How does a musician, who happens to be pretty handy on the guitar, but lives in the most isolated capital city in the world, get some of the finest Blues guitarists on the international music scene to take part in his latest project? Simple. He asks them.
Australian blues-rock barnstormer, Matty T Wall has been on a rapidly rising career trajectory since his 2016 debut release Blue Skies was nominated as Best Blues Album (International) at the 15th Annual Independent Music Awards.
Wall’s 2018 follow-up Sidewinder proved the success was no one-off – the album subsequently reaching the upper echelons of blues airplay charts in Australia, the US and Europe, and opening plenty of doors all around for this firebrand singer-songwriter and fearsomely talented guitarist.
While Wall’s latest release may be a tad unexpected, it’s sure to be very welcome for blues lovers. With a roll call of guests including Eric Gales, Walter Trout, Kirk Fletcher, Kid Ramos and fellow West Australian Dave Hole featured, the aptly titled Transpacific Blues Vol. 1 will be a must-have for lovers of classic blues numbers and amazing guitar skills.
With his abiding love of blues traditions combined with a thirst for new and different approaches to the genre, not to mention an adventurous and enthusiastic approach to his craft, Wall reached across the oceans to invite some of the greatest blues players to trade licks for him – resulting in an album of classic blues songs with plenty of creative twists.
“I’ve wanted to do a collaborative release for quite a while, but my initial idea was to do something with Australian artists,” Wall says of the project’s origins. “However, I’d always been inspired by what Gary Moore did with Still Got The Blues, he had Albert King, Albert Collins and even George Harrison playing on it.
The seeds of inspiration sown – Wall’s initial idea became more ambitious. As he explains “I just thought, wouldn’t it be amazing to see if I can interest some of my absolute idols – some of the very best guitarists in the world – to participate in this project – they can only say no right? So, I just thought – well, why not ask them? ”
Why not indeed. While Wall was focussed on the album being an internationally angled release, the first cab off the rank enabled Wall to think act local and think global. “Dave Hole is a huge blues name at home as well as in the US and Europe,” he states. “He ticked all the boxes right from the start, plus he’s just a wonderful guy – so generous and wise -.he was actually the inspiration for me taking my version of blues & music to the rest of the world! I wouldn’t have thought that possible to do were it not for Dave’s breakthrough success.”
“From there I wanted to see if I could get some gun guitar players from the US. So Kid Ramos was the next guy. He’s an incredible guitarist who is very much like Brian Setzer (Stray Cats), he’s got that sort of vibe going on, and he’s a former Fabulous Thunderbirds guitar-slinger. I was then talking to a friend in the States about Eric Gales, who is absolutely my favourite guitar player at the moment and probably will be one of them forever. He’s like Stevie Ray Vaughan or Jimi Hendrix, the solos just flow out of him. Virtuosic, incredible solos. He listened to some of my stuff and he really liked it and wanted to go ahead, so it was really great to get that approval.”
Next up on Wall’s blues hitlist was one Walter Trout. The great blues master and former Bluesbreaker is very much in demand, headlining major festivals and dominating international blues charts. But, Wall’s call was answered, and then some…
“I knew he’d be a great inclusion on the album and I really like how Walter plays,” Wall notes. “He’s fiery. Explosive. It really reminds me a lot of Buddy Guy’s playing. It’s unrestrained and explosive and you don’t know what’s gonna happen. When he agreed I got an email from him saying he’d been a fan of mine for a long time. I couldn’t believe it – I was just beyond words!”
Classic, timeless and modern are all words that permeate the sonic boom of Transpacific Vol. 1, and Guitar World Magazine 2019 ‘Best Blues Guitarist’ award nominee Kirk Fletcher’s playing has all those in spades. He guests on the soul-stirring Born Under A Bad Sign.
“Kirk Fletcher is one of the next kings of blues playing,” Wall states. “You have BB King, Albert King, Freddie King and the modern contemporaries like Toronzo Cannon and Kingfish – well, Kirk Fletcher is among those. He’s a young man who’s been around for a while but is really hitting his stride now.
“Actually, playing on that song, I had to hold myself back and really get into my blues playing because Kirk was all over it. All over it! I can get excited and go a bit crazy on the fretboard, but I really had to focus down on the simplicity and the feeling of blues playing, which is good. It was a lot of fun.”
Wall states that for he and his band (drummer Ric Whittle and bassist Stephen Walker), Transpacific Blues Vol. 1 is the easiest thing they’ve ever recorded. “We went in one morning and basically did all the tracks in a couple of hours,” he says. “The vocals were really easy for me this time around, too. My vocal work is really coming to fruition now. It really came together quickly, and we just sent the bed tracks over to the guys and they’d have a couple goes and lay down some solos and send off they ones that they thought were best. We just put it all together in a big melting pot and mixed it up and off we went.
“I didn’t give any direction because I’d thought of the songs beforehand and which player they’d fit. I really didn’t give it any direction, I just said, ‘go crazy’ and what they played suited the songs perfectly.”
The album also features three standards purely showcasing Wall and his band, namely Stormy Monday, Tore Down and Crossroads. “I’m a little bit down the ladder from where the guests are,” Wall notes while chuckling, “so I had to keep my head above water for those. But for the ones I did for myself I just went where the guitar wanted to go – probably more simple than I would normally play.”
In any and all cases, it sounds like everyone’s having a whole lot of fun. “Well generally blues is fun music,” Wall points out. “Aside from the occasional ballad or slow blues, it is fun. It takes you away from feeling blue; it makes you look at the bad things in life in a different light and other things that happen in a fun light. The blues has always been pretty fun to me and that’s why I’m drawn to it.”
With the experience complete and ready for release one can’t help but note that Vol. 1 would suggest more of these to come. It’s entirely likely, and Wall has plenty of ideas in mind for future versions, but for now he continues to write his own new music and there is no doubt some more future surprises in store. Meanwhile, Transpacific Blues Vol. 1 is ready and waiting for those who want to take something from its bluesy goodness.
“I hope that I can inspire any young people out there that if they believe in what they’re doing then they can take it to whatever level they want to take it,” Wall says of his hopes for the release.
“The sky’s the limit. The fact that I got to play with one of my all-time favourite guitar idols, Eric Gales, plus my inspiration from the Perth blues scene, Dave Hole… if I can do it, anyone can, really. I just hope people enjoy the playing and that they get a real kick out of it.”
