Rock’n Beach Cities

[David]

The other week, Glenn was interviewed by his local paper, The Beach Reporter, where he sat down with columnist, Shaun Hague, to talk about what he's been up to and of course, some Black Country!

http://tbrnews.com/articles/2010/02/12/stepping_out/step3.txt

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The South Bay doesn’t cease to amaze me as I continue my writing series of spotlighting local talent in the area. As I dig deeper and make more connections, I have been finding that there are many well-known musicians who have been calling the beach cities their home for years. About three weeks ago, I stumbled onto the fact, through a mutual friend, that bassist/singer Glenn Hughes has been living in Palos Verdes for nearly 20 years. Over the years, Hughes has been a member of bands like Deep Purple, Trapeze and Hughes/Thrall. In addition to performing in some of rock’s biggest bands, Hughes has also released quite a few solo records. At 57 years old, Hughes is still going strong and is keeping himself busy. Hughes recently sat down with me at a local coffee shop to discuss his forthcoming autobiography on life in the South Bay, and his new project, Black Country, which also features Joe Bonamassa (guitars), Jason Bonham (drums) and Derek Sherinian (keys). Of all the places you have traveled to throughout your career, what made you settle down in the South Bay? I’ve been in the area since 1992, moved down from the Hollywood Hills. Most of my time spent off the road is spent up here on the hill or down in Hermosa, Redondo or Manhattan. I live in paradise and don’t need to go anywhere else … I’m from Britain, you know, with all the rain and the cold. I think I am in the right place. Can you tell us about the autobiography you have coming out this year? It has taken four years of me digging deep into my own stuff and wanting to show fans everything. There are a lot of people who write their books in a grandiose way and some of it is far-fetched. My book is going to be pretty intense but it is a success story of my battle with the dark side and overcoming my struggles with sobriety. The book should be out in late spring/early summer. It is being co-written with author Joel McIver, who has written bios for Metallica and (Black) Sabbath. How did the bass find its way into your hands? I became a bass player by chance. There was a band called Finders Keepers that had a guitarist named Mel Galley. I started off playing guitar at 15 and at that time, my three favorite players were Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Mel Galley. Since I was 12, I had been following Mel’s career and dreamt one day that I would play with him. I was playing guitar in a band called the News and Mel used to come watch our sets. When the bassist for Finders Keepers left, Mel brought me into the band to take over. Did you find yourself taking cues from other iconic British bassists like Paul McCartney or John Entwistle? As soon as I put the bass on, I wasn’t listening to too many British bass players. I was more interested in what was going on in Memphis and Detroit in the 1960s. I honed in on everything from Booker T. & the MGs to the Motown sound. It has helped me a lot … I was never a bass player who wanted to play a million notes. It was all about what notes I didn’t play and the space that was left. Feel is everything to me. The music world has been buzzing about the ‘super group’ you have formed along with Joe Bonamassa, Jason Bonham and Derek Sherinian called Black Country. What is the story behind the coming together of this amazing project? A year ago, Joe and I started to play together behind the scenes and we knew we were eventually going to do a project together. We also had no idea what the sound of the band was going to be either at the time. Back in November, I was asked to sit in with Joe at the ‘Guitar Center: King of the Blues’ finale. It’s one of those stories in folklore where something electric happened that night and accelerated the Joe/ Glenn idea, and we discussed bringing in Jason (Bonham) and Derek (Sherinian). I am very excited about this project and all of the buzz it is receiving. We are all sort of chuckling and giggling like little kids about how excited we are about this project. Who is doing the majority of the writing and how does it feel to be paired up with such talented musicians? Joe and I are doing the majority of writing for this record. I’ve written and played with many great guitarists, but Bonamassa understands the music I like and I understand what he likes. We wanted to make a rock album and focused in on the writing. I am very impressed with Joe’s ability to transcend blues to rock and how organic his playing is in a rock format … and he’s loud. I am also one of the few musicians who has played with both John and Jason Bonham. In 1971, John (Bonham) used to drive me to all of my Trapeze gigs and would sit in with us. He was mad about Trapeze and here I am all of these years later, playing with his son. I have played with a lot of great drummers but Jason is one of the greatest musical drummers I have every played with. Do you have any other musical plans along with the new Black Country record? I think I will do some shows this year with my band, but I am really focusing on getting this record made, eventually doing some shows with Black Country and getting my bio out to fans. I cannot wait for people to hear this new record.

http://tbrnews.com/articles/2010/02/12/stepping_out/step3.txt