to your point, I mean, when we were kids growing up, I mean I got a few years on you, but all the Les Pauls that we had access to were the 70s and 80s ones which were kind of high gain and woofy sounding and heavy, and you're like, well, this doesn't sound like the same guitar I'm hearing on Live at the Fillmore or the Beano record or you know, bloomfield or Peter Green and so on and so forth. Then you actually play one of the old ones. You're like, oh, there it is.
Speaker 2:And I think I got so twisted on Les Paul's early because and I use the same thing of it's like telly on steroids the clarity and a lot of the ones I like are even the mid-50s. You know rap tale with P90s. I think those will kill a lot of bursts and you know this was I'm 32. So this was what, 2003. And my first guitar was a red Ibanez RG 120. I have that and a crate practice amp. That was the first thing. But my neighbor across the street who was, I think, about 10 years older than me he had not even I, I mean, I'd take one of the 70s or 80s over, like the 90s les pauls where they really got heavy and and weird, he had a 90s les paul custom in like that cherry cherry wine, it was like the burgundy red yep, he had that thing. That was the first nice guitar I ever played and I loved that guitar and he had, like a marshall, one of those valve state combos. I remember the rig because it's like you're going from the ibanez rg and the crate practice amp to that and it's like this this is awesome. But as much as I loved that guitar, that left an impression on me of this is what a Les Paul is of it's, it's heavy, it's woofy and it's kind of really focused in in the bottom end.
Speaker 2:Um, and once I started, you know, getting exposure to some nicer strats and tellies, I very much went that direction of like. I like the clarity and I kind of wrote off gibson in a lot, of, a lot of sentence senses. But you're right across the board, fender and Gibson, especially in recent years, like you can find good ones. They have really, I think, both stepped up their game in terms of trying to get closer to those classic examples. Um, I've been really impressed. I mean I took you in there a couple of weeks ago. You know music Emporium, you know they're a Fender custom dealer and all the ones I play now are great from them. All the Les Pauls that I've played, um of custom shops are really good. And then there are also, of course, all those insanely good builders getting super close of like. Have you played one of the Gilly Yarns?
Speaker 1:No, I don't think so. I've heard of them.
Speaker 2:Oh, those are insane, those are. I mean those will, blindfolded, almost trick you into thinking it's a burst with a good one, and they're not. They're custom shop money or a little above, not burst money.
Speaker 1:Interesting. I'll have to check one of those out. Hard to find but they're. They're cool Now you have. Is that a? Is that a 345?
Speaker 2:you've been playing it's a 345, it's 68, so a late 60s one which I feel like a lot of people don't like because the nut width did get narrow. But being a fender guy it appealed to me and you know the. The price on those is a a fraction right compared to if you want to dip into the early 60s.
Speaker 1:Now, did you disengage the Veritone or do you utilize it?
Speaker 2:It was already done and it was monoed out before I bought it. So I have actually, on top of that dresser behind me which has pedals and all the stuff, on top of it there's a bag that says music Emporium on it. That is the original wiring harness, all of that. That basically they just ripped out, put in a repro three 35 harness. So it's a, it's a three 45 look, but it's basically a three 35.
Speaker 1:Yes, indeed, I mean, the Veritones have a thing, but I never found myself, uh, you know, wanting it. You know what I mean. It's like I would rather have the out of phase thing than kind of the weird man in the box type of, uh, you know, guitar in a box type sound that you can get with the Veritone.
Speaker 2:Every once in a while, like listening to some of the the BB King records and stuff. I want it for that thing, Right, Right, but then all the rest of the time I don't. It's like. I just like what, what that guitar does. And I've I mean it's funny on gigs recently and on the half of the new record that's done. I played that guitar more than I played a Strat, which I never thought would be me, but I've bonded with it. Well, the humbucker thing, it's a different thing.
Speaker 1:It is indeed, and it was interesting when I was a young lad. It is indeed and it's. It was interesting. When I was a young, a young lad, I always thought that you were either a humbucker guy or a single coil character. And now of course I've realized well, you can actually do both and so on and so forth. But to you know, when I was very young I was of the mindset that that was, that was kind of your school. You know what I mean. It's like you either were into the clarity and the percussive kind of things you could do with single coils, and then you could do more of the beefy, you know things that you would be inclined to do on a Gibson. But you know you can do both and they both have their thing. Do you find yourself playing differently on either instrument?
