Eric Gales is more than A-grade student

Jimi Hendrix tops polls for the best-ever guitarist with regularity ‘Citizen Kane’ is voted the Best-ever movie. When a guitarist is compared to Jimi, it is usually to the detriment of a ‘pupil’ and if you combine that with being signed to Nightbird Records, a division of the family owned Hendrix Records, plus that the six-stringer is also a leftie playing ‘that geetar’ upside-down and working in a trio format, you can imagine what Eric Gales is up against.

Glad to report that Gales withstands the comparison, bypasses it and forges a sound that is deftly captured on his European debut album (his fourth overall) ‘That’s What I Am’. It is a disc full of gems embracing so many genres that a question of this 27-year-old’s background become of paramount importance at the age when ‘specialisation’ is a shortcut to success.

“All my albums are levels,” Gales explains in his oh-so-laidback way, “from one to another and I’m very proud of this level. The next one will be even further up… The first one came out when I was 16; I was signed to Electra Records at the age of 15 and I used to tour during summer holidays and on the weekends, I was still at school. It all started with my grandfather (Dempsey Garrett) who used to play with Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters and I have brothers from whom I learnt a lot.”

“I started picking up guitar at an early age and by the time I was four I was imitating my brothers’ playing… By age 11 I was winning regional amateur blues contests…”

Chord possibilities

The Memphis-native’s musical expression is, in his own words, “A little gospel, a little rock, some Albert King, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Robin Trower, Jimi Hendrix, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and stirred it all up like a pot of Ragu sauce!!” Add to that rap (guests appearances on the album from DJ Kilmore and Michael Einziger of Incubus as well as well Kenny Olson of Kid Rock band), psychedelia, soul, R’N’B and you might approximate the diversity of ‘That’s What I Am’. Sure, his music is imbued with Hendrix’s spirit but it is far from mere copying, so evident on his version of ‘Foxey Lady’.

“Exactly, that’s the key, the spirit of Jimi,” Gales agrees wholeheartedly. “Any guitarist today would have to have a screw loose not to acknowledge debt to Jimi Hendrix. But my goal’s been to put something out there that’s fresh and new, something the world hasn’t seen. Being compared to Jimi is the compliment of the highest order and I can’t imagine anything better! But, this is the experience of Eric Gales, not Hendrix’s!”

He hasn’t made it easy on himself by inking a deal with the Hendrix’s imprint after Jimi’s sister heard a tape his manager was shopping around.

“When I heard about it I decided to check it out,” jetlagged Gales almost smiles, “and thought it was very cool. I am a perfect catch for any record company, in my opinion, because Jimi’s appeal is immortal and anyone playing in his style should be encouraged. But, I don’t feel any pressure, never have because I’m doing what Eric Gales does… Like ‘Foxey Lady’, if you don’t rework something, there is no point in doing it; I feel you can hardly recognize the other cover on the album, Billy (ZZ Top) Gibbons’s ‘Just Got Paid’.”

Notes for a lifetime

Gales’s musical expression is richly textured and it doesn’t obey any rule that industry is imposing and quizzed about his take on the marketplace he complains only about the lack of commitment to artists, total neglect of development and A’n’R-ing that only is concerned with the next ‘15-minute-star’ rather than quality.

“You should never make an album for now,” Gales argues, “but for all-time… That’s hardly possible because artists are cornered into compromising. You need to fight to stay raw, free and play your own thing. You should stay away from traps, go for something else, be innovative, don’t be afraid to be different. That’s what I’m trying to do.”

In his search for riff-with-a-difference, he’s involved with, as it were, the Band Of Gypsys’ ‘second chapter’. The original line-up – Hendrix, Billy Cox and Buddy Miles – played at Fillmore East on New Year’s Eve 1970 that was recorded for an album issued five months later.

“I’m going to Los Angeles to hook up with Billy and Buddy,” Gales explains ultra-casually, “to cut Band Of Gypsys II… It was my manager’s idea and it is cool, very cool of them to agree to do it; I’m going to play three weeks with them and after that I’ll be getting ready for my tour.”

Eric Gales plans to visit Europe for some live dates before the year is out, with ‘Band Of Gypsys II’ to follow early next year that is going to be toured as well.