It’s obvious why guitarist Mike Zito’s 2020 album was titled Quarantine Blues, but he’s compelled to clarify the reasoning behind his new release being dubbed Resurrection.

“‘Resurrection’ was a song I’d been working on for years, and it seemed the perfect (album) title for many reasons,” he explained. “Yes, maybe there’s light at the end of all this, but I was also making the first album on my own label, Gulf Coast Records. It doesn’t really have any songs that are pandemic-inspired at all. The title track is a love song.”

The album was produced by Grammy winner David Z, known for his work with Prince. While Zito utilized Z’s services on previous albums, they hadn’t collaborated in several years.

“David is a genius when it comes to mixing and sound and space and rhythm,” he said. “He has a way of taking the song and making it sound three-dimensional. He can take a straight-ahead rhythm part and move it around in a way that gives it a bigger purpose. I know that sounds heady; he just brings it to the front of the mix and the background at the same time. I don’t know what the hell he’s doing, but the guitars never sound flat or two-dimensional when David mixes them.”

Resurrection contains plenty of loud blues riffs, and Zito used instruments intended to garner unique sounds; the opening track, a cover of J.J. Cale’s “I’ll Make Love to You Anytime,” features a Heritage H-157 on the raucous slide licks.

And Zito had a go-to setup for the album.

“I almost always use a Telecaster,” he said. “I have several – quite a few that I like from Mike Delaney at Delaney Guitars, and of course some Fenders. Nothing really old.

“Recently, I became aware of K-Line guitars and Chris Kroenlein, in St. Louis. He makes guitars just a few blocks from my childhood home, and made me a Texola, which is a Tele bridge with a mini-humbucker at the neck. The neck and headstock are Tele, but the body is offset like a Jazzmaster. It’s a really cool guitar and quickly became my favorite. I used that bridge pickup on 90 percent of the album.”

The delicate tones on “In My Blood” and “When It Rains” came from a rarely heard piece.

“It’s an old Harmony Stratotone a friend in Missouri sold me a few years back,” said Zito. “It has .013-gauge flatwounds on it, and just sounds super dark and awesome.”

More than one song employs horns, and Zito’s touring band now includes two horn players.

Asked to rank the three covers on the album – the Cale track along with a booming interpretation of Blind Faith’s “Presence of the Lord,” and “Evil,” by Willie Dixon – Zito has to give it some thought.

“I like them all,” he said, diplomatically. “My version of ‘Evil’ is actually a cover of a cover done by Luther Allison; I just love the groove. “Presence of the Lord” is one I’ve always wanted to perform, and now feel the spirit in myself to do so with purpose. But I think the J.J. Cale song is my favorite. I’m so enamored with his songwriting – his ability to tell a deep story with very few words and chords. I turned 50 last year and the song sums up my being these days. I really like playing blues licks over different chord progressions. It’s just a different vibe. I am always a fan of blues guitar licks over pop songs – like Clapton in the ’90s with Journeyman. I hope to work my songwriting in that direction.”

In May, Zito and His Big Blues Band finally got to play a small tour.

“That was great!” he enthused. “People were ready to be out again and their enthusiasm was pretty incredible. They were excited to hear new music and we were thrilled to be playing. I think the year off gave me and the band a chance to start over, musically. I had time to think about what I wanted to sound like and what I wanted to play – this album sums up both.

“We’ve been playing several songs from the new album live and ‘Presence of the Lord’ is probably the most popular and well-received.”

The road still beckons to Zito and associates, and he has vowed to “…tour as much as humanly possible. I miss the people and the loud music.”

This article originally appeared in VG’s September 2021 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

Steely Dan to this day occupies a unique place in music history. Laying claim to an unexplored intersection of jazz, R&B, pop, rock, blues, and world sounds, they redefined fusion – or more accurately, reimagined what fusion could be, and acted upon it.

