Jimmy
Thackery 2005
Whether Jimmy Thackery headlines a festival in South Dakota or
jams for hours in one of numerous blues bars that dot the
musical landscape, he'll always unleash an intense volley of
rockin' blues guitar guaranteed to leave crowds emotionally
spent. His double edged guitar dynamics allow him to fire off
tracer missiles, bend a note so it will fit under a limbo bar,
run off dive bomber riffs, and find space within the trembling
of one stinging note. "I put all my senses on hold and find
the zone and follow what's inside. There's an electricity from
your mind to your heart to your fingers. You just try and
remember to breathe."
He's one of the few blues guitarists who learned first hand from
the masters of the blues, not off a blues record or DVD. Though
most associate Jimmy with his 15 years as the co-founder of the
Nighthawks, he ended his time with them in 1987. Since then,
Jimmy has been on the road as a solo musician for 15 years doing
nearly 300 shows a year proving each night that he is still the
guitar powerhouse in the blues.
Thackery has lived the life of a true road warrior; he's
absorbed the artistic lessons of life and filtered them into his
guitar playing and song writing. To get where he is today, Jimmy
has journeyed a highway of life filled with a series of twists
and turns. He met all the right people and they have had a
permanent influence on him.
It was Thackery's time on stage with Muddy Waters that is
branded deep within his musical soul. "Muddy was one of
those guys who was constantly encouraging. He never told you
what to do, but he always told you what you were doing wrong. He
never minced words about that.
"The first time on stage with Muddy, I was in such awe of
him that I just kept my eyes and ears open and just picked up on
everything he did. It was the dynamics they had that became so
ingrained in us. We heard it on the records and then stood on
stage and saw how it worked."
Thackery left the Nighthawks in 1987 because he wanted the
opportunity to write and put newer material into the sets. First
he formed a six piece R&B band, the Assassins, an all-star
R&B, funk band from the DC area, and recorded three albums
with them. Then, in 1992, Thackery put together his three piece
band called the Drivers to highlight his explosive guitar and
hit the blues highway.
"The 1990's were a fabulous time. We were working our butts
off doing" close to 300 shows a year. The irony is that was
one of the reasons I'd left the Nighthawks, I was tired of
working so much and not having a life outside the music. When
you're out on your own, you'd better rise to the occasion. So I
found myself back in the 300 night niche. What made that
satisfying is that it was my ship and I was the captain of it.
We were doing material that I was writing. We were doing
arrangements that I came up with." Whenever Thackery plays
live, a guitar stand props up four guitars and Thackery will
announce to the audience, I'm gonna use all of them
tonight!"
His recordings are no different. In that time, he's recorded
eight discs for Blind Pig.
His first record, Empty Arms Motel, was released in 1992.
"That one still seems to be the favorite of a lot of
people. I went into Kingsnake Records and rattled off some
covers and originals. Halfway through, Bob Greenlee called Jerry
Del Guidance at Blind Pig about the sessions." From that
session, Thackery began his years with Blind Pig.
In 1993 he followed up with Sideways In Paradise, a down home,
laid back acoustic duet with John Mooney. Then, in 1994 Jimmy
recorded Trouble Man, with Memphis producer Jim Gaines. That
began their five record association. Wild Night Out, a 1995 live
recording, Drive To Survive in 1996, Switching Gears in 1998,
and Sinner Street, which added a sax to Thackery's music in
2000. "I think that record, Trouble Man, turned the
corner for me because I had a real producer and I was doing
original songs. That gave me a direction. Jim and I did a lot of
projects together. He did everything through Sinner Street. I
was learning so much by watching him as a producer that by the
end of Sinner Street, we both came to the realization that I was
ready. I was telling him what was going on. He knew that I'd
lost my training wheels."
After leaving Blind Pig, Thackery has released and produced two
of his own records, We Got It and True Stories, on Telarc and
two collaborations on Telarc with Tab Benoit, Whiskey Store and
Whiskey Store Live. And there was the critically acclaimed
reunion with his old friend David Raitt on Blue Rock It"
Records in 2000.
All this has lead to a new Jimmy Thackery. Because every record
is more about originals than covers, Jimmy traveled to Nashville
to work out his songs with some of the best. This is not a Jimmy
Thackery goes country. This is Jimmy Thackery rocks the blues.
"I think True Stories on Telarc is my best song writing to
date. For the newest Telarc project I went to Nashville to work
with Gary Nicholson. I wanted to go and see how the guys in
Nashville go about writing songs. We wrote this from the ground
up. I came in with hooks and ideas and lines. I didn't want to
be overly prepared. I wanted to see how they build these songs
lyrically. What you do with Gary Nicholson is throw out a
hook or line and take off from there and you don't leave that
garage until you're done with a song."
Jimmy describes what writing is like for him. "Inspiration
can come at any time. It might be a lyric first or it might be a
musical lick first. It might just be a form thing. In my world,
a lyric tends to be a musical road map. It tends to set up the
music I hear in my head. The cadence of a lyric tends to suggest
the way to go on the guitar. There was one tune we labored over
with a certain groove and feel and it wasn't rising to the
occasion. At the very last second, Gary and I said, "Why
not just rock this thing out. We completely switched gears and
totally changed the patterns and chords and went for something
completely different. We did it in one take. It's the first song
on the record and it just kicks ass."
And there is Thackery's guitar. "There are three guitar
instrumentals on this record because I wanted to make a guitar
oriented record. The guitar is still very rootsy stuff that is
very rooted in blues. But also rooted in surf and spy music. I'm
a sucker for that straight eight beat, twangy, minor scale
instrumental stuff. The first thing every body did when they got
a guitar in the early 1960's was to play the music of the
Ventures. I'm still staying true to those roots. Blues is well
represented, but so is all that other music I heard. But so is
all the other music I listened to."
To make the best record possible, Jimmy hired some of the best
musicians Nashville had to offer. It's no coincidence that many
of these names also work with fellow blues rocker, Delbert
McClinton. Jimmy notes that even though it has a Delbert feel,
it still has all of his integrity. "Maybe because of the
way it's laid out and the common musicians, it will strike a
chord with fans who don't normally buy my records."
To support his newest project, Thackery's ready to do the road
time. "I started thinking that I missed the days when I was
just a full blown, kick ass trio. I thought it would be fun to
go back to that. I did keep Mark Stutso, my drummer of 15 years.
He knows what direction I'm going in before I do."
Between constant road work with his own band, producing the
latest record by his Arkansas friends, the Cate Brothers,
recording Whiskey Store with Tab Benoit and touring in support
and playing various Nighthawks reunions, Thackery's plate is
overflowing, and that's exactly how Thackery likes life -
Overflowing. 2005.
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