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For me they were both really important people in my life you know musically as well as
personally. And I remember, particularly with Chris, asking him you know would he
consider being involved in the tour. I was very conscious now stepping into the role of a
fledgling bandleader in my own right that to hire Chris Wilson as a side man well you
know I was really going to have to step up.
And I felt that he was very encouraging and so was Hubert. But that was part of why that
tour was, you know, so pivotal for me. And I think, you know, Chris's playing on this
recording is just beautiful. There's some really lovely stuff in there. And I'd forgotten,
because we were mostly playing electric, but I remembered when I listened to the original
mini disc recording, I heard that we had broken it down in the middle of the set and done
a handful of tunes in a sort of an acoustic setting. So it was rare because it was just me
and Hubert on acoustic guitars and
Chris playing more acoustic
harmonica, just through a
microphone rather than through
the amp. And so there were quite a
lot of textures.
You know, I loved Chris's acoustic
playing, and he had so many moods,
and he drew from such a rich
tradition and palette of roots music.
And it was also relatively rare for
Hubert to play acoustic rather than
electric. So, you know, a lot of
interesting and lovely things.
FD: Absolutely. And I must say as
well too, I remember there's an
album of yours I tried to find in my
CD collection that you sent me,
actually years ago, that features Chris Wilson's liner notes, which gave me the inspiration
for the program name of A Different Shade of Blue. I cannot remember the album, but I
know Chris did the liner notes, and it was your album. So, thank you.
FB: Oh, Frank, you're welcome. You know. That was actually one of the Mojo albums.
You know, The Mojos made a few albums and Chris did the liner notes for—I can't
remember which one in particular, but, you know, that was one of the interesting things
about Chris.
When I first saw him, I just was not quite intimidated, but you know, he had such a huge
presence on stage. But, you know, personally, he was a remarkably interesting,
complicated, and thoughtful person. And certainly, there were times as I tried to negotiate
different spaces as a musician. I remember the first time I considered trying to self-
produce my own recording session, calling Chris for advice, you know, at various times
over the years. He could often be notoriously difficult to pin down, but if you, it always
seemed like he always picked up the phone when I wanted to ask him some advice. And
he was always very thoughtful in his response and immensely helpful.