That reimagining was the brainchild of counterculture misfits Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, who met in 1967 while attending Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, and nurtured an uncommon symbiosis as a songwriting team based on their of love of blues, jazz, rock and avant-garde music. They lived a Bohemian hipster lifestyle and performed in bands like the Bad Rock Group, Leather Canary and Don Fagen Jazz Trio. They moved to New York City to ply their wares at the Brill Building, where they gained the interest of Kenny Vance, producer and founder of Jay and the Americans. Vance arranged for them to tour with the group, provide music for a low-budget Richard Pryor film, and record several largely ignored demos. More importantly, they connected with Vance associate Gary Katz, who encouraged them to relocate in Los Angeles and offered work as staff songwriters for ABC. Katz, realizing their compositions were of extremely high quality but too complex and unwieldy for the label’s artist roster, suggested they assemble their own band. Signed to ABC, the duo tapped William Burroughs for the group name, gathered guitarists Denny Dias and Jeff Baxter, drummer Jim Hodder and temporary second vocalist David Palmer, and entered the studio in August ’72 to create Can’t Buy a Thrill with Becker on bass, Fagen on keyboards, Katz as producer, and engineer Roger Nichols. The Katz/Nichols team proved a perfect foil for Becker/Fagen, one of few constants in their sojourn responsible for documenting the studio perfection heard on every Steely Dan record in the ’70s.

Much of Steely Dan’s guitar cachet was established by sidemen like Larry Carlton, Jay Graydon, Elliot Randall, Rick Derringer, and Steve Khan as well as original members Dias and Baxter. On their first two albums, the sound relied heavily on these contributions while Becker played bass. That changed in ’74 with Pretzel Logic, the last with the Dias/Baxter/Hodder lineup and first to feature Becker as lead guitarist. His solo on the title track was an auspicious outing that demonstrated the balance of quirky blues and jazz allusions that first caught Fagen’s ear.

“Pretzel Logic,” the third album’s title track, was pieced together at the rate of one hour per bar. It remained a favorite with Fagen, who sang it often in his post-Dan soul band of the ’80s and ’90s. Like many tunes in their repertoire, it’s an altered blues with additional chords. Becker’s solo begins with a characteristic syncopated line that shadows the A-minor ensemble figure. This is punctuated with blues flurries in measures 4 and 6. The latter finds him applying Am pentatonic/blues sounds expanded with fourth intervals over Fmaj7. Note the Albert-King-inspired pre-bends in 7-9. The change to Dm has a modal quality, emphasized by the B-Dorian-mode note in the melody, which alludes to his modal jazz influences.

Like its predecessor, Katy Lied (’75) contained shorter, tighter arrangements with less jamming that led some to believe Becker/Fagen were going pop – they weren’t. The harmonic acumen, deeper lyrical imagery, adventurous rhythmic twists, particularly in “Your Gold Teeth II,” and overall craftsmanship indicated their fusion was simply undergoing refinement. Fagen likened their strategy to the changing personnel on certain classic jazz albums. In any case, Steely Dan had become a duo augmented by a constellation of studio specialists. They gained a reputation among session players as the dream call, underscored by the presence of Jeff Porcaro, Michael McDonald, Michael Omartian, Chuck Rainey, Victor Feldman, and Phil Woods. The guitar work was correspondingly exemplary with contributions by Derringer, Dias, Randall, Dean Parks, Hugh McCracken and Larry Carlton, and boasted two notable Becker solos on “Bad Sneakers” and “Black Friday,” the first single from Katy. The Royal Scam (’76) is seen as Steely Dan’s most guitar-centric album, owing largely to the prominence of Larry Carlton, who conducted the rhythm section and turned in landmark performances on “Kid Charlemagne,” “Don’t Take Me Alive,” “Everything You Did,” and the title track. Dias, Randall, and Parks were also recruited for key moments. Becker’s guitar work was confined to punctuating rhythm parts and exotic lead lines on “The Fez,” a twisted parody of the era’s disco sound that personified Steely Dan’s travelog concept of placing characters in exotic locations – an approach gleaned from Duke Ellington. With this album, Steely Dan expanded their studio strategies and began the practice of recording the same song with different players (and as many as seven rhythm sections) to capture the best take.

