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EARLY TIMES – IT’S NEVER TOO EARLY FOR MORE EARLY

By Lawrence Lebo

Guitarist/Singer/Songwriter and SiriusXM radio DJ
extraordinaire Early Times has a new album out titled “Electric
City”. The CD contains 11 original tracks and a bevy of high-
profile guest players including duets with Bobby Rush, Eliza
Neals, and band members Brian Mitchell (Levon Helm, Bob
Dylan) on keys, Anton Fig (David Letterman Band, Cyndi

Lauper) on drums and Conrad Korsch (Rod Stewart) on
bass. The disc is produced by Jay Messina (Aerosmith, Kiss,
Miles Davis, Cheap Trick). The album is a follow up to Early’s successful
2021 release “The Corner” and contains more of the delightful variety of blues-
rock umbrella grooves and story-
telling lyrics for which Mr. Times is
so famously known.
I had the pleasure of interviewing
Early Times last July 2021, for his
“The Corner” release. As I am on
holiday this month, I thought you all
might enjoy re-reading the
interview. I will be back next issue
with more new interviews!

“ I asked Early Times to tell us a bit
about his life and his music. This is
what he told me ……….

LL: I like to start at the
beginning! Please tell us what it was like to grow up in Sacramento CA, what your family
was like and what kind of music were you exposed to in your home?

ET: When I grew up Sacramento was a medium sized city. It’s the state capital of California. I
made the most of it when I began to play professionally at the age of 14. By the time I was 16 I
began to play nightclubs, parties, coffee houses. Wherever I could play I did. I learned a lot of
styles of music so I would play popular venues some nights, and blues, jazz, and folk clubs on
others. I was working most nights of the week.

The proximity was close to San Francisco and Lake Tahoe and getting to Southern California
was not too difficult.

The music scene was pretty dynamic at the time with plenty of live music venues and several
bands finding national success. I wasn’t the most popular artist in the area, but I was known in
many genres which made me an anomaly and allowed me to gain a reputation as one of the
leaders in the music community there.

I also played with many of the best-known artists in the area in various performance
situations, so I think the musicians knew I could hang.

My family fell apart when I was young and the impact of it was long lasting. There was a lot of
pain there for quite some time. That’s about all I can say to that.