 |
| Photo: J. A. Areta Goñi |
Baring His Savage Soul
By Matt Chrystal
Barrence Whitfield is a sensational singer, screamer, and showman. He is an R&B bluesman, steeped in gospel who gave his soul, along with everything he’s got to give, to rock n roll. He is made up of part Little Richard, part Howlin' Wolf, and part exploding fireball. Barrence puts on a live performance like a man possessed. He and his band, The Savages recently captured some of that raw energy on the album, Under the Savage Sky and are currently on the road with a mission to get people rocking again.
I caught up with Barrence to talk about his music, his showmanship, about reuniting with the band, and about returning to his old stomping grounds in New Jersey
Cool MattyC: Your shows are legendary for your onstage energy, showmanship and passion for the performance. Is you 24/7 or is that your onstage persona? Where do you find the motivation and inspiration?
BW: I save it all for the stage. Offstage, I’m pretty mild mannered. Onstage, it’s all about having fun and making people happy. I love music. There’s a lot of music lovers out there and as long as I can give them honest music for them to love too then that really satisfies me.
CMC: What do you do in your downtime from the road to recoup or to recharge?
BW: I listen to music and read books. I hang out with my family. I have five grandchildren, so that occupies a lot of my time. I’m usually occupied with something all of the time… and that is a good thing.
CMC: You spent some of your childhood singing in a gospel choir in East Orange, NJ, correct?
BW: Yeah. I was in the church choir for a bit. It was quite a learning experience being in a choir and having to sing with so many other people. There was so many things going on in the church, it was kind of like a rock n roll atmosphere.
I always wanted to sing. I was real close to a lot of soul and blues and gospel. I knew I was gonna do something sooner or later.
CMC: What is it like for you to come back to the areas you grew up in and perform?
BW: It’s great. I get to run into old friends and see people I haven’t seen in ages. It will be great, but it’s like I really only get to jump in and then I have to jump back out. I get to see places where I used to run around have now become condos and CVS’s. But really, it is always great to come home.
CMC: Your vocals are overtly R&B and gospel; but your band, The Savages, play at punk rock speed? How did this sound come about?
BW: They make more or less garagey kind of rock but they have a little soul in them when they need to execute. It’s all music. It’s all rock n roll. Everything we play is to the point and enough to make the tongue in your mouth swallow.
CMC: With the Savages by your side, you toured in the 80s and 90s with the likes Bo Didley, Tina Turner and George Thorogood. What were your takeaways from those artists, if any?
BW: It was great to play with this those people. I respected their professionalism. What I really enjoyed is that they had a plethora of great fans that would really go for them and get really nuts.
CMC: After a hiatus from the group, you started recording and performing with The Savages again in 2011. What has it been like for you since the band reunited?
BW: Since I got back together with The Savages to do this, things have been pretty electric. I enjoyed just getting back together with Peter (Greenberg) and Phil (Lenker) and doing something we did so long ago. We just picked up and started at where we left off. It’s been fun. There’s been a lot of travel and a lot of cities to go to. But at the end of the day it has all been very exciting,
CMC: I read on your record label's site a quote in reference to you getting the band back together, “perhaps the world is ready for them this time around.” Do you find there’s truth to those words given the reception and reactions that you have garnered from audiences and listeners?
BW: Well you know there are still people out there that haven’t seen us yet, and we are ready to conquer them! Just like we still try to conquer our old fans. We want people to know that we are going to put as much excitement as we can out there for all of you (in our live shows) because we want you get off your iPods and go into a record store to buy our vinyl albums and start rocking again!
CMC: So about the records…
While both of your latest releases, Dig Thy Savage Soul (2013) and Under the Savage Sky (2015) showcase your enthusiastic, spirited, and soulful stylings, it would seem that Dig Thy Savage Soul sounds a bit more polished, whereas Under the Savage Sky really captures the raw energy of your live performances … was this a conscious decision?
BW: Yeah. Under the Savage Sky is a little livelier. It’s a little more pumping red hot. It’s like dynamite. The record is cool. We did it in the way that we wanted to do it. It’s the way we want people to hear us. The record is the way we were at that point in time. But when people come out to see us live they can expect fireworks, energy, sweat and a lot of yelling!
CMC: Out of curiosity, can you talk a little about the album cover for Under the Savage Sky. It looks a bit Hitchcockesque; and, while simple, it also looks like it might encapsulate all the song titles on the album? Is there a story behind it or is it just a cool design?
BW: It was weird. Our drummer’s girlfriend is a designer and she had this idea where I would be in silhouette with birds attacking me. I just said to her, “Hitchcock! Let’s do it!” It is really great to know when people are Hitchcock fans and they first see the album cover and they bring up The Birds or they see all that orange and they think of Vertigo. And there sure are a lot of Hitchcock fans out there.
CMC: You are currently busy on tour but can you share any plans that you have coming up for BW & The Savages?
BW: New York is the last stop on this tour, and then his will be our last until probably the end of next year. We will be in the studio recording a new record sometime early next year, and we will be getting ready for that. So come out and see us now before we retire to our couches for a while.
The albums Dig Thy Savage Soul and Under The Savage Sky are both out now on Bloodshot Records.
Barrence Whitfield and the Savages will be performing at Monty Hall in Jersey City, NJ on 10/1 and at the Mercury Lounge in NYC on 10/2.
For more info, visit: barrencewhitfieldsavages.com
No comments :
Post a Comment