In terms of artistry, notoriety, and chart success, Aja (’77) represents the high-water mark for Steely Dan. Reaching #3 in the U.S. and #5 in the U.K., the album was distinguished by three notable singles (“Peg,” “Deacon Blues,” and “Josie”), a Grammy for Best Engineered Recording, and the participation of esteemed jazz musicians Wayne Shorter, Tom Scott, Victor Feldman, and Pete Christlieb. Guitarists included Carlton, Dias, Parks, Graydon, Khan, and Lee Ritenour, who supplied his phaser noodling to “Deacon Blues” for a period-correct L.A. touch in the coda.

“Black Friday” was part of Steely Dan’s (and Fagen’s) set for years. The opening track of Katy Lied, it’s a shuffling blues-dominated piece enlarged with interesting jazz chords. Note Becker’s opening line in this excerpt; rhythm is a governing factor in his playing and here he accentuates a hemiola (wide triplet) often found in his solos, with defining slides. His ascending triplet sequence in measures 2-3 is stylistic as is the dramatic gradual string-bend in 4. Notice his navigation of the changes in 6-10. Here, he finds a middle ground between pentatonic and diatonic melody, resorting to Em pentatonic over A-G6-F#7#9-G6-Eb7#9 chords and switching to a D Mixolydian modal sound over Dmaj9 and A/B. He closes with an offhand quote of Duke Ellington’s “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” in 9-10.

The evolution of the Royal Scam guitar sound was manifested in Graydon’s idiosyncratic solo on “Peg,” the three-lead-guitar interplay on “Aja” by Carlton, Dias, and Becker (who supplies blues licks to the interlude between Dias’ solos), intertwined rhythm parts via Carlton and Parks on “Josie” and Becker solos on “Home At Last,” “I Got the News” and “Josie.” The perception that Steely Dan was a band again – albeit a large one with numerous key players they’d cultivated – holds up under scrutiny and was validated by the album’s overall cohesiveness. Fagen and Becker returned to New York after Aja and became involved in local music activities, championed Root Boy Slim, wrote a tune for Dr. Strut’s debut album, and planned a move to Warner Brothers.

Where Aja was a sprawling, quintessentially L.A. album, Gaucho (’80) was minimal and less complex, a decidedly NYC affair with emphasis on groove and atmosphere that still employed 40 studio players. It featured satellite guitarists Derringer, Khan, and McCracken, as well as newcomers Hiram Bullock and Mark Knopfler. Struck by a taxi as pedestrian, Becker suffered a shattered leg and was unavailable for much of the recording. He soloed on “Gaucho” and lent guitar parts to “Hey Nineteen” and “Time Out of Mind,” but much of his intended playing went to Khan. Though Carlton is listed, “Third World Man” was a reworked outtake (built around existing Carlton parts) from Aja sessions substituted for the accidentally erased “The Second Arrangement.” Gaucho was further delayed by other technical challenges, personal problems, and legal entanglements. It proved to be Steely Dan’s last studio opus, beginning a 20-year absence that closed the book on its golden years.

In June of ’81, the duo began pursuing solo careers. Becker moved to Maui, conquered substance abuse, and became an avocado farmer, record producer, and “self-styled critic.” He produced China Crisis, Fra Lippo Lippi, Michael Franks, Rickie Lee Jones, and Fagen’s Kamakiriad in ’93, on which he played all bass and lead-guitar parts. Their first collaboration since ’86, Kamakiriad precipitated a reunion tour and live album Alive in America, culled from ’93-94 concerts. In ’94, he released the aptly titled solo album Eleven Tracks of Whack, co-produced with Fagen. Steely Dan officially returned with Two Against Nature, recorded from ’97 to ’99 with guitar comrades Parks, McCracken, and future member Jon Herington. Becker handled guitar throughout and soloed on “Two Against Nature” and “West of Hollywood.” The album earned four Grammys, reached #6, and sold more than a million copies. But it also alienated the band with younger listeners, who favored Radiohead and Eminem over babyboomer “yacht rock.” The follow-up Everything Must Go employed fewer studio musicians and was their final album. Becker exerted a greater presence in the sessions, playing bass on every track and lead on five of nine songs. A high point was “Green Book,” which featured Becker and Fagen trading guitar/synth solos. In ’08, he recorded a second solo album, Circus Money. He died of esophageal cancer in 2017 and was honored by luminaries Rickie Lee Jones, Steve Lukather, Julian Lennon, and many others.