Speaker 2:In a way. Yes, I mean, there are certain like sonic benchmarks that are almost that thing. And it's weird because I went full circle, like probably for the first five or six years that I played guitar, I didn't know anything with single coils. I think the only time I had a single coil and I never used it was after that red Ibanez RG 120 got one of the what was it like the five fifties or something, where it was hum, single, hum. Oh yeah, I remember those Yep, and I never used the single coil in the middle. It was like occasionally those in between positions you'd use it for the kind of spanky, you know position two and four strat thing.
Speaker 2:But everything, I add, because I was into more of the rock stuff and the shreddier stuff, it was all humbuckers across the board, right. And I think the first guitar that I got where I really used single coils was a Tom Anderson telly when I was probably I don't know 17 or 18 or so, and I was like, oh, this is, this is a thing and it's like there's a clarity to it. And early on I went down the rabbit hole of playing with way too much gain and everything, and it was kind of a revelation of oh, single coils cut better than humbuckers do. I can still have that gain and I won't get as lost in a mix. And then for a while I kind of went totally away from humbuckers. And now it's like, oh, they're both cool. Totally away from humbuckers. And now it's like, oh, they're both cool.
Speaker 1:Right, they do different things, but neither are really better than the other, it's just a different flavor well, talk a little bit about how your journey from, as you said, the shreddier mentality to discovering blues and wanting to do that.
Speaker 2:Yes, so it was kind of. There were two, I think, kind of pivotal moments with that of when I started playing guitar. I'd seen the movie School of Rock when it came out and I was like, oh, I just want to play like the kid in the movie does and I'll be cool, and so off the bat had, I think actually, the soundtrack for school of rock on CD which had sunshine of your love by cream. It had immigrant song by Zeppelin, had some ACDC, so it was very classic rock heavy. The kids in school were all listening to like early two thousands pop, punk and emo stuff and you know I I was never that into that. But the first band I loved was Metallica and it was like you know, enter Sandman master puppets and was playing with kids in the neighborhood doing that stuff. And I think the first song that I learned I know first solo was Nothing Else Matters. That was the solo.
Speaker 2:It's like Kirk Hammett was the guy for me and then had a teacher at the school I was at who was one of the music teachers Fantastic influence at that point for me, just exposing me to different bands.
Speaker 2:He was a huge Rush fan and he was a huge Dream Theater fan Rush was kind of too weird for me at that point. Now I love it, but it's like you go from Metallica to Tom Sawyer and it's like what is this? I don't know what to do with this, but the dream theater entry point was like some of the the stuff that was coming out then which was, um, what the train of thought record which had like, as I am in the real metal heavy stuff and it's like that's not that big a departure from inner Sandman and some of that it's just heavier Got very, very into Dream Theater and I know this doesn't sound like this is how I got into blues, but it was. I think I was 13, saw Dream Theater was coming to Boston, asked my parents if I could go and my parents said there's no way you're going alone to, you know, the Orpheum Theater, which I think you've played in Boston.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, I played there.
Speaker 2:It's like that's a great theater but kind of down and dirty area of Boston and everything, especially at that time. And my mom said, I tell you what. I'll buy you tickets. I'll take you if you go to any show that I pick. I'll buy you tickets, I'll take you if you go to any show that I pick. And my dad was a concert master of the Boston Ballet classical guy, my mom big Beatles fan, motown fan, all of that. Basically neither of them were too keen on the hard rock and metal stuff. And she read Boston Globe article, up and coming blues guitar player in the jazz and blues section and it was Joe Bonamassa playing Scullers Jazz Club in Boston. And this was probably 2005, early 2006. And I kind of went, not kicking and screaming, but I wasn't excited for that show. I was like, oh, blues, that's boring, that's like you know whatever it's quiet.
Speaker 2:It's no loud amps and of course walk in and Joe had Marshall, silver Jubilees and you know, strat and Les Paul, and of the two shows that's the one that resonated with me way more and of the two shows that's the one that resonated with me way more. You know, you have that first kind of experience small club, 150, 180 people, whatever that room fit, right, it was loud and I still remember he closed it out with Jeff Beck Band Blues Deluxe, right, and it's like, oh, that's cool, I want to do that. That was the first thing. And then didn't immediately go there and then one of the guys that I got into that was very kind of the bridge between the more guitar shreddy stuff and the blues thing was landau. It's like had a huge landau phase and and it's like, okay, there's a guy that can do the instrumental guitar thing and rock and then can also do a slow blues with the best of them.
Speaker 1:Right, absolutely. So. At what point did you realize that that's just what you wanted to do for a living and your parents being especially your dad being, you know, a professional musician? How did that all play out in terms of their level of enthusiasm?
