London Music Club's Pete Denomme Going Back, Talking About His Duo, Old School And How It Taught Pete And Can Teach You To Be A Better Player

Canadian Frontman Series--Old School Blues
By Mark Grove

This interview with the owner of the London Music Club Pete Denomme was done 10 years ago can you believe it. It was when Pete had his duo while he was kickin' it up with Bluesberry Jam as the house band for Suz's Blues on Dundas right across from the cop shop. This interview is one of my favorites, and interviewing Pete and Mike Nelson out on the porch just on the patio of Suz's was even better with the inclusion of beer.

If you have a duo and want to learn what's involved you can learn from these two lads right in this interview. You'll even find out that being in a duo can challenge your playing and take it on a journey only Pete and Mike could back in 2002.

So sit back, and have some fun, and if you want to learn something about being in a duo just take some notes for some golden nuggets of info that help you start a duo and become an even better player.

Pete also owns the LondonMusicClub a well known club  in London,Ontario Canada. The LMC has
one of the best blues jams around, and books a myriad of musical talent.


Blues berry Jam Front man Pete Denomme, and Sideman Mike Nelson's duo project (Old School) take them in a whole new direction from band mode, and seem to have found new challenges in Old School that the band doesn't have. Mike and Pete talk to (Canadian Guitar Player ) writer Mark Grove at Suz's blues house in London Before a Wednesday evening Blues jam session.

First of all, Pete plays a Taylor acoustic which contrasts with Mike's electric Guitar. But these two blues gentlemen seem to meld together well and complement their playing styles quite proficiently. We will go into more detail on their equipment at the end of the article.

MG: Is the duo a good way to bring your guitar playing up a notch?

Pete: Well, Mike plays an electric guitar in the duo, and I play the acoustic. As well, there isn't a rhythm section so you have to do a little more, there by challenging each other to play at a higher level and fill up the phrase spaces left by drums and bass. Mark are you going to bring up Mike's jail time?(everybody laughs)


MG: Do either of you listen to albums at all?

Mike: I'm almost embarrassed to say but the last two years I haven't listened to anything at all. I'd rather go out and listen to live bands anymore. I don't consciously sit at home and listen to music unless it has something to do with rehearsal and learning new tracks.

Pete: About the only time I listen to music is to learn how to play a new tune for the repertoire.

MG: Do you feel when you're in band context you're some how getting away from what music is all about. The naturalness and intimacy of acoustic playing?

http://londonmusicclub.com


Pete: One of the reasons I love the duo and started it, was it's easier to implement things and Mike does a lot of singing now, and Mike was always a guitar player. But with the duo we need more elements to keep it fresh. You gel easier with just two. I'd hate to say it, the more you play as a duo or single the more cumbersome a regular band becomes.


Mike: I think just to add that after playing the duo it's easier to come up with new ideas when you come back to the Band ("woodshedding" as Mike puts it). People approach us a lot more easily which is an important distinction in itself.


MG: When you're in the duo situation do you find you don't worry so much about fan adulation and crowd reactions to your material?


Pete: Definitely Mark, and we tend to become more in tune to the crowd and what they want as well. We become more at one with our crowd and that's what's important.


MG: Do you find you write songs easier for duo sessions than the band?


Mike: This guy comes up with songs all the time (Pete that is). This guy is a walking, talking songwriting machine. He does it all the time.


Pete: It's easier to bring songs into the duo with just two of you and you can flesh out a song on the acoustic and I'll learn a song. Then Mike comes along on electric to play harmonies, guitar fills and that makes it easier to bring to our live sessions.


MG: Do you find you're searching for two completely different objectives when comparing Blues berry Jam your regular band, and Old School?


Mike: I think that in and of themselves there will be some melding of both the Blues Berry Jam and old school goals. They are different because the band has a driving rhythm section which takes our band in a different direction in regards to how much attention is paid to bass and drum lines, and how that effects the overall Rhythm, which Old School is more harmony and guitar based structures.


Pete: I look forward to playing with BBJ but at the same time always looking ahead to where I really want to be, and Old school provides that little something the band doesn't always have. There's always something enticing about both electric and the acoustic gigs.

Mike: Maybe subconsciously we're searching for a balance between the two and giving something back to both and taking our playing abilities that much further.


MG: (I just spilled beer on my tape recorder.) Remember what Rick said, no pouring beer into audio equipment intentionally. (laughs)


Pete: Mark I've got a question for you. Why do you and I have the same receding hairline? (laughs)

MG: I have more hair loss and I'm proud of it. (laughs again) Do you think that playing music on stage or where ever it is isn't about how many fans you have, but just feeling comfortable about where you want to take it, yet still trying to challenge yourself technically and texturally on your instrument?


Pete: If you feel confident and good about it I think you can play in front of anybody.


MG: (Jeff Ament) from Pearl Jam got more out of his roots based project (Tribe By Tribe) with Robbie Robb and felt he could contribute that much more when he went back to the band context. As well, some of the best material Duane Allman ever came up with was on (ex-Atlantic head Gerry Wexler's) porch just strummin' on a Dojo.



Pete: Chris Robinson (Black Crowes) played a solo gig at The Phoenix in Toronto, as well as Neil Young and McCartney have done acoustic projects. There's something that comes from these, an allure and quality the other doesn't have, and when you've been in a band for a number of years, you may feel stale and your artistic objectives have stagnated. As a result you may feel a change to a solo gig may be just what a musician needs to bring something back to the band and yourself as well in a spiritual context.


Mike: It's a challenge and a test to say, can I do it on my own? Bands, successful ones as well as others many times splinter off into factions not because of money but mainly artistic wants and needs.


MG: There is no greater spiritual or artistic endeavor than that of being a musician or a creative artist. Even bands like and yes I'd hate to say it but the Bare naked Ladies have had members split into acoustic groups that have done quite well.


Pete: You think that's something, you should see Mike bare naked. (laughs)


Mike: Okay Interviews over! Hopefully this interview tape's all right after the spilled beer incident. Ah, what's a blues interview without beer.


Mark Grove-Canadian Guitar Player October 2002


  Pete Denomme's London Music Club  http://londonmusicclub.com

Posted by mdgrove at 2:00 AM