Page 10 - BiTS_10_OCTOBER_2025_Neat
P. 10
MS: Yes, at least. I mean, in various incarnations. Again, it's quite like the journey of
blues itself, moving from a country blues, moving from the rural blues to the electric
blues in Chicago and that's a volume issue as much as something else.
BP: That's true, that's kind of what we did when we graduated to electric. I never
even looked at it that way.
MS: I mean, it kind of followed the same
journey without particularly having that as
the design. It wasn't a grand plan. It was a
natural evolution as things go.
BP: It wasn't an immigration, economic
immigration. We stayed in Dublin.
MS: But also, I suppose what might be of
significance, over my lifetime I sang in
choirs, and I also sang traditional songs,
and I sang a lot of folk music. So there was
also a connection there to the nature of
blues. One thing that I felt most strongly
about really was when I met Brian and
when we began to just jam together and
learn songs and listen, as much as anything
else to listen to music, one of the things that
I felt was that blues was where I felt very
at home. That's because of my heart. That's
because of what I feel blues expresses and
there are a lot of elements but it's not about
adopting something that is an American
sound. I would hope that I bring something
that is of my Irish experience and my Irish
belief and sensibility as well. So, over time,
it was part of what we did at every stage.
BiTS: We'll talk more about the record in just a moment, but I've got a question that
I want to ask you both. Over the years, those 30 years that you've been playing, you've
accompanied practically every big name anybody has ever heard of in the field of
the blues. Is there one name that's outstanding? I mean, was there one that you think
back on now and say, wow, that was really something?
BP: Oh, John Lee Hooker. John Lee Hooker in New Haven, Connecticut. First of all,
he ordered everyone else out of the dressing room except Mary and me. Then some
heads came in. I think it was Guns N' Roses. He ordered them out and he sat and
talked to Mary for about an hour before his gig. Of course, we met B.B. King and Bo
Diddley, Fats Domino. I mean it's been an honour.