Speaker 2:So I always say I give a lot of credit to my parents because looking back on some of the ways that I got here it's like, wow, that was bold at that age, especially so my parents actually met in music school. My mom was a violinist too and then she ended up going into early childhood education so didn't play professionally past probably mid, early mid twenties or so. But you know, grew up and my dad was the main breadwinner and he was playing Boston Ballet, boston Esplanade Pops, subbing with the Pops and Symphony and was teaching a lot. So I kind of saw that thing as a freelance musician, what you have to do to cobble together everything.
Speaker 2:But you know, grew up very much a middle-class upbringing, you know, um, and I played violin growing up when I started playing guitar, like my, my main love as a kid was always baseball, not music, and I was never big on school, like I liked school, but it was never like, oh, I really want to put in the extra effort for this, I really want to do this. So growing up I always, I guess, would say, when I'm 16, can I drop out of school and just play professional baseball? And uh, that was my childhood plan at eight years old and ended up going a different direction of by, I think by about 14. I was really really serious about the guitar, had stopped playing violin and was like this is the thing I want to do and after freshman year of high school, went to a Berkeley summer program because it was right down the street. Of course, you know I grew up now I live about two hours outside the city, but I grew up 15 minutes outside Boston, so I was going to say two hours outside the city.
Speaker 1:What is that Like five miles?
Speaker 2:So that's more like I grew up what should be 15 minutes and sometimes it does take an hour, but I was, I could take the tea and you know, when I went to the the Berkeley summer program I was getting on the green line from Newton Mass down right to Heinz Convention right at Berkeley and went to the five-week program, which was kind of the. You know they do some of the week-long like instrument-specific things. The five-week program is decently representative of a college experience in the sense of you know you have your private lessons, you have your harmony classes, your ear training classes, all of the above and I loved it. Got back to high school in the fall and sophomore year. High school and I my parents very much on scholarship had sent me to a great private school through elementary school, ended up at the public high school and was pretty bored school-wise of that private school was so good that I was ahead in terms a lot of the classes without realizing it and just wasn't getting a whole lot out of it. Taking lessons after that Berkeley summer program with Joe Stump, who was a Berkeley professor, was going to his house, had been paired with him there because it was still very much at 16, more into the shreddy thing than I was, the blues thing, even though I was going to a couple of blues jams a week to get out and play and get all that experience.
Speaker 2:And I don't know how it started. I know that it kind of ended with my parents going to the back school night at my high school and not being very impressed with it. But I said, hey, I'm not doing anything here, can I just drop out and go to Berkeley now? And that's what I ended up doing. Yeah, I left high school, kind of thanksgiving a sophomore year, got a ged so I could apply to berkeley and went when I should have been junior, spent a year there and then left. But you know, that was where it was kind of there was no backup plan. It was okay, going both feet all the way in of not finishing school in the traditional way, not even finishing berkeley, and at that point it was. You know, you just do it. But I feel like with my dad as a working musician there wasn't that pushback. He was only do this if you know it's hard, like this is not the easiest thing that you can choose to do for a living, but if you love it, there's no better thing, right.
Speaker 1:And that's sound advice. It is. It is Because I think that you know my experience is a little different. You know I've talked about it many times on this doggone podcast, but it's you know what I try to tell my kids who want to get in and of course Dylan's already in it and I tell anybody who's willing to listen. It's like listen. If you don't realize that the love of what you do has to so far eclipse the negative reinforcement and walls and obstacles that are going to be put in your way just to make rent, then don't do it. It's the same thing when I would talk to various, my parents always had people talk to me along the way to try to discourage me from being a musician. They all basically said what your dad said.
Speaker 2:So that's good advice. I like it. So you had more of the pushback at that kind of entry point.
Speaker 1:Well, they just didn't think it was a viable livelihood. They were supportive. You know what I mean. So I'm always supportive of doing lessons and making sure I had a proper when. Know, when I was looking at schools, you know, they helped me vet, you know, the right school to go to that was within what they thought was reasonable, both financially and also more of a traditional education. So I had to go to a state college as opposed to a conservatory or something like that. A conservatory or something like that, um, but all along the way they had discussions with my teachers at the time and having them intercede on their behalf to to describe exactly how.
Speaker 1:You know what I was up against in terms of being a musician, uh, cause, it was terrifying for them. I mean, my dad was a lawyer, um, you know, I think he was the first of you know probably a couple of generations that ever went to college. You know they were all working folk and all my siblings, you know, went to college, got straight jobs and so on and so forth. No one was really into the arts. So I think it was just a fear of the unknown.