”Josie” was a highlight of the Aja sessions, and Becker’s solo does not disappoint. He cultivates a rhythmically guided approach and favors a blues/modal color in the funky blues-based groove. His trademark interval leaps, often delivered as syncopated two-note figures, are a recurring sub-theme of the solo, played prominently in measures 3-4, 7-8, 10-11 and 16-17; he stresses the jazzy F# note, which adds a sophisticated ninth to the pentatonic in 2, 14-15 then adds atypical string bends in 9 and 12, the latter having a slightly country inference.

INFLUENCES
Inspired by Charlie Parker, Becker studied saxophone before switching to guitar in ’66. He received lessons in blues guitar from neighbor Randy California (of Spirit) and also listened to ’60s pop and soul music. Other favorites included Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Jimi Hendrix, Sonny Rollins, Thelonius Monk, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Bobby “Blue” Bland, and Charles Mingus.

STYLE
Fagen first heard 17-year-old Becker practicing electric guitar in a local cafe and was struck by his professional, contemporary approach, adding it “sounded like a black person.”

“A lot of Steely Dan’s attitude was Walter’s,” Fagen said in Brian Sweet’s Steely Dan bio, Reelin’ in the Years. “His playing, stylistically, is best suited to what we were trying to do. He’s very inventive and his touch is fantastic; his solos were really my favorites, even though we were using the best players in the country.”

Becker’s reflection was, by contrast, dismissive.

“My guitar playing is to be used ‘as necessary,’ ‘taken as directed,’” he demurred. “If someone else can do it better, we get him first.”

Often, though, his deep connection with the musical intent necessitated participation. Fagen explained the intent: “Pop songs with a structure that’s interesting and can be developed… with more-interesting chords than most rock.”

Their take is further exemplified by songs with hooks that exploit jazz changes and an underlying R&B ethic. They gravitated to traditional song forms with bridges, reflecting years of listening to popular and jazz standards from the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, and prized “freedom within structure.”

As half of the composing team, Becker’s guitar presence in a song was tied to its mood or theme, acting as a contrasting color or extension of the arrangement. His style was as inscrutable as Steely Dan itself and just as elusive, characterized by mercurial juxtaposing of edgy blues with funky rhythmic episodes, modal extensions, and bop-inspired chord outlining. It’s personified in “Pretzel Logic, “Black Friday” and “Josie,” where blues/rock guitar tinged with jazz references is subjected to more abstract intervallic decisions and jagged rhythmic delivery. Many solos functioned as parts of the arrangement wrapped around rhythmic figures, locking in with prominent accents and patterns as part of the melody line. In the blues vein, he applied familiar pentatonic phrases with idiomatic and atypical string bends interspersed with brief double-timed flurries laced with unpredictable chromaticism, modal extensions, and metric twists emphasizing hemiola and syncopation.

ESSENTIAL LISTENING
Citizen Steely Dan remains the definitive collection. Serious fans are further directed to Two Against Nature, Everything Must Go, and Alive in America. Becker’s two solo albums are also recommended.

ESSENTIAL VIEWING
Classic Albums: Aja offers an illuminating behind-the-scenes look at the creation of their masterwork.

SOUND
Becker owned a Les Paul early on and played a dot-neck ES-330 with a Bigsby. At Bard, he used a Telecaster. He later favored a ’54 Strat deified in “Things I Miss the Most,” and a Candy Apple rosewood-board Strat, but on Aja was pictured with a ’57 Fender Duo-Sonic. He also played custom guitars made by Chihoe Hahn, Ian Anderson, Steve Burns, and Roger Sadowsky, who in the ’90s created his signature model with Lollar P-90s. He also played Steve Grimes guitars including a blond archtop, koa chambered double-cut, and a half-sized model. His main basses were a ’58 Precision, a Bass VI, and a custom by Jim Crawford. Others included various Fender, Epiphone, Guild, RetroFret and PRS acoustics.

