For Phelps, it's all about his other voice.Byline: Carolyn Lamberson The Register-Guard Music writers seem to fall all over themselves trying to come up with new and clever ways to describe Kelly Joe Phelps' voice. Smoky and warm are two popular descriptors. Whiskey-soaked is another. Alcohol seems to play a role in many descriptions, even Phelps' favorite - the one he likes, he said, because, "It sounds so right, but it's ultimately so wrong, because it makes no sense what- soever so·ev·er adv. At all; in any way: "Space to breathe, how short soever" Ben Jonson. ." It's the one from a British publication: "His voice sounds like Kentucky bourbon Bourbon (b  rbôN`), European royal family, originally of France; a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. being poured over a waterfall."
"What the hell does that sound like and how different is that from water?' Phelps asked in a recent telephone interview from a tour stop in Arizona. "You know what I mean? It makes no sense.' What does make sense is that Phelps, after more than a decade of performing his jazz-influenced acoustic blues, is making a name for himself beyond the boundaries of the Northwest. The singer-songwriter from Vancouver, Wash., is on the road in support of his latest CD, the live recording "Tap the Red Cane Whirlwind whirlwind, revolving mass of air resulting from local atmospheric instability, such as that caused by intense heating of the ground by the sun on a hot summer day. ." He'll stop by Cafe Paradiso on Thursday for a solo performance. Phelps is a musician who takes care with words. Long known for his guitar playing - he plays finger-style and slide guitar - Phelps said he realized a few years ago that he wasn't paying enough attention to the lyrical component of his music. He's worked hard, he said, to fix that. `The only way to do that was to pull the words outside the music so I could look at them alone,' he said. "Then the only thing that made sense to me secondly was to just write and not even think about music. `I found through doing that, that I enjoy the writing, for starters, as something to do other than play music.' It's a long process. Each song begins as a sketch. A bit of poetry. A character study. `Then some of the pieces that I write will feel like there could be some music involved, like maybe there's a character or situation that I would like to work with further." he said. "Then I start whittling Whittling is the art of carving shapes out of raw wood with a knife. Whittling is typically performed with a light, small-bladed knife, usually a pocket knife. Specialised whittling knives are available as well. . I might start with 10 of those things, then throw out four of them and be working with six. So it's kind of a whittle, whittle, whittle, whittle until I get close in. `Then I can start editing those words into something that would make more sense lyrically. Then I can start thinking about what kind of music might support it.' Each project a musical journey It's this kind of intensive process that leaves Phelps with little idea about his next studio album. "I have been writing, but not a lot,' he said. "Before I can form any ideas about what the next project might be, I feel I want more material under my belt and in my hands, because the songs themselves hopefully will determine what I need to do with them." Phelps, who released his first album, "Lead Me On" in 1994, began his musical career as a jazz musician, inspired by the likes of Miles Davis Noun 1. Miles Davis - United States jazz musician; noted for his trumpet style (1926-1991) Miles Dewey Davis Jr., Davis , John Coltrane “Coltrane” redirects here. For other uses, see Coltrane (disambiguation). John William Coltrane (September 23 1926 – July 17 1967), nicknamed Trane, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. and Ornette Coleman Ornette Coleman (born March 9, 1930) is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1950s and 1960s. . In the late '80s, however, Phelps fell under the spell of the Mississippi Delta This article is about the geographic region of the U.S. state of Mississippi. For other uses, see Mississippi Delta (disambiguation). The Mississippi Delta is the distinct northwest section of the state of Mississippi that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo and the music of Mississippi Mississippi is best-known as the home of the blues, which developed among the freed African Americans in the latter half of the 19th century. The Delta blues is the style most closely associated with the state, and includes legendary performers like Robert Johnson and Mississippi John Fred McDowell Fred McDowell (January 12 1904 - July 3 1972), called "Mississippi Fred McDowell", was a Delta blues singer and guitar player. Career McDowell was born in Rossville, Tennessee, near Memphis. His parents, who were farmers, died when McDowell was a youth. , Robert Pete Williams
Pete Williams is an NBC News correspondent based in Washington, D.C. He has been covering the Justice Department and the U.S. Supreme Court since March 1993. and Skip James. Even when he's singing the blues, however, he's brought a little bit of his jazz past with him - his penchant for improvisation improvisation Creation of music in real time. Improvisation usually involves some preparation beforehand, particularly when there is more than one performer. Despite the central place of notated music in the Western tradition, improvisation has often played a role, from the . `It's not just for the fun of it or for the challenge of it, but it's ultimately trying to make a song live every time and breathe every time I play it,' he said. "Because at least for me, if I play a song the same way, even twice in a row or three times, four times, eight times, after a while I start thinking about the dentist. `The song doesn't mean anything to me unless I allow it to kind of take me for a journey.' Most of the songs from "Tap the Red Cane Whirlwind' - which was recorded last year in California at McCabe's in Santa Monica Santa Monica (săn`tə mŏn`ĭkə), city (1990 pop. 86,905), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1886. Tourism and retailing are important, and the city has motion-picture, biotechnology, and software industries. and Freight and Salvage in Berkeley - will be familiar to longtime fans. They're culled from three previous albums, 2003's "Slingshot (networking, business, tool, product, protocol) Slingshot - CSK Software's real time financial server for the Internet. Slingshot allows the delivery of real time market data across the Internet and private intranets quickly, cheaply and securely. Professionals," 2001's "Sky Like a Broken Clock" and "Lead Me On." Only one, the Rev. Gary Davis' "I Am the Light of the World," has not appeared on a previous Phelps record. It's part of an assortment of 10 or so traditional songs he rotates in and out of his repertoire. `I don't work with a set list necessarily, but I have a body of songs rolling around in my head,' he said. "And I'll take a song like `I Am the Light of the World' and maybe play it for a couple months, then won't play it for a year." When he hits Eugene next week for his first show here in a couple of years, that body of songs in his head may include a few surprises. "I've got a few new things that I've been throwing in there, he said, "and I've thrown in a couple traditional things that I haven't played for a long time and then songs from the various records that I've done." CONCERT PREVIEW Kelly Joe Phelps With: Paul Curreri When: 8 p.m. Thursday Where: Cafe Paradiso, 110 W. Broadway Tickets: $20, $18 in advance, at Cafe Paradiso CAPTION(S): Kelly Joe Phelps has worked hard to give his music more depth by letting the words of his songs guide the sound. |
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