Speaker 1:It wasn't that they were, you know, aghast for some kind of moral or you know any kind of reason like that. They just thought you know my dad would always say I don't want you to end up working at a car wash Not that there's anything wrong with that for those of you who work at car washes, but yeah. But you know, and now my kids kind of see that are going to the arts. You know all the different hats you got to wear in order to to make it to payday. But, as as your dad said, and I'm sure as you can read, you know, speak to as well, it's worth it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think one of the biggest things, because I know my dad got more pushback from his parents when he was kind of going into that and he also he did graduate high school, unlike I did uh but didn't. But, um, he kind of did one year of uh, of music college and then left, so like the college thing wasn't a big deal, cause he said, hey, look, I've never been asked where my degree is for anything that I've actually done, totally. But one of the questions I remember him asking me because at that point like I wanted to either be in a band or do my thing and like have that be the the thing. And he was clear-eyed enough to know that doesn't always work out for one reason or another. And his question was hey, if you become a musician and the performing doesn't get you where you want or isn't as viable, would you be happy being the guy who is teaching 40 lessons a week, 50 lessons a week? And I said, absolutely Like I do anything where this.
Speaker 2:Now I've kind of done that and come back from that a bit, because that is, if you do want to do the performing too, there's a certainly a burnout factor with absolutely any amount of volume. But it's like I love teaching, I love doing all those different things that go into it and I think his real point with that was, as you said, it's like you got to kind of wear those different hats and have those different avenues to kind of cobble everything together. Have those different avenues to kind of cobble everything together. One focus often won't quite get you there, exactly correct.
Speaker 1:But you know, I find that, if you're willing, you know, and I think that all of us who really love it find in all the different opportunities by saying yes to things that we didn't necessarily envision as what would be a big part of our income or whatever the case would be, as long as you can interject that love of what you do, playing-wise, into those different scenarios, it's awesome.
Speaker 2:It sure is, and I'm sure you did the same early on. It's like you say yes to every single gig, even if it's not a style of music that you'd want to play, and it also gives you broader experience and exposure.
Speaker 1:We interrupt this regularly scheduled gristle-infested conversation to give a special shout out to our friends at Fishman Transducers, makers of the Greg Koch Signature Fluence Gristle Tone Pickup Set Can you dig that? And our friends at Wildwood Guitars of Louisville, colorado, bringing the heat in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains. So let's talk about your recording career thus far. I know you put out a record that Josh produced a few years back, and then there was a record that you produced as the Crow Flies, I believe in 2023. And now you're working on this new record that I think it's okay to say who was involved, with Mr Bonamassa and so on and so forth, and so describe for folks you know we've talked about it, because you know what we all have to do in order to go forth and make a living doing this. These recordings are something we make money off of, but they're more of a calling card, would not you say at this particular juncture?
Speaker 2:I sometimes and it's probably a little cynical, but compare the albums, because it's really streams at this point. Or the hot dog and soda combo. It's been well publicized Costco loses money on every single rotisserie chicken sale Right, but why do they do? It Gets people in the door, exactly, and it's first of all artistically like I want to be making the records and I want to be pushing myself to, to create something in terms of that. But uh, yeah, you're right, it's also the calling card that gets you know them interested in either taking lessons or buying any of the courses we have out and that that kind of thing.
Speaker 2:And you know I just enjoy making the records too.
Speaker 2:It's like you know you don't want to go out and play the same tunes over and over and over and having the stuff kind of crystallized that way. Um, I, I think it is really great and, yeah, so had worked with Josh on keep on turning in 2018. And, you know, at that point really felt like I needed someone to produce it who could have more of the 360 view of the project. And let me just play guitar and sing, because you know how in the last 10, 15, 20 years, it's like sessions in the studio with a full band are not what they were 30, 40 years ago, and so I never really got that thing of being in sessions. A lot like I'd get called for stuff and most of it would be have the track sent to me, recorded at home, send a Mac.
Speaker 2:So I don't think at that juncture I knew well enough how to communicate what I wanted to a drummer, a bass player, a keyboard player and also try to play my part as well as I could. And Josh, in addition to being a monster guitar player, performer, singer, everything is such a great producer, has such great ears and I learned a lot from doing that one, where I did the next one myself, but, yeah, this one working with both Josh and Joe, it's great. Just got all the mixes finalized. So for these first five tunes, and they're coming out great.
