Nonetheless, a notion was sown. “I began to think about the heads I deal with on my own dragon. Blues is one, and then there’s the Eastern music and my instrumentals, and the kind-of folk songs I write. If I go to a blues festival, I’ll pretty much stick with blues, but at a coffeehouse gig or, say, the Middle East, I know people will want more than one style. But some people get confused when they hear my earlier CDs” — Thayer has made five including Birds — “because I’ve got every style at once in there. So I thought that by making three CDs of different styles, I could offer people a specific choice of my music.”
Indeed, he’s encountered blues fans who bristle at the Middle Eastern–flavored microtonal improvisations he’s likely to toss into the middle of a Son House classic. But Thayer’s too good and too creative a player to be confounded by rigidity. Even on Blues for Boston there’s a powerful medley of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Killing Floor” and Dylan’s “Masters of War” that stretches both songs from their historic roots all the way to the scorched desert of Iraq.
Improbable as it seems, Thayer got into playing lap slide guitar because of Ozzy Osbourne. At the time, he was an “armpit guitar player,” as snooty sliders like to put it, in a band called Nobody. “We decided to make an album of Black Sabbath songs. The project started when I wondered, ‘What if Tammy Wynette did “Iron Man” as a love song?’ I felt like some of the songs would benefit from dobro, so that’s how I got started.”
Eight years later, the Brockton native and three-time art-school dropout has evolved into a personal stylist and a regional treasure — though he’s more modest than his abilities require. “I feel like my music is meant for the people who somehow find it. Like water, it will find its way rather than have me force it on them.” He’s firmly in touch with his inner Buddhist as he says this, and indeed, till a few years ago, he didn’t even sell or promote his CDs — he gave them away to anyone who asked. “I feel that Buddhism is really an important part of my music, because it helps me be present and aware of my life, and to be grateful and less distracted by the chaos that goes on around us. And I love the idea of playing in the Square or the subway and having a connection with people. Then it’s surprise music — a gift of free music to somebody who’s just passing by.”
LLOYD THAYER | Sky Bar, 518 Somerville Ave, Somerville | February 24 | 617.623.5223
On the Web
Lloyd Thayer: http://www.lloydthayer.com/
