“I was longing to be wooed,I was ready to be humble…“ (lyrics from the song: “Long Strange Golden Road“)
Irish rock’n roll music combined with the Scottish temperament and kindness, swirls around celtic music, hints at country, rock’n roll and Americana, echoes at gospel and rock ballads, bursts with emotional and spiritual wisdom and ultimately takes the form of a revolting performance!
“I was in love with Ireland. Everyday was a new adventure, it was mythical…“ (Mike Scott extract from an interview)
The Waterboys somehow represent the imaginary soundtrack of the travels of a Scotsman who looks at Native American, Irish and celtic music tradition, loves the music of the American South. Mike Scott, is the driving force behind the band and an expressive performer throughout the years. He is a singer that sometimes emits the calmness of a wise person and at other times the explosiveness of a rebel. He has spent a long time at a spiritual community in Scotland, is living in Dublin and has also lived in New York. With all these elements in his heart and mind, and with his guts and his heart as a guide to his art, it is no wonder Mike Scott composes original music that contains elements from many music traditions and styles, jazz, rock’ n roll, Americana, country to name just a few. The music of The Waterboys transcends and advances all of their primary sources of influence since 1983 and the lyrics are sung with honesty and empathy about the stories that they narrate. Like all the long journeys, this one has been accompanied by carefully selected books which talk about Pan, poetry and spirituality which is a valuable tool for anyone who wants to shape a creative world view.
“I first read Kerouac when I was about 20 and it was just phenomenal. Reading ‘On the Road’ gave me a whole new way of looking at the world, of looking at friendship, travel, excitement…“ (Mike Scott extract from an interview)
The ‘traveller’, Mike Scott, has had many encounters over the years with people from the different cities he has lived in and visited. He also had more than 70 musicians joining him at the journey of The Waterboys through the decades. Steve Wickham (violin) who joined the band in 1985 after Mike Scott listened to him on a Sinead O’ Connor demo, remains at the band’s line up until today. According to Mike Scott, Steve Wickham has had “…a tremendous impact on the band after joining…“. Anthony Thistlethwaite (saxophone) was also a long term collaborator and has left his mark on the sound of the band. The Waterboys, a band/vessel for Scott’s creativity, contains all his music ideas since 1983 which saw the release of the album ‘The Waterboys’. It’s the melodies and the use of a multitude of instruments among which we can hear accordion, synthesizer, bouzouki, organ, flute, piano, saxophone, trumpet, violin, viola, that creates a rich sound that is a characteristic of the band from 1983 onwards. Nowadays apart from Mike Scott and Steve Wickham The Waterboys are: Ralph Salmins(drums), Brother Paul(keyboards), David Hood(bass), Zach Ernst (lead guitar).
‘Modern Blues’ an album that will make your day, heighten your spirit and motivate you to take a walk down a river…
“It’s not based on a specific person…It’s more about emotional abuse than physical. It’s about a type of person who tries to cage the other person tries to deny them their freedom of will…“ (Mike Scott bout the song “Rosalind (You Married The Wrong Guy)” in a recent interview)
2015, 4 years after the release of the album homage to W.B. Yeats entitled ‘An Appointment With Mr Yeats’ The Waterboys are stirring the waters of rock/folk music by releasing their 12th studio album ‘Modern Blues’. The album follows the path that Mike Scott first delineated in 1983, a music path bursting with melodies, sarcastic humour (“Rosalind (You Married The Wrong Guy)“, “Still A Freak”), symbolism (“I Can See Elvis“) and the rich signature sound of the band. This is an album that will make you have one hell of a good time while listening to the melodies and ideas in the lyrics with the voice of Mike Scott.I strongly recommend reading the posts on the blog of The Waterboys while listening to this album, since the combined effect of the written text and the lyrics of the songs, will transfer you to another positive and creative dimension…
“I lay in bed and as stumbled from the vale of sleep
Across the theatre of my mind
A passing thought did creep
That love is all and all is love
Love infinitely kind
I woke and glimpsed through prison bars
A billion stars
Our destinies entwined…“ (lyrics from the song: “Destinies Entwined“)
Electric solos depart with a rock idea in their style and suddenly take the all familiar Irish folk music twist and lyrics are sang with wittiness and charm. Although this album has been recorded entirely with session musicians it brings to us the qualities that we have loved in the music of The Waterboys for 35 years. The album was recorded in Nashville which has been one of the most important places in the world associated with country music. Nashville had such a strong impact on country music and a strong influence on the sound of the musicians, that it has created its own unique country music identity for which it has been also strongly criticized over the years.
“…Keep the river on your right and the highway at your shoulder and the front line in your sights, pioneer >
keep your eye on the road remember what you told her this is all in code my dear…“ (lyrics from the song: “Long Strange Golden Road”)
The significance of Nashville for Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton but also Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Hank Williams (the last three were known by the term ‘The Outlaws’), who all recorded there, has been well documented. It was Elvis Presley, that inspired the song entitled “I Can See Elvis“ in ‘Modern Blues’ because as Mike Scott has explained: ‘I do remember Elvis as a voice on the radio. A very manly noble emotional voice….For me it was the late 60s singles ‘In The Ghetto’ and ‘Suspicious Minds’. The last good time to run into him, I think” (Mike Scott, extract from an interview) and also:
“It was something someone said that gave me that phrase-knowing you’re in heaven because you can see Elvis. It gave me this idea where I was wondering what Elvis would be doing in heaven. He’d be smoking reefer and hanging out with Plato and Shakespeare. It’s not so much a tribute to Elvis as a piece of fantasy fun“ (Mike Scott extract from an interview. About the song “I Can See Elvis”).
This song succeeds at making us, the audience, ‘see’ Elvis in front of us through the melody and the lyrics that vividly describe him and which manage (along with the background vocals that remind us of songs from the late 1960s) to create an image of Elvis Presley in our minds.
The choice of Nashville for the recording of this album was made because as Mike Scott has explained “It’s a music city. It’s one of the few places in the world where the music industry is still healthy. There are dozens upon dozens of world class studios. The American engineers are trained to deal with live ensembles, they aren’t phased in the way that engineers in England or Ireland might be“.
On December 6, 2015 the band will end the UK tour of ‘Modern Blues’ with a live gig at Eventim Apollo. This live will be opened by Jarrod Dickenson and his band and will be a unique opportunity to listen to The Waterboys play live. Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.theticketfactory.com/bookingsdirect/online/
You can order ‘Modern Blues‘ through the official shop of The Waterboys here: http://www.mikescottwaterboys.com/waterboys-shop.php
Blaue Rosen 