Speaker 1:Excellent. So what kind of plans do you have for this year in terms of touring, putting songs out? I think we were talking about how you might drop a few singles before kind of doing the entire package as an entire release.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think for multiple reasons, going to do a lot of singles from this one, probably the first single sometime around April or May, kind of, you know, in the first half of the year, touring wise. Uh, it's been an interesting last couple of years because had a booking agent who I was with for a few years, then, of course, covid hit and then he got sick and passed away. Um, I think it was 2023, just as we were getting as the crow flies out and you know, with a lot of independent agents, it's not like there are five other guys at the agency or either one other person to pick up the slack. Last year was really booking, booking myself for the the most part now working on um, trying to let's talk about that.
Speaker 1:Let's. Let's talk about that for just a second, because I think that a lot of people who maybe have never tried, or who are fans of of yours or mine or whatever the case may be, and they're like why does he never play around here? It's almost like they think that you've got like a vendetta against their community or something and they don't realize that getting a record deal is almost easy. In comparison to getting a decent booking agent to take you on and to do stuff, it's extraordinarily difficult. And then finding someone who's got the gumption and the wherewithal to be able to not only get the gigs but then to route in a way that makes sense and to actually care enough about you and your financial and physical well-being to map out something that makes somewhat sense, I mean, that's the hugest thing about the industry that I don't think people really have any idea about, would you not agree?
Speaker 2:I completely agree. And there's that hard thing because often you know, booking yourself, obviously you're going to try very hard with where maybe you're putting as much, or at least as much effort into it as an agent would. But there's also the thing of you know a lot of venues are comfortable working with agents and certain agents and they, they, you know they get an email from an artist or they dealing with that often know where it's if they can talk to an agent and book five shows on one day and kind of fill their calendar and have it be easy. Um, that that can be preferable. But yeah, it is hard to find that right fit and make it all happen of.
Speaker 2:Uh no, I couldn't agree more. So you know, right now we're trying to get something set up with a new agent I have, you know, I'm doing the West coast a little run in LA in January right before I know you you are out there as well right around NAMM time and then right now trying to get stuff on the books for UK and Europe at the end of summer trying to kind of do a couple probably clinics, workshops on top of some tour dates over there. But yeah, it's hard because it's also, you know there I've seen it in the Boston area how many of the smaller clubs in the last few years have closed. So there's also just there are less rooms.
Speaker 1:Right? Well, it's interesting because you came out to our show at the Burren, which is a small joint, but that's a place where you can make money.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's the Burren. It was the first place I played when I moved back to Boston in 2017. And I still play it because Booker Tom Bianchi, who's one of the best guys in Boston.
Speaker 2:Just fantastic. You can make money there and it's a vibe Totally. You pack that place out and it's fun. It's a hundred people stuffed in, but it's like how many venues that we love are that thing. You think about it in LA. Where do you have to go? You have to go see Landau, or Scott Henderson or Josh play the baked potato.
Speaker 1:Right, exactly, and it's 65 people in there.
Speaker 2:Right, you feel like you walked into a living room. I remember the first time walking into the baked potato to see Landau and I'd seen all the videos online and it actually looks bigger on YouTube than it is when you're sitting at a table and there are people like right in front of you, um and just went to, was down in Nashville for a couple of days. Last week went to the underdog for the first first time, which I feel like is the new guitar spot right in nashville. You know guthrie trap. I know as residency there. I saw jack ruch play there with a great um organ player I'm blanking on his name, but great drummer west little, who I. We played with it at woodshed last year okay yeah, yeah, he was uh.
Speaker 2:Well, you had, you had uh toby and and you had your whole whole thing there, but he had toby and dylan there, but uh wes was there and it was great and that place is tiny too. Right, like that is not a big room, that's maybe you get a hundred people in there and some of those rooms are the most fun and when it's done right, yeah, you can, you can actually do well in those rooms.
Speaker 1:Well, I think another thing that, uh, you know people's uh perceptions of how do these guys make any money. Well, if you're playing in a room where you know you're packing a room with, let's say, a hundred people in it or whatever the case may be, and you charge a decent ticket price, that's not extortionate, it's not ticket master. You know what I mean. You can make good money there. But also you know people want to support with. I've got a pretty deep merch table with all these different things which are again evidence to all the other hats that we have to wear, from instructional material to, of course, all the different records. But then you know some gear, you know pedals or, of course, t-shirts and hats and all that other kind of stuff. But playing a smaller venue that's packed with enthusiasts and then afterwards you know, selling a bunch of merch. I mean, you keep your overhead low, you can make some dough, which is, you know, I'm just having a blast doing it and I liked.
