Johnny Walker
SOLE FOOD
Úna Mullally chatted to Johnny Walker of Detroit blues collective, THE SOLEDAD BROTHERS about med school, Jack White and waking up in pools of beer…
You could forgive the ignorant public for presuming The Soledad Brothers are another Detroit band cashing in on The Whites Stripes’ fame and infamy. The PR blurb preceding the dark blues group tries to make the most of the fact that Mr. White recorded an early single by the band. But Johnny Walker, the likeable guitarist - and doctor (we’ll come to that later) - is adamant that they’re “not riding Jack White’s coattails to success”. “If Jack wasn’t such a good guy, being associated with him would annoy me more”, sighs Johnny. “We both kinda came up playing together”, he continues, “I met Jack about eight years ago and he was interested in learning how to play slide guitar, so I showed him open tunings and different techniques and stuff. When I got into med school, he started going on tour, so we took different paths. Maybe if I had gone on tour instead of to med school, I’d be in the same situation. There’s plenty of worse people we could be affiliated with, so I can’t say it bothers me. I hardly ever get to see Jack or Meg at all anymore, because we’re both usually on opposite sides of the world.”
The Soledad Brothers started out in 1998, signing to Estrus records a year later. After that, the band hooked up with legendary MC5 manager, John Sinclair, forming a lasting friendship. Two albums followed and in 2003, they released their first major label LP, ‘Voice of Treason’.
Detroit’s citizens have dominated much of the international charts, especially following the success of Ryan Adams, Eminem, The White Stripes and The Von Bondies to name but a few (I left out Madonna on purpose…damn, there she is). Walker puts it down to the sprawling suburbs of the city and the fact that “there really isn’t much to do”.
For those not familiar with The Soledad Brother’s sound, here’s Johnny Walker’s low-down, “we have all sorts of different influences. We’re really into free jazz as well as blues and R ‘n’ B. Our record collection is pretty eclectic. Live, it’s kind of a mix of blues influences but occasionally we just go off on these free tangents. We do a lot of quieter stuff when we record so depending on the taste of the crowd, we’ll throw in a little ballad or a love song or something.”
The Soledad Brothers are no strangers to these shores either. Johnny confesses to having “lots of friends in Dublin” before adding, “it’s always a big party! The last time, I slept in a pool of beer. I wasn’t even drinkin’, that’s the problem!” Ireland will be the first leg of their tour, so check them out in Whelan’s on March 5th.
And about that MD. Johnny is indeed a doctor, but was ‘persuaded’ away from the profession because of his ‘unorthodox’ approach – but that’s another story…