In the studio, he used a number of amps including a Fender Super-Reverb, Marshall, and Peavey heads, vintage Magnatone and Fender combos, and Dumbles. Onstage, he favored a custom 300-watt Adam Grimm Satellite head and Cuda models running KT66 tubes, along with a Suhr Badger 18, Bogner Ecstasy, Retro Channel RR1, and a 3 Monkeys Virgil. His ’90s stage rig was controlled by a Bradshaw system and contained rackmounted processors and Mesa-Boogie and Pearce preamps. He later built a pedalboard with ever-changing stompboxes including a Barber Tone Press compressor, Pigtronix Envelope Phaser, MXR Carbon Copy, Eventide Space (reverb), and a Lehie amp switcher.

Wolf Marshall is the founder and original editor-in-chief of GuitarOne magazine. A respected author and columnist, he has been influential in contemporary music education since the early 1980s. His books include 101 Must-Know Rock Licks, B.B. King: the Definitive Collection, and Best of Jazz Guitar, and a list credits can be found at wolfmarshall.com.

This article originally appeared in VG’s September 2021 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

Hard rock/heavy metal and progressive rock were burgeoning genres in the early ’70s, and music fans by the millions eagerly snapped up albums in both styles. While snobbish “tastemaker” critics despised bands making music in either genre, one band consciously combined them.

Uriah Heep’s definitive 1972 album, Demons and Wizards, was their fourth. It hit #23 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart in the U.S., and the powerhouse single “Easy Livin’” shockingly cracked the Billboard Top 40 at #39.

Having already endured personnel changes, the lineup of guitarist Mick Box, vocalist David Byron (1947-’85), keyboardist Ken Hensley (1945-2020), bassists Gary Thain (1948-’75) and Mark Clarke, and drummer Lee Kerslake (1947-2020) perfected the Uriah Heep sound. As the album title suggests, fantasy and mystical elements permeated the music, though Hensley, who eventually became the band’s main songwriter, said in the original liner notes that the album was simply a collection of songs.

Now, though, Box acknowledges that Demons and Wizards was distinct hard rock/heavy metal with progressive-rock musical traits, and it directly influenced the emergence and development of those styles.

“Yes indeed, and it certainly caught everyone’s imagination, lyrically, for sure,” he said. “Writing fantasy lyrics really made a massive impact, and a lot of bands since have picked up that particular baton and carried it on further. ‘Easy Livin’’ has quite a unique shuffle played by Lee; over the years, I’ve heard it played by other bands and always the shuffle beat is wrong. But it’s a catchy, high-energy song that took us to the world stage and could easily be put under the banner of early metal.

“On the progressive side, we had two really cool songs linked by some studio phasing called ‘Paradise’ and ‘The Spell.’ And the song ‘The Wizard,’ played on acoustic guitar with a drop-D tuning, was another musical element that proved very successful. Then, with the unique Roger Dean cover art, it seemed like the music and cover were intrinsically linked for the first time. We had touched on the heavy-metal side of things on earlier albums with songs like ‘Gypsy’ and ‘Look at Yourself’ and, of course, the 20-minute title track off of our second album, Salisbury, with a 27-piece brass section. This was most definitely in the progressive-rock field, and this track has been cited many times to be the start of progressive rock by other musicians.”

Did Demons and Wizards seem special to Box during writing and recording sessions?

“I think the rhythm section of Lee and Gary Thain played an important part in what we felt as a band,” he remembered. “We had the engine room firing at full tilt. Then this particular album, I felt, was the pinnacle of our creative output as a team. We were very excited by the songs, the playing, the performances, and the production. So, yes, it did start to feel special.”

The new lineup was gelling quickly, as Thain and Kerslake had joined the tour prior to work starting on the album (Clarke played on only “The Wizard,” which he co-wrote with Hensley). There was an eagerness to create new music.

“That gave us momentum when we entered rehearsals and started recording,” said Box. “We felt the band had at last found the chemistry we were looking for. Lee was the powerhouse and Gary brought wonderful, melodic bass lines that did not interfere with the melodies, but enhanced them. Everyone was on top of their game at that point.”

Given the frantic pace of recording and touring in those days, the songwriting was rushed.