Speaker 1:You know we were kind of talking about this too. It's like we work our own merch tables. You know we don't have someone along working the merch. Sometimes someone will work the merch table a friend or a family member if they happen to be in that town. But I find that it's far more profitable to do it yourself, because people want, you can describe what everything is for one and people are much more likely to stop, of course, if you're there. And then, plus, you get to meet everybody that came to the gig and you find out, you make all these people you know once you make that personal connection. First of all, there's nothing like being in the room. You know. It's as much as we can talk about how the internet has done well for both of us in terms of getting the word out to a much larger audience moment. Even if there's a video of that moment, it's still not the same as actually being there and making that personal connection. And that merch table and hanging with the folks is all part of that.
Speaker 2:Well, and every time I come see your show, you consistently have especially for you know, not playing theaters where it's someone who has a whole merch trunk and everything and display you have one of the best merch setups for any band that's playing clubs. Because you kind of hit that target of like, you want a hat, got hats. I know I actually have my, uh, your hat sitting. Oh there, it is Perfect. Um, and you have the shirts, you have the, the, I think, some of the instructional stuff sometimes, yeah, and then also like the pedals and it's like, wow, I gotta. I always look at your setup and it's like, oh, I gotta step up my game on what I have. But you're right, it's like in a room where you make that connection, you're running your own merch. You can really sell some stuff and make good inroads there.
Speaker 2:And yeah, I think also the thing about a club and the Burns great example is it's like some of those independent local clubs where someone is taking it on and really doing it right, they're also doing it with the artists in mind, because usually, like Tom from the burn, he's a great bass player and singer and performs all in the area. Um, his wife is fantastic blues, blues guitar player and singer as well. So he gets it from the artist side, where I remember and I'll leave the venue very much unnamed, but kind of a bigger venue that has some smaller rooms, and got presented with a deal from one of them and it was so unbelievably terrible I couldn't believe it, because the ticket price they were like were like no, we just don't do anything over this number, and it was like 10 or 15 bucks and I'm like, well, your room seats 100 people, just the raw math. They're like okay, so, so the most it's going to gross for a trio is 900 or a thousand bucks. Right, already doesn't work.
Speaker 2:And then they had something like a 400 marketing budget of course, and it's like I'm I'm sorry, but right, right, at that point it's like oh, and the sound I? I was looking at the deal. I'm like, if I'm reading this correctly, I can walk away with 400, right? Um, no, thank you, exactly, exactly. But it's yeah, it's so great when you find those smaller rooms that are doing it right, not trying to extort artists.
Speaker 1:And there are. You know, as I'm sure you've done the same thing, you know you're, you travel around, you try these different clubs and you realize the ones that are your rooms and the ones that aren't, obviously, and they could be rooms that are great for other people but not for you. I mean, like, sometimes we'll try like kind of a random rock club, sure, and we'll do okay, but you're like, well, we should really be doing better in this town and you realize that, well, the people that are kind of into what similar music that we are, none of those other people are playing at this place. So it's not a place that's on the radar for folks that are like, oh, I wonder who's playing at the such and such tonight? Um, so it's entirely on you and your social media reach, or whatever the case may be, to try to get people out, as opposed to having that you know venue.
Speaker 1:Like you know, the Saxon pub is a great one for us. Or you know various, um, obviously, the Iridium is good one, the Burns great for us. Jimmy's is great. Jimmy's is fantastic. It's fantastic. Um, you know, the Funky Biscuit is a great one. You know, these are the kind of rooms where it's like oh, people that go to that club like a similar type of music, and so the people that would be most likely wanting to come and see us are going to be checking out that calendar.
Speaker 2:I also find one of the things that I'm curious for you when you say rock clubs or a lot of those rock clubs that you'll do standing. Yes, because I find that one of the big tipping points for me is the standing venues and the seated venues. Oh, interesting, okay, consistently, do better at the seated venues, because you think about, like burn jimmy's funky biscuit, or one of the ones I've done really well within south florida is, uh, have you done arts garage no, I don't think so it's right north of I think north of the biscuit.
Speaker 2:It's um delray beach there and like a listening room and I remember playing that for the first time. My old agent had booked me there and it was like a weekend Florida run out. It was a festival over by Tampa Blues Festival there and then Arts Garage was using local guys and they were great Matt Schofield actually, his bass player down there and it was a great band and everything. And I drove over to the east coast of Florida and saw the ad and it was a guarantee for that gig and saw the ticket price and I went, oh cool, no one's going to be there, because at the time I think Arts Garage it was like a $35, $40 ticket, which at the time I was not a $35, $40 ticket.
