Neilsen thrilled to open for legendary Buddy Guy
Published Saturday September 6th, 2008
There are days when Ross Neilsen realizes all the hard work on his endless tour has been worth it.
Neilsen said he'll be a little proud of himself when he and his band, The Sufferin' Bastards, share the stage with Garrett Mason and Buddy Guy this Friday evening as part of the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival.
Reporter Adam Bowie caught up with the Florenceville bluesman to discuss his travelling lifestyle, an upcoming tour across Canada and his big show with Buddy.
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Q: What three things are always in your fridge?
A: I have a cooler, and there's Red Bull, a bottle of wine, and a flask half-full of whisky.
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Q: Are you pumped to open for Buddy Guy at one of the Harvest Jazz And Blues Festival's biggest showcases?
A: Yeah, the man himself, and Garrett Mason and his boys. It's going to be pretty awesome.
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Q: Is this going to be a thrill of a lifetime?
A: Well, it is. We did the Dutch Mason blues festival last year and we played the same stage as Buddy, but mind you we were on mid-afternoon, so it wasn't the same kind of feeling that this is going to be.
To actually open for Buddy this time is going to be an honour and privilege. To open for either of those guys will be. I have an immense amount of respect for Garrett and if it was just Garrett and I, I'd be just as thrilled. Well, maybe not quite this thrilled. (Laughs)
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Q: You work so hard and play so many shows to promote your music. Buddy Guy has always been a worker as well. Do you think you share that passion for the road with the great bluesmen such as Buddy?
A: He's definitely an inspiration and an influence in every way. In the interviews I've read on him, he seems like a gentleman or a normal dude who happens to have reached the pinnacle of the genre of music he plays.
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Q: You've built a strong fan-base in this region and across the Maritimes. Are you looking forward to performing for some new fans at the festival?
A: Absolutely. One thing we love to do is play on a big stage in front of a big crowd.
The opportunities are getting more frequent, but they're still not as often as we'd like. So any time we get that chance, it's a really fun time.
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Q: You played some interesting shows this year, including a concert on the back of a flatbed truck at the East Coast Music Awards. Are you guys making a name for yourselves as the blue-collar, hard-working blues band?
A: Oh yeah, the truck show was definitely a highlight. Yeah, I think that's all we really know.
Nobody is handing us anything on a platter, so we're just going to go out there and take it.
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Q: You play the kind of music that revs people up, so is it fun for you to watch people come alive during a performance?
A: We're going out swinging with both arms for sure. We love to do our thing, and some people just get where we're going with it right away. And that turns into a pretty good party.
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Q: You've been busy with shows and I'm betting you're working on a new album. Do you have a new album in the works?
A: Yeah. We've been writing. I've got probably half an album's worth of stuff ready to go and, hopefully, by the spring, we'll have double or triple that and have lots of tunes to pick for a new record.
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Q: Matt Andersen included one of your songs on his latest album release. Was it fun for you to have one of your pieces performed by your good friend and colleague?
A: That's a tune we wrote together and we wrote it on a road trip, and it's a song we're both extremely proud of.
For both of us, it's a real sentimental tune, and it's something we both live. I think any musician who works full-time can relate to that tune.
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Q: I saw you at Bob Dylan's recent concert in Saint John. Do you consciously make an effort to see some of your favourite performers in concert so you can see how they evolve their careers?
A: Any time one of the people who have been a massive influence on me comes close by, I want to go, and it's like going to school. You get to pick up some new tricks.
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Q: Have you had a moment where you realized you're exactly where you're supposed to be?
A: I can tell you the weekend where Matt and I wrote that tune together was a life-altering week for me. I broke up with a long-time girlfriend, I moved out of my house and started living in my van on the road.
Up until that point, there had always been a desire to go full-time, but in the back of my mind, I'd say this bill needs to be paid first ... The whole time I felt like maybe I was ignoring what I was supposed to be doing. Since then I've been walking that path and it feels pretty comfy.
Adam Bowie is a reporter with The Daily Gleaner. He can be reached at bowie.adam@dailygleaner.com. Q&A appears every Saturday.
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