GOOD TIMES: Robillard has plenty of reasons to smile. |
“Right now I’m more happy than ever,” says Duke Robillard. I caught Duke and the band crossing the Nebraska plains in a van, on his way home after a short tour. “The new album’s doing well, I’ve got three more in the can that I’m working on, and things are really rolling along.”In addition to touring with his own crew, featuring Doug James, John Packer, and Mark Texeira, Duke just got off a brief tour with none other than Tom Waits. “Tom was looking for a blues guitarist for a while for his band,” says Duke, “and he called my agency. He listened to a bunch of my stuff and liked it.” Waits invited Duke to play on a two-week tour, which went as expected: spectacularly. “It couldn’t have been more fun,” says Duke, who adds he hit it off with Waits personally. “His grooves are so good — he has these slow grooves that my playing fit into really well. And he’s got these storytelling tunes that I can make these sound effects to. I love those tunes — not tunes, really, more like beatnik poetry.”
But why did Waits want a purely blues-based guitar player after working with simpatico avant-garde player Marc Ribot for so long? “A lot of his songs are blues-like and they use a lot of blues imagery in the lyrics,” Duke explains. “There’s stuff that’s really low-down, almost one-chord, and has that Mississippi blues feel. There’s a lot of blues influence in his music and he wanted it more legitimately blues-sounding, I guess.”
In order for Duke to capably accompany Waits, he had to tackle a repertoire of about 50 songs to stay step for step with the nimble eccentric, including classics like “Singapore,” “Make It Rain,” and “Get Behind the Mule.” “Some songs he had specific things for me to play,” he says, “but other stuff he let it go. He knew what he was getting when he signed me on, so he wanted me to do what I do.” Which is play some of the best, most authentic blues licks around. Robillard has won Best Blues Guitarist from the Blues Foundation people four years running. Why wouldn’t Waits let him take the controls?
As for Duke’s own band, they’re getting ready to head to Europe for a month, where they’ll hit virtually every country on the continent. Duke has lots of fans over there, especially in France and Germany, where the blues scenes are robust. “It’s always been great for me in Europe; there’s a strong following for blues over there. They appreciate everything I do, and there’s always a good crowd.”
Now in support of his album Groove-a-rama, Duke is also at work on three other projects, including his first-ever acoustic album. “It’s an acoustic blues/old-time music project where I do some originals and some covers by Big Bill Broonzy, Sleepy John Estes, even Hank Williams and Jimmie Rodgers. I play dobro and mandolin on it, too.” Duke is also looking to record with Paul Geremia, which would be a treat for local blues fans. “I’m sticking to the blues format these days,” Duke admits, “because it’s all kind of pointing to that right now. Blues is still king in most parts.”