Speaker 2:But you know, I looked at the past thing and a lot of names of kind of in our world had played there and seemingly done well and that place holds I don't know't know 190, 125 people showed up. I was expecting about four and it's like, oh okay, they get the market and they get what they're trying to do and what they're selling. They know their area, they know the the ticket price it can support because it's undoubted. It's like you play New York or you play Boston or you play South Florida. That's a different ticket price than if you're playing some places in, say, the mid Atlantic or middle of the country. It's just like New York. People are like oh it's $50 ticket, that's cheap, right. Where other towns it's like 50 bucks, that's no way, Exactly, Exactly, Correct.
Speaker 1:Well, I remember in the day, you know, playing locally all the time with my band and, you know, just trying to keep busy, trying to get out of town and do stuff In the meantime, you know we were a high cover charge at $5, and we'd be. You know those clubs are. You're set up like right by the door and so people are coming in and you're literally, as you're playing, hearing people argue with the doorman about paying $5 to get in and you're like you just came from a Bucks game where you probably paid God knows how much for your ticket, let alone the beers and subsequent food and parking, and you had $5 to come into to support this band. It's just beyond the pale oh it's, it's crazy.
Speaker 2:And, being you know down down in nashville last week, have you ever kind of done the in nashville, the whole lower broadway stretch?
Speaker 2:and I've just, I've just seen it from afar, but yes, it's I so there's one reason in my opinion to do the lower broadway stretch and it's the one club there, robert's western world right, which is kind of the remaining, and you know that was the don kelly band and everyone who played in that and the kid he's not a kid, but he's well younger than me luke mcquarrie have you seen him, I've seen him so every time I go to Nashville it's like I will fight with all the masses on lower Broadway to go into Robertson here, luke, cause he's just mind blowingly fantastic, right, um, and it was nice, it's the winter, so it was a lot quieter than the last time I was down there.
Speaker 2:But those bars the few that have tried to do cover charges, like people, just won't. You know, it's no cover charge and it's like then those bands are playing four hour sets for tips. Right, it's insane. And it's the thing where it's like well, the the venues, half the time where there is a cover charge, they want to split on the door. Right, there's never split on the bar, somehow right, exactly correct.
Speaker 1:you know, I've come, you know I used to always think that the tip thing was like an insult, you know, and it was always I'd see it down in in nashville and I would see it in austin and I was like, you know, this is just especially as you're you. You know you're saying these world-class musicians who just got off the road with so-and-so and they want to go out and gig while they're in town and you're like seeing all these people that have been playing in arenas and stadiums and now they're playing in this hole in the wall and people are passing around tips. But I've, I've changed my perspective on that. There's, there was a, a club locally that I don't do many clubs locally anymore Cause there's not that many places left that are kind of more of the showcase club. But you know, I, I I turned my mind around pretty cause like if, if you bring in people that want to come and see you and you get a base pay plus all the tips, it could be a surprisingly lucrative.
Speaker 2:It sure can. There've been a few places I've done, even on the road, where that's kind of the thing, like there's a club in Florida that I did and everyone does. Have you done little bar? I don't think so.
Speaker 1:I'm trying to think of the place on the.
Speaker 2:I don't know if you could get the organ and the Leslie through the door there. Actually it's on the west coast of Florida. Okay, so it's Goodland, like Marco Island, which is like all the way south of Naples, all the way down Like you're in the Everglades, basically Got it, all the way down, like you're in the Everglades, basically Got it. And I was terrified leaving that gig because someone had just totaled their car, I guess, running over like a python or something. Oh, good lord, like 18-foot python and my biggest fear is snakes, like I am.
Speaker 2:But it's this place and like it's the only entertainment on this island and like all the blues guys will do it, like albert castillo, you'll do all these and you walk in and it's like there's a mounted pa, sort of not a big pa or anything and it's like this tiny bar, it. What 60 people can fit in this place? Oh, they go crazy and base pay and they have a band house and then the tips are just insane there Because people, it's like you either stay at home or you go out for the entertainment there and that's it. Wow, yeah, some of those places can be great.
Speaker 1:It's crazy all the different things we do doggone it to play that sweet music. It sure is.
