Artist Spotlight
Chris "Stovall" Brown By Robert John, correspondent to BarrelhouseBlues.com rj@barrelhouseblues.com © 2004, 2005 BarrelhouseBlues.com - All Rights Reserved
		Hearing Chris Stovall Brown play guitar is an uplifting experience. His obvious joy while performing always produces an entertaining stage show. And his proficiency on his instrument demonstrates a keen sense of musicality. Good stuff. While many players have great chops, Chris seems to place his exactly where they count most. He compliments the song at hand with equal parts rhythm, harmonic phrasing and single note passages. He does all this does this while displaying a relaxed and sometimes humorous showmanship, and seems to relish drawing the audience into his good time.

Barrelhouse Blues (BB) is pleased to present highlights of our conversations with Chris Stovall Brown. Read on...

BB: How did you get started playing the guitar? Was it something that you drifted into or was there a specific trigger event like a song or performer that inspired you to pick it up?

CSB: I actually started playing music on the bongos then progressed into trap drums. Often we would rehearse at my mother’s house and people would frequently leave their instruments behind until the next rehearsal. I then felt it was fair game for me to try them. This is how I came to be exposed to both guitar and harp. I can remember starting to figure out the guitar solo to Louie Louie and Hang on Sloopy. Both of the solos use a basic minor pentatonic scale and that was the start of it all. My parents got divorced when I was pretty young and my father’s girlfriend (now his wife of many years) had a classical guitar that I kind of “acquired” and put silk and steel strings on. I also remember borrowing her lipstick top to use as a slide! As far as playing blues went, I was already into jazz and was exposed to the jazzier side of the blues coin. Stuff like Count Basie with Joe Turner and the like. Some records my parents had like a later Josh White record that had Sonny Boy Williamson II (Aleck Rice Miller) blowing harp on it also piqued my interest in blues. It just kind of expanded from there.

BB: When listening to you play Blues and R&B, we detect many other influences and styles in your playing. You seem at home with a multitude of styles – all within a Blues context. How did this come about and who are your influences?

CSB: My influences are many and varied. I remember when Coltrane’s “My Favorite Things” LP came out and trying to play like Elvin Jones. Jazz was my first real musical love. Through that I fell in deeper with blues. I was a pretty hardcore blues nazi for awhile after really getting into blues deep. I didn't really want to hear anything that was outside the blues canon. Within that framework though, I listened to all types of blues based music’s: acoustic country blues, field hollers, electric Chicago style blues as well as blues rock like Cream, Jimi Hendrix. Of course, I still kept my ear to the ground on the soul & r&b that were current at the time. Stuff like the Stax-Volt , Motown and the Chicago soul people like Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions. I was lucky in that I’ve always been pulled into gigs that would expand my horizons a little bit. My current listening tastes run the gamut from gospel to soul to blues. Still all pretty much blues-based styles though. To name specific influences would be tough but just a random sample of inspirations that come to mind would include Little Walter, Buddy Guy (Chess period), Earl Hooker (everything), George Harmonica Smith, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, John Hiatt, Richard Thompson, Ry Cooder and Big Walter Horton.

BB: We’ve heard you play Blues harp as well as guitar and you seem equally proficient on both. We suspect that some musicians may be naturally gifted and others must work very hard to perfect their craft. How do you view your own musicianship? Hard work, a gift, or a combination of the two?

CSB: I have always felt that I had a natural inclination towards music. There really wasn’t anyone in either side of my family tree that was a musician. This is not to say that I didn’t apply myself very diligently once I got into an instrument. I spent years listening and absorbing the music that I try to perform. Some might say I approached music with an obsessive drive. I still work very hard at developing myself. To my way of thinking learning to speak in the language of music is a lifetime thing. When you stop learning and expanding your horizons you become very stagnant and stop growing. I think the ideal that most musicians try to reach is to be able to be perfectly fluent on their instrument. In other words, if I think or sing some music I would like to be able to play it without thinking about it.

BB: How would you describe the present state-of-the-Blues in Boston and New England, and in your opinion, is it much different than the national Blues scene?

