Guitarist Mark
T. Small Delivers Some
Smokin’
Blues on New CD Coming January 28, 2014, on Lead Foot Music
Latest Album
Showcases Small’s Guitar Mastery in a Variety of Blues & Roots
Forms
SOMERSET, MA – Guitarist Mark T. Small announces a January
28, 2014 release date for his fourth CD, Smokin’ Blues, on the
Lead Foot Music label imprint. The even-dozen tracks on Smokin’ Blues
solidify the Massachusetts-based Small’s place as an emerging master of
the guitar, ranging from Delta blues and Chicago styles, to the intricate
flatpicking schooled from his early days in “Newgrass” bands. The 12 songs on
the new CD reflect music originally performed by such early blues legends as
Blind Boy Fuller, Tampa Red, Charley Patton and Reverend Gary Davis to post-war
icons John Lee Hooker, Howlin’ Wolf, Elmore James and even a Stax/Memphis soul
vibe with the inclusion of a Rufus Thomas tune.
“Smokin' Blues is a
sampler of the guitar grooves that make up my solo show,” says Mark T. Small.
“My main objective for this CD was to produce a recording that sounds and feels
like I am playing in a small room with the listener. The only effect that was
added, other than the ‘radio tone’ on the song, ‘Daddy Was a Jockey,’ was a
touch of reverb to further simulate listening in a small room.
“I am a live player, not a studio
guy. My friend and mentor Shor'ty Billups, who is a guest on this CD, always
taught me to let the audience do the editing of my songs. By paying attention to
the crowd, I can tell if my solos or songs are too long or if the groove is not
quite right. I am always watching to see who is tapping their feet in the back
of the room and am paying close attention to which grooves get people
moving.”
Small enlists the aid of some
serious guitar “weapons” on Smokin’ Blues to achieve the desired
effects. “I have tried to include a number of different guitar styles and
techniques on this CD,” he adds. “At gigs, I use a Martin flattop and a National
resophonic guitar to play about six different guitar styles. I try to mix
things up by maybe starting with a fingerpicking piano-like style, then
switching to a flatpick for some Chicago style blues, and then I might use my
National guitar to create a tonal shift. When the grooves are thumpin' for a
while, I may bring the set in a different direction by flatpicking something
like ‘Railroad Blues’ in a bluegrass style, throw in a fiddle tune and
then maybe play a couple of rag time instrumentals.”
Mark includes two instrumentals on
the new album that truly showcase his deft guitar work: Reverend Gary Davis’
“Buck Rag,” and the album’s closer, “America Medley.” On the former, he plays
the bass, melody and harmony lines all at once, using the thumb, index and
middle fingers on his right hand, effectively emulating the amazing work Davis
did on the original. The “America Medley” features one of his own arrangements
in a fingerpicking style similar to that of Chet Atkins and Merle
Travis.
Mark T. Small
has been playing music since his early teens, when he began listening to Old
Time Music. He learned to play fiddle tunes on the guitar in the styles of Doc
Watson and Norman Blake and also learned to play the Dobro. In 1981, this music
took Mark to Indiana to play and record with a five-piece “Newgrass Band” called
The Brown County Band. At the same time, he was playing harmonica and listening
to Junior Wells and Charlie Musselwhite.
After
returning to the East Coast, Mark dug deeper into the blues, playing more
electric guitar. When he was playing progressive Newgrass, his style had the
influence of the blues. Now delving into the blues, his playing has the razors
edge and speed that was developed from years of flat-picking. This combination
of the lightning fast bluegrass style and his soulful blues playing are the key
components of Mark’s sound today.
Beginning in
the late 1980s, Mark started his own Chicago-style blues band that ranged
anywhere from three to ten pieces on a given night and was a staple on the New
England club circuit for over a dozen years. Many of the gigs were played as a
“power trio” with Mark singing and filling the band out with scorching electric
blues guitar. Other times, the band included a keyboard or sax player and/or the
addition of the Newport Navy Band Horn Section.
In 2000, Mark
began to gravitate back to his acoustic roots and the studio became his
classroom. After making a decision to pursue a solo career, Mark took all of the
lessons that he had learned over the last 25 years and constructed an act that
was as hard- hitting as the band, but all in a one-man show. As such, he’s
opened for Johnny Winter, Robert Cray, James Cotton and others.
Today, his
show includes many traditional Delta blues numbers with a Chicago blues slant
that transforms each tune into a “tour de force.” Included are the blazing
flat-picking techniques that grabbed audiences in Mark’s bluegrass days, the hot
slide guitar playing that creates a mood and timbre change in each set and the
showmanship that was developed from his years of experience.
“On
Smokin' Blues I have also tried to match the intensity of playing
in a club setting, Mark states. “In these settings I take the tunes that I love,
interpret them and do everything possible to make that connection with the
audience.”