Speaker 2:Well, and you have the thing of obviously, you know, with Toby and everything, you have a lot of gear you're hauling around to be able to do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's. You know, when we first started to hit the road, he used like the digital B thing. You know that X, k, x or whatever it is, uh, through a real Leslie and and that's okay, uh, but for him it's like man, I need that. It's just, if you're going to have an organ, you gotta have an organ. I couldn't agree more. So that's so. We just decided that that's. That's what we're going to do and that's what we want to. You know we want to have big drums, big guitar amps and B3s. So that's what we're doing and luckily we've got the logistics worked out. I mean it really. It makes for, like when we're doing those gigs out in LA, we need to route there and route back, because I remember the first couple times that we wanted to I think the first time we did rent a B3 and you might as well just drive out there and pay the gas. It was that much, oh my God, it was insane. It was like $750 a night.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, yeah much. Oh my god, it was insane. It was like 750 a night. Oh my god, because I've you know plenty of times I I think you've done it too, like you backline a guitar amp, and it's right, no problem not expensive and it's like oh, it's a deluxe reverb, great, I can make that work absolutely I've never. I did not think organs would be that expensive, and it's also like with backlining stuff. The one downside is I'm sure you get the organ and did toby like that organ or was it?
Speaker 1:well, see, that was the thing. Is that ideal? We had to find the, the good ones, and so you know. And then he, you know, one of the first things I did, um, or I was concerned about when, when toby ended the band, is it's like well, we better, we better hook up with Hammond so maybe we can get some, some help when we're traveling, maybe we can do some fly and stuff. And I got to say that Hammond's not a company that really is at the forefront of supporting their artists in that way, and um, so therefore we had to figure it out all on our own. And, needless to say, we go to Europe. It's a concern. So we've now we've got places where we can get stuff, but it's not cheap. I mean, it's absolutely the most expensive thing that we spend money on when we tour. Uh, if we have to get backline is because we need. We need the real thing, or else it's. It's it's just kind of of.
Speaker 2:Uh, it makes it cheesy. You know what I mean so well and seeing you guys, it's like it's legit, it's loud, it's, it's good and it all comes together. And there there is that thing. I think, especially with organ and especially in a trio, where I've found, even when I do four piece, which I do more and more and always, I always want the real organ, because there's something with the stage volume and with our perception playing we're getting fake organ coming through a monitor Right Is not the same as having the Leslie at the other side of the stage.
Speaker 1:Let's put it this way I have never.
Speaker 2:I've never had toby in my monitors. I believe you. I have never had any organ player in my monitors. It's like you have a leslie and it does something to like the wetness and the fullness of the, the whole sound exactly because I know we were. We were talking this last time. It's like you're not even using reverb right now are you Exactly?
Speaker 2:And it's like I feel in a trio I need reverb or I just don't have that space. But it is a luxury where, like in January when I do the West Coast, I'm going out there for three dates, have guys on the West Coast Right, fly home easy as anything's like. You know zach, I think, has what that super reverb. That's pretty, pretty solid.
Speaker 1:It's like has the super reverb, take a guitar pedal board and done right and we were, we were contemplating doing a fly-in, but then, um, and zach's like yeah, you can use my stuff, I, I got a drum kit, I got this, that, and he's got a Nord. And then you mentioned the word Nord to Toby and his peaceful, humorous disposition turns into changes.
Speaker 2:I'm sure it's not it. It's not it. There's that magic of real organ. That's a fact. Well, listen, my friends's that magic of real organ. That's a fact.
Speaker 1:Well, listen, my friends, it's been an absolute pleasure rapping with you today. Thanks for doing it. Folks, Please check out Seth online. It's just SethRosenblumcom, am I correct it?
Speaker 2:sure is, and Instagram all the fun things.
Speaker 1:Yes, check them out and I look forward to seeing you soon. I'll definitely see you out in California, I reckon.
Speaker 2:I will see you there. I'll probably. I might try to make it over to either the Friday or Saturday of your shows, because I fly out. I know NAMM is shorter this year, so I fly out Sunday morning.
Speaker 1:Oh, nice Awesome.
Speaker 2:In and out, because I'm there for 10 days, oh good.
Speaker 1:Lord. Well, it's nice to be in Southern California at that time of year.
Speaker 2:I never, coming from you, have the same thing coming from cold weather climate. It's like give me Florida, give me LA, give me anywhere that's not here. From now until March Exactly.
Speaker 1:All right, my friend, you have a good one. Great, great to see you Talk to you soon. Bye, Bye-bye. Well, thanks for tuning in. Ladies and gentlemen, to another episode of Chewing the Gristle. We certainly do appreciate you stopping by. Make sure you tell your friends all about us. I think they might enjoy themselves. So thanks again for tuning in and we'll see you next time.