“You did feel the pressure because, as always, record companies get success with one thing and then all they say is that ‘We want another so and so track like the last one.’ But, of course, that is impossible,” said Box. “We were heavily touring and sometimes recording two albums in a year. It all comes down to business in the end, as when someone invests in you, they want their money back as quickly as possible. The problem being they get that back tenfold and then want more, driving you too hard rather than looking at the big picture.”

Does Box have any idea on how “Easy Livin’” managed to break on U.S. radio and become a mainstream hit when it was very heavy-sounding for the time?

“If I had the answer, I’d write another one tonight,” he laughed. “There is no rhyme or reason, but sometimes a piece of music takes on a life of its own and has worldly appeal. ‘Easy Livin’’ took us on to the world stage and is partly responsible for why, even to this day, we play concerts in 61 countries,” Box said. “We are very grateful for the success that song had in the U.S., and, of course, with it being played on the radio everywhere, along with the overall success of Demons and Wizards, it took us into stadiums throughout the country.”

Box created his classic guitar tones on Demons using great gear.

“All electric parts were played on my Les Paul Black Beauty, and all the acoustic parts I played on my Martin D-28. I used a Marshall 100-watt head through two 4×12 cabinets, and a Jim Dunlop Cry Baby wah.”

Uriah Heep has had many members and recorded 24 studio albums in its 52-year history, and Box has been the sole member there for it all. Does he think Demons is the band’s best album?

“Certainly, for that era. It’s difficult to say, as the world was a different place in those days and those successes were possible, as there was only really music, fashion, and sports for people to get interested in,” said Box. “Nowadays, there are so many diversions.”

Demons has been reissued a few times through the years with B-sides, bonus tracks, and even updated cover art by Dean. Nearly five decades since its release, its bloodline continues.

This article originally appeared in VG’s September 2021 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

Sunny War’s latest album, Simple Syrup, digs deep into the complexities of the human experience. As an acoustic fingerstylist who draws inspiration from the world, being quarantined has been a challenge. You’d never know that from her new album, as she shares real stories of injustice and love in a troubled world. The music features cello and electric guitar, which expands War’s musical vision with richness and depth.

Patiently waiting for Covid to go away, she shared the realization with other artists who also felt stuck.

“It’s hard to play when you don’t know if you’re going to play again,” she said.

Did the pandemic itself or being unable to tour stop you from writing?
No, but I haven’t been as creative. If you mostly write about stuff that happens or get inspired by living, it’s hard. I can’t write about the same day every day for a year.

Was Simple Syrup written before the pandemic?
It was written in 2019 except for “Its Name Is Fear.” It was supposed to come out in 2020, but all the touring got canceled. Some of it was finished during the quarantine.

It’s cool to hear your acoustic techniques with other instrumentation.
The band is Aaron Davis on bass and Paul Allen on drums, and we played most of the songs live. The cello and saxophone were added later. The cello player is Niall Taro Ferguson. Also, Milo Gonzalez plays electric guitar on two songs. It was cool because that was the first time I ever played with a band live in the studio. That’s Milo on “Like Nina.”

Why do you have two versions of “Mamas Milk?”
Because the saxophone player messed up and said, “Oh s**t!” You can barely hear it, but we thought it was funny, so we left it in. They said to make one without it so they could play it on the radio. You can’t even hear it. I don’t get why you can say “Bitch” on the radio, but you can’t say, “S**t.”

What’s the story behind “Deployed and Destroyed?”
I wrote it after a friend called me from jail. I met him in Venice. He was a busker. He was a veteran, and he started doing drugs and going in and out of jail. The V.A. never really helped him. If they could have helped him, things would have been a lot different. He needed medication and he slowly got worse and worse. There was a lot of stuff they needed him to do with all the paperwork, but it’s not set up for someone who has PTSD. A lot of homeless people are veterans. They have mental stuff they didn’t have before they were in combat.

