`GATEMOUTH' AND THE BLUES : TO BROWN, ALL THAT MATTERS IS HIS MUSIC.

Byline: Dave Curtin Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph

It's the day after the Grammy nominations have been announced, and Clarence ``Gatemouth'' Brown has picked up his seventh nomination - this one for best contemporary blues album.

But he might as well have been nominated in the category of ``best pair of blue jeans on a mammal.'' He's decidedly indifferent to the music-industry accolade.

``I appreciate it, but it's just a thing,'' the 72-year-old Brown says from his home outside New Orleans. ``The music is what counts, not the trophies.''

Brown is unimpressed by the star-studded music industry and its pampered millionaire performers. The only thing that matters to him is making music.

The recent nomination - his second in two years - is for his eclectic album ``Long Way Home'' featuring an all-star supporting cast: Eric Clapton, Ry Cooder, Leon Russell, Maria Muldaur, Sonny Landreth and Jim Keltner.

Though the title track is a country blues duet with Clapton, the CD has everything - acoustic, electric blues, bluegrass, country, Cajun and swing.

``I get tired of sitting at home, so I hit the road,'' he says. ``People can't come to me, so I go to them. I don't plan to ever slow down. When I get tired, I rest. When I'm rested, I go to work.''

A multi-instrumentalist, Brown plays guitar, violin and viola. His four-piece band backs him on drums, bass, keyboards and saxophone. He appears Feb. 21 at the House of Blues in West Hollywood with acclaimed roots-rockers NRBQ.

``I call it American music - Texas style,'' he says with a slight Southern drawl. ``I'm not a blues player, I'm not a jazz player, I'm not a country player or Cajun or rock 'n' roll. I play everything.''

Brown's in his 50th year of recording, and it's ``going better now than ever,'' he says. ``Long Way Home'' has outsold all of his previous recordings.

``That's because I'm still growing,'' he says. ``Most musicians never change. No one ever seems to change from the way they were playing at the beginning. I made sure that would never happen to me.''

Brown, a Louisiana native who grew up in Orange, Texas, joined his first professional band when he was 16, playing drums with Howard Spencer and His Gay Swingers. Then he toured Texas with William M. Bimbo and his Brownskin Models.

His recording career began in 1947. He was in the audience at the Golden Peacock nightclub in Houston when famed guitarist T-Bone Walker took sick and dropped his guitar on stage in the middle of a number. Brown leaped to the stage, picked up Walker's ax and laid into one of his own songs, to the delight of the the wild crowd. That stunt got the attention of the club's owner, Don Robey, who teamed Brown with a 23-piece orchestra and founded Peacock recording company as an outlet for his music.

He was among the first musicians to mix the sound of a roaring big band with a new instrument, the electric guitar. And his blues recordings in the '50s influenced a number of up-and-coming players, including Albert Collins and Johnny Copeland.

He once said, ``Here's how to play the blues. Go to the music store. Buy an amp and guitar. Go back to your house and break the law. Turn your amp up to the number 10. When the police stop you, go out and meet your friends.''

Brown disappeared from the big time in the 1960s. He didn't resurface until the 1970s.

``A lot of people thought I quit playing. I didn't quit playing. I just crossed over into a kind of music I wanted to play. I didn't want to be stuck in the blues and rhythm and blues.''

He reappeared at the 1973 Montreux Jazz Festival, playing jazz and country.

Brown shows no sign of getting into a predictable groove. His next CD, due out in April, is a tribute to American swing with a 23-piece horn section and songs by Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Brown.

``It's a monster,'' he says. ``I'm working on the title now. I'm thinkin' about `Gate Swings.' Do you like that?''

It was Ellington who once told Brown, ``Cut down on your showmanship. You're too good a musician for that.'' So he stopped playing his guitar behind his back.

So how did Brown get his nickname, ``Gatemouth?''

``I knew you were going to ask that,'' he says. ``You'll have to wait for the book.''

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Photo: ``I appreciate it, but it's just a thing,'' says Clarence ``Gatemouth'' Brown of his seventh Grammy nomination. He appears Feb. 21 at the House of Blues in West Hollywood.