If you listen to early electric blues and R&B records, you’ll often notice the original sessions were cut without a bassist. To recapture that 1940s and ’50s vibe, McKinley James recorded his new album, Working Class Blues, with just guitar and vocals, backed on drums by his father, Jason Smay, who has played with J.D. McPherson and Los Straitjackets. The result is a joyous explosion of sound, captured over a weekend in the family barn. Even more, those fat guitar tones you hear are coming from James’ ’54 parts Strat and – no kidding – a solid-state Peavey amp!

What’s it like to be in a band with your dad on drums?
Pops and I connect on a lot of levels, personally and musically. When we play live or are recording in the studio, it’s always an easy flow. We set up close together in one room.

Which guitar players inspired you?
I listen to all styles, especially living in Nashville, where I’m exposed to a lot of killer players. But to narrow it down I’d say Magic Sam, Steve Cropper, Eddie Taylor, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and Jimmy Reed. I live and breathe soul and blues, so it’ll always come out in my playing.

For an album with so much guitar, the focus isn’t on in-your-face solos.
I’m into songs as a whole and playing simple. To me, meaningful solos are just expressing a different aspect of the song, keeping it flavorful and trying not to lose track of what the song is about. I like breaks that say what they need to, and not get fancy with it.

What tremolo effect is that on “Just a Little Bit”?
That’s a Fender Vibratone cabinet, which sounds really killer. They’re basically Fender’s version of a Leslie. I wanted to keep the Leslie sound in the mix of tones when we went to a duo, so this was the best option. I’ve tried using the standard Leslies, but the Fender sounded the best with my guitar.

What’s the story behind your ’54 Strat?
It means so much to me. We were on the road in Detroit in May of ’23, and a friend gave it to me, as he had it for years just sitting around. He got it from an old blues record collector in my hometown of Rochester many years ago, and that guy got it off the floor after a Cramps show in the ’70s.

How did you get it back into playing condition?
When I got it from him, it had a one-ply pickguard and woodgrain I’d never seen. So a friend, Deke Dickerson, recommended we contact luthier AJ Peat. That July, I flew out to meet AJ in California and had him authenticate it; until then, I’d never heard of a sassafras Fender! Then I found period-correct repro knobs and a deep-C shape Allparts neck. My dear friend Matthew Bascetta, of House Of Tone pickups, made a killer set of true-spec ’54 pickups with rounded-edge covers. I brought all the parts to my Nashville buddy, Spencer Connell, to assemble. As my second guitar, I also love using my ’82 ES-335 in the duo. I prefer not to use pedals, though occasionally a reverb tank if I’m using an amp with no reverb.

Do you hybrid pick with fingers and a plastic pick?
I do. As a fan of Lightnin’ Hopkins, I started using a thumbpick. For more of the blues-type songs, I’ll lean toward the thumbpick and fingers, but for soul and rock-and-roll material, I’ll go for standard Dunlop medium picks.

“Get to My Baby” captured some incredible guitar tones. Why did you use a solid-state Peavey Pacer amp?
The Peavey actually wasn’t planned for the record, but I used it on a demo for “Always On My Mind” and liked how it can be clean and not too dirty at times – or it can get dirty quick! So I just went with it. We were pretty quiet while recording, but the amp can give the illusion that it’s loud [and] achieve great thick tones at low volumes. I have messed around with it loud a handful of times – just for fun, though (laughs).

Your rhythm playing is locked in and groovin’ throughout Working Class Blues.
I listen to a lot of different styles and genres of music and love listening to what the rhythm guitar is doing just as much as lead. Also, Pops and I really lock in together when we play, so that helps, as well. Working with Pops has always been a blast.

This article originally appeared in VG’s October 2024 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.