sitting with Gianluca

I’ve never miked a musician’s feet before let alone asked any of my interview subjects about his two appendages but when the artist in question is Chris Smither, then it’s as much a part of his music as his deft finger-picking guitar playing and masterful / lyrical  songwriting. “Well there’s two of them!” he laughs. Careful examination by your correspondent confirms this. Two feet in fine black leather Italian shoes laying on a sandwich board - expertly miked by your correspondent - in wait of a song. “I wear them till they’re falling apart and I take them back and back to the cobbler. I have a cobbler in massachussettes who knows exactly what in want.” What Smither wants, for any future shoe tech, would be very well worn souls so their thud doesn’t interfere with the guitar in any way. It has to be soft in tone - like a muffled ‘thud’. Loud enough to weave in an out of his guitar lines but not loud enough to interfere with them.

Listen to the whole conversation at www.SittingWith.com

We can debate backwards and forwards whether-or-not the Eagles are the ant-Christ of Rock and Roll but one thing for sure is that the writer of many of their songs, John David Souther, often labelled the ‘architect of the Southern California sound’ is a very talented songwriter. Being a multi-instrumentalist with a jazz background also gives him the ability for textured compositions. Fortunately JD is also articulate and really knows how to explain creativity. Though he has a reputation for not suffering fools, he also has a good sense of humor. Listen to the whole show here.