Are you still searching for things to express on the guitar?
I have to get an electric. I can’t keep playing the same stuff all the time. I gotta change it up. I might fix one of my old guitars that has been broken for a while. I had an Epiphone Les Paul that my mom got me when I was 12, and even though it’s a s****y guitar, I think it sounds cool. I’m still playing my ’89 Guild True American, which is the same guitar I’ve been playing for years. I like to use an amp when I can, but sometimes I run it through the board. I’ve also been thinking about pedals, but I need to play a different guitar – maybe a hollowbody electric.

What are your plans for the summer?
I have some shows, and I want to start on another album. I’m working on a couple of songs now, and while some people are fine meeting up and playing, some aren’t, so I haven’t had access to the studio. I want to do this as a band. I have to keep writing and have something ready. I make demos on my phone, and I’ve recorded some things for the band War & Pierce, which is me with Chris Pierce’s lyrics. But I don’t like [working alone] much because I get stuck doing the same track over and over. Being in a band stops me from being too obsessive. War & Pierce is more commercial and has harmonica and a mixture of drums and programmed beats. It leads me to do creative things that I wouldn’t do naturally.

What are your plans to promote Simple Syrup?
I’m planning a virtual release show which is as sad as it sounds (laughs). It just sucks. I can’t say I’m going to take it on the road or anything. I’m gonna take it on the internet (laughs)! See you on Zoom!

This article originally appeared in VG’s September 2021 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

The latest release from guitar master Greg Koch is From the Up’Nuh with his son, Dylan, on drums and B3-whiz Toby Marshall on organ. Collectively, they’re the Koch Marshall Trio, and they cover a lot of ground. Koch recently let us in on what he has been doing during the pandemic, and discussed the new version of his Reverend Gristlemaster guitar.

In 2017, the Trio recorded Toby Arrives, but delays with a label kept it from being released. By early 2020, Koch opted to release it himself. The timing, he admits, was questionable.

“Our agent asked what was the point of putting out a record when we can’t go on the road. I said, ‘Well, I’m doing five live streams a week, I think we can reach a sufficient amount of people that might actually purchase the record.’ Lo and behold, I was correct. We did a pre-sale and it was more successful than anything we’d done in the past.”

We sat with him to dig deeper.

So, independent release seems to be the way for you to go.
Yeah, and now we have almost another whole record done. We’ll probably put the spit shine on that over the summer and get it out in the fall.

How do the three of you come up with the tunes?
What usually happens when we get together is we start jamming; Toby and Dylan start playing and I’ll join in. Otherwise, it comes in different ways. Some tunes I have pretty much done, then I think, “What if I added this here?” I have tunes in GarageBand or demo on my phone and occasionally they’ll sneak out, and I’ll think “S**t, I forgot about that one.”

The last year has been weird for musicians, but you’ve been a presence on the internet.
I think there’s aspects of the pandemic that will continue to happen. Like live streams. Toby comes down here and he makes better dough than he would playing in whatever bar bands. When we do a live stream, he makes a respectable stipend. We do an hour and a half and he’s like, “Why would I play in a hellhole until 2 o’clock in the morning for 100 bucks?” In some aspects, it was horrible for venues and musicians who didn’t have ways of generating income, but people who had the opportunity and weren’t stifled were able to capitalize on it. For me, it was an easy pivot. A lot of the stuff I was doing with Fishman, they wanted before the pandemic to do even more on the internet. They’ve really helped us dial-in, visually and audio-wise, for the streams from home. Then I started doing the Wildwood Guitars thing from home. And I started a podcast that’s doing very well. All of those different things are going well. I enjoy going places, playing in front of people, and interacting with people, but more than anything I enjoy playing. If I can go downstairs, do some online things, a couple of Skype lessons, and hang out with my fam, it’s not a bad way to roll.

How did the latest version of the Gristlemaster come about?
I’ve always loved P-90s – love the sound, don’t like the noise. When I started the relationship with Fishman, I thought it would be nice to do something like that. It took a while because of a supply-and-demand issue. Once we put the first Reverend guitar out, I toyed with the idea of the same shape, but with a Gibson scale, a set neck, a Bigsby, and then maybe collaborate with Fishman and come up with a signature set of P-90s for that. It was a long process, but it all came to fruition.

This article originally appeared in VG’s September 2021 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.