CSB: I think the year of the blues (no caps here por favor!) may have been one of the worst years that the blues has seen! Six clubs I used to perform at went belly up during that time and the recovery period has been slow. Blues oriented people tend to be a little xenophobic in their perception of the commercial importance of this music that we love. Blues record sales (they’re still all rekkids (sic) to me) only account for about 1% of the total music sales. In our minds, everyone should love the blues and the lack of mainstream radio support is not there to help that along. Kids nowadays are not exposed to anything but what the radio programmers want to shove down their throats. The reality of radio relating to blues has never really been good. When I was coming up, you still had to hunt to find this stuff but I recall the first time I heard Slim Harpo or Jimmy Reed on AM radio. I was beside myself. I feel lucky that I grew up prior to corporate takeover of personal music tastes as laid out on the radio. In Providence RI, where I spent my school days, the AM radio market was very hip with a lot of Black R&B records being broken by the Providence stations. More soul than blues in most cases, but I can recall hearing Scratch My Back on Chuck Stevens show on WRIB back in the day. After that I lucked into hearing WBCN about 3 weeks after they switched from classical to free form programming. The first tune I heard on that station was No Place To Go-Howlin’ Wolf followed up by Peter Green’s version with the real Fleetwood Mac. I also want to send out props to another radio pioneer in the Boston market-Dick Summer. Dick had a Sunday night show on WBZ for 2 hours called Dick Summer’s Subway. I can recall him playing Hendrix “Purple Haze/Hey Joe” when it was still a single. Ditto for Cream doing “Spoonful” (the studio version off the British import first LP). He was playing blues alongside Coltrane and The Mother’s of Invention. I guess that’s enough of that rant for this short interview!

BB: What are the challenges of playing Blues as a musical art form in today’s market?

CSB: First, I’d say finding a venue to play in! Second, trying to keep your own personality and style in the music. To just rehash the way it’s been played before does nothing to advance the music. But on the other hand, just trying to do something for the sake of it being new or different doesn’t always work either. I’ve often been criticized for not playing something the exact way that Jimmy Rogers (pick your own example here) did in 1954. But I’m not Jimmy Rogers and it’s 2004 right now. I guess keeping it fresh and exciting is the challenge. It’s in danger of becoming the new Dixieland music. One of my goals is to strive for an individual voice. When you hear B.B. King play 2 or 3 notes you recognize his musical voice. Not many musicians reach that point.

BB: You seem to exude great passion and joy while performing. How do you maintain your enthusiasm after all these years?

CSB: Everyone has periods when they feel down about their jobs. I’m no exception. I try and stay focused and I’m always looking for the bright side of the rainbow! Involving myself in different projects helps me keep the fire burning. Right now I have two projects that I’m actively involved in. First, I’ve been playing with Chicago Bob Nelson. Bob and I have known each other for 30+ years. We just recorded a bunch of new tracks. Having known Bob for so long, I felt that he was under-represented doing what I consider a real strength for him-deep gospel-blues (like Little Milton, Little Johnny Taylor etc.) and deep-soul (James Carr, Joe Simon). Because Bob is from Louisiana everyone always wants him to do the swamp thing. Bob kills in that style but to me he’s even better doing the stuff we just cut. Another person I’m blessed with working with (and this is a long-range project) is 60’s soul legend, Betty Harris. Betty recorded “Cry To Me” (Jubilee Records) that the Rolling Stones based their cover on and she had The Meters as her backing band on her later Sansu records! She’s been out of the business for 30 years but sounds great and is ready for re-entry into the music biz. There’s a lot of interest in her rediscovery. The BBC is doing a documentary on her. In some ways, I see this as a similar situation to when I brought Howard Tate to town in 2001. She’s that good!!

BB: What’s been your most memorable experience as a performer?

CSB: After 30 years of being in this business I can flash on many exciting moments that I’ve enjoyed. Playing with people like Bo Diddley, George Harmonica Smith, Howard Tate, Earring George Mayweather, James Blood Ulmer and on and on. I’d like to feel that my most memorable experiences still lie ahead.

BB: What would you like your fans to know most about you and your music?

CSB: When you hear me play know that I’m doing it for real and playing the music as honestly as I can. Please keep checking it out because without the fans we’re nothing!