Refugee
06-04-2008, 03:31 AM
He’s opening for Tom Petty to expose new people to his music.
Steve Winwood is a survivor.
A part of many different incarnations — from his early days in the Spencer Davis Group to his Eric Clapton collaboration Blind Faith, his psychedelic outfit Traffic and solo rock material — this Birmingham, England, native is a living legend.
Winwood’s latest effort is “Nine Lives,” which is somewhat of a departure from his back-to-basics 2003 album “About Time.” Though the singer-songwriter-keyboardist said he originally set out to make a continuation of his last album, something surprising happened along the way that changed his fortunes.
Recently, The Vindicator talked to Winwood, who in 2004 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum as a member of Traffic, about his latest album, his current live show and why he accepted an opening slot on Tom Petty The Heartbreakers’ amphitheater tour, which plays Tuesday at the Post Gazette Pavilion and June 22 at Blossom Music Center.
Q: In listening to “Nine Lives,” songs such as “Fly,” “Secrets” and “Other Shore” have a unique, almost jam-band quality about them that hasn’t been heard from Steve Winwood in well over a decade.
A: With “About Time,” when I was writing pieces of music, I have to put them down and just explain them to the band. Sometimes I put some version down or played it, and they’d listen to it and then play it the best they can. With “Nine Lives,” the music I wrote was inspired by the music that this band had been playing, so then of course it was easier and more natural for them to play things.
Q: With that in mind, how is the newer material translating into the live realm?
A: Considering the songs came from things we jam anyway and that was part of the concept as well, to make an album that would translate itself to live [performance], it’s all sounding really good like the record. Of course, that’s because it’s the same people playing on the record, and it was all played live in the studio.
Q: Now that you have a solid backing band, how does that reflect your current set list?
A: Since we’re supporting [Tom Petty], our show is much shorter. I usually play up to three hours and this will be cut to an hour, so this enables us to change much more. We’re constantly widening the repertoire we play. We’re working on putting “John Barleycorn Must Die” back in and lately we’ve been focusing on my early ’80s material, “Arc of a Diver” stuff. So we’re looking to put in more of that.
Q: Finally, talk to us about the choice to join Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers as an opening act, despite the fact for decades now you’ve toured as a headliner.
A: I’ve always got an eye on hopefully increasing my audience. I have a great niche audience that’s kind of a core. So I’ll certainly look at ways at [increasing] my audience, but I’m not fanatical about doing that, trying to get to as many people as possible. But obviously this is an opportunity to play my new material and to get some exposure to more people than I normally would do on a theater tour that I usually play.
http://www.vindy.com/news/2008/jun/04/steve-winwood-to-stop-in-regionsflbin-petty-tour/
Steve Winwood is a survivor.
A part of many different incarnations — from his early days in the Spencer Davis Group to his Eric Clapton collaboration Blind Faith, his psychedelic outfit Traffic and solo rock material — this Birmingham, England, native is a living legend.
Winwood’s latest effort is “Nine Lives,” which is somewhat of a departure from his back-to-basics 2003 album “About Time.” Though the singer-songwriter-keyboardist said he originally set out to make a continuation of his last album, something surprising happened along the way that changed his fortunes.
Recently, The Vindicator talked to Winwood, who in 2004 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum as a member of Traffic, about his latest album, his current live show and why he accepted an opening slot on Tom Petty The Heartbreakers’ amphitheater tour, which plays Tuesday at the Post Gazette Pavilion and June 22 at Blossom Music Center.
Q: In listening to “Nine Lives,” songs such as “Fly,” “Secrets” and “Other Shore” have a unique, almost jam-band quality about them that hasn’t been heard from Steve Winwood in well over a decade.
A: With “About Time,” when I was writing pieces of music, I have to put them down and just explain them to the band. Sometimes I put some version down or played it, and they’d listen to it and then play it the best they can. With “Nine Lives,” the music I wrote was inspired by the music that this band had been playing, so then of course it was easier and more natural for them to play things.
Q: With that in mind, how is the newer material translating into the live realm?
A: Considering the songs came from things we jam anyway and that was part of the concept as well, to make an album that would translate itself to live [performance], it’s all sounding really good like the record. Of course, that’s because it’s the same people playing on the record, and it was all played live in the studio.
Q: Now that you have a solid backing band, how does that reflect your current set list?
A: Since we’re supporting [Tom Petty], our show is much shorter. I usually play up to three hours and this will be cut to an hour, so this enables us to change much more. We’re constantly widening the repertoire we play. We’re working on putting “John Barleycorn Must Die” back in and lately we’ve been focusing on my early ’80s material, “Arc of a Diver” stuff. So we’re looking to put in more of that.
Q: Finally, talk to us about the choice to join Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers as an opening act, despite the fact for decades now you’ve toured as a headliner.
A: I’ve always got an eye on hopefully increasing my audience. I have a great niche audience that’s kind of a core. So I’ll certainly look at ways at [increasing] my audience, but I’m not fanatical about doing that, trying to get to as many people as possible. But obviously this is an opportunity to play my new material and to get some exposure to more people than I normally would do on a theater tour that I usually play.
http://www.vindy.com/news/2008/jun/04/steve-winwood-to-stop-in-regionsflbin-petty-tour/